SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
31 
the remedy will be the establishment and support of nur- 
series in the South. The States of Georgia and Alabama 
have several flourishing nurseries, and the public spirit of 
such men as Mr. Affleck, and Col. Hebron, and Mr. Lam- 
bert, and no doubt others unknown to me, has given to 
our State a large supply of home grown trees ; and al- 
though these gentlemen may not reap the profits they de- 
serve, still they will enjoy the grateful satisfaction of 
knowing that they have been public benefactors. 
In this connection, allow me to make a few remarks 
upon the subject of acclimating fmiits in the SmUh. It is 
well known that all our popular fruits originated in cli- 
mates as warm as our own. The Peach, the Apricot, the 
Cherry, the Pear, and the Apple, are all of them natives of 
warm regions in Asia and Europe. It was the skill and 
cultivation of the ancient Greek and Roman that first 
subdued the harsh and sour crab into the mellow, crisp 
and breaking apple ; the bitter and austere mazzard into 
the fleshy, luscious and nectared cherry. The Romans, 
in their burning climate, two thousand years ago, success- 
fully cultivated no less than thirty-six varieties of the 
pear, twenty-two varieties of the apple, and eight kinds of 
the cherry. Upon the overthrow of the Roman Empire, 
and the advance of civilization into more temperate lati- 
tudes, these fruits were gradually introduced, and in time 
acclimated to colder regions. 
In the animal kingdom, we find that when man or the 
■domestic animals are transported from a cold to a tropical 
latitude, exercise is attended with extreme fatigue, and the 
important functions of the body deranged ; and it is not 
until they undergo a period of seasoning, or acclimation, 
as it is called, that they can brave the climate with im- 
punity, or exert the prolonged strength of the native. 
And so in the vegetable kingdom ; a tree grown in the 
cold regions of the North, with its dense woody fibre, and 
contracted sap vessels, when transported and exposed to 
our burning sun, is unable, from the texture of its wood 
and circulatory system, to radiate through the leaves, and 
effect through them those changes in the sap necssary to 
the deposit of woody fibre. 
If a section is taken from one of our forest trees, say the 
sassafras or the locust, the annular rings will be found to 
be twice the width, and the caliber of the sap doubly as 
large, os in the same species sf the tree grown in a cold 
climate. However, then, the philosophic may speculate 
as to the cause, the fact is undeniable, that a tree grown 
from the seed of an exotic fruit, or a bud from such tree 
inserted into a native grown stock, will grow off more 
luxuriantly, and bear fruit of a healthier character, than 
any Northern tree transported to our climate. In support 
of these views, I have noticed that the few varieties of the 
pear and the apple which were introduced into this county 
by the early Spanish colonists, and first grown from seed 
and continued by repeated grafting in native stocks, arc 
remarkable for the healthy and vigorous growth of their 
wood; the exemption of their fruit from rot, and its hold- 
ing on to the tree to full maturity, whicli is rarely the case 
in trees not fully acclimated. 
The late Mr. Downing, in a private correspondence 
with the writer about ten years ago, upon the subject of 
acclimation, and after learning the character of our cli- 
mate and the mineral constituents of our soil, predicted 
that our planting States would in time originate new vari- 
eties of fruit rivaling those of temperate latitudes, and that 
even exotic sorts would be found to improve by grafting 
or budding the same variety tlirough successive genera- 
tions upon native stocks. In confirmation of his opinion 
the horticulturists of Georgia have described and brought | 
to light about twenty native varieties of the apple, many 
of which have baen classed as “best ’ by the fruit conven- 
tions at the South. In our State, I have learned of sever- 
al excellent varieties of fruit cultivated in perfection fifty 
years ago, but which, from change in ownership of pro- 
perty, have died out, and been lost from want of attention 
to propagating them ; and in our own county, I have dis- 
covered an early pear, ripening in May, of the highest 
excellence, and no doubt a native seedling fruit. 
Fearing I may be occupying too large a space in your 
columns, I will defer to another number a notice of such 
varieties of fruit as have succeeded best in my locality, 
together with some practical remarks upon their culture. 
Rcsticus. 
[To be concluded.'] 
FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE, NORTH AND SOUTH. 
In allusion to the difference of opinion between Mr. 
V.4N Buren (see Southern Cultivator August 1854, page 
257,) and the senior editor, (May number, 1854, page 
144,) as to the respective merits of Southern and Northern 
fruits, a very competent and experienced correspondent 
at Newburgh, N. Y., writes us as follow’S : 
Messrs. Editors — I am much obliged for the number 
of the Cultivator containing the account of Southern ap- 
ples, &c. Dr. Lee and Mr. Vak Buren are both right 
and both wrong in some point-s. New York State, as a 
whole, nO doubt, can beat Georgia for apples in quantity 
(per acre) in quality, and long keeping, (that is the same 
kinds.) Apples grown in th-e Northern part of our Stata 
keep much longer than those grown in the Southern parL 
I can easily believe that peaches and melons are much bet- 
ter with you than here, because they require the hot sun 
to sweeten them; and it U possible that early Soulhera 
apples may be ; but I cannot think winter apples are, be- 
eause with youthe sun ic too hot, and they ripen rather pre- 
maturely. If they could continue to grow with you until 
frost begins to appear, they might equal ours. As to w' hat 
Mr. Johnson says about his eating apples in Philadelphia 
and New York markets, it is no test at all. Occasionally, 
you will find good fruit there, but net os a general thing. 
He says our “Baldwin, Spitzenberg, &;c.,’’ cio not equal 
their “Hall ;” but had he found the “Hall” in New York 
market, grown in the same orchard with the “ Baldwin, 
Spitzenberg, &c.,” he probably might not have known it. 
I have my doubts if the “Hall” will do much here, or any 
of the Southern apples, except a very few kinds ; the 
summer varieties' may ; I have many of them on trial, and 
will report, if my life is spared. 
I can readily believe that your native apples, (that is, 
seedlings grovrn in your section, ] will be better with yoa 
than our native varieties; and I think, ae a general rule, 
that all kinds of fruits are better in the neighborhood, tvkere 
they originated than elsewhere. There is a few exceptions 
to this. I do not think the world can produce such ap- 
ples as Our Newton Pippins, grown in New York Suite, 
and yet I am told you cannot grow them South. Sweet 
potatoes grow and produce well here, but they l ave not 
the flavor of those grown South, and your Irish potatoes 
cannot equal ours. 
You make mention of the New Rochelle Blackberry. I 
went to Mr. La-wton's on purpose to see the fruir, and I 
can truly say I never saw blacklierries before. The fiuit 
is large and sweet, and the crop enormous. C. D. 
Vine Growing IN Alabama. — \V. D. Stone, Esq, of 
Mobile, writes us that he has now “ iqiwards of 20 acres 
o.** the Scuppernong Grape, and expects to have as many 
more acres set in January and February,” We rejoice in 
this evidence of the enterprise and taste of IMr. S., and 
hope many of our readers will be induced to follow his 
example. 
