or pours like dust from the hand, is completely exhausted, and the poor plants are starved. They should be given plenty of what in gardeners’ slang is called “good stuff,” if they are to grow in such adverse conditions. A little of the money expended on plants which dwindle and die, spent on manure or good soil, would better repay the would-be gardener. Many plants require a good deal of water when making their growth, and if that is denied them they will not thrive, no matter how great the solicitude for their welfare in other ways. Washing the leaves, especially of evergreens, and scrubbing stems is also a great help, as leaves choked with dirt have no chance of imbibing the life-giving properties necessary to the plant. The back-garden has many enemies besides soot and fogs. Cats are one of the greatest trials, and most destructive. Sparrows also are very mischievous. They will pick the flower-buds off trees just at the critical moment. A wistaria climber laden with young blossoms they will destroy in a few days, just before the purple buds appear. But, notwithstanding all these pests and difficulties, it is surprising how many things will not only survive, but grow well. The task becomes more and more easy as the houses recede from the City. In St. John’s Wood, Bayswater, or Earl’s Court, in Camberwell or Stoke Newington, plants will grow better than in Bloomsbury or Southwark. But yet it is possible to grow many things even in Whitechapel. It is impossible to prescribe the best plants for all London gardens, as there is such a great difference in soil and aspect, that what does well in one part will not flourish in another. The heavy soil of Regent’s Park, for instance, is well suited to peonies, which do not seem at home in Chelsea. On the other hand, some of the showy, hardy spring flowers, such as wallflowers and forget-me-nots, die off with fogs much more quickly in the Regent’s Park than in other districts. Any deciduous tree or shrub thrives better than an evergreen or a conifer in any part of London. The fresh growth of clean leaves every year, by which the plant absorbs much of its nourishment, must necessarily be better for it than dried-up, blackened leaves. Among flowering shrubs, a great number grow sturdily in London. Laburnums of all kinds, thorns in many varieties, flower well; lilacs grow and look fresh and green everywhere, but cannot be depended on always to flower; almonds, snowy medlars, double cherries, weigelas or diervillas succeed; broom, Forsythias, acacia, syringa, many kinds of prunus, ribes, rose acacia, Guelder rose, Japanese red peach, _Kerria japonica_, _Hibiscus Syriacus_, or _Althæa frutex_, are all satisfactory, and many more could be mentioned. _Yucca gloriosa_ will stand any amount of smoke, and _Aralia spinosa_ does well in many parts; and among evergreens, _Arbutus Andrachne_ can be recommended. Fruit-trees, pears, and apples are charming when in bloom, and in a