SECRETARY'S REPORT. 249 



"which seed is to be saved, by taking care that none but the 

 genuine forms of a variety are preserved as seed-plants, and by 

 compelling, by transplantation, a plant to expend all its accumu- 

 lated sap in the nourishment of its seed, rather than in the 

 superabundant production of foliage, 'a crop of seed may be 

 produced, the plants produced by which, will, in a great measure, 

 have tlie peculiar properties of the parent variety." And it is 

 by a series of progressive seed-savings, on the same plan, that the 

 habits of the variety become fixed. We can. see no reason why 

 the same care and persistence in the propagation of fruits would 

 not produce the same results. Perhaps the longer time required 

 to bring most of the fruits to bearing, and the greater number 

 of adverse influences to which they are subjected, are the 

 principal reasons why this has not proved to be the case. We 

 repeat, then, that the on\j permanent reliance for the reproduc- 

 tion of the individual is the seed. If we cannot reproduce the 

 precise variety, we can secure its equivalent. 



This point has been dwelt upon because it is one of consider- 

 able importance. By attending to it, the enterprising horticul- 

 turist will avoid the error of relying too exclusively on the 

 cultivation of old varieties, and give a due share of attention to 

 the establishing of new choice ones by seed. 



We now advance a step further. We maintain that all the 

 changes that have been made in the improvement of old vari- 

 eties, and the establishment of new ones, as well as all our hopes 

 for the future in that direction, come from the same source. 

 The great improvement made in the quality of many of our 

 fruits, is apparent to any one who has given a thought to the 

 subject, and needs no illustration here. We merely instance, 

 among vegetables, the asparagus, which, in its native state, is so 

 dwarfish in appearance that none but a botanist would know it 

 to belong to the same species as the elegant plant of the same 

 name cultivated with us ; and among fruits the apple, whose 

 original, or something near it, we sometimes see adorning the 

 front yards of our villages, but whose fruit is worthless except 

 for preserves. 



The parsnip and carrot, which, growing wild, are almost 



worthless ; the potato, which, in its natural state, produces tubers 



not more than two inches in length, and insipid to the taste ; and 



the beet, which, after being brought by long-continued cultiva- 



32* 



