BEGINNING AND LEARNING 195 



treasures of the temperate world. No one who has 

 not had occasional glimpses behind the scenes can 

 know how much labour and thought such a book 

 represents, to say nothing of research and practical 

 experiment, and of the trouble and great expense of 

 producing the large amount of pictorial illustration. 

 Another book, though on quite different lines, that 

 I find most useful is Mr. Nicholson's " Illustrated 

 Dictionary of Gardening," in eight handy volumes. 

 It covers much the same ground as the useful old 

 Johnson's "Gardener's Dictionary," but is much more 

 complete and comprehensive, and is copiously illus- 

 trated with excellent wood-cuts. It is the work of 

 a careful and learned botanist, treating of all plants 

 desirable for cultivation from all climates, and teaching 

 all branches of practical horticulture and such useful 

 matters as means of dealing with insect pests. The 

 old " Johnson " is still a capital book in one volume ; 

 mine is rather out of date, being the edition of 1875, 

 but it has been lately revised and improved. It would 

 be delightful to possess, or to have easy access to, a 

 good botanical library ; still, for all the purposes of the 

 average garden lover, these books will suffice. 



I think it is desirable, when a certain degree of 

 knowledge of plants and facility of dealing with them 

 has been acquired, to get hold of a clear idea of what 

 one most wishes to do. f The scope of the subject is 

 so wide, and there are so many ways to choose from, 

 that having one general idea helps one to concentrate 



