8 Preface. 



appear gaunt and naked, so, to the writer, a book about them without any 

 attempt at foliage and flowers would seem unnatural. The modern 

 chronicler has transformed history into a fascinating story. Even science 

 is now taught through the charms of fiction. Shall this department of 

 knowledge, so generally useful, be left only to technical prose? Why 

 should we not have a class of books as practical as the gardens, fields, and 

 crops, concerning which they are written, and at the same time having 

 -much of the light, shade, color and life of the out-of-door world. I merely 

 claim that I have made an attempt in the right direction, but, like an 

 unskillful artist, may have so confused my lights, shades, and mixed my 

 colors so badly that my pictures resemble a strawberry -bed in which the 

 weeds have the better of the fruit. 



Liberal outlines of this work, with its illustrations, appeared in Scrib- 

 ner' s Magazine, but the larger scope afforded by the book has enabled me to 

 treat many subjects for which there was no space in the magazine, and 

 also to give my views more fully concerning topics only touched upon in the 

 serial. As the fruits described are being improved, so in the future other 

 and more skillful horticulturists will develop the literature relating to them 

 into its true proportions. 



I am well aware that the superb illustrations give to this volume, in 

 the estimation of many, its chief value, and for them I am indebted to 

 the liberal views of Messrs. Scribner & Company, and to Messrs. Dodd, 

 Mead & Company, my publishers. 



The task of gathering my material was a labor of love, often made 

 doubly delightful by the companionship of the gentleman having charge of 

 the art department of Scribner 's Magazine, Mr. A. W. Drake, and to his 

 good taste the reader is largely indebted for the beauty of the engravings. 



I shall, moreover, always cherish a grateful memory of the aid received 

 from my brother, the Rev. A. C. Roe, and from Mr. W. H. Gibson, whose 

 intimate knowledge of nature enabled him to give so correctly the character- 

 istics of the fruits he portrayed. 



I am greatly indebted to the instruction received at various times from 

 those venerable fathers and authorities on all questions relating to Eden -like 

 pursuits Mr. Chas. Downing of Newburgh, and Hon. Marshall P. 

 Wilder of Boston, Mr. J. J. Thomas, Dr. Geo. Thurber ; to such valuable 

 works as those of A. S. Fuller, A. J. Downing, P. Barry, J. M. Merrick^ 

 Jr., and some English authors ; to the live horticultural journals in the 

 East, West and South, and, last but not least, to many plain, practical 

 fruit-growers, who are as well informed and sensible as they are modest 

 in expressing their opinions. 



Com it >all- on- the- Hudson , 



New - York. 



