Address delivered before the Fruit Growers' Society. 301 



that there shall be no hesitation whatever in adoptinof them. It is a hard thing 

 to find such a fruit. When the first Congress of fruit growers met in New York 

 in 18-t8. a committee of nine was selected from the members to present a list of 

 the best fruits for general cultivation, three negative votes in the committee be- 

 ing enough to reject any !=ort. And what was the result ? 



How many among the thousand varieties of pears would seven out of nine of 

 this committee agree upon, to present to the Congress as worthy of general culti- 

 vation ? After ample deliberation, they could agi-ee on only eleven ; and there 

 were only in-o that did not have any difisenting votes, and these two were the 

 Seckel and Bartldl. 



Neither do I propose raising new .sorts in this country for the pui-pose of dis- 

 couraging the importation of new foreign varieties. I do not thinli a fruit is 

 any better or any worse for having been brought '■ a thousand briny leagues " for 

 adoption here. I hold the inherently wise as well as time-honored rule, that 

 every tree is to be judged by its fruits — by its intrinsic worth, whether Europe or 

 America is the place of its origin. By this rule we all pronounce the older for- 

 eigners, the Bartlett. Virgalieu, Louise Bonne, of Jersey, and Flemish Beauty, and 

 such newer amvals as the Bostiezer. Giffm-d. and Beurre d' Anjou, as worthy com- 

 panions of the Seckel. the Tyson, the Brandywine, the Washington, Sheldon, and 

 l^anrence, and other native Americans ; while among the apples, the Astrachan, 

 Dyer, and Gravesiein. will compare well with our Melon, Haioley, SpUzenburgh, and 

 Swaar. 



The truth is, we have a long road to travel before we reach a perfect list of 

 fruits ; and we need all the assistance we may be able to procure from all sources. 

 It is true that much laljor is required to produce even a small result ; Van Mons 

 devoted a lifetime, and Knight obtained but few new and excellent sorts ; but 

 Van Mons adopted a most tardy and laborious process, and Knight made a bad 

 selection of parents tor crossing, in his experiments, especially with peai'S. 



But it must be remembered that we have as yet in this country, but few labor- 

 ers in the field ; yet these few have had their labors generally well rewarded. I 

 •>A()uld ask our friends. Elwanger & BaiTy. if bringing into existence such a fine 

 strawberry as the Genesee, does not amply repay them for their care and attention? 

 Burr's Seedling, of Ohio, and Hovey's Seedling, of Boston, have become renowned 

 tlu-oughout the whole country, and are now cultivated in many thousand fine 

 gardens. New sti-awberrics. it is true, are raised with great facility, every berry 

 from a pistillate impregnated by a staminate containing seeds that are a cross of 

 the two sorts. Dr. Kirtland. of Cleveland, and Dr. Brinckle, of Philadelphia, 

 have both been eminently successful — the former with the cherry, and the latter 

 with the raspberry. Governor Wood, is regarded by many as the best cherry in 

 the world : I)r. Brinckle's Orange, lias been pronounced the most valuable of all 

 raspberries. Would not such excellent results repay years of toil ' Now sup- 

 pose that instead of half a dozen experimenters, we had at least one or two 

 t housand, would we not in a few years see some wonders springing into existence ? 

 We should, of course, be deluged with new sorts, but every one not possessing 

 f ininent superiority would soon die a natural death, while those of high merit 

 would rapidly find their way into the world. 



We much need in this country, ex]3eriments in raising new apples and pears. 

 If we had a thousand operators, what might we not expect from a thousand cross- 

 es made by each, or a million crosses in all, from such apples as the Swaar with 

 its richness, and the Baldwin with its productiveness ; or the Dyer with its deli- 

 cacy, and Gravenstein with its vigor ; or the Early Joe with its refreshing juiciness, 

 with the Sovs of Wine with its fine growth and fairness? What interesting results 

 would be looked for in a hundred thousand seedlings from the huge Onondaga 

 crossed with the delicious Seckel, the Bartlett with the Tyson, the Madeleine viith the 

 Brandywine, or the Winkfield with the Winter Kelts ? What a privilege would it 

 not be to range in such a collection of trees when ripening their first crops of new 

 existences ! 



We can hardly expect cultivators to adopt the toilsome process used by Knight 

 and others, of cutting out with scissors the stamens from the flowers, and dusting 



