THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 



199 



the rule, for every grower knows that what 

 one Hoes, another can do, and to acknow- 

 ledge merit is to pay homage to intellect, 

 and patience, and vigilance, and instead of 

 hating the man for bis success, we leara 

 to emulate his virtues; so that rivalry in 

 gardening is a school of practical morals, 

 in whicli the pupils increase in excellence 

 as they make progress in the successful 

 prosecution of their favourite art. 



This truly fraternal feelhig, to which 

 every petty pride yields up the ghost, 

 manifests itself in a thousand pleasing 

 wayp, w lich proves that gardening, whe- 

 ther foliov.-ed as a livelihood or as a plea- 

 sure only, is an art that ennobles all who 

 share in its exercise. Make note of a man 

 who has attained to high excellence in any 

 one department, and measuring him by 

 the world's rule, you will not expect him 

 to impart to you one jot of information 

 which may help you to similar success. 

 But put the thing to experiment, and 

 once let him see that the spirit of a true 

 gardener moves you iu questioning him, 

 and he will lay before you his whole rou- 

 tine, will show you his compost, and fell 

 you how it is prepared ; will tell you when 

 and how to make your cuttings, let you 

 into the secrets of stopping and training 

 out, and put you in the way to beat him, 

 if you can, with his own weapons. Look 

 at our leading nurserymen, one and all, 

 they do their best to help the amateur 

 in his pleasing occupation ; the results of 

 years of observation and experience are 

 placed at the disposal of all to whom they 

 may be useful, and they would be as in- 

 capable of any paltry exclusiveuess as they 

 would be of paltry dealings and low chi- 

 canery. 



A spirit of generosity is a most di-s- 

 tinctive feature iu the character of a gar- 

 dener ; he is perfectly miserable if he can 

 find no one to accept a pinch of seed or a 

 few cuttings of some choice thing ; to keep 

 it to himself, is as much agony as a boy 

 endures when he sees no opening for the 

 investment of his pocket-money. 



Gro through the whole catalogue of 

 gifts, and what can equal flowers and 

 fruits ? It is not only a diffusion of God's 

 bounty, but a sacrifice to friendship of the 

 most valued labour of our hands, so that 

 if we have toiled a whole season to pro- 

 duce a noble crop, we find oui' highest 

 pleasure in giving it away. You will find 

 that the genuine gardener, who enters 

 heart and soul into his work, has no selfish 

 manner of enjoying the results of it : he 

 grows many a row of beans and peas, 

 many a score bunches of grapes, many a 



j dozen melons and cucumbers, expressly 

 to give awaj' ; and if you were to watch 

 him when he packs xip the hamper for a 

 friend, you would see thut he chooses the 

 best, and i-eserves those that are ill-shaped, 

 badly-ripened, or in any way defective to 

 the eye or palate, for himself. I believe 

 I have given away a good third of all I 

 have grown for many years past, and I do 

 hope my heart will not so shrivel up that 

 I shall ever cease to dig, sow, train, and 

 reap expressly for those among whom I 

 esteem as dear to me, who have either no 

 opportunity or no skill to produce choice 

 things for themselves. 



A thousand anecdotes of the aotive 

 nature of the genei'osity that grows up in 

 a garden might be told here, and no end 

 of historical events might be shown to 

 have their chief interest iu conuectiou 

 with such things. I shall never forget 

 how Margaret Fuller describes her " first 

 friend," as heightening the ideal beauty 

 in which she floated before the child's 

 imagination by her pi-ecious gifts of flowei"s. 

 Here is one passage from her diary to 

 the point : — 



"She has just brought me a little 

 bouquet. Her flowers have sufiered greatly 

 by my neglect, when I would be so en- 

 grossed by other things in her absences. 

 But not to be disgusted or deterred, when- 

 ever she can glean one pretty enough, she 

 brings it to me. Here is the bouquet — a 

 very delicate rose, with its half-blown bud, 

 heliotrope, geranium, lady-pea, heart's- 

 ease ; all sweet-scented flowers ! Moved 

 by their beauty, I wrote a short note, to 

 which this is the reply. Just like herself! — 



" ' I should not love my flowers if they 

 did not put forth all the strength they 

 have, ingratitude for your preserving care 

 last winter, and your wasted feelings over 

 the unavoidable 'effects of the frost that 

 came so unexpectedly to nip their bloom- 

 ing beauties.' " 



If the toils of a garden were not to be 

 ranked among the highest pleasures of life, 

 their reward would be found in the joy of 

 giving away the fruits of our labours, for 

 in this above all things the words of Holy 

 Writ are lovingly verified, that " it is 

 more blessed to give than to receive." 



Then look at the knowledge one gains 

 in all this. The gardener must learn the 

 exact limits of adaptability in the vegetable 

 kingdom, so as to make plants of opposite 

 habit and different constitution, natives of 

 diverse climes, and naturally accustomed 

 to soils of the most heterogeneous nature, 

 prosper side by side iu one common soil 

 and climate. He must learn how to sub- 



