•^ The Afternoon of the Tear $£ 



normal share, she had a very understanding heart. One 

 of the scapegraces was the garden boy. Even as a child 

 I was conscious that between such a luminary as, for in- 

 stance, the coachman, and the garden boy there was a 

 great gulf fixed, but I was equally conscious that between 

 my great-aunt and * the young limb ' (the cook's epithet 

 for him, not mine) there was a solid bond of comradeship. 

 She understood him perfectly, and I think he would 

 cheerfully have gone to the stake for her. 



It was my great-aunt who first introduced me to the 

 joys of a water-garden. I think it is the small water- 

 garden which fascinates one most. Even in the most 

 diminutive scented-garden one could have a little pool, 

 measuring only a few feet each way, holding N. Laydeckeri 

 fulgens and N. Odorata alba. A cement-lined pool 1 2 inches 

 deep would allow for 5 inches of loam at the bottom and 

 7 inches of water. To keep the pool sweet golden orfe are 

 perhaps the best, for they are so greedy ! Their principal 

 food is the larvae of the mosquito and the daphne of the 

 water midge and other animalculae. Mr. Amos Perry 

 told me that the right proportion of fish is to allow ' one 

 inch of fish to a gallon of water.' An eighth of an inch 

 of very coarse bonemeal is excellent manure. For larger 

 water-gardens there are deliciously scented hardy nym- 

 phaeas, amongst the most beautiful being N. odorata 

 maxima, Caroliniana and James Brydon. 



And what of the night-scented flowers ? To many of 

 us there is no time when the scents in the garden are more 

 exquisite than at twilight. The scents of the roses and the 

 lilies then seem sweeter than at any other hour. The scent 

 of honeysuckle is richer, and lured by it the hawk-moths 

 fly to extract the honey which lies too deep for the bees 



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