N/XETEEX rn CENTURY. 



281 



about such changes many men have been at work, in every 

 department, each contributing something towards the progress 

 of gardening. There have been practical gardeners and 

 nurserymen, great botanists and men of knowledge and daring, 

 whose lives have been risked in the cause of science, and to 

 whose courage and perseverance we owe so many of the 

 treasures of a modern garden. 



While the rage for landscape-gardening was at its height, 

 there were many practical gardeners busy in a quiet way 



ARLEY, A GARDEN LAID OUT FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE OLD FORMAL STYLE. 



carr}ing on the work of horticulture. One of these was 

 Abercrombie, whose writings were popular for many j-ears. 

 He was the son of a market gardener near Edinburgh, and 

 was born in the year 1726. The Battle of Preston Pans was 

 fought close to his father's garden wall, and he was present at 

 the time. His first place as gardener was with Sir James 

 Douglas, and later on he married a rich girl, a relative of his 

 former employer. In 1770 he settled with his family, consisting 

 of two sons and sixteen daughters, between Mile End and 



