INTRODUCTION. 



CRITICS may still ask "Do you not think that 

 fruit culture will be overdone ? and in view of 

 blights, spring- frosts, and occasional gluts of produce, 

 are you still justified in advising an extension of the 

 industry ? " 



The author's reply is, that, living as he does in the 

 greatest fruit-growing County, and being in touch with 

 the largest growers elsewhere, he is still perfectly 

 convinced that there is room for extension, but on 

 modern lines. He would advocate the " Kentish 

 system," which may be stated brieily as intelligent 

 fruit cultivation, as distinguished from the old system 

 of fruit planting at hazard. One fact alone will 

 answer all pessimists. It is this : the largest growers — 

 keen, hardworking, bur.iness men, who would be the 

 first to feel lessening demand or the fall of prices 

 below a paying scale — are yearly and constantly 

 enlarging their acreage ; and as they number their 

 soft fruit produce by tons, and hard fruits by thousands 

 of bushels, their action furnishes a complete reply. 



But new growers must approach the business on 

 modern methods— paying attention to the smallest 

 details ; cultivating those kinds that by name command 

 market value ; adopting the best system of grading, 

 and endeavour to build up a reputation for honest 

 packing and high quality ; growing but few kinds 

 and doing them well. 

 B 



