4 INTRODUCTION. 



laws to practice, as explained by the experience of 

 the horticulturist. 



6. If the laws comprehended in the first book are 

 correctly explained, and the facts connected with 

 them rightly interpreted, they must necessarily afford, 

 in all cases, the reasons why one kind of cultivation 

 is better than another ; and all kinds of practice at 

 variance with those laws must be bad. Since, from 

 the very nature of things, this cannot be otherwise, 

 it follows that, by a careful consideration and due un- 

 derstanding of these laws, the intelligent cultivator 

 will acquire the most certain means of improving his 

 practice. 



