THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



43 



; JtptiiiltifiI ^oeietiep. 



AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The eighteenth biennial session of this I 

 excellent association was held in Boston, on 

 the 14th, 15th, and 16th of September. 

 There was a very large attendance of mem- 

 bers and delegates from many States. A 

 most notable and gratifying feature of the 

 meetings was the presence of the venerable 

 President of the Society, the Hon. Marshall 

 P. Wilder. During the two previous sessions 

 ill-health prevented his presence, but now he i 

 took an active part in the discussions, and 

 presided over the meetings with as much 

 dignity and grace as ever ; and looked so 

 hale and hearty as to be able to preside over 

 a good many meetings yet. May it be so ! 



Several valuable papers were read, which 

 will be published in the Society's transactions. 



Prof. W. J. Beal, of the Michigan Agricult- 

 ural College, was elected Secretary, in place 

 of Mr. Robert Manning, who resigned. It 

 will be recollected that, after Mr. Flagg's 

 death, Mr. Manning only accepted the office 

 under most urgent pressure of the mem- 

 bers, and discharged his arduous duties so 

 well that it is to be regretted that other en- 

 gagements prevent him from accepting a 

 reelection. The Society has been fortunate 

 in securing in Prof. Beal so able a successor, 

 one whose ability and knowledge in horti- 

 cultural science and practice are too well 

 known throughout the land to require men- 

 tion here. 



The lists of Grapes, Strawberries, Rasp- 

 berries, Peaches, etc. were revised, and 

 many obsolete varieties stricken from the 

 catalogue. The session closed with a grand 

 banquet in Music Hall, given by the members 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 

 and all parted with glad hearts and pleased 

 with their visit to hospitable Boston. The 

 next meeting will be held in 1883, in Phila- 

 delphia. 



We cannot better explain the objects and 

 achievements of this national society than 

 by quoting the following from President 

 Wilder's admirable address, which we regret 

 not to have sufficient space to print in full. 



' ' Few are aware of the great benefits which 

 have resulted from the free discussions of the 

 merits of the many new varieties of fruits 

 which are continually being brought to no- 

 tice, recommending only those of promise, 

 and discarding hundreds of kinds which 

 would otherwise be imposed on the public 

 as valuable sorts. Formerly it took many 

 years to test the merits and adaptation of 

 fruits to our several locations ; now, when a 

 new variety is promulgated, it must receive 

 the commendation of our Society for trial 

 before it can have an extensive sale, thus re- 

 cording its relative value and adaptation, 

 saving immense expense and delay. Our 

 catalogue there presents from time to time 

 the results of accumulative experience, and 

 furnishes a text-book and guide for every 

 section of our land. 



"In nothing, perhaps, are the happy influ- 

 ences of our Society to be seen more than in 

 its suppression of the numerous inferior or 

 worthless varieties which have been in cul- 

 tivation, or are constantly being brought to 

 notice, and with which the public are too 

 often deceived. The enterprise and sagacity 

 with which these are promulgated surpass 



any other former period, and ere the favorite 

 of the day has started on his tour, another 

 jumps upon the track and leaves his rival in 

 the distance behind. The universal interest 

 now manifest in the production of new varie- 

 ties is worthy of all praise, but it is the mis- | 

 sion of our Society to keep watch over this I 

 spirit of emulation, or, to use a harder word, 

 speculation, and not to admit into its cata- 

 logue any fruits which are of doubtful merit. ' 

 Some of the new kinds are of inestimable j 

 value, and for excellence will take their place 

 permanently in its columns of approved ' 

 fruits, while many claiming to be the won- I 

 ders of the age will pass away, as thousands 

 have done before, like a shadow flitting over 

 the plain ; or, 



" 'Like the snow-flake on the river, 

 A moment white, then gone forever.' 



PRODUCTION OP NEW AND IMPROVED 

 VARIETIES FROM SEED. 



' ' To encourage and extend this most benefl- i 

 cent branch of Pomology is part of the : 

 design of this Society, whose purpose and 

 aim is to prescribe the fruits which may be 

 adapted to the various sections of our ever 

 increasing territory. These are the means 

 which Providence has placed in our hands ; 

 and the only means for accomplishing this 

 object is the production of new and valu- ■ 

 able varieties of fruits. The scientific laws j 

 upon which this science is founded are as I 

 fixed and certain as those of moral or nat- 

 ural philosophy, the same yesterday, to-day, 

 and forever, and although we may not now 

 be able to prescribe the exact limits to which 

 improvement may be extended, we do know 

 that upon the subtle forces of hybridization, 

 either accidental or by the hand of man, we 

 must ever depend for the improvement of our ' 

 fruits. Natural hybridization or the cross- 

 impregnation of plants, as we have said 

 before, is as old as creation, and must have 

 given to man the first idea of the power 

 placed in his hand for the improvement of 

 the species. God works by means, in nature 

 and in grace, and requires us to join our 

 efforts with His. ' Seek and ye shall find ; 

 knock and it shall be opened to you,' were 

 the original conditions. Nor do we doubt 

 that this art was confided to man by the Cre- 

 ator, that it might be developed to its utmost 

 extent in the improvement of both animal 

 and vegetable life. 



" Thus we are to work, in accordance with 

 His command and that divine wisdom which 

 is ever tending toward a higher state of 

 perfection — nature is the handmaid, man 

 the agent to cooperate with her — and the 

 highest triumph of his skill is to control and 

 elevate her for the benefit of our race. ' It 

 is the p&rt of man to create,' says Ralph 

 Waldo Emerson, ' and his profession as a 

 cultivator of the soil, too, stands nearest to 

 God, the first cause.' The first seeds sown by 

 man were the germs from which sprang the 

 civilization, elevation, and refinement of the 

 human race. So it is with the amelioration 

 and improvement of our fruits. From the sour 

 Crab, the puckery Pear, the bitter Almond, 

 and the austere Plum, came the tender, spicy ! 

 Apple, the melting, juicy Pear, the velvet, j 

 luscious Peach, the delicious purple or golden 

 Plum, and from our rank, foxy Grape, came 

 the splendid varieties which now adorn our 

 tables and ' make glad the heart of man.' 



" The laws of reproduction we do not now 

 fully understand, but from the improvement | 



which we have already witnessed we have 

 reason to believe that we have only to become 

 familiar with their operations and our efforts 

 will be crowned with success. There maybe 

 a limit beyond which a fruit may not be im- 

 proved ; but the marvel is that, considering 

 the inferior character of the fruits of former 

 days, we have been able to produce so many 

 of the fine varieties which now grace our 

 exhibition. And when we take into consid- 

 eration the number of fine varieties of Amer- 

 ican origin which have been produced during 

 the existence of our Society, we have cause 

 for the greatest encouragement and persever- 

 ance. 



" But, great as our acquisitions have been, 

 still greater results are to follow. When we 

 look at the advance in Strawberry and Grape 

 culture, and the numerous fine kinds which 

 have been originated from seed within a few 

 years, who is not desirous of renewing his 

 efforts in the prosecution of this good work ? 



"It is strange that Duhamel had so little 

 confidence in obtaining good Pears from the 

 natural seeds, and we cannot account for his 

 ill success in any other way except that of 

 sowing the seed of poor varieties. But 

 thanks to Van Mons for his enterprise — al- 

 though the improvement which he claimed 

 from the process of amelioration by sowing 

 the seeds of successive generations of the 

 Pear, we believe, came from the natural cross- 

 ing of his best sorts in the same grounds — 

 thanks, however, everlasting thanks to him 

 for his advice ' to sow, resow, and sow again 

 the seeds of your best fruits, as the only 

 means of obtaining good fruits.' And now, 

 my friends, had we commenced sowing the 

 seeds of our good fruits early in life, in ac- 

 cordance with his advice, we should now 

 have an abundance of excellent kinds adapted 

 to our respective locations. On my own part, 

 I have to say that, could my life be prolonged 

 for another four score and three years, I 

 would devote them all to the promotion of 

 this most benevolent and interesting employ- 

 ment. 



"And now, in fulfillment of my promise ever 

 to speak to you of the importance of raising 

 new varieties of fruits, which may be adapted 

 to general cultivation or to particular locali- 

 ties, I have to urge on you, even at the risk 

 of repeating what I may have said before, 

 the duty of continuing your efforts in this 

 most philanthropic enterprise. Every year 

 affords us additional evidence, in the acqui- 

 sitions of new and valuable kinds, and of the 

 ease with which they may be possessed. 

 These are the only methods by which we can 

 expect to obtain new and improved fruits, or 

 to produce substitutes for those which may 

 in time become deteriorated and unprofitable 

 for cultivation. We therefore hail with pleas- 

 ure the wide-spread interest which is now 

 manifested in this most laudable pursuit. 

 The process of hybridization is simple, 

 whether by the air, insects, or the hand of 

 man, and we have only to have due regard to 

 the characteristics of the parents from which 

 we breed. 



" Thus, as it were, ' line upon line, and pre- 

 cept upon precept,' I have endeavored to 

 impress on you the importance of this branch 

 of our science ; and, as it was my first, so it 

 shall be my continual and last advice : ' Plant 

 the most mature and perfect seeds of the most 

 hardy, vigorous, and valuable varieties ; and as a 

 shorter process, insuring more certain and hapj>y 

 results, cross or hybridize your best fruits.'" 



