xiv A FOREWORD AND A PLEA 



activities in the garden were looked upon decidedly 

 askance by my neighbours, for in their world a woman's 

 social position is more or less determined by whether she 

 works indoors or out. That a woman should, by choice, 

 spend hours in outdoor work in all kinds of weather was 

 inconceivable, and finally a neighbour, who discovered 

 me weeding a bed of seedlings on a hot July day, found 

 herself unable to keep silent upon the subject and said: 

 "There certainly ain't many ladies would work as hard 

 for their men as you do, Mrs. Wilder." I tried to ex- 

 plain, but knew quite well that it was useless, and that 

 she was certain that coercion was at the root of my 

 labours. That was seven years ago and I am glad to 

 say that the mystery has been cleared up for her and for 

 others, and it is a delight to me to see that more than one 

 of these indoor workers is essaying a patch of flowers by 

 her door and many missionarying roots and seeds find 

 their way from here into this promising territory. 



In the old world gardening is recognized not only as a 

 science, but as a high art; here it is still largely a pastime 

 and not a very general one at that, as any one may per- 

 ceive who goes through any of our suburbs and notes the 

 number of places that boast no more than a few beds of 

 Salvia or Geraniums and a huddle of specimen shrubs in 

 the corners of the lawns. Our men are too busy to give 

 much time to this art, and while many may have the 

 desire and willingly furnish the wherewithal to employ a 

 landscape architect to order and beautify their grounds 



