PREFACE. 



IN the preparation of this Essay I desire to acknowledge my indebted- 

 ness to Mr. E. P. Roe, an American author, for the small figures (p. 26) 

 on planting Strawberries, which were reduced from his excellent work 

 entitled Success n-itk Small Fruits, London publishers Messrs. Seeley, 

 Jackson, and Halliday, Fleet Street. I have to thank Mr. A. Pettigrew, 

 Cardiff Castle Gardens, for photographs of Apple and Pear trees, repre- 

 sented on pp. 81, 93. It is right to add that the illustrations on 

 grafting, pp. 109, 110, were taken from the Jounial of Horticulture. 

 The remaining thirty-three engravings are original. Those re- 

 presenting Currant and G-ooseberry branches, both in a resting and 

 bearing state, were sketched from bushes grown by Mr. E. Molyneux 

 at Swanmore Park. I have grown many similar to them, also every 

 kind of plant, bush, and tree referred to in the pages. 



Varieties of fruits, notably of the most important Apples have 

 been chosen for their usefulness, earliness in bearing, with good 

 appearance and quality of the fruit, rather than for the predominance 

 of some one particular merit esteemed by connoisseurs ; and, as far as 

 possible, those sorts have been included which have proved the most 

 productive in generally unfruitful years. Slow, shy, and uncertain 

 bearers, no matter how handsome and excellent the fruit, are not the 

 most useful for planting by cottagers and small holders in gardens or 

 fields. 



I shall not consider this Essay satisfactory if it does not prove 

 serviceable to many (at present inexperienced) cultivators of hardy 

 fruit. 



J. WRIGHT. 

 London, December 1st, 1889. 



AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



The author, while gratified by the generous reception that has been 

 accorded to the first edition of this work, regrets that the sudden 

 demand for a re-issue, which has to be prepared with the utmost 

 possible dispatch, affords no opportunity for revision. The literary 

 imperfections must therefore perforce remain, but they do not affect 

 the practical lessons embodied in its pages. 



London, October 1st, 1890. 



AUTHOR'S NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 



As in the case of the second edition of this Essay so in the third. It 

 has to be produced so quickly to meet pressing demands that the 

 matter must remain as before, and it is hoped that its usefulness may 

 equal its acceptability. 



London, November 1st, 1891. 



