THE NURSERY.--Be not alarmed, brother nurseryman, think not that all the arcana of your craft are to be exposed to the public; one small chapter cannot injure you, even were it wise and proper to retain knowledge exclusively in the hands of the guild; on the other hand, ye need not be afraid that one who owes you so much would turn tell-tale, and expose all your weaknesses to the gaze of the multitude. From my friends in the craft, the many intelligent men and keen observers, who have ever been foremost in the ranks of our country's pomologists, no censure is apprehended for attempting to dash off a few brief directions for the amateur, or even the nurseryman, who is just beginning to pursue as a business the pleasant occupation of growing trees. Any censure from others, if such there be, who would feel afraid to trust their knowledge to the world, and who might think in this enlightened age that such a thing as secrets of the trade could be long retained in their own hands,--any censure, from such a source, would fall harmless--it is not dreaded. Indeed, though not of the trade, it would be easy to expose the ignorance that is sure to be found among those who might claim to be the exclusive conservators of knowledge, such however is not the object in view, it is rather to extend useful knowledge, to popularize it and to bring it within the reach of those who may need it, that this chapter is undertaken; and the labor is the more willingly entered upon, in the firm conviction that the more the knowledge of plants and the love for them is diffused among the masses of our population, the greater will be the success of those who are engaged as professional nurserymen and gardeners, who need not fear the competition of amateurs, but should rather encourage it, upon the score of such persons being and continuing to be their best customers--if not from any higher and more noble sentiments of affiliation with men of congenial tastes and pursuits.