INTRODUCTION. 



For a series of years I distributed to my patrons, who applied 

 to me for advice. Almanacs published in the North and Northwest 

 and written principally with regard to those sections of the country. 



The directions which these works contained respecting the 

 cultivation of vegetables, «&c., although excellent for the regions 

 spoken of, were almost useless, and in many cases totally unfeasible 

 in the iSouth, where the salubrity of the climate, the almost total 

 absence of severe frosts, the practicabilifcy of raising successive 

 similar or diversified crops in one season, and many other impor- 

 tant natural causes, render the handling of the soil and times for 

 planting necessarily very different. 



Having been a practical gardener myself, and, owing to my 

 seed business, being brought into daily contact with the New Or- 

 leans Market Gardeners, most of whom I supply with seeds, and 

 having always taken a deep interest in the cultivation of vege- 

 tables, I felt that I was qualified to give directions and informa- 

 tion of a more practical value to Southern cultivators, than those 

 found in the Almanacs and Seed Lists published by others who 

 had not bad these advantages. 



These considerations influenced me a few years since to com- 

 pile and publish an Almanac and Garden Manual, to present to 

 the public, giving hints as to the proper time and methods of cul- 

 tivating vegetables in the South, and so supply a want long felt 

 in this ijortion of the country. 



In the improved condition of business in our section of the 

 country, those who cultivate vegetables for sale, may look for a 

 larger d> mand and a more extended field over which they can dis- 

 tribute their products, and therefore the questions as to '^ what to 

 cultivate f" and ^'how to do itT' are of greater interest than ever 

 before. Those who have been pleased with the past numbers of 

 my Almanac and Garden Manual, will find the present edition— 

 for 18S3 — complete, interesting and reliable. The work has been 

 carefully revised and enlarged, and will, I trust, aid materially in 

 the development of that line of industry to which it is devoted. 



1 have received many letters from all parts of the South en- 

 dorsing the correctness and utility of the information given in 

 these pages, and accompanied with numberless compliments in 

 reference to my perseverance and enterprise, and the usefulness 

 of my book, for all of which I return hearty thanks. 



It has ever been my aim, by integrity and strict attention to 

 business, to merit the confidence of customers and the community 

 in general, and from the very liberal patronage bestowed on me, 

 I may without presumption flatter myself that I have succeeded 

 in doing so. 



Hoping that my Almanac and Garden Manual may prove 

 yearly of more and more assistance to the Gardeners of the South, 

 and assuring my patrons that a continuance of their favors will 

 be duly appreciated, I remain, yours truly, 



9 RICHARD FKOTSCHER. 



