VUl. PREFACE. 



work has been published at very considerable expense ; and is 

 very valuable for the carefully coloured illustrations of Plates, con- 

 taining four hundred and thirty two of the most highly esteemed 

 varieties of Fruit for the Table and the Press. It thus forms an 

 excellent work for reference, but it is far too costly and valuable for 

 general use. The Club has therefore thought it advisable, for the 

 advantage of the Orchards, to publish at once the present cheap 

 Edition of all the information contained in the larger work, with 

 reference to the Apple and Pear, as Vintage Fruits. In this more 

 useful form, the results of the enquiries will be at once available 

 for the improvement of the Orchards ; and it is hoped that this 

 work may become the Text Book for practical use with the Nursery- 

 man and the Planter, until a better one is published. It offers no 

 pretensions to the complete and highly scientific character of the 

 French work, " Le Cidre," since the resources of the National 

 Government have not been available here for the long and expensive 

 investigations required, but its enquiries have followed the same 

 paths, and it will at least afford the ground work for future and 

 more perfect results. 



