

INTRODUCTION. 



To the men of character, enterprise and intelligence, who are 

 seeking new homes, new fields for business activity, a salubrious 

 climate, beautiful scenery, great natural advantages, and a pros- 

 perous society infused with New England principles, and also 

 with the genuine spirit of indomitable enei*gy and advancement, 

 to them the following pages are offered for their most careful and 

 serious consideration. 



FRUIT GROWING. 



There are few fields of labor which offer so promising a pros- 

 pect to honest industry and moderate capital, especially in those 

 sections where the soil and climate are exactly adapted to it, and 

 where marketing facilities are cheap and accessible. Tens of 

 thousands of instances might be shown in which men have en- 

 gaged with small means and little experience in the growth of 

 peaches, grapes and other fruits, and from several crops have 

 reaped gains which have brought to them a comparative compe- 

 tence. This cannot be wondered at, when the nature of the 

 business is considered, and the peculiar advantages attending it. 



First :— It is almost absolutely without any risk or great anx- 

 iety. Only a small tract of land is required, so that a small 

 part of a person's capital need to be invested in land — the bal- 

 ance can be judiciously expended for improvements, and the com- 

 forts and conveniences of life. The profits of a few acres of 

 fruit will exceed those of one or two hundred acres in a farm. 

 The land is always a safe investment, and its cultivation always 

 profitable. There is no property so secure as the ownership of 

 the soil. It defies fire, floods and thieves. The fluctuations of 

 markets, the rise and fall of goods, and the condition of the stock 

 and money markets, need not cause the fruit grower sleepless 

 nights and terrible presentiments of failure and bankruptcy 



