PREFACE 



The purpose of this manual is to describe 

 the varieties of hardy fruits grown in North 

 America. A new book describing hardy fruits 

 needs no justification. Downing's Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees and Thomas' American Fruit Cul- 

 turist, in their many editions, have served two 

 generations of fruit-growers. Both are worn out 

 tools. Most of the varieties described by these 

 authors are not now found in American or- 

 chards or nurseries. Many of the kinds they 

 discuss have never been grown in this country, 

 the descriptions published having come from 

 European fruit-books. On the other hand, 

 none of the varieties of this century is de- 

 scribed in Downing or Thomas. Moreover, 

 the descriptions of these old workers are too 

 scant and fragmentary to have great value in 

 modern pomology. A new manual of fruits is 

 needed to take the place of Downing and 

 Thomas, valuable as these books were for 

 their day. 



The plan of the book is simple. A brief 

 glance through its pages should suffice to reveal 

 even to the beginner in the study of pomologi- 

 cal literature the arrangement 'of fruits and 

 their varieties, and the presentation of names 

 and synonyms. Clearness and simplicity have 

 been sought, that the reader may with the 

 least trouble obtain a perfect mental picture 

 of the variety described. 



The ways in which the author designs to 

 make this manual useful are: (1) To aid in 

 the identification of varieties. (2) To guide 

 in the choice of varieties. (3) To sort the 

 names now in use for varieties of hardy fruits, 

 and assign them to the varieties to which they 

 belong. (4) To state in what regions the va- 

 rieties described grow best. (5) To tell when 

 and where the varieties originated. (6) By 

 depicting choice products of the orchard, to 

 stimulate the desire to grow better fruits. 



The book is written for fruit-growers, 

 nurserymen, students in colleges and high- 

 schools, county agricultural agents, and buyers 

 of fruits. It is designed for those interested 

 in fruits in general, rather than for the spe- 

 cialist in pomology. Specialists will find fuller 

 discussions of nearly all of the varieties de- 

 scribed in this manual in the fruit-books pub- 

 lished by the New York . Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, most of them written under the 

 direction of the author, and from which he 

 has drawn heavily for this volume. 



The chief value of a book like this lies in 

 the accuracy of the descriptions and of the 

 determinations of synonyms. Herein the 

 author has had an advantage over the old 

 pomologists, since his connection with a mod- 

 ern experiment station, with a large collection 

 of fruits and a good horticultural library, has 

 given him opportunity to describe first hand 

 and pass impartial judgment on varieties, and 

 to go to original sources for names; whereas, 

 the old writers, lacking these modern facilities, 

 were compelled to copy one from the other. 



With great reluctance, the author abandons 

 a key to varieties of the several hardy fruits. 

 Years of patient labor have not enabled him 

 to produce a key that will work. A variety 

 of any fruit behaves so differently in the sev- 

 eral great pomological regions of the continent 

 that a key cannot be made that will be usable 

 for a fruit in all regions. A satisfactory key 

 to varieties of apples for New York does not 

 fit this fruit in Virginia, Iowa, California, or 

 Oregon. About the only constant characters 

 of the apple for all regions of the continent 

 are sweetness and sourness. The color of the 

 flesh is the only constant character of the 

 peach. There are few or no constant char- 

 acters in other fruits as they grow in different 

 regions. To arrange varieties alphabetically 

 is unscientific, disorderly, and makes difficult 

 the identification of fruits, but it is the author's 

 belief that they cannot be satisfactorily ar- 

 ranged otherwise for a text covering more than 

 one pomological region. Keys to varieties of 

 fruits can be of value only when made for 

 particular regions. 



In acknowledging obligations, the author 

 needs to name the pomologists of the nine- 

 teenth century. Coxe, writing in 1817, was the 

 pioneer, followed by Prince, Kenrick, Manning, 

 Downing, Thomas, Cole, Barry, Hovey, Elliot, 

 Hooper, and Warder, the pageant ending in 

 1867. These men brought fruit-growing into 

 being in America and nourished it to maturity. 

 They studied fruits in their various seasonal 

 expressions with accuracy and insight, and 

 wrote with the sincere and sympathetic feeling 

 of the best naturalists of their day, thereby 

 putting American pomology on a solid founda- 

 tion. The author of this manual is not forget- 

 ful of their great work, a service to the national 

 welfare little appreciated, but which is to him 

 perennial inspiration. 



Geneva, New York, 

 December 15, 1921. 



U. P. HEDRICK. 



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