439 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Periodical Literature. Of the first importance under this heading 

 is the valuable " Report of the American Pomological Society," issued 

 biennially from 1852 to the present time. Many very interesting papers 

 and reports will be found in it. 



The only periodical works, I believe, devoted entirely to pomology 

 are the " North American Pomologist " of HOFFEY (only vol. i, 1860, 

 published), and " The Orchardist's Companion," by the same author 

 (Philadelphia, 1841-3). This is a quarto, with full-sized coloured 

 lithographs by the author, and is an interesting work historically, 

 being the first American work with coloured plates of fruits. Un- 

 fortunately, public support did not suffice to permit its continued 

 publication. 



The reports of the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture (1862-1894), 

 and the " Year-Book " published annually since that date, contain 

 many good plates and descriptions of new and interesting fruits. 



DUTCH WORKS. 



A comparison of the literature of Holland with the interest and 

 excellence in gardening of the Dutch is somewhat surprising. The 

 Dutch evidently did not suffer from the Cacoethes scribendi, and it is 

 not until the middle of the eighteenth century that we find any really 

 important work. The culture of oranges and other citrous fruits was 

 in great favour in the seventeenth century, and a few works were 

 published upon their treatment, such as the " Citricultura " of 

 FR. VAN STERBEECK, 1682, and the " Nederlantze Hesperides " of 

 COMMELYN in 1676. Other gardening books, such as the 

 " Nederlandsen Hof " of VAN OOSTEN and the " Pomona " of J. C. 

 DOOR (1663), touch briefly upon fruits, but these need not be 

 considered here. 



The first great work of real importance was the " Pomologia " 

 of J. H. KNOOP, which was published at Leeuwarden in 1758. It is 

 of special interest as the first pomological work which was fully illus- 

 trated with coloured plates. As may be expected, the colouring is 

 somewhat crude, but nevertheless a very good idea of the various 

 fruits is given. This work had great popularity and many editions 

 were published, also a translation into French. A German translation, 

 published at Niirnberg in 1760, should be noted, as the second volume 

 is an entirely new production, the author being, on the authority of 

 MAYER, Pastor ZINK, of Meiningen. KNOOP'S work is wholly descriptive, 

 as he had treated cultural matters in an earlier volume, namely, 

 " Beschouwende en Werkdagige Hoveniers-Konst " (Leeuwarden, 



1753). 



From this date until recent times there is a remarkable gap in 

 Dutch pomological literature, and I can find no work of real import- 

 ance until the work of VAN NOORT, " Pomologia Batava, of Avbeelding 

 en Beschryving van ondersheidene soorten van Appelen en Peeren " 

 (Leiden, 1830-1840 ; 20 apples and 20 pears illustrated), which I have 

 not yet seen. 



