A FEW WORDS ON FRUIT CULTURE. 441 



this country. The result, on the whole, has been below the expec- 

 tation ; a few very fine sorts admirably adapted to the country ; a 

 great number of indifferent quality ; many absolutely worthless. 

 This, naturally, makes pomologists and fruit-growers less anxious 

 about the novelties of the nurseries abroad, and more desirous of 

 originating first-rate varieties at home. The best lessons learned 

 from the discussions in the Pomological Congress where the expe- 

 rience of the most practical fruit-growers of the country is brought 

 out is, that for every State, or every distinct district of country, 

 there must be found or produced its improved indigenous varieties 

 of fruit varieties born on the soil, inured to the climate, and there- 

 fore best adapted to that given locality. So that after gathering a 

 few kernels of wheat out of bushels of chaff, American horticultu- 

 rists feel, at the present moment, as if the best promise of future ex- 

 cellence, either in fruits or practical skill, lay in applying all our 

 knowledge and power to the study of our own soil and climate, and 

 in helping nature to perform the problem of successful cultivation, 

 by hints drawn from the facts immediately around us. 



