Si Xuiices respecting New Buoks. 



himself has invented or improved ; with testimonials of their utility 

 and excellence from the most eminent professional men ; but with 

 professional concerns we have nolliing to do : we regard the work 

 as a curious record of mechanical skill, and as such recommend it to 

 the attention of the public. 



Pyrus Mains Brentfordiensis : or, A Concise Description of Selected 

 Apples. By Hugh Ronalds, F.H.S, Nurseryman, Brentford. With 

 a Figure of each Sort, drawn from Nature on Stone, by his 

 Daughter. 



A work having the above title has lately issued from the press, 

 and we hasten to pay our tribute of admiration to the beautiful, we 

 may add the splendid, manner in which the work has been got up. 

 The numerous coloured plates have an especial claim on the lovers 

 of horticulture and the fine arts ; each drawing is elaborately copied 

 from nature, by Miss Ronalds, from the original fruit grown in her 

 father's nursery. The descriptive part of the work, as the title im- 

 plies, lays no claim to literary distinction, further than that of being 

 perspicuous and concise. The utility of such a work cannot be ques- 

 tioned, and we chiefly value it as a standard book of reference. 

 In the constantly increasing taste for the cultivation of the Apple, 

 and considering the many hundred varieties of this fruit which are 

 now grown in our orchards, it became a desideratum that a judi- 

 cious selection should be made. We are convinced that this object 

 has been ably accomplished by Mr. Ronalds, who has passed his 

 whole life in the culture of fruit-trees, and from inclination has paid 

 great attention to the growth of the apple. Great merit is due to 

 the author for the assiduity and attention as well as sound judge- 

 ment evinced in thus ascertaining the comparative excellence of 

 each variet}^, particularly as it respects its productiveness, peculiar 

 qualities, period of maturity, &c. We have said that conciseness 

 and perspicuity are the characteristics of the treatise, and by many 

 it will be objected that the description of each variety is too brief. 

 It may likewise be said that the omission of synonyms detracts from 

 the usefulness of the work. But it must be remembered that the 

 book is only a selection of the best kinds, and is not intended as 

 a complete historical collection ; it therefore appears to us that the 

 leading or original name, with perhaps one synonym, where it is 

 evidently required, is quite suflicient, and more in character, with 

 the particular design of the work, than a list of British and Foreign 

 names, many of which are trivial and merely local. We consider 

 the appropriate lists appended to the work eminently useful ; and 

 as a whole we do not hesitate to recommend it to all who take an 

 interest in the proper culture of the most useful of fruits. 



VIII. Pro- 



