vi PKEFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 



made myself well acquainted with the cultivation of 

 a garden in the North- West Provinces ; when, on 

 removal to Htowrah, by the practical knowledge I ac- 

 quired in my own garden, as well as by observation of 

 what was done in others I had the means of visiting, 

 I became thoroughly conversant with the practice of 

 gardening as applicable to Bengal. The ready access 

 also that I then had both to the Government Botanical 

 Garden, and to those of the Agri-Horticultural Society, 

 served to put within my reach much very important 

 information concerning numerous plants, which I could 

 not otherwise have obtained. The appointment, more- 

 over, I held during six years as one of the judges at 

 the horticultural shows at Calcutta, served to render 

 me familiar with the finest productions of the country, 

 in the way of vegetables, fruits, and flowers exhibited 

 there during the colder months. 



It is still not without considerable diffidence that I 

 venture on submitting these pages to the press. No 

 one can be more thoroughly aware than myself of 

 many deficiences with which they must unavoidably 

 be chargeable : but working single-handed ; gathering, 

 often under great difficulty, my facts for myself; not 

 taking any statement upon trust, which by subsequent 

 trial I had the means of verifying ; and with the labours 

 of no predecessor to be of any material assistance to 

 me, I can only hope for indulgence, if in some instances 

 the information I impart be not so full as might be 



