THE PLUMS OF NEW YORK. 



25 



becoming a nurscr\-man. In his book, .1 View of the Cullivaiion of Fruit 

 Trees, published in 181 7, the first American book on pomology, he says' 

 he had been " for many years actively engaged in the rearing, planting 

 and cultivating of fruit trees on a scale more extensive than has been 

 attempted by any other individual of this country." The third of these 

 nurseries, that of David Landreth and Son, was conducted in connection 

 with the seed establishment of that family founded in Philadelphia in 1784. 

 Their collection of fruits was among the most extensive of the time and 

 must have forwarded the cultivation of the plum in that region.' 



A century ago the fruit-growing of the country was largely in the hands 

 of amateurs and patrons of horticulture. Many varieties of plums must 

 have been introduced by these lovers of plants. Among such growers 

 of fruit was William Hamilton of Philadelphia, who introduced the Lom- 

 bardy poplar in 1784, and who in 1800 was growing all the plants and fruits 

 procurable in Europe. Ezekiel Henry Derby of Salem, Massachusetts, one 

 of the founders of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, grew 

 many choice foreign plants in his garden, greenhouse, orchard and arboretum, 

 and attained well merited fame as a horticulturist.' Dr. David Hosack, 

 botanist and founder in 1801 of the Elgin Botanic Gardens in what is now 

 New York City, was one of the most distinguished patrons of pomolog}- of 

 his time and grew many new fruits and plants from Europe, afterwards 

 placing them in the hands of the horticulturists of the country.' 



These are but a very few of the many men who, having wealth and 

 leisure, were engaged in growing fruits and plants as an avocation but 

 were adding greatly to the material and knowledge of those to whom fruit- 

 growing was a vocation. As a further example of how much these men 

 contributed to horticulture, a purchase made by a member of the New York 

 Horticultural Society may be cited. At a meeting of the Society held in 

 July, 1822, he mentioned a list of fruit trees which he had purchased in 

 Europe, comprising 784 varieties.' 



The period during which American pomology may be said to have 

 been in the hands of wealthy amateurs began shortly after the close of 

 the Revolution and did not fully merge into that of commercial pomology 

 until the close of the Civil War. Soon after the beginning of the Nineteenth 



' Coxe, William A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees 6. 1S17. 



' Landreth's Rural Register and Almanac. 1872 and 1S74. 



' Bulletin of the Essex Institute 2:23. 



* Downing, A. J. Hovey's Mag. 3:5. 1S37. 



^Boston Palladium, Sept. 9, 1S22. 



