II 



AN OUTLINE OF THE GARDEN. 



ASCHAM might have alluded 

 to gardening when he penned the 

 foregoing lines. The art of garden- 

 ing is comparatively easy in theory ; its consum- 

 mation is more difficult in the v soil. And it is 

 not unlikely we shall find the author of " The 

 Scholemaster " easier to read between the lines 

 than appears at first sight, in the interval that 

 shall elapse between the matins of the first 

 snow-drop bells and the vespers from the last 

 monk's-hood spire. 



I write of the hardy flower-garden. This 

 may be large or small, though, beyond a certain 

 indispensable area, its perfected beauty depends 

 not so much upon mere size as upon intelligent 

 treatment. A small plot properly laid out, judi- 

 ciously planted, and kept in finished order, will 

 produce more satisfactory results than ten times 



