VOL. XVUl. SO. 3S 



AND H R 1^ I C U L T U R A L REGISTER. 



8i9 



the most active in iioticinsj tlie various natural 

 lenoiiicna, and when the mind forms its most abi- 



ijf liahits. 



Mor;i! and religious charncttT may bo formed 

 id nurtured as readily and succesaruUy by one 

 ho is devoted to this most natural of all pursuits 



in any other of the many empUiynicnts of man. 

 one I believe will dniibl ih:it virtue and holiness 

 e as often found in the farmer's home as beneatj> 

 roofs of any other class of our citizens. The 

 dume of inspiration may be and is as reverently 

 udied there as anywhere; and the husbandman 

 ust be constantly receiving salutary lessons from 

 'older scriptiire," nature. In its moral tpn- 

 mcies, this pursuit commends itself to all who 

 timale virtue and piety at their proper worth. 



But how does it speak to him who inquires for its 

 cuuiary results ? It answers in honest terms. 

 3 promises are less liberal than are made by most 



Sood they may enjoy. — .\m\ 1 61ose, Farmers of 

 E.«sex, by appealing to you to be contented with 

 your honorable pursuit, and to jiross forward with 

 " unfaltering and unwearied steps," in the processes 

 of acquiring .Agricultural knowledge, of improving 

 your farms, and increasing your productions ; by 

 nppealing to you, also, and above all, to sow to the 

 -■'pu-it, that you may pluck unfading flowers, and 

 gather immortal fruits in the fair gardens of the 

 world above. 



P'or the ISew England Karmer. 

 CROSS BREEDING 



A.ND BRKKDING I.N-AiND-liV, If? THE VEGF.TABI.E 

 KINGDOM. 



The terms cross breeding, and breeding in-and- 

 in, are familiar to most <1f your agricultural readers, 

 - hen applied to animals, but may not be so well un- 



her pursuits, but its performance is more to be I derstood when applied to vegetables, therefore a 

 lied upon. It offers a comfortable support and it j communication on this subject may be acceptable 



ys this more generally than almost any other oc 

 ipation. 



to some of your readers. 



By the term cross breeding I would be under- 



^What is its repute in the world .' How does.it j stood as meaning that process by which the pistil, 

 'ect one's standing in the community ? In what j or female part of a flower becomes impregnated by 

 timation are farmers held ? Let us not be de- | the pollen from a flower of a different variety of 

 ived by appearances. The striped frock and | the same species. 



w hide boots are not often introduced into the 

 rlors of the refined, the fashionable, and the rich, 

 le unpolished husbandman is not the chosen com- 

 nlon of the retlned merchant and professional 

 And why thus ? Not, I sincerely believe, 

 cause the better portion of those who move in 

 lat are called the first circles, regard the farmers 

 less deserving of honor and esteem than thein- 

 Ives and their associates, but because there is a 

 mt of similarity and coalescence in the manners, 

 bits, tastes and feelings of the two classes, 

 lose who are robed in costly apparel may hqjior 

 J laborer in his homely garb, and yet think, niRl 

 5tly think, that it would contribute to neither his 

 joyment nor their own, to seat hiui at their ele- 

 nt tables (jr receive him at their social parties, 

 ley know that this would be but cruel kindness ; 

 dc civility ; an attempt to mingle oil and water, 

 le pursuit is respected as highly as any other. 

 ve, then, farmers of Essex, give contentment a 

 rmanent home in your hearts. 

 Destructive stornis, withering drought, and kill- 

 y frosts will sometimes disappoint our hopes. But 

 is wise to avoid the too commrn habit of over 

 tiniating losses and speaking of them in a tone 

 at borders upon <!ompIaint. The public journals 

 en intimate that we are a complaining if not un- 

 ateful brotherhood. I fear that our common, but 

 ioughtless modes of speaking,will too nearly jus- 

 y them in casting upon us the reproach. Let us 

 ir, if err we must, on that side which shows a con- 

 ling trust in the unsearchable wisdom and hound- 

 8S power of Him who has promised that " seed 

 ne and harvest shall not fail." 



" O formn.Ttos i 

 Agricolas," 



nium, sua si bnnanorint 



s been echoed by every age since it fell from the 

 IS of Maro's polished muse. Its truth may pass 

 [questioned. Though pleasure and happiness may 

 : strewed as thickly upon the paths in which high 

 iiided and faithful mechanics, merchants, manu- 

 cturers, physicians, law^yers and divines wend 

 eir various ways, as over the husbandman's fields, 

 is yet true, that farmers would be a happy class, 

 luld they but appreciate in all its fulness, the 



By the term breeding in-and-in, as meaning that 

 process by which the pistil of a perfect flower be- 

 comes impregnated with the pollen from its own 

 stamens, or those from another flower of the same 

 variety, or in case the plants belong to the class 

 Monoecia, by pollen from the male flowers of the 

 same plant. 



By the (5rst process the object to be attained is 

 to produce new varieties partaking of the nature 

 of both the varieties from which the offspring is 

 produced. 



By the second process the object is to continue 

 any well known, and valuable variety, by producing 

 new plants from seeds, which shall retain all the 

 valuable properties of the parent and so continue 

 them, as with animals, for any length of time with- 

 out degenerating by intermixture with inferior va- 

 rieties. 



Fully aware of the benefits which have resulted 

 to the agricultural world, from the attention which 

 has been paid by certain individuals, to the, im- 

 provement of animals, both by cross breeding, and 

 breeding in-and-in, I would inquire whether siuiilar 

 benefits might not accompany a like attention to 

 the fructification of plants? 



My object in calling the attention of horticulturists 

 to this subject, is to inquire wdiether some process 

 may not bo discovered by which the flowers of our 

 fruit bearing trees may be so impregnated, as to 

 enable us to continue and multiply any known val- 

 uable variety, by raising young trees from seed so 

 impregnated, at a cheaper rate, and with the pros- 

 pect of greater durability, than we do at present by 

 budding, grafting, or any other method now in gen- 

 eral use. 



Sir A. Knight has already enlightened horticul- 

 turists by his numerous experiments, made in what 

 I term cross breeding, by which he has produced 

 many new and useful varieties, both in annuals, 

 biennials, and perennials, yet at the same time he 



when all our present valuable varieties of fruit will 

 become; extinct. If this is correct is it not desi- 

 rable that we shoiiUl adopt some method to preserve 

 them by reproducing them from seed .= In what 

 manner can this be ofTected but by breeding in- 

 and-in ? 



By his theory of cross breeding he lays it down 

 that the tree produced from seed when so managed, 

 is a medium between the two varieties made use of 

 in the fructification, in size, c(dor, and flavor, but 

 thill the new plant in growth bears a strong resem- 

 blance to the mother, or plant ichich produced the 

 seed. 



\Vp. know many plants produce flowers, which 

 from their peculiar shape, the parts of fecundation 

 are so enveloped that it renders it very diflieult for 

 the pollen frcm any other plant to approach the 

 pistil unless b.y'artificial moans. In such plants 

 we rarely notice any variation — such are the flow- 

 ers of the bean ami pea, while others fully exposed, 

 and that at the season when b(;es and other insects 

 are numerous, as the Bassica tribe are constantly 

 liable to sport, or produce new varieties. 



Have we not reasons to believe that the pollen 

 from diflT3rent flowers act upon the same pistil, 

 and in different degrees, each producing a corres- 

 ponding efl^ect upon the character of the future 

 plant.' And are not the pistils of perfect flowers, 

 as the apple sometimes, so nearly impregnated with 

 their own pollen as to produce plants from their 

 seeds with but little variation from the mother plant ? 

 Upon what other principle are we to acconnt for 

 the great similarity that is found to exist in certain 

 families of apples, viz : the Junettings, Seekno- 

 furthers, Pippins, Russetts, and some others which 

 might be named ? In the first of these we have no 

 less than four distinct varieties, " alike yet various," 

 all possessing the general characteristics of the 

 family which are singular — as peculiarity of growth 

 cf tr«fe, tl«ie of ripening of the fruit, its size, shape, 

 color, and flavor. The same observations will ap- 

 ply equally to the Seeknofurthers, of which we 

 have tliree varieties very distinct, and a fourth which 

 so nearly approaches as to leave little doubt as to 

 its parentage. The Pippins also are becoming a 

 nuuierous family. 



I am convinced that if the principles of the fruc- 

 tification of plants were more generally understood 

 by our agriculturists and horticulturists, and that 

 emulation excited which exists among those engaged 

 in the breeding of animals, that a corresponding 

 improvement might be made, and attended with as 

 fair a profit to the persons engaged, while for every 

 improvement they would merit the lasting gratitude 

 of their country. 



I am, gentlemen. 



Your ob't 



N. GOODSELL. 



In the year 1497, in a fish pond in Suaba, a 

 Carp of prodigious size was found, which had in 

 its ear a ring of copper, with these words in 

 Latin inscribed upon it: — "I am the first fish that 

 was put into this pond, by the hands of Fred- 

 erick the Second, Governor of the World, the 

 sanctions the theory, that each plant produced from I fifth di\y of October, 1130." So that this Carp 



seed is a new generation, and as such has its lim- must have lived to the remarkable age of more 

 ited time of duration according to the nature of the than two hundred and eighty-seven years. We 

 plant, when not only the plant itself but all propa- wonder, says an old writer, whether this mem- 

 gated from it by budding or grafting will also die. orable fish was doomed to end his days in a stew- 

 According to this theory the time will come pan! 



