xviii 



AUTHORS' PREFACE 



of putting them in linen bags and storing them in a dry, cool, 

 well-ventilated place. 



As often as we could, we have supplemented our descriptions 

 with figures of the plants described. The size of the page did not 

 generally allow of these figures being given in large dimensions, 

 but we have endeavoured to exhibit at least their comparative 

 sizes by figuring the different varieties of the same vegetable on 

 a scale of uniform reduction, so far as this could be done. The 

 reduction has been, necessarily, greater in the case of very large 

 kinds of vegetables, such as Beet-roots, Cabbages, and Pumpkins, 

 than that which applies to the small kinds ; however, we hope that, 

 thanks to the talent of the draughtsman, M. E. Godard, even the 

 most reduced figures will still give a sufficiently correct idea of 

 the plants which they represent. The Strawberries, the Peas in 

 pod, and the Potatoes are almost the only subjects which it was 

 possible to figure in their natural size. Under the figures we also 

 give the scale of reduction in fractions of the actual diameter of 

 the plant. For example, when a subject is described as reduced 

 to J, that means that the plant, in its natural size, is six times 

 taller and six times broader than the figure which the reader has 

 before him. We have been careful not to select any subjects for 

 our figures except plants that were thoroughly well marked and 

 of average size. It may be that, in this respect, and also in our 

 estimation of distinctive features, we have sometimes made mis- 

 takes. If so, we shall gladly acknowledge our errors and rectify 

 them as soon as possible. Our only ambition, in preparing this 

 work for the press, is to do so in good faith and without prejudice. 



Our cultural directions are to be regarded as nothing more 

 than a help to memory, and we do not in any way put them 

 forward as intended to supply the place of the full cultural 

 instructions which are given in standard horticultural works or 

 in various excellent special treatises which have been published 

 in our own and other countries. 



Finally, we conclude the article devoted to each plant with a 

 few remarks on the uses to which it is applied, and on the parts 

 of the plant which are so used. In many cases, such remarks may 

 be looked upon as idle words, and yet it would sometimes have 

 been useful to have had them when new plants were cultivated 

 by us for the first time. For instance, the Giant Edible Burdock 

 of Japan {L.appa edulis) was for a long time served up on our 



