NATIVE SINGING BIRDS. 493 



that there is no just ground on which to destroy birds from 

 any point of view utilitarian, humanitarian, or aesthetic ; 

 and in our most severely combative moods we should 

 remember that 



"He prayeth best who loveth best 



All things both great and small, 

 For the dear God who loveth us 

 He made and loveth all." 



"MY FATHEE'S GAKDEN."* 



{From " The Florist? July 1867,;*. 150.] 



WE have read through this book with sufficient care 

 and thought to feel justified in recommending it to 

 others. It is not a book on gardening in the strict sense 

 of the term, although there is in it a good deal of informa- 

 tion on gardening. This in general is accurately conveyed, 

 the aim of the author being apparently to inculcate habits 

 of perseverance and honest industry, which he does with 

 all the grace and energy of his simple, clear, and fascinating 

 style. 



The hero, George Able, the son of a market gardener, 

 is sixteen years of age at the opening of the tale. His 

 father's garden, consisting of one acre only, is situate on 

 the Surrey side of the Thames and is adapted to the 

 growth of early vegetables, which had afforded the Abies a 

 decent livelihood for at least two generations. But the 

 rapid rise of buildings closed them in on every side, and, 

 notwithstanding their utmost efforts, their vegetables 

 refused to grow as of old, while the facilities of transit 

 by railways from distant and more favoured localities 

 reduced the prices of their produce, so that they found 



* " My Father's Garden," hy Thomas Miller. London : George Routledge 

 & Sons. 



