5 



made a special appeal, which unquestionably is the result of its individuality, of 

 its fitness, and of its spontaniety. These characteristics are common to almost 

 all cottage gardens, whether old or new, English or American, conceived by their 

 owners,' or built according to the dictates of the conditions and of the materials 

 at hand, without regard to passing styles and each in a style of its own that 

 changes only with time and with growth. An excellent description of cottage 

 gardening is to be found in Village Homes of England, by Sidney R. Jones, which is 

 quoted as follows: 



Cottage gardening is a subject difficult to define or to include within 

 certain limits. In the practice of it English villagers have always ex- 

 celled. Rural occupations, indeed, have ever appealed to the national 

 mind, and whether the consideration be of gardens that surround man- 

 sions, houses, or peasant's dwelling, the same evidence of devotion to 

 the 'purest of human pleasures' is there. In the best of our village 

 gardens the effects appear to be spontaneous and unstudied, and the 

 operations of art are cunningly concealed; they seem to have grown 

 together without the aid of man. Villagers are born gardeners. With 

 skill they apply and adapt their knowledge acquired from nature. 'The 

 very laborer,' said Washington Irving, 'with his thatched cottage and 

 narrow strip of ground, attends to their embellishment. The trim 

 hedge, the grass plot before the door, the little flower bed bordered with 

 snug box, the woodbine trained up against the wall and hanging its 

 blossoms about the lattice, the pot of flowers in the window, the holly, 

 providentially planted about the house to cheat winter of its dreariness 

 and to throw in a semblance of green to cheer the fireside: all these 

 bespeak the influence of taste, flowing down from high sources, and per- 

 vading the lowest levels of the public mind.' 



Quoting further from Mr. Jones' article on cottage gardens, apparently, 



An intuitive faculty on the part of their makers gave results for the 

 repetition of which it is impossible to lay down definite laws. The 

 charm of many such cottage gardens, ...... .is beyond analysis, 



and their attractiveness is due to the personal influence of those who have 

 cared for them; villagers felt what was right to do, and ideas came 

 naturally through intimate relation with the soil. That is as it should 

 be: gardens, as houses, ought to reflect the personality of their owners. 

 The vegetable beds, in which lay the real, material value of the cottage 

 gardens, were tended as carefully as the plots given up to flowers. Be- 

 tween the narrow paths would be rows of beans, peas, cabbages, and 

 roots, with here and there an old-fashioned fruit tree and bushes of 

 currants and gooseberries. In shady places rhubarb flourished, and 

 nuts were in the boundary hedge. Near the house, flowers bloomed, 



and their fragrance was wafted within The entrance 



path was frequently paved with the handiest material the locality 

 afforded, and many charming effects in stone, brick, and cobbles may 



be seen Village gardens, too, had their clipped work 



in yew and box, and much of it can still be seen The 



deep green of these trees (and hedges) afford excellent backgrounds 

 for the display of flowers. Some allege that yews and box harbour 

 insects and pests, deprive plants growing near of nutriment, and make 

 the successful growing of flowers in close proximity an impossibility. 

 But that cannot always be so, for flowers in such positions in cottage 



gardens flourish amazingly Here flowers come and go as 



the seasons pass, snowdrops, crocuses, early tulips, and violets. With 

 the advancing season come the columbines, pinks, roses, and the brave 

 show of summer blossoms, and autumn days are rich with fragrance. 



. As time goes by, the old cottages and their trim gardens 



continue to add beauty to the countryside. The garden gates, as in 



