PREFACE. 



THE favorable reception of several editions of the Fruit Culturist, 

 has induced the author to revise it thoroughly. The whole has been 

 carefully re-written, and the original amount of matter more than 

 tripled; at the same time the attempt has been made to comprise all 

 the really valuable information at present known, by condensation of 

 language, methodical arrangement, and a free use of illustrations. 



Careful attention has been given to uniformity and distinctness in 

 the use of terms for describing fruits, and variable points have been as 

 much as possible discarded. Nearly all the descriptions have been 

 drawn from the fruits themselves, carefully compared with descriptions 

 in the principal standard works; and to facilitate the detection of 

 such points of character as are liable to vary with climate, soil, and 

 culture, specimens for comparison have been largely procured, grown 

 in several different states of the Union. 



In the difficult task of indicating the value of the different varieties, 

 by the type used for the name, important assistance has been rendered 

 by several eminent pomologists in the different states. The thanks of 

 the author are especially due to the following, who have contributed 

 a large amount of valuable information, or have liberally furnished 

 specimens of rare varieties: 



MARSHALL P. WILDER, Boston; 



(For many years President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and 

 President of the American Congress of Fruil Growers.) 



SAMUEL WALKER, Roxbury, Mass. ; 



(President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.) 

 ROBERT MANNING, Pomological Garden, Salem, Mass, j 

 BENJAMIN V. FRENCH, Braintree, Mass. ; 



(Vice-President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 

 A. J. DOWNING, Newburgh, N. Y. ; 



(Author of Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, and other standard works on 



Horticulture ) 



CHARLES DOWNING, Newburgh, N. Y.; 

 LUTHER TUCKER, Albany; 



(Proprietor of the Horticulturist, and Editor and Proprietor of the Cultivator. 



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