IT PREFATORY. 



It may be of some service to the young, as showing how 

 valuable the fragments of time may become, if incut ion is 

 made of the^ way in which we Ix-came prepared to nlii this 

 journal. 



The continued taxation of daily pivai'hing, extending 

 through months, and once through eighteen consecutive 

 months, without the exception of a single day, began to 

 wear upon the nerves, and made it necessary for us to seek 

 some relaxation. Accordingly we used, after each week- 

 night's preaching, to drive the sermon out of our heads 

 by some alterative reading. 



In the State Library were Loudon's works his encyclo- 

 pedias of Horticulture, of Agriculture, and of Architecture. 

 We fell upon them, and, for years, almost monopolized them. 



In our little one-story cottage, after the day's work was 

 done, we pored over these monuments of an almost incredi- 

 ble industry, and read, we suppose, not only every line, but 

 much of it, many times over ; until, at length, we had a 

 topographical knowledge of many of the fine English estates 

 quite as intimate, we dare say, as was possessed by many 

 of their truant owners. There was something exceedingly 

 pleasant, and is yet, in the studying over mere catalogues 

 of flowers, trees, fruits, etc. 



A seedsman's list, a nurseryman's catalogue, are more 

 fascinating to us than any story. In this way, through 

 several years, we gradually accumulated materials and 

 became familiar with facts and principles, which paved the 

 way for our editorial labors. Lindley's Horticulture and 

 Gray's Structural Botany came in as constant companions. 

 And when, at length, through a friend's liberah'ty, we be- 



