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Production OF New Varieties. — Some of our choice 

 fruits have been mere chance productions, but by far 

 the greater part of those valued for theif great beau- 

 ty, size, and quahty, are produced upon scienEifc 

 principles. Two celebrated pomologists have devoted 

 their whole lives to it. They had different theories. 

 The one is known as Dr. Van Mons' Theory , the oth- 

 er as Mr. Knight's. 



D)\ Van Mons' Theory, — Dr. Van Mons, a Belgian; 

 had in nurseries in 1823, no less than two thoiisand 

 seedling varieties of Pears of great merit. His at- 

 tention was chiefly directed to this delicious fruit, 

 although he originated numerous excellent seedlings 

 of other kinds. "All fine fruits are artificial products; 

 the aim of nature, in a \vild state being only a healthy, 

 vigorous state of the tree and perfect seeds for contin- 

 uing the species. It is the object of culture, there- 

 fore, to subdue, or enfeeble this excess of vegetation ^ 

 to lessen the coarseness of the tree ; to diminish the 

 size of the seeds ; and to refine the quality and in- 

 crease the size of the pulp." These objects Dr. A^an 

 Mons effected by sowing and re-sowing seeds, one gen- 

 eration after another. lie selected the fruit before 

 fully ripe, from yaung trees that were in a '^state of 

 variaiion^' that is, a garden variety and not a wild sort, 

 and when the fruit rotted, he planted them in nursery 

 rows. When these young trees came into bearing, he 

 gathered the fruit in the same condition and planted 

 again. Each generation came into bearing earlier than 

 the former one, the fifth sowing fruiting the third year 

 from the seed. The fifth generation of seedlings 

 were nearly all of great merit. In this v^^ay were pro- 



