TO THE THREE PARTS. 1 



.oorrect ihan could be conveyed to his mind by any 

 general description unaccompanied with actual ex- 

 perimental accounts. 



5. As the expressing of this intention may, per- 

 haps, suggest to the reader to ask, how it is that 

 much can be known on the subject of Farming by 

 a man, who, for thirty-six out oi Jifty-two years of 

 his life has been a Soldier or a Political Writer, 

 and who, of course, has spent so large a part of his 

 time in garrisons and in great cities, 1 will beg leave 

 to satisfy this natural curiosity before-hand, 



6. Early habits and affections seldom quit us 

 while we have vigour of mind left. I was brought 

 up under a father whose talk was chiefly about his 

 garden and his fields, with regard to which he was 

 famed for his skill and his exemplary neatness. 

 From my very infancy, from the age of six years, 

 when I climbed up the side of a steep sand rock, 

 and there scooped me out a plot four feet square to 

 make me a garden, and the soil for which I carried 

 up in the bosom of my little blue smock-frock, or 

 hunting shirt, I have never lost one particle of my 

 passion for these healthj^ and rational and heart- 

 cheering pursuits , in which eveiy day presents some- 

 thing new, in which the spirits are never suffered 

 to flag, and in which, industry, skill and care are 

 sure to meet with their due reward. I have never, 

 for any eight months together, during my whole 

 life, been without a garden. So sure are we to 

 overcome difficulties where the heart and mind 

 are bent on the thing to be obtained! 



7. The beautiful plantation of American Trees 

 round my house at Botley, the seeds of w^hich 

 were sent me, at my request, from Pennsylvania, 

 in 1806, and some of which are nov/ nearly forty 

 feet high, all sown and planted by m3'self, will, I 



hope, long remain as a specimen of my perseve- 

 rance in this way. During my whole life I have 

 been a gardener. There is no part of the busi- 



