1972 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1918 



Maple growing near the little dis- 

 trict school into whose bark was cut 

 the initials of all the boy celebrities 

 of yours and previous generations. 



Time doesn't permit any extended 

 reference to the luscious Bartlett 

 Pears, Black Heart Cherries, Damson, 

 Lombard, and Gage Plums, or the 

 juicy pippins or huge pumpkin sweet 

 apples that used to grow on the old 

 homestead, and that somehow, not- 

 withstanding that they tell us fruits 

 are constantly inproving, we have 

 never been able to taste the equal of 

 since. 



Unfortunately, it is only within 

 the last seventy-five or one hundred 

 years, that any serious attempts have 

 been made to trace back the manifold 

 forms of tree and plant life to their 

 obscure beginnings. 



Interesting as this subject is, I 

 have only space to give you very 

 briefly a few of the imperfect results 

 thus far obtained in tracing back 

 the thousands and thousands of 

 species, (about 200,000, to be more 

 exact), in the vegetable, plant, and 

 tree kingdom, but let me emphasize 

 that man has not discovered and 

 cultivated in the last two thousand 

 years a single species that can rival 

 maize, rice, cereals, the potato, the 

 date, the banana, and which date 

 back three, four, five, and in some 

 cases, six thousand years. 



Where the Fruit Trees Originated. 



Briefly the origin of the apple as far 

 as it has been able to trace it back, is 

 eastern Europe and Asia; the Peach, 

 China; the Pear, Temperate Europe 

 and Asia; the Apricot, China; the 

 Quince, Persia; the Turnip, Western 

 Siberia and Europe; the Watermelon, 

 Africa; the Banana, South Asia; the 

 Onion, Persia, Afghanistan and Pales- 

 tine; the Cucumber, India; Barley, 

 Western Temperate Asia ; Rice, India 

 and Southern China; Wheat, the 

 regions of the Euphrates; Potato, 

 native of Peru, Chili, Mexico; Grapes, 

 Western Siberia and Europe; Tea 

 plant, native of China: These are all 

 known to have been in cultivation 

 upwards of four thousand years. 



The following very incomplete list 

 is known to have been in cultivation 



for more than two thousand years: — 

 Radish, Temperate Asia; Carrot, Eur- 

 ope and Temperate Asia;Celery and 

 Lettuce, Central and Southern Europe 

 Northern Africa, Western Asia. 

 Asparagus, Western Asia; the Cherry 

 and Plum, Persia and. vicinity; Oats 

 and Rye, Eastern Temperature, Eu- 

 rope (says nothing about Scotch.) 



Among those that have been 

 under cultivation for less than two 

 thousand years, can be mentioned 

 the Orange, a native of India and 

 China. Parsnip, central and south- 

 ern Europe; Spinach, Persia; Rasp- 

 berry, Temperate Europe and Asia; 

 Strawberry, Western Asia and eastern 

 North America. 



Tobacco is a native of Central 

 America. From the first it was 

 detested by all Governments, Kings 

 and Emperors prohibited its use. 

 Cromwell sent his troops to ride 

 down the growing crops. Chas. the 

 Second imposed a penalty of 1600 

 pounds per acre and now comes 

 along our own Government wdth its 

 new taxes on our old friend and com- 

 panion, yet I feel sure the herb of 

 amiability will still flourish even as it 

 has done since ancient times. 



The Origin of the Rose. 



The origin of the rose is lost in 

 antiquit\. It is certain that they 

 abounded in Palestine and that the 

 Jews possessed great knowledge of 

 their culture and held them in high 

 esteem. The Egyptians grew Roses 

 on the bank of the Nile and as early 

 as the days of Homer, the Greeks 

 had them in abundance. The Rom- 

 ans delighted in the luxury of roses 

 and used them in incredible quan- 

 tities. Nero spent 30,000 pounds for 

 a single rose bouquet. Then the 

 rose found its way into Persia where 

 love and honor awaited it. 



I do not imagine our Creator ever 

 intended to endow the earth with 

 perfect fruits, flowers or plants in the 

 iDeginning, but rather to place with 

 us an average lot of material to 

 work on and to leave to the ingenuity 

 of mankind the working out of his 

 destiny in this as in all other respects, 

 and man being superior to the beast 



