PREFACE. 



1 have been induced to present in the following pages practical 

 directions for the propagation and cultivation of small fruits, partly 

 because a few friends, to whose judgment I have been accustomed to 

 defer, advised it ; partly to answer the numerous questions that are 

 being constantly addressed to me orally and by letter ; and partly 

 because I hoped thereby to encourage the more general dissemina- 

 tion and use of fruits. 



There are many merchants, mechanics, professional men, and men 

 of leisure, owners of small tracts of land in the country or suburban 

 villages, who are anxious to learn something of the best varieties, 

 and the different methods of growing them in the private garden. It 

 has been my aim to furnish a hand-book containing just the kind of 

 information required by this class, and also for more extensive culti- 

 vators in the field. 



No attempt has been made to dress the subject in fine language 

 and well rounded periods, or to do more than to give the best prac- 

 tical directions in the most compact form, thus bringing the work 

 within the means of all who may wish to cultivate fruits for their own 

 tables with their own hands. Whoever wishes to grow fruits for the 

 market will not fail to consult the works of such men as Downing, 

 Barry, Fuller, and Roe, each of which should have a place in the libra- 

 ry of every one making any pretensions to horticultural knowledge. 

 Some of the more elaborate works, however, embrace matter of little 

 or no interest to the novice, while others are too expensive for gen- 

 eral circulation. 



This brief treatise will be found to contain all that is essential to 

 success at trifling cost, but is not intended to supersede the labor of 

 others. Most of the so-called "Guides" and " Instructors" are little 

 more than advertising catalogues, in which new varieties are puffed, 



