LANDSCAPI 



ARCH. 



LIBRARY 



PREFACE 



ROUND THE YEAR IN THE GARDEN is an inexhaustible 

 theme, to which I make no claim to have done full 

 justice. Each month deserves a volume, the year a 

 shelf of books. A perennial source of delight is 

 found in watching the seasons round in a garden. 

 One is taught to appreciate the joys of the present, 

 to forget the disappointments of the past, and, with 

 enthusiasm, to anticipate the promise of the future. 

 Failures will be experienced, even the shadow of 

 dismay may cloud the horizon, but the interest of the 

 garden is so varied, so sustained, that the perplexities 

 of one moment will be eclipsed by the pleasures of 

 the next. Who feels bored in a garden must be a 

 very dull person indeed or a fair weather gardener, 

 and for him there is no hope. It is not by planting 

 in spring and gathering flowers in summer that the 

 heart of the garden is won ; rather is this aim 

 achieved by an, acquaintance which has deepened to 

 friendship, and through friendship ripened to love. 



ROUND THE YEAR IN THE GARDEN makes no 

 pretence to be a complete "calendar of operations," 

 though it is concerned in bringing to notice some 

 of the flowers, fruits, and vegetables of the seasons, 

 and in indicating the chief garden work to be done 



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