INTRODUCTION. 
, a 
Wuen I married Mr. Loudon, it is scarcely possible to 
‘magine any person more completely ignorant than I was, of 
every thing relating to plants and gardening ; and, as may be 
easily imagined, I found every one about me so well acquaint- 
ed with the subject, that I was soon heartily ashamed of my 
ignorance. My husband, of course, was quite as anxious to 
teach me as | was to learn, and it is the result of his instruc- 
tions that I now (after ten years’ experience of their Mercy 
wish to make public for the benefit of others. 
I do this, because I think books intended for professional ts 
gardeners are seldom suitable to the wants of amateurs. It 
is so very difficult for a person who has been acquainted with 
a subject all his life, to imagine the state of ignorance in 
which a aig is who knows nothing of it, that adepts often 
find it in ible to communicate the knowledge they possess. 
Thus, fe may at first sight appear presumptuous in me- 
to attempt to teach an art of which for three-fourths of my lifes 
I was perfectly ignorant, it is in fact that very circumstance 
whict is one of my chief qualifications for the task. Having 
* been a full-grown pupil myself, I know the wants of others in 
a similar situation ; and having never been satisfied without 
knowing the reason for every thing I was told to do, I am able 
to impart these reasons to others. Thus my readers will be 
able to judge for themselves, and to adapt their practice. to 
the circumstances in which they may be placed. a / 
