PREFATORY NOTE 



I HAVE changed the name of this vokime, — 

 not with the view of deceiving anybody, or of 

 putting a new blazon upon old wares, — but be- 

 cause I wish to express, so far as I can, in the 

 title, the very practical aim of the book, and to 

 dispossess the reader at the start of any notion 

 that it is made up by a mere literary grouping 

 of ruralities. 



In the Preface of 1867— which was the date 

 of its first issue — I said, — "Its aim is to stimu- 

 late those who live in the country, or who love 

 the country, to a fuller and wider range of 

 thinking about the means of making their 

 homes enjoyable — rather than to lay down 

 any definite rules by which this may be accom- 

 plished; and I have especially sought to excite 

 the ambition of those holders of humble estates, 

 who believe that nothing can be done in the 

 way of adornment of country property, except 

 under the eye of accomplished gardeners. The 

 book is a tract for homeliness; and I hope it 

 may make country proselytes." 



