required to describe the prints, I have tried to say what was 
necessary in the simplest language possible, carefully avoiding 
all long-winded botanical words and nearly all synonyms ; 
and I venture to hope that by showing what an infinite 
number of beautiful things can be grown in our gardens, I 
may perhaps add a few more to the number of those who 
enjoy what is to my mind one of the purest and most delightful 
pleasures of life, I mean the enjoyment of a garden. 
Whenever I read in the gardening papers the description 
of a new plant (which by the way is generally conveyed in 
technical language totally unintelligible to the general public), 
I always want to see a photograph of it: one glance at that 
is quite sufficient, and tells me all I want to know about it. 
I hope, therefore, that these photographs may be of some 
interest to many people who are fond of their gardens. I 
may add that they were all taken in the garden and pleasure 
grounds at Castlewellan. The illustrations are by the well- 
known firm of Messrs. Hudson & Kearns, and I think they 
have been very successful in their reproductions of my 
photographs. 
CASTLEWELLAN 
August, 1903 
