SUMMARY OF THE WORK 311 



the ever-increasing avalanche of letters which 

 they occasion, a large portion of which are from 

 amateurs, with long lists of questions, which 

 would require years, perhaps a lifetime, to 

 answer. 



"Five years ago we sold out a nursery business 

 which had been built up from nothing, and which 

 was paying us fully ten thousand dollars a year, 

 that we might give all our time and thought to 

 the work of producing new fruits and flowers. 



"Do not think because they are raised in sunny 

 California that they are less likely to prove gen- 

 erally hardy. Are those already before the pub- 

 lic any less hardy or any less valuable than most 

 of the Russian fruits which have been so exten- 

 sively advertised for years? Are not the various 

 plums, walnuts, chestnuts, etc., which have 

 been distributed from our establishment, proving 

 to be hardier than even most of the Russian 

 fruits, and more valuable in all other respects? 

 But the best ones are yet to come. 



"About twelve years ago, when, having by 

 thorough test found them good, we first com- 

 menced to introduce these fruits and nuts, send- 

 ing circulars to most of the nurserymen in the 

 United States, it was like trying to swim up 

 stream in a rapidly flowing river, as very few had 

 faith enough in them to invest in a tree ; but those 



