Sources
This encyclopedia draws on 14 public-domain pomological reference books and over 100 historical nursery catalogs dating from the 1830s to the 1960s. All source documents are available for download as PDFs.
Reference Books
The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (A–K)
Comprehensive reference covering apple varieties A–K grown in New York state, with detailed pomological descriptions and full-color plates.
Download PDFThe Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (L–Z)
Continuation covering apple varieties L–Z, plus a combined index of both volumes with over 500 variety entries.
Download PDFThe Pears of New York
Exhaustive survey of pear varieties grown in New York, with detailed descriptions, colored plates, and extensive synonym lists.
Download PDFThe Fruits and Fruit Trees of America
The classic American fruit reference, covering thousands of apple, pear, and crab apple varieties with descriptions of appearance, flavor, and origin.
Download PDFA View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees
One of the earliest American pomological works, documenting fruit varieties cultivated in the Philadelphia region with hand-colored engravings.
Download PDFAmerican Pomology: Apples
Systematic classification and description of American apple varieties using Warder's own analytical framework, with woodcut illustrations.
Download PDFThe Horticulturist
Mid-19th-century horticultural magazine with pomological articles covering apples, crab apples, and pears.
Download PDFEncyclopedia of Practical Horticulture
A comprehensive horticultural reference encyclopedia with fruit variety descriptions embedded within articles on each fruit type.
Download PDFThe Herefordshire Pomona
A magnificent illustrated survey of fruit grown in Herefordshire, England. Renowned for its exceptional chromolithograph plates of apples, pears, and cider fruit.
Download PDFThe American Fruit Culturist
The 21st (final) edition of a long-running American fruit reference, with alphabetical variety entries for apples, pears, and other fruits, illustrated by small inline woodcuts.
Download PDFThe Western Fruit Book
Originally published as "Elliott’s Fruit Book" in 1854, this 1865 reissue documents fruit varieties adapted to the American West with regional adaptation notes and numerous engravings.
Download PDFThe Fruits of America
Two volumes bound together, each variety receiving a dedicated section with a full-page chromolithograph plate and several pages of accompanying text.
Download PDFNomenclature of the Apple
A comprehensive catalogue of known apple varieties referred to in American publications from 1804 to 1904, with synonyms and cross-references. Published as USDA Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin No. 56.
Download PDFNomenclator Pomologicus
A German-language reference listing all fruit varieties in cultivation and commerce with their synonyms. An invaluable cross-reference for resolving European naming variants.
Download PDFNursery Catalogs
Oregon
- A. Holaday — Scappoose (1910)
- Albany Nurseries — Albany (1936)
- Benedict Nursery Co. — Portland (1921)
- C.F. Lansing — Salem (1910)
- Carlton Nursery Co. — Carlton (1909)
- Carlton Nursery Co. — Carlton (1955)
- Henderson Luelling / Traveling Nursery (historical recall) — Oregon Trail, 1847 (1904)
- Hood River nurseries (multiple) — Hood River (1910)
- Hood River Valley Nursery Co. — Hood River (1910)
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries — Tangent (1926)
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries — Tangent (1936)
- J. B. Pilkington — Portland (1913)
- J.B. Pilkington — Portland (1907)
- J.B. Pilkington — Portland (1916)
- J.B. Pilkington — Portland (1919)
- Milton Nursery Co. — Milton (1909)
- Milton Nursery Co. — Milton-Freewater (1947)
- Milton Nursery Co./Montana Fruit Growers — Milton-Freewater (1910)
- Milwaukie-Canby Nurseries — Canby (1893)
- Multnomah Nurseries — Russellville (1894)
- Oregon Nursery Co. — Orenco (1920)
- Oregon Wholesale Nurseries — Salem (1893)
- Pacific Nursery Company — Portland (1912)
- Pacific Nursery Company (W. O. Hudson & A. D. Hudson) — Tangent (1903)
- Quaker Nurseries (Patterson/Lansing) — Salem (1910)
- Rawson & Stanton — Hood River (1910)
- Rich & Sons Nursery — Hillsboro
- Russellville Nursery Co. — Russellville (1903)
- Russellville Nursery Co. — Russellville (1907)
- St. Helena Nursery — Howell Prairie (1864)
- The Dalles Nurseries — The Dalles (1901)
- The Dalles Nurseries — The Dalles (1906)
- Union Nurseries — Union (1915)
- Woodburn Nurseries — Woodburn (1894)
Washington
- Ballygreen Nurseries — Hanford (1912)
- Cashmere Nurseries — Cashmere (1910)
- Christopher Nurseries / John Stewart & Sons — Christopher (1920)
- Columbia & Okanogan Nursery Co. — Wenatchee (1925)
- Hanford Nurseries — Clarkston (1913)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1910)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1911)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1914)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1915)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1916)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1917)
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm — Vashon Island (1921)
- North-Western Nurseries — Walla Walla
- Ornamental & Fruit Nursery Company — Yakima (1915)
- Palouse Nursery and Pleasant Dale Fruit Farm — Palouse (1889)
- Puyallup & Yakima Nurseries — Puyallup & Yakima (1892)
- The Vineland Nursery Co. — Clarkston (1913)
- Van Holderbeke Nursery Co. — Spokane (1913)
- Vineland Nurseries Company — Clarkston (1912)
- W.S. Thornber — Walla Walla (1910)
- Wapato Nursery — Wapato (1910)
- Washington Nursery Co. — Toppenish (1901)
- Washington Nursery Company — Toppenish
- Washington Nursery Company — Toppenish (1909)
- Washington Nursery Company — Toppenish (1912)
California
- California Nursery Co. — Niles (1889)
- California Nursery Co. — Niles (1921)
- Fancher Creek Nurseries — Fresno (1918)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1880)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1884)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1888)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1889)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1890)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1891)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1894)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1895)
- Felix Gillet — Nevada City (1897)
- Felix Gillet, Barren Hill Nursery — Nevada City (1887)
- Forestville Nurseries — Forestville (1902)
- Fresno Nursery Co. — Fresno (1924)
- Hutchison Nursery — Oakland (1881)
- S.L. Watkins — Grizzly Flats (1901)
- Santa Rosa Nurseries (Luther Burbank) — Santa Rosa (1885)
- Santa Rosa Nurseries (Luther Burbank) — Santa Rosa (1887)
- Sherwood Hall Nursery Co. — San Francisco (1893)
- The Luther Burbank Company — Santa Rosa (1913)
- W.R. Strong & Co. — Sacramento (1886)
England
- George Bunyard & Co. — Maidstone, Kent (1900)
- George Bunyard & Co. — Maidstone, Kent (1914)
- George Bunyard & Co. — Maidstone, Kent (1917)
- James Veitch & Sons — Chelsea, London (1911)
- Kelway & Son — Langport, Somerset (1897)
- Thomas Rivers & Son — Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire (1913)
Massachusetts
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) — Boston (1850)
- Hovey & Co. — Cambridge (1849)
- Joseph Breck & Co. — Boston (1855)
- Reading Nursery — Reading (1898)
- Winship's Nursery — Brighton (Boston) (1845)
New York
- Brown Brothers Co. — Rochester (1899)
- Brown Brothers Co. — Rochester (1901)
- Green's Nursery Co. (Charles A. Green) — Rochester (1894)
- Samuel Fraser — Geneseo (1913)
New Jersey
- Arthur J. Collins & Sons — Moorestown (1898)
- Manalapan Nurseries — Englishtown (1916)
- Rogers Nursery Co. — Moorestown (1893)
- The Lovett Company — Little Silver (1896)
Missouri
- Missouri Nursery Co. — Louisiana, MO (1891)
- Mountain Grove Nurseries — Mountain Grove (1901)
- Stark Bro's Nurseries — Louisiana, MO (1932)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1896)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1898)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1906)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1910)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1911)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1912)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1914)
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. — Louisiana, MO (1918)
- The Vineland Nurseries — St. Joseph (1894)
Illinois
- Augustine & Co. — Normal (1901)
- Augustine & Co. — Normal (1902)
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) — Farmingdale (1901)
- Cotta Nursery (J.V. Cotta) — Carroll County (1895)
- J.V. Cotta (Cotta Nursery) — Carroll County (1898)
- Phoenix Nursery Company — Bloomington (1904)
Alabama
- Alabama Nursery Co. — Huntsville (1900)
- Huntsville Wholesale Nurseries — Huntsville (1886)
Arkansas
- Yarbrough Bros. — Stephens (1901)
Florida
- Glen St. Mary Nurseries — Glen St. Mary (1893)
Indiana
- Knox Nurseries — Vincennes (1894)
Kansas
- Holsinger Bros. Nurseries (Holsinger Brothers Nursery) — Rosedale (1916)
Maryland
- Wm. J. Corse (successor to Robert Sinclair / Sinclair Nurseries) — Baltimore (1909)
Nebraska
- Galbraith Nursery Co. — Fairbury (1911)
Pennsylvania
- William H. Moon Co. — Morrisville (1890)
Virginia
- The Salem Nursery — Salem (1897)
Wisconsin
- Dane County Nursery — Oregon, WI (1898)
Publications
- Better Fruit magazine article (1913)
- Better Fruit magazine mentions (1911)
- OSU Bulletin 216 (1925)
- OSU Bulletin 81 (1904)
- OSU Mid-Columbia Experiment Station (1965)
- Yakima Grading Rules (1910)