INTEODLCTIOX TO FIRS'l EDITION" XV 



or lea!-buds and fruit-buds. Very few understand the 

 functions of the different parts of trees, and the reUition 

 in which thej 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 

 larg3ly 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, mat- 

 ters, are very imperfectly understood. 



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 the winter, in the midst of other engagements that 

 renderi^d it impossible to bestow upon it the necessary 

 care and labor. My original intention was to give a 

 few brief directions for the management of garden-trees, 

 but it was suggested by friends that it would prove more 

 generally useful by adding a sketch of the entire routine 

 of operations, from the propagation in the nursery to the 

 management in the orchard and garden. This has in- 

 volved much more labor than it was intended to bestow 

 upon it, or than I could really spare from business. It 

 has, therefore, beeu performed hastily, and, of course. 



