268 Hovey^s Fniils of America. 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. The F?mits of America, containing a Selection of 

 all the choicest varieties cultivated in the United Stales. 

 By C. M. HovEY, Editor of the Magazine of Horticulture. 

 In Octavo and Quarto Ps'os. every alternate month ; with 

 four splendid colored plates, and eight pages of letter-press. 

 Boston. 1847. 



After the appearance of the prospectus to this work, which 

 all our readers, who are interested in fruits, have probably no- 

 ticed, it is not necessary that we should recapitulate the ob- 

 jects for which it was published. Suffice it to say, that sucFi 

 a work has been long needed, and is, in truth, necessary to 

 extricate us from the confusion which exists in all collections 

 of fruits. 



We have for some years contemplated a work of this kind, 

 and have been collecting, from all the sources in Europe, as 

 well as at home, every variety of fruit, with a view to form a 

 collection which would enable us to study the habits and char- 

 acteristics of the trees; to detect errors and identify kinds ; 

 and draw up a truthful description of every desirable fruit. 

 As a cultivator, Ave have long felt the want of this ; convinced, 

 as we have been, that a greater part of the errors, and the con- 

 fusion and disappointment attendant thereon, might have 

 been, in a great measure, prevented, could we have had re- 

 course to such a publication. In a country covering such a 

 vast extent of surface and passing through as many hands 

 as fruits usually do before they reach every state and territo- 

 ry, it could not otherwise than be expected that some mis- 

 takes would be made, even with all the care of the most care- 

 ful cultivator : but when we recollect that a great many deal- 

 ers in trees are not nurserymen, and have but little acquaint- 

 ance with trees, these errors are constantly increasing; and, 

 without resorting to original descriptions, and actual represen- 

 tations of the wood, foliage, and fruit, there is no way to rec- 

 tify, with certainty, these errors. 



Preparatory to the issuing of such a work, we neglected no 

 opportunity to gather all the materials to render it valuabl e 



