THE 



HANDBOOK OF GARDENING. 



A. THE ART AND SCIENCE OF GARDENim 



Gardening may be treated either as au Art or a 

 Science. 



The Art of Gardening consists in the employment of all 

 those means necessary to rear, develop, nurture, and 

 gather in the various crops, whether of herbs, fruits, 

 or flowers. 



The Science of Gardening is founded on a knowledge of 

 the nature, constitution, habits, and wants of plants, and 

 on the way in which the agents and processes of JSTature 

 affect them. It should, therefore, teach the general 

 application of the facts thus known to all the operations 

 of culture. 



An individual who has no acquaintance with the Science 

 of Gardening, conducts its numerous processes very much 

 in the dark, and is successful or otherwise, chiefly as 

 accident may determine. He sows, plants, and labours, 

 as his forefathers have done before him ; and the simplest 

 derangement of the circumstances which have previously 

 caused him success will disappoint and frustrate all his 

 expectations. 



The mere book-gardener, on the other hand, who is 



B 



