64 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



best varieties of fruit and planting the 

 same. In the spring of 1846 these root- 

 lets were grafted with especially selected 

 scions, and particular attention was given 

 to their cultivation. Early in April, 1847, 

 a critical selection was made of between 

 800 and 900 of the best of the trees, one 

 year old from the graft, and they were 

 planted in two wagon boxes in a foot of 

 earth in which was uniformly mixed a lot 

 of pulverized charcoal. A light frame work 

 was built upon the top of each box in 

 order to protect the young and tender 

 limbs from injury by stock. Each wagon 

 was drawn by four yoke of oxen, Mr. 

 Luelling driving the first team and his 

 son, Alfred, a lad of 16, the second team. 

 The trees were watered on the plains as 

 opportunity offered, and the precious load 

 arrived at Portland — then a hamlet in the 

 dense timber containing not to exceed 20 

 rude log cabins — without any loss worth 

 mentioning. Finding a piece of cleared 

 land about half a mile north of Mil- 

 waukee owned by a man named A. E. 

 Wilson, Mr. Luelling bought the tract and 

 at once set out his trees in proper form. 

 Thus was the first fruit nursery on the 

 Pacific coast established. That act gave 

 to Oregon the name of "God's Country, 

 or the Land of the Big Red Apples," a 

 name I used to hear often when I first 

 came to Oregon .59 years ago from Illi- 

 nois. In the words of Ralph C. Geer, 

 also a pioneer of 1847, "That load of trees 

 contained health, wealth and comfort for 

 the old pioneers of Oregon." It was the 

 mother of all our early nurseries and or- 

 chards and gave Oregon a name and fame 

 that she never would have had without 

 it. That load of living shrubs and trees 

 brought more wealth to Oregon than any 

 ship that ever entered the Columbia 

 river. In this connection permit me to 

 say that the source of my information, 

 for the most part, was Alfred Luelling, 

 the son of Henderson, who was his 

 father's chief assistant in the original se- 

 lection of the varieties, and who attended 

 to all the details of work following until 

 the nursery was an established fact. Fur- 

 ther reference to the nursery and to Al- 

 fred Luelling may be found on page 95 

 of the "Proceedings and Papers of the 



Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Quar- 

 ter-Centennial Celebration of the Oregon 

 State Horticultural Society," held at Port- 

 land, Ore., November 30, 1910. 



It occurs to me at this moment that 

 it would be well to say something about 

 Seth Lewelling. a younger brother of Hen- 

 derson Luelling. Naturally you will note 

 the difference in spelling the names. The 

 following is the explanation: Originally 

 the name was spelled Llewellyn or Llew- 

 elyn. Henderson's father, so the grand- 

 son, Alfred, informed me, dropped the 

 original form and spelled it Luelling, and 

 followed that method. All the members 

 of the family followed that style of spell- 

 ing for many years — indeed until after 

 1SS2 — and then Seth began spelling his 

 name Lewelling. and followed that method 

 until he died February 21, 1896. He was 

 born in North Carolina, March 6, 1819, 

 and in early manhood learned the shoe- 

 maker's trade. In 1850 he crossed the 

 plains to California, worked in the mines 

 a few weeks, and then went to Milwau- 

 kee. Oregon territory, arriving there No- 

 vember 20, 1850. He worked at his trade 

 as opportunity offered, and in the nursery 

 of his brother, Henderson, between times 

 until November 26, 1853, when he became 

 a partner of the latter for a short time. 

 A little later he began the nursery busi- 

 ness on his own account. Seth Lewelling 

 originated the "Black Republican" cherry 

 in the early 60's, the Golden Prune in 

 1876, and the "Bing" cherry a little later. 

 This cherry was named "Bing" after a 

 faithful Chinaman who had been many 

 years in his employ, and who took great 

 interest in his effort to produce a new 

 and excellent variety of cherry. 



The varieties of fruits brought by Lew- 

 elling were: 



Summer Apples — Sweet June. Red As- 

 trachan. Golden Sweet, Summer Pearmain, 

 Summer Bellflower. 



AtJTUM.v Apples — Gravenstein, Red 

 Cheek Pippin, Seek-No-Further, Rambo, 

 King of Tompkins County. 



Winter Apples — Golden Russet, Yellow 

 Bellflower, Tulpehocken, Baldwin, Lady 

 Apple, White Pearmain, Northern Spy, 

 Esopus Spitzenburg, Winesap, Yellow 

 Newtown Pippin. .Tennetting. 



