INTRODUCTION. 



3 



general gardening are unaccountably few, and the majority not 

 of recent date, and therefore not in accordance with modern 

 thought and the progressive spirit of the age. The fact is that 

 gardening is such a many-phased subject, that it is impossible 

 for. a man, be he never so enthusiastic or never so energetic, to 

 excel in every branch. The man who essays, for instance, to 

 become a specialist finds, as a rule, that the subject he has on 

 hand engrosses all his time and attention, though for all that 

 he may be a fairly good all-round gardener, but not the best 

 of teachers on subjects outside the one which he has made 

 specially his own. And thus it is that many of the books on 

 general gardening, launched with the best of intentions, fall 

 very short of the ideal of perfection aimed at by their promoters. 

 It has therefore occurred to the writer that a book which would 

 fairly well cover the field of general gardening in a practical 

 manner, and at a moderate price, would be useful. The main 

 idea embodied is to have each subject dealt with as far as 

 possible by a specialist. By this means one is able to command 

 the most up-to-date ideas in respect of the various branches of 

 gardening, as each contributor gives of his best in the space 

 allotted. 



The field covered is, as already intimated, a very wide 

 one, and herein lies the chief difiiculty. It is not of course 

 pretended that in the comparatively small space allotted one 

 can exhaust subjects like Propagation, Fruit Culture, Orchid- 

 Growing, or even Manures. What is possible is to give the 

 marrow of each subject in such a simple yet concentrated form 

 that it will be readily assimilated by those who seek after 

 knowledge. Every phase of Horticulture is treated, from Land- 

 scape Gardening and Orchid Culture to Plant Propagation and 

 Aquatic Plants. These latter have hitherto been dealt with in - 

 the most cursory fashion, being in most works on general 

 gardening dismissed in a very few lines. Here they will be 

 treated with that prominence which, by reason of their 

 beauty and decorative value, they deserve. They are rapidly 

 coming to the fore, and promise to become still more widely 

 known, and therefore more highly esteemed. 



As regards insect and other foes, these must necessarily be 

 briefly dealt with. The aim will be rather to give guiding 

 principles, enabling the gardener to combat, at any rate, the 

 most formidable of the pests, both animal and vegetable, which 

 he finds arrayed against him. 



B 2 



