PREFACE. 



^AEVERAL months ago I contributed to Farm and 

 \^ Ranch, Dallas, Texas, the fruit-growers' organ 

 for the Southwest, four articles on the best 

 form of tree for transplanting, as well as the best 

 preparation of the ground and after-treatment of the 

 orchard. To these was added an inquiry into the 

 causes and prevention of pear and apple blight. 

 Having received quite a number of requests to em- 

 body the whole in print, I concluded to do so, and 

 to add in a narrative sort of way some pages from 

 my own personal experience of thirty years in fruit 

 and vegetable growing, the whole of which seems to 

 contain enough new points of interest to justify the 

 title of "The New Horticulture," and to warrant 

 laying them before my fellow fruit-growers. While 

 directly applicable, in some of the details and varie- 

 ties, to the far South only, many of the suggestions 

 are of general interest all over the country. There 

 is no doubt that some of them will meet with decided 

 opposition, but I feel confident that a fair trial will 

 in the end prove me right in the main. My object 

 has been to show that some of the principles of hor- 

 ticulture to-day are wrong, and also to suggest a 

 more natural, cheaper and better way to grow good 

 fruit than the laborious and expensive methods now 

 in use. While in the analysis of manures and de- 

 struction of insects we have made good progress, 



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