J 3. J {J^^.- hyi 4/Z^

COLLECTION
T-ruste-c

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

SEVENTH SESSION

OF THE

Jmertcan lom^kgical ^0nct|),

THE CITY OF NEW-YOHK, SEPTEMBER 14, 1858,

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

PRIISTED FOR THE SOCIETY
1858.

ADDRESS.

Gentlemen: —

I rise to announce the opening of the Seventh
Session of our National Association, and to perform
a service which its Constitution devolves upon your
presiding officer.

Ten years have completed their course since the
organization of the American Pomological Society,
in this commercial emporium. Some who were ac-
tive in its formation, have fulfilled their earthly
mission, and now rest from their labors. Downing,
and others have passed away ; but their names are
still fragrant in our memories ; and their works still
live. May they live forever to enlighten and bless
their fellow men.

"While we deplore the loss of such men, who de-
voted their time and genius to the cultivation of
Rural Taste, and the progress of the Rural Arts,
we would acknowledge with profound gratitude our
obligations to the Supreme Arbiter of life, for the

preservation of the health and life of so many of
the founders of this Institution. He, by his kind
Providence, has permitted many of us once more
to assemble for the advancement of the earliest pur-
suit of man.

As the original law of labor required man " to
dress and keep the garden," so his primitive food
was the fruit of its trees — of all its trees save one ;
and the Divine Beneficence, when it declared, " I
have given you every tree in which is fruit yielding
seed," with inimitable wisdom and love, y^i'ovided
for the extension of this art, and the multiplication
of its blessings through every period of time.

With such a Divine charter — with such a rule
of duty, is it not a little surprising that the honor
should have been reserved for the present century,
for our own time and country, of giving birth to the
first Pomological Society in the worlds But from
this fact let us not infer, that our ancestors and the
generations which preceded them, did little or noth-
ing to improve this part of their inheritance.

The representative arts of ancient Egypt, contain
delineations of delicious fruits afterwards cultivated
in the hanging gardens of Nineveh, the interval
lands of Babylon, in the vales and on the mountains
round about Jerusalem. In Greece, Homer sung
of the cultivation of fruit-trees ; Xenophon, Cato,
and Virgil mention among other varieties of fruit,
the pear ; and Pliny in enumerating the fruits cul-
tivated at Kome, mentions twenty-two sorts of the
apple, eight kinds of the cherry, more than thirty

kinds of pears ; a large number of plums and
grapes, to which the soil of Italy was then, and
is still specially adapted. He also speaks of sever-
al other kinds of fruits, and of the perfection which
the art had attained in his period ; but it is a
significant comment on that perfection, when he
adds, that it was then, a long time since the pro-
duction of any new variety.

To trace the progress of pomology, is not our
present purpose. Suffice it to say, this science
having reposed in the gardens of the monasteries
during the dark ages, came forth from those
cloisters with modern civilization and the Keforma-
tion ; and has now attained an elevated position
among the most refined and honorable of human
pursuits.

Associations for the promotion of Pomology, as a
distinct science, date back only to the middle of
the present century. It was previously embraced
in the objects of Horticultural and Agricultural As-
sociations, and has been greatly advanced by the
individual enterprise of a Quintinye, Duhamel, Van
Mons, Knight, and other scientific men, both in
Europe and America. But the efficient cause of
our progress is the power of voluntary association
— the great engine which propels the car of mod-
ern improvement. Its wonder-working agency ap-
pears in the action of mind on mind, not only in
the intercourse of individual pomologists, but in
the various periodicals devoted to this object.
Among these, our country can boast of some more

6

enduring and voluminous than any that can he
found in Europe.

Since the organization of this Society in 184:8,
its example has been followed by the establishment
of the British Pomological Society in London ; the
Societie Pomologie de Beige in Brussels ; and of
other similar organizations located at almost every
point of our Union — all working in harmony for
the attainment of the most reliable and important
results. These are aggregating the experience of
the wisest and best cultivators, creating a taste for
this useful and divinely appointed art, proving
what varieties are suited to each particular locality ;
and what, to general cultivation. These through
the influence of the Horticultural and Agricul-
tural press, are introducing fruit culture, from
the Canadas to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, bringing its numberless enjoyments
within the means of the most humble cottager, and
multiplying the luxuries which crown the tables of
the opulent. The large, luxurious and abundant
fruits in the State of California, in the Territories
of Oregon and Washington, already rival, and, in
many instances, surpass those of our older States,
indeed of the countries of Europe.

Upon these favorable omens I may well congrat-
ulate you ; as I certainly do, on the cheering pros-
pects before us. Pomology is yet in its infancy.
We have but just entered the field which we are
to cultivate, and gathered a few first fruits of the
bountiful harvest, which encourages and is to re-

ward our endeavors. But, when we reflect upon
the success which has attended the growth of par-
ticular fruits upon a few acres, under judicious cul-
tivation,— upon the obstacles over which science and
practical skill have already triumphed, — upon the
industry, intelligence and enterprise of our people,
which has been and will continue to be more and
more devoted to this branch of terraculture — upon
the vast amount of our territory equally well
adapted to fruit culture as that now in use — and
upon the ever increasing demand for the same, —
who can predict the future importance of this
science I who can foretell the extent to which it
will hereafter contribute to personal and domes-
tic comfort, to national wealth and prosperity?
And can any man doubt whether the assembling
of these rural comforts around the family mansion
does not streno;then local attachments and multi-
ply the joys of home, whether they promote indus-
trial happiness, the love of kindred and country,
and sweeten the social relations of life ?

Such, gentlemen, is the trust which Providence
has confided to your care. Such is the magnitude
of your mission. By your instrumentality, an ex-
tensive and laudable spirit of enterprise has been
awakened through our own and foreign lands.
The transactions of our last session have been pub-
lished generally by the periodical press of the
United States. They were also translated and pub
lished in some of the languages of Europe ; and
your Catalogue has already become a standard in

8

American Pomology. This it should be your ob-
ject, at each biennial session, to revise, perfect, and
promulgate, as the best means of preventing those
numerous impositions and frauds which, we re-
gret to say, have been practised upon our fellow
citizens by adventurous speculators or ignorant and
unscrupulous venders, who sometimes use recom-
mendations, hastily and injudiciously given, or sur-
reptitiously obtained, greatly to the injury of the
purchaser and fruit-grower, to the dealer and nur-
seryman, and to the cause of pomology. Let us
therefore exercise increased caution as individuals
and as associates, how we lend our influence to en-
courage the dissemination of new fruits with ex-
travagant pretensions ; sovereign remedies for dis-
eases ; patented nostrums for the destruction of
insects ; worthless fertilizers ; and secret arts of
cultivation.

There are many other topics most intimately con-
nected with our common cause. On some of these
subjects it was my intention to have addressed you ;
but they will no doubt, be discussed during the pre-
sent sessions of the Society ; and then 1 may be
indulged with the privilege of expressing a person-
al opinion. I have resolved, however, to devote the
few remaining moments which it will be proper for
me to occupy in this opening address, to a some sug
gestions relative to the Pear, one of the most im.
portant and delicious of our fruits.

The question has recently been raised and very
extensively discussed in our public journals, " Can
pears he grown for the market " at a profit]

In the progress of this discussion, those who
have espoused the negative, we fear, have unde-
signedly, perhaps, awakened distrust as to the suc-
cess and profit of pear culture in our country ; a
distrust which, if not removed, may prove injurious
to this' branch of pomology. *Many able, and to my
mind conclusive replies have been called forth,
affirming both the feasibility and the profit of pear-
growing. In consequence of personal devotion
to this art, and my official relation to you, I have
been requested by members of this Society and
other cultivators, to submit the results of my study,
observation and experience on this subject.

It is obvious that a similar question may be raised
in regard to any other branch of terra-culture.
Where one cultivator succeeds, another fails. Why]
Not because Providence does not fulfil the Divine
promise, " that seed time and harvest shall not fail,"
but because in instances of failure the conditions
of success are not complied with. Perhaps there
was a want of intelligence, of judicious cultivation,
or of that vigilance which takes hold of an enter-
prise, with a determination to surmount all ob-
stacles and to " hold on." Some pomologists have
justly ascribed to us in Massachusetts what they have
been pleased to denominate a " mania " for pear-
growing. They have also made honorable mention
of the success which had attended it. But it should

10

be borne in mind, that neither the soil or the climate
of our Commonwealth, are as well adapted to this
fruit as those of most of the other States of the
Union ; and if the fruit-growers in this region have
acquired any such celebrity, it is to be ascribed to
their intelligence, indefatigable industry and perse-
verance, more than to any other cause.

When the Almighty commanded man to replen-
ish the earth and subdue it, he also gave him do-
minion over nature, and required him to subordi-
nate her to his use. The cultivator should not
wait idly for nature to work out what God in-
tended him to perform. He should learn to work
in harmony with nature. He should plant trees
with a proper regard to soil, sorts and the arts of
judicious cultivation, and should never leave them,
as is often the case, to a fatal predestination, be-
lieving they were foreordained to take care of
themselves. He should not be discouraged by a
single failure, but should persevere —

" Work on and vin ; —
Preach no desponding faithless view ;
Whate'er he wills, his will may do.
Work moves and molds the mightiest birth,
And grasps the destinies of earth !"

We do not deny that vicissitudes attend the cul-
tivation of fruit-trees, as well as forest trees, and
other vegetable products. How often a severe
winter proves injurious to the peaches of the North,
to the oranges of the South. Within the knowl-
edge of many present, our hardiest varieties of

11

the apple, as well as of the pear, have been in-
jured by sudden revulsions of climate. But these
should no more discourage the pomologist, than
the occasional failure of the farmer's crop by
frost, drought, or other causes, should prevent
his planting the succeeding spring. Without de-
tracting from the merit of any American pomolo-
gist, it is our firm persuasion that the failures which
have occurred in pear-growing, whether on the
quince or its own stock, are attributable to improper
soil and varieties, to injudicious treatment, or
to neglect of cultivation. Hence, these failures,
wherever they exist, show the importance of the
prominent object of this association, which is to
develop and promulgate the scientific principles
and the personal experience, that shall reduce the
number of such failures, and in the end, prevent
their occurrence.

One of the chief causes of failure is the non-
adaptation of the tree to the locality. Some varie-
ties are constitutionally delicate and feeble ; and, of
course, more subject than others to 'climatic in-
fluences. They may be of exquisite flavor, but are
not well adapted to general cultivation. These
would only be grown by amateurs in favorable
positions. Others are robust, vigorous, hardy as
the oak, resisting the extremes of cold and heat, of
tempest and storm, retaining their luxuriant and
persistent foliage to the end of the season. Such
are the Fulton and Mc Laughlin, of Maine — the
Bufi"um, the Abbott and Knights' Seedling, of Rhode

12

Island — the Andrews, Harvard, andMeriam of Mas-
sachusetts — the Dallas and the Howell, of Connec-
ticut— the Lawrence, Onondaga and Sheldon, of New
York — the Brandy wine, and Kingsessing, of Penn-
sylvania— the Urbaniste, Beurre d'Anjou, Doyenne,
Boussock, Vicar of Winkfield, St. Michael Ar-
change, Nouveau Poiteau, and last but not least,
the Bartlett, of European origin. The latter which
was introduced into Dorchester before the begin-
ning of the present century, and which has borne
regular crops of delicious fruit for more than fifty
years, is still vigorous, hardy, and prolific.

True, these are not all of exquisite flavor ; but
all of them have valuable qualities. With a
proper knowledge of the art of ripening, they are
very useful sorts and generally acceptable to the
public ; and if amateurs who are sometimes in dan-
ger of being too fastidious, could obtain no other,
they would pronounce them most excellent kinds.
Not that we would detract from the cultivated
taste which finds its gratification in the deli-
cious Seckel, but as a national organization, we are
sacredly bound to consider the wants of the million
— the facility and practicability of supplying them.
Give us pears ! the most exquisite sorts, where we
can grow them — -but by all means give us, pears !
pears for ourselves, for our families, for the millions
who are about us, and who are to come after us !

Another cau.se of failure in the growth of the
pear tree, has been a competition for increasing the

13

number of varieties, rather than a satisfaction with
a few of known worth and excellence. Within the
last twenty-five years, this passion has led to large
importations of trees from foreign countries, of the
characteristics and habits of which we, have not
had sufficient knowledge. During this period, many
of those on our list for general cultivation have been
obtained ; but to secure these, and satisfy ourselves
of their excellence, we have been obliged to grow
a multitude of kinds, which have proved inferior
and worthless. More than one hundred now stand
on our list of rejected sorts ; and the Committee on
this class of fruits, I understand, are prepared to
recommend the expulsion of a still greater number.

Without discouraging the introduction from Eu-
rope of new varieties for trial, in the hope of obtain-
ing valuable sorts, there can be no doubt that a pre-
judice has been created in this country against the
cultivation of the pear, by the importation of trees
not thoroughly proved by foreign nurserymen,
which in far too many instances, have not here
answered the recommendations given of them at
home. This has been still farther augmented by
the frequent heating and great consequent injury
of such trees on the voyage ; by their sale here at
auction to inexperienced cultivators, who purchase
a medley of worthless sorts and damaged trees,
in expectation of valuable fruit.

The diseases of the pear like those of most other
fruits, result from definable causes. For many of
these, we have already acquired sufficient knowl-

14

edge to apply the appropriate remedies ; and it is to
be hoped, with the progress of science, we shall ere
long, be able to prevent even the blight, that fear-
ful destroyer of this tree in some localities.

Much has been said against the longevity of the
pear tree, particularly when grafted on the quince.
In reference to the latter point I need only re-
affirm the sentiments contained in my last address,
and subsequently corroborated by the most distin-
guished cultivators.* One of these remarks, " My
best trees are on the quince. The best fruits of
our exhibitions are from the quince stock, and our
profits in fruit raising are from the same source.
Let others have their own way in stating experi-
ments based upon improper or bad management,
drawing from these unsatisfactory conclusions. By
a judicious selection of varieties and proper culti-
vation we shall fill our shelves, and walk among
our well-shaped pyramids with a blessing for the
unknown genius who first tried the quince as a
stock for the pear, and made, really, in pear culti-
vation, the same revolution as steam in travelling."
Another gentleman, the editor of our oldest hor-
ticultural journal sustains these declarations, add-
ing, " The attempts to write down the pear upon
the quince stock are examples among a thousand
others, in the literature of gardening, to assail some
of the soundest principles of physiological science
and practical art." The additional experience dur-
ing the last biennial term confirms my previous con-

*See Transaction of Sixth Session 1856, p. 22.

15

victions of the truthfulness of these statements ; and
such is believed to be the sentiment of the best
pomologists throughout the country.

Of the longevity of the pear upon its own stock,
there can be no doubt. In favorable circumstances,
the pear outlives most other fruit-bearing trees.
Witness the' old pear trees on the bleak and rock-
bound coast of Puritan New England ; on the site
of the old Dutch Colony ; at the mouth and along
the banks of the Hudson ; in the territory of the
ancient French Colony about Detroit, and in other
places too numerous to be named — trees some of
which have flourished from the settlement of the
country, and which are at this very moment bend-
ing with the weight of their golden fruit.

PROFIT OF PEAR CULTURE.

But the immediate question under consideration
is, "Can pears be grown at a profit?" We advocate
the affirmative, premising that the condition of suc-
cess to which we have already referred must be
complied with. This enquiry has been satisfacto-
rily answered by pomologists, some of whom I
am happy to recognize in this assembly, 'yet the
responsive facts and arguments deserve to be em-
bodied and published under the sanction of this
National Assembly. To a record of these as col-
lated from various authorities, so far as they are
confirmed by personal observation and experience,
I now invite your attention.

The Fruit Growers Society of Western New
York, composed of gentlemen of deserved integrity

16

and celebrity, some of whom are on this floor, and
competent to defend their report, furnish the fol-
lowing instances from that section of the State.

Three White Doyenne Pear trees, owned by Mr.
Phinney, of Canandaigua, one of them small, pro-
duces annually fifty to sixty dollars worth of fine
fruit.

A tree of the same variety, owned by Judge
Howell, of same place, seventy years of age, has
not failed of a good crop for forty years, averaging
for the last twenty years, twenty bushels annually,
and sold on the tree at sixty dollars per year.
This tree has produced for the New York market
three thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars
worth of pears.

Three large trees owned by Judge Taylor, of
same kind, yielded in 1854, eleven barrels, and sold
for one hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

A young orchard, owned by Mr. Chapin, of four
hundred trees, eight years from planting, which pro-
duced in 1858, fifteen barrels, selling in New York
for four hundred and fifty dollars, and in 1854, fifty
barrels, yielding him one thousand dollars."

Similar results have been realised in the State of
Massachusetts.

William Bacon, of Eoxbury, has about one acre
devoted to the pear. The oldest trees were planted
eighteen years since, but more than half within a few
years. 'From two trees, the Dix and Beurre l)iel,
lie has realized more than one hundred dollars a
year, and for the whole crop, over one thousand
dollars a year.

John Gordon, of Brighton, has three and one-
fourth acres in his pear orchard. This was com-
menced in 1841, there being only eight trees on the
ground. There are now twelve hundred trees,
planted in various years, more than one-half of
which since 1854. The amount received for his
crop from that date to the present, has been from

n

five to six hundred dollars a year, but he remarks,
"If I had confined myself to a judicious selection
of varieties, it would now bring me two thousand
dollars per year."

Wm. R. Austin, of Dorchester, Treasurer of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, has an orchard
of between five and six hundred pear trees, mostly
on the quince root. These trees are about twelve
years of age. One hundred are Louise bonne d'
Jersey's. They commenced bearing about three
years after planting, and have borne regular crops
ever since. They are very healthy, and only eight
of the whole number have died since the orchard
was commenced. No account of the crops were
kept until the year 1851, but Mr. Austin's sales for
the next six years, amounted to three thousand four
hundred and eight dollars.

The Messrs. Hovey's of Cambridge, have a very
large collection of bearing pear trees. From two
rows, two hundred and ten trees, grafted on the
quince, the crop has amounted, some years, to
twenty-five barrels.

John Henshaw, of Cambridge, planted about an
acre of land principally with pears on the quince.
On the fifth year thereafter, he gathered one hun-
dred and twenty bushels of pears, seventy bushels
of which, he sold at five to six dollars per bushel.

A Buffum pear tree at Worcester, belonging to
Mr. Earle, yields annually from thirty to forty dol-
lars worth of pears. Mr. Pond, of the same city,
planted in 1850 three hundred and fifty Bartlett
pear trees, one year old from the bud. In lS57he
sold from these trees fifty-bushels of pears, at five
dollars per bushel, or two hundred and fifty dollars
for the crop.

' Similar instances of success, in these and in other
States, might be multiplied, if time would permit, to
prove the age, health, and profit of the pear tree.
So deep has the conviction of this truth become,

18

and so uniform the success, that instead of plant-
ing trees as in former times, by the single tree or
the dozen, cultivators now plant orchards of hun-
dreds and thousands, in firm and reasonable ex-
pectation of large income.

Such facts are conclusive, and ought to rectify
the false theories which have been advanced
on this subject. But it may be objected, that these
are instances of success developed by accidental
adaptation of kinds, of soil or climate ; that such
results are neither uniform or common; in a word,
that there are counter facts sufficient to justify an
opposite conclusion, and therefore to sustain the
opinion that pears cannot be made a reliable and
profitable crop.

While I distinctly recognize here as in every other
branch of terra-culture, what are called occasional
revulsions of nature, resulting from sudden alterna
tions of temperature and other causes, yet I desire
publicly to record as the result of long observation
and experience, that I have never known an in-
stance of failure, which on examination was not
attributable to an improper selection of varieties,
or to injudicious cultivation. In harmony with this
judgment is believed to be the sentiment of the
best pomologists in this country. Therefore I am
constrained to regard success as the general law of
cultivation in this, as in every other department of
this science ; as truly with the pear as with the apple.

What if we have instanced but a few cases, and
named but a few varieties ? They illustrate our

19

argument. If the Bartlett in Massachusetts, the
BufFum in Rhode Island, and sorts equally success-
ful in other states, have not failed of an annual
crop from twenty-five to fifty years, surely the pro-
duct of the pear is not only as reliable as any other
crop, but even more so. To these and other approv-
ed sorts which we now possess, we are constantly
making additions by hybridization and other arts.
What if at this time there are but a limited num.
ber of such varieties, enterprise and experience are
rapidly multiplying them, and it is the particular
province of this Society to dispense them through
our land.

What if pomology, as a science, is comparatively
of recent date ; what if our knowledge of vegetable
physiology generally is very limited "? What if the
various sorts of fruit-trees do require different
systems of pruning and cultivation, facts now
generally conceded by experienced men 1 The
laws which govern such treatment, and which^
with the ordinary exceptions, ensure a crop, are
as certain as any other scientific principles. Our
mission is to investigate these laws, to settle
the characteristics of each variety; to ascertain
what soil is best adapted for supplying its appro-
priate food; to learn how and when it should
be pruned, and to discover the best method of
cultivation.

Thus far we have spoken principally of the pear-
But much of what we have said is equally appli-
cable to other fruits. The great duty which we

20

would enforce, and which every pomologist owes to
himself and tc this science is —

" To study culture, and with artful toil,
To till and fertilize the stubborn soil ;
To give dissimilar, yet fruitful lands.
The tree, the vine, the plant that each demands."

Our reasoning applies peculiarly to the grape.
I hail with great pleasure the wide-spread interest
of cultivators in producing new and choice varieties
of this fruit, which, ere long, will put us in posses-
sion of kinds not inferior to the best European
sorts. On this subject I had hoped to enlarge at
this time, and to have shown its importance, as a
means of increasing individual and national wealth.
The time is within the recollection of some present
when our first native grapes were brought into cul-
tivation, as the Catawba and Isabella. These are
now so common in some sections, that any man, if
he chooses, may sit beneath his own vine and pluck
its rich clusters. Honor to the memory of those
who introduced these valuable sorts ! Success to
those who are multiplying new and improved
varieties from them ! We know gentlemen in
Massachusetts who have thousands of seedlings
under cultivation. The same may be said of other
sections of . aur fair land; and the day is fast
approaching when from our eastern to our western
shores, the tops and slopes of our hills shall be
covered with clusters richer than those of Eschol,
and, like them, giving assurance of a land of prom-
ise. May that day soon come, when our markets

21

shall vie with those of Italy, Sicily and other grape-
growing countries, where this luscious fruit is not
only a luxury for the opulent, but the food of the
humblest peasant.

What an inviting field of labor does the science of
pomology present ! Our country vast in extent, con-
taining every variety of soil and climate, fast filling
up with an intelligent and enterprising population, is
already a pioneer in other useful arts, and is doubt-
less destined to sustain a corresponding superiority
in the cultivation of fruit. The cause we seek to ad-
vance, will ere long adorn her hills and vales with
the choicest fruits of earth, and tune to grateful
lays, the voice of happy millions who shall succeed
us. These blessings were designed to please the eye
and gratify the taste, to multiply the comforts and
elevate the social and moral condition of man.
Fruits were the primitive food of our first parents,
and for aught we know, their only food in Par-
adise. Fruits have too often be considered the con-
diments and not the necessaries of life — but " man
does not live by bread alone," — and the more we
use them, the more we shall approach a refined and
healthful temperament both of body and of mind. It
is, therefore, our duty, as benefactors of our race, to
ievelop these wonderful resources of our land, and
.0 increase them to their utmost extent.

And how delightful is the employment of the
pomologist, going forth among his well-trained trees :

"To visit how they prosper, bud and bloom."

22

His love is always young and fresh, ever approach-
ing them with keener relish and increased affection.
They, in return, recompensing every kind atten-
tion, " clap their hands for joy," and like those
flowers of Paradise touched by the fair hand of Eve,
more gladly grow.

This art is second to no other in rank, in utility,
and pleasure. No calling is more consonant with
the refinement and happiness of a rational being ;
none better calculated to develop the purest senti-
ments of our moral nature. " The garden," says
Lord Bacon, " is the greatest refreshment to the
spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces
are but gross handy-works." " Nothing," said the
immortal Webster, " is too polished to see its beau-
ty, nothing too refined to be capable of its enjoy-
ment. It attracts, gratifies and delights all. It is a
constant field where all sexes and ages, where
every degree of taste and refinement may find op-
portunity for gratification." So thought Cyrus of
Persia, when he boasted that he planted his trees
with his own hands ; so Pliny, when he gloried that
a Roman cherry was named in honor of his family ;
So Solomon, guided by Divine wisdom, made for
himself as a source of his purest pleasure, " gardens
and orchards, and planted trees of all kinds of
fruits." So Dioclesian, sated with the highest hon-
ors of regal power, when he wrote to Maximian,
"Were you to come to Salona and se^ the fruits
which I cultivate with my own hands, you would
no longer talk to me of empire." So say we and

23

all others, who, having retired from the thorough-
fares of the busy mart, and from the conflicts of
political ambition, have drunk from these pure
fountains of social joy, and eaten these ambrosial
fruits of rural life.

No wonder then that the praises of this pursuit
have been celebrated in prose and verse ; from the
humblest peasant to the highest potentate ; from
the heathen mythologist to the sweet Psalmist of
Israel.

From scenes in the garden, from Eden to Geth-
semane, have been drawn the most exalted and
sublime conceptions, the most sacred and divine
communings that have ever moved the human
heart. This sentiment animates the breast of child-
hood, grows with our growth, and strengthens with
advancing years :

" Maintains its hold with such unfailing sway,
We feel it e'en in age, and at our latest day."

The good Wilberforce, long after he was unable to
walk, was drawn daily in his carriage to his favorite
grounds, where he could commune with his Crea-
tor and admire the beauty and glory of his works.
" I am," said he, " very fond of the garden. The
corn and vegetables I look upon as the bounties of
Providence, but the fruits and flowers as his
smile."

The more I investigate the laws of vegetable
physiology, the more I am filled with wonder and
reverence at the benevolent provisions of nature —

24

at the instructive lessons which she teaches. Our
trees — from the opening bud to the golden harvest,

— from the laying off of their gay autumnal livery,
and during their rest in winter's shroud, waiting a
resurrection to a new and superior life, are all
eloquent preachers, proclaiming to our inmost
soul :

" The hand that made us is DiA'ine."

Taught by their counsels, who does not admire
the wisdom, perfection and beauty of this fair cre-
ation ! The tiny hud, encased in coats of mail so
that the rude blasts may not visit it too roughly,
rivalling in its mechanism the human eye, and des-
tined to perpetuate its own species distinctive as the

soul of man ! the enamelled hlossom^ unfolding

her virgin bosom to the warm embrace of vernal air,
bespangling the orchard with starry spray scarcely
less beautiful than the glittering host above, danc-
ing in rainbow hues, and flinging on the breeze a
fragrance richer than the spices of Ceylon's Isles ;
sweet harbinger of bountiful harvest ! the lus-
cious fruits^ God's best gift to man, save woman!

— the melting pem\ rough or polished rind, with
sweetest honied flavor — the burnished apple,
tempting human taste from the mother of our
race Ito her last fair daughter — the royal
grape, clustering beneath its bower of green,
making glad the heart of man — the brilliant
cherry, suff'used with loveliest tints of rose and
white or dyed in deepest incarnadine — the vel-

25

vet peach, mantled with beauty's softest blush
and vieing with the oriency of the morning — the
delicious plum^ veiled with silvery bloom, over
robes of azure, purple, or cloth of vegetable gold !
But what imagination can conceive, what pencil
sketch, the changing hues, the varied magnificence
and glory, when Pomona pours from her overflow-
ing lap, the ripened treasures of the year ! These
all these, are original designs, such as the genius of
a Corregio, a Claude Lorraine, and the oldest mas-
ters could only imitate.

Here, are creations, originally pronounced very
good. Here, are inexhaustible sources of pleas-
ure, beauties which fade only to appear again.
Here "life flows pure, the heart more calmly
beats." Here, like the foliage and fruit falling
from trees of favorite care, the true pomologist, after
a well spent day, lies down to rest in the hope of
a fairer to-morrow — in the glorious hope of partak-
ing of the fruit of that tree, which " yieldeth its
fruit every month, and whose leaves are for the
healing of the nations."

Gentlemen — Having held the ofl^ice of President
of this Society, eight years out of the ten of its ex-
istence, I have not the presumption to believe, that
I ought to occupy the chair for a longer term, es-
pecially to the exclusion of gentlemen more compe-
tent to discharge the duties of this high trust. At
the last election I accepted the office at your urgent
solicitation, and with the hope that I might extend

26

the influence and increase the utility of our associ-
ation. Something has been done, but other official
duties have claimed my services, and I have not ac-
complished all that I anticipated. With many
thanks for your kind co-operation and support, and
with the assurance that I have no higher ambition
than to be associated with you in a cause so honor-
able and so hopeful for the general welfare, I beg
you will accept my resignation, and allow me the
privilege of a co-worker in whatever may promote
American Pomology.

MARSHALL P. WILDER.