The new American orchardist; or, An account of the most valuable varieties of fruit, adapted to cultivation in the climate of the United States, from the latitude of 25 [degrees] to 54 [degrees], with their uses, modes of culture, and management; remedies for the maladies to which they are subject, from noxious insects, and other causes, &c. Also, a brief description of the most ornamental forest trees, shrubs, flowers, &c.

Front matter

• 1>^'

*

-^0^ ^^^ o >

Contents

For particulars, see Index, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, at the end of

the Volume.

Page.

Introduction

Horticulture is the most ancient employment of man. Its utility and importance have been acknowledged by all in succeeding generations. To the poor, its resources yield subsistence — to the rich, and to those spirits who cannot idly slumber, a pleasing occupation.

A science whose pursuits are alike so conducive to the health of the body, and of the mind — so calculated to render mankind useful, virtuous, and happy, has never wanted advocates.

Ithas found them, with the best, and the most enlightened of all ages — with every friend to his country, and to the human race. In our own country it has, and more especially of late, received that encouragement which its utility demands. This is sufficiently evinced in the simultaneous organization of the numerous societies for its promotion, and that of agriculture. With us, its progress has been only commensurate with the indefatigable zeal of a Lowell to enlighten and encourage, and a host in numbers, and renowned in intellect, to cooperate in its advancement.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society deserve of me also, in this place, a particular notice. This Society, although yet in its infancy, has accomplished much. And to the unwearied researches and enlightened zeal of its president, General Dearborn, I am greatly indebted, for much valuable information which I have to him accredited in the following pages. Also to those numerous individuals whom I have elsewhere named.

England, by the exertions of their most intelligent and influential men, and by their societies, particularly the London Horticultural Society, and its excellent president, Mr Knight, has confessedly done a great deal for the advancement of the science ; and we are greatly indebted to their luminous writers on these subjects ; also to those of France and Belgium, and to the Horticultural Society of Paris.

In England however, they cannot duly appreciate the valueofour native fruits, and those of other climates equally favored with us.

Vlll INTRODUCTION.

Their high northern latitude forbids it ; although they have done wonders in counteracting the hostiUty of iheir seasons and cliroate.

In iheir vast collection of fruits, which they have congregated from all climates, in their Horticultural Society's garden at Chiswick, I find by their Society's Catalogue for 1826, that they have at least fifty varieties of the native peaches of America — the selections from tiie extensive native orchards of this fruit, raised in the middle and western states for distillation. All these, so fine in our climate — so much admired by travellers, with but two exceptions, are rejected as " worthless" — not being adapted to their latitude, and not arriving to their full maturity and excellence, even on the walls to which their cultivation is confined. — [See Vol. 2. JSTo. 54 of the Pomological Magazine.]

Other varieties of native fruit, so superior in our own climate, ai*e by them almost as little noticed. The apples of America, — the fine selections during two centuries, from the innumerable native orchards.

The finest fruits of Italy, and of other countries, possessing a climate analogous to our own, seem in some measure to have shared the same disastrous fate. The Mela Carla or Pomme Finale, which is supposed to be the finest apple in the world, and which is cultivated so extensively as an article of commerce in Italy, proves in the climate of England a very ordinary fruit, as their writers inform us. On the other hand, it is very doubtful whether some of the native fruits of northern countries, do not lose a portion of that high reputation which they may have there acquired, when brought down to our own latitude, and compared with the native fruits of our own and other equally favored climates. — [See JLstracan, page 87, also page 61.]

The temperature of our climate, on our extensive Atlantic coast, differs considerably from those parts of Europe and of Africa in corresponding latitudes.

The climate of a country is variously modified by its proximity to mountains and to the ocean. And it has been observed, that the western coasts of continents and large islands, possess a higher mean temperature than the eastern coast?. Our climate, therefore, on the shores of the Atlantic, must correspond nearly with that of the eastern coasts of China, Japan, and Chinese Tartary, and the islands on its coast. And our territory which is bounded on the Pacific Ocean, may correspond nearly with that of Europe on the coasts of the Atlantic, between the same parallels of latitude.

Elevation above the level of the ocean, has the same effect in lowering the mean temperature, as an increase of latitude. Mons. de Candolle,has ascertained by experiments on some mountains in France, that the elevation of one hundred and eighty or two hundred yards, affects the mean temperature in the same

INTRODUCTION. IX

proportion as a degree of latitude to the north, on that same meridian ; and in a similar proportion for any increase of height.

The olive and the vine may indeed grovjr within the tropics ; but we are assured they produce little or no fruit, except in the mountainous elevations. The cereal varieties of grain, the annual plant sand productions, those most necessary to the subsistence of man, have by him been acclimated from the borders of the tropics, to very high northern latitudes.

Man himself has become habituated to all climates. The horse, the most noble of animals, and the ox, the most useful, seem under the guardianship of man, in some measure, alike constituted. The horse and his rider traverse the earth from the burning deserts of Sahara, to the frozen regions of Siberia, and the boundaries of the Arctic circle.

The location of a garden should if practicable, be on the south side of a hill in northern latitudes. It should be screened on the north and the east, either by high walls and fences, or what is far better, either by hills or a deep and dense border of evergreen and other forest trees, intermixed with fruit trees and shrubs of ornament, and of easy access to water. A walk within the border should surround the whole ; and where beauty and taste are to be considered, the irregular serpentine or gently waving line should be preferred. The straight line is too monotonous and artificial ; it is but too manifestly a perversion of nature. In certain cases, however, a very broad and straight avenue, suitably lined on both sides, has a very noble and striking effect.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO AUTHORITIES AND CORRESPONDENTS.

The descriptions of the fruits contained in the following pages are drawn from the most authentic testimonies and authorities. Their names, I have generally designated at the head of each particular article. Although most of these fruits are already m our country, many ot them are new, and of very recent introduction ; but a portion only of the new kinds have as yet produced

fruit with us. , , i • j

In the descriptions of the new foreign, and to us unknown kinds, I have sometimes adopted the accurate descriptions of the English for the exterior, while for the more important descriptions of the qualities and flavor of these same kinds, I have had recourse to the French authorities, or those possessed of climates analogous to

Let me not be misunderstood. The descriptions which most

X INTRODUCTION.

foreign authors have given us, are beyond a doubt true, as they have proved in former ages, and may still prove in some expositions, soils and climates ; and they may prove generally true in our own age and climate — but not always — especially with regard to some old varieties. Once with us they might have been true,

— perhaps with all. But that age has gone by, and we have nowdone with many of them.

My obligations to Mr Lowell I have elsewhere acknowledged

— and my obligations to Gen. Dearborn, the President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. I am also under very particular obligations to Mr Manning of Salem, for the many descriptions he has afforded me. All those articles marked R. M., Esq. are described on his authority, and are such as he has proved them to be in our climate. Those marked S. H. S. are on the authority of Stephen H. Smith, Esq. of Providence, R. I. such have been by him approved as adapted to our climate. To him, therefore, I am particularly indebted. I have availed also of the valuable descriptions in the New England Farmer, of the following gentlemen : Messrs Downer of Dorchester ; Buel of Albany, N. Y. ; and Floy, of the city of New York, in the London Horticultural Transactions. Also I have availed of communications from the following gentlemen. Messrs S. G. Perkins of Boston ; John C. Gray, of Boston ; Robert Carr, proprietor of Bartram's Botanic Garden near Philadelphia ; B. V. French, of Boston ; Micah Leiand, of Sherburne ; Gorham Parsons, of Brighton; Wm. Prince, and Wm. Robert Prince of the Linnsean Botanic Garden, Flushing, N. Y. These last named gentlemen are the authors of a work on Horticulture, also another on the Vine, and another on Fruits; Andrew Parmentier, late of the Horticultural Garden, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; E. M. Richards of Dedham ; John Prince, of Roxbury ; Leonard Stone of Watertown ; E. Vose, Jr. of Dorchester ; A. D. Williams of Roxbury, and others.

LIST OF AUTHORS AND WORKS QUOTED OR REFERRED TO.

Adlum. Memoir on the cultivation of the vine in America, and the best mode of making wine, by John Adlum. 12mo. Washington, 1828.

Annales d'Horticulture. Annales de la Societe d'- Horticulture de Paris, a valuable publication in monthly numbers, 8vo.

Barivet. Description of the great collection of Strawberries at Chiswick, in vol. vi. Hort. Trans, by James Barnet, occupying eighty pages quarto.

BoN Jard. Le Bon Jardinier, edited by Messrs Poiteau and

INTRODUCTION. XI

Vilmorin, for the year 1828. Paris; a work annually published for nearly seveiUy years.

Bosc. Louis Auguste Guillaume Bosc, F. L. S. H. S.; author of several articles in Nouveau Cours Complet d'Agricuiture, and other works.

CoBBETT. American Gardener, by William Cobbett, a celebrated political writer.

CoxE. View oT the cultivation of Fruit trees, &.c, in the United States of America, &c, by William Coxe, Esq. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1817.

Chev. Parmentter. The Chevalier Joseph Parmentier of Enghein ; description of various new Fruits in Hort. Trans.

De Candolle. L. a. De Candolle, author of sever;d articles in Nouveau Cours Complet d'Agriculture. A celebrated writer on Botany, &c.

DoM. Ency. Domestic Encyclopaedia by A. F. M. Willich, M. D., editionofDr James Mease. 5 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1803. DuH. O. DuH. Traite des ArbresFruitiers par Henri Lewis du Hainel du Monceau. 2 vol. 4to. Paris, 17C8.

N. DuH. Nouveau Duhamelou Traite des Arbres, Fruitiers, Nouvelle Edition, Augmentee, &c, &c, formerly conducted by Dr Loisleur Deslongchamps, now still continued by M. M. Poiteau and Turpin, several vols, folio, with colored plates, Paris.

Ed. Enc. Edinburgh Encyclopaedia. American Ed. byDr Brewster. The article on Horticulture to which this principally refers, was drawn up by Patrick Neill, Esq.

Fes. Amer. Gard. New American Gardener, containing

practical directions on the culture of fruits and vegetables, &c, by

Thomas G. Fessenden, Editor of the New England Farmer, Boston.

For. Treatise on the culture and management of Fruit trees,

&c, by William Forsyth, Esq., seventh ed. 8vo. London, 1824.

Hooker. Pomona Londinensis, containing representations of the best fruits cultivated in British Gardens, by William Hooker, Esq.F. L. S. H. S. 4to. with colored plates.

HoRT. Soc. Cat. Catalogue of the fruits cultivated in the garden of the- Horticultural Society of London, at Chiswick, 8vo. 1826. Hort. Trans. Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, 4to. 8 vols.

Jefferson. Notes on Virginia, &c, by Thomas Jefferson, late President of the United States.

Mr Knight. Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. F. R. S. L. S. &c. President of the London Horticultural Society, and the author of nearly an hundred articles in the London Hort. Trans. &c, &c, and author of several works on Rural Economy.

LiNDL, A Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden, or an account of the most valuable fruits and vegetables cultivated in - Great Britain ; with calendars of the work required in the orchard and kitchen garden during every month in the year; by George Lindley, C. M. H. S. London, 1831.

Xll INTRODUCTION.

Loudon. Encyclopaedia of Gardening, &c, by John C. Lou- .don, F. L. S. H. "S. &c, London, 8vo. 1825. A work of 1233 condensed pages, and several hundred engravings.

Loud. Gard. Mag. The Gardener's Magazine, by the same Author. An excellent periodical work in semi-monthly numbers.

MiCHAUX. The North American Sylva, or a description of the forest trees, &c, &c, with 156 colored engravings, by F. Andre Michaux, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1819.

Miller. The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary, &c, by PhiUip Miller, F. R. S. 2 vols, folio. Revised by Professor Martyn, London, 1819,

Neill. Patrick Neill, Esq. A. M. F. L. S. author of the article on Horticulture, in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, and other works. Secretary of the Caledonian Horticultural S.-ciety. &c.

Nouv. CouRS Complex d'Agri. Cours Complex. Nouveau Cours Complet d'Agriculture, .^-c, ou Dictionnaire raisonne et Universel d'Agriculture, by the members of the section of Agriculture of the Institute of France, viz. M. M. Thouin, Parmentier, Tessier, Huzard, Silvestie, Bosc, Chassiron, Chaptal, Lacroix, De Perthius, Yvart, De Candolle, du Tour, Duchene, Feburier, De Brebisson and Rosier, (R.) 16 vols. Svo. Paris, 1823.

Phillips. Pomarium Britanicum ; an historical and botanical account of Fruits known in Great Britain ; by Henry Phillips, F. H. S, &c, Svo. London, 1823.

PoixFAu. A Poiteau, one of the conductors of the Bon Jardinier and the New Duhamel : and author of many of the articles in Annales d'Horticulture, &c.

Pom. Mag. Pomological Magazine, or figures and descriptions of the most important varieties of fruit cultivated in Great Britain, 3 vols. 8vo. London, a very late work.

PyRUs Malus Brenx. Pyius Malus Brenlfordiensis, or a concise Description of selected Apples, by Hugh Ronalds, F. H. S. &c, with colored engravings.

QuiNTiNiE. Jean de la Quintinie, Treatise on the Fruit Garden, &c. Evelyn's Translation, I^ondon, 1693.

Rosier. Cours Complet d'Agriculture, theorique, pratique, economique, &c, ou Dictionnaire Universal d'Agriculture, &c, 15 vols. 4to. Paris, 1801.

Dr Pascal is. The Silk Culturist, &c, published in numbers by Dr Felix Pascalis, Philadelphia,

Sfeechly. William Speechly, a Treatise on the Culture of the Vine, &c, Svo.

Dr Thacher. Author of the American Orchardist, and various other works on history, medicine, &c.

Thouin. Monographic de GrefFes, ou Description technique

INTRODUCTION. XIll

de diveres sortes de GrefFes, employees pour la multiplication des Vegeteaux, par le Chevalier de Audie Thouin,Profressor, &cc, in the University of Paris. Paris, fee, &c, folio with plates.

Van Mons. Dr Jean Bapliste Van Mens. Catalog;ue des Arbres Fruitiers, &.c. Lovaine, 1823. Ako, Pouiogiaphie Belgique Moderne, 4to. wilh plates. This work is still in progress, and but a small part has yet been received from him. They are in the Library of tiie Massaclmsetts I-iorticultural Society.

Dr Willich. All thus designated, refer to the Domestic Encyclopaedia ; these were drawn, as I arn informed, from the works of I L. Christ, a clergyman of Kronberg, near Frankfoit on the Maine.

Section I. Observations On The New Varieties

OF FRUITS. MODES BY WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN PRODUCED.

ON THE DECLUVE OF THE OLD VARIETIES.

The decline of many of the most valuable old varieties of fruii, has been noticed by several writers of different countries ; and particularly by Mr Knight, the President of the London Horticultural Society. In the vicinity of Boston, it has been more especially observed in regard to the old Pears ; for our best apples and some other species, are mostly native fruits, or of modem origin.

Let no one suppose that the intelligent Horticulturists here have never been acquainted with the best of the old Pears, w^hich the intelligence and industry of ages had concentrated in France. Who is not aware, that in every good collection, a proportion of the very best are always sent ? — How opposed alike to reason and to probability is the supposition, that even one of the be?t should have escaped. — They must have been here received, in the numerous and ever varying seZections — in the unnumbered importations.

Rosier, in the original edition of his celebrated Dictionary of Agriculture, which w^as completed in 1801,has candidly informed us, that for his description of fruits, he is almost wholly indebted to the no less celebrated Duhamel Dumoriceau ; and from the whole list of Pears which he has described, he has recommended as their essence, for a moderate collection, fiftythree trees of nineteen varieties, in different proportions. These are every one of them known amongst us ; and more than half of them, including the very best, are decidedly the kinds long since, from their defection, proscribed by those who cultivate for the markets of Boston. And of the list of twelve trees of nine varieties, which

XIV INTRODUCTION.

he has recommended as the best of all, for a very small garden, three quarters of them at least, are of the kinds which have long since ceased to produce perfect fruit with those who cultivate for our markets.

We regret the circumstance, but have ceased to wonder at the cause — since the same complaints of defection have already reached us from other quarters — even from the capital of that country, for which those celebrated works were principally designed.

I shall in the following pages, designate some of those, in the class of old varieties, once the finest of all old pears, whoso duration we had hoped, but in vain, to perpetuate. For except in the city, and some very few solitary and highly favored situations in the country around, they have become either so uncertain in their bearing — so barren — so unproductive — or so miserably bhghted — so mortally diseased — that they are no longer to be trusted : — They are no longer what they were once with us, and what many of them are still described to be by most foreign writers.

The gentleman who prepared the article on friiits in Fessenderi's A^ew American Gardener, has warned us to beware respecting some of them. He is well known with us as first rate authority.

In the markets of the city which formerly abounded with them, they are no longer or but rarely to be seen : — The cultivators who furnish its supplies have given up their cultivation. Like the barren Fig tree they have been destroyed — but not without cause ; for if they had not been accursed, their fertility and good qualities were gone ; and they were no longer fruitful but as the sources of vexation.

The practice of renaming those unknown varieties, whose original names are lost, after these old kinds is objectionable, inasmuch as it is calculated to mislead — and to falsify the proofs of their mortality. From some fancied similitude, the barbarous names of antiquity are brought down upp j us, applied to existing varieties. — From semblance of nrimo alone, the ' Gergon or Jargon' of antiquity has reappeared, — ithas been reclaimed, not merely as kindred, but as in all probability identical with varieties still existing.*

* See t. 108 of the Pomologica! Magazine, where the authority of Menage and Duchat, and of Merlet are brought forward to justify the supposition, that <.hc Jargonelle, asserted by them to be derived from Jargon, anciently Gergon, in Italian Gergo, in Spanish Gericonca, all corruptions of Groecum, and by ihe mference of Merlet the Pyrum Tarentinum of Cato and Columella, the Njimidianum Grcecum ofPliny, the Grceculum of Macrobius ; that all these, named or described near two thousand years ago, are but one and the same, and no other than the Jargonelle of the present day.

INTRODUCTION. XV

According to the theory advanced by Mr Knight and others, and confirmed by their experience, the different varieties of fruit have their periods of existence fixed by the laws of nature ; and after a certain time, either sooner or later, comes on their decline and final extinction.

I shall offer some evidence to shew that the complaints of defection are not confined to us alone — they have reached us from other and remote quarters. In the markets of fruits and legumes at Paris, as M. Masson the Commissaire General has infoi'med us in his report published in the Annales d'Horticulture for 1828, some of these same ancient, and with us once celebrated kinds, are no longer cultivated even witli them. — He expresses astonishment at the cause — but the conclusion seems irresistible, that with them, as with us, they are no longer worthy of cultivation ; and that out of that city, and in its vicinity, and the country around, these once famous fruits are at this day, as liable to blight, and as unworthy of general cultivation, as in the neighborhood of Boston.

The following are his words extracted from his report: 'One is astonished on viewing in the markets of Paris so very few melting Pears. We no longer see the Sucre Vert, the Sucre Musqu the Bezi de la Motte nor the Bezi d'Airy ; [^Bczi d'- Hiri ?] very few Chaumontelles, very few Culotte de Suisse ; no Royaled'Hiver [Royal Winter], no Virgouleuse, and what is to be deplored, no Cohnars.' [Some of these expressions, it seems evident from what follows, were designed to be understood only in a general sense. K.] ' These three last species sell from ten to two francs each, [about forty cents] and their cultivation is neglected.

' The Rousselet, so perfumed, so sought after by the confectioners and distillers, is no longer of good quality. How different this Rousselet from that which they cultivate at the hamlet of Cormontreuil, at the gate of Rheims ! At that place they cultivate the Rousselet almost exclusively, and these altogether on espaliers. These espaliers offer at the end of August a sight the most rich and beautiful.'

M. Poiteau when speaking of the decline of the old French varieties of Pears in the vicinity of Paris, and the urgent necessity of a renewal o|/the kinds, has informed us in the Annales d'Horticulture for May 1828, that notwithstanding the unwearied efforts which have been made in that country during several of the latter ages, by their most intelligent cultivators, in rearing new and valuable varieties from the seed ; yet such attempts having been conducted on wrong principles, have resulted in ' absolute nothingness.' They must, he asserts, look elsewhere for new varieties to replace the old: — any cohere else but to their own country: — even to America, — but more especially to Belgium,

XVI , INTRODUCTION.

The same writer further informs us, that the celebrated Duhamel, during the long course of his scientific career, planted the seeds of ail the best fruits which were eaten at his table, without being able to produce a single fruit worthy of cultivation.

Others in that countrj'^ — as the Alfroys, for a succession of generations, have adopted ihe same course, planting the seeds of the very best fruits, and with no better success.

it would thus appear that all the finest varieties of apples and pears having been raised in successive geneia'Jons of fruit, from the original crabbed and worthless origin, that after the improvement has iione on for five or six generations, to the production of a perfect fruit, it can be carried no further ; that exhausted nature, if urged beyond certain bounds recedes, and^a retrograde course commences. For the seeds of the best fruits, which are sown, she generally gives back nought but the worthless. In illustration of the truth of tliis position, M. Poiteau has stated it as a fact, recorded by several authors, that the seeds of the Winter Bon Chretien always produce a detestable fruit. And Mr Knight has positively asserted, that the seed of the wild pear, fertilized by the stamens of the blossoms of an asneliorated one, will yield a better fruit than the seeds of an ameliorated pear.

The mode however adopted in Belgium, with such wonderful success, in procuiing new ami extraordinary varieties, differs very materially from the process of Mr Knight: for it appears that they commence by simply sowing the seeds, not of the best, b-ut rather of the most austere and indifferent varieties, for a succession of a few generations, till the perfect sorts are produced.

It is asserted by Mr Knight, that generally, the old varieties of fruit begin to decay, first, in the colder latitudes ; and that a fruit which there begins to decay, may yet be successfully cultivated in a more southern climate, or what is equivalent, in the confined and warmer atmosphere of cities. Those varieties therefore, which no longer succeed with us, may yet continue for a while to flourish in the milder regions of the Union, and especially in the interior, beyond i\\Q limits and influence of tlioie cold eastern breezes from the Atlanti-.^, which, ri-ing with the diurnal appearance of the sun, visit us so regularly atsd con- Srantly at stated seasons.

There are some however, who dissent fi'om the opinions advanced by Mr Knight and others — opinions which seem justified by the experience of ages, — They clo not indeed deny the fad of their decay, but they deny the cause. In their attempts to sustain the credit of the oid fruits by residering them immortal, they v.'ould ascribe their deterioration to any other cause; — to some supposed alteration of climate, and not of ours alooe, but of the climate of all those countries v/here the sune proofs of their mortality have ai^pcared.

fVe aivaif the proofs of such changes : — jneanvvhile in their

INTRODUCTION. XVll

absence, I believe all will agree, that in adopting his theory, we adopt the safest course.

Mr Kai»-ht in England, and the Comte de Coloma of Malines and some others, have fortunately succeeded in rearing several new and valuable varieties of fruit, from the seeds obtained by the process of cross fcrlilization.

The following is the mode as described by M. Fries Morel : It is extracted from the Annales D'Horticulture, and is alike applicable to fruit trees, to trees of ornament, and to flowers.

[I adopt in this place with some abbreviation — the translation of the Hon. H. A. S. Dearborn as it appeared in vol. viil. No. 34, of the New England Farmer for May 12, 1830.]

* " * * « The operation must be performed, before the blossom is entirely expanded. The corollas should be carefully opened, and the anthers immediately extracted with delicate scissors, great caution being taken not to wound the fillets which support (hem, or any olher part of the flower. The favorable moment for executing this, is that which precedes the rising of the sun ; because at that time the pollen being humid, it is closely attached to the anthers.

Between eight and nine o'clock, the plans being exposed to the full influence of the sun, the perfectly matured pollen from another variety must be taken with care and placed on the stigma of the flower or blossom which it is intended to fertilize, and from which the anthers have been extracted ; repeat this operation two or three times during the course of the day.

If the process has been successful the flower on which the experiment has been made, will wither and fade [if a carnation] in twentyfour or thirtysix hours ; on the contrary, if the fertilization has not been effected, the corolla will preserve entire for ten or twelve days and more, all its freshness and splendor ; it will then be necessary to repeat the operation, which should always be performed in dry weather ; and it is proper that the plant should be protected from the rain and mist, til! a swelling is perceived in the ovary or germ.

By frequent waterings and exposing the plants to the north, the maturity of the pollen and the stigma may be retarded.

When the fertilization has really taken place, the pollen, which had been artificially placed upon the stigma, remains so. closely attached, that it cannot be removed with a hair pencil ; it changes form and color, and soon disappears ; but this is not the case if the fertilization has not been perfect, and the pollen is easily detached from the stigma ; its color and form is not changed, and it remains visible, until the total destruction of the flower.

The greater the quantity of the pollen, the larger is the number of the seeds produced; but the number of seeds produced by art, is never so great, as when the operations of nature are left to, herself alone.

XVlli INTRODUCTION.

The plant which has been artificially fertilized yields seeds, whicli (if a flower) produce generally flowers formed like that from whicli the anthers were extracted, but the colors resemble that which fiirnislied the pollen.' * * * And in the case of the new varieties of fruits thus produced, the new variety it is asserted, will inherit mainly the qualities of the kind which furnished the pollen, while on the other side it will acquire some of the constitutional peculiarities of the fruit which matured the seed.

The pollen of blossoms, and flowers accordinaj to Mr Lindley, when viewed through a microscope, is found to consist of extremely minute hollow balls, filled with a fluid in which swim particles of a figure varying from spherical to oblong, and having an apparently spontaneous motion. The stigma is of lax tissue, the intercellular passages of which have a greater diameter than the moving particles of the pollen.