iv PREFACE. 



Regarding the choice of species, there are those who plant trees to derive income 

 from the fruit; on the lookout only for financial gain, they prefer fruit that is premature or 

 too large. These two qualities are the ones that determine their choice, since they are more 

 important for selling the fruit than for their delicacy. You can't blame them; they've 

 chosen the best way to meet their expectations. Others plant trees for their personal use & 

 to furnish their homes. They often decide on the number of species they should introduce 

 in their gardens according to la Quintinye, who suggests basing their choice on the merit & 

 value of each kind. Nevertheless, if the advice of this noted author is followed, there would 

 be planted in the same orchard sixty-five musk mallows [ambrettes], the same number of 

 winter thombushes [epines d'hiver], and seventy echasseris, all of which have mediocre 

 fruit, & only twenty-four St. Germain pear trees, whose fruit is much superior to those 

 we've just named. Several landowners likewise settle on their personal tastes that often 

 aren't the most usual ones, but when you work on your own, you have to take charge and 

 follow your own conscience. Finally, others rely entirely on their gardener, who often turns 

 the decision over to the nurseryman he likes. The latter, more concerned with his own sales 

 than with the interest of the landowner, will supply the species that he has the most of in 

 his nurseries. 



Leaving aside these motives based on personal interest, it's admittedly not easy to 

 offer good advice to someone who wants to create a sizeable planting, even to one who 

 consistently makes a study of fruit. Taste is a personal & independent faculty that is not 

 subject to any rules. So each individual is allowed to prefer one fruit over another. 



