xxxvi INTRODUCTION. 



state of things. A little curtailment in extent need not 

 mean curtailment of species, for in most collections 

 there are too many duplicates of sorts that it would be no 

 great hardship to part with, and it would conduce to a 

 greater concentration of the disposable time and atten- 

 tion ; and in these days of cheap wire and invention, 

 almost invisible supports may be had, so contrived as to 

 make no greater demand on the labour in the case of a 

 large number of plants than that required in the setting 

 of them up in a proper position, and there would thus 

 be a considerable saving of time in tying, over and 

 above the improvement in point of taste and orderliness, 

 and other considerations bearing on these. Cleanliness 

 — that is, freedom from weeds, and the timely removal 

 of decaying foliage and flowers and the seedy parts of 

 plants — should have constant attention throughout the 

 season. A constant eye should be kept on the weakly 

 and rare subjects in the collection during spring, sum- 

 mer, and autumn, in order to anticipate disaster and loss, 

 and as far as possible provide against it. 



The winter management of mixed borders is even more 

 simple than that of summer. If the border has a ground- 

 work of carpeting plants all over it, digging is happily 

 impossible ; and if not, it is objectionable. Supposing 

 that the operation of digging could always be engaged 

 in with safety to minute plants and bulbs, by the hands 

 to which that work is usually committed, it is otherw^ise 

 undesirable and unnecessary. Labels may serve as a 

 protection to all plants that are unseen on the surface, 

 if they are in the right place, but there is not always 

 a warrant for that assumption ; and even if they were 

 always in the proper position, indiscriminate digging of 



