454 Old Time Gardens 



of such sowings, and he pictured the delight and sur- 

 prise of country folk in the future when they found 

 the choice blooms, and the confusion of learned bota- 

 nists in years to come. The delight and surprise 

 and confusion would have been if any of his seeds 

 sprouted and lived ! A few years ago a kindly 

 member of our United States Congress sent to me 

 from the vast seed stores of our national Agricul- 

 tural Department, thousands of packages of seeds 

 of common garden flowers to be given to the 

 poor children in public kindergartens and pri- 

 mary schools in our great city. The seeds were 

 given to hundreds of eager flower lovers, but starch 

 boxes and old tubs and flower pots formed the 

 limited gardens of those Irish and Italian children, 

 and the Government had sent to me such " hats full, 

 sacks full, bushel-bags full," that I was left with an 

 embarrassment of riches. I sent them to Narragan- 

 sett and amused myself thereafter by sowing several 

 pecks of garden seeds along the country roadsides ; 

 never, to my knowledge, did one seed live and pro- 

 duce a plant. I watched eagerly for certain plant- 

 ings of Poppies, Candytuft, Morning-glories, and 

 even the indomitable Portulaca ; not one appeared. 

 I don't know why I should think I could improve 

 on nature ; for I drove through that road yesterday 

 and it was radiant with Wild Rose bloom, white 

 Elder, and Meadow Beauty; a combination that 

 Thoreau thought and that I think could not 

 be excelled in a cultivated garden. Above all, 

 these are the right things in the right place, which 

 my garden plants would not have been. I am sure 



