some reliable firm who is sure to send out
everything true to name. People who go in for gardening, should always be
ready to learn; there are so many points which cannot be acquired all at
once. One can often gain a "wrinkle" if one keeps one's eyes open, as the
saying is. Constant visits should be made to Kew, Hampton Court, or any
other well-kept public garden, if at all within reach. A stroll round a
neighbour's garden, too, will often give one new ideas, and the
interchange of opinions does a deal of good. A magazine keeps up one's
interest wonderfully, and there are many specially published for amateurs.
One must not be surprised that the advice often seems contradictory. =The
right way of growing a plant is the way that succeeds=, and experience
shows how varied may be the means by which success is attained. I should
like here to warn my readers that before launching out into any great
expense, they first come to a full understanding as to what they will or
will not be able to take away. Greenhouses can be put up as =tenants'
fixtures=, but a very slight difference in the manner of placing them may
result in a good deal of unpleasantness with the landlord, and it is the
same with rose-trees, and other shrubs and plants. Where a shrub has
attained to goodly proportions, it is really the best way to let it
remain, even though the associations connected with it may be pleasant, as
transplanting would probably mean death, in which case neither party would
have gained anything. Of course, in the nature of things, a lover of
gardening is loth to move at all, a rolling stone is not at all in his
line.

=Tidiness is most important in a small garden=, especially in the winter
time; plants may be allowed to get rampant in summer, but in the cold
weather, this wildness tends to make it look miserable. One sometimes sees
the brown, mildewed stalks of sunflowers and other tall plants, left on
right into December, even in a front garden, and it =gives such a deserted
look= to the place, that one longs to "have at them" there and then with a
knife. It is the same way with autumn leaves; in woods they look
beautiful, as they flutter down and make a rich, rustling carpet for our
feet, but, somehow, in the garden the beauty seems gone, and it is
generally the best plan to sweep them away as soon as possible into some
corner, where they can be left to turn into leaf mould. Of course there is
a certain beautiful freedom which is ver