PREFACE. 
IX 
aon Horticultural Society, and added all the additional in- 
formation in my own possession. 
Many of the more important varieties of fruit are shown in 
outline . I have chosen this method as likely to give the most 
correct idea of the form of a fruit, and because I believe that 
the mere outline of a fruit, like a profile of the human face, will 
often be found more characteristic than a highly finished portrait 
in colour. The outlines have been nearly all traced directly 
from fruits grown here. They are from specimens mostly 
below the average size. It has been the custom to choose the 
largest and finest fruits for illustration — a practice very likely 
to mislead. I believe the general character is better ex- 
pressed by specimens of medium size, or rather below it. 
It only remains for me to present my acknowledgments to the 
numerous gentlemen, in various parts of the country, who have 
kindly furnished information necessary to the completion of the 
work. The names of many are given in the body of the vol- 
ume. But to the following I must especially tender my thanks, 
for notes of their experience, or for specimens of fruits to solve 
existing doubts. 
In Massachusetts, to Messrs. M. P. Wilder, S. G. Per- 
kins, J. P. Cushing, B. Y. French, S. Downer, and C. M. Ho- 
vey, of Boston ; John C. Lee, J. M. Ives, the late Robert Man- 
ning and his son R. Manning, of Salem ; and Otis Johnson, of 
Lynn. 
In Connecticut, to Dr. E. W. Bull, of Hartford ; Mr. S. Ly- 
man, of Manchester; and the Rev. H. S. Ramsdell, of Thomp- 
son. 
In New York, to Messrs. David Thomas, of Aurora ; J. J. 
Thomas, of Macedon ; Luther Tucker, and Isaac Denniston, of 
Albany; Alexander Walsh, of Lansingburgh ; T. H. Hyatt, 
of Rochester : R. L. Pell, of Pelham ; C. Downing, of New- 
burgh ; and Wm. H. Aspinwall, of Staten Island. 
In Ohio, to Professor Kirtland, of Cleveland ; Dr. Hildreth, of 
Marietta ; and Messrs. N. Long worth, C. W. Elliott, and A. H. 
Ernst, of Cincinnati. 
In Indiana, to the Rev. H. W. Beecher, of Indianapolis. In 
New Jersey, to Messrs. Thomas Hancock, of Burlington, and J 
W. Hayes, of Newark. In Pennsylvania, to Mr. Frederick 
