Pomological jyotices. 11 



of fine fruit for the assiduity with which he has labored, in en- 

 deavoring to correct the nomenclature of our fruit catalogues, 

 which have been, and, indeed, still are, confusion " worse con- 

 fused." Next to ]Mr. Manning we may mention our most in- 

 telligent correspondents, Messrs. C. &. A. J. Downing, of the 

 Botanic Garden and Nursery, Newburgh, N. Y. whose collec- 

 tion of fruit trees is very extensive, and embraces many of Dr. 

 Van Mons's superior new sorts. From these gentlemen we 

 shall constantly receive such information as they are in possession 

 of, and all that is new or interesting we shall speedily lay before 

 our readers. 



We do not intend, in our notices of new fruits, to recommend 

 any that may be called superior, in peculiar situations and cli- 

 mate, or whose merits are given from the results of short expe- 

 rience. Those only which have been ascertained to be of great 

 excellence, and whose identity with the true sorts shall be ac- 

 knowledged by our friends above named, we shall deem proper 

 to offer to the notice of our readers. If we were to pursue any 

 other course, it is easy to perceive that, as regards the correct- 

 ing of synonymes, our time and labor would be lost, and our 

 catalogues of fruit would still remain in inextricable confusion. 

 As it is, we consider that our list of fruits, as corrected by Mr. 

 Manning, will contain the most important information respecting 

 them that has ever been published in this country, and such as will 

 not be found in any other American work. 



The sources from which Mr. Manning's trees have been ob- 

 tained are such as to give the most favorable opportunity to judge 

 of their correctness. To leave no doubts, the same varieties 

 have been received from the most celebrated nurseries of Eng- 

 land and France: he has also received nearly all the sorts in cul- 

 tivation from the various nurseries in the United States. These 

 have all been compared, both in the flower, leaf, wood and fruit, 

 their synonymes arranged, and finally settled upon, after the 

 most careful and deliberate investigation. Mr. ^Manning has re- 

 ceived grafts from the London Horticultural Society's garden, 

 direct from Mr. Thompson, and also from Dr. Van Mons, of 

 Belgium, containing the finest of his superb varieties of pears, 

 which he has been so successful in raising: among these are a 

 great number which have never been named, but were received 

 under numbers; and some of the very best which were latterly 

 produced do not exist only in Mr. Manning's collection, the 

 trees having been destroyed immediately after the grafts were 

 cut. An account of these will be forthcoming as soon as they 

 have produced fruit. 



The great desire to possess the new varieties of fruit which 

 have within late years been obtained from seed by Knight and 

 Van Mons, and several of the French and Flemish horticultur- 



