GARDEN LITERATURE.1v 



Those who feed their minds on the literature of the Past, though they 

 may have to forego that doubtfT?) advantage known as keeping pace with 

 the times, are at least sure of good fare. Nothing superfluous or rubbishy ; 

 nothing that does not hold a spark or two of genius to keep it alive 

 survives the destroying hand of JTime. Modern literature, however, 

 makes such an exciting clamour around us that it is extremely difficult 

 to avoid being enthralled by its voice, to the extent of thinking that 

 newer, more wonderful things are being written nowadays than 

 were ever written before. Nothing could be more opportune at 

 the present moment, when we are being inundated with books 

 about gardens, than Mr. Sieveking's reissue of " In Praise of Gardens" 

 — a collection of essays and extracts on the subject, made from the 

 writings of the immortals from earliest even prehistoric, times to the 

 present day. Truly there is nothing new mder the sun. Here we read of 

 gardens in the early years of the Christian Era that, with all our talk of 

 progress and development, would dwarf to insignificance anything that we 

 can produce at the present day. It is possible that the love of gardening 

 was not so widespread as at the present day — that every one who owned a 

 square yard or two of ground was not so set on turning it into a garden as 

 nowadays ; but one certainly feels after reading this book that there is no 

 form of gardening on a large scale that is not as old as the hills. 



In some respects there has been a sad falling-off in modern times. 

 One of these is in the use of water. Water plays an important part iu 

 all the descriptions of old gardens. The stream, the foimtaia, th^ pcHvi^ 

 or, at least, the reservoir, is deemed as important a feature, as great a 

 necessity from the point of view of ornament as the flowers and trees. 

 The modern gardener is apt to regard water from the strictly utilitarian 

 point of view; to carry it in niggardly bucketsful, to lead it in india- 

 rubber tubes, or such-like base implements, to his plants, and this often 

 when his resources would permit of a liberality in the matter, which 

 would be both beneficial to the trees and plants and add greatly to the 

 beauty of his ground. 



A glance through the extracts, many of them essays which have a place 

 in literature quite apart from their subject, surprises one with the number 

 of well-known writers who have said something in praise of gardens. 

 Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Montaigne, Bacon, Sir Philip Sydney, Milton, Pope, 

 Addison, Cowper, Lamb, to mention a few only of those best known to 

 English readers, all have a voice in the book. Mr. Sieveking's selection is 

 made with a nice care and taste. There is nothing in the book that is not 

 i worth reading. There is much to revel in. It is a book to possess, and 

 I to read, not in a rush, but a page or two at a time when one is in the mood 

 for gentle scholarly chatter on one of the most delightful subjects in the 

 world. Some excellent copper-plate engravings add interest to the book. 



t "In Praise of Gardens." By Albert Forbes S'cveking, F.S.A. (London: 

 Pent and Co.) 



