Vlll. 



I do not think it necessary to enter into any argument to 

 show the great importance and value of colored drawings in 

 identifying fruits, and detecting synonymes. They are now gen- 

 erally acknowledged, when accurately and truthfully executed, — 

 and accompanied w^ith faithful descriptions, — to be the only safe 

 and reliable means of arriving at certain and satisfactory conclu- 

 sions. The high estimation in which the elegant folios of 

 Duhamel and Poiteau, and the splendidly-colored drawings in 

 the Transactions of the London Horticultural Society, and the 

 Pomological Magazine, are held by all Pomologists, attest this. 

 They have been of essential service in accomplishing what has 

 already been done towards the establishment of an uniform 

 nomenclature. 



There is a national pride, too, which I feel in the publication 

 of a work like this ; and that is, that the delicious fruits which 

 have been producetl in our own country, many of them surpassed 

 by none of foreign growth, — and which are rendered doubly the 

 more valuable, because mured to our climate and adapted to our 

 soil, — will be here beautifully depicted ; and thus show to the 

 cultivators of the world that, though yet in the infancy of the 

 art, the skill of our Pomologists, unaided, too, by the experience 

 which cultivators abroad may so well claim, has already given 

 them a fair start on the road to success ; and, favored by Prov- 

 idence with a genial atmosphere and a cloudless sky, with the 

 enterprise, intelligence, and perseverance, so characteristic of our 

 people, why may we not hope that they will make the most 

 rapid advance in a science whose results are so conducive to 

 the health, the comfort, and the luxury of mankind. 



One of the peculiarities of the work I would particularly 

 mention ; this is the engravings illustrating the habits and 

 characters of the trees. No similar work has attempted any- 

 thing of the kind. Their value, to me, seems of the greatest 

 importance ; for, although to an un practiced eye little difference 

 may be seen in many of the trees, to one who has studied 

 them at all seasons, and in all their aspects — in spring when 

 bursting into bud — in summer when w^reathed with foliage — 

 in autumn when weighed dOwn with fruit — and in Avinter when 

 divested of their verdure, — they have an indescribable likeness 

 which will at once enable all, who can appreciate the variable 

 forms peculiar to trees, to recognize each variety. 



Having thus stated my objects in presenting the Fruits of 

 America to my countrymen, — leaving them to judge of the 

 faithfulness of the work, — I have only to say, that no exertions 

 will be spared to render the future volumes fully equal in every 

 respect to this; and to surpass it so far as the beautiful art, 

 in which it is executed, is capable of being improved. 



