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 descriptions 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 direeted 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 hfe. 
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 
