XVI PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION. 



tural journals, now so numerous, all give fruit culture spe- 

 cial attention. 



We have made important acquisitions in the way of new 

 varieties of fruits, particularly in grapes, and we have 

 gained much valuable experience, both in methods of cul- 

 ture and in regard to the relative merits of varieties under 

 various circumstances of soil, climate, etc., but we have 

 yet much to learn. Questions of pruning, training, tillage 

 of the soil, etc., are djscussed as warmly among practical 

 men as they were twenty years ago. Diseases, such as 

 the " pear blight," are as much a mystery as ever. 



The First Edition was hastily prepared, and was, conse- 

 quently, imperfect. My intention was to revise and cor- 

 rect it very soon, but engagements, increasing from year 

 to year, caused it to be neglected. Some five or six years 

 ago I felt that, in many respects, it had fallen behind, and 

 had its publication stopped. Then, seeing numerous other 

 works on fruit culture appear, I concluded not to revise it. 

 Lately, however, at the solicitation of friends, I have un- 

 dertaken it ; but, for several reasons, have not been able 

 to give it the attention it demanded. 



The most important part of the revision has been the 

 lists of varieties of fruits which are now made to conform 

 to recent experience. Several other parts, however, have 

 been re-written, and others altered and corrected. 



P. B. 



