314 THE SURVIVAL OF THE UNLIKE. [XVIII. 



apple has been longest cultivated in this country, and 

 it thrives over the widest range, and we should be 

 able to draw some valuable lessons from its behavior. 

 The first American work on pomology was William 

 Coxe's, published in 1817. In this work is given a 

 <list of "one hundred kinds of the most estimable 

 apples cultivated in our country." The list contains 

 one hundred and one kinds, of which only about a 

 half-dozen are now popular, and only one, the Rhode 

 Island Greening, can be classed as a general market 

 fruit. The geographical origins of eighty-nine of 

 these varieties are determinable, of which number 

 thirty-two, or 36 per cent, are of European origin, 

 and fifty -seven, or 64 per cent, are American. The 

 first edition of Downing, 1845, describes one hundred 

 and ninety varieties of apples, one hundred and eighty 

 of which have known origins. Of these one hundred 

 and eighty kinds, eighty -seven, or about 48 per cent, 

 are European, and ninety-three, or 52 per cent, are 

 American. Between 1817 and 1845, therefore, there 

 was apparently a gain in the introduction of European 

 apples over the American ; but this need excite no 

 surprise when we consider that those were the pioneer 

 and formative days of American pomology, when great 

 discrimination in varieties was not practiced, and when 

 Europe was the most prolific source of new varieties. 



In the second edition of Downing, 1872, we find a 

 decided change. There are descriptions of one thou- 

 sand eight hundred and fifty -six varieties of apples, 

 and the origins are fairly well determined of one 

 thousand six hundred and eighty -four of them. Of 

 this number, five hundred and eighty -five, or 31 per 

 cent, are European, and one thousand and ninety- 



