XIII 



PRINCIPLES OF CLASSIFICATION 



THE natural, end of systematic pomology 

 is classification. " Science is classified knowl- 

 edge," in the terms of the old school-book 

 definition. Until we classify our pears, plums, 

 raspberries, and other fruits, our knowledge of 

 them does not really become scientific. De- 

 scription and nomenclature are often valuable 

 in themselves, but they do not reach their 

 legitimate application until they are made the 

 means to a classification. 



The present need of more and better classi- 

 fication in pomology deserves to be very forc- 

 ibly presented. 



Horticulturists will agree, on general prin- 

 ciples, that our fruits deserve as careful study 

 and as accurate classification as the different 

 kinds of microbes floating in the air, or the 

 various sorts of moss clinging to the rocks of 

 Popocatapetl. Pomology is just as promising 

 and as proper a field for science as bacteri- 

 ology, mycology, or conchology. Then when 

 one remembers that there are probably be- 



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