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| Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has |
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| A Table of Contents has been added for the reader's |
| convenience. There is no Chapter 13. |
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AMERICAN POMOLOGY.
APPLES.
BY
DOCT. JOHN A. WARDER,
PRESIDENT OHIO POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY; VICE-PRESIDENT AMERICAN
POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
290 ILLUSTRATIONS.
NEW YORK:
ORANGE JUDD AND COMPANY.
245 BROADWAY.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
ORANGE JUDD & CO.,
At the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Southern District of New York.
LOVEJOY & SON,
Electrotypers and Stereotypers,
15 Vandewater St., N.Y.
PREFACE.
All patriots may realize a sense of pride, when they consider the
capabilities of the glorious country in which we are favored to live;
and while fostering no sectional feelings, nor pleading any local
interests, yet, as Americans and as men, we may be allowed to love our
own homes, our own neighborhoods, our States and regions; and we may
be permitted to think them the brightest and best portions of the
great Republic to which we all belong. Therefore the writer asks to be
excused for expressing a preference for his own favored _Northwest_,
and while claiming all praise for this noble expanse, he wishes still
to be acknowledged as most devotedly an AMERICAN CITIZEN, who feels
the deepest interest in the prosperity of the whole country.
His fellow-laborers in the extensive field of Horticulture, who are
scattered over the great Northwest, having called upon him for a work
on fruits which should be adapted to their wants, the author has for
several years devoted himself to the task of collecting materials from
which he is preparing a work upon AMERICAN POMOLOGY, of which this is
to be the first volume.
The title has been adopted as the most appropriate, because the book
is intended to be truly American in its character, and, though it may
be especially adapted to the wants of the Western States, great pains
have been taken to make it a useful companion to the orchardists of
all portions of our country.
When examining this volume, his friends are asked to look gently upon
the many faults they may find, and they are requested also to observe
the peculiarities by which this fruit book is characterized. Much to
his regret, the author found that it was considered necessary to the
completeness of the volume, that the general subject of fruit-growing
should be treated in detail, and, therefore, introductory chapters
were prepared; whereas, he had set out simply to describe the fruits
of our country. To this necessity, as it was considered by his
friends, the author yielded reluctantly, because he felt that this
labor had already been thoroughly done by his predecessors, whose
volumes were to be seen in the houses of all intelligent
fruit-growers. From them he did not wish to borrow other men's ideas
and language, and therefore undertook to write the whole anew, without
any reference to printed books. But, of course, it is impossible to be
original in treating such familiar and hackneyed topics as those which
are discussed at every meeting of horticulturists all over the
country, and which form the subject of the familiar discourse of the
green-house and nursery, the potting-shed and the grafting-room, the
garden and the orchard.
After the introductory chapters upon the general or leading topics
connected with fruit-culture and orcharding, the reader will find that
especial attention has been paid to the classification of the fruits
under consideration in this volume. Classification is the great need
of our pomology, and, indeed, it is almost a new idea to many American
readers. The author has fully realized the difficulties attendant
upon the undertaking, but its importance, and its growing necessity,
were considered sufficient to warrant the attempted innovation. It is
hoped that American students of pomology will appreciate the efforts
which have been made in their behalf. The formulæ which have been
adopted may not prove to be the best, but it is believed that they
will render great assistance to those who desire to identify fruits;
and that, at least, they may lead to a more perfect classification in
the future.
On the contrary, with these simple formulæ, under which the fruits are
arranged, the student has only to decide as to which of the
sub-divisions his specimen must be referred, and then seek among a
limited number for the description that shall correspond to his fruit,
and the identification is made out.
In the systematic descriptions of fruits, the alphabetical succession
of the names is used in each sub-division. An earnest endeavor has
been made to be minute in the details without becoming prolix. A
regular order is adopted for considering the several parts, and some
new or unusual characters are brought into requisition to aid in the
identification. Some of these characters appear to have been strangely
overlooked by previous pomologists, though they are believed to be
permanent and of considerable value in the diagnosis.
In deciding upon the selection of the names of fruits, the generally
received rules of our Pomological Societies have been departed from in
a few instances, where good reasons were thought to justify differing
from the authorities. Thus, when a given name has been generally
adopted over a large extent of country, though different from that
used by a previous writer, it has been selected as the title of the
fruit in this work.
To avoid incumbering the pages, authorities for the nomenclature have
not been cited, except in a few instances, nor have numerous synonyms
been introduced. Such only as are in common use have been given, and
those of foreign origin have been dropped.
The attention of the reader is particularly directed to the catalogue
of fruits near the close of the volume, which also answers as the
index to those which are described in detail. This portion of the work
has cost an immense amount of labor and time, and, though making
little display, will, it is hoped, prove very useful to the
orchardist. In it the names of fruits are presented in their
alphabetical order, followed by information as to the average size,
the origin of the variety, its classification, from which are deduced
its shape, flavor and modes of coloring; next is noted its season, and
then its quality. This last character is, of course, but the result of
private judgment, and the estimate may differ widely from that of
others; the quality, too, it should be remembered, is here intended to
be the result of a consideration of many properties besides that of
mere flavor.
This catalogue will furnish a great deal of information respecting the
fruits it embraces. Unfortunately, it is not so full nor so complete
as it should be, but it is offered as the result of many years'
observations, and is submitted for what it is worth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.--It is but an act of common justice for an author to
acknowledge his indebtedness to those who have aided him in his
labors, especially where, from the nature of the investigations, so
much material has to be drawn from extrinsic sources. Upon the present
occasion, instead of an extended parade of references to the
productions of other writers, which might be looked upon as rather
pedantic, it is preferred to make a general acknowledgment of the
important assistance derived from many pomological authors of our own
country and of Europe. Quotations are credited on the pages where they
occur.
But the writer is also under great obligations to a host of
co-laborers for the assistance they have kindly rendered him in the
collecting, and in the examination and identification of fruits. Such
friends he has happily found wherever he has turned in the pursuit of
these investigations, and there are others whom it has never been his
good fortune to meet face to face. To name them all would be
impossible. The contemplation of their favors sadly recalls memories
of the departed, but it also revives pleasant associations of the
bright spirits that are still usefully engaged in the numerous
pomological and horticultural associations of our country, which have
become important agencies in the diffusion of valuable information in
this branch of study.
To all of his kind friends the author returns his sincere thanks.
With a feeling of hesitation in coming before the public, but
satisfied that he has made a contribution to the fund of human
knowledge, this volume is presented to the Horticulturists of our
country, for whom it was prepared by their friend and fellow-laborer,
JNO. A. WARDER.
ASTON, January 1, 1867.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. 9
CHAPTER II. 26
HISTORY OF THE APPLE.