I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



645 



there are several varieties, varying in color, 

 size, and flavor, we may produce kinds not 

 subject to disease, if judiciously crossed with 

 our best garden sorts ; or, if bred between 

 themselves, we might perhaps add new vari- 

 eties to our species of cultivated plums, 

 which would be healthy, productive, and de- 

 licious. This suggestion is certainly worthy 

 of consideration and experiment. 



Let not this recommendation, however, in 

 regard to cross-fertilization, discourage the 

 sowing of other seeds, because they have 

 not been artificially impregnated by the 

 hand of man, for they may have been fer- 

 tilized by the wind, or insects conveying the 

 pollen of one variety to the style of another. 

 In this way have been produced most of the 

 superior sorts of American fruits. How 

 extensive and inviting is the field here open- 

 ed even to the most common fruit grower, 

 who, practising upon this principle through 

 a series of years, can hardly fail to produce 

 some good traits, although he may not be 

 acquainted with the higher and more deli- 

 cate process of artificial impregnation. But ' 

 infinitely superior and more promising is the ' 

 sphere of enterprise which opens before the 

 scientific pomologist. It is broad as the 

 earth, free as the air, rich as the land of 

 promise. In his hands are placed the means 

 of continual progress without the numerous 

 uncertainties which must ever attend acci- 

 dental fertilization. He has the sure guide 

 of science, which never misleads her vota- 

 ries, but elevates them from one degree of 

 excellence to another towards absolute per- 

 fection. By these processes, new varieties 

 are multiplying with unparalleled rapidity 

 throughout our country. We rejoice in the 

 intense zeal which has been awakened in 

 this pursuit. It augurs well for the future, 

 whether prompted by the desire either of 

 fortune or of fame. But the spirit of adven- 

 ture, thus awakened, needs occasionally a 

 little wholesome .discipline, let it foster an 

 undue reliance on immmature experience, 

 and tend to quackery, imposition, and fraud. 



While we refrain from all personal reflec- 

 tions, we cannot forbear exhorting all, and 

 especially the officers and members of this 

 association, to increased vigilance and cau- 

 tion in the recommendation of novelties, un- 

 til they have been thoroughly tested by com- 

 petent judges. As it is human to err, so it 

 is natural to be partial to one's own offspring 

 and friends, and this partiality often sways 

 the judgment of honest and good men. 



But a more common and serious difficulty 

 under which we labor, is the promulgation 

 of seedlings by individuals and associations 

 that have not the information requisite to 

 form an intelligent, and therefore reliable 

 judgment. Another evil which increases 

 with the mania for what is new and rare, is 

 the exposure for sale, by flaming advertise- 

 ments and speculating agents, of old varie- 

 ties under new and specious names, varieties 

 which, like Jonah's gourd, were known in 

 their day and place, but have long been con- 

 signed to oblivion. 



As in the past, so in the present and in 

 the future, let it be our purpose and prac- 

 tice to reject those that are worthless, to 

 withhold our approbation from those that 

 are doubtful, and to encourage the multipli- 

 cation of those only which are of decided 

 and acknowledged worth. Thus shall we 

 elevate the standard of judgment, and fulfil 

 the mission providentially assigned us. We 

 might enlarge on this and other topics, but 

 the brief period which it is proper for me 

 to occupy in this opening address, restricts 

 me to one or two other considerations. 



AFFINITIES. 



I would here again recommend a more 

 careful study of affinities between the stock 

 and the graft. Whatever be the opinions 

 in regard to the manner and degree of in- 

 fluence which the scion has upon the stock, 

 or the reverse, the fact of that influence is 

 undeniable. For example, we have seen 

 certain varieties of the pear, as the Cross, 

 Collins, and others, which would not readily 

 assimilate with the stock, however vigorous. 

 We have, in many instances, seen healthful 

 trees sicken and eventually die, by the in- 

 sertion of these uncongenial grafts. So 

 great was the want of congeniality, that we 

 have seen the stocks throw out successive 

 crops of suckers, and although these were 

 frequently removed, yet the scion would re- 

 fuse to receive and elaborate the sap in suf- 

 ficient quantity to nourish it, and the trees 

 would finally die. In such instances, the 

 onty way to restore the health of the stock, 

 is to remove the graft for a scion of its own 

 or some other appropriate sort. 



As I have formerly directed your atten- 

 tion to this topic, I have only space to em- 

 body a few general rules to guide practice. 



In deciding upon affinity between the tree 

 and graft, consider — jj. 



First, The character of the woods to be 



