288 SOILS AND PLANT LIFE 



this same district and extending eastward into Texas, we 

 should find the fig. In the Cotton Belt and extending 

 slightly north of it, large orchards of peaches grow, 

 and in Florida, the orange, lemon and grapefruit grow 

 in abundance. 



Did all these fruits originate on this continent? Not 

 one. All of them came to us from Europe or Asia, having 

 been introduced into this country by the white man. These 

 fruits have, however, been improved and selected according 

 to adaptation to different soils and climates of the United 

 States. Moreover, the native fruits of other kinds which 

 the first settlers found growing here have been improved. 

 From the wild cranberries, plums, raspberries and grapes, 

 have come thousands of superior varieties worthy of a 

 name and of a place in our gardens and orchards. 



Not many of those varieties of apples, oranges, peaches 

 or other fruits which were originally introduced from 

 foreign lands are now to be found growing in American 

 orchards. They have been replaced by better varieties, 

 the offspring of these foreign parents. 



It is an interesting fact that almost none of these 

 superior varieties have come' from known parents. A 

 seed may be dropped on the roadside by a bird or a 

 thoughtless passer-by; a tree springs up, and by one 

 chance in a thousand perhaps, or even less, its fruit proves 

 to be better than any other similar fruit growing in that 

 locality. Buds or twigs are taken from it and united with 

 other plants of the same species, the variety is given a 

 name, and it thus becomes introduced into cultivation. 



218. Developing the Young Tree. — After the budding 

 or grafting has been done as explained in Section 104, 

 the young tree is trained in the nursery for one or more 

 years. It is then taken up with as many roots as can be 



