22 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



ture, but* range from topic to topic, according 

 to the weather and the progress of the weeds, 

 which may drive me from one corner of the 

 garden to the other. 



The principal value of a private garden is not 

 understood. It is not to give the possessor vege- 

 tables and fruit (that can be better and cheaper 

 done by the market-gardeners), but to teach him 

 patience and philosophy, and the higher virtues, 

 hope deferred, and expectations blighted, lead- 

 ing directly to resignation, and sometimes to 

 alienation. The garden thus becomes a moral 

 agent, a test of character, as it was in the begin- 

 ning. I shall keep this central truth in mind in 

 these articles. I mean to have a moral garden, 

 if it is not a productive one, one that shall 

 teach, O my brothers ! O my sisters ! the great 

 lessons of life. 



The first pleasant thing about a garden in this 

 latitude is, that you never know when to set it 



