JV INTRODUCTION. 



and they have been made with the object of conveying 

 information, and not with the idea of criticising them. 

 Circumstances of climate, or location, may render a prac- 

 tice successful in one country, that may be highly impro- 

 per in one differently situated. 



la the first edition, it was the plan to give a concise ac- 

 count of my own practice, as a system to be followed by 

 others, without giving the reasons therefor. It was well 

 known, in the vicinity of the city where my residence 

 was, and where it was presumed this treatise would cir- 

 culate chiefly, that, for several years, I had been expe- 

 rimenting upon the different plans recommended, (and 

 which had caused me so much perplexity in the selecting 

 of the most suitable for this climate,) in order that I 

 could fix upon one worthy of general adoption. To spare 

 other cultivators this perplexity, very little was said of 

 soils and manures ; a compost was recommended as suit- 

 able, and a substitute named, in case the materials in the 

 former could not readily be obtained. Of the systems of 

 training and pruning, all that could be of use was given, 

 and the advantages and disadvantages appertaining to 

 each were noticed. 



In the present edition, it has been my plan to give all 

 shades of opinion, for every variety of climate ; that, 

 wherever located, some remarks might be found appro- 

 priate to the situation, provided it is within the latitude 

 suited to grape culture. My own opinions are fully ex- 

 pressed, and, as the views of others have been added. 



