PREFACE. 



THE literature of gardening increased by leaps and bounds during the closing years of 

 the nineteenth century, and the first few months of the twentieth saw an enormous 

 influx of books on the subject. There is evidence in abundance, in this and in other 

 directions, that interest in horticulture has grown, and is growing, rapidly. 



In adding to horticultural literature an item so considerable as a dictionary of 

 nearly a thousand pages, graced with upwards of one thousand illustrations, Editor 

 and Publishers base their hopes of success (1) on the signs and tokens of increased 

 interest in gardening just referred to ; (2) on the surprising scarcity of books 

 bearing this simple form ; (3) on giving a value for the money asked never before 

 attempted ; (4) on the absolutely practical nature of the publication, which caters neither 

 for the scientist nor the dilettante, but merely for the cultivator 



Cassell's DICTIONARY OF GARDENING is not a mere list of names and phrases. Its 

 leading idea is to choose from the hundreds of thousands of plants in cultivation all 

 that are worthy of being grown, and to tell everything about them that the cultivator 

 is likely to want to know. Thus, it commences its remarks on each subject with a 

 description, follows with information on (1) propagation, (2) soil, and (3) general culture, 

 and adds lists of species and varieties, telling the height to which they grow, the 

 month in which they bloom, their hardiness or otherwise, and the colour of their flowers. 

 The lists are divided into two sections, " Principal Species " and " Other Species," as 

 an aid to selectors. 



Its illustrations comprise practical as well as ornamental figures, showing almost 

 every operation of the garden. 



Its language is absolutely free from technicalities. An attempt lias been made 

 to show plain gardening with no resources but those of the English language. 



Attention is called to some of the omissions. After careful consideration the deriva- 

 tions of generic names have been left out in order to make room for more cultural 

 matter. For gardening purposes they are mostly useless, and a very large number are 

 inconceivably stupid. " Cimicifuga, from cimex, a bug, and fugo, to drive away, in 

 allusion to its supposed virtue." Admirable, no doubt, but the horticulturist would 

 rather leave his Cimicifugas in the garden when he contemplated a stay at an Arab 

 hotel, and trust to Keating's insect powder. At the same time, the meaning of a very 

 large number of Latin and other specific names and phrases will be given in .the 

 Glossary. 



While giving the native country of many of the most interesting genera, I have 

 decided not to waste space on the habitat and year of introduction of every species 

 mentioned. An examination into the merits of these points, during which many works 

 were consulted, established the fact that the available information is as conflicting as 

 from a practical point of view it is misleading. 



Immeasurably the most troublesome knot to cut was that of nomenclature. I could 

 not bring myself to exclude a good garden name for no other reason than that a botanical 

 authority described the same plant by another, more particularly when a second authority 

 disagreed with him. I have adopted the rule of alluding to a plant by the name under 

 which horticulturists know it, and of likewise mentioning that particular botanical name 



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