PEEFACE 



In adding a ' Peacticax Guide to Garden Plants ' to the literature 

 of Gardening my chief aim has been to produce a book that will be 

 unique and of real use not only to Amateur Gardeners, for whom it is 

 particularly intended, but also to those engaged professionally in 

 Horticulture. The work is the result of many years' experience among 

 all kinds of Plants, gained in various nurseries and gardens in this 

 country and on the Continent under many different conditions. It 

 deals thoroughly with the description, cultivation, and propagation of 

 aU plants — Flowers, Fruits, and Vegetables — that may be grown more 

 or less successfully in the open air in the British Islands, and it cannot 

 be regarded in any sense as a botanical treatise or text-book. Tender 

 plants which require the protection and artificial warmth of green- 

 houses have been excluded, with the exception of a few that may be 

 grown in the open air during the summer months. Due regard has 

 been given to the different climatic conditions prevailing throughout 

 the British Islands, and the reader is advised as to whether any par- 

 ticular plant will flourish out of doors in all parts of the Kingdom, or 

 only in a few favoured spots like Devonshire, Cornwall, and the South 

 of Ireland. 



ARRANGEMENT 



The work has been divided into Four Parts for the sake of con- 

 venience. In Part I. the Life History of Plants from start to 

 finish is dealt with in such a way, and without the use of technical 

 expressions, so as to give the reader a good idea of the work carried on 

 by the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits &c. of plants in general. 



The Propagation of Plants by means of Seeds, Cuttings, Budding, 

 Grafting, Layering &c. is also discussed from a general point of view, 

 so that the reader may be better able to grasp the details given later 



