116 



THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



h- in shape not unlike an enormous Forget-me-not 

 blossom When fully open it measures three feet across. 

 It has most disagreeable smell; and we should hardly 

 care to have one in our rooms. 



One day, when walking on the Surrey Downs, I 



h Tis bl stge what shoals of lovely things arc all 

 around us in Nature, which we do not not.ee; which 

 indeed often we cannot see without help from a m^ 

 scope. And yet, no matter how small or how hidden 

 away such things may be, their make and their fimsh 

 are perfect. Nothing in Nature ,s ever ~"*?3 

 or done anyhow in a hurry, because nobody will see I 

 Between these two extremes among flowers, the ver 

 big and the very little, lie immense numbers of km. 

 far beyond our power to reckon. 



If we began only to talk of their shapes, their colours 

 their markings, we might go on for hours. And then 

 their scents 1 Not all sweet, certainly. But many are 

 delightful-such as those of Roses, Carnations Violets 

 Lilacs, Heliotropes, Jessamines, Mignonettes, Lilu 



the-Vallev 



At least' five hundred different scents are known, one 

 and all manufactured in little Plant- workshops. ^ 



It seems clear that Flowers are meant to be a joy l 



