50 THE PLOEAL "WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



one wliicli should be carefully perused by every oue who contemplates in- 

 creasing the amenities of city life bj^ means of the recreation of floAver- 

 culture. But the two works referred to above must be counted as most 

 fairly rcprcsentrug the literature of the subject, because they are distinct 

 treatises, ample in details, and though they differ as to style and treatment 

 of the subject, as much perhaps as any two books on the same subject can 

 differ, they nevertheless have the same object in view, and that is to enable 

 the townsman to choose his plants with safety, and to grow them to as much 

 perfection as is possible under the circumstances in the midst of which he 

 labom's. The 'first of these two works, to which we here call attention, is 

 the " Yilla Garden, "•'•• by Mr. William Paul, the eminent grower of roses 

 and hollyhocks, whose long experience in the practical work of a large 

 nursery at Cheshimt, and a happy facility of instructing others by the pen, 

 give him a title to the first place in the ranks of modern writers on horti- 

 culture. 



To the wants of the suburban gardener, Mr. Paul's book is admirably 

 adapted; but he does not enter with any minutiie into the subject of town 

 gardening as a subject distinct from gardening proper. He discusses 

 the pleasures of the pursuit, gives advice on forming and improving a 

 garden, and then, in his own happy and practical way, treats successively 

 of trees and shrubs, American plants, herbaceous flowers, roses, conserva- 

 toiy and greenhouse management, the culture of hardy fruits, propagation, 

 seasonal work, and Avindow gardening, sui^plementing the whole with 

 some excellent lists of the sorts best adapted for gardens of limited 

 dimensions. He is very shy of London smoke, but does not utterlj^ ignore 

 the little plots that City people delight in describing as gardens. He says — 

 " It is difficult to say how near to a town a garden may be successfully 

 cultivated. Where towns are spacious, air)% and not of great population, 

 many plants will thrive in theii- very midst ; v/hile, on the other hand, a 

 closely-built town, smoky, and densely populated, will not allow of varied 

 and successful gardening within a mile or so of its confines. Of course 

 there are intermediate cases. Your best resolve is, only to cultivate such 

 plants as will fourish in the locality. Do not attempt too much at first, 

 and everything that you do do well. Gardening, to be satisfactory, should 

 at all times be done well ; and the disadvantages consequent on the prox- 

 imity to a large town maj' be nearh^ overbalanced by a close attention to 

 rules of culture, which, under more favourable circumstances, may be un- 

 important or superfluous." 



The second of the two works we have specified treats of this depart- 

 ment in the fullest detail, and hence bears the appropriate title of " The 

 Town Garden. "j- The selection of plants suited to town localities, and the 

 method of treating them, so as to obviate the destructive influence of smoke, 

 shade, and drought, to which they must more or less be subject, occupy 

 the greater part of a work of some two hundred pages. Both wi'iters agree 

 in recommending deep digging, abundant manuring, and frequent and 

 copious supplies of water. On the subject of trees and shrubs, Mr. Paul 

 says, don't be too free with conifers. Mr. Hibberd says, avoid all trees 

 that produce gummy or resinous exudations, for the smoke adheres to 



* " The Hand-Book of Villa Gardening ; in a Series of Letters to a Triend." Bj William Paul, 

 author ot the " Rose Garden." London : Piper and Co., Paternoster Eow. 



t "The Town Garden; a Manual for the Management of City and Suburban Gardens" 

 By Shirley Hibberd, author of " Eustic Adornments for Homes of Taste," etc., etc. Second edition. 

 London : Groombndge and Sons, Paternoster Eow. 



