IX.] INTRODUCTION OF SPECIES. 211 



Many species have come to us from various parts 

 of the world throughout the centurj^ but the immigra- 

 tion still continues, and -perhaps is greater now than 

 at any previous time. It is well nigh impossible to 

 chronicle the new types of ornamental plants which 

 have come to America during the last two decades. 

 Consider the overwhelming introduction of species of 

 orchids alone. Even the wholly new types of fruits 

 are many. Over twenty -five species of edible plants 

 have come to America comparatively recently from 

 Japan alone, and some of these species are already 

 very important. Two of them, the Japanese persim- 

 mons and the Japanese plums, are most signal addi- 

 tions, probably exceeding in value any other introduc- 

 tions of species not heretofore in the country, made 

 during the last quarter -century. During the years 

 1889, 1890 and 1891, some three hundred and eighty 

 species of plants not in commercial cultivation here 

 were introduced into North America, partly from abroad 

 and partly from our own flora. In 1891 alone, two 

 hundred and nineteen distinct species were introduced. 



Valuable as these new types are in themselves, all 

 experience teaches that we are to expect better things 

 from their cultivated and variable progeny. We can 

 scarcely conceive what riches the future will bring. 



3. There is great progress m methods of caring for 

 plants. The manner of cultivating and caring for 

 plants has changed much during recent years. It is 

 doubtful if all this change represents actual progress 

 in methods, but it indicates inquiry and growth, and 

 it must eventually bring us to the ideal treatment of 

 plants. Some of the change is simply a see -saw from 

 one method to another, according as our knowledge 



