This little handbook aims at nothing more than an account of the methods commonly employed in the propagation and crossing of plants, and its province does not extend, therefore, to the discussion of any of the ultimate results or influences of these methods. All such questions as those relating to the formation of buds, the reciprocal influences of cion and stock, comparative advantages of whole and piece roots, and the results of pollination, do not belong here.
In its preparation I have consulted freely all the best literature of the subject, and I have been aided by many persons. The entire volume has been read by skilled propagators, so that even all such directions as are commonly recommended in other countries have also been sanctioned, if admitted, as best for this. In the propagation of trees and shrubs and other hardy ornamentals, I have had the advice of the head propagator of one of the largest nurseries in this country. The whole volume has also passed through the hands of B. M. Watson, Jr., of the Bussey Institution of Harvard University, a teacher of unusual skill and experience in this direction, and who has added greatly to the value of the book. The articles upon orchids and upon most of the different genera of orchids in the Nursery List, have been contributed by W. J. Bean, of the Royal Gardens, Kew, who is well known as an orchid specialist. I have drawn freely upon the files of magazines, both domestic and foreign, and I have made particular use of Nicholson’s Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, Vilmorin’s Les Fleurs de Pleine Terre, Le Bon Jardinier, and Rümpler’s Illustriertes Gartenbau-Lexikon.
It is believed that the Nursery List contains all the plants which are ordinarily grown by horticulturists in this country either for food or ornament. But in order to give some clew to the propagation of any which are omitted, an ordinal index has been added, by which one can search out plants of a given natural order or family. It cannot be hoped that the book is complete, or that the directions are in every case best for all regions, and any corrections or additions which will be useful in the preparation of a second edition are solicited.
L. H. BAILEY.
Ithaca, N. Y., Jan. 1, 1891.