480 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
. SEPT, ao 
Van Mons, Knight, Esperen, and others of 
the old world, hut- whatever may be said of 
the superior fruits produced by them, we 
have the strongest, proofs that the clear sky 
mid warm summers of our American climate 
are far more favorable for propitious results 
than theirs, and that such caretunstances will 
conduce to the health and longevity of a 
variety. Especially is this the case in Cali¬ 
fornia. where almost all the products of the 
vegetable world come to perfection. From 
past experience it seems probable that the 
deterioration of certain varieties of fruits 
will exist in the future as in the l*ast, and 
that the same causes, whether from the 
removal of the forests, or from whatever 
Circumstances, will still continue. Hence 
the necessity of raising new varieties to 
supply the places of those that decline. Hap¬ 
pily tins degeneracy is confined to the apple 
and pear, affecting the pear more particu¬ 
larly, while in the cherry, peach, plum, 
strawberry and small fruits generally, there 
are no signs of this deterioration. 
That as fine fruits can be raised from seed 
here as have been produced in any other 
country, there is no longer a doubt. That, 
11 1 is is tile plan prescribed by our bountiful 
Creator for their production and improve¬ 
ment is equally true. That there is any 
limit to its progress and extent, we have no 
reason to believe. True, the number of 
superior fruits is small compared with the 
host of indifferent varieties that have come 
down to us from the past. One reason for 
this is, that our taste for finer fruits has been 
elevated to a higher standard, and those ol 
an indifferent or medium quality fall out by 
the way ; anti we have no doubt that the old 
pears so highly lauded by historians, were 
most, if not all of them, only course, unmelt¬ 
ing kinds. 
When 'vc reflect upon what has been ac¬ 
complished in the improvement of animals 
and vegetables in our own day, and how 
many splendid acquisitions have been brought 
forth that, command t he admiration of the 
world.—when we reflect npon the many flue 
American in fit:- already obtained with but 
comparatively little effort, we sorely have 
Cause for great encouragement, and perse¬ 
verance. Then* is no limit to progress now 
or hereafter, and we believe that the fruits 
of this earth are to become more and more 
perfect us lime advances. The march of 
science is ever onward and upward, audit is 
our duty to keep pace with it. What has 
been done can be done again, and will be 
done, until the final culmination of all cre¬ 
ated things. Then let us not be discouraged 
by obstacles or disappointments, but— 
“ hot us net, that latch to-morrow 
Find ntt further ttmo to-day.” 
If a pear like the Bartlett or Beurre d’ An¬ 
jou can be produced which shall be suited to 
every section, then another of like or better 
quality can be created and possess the same 
adaptation. Nor is there any reason why a 
strawberry like the Wilson, or a grape like 
the Concord, may not be raised of far better 
quality, and yet possess all the other valuable 
characteristics of these varieties. That there 
may be a point beyond which a fruit is not 
susceptible of improvement ns believed by 
some, we cannot aver, but that most of our 
varieties fail short of tills perfection all will 
agree. When we consider the character of 
the fruits which have come down to us from 
antiquity, the wonder is not that we have no 
moi c of Strictly first-class varieties, but that 
we have already produced so many superior 
sorts. These considerations afford ample 
evidence of the tendency toward improve¬ 
ment, and lead us to the belief that by plant¬ 
ing the seeds of our best varieties we shall 
advance still further toward* perfection. 
Dull am el, Poiteau, and their contempo¬ 
raries after repeated trials with the seeds of 
the old varieilies, produced but few worthy 
of note. It was reserved for Esperen, Gre- 
goire, Bivort, Berekmang, and other modem 
experimenters, who sowed the seeds of im¬ 
proved sorts, to give us most of the tine new 
varieties which now adorn our tables. In 
confirmation of this opinion we have numer¬ 
ous instances in our own country. Witness 
the seedling pears of the Messrs. liana, Clapp, 
and Shurtleu, of this vicinity, and t hose from 
other places, especially the extraordinary 
productions of Mr. Fox of California, in the 
maguifleeut collection of seedling fruits which 
grace tills department, of our exhibition. In 
these we have an illustration of w hat can be 
accomplished in the space of a few years, by 
the sowing of the seeds of modem varieties, 
lu Mr. Fox’s experiment we have, also, an 
evidence of the influences of virgin soil, high 
temperature, and clear atmosphere, giving 
us tokens of like advantages which we 
expect to derive from the new lands of our 
Western friends, In the production of flue 
varieties. We may add, in regard to Mr. 
Fox’s seedling pears, that we know not how 
to account for the strong evidence of natural 
cross fertilization which they exhibit, unless 
it, was caused by the favorable climatic in¬ 
fluence, which w e have just mentioned. 
Formerly we wen* obliged to rely mostly 
ou imported kinds for our’bent fruits, but as 
time progresses these are gradually disap¬ 
pearing, and their places are being filled by 
t hose of American origin. Of the forty-three 
kinds of plums lu our catalogue, more than 
half are American. Of fifty-eight kinds of 
poaches, more than two-thirds are American, 
and iu fact very few others ure much in 
cultivation. Of the nineteen kinds of straw¬ 
berries, all but three are American. Of 
thirty-one varieties of hardj- grapes, all are 
American. Thus of these fruits we have in 
our catalogue at the present time, one hun¬ 
dred and fifty-one varieties, and with the 
exception of thirty-seven all are of American 
origin. Thus may w r e go on rising higher 
and higher in the scale of excellence, looking 
forward with bright anticipations to the 
time when, through the influence of these 
examples, and of our own and kindred asao- , 
clarions, our catalogue shall be filled with 
varieties of American origin, and every part 
of our country reioice in fruits born on the 
soil on which we live. 
Why. it is only about, a century since Van 
Mons, Knight, and the great nomologists of 
Europe were born. It is within the present 
century that Coxe, Thomas, Buck Prince, 
Lowell, Manning and Kenrick commenced 
t heir efforts to improve the pomology of our 
country. It is within a much later period that 
the Downing*, the younger Thomas, Kirt 
land, Hovcy, Ellwanger & Harry, Briuckle, 
Keunicott, Warder, Elliott, Berekmarei, com¬ 
menced their operations for the advance¬ 
ment of this cause, These considerations 
should excite us to greater enterprise and 
renewed exertions. This is the great work 
of the American Bornological Society. We 
have but just entered upon it. How vast 
and inviting the field that lies spread out 
before us ! Some of these thoughts, perhaps, 
iu another form, I may have presented to 
you before, but it. is by line upon line and 
precept upon precept, that I desire to enforce 
my advice ; and were I never to address you 
again, 1 would repeat the counsel 1 have so 
often given, iu regard to the production of 
new and fine fruits, viz.: 
“To plant the man! mature and perfect 
seeds of the most hardy, vigorous and vatu- 
able varieties; u cd as a shorter process in¬ 
suring more certain and happy results, cross 
or hybridise your best fruits.” Before many 
years shall have passed my voice will be 
hushed in that stillness which knows no 
waking; but while I five I would continue 
to impress on vour minds the importance of 
the beneficent work of providing these bless¬ 
ings for generations to come ; and when I am 
dead 1 would by these words still speak to 
you. Thus will you advance one of the most 
delightful and important industries ol the 
world ; thus will you build up a pomology 
for the most favored nation upon which the 
sun ever shone ; thus will you contribute to 
the welfare of home, kindred and country, 
and transmit your names to fut ure genera¬ 
tions as benefactors of your race— 
*' Our Ups tiliall tell them to our seas, 
And they nguin to thetm, 
That generation* yet unborn 
May teach them to their heirs.” 
CATALOGUE. 
To this connection I desire to refer to our 
catalogue of fruits, as the most important 
achievement of our Society. TJtis was the 
first, attempt in tins country to suppress by 
common consent our interior fruits from cul 
tivtttion and to define the adaptation ami 
value of approved varieties to a widespread 
territory. Few can have an idea of t he pa¬ 
tient investigation which this lias received 
from the committee, from its first prepara¬ 
tion by Mr. Barry, in 1800, down to the pres¬ 
ent tiine. With tlm issue of this catalogue 
commenced a new era in the Literature of 
American Pomology, by which every section 
of our country and the Provinces ol British 
America wore to be acknowledged and recog¬ 
nized in its classificat ion. 
At the time of its first publication it was 
issued in octavo form, but in less than ten 
years we have been obliged to enlarge it to 
quarto form, so as to admit additional 
columns for the new States and Territories 
coming within our jurisdiction. Instead of 
the fifty-four varieties of fruit recommended 
iu 1848,This catalogue now contains the names 
of five hundred and seventy-seven kinds, anu 
with the list of six hundred and twenty-five 
rejected varieties passed upon by the Society, 
makes a total of twelve hundred uml two on 
which the Society has set its seal of approval 
or rejection. Ah Important part of this work, 
not shown by these figures, is the reduction 
of our list as compared with former cata¬ 
logues, by sinking out varieties too good to 
be placed iu our rejected list, yet superseded 
by better sorts. In pears alone, this reduc¬ 
tion has been from one hundred and twenty- 
two to ninety-one kinds. And thus it should 
ever be our aim to condense our list into as 
small a number of varieties as possible. 
When we consider that our catalogue em¬ 
braces iu its column* fifty States and Terri¬ 
tories, including ' the Provinces of British 
America, with great diversities of soli and 
climate; that some Of the new* districts have 
but little experience in fruit culture ; and 
that from them we have consequently but 
limited reports, we can readily appreciate 
the difficulties attendant on this great work. 
It was an important, step taken by the So 
ciety when it placed its mark of condemna¬ 
tion on the long list of unworthy fruits which 
were t.lieu in our collections) thereby saving 
to cultivators a vast amount of time, trouble 
and expense in the propagation of useless 
varieties. But a great and important work, 
requiring the utmost, caution, is still before 
us, to avoid in the future the insertion in its 
pages of the names of inferior or insufficient¬ 
ly-tested fruits, and to establish a correct 
nomenclature for all time, so that, with every 
revision of our catalogue it may more nearly 
approximate to perfection. To aid in this 
most desirable work, the various State and 
local committee* should keep well organized, 
and from time to time transmit to the Gen¬ 
eral Chairman of the Fruit Committ ee all the 
information whir-h is acquired in their several 
districts, it was the original object of the 
catalogue, and must, always continue to be its 
aim, to restrict the worthless or indifferent 
kinds, to discover and retain the most valu¬ 
able, and to furnish to all sections the fruits 
best adapted to their respective localities. 
For the purpose of perfecting our catalogue, 
a meeting of the Committee on Revision was 
held at Rochester, New York, soon after our 
last session. 
After several days of deliberation t he pres¬ 
ent form, and the new plan of making three 
general divisions, and arranging the States 
in their order of climatic and characteristic 
association in regard to fruit culture, was 
adopted. This was a work of much diffi¬ 
culty, but I am happy to learn that it is re¬ 
garded with great favor as a most important 
improvement, and will constitute, it i3 be¬ 
lieved, through the united efforts of our 
members, ultimately the acknowledged au¬ 
thority of the country. 
DECEASED MEMBERS. 
While wc rejoice in the presence of so 
many of our members on this occasion, we 
are reminded of the absence of some who 
have been removed by death. Since our last 
biennial session two Vice-Presidents and one 
ex-Vice-President have deceased. 
I allude to Lawrence Young and John 8. 
Downer of Kentucky, and Dr. J. 8. Curtis of 
California. Mr. Lawrence Young was an 
early member of our association, and for a 
long course of years held the office of Vice- 
President for the State of Kentucky. Tie was 
born on the fit h of December, 1 ?9iJ, in Caro¬ 
line county, Virginia. He showed an curly 
taste for knowledge, and made himself well 
acquainted with all branches of learning, 
especially with the sciences of Agriculture 
and Horticulture, and by his interest and ex¬ 
ample lie taught others to appreciate what 
he so dearly loved. He was not only a scien¬ 
tific, but a practical cultivator of fruits, and 
for these labors his own and adjoining States 
often expressed their obligations. For many 
years he wo* the agricultural editor of the 
Louisville Journal. In later years he edited 
the Western Kuralist, and for thirty years he 
compiled a monthly aaetocrologioal table for 
the Smithsonian Institute. Besides being 
Vice-President of this Association, he held 
the Offices of President of the J ellerson county 
Horticultural Society and President of the 
Kentucky Bornological Society. Energy, 
perseverance and a love ol uuture were 
prominent traits in his character through 
life. He died at the ripe old age of seventy- 
nine years. 
Mr. John S. Downer, our Vice-President, 
for Kentucky, who was with us at our last 
session, has also been removed by death. He 
was bom on the tilth of J line, 1.809, in Cul¬ 
pepper county, Virginia. His taste for horti¬ 
culture and pomology dawned with his early 
years, and u hile yet a youth he discovered 
an ardent love for these pursuits, which con¬ 
tinued through life. In early manhood lie 
established the Forest Nursery, and here, 
from obscure youth, without fame or for¬ 
tune, he built, up an enviable reputation as a 
nurseryman and poinologist. He tested un- 
cler ins own inspection many varieties of 
fruits, and has done much to improve po¬ 
mology in the Central and Southern States, 
having produced several varieties of l'ruits 
which are now extensively cultivated. He 
devoted much time and patience for the pro¬ 
duction of new varieties of strawberry, and 
the Downer's Prolific, the Charles Downing 
and the Kentucky, bear witness to his suc¬ 
cess. By testing and disseminating other 
fruits, he has conferred blessings on the 
pomology, not only of his own region, but on 
our whole country. He died on the grounds 
where he first settled and where, in addition 
to his many attainments, he has left the 
name of “an honest man, the noblest work 
Of God,” 
The seat of Dr. Joshua S. Curtis of Sacra¬ 
mento, California, is also vacated by death. 
Ho was one of the representatives of that 
State, and was elected Vice-President at our 
last session. He was a gentleman of noble 
bearing, and much interested in t.iio progress 
of science and t he elevation of our art. Some 
of us can remember the interest which he 
manifested, although lor the first time with 
us, in the welfare for the Society, and the 
Words of counsel and approval which he 
spoke to us at the festival that, closed our 
meeting at Richmond, and it was his intern 
tion to tie with us at this session. Dr. Curtis 
was bora in North Carolina, and died in San 
Joaquin county, California, November IS, 
1872, aged sixty-three years. He graduated 
at. Chapel Hill College, and was also a gradu¬ 
ate either of Philadelphia or Baltimore Medi¬ 
cal College. lie went to Tennessee in 1882, 
where he was extensively engaged in farm- i 
jug and his profession, lu 1887 he removed 
to Holly Springs, Mississippi, owned a cotton 
plantation, and was the Treasurer of the 
State. He went to Sacramento, California, 
in 1850, where he resumed his practice as a 
physician. A few years at forwards he gave 
up’his profession and was engaged in fann¬ 
ing in Yolo county until the time of his death. 
He represented that county in the State 
Legislature. His home was ever open to the 
poor, and his house was the home of the 
destitute. 
Nor can I close this record of deceased 
members without .illusion to another, former¬ 
ly connected wit h us in official relations, who 
has been called from this to the spirit land. I 
allude to the Rev. Jeremiah Knox of Pitts¬ 
burg, Pa., who died Of apoplexy, Nov. I J, 
1872, aged fifty-eight, 1 lis father was a min¬ 
ister, which profession he also adopted while 
ax the age of seventeen. He removed to 
Pittsburg early in Jife and became eminent 
in his profession. He was social and sympa¬ 
thetic in his instincts, prepossessing ill per¬ 
sonal appearance and gifted with oratorical 
powers. He was iui old member, often at¬ 
tended the sessions of this Society, Look 
part iu its discussions, and was known 
throughout our land for his interest in the 
culture of the grape, the strawberry, and 
other small fruits. His enterprise in the cul¬ 
ture of these was remarkable, and his plan¬ 
tations of the strawberry and the blackberry 
were vei y extensive. He gave to the Tri- 
omphe de Gaud a new and extensive fame, 
and distributed far and wide the strawberry ' 
No. 700 of his collection, to which he gave 
the name of Jucunda. He ent ered largely 
into the grape excitement which existed a 
few years since, propagating immense quan- < 
ties of vines, especially Concord, Delaware j 
and Martha, His name as the “ Strawberry . 
King,” and the proprietor of the Knox Fruit ] 
Farm, will ever be remembered in the annals 
of American Pomology. 
These associates have gone. It has pleased 
a wise Providence to remove them from the 
sphere of duty here, but we trust in the hope 
that we shall one day join them in that bet¬ 
ter land, where friends shall part no more. 
CONCLUSION. 
Pardon me, my friends, for the time 
I have occupied In the performance of a 
duty required of me by your constitution. 
With the close of this session w ill termi¬ 
nate the first quarter of a century in the 
history of our national association. We 
are now* about to enter on the second 
era of its existence. A great work has 
already been accomplished, but more re¬ 
mains to be done. Wc have out just, entered 
on the broad field which lies open to us and 
gathered a few of its first fruits. Many of 
its former members have paid the debt of 
nature, and we, who were among the found- 
deni of our Institution, shall soon be called 
to follow them. But this Society, we believe, 
will live on i n bless the world, and as time 
progresses the results of your label's in the 
development of our wonderful resources will 
be more and more appreciated. And as our 
nation advance^ in wealth and refinement, so 
will the culture of fruits be better understood 
and their importance and usefulness be more 
fully realized. Willing hands and generous 
hearts wili labor for the same cause, and 
generation after generation will enjoy the 
fruits which your hands have planted for 
them. Persevere, then., my friends, with the 
noble work iu which you are employed. Go 
on, until our ultimate object is attained, in 
perfecting one of the most useful and beauti¬ 
ful sciences of the world. 
We have traced the progress of American 
Pomology from a period within fifty years. 
But who shall predict its development for the 
half century to coma ? Judging from the 
past, wo may anticipate that ere that day 
shall dawn, our whole continent will be 
opened up for use, and the cultivation of 
fruits become scarcely secondary to any 
other branch of rural art. Look at the pro- 
gressof the past and estimate, if you can, the 
increase of tlie future, when the population 
of our country shall exceed one hundred mil¬ 
lions of souls’as many now living may ex¬ 
pect to witness; when our fruit* shall be 
adapted to every section of our land and be¬ 
come not merely a condiment but a neces¬ 
sary portion of our food. 
Standing, as we do, on the line which di¬ 
vides the past from the present, let us remem¬ 
ber with gratitude the labors of those who 
laid the foundations of this Institution—let 
us remember t hose who have so assiduously 
co-operated with us for the advancement of 
its objects, and let us transmit In posterity 
the priceless blessings our calling is destined 
to confer. And as our members from time 
to time shall assemble to gather op t he fruit 
of their research, may they have reason to 
rejoice more and more in* the benefactions 
which it bestows on mankind ; and when at 
last we shall be called t o relinquish the culti¬ 
vation of our orchards, gardens and vine¬ 
yards ou eart h, may we be permitted to par¬ 
ticipate iu the cultivation of 
“ That tree which hears immortal fruit, 
* Without, a canker at the root j 
Its healing leaves to us ho riven, 
Its hloom un earth, its fruit iu heaven ! ” 
|oulti[ir iar t i 
REMEDY FOE GAPES. 
Fob many years, to my great surprise, no 
one has described the true cause in any peri¬ 
odical that 1 have seen, though the subject 
has been discussed at various times in the 
American Agriculturist, Rckaj., wc., and in 
the farmers’ department of many of the 
leading journals. It is all very well o tell 
the reading public to twist ft horse hair or 
leather down the windpipe and draw forth 
the worms. It wifi frequently cure. But 
to prevent the disease, never allow the male 
bird to live t hrough, his third year. Eggs 
impregnated by art old rooster are sure to 
hatch diseased progeny, and chanticleer is 
old ut four years. It is well, also, not to per¬ 
mit the hen's to live too long. 
Other causes may aid, such as overfeeding, 
unclean or nuventilated coops, and exposure 
in tall, wet. grass ; but if readers will attend 
in future to the age of the parent bird, I will 
warrant that with anything approaching to 
ordinary care he will no longer be troubled 
by the gapes.— F. JJeaderiek. 
POULTRY NOTES. 
No Such Thing as Chicken Cholera. —An 
Indiana lady says there is no such tiling as a 
chicken cholera—that it is lice that kills the 
chickens and adds“ When yon see them go 
moping or sitting about, refusing to eat, 
catch one and look on her head, and under 
her wings, and about the oil bag, and you 
will find hundreds of lice. Grease tin. m with 
fried meat grease, and they are well.” 
Pip Remedy. —The Rural World nays that 
a mixture of about one tablespoonful of soot 
and one-fourth as much sulphur, with suf¬ 
ficient lard to form a paste, has been found 
an effectual remedy tor this disease. Tear¬ 
ing off the pip—the horny pellicle that grows 
on the end of the tongue—is useless, as the 
disease, at that stage, is too far advanced to 
be cured by the operation. 
Lice on Fouls .— Jas. H, Fry, Pilatka. Fla., 
says that the stems of tobacco, mixed with 
hay in the nests of fowls, will effectually rid 
a sitting hen of this troublesome vermin.' Our 
poultry raisers will do well to remember this. 
