LIKE the love of music, books and pictures, 

 the love of gardens comes with culture and lei- 

 sure and with the ripening of the home life. 

 The love of gardens, as of every other beautiful 

 and refining thing, must increase to the end of 

 time. More and more must the sympathies 

 enlarge. There must be more points of contact 

 with the world. Life ever becomes richer. 

 Gardening is more than the growing of plants : 

 it is the expression of desire. 



As there must be many gardeners, so there 

 must be many books. There must be books for 

 different persons and different ideals. The gar- 

 den made by one's own hands is always the best 

 garden, because it is a part of oneself. A gar- 

 den made by another may interest, but it is an- 

 other person's individuality. A poor garden of 

 one's own is better than a good garden in which 

 one may not dig. Many a poor soul has more 

 help in a plant in the window than another has 

 in a plantation made by a gardener. 



I would emphasize the home garden, made by 

 the members of the family. I would preach the 

 beauty of the common plants and the familiar 



