Xll 
PREFACE 
gradual that it is almost impossible to determine for certain 
the time at which they assumed their present condition. I 
have to thank the many friends who have very kindly afforded 
me information respecting their gardens, and provided me with 
plans or photographs, or who have given me ready access to 
the manuscripts in their possession in public or private 
collections. 
I also wish gratefully to acknowledge the kindness of 
Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., in looking over the following pages 
whilst still in proof-sheets. The correction of the proofs had 
been rendered an easy task for me by the kind co-operation 
of my friend, Miss Margaret MacArthur. My thanks are 
also due to Professor Skeat and Mr. James Britten for their 
help in the identification of some of the plants mentioned in 
the fifteenth-century manuscripts, and to Mr. R. E. G. Kirk, 
who assisted me in deciphering some of the earlier Latin ones ; 
also to Mr. Michael Kerney for revising my bibliography of 
printed books on Gardening to the end of the seventeenth 
century. I regret that the continuation from the year 1699 
has not received as much time and attention as I wished to 
bestow upon it, as I have had to complete it rather hurriedly 
on account of my having been absent abroad for several months. 
ALICIA M. T. AMHERST. 
Didlington Hall, 
Norfolk, 
September , 1895. 
