Some Gardeners I Have Known 155 



or through self-sown seeds, that one must divide his stock 

 yearly to preserve any sort of balance. It takes time to secure 

 the first increase, particularly if one buys only a single plant 

 of any one variety; but in the course of three or four years his 

 loaves are so multiplied that he can give away a basketful. If 

 I have a choice recipe, a rare plant, a good book, I must share 

 them; and I hope the time may come when my best and 

 choicest plants shall be the common property of the entire 

 region. When I give any treasure it is always with the in- 

 junction "You must pass it along when it begins to mul- 

 tiply." If all gardens were thus distributed, we should not 

 need to organize village-improvement societies; a generous 

 rivalry would spring up that would leave no dooryard un- 

 graced. 



Eager as I am to distribute roots and seeds, I never offer cut 

 flowers to my visitors, and this withholding of what to me 

 is too precious for an indiscriminate sacrifice, is often severely 

 judged; yet I find all true flower lovers feel the same about 

 this point. 



My home is the rendezvous of many interesting people, who 

 summer in our region within a radius of fifteen miles, and 

 often it would seem as if we were holding a reception. Pray 

 what would my garden look like if each visitor went away 

 with her two hands as full as they could hold ? As it is, Mary's 

 eyes are not always blue, nor her hair in curl. My apologies 

 for bare green spots and bloomless sections are profuse; for, 

 like other gardeners, my aim is to have the whole garden in 

 perfect flower all the time. I wish my midsummer visitors 

 were clairvoyant, and could see in my aura the loveliness of 

 May and June. In August when poor Mary's eyes no longer 

 shine, I have to groom the garden and rake the walks more 

 assiduously than ever to make a presentable appearance, 

 :much as a middle-aged belle depends more and more upon 



