HORTICULTURE 



the general farming. For generations insect pests were 

 not common. There were no good marlsets, and the 

 fruit sold as low as 25 cents a bushel from the wagon box. 

 In fact, it was grown more for the home supply than with 

 an idea of shippint; it to iiiurki-t. Under such conditions, 

 it did not iiiatt.i- if l,:ii i' 1 1,. r, ,,[, ,i :,. WMn.iy.or if many 

 trees failed ;i mi ^Ih : - i h I'nri^ (.ften passed 

 almost umii.ti. ■[■.!. ii. i, ,-, ,li, i(. lie sure; but 



the crop \v;is imm imi-n'W .i-k.is and accounted 



the most productive trues left their impress upon the 

 memory. The soils had not undergone such a long sys- 

 tem of robbery tlien as now. When the old orchards 

 wore out, there was no particular incentive to plant 

 more, for there \v:is litil.- m..ii,y in them. Often the 

 there to repeat 



HORTICULTUI 



whose prom e 

 The grape c 



pie did not care to 

 L'ting area, all the 

 been bred in the 

 ■d their energies, 

 ■ees in some locali- 

 ind. A new coun- 

 ■ f>f serious attacks 

 1. in ol<lcr comrau- 



young and energi-ti.- ]ii. n li:n 

 the history perhapv, ainl tli. 

 set orchards. And iii""i I'li 

 borers and other i"',!, wli 

 many old orchards u^'w '■<> 

 until they have left sr.irr, l\ , 

 ties upon which tc. pri|.,iu;it 

 try or a new industry i.s i^eiie 

 of those insects which foU.n 

 nities. But the foes come in unie.iiinl -aiuI for a time 

 spread unmolested, when lin:dl\, piilups almost sud- 

 denly, their number becomes s.i gi.at that tbey threaten 

 destruction, and the farmer looks on in amazement. 



The orange is another tree which has thrived so well 

 in the new country that the spontaneous thickets of 

 Florida, known to be descendants of early Spanish in- 

 troductions, are confidently believed by residents to be 

 indigenous to the soil. 



The progress of the plum in America nearly equals 

 that of the grape in historic interest. The small, spon- 

 taneous plums, known as Damsons, 

 the offspring of introductions from 

 Europe, were early abundant in New 

 England. Plum culture has never 

 thrived far south of Mason and Dixon's 

 line or west of Lake Michigan, except, 

 of course, upon the Pacific coast and 

 parts of the far southwestern country. 

 There are climatic limitations which 

 more or less restrict tie- area of plum 

 growiim-, and tli.> Icafldi-lit fungus, 

 black-knot, and Iruii loi Inwe added 



ture. The first of these novel jtlums 

 to receive a name was that which we 

 now know as the Miner, and the seed 

 from which it sprung was planted by 

 William Dodd, an officer under (^ener.al 

 ■lackson, in Knox c'ounfv. Tennessee, 

 m 18U. The second of these native 



the one which really marks the popu- 

 larization of the fruit, is the Wild 

 Goose. Some time before 1850, a num 

 shot a wild goose near Columbia. Ten- 

 nessee, and where the carcass was 

 thrown this plum, Adonis-like, sprung 

 forth. It was introduced to the trade 

 about 1850, by the late J. S. Downer, of 

 Fairview. Kentucky. Over 200 named 

 varieties of tliese native plums are now 

 di-sciii,,.,!. ■iiid s,,iiie of them are widely 

 dissiniinatcd and deservedly popular. 

 In the Sontli and on the plains, these 

 natives are a prominent horticultural 

 group. The complexity of the cultivate pi 

 now further increased by the introduction oi 

 nese or Chinese type, which first came in by? 

 fornia in 1870. Pin.ally, about issn. tlie npi 



of Prance; and the .\ineri.'aii iiliiin indiistr 



ties u the nt I 



or Om\ orl 1 k I I I 

 nati e typ 1 I 



The olde t I 



dates from 1 I I 



cord wh ch h I 



history s m 1 II 



There v 

 Amer ca w 1 I 



the Hovev {i I s ) 1 

 Boston P n 11 



bridge Ma ah tt T 

 ISai and t n the 1 

 garden t a vl r f tl 



seedl ng of the 1 1 P t 

 direct de endant of th 

 Wilson or W 1 on All 

 Wil on of All -in^ N '\ 

 tion al out ISofa or 18 

 the uodern epo h \ 

 the m d lie W e t t I 

 impulse by Longno tl I 



Raspberr es we e 

 were of the tender E 

 werps were the co 

 is now almo t whoU | 

 native red and black [ 

 press themselves ui o I 



The blackberry an nd ; 



and the 



s Can- 



18Jb and 



; f the 



tley 

 Ant- 

 lerry 



D Amer can fru t first 

 a w th the ntro iuct on of 

 towarl the lo e of the 



1 flora is 

 be Japa- 

 • of Call- 



fifties. The first named variety of blacKbery of which 

 we have any record was the Dorchester, which was ex- 

 hibited before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 



less than ten spe 

 represent the entii 



the northe 



ewt.erry, a peculiarly American fruit, first ap- 

 in cultivation early in the seventies in southern 

 under the name of the Bartel, which is a large 

 the common wild dewberry of that region. It 



