HINDRANCES AND HELPS 



private cuttings and perquisites of the accom- 

 plished gardener. 



When a gardener knows so much as to re- 

 fuse any suggestions, and to disallow any right 

 on the part of the proprietor to stamp his place 

 with his own individuality of taste, — he knows 

 altogether too much. This is the Scotch phase 

 of knowing too much ; but there is an Ameri- 

 can one that is even worse, and which puts a 

 raw edge upon country socialities. 



I find no man so disagreeable to meet with, 

 as one who knows everything. Of course we 

 expect it in newspaper editors, and allow for it. 

 But, to meet a man engaged in innocent occu- 

 pations — over your fence, who is armed cap-a- 

 pie against all new ideas, — who "knew it 

 afore," or "has heerd so," or doubts it, or re- 

 plies to your most truthful sally "'t ain't so, 

 nuther," is aggravating in the extreme. 



There is many a small farmer, scattered up 

 and down in New England, whose chief dif- 

 ficulty is — that he knows too much. I do not 

 think a single charge against him could cover 

 more ground, or cover it better. It is hard to 

 make intelligible to a third party, his apparent 

 inaccessibility to new ideas, his satisfied qui- 

 etude, his invincible inertia, his stolid, and yet 

 shrewd capacity to resist novelties, his self- 



269 



