Jacques-Felix Lelievre's New Louisiana Gardender

At the heart of the book -- which closely mirrors the mind-set of nineteenth-century French horticultural science -- is a fundamental belief that the well-informed Louisiana gardener can overcome the problems of heat, humidity, weeds, insects, occasional cold, and primitive species by employing scientific methods of providing shade, water, and drainage; by technical pruning, manuring, and plowing; and through grafting, budding, and layering of better species onto native stock -- with the timing all regulated by the study of astronomy and an understanding of the movement of sap. More European than Old South, Lelievre's techniques were perhaps better suited to France than Louisiana, but modern horticulturalists can still learn from the upbeat spirit of overcoming obstacles that pervades Lelievre's guide.

An introduction by Sally Kittredge Reeves gives historical context to the translation that follows, detailingthe author's reasons for coming to America and his struggles to make a new life, his employment at and eventual ownership of a bookstore in New Orleans, and his reasons for compiling the Nouveau Jardinier and publishing it in Francophile New Orleans. Reeves's discussion of