4 A Retrospective View of the Progress of 



snow is three inches deep. So far the month has been re- 

 markable for sudden changes as well as for its low temper- 

 ature, there having been only one day when it thawed in 

 the shade. 



Horticulture. 



No features in the progress of Horticulture are more apparent, 

 than the manifest desire to cultivate the newer and better varie- 

 ties of fruits, to the exclusion of the old and inferior ; and the 

 rapid extension of orchards in every part of the country. There 

 are many individuals who delight to look on the dark side of 

 every picture, and who always fancy they see much over 

 which to lament. Of this class are those who are fearful the 

 culture of fruit and fruit trees will be overdone ; and who 

 look forward to a glutted market of each. We are aware 

 that almost every cultivator has become a nurseryman, or 

 dealer in trees ; but in this we see nothing to induce us to 

 believe that it will result in anything but a benefit to the 

 regular dealers. Twenty-five years ago the same fear was en- 

 tertained ; but the anticipated result has not yet come, and we 

 think twenty-five years hence we shall be just as near it as 

 we are now. Any person who takes a general survey of our 

 country, its vast extent, and the quantity of unoccupied land, 

 must see that years must elapse before it can be planted 

 up abundantly enough to keep pace with the demand. Our 

 railroads are every year, — almost every month, — penetrating 

 the interior, and opening new regions of country which are 

 to be supplied from the older places ; the increasing taste for 

 trees in and around our larger cities augments the demand ; 

 and with the increased consumption to which an acquaintance 

 with our choice fruits invariably leads, there is little danger 

 of an over-supply of trees, or an unconsumed crop of fruit. 



A review of our catalogues of fruits will show at a glance 

 the progress made in the production of our native kinds. 

 Scarcely twenty years have elapsed, since, in the pear alone, 

 we could number only five or six varieties. The same might 

 be said of ©ther fruits, with the exception of grapes. Our 

 principal reliance has been upon a foreign supply. Happily 



