276 THE SURVIVAL OP THE UNLIKE. [XV. 



grape, the olive, the citrous fruits, the walnut, the fig, 

 and the prune and raisin industries are already well 

 developed. In like manner, we may expect that in the 

 course of time the horticultural industries of eastern 

 America and eastern Asia will acquire the similarity 

 of facies which the floras of these regions now enjoy. 

 I therefore look with much favor upon the introduc- 

 tion of Japanese plants ; and I am convinced, both 

 from the known resemblance of its flora to our own, 

 and from the early introduction of its plants into 

 western Asia and Europe, that the most promising 

 field for horticultural exploration and for the study 

 of the ancestry of our fruits, is now the interior of 

 China and Japan. 



It is yet too soon to fully measure the value of 

 the contributions of eastern Asia to our pomology, 

 although the importance of the hardy ornamentals 

 derived in great numbers from that region is every- 

 where conceded. Yet this antipodean region has al- 

 ready given us quite as important species of fruits as 

 Europe and western Asia have, despite the fact that 

 these latter regions were the source of our coloniza- 

 tion and civilization. The following list includes all 

 the fruits of the United States which have come from 

 the Europo-Asian region and from the Chino -Japanese 

 region : 



