LITTLE GARDENS 



protection about the foundations of the castle, 

 and when it was cheaper and easier for their lord 

 to tell them off in rows than to build detached 

 shelters for them. Possibly this very cutting off 

 of some of the people from the fields has led 

 them to prize the beauty of the fields the more; 

 and we have to admit tliat among the British cot- 

 ters, the garden, simple as they make it, is a 

 source of more care and satisfaction than among 

 many in our country, although the growing of 

 flowers is now general in America. Gardens, if 

 no bigger than bedrooms, are attached to most 

 of the English cottages, and odd makeshifts are 

 often seen in the attempt to force a growth of 

 flowers where Americans would never think of 

 planting them. It is better to cultivate a rood 

 of space as if you meant it than to plant a whole 

 acre and leave it to the weeds and the elements. 

 And in this country, where land is so abundant, 

 and so cheap, we neglect it. We have too many 

 shabby farms and seedy gardens. When an 

 Englishman has a few feet of space, he makes it 

 count for something. In Bridge End, Warwick, 

 a street of old brick-and-timber cottages has per- 

 mitted no grace and comfort of shade and lawn, 

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