CHAPTER XV 

 GLASS 



AT THE risk of creating consternation in the 

 minds of those enthusiasts who adore their 

 little glass houses, I must say that I cannot 

 reconcile the greenhouse with the garden 

 beautiful. My remark, of course, applies only 

 to the small garden, in which I have never seen 

 such a structure that was not an eyesore. Its 

 white paint alone condemns it; but that 

 we can alter. Not so its rigid, spidery lines 

 and glinting glass panes. Yet I admit its 

 utility, and I can realize the pleasures that 

 come to the man who carefully tends its crowd 

 of occupants. My quarrel is with the thing 

 itself. If I were advising the owner of a small 

 garden plot on the question of installing a 

 greenhouse, I should say "Don't," because I 

 know that it is possible to have a garden gay 

 with interesting flowers from March to Novem- 

 ber without glass. 



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