156 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
New Work on Fruit. 
Elliott’s Fruit Book; or the American Fruit Grow¬ 
er’s Guide in the Orchard and Garden. By F. R. 
Elliott. New-York: C. M. Saxton, 1854. 
This new work on fruits and their culture, which has 
been for some time expected, has been recently pub¬ 
lished. It is a handsome duodecimo of about 500 pa¬ 
ges. It is chiefly occupied with descriptions of the va¬ 
rieties of fruit, native and introduced, which have been 
more or less cultivated in this country. This consti¬ 
tutes its great value, on which the author has assidu¬ 
ously labored for several years. About one-fifth part 
or the remainder is occupied with general and particu¬ 
lar directions for culture, modes of propagation, and 
practical remarks. 
The varieties of each fruit are divided into three 
distinct classes, which are treated of separately. First, 
we are furnished with those “ worthy of general culti¬ 
vation,” which are distinctly described, mostly in con¬ 
nexion with figures, representing the fruit as cut 
through the middle, exhibiting the core and seeds. 
Next comes the list “for amateur culture,” in smaller 
type; and lastly those “unworthy of cultivation,” 
which are very briefly noticed or described. 
This work, in some respects, possesses advantages 
over any of its predecessors. The author has had the 
advantage of deriving information from all previous 
sources, added to his own extensive knowledge of west¬ 
ern fruits, particularly of the apples of the western 
states, and on the latter branch of the subject, much 
that is interesting and valuable may be found. 
He has introduced some decided improvements in 
nomenclature, especially in translating most of the 
French names. A few, however, we fear will hardly 
be adopted, such for example as White Dea'i, for 
White Doyenne (p. 306,) Summer Dean , for Sum¬ 
mer Doyenne , &c. An improvement is made by drop¬ 
ping the word “ Melocoton” from the names of some 
peaches, long enough without it; and if the word 
“ Beurre ” had been stricken off the names of most 
pears to which it is attached, it would have been still 
better, for as commonly used, it has very little mean¬ 
ing. We observe occasional errors in synonyms; for 
example, Beurre gris d’Hirer Nouveau , is given as 
a synonym of Easter Beurre ; Ne plus Meuris , (a 
small third-rate winter pear) as a synonym of Beurre 
d)Anjou; and Long Green and Long Green of Au r 
tumn appear to be confounded together. Sops of 
Wine and Sapson apple are made identical * The 
author suspects the Yandevere and Smokehouse to be 
identical, but they not only differ in the season of ma¬ 
turity and in quality, but totally in their manner of 
growth. These are, however, only occasional excep¬ 
tions to the general accuracy of the work. 
We cannot quite agree with the author in all his 
classification of fruits worthy of general cultivation, 
and otherwise; more especially where he introduces 
among the former, some quite new varieties which 
have as yet had but very limited trial. For example, 
* The distinctions in these sorts are pointed out iu the later 
editions of some other pomological works. 
there are thirty sorts of the cherry described as wor¬ 
thy of general cultivation, nineteen of which are Dr. 
Kirtland’s new seedlings at Cleveland, described now 
and formerly by the author, and only eleven in all, of the 
whole list of cherries previously known—the Mayduke, 
Holland Bigarreau, and Graffion, aro placed among 
those for amateur cultivation only. We know some of 
Kirtland’s seedlings are of great excellence, and pre¬ 
sume the rest a.re, but they need more trial. We ob¬ 
serve the Druid Hill peach is not even allowed a 
place in the amateur’s list, but is rejected as unworthy 
of any cultivation. One other point we ought not to 
omit—the Glossary of terms is copied without quota¬ 
tion or reference, almost word for word, from the en¬ 
tirely original glossary in the American Fruit Cultu- 
rist. We presume this was an inadvertence.* 
’ The great mass of the matter, however, is marked 
with correctness and with much knowledge of fruits, 
and the work will of course stand at the head, so far 
as its descriptions of western varieties are concerned; 
and as such we strongly commend it to the fruit-raising 
portion of the community. 
Answers to Inquiries. 
Planting Evergreen Seeds. —(Wm. Tinker , 2 d.) 
Sow evergreen seeds in the spring as soon as active 
vegetation generally commences. The seeds need no 
preparation before planting. They should be covered 
rather thinly with light rich mould, which should be 
kept rather moist at all times, and the young plants, 
if not before, must be wholly protected from the sun’s 
rays as soon as up, and for many weeks afterwards. 
Grafting the Pear on large stocks of common 
Quince. — {Dr. D. H. Hallock, Long Island.) Wo 
cannot recommend this practice, except by way of ex¬ 
periment. The wind sometimes breaks the graft from 
the stock, under ordinary treatment. Grafting is re¬ 
garded as forming a less firm junction than budding 
small stocks. Large stocks an inch or two in diameter 
would render the union more imperfect. The experi- 
1 If we mistake not, from seeing a former expression of the 
author of the work before us, he had received an impression 
that the American Fruit Culturist had copied largely, and 
was not a strictly original work. He may therefore have 
sincerely believed that portions of it had thus become com¬ 
mon property, and for which it was not necessary to give 
credit. Strange as it may appear, such a notion has prevail¬ 
ed in the minds of some, from causes not necessary now' to 
mention. The singular error of such a notion is obvious, 
when the work is compared with some other treatises of a 
high character, such for .example as Downing’s Fruits and 
Fruit Trees, which no one ever charged w'ith fault in this 
particular. Yet three-fourths of his illustrations in culture 
are the identical figures of Lindley and Loudon; while those 
in the Fruit Culturist were drawn directly from nature. 
Downing’s work,.in the arrangement of its first part, is an 
exact copy from Kenrick, and in its last, from Lindley’s 
Guide. The arrangement of the Fruit Culturist was copied 
from no work whatever. The- remark has been made that 
much of the matter of the Fruit Culturist was taken from 
the Horticulturist; yet all its quotations from that work, 
(credit being always given, and the consent of its proprietor 
obtained,) all did not amount in extent to a single quotation 
from Hovey’s Magazine in Downing’s work. We could ad¬ 
duce a long list of similar proofs, show'ing the entire fallacy 
of the opinion above alluded to, which seems ii 1 ’ 
been originated for a certain reason, only on ; 
utter absurdity. Yet some, we discover, adopted it 
examination. 
