PREFACE. 



The Eighth Volume of the Magazine is now completed, and 

 a reference to the table of contents will show its value, as com- 

 pared with previous years. 



The increased attention which is now being given to the cul- 

 tivation of choice fruits, has induced us to devote a larger part 

 of our articles to this subject; and among the many valuable 

 papers of the year, we only need name those of our late friend 

 and correspondent, Mr. Manning, of the Pomological Garden, 

 Salem. His descriptions of new pears, and his notice of forty- 

 four kinds of cherries which he fruited and proved in 1842, will 

 be read with delight by every cultivator. To an obituary notice 

 of Mr. Manning, which will appear in the next volume, we 

 refer the reader for a list of the sevei'al communications which 

 he has contributed to our pages — containing all he has written 

 of any value, since the publication of his Book of Fruits. 



It will be unnecessary to give any analysis of the several 

 papers in the Eighth Volume; but we cannot omit to name the 

 notice of Mr. Rivers 's pamphlet on Root Pruning, at page 210, 

 or the several papers upen the habits, disecious character, and 

 cultivation of the strawberry. That the communications on 

 this subject have been exceedingly valuable, we believe all 

 will admit; and although the question in regard to the sexual 

 character of many sorts may not be satisfactory to all, yet we 

 doubt not the facts which have been elicited will lead to the 

 production of more prolific crops of the larger varieties. 

 Among our floricultural articles, the communication by Mr. 

 Saul, upon the autumn treatment of green-house plants, will 

 be found highly interesting. Prof. Russell's paper on that 

 beautiful tribe, the O'xalis, in which the several species are 

 correctly ascertained, their synonyms detected, and their cul- 

 tivation noticed, is valuable to the lover of pretty green-house 

 plants. 



We enter upon the new volume with renewed zeal. We 

 invite our friends to assist and sustain us; and it will be our 

 object and aim to embody in the pages of the Magazine, every 

 thing useful to the Amei'ican horticulturist. P M H 



Boston, Dec. 1, 1842. 



