Jane Admires 



often harmonious masses of colour, formed of 

 flowers which the professional horticulturist de- 

 spised or ignored. Then he set about smashing the 

 pattern gardeners, and stuck to it with such patience 

 and practicality that he has produced the Royal 

 Horticultural Society with its 12,000 members, and 

 built up a tremendous industry. 



It is not a cult, but rather a passion. The 

 Robinsonian garden is one of the greatest civilising 

 agencies in England, and as for the Freedom of 

 Women, John Stuart Mill fades away before Mr. 

 Robinson as a champion. Mill provided arguments : 

 Mr. Robinson provided action, and a sphere of 

 activity. If a woman has wrongs, let her take them 

 into her garden, and if her wrongs have destroyed her 

 perspective and sense of proportion, the acquaint- 

 ance with the laws of Nature which she will gain can- 

 not fail to put her right. If she feels very strongly . . . 



Quite right, Jane ; no politics ! You shall see 

 the rest of the house. 



The kitchen is through the door there : red- 

 tiled floor, plenty of window, with leaded panes, 

 plenty of air ; rules of housekeeping hanging up 

 which no one ever keeps : they are there to remind 

 everybody that there are such things as rules, and 

 that, if it comes to a pinch, there is such a thing as 

 discipline. It is so important, whoever you are, to 



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