January 13. 1893. J 



SCIENCE. 



21 



are indisputable evidence that there is permanent contemporane- 

 oiis progress, and upon them alone I am -willing to rest my whole 

 argument. 



There is another feature of this contemporaneous variation 

 which must be considered at this point, — the great increase in 

 numbers of varieties. This increase is in part simply an accumu- 

 lation of the varieties of many years, so that our manuals are apt 

 to contain descriptions of more varieties than are actually culti- 

 vated at the time. But much of this increase is an actual multi- 

 plication of varieties. That is, there are more varieties of all 

 plants in cultivation now than at any previous time. M'Mahon 

 mentions six beets as grown at his time; in 1889, there were 43 

 kinds. Then there were 14 cabbages, now there are over 100. 

 Then there were 16 lettuces against about 120 now. He mentions 

 59 apples, now there are about 2,500 described in this country. He 

 mentions 40 pears, against 1,000 now. There were something over 

 450 species of plants native to the United States mentioned by 

 M'Mahon, now there are over 2,000 in cultivation. These figures 

 are average examples of the marvellous increase in varieties 

 •during the century. I may be met here with the technical objec- 

 tion that M'Mahon did not make a complete catalogue of the 

 plants of his time. This may be true, but it was meant to be 

 practically complete, and it is much the fullest of any early list. 

 Gardening occupied such a limited area a century ago that it 

 could not have been a burdensome task to collect very nearly all 

 the varieties in existence; and any omissions are undoubtedly 

 much overbalanced by the shortcomings of the contemporaneous 

 figures which I have given you. It is certainly true that during 

 the nineteenth century varieties of all the leading species of cul- 

 tivated plants have multiplied in this country from 200 per cent 

 to 1,000 per cent. This vaiiation still continues, and the sum of 

 novelties of any year probably exceeds that of the preceding year. 

 Every generation sees, for the most part, a new type of plants. 



But I suppose that these statements as to the increase of varie- 

 ties will be accepted without further proof. The question which 

 you all desire to ask me is whether all this increase represents 

 progress. Many poor varieties have been introduced, beyond a 

 doubt, but I am convinced that the general tendency is decidedly 

 progressive. You may cite me the fact that we have not im- 

 proved upon the Rhode Island Greening and Fall Pippin apples, the 

 Montmorenci cherry, the Green Gage plum, and other varieties 

 which were in cultivation at the opening of the century, as proof 

 of a contrary conviction ; but I shall answer that we now have a 

 score of apples as good as the Greening, although we may have 

 none better. This habit of saying that we have not improved 

 upon certain old plants is really a fallacy, for the reference is 

 always made to quality of fruio alone; and, furthermore, the test 

 of progress is not the supplanting of a good variety, but the origi- 

 nation of varieties which shall meet new demands. The more 

 numerous and diverse the varieties of any plant, the more suc- 

 cessful will be its cultivation over a wide area, because the great- 

 est number of different conditions — as soil?, climates, and uses — 

 will be satisfactorily met. If we bad at present only the apples 

 ■which were grown in M'Mahon's time, apple culture in the prairie 

 States, in our bleak North- West, and even in some of the apple 

 sections of Ontario, would be impossible. We are constantly ex- 

 tending the borders of the cultivation of all fruits by means of 

 these new varieties. The horticultural settlement of our great 

 West and of the cold North is one of the wonders of the time. 

 We should not ask ourselves of a new variety if it is better in all 

 respects than other varieties, but if it will till some specific need 

 more satisfactorily. If a variety does better than all other 

 varieties in one locality alone, for one specific purpose, it is not a 

 failure, and it represents progress. Every peculiar or isolated 

 region tends to develop a horticulture of its own, but this is pos- 

 sible only with a corresponding initial variation in plants. No 

 doubt many of our discarded varieties failed to find the place or 

 conditions in which they would have succeeded. We should not 

 look upon adverse reports upon the novelties as necessarily denun- 

 ciatory; they may only indicate that in some places or for some 

 purposes the variety in question is unsatisfactory. I must also 

 call your attention to the fact that while the areas of cultivation 

 have greatly widened in recent years because of the evolution of 



adaptive varieties, the economic uses of the plants have increased 

 in like ratio. We now have varieties of fruits which are specifi- 

 cally adapted to the making of dried fruit, to canning, to enduring 

 long journeys, and the like; and flowers which meet specific de- 

 mands in decoration or other uses. The period of maturation of 

 varieties has extended greatly in both directions, so that fruits 

 and flowers are now in season much longer than formerly. The 

 gist of the whole matter is simply this, that our horticultural 

 limits and products have greatly broadened in very recent times 

 by reason of the great increase in number and diversity of varie- 

 ties; and this leads us to expect that still other wants will be met 

 in like manner, and that the uttermost habitable parts of the 

 country will develop a special horticulture 



2. There is a constant augmentation in iieio specific types of jilants, 

 toth from our native flora and ty importation from witTiout. I sup- 

 pose that there is no parallel to the marvellous evolution of native 

 fruits in America. Within a century we have procured the 

 grapes, cranberries, the most popular gooseberries, some of the 

 mulberries, the raspberries and blackberries, the pecans and some 

 of the chestnuts, from our wild species. Perhaps the strawberries 

 can be traced to the same source. There are many men still liv- 

 ing who remember when there was no commercial cultivation of 

 these fruits. Here is progress enough for one century; yet an 

 overwhelming host of new types is coming upon us. I sometimes 

 think that the improved native plants are coming forward so 

 rapidly that we do not properly appreciate them. Witness the 

 perplexing horde of native plums, the varieties even now reaching 

 nearly 200, which are destined to occupy a much larger area of 

 North America than the European plum now occupies. New 

 species of grapes are now coming into cultivation. The dewber- 

 ries, juneberry, Crandall currant type, buffalo berry, wild apples, 

 and more than a score of lesser worthies, are now spreading into 

 our gardens. Many of these things will be among the staples a 

 hundred years to come. One hundred and eighty-five species of 

 native plants, some for fruit but mostly for ornament, were intro- 

 duced into commerce last year; and the number of plants native 

 to North America north of Mexico which have come into cultiva- 

 tion is 3,416. Under the stimulus of new conditions, some of 

 the.se species will vary into hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new 

 forms, and our horticulture will become the richest in the world. 

 It is a privilege to live when great movements are conceived and 

 new agencies first lend themselves to the dominion of man. 



Many species have come to us from many parts of the world 

 throughout the century, but the immigration still continues, and 

 perhaps is greater now than at any previous time. It is well nigh 

 impossible to chronicle the new types of ornamental plants which 

 have come to America during the last two decades. Consider the 

 overwhelming introduction of species of orchids alone. Even 

 the wholly new types of fruits are many. Over twenty-five species 

 of edible plants have come to .^.merica comparatively recently 

 from Japan alone, and some of these species are already very im- 

 portant. Two of them, the Japanese persimmons and the Japanese 

 plums, are most signal additions, probably exceeding in value any 

 other introductions of species not heretofore in the country, made 

 during the last quarter-century. During the years 1889, 1890, 

 and 1891, some 380 species of plants not in commercial cultivation 

 here were introduced into North America, partly from abroad and 

 partly from our own flora. In the year 1891 alone 219 distinct 

 species were introduced. 



Valuable as these new types are in themselves, all experience 

 teaches that we are to expect better things from their cultivated 

 and variable progeny. We can, therefore, scarcely conceive what 

 riches the future will bring. 



3. There is great progress in methods of caring for plants. The 

 manner of cultivating and caring for plants has changed much 

 during recent years. It is doubtful if all this change represents 

 actual progress in methods, but it indicates inquiry and growth, 

 and it must eventually bring us to the ideal treatment of plants. 

 Some of the change is simply a see-saw from one method to an- 

 other, according as our knowledge seems to point more strongly 

 in one direction than another. In one decade we may think lime 

 to be an indispensable fertilizer, and in the next it may be dis- 

 carded ; yet we may eventually find that both positions are un- 



