vi PREFACE. 



The planting still is incomplete if it consists only of the choicest fruit within each season. 

 These fruits, ordinarily fine, are subject to failure. They must be supplemented by fruits of 

 lesser quality but that give more substantial & more consistent yields. Some fruit is needed 

 for compotes & for preserves. Indeed, fruit that's most enjoyable when eaten fresh doesn't 

 always do best when sweetened in sugar. A compote of morello cherries or of St. Germain 

 pears wouldn't be preferable to one made from ordinary cherries or Martin-sec pears. In the 

 same way, preserves made from clingstone apricot & mirabelle plums are more highly 

 regarded than those from large apricots or Dauphine plums. 



These very common faults among plantations arise because most landowners don't 

 know the different kinds of trees well enough to make good selections on their own. Few 

 gardeners even know them sufficiently well, & virtually none of them take the trouble to 

 collect them for their proprietors' gardens. 



We've undertaken our Treatise on Fruit Trees mainly to facilitate and disseminate 

 this knowledge. We absolutely do not intend to make a long list of all of the good, average, 

 and poor fruits. We've omitted all the cider apples and pears, and all grapes that are 

 suitable only for wine. The only subject covered in this treatise is fruit for the table. And 

 even though we've chosen the best species from among the latter, & have left out many 



