PREFACE 



IX reality a preface is rather a 

 queer thing, because it's a "fore- 

 word" which is written last! So, 

 it seems, I am now to have the 

 last word. To begin, I feel espe- 

 cially indebted to R. L. Watts 

 for several extracts from his ex- 

 cellent Pennsylvania Bulletin Xo. 

 147; to W. X^. Hutt, author of ^Maryland Bulletin 

 Xo. 116 ; and to the authors of various other bulle- 

 tins, books and catalogs whose writings have given 

 me occasional lifts over rough places. ]\Iy thanks 

 go also to the E. A. Strout Co., X^ew York City, 

 and to a few^ well-known implement manufacturers, 

 who kindly loaned me several photographs. 'Most 

 of the pictures in the book, however, w^ere especially 

 made for it by expert photographers and engravers 

 who were carefully instructed regarding the practical 

 details of each picture. 



X^ow just a few hints about the hnal problem of 

 the average gardener — the selling end of the busi- 

 ness : Don't ship to every strange commission house 

 that solicits your consignment. Get a good solid 

 house and stick to it. Or sell direct to storekeepers; 

 or join or form a co-operative shipping and selling 

 association ; or w^ork up a list of retail customers of 

 your own. As an aid to the latter plan, the Long 

 Island Agronomist, Huntington, X^. Y., has evolved 

 a shipping package which it calls a "home hamper." 

 It measures twenty-four inches long, fourteen inches 

 wide, ten inches deep, and weighs about thirty pounds 

 when filled. It contains six baskets holding about 



