2o My New Zealand Garden 



fact, His work is magnified by us, which must be 

 satisfactory to a well-balanced mind. The more 

 we become acquainted with God's doings, and the 

 more we come in contact with them, so much 

 the more good we shall imbibe. The influence 

 of gardening on young minds is especially valuable, 

 bringing out a love of the real and true. The 

 taste is implanted in us all, and should be nourished 

 in school-life, just as much as other knowledge ; 

 and if boys were taught to plant street trees, they 

 might learn to respect them, instead of pulling 

 them up and laying them across the path to throw 

 you down. And if a knowledge of plants were 

 taught, it would add another and lasting pleasure ; 

 and plants by the wayside might receive a share 

 of their attention, instead of gates, which do not 

 require to be taken off their hinges and broken. 

 Surely it is incumbent on us to teach the young 

 to till - the soil ; and speaking regardless of the 

 more important reasons, it would lead to the 

 production of good gardeners, for whom there is 

 an increasing demand. 



What various excuses one hears for not garden- 

 ing ! One gentleman told me that his garden was 

 too hard to dig. Another neighbour said his soil 

 was quite worked out. I suggested working some- 

 thing in, but, plainly, digging was not his hobby. 

 A lady told me she had gardened so hard, and was 

 quite discouraged; and I felt by the intonation 



