Here we have a super card which is very relevant to the grounds keeper, whose job it once was to repair the turfs that the cleated, hob-nailed boots did tear asunder, and flatten the surface with one of those awfully weighted rollers, with its hard handle that wrought havoc with his fingers and palms.
I cannot believe that this card was issued in the mid 1920s. This is a drawing of the sort of large and stately garden that only flourished until the First World War stole it of its staff and did not return them.
In our original W.D. & H.O. Wills reference book, part III, this set is catalogued as :
227. GARDENING HINTS. Fronts lithographed in colour. Backs in grey with descriptive text. Two grades of board (a) thin, (b) thick. Home issue, 1923. Similar series issued by Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada.
By the time of the World Tobacco Issues Indexes it is reduced to :
GARDENING HINTS. Sm. Nd. (50). See W/227
By the way do not confuse this with another set by W.D. & H.O. Wills, which is called "Garden Hints". That set was issued in January 1938, and it is much more modern in every way. Though I have to say I much prefer the olde-world charm and gentility of this scene here.