Note 83 — Chapter IV · LEADING VARIETIES OF CHERRIES (continued 3)

Jared P. Kirtland, M. D., though now less well known than some of his contemporaries, was one of the great pomologists of his time and a man of notable achievements in other branches of natural history as well. Professor Kirtland was born at Wallingford, Connecticut, November 10, 1793, and died at East Rockport, near Cleveland, Ohio, December 11, 1877. For sixty years of a long life his avocation was the production of new varieties of fruits and flowers and, though a half century has passed since he ceased active work, the results of his labors are yet to be found in the gardens and orchards of the whole country. In pomology he gave special attention to breeding grapes, raspberries, pears and cherries. He achieved success, too, as a hybridizer of peonies and in the introduction of rare foreign magnolias. Professor Kirtland is given credit as being the first horticulturist successfully to bud and graft magnolias, an achievement which has made possible their cultivation under many conditions and to a degree of excellence that otherwise could not be obtained. He was the founder of the Cleveland Society of Natural History and was for many years its president. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the highest recognition for scientific work to be obtained in his time in this country. He served as professor in several medical schools and filled other places of honor and trust. From his boyhood we are told that he was interested in natural history and was intimately acquainted with the plants and animals of Ohio, having special knowledge of birds and fishes, the propagation of the latter being one of his hobbies. In pomology we owe him most for the many new cherries he has given us, thirty varieties described in The Cherries of New York having come from his breeding grounds. Among these are Wood, Pontiac, Powhatan, Tecumseh, Osceola, Kirtland and Red Jacket, sorts scarcely surpassed for high quality and grown commonly in America and to some extent wherever Sweet Cherries will thrive. His 84 years seem to have been well ordered, given almost wholly for the good of the public, and his name should be cherished by pomologists among those who have done most for fruits and fruit-growing on this continent.