Feminine Taste in Rural Affairs 279 



Danish, Norman; all these apparently discordant elements, 

 were fused so successfully into a great and united people. 



That a hundred years hence will find us quite as distinct 

 and quite as developed, in our national character, we cannot 

 doubt. What that character will be, in all its phases, no one 

 at present can precisely say; but that the French and English 

 elements will largely influence it in its growth, and yet, that 

 in morals, in feeling, and in heart, we shall be entirely dis- 

 tinct from either of those nations, is as clear to us as a summer 

 noon. 



We are not going into a profound philosophical disserta- 

 tion on the political or the social side of national character. 

 We want to touch very slightly on a curious little point that 

 interests us; one that political philosophers would think 

 quite beneath them; one that moralists would not trouble 

 themselves about; and one that we are very much afraid 

 nobody else will think worth notice at all; and therefore we 

 shall set about it directly. 



What is the reason American ladies don't love to work in 

 their gardens? 



It is of no use whatever, that some fifty or a hundred of 

 our fair readers say, "we do." We have carefully studied 

 the matter, until it has become a fact past all contradiction. 

 They may love to "potter" a little. Three or four times in 

 the spring they take a fancy to examine the color of the soil 

 a few inches below the surface; they sow some China 

 asters, and plant a few dahlias, and it is all over. Love 

 flowers, with all their hearts, they certainly do. Few things 

 are more enchanting to them than a fine garden; and 

 bouquets on their center tables are positive necessities, with 

 every lady, from Maine to the Rio Grande. 



Now, we certainly have all the love of nature of our Eng- 

 lish forefathers. We love the country; and a large part of 

 the millions, earned every year by our enterprise, is spent in 

 creating and embellishing country homes. But, on the con- 

 trary, our wives and daughters only love gardens as the 

 French love them - - for the results. They love to walk 

 through them; they enjoy the beauty and perfume of their 



