PREFACE, iii 



But the high cost of the engravings made me give up this project, & the material remained 

 forgotten in my office for over twenty years. In the end they were shown to an expert (*) 

 who worked in the same area & who shared the same views, and he hoped to be able to put 

 them together into a finished work. The difficulties that stopped me did not seem at all 

 insurmountable to him. I didn't hide the fact that various important tasks left me only a 

 little time for this job. He enthusiastically offered to collaborate with me on finishing the 

 descriptions and the incomplete drawings & to add whatever was missing from one or the 

 other. He offered to allow me to fulfill the commitment that I had undertaken to provide 

 the public with this treatise that complements the one on Trees & Shrubs. 



The plates were done by the most accomplished engravers of this kind. Different 

 hatching styles are apparent because there was too much work to be done by a single artist. 

 Nevertheless they achieved a degree of perfection seen in very few works. This convinced 

 the publishers to spare no trouble or expense, with the result that there is nothing left to be 

 desired in the printing of this treatise. We will present a brief summary of it. 



Taking a look at most of the orchards and espaliers that are planted with fruit trees, 

 it's surprising that something so appealing could be so remote from perfection, especially 

 in the choice of species & their cultivation. 



(*) M. LE BERRIAYS. 



