10 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPIxNE SWITZERLAND 



wont to find in our gardens expression for our 

 searching inner-consciousness ; but how different 

 are our methods, how different the spirit we wish 

 to express. 



The most, therefore, we can accompHsh in 

 Japanese modes of gardening is to ape them ; and 

 of this, because of its emptiness, we shall very 

 soon tire. The things which are most enduring 

 are the things honestly felt and thought ; for the 

 expression of the true self reaches out nearest to 

 satisfaction. Unless, then, we are apes in more 

 than ancestry, Japanese gardening can have no 

 long life among us. Alpine gardening is far more 

 akin to our natural or hereditary instincts ; it holds 

 for us the possibility of an easier and more honest 

 appreciation. And it is just here, in this very fact, 

 where lies much of the danger which may overtake 

 and smother the immense and growing enthusiasm 

 with which Alpines are meeting. 



How best, then, to direct and build up this 

 enthusiasm into something substantial, something 

 that shall secure for Alpines a lasting place in our 

 affections ? The answer is in another question : 

 What better than a larger, more comprehensive 

 appeal to Alpine nature ; what better than a more 



