INTRODUCTION*. 5 



other for which this work is calculated : and we intend it for circulation in 

 the temperate climates of both hemispheres. 



Next in influence on society, in every country, to the female sex, is the 

 class of teachers; including under this class the two orders, ministers of 

 religion and schoolmasters. The instruction of these orders in the science 

 and practice of gardening shall be one of our principal aims in the composi- 

 tion of this work, as well in the hope of adding to their own resources for 

 comforts and enjoyments, as of enabling them to infuse a taste for these 

 comforts and enjoyments into the minds of the rising generation. We can 

 hardly conceive any rural pursuits more adapted for a clergyman than natural 

 history and gardening : and what can better afford a relaxation to the school- 

 master, from the arduous and sedentary duties of his profession, than the 

 cultivation of a field of useful vegetables, and of a garden of curious and 

 ornamental plants, not only for his own amusement, but for the instruction of 

 his pupils? A garden and a field are, in our opinion, as well merited by the 

 schoolmaster as a glebe is by the clergyman ; and we trust they will, in a 

 short time, be considered as no less indispensable in Britain (in the establish- 

 ment of a national system of education) than they already are in most parts 

 of Germany, and in many parts of North America. 



We might enlarge here on the great advantages which would result from 

 bringing up children with a taste for garden pursuits and natural history; and 

 the vast influence which this is calculated to have on their future happiness, 

 and on the welfare of society, by enabling them, instead of passing their 

 leisure hours in a manner degrading to human nature, to interest themselves 

 in recreations both agreeable and useful : but the field is too wide to be 

 entered on within our limits, and we must therefore leave the subject to be 

 worked out by the imagination of our readers. 



Much of the enjoyment of a country residence depends on knowing what 

 to expect from it; what, in short, is consistent, and what is inconsistent, with 

 its limits and its local situation. We have shown, in the EncyclopcEilia of 

 Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture (p. 8), that all, in the way of house 

 accommodation, that is essential to the enjoyment of life, may be obtained in 

 a cottage of three or four rooms as well as in a palace ; and we shall prove, 

 in this work, that a suburban villa, with a very small portion of land 

 attached, will contain all that is essential to happiness in the garden, park, 

 and demesne of the most extensive country residence. Let us briefly make 

 the comparison. The objects of the possessors of both are the same : health, 

 which is the residt of temperance and exercise; enjoyment, which is the 

 possession of something which we can call our own, and on which we can 

 set our heart and affections ; and the respect of society, which is the result of 

 their favourable opinion of our sentiments and moral conduct. No man in 

 this world, however high may be his rank, great his wealth, powerful his 

 genius, or extensive his acquirements, can ever attain more than health, 

 enjoyment, and respect. The lord of an extensive demesne seeks after health 

 by hunting, shooting, or other field sports, or by superintending the general 

 management and cultivation of his estate; the lady seeks recreation in her 

 pleasure-ground, or in airings in her carriage ; and both find their enjoyment 

 in their children, and in their house and garden, and other surrounding 

 objects. Now the master of a suburban villa finds health in the change it 

 affords from his occupation as a citizen ; or if he has retired from business, in 



