PREFACE 



MY intention in preparing the present work has been to 

 bring together, for the guidance of those who live in the tropical 

 and subtropical regions of the globe, the available information 

 concerning the principal fruits cultivated, or which may be 

 cultivated, in those regions. The banana, the coconut, the 

 pineapple, the citrus fruits, the olive, and the fig are not in- 

 cluded, however, since these have been fully treated by other 

 writers. Nor have I attempted to describe all of the fruit- 

 bearing plants of the tropics : rather has it been my aim to 

 concentrate on those which most seem to merit extensive 

 cultivation, the culture of many of which is as yet little under- 

 stood. No work in the English language has attempted to 

 cover this subject, and the few which have appeared in other 

 languages do not contain the data concerning propagation 

 and cultural practices which would make them useful to horti- 

 culturists. Unfortunately, as regards many of the less-known 

 fruits, few data are available, but concerning the more im- 

 portant ones the researches of such workers as E. Bonavia, 

 A. C. Hartless, and William Burns in India, H. A. Van Her- 

 mann, F. S. Earle, and C. F. Kinman in the West Indies, 

 George B. Cellon, Edward Simmonds, W. J. Krome, P. H. 

 Rolfs, and Reasoner Brothers in southern Florida, F. Franceschi 

 (E. O. Fenzi) and Ira J. Condit in California, J. E. Higgins 

 and his associates in Hawaii, P. J. Wester in the Philippines, 

 and L. Trabut in the Mediterranean region, have brought to 

 light much valuable information. The work of such men as 

 G. N. Collins, O. F. Cook, David Fairchild, W. E. Safford, 

 and Walter T. Swingle, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 



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