PREFACE TO THE SECOTO EDITION. 



ALTHOUGH I have every reason to be satisfied with the flattering reception 

 given to the first edition of the Handbook of Plants, issued in 1881, yet I 

 ^_^^ have ever believed that its scope was too limited; that the requirements 

 ^> — ^ of the thousands of amateurs, young florists and gardeners, needed some- 

 thing having a wider range. To meet that want there is not only added in the present 

 edition all the new genera of any importance up to date, but there is specified in many 

 instances the more important and useful species and varieties of the genera 

 described, together with brief instructions for propagation and culture. The botanical 

 and technical terms, and a very full list of the best-known English or popular names, are 

 also given, and great care has been exercised to have all the generic names accentuated 

 according to the latest authorities. Nearly one thousand engravings of the various 

 plants described in the body of this work are shown. The natural system of arrange- 

 ment being now generally used, is adopted in the descriptions instead of the Linnsean or 

 artificial system. 



Very full instructions are given for the culture and forcing of all Fruits, Flowers 

 and Vegetables of importance, such as Grape Vines, Strawberries, Boses, Bulbs of all 

 kinds, Celery, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Mushrooms, etc. ; in short, I believe 

 that there is sufficient matter given on all gardening subjects to allow me to claim for 

 this book that it is an. 



Amkricak Gardener's Dictionary. 



A series of tables and memoranda on horticultural and agricultural subjects, such 

 as Seeds, Crops, Stock, Forestry, Measures, Weights, Temperature, etc., is also added, 

 which, together with a carefully compiled glossary of the technical terms used in 

 describing plants, and a monthly calendar of operations for the green-house and window 

 garden, flower, fruit and kitchen garden, will undoubtedly render this edition valuable 

 as a book of reference. 



The name of the book wUl now be " The Handbook or Plants and General Horti- 

 CULTDKE," and I beheve that for aU practical purposes it will be better adapted to the 

 wants of American horticulturists than any of the more costly British works on garden- 

 ing, and at one-third of their cost; for though from a foreign standpoint these are all 

 ihey claim to be, yet for the American climate much of the information, and especially 

 the gardening instructions, are not only useless, but actually misleading. 



In the first edition of this work I was largely indebted to the following books as 



authorities : 



Loudon's EnoyclopeBdla of Plants ; Paxton's Botanical Dictionary ; Paxton's Magazine of 

 Botany; Johnson's Gardener's Dictionary; Mcintosh's Book of the Garden; Bhind's Vegetable 

 Kingdom ; Lindley's Treasury of Botany ; Orchid Grower's Manual ; Miller's Gardener's Diction- 

 ary ; Gerarde's Herbal (1597) ; Parkinson's Garden of Pleasant Flowers (1629) ; Dodoen's Plants 

 (1587) ; Gray's Manual of Botany ; Chapman's Southern Flora ; American Agriculturist, of New 

 York ; The Gardener's Monthly, of Philadelphia, Pa. ; and The Garden, London, England. 



In addition to the above, I am indebted for plants of late introduction to — 



Nicholson's Dictionary of Gardening, The Garden Oracle, Robinson's English Flower Garden, 

 The Gardener's Chronicle, Journal of Horticulture (London), and the various American horticultural 

 journals. 



In compiling this edition, I have been most ably assisted by Mr. "Wm. J. Davidson, 



of Brooklyn, N. Y., who not only is a thorough botanist, but is perhaps the peer of any 



man in the United States to-day in his all-round knowledge of garden work. 



PETER HENDERSON. 

 Jersey City, N. J., January, 1890. 



