AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



WHO in our days does not love flowers, and 

 who does not like to do a little gardening? 

 Assuredly, not you nor I, dear reader, nor any 

 of our acquaintance. But the love of flowers, 

 the taste which of all others affords the greatest 

 amount of elegant and harmless pleasure, is by 

 many deemed to be an unfortunate one, seeing 

 that it is out of their power to indulge it. In 

 your case, sir, for instance, the burden of busi- 

 ness, oftentimes a terribly heavy one, which it 

 is not in your power to shake off, absolutely 

 forbids a residence in the country. And, in 

 yours, my dear lady, the duty of watching over 

 your young family obliges you to remain in the 

 city. Others of your friends, who share your 

 taste for flowers, are condemned to a sedentary 

 existence, for the want of that most precious 

 of all possessions health. Time was when a 

 few favored individuals possessed what was 



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