20 NOMENCLATURE. 



in them by soil, situation, climate, and culture, 

 have largely contributed to this difficulty. It has 

 also been increased by looseness, carelessness, and 

 want of precision in descriptions, and especially 

 the almost total neglect of a classification of fla- 

 vors, usually the most unvarying and great deci- 

 sive point of distinction in varieties. " Some indi- 

 viduals," says Loudon, " who have cultivated, 

 fruited, or studied extensive collections of Apples, 

 Pears or Plums, may know at sight a considerable 

 number of varieties ; but in general, very few sorts 

 are known by one individual; and in the great 

 majority of cases a gentleman gardener can speak 

 with confidence regarding those sorts only which 

 are under his care. The reason of this is that the 

 shades which distinguish varieties are so fleeting 

 as not to be retained in memory, or only retained 

 to a very limited extent. An Apple may be dis- 

 tinguished from twenty other apples all very much 

 alike, when the whole twenty are placed together 

 before the eye ; but any one of the twenty, taken 

 apart, and delineated and described, however per- 

 fectly, will hardly present any marks sufficiently 

 distinctive to be remembered, and by which it 

 may be recognized with any degree of certainty." 

 The great number of names often given to one 

 fruit, either from ignorance or to promote its sale, 

 have added to the confusion. The celebrated 

 Virgalieu pear has thirty different names; the 



