308 Retrospective Criticism. 



sion that either ignorance or carelessness was theresultof this. 

 This we deny ; and we have abundant evidence to prove that 

 our drawing is ^ perfect fac simile of more than live hundred 

 specimens exhibited by the President of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, who gave lis our specimen, and other 

 cultivators, who have fruited it for more than ten years. We 

 should not have paid any regard to this, had it not a tendency 

 to raise a doubt with some, that our figures of other varieties 

 might be also incorrect. In this respect, however, we are 

 willing to solicit a comparison with those of any other work. 

 In conclusion, we must bespeak for the work a careful pe- 

 rusal by all lovers of fine fruit. It will do much to assist in 

 detecting synonyms, and identifying kinds ; and saving some 

 errors and the few objections we have alluded to, which we 

 look for correction in a future edition, it is a work displaying 

 great industry and research, and it may well claim a superi- 

 ority over any American publication which has preceded it. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. • 



Art. I. Retrospective Criticism. 



Some remarks on the neiv loork of A. J. Downing, on the Fruits and Fruit 

 Trees of America. By S. B. Parsons, of the Commercial Garden and 

 Nursery, Flushing, Long Island. — In this excellent work which is at 

 length laid before us, all must acknowledge that the author has performed 

 an important service to the cause of Pomology in this country in clas- 

 sifying and placing in a tangible and accessible form, the nomenclatures 

 which were formerly scattered throughout various works in Europe and 

 America. With the exception of some few omissions and incorrect de- 

 scriptions, it seems substantially correct, and its comparative freedom 

 from error in this respect, can be appreciated only by those who know 

 from experience the great difficulty of procuring good specimens of fruit 

 from a distance, and the necessarily great deterioration of flavor in fruit 

 brought from various points between Boston and Cincinnati. 



Many, however, of the author's opinions on Vegetable Physiology, and 

 on the cultivation of fruit will be somewhat questioned, and must be viewed 

 merely as matters of opinion. Of this character are his remarks on the 

 pruning of the foreign grape. On page 221 he says that if the spurring 

 method is practised, the vine will soon bear only mildewed and imperfect 



