FEBRUARY. 
41 
to thousands of varieties, it will show what has been accomplished by a 
steady perseverance in this and other countries, by raising fruit from 
seed. We owe much to the late Mr. Knight, who devoted a great 
portion of his life to the improvement of our hardy fruit, and to him we 
are indebted for some of our best kinds, as well as the introduction of 
many good sorts from the continent. Mr. Williams, of Pitmaston, also 
spent much time in the same pursuit, and succeeded in producing 
several good sorts. Our new continental varieties of Pears are mostly 
seedlings of Dr. Van Mons, of Brussels, who had in his establishment 
there about 800 approved seedlings to select from. The foregoing 
merely goes to show what has been accomplished by the zealous labours 
of a few enterprising men ; and when we reflect upon the gratification, 
utility, and profit a whole nation enjoys, derived from the labour of a 
few, it will, doubtless, stimulate all who are interested in the pleasing 
occupation of fruit culture “to go and do likewise.” 
The surest and best way leading to the desired object of generating 
new and improved fruit, is the system which the late Mr. Knight so 
successfully practised: viz., cross-lreeding or artificial impregnation, 
a process both easy and simple, that may be performed by any amateur 
without difficulty. I must here mention that the Apple, Pear, Plum, 
Cherry, and Strawberry, are the most eligible for a beginner to operate 
upon, owing to the facility with which the stamens or male portion of 
the blossom may be removed. It must also be understood that in per¬ 
forming the operation of artificial impregnation, it would be useless to 
attempt uniting the Peach with the Plum, or the Apple with the Pear; 
although each belong to the same natural family, no good result could 
be expected from such a union. Therefore, it becomes a fixed rule that 
the two varieties operated upon should be of close affinity to each other. 
Blossoms of fruit trees contain the male and female in the same flower, 
the stamens being the male part, and the pistil the female. The use 
of the stamens is to fertilise the young seed at the base of the pistil, 
and the seed is the offspring ; therefore, if we fertilise the pistil of one 
variety with the pollen taken from the stamen of another, we may 
expect a new variety of intermediate character of both parents. Then 
it follows that cross-breeding is nothing more than removing from one 
blossom all the stamens or male portion, leaving the pistil or female, 
and bringing those of another variety as a substitute for what has pre¬ 
viously been removed from the blossom. 
Figure 1 represents the blossom of the 
Plum, as a type of the stone-fruit class. A is 
the stamens, which are the male portion, B 
the pistil, the female, connected with the 
embryo fruit at its base in the centre of the 
flower; cross-breeding is, therefore, per¬ 
formed by removing, with a small pointed 
pair of scissors, all the stamens, immediately 
the blossoms begiii to expand, and then collect the dust or pollen with a 
camel’s hair pencil, from blossoms of any other variety that may be 
chosen for the male parent. After this operation, it is as well to inclose 
the blossoms in a gauze bag, to prevent bees from touching the flowers. 
