254 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



DOWNING S FRUIT AND FRUIT-TREES OF AMERICA. 



WHEN a book is hopelessly weak or incorrect, it should 

 le the object of criticism to exterminate it. But when a 

 work is admitted to be, upon the whole, well done, criti- 

 cism ought to be an assistance to it, and not a hinlr:mce. 

 Praise by the wholesale is better for the publisher than for 

 the reputation of the author ; since, in a work like Down- 

 ing's, every pomologist knows that perfection is not attain- 

 able, and indiscriminate eulogy inclines the better-read 

 critic to rebut the praise by a full development of the faults. 

 Thus on one side there is general praise and faint blame ; 

 and on the other, faint praise and general blame. 



We shall, at present, confine our attention to the cata- 

 logue of apples and pears, for all other fruits of our zone 

 together are not of importance equal to these ; and if an 

 author excels in respect to these, his success will cover a 

 multitude of sins in the treatment of small fruits, and fruits 

 of short duration. Mr. Downing has shown good judg- 

 ment in making out his list of varieties ; his descriptions, 

 for the most part, seem to be from his own senses ; he has 

 added many interesting particulars in respect to fruits not 

 recorded before, or else scattered in isolated sentences in 

 magazines and journals. 



But are his descriptions thorough and uniform ? While 

 he has added materials to pomology, has he advanced the 

 science by reducing such materials to a consistent form ? If 

 we compare Mr. Downing's descriptions with those of Ken- 

 rick, or even of Manning, he excels them in fullness. If he 

 be compared with classic European pomologists, he is de- 

 cidedly inferior, both in the conception of what was to lie 

 done, and in a neat, systematic method of execution. In- 

 deed, Mr. Downing does not seem to have settled, before 

 hand, in his mind, & formula of a description ; sometimes 

 only three or four characteristics are given. Downing sins 

 iii excellent company. There is not an American porno- 



