X PREFACE 



abreast of the times. The increasing multiplicity of horticultural interests 

 and writing seemsto call for a cumulative record; whether such a record is 

 attempted will depend in great part on the desires of the persons who use 

 such a work as this. 



THE RECENT PROGRESS IN HORTICULTURE 



As I see it, the horticultural progress in the few years since the Cyclopedia 

 was projected lies in the continuous steady evolution of the already established 

 lines of development, rather than in the appearing of wholly new movements 

 or enterprises. What some of the emphatic lines of development are I shall 

 try briefly to indicate. 



The most distinct progress that is now making in the general agricultural 

 field is in placing country life subjects on a true pedagogic basis and in adapt- 

 ing them directly to the schools and the lives of the people. In this general 

 progress, horticulture partakes. In fact, horticulture is bound to have a large 

 part in this development because the growing of plants, in school gardens and 

 elsewhere, is easily adaptable to secondary school work and the pedagogical 

 results are direct and certain. 



Closely allied to this pedagogical work is the increased effort to place 

 horticultural and country life subjects before the people in an attractive way 

 by means of periodicals and books. Even if this effort is expressed chiefly in 

 pictures, examples and episodes, the effect is bound to be good; and we may 

 expect a larger production of really artistic literature as one result of it. The 

 extension work of the agricultural colleges and the United States Department 

 of Agriculture is a similar effort, and it is producing most far-reaching results. 

 A very marked advance has also been made in civic improvement, whereby 

 towns and cities are to be made to appeal to the esthetic tastes of sensitive 

 persons. 



Along with all this interest in education, there has been a satisfactory 

 growth of societies devoting themselves to the many kinds of horticultural 

 interests and to the artistic improvement of cities and villages. The Society 

 for Horticultural Science has been organized for the discussion of technical 

 scientific questions as they affect horticultural thought and practice. As these 

 pages go to press, a National Council of Horticulture is in process of organi- 

 zation as a result of a movement set on foot at the Louisiana Purchase Expo- 

 sition. This organization will not be a society, but it will attempt to codrdiuate 

 and concrete the work of the existing national societies, to discuss questions of 

 public policy and administration that are common to them all, and to serve as 



