The Arizona sentinel., 1897-06-19
YUMA, ARIZONA, SATURDAY, JUNE l9 1897.

orange into Spain is said to be du'
 to the Moors, who cultivated 1t II
 Andalusia. The peach is accredited
 to Persia. The name itself is saiC
 to be a corruption of the latin wore
 for "Persian," the word "malum' (fruit) being understood The
 origin of the word pear is uncer-
 ain, but 1t is supposed 10 have
 been improved, like the apple, from some wild shrub, specimens ot which are occasionally found in the
 west of France. The plum had q similar origin. Were our civiliza- ton as old as that of Asia and Africa the wild plum found in numerous locations on this con- tinent would, after thousands ot years of culture, have developed into Eumberless varieties. The apricots comes from Persia. The nectarine, which partakes of the nature of the plum and the peach, IS of comparatively recent origin, and came first, without dohbt, from union of the two.
 The cherry, in it's approved con- dition, is of Persian descent, and is another fruit that might have been improved from our wild varieties had our civilization been contem- porary with that which preceded Egypt and Babylon in the Valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates
 Peaches, plums and cherries were all knowc to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
 The apple, the most useful and satisfactory of all the fruits of the temperate zones. has been known iron: time immemorial. It orig mated from some of the hardy species that are found sometimes almost as far north as the Arctic circle. It is fruit that likes the cold, and is found in the greatest perfection in parts of New England, New York and Michigan, where the winters are severe. As 1t ap- breaches the equator 1t loses it's nneness of taste, while still preserv- ing it's beauty. The following tri- bute to American apples is from the British Encyclopedia: "The most esteemed of all American ap- pies is the NewtowH Pippin, globular, juicy, generous, highly aromatic fruit Other American varieties of note are Williams Family, Astrakhan, Gravestein, and for winter use the Baldwin, Spitzbergen and Roxbury russet." The praise is perhaps extravagant, but it must be borne in mind that English apples are generally very poor, and almost any American ap- pie seems good in London in winter by contrast. It is a notable fact that, owing to care in the culture, and in part to preference for the climate, all the fruits mentioned in this list are found of better quality in Europe and America than in the localities where they are thought to have originated. The oranges of India, Burmah and Cochin China are absolutely tasteless and those of Malaga scarcely better. The best grown in Spain come from the region of Valencia, where they have been introduced at comparatively recent date. So of the cherries, apricots and peaches, which have attained perfection in Europe and America of which the ancient Persians never dreamed. All these fruits appear to increase in size and improve in flavor in attitudes where the winter is sufficiently severe to check the growth of the tree and give it needed rest.
 It could not be expected, for the reasons alleged, that America, in- habited until a recent date by savage tribes only, should furnish to the world products that require thousands of years of care and cul ture to give them their perfect development. The potato, however, IS an invaluable boon conferred by the New World on the Old. It has been generally supposed that it was first introduced into England and Ireland by Hawkins and Raleigh in the seventeenth century, but according to Humboldt 1t had been cultivated all over South and in a considerable part of North America ages before the discovery of the Western Continent by Gel umbus. It vas found in Chili and Peru and the seeds sent to Spain