VI 
PREFACE. 
young orchard, but when the planting of fruit-trees in one of the 
newest States numbers nearly a quarter of a million in a single 
year ; when there are more peaches exposed in the markets of 
New York, annually, than are raised in all France; when Ame- 
rican apples, in large quantities, command double prices in Eu- 
ropean markets; there is little need for entering into any praises 
of this soil and climate generally, regarding the culture of fruit. 
In one part or another of the Union every man may, literally, sit 
under his own vine and fig tree. 
It is fortunate for an author, in this practical age, when his 
subject requires no explanation to show its downright and direct 
usefulness. When I say I heartily desire that every man should 
cultivate an orchard, or at least a tree, of good fruit, it is not 
necessary that I should point out how much both himself and 
the public will be, in every sense, the gainers. Otherwise 
I might be obliged to repeat the advice of Ur. Johnson to one 
of his friends. “If possible,” said he, “have a good orchard. 
I know a clergyman of small income who brought up a 
family very reputably, which he chiefly fed on apple dump- 
lings.” (!) 
The first object, then, of this work is to increase the taste foi 
the planting and cultivation of fruit-trees. The second one is to 
furnish a manual for those who, already more or less informed 
upon the subject, desire some work of reference to guide them 
in the operations of culture, and in the selection of varieties. 
If it were only necessary for me to present for the acceptance 
of my readers a choice garland of fruit, comprising the few sorts 
that I esteem of the most priceless value, the space and time to 
be occupied would be very brief. 
But this would only imperfectly answer the demand that is 
at present made by our cultivators. The country abounds with 
collections of all the finest foreign varieties ; our own soil has 
produced many native sorts of the highest merit ; and from all 
these, kinds may be selected which are highly valuable for every 
part of the country. But opinions differ much as to the merits 
of some sorts. Those which succeed perfectly in one section, 
are sometimes ill-adapted to another. And, finally, one needs 
some accurate description to know when a variety comes into 
bearing, if its fruit is genuine, or even to identify an indifferent 
