1516 



HORTICULTURE 



HORTICULTURE 



native red and black species, which first began to 

 impress themselves upon cultivation about 1860. 



The blackberry, an indigenous American fruit, first 

 commended itself to cultivation witli the introduction 

 of the New Rochelle or Lawton, toward the close of the 

 1850's. The first named variety of native blackberry of 

 which we have any record was the Dorchester, which 

 was exhibited before the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society in 1841. 



The dewberry, a pecuharly American fruit, first 

 appeared in cultivation early in the 1870's in southern 

 Illinois under the name of the Bartel, which is a large 

 form of the common wild dewberry of that region. It 

 was first brought to the attention of the pubUc in 1875. 

 The following year the Lucretia, the most popular of 

 dewberries, was introduced into Ohio from West Vir- 

 ginia, where it had been found wild some years before 

 by a Union soldier. 



Gooseberries. — The history of the gooseberry in 

 America recalls that of the grape. It is a characteristic 

 fruit of England and the Low Countries, and it was 

 early introduced into America. But, like the European 

 grapes, the gooseberries were attacked by a fungous 

 sickness which rendered the cultivation precarious. 

 An improved form of the native species must be intro- 

 duced, and this was accomphshed by Abel Houghton, 

 of Massachusetts, who, from the seed of the wild berry, 

 produced the variety which now bears his name (Fig. 

 1862). This variety began to attract some attention a 



1859. An early American picture of grape-training (1806). 



httle previous to 1850, although it was not planted 

 freely until several years later. From seed of the 

 Houghton sprang the Downing, stiU the most popular 

 gooseberry in America, although Houghton is still 

 much grown from Philadelphia south; and our goose- 

 berry-culture is, therefore, but two removes from 

 nature. With the advent of the bordeaux mixture 

 and its related specifics, however, the English goose- 

 berries are again coming to the fore. Hybrids of the 

 EngUsh and American types, as in the Triumph or 

 Columbia and the Chautauqua, may be expected to 

 become more popular for home use and special markets, 

 but the Americans wiU probably remain in favor for 

 general market purposes. 



The cranberry, most singular of American horticul- 

 tural products, was first cultivated, or rescued from 

 mere wild bogs, about 1810. Its cultivation began to 

 attract attention about 1840, although the difficulties 

 connected with the growing of a new crop did not begin 

 to clear away until about 1850. Cape Cod was the 

 first cranberry-growing region, which was soon fol- 

 lowed by New Jersey, and later by Wisconsin and other 

 regions. The varieties now known are over a hundred, 

 and the annual product from tame bogs in North 

 America is now upward of 1,000,000 bushels. 



The nursery and seed business. 



It is impossible to fix a date for the beginning of the 

 nursery business in North America. Trees were at 

 first grown in small quantities as an 

 adjunct to general farm operations. 

 Gov. John Endicott, of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Colony, was one of the 

 best fruit-growers of his time, and 

 he grew many trees. In 1644, he 

 wrote to John Winthrop as follows: 

 "My children burnt mee at least 

 500 trees this Spring by setting the 

 ground on fire neere them;" and in 

 1648 he traded 500 apple trees, three 

 years old, for 250 acres of land. The 

 first nursery in Maine is thought 

 by Manning to have been that of 

 Ephraim Goodale, at Orrington, 

 estabUshed early in the present cen- 

 tury. Other early nurserymen of 

 Maine were the brothers Benjamin 

 and Charles Vaughan, EngUshmen, 

 who settled at Hallowell in 1796. 

 An early nursery in South Carolina 

 was estabhshed by John Watson, 

 formerly gardener to Henry Laurens, 

 before the Revolution. In Massa^ 

 chusetts, there were several small 

 nurserymen toward the close of the 

 eighteenth century, amongst others, 

 John Kenrick, of Newtown, whose 

 son William wrote the "New Ameri- 

 can Orchardist," published in 18.33, 

 and which passed through at least 

 eight editions. The trees were usu- 

 ally top-grafted or budded, some- 

 times in the nursery and sometimes 

 after removal to the orchard. 

 Deane \vrites in 1797, that "the 

 fruit trees should be allowed to 

 grow to the height of 5 or 6 feet 

 before they are budded or grafted." 

 Stocks were sometimes grafted at 

 the crown, and even root-grafting 

 was known, although it is gener- 

 ally said that this operation origi- 

 nated with Thomas Andrew Knight, 

 in 1811. It is probable, however, 

 that the root-grafting of the eigh- 

 teenth century was only grafting 



