tux 



December, 180 k 



THE FLOKAL WOELD. 



EYEN years have now passed since the first num- 

 ber of the Eloeal "Would was issued, or, as some 

 elegant authors would say, " was first launched on 

 the waves of public approbation." During that 

 period several new periodical works devoted to 

 horticulture have appeared, and during that period 

 several have perished. We have not speculated on 

 the causes of the decline of the journals that have 

 lately passed away, but we have speculated on the 

 continuance of the Eloeal Woeld thus far in 

 the enjoyment of a quiet prosperity, neither injured in its circulation 

 by new competitors, nor depressed by the disappearance of works that, 

 to all outward appearance, were as well worthy of continued support. We 

 think the reason why the Eloeal Woeld continues to prosper is that 

 it is thoroughly practical, and not too ambitious. Others have attempted 

 great things and failed. If they had attempted less they might have 

 had better luck. In this work the aim has been not so much to show 

 what might be done under peculiar circumstances, as what should be 

 done under ordinary circumstances. There are not many who can 

 indulge in the growth of musas, palms, and orchids, but there are 

 many who see that roses, ferns, greenhouse plants, and bedding and 

 border flowers, are within their reach ; and to such persons we have 

 chiefly addressed ourselves, and intend hereafter to consider their inte- 

 rests even more anxiously than we have done hitherto. So in 18G5, 

 instead of attempting to discover how to take cuttings of Coxweli's 

 balloon, or graft Epidendrums vitellinum on Welwitschia mirabilis, we 

 shall commence a fresh hunt among the hardy border flowers and the 

 nearly hardy subjects of all kinds that for use or beauty have, or ought 

 to have, a place in every garden. As in 18G4 the " Garden Guide " 

 was enlarged so as to present a very complete view of the work of the 

 months, we may find a few brief reminders under that head sufficient 



VOL. VII. — > T 0. XII. N 



