The Siberian Apple. 
501 
are restricted to comparatively few of the hardiest varieties for gen¬ 
eral culture south of the forty-second parallel, while above that, the 
case seems yet hopeless for any considerable number of our common 
apples to flourish. This leaves the gieat northwest fruitless, so far 
as home-production of the apple is concerned. This experience 
has been burned into us by great and severe losses of trees, both to 
the nurseryman and farmer. But with the advent of the Siberian 
family comes hope. Its special qualities ot vigor and hardiness, 
early maturity of wood, and early fruiting, give it especial value 
in its purity, or as a fertilizer in the production of hybrids. It is 
especial^ valuable in this respect for its concentrated character, 
firmness of wood, and rich juices. 
Origin". —Of the origin of this species we have no very positive 
knowledge, but while the Pyrus Malus , or common apple, came 
from southern Europe or western Asia, the P. baccato , or Siberian 
family evidently had a northern origin. The evidence of this is 
more internal than historical. Our best historians cannot trace 
the improved apple to its transition from the native crab of Europe 
or Asia, nor the Siberian family, as we know it; showing that the 
amelioration of a species from its native wildness may be, not so 
much a gradual change, as a sudden impulse or “sport,” which 
breaks over all previous rules of transmission. However this may 
be, we now find this species a most valuable adjunct, not alone 
from its inherent concentration of power, but from its possessing 
so many good points in its general make-up. 
Improvement and Progress. —Whatever may have been the 
origin of the Siberian family as we know it, we find it especially 
adapted to our purpose as an improver of species, being a strong 
impregnator of the qualities before named, giving a concentration 
of good qualities beyond any other available source. The progress 
of improvement has been hitherto very slow and uncertain, as if 
by accident. Our quick summers and warm autumns have exerted 
a genial influence, apparent in the improved quality of the old va¬ 
rieties as grown in the west, but under the process of hybridization 
does the special value of this species appear. This process has, we 
think, been used back-handed (?. e. from female to male), looking to 
the product of Siberian seeds for the improved variety. The 
chances for improvement this way are almost nothing, as the early 
bloom of the Siberian family secures self-impregnation before the 
