vi Preface 



school, normal school, and university; and for nearly 

 three years at the New York Botanical Garden he taught 

 gardening to classes of convalescent soldiers and sailors, 

 many of whom were receiving their first instruction in 

 the subject. Naturally, the present volume has been 

 colored by personal experience. Some of the chapters 

 consist in large part of material presented to the classes 

 of soldiers and sailors. Yet in adapting the work to 

 younger beginners, countless changes in matter and 

 method of presentation have been made in the author's 

 own material, and the views of other teachers of gar- 

 dening and the subject matter presented by them have 

 been carefully considered. It is hoped that the book 

 will prove useful to teachers and pupils, and that the 

 needs of different sections of the country have been 

 adequately met. 



