18 INTRODUCTOKY REMARKS. 



fruit ; all, doubtless, of mature growth, though some may have been 

 brought from Canada, whence the seeds very evidently came, in their 

 route from the old world. 



From this you perceive, that Illinois is one of the oldest fruit- 

 growing states ; and it is very certain, that our seedling trees gener- 

 ally yield better fruit than the mass of chance varieties in the East ; 

 though, good sooth, I have been unable to trace any of our cele- 

 brated varieties in cultivation, to those glorious old trees, so graph- 

 ically described by the Rev. Mr. Peck ; and yet, I am by no 

 means certain, that some of our most valuable local varieties did not 

 originate in that classic fruit-land of Southern Illinois. 



It is very probable, also, that, in Central and Northern Illinois, 

 there may now be native varieties, surpassing in value a large ma- 

 jority of the sorts named in the books, for local cultivation, at least. 

 Analogy would lead to such a conclusion ; for, as a general rule here, 

 of fifty seedling trees, in almost any orchard, at least five will be 

 found worthy of notice, and worth preserving in their natural state, 

 though not desirable for propagation. 



From personal observation you are already aware, that some fruits 

 of high repute East, are nearly worthless here ; and that others are 

 wonderfully improved by the peculiarities of our soil and climate. It 

 is thought, too, that many old fruits have become so changed as to 

 be no longer easily recognized ; and, as their history has been lost, 

 and several local synonyms have been used to designate them, much 

 difficulty and doubt attend our western nomenclature. 



Perhaps these difficulties will soon be removed, and the doubts 

 cleared up, as in Ohio, by the re-fruiting of our celebrated varieties 

 East, from scions obtained here, or by further observation on the 

 fructification here, under the true na?nes. 



Many of our varieties, of the first trees transplanted in western Illin- 

 ois, and southern Wisconsin, were disseminated by tree pedlars from 

 the region of the Wabash, in Indiana, and central-eastern Illinois ; 

 and I am only aware that some of their sorts came from Ohio, and 

 others from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and 

 a few, doubtless, from the Eastern States ; though what proportion, 

 or what varieties of those brought us by these tree pedlars. I am un- 

 able to determine. Very few were sold under EASTERN NAMES, how- 

 ever, and, now and then, a variety is, doubtless, of native origin. 



Among these pedlars' trees, the RED JUNE is decidedly the most 

 valuable, and the MILAM the most abundant. 



Here-away, I know the origin of four-fifths of the trees planted out 

 in the last ten or twelve years, apart from the pedlars' trees, which 

 continued to arrive up to three or four years ago. The Buffalo nur- 

 series and your Cleveland dealers have furnished the most. The 

 nurseries of Chautauque County sent some early, and the Rochester 

 establishments a great many more recently, and a few ten or twelve 



