EXPLANATORY NOTE. 



FOR the past twenty-five years the senior member of our 

 firm, Mr. PETER HENDERSON, has, by his writings, been 

 prominently before the horticultural community both in this 

 country and in Europe, and as one of the results of this 

 prominence, we are constantly receiving inquiries from friends 

 and readers of his books for his photograph. In deference to 

 these oft-repeated requests, we have taken the liberty to 

 place his portrait in front of the present volume, which, from 

 the diversity of subjects of which it treats, is likely to have 

 a wider circulation than any of his previous works. 



PETER HENDERSON & CO., 



Publishers. 



