Note 84 — Chapter V · THE MINOR VARIETIES OF CHERRIES

Charles Downing, whose likeness we show in the frontispiece, was born at Newburgh, New York, July 9, 1802. He spent his life in the place of his birth, dying January 18, 1885. His parents were natives of Lexington, Massachusetts, who shortly before the birth of Charles Downing, the eldest son, came to Newburgh, the father establishing a shop for the manufacture of wagons, a business which he soon abandoned to become a nurseryman. Here, in the first successful nursery established in the region, were trained Charles and Andrew Downing, receiving under the careful guidance of the father a knowledge of the business and of fruits which with later self instruction made them the most distinguished pomologists of their day. With the death of the father in 1822, before Charles had obtained his majority, the responsibility of conducting the business and the support of the family devolved upon him. Andrew J., the younger brother, in 1834, at the age of 19, united with Charles in the management of the nursery business under the firm name of C. & A. J. Downing, a partnership which lasted only until 1839. Charles continued in the nursery business for many years during which time he became the foremost pomologist in the United States and eventually, about 1850, sold his holdings to devote himself to the study of varieties of fruits and the revision of the Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. This great pomological book was projected and published by Andrew but most of the work of the book as it is now known was done by Charles in revising the original and adding to its many editions. It is and has long been, as all know, the highest authority on American fruits. Naturally of an inquiring turn of mind Charles Downing studied closely the qualities of the varieties that came under his observation and seldom described without the fruit in hand. His variety orchard is said to have contained at one time 1,800 varieties of apples and 1,000 pears with lesser numbers of the other fruits. A few trees of this wonderful collection still stand. Charles Downing was one of the most modest and retiring of men, in his younger days delighting in the things of which his brother wrote and seldom putting pen to paper until after his brother's death when he became a regular contributor to horticultural publications over the signature "C. D." He was never known to make a public speech. He earned his high distinction in American pomology by his accurate and conscientious descriptions and discussions of varieties of fruits.