(_Continued from page 231_.)
_The Currant_--The native place of this useful fruit is not exactly
ascertained; nearly allied to the gooseberry, it receives the same
treatment, shows the same changes, and may be further improved by
the same means; a cross between the white Dutch and red, might be a
valuable mule. It is probable the black also may be induced to sport
from that steady character it has hitherto maintained; there are but
few domesticated plants but which (like animals) depart, in some way
or other, from their native caste.
_The Apple_.--It is difficult to find adequate terms to set forth
the value of the advantages which have accrued to mankind from the
cultivation of this deservedly high-prized fruit. One circumstance
in the history of the apple must not pass unnoticed here, viz., the
deterioration of the old sorts, which regaled and were the boast
of our forefathers a century ago. It is the opinion of an eminent
orchardist that as the apple is an artificial production, and, as
such, has its stages of youth, maturity, and old age, it cannot, in
its period of decrepitude, be by any means renovated to its pristine
state, either by pruning or cutting down, changing its place, or by
transferring its parts to young and vigorous stocks; and that, in
whatever station it may be placed, it carries with it the decay and
diseases of its parent. This is the most rational account which has
been given of this indisputable fact; and though its accuracy has been
called in question by some naturalists, the general failure in our
old orchards, and the difficulties in forming new ones with the old
favourite sorts, is a decisive proof that such deterioration exists.
It is therefore the chief object of the modern pomologist, to obtain
from seeds of the best _wildings_ new varieties wherewith to form new
and profitable orchards; and which may be expected to continue in
health and fertility, as the old sorts have done, for the next
century.
The foregoing are the fruits found wild in our climate; the difference
in their aboriginal and cultivated state has been pointed out; we
shall now give short descriptions of foreign fruits, which have been
partly naturalized, the management of which forms so considerable a
share of the gardener's art and attention.
_The Apricot_.--It is supposed that this fruit is a native of Africa:
from thence it appears to have come through Persia and Greece to us,
with the name "a praecox," significant of its earliness. There are
several varieties which have been obtained by means similar to those
already mentioned; and there is room for further exertion in
endeavouring to improve the size of the fruit, or any other desirable
quality.
_The Peach_--This delicate and excellent fruit is a striking instance
of what judicious cultivation may produce. The common almond has
always been considered the original stock of this monument of skill
and assiduity. The estimation in which it is held, and the care and
expense incurred in its cultivation both in forcing-houses and in the
open air, is proof of its superiority: and no fruit repays the labour
of the attendant, or the expense of the owner, more bountifully than
this. Seedlings of this fruit are, if we can credit what is written
and said of it, less inclined to depart from the properties or
qualities of the parent, than most others of our improved fruits. In
America, they are in common and general cultivation. No trouble is
bestowed in either layering (which is practicable), or budding them.
Sowing a quantity of the stones, they are sure to pick out from among
the seedlings as many good sorts as they may wish to cultivate: few of
these may be exactly like the parent; some may be superior, but all
are passable, especially if the young trees have been selected by a
skilful hand; and this he is enabled to do, merely from the appearance
of the wood and leaves. Many new sorts have lately been obtained and
brought into notice in this country; and this facility of the peach to
multiply its varieties will no doubt be taken advantage of by
propagators.
_The Nectarine_.--This, it is allowed by all writers, is certainly a
child of cultivation: there being no wild plant from which it could be
derived, except the almond. It is therefore a collateral branch with,
or rather of, the peach: of this no better proof can be given, than
the circumstance that nectarines are sometimes produced by a peach
tree.
_The Orange_.--This endless family of fruits it is probable had the
small but useful wild lime for its progenitor. The monstrous shaddock,
citrons of all shapes and sizes, oranges and lemons, are all
varieties, obtained in the course of long cultivation.
(_To be concluded in our next_.)
* * * * *