The field and garden vegetables of America

Front matter

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^wi

THE

Preface

is often as advantageous as a knowledge of that which is of positive superiority.

That the volume may be acceptable to the agriculturist, seedsman, and to all who may possess, cultivate, or find pleasure in, a garden, is the sincere wish of the author.

F. B., Jr.

HiNGHAM, February, 1865.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

In the preparation of this work, I have received the cheerful cooperation of many esteemed personal friends, to whom I would here express my grateful acknowledgments.

For many valuable suggestions with regard to the culture and general management of the Potato, as well as for much important information respecting nearly all of our American varieties of this vegetable, I am indebted to J. F. C. Hyde, Esq., of Newton, Mass., whose long experience in the production of seedlings, as well as in the cultivation of established kinds, will give peculiar value to this portion of the volume.

The illustrations, so excellent and truthful, are from the pencil of Mr. Isaac Sprague, of Cambridge, Mass., whose fine delineations of animal as well as vegetable life have won for him the reputation of being " the first of living artists."

I am peculiarly indebted to Rev. E. Porter Dyer, of Hingham, for much valuable advice and assistance, and cannot too fully express my obligations for the unvarying kindness and courteous manner in which repeated, and perhaps often unseasonable, requests for aid have been received and granted.

My acknowledgments are also due to Hon. Joseph Breck, author of " Book of Flowers," and late President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society ; to Charles M. HovEY, Esq., editor of ''The Magazine of Horticul-

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X ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

ture," and President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society ; to Phineas B. Hovey, Esq., nurseryman and seedsman, of Cambridge, Mass. ; and to Daniel T. Curtis, Esq., seedsman and florist, and for many years Chairman of the Committee on Vegetables of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

For information or other very acceptable assistance, I am also indebted to Rev. Calvin Lincoln, of Hingham, Mass. ; Rev. John L. Russell, of Salem, Mass. ; John A. Butler, Esq., of Chelsea, Mass. ; Edward S. Rand, Jun., Esq., of Boston; Mr. Austin Bronson, of Enfield, N. H. ; George W. Pratt, Esq., of Boston; Mr. E. Henri- Greenwood, of Needham, Mass. ; Mr. Calvin A. Lincoln, of Hingham, Mass. ; Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, of Boston, Mass. ; John M. Ives, Esq., of Salem, Mass. ; Mr. James Scott, of Hatfield, Mass. ; Mr. Alonzo Crafts, of Whateley, Mass. ; Mr. John C. Hovey, of Cambridge, Mass. ; Mr. Isaac P. Rand, of Dorchester, Mass. ; Mr. George Everett, of Concord, Mass. ; and Mr. Caleb Bates, of Kingston, Mass.

From a work entitled " Descriptions des Plantes Potageres, par Vilmorin, Andrieux, et Cie., Paris ; " from Charles McIntosh's excellent " Book of the Garden ; " the " Gardener's Assistant," by Robert Thompson ; " Rogers's Vegetable Cultivator ; " and " Lawson's Agriculturist's Manual," — I have made liberal extracts ; and lest, in the course of the volume, any omission of authority may occur where it should have been accredited, my indebtedness to the valuable publications above mentioned is here candidly confessed.

ABBREVIATIONS AND AUTHORITIES,

Jm. Agr. — The American Agriculturist. By Orange Judd, A. M. New

York. Monthly. 1842 to the present time. Big. — Plants of Boston and Vicinity. By Jacob Bigelow, M. D. Boston,

1840.

Bon Jard. — 'Le Bon Jardinier pour I'Annee 1859. Par A. Poiteau et M.

ViLMORIN.

Corb. — The American Gardener. By William Corbett. Concord, Boston,

and New York, 1842.

Cot. Gard. — The Cottage Gardener. By George W. Johnson and Kobert

Hogg. Weekly. London.

Count. Gent. — The Country Gentleman. By Luther Tucker and Son.

Weekly. Albany, N. Y.

Be Cand. — De Candolle's Systema Naturale. By Prof. De Candolle. 2 vols.

Down. — The Fruit and Fruit-trees of America. By A. J. Downing. Revised

and corrected by Charles Downing, 1858. Gard. Chron. — The Gardener's Chronicle. Weekly. By Prof. Lindley.

1844 to the present time.

Gra7j. — Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. By Prof. Asa

Gray. New York, 1857.

Hart. — The Horticulturist, and Journal of Art and Rural Taste. Monthly.

By P. Barry and J. Jay Smith. Philadelphia. Hov. Mag. — The Magazine of Horticulture, Botany, and Rural Affairs. By

C. M. HovEY. Boston. Monthly. 1834 to the present time. Law. — The Agriculturist's Manual. By Peter Lawson and Son. Edinburgh, 1836.

Bind. — A Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden. By George Lindley.

London, lasi. ioMd. — Encyclopaedia Of Gardening. By J. C. Loudon. London, 1850.

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xii ABBREVIATIONS AND AUTHORITIES.

Loud. — Encyclopaedia of Agriculture. By J. C. Loudon. London, 1844.

Lmo. — The Elements of Practical Agriculture. By David Low. London, 1843.

Mclnt. — The Book of the Garden. By Charles McIntosh. 2 vols. Edinburgh and London, 1855.

Mill. — The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary. By Philip Miller. Bevised by Prof. Martyn. London, 1819.

Neill. — Neill's Journal of a Horticultural Tour, «fec. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1823.

New Am. Cyclopedia. — New American Cyclopaedia. D. Appleton & Co., New York. 16 vols, royal 8vo. 1857 to 1863.

Jlog. — The Vegetable Cultivator. By John Rogers. London, 1851.

Thomp. — The Gardener's Assistant. By Robert Thompson.

Trans. — The Transactions of the London Horticultural Society. Commenced 1815, and continued at intervals to the present time.

Vil. — Description des Plantes Potageres. Par Vilmorin, Andrieux, et Cie. Paris, 1856.

FIELD AND GARDEN VEGETABLES.