Hitt (Thomas). A Treatise of Fruit-Trees, 1757

Hitt (Thomas). A Treatise of Fruit-Trees, by Thomas Hitt, Gardener to the Right Honourable Lord Robert Manners, at Bloxholme, in Lincolnshire, 2nd edition, London: Printed for the author; and sold by T. Osborne and J. Shipton; and J. Richardson 1757, seven folding engraved plates (third plate torn with loss), scattered spotting and slight dust-soiling mostly to margins, armorial bookplate of Edward Roger Murray Pratt, Ryston Hall to upper pastedown, later rear pastedown, contemporary speckled calf, rebacked, maroon morocco title label to spine, rubbed to board corners and extremities, 8vo, together with: Forsyth (William). A Treatise on the Culture and Management of Fruit-Trees; in which a new method of Pruning and Training is fully described. To which is added, a new and improved edition of "Observations on the Diseases, Defects, and Injuries, in all kind of Fruit and Forest Trees"..., 4th edition, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1806, 13 engraved plates (including 11 folding), some offsetting and scattered spotting, contemporary calf, rebacked with gilt decorated spine retaining red morocco title label, 8vo, (Quantity: 2) Provenance: Frederick Alkmund Roach OBE (1909-2004). 1. Henrey 848. Frederick Roach was one of the most acclaimed fruit experts of the 20th century. He decided on a career in horticulture at the age of 10 while helping to run his father's rectory garden in Toft, Lincolnshire. During the Second World War Roach was part of the Dig for Victory campaign and, in 1946, he was made chief horticultural officer of the newly formed National Agricultural Advisory Service. He became successively regional fruit adviser for the South West and South East before taking the post of national fruit adviser. Retirement from the ministry in 1972 triggered a new career as a consultant to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Bank. Roach's book, Cultivated Fruits of Britain, Their Origin and History (1985), is still regarded as a bible for many fruit experts. This was followed by the descriptive texts for Hooker's Finest Fruits, which was published by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1989. In 1966 he was awarded the Ridley Medal of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers. The Royal Horticultural Society awarded him the Veitch Memorial Medal in 1978. Other illustrious winners of the award include Gertrude Jekyll (1928), Francis Kingdon-Ward (1934), Vita Sackville-West (1955), Harold Hillier (1957), Roy Lancaster (1972), David Austin (1994) and Stefan Buczacki (2010).