PREFACE. 



THE task of writing a preface is usually performed by author or editor with mingled 

 feelings. He i.s commonly introducing a work which has to run the gauntlet of public 

 opinion, and if he writes his preface witli hope, he also does so with fear. 



The present instance is somewhat of an exception. CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL 

 OAKDKNING has already had its trial in serial issue, and has been fortunate enough to win 

 public approval in a degree altogether beyond the early expectations of its promoters. 



In the permanent volume form which it now assumes it is hoped that its accepted 

 position may become strengthened and consolidated. 



The experience of the serial issue has gone in the direction of showing that the original 

 lines laid down for the Dictionary were sound. 



These included several points of omission as well as commission. Thus, a bold sweep 

 was made (1) of the derivation of plant names, (2) of the habitats of the different plants, 

 and (3) of the period of introduction of the various species. 



Of the first, it was thought that although in a measure interesting, many cases 

 were so absurd that when space was badly wanted for practical matters it was a pity 

 to include them. 



Of the second, it was thought that as every important point connected with the culture 

 of the subjects was to be given in the Dictionary, such little practical value as attached to a 

 knowledge of the habitat of the plants could be very well dispensed with. 



Of the third, it is perhaps sufficient to say that it is not a practical point at all, and 

 only with such did the work concern itself. 



In a word, the object was to save space wherever it could be reasonably saved, and 

 reserve it for practical matters alone. 



CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OP PRACTICAL GARDENING deals with upwards of 6,000 genera of 

 plants. Leaving their botanical features severely alone, it concentrates its attention on 

 giving, in the most condensed form consistent with clearness, information on propagation, 

 soil, general culture, and the best species or varieties, adding, in respect to the last, their 

 height, flowering period, degree of hardiness, and the colour of their flowers. With many 

 unimportant genera the matter is concentrated in a paragraph, with others it attains the 

 dignity of an essay. 



The language of the Dictionary has been made studiously plain. Its work is done in 

 simple English, almost absolutely. The Glossary at the end of the work will, however, have 

 its interest. 



The tangle of plant nomenclature cannot be smoothed out. Garden names are not, in 

 many cases, botanists' names, and thus the name of the garden, the show, and the nursery- 

 man's catalogue is not the name of the botanic garden and the botanical publication. 

 Thousands of plants enjoy the distinction of having a well-recognised garden name as well 

 as a botanical name. 



And this is not all. The botanists, not less than the horticulturists, are divided with 

 their names. Thus one plant may have been given different names by different botanists. 



I have tried to get out of the formidable difficulty created by this unfortunate 

 condition of affairs by giving the garden name in addition to the botanical name or names 



