CHAPTER XXI. 



NOVELTIES, 



AND WHY WE TEST THEM. 

 *' At our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old." 



•(AN'S mind was not intended to rest content 

 with any thing short of perfection — hence his 

 ardent and never-ceasing desire to better all 

 his surroundings and conditions. Not idle 

 curiosity merely, but the almost divine longing 

 to do away with imperfections wherever we 

 find them, is what makes us take such an 

 interest in promising novelties, and look so 

 kindly upon every effort toward the improvement of fruits and 

 vegetables, and what renders the " testing of new things " so 

 attractive and charming. It is true that the great majority of 

 novelties introduced with high claims of superior merits develop 

 such shortcomings, after thorough test, that they are quickly 

 thrown aside again, and soon forgotten. But the acquisition of 

 a single worthy new thing often pays a royal compensation for 

 all the disappointments caused by a large number of novelties 

 that prove without value. I will cite as one instance, that of the 

 " Prizetaker " onion, introduced by Mr. Wm. Henry Maule, of 

 Philadelphia, in 1888. The little package of seed I got then 

 enabled me to raise about one-half bushel or more of the most 

 beautiful bulbs that it had ever been my pleasure to see growing, 

 and the satisfaction I got out of their possession, and out of the 

 opportunities to show the growing crop to visitors, would have 

 made up very largely for many failures. I think I would not 

 have missed the chance of growing the Prizetaker in 1888, and of 

 planting more largely in 1889, for a number of times the cost of all 

 the novelties I planted that season. It was a similar thing with 

 the Emerald Gem Melon, Dwarf Champion Tomato, etc. 



Some of these novelties mark more or less decided steps in 

 advance. Let us look back upon the tomato varieties of 30 or 

 even 25 years ago — small, poor, seedy, irregular, late. Then 

 came novelty upon novelty in quick succession, each better than 

 its predecessor — General Grant, Canada Victor, Trophy, Paragon, 

 Acme, Perfection, Potato Leaf, Dwarf Champion, Lorillard, etc., 

 until now we have reached a state of perfection in tomatoes that 

 leaves room for distrust in our ability to originate anything 

 better than we at present possess. 



(153) 



