MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



for the education of his children into a per- 

 ception of order and elegance, as if he be- 

 stowed the same care upon the neatness of 

 his yard and garden, where their little feet 

 wander every day. 



It would be hard to estimate the educating 

 effect of the gardens of the Tuileries and Lux- 

 embourg upon the minds of those artisans of 

 Paris, who, living in garrets, and too poor for 

 anything more than a little rustic tray of 

 flowers upon their window ledge, are yet pos- 

 sessed of a perception of grace, which shines 

 in all their handiwork. And if you transport 

 them to the country — their own Auvergne or 

 Normandy — they cannot, if they would, make 

 slatternly gardens : they will not indeed repeat 

 the brilliant tints of Paris flowers ; they cannot 

 rival the variety; but they can stamp lines of 

 grace, and harmony of arrangement upon the 

 merest door-yard of vegetables and pot-herbs. 



Here let me .outline, in brief, what a farmer's 

 garden may be made, without other than home- 

 labor. A broad walk shall run down the middle 

 of either a square* enclosure, or long parallelo- 

 gram. A box edging upon either side is of 

 little cost, and contributes eminently to neat- 

 ness ; it will hold good for eight years, without 

 too great encroachment, and at that time, will 



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