v RIVERSIDE LETTERS 33 



get as many grapes as I want given me by 

 kind neighbours, am not an admirer of the 

 eccentric character of most orchids, and prefer 

 hardy plants that give no trouble to any 

 exotics that require cosseting. 



All these luxuries entail besides the dirty 

 and disagreeable work of stoking, either on 

 yourself or on a gardener ; if you do it 

 yourself, unless the glasshouse is the only 

 sort of garden you possess, the time taken up 

 by it will be too great ; if you leave it to your 

 gardener (that is, should you keep only one 

 and a boy as I do) you will be sure to find 

 that he will very soon spend the greater 

 part of his time pottering about the house, 

 neglecting the outdoor work, or leaving it to 

 the boy as much as possible. Whenever you 

 happen to visit the glasshouse it is almost a 

 certainty that you will find him already there, 

 or that he will come in directly afterwards. 

 The place will be no sweet sanctum of your 

 own, so that at last you will get into the 

 custom of visiting the place only on Sundays, 



D 



