48 INTRODUCTION. 



of forming a horticultural society was discussed ; and, when such 

 a society was formed, the Farmer naturally became its organ, 

 and continued to be as long as it existed. 



The nursery established by Jonathan Winship, at his residence 

 in Brighton, in 1816, was, next to that established by John Kenrick, 

 the oldest near Boston. That, however, was confined to hardy 

 plants, while the Winship nursery comprised a collection of green- 

 house plants. In 1824 Capt. Winship associated with him his 

 brother Francis, and the firm had finally thirty acres under cultiva- 

 tion. Special attention was given to ornamental trees and plants. 



In 1823 Robert Manning of Salem commenced the formation 

 of his pomological garden, with the design of collecting speci- 

 men trees of such varieties of fruits, both native and foreign, 

 as were hardy enough to endure the inclemency of our winters, 

 identifying, and testing them, and selecting for propagation such 

 as proved worthy. In pursuing this object, he soon, in connection 

 with William Kenrick, opened a correspondence with Dr. Van 

 Mons of Belgium (receiving from him the man} 7 fine varieties which 

 he had originated), and with Robert Thompson, the head of the 

 fruit department in the garden of the London Horticultural Society, 

 and author of their Catalogue of Fruits ; the scions received from 

 the latter source being taken from the trees carefully identified 

 by Mr. Thompson. Trees and scions were also drawn from all 

 the prominent nurserymen and other cultivators in Europe and 

 America. Though the obstacles to importing trees and scions, 

 independent of the difficulty of obtaining the newer and choicer 

 varieties from sources to be depended on, were much greater than 

 at present, owing to the slowness and irregularity of communica- 

 tion, yet Mr. Manning pursued his chosen work with such ardor, 

 that, at the time of his death, in 1842, his collection of fruits was 

 far larger than had previously been made by any American pomolo- 

 gist, amounting to nearly two thousand varieties of apples, pears, 

 peaches, plums, cherries, and apricots; pears, which were his 

 favorite fruit, forming by far the larger part. He also established 

 a nursery for the propagation and sale of such varieties as proved 

 worthy of general cultivation. To him more than to any other 

 one in his day perhaps it would be just to say more than to all 

 others were the public indebted for the introduction of new and 

 choice fruits, for the identification of the different varieties, for the 

 correction of their nomenclature, and the testing of their qualities ; 



