PREFACE. 



MY father, the late Edward Milner, as the colleague for many years 

 of Sir Joseph Paxton, was concerned in all the later achievements of 

 Landscape Gardening carried out by that distinguished man ; and 

 from 1850 until 1884 himself designed and completed many of the 

 finest works of the kind that have ever been produced, not only 

 in this country, but in various notable places on the continent of 

 Europe. By this prosecution of his art in such extended practice, 

 he attained a purely exceptional experience, the opportunity for 

 which ripened his artistic powers ; and without question he was 

 enabled to illustrate by his works a steady advance of the art, 

 which is essentially English. On my part, as the colleague of my 

 father, and as successor not only to his profession but to many 

 fruits of his experience, I too have had ample opportunities to 

 practically illustrate the art that I love and. the work that I delight 

 in. Impelled by that love, I have endeavoured to realise the 

 principles on which I have been led to base the artistic conceptions 

 of my work, and the points of practice by which it may be carried 

 out. I do not intend to advance any fashion, past or present, in 

 Landscape Gardening, but to set forth my own opinions and my 

 own practice, however incompletely that may be done. 



H. E. M. 



DULWICH WOOD, S.E., 

 June, 1890. 



Ml 2694 



