246 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



and beauty of any garden is not to be gauged by the 

 amount of money spent upon it, and many a garden of 

 homely and common hardy plants may give more 

 pleasure to the owner, and be of more interest to 

 visitors, than a grand garden which depends for its 

 beauties on hothouses and conservatories and a host of 

 gardeners. I once knew a man who was an excellent 

 gardener and scientific botanist, who devoted a large 

 part of his garden to docks. Of course he was laughed 

 at, and his garden was called a dockyard, but it gave 

 him much real pleasure, and he did good scientific 

 work in it. I do not advocate the growth of docks, 

 but I do think that our forefathers showed some wisdom 

 in contenting themselves with ' a garden of simples,' and 

 that even now, with all our wealth of flowers gathered 

 from all quarters of the world, we need not despise 

 such humble additions to our garden as we may find in 

 brambles and thistles. The ' day of small things ' still 

 has its value — inest sua gratia parvis — and Chaucer's 

 description of the 'poore persoun of a toun' {i.e. a 

 parish priest) will also describe a good gardener who 

 is content with something less than grandeur in his 

 garden : — 



' He cowde in litel thing have suffisance.' 



