WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. l6/ 



the historical scenery, you find there is a rope 

 and pulley to effect every transformation which 

 has astonished you. It was the rascality of a 

 minister and a contractor five years before that 

 lost the battle ; and the cause of the defeat was 

 worthless ammunition. I should like to know 

 how many wars have been caused by fits of 

 indigestion, and how many more dynasties have 

 been upset by the love of woman than by the 

 hate of man. It is only because we are ill in- 

 formed that anything surprises us ; and we are 

 disappointed because we expect that for which 

 we have not provided. 



I had too vague expectations of what my 

 garden would do of itself. A garden ought to 

 produce one everything, just as a business 

 ought to support a man, and a house ought 

 to keep itself. We had a convention lately to 

 resolve that the house should keep itself; but 

 it won't. There has been a lively time in our 



