ESSEX SOCIETY. 4fl 



already said. Bat, in compliance with your request, and de- 

 sirous as I am that the subject should be fully investigated, 

 that we may arrive at such conclusion as may in some measure 

 assist orchardists to pursue a course that will ensure longevity 

 to their orchards, I will state something of the experience and 

 observation I have had the past year. 



I have carefully noticed the different varieties of soil and 

 culture upon which the trees stand, on which I have engrafted 

 old varieties of the apple, and I find that the same kinds of 

 fruit bear the same marks of old age, notwithstanding the ad- 

 vantage some of them have had of soil and culture. Most of 

 the stocks on which these old kinds are now growing, or rather 

 decaying, appear to be vigorous, and in many instances to send 

 out new shoots, but unless a new top can be grown from the 

 trunk, it must finally expire, as does man in youth, or middle 

 age, by diseased lungs, when all other parts of the system are 

 perfect. 



The seed for a nursery ought not to be taken from grafted 

 fruit, but from a seedling, that has arrived at maturity, or to a 

 state of strength and vigor, which is in accordance with the 

 laws of nature, — for the progeny of early youth or old age are 

 inferior to the productions of middle age. 



That our orchards are deteriorating very fast, in consequence 

 of our anxiety to obtain an early harvest of fruit, by budding 

 or engrafting, must be apparent ; in consequence of which, our 

 orchards bear the marks of premature old age, and there seems 

 to me to be no alternative, but to raise new varieties from the 

 seed. 



I think there can be no doubt of the utility of offering large 

 premiums for new varieties of seedlings. If one thousand dol- 

 lars were offered for six, eight, or ten kinds, to be paid in ten 

 or twelve years hence, that should be equal, or nearly so, to the 

 same number of the best kinds we now have, I would be bound 

 to pay the premiums, if I might have the profits to be derived 

 from the buds or grafts of those trees for ten years. 



Lynnfield, Nov. 15, 1850. 



