INTRODUCTION. 



THAT the public interest in horticulture 

 has received a marked stimulus within the last 

 twenty-five years is fully proved by the in- 

 creased number of nurseries now carried on 

 successfully in this country. Mr. Barry stated, 

 in a lecture delivered in New Haven a few 

 years ago, that "there were in the United 

 States 1,000 nurseries ; and in Monroe County, 

 Rew York, there were 3,000 or 4,000 acres, 

 producing annually $500,000 worth of trees." 



Notwithstanding the large sales of fruit 

 trees, it is very surprising how few fine pear 

 orchards are to be met with in any part of the 

 country, and how numerous are the instances 

 of neglected and ill-used fruit trees ; the roots 

 vainly striving to obtain sustenance from an 

 impoverished soil, while the body has been 

 mutilated by carelessness, and the bark often- 

 times covered with fungi and mosses, so as to 



