nti so '''m I 

 INTRODUCTORY. 



In laying the present work before the public, the writer has 

 carefully gathered together all the available " odds and ends " 

 of the varied experiences and experiments of the older and more 

 intelligent fruit growers of Florida, in addition to considerable 

 personal observation and experience, and in so doing trusts to 

 fill a gap in the practical literature of the " American Italy." 

 Books there are, small and incomplete, on orange culture, but 

 none that treat in a full work-a-day manner of the other varied 

 " Florida Fruits, and How to Eaise them." 



This important gap the writer has -sought to fill in such a 

 plain, simple manner, that the veriest novice may make a success 

 of fruit growing in his Florida home, while the concluding chap- 

 ter will teach him how to use such of those fruits as are not 

 usually familiar to the Northerner. 



Many of the Florida fruits have not been touched upon, as 

 being purely tropical, and confined to a comparatively small 

 portion of the State. Among these the cocoa-nut palm is the most 

 important, and is destined to become a source of great profit in 

 the regions of Key Largo, Key West, and the extreme southern 

 coast of Florida. 



