PERENNIALS 



hours spent in weeding or transplanting, or 

 in tying up climbing Roses and vines, gives 

 exercise to unused muscles, keeps one lithe 

 and supple, and forbids the dreaded adipose 

 .tissue to put in an appearance. 



For those who are "getting on," whatever 

 private opinion may be as to that period, 

 garden exercise is a sure preserver of youth. 

 The arms are raised above the head, one 

 bends from the waist, gets up and down on 

 the knees, all of which is exercise which is 

 not work but delightful play. It is won- 

 derful, too, how large a part of your life 

 the love of gardening can become, what an 

 absorbing occupation, and what solace in 

 time of sorrow. A friend who has had one 

 garden for fifty years, met with a terrible 

 grief not long ago, and after a few months 

 she wrote me, "You will be glad to know 

 that the Comforter comes to me more 

 directly through my garden than through 

 any other earthly source." 



Once, in Rome, I was taken painfully ill 

 161 



