Book Description

Example in this ebook The present volume is the fifth in the plan of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station to make a more or less complete record of all of the different fruits grown in this region. This work differs from the preceding fruit-books but little or not at all in nature and purposes, yet a statement of its contents, even though it be almost identical with that in the prefaces of the preceding volumes, is necessary for those who may not have the other books and may be a convenience to those who have all of the series. The title implies that The Peaches of New York is written for the confines of a state; but all varieties of the peach grown in North America, as well as many known only in other continents, Europe especially, have been considered, under the supposition that all might be grown in New York and are therefore of interest to the peach-growers of the State. Broadly speaking, then, the design is to make the book as complete a record as possible of the development of the peach, wherever grown, up to this time. The book contains: An account of the history and uses of the peach; a discussion of the botanical characters of the species of cultivated peaches; an account of the peach-regions and of peach-growing in New York with the most important statistics relating to this fruit; and, lastly and in greatest detail, the synonymy, bibliography, economic status, and full descriptions of all the most important cultivated peaches, with briefer notices of varieties of minor importance and of those appearing in peach-literature which are now no longer grown. In foot-notes running through the text, biographical sketches are published of the persons who have done most in America toward improving the peach. Incidentally, all that was thought would be helpful in breeding peaches was included. So, too, whatever appeared to be of interest to students of ecology has been given a place. As in the preceding books, color-plates occupy prominent places in this volume. Pains and expense have not been spared in the attempt to make the plates the best possible with the present knowledge of reproduction in colors. All who have seen the plates in this and the first four fruit-books of the series will agree that the reproductions of peaches are more accurate than those of the apples, grapes, plums or cherries, and yet these are not as exact as might be wished. Although most carefully selected, an illustration of one or two fruits does not give an adequate picture of a variety. Neither does the camera take colors quite as the eye sees them nor can the plate-maker quite reproduce what the camera takes. The illustrations are of life-size as the peaches grow on the grounds of this Station and represent specimens of average size and color. The fruits, as shown in the plates, look small for the reason that a flat picture of a round object minifies size. To be continue in this ebook