184 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



New York, Campbell, of Ohio, Arnold, of Canada, Moore, of New 

 York, and Wylie, of South Carolina, who have each produced fer- 

 tile new varieties, by the crossing of European with the different 

 American species. 



Some of the facts ascertained by the last-named gentleman are 

 exceedingly interesting. lie found that as a general thing the 

 pollen grains of grapes were of oblong form, while those of the 

 Scuppornong, the great wild grape of the South, were smaller and 

 more spherical. He found that he could not fertilize the Scupper- 

 nong with pollen from other species, but he did succeed in impreg- 

 nating the foreign grapes with pollen from the Scuppernong. His 

 inference was that the pollen grains being smaller in the Scupper- 

 nong than in other varieties, the canal through which they have 

 to pass to reach the ovule in that species is also smaller, and thus 

 he explained the result of his experiments. The smaller grains 

 could pass through the larger tube, but the larger grains could not 

 pass through the smaller tube. 



In our experiments we shall meet with manj^ disappointments, 

 but, by careful watching and perseverance, we shall be constantly 

 im[)roving, and as every advance constitutes a step for still fur- 

 ther improvement, we shall be able to produce new creations, of 

 Avhich we have had but little previous conception, and who shall 

 dare, in view of our present attainments, to limit the bounds of 

 our acquisitions in the future? In the language of the late Dr. 

 Lindle}' : " We have but stepped over the borders, and the whole 

 field of hybridizing lies widely spread before us ; its boundaries 

 are lost in the horizon, and we shall find them still receding as we 

 advance." 



A word as to the particular points to be sought after in the pro- 

 duction of new varieties of fruits or flowers may be of interest and 

 importance. It would be of little advantage to produce new va- 

 rieties possessing only suc.h qualities as characterize the kinds 

 already in cultivation, but a variety with new properties or a new 

 combination of qualities would be an acquisition to our orchards 

 or gardens. Thus the autumn pears are already so numerous 

 and excellent that a new one, however fine, is almost a perplexit}- ; 

 but when we can secure a variety of the first class, either earlier 

 or later than others of equal excellence, such an acquisition is a 

 treasure to be cherished as prolonging the season of our enjo3'raent 

 of this delicious fruit. The Concord grape is so easily produced 



