THE GENESEE FARMER. 



871 



HORnCULTUEE-PEESENT AND FUTTJSE. 



The past season, in many respects, has been a 

 discouraging one to the fruit-grower. The apple 

 crop has been a comparative faihire ; many farm- 

 ers in this section, who have usually hundreds of 

 bushels to sell, have not enough for their own use. 

 The same is true oi peaches. Eew persons expected 

 to get any plums — and were not disappointed. 

 Even cherries^ hitherto abundant, were scarce and 

 poor. Pears were better than any other fruit, but 

 still not an average crop. Insects and fungi were 

 rampant, and the trees, weakened by the cold win- 

 ters of 1854-5 and 1855-6, were more than usually 

 exposed to their attacks. The summer and fall of 

 1856 was cold and wet, and the wood of trees was 

 imperfectly ripened ; consequently, though the fol- 

 lowing winter was comparatively mild, the trees 

 sustained considerable injury. Then the warm 

 weather, eai'ly in the spring, started the buds, and 

 the severe cold that followed destroyed a good por- 

 tion, and so weakened the trees that the fruit which 

 set fell off prematurely. 



Such a concatenation of adverse circumstances 

 will probably not occur again for some time ; still, 

 the fruit-grower will always have to contend against 

 some or all of them. He is no worse off than the 

 farmer. The midge, the Hessian fly, and the rust, 

 have blasted the hopes of the wheat-grower; thou- 

 sands of acres of land, prepared for corn, could not 

 bo planted, on account of continued rain in spring ; 

 even oats, hitherto comparatively tree from disease, 

 have, in many places, this year been entirely de- 

 stroyed by rust. 



The fact is, all crops, all animals, all fruits, all 

 vegetables, are exposed to diseases. We can obtain 

 nothing that is desirable, without skillful and intel- 

 ligent labor. "We must study, think, act. We must 

 not yield to difficulties. We were made to have 

 dominion; all things were put under our feet. 

 Shall we succumb to an invisible fungus, or an in- 

 significant insect ? 



Such a season as the one we have just passed 

 through serves to render more apparent the bene- 

 fits of improved cultivation. The most intelligent 

 care and the most skillful cultivation may not ena- 



ble us to entirely escape the effects of a severe 

 winter and the sudden changes of spring, or to 

 guard effectually against the ravages of rust and 

 insects, yet they certainly mitigate these evils. 



While we must give American farmers credit for 

 setting out more fruit trees than those of any other 

 nation, we are compelled to acknowledge that there 

 is probably no country in the world where orchards 

 are so shamefully neglected. There are few things 

 better calculated to give a young man a taste for 

 improved agriculture, than the study and practice 

 of horticulture. There is more need of thought 

 and patience — more scientific principles involved 

 — in the practice of horticulture, than in the ordi- 

 nary employments of the farm. Thorough culture 

 is more profitable, and its advantages m>re appa- 

 rent, in the orchard or garden, than in the field. 

 Horticulture, though not as important in a material 

 or national point of view, is nevertheless a higher 

 art than agriculture. We would advise every far- 

 mer, therefore, who wishes to make his son a better, 

 more systematic, more thorough and more scien- 

 tific farmer than himself, to early instil into his 

 mind a love of horticulture. We regard it as one 

 of the most pleasing indications of the future ad- 

 vancement of American agriculture — of the high 

 position which the cultivators of the soil are des- 

 tined to occupy in the republic — that the line of 

 demarcation between agriculture and horticulture 

 is yearly becoming less distinct. Intelligent farm- 

 ers no longer confine their attention exclusively to 

 the raising of cattle and grain. They find a well 

 managed orchard or garden equally profitable, 

 while it contributes greatly to the comfort and 

 happiness of the family. 



The full benefit of this general attention to fruit 

 culture, however, can only be obtained when it is 

 skillfully and intelligently pursued. To plant a fruit 

 tree, and leave it to take care of itself, can benefit 

 no one— except he who does so learns by repeated 

 failures to bestow the necessary care and culture. 



The climate of a great portion of the American 

 continent is pre-eminently adapted for the raising , 

 of fruit. The orchardist has every thing to en- ; 

 courage him to anticipate great success. With ju- 

 dicious cultivation there are few failures, and these -. 

 only serve to stimulate an intelligent horticulturist 

 to renewed efforts. 



Horticulture is destined to take a high position 

 in the United States and Oanadas. Much has been 

 accomplished in testing the different varieties of 

 fruits, and in determining the best soil, location, cli- 

 mate and exposure. We need, however, more facts 

 bearing on these points, and still more, some sys- 

 tem for recording and comjparing them. We have 

 better opportunities for obtaining information tbaa 

 any other nation. With a continent speaking ths 



