INTRC DUCTION 
The importance and utility of Horticulture, or the art of 
cultivating those products of the soil which are used in domestic 
economy, require no elaborate exposition. The greatest bless¬ 
ings which a kind Providence can bestow on man, in his sub¬ 
lunary state of existence, are, health of body and peace of mind ; 
and the pursuits of gardening eminently conduce to these. 
Gardening was the primitive employment of the first man; and 
the first of men , among his descendants, have ever been attached 
to that occupation. Indeed, we can hardly form an idea of 
human felicity, in which a garden is not one of its most promi¬ 
nent characteristics. 
Gardening is not only an innocent and healthy, but a profita- 
b 1 e occupation. It is not alone by the money which is made , 
but also by the money which is saved , that the profits of a pursuit 
should be estimated. Where a good garden constitutes part of 
a rural establishment, and the culinary uses of its productions 
are well understood, the field or the market furnishes a propor- 
tionably small part of the provisions necessary for family con¬ 
sumption. “ I consider,” said Dr. Deane, “ the kitchen garden 
of very considerable importance, as pot-herbs, salads, and roots 
of various kinds, are useful in house-keeping. Having a plenty 
of them at hand, a family will not be so likely to run into the 
enor, which is too common in this country, of eating flesh in 
too great a proportion for health. Farmers, as well as others, 
should have kitchen gardens ; and they need not grudge the 
labor of tending them, which may be done at odd intervals of 
