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From the PREFACE: THERE are so many gardening manuals in existence that it seems presumptuous to add to them. They range from ponderous and learned volumes written by acknowledged authorities to manuals which stop just at the point on which more information is wanted. This book is for those who have not the time to study the former type of book, but it has been our ambition to embody as much as is of practical value to be found in these authorities in untechnical language, and this, combined with the experience of two enthusiastic gardeners, may, we hope, make this small book of help to those people who, like ourselves, are fortunate enough to be their own gardeners. (One cannot help feeling that those who do not work in their own gardens know very little of the joys of gardening. It must be very poor fun to own a ten-acre garden, for instance, and not be allowed to work in it!) We have throughout this book laid special stress on the preparation of the ground and the keeping of it in right condition. When Adam was given a garden he was told to dig it, and the greatest authorities on gardening in all ages and of all civilizations have enlarged on this simple and infinitely wonderful lesson. The large majority of amateurs give their attention to the plants rather than to the soil, whereas digging is the foundation of all good gardening, and no amount of after-care of the plants can ever compensate for lack of thorough work in this direction. Second only in importance to digging is the care of seedlings. The well-being of plants in maturity is just as dependent on their treatment in the seedling stage as that of humans depends on their treatment when they are babies. We have given a small section to this important subject, and under each vegetable we have emphasized what is more important in the seedling stage, for only a well-tended seedling can come to perfect maturity. Lastly, we should like to lay stress on treating the plants as intelligent creatures. Science has not yet discovered the extent of their intelligence, but no real gardener ever doubts it for a moment. No gardening book can ever teach one as much as plants themselves. They respond to love and sympathy just as much as any other creatures, and their language is so simple that a child who loves them understands it.

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