INTRODUCTION. 1 1 



question, or the principles on which practice is founded, should be presented briefly in a 

 popular form, in order that a fair grasp of them may be obtained by the inexperienced. 

 The botany, including the physiology and chemistry, of fruits, opens a theme of great 

 magnitude and interest. It embraces, so to say, an examination of the inner workings 

 of Nature, which, although beautiful in their simplicity to those who, by close study and 

 research, have become intimate with the 



l - Miitrlilrss working of the power 

 That shuts within its seed the future flower"- 



yet to those who have not and they constitute the overwhelming majority they are 

 hidden mysteries, or deeply veiled agents in the economy of vegetation. It cannot be 

 otherwise than desirable to endeavour to draw aside the veil, if only for inciting to 

 further study on the part of those who feel conscious of their shortcomings, and who 

 also perceive the importance of exact knowledge as a foundation on which to build in 

 attaining the realisation of their hopes. 



When a person engages in the cultivation of fruits with a desire to excel in their 

 production, he will find the possession of even elementary knowledge of the structure of 

 plants or trees, and the nature and functions of their several parts, such as the roots, 

 stems, leaves, flowers, and the changes that occur in the maturation of the seeds or 

 fruit, of enormous advantage. It is only by having clear ideas on those subjects that 

 the necessity for, and the importance of, certain operations advised in practical routine 

 can be comprehended. There is, no doubt, credit due to a man who does what he 

 is told, when acting under superior guidance; but the man who knows why certain 

 instructions are given must always be regarded as the more intelligent and better work- 

 man. That is so even in respect to handicrafts, but to an infinitely greater extent when 

 the work in hand is closely allied with nature, and must be conducted in obedience to 

 her laws, as in the cultivation of fruit. 



It cannot be doubted that there is a very close analogy between plants and animals. 

 They are composed of similar elements and have to be supported by food, which, in 

 both, has to be digested to be nutritious ; and the blood of the one and the sap of the 

 other have to be purified and made life-sustaining by respiration through the leaves in 

 one case and the lungs in the other. The gases inhaled are changed by both, and the 

 exhalations of the one provide for the necessities of the other animals taking in oxygen 

 by the lungs and exhaling carbonic dioxide, plants taking in carbonic dioxide by their 



c 2 



