XIX 



VANCOUVER ISLAND 



The lure of the far-famed gardens of the island so 

 close to our shores is enticing enough to make a happy 

 excuse for giving the space of a page to one of its smaller 

 gardens. 



In the heart of this fair garden, in the country of the 

 Englishman, at the end of this book on American gardens, 

 the author, though a proud American, unhesitatingly ad- 

 mits that usually it is the Englishman who has inspired us 

 to make gardens as nearly as possible like those of the 

 mother country. Is it the old blood that is stirring 

 within us, the common bond of past associations and 

 brotherhood so often expressed in our physical resem- 

 blances as well as in many of our ideals ? The garden in 

 the accompanying illustrations shows a beautiful combina- 

 tion of flowers with picturesque old trees. 



The climate of this favored place is even more de- 

 lightful and balmy than that of the mainland, and the 

 charm of the great Pacific is doubly felt along these quiet 

 shores. The untravelled may picture it as isolated and 

 forsaken, but rather is it just enough retired to be apart 

 without loneliness; and, except, in a few cities, excluding 



340 



