PREFACE. 



Having for many years past devoted my attention 

 to the subjects treated of in this work, and from the 

 general call for appliable information thereon, I have 

 been induced to give it to the public, in the fall 

 persuasion that it will be acceptable to horticultur- 

 ists, gardeners, and others engaged in this depart- 

 ment of horticulture. From the numerous inquiries 

 which I have received, there appears to be a great 

 want of practical knowledge on these subjects ; and 

 though much information may be gleaned from vari- 

 ous English works, they are either unobtainable, or 

 the information is inapplicable to the wants of this 

 country. 



When I commenced this treatise, I intended it as 

 a series of articles for periodical publication ; but 

 the development of the subjects, and the accumula- 

 tion of facts, swelled it to such a size as to render 

 its publication in that form impossible. In prepar- 

 ing it for the press, in its present form, I have been 

 desirous to add nothing but what is necessary to a 

 full understanding of the subject in hand, and have 

 given figures and diagrams where illustration is 

 required. 



The changes which have occurred, during the last 

 twenty years, « in the method of constructing and 



