THE PEINCIPLES OF FRUIT- 

 GROWING 



CHAPTER I 



THE FIELD OF INQUIRY 



It is natural for a fruit-plant to bear. There are cer- 

 tain hindrances, however, that must be overcome; and 

 the better the conditions under which the plant is placed, 

 the better will be the results in the production of accept- 

 able fruit. 



The whole subject of producing fruit is known as 

 fruit-growing or pomology. This subject comprises the 

 art of raising and handling fruits and fruit-plants, and 

 the applications of the various sciences thereto. It is 

 impossible exactly to define what a fruit is, in the sense 

 in which the term is understood in pomological writings. 

 It is best delimited by giving a list of the products that 

 are commonly known as fruits. If a definition were 

 attempted of the pomological use of the word, it would 

 be approximately correct to say that a fruit is the edible 

 product mostly of a woody or a tree-like plant' — as of a • 

 tree, bush, or vine — that is intimately associated in its 

 development with the flower. This conception of a fruit 

 is unlike the botanical idea, for the botanist defines the 

 fruit to be the ripened pericarp and attachments. It 

 should be said, however, that this confusion in terminology 

 A (1) 



