6 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



ing characters, we are engaged in descriptive 

 pomology. 



Nomenclature is the science of names. In 

 a slightly different sense the same word ap- 

 plies to the problem of determining the cor- 

 rect names for given varieties. This latter 

 sense is the one in which the term nomencla- 

 ture is more frequently used by pomologists. 

 (By the way, this word " nomenclature " is ac- 

 cented on the first and third syllables, and not 

 on the second syllable, as one often hears it.) 



As soon as we have made a description of 

 a specimen or sample of fruit, we inquire for 

 the name. But the description, written or 

 mental, must come first. We must have some 

 knowledge of the characters of the fruit as a 

 basis for further work. Expert pomologists 

 are often able to name fruits at a glance ; 

 but this is because the characters are already 

 well pictured in their minds, and they are 

 able to call up these mental descriptions in- 

 stantly. In many other cases the discovery 

 of the correct name for a variety is a diffi- 

 cult, laborious, and uncertain undertaking. 



When a variety is known and named in 

 some way we may proceed to its classification. 

 It is true that this order of procedure seems 



