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the stamens from the flowers operated on, all other flowers produced no 
the same plant should be early destroyed, some experimenters remove 
the petals as well as the stamens of their flowers; there is then less dan¬ 
ger of pollen being conveyed by insects. Not only should much care 
be observed in selecting varieties to cross-breed, but the plants should be 
so managed as to ensure a healthy and vigorous growth, and the most 
perfect seeds which the variety cultivated is capable of producing. These 
objects may be attained by superior general culture, and by special ex¬ 
pedients. 
Very few attempts have hitherto been made to improve agricultural 
plants by cross-breeding, but I believe in the prediction that the time 
will arrive when our grain and root crops, and even our forest trees, will 
be improved by this process. In the mean time, it is desirable, for the 
sake of immediate benefit, as well as with a view to future improvement, 
to ascertain as speedily as we can what are the relative merits of the 
different varieties of the various kinds of crops commonly cultivated in 
the State. I suspect well-conducted experiments would afford results 
little expected by many. In the last season I grew several varieties of 
potatoes under precisely the same circumstances, and weighed the pro¬ 
duce, and the difference in the weight of tubers produced by some of the 
varieties was as three to one—there was a great difference also in the 
quality of the tubers of different varieties. A man may pull up the 
stumps, clear away the stones, eradicate the weeds, manure well, plow 
deep, and sow and plant in the very nick of time, yet unless he sows and 
plants varieties of thrifty and productive habits, adapted to the soil and 
climate, he cannot reap the full reward of his labor and enterprise. 
Most of our orchard fruits, the apple perhaps excepted, are yet capa¬ 
ble of great improvement. There are few varieties of the pear of hardy 
and productive habits, affording fruit of first-rate excellence. Many ex¬ 
cellent varieties of the plum have been raised of late years, but there is 
doubtless ample room for improvement in this fruit. Most of the finer 
varieties of the cherry appear to be entirely unsuited to this climate. 
The success of Dr. Kirtland, of Ohio, affords great encouragement 
to attempt the improvement of the cherry. I would suggest that the 
very hardy but comparatively sour morello seems likely to afford a race 
of plants better adapted to this climate than any other. Andrew Knight 
t 
