xiv PREFACE. 



but they take too long to repeat the same way as is done very easily with annual plants. So 

 they've only made us realize that seeds produce a great number of varieties. One would be 

 inclined to believe that the pear tree constitutes a single species, the apple tree another, the 

 cherry tree another, and all the rest really are varieties. But in a work like this they all 

 should be called species because one variety can be very valuable whereas another can be 

 worthless. It's clearly impossible to trace them back to their ancestral origins, & it would 

 be absurd to try to list the trees in their genealogical order, if I may be permitted that term. 

 [Translator's note: in today's world, these relationships could be clarified by DNA 

 analysis.] 



Only two arrangements are left for us to adopt: the season in which they mature, & 

 in alphabetical order. 



By arranging them in the order in which they mature, we would have grouped 

 together all kinds of trees that have no relationship to one another, & we would have 

 discarded all the ways in which they are alike. So we preferred to arrange the genuses in 

 alphabetical order, as in the Treatise on Trees and Shrubs, of which this is merely an 

 extension. We believe that we've satisfied every wish by inserting a table in which all the 

 species & varieties of each genus are listed in alphabetical order as well as in the order of 

 their maturity, so that one will know which fruits can be enjoyed in each month of the year. 



We couldn't avoid saying something about cultivation, but we have 



