The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-16
TnE TREEs GONE mo BEARINa
Some Possibilities of Our Horticulture

James r. Reeves, writing in the Prairie
Farmer of a recent date, says: Horti-
culture in America has taken rapid steps
within the past quarter of century, TO
the end that we have now vastly finer
fruits, and a wonderfully greater variety
| and abundance of them than our fathers
| had. But in one line we have not made
| the progress that might have been ex-
| pected, and thai is in tanning, cultivating
and developing some of our natives species.
Among these, which are commonly
classed as wild" are some that the
truant small boy knows to be tooth
some, but that are entirely forgotten,
even if they were known to his elders
1t is true that many of the most valuable
fruits cultivated by US are of native
origin-that is, they were once the wild"
products of our woods and fields so that
/ do not wish to be understood as belit-
Ting what has already been accomplished.
Most of the grapes now grown success
fully in our vineyards east of the Rocky
mountains are the direct descendants of
the wild species that existed in our
forsets before horticulture became even
name in America The splendid Concord
itself is but one remove from the wild
Wits labruska of the woods of Massa-
chusetts
Our native wild plums are rapidly be-
not so good in quality as the European
varieties, their hardness and ability to
resist disease and the attacks of insect
enemies are points which make them of
great value.
Among the fruits which have not vet
been brought under cultivation, but which
are undoubtedly of some value, is the
North American Pawpaw or custard
apple. There are many people to whom
bn of fVsl1it ic
but the draw back to it is that 1t is now
so largely composed of seeds that there is
very little edible pulp That which there
is not unlike the pulp or flesh of the ba-
mana. BY selection and cult walton the
fruit could doubtless be very much i'm
proved, as other fruits have been by the
same means. The wild papaws are now
to a slight extent an article of commerce,
as the writer has seen them sold by bright
barefooted boys at the railway stations
through Kentucky and Tennessee. The
papaw is native throughout western New
York, to Pennsylvania, Illinois and south
ward, so that if cultivable it would be
adapted to large extent OF our territory.
The persimmon is perhaps of even
greater importance than the papaw. 1t
is native in almost all of our states from
the fortieth degree of latitude south, and
in some portions of this great territory it
constitutes no small portion of the food
of the very poor. One trait worth MOTTO
ing is its disposition to sport into varie-
ties, some of which greatly excel the
others in size and quality. This is in the
nature of evidence that it could be i'm
proved by selection, and when the better
types become fixed it would be of value.
The fact that the Japanese persimmon
has proven such a valuable adjunct to the
horticulture of the south and Of Cali
fOrnia, is an added reason why we should
endeavor to prove the value of our own
native species.
The elderberry is familiar to almost ev-
eryone who has ever lived in the country.
1t is one of the most universal and rank
est growers among our native shrubs.
Many thrifty housewife makes use Of
the berries for pies and jellies, and they
have a recognized value for wine-making,
besides possessing valuable medicinal
qualities Like the persimmOn; the quail
ity of the fruit varies, and the best types
could be fixed and still further improved
by cultivation.
While the work of bringing these and
other native fruits under cultivation, and
so improyi ing their value, must be left
manly TO our experiment stations and TO
progressive commercial nurserymen, there
is no reason why any careful fruit-grower
should not see what he can do with them
by applying the same methods Of cultiva-
ton that he gives TO his other Crops
Treat them as civilized ana not as wild
plants. aud no doubt they will soon re-
ward sou with bigger and better fruit
than you had ever thought 10 possible
that they could produce.
Poet--I have "a poem IA my head
Publisher on III una surgeon once Ia