INTRODUCTION 3 



everything but the pictures of cucumbers. These I 

 refuse to accept, because right well I know that they 

 cannot be produced without the assistance of a dis- 

 honest photographer. The cucumbers of the cata- 

 logues are pure art. Nature will have none of them, 

 and no more will I. A cucumber six feet in length 

 would be just as absurd as a salmon of those dimen- 

 sions. Providence very properly seems to regulate 

 the one by the other ; and though we may often 

 surprise Nature in a hot-house and with a high 

 temperature and tons of water bustle her into the 

 production of something that she would blush for at 

 a cooler moment; yet the fact remains concerning 

 cucumbers, that they have their limits, and those 

 limits lie nearer to three feet than six. 



A second grand test of a gardener is the butterfly 

 question. When horticulturists, so-called, invite me 

 to beam upon these gorgeous insects opening and 

 shutting their painted wings in the middle of some- 

 thing that cost money, I know that I am dealing with 

 ignorance, or culpable indifference. If you are an 

 entomologist, well and good. I say nothing. We 

 all have our simple pleasures, and, as Montaigne re- 

 marks, "he must fool it a little who would not be 

 thought wholly a fool." At any rate, the more butter- 

 flies you catch and pin into boxes, the better I shall 

 like you. Come to me as often as you will during the 

 season, and always count upon a glass of sherry and a 

 biscuit after your sport is done. 



But should you be a gardener, the case is very 

 different. We are now dealing with a serious subject, 



