MR. newuall's address. 13 



It is the belief of some that any given variety of fruit may be con- 

 tinued, and profitably cultivated indefinitely; and that the appa- 

 rent decline of some old varieties, is owing to the want of care and 

 good culture. This view of the subject I think must be erroneous, 

 and lead to disappointment and loss. In the first place proof to 

 demonstration of the decay of old fruit trees, is seen in specimens 

 "which have been growing in the county from its early settlement ; 

 many of which have entirely decayed. Scions from others which 

 have been grafted on thrifty seedling stocks, although they still live, 

 bear every mark of old age ; — while the under branches of the 

 young stocks upon which the old scions were inserted, annually pro- 

 duced a vigorous growth. 



In the second place such a theory is unphilosophical and repug- 

 nant to natural laws. Throughout the whole system of organized 

 being we see an incipient existence, a full maturity, and a state of 

 decay, and finally, of death. There is nothing immortal "in this di- 

 urnal scene." If a man should tell you that he possessed an animal 

 that would never die, or that he, himself, would live forever, you 

 would consider him insane. Nature has made provision for the 

 continuance of species by seed ; and when it is stated that some of 

 the fruits now extant, were cultivated in the time of Julius Ciesar, 

 the highest probability exists that they are the reproduction from 

 seed of those ancient fruits ; and bearing so near a resemblance to 

 their parents as to be mistaken for the same. 



Some have been deterred from planting fruit trees from a belle^ 

 that it would take more time than one generation before they would 

 become productive, and that he who planted trees, planted 

 for posterity. While this should be one motive for so doing, the 

 young man who plants the apple tree and cultivates it well, will, 

 in a very few years receive an ample return. Trees of good 

 size when taken from the nursery and carefully set and properly 

 cared for, will produce a barrel of fruit each, in seven or eight years. 



The cultivation of forest trees demands the consideration of every 

 land-holder. It is a subject connected with the true interest of the 

 county. W e trust that the increasing intelligence of our citizens, 

 encouraged by the premiums offered by this society, and by the very 

 liberal one offered by an intelligent citizen of Lynn,* for plantations 



♦Richard S. Fay, Esi|. 



