Following the inheritance of his father’s estate in the Loire valley in 1727, Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau set about turning it into a model farm where he undertook experiments in plant physiology, the cultivation of saffron and the growth of trees.

Trees were the dominant focus of Duhamel du Monceau’s career and he published several books on his experiments and observations of the trees grown on his estate. This work is his 1768 book on fruit trees, based on his experience in grafting, a technique used to produce many fruits of the same variety.