WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 171 



Rome is only the pompous proclamation of a 

 unity which garlic had already accomplished ; 

 and yet we, who boast of our democracy, eat 

 onions in secret. 



I now see that I have left out many of the 

 most moral elements. Neither onions, parsnips, 

 carrots, nor cabbages are here. I have never 

 seen a garden in the autumn before, without 

 the uncouth cabbage in it; but my garden 

 gives the impression of a garden without a 

 head. The cabbage is the rose of Holland. I 

 admire the force by which it compacts its crisp 

 leaves into a solid head. The secret of it would 

 be priceless to the world. We should see less 

 expansive foreheads with nothing within. Even 

 the largest cabbages are not always the best. 

 But I mention these things, not from any sym- 

 pathy I have with the vegetables named, but to 

 show how hard it is to go contrary to the expec- 

 *^.tions of society. Society expects every man 



