8 BIGGIE ORCHARD BOOK 



bulletins have been of aid to me in the preparation 

 of this volume. At times, too, I have been glad to 

 consult Prof. Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Horti- 

 culture, Thomas' American Fruit Culturist, Barry's 

 Fruit Garden, and other standard reference books. 

 And I am indebted to H. W. Collingwood, Editor of the 

 Rural New-Yorker, for permission to reproduce the 

 excellent dwarf pear photo-engraving in Chapter XV; 

 and to K. E. Harriman, of the Pilgrim Magazine, 

 Battle Creek, Mich., for his courtesy in allowing me 

 to use the peach-grader picture in Chapter XIX. 

 Occasionally I have used extracts from letters and 

 from Experiment Station or Department of Agricul- 

 ture literature, but, in the main, this Orchard Book 

 embodies my own experiences, observations and con- 

 clusions the result of a lifetime of practise and study. 

 My friend, Wilrner Atkinson, claims that his paper 

 is " Unlike any other. " He's right, too. It is. And, 

 following a good example, I have tried to make this 

 book different from any other. It isn't an encyclo- 

 pedia ; it isn't a long-winded two or three dollar 

 text-book; it isn't an incomplete pamphlet; it isn't 

 hard to understand; and it isn't a rehash of other 

 people's guesswork. No. It's simply a plain little 

 book that aims to tell the inquiring reader just what 

 he or she needs to know no more, no less. I have 

 tried to have all the necessary facts set down and all 

 the unnecessary things left out. It's boiled-down 

 ' ' essence of orchard, ' ' served with picture trimmings, 

 and side dishes of the finest colored plates ever put 

 into a horticultural book. I hope you will like it, and 

 that your orchard may prosper accordingly. 



Elmwood. J ACOB BIGGLE. 



