312 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



November 26, 1831, 



rn>mJ T »Ji^4 "io\s. 



FOR THE GENESEE FARMER. 



DURATION OF VEGETABL- LIFE. 

 I believe no person has done so much in spread- 

 ing the Natural Sciences amongst us as Professor 

 Eaton. His Manual of Botany is in the hands 

 ■ if almost every one who wishes to become ac- 

 quainted with the plants of the Northern and 

 Middle States ; and every year he has sent forth 

 a new class into different parts of the country, 

 whose hands as well as minds have been called 

 into action, and whose attention has been pointed 

 to the various phenomena of Nature. 



These remarks may seem abrupt, but the com- 

 mendation is well merited; and so long a time has 

 elapsed since Professor Eaton entered his dissent 

 v l) from my opinion on the duration of vegeta- 

 ble life, that 1 wish my silence may not be con- 

 strued into any want of respect. I had hopes for 

 a while that he would render the matter in differ- 

 ence, more tangible. His Address before the 

 Rensselaer Horticultural Society proved that he 

 still considered the subject of great importance; 

 and I have patiently waited for the further eluci- 

 dation of his views In the mean time, I discov- 

 ered new testimony in favor of my own ; and 

 t wo extracts (2) from authors of great respectability 

 kave been presented to the readers of this jour- 

 nal. 



Let not this subject be considered of trivial im- 

 port: the theoretical opinions of a cultivator, have 

 a continual bearing on his practice. That doc- 

 trine which I reject, led the venerable President (3) 

 of the Horticultural Society of London to estimate 

 grafted trees unworthy of his care, unless the ori- 

 ginal seedling was known to be in a healthy 

 condition; and it led Professor (4) Eaton, (A. E.) 

 to advise that old varieties be kept in a parasitic 

 date, and not allowed to depend on their own 

 roots for nourishment. To this supposed debility 

 of Old Age, the late William Coze (5) ascribed 

 (hefire blight in pear trees, and William Wilson 

 (6) of New-York the yellows in peach trees. — 

 Now if this theory is unfounded, as I believe, the 

 restrictions imposed by the two former, are unne- 

 cessary burdens : and the ascriptions of the two 

 latter only lead the inquirer from the right ti ack. 

 When A. E. replied to my paper, he offered 

 an apology on account of haste. It shall be ad- 

 mitted in its fullest extent ; but I hope he will ac- 

 cept of my assistance in revising that reply. In 

 the following sentence one inadvertancy escaped 

 him: "Friend Thomas ought to give detailed di- 

 rections for continuing fruit trees by grafts and 

 buds — He may reserve his theory, and give all 

 the practical knowledge required." I thank him 

 for the kindness intended ; but A. E. has mista- 

 ken the person to whom that advice could most 

 properly be given. The theory is ins, not mine. 

 I hold none on this point which can cause me to 

 swerve from the practice of our ancestors ; and 

 the question between us is, whether a new theory 

 which he upholds, started within a few years, and 



1. GeneBec Farmer, pago 113. 

 •4. Pa«»998 245. 



3. " So strongly did Mr. Knight become fixed in this 

 opinion that he seriously advises orchardists never to 

 plant an inocculaled or grafted tree, unleas the parent 

 tree iB known t( exist in a healthy state- ' p 33. 



4. New«York Farmer, vol. 4, p. 177. 



5. View of the cultivation of fruit treos.*p, 175, 

 0. New-York I'armor, vol. 1. p. 48. 

 ", Miruel. 



totally unknown to former ages, shall be adopted 

 or rejected. 



He must permit me to suggest that the case ef 

 the turnequet can have no particular application 

 to the subject in discussion ; and as it might di- 

 vert the attenti< n of some readers from the weigh- 

 tier matters of the argument, it will be best to o- 

 mit it. He may tie a strong wire round the limb 

 of a tree, and destroy its vitality also ; but though 

 this case is lt-.b remote than the other, it will not 

 even tend to prove 'hat old age acts in this manner 

 on our fruit trees. 



A. E. says that "life is unquestionably a for- 

 ced state ;" but I know not in what way this pro- 

 position can favor his theory He has shown 

 none of the causes that limit the duration of a for- 

 ced state. The same element/ - that forced the a- 

 corn to germinate, will act witu unimpaired vigor 

 when the oak which sprung from it, shall become 

 the giant of the woods; and " the liber which is 

 formed on the tree of centuries old, enjoys the ve- 

 getative power in as full force as the liber which 

 is formed on the sapling." (7) 



According to A. ■ E. " the living principle and 

 chemical attraction, are forever at war in vegeta- 

 ble nature." I know not whether I understand 

 this expression, because I cannot perceive that it 

 proves any thing in Ins favor. In this war it is 

 certain, however, that chemical attraction must be 

 very generally worsted, for its enemy quarters on 

 it ; and rarely indeed can it inflict any injury in 

 return. The triumphs of chemical attraction are 

 deferred till the living principle is extinct; and I 

 regret that A. E's. references to both dead and 

 living organized substances withoutdiscrimination, 

 should have rendered these distinctions less clear. 

 I will not put A. E. to the trouble to " insist" — 

 every satisfaction in my power shall be given on 

 his simple intimation. I am in search after truth 

 and if he can give better reasons for adopting his 

 theory, than I can give for rejecting it, he will 

 soon have me on his side of the question. In the 

 mean time, it may be necessary in some cases to 

 speak plainly ; but if any expression of mine 

 should lead him to suspect me of being unfriendly 

 or unfair, lie may rest in the certain assurance 

 that I have been misunderstood. 



The reason of my citing the great age of those 

 trees must be evident to A. E. on a second in- 

 spection of my paper. He has coupled with these 

 instances of longevity, however, the name of Me- 

 thusaleh, as if human life and vegetable life were 

 in strict analogy — as if a new limb could be 

 made to sprout forth on an old man in place of a 

 limb rendered useless by disease — as if when his 

 trunk, — including head, heart, and viscera, — was 

 decayed, he could sprout up with new vigor from 

 the soil — as if he could exist after the total de- 

 struction of every part which constituted his en- 

 tire body* in former years. But A. E. shall be 

 excused on account of haste. 



The history of this new theory merits our at- 

 tention. The better fruittrees of England arescarce- 

 ly acclimated; and where climate and locality 

 have both conspired against them, many of these 

 appear to have received constitutional injuries. — 

 Such deteriorations were observed by Marshall 

 and his coadjutors in rural improvements. To 

 draw a general conclusion from limited observa- 

 tions, is a very common propensity; and in this 



■ Whkb istho case witbflluby old hollow trees. 



ease the result was a confirmed belief that every 

 variety " must die of Old Age at a limited peri- 

 od." 



It is discouraging when a theory has been builf 

 up with much labor, to find the foundations, un- 

 stable — to find the assumed facts on which it rests, 

 controverted and denied. Yet such is the condi- 

 tion of the theory before us. In my former arti- 

 cle I mentioned many fruits, cultivated in Eng- 

 land 114 years ago which, — though there is rea- 

 son to believe these were old varieties at that 

 time, — are still preserved even in this distant re- 

 gion, and selected for new nurseries and new 

 fruit gardens. I ran add my testimony that all of 

 these within my inspection show no symptoms of 

 decline. 



No apples were on that list ; but a passage in 

 The Library of Entertaining Knowledge, comes 

 more directly to the point in regard to this fruit : 

 " Varieties which had been celebrated abroad, 

 were spread through the kingdom by their cultiva- 

 tion in the gardens of the religious houses, and 

 many of these fine old sorts still exist." — Jjr" It 

 has been asserted that many of the fine old vari- 

 eties of the apple arc now going into decay. This 

 may beowhig partly to their being more generally 

 cultivated, and consequenUy grown in a great 

 variety of soils, some of which would suit them, 

 and others not ; and that this is the case may be 

 inferred from the fact that Jjj> in some places 

 these sorts are lobe found healthy enough dpi-" 



I shall leave this remarkable statement without 

 comment, and pass on to the testimony of our 

 countryman, the late William Coxe, who had im- 

 bibed all these notions of the limited duration of 

 varieties. Coxe, however, was a man of worth ; 

 and it is interesting to observe his attachment to 

 theory on the one hand, and his integrity on the 

 other hand, in faithfully recording facts directly in 

 opposition to that theory. 



" The Styre apple of Hereford, in England, is 

 supposed to have long since passed the zenith of 

 its perfection, and to be rapidly declining there ; 

 yet in the growth and vigor of at least one hun- 

 dred of these trees planted in my orchards, there 

 appears to be no deficiency ; on toe contrary, they 

 attract the notice of all who see them, for the extra- 

 ordinary luxuriance as well as beauty of their 

 growth." 



" The climate of America is supposed to have 

 revived the Red streak wliich had deteriorated 

 in Us native soil (J^» from the long duration of 

 the variety." 



" Gennet moyle — ranks high in England. — 

 Philips in his poem on Cider, callsit ' the moyle of 

 sweetest honeyed taste.' The tree is remarka- 

 bly thrifty" Yet this is a very old variety, for 

 that poem was first published 1'35 years ago. 



A. E. refers to that " incurable disease Old 

 Age." But English apple trees are cured when 

 brought into the finer climate of our Middle States. 

 It is therefore plain that the doctors have mistaken 

 the disease, as Old Age is incurable ; and that 

 the decline of those apple trees must be referred to 

 other causes. Consequently, it is evident that A. 

 E. ought not to apply the term Old Age, indis- 

 criminately to Men and 7Y«es, unless he can 

 prove this reasoning to be inconclusive; andunless 

 he can show that persons suffering from decrepi- 

 tude have been restored to the bloom and vigor of 

 youth, like the Styre and the Red streak, on remo- 

 ving to a better climate. 



