I INTRODUCTION. 



every step ; and we both soon discovered the 

 truth of the apparent paradox, that it is not 

 enough to know any art or science to be able to 

 teach it, and instead of wondering that I had 

 not obtained all the information I wished from 

 books, it seemed strange that I had found them 

 of any use at all. 



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 those 

 are who know nothing about it, that a profes- 

 sional gardener has rarely patience to teach 

 anything to an amateur. It is necessary to be a 

 full-grown pupil, as I was myself, to understand 

 the wants of those in a similar situation ; and 

 it requires to have an able and never-wearied 

 instructor, such as I had, to explain the reasons 

 for every rule, to make rules generally ap- 

 plicable. 



In the following pages I have endeavoured 

 to embody the substance of the instructions I 

 received from my husband ; but as these in- 

 structions were given now nearly twenty years 

 ago, and as gardening is a progressive science, 

 I cannot say I have confined myself to them. 

 On the contrary, I have endeavoured to make 

 my readers acquainted with every improvement 

 that has taken place ; always, however, explain- 

 ing, as far as I have found it possible, why the 

 changes I mention have been adopted. 



