IN THE ROSE GARDEN .11 DOWNSIDE 



INTRODUCTION. 



T 



HHRR shall be no excuse for the issue of this CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 

 The reason for its appearance is evident and wholly gratifying. It is the 

 greater fruition of that love of the garden which has long had deep roots 

 in the English mind. Among the many transformations which the end of 



the century has brought us. there is none more encouraging than the truer interest 

 we take in the affairs of the country, the greater exhilaration we have in outdoor 

 existence, the keener zest we feel in the pursuits and enjoyments of rural life. Time 

 has worked its revenges. After drawing up into the great centres of population much 

 of the intelligence of the shires, it lias ended by creating a stronger current of affection 

 for the pleasures left behind. The denizen of the town, though he cannot always walk 

 in scented woodland paths, or know the joy of flocks and herds, yet feels "the life of 

 the sunlight upon the world," and has won for himself natural pleasures in greater 

 degree than he ever enjoyed them before. Wherever we go, be it in country or town, 

 we are conscious of the fact that men and women have learned more full)' the enduring 

 happiness that love of a garden can bestow. The country gentleman takes a greater 

 delight and a more personal interest in the gardens that surround him ; it is no longer 

 with him a mere affair of estate management, and the hiring of so main' men. The 

 suburban garden is more intelligently tended, and the owner and his family are more 

 often the actual gardeners, or at least are more closely concerned with the setting out and 

 cultivation or beautifying of the land. 



Here, indeed, is a healthful and beautiful kingdom to explore, where every step is a 

 discovery, and every success a triumph. Yet difficulty will always beset the beginner, w ho 

 is often at his wits' end to know w hat to do. Groping his way aimlessly in this realm of the 

 garden and garden beauty, he is bewildered by the extent of the kingdom he surveys, knows 



