No. 216] 15'; 



AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN FRUITS. 



By Samuel Walker, of Roxbury, Mass. 



To the Managers of the American Institute : 



Gentlemen, — T have had the privilege for some years past, to visit 

 the Fair of the American lustitute and partake of its labors and its 

 pleasures. Every visit has been made more interesting from the fact 

 that there has been more to interest — more to study — more to ad- 

 mire. 



The product of the farm, the dairy, the orchard, the garden and 

 the green house have been so arranged and blended together at your 

 exhibitions as to make it a " museum of Nature's richest gifts." 



There I meet the darling child, the bashful maiden, the ardent 

 lover, the generous father, the fond mother, the venerable grand- 

 father and the beloved grandmother; the whole family group in joy- 

 ous mood, to seek pleasure from the " spring of knowledge, and ad- 

 mire nature in the beautiful apple, the delicious pear, the delicate 

 peach, the luscious grape, the modest violet, and " Nature's queen," 

 the lovely rose. 



There also I meet with the hard-handed but generous hearted 

 farmer; the enthusiastic and enterprising horticulturist; Flora is also 

 there, in her gay attire, made, if possible more beautiful by the deli- 

 cate touch and exquisite arrangement by her fair votaries. In such 

 company I love to mingle, and to be a listener while the scientific 

 freely impart all the information their experience has given them in 

 the art of cultivation. Here they scatter " broadcast" all they know 

 on this subject; here heart meets heart, as hand does hand; here 

 knowledge is reciprocally imparted; here an interchange of practical 

 experience is made for the good of the whole; here self and selfishness is 

 laid aside and the soul is unreservedly poured out, that the cultivation 

 and improvement of the soil may be promoted, the fruits of the field, 

 of the garden and the orchard, multiplied, for the benefit of the coun- 

 try — for the welfare of the world ! 



With such scenes before my mind's eye, 1 am rather disposed to 

 digression; but feel that I must confine myself to that department 

 which claims my more immediate attention, viz: Fruits. I therefore 



