76 



Seedling Fruit Trees. 



Vol. Vllf. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Seedling Fruit Trees. 



Mr. Editor, — I was much struck with 

 the plausibility and apparent force, of some 

 observations of a writer in the August num- 

 ber of the Cabinet, under the appropriate 

 signature of " Poma," on the subject of 

 Apples — particularly the apples of Ohio. I 

 have not the article by me, but the gist of 

 his reasoning was, that the youthful appear- 

 ance of the fruit trees, especially the apple 

 trees of Ohio, and the fairness and soundness 

 of the fruit, which have attracted the notice 

 even of passing strangers, was probably to 

 be ascribed to the trees themselves being 

 seedlings, or recently derived from seedling 

 trees. He argued the probability, that " set- 

 tlers" in Ohio, from the Eastern States, had 

 taken the seeds of apples as a matter of con 

 venicnce, in lieu of scions or grafted stocks 

 from old trees ; and that theretbre, the pre- 

 sent orchards of Ohio, are in fact, youthful 

 trees. This conclusion would appear to be 

 warranted by the theory and the practice 

 now prevalent in Europe — especially in Bel- 

 gium — where they are creating, as it were, 

 new and ameliorated varieties of fruits, by 

 planting the seeds for several successive 

 generations, until a fine variety is obtained, 

 worthy to be preserved and propagated. 

 They are not at all particular about the ex- 

 cellence of the fruit from which they take 

 the first seed for planting ; neither does the 

 fruit from the first planting show much, if 

 any sign, of amelioration; but the second 

 generation comes out with higher promise, 

 and a superior variety is usually established 

 in the third generation, with the peach, ac- 

 cording to Van Mons, and in the sixth, with 

 the apple. 



Knowing how observant he is of things 

 useful in their nature, and connected with 

 the substantial interests of society, I called 

 the attention of Mr. Whittlesey, himself a 

 practical farmer of Ohio, to "Poma's" re- 

 marks, and received from him, with his cha- 

 racteristic promptness and kindness, the en- 

 closed letter, which you are at liberty to 

 publish, if you see proper. It is offered pri- 

 marily, for its intrinsic value, in reference 

 to this most valuable of all the fruits in 

 Ohio; and secondly, as some evidence of 

 my own sensibility to the kindness evinced 

 by yourself, and the publishers of many 

 other agricultural, and other periodicals and 

 papers, in sending them gratuitously to one 

 who has no means of making any return, 

 except, as in this case, by an occasional 

 communication. 



Permit me, while I have pen in hand, to 

 congratulate you on the progress of improve 



ments in agriculture and horticulture, which 

 has marked the time in which we have lived. 

 "Intelligent writers," says Kenrick, in his 

 excellent 'New A merican Orchardist,' " those 

 on whom we may rely, have assured us that 

 the new and numerous class of fruits which 

 have arisen during the last forty years, is 

 far more precious and inestimable in point 

 of quality, than all previously known.'''' 



When I established the " Old American 

 Farmer," chiefly as a vehicle for the out- 

 pouring of my own crude notions of what 

 might be done to improve the processes and 

 implements of American agriculture, to me- 

 liorate our domestic animals and fruits and 

 vegetables, and to vindicate and elevate the 

 cause of agriculture, as a great and ne- 

 glected national interest — I had five hundred 

 impressions of the first number printed and 

 laid on my table, without knowing whether 

 I should ever have either correspondent or 

 patron. Look now at the number of atten- 

 tive and earnest readers of agricultural jour- 

 nals in the United States ! Here is an ex- 

 tract from the first number of the " American 

 Farmer," dated April 2nd, 1819, — twenty- 

 four years ago. It would have been issued 

 on the \st of April, but that you know is 

 all-fools'-day, and it was doubtful whether 

 the attempt to establish an agricultural pe- 

 riodical, might not turn out as bootless as 

 " hunting the Gowk" in Scotland, on April 

 day. This is done by sending silly people 

 upon fools' errands, from place to place, by 

 means qf a letter, in which is written, 



" On the first day of Aprile, 

 Hunt the Gowk another mile." 



It amuses me now to look back to the 

 first number of that journal, at the likeness, 

 for it was a true portrait, of the famous ox, 

 Columbus.' Wiiat, at the cattle show at Ro- 

 chester, would have been thought of an ani- 

 mal of such a form? Amusing too, is the 

 caution with which the editor felt his way. 

 "The editor has taken the liberty to forward 

 the first number of the 'American Farmer,' 

 to some gentlemen whose names occurred to 

 him at the moment, and who, he thought, 

 would be likely to patronize a work of this 

 kind. He begs, that if they approve of the 

 plan of it, they will make it known, and by 

 any convenient means, assist in extending 

 its circulation. 



" The editor will be gratified, if by de- 

 voting his leisure hours to a publication of 

 this sort, he can be instrumental in prevent- 

 ing his native State, — Maryland — from being 

 outstripped by all her neighbours, in the hon- 

 ourable contest for the promotion of agri- 

 culture, manufactures, internal improve- 

 ment, and domestic economy.''^ 



