THE BOOK OF SHRUBS 
INTRODUCTION 
To those who take something more than a superficial 
view of the ornamental aspects of the garden and are 
well acquainted with the more beautiful shrubs and the 
trees of small growth, it has long been a matter for 
regret that there should, in relation to arborescent vege- 
tation, be so much poverty in gardens of all classes. 
They have known that botanical gardens and many of 
the leading nurseries have abounded in shrubs and trees 
of wondrous beauty, while gardens were being more or 
less given up to the growth of such as properly 
belong to the hedgerow and the rustic woodland. In 
some cases the planting of these kinds in the garden has 
been due to a desire to effect a small saving in the initial 
cost of the gardens; but in others the errors in planting 
have resulted from a want of knowledge of the many 
beautiful forms that properly belong to the garden. 
Of late years owners of gardens and those responsible 
for their formation and management have become better 
acquainted with shrubs and trees, and have effected con- 
siderable improvements in their selections, but much has 
yet to be learned before the choicer kinds at the com- 
mand of planters can be taken full advantage of and 
properly utilised in the formation of garden scenery. It 
is hoped, and, indeed, believed, that this work will do 
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