CONCLUSION. 145 



and the fruit, though immature and only partially colored, 

 was, without thinning, as "large as Baldwins," and Mr. Pierce 

 suggests a sheltered place to protect its wonderful crops, and 

 also a mulch of straw to save the "large and heavy apples " 

 from bruising when they fall. Remembering that results 

 come only from adequate causes, and not by chance, is there 

 any adequate cause for the regular and abundant crops on 

 this tree, except that it had struck its several tap-roots, as 

 shown in the cut (page 144), deep down to permanent moist- 

 ure, and that its surface roots were left entirely undisturbed? 



I will now bring this chapter and the book to a close, sub- 

 mitting it to the serious consideration of fruit-growers all over 

 the world, for its principles are of universal application. 



There is not a single really important operation of our 

 modern orchards, starting with the form of tree, character of 

 ground preparation, planting of the tree, and its after-treat- 

 ment, all through its poor, persecuted life, that is not a plain 

 violation of nature's methods, by which she grows trees so 

 far superior to ours that any but a blind man must stand 

 abashed at the comparison. Being so revolutionary, The 

 New Horticulture has met with determined opposition and 

 ridicule from a large majority of the Professors, Horticultural 

 Scientists and Experiment Stations, who seem to be bound 

 with the strong chains of prejudice, Prometheus like, upon 

 the rock of blind conservatism. They will not experiment 

 fairly, and yet condemn. While there are other honorable 

 exceptions to this charge, I will close with two quotations, 

 the first from Prof. T. L. Brunk's bulletin, issued from the 

 Maryland Experiment Station sixteen years ago, in which, 

 with prophetic vision, he says : 



"I believe I am safe in stating that these methods of treating 

 trees are destined to supplant old methods to a large extent, and with 

 a larger range of species and varieties than has yet been tried, and 

 that they have a number of important advantages over old methods 

 which will give a new stimulus to fruit-growing and result in a new 

 system of training and after-treatment of orchards." 



That he was a true prophet is proved by the fact that 

 thousands of progressive men everywhere have planted, and 

 still are planting, root-pruned orchards, and putting them 



