For over a century, and across five generations, the Veitch family pioneered the introduction of hundreds of new plants into gardens, conservatories and houses and were amongst the foremost European cultivators and hybridisers of their day. The story begins in 1768 when a Scotsman called John Veitch came to England to find his fortune, starting out as a gardener for the aristocracy. Realising that horticultural mania had begun to spread throughout the social classes, John's son, James, opened a nursery in Exeter and began to send some of the first commercial plant collectors into the Americas, Australia, India, Japan, China and the South Seas. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Veitch's had become key figures within the gardening establishment, involved with the Royal Horticultural Society from its beginnings and the great Chelsea Flower Show. Combining an historian's eye for detail with a flair for storytelling, Shephard charts the fortunes of one family and through them tells the fascinating story of the modern English garden.

Seeds of Fortune is the sympathetic study of a lonely, frustrated man who, as a boy, inherits his father s unfulfilled dreams. Harry Gresser yearns for success, wealth and respect. His strength lies in his ambition, his relentless will power and his consuming desire to be loved. His vulnerabilities stem from his bigotry, his blindly self-oriented nature and his genetic bent towards alcoholism. The conflicts running through the story center around whether or not Harry will succumb to these vulnerabilities or will ultimately find the love and happiness he so ardently craves. The book is divided into three parts involving twenty-six chapters, which are preceded by a prologue and followed by an epilogue. It is written in third person, past tense. In the Prologue, a raving man staggers down a stairway to the lower foyer of his luxurious home and then to his study. Moments later, he falls to his knees as a Samurai sword and Harry s belly become one. A smile softens Harry s frozen face as it reveals the mental flash he has just seen of his father the man he had idolized and pledged his life to so very long ago. Part One, Seeds of Many, reveals Harry as a young white boy growing up in a needy, lonely, loveless world in Philadelphia. Harry s grim, hard-bitten mother is sustaining the family by taking in laundry. His benign, loving father is a shiftless, fantasizing alcoholic, who before he dies, passes on his dreams to Harry. During these early years, Harry frowns and struggles while contending with a variety of pressures which nurtures his atheism and spawns his hostile and patronizing attitude towards the women and blacks in his life. Upbeat and determined, eighteen-year-old Harry leaves home to find his way. He becomes an Air Corps fighter pilot in World War II, where, in the jungles of Burma, his world suddenly becomes a nightmare. Fortuitously, an outgrowth of this experience produces George Archer, a man who in later years grows to be Harry s alter ego. After the war, Harry joins a Flying Circus as a civilian stunt pilot. He soon reverts to booze in order to cope with living on the edge. George Archer reenters Harry s life just in time to save him from a drunkard s lot by introducing him to the provocative spell of Monsignor Matthew Thomas. Part 2, Seeds of Money, moves Harry and George into Cleveland, Ohio, where they become co-owners of a run-down stamping plant. Over the next few years, the two men achieve preeminence and wealth as businessmen. As the years pass, however, Harry gradually comes to realize that success has not brought to him the self-contentment he craves even after he somewhat modifies his patronizing attitude toward women and gets married. In vain, he wonders why. But, like so many of his ilk, Harry s self-perpetuating bigotry blinds him whenever he looks in the mirror. A failed marriage and the sudden simultaneous death of George and Harry s young son produce within Harry a sense of lonely desperation and motivate him to abandon his current lifestyle. He experiences prenatural visits with his past, and these encounters, and the quandaries they precipitate, haunt Harry as he uproots himself from Cleveland. Part 3, Seeds of Change, finds Harry on the prowl to find the keys to his own happiness. The reality of his world starts changing absolutely, but so does the way Harry perceives what he is looking at. In Mississippi, Harry impulsively looks up his mother whom he had forsaken years before. Subsequently, it is the death of his mother and the love he finally feels emanating from her that brings together Harry and Melissa June, a tiny black woman with a magical touch and a devout outlook on life. Harry s obsessive intoleranc

A dramatic historical narrative of the man who stole the secret of tea from China In 1848, the British East India Company, having lost its monopoly on the tea trade, engaged Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, botanist, and plant hunter, to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China—territory forbidden to foreigners—to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing. For All the Tea in China is the remarkable account of Fortune's journeys into China—a thrilling narrative that combines history, geography, botany, natural science, and old-fashioned adventure. Disguised in Mandarin robes, Fortune ventured deep into the country, confronting pirates, hostile climate, and his own untrustworthy men as he made his way to the epicenter of tea production, the remote Wu Yi Shan hills. One of the most daring acts of corporate espionage in history, Fortune's pursuit of China's ancient secret makes for a classic nineteenth-century adventure tale, one in which the fate of empires hinges on the feats of one extraordinary man.

The century from 1750 to 1850 was a period of dramatic transformations in world history, fostering several types of revolutionary change beyond the political landscape. Independence movements in Europe, the Americas, and other parts of the world were catalysts for radical economic, social, and cultural reform. And it was during this age of revolutions—an era of rapidly expanding scientific investigation—that profound changes in scientific knowledge and practice also took place. In this volume, an esteemed group of international historians examines key elements of science in societies across Spanish America, Europe, West Africa, India, and Asia as they overlapped each other increasingly. Chapters focus on the range of participants in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century science, their concentrated effort in description and taxonomy, and advances in techniques for sharing knowledge. Together, contributors highlight the role of scientific change and development in tightening global and imperial connections, encouraging a deeper conversation among historians of science and world historians and shedding new light on a pivotal moment in history for both fields.

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1891. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIV.' A GYPSY MAGIC SPELL. HOKKANI BASO LELLIN DUDIKABIN, OR THE GREAT SECRET CHILDREN'S RHYMES AND INCANTATIONS TEN LITTLE INDIAN BOYS AND TEN LITTLE ACORN GIRLS OF MARCELLUS BURDI- GALENSIS. HERE is a meaningless rhyme very common among children. It is repeated while "counting off" --or "out" --those who are taking part in a game, and allotting to each a place. There are many versions of it, but the following is exactly word for word what I learned when a boy in Philadelphia: -- Ekkeri (or ickery), akkery, u-kcry an, Fillisi', follasy, Nicholas John, Queebee - quabee -- Irishman (or, Irish Mary), Stingle 'em--stangle 'em--buck! With a very little alteration This chapter is reproduced, but with much addition, from one in my work entitled "The Gypsies," published in Boston, 1881, by Houghton and Mifflin. London: Trubner Sc Co. The addition will be the most interesting portion to the folk-lorist. in sounds, and not more than children make of these verses in different places, this may be read as follows: -- Ek-keri (yekori) akairi, you kair an, Fillissin, follasy, Nakelas jan Kivi, kavi--Irishman, Stini, stani--buck! This is, of course, nonsense, but it is Romany or gypsy nonsense, and it may be thus translated very accurately: -- First--here--you begin! Castle, gloves. You don't play! Go on! Kivi--a kettle. How are you? Stdni, buck. The common version of the rhyme begins with-- "One--ery--two--ery, ickery an." But one-ery is an exact translation of ek-keri; ek, or yek, meaning one in gypsy. (Ek-orus, or yek-korus, means once). And it is remarkable that in-- "Hickory dickory dock, The rat ran up the clock, The clock struck one, And down he run, Hickory dickory dock." We have hickory, or ek-keri, again followed by a significant one. It may be observed that while my firs...

While there is enormous public interest in biodiversity, food sourcing, and sustainable agriculture, romantic attachments to heirloom seeds and family farms have provoked misleading fantasies of an unrecoverable agrarian past. The reality, as Courtney Fullilove shows, is that seeds are inherently political objects transformed by the ways they are gathered, preserved, distributed, regenerated, and improved. In The Profit of the Earth, Fullilove unearths the history of American agricultural development and of seeds as tools and talismans put in its service. Organized into three thematic parts, The Profit of the Earth is a narrative history of the collection, circulation, and preservation of seeds. Fullilove begins with the political economy of agricultural improvement, recovering the efforts of the US Patent Office and the nascent US Department of Agriculture to import seeds and cuttings for free distribution to American farmers. She then turns to immigrant agricultural knowledge, exploring how public and private institutions attempting to boost midwestern wheat yields drew on the resources of willing and unwilling settlers. Last, she explores the impact of these cereal monocultures on biocultural diversity, chronicling a fin-de-siècle Ohio pharmacist’s attempt to source Purple Coneflower from the diminishing prairie. Through these captivating narratives of improvisation, appropriation, and loss, Fullilove explores contradictions between ideologies of property rights and common use that persist in national and international development—ultimately challenging readers to rethink fantasies of global agriculture’s past and future.

Joyful Path of Good Fortune presents the complete Buddhist path to enlightenment in a form that is easy to understand and put into practice. Enriched with stories and illuminating analogies, it presents the essential meaning of all Buddha`s teachings in the order in which they are to be practised, giving step-by-step guidance on all the meditations leading to full enlightenment.

A new addition to the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. After carving a place for itself in war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia, the up-timers and their allies take on continental America and the Japan! A cosmic catastrophe, the Ring of Fire, strands the West Virginia town of Grantville in the middle of Europe during the Thirty Years War. The repercussions of that event transform Europe and, in a few years, begin spreading across the world. By 1636, the Ring of Fire's impact is felt across two great oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific. Stretching Out: The United States of Europe seeks out resources -- oil, rubber and even aluminum ore -- to help it wage war against the foes of freedom. Daring pioneers cross the Atlantic and found a new colony on the Wild Coast of South America. The colonists hope that with the up-timers' support and knowledge they can prosper in the tropics without resort to Indian and African slavery. Then a slave ship visits the colony, seeking water.... and the colonists must make a fateful choice. Rising Sun: In 1633, the wave of change emanating from the Ring of Fire reaches Japan. The Shogun is intrigued by samples of up-time technology, but it's a peek at what fate had in store for Japan in the old time line that has the greatest impact -- setting events in motion whose tremors are felt thousands of miles away and for years to come, as Japan pulls back from a policy of isolation and stakes out its own claim in the brave new world created by the Ring. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). About Eric Flints Ring of Fire series: _This alternate history series isãa landmarkãÓ¾Booklist _[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.Ó¾Booklist _ãreads like a technothriller set in the age of the MedicisãÓ¾Publishers Weekly

Fun stories to teach your kids about money. "Perhaps the most cleverly written, and delightful to read, financial education book" J.J. Wenrich (Author and Financial Advisor) When Grandpa Jack was a young man, he went on an adventure to a faraway island in search of gold. Whilst he was on the island he discovered 'The Three Rules of Wealth'. These rules helped him to become a very wealthy man. As Gail shares her Grandpa’s adventures, your kids will learn: - The difference between being 'Rich' and being 'Wealthy' - How to earn money - The importance of saving their money - How to grow their money (investing) - That patience is the superpower of the wealthy - Why they should avoid gambling, scams and (bad) debt Your kids will also have to try and solve Grandpa's Mystery Code as they answer short questions to recap on what they have learnt throughout the book. “This book should be in every school library” Kevin Gatland OBE "I would give this book 5 stars out of 5 ... It’s great to read aloud!" Isla Manson, avid reader, age 11