Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits
The chief' value of a book like this lies in the accuracy of the descriptions and of the determinations of synonyms. Herein the author has had an advantage over the old pomologists, since his connection with a mod ern experiment station, with a large collection of fruits and a good horticultural library, has given him opportunity to describe first hand and pass impartial judgment on varieties, and to go to original sources for names; whereas, the old writers, lacking these modern facilities, were compelled to copy one from the other.
With great reluctance, the author abandons a key to varieties of the several hardy fruits. Years of patient labor have not enabled him to produce a key that will work. A variety of any fruit behaves so differently in the sev eral great pomological regions of the continent that a key cannot be made that will be usable for a fruit in all regions. A satisfactory key to varieties of apples for New York does not fit this fruit in Virginia, Iowa, California, or Oregon. About the only constant characters of the apple for all regions of the continent are sweetness and sourness. The color of the ?esh is the only constant character of the peach. There are few or no constant char acters in other fruits as they grow in different regions. To arrange varieties alphabetically is unscientific, disorderly, and makes difficult the identification of fruits, but it is the author's belief that they cannot be satisfactorily ar ranged otherwise for a text covering more than one pomological region. Keys to varieties of fruits can be of value only when made for particular regions.
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