1883.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



21 



Tie had said before that imports, beiug/'T con- 

 sumption, are to be considered as consumption- 

 Bufrit being "axiomatic " that tt(( consump- 

 tion is hiss, of conrse the imports are nil loss, 

 and being so, wliy raalve a distinction between 

 imported necessaries and im|>"rtcd Inxuries ? 

 The latter can be no more than lost. And in- 

 deed the person who believes that it is what 

 we part with to foreigners that enriches us, 

 and what we receive from them in return 

 that impoverishes us, may consistently enough 

 argue th.at the country would be no 

 greater loser if the merchandise intended to 

 be imported was wrecked at sea, iTistead of 

 being safely landed to be consumed and there- 

 fore lost on shore. 



In regard to imported lu.xurics ho says it is 

 not, the mental or spiritual enjoyment or im- 

 provement we get from them ; it is only the 

 money rnlue of our possessions with which we 

 have anything to do in this discussion. Well, 

 the money value of as much coffee, wine, or 

 any other luxury as sells for a dollar is ex- 

 actly the same as the money value of a dol- 

 lar's worth of gold or corn, and I don't see 

 that this helps his argument, but directly 

 contradicts it that imported luxuries are " of 

 no account" " in increasing the material 

 wealth of the country." Such articles of 

 luxury as those I mentioned before — tea and 

 coffee, with entertaining or religious books, 

 paintings, silk dresses, pleasure carriages, 

 and a hundred other things that we could live 

 without, not only conduce to the comfort and 

 enjoyment of those who want and can get 

 them, but they are material wealth, and of 

 just the value of the money for which they are 

 exchangeable — and none the less so because 

 it would be imprudent, foolish and wrong for 

 a per.son to indulge in them until after he or 

 she was provided with the absolute necessaries. 

 The money value of an object is determined 

 by tlie amount of money that those who want 

 it will pay for it, and nut by the opinion of 

 what it ought to be valued at by those who 

 do not want it. 



And an article is none the less to be valued 

 at the money it costs because it is of a perish- 

 able nature, while the coin endures. That 

 circumstance is taken into account and al- 

 lowed for when the price is fixed. So a man 

 is not cheated because he parts with a dune 

 for a loaf or a mug of cofl'ee or other luxury 

 that he can afford, althotigh those articles 

 will be eaten and consumed in a few moments 

 while the coin will remain unchanged for a 

 lifetime. But tire owner cannot use it and 

 still have it, any more than the possess(n' of 

 the loaf can. 



To the extent and with the limitations 

 mentioned in my former communication, 

 luxuries are undoubtedly conducive to the 

 Comfort and happiness of the community. In 

 practice, if not in theory, everybody agrees to 

 this, except here and there a miser or a re- 

 ligious enthusiast ; and I can't think the 

 miser, who lives on nothing but the coarsest 

 food and clothes himself in rags in order to 

 hoard money and die rich is the model econo- 

 mist or most valuable citizen — though it is 

 very true that economy and frugality to a 

 reasonable extent are virtues that ought to be 

 encouraged and practiced; and that indul- 

 gence in luxuries beyond our means of paying 

 for them is little short of a crime. 



.^. 1'. slurs over Daniel Webster's unanswer- 

 able argument against tlm Balance of Trade 

 theory, but intimates that his own opinion is 

 not different from Webster's! Well, if that 

 is so, he may be congratulated on having got 

 his eyes open and become a convert to the 

 sound doctrine he so liercely attacked when 

 propounded by me ; for I assert that nobody 

 can read that extract from Webster's speech 

 in the December number of TiiK Farmkk 

 and point out any conllict or dilTercnce be- 

 tween his views and those I have all the time 

 upheld. 



I was noiui; to say something about the 

 misconstruction by S. P. of my language and 

 meaning in two or throe particulars, and llien 

 niaking the perversion an excuse for calling 

 my arguments "ridiculous," "a medley of 

 absurdities," and the like, but it does not 

 matter, and I will conclude by commending 

 to his attention the homely maxim of the 

 philosopher of the Limekiln (Jlub, "The man 

 who draps argyraentforeiiythet has no case." 

 — /. P., Lanmster, Feb. 1, 1883. 



For The Lancastkk Fakmku. 

 HYBRIDISING FRUITS. 

 Mr. Editor : If I were a young man, 

 which you know I am not, I would take great 

 pleasure in crossing fruits of various kinds, 

 thus originating many new and valualOe vari- 

 ties. As I could not hope to see tlie rerults, 

 I wish to urge our young Horticulturists to 

 try what they can do in this branch of experi- 

 menting. 



We now have some seven or eight hybrid 

 seedlings, of the Chinese pears— the "8ha 

 lea," or sand pear, and the "suet lea," 

 or snow pear. They were produced from 

 planting the seeds of these Chinese varieties — 

 evidently crossed by bees, or insects during 

 flowering. The original Chinese varieties, as 

 well as all the hybrids, are remarkably 

 healthy, thrifty, and early and profuse bearers 

 of uniformly large fruit. Now by again 

 crossing these hybrids when in flower with 

 pollen from some of our best pears, they can 

 be still further improved. Thus by operating 

 in this way for several generations there is no 

 doubt in my mind, but pears can ultimately 

 be secured equal in quality, if not of superior 

 to any we now have; then, too, if their vigor, 

 freedom from disease, and profuse and early 

 bearing can be retained, which ii; very likely, a 

 race of pears can be secured, far superior to 

 any we now have. Here is a wide field to ex- 

 periment in for our young horticulturists, and 

 a tjeld of great promise in the origination of 

 new and valuable fruits. 



Many years ago Van Mons, of Belgium, was 

 the originator of many superior pears. His 

 plan was .simply to commence with the seeds 

 of an ordinary pear, plant the seeds, and as 

 soon as the seedlings were large enough to 

 furnish a graft, he would cut it and graft it 

 on a bearing tree, thus having it to fruit 

 •ieveral years earlier than the seedling on 

 its own roots would fruit. So soon as these 

 grafts bore fruit, he would again plant the 

 seeds, and in this way continued liis expcri- 

 meuts until he produced fruit from the sev- 

 enth generation, each generation improving in 

 quality; so by such a simple process he pro- 

 duced many new varieties of pears. Unfor- 

 tunately for him, the city encroached on his 



experimental grounds, — cut streets through 

 it, and he had to save what he could of hit 

 trees in mid-winter. Thus many valuable 

 varieties were lost. At that time, it is sup- 

 posed, artificial crossing of plants was un- 

 known. But it is more than probable, tliat 

 bees and insects performed the operation un- 

 known to him — on all his fruits. 



If I am not mistaken, Mi-. Uogers, of Salem, 

 Mass., was the first person who successfully 

 hybridized the gra])e. The grape is probably 

 the most difficult of all fruits to cross, on 

 account of its very small flowers. Yet Mr. 

 Rogers succeeded in applying the pollen of 

 foreign grapes to the pistil or stigma of a 

 native fox grape, and planting the seed thus 

 impregnated, produced over fifty plants, all of 

 which produced fruit did'ereiit from either 

 male or female parent, and all of superior 

 ([uality. Even after after his many seedlings 

 produced fruit of such good quality many of 

 the best botanists in the country insisted his 

 seedlings were fiot hybridized, but simply 

 seedlings of a wild fox grape. Even the great 

 botanist of the South, Mr. White, said the 

 grape could not bo crossed, though his neigh- 

 bor, the late Dr. Wylie, was operating in the 

 same way at the very time, and also produced 

 many new varieties by crossing foreign on 

 natives. I am not acquainted with the his- 

 tory or origin of our best apples, but judge 

 they have all originated from seeds that had 

 beeu crossed by birds and insects. We have 

 several pears that originated in Manor town- 

 ship, than which there are very few that are 

 superior — such as the " Hosen Shenk," and 

 the Neff pear ; the latter was found growing 

 among briers in a fence corner. Mr. Henry 

 Nett'dug up the little tree and planted it out- 

 side his garden fence ; it never blighted, is 

 now a tree of sixty or more feet in height, and 

 bears large crops of fruit every year. The 

 fruit is of medium size, pyriforra, of a golden 

 yellow color, and in quality better than one- 

 half of the imported varieties. 



The new celebrated strawberry, "James 

 Yick," is an accidental seedling, originating 

 on the grounds of Samuel Miller, of Missouri. 

 Evidently this is also a hybrid, the flower of 

 some variety having been cro.ssed by bees, 

 and the seed dropped, and thus are most, if 

 not all our seedling fruits crossed. 



The .Japan persimmon is a most delicious 

 fruit, but unfortunately is not sufficiently 

 hardy to .stand our severe winters; yet by 

 growing the trees in pots, or tubs, and placing 

 them in a cellar in winter, they grow and 

 bear fruit freely. By using the pollen of these 

 exotic trees, and applying it to the stigma of 

 our native varieties, a race of new fruits can 

 no doubt be secured of great value. 



It will be understood, that in crossing the 

 flowers of any fruit, it will be necessary to 

 cut out the male parts of the flowers to be 

 operated on, before the pollen is ripe, and to 

 apjily the pollen of the other to the stigma at 

 the proper time, and then to carefully enclose 

 the impregnated flower in some material so 

 as to prevent bees and insects from spoiling 

 our work. 



The Rural Kew Yorkfr is now distributing 

 among the subscribers of that jiaper seeds of 

 the Niagara grape, in the hope of the receivers 

 planting the seeds to produce valuable new 

 varieties. 



