14 GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 



It must be remembered that the remarks in the test 

 of the following pages, with regard to plants that will 

 stand the cold of winter, apply to the winters of Ireland 

 and England, and not to those of the United States 

 generally. The climate of England and Ireland is 

 milder and more moist than that of this country our 

 winters are colder and our summers warmer. Such 

 extremes of heat and cold, of dryness and moisture, 

 therefore, as our climate is subject to, renders it a very 

 trying one to cultivated exotics, many of which will not 

 thrive well unless well attended to. 



In the English edition it is taken as granted, that 

 every one who would cultivate a flower garden, has a 

 " pretty general knowledge of its management ;" and, 

 consequently, in preparing the American edition for the 

 press, I have been obliged to add much matter, in the 

 form of explanations and directions, in order to render 

 it intelligible to such as have to learn both the terms 

 used by florists, and the practice of cultivating plants 

 at the same time. 



