California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 47, Number 9, 1 November 1877 — AMERICAN Pomological Society. [ARTICLE]

AMERICAN Pomological Society.

Address of President Wilder.

gnllemen of ttW American f*omoloijiral Society '

[OONTIMIKD KRoM LAST WEKK-J CBOS.S KKKTII.I ZATION. Whatever the fruit cultivators of ancient timeH may have known in regard bo the cross impregnation of varieties for their improvement, we have no evidence, if we may jttdgt by the quality of the fruits which have come down to us, that they were acquain tod with thin procoss Tlie first experiment to Meet*, taiu the possibility of producing varieties by cross - fertilization appears to have been made in (lennany, by Koelreuter, who published reports of his proceed ihgs iv the acts of the Petersburg Academy, about one hundred vsan Ago, Knight, Herbert and the Lindleys commenced the work some fifty or sixty yearn since, but it had scarcely been recognized by Duhamel, Noisi tte. Of IViteau, in their writings, and Van Mons absolutely discouraged it. Poiteau remarked that all of the ainelioiated and superior fruits had their origin in-w oods and hedges, where superior fruits were rare and unknown. Nor was it more than alluded to by Poxe, Lowell, Manning, Thorn;!". Prince, aud such leaders in our own land. COXO, who may be stylet! the first American nomologist, alluded to it as a ** curious discovery which had been made by Mr. Knight in the natural history of fruit trees, by which one variety might be- impregnated with the farina of another, Home of the products par Inking ol the properties of the male, others of tlie female parent."

But with the publication of Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture, Dow-ning's Fruit and Fruit Trees, and the Horticulturist, the experiments iv hybridization became well known in our country. This process* Applied to the grape, said Andrew Jackson Downing, thirty years ago, will give hundreds of hardy kinds, adapted to every orchard and garden in the Union. How fully this prediction has been fulfilled we have seen in th** new varieties of hybrid grapes produced by Allen, Kogers, Moore, < 'ampbell, and •specially by Mr. Kicketts, whose wonderful success in cross-fertilization has been achieved on the very soil where this prophecy was made. With thi-i knowledge commenced a uew era in the production of improved varieties of fruits, flowers and vegetables ;an era which has so enlarged the sphere of experiments in fertilization that its originators will ever be gratefully remembered at benefactors to mankind, who have illustrated one of those wonderful and beautiful laws by which the whole universe is reflated, and by which improvement in fruits, vegetables, and animal life may be advanced until ab?clute perfection is attained.. NOMENCI.ATURR. The progress in correct nomenclature has been most gratifying, and the labors of the American Pomolo«*;ieal Society, in connection with its great exhibitions of fruits, have ha*] a prominent leading influence in this re>ult.

Mr. John J. Thomas says, " I well remember the oontinued disappointments I met with when a young man in procuring trees that were true to name in some fruits accuracy seemed to be decidedly the exception. In corresponding on this subject some forty years ago with the elder Kobert Manning, he remark ed that the account of my disappointment was a his tory of his own." At the present time, all lespect able nurseries are accurate throughout, and purchaser-, scarcely find an error. One of the objects of the founders of this Society was to correct the evils which formerly existed ; to aid in determining the synonyms by which the same fruit was known, and thus to establish the correct names and impart a knowledge of the value of varieties.

Much has been accomplished by the Society's Catalogue, whereby a permanent foundation has been laid, which will eventually result in the complete abrogation of such names as are used without fitness, ' propriety or even truth. We especially desire, for the honor of our science, that all inelegant or absurd names, such as Cathead, Hogpen, Sheepnose, Stump the World, and the like, should no longer be applied to fruits. In this res|wct WS. have made great advances hy the suppression of vulgar names and the adoption of such as have reference to the origin, introduction, or the characteristics of our fruits.

How absurd to give to a luscious fruit, radiant with the loveliest tints of nature, and fragrant with the •pices of Arabia a fruit possessing almost supernal grace such vulgar names. How inappropriate the dedication of fruits to warriors and statesmen, to generals and colonels, presidents and senators, or the Long roll of titled nobility, which have no natural connection, or analogy, with fruits. H.>w much more appropriate, for instance, are the BftßMf. of the Baldwin and Porter apple, the Bartlett ami Sheldon pear, the Early Crawford and hate Admirable |«-aeh, the Concord grant), and Wilson's Albany straw berry. Some of these have come down t> us from form*? generations, and will survive as long as the varieties which bear them exist, without the use of three hun dred and seventy names nof twenty nine kinds of ap pies, as stated in I>r. HoWsley s Report of 187& Coir natalogue already abounds with the names of fruits of American origin, aud they will ere long surpass in number those of foreign climes. Let us, then, labor to establish a pure, projier and practical DOtnen clature of fr lits for our land, which shall be correct, definite, intelligible, and which ihftU endure for all time.

Among the m »st important .w:ts of this Society was the rejection, M unworthy of cultivation, (in 1858, nineteen years since,) of *>25 varieties of fruits, then known in the catalogues of nurserymen, but since suppressed. Not less important was the adoption of its own < Catalogue of varieties adapted to the various sections of our widely extended country. This took

place In 1862, but it was reserved for the year IS7I to inaugurate the present grand quarto form arranged in Northern, Southern and Central Divisions, similar in climate and other characters affecting fruit culture, with columns for fifty States and Territories, thus presenting to the world the most pcrfeet ami practical catalogue of fruits extant, Thus shall we improve ont pomology and thus hand down inestint able blessings to the world ; not for ourselves only, but to gladden the sight, gratify the taste, and cheer the hearts of the advancing millions that are to occupy this blessed land. And what more enduring memorial of valuable service to posterity can we render than to transmit a fine fruit which shall sur vive ernes we have passed from our labors on earth. The pleasures of sight enhance the pleasures.of taste, and thus generation after generation will rejoice in the beauty as well as the richness of fruits which have adorned our orchards and cheered our social meal, and which, with each successive year, cause us to realise the thought of the poet, that "A thing of heautv is * Jos fore*sr." ronotoejitut unnaTUM. Among the most important agencies which have contributed largely totheadvaneeineiitof the pomology of onr country, wo desire to speak of its liter ature. Olio hundred years ago this had not begun to exist in our country. Then there was not aii agricultural, horticultural or poniological society, not a periodical or paper devoted to the cause of terracul ture. When the Philadelphia and the Massachuistts Societies lot promoting Agriculture were formed, our only poniological literature was limited to a small number of Kuropean works. These were, as far its possibles collected in the libraries of these societies, and we early trace the beginnings of an American poniological literature in papers contributed to the publications of these same societies. The first of these communications appeared in the Mas«ach:i

I setts Agricultural Repository in 17%, OS the natural I history of tho canker worm. In thin paper Prof. Peck gave a vory full account of thin insect, still so injurious to our apple trees. Thin attention Ofl the part of agricultural societies to fruit culture has con tinueil ami increase,!, to the present day, and I MB of the opinion that however much we may be Indebted to the State societies ami other prominent organ izations, we owe much to the unpretending reports of local societies for tlie interest which now per. mUm fehfl masses and popularizes pomological knowledge. All of these may he counted in the history and liter ature of American pomology. Many of these are not only of real practical knowledge, but are highly creditable for their literary ami Scientific character. From these, our own publications have derived much of the information which gives them their excellence, all combining to make up the liter ature of American pomology. Only fifty years ago the difficulty of obtaining correct information from our own countrymen in regard to fruit trees and tlie culture of them was almost insuperable, and we were compelled to resort to such Kuropean authors as we could obtain. Hut those of seventeenth and eighteenth ceuturieH, such as Merlet, tjuintinye, Duhamel, and the like, were in foreign languages, and not generally available fur our use, if we except the " Pomologia" of the Dutch gardener, Hermann Knoop, which had been transplanted. It was not, however, until about the beginning of the present century, even in these countries, that the uew enterprise in fruit culture, which characterizes the present age, had sprung up. The publications of VanMons in Belgium, Forsyth and Knight in England, and Poiteau and Noisette, in France, awakened a new interest in their own and other lands, but it was reserved for a later day, when their successors, (leorge Liridley, Thompson, Ilivers and Hogg, of Knglaud ; I ltivort and BerckmaiiH, of Belgium; Deeaisne, Leroy and Mas, of France, and others of our own land, should infuse into the minds of cultivators that new zeal in fruit culture which has now spread throughout our own continent. lint it was not until the establishment of horticultural societies in the United States, such as the New York. In 1818, the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, in 1828 and 1821*, and the publication of their proceedings, that the glorious era in which we live commenced the devel opmeut of our wonderful fruit resources. The first strictly poniological work published in America was Ooxe'l "View of the f'ultivation of Fruit Trees," which appeared in 1817.

Through foreign correspondence and commercial intercourse, the zeal which had been awakened in Kuropc soon extended itself to our shores; trees, scions and pomological books of foreign origin, were freely added to our own collections. Societies were formed, new nurseries established, catalogues pub. lished, and a general derdre manifested for new and improved fruits.

In this new enterprise, Ooxe, of New Jersey ; Hosack, Buel, and David Thomas, of New York ; Mease, Carr and Landreth, of Pennsylvania ; Lowell, Manning and Downer, of Massachusetts ; Young, of Kentucky; Smith, "f Rhode Island; Ives, and Munson, of Connecticut ; OorM, of Canada ; Mil dreth, Longworth, and Kirtlaud, of Ohio; Corse & Itodgers. Maryland; Kenicott and I >unlap, of lIH nois, and others soon 1-eeame actively engaged.

\W have spoken of the early publications of Horticultural Societies, hut there is another class of pujY licatiors to which we are even more indebted. In 18X9, appeared the forerunner of the present host of Agricultural DApert, the Aim riean Farmer, which still continues in a green old age, and it is a pleasant coincidence that we meet in the city where this first journal saw the light of day, und whose editor is the Secretary of the society whose hospitality we are now enjoying.

Then cams the New Knglaud Farmer, the (lenesee Farmer, and the Albany Cultivator, through whose column information began to be widely disseminated. Then came the fruit books aud publication* of the elder and younger I'rinee, Thacher. Manning, Ken rick, the Downing!.. John J. Thomas, Hovey, Harry, Brinckle. Warder, Hooper, Kliot, Field, Fuller and others. LVor should We fail to mention as |H>werful agents iv advancing the cause, Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture, the Horticulturist the (.ardencr*'

Monthly, ami the American Journal of Horticulture. Another class of poniological literature ileserves prom inent recognition, viz. ; the host of descriptive catalogues of our nurserymen, many of which are of the most reliable, instructive and interesting character. I'ltimately, a* a consummation much to be d'-dreil.

' came the proceedings of the American Pomol i I Society for the last twenty nine yearn, embracing in consolidated form the reports of the various States ,md districts, the dineussions, the catalogues (if fruits adapted U» each section of our country, ami other information, such as is nowhere else to be found in the history of pomological literature. Through these publications the reputation of our American fruits has attracted the attention of foreigners, so that Ku roptan catalogues now possess many names of Amer

lean varieties. NEOROI.OOT. Itut while I congratulate you on the proajwrity of our institution, on its increasing influence, and on the ' lively interest manifested in its objects, throughout j our country, I am reminded of the absence of some who have labored with us for the promotion of our ' cause. Since our last session, there have been removed by death the following persons, who have held official positions in the Society : l>r. Bknjamin V. EDWASM, of .Missouri; Wll.llAM BIANOHARI) Townk, of New Ham paid rei lUrti.ktt Bryant, of Vermont i I> k . BdwinE 1 . Muu,, of Illinois; Danism. W. t'oiT, of Oonnootlont i und Dk. John s. . Mm iiiiToN, of Pannsylvanla

Dr. Henjumiu F. EdVards, of Kirkwood, Mis souri, held the office of Vice - President for that State from IB<i7 to 'fin, and again in 187r> and 77. He was horn iv Darnestown, Maryland, duly 2, 1707, and died at his bsaatiful residence in Kirkwood, April 47, 1H77, at the ri|ie ag« of SO years. His love of 'horticulture und kindredpursuits oommenoedearly ,in life. He was intimately associated iv the culture of the grape with Mr. Longworth, of Ohio, reeeiv ing cuttings from him of all the native ami foreign grapes, which he scattered among.he .most enter prising off his numerous patients, and which made Madison county one of the first in the Stute in grape culture. He eitablisbed a large vineyard in Jefferson county, on the Qerman plan of close planting, having fifty varieties of grapes, which he eventually reduced to four: the t'oncord, Ives, Nortou and Horbcniont. His interest in all matters pertaining to horticulture continued through life. I>r. Edwards had lived iv Kentucky and Illinois for a time, but he finilly removed to St. Louis, with a great reputation as a physician, which in after life he fully maintained. Even in his busy profession, he constantly Bought to promote all benevolent and Christian enterprises, believed " that what he had behmged to God, and was given to him to be used for His cause.'' He was carried to his grave in a full old ago, univer sally beloved and respected. Many of us well remember his introduction as the oldest Vice-President at I 'hieago, and his appropriate reply ; also his affectionate speech at St. lends, as he placed a wreath presented by the ladles of that city on the head of your presiding officer. William lilanebard Towtie, a Vice President of this Society for New Hampshire, was born in Bow, jN. H., October 12, 1810. and died suddenly in Bos ■ ton, April 10, 18T6, aged hT>. He was in early life employed in farming | afterwards a merchant in lios ton. He was Treasurer of the New England His toric Genealogical Society and one of its Vice Pr. si dents, and an active member of the New Hampshire Historical Society ; President of the Skowhogan Na blonal Bank, and the Milford Five Gent Savings In stitution, and member of the New Hampshire le is lature in 1872 73. Some years ago he purchased his father's homestead in Milford, and took a deep interest in the exhibitions of his State and county. Mr. Town was a very useful man, and universally respected. Bartlett Bryant, a Vice President of this Society for the State of Vermont, was horn at Hanover, Now Hampshire, Feb. .«>, 1822, and died at Derby Centre, April 26, 1870. He was from early life attached to the cultivation of fruits, and feeliiiK the need of hardy fruits in his region he established nur series in Stanatead, ('anada, and in Derby Centre aud Enosburg, Vermont, introducing new fruits, aud doing a large business in the distribution of hardy trees in the north and north west, especially with regard to our colder regions. No man, says a friend, ha* done more in the last twenty two years in the prom ulgation of choice, hardy fruits than Mr. Bryant, for which his name will be honored in our north-eas-tern boundaries. His success in grafting the apple on the crab stock, to prevent injuries by frost, and the planting of large orchards of the crab varieties, and other very hardy apples, is well known, lie was also much engaged in stock raising, sspsolally of fine horses, possessing nine farms, and at the time of his . I death, large nurseries of fruit trees. He was a benSvolent man, having made donations for schools, orphan children, etc.. and his loss was much deplored. Dr. Edwin 8. Hull, of Atlon, Illinois, was horn in Connecticut, May, 1810, and died at his residence Nov. 8, 1875. In 1844 he removed to the famous Hull farm, near Alton. He planted large orchards of fruit trees and soon became a leader in this line. As frequently is the ease in new enterprises, he met with disapiiointments in his culture, but, never discouraged, he contended with the evil of insects, blight, etc., ever looking forward to better results which made him an authority on such subjects. He gave much study to the character and depredation of insects, especially the curculio, and invented methods for its destruction. He wrote extensively ou the causes of pear blight, and his efforts by root pruning to prevent it. He aided largely iv founding the Alton Horticultural Society, of which he was President; was State Nomologist; a member of our Committee on Foreign Fruits for 1807 and 'liß, and President of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, and for several years was hoiticultural editor of the j Prairie Farmer. Many of us will remeiulier how courteously, as President of the Illinois Hortieulj tural Society, he welcomed us at Chicago two years since, when he said, "These meetings bring us to gether from the North, South, East, West, and Brit isn Provinces, to form friendships stronger than any political ties," and expressed the hops that at no dia ' taut day we should meet again. These liojh's were blasted, for iv a few weeks he passed into the spirit 1 world.

Daniel Wadsworth Coit, at the time of his de cease, was the oldest person who had held membership or office in oor Society. He wj.s born iv Nor wieh, Cujin., in 1787,* Hkd died in that city on the ]Bth of July, I*7". under the majestic elms where his widow* now resides, in the lX)th year of his age Karly in life he was engaged in New York in coin inercial pursuits, and highly respected as a merchant. In lHlit he went t<> Peru, where he resided for some seven years, in business relations with Kngland, America and Spain, having more than once crossed tin- ' Andes, visiting the mountains and the ruined cities 'of the Incas. He repeatedly visited Kurope and J particularly Spain, in whose school* of art he took a rani interest. In 1860 lie returned to his native | home ; but just before the breaking out of the war ■nth Mexico he went to that city, where he was es

bOjtd iv for I while. From Mexico he went by way of AcApulce to California, where he wan for some yearn engaged in business. On his re- ' turn to his home at Norwich, he devoted the remain ! dor of his life to horticultural pursuits with as much energy and enterprise as he had given to mercantile ! affairs. As ft cultivator of fruits and flowers he was ; one of the most scientific and successful of our times, : proving all of the novelties and retaining only those in his opinion aiost worthy. He was formerly Chair

man of the Fruit Committee for Connecticut. His good taae and discrimination made him an authority in the selection of the finest fruits. Mr. Ooft was somewhat distinguished as an artist, and during his wanderings exercised his skill iv making sketches, ' which are of great merit. These, together with thoae which he had collected in Europe and America, he left to his family, among which ure views in Lima and Mexico, the ruined cities of the Incas, of the 1 Cordilleras, and especially sketches of San Franctsoo, thrtli only a group of rough huts. Ilisskill he retain ed to the close of life, and his works are prized Dot only as mementoes but as works of art. Dr. John Xkillin Houghton, of Philadelphia, was born in Ded ham. Mass., Oct. 18, 181(i, and died and denly in Philadelphia, Dec. 11, IB7fi. Dr. Houghton was an active worker in the field of pomology and horticulture, ibid was Chairman of the Stats * Committee for Pennsylvania ■on 1809 to 187.'!. For many years he was a /.ealous experimenter in fruit culture, and although he failed to make it profitable he exerted an influence that was widely felt. His pear orchard consisted at one time of many thousand trees. He experimented extensively on the cutting ami pinching in system with pears, for the produe tion of fruit, even at the expense of the vitality of the trees. He was a great worker and an invaluable member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society full of enterprise, energy and despatch and his death was much regretted. Nor can I close this record without recognizing the sudden death of one of our members at Chicago, whither he went to attend our meeting. I allude to Mr. Samuel H. Colton, delegate from the Worcester Horticultural Society of Massachusetts, who died at the (irimd Pacific Hotel iv that city on the 19th day of September, 1870. Mr. Colton was largely inter estcd in hoiticulttira! pursuits and formerly in the nursery business. He was an influential member of the above named society, and for many years its treasurer. He took great pleasure in discussing and disseminating native fruits, was a freipient norrespon dent of horticultural journals, and for some years editor of the Massachusetts Spy. He was also a director iv the Qulaaigaatond Hank and treasurer of the People's Fire Insurance Company, and was a gentleman of sterling worth, most amiable in his disposition and upright in all the relations of life. Thus, three Vice Presidents, and three others who have held official relations, have been removed since our last meeting. They have gone before us, their places have been made vacant and are now tilled by others. How long we shall remain, ia only known to Him who holds the issues of life in his hands. Some ! of our lives are wellnigh spent, and ere we meet again our sun will have set below- the hori/on of this world. Let then these lessons of mortality prompt us to greater diligence for the promotion of our cause. conclusion. Standing here as conservators of American Pomology, enjoying as we do such peculiar privileges for research and discovery, let us use every effort to advance our cause by diligent experiment aud observa j tion, so that as we come up from session to session, | we may add something to the common stock of iuforina- ! tion, and thus develop for the good of mankind the rich treasures which our science has in store for tin* world. Thus let us work on, hand to hand, to scatter these blessings broadcast through the land. (Ithers may seek for the honors of public life or the vie tories of war, which too often carry with them the recollection of wounded hearts and painful disap I pointments. But let us continue to work on, feeling assured that our labors will cause no regret. As Mrs. Sigourney has beautifully versified my former remark " No sting in the bosom of memory we're leaving No atain ell the pinion of time." Let us commence the new century in the history of our Republic with increased enterprise and zeal for the promotion of our cause,' and should any of us he called from our labors on earth, let us feel assured 1 that others will continue the work we have begun and carry it forward to still greater perfection. Let j the successes of the past stimulate us to greater exertions for the future. Let us work on, full of hope, re ! gardlcas of all obstacles, " Still achieving, atill pursuing," until we shall reach that better land where the gar ilen shall have no blight, fruit* no decay, and where no serpent lurks beneath the bower where harvests 1 are not ripened by the succession where the joys of ' fruition shall not be measured by the lapse of time, [coNoi.nnan. ]