PBEFACE. 



Fifty years' experience and observation in horticultural matters 

 has made us aware that there is a very numerous class of persons 

 throughout the country that need and desire instruction in garden- 

 ing. These persons are farmers and the business men residing in 

 the neighborhood of our cities, who have plots of ground varying 

 in extent from one-quarter of an acre to two or more acres peo- 

 ple who either do not have land enough to employ, or do not find 

 it convenient to keep a professional gardener, but rely upon the 

 occasional services of a laborer or a groom to cultivate their grounds. 

 These men know but little of garden practice, and hence their em- 

 ployers have to devote then- garden plots to the growth of the more 

 common and most easily cultivated vegetables, and this is not 

 often done in the best manner. 



It is to such employers that we dedicate this book, so that they 

 may be able to direct and instruct those whom they employ, and 

 provide them with that knowledge and intelligence in which they 

 are lacking. 



It were foolishness to attempt to prove that a vegetable garden 

 is a necessity, or that a large variety of vegetables for the table 

 is a luxury and a source of great gustatory pleasure, for that is 

 acknowledged by every one. Yet we have been much struck when 

 visiting or traveling in the country, when noting the very limited 

 supply and the small number of varieties grown by our country 

 friends, especially farmers. Even when there was a good supply, 

 the varieties were of such inferior quality that half the pleasure of 

 the table was done away with. Lettuces that were as tough as a 

 drumhead, tomatoes as empty and tough as an India-rubber ball, 

 gnarly cucumbers, and peas that reminded one of sawdust or dry 

 meal, are not very appetizing adjuncts to a dinner. 



This book is not intended for the professional gardener, yet there 

 may be in it some hints or reminders that may be of sendee to him, 

 for progress is made in gardening as in any other art, and there is 



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