A MEMOIR. 27 



were his views twenty -four years ago, and such would 

 be his views were he alive to-day. For whether in the 

 domain of the vegetable garden, or in the more delight- 

 ful pursuits of the greenhouse, this earnest, watchful, 

 and thoughtful man was ever near to Nature's heart, 

 and bit by bit he wrested from her, cultural secrets 

 which later on would be quickly made known, so that 

 all who chose might reap the benefit of his ceaseless 

 observation and experience. 



His first book. Gardening for Profit, was written in 

 the summer of 1866. Although he was then well-known 

 as a horticultural writer, yet his modesty was such, that 

 when the late Dr. George Thurber, then editor of the 

 American Agriculturist approached him on the matter 

 of writing this book, he refused to attempt it because he 

 felt that writing a book was beyond his capability. He 

 was finally convinced, however, that the hour and the 

 man had come. Whenever he decided to do any thing, it 

 was settled, he never looked back, and he wrote this re- 

 markable book in the incredibly short time of one hun- 

 dred hours. By this it is not meant, that Gardening 

 for Profit was produced consecutively in that time, but 

 he had the information right at his finger-ends, so that the 

 aggregate of time he spent on the book was within the 

 limit named. This work brought a national reputation 

 to its author, and its value to the United States is be- 

 yond computation. A peculiarity 'of its production was 

 that it was written at a time when its author was work- 

 ing at least sixteen hours a day, and largely at manual 

 labor. At the noon intervals and late at night he wrote 

 this work lying on his back with a pillow under his head,, 

 or quite as often, writing while lying face downward. 

 We have said that its value to the nation can never be 

 estimated, and it is a fact that the first edition appearing 

 so soon after the close of the war, rendered it of special 

 and inestimable value to the Southern States. The enor- 

 mous market-gardening or trucking interests which have 

 been for years and are to-day, such a factor in the South's 

 prosperity, owe their birth and subsequent development 

 largely to the teachings of Gardening for Profit. 



