IV INTRODUCTION. 



their habits, cultivation, or treatment, or that there should be 

 any difference in their management. Having had long expe- 

 rience in the cultivation, as well as the sale, of seeds and 

 plants, it is expected that every inquiry should be promptly and 

 correctly answered, in good humor, and as part of the trade; 

 this it is always pleasant to do when there is not a press of 

 business ; but sometimes this is rather trying. This book, 

 therefore, may be said to have been partly written in self- 

 defence, or, more properly speaking, to give all needed instruc- 

 tions deliberately and correctly, instead of doing it in a hurry. 

 The low price of the book will bring it within the reach of 

 almost every person. 



It was thought desirable to bring to notice many of our beau- 

 tiful indigenous plants and shrubs, as worthy of cultivation. A 

 handsome flower-garden may be made of these /done ; many 

 of them are within the reach of every one, and may be obtained 

 without money and without price. The care and trouble is 

 all the outlay, arid this may be offset by the pleasure derived 

 .in collecting them from the fields, woods, or meadows. 



The time of flowering and directions for sowing seeds, hardi- 

 ness, &c., correspond to the meridian of Boston; but those in 

 different latitudes will find no difficulty in making the proper 

 allowance for the difference in location. 



The plan of this work was devised twenty years ago, and 

 more than three hundred pages of closely written letter-paper 

 prepared for it ; but it was found, in the diffuse manner in which 

 it was commenced, that it would require a thousand pages to 

 complete it, and, as other business interfered, it was abandoned. 



