VI PREFACE. 



be vain to attempt, at this late hour, a restitution of ideas 

 to the proper owners. When kno^\ai or recollected, the 

 authority whose matter has been quoted is noticed in 

 the body of the work. 



It requires to be distinctly stated, that the plan of this 

 book does not admit of that extensive description of 

 varieties which would be desked by an amateur of long 

 exj^erience in the cultivation of the Pear. Its design is 

 to answer, in a clear and intelligible manner, the oft- 

 repeated questions of the novice : " What kmds of Pear 

 Trees can I plant most profitably ? — and how shall I treat 

 them, to insure a return of the investment ?" 



The Author has indulged no higher ambition than to 

 answer these queries satisfactorily — and does not claim the 

 abifity to instruct those experienced Pomologists, whose 

 lives have been spent in patient mvestigation of the most 

 mmute phenomena attending the Propagation, the De- 

 velopment, and the Fruiting of the Pear Tree. 



In constant commmiication vdih Horticulturists, the 

 want of a Manual of Pear Culture, so often suggested by 

 them, originated in my mind the idea of collatmg the 

 experience of the best cultivators ; and stunulated by my 

 o^vTi hearty love of the subject, I have executed the work 

 now offered to the lovers of that noble fruit. 



If it shall result in a more intelligent treatment of the 

 beautiful but dumb companions of the Horticulturist, 

 and thus obviate much of that disajDpointment T\^hich has 

 flowed fi-om ignorance of the peculiar requii-ements of 

 the Pear Tree, and of the varieties to be selected, the Book 

 AviU have performed the office for which it Avas written ; 

 and the Author will not regret his work. 



