VI INTRODUCTION. 



tomary to procure salads and other vegetables 

 for the tables of the queen and nobility, from 

 Flanders and Holland. 



Since that time, however, the improvement 

 of the kitchen-garden has been progressive, 

 and the combination of British industry and 

 skill has raised it to its present superiority. In 

 reaching this pre-eminence, it has been greatly 

 assisted by the talents and writings of Quintinie 

 of the French school, and Miller of the English, 

 but there still remains great room for improve- 

 ment, and an ample field for the exercise of the 

 ingenuity of horticulturists. 



Emboldened by the success of a former work 

 on fruits, which has reached a third edition, 

 the author offers the present to a discern- 

 ing public, in the hope that a similar success 

 may attend it ; and while he would not attempt 

 to undervalue other horticultural writings, he 

 would yet venture to call attention to the cir- 

 cumstance that few, if any, will be found to 

 contain an equal amount of practical inform- 

 ation, condensed in the same compass, and at 

 the same price. 



In arranging the present work, utility has 

 been the principal object of the author, and in 

 seeking it, he has paid but little attention tQ 



