The opening of Preface
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.