PREFACE. VU 



needs some accurate description to know when a variety comes in- 

 to bearing, if its fruit is genuine, or even to identify an indifferent 

 kind, in order to avoid procuring it again. Hence the number 

 of varieties of fruit that are admitted here. Little by little I 

 have summoned them into my pleasant and quiet court, tested 

 them as far as possible, and endeavoured to pass the most im- 

 partial judgment upon them. The verdicts will be found in the 

 following pages. 



From this great accumulation of names, Pomology has be- 

 come an embarrassing study, and those of our readers who 

 are large collectors will best understand the difficulty nay, the 

 impossibility of making a work like this perfect. 



Towards settling this chaos in nomenclature, the exertions of 

 the Horticultural Society of London have been steadily directed 

 for the last twenty years. That greatest of experimental gardens 

 contains, or has contained, nearly all the varieties of fruit, from 

 all parts of the world, possessing the least celebrity. The vast 

 confusion of names, dozens sometimes meaning the same varie- 

 ty, has been by careful comparison reduced to something like 

 real order. The relative merit of the kinds has been proved 

 and published. In short, the horticultural world owes this Soci- 

 ety a heavy debt of gratitude for these labours, and to the science 

 and accuracy of Mr. Robert Thompson, the head of its fruit- 

 department, horticulturists here will gladly join me in bearing 

 the fullest testimony. 



To give additional value to these results, I have adopted in 

 nearly all cases, for fruits known abroad, the nomenclature of 

 the London Horticultural Society. By this means I hope to 

 render universal on this side of the Atlantic the same standard 

 names, so that the difficulty and confusion which have always 

 more or less surrounded this part of the subject may be hereaf- 

 ter avoided. 



These foreign fruits have now been nearly all proved in 

 this country, and remarks on their value in this climate, deduc- 

 ed from actual experience, are here given to the public. To 

 our native and local fruits especial care has also been devoted. 

 Not only have most of the noted sorts been proved in the gar- 



