INTRODUCTION. 



\Ye have much pleasure in placing before those interested 

 our Sixth Edition of " Mints on Fruit Growing." This edition 

 has been carefully revised and brought up to date, and many new 

 articles have been added which we think will extend its oppor- 

 tunity for usefulness. 



\Ve are much indebted to Mr. C. P. Lounsbury, Mr. I. B. 

 Pole-Evans. Mr. R. A. Davis and Mr. R. J. Buhner, all of the 

 Union Department of Agriculture, for their valuable assistance in 

 compiling data, also for their advice and suggestions. Also our 

 thanks are due to Dr. Xobbs of the Rhodesian Department of 

 .Agriculture, for his advice on Manures and Manuring; Mr. J. 

 \Y fones, of the Cape Explosives Works, Ltd.. for his valuable 

 article on Dynamiting Land; and to Mr. Horace Pickstone for 

 his advice on Lime for the Soil, and also to Mr. Claude Marais 

 for hi> instructions on Fruit Drying. 



All the scientific data found herein can be accepted as 

 authoritative, and growers can accept same as reliable. \Ye 

 trust our " Hints " may be found of some little service to some 

 of those who are following and who intend embarking in our 

 Industry, and also to the dilettante who finds amusement in the 

 garden. We have tried to make our remarks practical, and 

 the ideas intelligible. Several paragraphs have been taken over 

 from foreign sources, as we found there our own ideas very 

 clearly expressed. Advice tendered herein to growers is not 

 theoretical, but is based in nearly every instance on personal 

 experience, or the experience of others that has come under our 

 observation. No attempt has been made to deal with technical 

 questions, such as the character of soils, the action of manures, 

 the budding and grafts of trees, the circulation of sap, &c. ; all 

 these matters can be found in the numerous standard works on 

 fruit culture written by much abler pens than ours, and by men 

 have technical knowledge which we make no claim to 



