140 THE NEW HORTICULTURE. 



says that all the fruit except apples is gone in his section. I went 

 through my orchard again today and find that I have lots of peaches 

 on my trees. Yours truly, 



W. W. DURHAM." 



Mr. Durham is a cotton buyer of Austin, who, with no 

 experience, had the foresight and sound judgment to see 

 the great truths of the New Horticulture when laid before 

 him, and the nerve to go out, drive holes in the virgin sod, 

 in 3-foot hoed circles, and plant 1,000 close root-pruned 

 fruit trees six years ago, to the great amusement of his 

 neighbors. They laughed then, but he laughs now. To him 

 and the following progressive journals which have from time 

 to time opened their columns to a free discussion of the 

 New Horticulture and given it kindly consideration, I feel 

 under lasting obligations. Except for them, its principles 

 would have made slow headway. The names of these 

 unprejudiced journals are the Practical Fruit-Grower of 

 Missouri, the Rural New- Yorker, Country Gentleman and 

 American Fruits of New York, the Pacific Fruit World of 

 California, the Peach and Truck Grower of Georgia, the 

 Southern Fruit Grower of Tennessee and the Florida Agri- 

 culturist of Florida, as well as the general press of Texas. 

 The one exception to this fair treatment of so important a 

 subject has been the National Nurseryman of Rochester, 

 N. Y. , whose editor, Professor Craig, has taken every 

 opportunity to ridicule and condemn the book and its prin- 

 ciples, and several months ago published an attack on my 

 truth and fair dealing by a sneaking correspondent of Texas, 

 who wrote him that my trees were cultivated and not a sod 

 orchard at all. This was because a space of about one foot 

 from the trees is kept clean to prevent damage to the bodies 

 by the mowing machine. To this attack friend Kirkpatrick, 

 who has visited me several times, kindly replied, giving the 

 facts as stated. 



