324 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



might kill it. It was left to grow, and has proved to be 

 one of the first-^class pears 



Downer^ s late cherry^ was a stock in the nursery row, and 

 several times -budded with other kinds; the buds always 

 failing, the tree was allowed to fruit, and proved one of the 

 best, if not the best, of late cherries. 



KnighPs Black Eagle was raised from the seed of the 

 Bigarreau fertilized by the May Duke. When it bore, the 

 fruit Avas so inferior that the London Horticultural Society 

 peremptorily rejected it. Mr. Knight determined to head 

 the tree doAvn and graft into it other sorts. But he had 

 given the tree to a daughter, with whom it was a favorite, 

 and she refused to have it sacrificed. Each year, subse- 

 quently, showed an improvement in the fruit ; and now it 

 stands in the first class of cherries. This is one among 

 many instances, which show that young seedlings do not 

 exhibit the true qualities of the fruit for several years after 

 they come to bearing. 



The Red-cheek Melocoton peach was accidentally obtained 

 by the late Wm. Prince, Flushing,' Long Island. He had 

 budded the Kennedy's Caroline upon a stock, and below 

 the point of inoculation a branch of the original stock had 

 shot up into bearing. Sending a servant to gather the 

 budded fruit, he was surprised by his bringing, and, as he 

 declared, from this tree, a fi-ee-stone peach. On examining, 

 he found the cause as stated above, and was so much 

 pleased with the new kind that he cultivated it. 



The best stock a man can invest in, is the stock of a 

 farm ; the best shares are plow-shares ; and the best banks 

 are the fertile banks of the rural stream : the more these 

 are broken the better dividends they pay. 



