Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/169

 HISTORY OF OHIO.

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��Appleseed." His real name was John Chapman. He received his name from his habit of planting, along all the streams in that part of the State, apple-seeds from which sprang many of the old orchards. He did this as a religious duty, think- ing it to be his especial mission. He had, it is said, been disappointed in his youth in a love affair, and' came West about 1800, and ever after followed his singular life. He was extensively known, was quite harmless, very patient, and did, without doubt, much good. He died in 1847, at the house of a Mr. Worth, near Fort Wayne, Indiana, who had long known him, and often befriended him. He was a minister in the Swed- enborgian Church, and, in his own way, a zealous worker.

The settlers of the Western Reserve, coming from New England, chiefly from Connecticut, brought all varieties of fruit known in their old homes. These, whether seeds or grafts, were planted in gardens, and as soon as an orchard could be cleared on some favorable hillside, the young trees were transplanted there, and in time an orchard was the result. Much confusion regarding the kinds of fruits thus produced arose, partly from the fact that the trees grown from seeds did not always prove to be of the same qual- ity as the seeds. Climate, soil and surroundings often change the character of such fruits. Many new varieties, unknown to the growers, were the result. The fruit thus produced was often of an inferior growth, and when grafts were brought from the old New England home and grafted into the Ohio trees, an improvement as well as the old home fruit was the result. After the orchards in the Reserve began to bear, the fruit was very often taken to the Ohio River for shipment, and thence found its way to the South- ern and Eastern seaboard cities.

Among the individuals prominent in introducing fruits into the State, were Mr. Dille, of Euclid, Judge Fuller, Judge Whittlesey, and Mr. Lindley. George Hoadly was also very prominent and ener- getic in the matter, and was, perhaps, the first to introduce the pear to any extent. He was one of the most persistent and enthusiastic amateurs in horticulture and pomology in the West. About the year 1810, Dr. Jared Kirtland, father of Prof J. P. Kirtland, so well known among horticulturists and pomologists, came from Con- necticut and settled in Portland, Mahoning County, with his family. This family has done more than any other in the State, perhaps, to

��advance fruit culture. About the year 1824, Prof J. P. Kirtland, in connection with his brother, established a nursery at Poland, then in Trumbull County, and brought on from New England above a hundred of their best varieties of apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and smaller fruits, and a year or two after brought from New Jersey a hundred of the best varieties of that State ; others were ob- tained in New York, so that they possessed the larg- est and most varied stock in the Western country. These two men gave a great impetus to fruit cult- ure in the West, and did more than any others of that day to introduce improved kinds of all fruits in that part of the United States.

Another prominent man in this branch of mdus- try was Mr. Andrew H. Ernst, of Cincinnati. Although not so early a settler as the Kirtlands, he was, like them, an ardent student and propa- gator of fine fi-uits. He introduced more than six hundred varieties of apples and seven hun- dred of pears, both native and foreign. His object was to test by actual experience the most valuable sorts for the diversified soil and climate of the Western country.

The name of Nicholas Longworth, also of Cin- cinnati, is one of the most extensively known of any in the science of horticulture and pomology. For more than fifty years he made these his especial delight. Having a large tract of land in the lower part of Cincinnati, he established nurseries, and planted and disseminated every variety of fruits that could be found in the United States — East or West — making occasional importations from European countries of such varieties as were thought to be adapted to the Western climate. His success has been variable, governed by the season, and in a measure by his numerous experi- ments. His vineyards, cultivated by tenants, gen- erally Grermans, on the European plan, during the latter years of his experience paid him a hand- some revenue. He introduced the fiimous Catawba grape, the standard grape of the West. It is stated that Mr. Longworth bears the same relation to vineyard culture that Fulton did to steam navi- gation. Others made earlier effort, but he was the first to establish it on a permanent basis. He has also been eminently successful in the cultivation of the strawberry, and was the first to firmly establish it on Western soil. He also brought the Ohio Ever- bearing Raspberry into notice in the State, and widely disseminated it throughout the country.

Other smaller fruits were brought out to the West like those mentioned. In some cases fruits

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