PREFACE. 



An eminent pomologist lately remarked to the author 

 that " to give a complete description of fruits, one should 

 live a hundred years, and spend his whole time in examina- 

 tions in all parts of the country." But fruit-raisers are un- 

 willing to wait so long, and desire at once the best informa- 

 tion to be had, that they may keep pace with the astonish- 

 ing progress made of late years in fruit culture. The book 

 now before the reader is an attempt to supply in some de- 

 gree this demand. 



Its object is two-fold — first, to furnish such rules for cul- 

 tivation and management as shall enable every one to secure 

 the highest excelleace and the most abundant crops ; and 

 secondly, to give distinct descriptions of the hundreds of 

 sorts which have been widely and profusely scattered 

 through the country, and to point out the good from the 

 bad, and the genuine from the spurious. 



In the description of varieties, the attempt has been made 

 to supply a deficiency existing in other works, by enabling 

 the reader to perceive at a glance the character and value 

 of each sort, by means of the kind of type used for the name. 

 All xaluahle fruits are printed in large or small capitals or 

 in italics ; while those which are decidedly inferior or worth- 

 less, are given in Roman type. Some of the latter may 

 however, prove worthy of cultivation in particular localities ; 

 but experience, so far, is generally against them. 



In designating the quality or flavor of fruits, the terms 

 "good," "fine," and "excellent" or " very fine," are sy- 

 nonymous with the terms good, very good, and best, adopted 

 by the American Pomologicai Congress. But it is the 

 general value, and not the flavor mei'ely, that is exhibited 



