THE AMATEUR GARDEN 



to the rim they'd take up no more room and 

 they'd look natural. Besides, you wouldn't 

 have to water them continually." 



"That's true!" says the householder, quite 

 in the incredible way of an old-fashioned book. 

 "I'll do it!" 



"And then," says the caller, "if you will set 

 it away off on that far corner of the lawn it 

 will shine clear across, showing everything be- 

 tween here and there, like a lighthouse across a 

 harbor, or like a mirror, which you hang not in 

 your parlor door, but at the far end of the room." 



"When you come back you shall see it there," 

 is the reply. 



Sometimes, yet not often, a contestant is met 

 who does not want advice, and who can hardly 

 hide his scorn for book statements and experts. 

 The present writer came upon one last year 

 who "could not see what beauty there was in 

 John Smith's garden, yet we had given him and 

 his wife the capital prize !" 



Frequently one finds the house of a com- 

 petitor fast locked and dumb, its occupants 

 being at work in some mill or shop. Then if the 



120 



