INTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION. XI 



or leaf-buds and fruit-buds. Very few understand the 

 functions of the different parts of trees, and the relation 

 in which they stand one to another ; the principles that 

 govern and regulate the growth and maturity, the forma- 

 tion of wood, and the production of fruit. Practice is 

 no better understood than principle. Persons engaged 

 largely in tree growing will frequently ask the most ab- 

 surd questions on the subject of propagation of stocks, of 

 pruning, etc., matters that should be understood by every 

 man who has a single tree to manage, but especially in- 

 dispensable to those who wish to succeed in conducting 

 garden-trees under certain modified forms, more or less 

 opposed to the natural. The preparation of ground, lay- 

 ing out small gardens, the selection of suitable trees, and 

 a multitude of minor, but nevertheless, important matters 

 are very imperfectly understood. Neither our State nor 

 national governments have ever manifested a disposition 

 to favor the rural arts with anything like a liberal patron- 

 izing policy. Advanced, wealthy, and powerful as we are, 

 not a single step has been taken, in earnest, to establish 

 model farms or model gardens, in which experiments 

 might be made, and examples given, that would enlighten 

 cultivators, and elevate and honor their profession. What- 

 ever advance has been made, is due wholly to individual 

 taste, energy, and enterprise ; and to these alone are we 

 permitted to look for future progress. 



Having for many years devoted much attention to this 

 particular branch of culture, and feeling deeply interested 

 in its success, and having, by a business intercourse with 

 cultivators in all parts of the country, an ample opportu- 

 nity of understanding the nature and extent of the infor- 

 mation desired, I have prepared the following pages to 

 supply it, at least, in part. 



I am well convinced that the work is neither perfect nor 

 complete. It has been prepared, during a few weeks of 



