114 CORDON TRAINING. 



CHAP. XIX. 



CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 



THIS last chapter shall be soon written. By 'this 

 time, doubtless, the amateur is more than satiated 

 with peremptory precepts. But they were un- 

 avoidable. The only alternative was to introduce 

 endless physiological discussions, which it would 

 not have been difficult to do, but which would 

 not have simplified anything. On the other 

 hand, without a few general principles on which 

 sound training is best conducted, every observa- 

 tion would necessarily have had to be taken on 

 trust. The consolation is, that this defect is 

 common to all books on fruit culture. " The 

 explanations of horticultural operations," says 

 Lindley, f( are simple, and free from obscurity ; 

 provided they are not encumbered with specula- 

 tions. Chemical illustrations, unless of the sim- 

 plest kind, or references to the agency of electri- 

 city, have little obvious application to practical 

 purposes." 



The object of a brief work like this, is not to 



