vi PREFACE 



so entirely is it what no other has yet been, that to 

 keep from overpraise is difficult. There may be, there 

 will be those to whom a few matters of individual 

 taste in these pages may not commend themselves. 

 This would be always so, whoever wrote, whoever 

 read. The point to be noticed is this: the taste of 

 the author of "Studies in Gardening" is with rare 

 exceptions based on principles and, therefore, cannot 

 but be sound. 



When one reflects upon the lack of knowledge of 

 the principles of gardening among our own amateurs 

 one feels more keenly the need of such a leaven as 

 this book affords. General enlightenment on the great 

 subject is our instant want; more study of the broader 

 aspects of the gardening art, enlivening this of course 

 by constant excursions into the lovely realm of flower, 

 shrub, and tree, matters of garden enclosure and gar- 

 den decoration. 



It will be noticed that among the plant subjects 

 considered in the present volume there are some not 

 to be recommended for our Northern States for reasons 

 of soil and climate. It has seemed wise to leave these 

 names unchanged, adding on occasion an explanatory 

 note. Many of these plants flourish in our Northern 

 Pacific States as in England, and of certain parts of 

 the South and Southwest the same may be said. The 

 difference in climate with regard to time of bloom 

 of plants dealt with here makes the suggestion fitting 

 that the reader allow a date one month later for the 

 latitude of Boston. This opinion is based upon care- 



