8 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



almost at every house. This is as it should be ; ladies will 

 find a solace to their minds in their leisure hours that could 

 not be better employed. 



In regard to gardeners in general, in this country, the 

 major part are self-taught: a reflection on this particular 

 subject alone ought to encourage those possessing a natural 

 taste for the science, that the ART is attainable j this will 

 better enable any to cultivate with a prospect of success. 

 The Scotch gardeners are considered the best in Europe ; 

 we seldom find an English gardener, on his arrival in this 

 country, capable of conducting a green-house as it should 

 be done. This leads a person to suppose that those exotics 

 are only employed in the drudgery of weeding in their na- 

 tive country, and when here wish to pass for bonafide gar- 

 deners; indeed, most of the experienced English gardeners 

 find their knowledge of cultivation in this country deficient, 

 as the difference of clime and soil varies materially to what 

 they were accustomed to ; but a scientific man will soon 

 discover the difference and alter his mode, if not too old in 

 his fixed principles or prejudice. 



There are other sciences attached to gardening that 

 makes the system more complete, which is understood but 

 partially in practice, and not at all in theory. I allude to 

 Botany^ that part which relates to plants ; it is a branch 

 that ought to be studied, as it leads the mind to a thorough 

 knowledge of the distinct species of plants, their properties, 

 sexes, order, and indeed the whole system, The ground 

 work of this science leads the mind to a knowledge of ma- 

 ny important particulars in relation to flowers. To know 

 how to anatomize flowers is particularly interesting to the 

 mind of the cultivator, though not absolutely necessary. 



