ENGLISH COTTAGE GARDENS 341 



by Tennyson's passage which concludes with "each its own 

 charm." Nevertheless, I believe there is a national element there 

 hard to define, but real. The nearest I can come to it is to say 

 that the English cottager is fond of fruits, flowers, and a low hedge or 

 wall. He trains grapes, plums, and peaches on the sunny walls 

 of his cottage and ivy on the others. He is likely to have dwarf 

 fruits. His garden is usually gay with flowers all summer and is 

 pretty sure to have one floral specialty. His hedge or wall is not 

 too high to see over, but it keeps out chickens, dogs, cats, children, 

 and, to some extent, thieves. 



These may seem intangible characters, but by means of broad 

 contrasts you will see that they are real. For instance, southern 

 Italy has such a hot summer that flowers are only an incident in 

 the Italian style of gardening, while in England they are the 

 main thing. Again, the San Jose scale discourages the American 

 cottager from growing fruit, but this insect has not yet reached 

 England. Finally, the Englishman's passion for privacy is 

 unique and it shows even in the cottager's low hedge. 



OUR NATIONAL STYLE 



The American style of cottage gardening must grow out of 

 the fact that our labourers do not have as much time for gardening 

 as the English. We have about two hours less sunlight every day 

 than the English people enjoy. That long English twilight would 

 be worth billions of dollars to us. Possibly a seven-hour working 

 day would about put us on a par with them. 



This means that our labourers must settle down to growing 

 plants which require less time and skill than the English cottagers 

 have. Our men must grow less fruit, for there are more and worse 

 insects to fight. English cottage gardens often have more flowers 



