CORDON TRAINING. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Most books, whatever their size or subject, are better un- 

 derstood for some sort of prefatory remarks, and in an age 

 and country in which liorticulture meets with such high 

 patronage, it may seem presumptuous for an amateur to treat 

 of such a subject ; it may appear uncalled for ; and may 

 even require explanation of his motives. 



This feeling is not altogether without its uses, and the 

 author hastens to say, that this short work is the result of 

 much leisure time, which an enforced idleness, the result of 

 over-fatigue in the charge of a large parish, unexpectedly 

 created. 



Summer after summer, and winter after winter, was passed 

 by him abroad. It was impossible to be unemployed, and thus 

 he was enabled to observe the various modes of fruit culture 

 practised in different countries. 



This is an advantage, which is not always within the reach 

 of the most experienced gardener. But with the exception 

 of certain indigenous fruits, it is not necessary so to wander 

 to be convinced of the inferiority of continental gardening, 

 taken as a whole, compared with that of England. It is only 

 as we return northwards, that we can appreciate the skill by 

 which the very necessities of climate have led to the introduc- 

 tion of methods which have more than compensated for the 

 want of sun heat. A liberal use of glass enables us, even 

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