222 Gardner's Farmer's Dictionary. 



examples of tautology. Each farmer may satisfy himself with a set of ar- 

 bitrary terms, which convey all the information he desires ; but they will 

 not answer if he wishes to impart that information to others. There is, 

 perhaps, no greater drawback to the advancement oi our art, than the indef- 

 inite words used among us, — words which are often peculiar to a small dis- 

 trict, and which are used to designate a variety of objects in different parts 

 of the country. , 



The friends of agricultural improvement, and especially our journalists, 

 should use all exertions to establish a suitable nomenclature. The art has 

 arrived at that stage that this is the greatest object to be accomplished. It 

 will open to the practical man the extensive information of the scientific 

 world, and will enable the theorist to study his generalizations by consulting 

 the works of the true farmer. I have not, in attempting to carry out my 

 original design of preparing a vocabulary, thought it advisable to insert 

 every provincial phrase, but have taken only those words in common use 

 among farmers, and which have become somewhat fixed by being frequently 

 introduced into essays. I have thought it useful, when words were occa- 

 sionally met with a strange signification, to omit them as an error in lan- 

 guage ; nor has it appeared conformable with my object to introduce the 

 well-known words of our language which have a place in the common dic- 

 tionaries. In this compilation, I am necessarily under infinite obligations to 

 others, especially to Loudon, Rham, Youatt, Stephens, Johnson, Deane, 

 Young, Buel, Armstrong, Ellsworth, Colman, Low, Brande, Clater, &c., 

 &c., and our journahsts. ISIy task has not been, however, without labor ; 

 for I could find no vocabulary such as that 1 desired to produce already in 

 existence, to serve me as a model ; and if any merit should be awarded me 

 for this undertaking, it may be claimed on the ground tliat the Farmer's 

 Dictionary is the first book of its kind. This will also, I trust, avert much 

 of the criticism to which I know the work is obnoxious. So much for my 

 design, and the manner in which it has been accomplished. 



The Dictionary is not a mere book of terms, but under 

 the head of the diU'eient grasses, roots, plants, fruit, vegeta- 

 bles, &c., the history of its origin is given, and mode of culti- 

 vation detailed. The following on the straAvberry. will show 

 the maimer in which the editor has executed his task : — 



Straichcrry. — This admirable fruit is yielded by several species of the ge- 

 nns Fragaria. The European wood is F.vesca; the scarlets are from 2^. 

 Virginiana ; the Alpines from F. colUna ; and the jp. Carolinensis, elatior, 

 Chilicnsis, also furnish some of the best kinds. 



" The best soil is a strong, rich loam, and one that is tolerably adhesive 

 and retentive of moisture ; for, as strawberries are generally injured in this 

 country by excessive drought, it is best to provide against this calamity by 

 planting ihem in a rather wet soil. A rich soil, however, is not indispensa- 



