their merits properly investigated by competent cultivators, the result made 

 known to the donors, and such disposition made of them as would be considered 

 most advantageous. 



2. To procure by hybridizing and special culture, fyc. 



The improvement of vegetable races by hybridizing and cross-breeding is at 

 once the most direct and important means which we possess in modifying and 

 adapting them to special purposes. The field of experiment here is boundless, 

 and some sections of it have, so far, scarcely been trod upon. The improve- 

 ment of various fruits, and their better adaptation to domestic purposes, pre- 

 sent enticing inducements to the experimentalist. It may safely be assumed 

 that none, even of our most valuable and oldest varieties of fruits, have attained 

 that degree of excellence to which they may be brought, neither do they afford 

 the variety nor continue their season of productiveness to the extent which is 

 evidently possible. We have fruits that individually possess desirable proper- 

 ties, but associated with qualities that equally tend to depreciate their merits, 

 and from the experience derived from former efforts, there is abundant evidence 

 for encouragement in our efforts to produce a variety invested with a combina- 

 tion of excellencies not individually attained. Let us take, for example, that 

 universally admired fruit, the strawberry, and originate a kind combining the 

 wonderfully hardy and productive powers of the " Albany," the stately growth 

 of the "Fillmore," and the exquisite delicacy of flavor found in the Vicomptesse 

 Hericourt de Thury, and we might gratify ourselves with the possession of a 

 plant approaching closely to perfection in this fruit. The grape, of all other 

 fruits, offers great promise to the hybridizer. A good wine grape is yet a de- 

 sideratum, and every attention should be directed to the production of a grape 

 that will possess the necessary peculiar characteristics for this purpose. 



There is scarcely a limit to the objects presented to the hybridizer for experi- 

 ment. To increase the size and color of flowers, to improve the flavor of fruits by 

 changing austerity and acidity into sugary matter, to increase the hardiness of 

 tender plants and make barren races productive, to extend the season of pro- 

 ductiveness by hastening the maturity of some, and retarding that of others, 

 are only a few of the many improvements awaiting the systematic efforts of the 

 hybridizer. 



It is true that in many cases the operation is somewhat difficult to perform, 

 and in all a delicacy of manipulation is required, which tends to prevent ex- 

 periments of the kind from becoming general, but carefully conducted opera- 

 tions will certainly be followed by valuable results. 



3. To ascertain, by experiment, the influence of culture, fyc. 



To establish definite systems of culture ; to ascertain how far certain desira- 

 ble results can be influenced by pruning, how and when it is beneficial and 

 when injurious ; to institute carefully concerted experiments with a view of dis- 

 covering to what extent the mere physical or mechanical condition of a soil af- 

 fects its capacity of production, and how much is dependent upon its chem- 

 ical constitution for the highest development of the cereals and fruits, opens up 

 a line of inquiry by which valuable truths may be reached. The exact specific 

 relation that exists between the soil and its vegetable productions, and the 

 special appliances to render plant food soluble and in a condition available to 

 the purposes of vegetation, are subjects upon which many opposite and seem- 

 ingly conflicting opinions exist. 



In this connexion, also, the application of manures, the kinds to be employed, 

 and the time and manner of their use, whether as surface dressings, or by an 

 intimate mixture with the soil, present a series of questions well known to be 

 of vital importance, and of which much yet remains in obscurity. 



