No. 3. 



The Van Mons Theory. — To Horsemen. 



81 



about its results, it is scarcely likely to come 

 into very general use here. At the same 

 time it is not be denied that in his hands it 

 has proved a very successful mode of obtain- 

 ing new varieties. 



It is also undoubtedly true that it is a 

 mode closely founded on natural laws, and 

 that the great bulk of our fine varieties have 

 originated, nominally by chance, but really, 

 by successive reproductions from the seed in 

 our gardens. 



It is not a little remarkable that the con- 

 stant springing up of fine new sorts of fruit 

 in the United States, which is every day 

 growing more frequent, is given with much 

 apparent force as a proof of the accuracy of 

 the Van Mons theory. The first colonists 

 here, who brought with them many seeds 

 gathered from the best old varieties of fruits, 

 were surprised to find their seedlings pro- 

 ducing only very inferior fruits. These 

 seedlings had returned by their inlierent 

 tendency almost to a wild state. By rear- 

 ing from them, however, seedlings of many 

 repeated generations, we have arrived at a 

 great number of the finest apples, pears, 

 peaches and plums. According to Dr. Van 

 Mons, had this process been continued unin- 

 terruptedly, from one generation to the ne.\t, 

 a much shorter time would have been neces- 

 sary for the production of first rate varieties. 



To show how the practice of chance sow- 

 ing works in the other hemisphere, it is 

 stated by one of the most celebrated of the 

 old writers on fruits, Duhamel of France, 

 that he had been in the habit of planting 

 seeds of the finest table pears for fifty years, 

 without ever having produced a good varie- 

 ty. These seeds were from trees of old va- 

 rieties of fruit. 



The American gardener will easily per- 

 ceive, from what we have stated, a great 

 advantage placed in his hands at the present 

 time for the amelioration of fruits by this 

 system. He will see that, as most of our 

 American varieties of fruit are the result of 

 repeated sowings, more or less constantly 

 repeated, he has before him almost every 

 day a part of the ameliorating process in 

 progress; to which Dr. Van Mons, begin- 

 ning de novo, was obliged to devote his 

 whole life. Nearly all that it is necessary 

 for him to do in attempting to raise a new 

 variety of excellence by this simple mode, is 

 to gather his seeds — before they are fully 

 ripe — from a seedling sort of promising 

 quality, though not yet arrived at perfection. 

 The seedling must be quite young — must be 

 on its own root — not grafted ; — and it must 

 be a healthy tree, in order to secure a 

 healthy generation of seedlings. Our own 

 experience leads us to believe that he will 



scarcely have to go beyond one or two gene- 

 rations to obtain fine fruit. These remarks 

 apply to most of our table fruits commonly 

 cultivated. On the other hand, our native 

 grapes, the Isabella, Catawba, &lc., which 

 are scarcely removed from the wild state, 

 must by this ameliorating process be carried 

 through several successive generations be- 

 fore we arrive at varieties equalling the 

 finest foreign grapes; a result, wliich, judg- 

 ing from what we see in progress, we have 

 every reason speedily to hope for. 



In order to be most successful in raising 

 new varieties by successive reproduction, 

 let us bear in mind that we must avoid — 1st, 

 the seeds of old fruit trees; 2nd, those of 

 grafted fruit trees; and 3rd, that we have 

 the best grounds for good results when we 

 gather our seeds from a young seedling tree, 

 which is itself rather a perfecting than a 

 perfect fruit. 



It is not to be denied that, in the face of 

 Dr. Van Mons' theory, in tliis country, new 

 varieties of rare excellence are sometimes 

 obtained at once by planting the seeds of 

 old grafted varieties; thus the Lawrence's 

 Favourite, and the Columbia plums, were 

 raised from seeds of the Green Gage, one of 

 the oldest European varieties. 



Such are the means of originating new 

 fruits by the Belgian mode. Let us now 

 examine another more direct, more interest- 

 ing, and more scientific process — cross-breed- 

 ing; a mode almost universally pursued now 

 by skilful cultivators, in producing new and 

 finer varieties of plants; and which Mr. 

 Knight, the most distinguished horticultu- 

 rist of the age, so successfully practised on 

 fruit trees. — The Fruits and Fruit Trees of 

 America. 



To Horsemen. — The New York Sun 

 gives the .following instructions in horse- 

 back riding : " When a horse runs away 

 with you, have the presence of mind to 

 catch hold of his mane, wind your bridle 

 round his neck and pull upon it; it will 

 have the immediate effect of stopping his 

 career, however headlong it may be. Or if 

 your bridle is not long enough, clasp your 

 arms around his neck, and clinch his wind- 

 pipe ; by doing this you will effectually stop 

 him the moment his respiration is checked. 

 Persons having but a small portion of pre- 

 sence of mind may thus save their own or a 

 fellow-creature's life. 



We believe in a clean kitchen, a neat 

 wife in it, a spinning piano, a clean cup- 

 board, a clean dairy, and a clear consci- 

 ence. 



