THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



HORTICULTURE. 



JUNE, 1850. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 

 Art. I. Production of Hybrids. By P. 



The chairman of a committee of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society has, in his very valuable report, recently pub- 

 lished in your magazine, (p. 184), the following expression : 

 " With respect to some species of fruits, it is true, so great im- 

 provements have been in this way effected, [by new seed- 

 ling specimens,] as to leave little to be hoped for." With all 

 due deference to the opinion of a gentleman who has done, 

 and is still doing, so much to controvert the statement, we say, 

 that from these improvements Avhich have been made in the- 

 productions of the earth, we learn not to be content with any 

 results that have yet been reached ; and every variety, better 

 than all previous ones, either in agriculture, horticulture, or 

 floriculture, seems at once to suggest a best yet to be dis- 

 covered. 



But little attention has yet been given on this side of the 

 Atlantic to the production of hybrid varieties, either of flow- 

 ers, fruits, or vegetables. A few facts, familiar from the 

 nature of the cases rather than from any distinct observation, 

 are, indeed, recognized by those who have had any thought 

 upon the subject. It is not probable that every new name 

 describes a new sort ; nor that every new sort, though the 

 latest, is the best of all. But that the way of getting good 

 fruits, elegant flowers, and choice vegetables is open to man- 

 kind, in the occasional hybridization of standard kinds, 



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