V. 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF VEGETABLE RACES. 



April, 1852. 



ATOTWITHSTANDING all the drawbacks of the violent ex- 

 -L i tremes of climate, the United States, and especially all that 

 belt of country lying between the Mohawk and the James Rivers, is 

 probably as good a fruit country as can be found in the world. 

 Whilst every American, travelling in the north of Europe, observes 

 that very choice fruit, grown at great cost, and with the utmost care, 

 is more certainly to be found in the gardens of the wealthy than 

 with us, he also notices that the broad-cast production of tolerably 

 good fruit in orchards and gardens, is almost nothing in Europe, 

 when compared to what is seen in America. As we have already 

 stated, one-fourth of the skill and care expended on fruit culture in 

 the north of Europe, bestowed in America, would absolutely load 

 every table with the finest fruits of temperate climates. 



As yet, however, we have not made any progress beyond com- 

 mon orchard culture. In the majority of cases, the orchard is planted, 

 cultivated two or three years with the plough, pruned badly three 

 or four times, and then left to itself. It is very true, that in ths 

 fruit gardens, which begin to surround some of our older cities, the 

 well-prepared soil, careful selections of varieties, judicious culture 

 and pruning, have begun to awaken in the minds of the old fash- 

 ioned cultivators a sense of astonishment as to the size and perfec- 

 tion to which certain fruits can be brought, which begins to react 

 on the country at large. Little by little, the orchardists are begin- 

 ning to be aware that it is better to plant fifty trees carefully, in 



