132 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



pending on a truly philosophical principle, and 

 with very particular attention may yet prove as 

 available fur the improvement of our fruits as it 

 has for the production of fine varieties in the veg- 

 etable and floral kingdom, or as tlie correspond- 

 ing principle has in the crossing of the breeds of 

 domestic animals. 



The results of Mr. Knight's experience disprove 

 the tendency to degeneracy, inasmuch as many 

 of his fruits, obtained by hybridization, are 

 among the most durable and luirdy varieties, as 

 the EycAvood and Dunmorc Pears ; the Black 

 Eagle and other Cherries. 



Many cultivators, as Esperen, Bivort, Berck- 

 mans, and others, both in this and foreign coun- 

 tries, have sown seeds in variety, and have ob- 

 tained some valuable sorts. But I am confirmed 

 in the opinion, that the best means of producing 

 new and excellent varieties, suited either to gen- 

 eral cultivation or to particular localities, is to 

 plant the most mature and perfect seed of the most 

 hardy, vigorous and valuable sorts ; on the gen- 

 eral pathological principle that like produces 

 like, and upon the conviction that immature 

 seed, although the embryo may be sufficiently 

 formed to vegetate, yet not having all its ele- 

 ments in perfection, it will not produce a vigor- 

 ous and healthy of&pring. Dr. Lindley, com- 

 menting upon this practice, justly remarks — "All 

 experience shows that in every kind of created 

 thing, be it man or beast, or bird, the myste- 

 rious principle, called life, remains during the 

 whole period of existence what it was at first. 

 If vitality is feeble in the beginning, so it re- 

 mains. W^eak parents produce weak children, 

 . and their cliildron's children are weaker still, as 

 imperial dynasties have sadly shown." With 

 him we believe this theory as applicable to the 

 vegetable as to the animal kingdom. May not 

 a disregard of this doctrine account for the great 

 number of feeble, sickly, early defoliated trees 

 often found in our grounds ])y the side of those 

 that are vigorous, healthful, and persistent in fo- 

 liage ? Is not the theory we advocate as impor- 

 tant in the production of fruit trees, as in the 

 raising of cereal grains? The skilful agricul- 

 turist saves the host seed of his various crops, 

 and selects the best animals from his flocks and 

 herds for breeders. Why should not this law of 

 reproduction regulate the practice of the pomo- 

 logist as well a.s of the farmer? Has the All- 

 wise and Infinite enacted several laws where one 

 would subsei"ve the purpose ? 

 _ To the doctrine of Van Mons, and other dis- 

 tinguished writers, respecting deterioration by 

 age, and after a variety has reached its perfec- 

 tion, there seem to be some, exceptions. From 

 the accounts of oriental travellers, may we not 

 believe that the grapes of Eschol are as perfect 

 now as when the chiefs of Israel plucked their 

 rich clusters three thousand years ago ? — and 

 that tlie same variety of the fig, the olive, and 

 the pinaegranate are as perfect in Syria to-day 

 as in tiie period of David and Solomon ? It is 

 worthy of inquiry whether the native grapes, on 

 the banks of our rivers, have deteriorated since 

 the day when tlie rod men of the forest refreshed 

 themselves with fruit from those vines, and 

 whether the orange, the lemon, the bananna, and 

 the fruits of southern latitudes, evince any more 

 signs of decay than they did centuries ago 1 In 



a word, whether this doctrine of deterioration is 

 as applicable to the native as to the foreign fruit 

 of a country 1 



Why may we not expect to ol)tain natural va- 

 rieties of the apple and other fruit as durable 

 and far more valuable than those which have 

 passed their second centennial, as the Endicott 

 and Stuyvesant Pears ? From meteorological or 

 other causes, which we do not at present under- 

 stand, particular varieties may deteriorate in a 

 given locality, for a season, and afterwards re- 

 vive ; or, they may show signs of decay in one 

 locality and flourish well in others not very re- 

 mote, as the White Doyenne, which has been 

 considered, for many years, by some in this vi- 

 cinity, on the decline, while it is perfect in sev- 

 eral places in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 and other States. Fruit-bearing may exhaust 

 the vital energy of the tree, and hasten decay, 

 but still the variety may remain. We have, 

 among fruit trees, no example of longevity equal 

 to that v.i *he new Taxodium', found in Califor- 

 nia, supposed to be three thousand years old. 

 Our object is not to controvert the opinions of 

 those who believe in the running out of varieties, 

 whether their duration be limited to one hun- 

 dred or one thousand years, but to enforce the 

 importance of raising new varieties from seed, 

 especially adapted to our own location. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



We have received the volume of the Transac- 

 tions of the New Hampshire Agricult^iral Society, 

 ^orl855. This volume is well got up, and filled, 

 from beginning to end, with interesting facts and 

 suggestions. The various reports, essays and 

 communications which it contains, partake in a 

 very marked degree the character of the people 

 of the Granite State ; they are eminently prac- 

 tical. The volume contains copious extracts from 

 the speeches made on the occasion of the annual 

 meeting. These speeches were not dull, prosy 

 affairs — speeches made against time — but they 

 exhibit a life and fervor that must have stirred 

 the souls of those who were fortunate enough to 

 hear them. The affiiirs of the society are evi- 

 dently in the hands of earnest, working men — 

 men who have undertaken the not easy task of 

 making their mark on the hard soil of New 

 Hampshire. When such men rest from their 

 labors, "their works do follow them." 



The Granite Farmer. — This paper — the only 

 agricultural paper, we believe, in New Hamp- 

 shire — is a large and handsome sheet, and pub- 

 lished weekly at Manchester, at $1,50 per an- 

 num. It takes earnestly hold of the great work 

 to be done ; has active and intelligent Editors, and 

 practical, judicious correspondents. It would 

 not only be a matter of profit, but it seems to ug 

 to be the duty of every farmer in New Hampshire 

 to do something to sustain it by subscription and 



