haracter 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