132 A Leaf in the History 



acter is taken into consideration, as well as their strength 

 and durability, we think we may say that their introduction 

 may be looked upon as a great desideratum. For pleasure 

 grounds and enclosures near dwellings, their superiority must 

 at once commend them to every gentleman at all anxious to 

 remove unsightly fences from his premises. In conclusion, 

 we may hope that some of our wealthy proprietors may at 

 once be induced to order a few hundred feet of Messrs. 

 Young's wire fence as an experiment. — Ed. 



Art. III. A Leaf in the History of Pomology at the West. 

 By T. S. H., Coshocton, Ohio. 



Two theories have obtained, for the production of new va- 

 rieties of fruits — the one, that of Van Mons and the Bel- 

 gians; the other, that of designed and carefully managed 

 " cross fertilization," pursued so successfully by Thomas 

 Andrew Knight, and other distinguished pomologists in Eu- 

 rope and in America. The reader, curious upon this subject, 

 will find the various processes employed treated of suffi- 

 ciently and at large in the publications of Manning, Kenrick, 

 Downing, and others, in this country, as well as in most if 

 not all the recent European works. 



It has been usual to regard these two theories as, in some 

 sort, opposed to and at variance with each other. Both have 

 had their especial advocates ; but, in the case of the Van 

 Mons theory, the rationale has been but little dwelt upon, 

 and is as yet but imperfectly understood. It may be doubted, 

 indeed, if Van Mons has not, for the most part, failed in 

 deducing the true principles upon which amelioration by his 

 method proceeds ; whilst, beyond all doubt and controversy, 

 he has established the fact, that new and highly ameliorated 

 kinds are obtained by it. 



There is certainly room for the inquiry, whether there is 

 any just ground for the supposition, that a radical difierence 

 exists between the two systems ; and if there does, wherein 

 it is that they conflict. Both have been attended with as- 

 tonishing success. In what then do they diflfer 7 Certain it 



