Many of you will remember I’m sure the best-selling comic history book 1066 And All That by Sellar and Yeatman, published first in 1930 but reprinted almost endlessly ever since. What you might not know is that they followed it up with several others, including, in 1936, a guide to gardening.
They did so because they said their earlier success” amply qualified them to compile the History of British Agriculture (post-Saxon) which they left out of that book. They cover the whole subject of Gardening (including Golf, but omitting chestnuts), Country Life and Scouting. … Everyone who loves (or hates) a garden will wallow in the rich loam of their wisdom.”
As you can probably tell even from that brief extract from the intro Garden Rubbish and other Country Bumps is very much a piece of its time. Its humour is often dated and laboured but parts of it can still raise a smile and as a recent critic noted when it “hits its stride, it nails the British infatuation with competitive gardening with great gusto.
The Garden History Blog 
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