ON SPECIFIC NEEDS 



qualities of the new fruits as contrasted with the 

 old. But no fruit has really been perfected, in the 

 sense of having reached the limits of improve- 

 ment. 



There are numberless opportunities for better- 

 ment even in the case of the very finest varieties 

 of fruits of every kind. 



The successive chapters of the present volume 

 will be devoted to specific suggestions as to the 

 betterment of each of the important classes of 

 orchard fruits. In the present chapter, it is my 

 purpose to take a general survey of the field, 

 pointing out various lines of betterment not so 

 much with reference to any particular fruit, al- 

 though we shall constantly draw our illustrations 

 from specific fields, as with reference to the 

 entire class of orchard fruits. 



The suggestions here outlined are the result of 

 lifelong association with trees of the orchard. 

 Probably not less than half my experiments of 

 every character have been conducted in connec- 

 tion with one form or another of fruit trees. 



And a very large proportion of my most im- 

 portant new products, considered from an eco- 

 nomic standpoint, have been products of the 

 orchard. 



As TO MERE SIZE 



Almost the first thought that comes to one 



[11] 



