THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



GOOD FRUITS FOR THE HOME GARDEN 



By Dr. U. P. Hedrick. New York State Horticulturist. 



Lecture delivered February 14th, 1924, American Museum of Natural 



History. 



(Mr. Leonard Barron, presiding) 



THE selection of varieties of the clififerent fruits is one of the 

 perennial problems of those who maintain fruit gardens. 

 Year after year, January and February bring the nurserymen's 

 catalogues. Each succeeding year they are more sumptuous and 

 alluring. The old-time catalogues with over-colored caricatures of 

 fruits and none too truthful descriptions have evolved into beauti- 

 fully and accurately illustrated horticultural magazines for the 

 most part well edited and truthfully written. The nursery cata- 

 logues of today, as compared with those of yesterday, are tributes 

 to a saner and more reliable nursery business and to more intelli- 

 gent and better informed buyers of nursery stock. 



What attitude should the fruit grower take toward the new 

 fruits offered in these catalogues? Those whose calculations run 

 to a sure and quick turnover of capital will not buy. To such. 

 new fruits savor overly much of speculation. They see no im- 

 mediate money to be made in new fruits. But those who grow 

 fruit in the home garden and for their own pleasure and that of 

 their friends may be justified in taking a different attitude. Is 

 there justification for new fruits for the home garden? Let us 

 see. 



The history of fruit growing in America since 1800 is the great- 

 est and is sufficient justification for planting new fruits. At that 

 date almost none of the thousands of varieties of fruits now found 

 in American orchards and gardens were grown ; native plums, 

 American grapes, American raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, 

 cranberries, gooseberries, and strawberries were not cultivated in 

 the United States. 



Since the year 1800, 11 American species of plum, of which there 

 are 433 pure-bred and 155 hybrid varieties; 15 species of American 

 grapes with 404 pure and 790 hybrid varieties ; 4 species of rasp- 

 berries with 280 varieties ; 6 species of blackberries with 86 vari- 



