10 BIGGIE BKRRY BOOK. 



animates their hearts. This book could stand alone 

 upon genuine merit as a treatise on small fruits with- 

 out a line from my own pen, so rare and valuable are 

 the contributions from those fine gentlemen who have 

 given so freely of their knowledge and experience on 

 this subject. 



It will be seen, therefore, that many pages of my 

 book will contain explicit information furnished by 

 berry experts, and that this knowledge is gathered 

 from all parts of the country, in all latitudes and lon- 

 gitudes, and from practical men who know what they 

 are telling about ; and it is obvious that a summary of 

 the experience thus brought together must be of vastly 

 more value to the one who would educate himself in 

 this line of horticultural work, than the opinions and 

 writings of any one man, whose operations and obser- 

 vations are mostly confined to one farm or one neigh- 

 borhood, no matter how smart that man may be. 



One of the features of this work which I thought 

 would commend itself to the public is the picture 

 gallery, containing the likenesses of many skilled 

 berry growers, most of whom are contributors, who 

 have had marked success in their calling and who are 

 honorably known the country over. 



Certainly it wi 1 gratify many readers to look into 

 their honest faces, to come to know T them better, and 

 thus appreciate them more. 



Another feature is the showing of the berries in 

 natural colors, which has not, to my knowledge, ever 

 been attempted, or at least accomplished before. It 

 cost time, money and infinite pains to procure accurate 

 paintings of the fruits, and to transfer them to the pages 

 of the book, each specimen being printed in eight 



