XXIV.] DISAPPEARANCE OF EUROPEAN FRUITS. 387 



In 1845, there were one hundred and ninety varie- 

 ties of apples in North America. Eighty- seven of 

 these are known to be of European origin and 

 ninety -three of American origin. At the present 

 time, 77 per cent of the European lot have been lost 

 in America, against only 33 per cent in the American 

 lot. This shows that with the greater number of 

 varieties which had come into use since the time of 

 Coxe, and from which selections had been made, 

 there had appeared more American than European 

 varieties of merit for American conditions. In other 

 words, American varieties are better adapted to Amer- 

 ican conditions than the European varieties are ; and 

 this fact accounts for the disappearance of very many 

 of the apples in the old lists. There has been a con- 

 stant tendency from the first towards the disappear- 

 ance of the apples, pears, and all other fruits of 

 European origin, and towards the persistence of 

 American kinds. There is a like tendency, very 

 strongly marked, towards the disappearance of New 

 England apples and other fruits from the prairie 

 states, and a corresponding increase in the percent- 

 ages of fruits original to those regions. If a certain 

 variety, therefore, as the Baldwin, disappears from 

 large portions of a western state, this fact is an 

 illustration of lack of adaptability to those conditions, 

 rather than of a running out. Many of the varieties 

 which are commonly thought to have run out are 

 now and then found thriving in perfection in some 

 local spot, showing that they still retain their pris- 

 tine vigor. I may illustrate this point — disappear- 

 ance due to lack of adaptation — by calling yo in- 

 attention to the fact that very many of the novelties 



