XVI.] APPLE FLORAS, — RHODODENDRONS. 28,5 



local conditions is a most imperative demand in horti- 

 cultural pursuits. I therefore look with much dis- 

 trust upon the promiscuous distribution of varieties over 

 great areas. If I should not plant a Baldwin orchard in 

 Illinois, I should hesitate in like manner to plant a Ben 

 Davis orchard in New York. I believe that the days of 

 the nursery business which aims to feed the whole coun- 

 try are numbered. We shall develop more nurseries 

 like those in many parts of New York and other eastern 

 states, which attempt to supply the stock which is par- 

 ticularly adapted to their geographical regions, and 

 which are content to leave other lands for other men. 

 Climate and environment must eventually force the 

 nurseries into nearly as narrow limits as the adapta- 

 bility of the stock which they grow, although this con- 

 traction will follow some distance behind the deter- 

 mination or discovery of the limits of adaptability of 

 the varieties themselves. The European nurseries have 

 had this experience to an important extent. 



Right here you may wish to cite me to the excel- 

 lent displays of rhododendrons and azaleas upon these 

 grounds as proof that nursery stock can be successfully 

 grown far away from the geographical area in which it 

 is to mature, for these plants, with unimportant excep- 

 tions, are grown in Europe. But I shall contend that 

 the most important reason why these plants do not suc- 

 ceed well in America is because they are European - 

 grown. It is always said that the American climate is 

 not adapted to the rhododendron, but with all due 

 respect to those much older than myself, I must still 

 decline to believe the statement. One of the most 

 important species of cultivated rhododendron is na- 

 tive to our Alleghany region, and evergreen ericaceous 



