The Naturalistic Garden 77 



seedlings which, without thinning out, would soon choke one 

 another to death or at least cause deterioration of the stock. The 

 salvation of i garden, as of a character, often depends upon giving. 

 No miser ever had a beautiful garden. 



And since the first cost of the garden that is planted on 

 naturalistic lines is the only cost beyond its easy maintenance, every 

 cottager in this country, as in England, may hope to have his door- 

 yard gay with hardy perennials, and a few shrubs and vines, at 

 least; and oh, how sadly our working people's most unlovely homes 

 need cheerful little gardens about them! 



Handkerchiefs, slippers and neckties are not the only useful 

 Christmas presents. Why do we so rarely give trees, shrubs, 

 bulbs, vines and perennial flowers to our friends ? Many a large 

 steamer that leaves the port of New York carries an enormous 

 value of perishable cut flowers heaped up in its dining saloon, and 

 these are often more of a nuisance than a pleasure to the voyagers. 

 Do friends care any less for one another because they stay at home ? 



One bride I know received a cheque to cover the cost of making 

 and planting a garden around her new home, and it is certain that 

 all the cut glass and bric-a-brac she received will not give her a 

 tithe of the pleasure during the rest of her life. For a wooden 

 wedding present a young couple who had recently moved into a 

 raw, new place received two maples that taxed the capacity of the 

 nearest nurseryman's big tree movers. Another couple give 

 each other living Christmas trees every year. Their young daughter, 

 when asked by her father to chose her own Christmas present, 

 handed him a list of hardy hybrid tea roses. These could not be 

 enjoyed except in her mind's eye until the following spring, it is 

 true, but by that time she had studied how to care for them, 

 and now there is not a morning from June until frost when she 



