PREFACE 



This book has been prepared to meet the needs of high 

 schools in cities and towns where agriculture is taught, and 

 in which the problems that confront the teacher are in some 

 respects different from those that come up in rural communi- 

 ties. The environment of the city child makes it undesirable 

 to emphasize in his case the growing of stock, the production 

 and care of milk, the breeding of animals, and the cultivation 

 of field crops. There is, however, much information of a 

 practical nature regarding the cultivation of plants which he 

 finds necessary for the fullest enjoyment of his surroundings. 

 Though not engaged in growing crops for a livelihood, he is, 

 nevertheless, interested in the cultivation of vegetables and 

 flowers, the making of lawns and their care, the planting of 

 shrubbery, the trimming of trees, and similar matters. In the 

 present volume it has been the aim, therefore, to develop the 

 subject of agriculture from the urban viewpoint, though 

 y* the matters discussed are fundamental to any system of cul- 

 S^ tivating plants and are as applicable to rural communities as 

 elsewhere. Furthermore, it is expected that the book will 

 ^ also serve as a practical guide to that part of the general 



X)ublic which, though no longer in school, takes an interest 

 n the cultivation of plants in lawn, garden, and orchard. 

 >i\ Agronomy, as outlined in the following pages, is regarded 

 a division of agriculture coordinate with animal husbandry. 

 The latter division, though often included in books of this 

 kind, is as distinct from agronomy as zoology is from botany, 

 and has been omitted from this book partly because the sub- 

 ject of agronomy is alone sufficient for one semester's work, 



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