[CONCLUSION.] 



LAST WORDS. 



And now for a few closing words. This little book is not ad- 

 dressed to scientific or professional fruit-growers. Neither is ii in- 

 tended for that growing class of amateur cultivators, who, having 

 fortunes at command, can revel in all the luxuries of hot-house cul- 

 tore, and care little for the ordinary means that lie within the reach 

 of the humble citizen. It is not for them; yet they may find in it 

 something to interest them. 



But it is designed for that large class of toilers all over the land- 

 on the farms, in the villages, and even in cities — who earn a living 

 by the sweat of their brows. They, as a class, are presumed not to 

 be posted very well in the matters herein contained. If these — if 

 but a meagre portion of them — can be reached and benefited by its 

 contents, the writer will be amply satisfied. If they can be thereby 

 persuaded to plant, to till, to train, and to love these luscious 

 and health-giving gifts from a beneficent Creator, he will lie 

 feuflaciently repaid for the labor bestowed upon it. 



Of the Tree Fruits— &pp\es, pears, peaches, cherries, etc. — it is 

 presumed the farmers are better supplied than any other class. 

 Those in the Eastern and older-settled portions of the country, ol 

 course have their bearing orchards, from which to draw their sup- 

 plies. But their Western brethren are not so well provided for. 

 The occupant of a '* dug-out" in Kansas or Nebraska, or of a log- 

 cabin in Missouri or Arkansas, is compelled to forego these hixu- 

 ries for a time. But each may. by a timely effort, and little expt^nse, 

 provide himself with a liberal supply ot the s;. all fruits. And some 

 of them do— we are glad *o say— far outstrip many of their Eastern 

 friends in that respe t. The tree fruits require several .years to 

 produce a return ; but grapes and the berries can be had n\ucti 



(ITl) 



