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INTRODUCTION. 



FEW will deny how essentially necessary the 

 kitchen-garden is to the comforts and con- 

 veniences of civilised life; indeed, scarcely a 

 day in the course of the year passes away with- 

 out our being reminded of its utility by the 

 many varieties of nutritious and wholesome 

 vegetables with which our tables are supplied. 

 This being the case, it cannot be disputed that 

 next in importance to the actual possession of 

 such a garden must be the knowledge of its 

 most profitable management, for it is notoriously 

 the fact, that for want of possessing this know- 

 ledge many gardens are quite unworthy of the 

 name, and prove rather a source of vexation 

 and loss to their possessors, than a means of 

 pleasure and advantage. To supply this, de- 

 sideratum to the young horticulturist or amateur 

 gardener, the present work is intended; its 

 particular objects being to furnish the best 

 information on the most approved methods of 

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