A GUIDE TO THE LITERATURE OF POMOLOGY. 



by the President and Members of the Horticultural Society " (London, 

 4to., I vol., 49 plates, 1818). This work contains some of the best 

 coloured plates that have been published. The skill of Hooker as 

 a painter of fruits has never been equalled in this country, and here 

 he is at his best. The descriptions of the fruits are good, and contain 

 some interesting historical matter. It is to be regretted that this 

 valuable publication was discontinued after seven parts only had been 

 issued. 



In 1826 the first edition of the " Catalogue of the Fruits cultivated 

 in the Garden of the Horticultural Society of London " was issued. 

 This was largely the work of Robert Thompson, fruit expert to the 

 Society, and, I venture to think, the greatest English pomologist. 

 The book was prepared to revise nomenclature and to settle the 

 question of synonyms. That it was no mere desk work is evidenced 

 by the volumes of notes and drawings in the Society's possession, in 

 which the names and varieties are discussed by Turner, Lindley, 

 and above all Thompson, with the greatest detail. The arrangement 

 of this catalogue is tabular, and the descriptions are of the vaguest, 

 and in no way represent the enormous work which had been done 

 before the true name of the variety had been settled. A second 

 edition was published in 1831, and a third in 1842. 



An important work with coloured plates was " The Pomological 

 Magazine, or Figures and Descriptions of the most important Varieties 

 of Fruits cultivated in Great Britain," by John Lindley (3 vols. 

 8vo., 1827-30). This was afterwards reprinted as " Pomologia 

 Britannica " in 3 vols. (1841). Though ostensibly by Lindley, 

 the work was mainly due to Robert Thompson. The descriptions 

 are not all of equal value, but most of them are very full, the wood 

 and leaf being described as well as the fruit. The plates are good, and 

 usually show a young shoot and leaf. The whole book gives evidence 

 of careful observation and testing of varieties. 



The year 1831 was notable for two works of importance in British 

 pomological literature. The first of these is " A Guide to the Orchard 

 and Kitchen Garden," by George Lindley, edited by John Lindley, 

 London, 1831, 8vo. The author was a nurseryman near Norwich, 

 and the father of John Lindley, Secretary to the Horticultural 

 Society. He had been collecting material for this work for some 

 forty years, and the result is a book of the greatest value. The 

 descriptions of the fruit are fairly detailed, and the general notes upon 

 each variety are most useful. A special feature is the record of many 

 East Anglian varieties which are here described for the first time. 

 The historical notes are a mine of information as to English varieties, 

 and the dates of introduction of foreign sorts. Lindley's work has 

 never been valued quite at its full worth, though it is without doubt 

 one of the really important English books on pomology. 



The next publication which rendered the year 1831 specially 

 notable was the work of Hugh Ronalds entitled " Pyrus Malus Brent- 

 fordiensis, or a Concise Description of Selected Apples " (London, 



