316 THE SURVIVAL OP THE UNLIKE. [xvill. 



Lyon admits nineteen varieties to the rank of 9 and 10 

 for market, of which two — Duchess of Oldenburgh 

 and Red Astraehan — are Russian, and another is per- 

 haps of European origin. Less than one -sixth of the 

 Michigan market apples, therefore, are of Old World 

 origin, and one of these — the Duchess — is of recent 

 introduction as a market apple. Of the nine crab- 

 apples admitted by Mr. Lyon, all but the compara- 

 tively unimportant Red Siberian are of American 

 origin. 



The pear affords an interesting study in this con- 

 nection, for it is a fruit which has been highly culti- 

 vated and developed in Europe, but has received only 

 indifferent attention in this country, so far as the 

 production of varieties is concerned. Coxe, in 1817, 

 described sixty -five pears as grown in this country, 

 of which only four, or less than one -sixteenth, were 

 American in origin. Of the whole list, only the 

 Madeleine is popular now. In 1845 Downing de- 

 scribed two hundred and thirty- nine kinds, one 

 hundred and ninety -two of which, or 80 per cent, 

 were European, the remainder being American. In 

 1872 the Downings admitted nine hundred and 

 ninety -five varieties, of which nine hundred and 

 fifty-four have a known geographi(!al origin. Of 

 these, seven hundred and eight varieties, or 74 per 

 cent, are foreign. There has, therefore, been a grad- 

 ual increase in the percentages of domestic varieties 

 from the beginning, although the foreign kinds are 

 still predominant. In Mr. Lyon's Fruit Catalogue, 

 twenty -one pears are admitted as 9 and 10 for des- 

 sert, of which seven, or just one-third, are Ameri- 

 can ; and exactly the same ratio holds in the twelve 



