48 TREATISE ON 



whose large roots aren't at least six inches long, without injuries, cankers, or breaks; and 

 those whose medium roots aren't well preserved, & whose trunks aren't straight and very 

 sound. 



4°. On the contrary, choose trees that are attractive and not too strong, with bark 

 that is vital, clear, healthy and smooth, with signs of youth & vigor, and with all of the 

 qualities opposite to those just mentioned above. 



5°. Moreover, don't be misled about species and varieties. But how can you be 

 certain of them? When the trees are taken from the nursery, they have no flowers, leaves, 

 nor fruit. The habit, shoots, & buds are enough to distinguish one species from another, 

 e.g. a pear tree from a cherry tree. But in some species these features don't distinguish 

 among any of the varieties, and in others they allow you to guess about some of the 

 varieties instead of identifying them with certainty. It requires a lot of care and practice 

 with trees to get much help from these characteristics. The registry or inventory that some 

 nurserymen can provide is evidence that they are able to keep orderly nurseries, but it's 

 only a presumption that they've actually done it, & that the nurseries really are in 

 conformity with & relate to the registry. 



6°. The pippin is a variety of apple tree, the Dauphine a variety of plum tree, the 

 morello a variety of cherry tree, the large Mignonne a variety of peach tree. I suppose that 

 these varieties can be distinguished clearly by their shoots & their buds; but they have 

 sub-varieties as well, some of which are authentic, independent, & very noteworthy; 

 others are degenerate & quite inferior. Can they be distinguished equally well? We can 

 add that the fertility of trees often depends on the branches from which the grafts were 

 taken, and that some of them succeed well only on certain stocks. Who can count on the 

 nurseryman's care in making these choices & his judgment for all these things? 



