280 Principles of Plant Culture. 



wholesome fruit, because no known variety was suffi- 

 ciently productive to be generally profitable, or suffi- 

 ciently firm to endure long carriage. What a blessing 

 was conferred upon us by a Mr. James Wilson, of Al- 

 bany, N. Y. ! There are wild fruits in our copses to-day 

 that are doubtless worthy of improvement, and in most 

 of our fruits now under culture the development of 

 superior varieties would greatly enhance their value. 

 "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few." 



The following books are recommended for reading in 

 connection with the preceding chapter: Plant Breed- 

 ing, Bailey; Variations of Animals and Plants Under 

 Domestication, Darwin; Propagation and^ Improve- 

 ment of Cultivated Plants, Burbridge ; Origin of Culti - 

 vated Plants, De Candolle. 



