Page:Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse-Vol 1.djvu/9



the earliest periods of which we have any records, flower gardens have constituted a source of pleasure and a means of recreation to the human race. In the older civilisations, as in the new, wealth and taste have been lavished upon gardens, and we are bold to say the investment has been remunerative in the best meaning of the word. The æsthetic sense that finds an outlet in the creation and maintenance of a garden, is itself stimulated and strengthened by its own offspring; and this is true not merely of the garden of one or many acres, but equally so of the tiny plot attached to the humble suburban dwelling of the city clerk or the mechanic. In many of these restricted areas the amateur gardener finds serious difficulties in his way, in the shape of a crude clay or gravel earth deficient in humus, obstacles to light and air, and so forth; yet these a may be, and often are, overcome by perseverance and the determination to succeed.