THE PLACE AND THE PROSPECT 9 



make. It needs also to be made apparent to the 

 reader that my growing garden is not to grow on 

 gold, of which I have little, but rather on my own 

 growth into that real garden knowledge which is 

 found only with the spade and the rake, and 

 amongst the seeds and plants and bulbs and roots 

 and vines of American hardiness. My readers, 

 therefore, may expect to find confession of defi- 

 ciencies and failures, and of difficulties due to the 

 lack of funds to rapidly accomplish my ambitions. 

 They will have little trouble, I think, in perceiving 

 that I now regard the failures and the lack of funds 

 as blessings not at all disguised, because they have 

 caused me to get more health, happiness and "fun" 

 out of my garden hours, and to make my garden's 

 growth more precious to me and mine. It is surely 

 true in growing a garden that there is a far greater 

 reward to the worker who personally strives for a 

 result, eyes open to nature's wonderful ways of 

 doing things, than is possible to be had by one 

 who has merely waved the fairy wand of wealth, 

 with a presto! but not worked-for result. Indeed, 

 it is seemingly almost as hard for just money to 

 make a garden that is home-like as it was for that 

 camel of long ago to thread himself through the 

 allegorical needle ! 



Those early winter days, when I escaped from 



