VI PREFACE BF THE EDITOR 



which it is a part, the aim has been to treat gen- 

 eral truths and principles, rather than mere details 

 of practice. A book cannot instruct in all the de- 

 tails of any rural business, because these details 

 vary with the environment and the personality of 

 the operator. The book should attempt, therefore, to 

 give such instruction as to enable the reader to 

 think out and to solve the local problems for him- 

 self. When practices are described in detail, it is 

 rather more for the purpose of illustrating a prin- 

 ciple than for the giving of direct advice. 



In this book an effort has been made to dis- 

 cuss all those small - fruits which have many or 

 most points in common. Therefore, the strawberry 

 and cranberry have been omitted, and the term 

 bush -fruits, long in use in England, is employed 

 to designate the group. The use of this term will 

 go far towards elucidating the principles involved 

 in the cultivation of the fruits here described, by 

 eliminating unrelated topics ; for the principles 

 which underlie the management of the strawberry 

 are no more like the principles underlying the 

 management of the blackberry than they are like 

 those concerned in the growing of the apple. 



The domestication of the bush -fruits is one of 

 the most recent developments of American horticul- 

 ture, and the subject is all the more interesting 



