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THE

AMERICAN

GARDENER'S ASSISTANT

In Chree Parts.

CONTAINING

COMPLETE PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

FOR THE CULTIVATION OF

VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, FRUIT TREES, AND

GRAPE-VINES.

BY THOMAS BRIDGEMAN,

Gardener, Seedsman, and Florist.

NEW EDITION; REVISED, ENLARGED, AND ILLUSTRATED,

By S. EDWARDS TODD,

PHILADELPHIA:

PORTER & COATES,

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

ALFRED BRIDGEMAN,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

PREFACE.

THE primary object in first publishing THE Young GARDENER'S ASSISTANT, was to enable our respectable seedsmen, while furnishing a catalogue of seed for the use of the Kitchen and Flower Garden, to afford instruction, at a trifling expense, to such of their customers as had not a regular gardener, and thereby save themselves the blame, of those who may not have given their seed a fair trial for want of knowing how to dispose of it in the ground.

The Author, having shown his primary object in adopting the catalogue form, presumes that his readers will not be disappointed if they do not find there the names of all the species or varieties of plants they may wish to introduce into their gardens, the mode of culture of such being generally alike. If a catalogue of this kind was essential, it would occupy more space than is allotted to this book; besides, it would be impossible to keep pace with our enterprising horticulturists and florists, who are continually introducing new species into 31720

our country. When, also, it is considered that there are a number of indigenous plants at present unknown to us, it will appear evident that the most extensive catalogue would not be perfect in this respect for any length of time; the Author, therefore, thought it unnecessary to attempt anything more than is essential to the attainment of a tolerable share of the products of the garden, by ordinary exertion. How far he has succeeded in this respect, must be left for the reader to decide.

THOMAS BRIDGEMAN.

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