Evolution of Iborticulture 



ter, compiled by Mr. Robert Manning, 

 the present efficient Secretary of the So- 

 ciety, is invaluable, and to this I am in- 

 debted for material that had escaped my 

 previous researches, at least so far as 

 these refer to the Eastern States. 



In the preparation of these pages, I 

 have endeavored to exercise that patience, 

 diligence, and care which an interest in 

 any art or science should always com- 

 mand. 



If the reader should discover certain 

 extraneous threads interwoven in the 

 fabric, the presence of which has not been 

 recognized by me, he may safely impute 

 the oversight to negligence rather than to 

 deliberate literary theft. 



Whatever may be its valuation, and 

 however egotistical it may seem to speak 

 the truth, its fabrication has afforded a 

 source of great pleasure in comparatively 

 leisure hours, and has awakened an in- 

 creased interest in all that pertains 

 directly or indirectly to horticulture. If 

 it should exert in any way a similar effect 



