STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 53 



from, it will be within the mark to say that for every one such in- 

 stance of continued success, there have been a hundred where the 

 nursery grafted Baldwin has failed to reach maturity ; and this 

 mistake has entailed great loss 



Let us now look at our topic from another standpoint. Are 

 nursery trees grown, budded or grafted in Maine any better for 

 planting in this State than trees similarly grown at a distance of 

 several hundred miles South or West frjm us ? or in other words, 

 is a tree which is fulhj acclimated, (as it is called) any better for 

 us, other things being equal, than one which is not thus acclimated ? 

 This is a point on which opposite views are held. In my opinion 

 there is a preference for the home grown over the foreign grown ; 

 but the choice — other things being equal — is less than many imag- 

 ine. My belief is that any given variety possesses certain inherent 

 qualities, such as vigor, hardihood, productiveness, or their oppo- 

 eites by virtue of endowments which inhered in the seed -from 

 which it sprang — from the beginning of that seed's existence — 

 or, certainly, before it germinated, and that the accidents of place 

 or climate where it did actually germinate and grow, neither add 

 to nor subtract from those inherent endowments, but only affect 

 their development. A cabbage seed and a turnip seed are not very 

 unlike in outward appearance, but the former produces a cabbage 

 plant instead of a turnip, not because of the peculiarities of place 

 or climate where it grew, but by virtue of certain qualities 

 which it possessed before it began to grow. If you plant an apple 

 seed in this State of a naturally tender sort, it grows the first 

 summer, but perishes the next winter. If that same seed had been 

 planted in a mild climate it might have grown to maturity ; but 

 young trees grafted with that variety and brought hither and 

 planted out, will soon demonstrate their inability to endure the 

 rigors of a Maine winter. So, too, if the seed of a variety hardy 

 enough to succeed perfectly here, was planted in Kentucky or 

 Florida, it would also grow. The fact of its growing to a tree there 

 proves nothing about its ability or inability to thrive in a colder 

 or warmer climate. But let young trees grafted with that sort be 

 brought hither, and the next winter would exhibit proof that they 

 brought their powers of endurance with them. 



Acclimation may, and doubtless does contribute somewhat to 

 adaptation to climate, but it cannot confer powers of endurance 

 where a substratum of the inherent property of hardiness is want- 

 ing. I do not, therefore, consider it a very serious objection to a 



