4 PREFACE. 



much to unlearn as well as to learn, We find ourselves contin- 

 ually being taught some new or improved practice in the art. 



We have endeavored to make the book as comprehensive and 

 concise as possible, so that it might be kept within such a limit of 

 cost as would enable the poorest laborer to purchase it intending 

 it for the million, and not for the professional few. 



The times given for sowing and planting are those suitable for 

 the latitude of New York city ; due allowance must therefore be 

 made for places north or south of that latitude. As a general rule, 

 a degree southward or northward, as the case may be, is equivalent 

 to five or seven days earlier or later. Climates are sometimes local, 

 being influenced by various circumstances, such as mountains, for- 

 ests, lakes or the sea ; so that the isothermal lines of a country never 

 run exactly on the lines of latitude. In such cases allowances 

 must be made for such local variations. 



The seedsmen's catalogues contain the names of a multitude of 

 varieties, many of which are not of much value as compared with 

 others. They have to keep them on hand because there are those 

 who, having cultivated them for many years, are wedded to them, 

 and are slow to acknowledge that improvements can be made ; or 

 their particular trade, as in that of market gardeners, requires size 

 or extra earliness, without much reference to their quality. The 

 selections we have given are of such varieties as combine the great- 

 est number of good qualities without reference to size ; for this, of 

 itself, in the majority of cases, is but of secondary importance, and 

 very often indicates coarseness and lack of flavor. 



"We have not given any special directions for forcing or forward- 

 ing vegetables in frames, as this requires an amount of skill, labor 

 and attention that few except professional gardeners are possessed 

 of, or are capable of bestowing. 



If we find that this book is of service to those for whom it is in- 

 tended, we shall, at short intervals, issue three other garden hand- 

 booksthe " Flower Garden/' the "Fruit Garden," and the " Green- 

 house and "Window Garden." 



JAMES HOGG. 



New York, March 1st, 1877, 



