General Remarks. 573 



Nor is it necessary, for every one engaged in it, either for a 

 livelihood or otherwise, must have the assistance of a competent 

 practical teacher, and gain his experience by active participation 

 in the different branches, coupled with observation. Not to be 

 misunderstood on this point, we may add that we allude to 

 every-day operations, and that we in nowise include information 

 that otherwise would not be attainable by a great majority of 

 gardeners. Our remarks are directed against those voluminous 

 treatises that contain a small quantity of valuable matter mixed 

 up with tedious and verbose deseriptions and directions of no 

 real utility to the young gardener in search of knowledge. A 

 few general rules and hints relative to the most important 

 points to be observed in carrying out certain kinds of labour 

 are likely to be more serviceable than a large book to a great 

 number of men : in the first place, because they are more 

 likely to be read ; and in the second place, because whatever 

 may be new to the inquirer is more likely to be retained when 

 divested of superfluous words. We do not adopt this view in 

 consequence of the limited space we have thought sufficient to 

 devote to this portion of our work, but from the inconvenience 

 we have experienced ourselves in consulting big books. The 

 exercise of forethought and care in all operations is what we 

 would most strongly impress upon young gardeners, and remind 

 them that they have to deal with living organisms. Anything 

 with life if thoughtfully studied is calculated to afford much 

 enjoyment beyond that offered to the eye, and for this reason 

 we cannot refrain from endeavouring to enlist the sympathies 

 of those whom this fact has failed to interest, though it may 

 appear uncalled for to the comparatively few in whom this 

 feeling has not remained dormant. Life is a subtle and unde- 

 finable principle alike in plants and animals ; and, as the gar- 

 dener's whole attention is directed towards maintaining healthy 

 existence in his subjects, he is more likely to effect his object by 

 always bearing the fact in mind that plants do possess life. 

 This will lead him to study the conditions most favourable for 

 the development of different species, and this knowledge he 

 may gain by observing plants and trees in a wild state. Not 

 that wild plants are always or even generally found in the most 

 suitable situations where all the conditions are favourable to 

 their development. But a wild tree, naturally sprung up 

 from a seed, has often an advantage over a planted one, when 

 other things are equal, because it is exactly the proper depth 



