PREFACE. 



It is the first step in science to know what is 

 known. What is new, and dependent on expe- 

 rience and original observation, will then come 

 easier and more certainly. It is an economy of 

 time and labor, in any investigator, to ascertain 

 well what has been done before him, in any field 

 of experiment. Much time is often irrecoverably 

 wasted in blundering over proposed experiments, 

 and supposed novelties, that have long before 

 been thoroughly examined and definitely settled. 

 In no branch of practical science, are these max- 

 ims more true than in regard to the cultivation 

 of fruit ; and this because there are so many 

 claims upon the cultivator's attention ; so many 

 drafts upon his credulous inexperience ; so many 

 contradictory statements resulting from super- 

 ficial investigations ; so many delusory appear- 

 ances ; so much pretension and self-serving ; so 

 much that rests upon inadequate and interested 



