From the PREFACE.
SOME of the matters treated of in this book have lately been the subjects of much discussion in the "Times" as well ''as in all the horticultural papers; and to give the public a fuller idea of them than could be gleaned from any or all of the journals in which they were described or discussed, is my excuse for writing a work which is so exceptional in its nature. I went to France in January, 1867, with a view to study the horticulture of the country so far as possible, while continuing my connexion with the horticultural press; and in the course of the season I noticed in the Times, the Field, and the Gardener s Chronicle such of the features of French gardening as seemed to me worthy of adoption in this country. In the correspondence which resulted from this, each journal discussed a single phase of the subject or approached it from its own point of view; and the want of illustrations prevented me from explaining in the most effective way several real improvements in our gardens; thus it was difficult for the public to get more than a vague notion of some of the matters of greatest interest in French gardening. After the close of the discussion in the horticultural journals, it occurred to me that a book, with illustrations, would put the more important points in a clearer light; and the result is the publication of the present volume. The work is from its nature an imperfect one, and no less so for its object but I had no thought of writing it till some time after I had quitted Paris, and in fact I was engaged in preparations for an entirely different work, when the animated discussions on "French and English gardening," and allied matters, obliged me to devote myself almost entirely to the defence of what I am convinced are the true and practical lessons of the matter. No amount of interest excited on the part of the public would have induced me to publish, were it not that I am certain we may adopt some of the ways of our neighbours with decided advantage....
