VI PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



little, to give the arrow less nerve, because the bow- 

 man can only shoot into the air, not knowing whi- 

 ther to direct his aim. And yet if his own brethren 

 should suffer some share in the danger due only to 

 him, he seeks their forgiveness whilst, thus dis- 

 persing the mischief that might come upon him- 

 self, he causes it to fall on them only in the propor- 

 tion of one to a thousand. And if they are so good 

 as to submit without murmur to this slender impo- 

 sition, he begs to assure them that their patience 

 is not ill repaid by his very ardent desire to beautify 

 and warm and fertilise the places of their abode, 

 throughout all his beloved country north of the 

 Tweed. Nor does he fail to include in the same kindly 

 regard a large tract with which he is well acquainted, 

 extending a long way to the southward of that 

 stream, and within which, whilst the need of this 

 manual is very apparent, the climate is such as to 

 give it a perfect adaptation. 



For the advancement then of a good cause, in 

 which his brethern as well as the Author are con- 

 cerned, may he not humbly hope that they will be 

 pleased to offer and perhaps commend a reading of 

 his treatise to such of their parishioners as are 

 placed in circumstances not unlike their own? In 

 every parish will be found one or more proprietors 

 of a very interesting class of society, tasteful and 

 intelligent, whose neat villas, gardens, and fields, 

 are of a rank not far remote from those of the min- 

 ister, and who like him are put to their shifts for 

 want of a thorough bred gardener. And that there 

 are many more who might find an interest in what he 



