INTRODUCTION xix 



" // we were to send in those peaches to our customers 

 they would be promptly sent back to us" ! 



The clever way of intercropping in these gardens is 

 instructive, and might be carried out almost anywhere. 

 Weeks before a given crop is ready for cutting another 

 crop, usually of a different nature, is planted between, 

 and when the first crop is cut the new one is ready to 

 spread itself out and occupy the whole of the ground. 

 The partial shade of the first crop does the young plants 

 no harm. This is one way of getting a good deal off 

 the ground. This plan is carried out to some extent 

 by cottage gardeners in England, who are often good 

 gardeners. 



This book is the work of a thoroughly trained gardener 

 (a better word than horticulturist) ; it is sure to be helpful 

 to all those who are interested in this question, and goes 

 as far as a book can. I think in all these interesting 

 cultures we ought to do a little more than book or college 

 work. We should send young men abroad after due 

 training, the farmer to Germany and Hungary, the 

 gardener to France. There is so much more to be learnt 

 by actual contact with soil, climate, surroundings every- 

 thing. They speak to us in a way that no book ever 

 can. And the same thing may be said in regard to 

 forestry and mirsery work ; but the men who are to do this 

 kind of work should be well-trained men that is, men who 

 have been trained in several good gardens, so that they 

 might be able to judge of the value of what they saw. 



Those who think of attempting such gardening in our 

 country should remember that this very special culture 

 is for the most valuable crops, and that the work is done 

 in the best conditions by unremitting labour of trained 

 men. In France, as in our own country, for ordinary 



