14 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



their diminished heads. What would be incongruous and 

 unsightly in the conservatory is here natural and right. There 

 is little, perhaps, to be said on so well-worn a theme for the 

 present ; but certain points of construction, important to be 

 considered in putting up any of the types of unheated glass- 

 houses here spoken of, remain to be suggested. Only this let 

 me add. It is the working greenhouse that is the best of all 

 the sanctum sanctorum of the gardener. Who but those 

 who know it can fathom the peace, the rest, the depth of 

 happiness to be found within its hallowed precincts. What 

 marvels of plant life open out there to the patient observer, 

 what strange vagaries of the germination of seeds, what 

 mysterious processes in the germination of Ferns ; what rare 

 loveliness in the silent building up, leaf by leaf, of even the 

 commonest plant ; what exquisite art in the gradual laying on 

 of colours and moulding of buds and flowers ! Aye ! but 

 treasures such as these are only unfolded to the vision of the 

 devout lover who thinks no toil too great that will unlock the 

 cabinet of Nature's secrets ; whose hand is not afraid to risk 

 the roughness of daily tending; whose ear is awake to 

 whispers so low that they are unheeded by idle passers-by ; 

 whose eye is quick to note the changes of an hour. Such 

 reverent students learn to worship while they work, and to 

 them, in the uplifting symbolism of Eastern speech, plants and 

 flowers become, in very truth, as " the fringes of the garment 

 of God." 



