108 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



not be safely planted in the fall. Keep the seeds till late in the spring, 

 and plant the seed in beds, as directed for strawberries, cover them an 

 eighth of an inch deep, litter the beds next Tvinter, and transplant when a 

 year old. 



Currants. — We want better currants — one twice the size of the noted 

 cherry currant, sweet enough to eat without sugar. We may get it from a 

 seedling. Let us try seeds from the largest and sweetest we have, and not 

 be content till we make an improvement. The currant seed should be 

 treated just like the seed of gooseberries. 



Raspberries. — We want a raspberry that is really hardy, of good flavor, 

 and that will continue bearing through the autumn. We have nearly succeed- 

 ed by seedlings, but not quite. We must keep trying. It is easy to produce 

 new raspberries from seed, and by perseverance we may be successful. 



Blackberries. — We want better, earlier blackberries, and so we do later 

 ones. The way to get them is to sow seeds, grow plants, and prove them, and 

 ■when we get a better variety, reject the old ones. Horticulturists have done 

 much in the last twenty years, but we should never rest, so long as there is 

 room for improvement. Now, let every person try to get ahead of his neighbor 

 in growing seedlings, and not wait for some one to send to Europe for new 

 varieties, which we might have produced ourselves. We have paid millions 

 to foreign countries for fruit trees, which we might have produced our- 

 selves, and at less cost. It is not for fruit trees only that we are sending 

 away our money, but for ornamental trees and plants, very many of them 

 natives of our country. I have seen, within the last few weeks, huu- 

 dredsof plants imported from France, at a great cost, that can be found 

 growing wild, within one mile of the importer's residence. Importers 

 either think plants better if imported, or in their ignorance thej do not 

 know that they are indigenous. I have even known that most common 

 tree, the sweet gum (liquid amber), imported, and several of the most com- 

 mon spiraeas. 



R. S. Pardee. — I am much interested in these remarks of Mr. Fuller, 

 who is known as a pi'actical gardener, about seedling plants, and I hope the 

 idea may be acted upon. Why should not the female portion of the com- 

 munity devote attention to the production of seedlings ? Three of our first 

 grapes originated with ladies. I wish they would make it a matter of 

 interest and amusement, producing seedling roses. Many very valuable 

 seedling plants have been produced at almost no cost. The first new seed- 

 ling tree poeony, Mr. Fuller states, brought the producer $1,700. Let us, 

 then, select the best seeds of the lest plants, of all kinds, and grow them 

 in the best soil, and see what you can produce. I wish to suggest that 

 every lady who attends here, or who reads with interest the report of 

 these proceedings, should suggest a question that she wishes answered, 

 and that such questions be read at each meeting. If we discuss the ques- 

 tion of seedlings, we shall elicit many interesting facts, and it should be 

 generally known that all our choicest plants, fruits, and flowers, have come 

 from seedlings. 



