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.