vi PREFACE 



source of satisfaction and delight. But, meanwhile, by slow 

 degrees, and by learning and watching little things, each per- 

 haps of slight importance in itself, but with some bearing on 

 other matters that will distinctly help to build up knowledge, 

 the outlook will have grown wider, and the once beginner, 

 now a master of his craft, has learnt both to know his plants 

 with all their wants and ways, and how to fit them, by placing 

 the right plant or group of plants in the right spot, to all the 

 widely varied conditions and demands of many gardens. 



It is easy to go wrong, especially at first, by trying to use 

 too many things at a time. It is true that the good gardener 

 has to learn the ways and needs of a great many plants ; it is 

 a part of his training to work through a widely varied collec- 

 tion, and to obtain an intimate knowledge of all, but it is only 

 when he has gained a close acquaintance with individuals that 

 he can then select and combine, and rightly use his know- 

 ledge for the direct service of each special purpose. And 

 then, if he have the divine gift of a right perception, refined 

 and strengthened by humble searching and unwearied labour, 

 and by training his mind to the modest level of regarding 

 himself always as a beginner, he will in the end acquire that 

 ultimate power which will enable him to use all his material 

 with an aim as true and an attainment as sure as the child 

 with his simple edging of one well-known and well-loved 

 little flowering plant. 



GERTRUDE JEKYLL. 



