North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dyer, Jonathan A." <dyerja@health.missouri.edu>]

In response to Jim's questions:
 
I used the term invaluable as this book is invaluable (and unaffordable) to 
me.  I leave it to each individual to define what is valuable to them.  
 
For those of us who appreciate antique fruit the Herefordshire Pomona is an 
important resource as it represents the efforts in Herefordshire to catalog 
every fruit in cultivation in that county at the end of the 1800's, after a 
major period of orchard decline and loss of germplasm.  Many of the varieties 
recorded in it are lost, while others are still in cultivation.  The 
Redstreak apple is listed, to give an example, after a single tree of the 
variety was identified in the county wide search.  Thus, this is one of the 
few examples of a colour plate to use to compare the cultivar propagated 
under that name today, with a historical source.  
 
The technology used to printing the plates in the book was incredibly 
expensive and difficult, and very good - which is why the books are scarce 
and so highly sought after.   
 
Bottom line, as a home gardner, you'll have to decide if your interested in 
it or not.  Go to the website, have a look at the images, and decide for 
yourself.  
 
I thought it was important though, that a group with the name "fruit 
explorer" in its title, be aware that such an oppotunity existed.  
 
Thanks, 
 
Jon