io ORCHARD FRUIT TREE CULTURE 



a thousand thousand millions of young a year. That is doubtless 

 an intelligent and vouched for estimate which we can very well 

 accept, and it is a statement of the concrete order, which 

 fastens at once upon our imagination and impresses us as no less 

 bald statement could. It gives us a fair idea of the vast importance 

 there is in the studying of this problem, for the " blue bug " is 

 not the only, nor is it the worst of our enemies. It is quite safe 

 to say that in the adequate destruction of insect pests lies very 

 largely the future prospects of our industry. 



Neither must we overlook the fact that some of our most potential 

 enemies lie hidden in the ground. Not only have we such well- 

 known enemies as wire-worm, centipedes, and all their relatives 

 and friends, but science has recently taken up the soil and discovered 

 to us incredible bacteriological facts. It has shown us that in a 

 spadeful of earth there are millions of friendly and unfriendly 

 bacteria, and it has shown us how to encourage the one and dis- 

 courage the other, and that, as we till the soil, so exactly will the 

 results be beneficial or inimical, and that effect will follow cause 

 as relentlessly as fate. 



It seemed good to us, before attempting the more detailed study 

 of the raising of fruit trees and the growing of fruit for market, 

 to make this brief reference to the advance of science, and its 

 incalculable aid to our efforts. Our minds, seeking enlightenment 

 in its beneficent rays, will approach the lesser, but equally important, 

 details of cultivation in a clearer atmosphere, and a mentality which 

 will effectually range far beyond the severe and limited outlook, 

 which for so many generations retarded the development of the 

 growing of British fruit. 



