Notes and Gleanmgs. 231 



are, I suppose, raised on trees trained on walls ; but I cannot but doubt whether 

 any but some of the hardiest varieties, of generally not the finer kinds of this 

 fruit, can be successfully grown in the open ground in England. In Jersey, one 

 of the Channel Islands, where the climate is mild, pears, and also the more 

 delicate fruits, as grapes and peaches, are very successfully grown ; and many of 

 the best pears in the London market are supplied from it. 



yoseph S. Cabot. 

 Dec. 17, 1S67. 



Why Not? — Why should not the principle of our copyright and patent 

 laws be applied to the originators of valuable fruits as well as to authors and 

 inventors ? 



This is a question, it appears to me, which any thoughtful man will find it 

 very difficult, if not impossible, to answer. If a man writes a book, whether of 

 any real value to the community or not, the law recognizes it as his property. 

 He is protected in his legal right to it, as in his right to house or land. He may, 

 for a valuable consideration, transfer his ownership to some publisher, as he 

 may transfer bank-stock ; or he may authorize the publication of his work on 

 condition of receiving a certain percentage of the profits : and so, in proportion 

 to the public demand for his book, the law secures him a remuneration for his 

 toil. This, certainly, is just and right. 



If one invents some machine which promises to promote the public good, 

 the law steps in, and confers upon him a patent as a reward for his study and 

 toil, and an encouragement to others to employ their minds in the same direc- 

 tion. His invention may be an important or a trivial one : it may be a sewing- 

 machine or a fragile toy. But, whatever it be, the guardian law lifts up its au- 

 thoritative voice, and says, " No man may manufacture or sell that article without 

 the inventor's consent." And so, as in the case of the author, it secures to him 

 such a compensation for his work as the public may decide it to be worth ; and 

 that compensation sometimes amounts to a princely fortune. This, certainly, is 

 as it should be. 



But why should not the same principle be carried still farther ? If one de- 

 votes his time and study to the originating of a fine fruit, like the lona Grape 

 or Clapp's Favorite Pear, why should not the law secure to him, as it does to 

 the author and inventor, a suitable compensation for his work ? Why should 

 not the law give to Dr. Grant, or Mr. Dana, or Mr. Rogers, such protection as 

 it gives to Dr. Holmes or Prof Lowell ? Why should it say to the inventor of 

 a new pop-gun or humming-top, " You have done a good thing for society, and 

 shall therefore be rewarded by protection against all competition in your sales," 

 but say to the originator of Dana's Hovey or the Diana Hamburg nothing at 

 all ? 



Is this just and right ? Can any good reason be given why the law should 

 so discriminate in favor of authors and inventors, to the entire neglect of the 

 originators of valuable fruits ? Can any one tell why the deviser of the little 

 toy called " the Ouaker-gun " should be so shielded from competition in his sales 

 as to realize (as I have seen it stated) a fortune of fifty thousand dollars, while 



