I^'TRODUCTIOi^^. 11 



delight in beautiful, well arranged, home-gardens, and 

 in caring for them. 



It should be better known, that there are fullj one 

 thousand different species and A'arietici of ornamental 

 trees and shrubs, besides great numbers of hardy flower- 

 ing plants, all possessing distinct features of beauty, that 

 will thrive in the greater part of the United States. One 

 who walks among our home gardens and grounds, and 

 sees the same plants in each, might suppose that only a 

 few scores of these were known. The same kinds, such as 

 have always been planted, are repeated everywhere. The 

 same fault is also conspicuous in many cemeteries and 

 public parks. It is not too much to say that a degree of 

 poverty generally prevails in our ornamentation of home 

 grounds, that would not be tolerated in the interior fur- 

 nishings, or in the appearance of the house itself. There 

 are as good reasons for adjiering to the fashions in houses 

 of fifty 3'ears ago as to the selection and arrangement of 

 trees that prevailed at that time. The reason why a knowl- 

 edge of materials, their kinds, arrangement and needed 

 care are essential to success in ornamental gai'dening, is be- 

 cause fine results depend largely upon continued attention 

 to keeping up the garden. When the architect has planned . 

 and finished the house, the interest in architecture, so 

 far as that house is concerned, is at an end. But when a 

 garden is planned and planted it remains a perpetual 

 charge. Tf it is slighted or neglected, the original work 

 of constructiA is w^ell nigh lost. It is an intimate ac- 

 quaintance with trees and plants, first in doing or ir, di- 

 recting garden work, and later the watching their growth 

 and development, that give to the occupation its great- 

 est charm. 



THE LITER A.TURE OF ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. 



A comparison of our garden literature with that of 

 England, for example, indicates a general lack of interest 



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