
          October 16, 1915.

Miss Ella McMurtrie,
Norwood Avenue, Chestnut Hill
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dear Madam:

The donation to this Department by the grandchildren 
of Mrs. Elizabeth (Coxe) McMurtrie of a
volume of unpublished colored plates painted by her
and of a volume of manuscript upon which was based
"A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees,” published
in 1817 by their great-grandfather, William
Coxe,is hereby gratefully acknowledged.

As American pomological literature practically
dates from the issue of Coxe’s volume, the placing
of these plates and the manuscript which accompanies
them, upon which the published work was evidently
based, with the Department where they can be carefully 
guarded against loss or destruction and at the
same time be available to pomological investigators,
constitutes an important service to American pomology.
I am sure that this generosity on your part will be
gratifying to all workers in that field, both in
this Department and throughout the country.

Very truly yours,

(SIGNED) D. F. HOUSTON,
Secretary.

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