\ i Preface 



weather, and while Carnations and Roses in the 

 garden may fail through weather and other causes, 

 the woodland flowers are always true to their seasons, 

 and no garden effect can equal theirs in breadth and 

 in succession of beauty over the same ground. With 

 their soft background of underwood it is vain for 

 the gardener to attempt to rival them. During our 

 winters no real flower-gardening is possible in these 

 islands, save in favoured spots near the coast, and 

 even the scared little conifers stuck out in the flower- 

 beds (as before the King's palace in St. James's 

 Park last winter) do not help us. Yet our climate 

 is excellent for the hardy evergreen trees of the north, 

 which give us shelter, warmth, and dignity ; and 

 no country of Europe is more favourable to such life 

 than ours. It is not the 'pleasure-ground* but the 

 woodland which enables us to grow fine trees, and 

 their place is the wood and not the pleasure-garden. 

 How seldom ' pinetums' or botanic gardens in Eng- 

 land and France contain a well-grown Pine ! The 

 whole system of dotting trees on grass is a wrong one ; 

 the true way to enjoy their beauty and favour their 

 growth is in woodland planting. Those who have no 

 woods, but have bare lands to plant, can raise woods 

 in ten years if they keep out cows, horses, rabbits, and 

 hares for seven years. 



