DECEMBER 145 



many, good flowers cannot be enjoyed. My own 

 experience has been that a garden is a constant plea- 

 sure, and that the pleasure does not depend upon 

 unbroken success. There will be many failures and fre- 

 quent disappointments ; there will be losses, sometimes 

 of the flowers and fruits, and sometimes of the entire 

 plants ; there will be killing frosts, and long droughts, 

 and unfruitful seasons ; but the true gardener takes all 

 these as necessary parts of his work — ' minds quiet and 

 contented take,' or may take, them all as necessary 

 parts of the pleasiu-e of his garden. That no season is 

 altogether barren of pleasure, I hope I have been to 

 some extent successful in showing; and when I hear 

 people say, as some will say, that a garden is all very 

 well in the bright months of a fine spring or summer, 

 or even in the less bright months of autumn, but is 

 altogether a dreariness in winter, or in bad seasons, 

 I remember a song which was popular when I was 

 young, which told of the pleasures of each season, and 

 which ended — 



' But know the best season to laugh and to sing 

 Is summer, is winter, is autumn, is spring.' 



I cannot close my garden record better than by wishing 

 to all my brother gardeners as much pleasure from 

 their gardens as I can thankfully record to have 

 received from mine. 



K 



