PREFACE 



[N reality a preface is rather a 

 queer thing, because it's a "fore- 

 word" which is written last! So, 

 it seems, I am now to have the 

 last word. To begin, I feel espe- 

 cially indebted to R. L. Watts 

 for several extracts from his ex- 

 cellent Pennsylvania Bulletin No. 

 147 ; to W. N. Hutt, author of Maryland Bulletin 

 No. 116; and to the authors of various other bulle- 

 tins, books and catalogs whose writings have given 

 me occasional lifts over rough places. My thanks 

 go also to various friends and correspondents, 

 and to a few well-known implement manufacturers, 

 who kindly loaned me several photographs. Most 

 of the pictures in the book, however, were especially 

 made for it by expert photographers and engravers 

 who were carefully instructed regarding the practical 

 details of each picture. 



Now just a few hints about the final problem of 

 the average gardener the selling end of the busi- 

 ness : Don't ship to every strange commission house 

 that solicits your consignment. Get a good solid 

 house and stick to it. Or sell direct to storekeepers; 

 or join or form a co-operative shipping and selling 

 association; or work up a list of retail customers of 

 your own. As an aid to the latter plan, the Long 

 Island Agronomist, Medford, L. L, N. Y., has evolved 

 a shipping package which it calls a "home hamper." 

 It measures twenty-four inches long, fourteen inches 

 wide, ten inches deep, and weighs about thirty pounds 

 when filled. It contains six baskets holding about 



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