166 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 14, 1885. 
force to render our previous operations negatory. The 
interior of the house should be syringed with paraffin 
and soft soap with the view of destroying all insects 
that may be secreting themselves in crevices of the 
wood and brick-work. 
Infested vines should be syringed before they are tied 
down along the front of the house ; first, before they 
are untied from the trellis, so as to make sure of the 
underside ; and again, after they are untied on the top 
sides ; and thirdly, after all are tied in the usual way 
along the front of the house, for the convenience of syrin¬ 
ging.—IF". P. R. 
-- 
PRODUCTION OF NEW FRUITS. 
In fulfilment of my promise to urge upon you while 
I live the importance of producing from seed new im¬ 
proved varieties of fruits adapted to the various soils 
and climates of our vast territory, I have substantially 
to repeat what I have said in my former addresses. 
These are the means, and the only means, which God 
and Nature have provided for the improvement of our 
fruits, and the better we understand and practise them 
the nearer shall we approach to that divine beneficence 
which gives flavour and richness to our fruits, and to 
the sense the highest types of beauty, grace, and 
gratification. 
Thus from time to time I have spoken to you, and, 
were these my last words, I would again impress them 
upon you as of the utmost importance. With a careful 
study of the tendency of the varieties, and a judicious 
selection of parents, as breeders, we shall go on to 
produce fruits which will be adapted to every climate 
or condition of our land where any species of fruit may 
be grown. When we see what Nature has done with¬ 
out the aid of manipulation in the cold region of the 
North, as in Russia, from whence came the Oldenburg 
and Tetofsky Apples, the Black Tartarian Cherry, and 
other good fruits, as seen by Professor Budd and Mr. 
Charles Gibb, who can doubt our ability to produce fine 
fruits, even in the colder regions of oru' country ? 
When we consider that the art of crossing varieties 
for their improvement was scarcely known until our 
day, and see what wonders have been accomplished by 
it, who can doubt that we may yet produce a Pear with 
the richness of the Seckel, the form and size of the 
Bose, and the vigour and productiveness of the 
Boussock ? And so we may go on to improve other 
fruits, until all shall be made as perfect as ever were 
grown by “the grand old gardener” in Eden. But to 
do this we must study the characteristics of varieties, 
and thus help Nature to perfect this work. 
Thus Providence has placed in the hands of man a 
power to assist Nature in the production of her most 
perfect and beautiful creations. But whatever some 
may think of variation, evolution, transmutation, or 
transformation of species, the great fundamental laws 
of life and its reproduction will remain unchangeable 
and immutable as long as the earth bears a plant, or a 
tree yields a fruit, or Nature holds her place in the 
universe. 
Nature is a kind handmaid, and, by her lovely 
creations, is constantly inviting us to come up and 
assist in her glorious conquests. Her voice is heard 
throughout the earth. To us, she says: “Come up 
and sit with me, and you shall have plenty and 
perfection. Come, and I will give you fruits which 
shall delight the eye, gratify the taste, and satisfy your 
souls.” 
0 ! Yes ! Thou Queen of Grace, 
We’ll come and take thee at thy word ; 
We’ll take thee, Nature, as a bride, 
And, hand in hand and side by side, 
Our loves and laboru'S we will join, 
And bless the hand that gives us thine. 
We have now many excellent varieties of fruits from 
foreign lands which are suited to many of the soils and 
climates of our country. But when we reflect upon 
the number that have proved worthless, and are not 
suited to our condition, and consider the large number 
of good American sorts that have been raised, we are 
forced to the conclusion that we must, hereafter, rely 
mainly on the production of new varieties from seed to 
supply the necessary kinds for our constantly in¬ 
creasing territory for fruit culture. We therefore re¬ 
joice in the great interest which has been awakened in 
this subject, so that what was a few years ago con¬ 
sidered by physiologists and philosophers a mysterious 
art or science, is now practised extensively by culti¬ 
vators in the various families of vegetable life. And 
now that we have the knowledge of this art, there is 
no limit to its use for the improvements we may desire ; 
and, strange as it may seem that the knowledge of this 
process of helping Nature was withheld from us until 
our day, it is capable of indefinite application as long 
as the sexes of plants shall be known, and is the only 
means to revolutionise and improve the fruits of the 
earth. 
When we reflect on the improvement which has been 
realised by cross-fertilization in the various species of 
the vegetable kingdom, we can scarcely fix a limit to 
its potent influence for good on our fruits ; and we 
may thus go on from one degree of excellence to another, 
until we shall produce fruits as fine as were ever grown 
by our father in Eden. Go on prospering and to prosper 
in this most promising and benificent work. You can 
do nothing better for the generations that are to follow 
us ; and so again, with line upon line, and perhaps for 
the last time, I leave with you my old injunction: 
“ Plant the most mature and perfect seeds of the most 
hardy, vigorous, and valuable varieties ; and as a 
shorter process, insuring more certain and happy results, 
cross and hybridize our finest kinds for still greater 
excellence.” Go on ! Go on ! while you live, and 
when we are gone, others will rise up to chant our 
old song :— 
Plant the best seeds of all your best fruit, 
Good fruits to raise that some lands may suit; 
Fruits which shall live their blessings to shed, 
On millions of souls when you shall be dead. 
Plant; plant your best seeds—no longer doubt 
That beautiful fruits you may create ; 
Fruits which, perchance, your name may enshrine, 
In emblems of life and beauty to shine. 
Thus have I summed up some of the most important 
considerations and suggestions of my former addresses, 
thinking that I could do nothing better than to call 
your attention to them again, and reinforce them as 
principles upon which must depend the successful 
prosecution of our work. 
And now, gentlemen, in conclusion, let me again 
congratulate you on what our Society has already 
accomplished. “The past is secure” ; but the great 
duty still remains of extending, fostering, and rightly 
directing the pomology of our country. 
Other societies have arisen, and will continue to 
arise, and help forward our noble designs ; but the 
American Pomological Society will still bring together 
the most distinguished cultivators of our land, and will 
be the great head, guardian, and guide of the pomology 
of this western world. When we reflect on what has 
been accomplished in the thirty-seven years of its 
history, and think of the immense territory in our 
favoured land which is yet to be occupied with fruit 
culture, and of the increasing demand for these products 
so necessary for the health and happiness of life, we feel 
the great responsibility which rests on irs as protectors 
and conservators of one of the most important branches 
of American husbandry. Let me then urge you to 
persevere in this work, and preserve our bond of union 
throughout the land. “Union is strength”; and in 
nothing is this better illustrated than in the associated 
efforts which have given such influence and importance 
to our Society. Perpetuate it, that the blessings which 
it confers may go down to posterity, and grateful 
millions shall bless the memory of those who laid 
its foundations, and shall aid in carrying out its benevo¬ 
lent designs. Think once more my friends of the great 
blessings which you may confer on mankind by the 
multiplication of good fruits. Next to saving the soul 
is the saving of health, and I know of no better means 
than an abundant supply of ripe fruits. 
Fruits are the overflow of Nature’s bounty ; gems 
from the skies which are dropped down to beautify 
the earth, charm the sight, gratify the taste, and 
minister to the enjoyment of life ; and the more we 
realise this, the more shall we appreciate the divine 
goodness to us, and the duty of providing them for 
others. 
Like morning’s first light, that gladdens the sight, 
So may the best fruits spread over the earth. 
And when we shall reach that still fairer land, 
And round the life-tree in mercy shall stand, 
May each pluck its fruit, and nevermore feel 
The serpent’s sharp tooth, once close at his heel. 
—Extract from an address by the Hon. Marshal P. 
Wilder, delivered at the twentieth session of the American 
Pomological Society _ 
Scottish Gardening. 
Gardeners, Yodxg axd Old. —I have frequently 
been curious to know why a lad cannot be retained 
on the place as a journeyman after his three years’ 
“tuition” has expired. Is it because the tutor has 
no confidence in the lad who has been employed 
under him that he is compelled (as is often the 
case) to send to a nurseryman for a man to do the 
work which the “three-yearling” should have been 
entrusted with ? It is most disheartening to young 
men to be sent to places where character, talent, activity, 
and the usual host of other qualifications are required, 
and on their arrival to be paid lower wages than the 
most ordinary labourers employed on the place, who 
have only their quota of work to perform, no Sunday 
duty, nor late hours at fires, and yet have (it may be) 
two or three shillings a week more than the men who 
have to purchase books, appear respectable, pay travel¬ 
ling exjienses, and a variety of other expenses unknown 
to the contented labourer, whose sole physical duties 
are to eat, drink, work, and sleep. The chief cause of 
this migration of young men is the enormous amount of 
rearing of “freshmen” (many who would match Mr. 
Verdant Green in any form) who would be far better 
employed in some other sphere where such difficulties 
as are too often experienced in “journeymen’s” careers 
would be unknown, and the reduced stock might have 
a chance of receiving payment commensurate to their 
worth, and proportionate to the labourer who has no 
concern for the future beyond the certainty that six 
o’clock closes his day’s work. 
Reverting to the subject of the proper tuition of 
young men in the rudimentary portion of their work, 
I would say that this is what masters should take in 
hand. Discipline should always be maintained, and 
while precept is given example should accompany it. 
It is not difficult to judge of a master through the man 
whom he has professed to teach. I never yet knew the 
youth, when he attained to manhood, who would thank 
his preceptor, or even respect him for allowing loose 
discipline. I have little fault to find with nurserymen 
as I happen to know how severely they are tried when 
endeavouring to accommodate all parties. They are 
often obliged to act against their better judgment. The 
instructions they receive from the applicants for men 
are often so diverse and rigid that it is impossible to 
find men with all the necessary qualifications required 
to fill the vacancies, many of which do not require the 
work of skilled men at all. Nurserymen should, how¬ 
ever, be as faithful to their - trust as circumstances will 
allow. I could give many examples of difficulties 
which nurserymen have to contend with, and how they 
have to meet them. One case may suffice. A large 
firm had a request from a customer in Ireland to send 
over two “journeymen.” Their qualifications were to 
be of a very peculiar kind ; discipline was of the most 
severe form, and wages were at the lowest rate. Every 
“ journejmran ” in the nursery was offered the berth— 
all refused to accept it; in fact, most of them were 
afraid to cross the Channel for such employment. A 
sturdy highlander was found to brave the difficulties, 
and as.a comrade for him the writer (then turned fifteen 
years old) was offered the “tempting bait” and accejited 
it cheerfully, and was ever afterwards thankful that ha 
did such a fortunate act, the head gardener being a 
high-principled man and one of the most advanced 
horticulturists I ever knew. A year (the term of our 
engagement) being completed, we then found employ¬ 
ment in Messrs. Low’s nurseries, near Loudon, another 
(with the writer) doing all the work connected with the 
then Orchid-house, now one of the most extensive 
Orchid and general plant nurseries in the kingdom. 
Having for the best part of a quarter of a century 
been employed in English gardens as journeyman, 
foreman, and head gardener, I could give a pretty 
fair criticism of the weak points connected with the 
training of young gardeners throughout the sister 
country, which differs in many respects to the system 
north of the Tweed. The titles ‘ ‘ apprentices ” and 
“ journeymen ” in the south are not general, and pro¬ 
portionately few young men are employed in comparison 
with the north. This is a strong point, as labourers 
are numerous, and (except in a few counties) are paid 
from a half to a third less wages than Scotch labourers, 
besides, in many districts of the south, the men work 
10$ hours daily, while in the north, when 10 hours 
is exceeded it means payment for overtime. 
