THE LURE OF THE GARDEN 



other, and of varying degrees of efficiency, has made 

 of the suburbanite an ever-increasing multitude. As 

 for the suburban garden, it holds delightful potential- 

 ities, more than a few having already been realized. 



Moreover, the long and desperate reign of ugliness 

 is waning, and scarcely an American village, town, or 

 city but is bestirring itself in the sacred cause of beauty. 

 The women's clubs and municipal committees are 

 doing a great work in turning waste and hideous places 

 into little parks, public gardens, and playgrounds. 

 School children everywhere are being taught the value 

 of order and loveliness in their surroundings, given 

 opportunities to plant and cultivate gardens of their 

 own, and encouraged to influence their families toward 

 improving the home yard and combining for the public 

 betterment of streets, avenues, and squares. 



Straws all these, but blowing decidedly in one direc- 

 tion. Not a tree planted in a city street that is not an 

 object-lesson, creating a demand for others. And one 

 back yard transformed into a garden begets many more 

 of its kind. Make one beautiful place in a town, and 

 a hundred will follow in due course. People are ready 

 for the hint! 



The idea of seclusion as an essential part of a 

 garden, is also a thing of slow, but sure, growth. 

 At present we are most of us far too much afraid of 

 walls, too fond of having the eye of the world on our 

 possessions, too careless of the privacy that makes a 



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