CHAPTER XVI 



GARDEN FURNITURE 



WHEN, in the exuberance of our joy at being released 

 from the confines of the house in the spring we 

 spend in the open air as much of every day as we 

 can until autumn storms and chilly winds drive us to our firesides 

 again, garden furniture assumes practical importance to the home 

 maker. Breakfasts and teas under a tree or leafy arbour imply com- 

 fortable seats, at least, for families predisposed to prolong each meal 

 with much conversation. A tendency on the women's part to carry 

 all portable work out of doors the hulling of strawberries,the shell- 

 ing of peas, the arranging of flowers for the house, letter-writing, 

 mending, and the superfluous but pretty needlework these various 

 occupations necessitate plenty of weather-proof chairs that are not 

 too conducive to laziness, yet are comfortable enough not to precipi- 

 tate flight. To have a charming garden and never be able to live in 

 it, or even to sit down in the shade for a few peaceful moments to 

 enjoy its beauty in different lights and atmospheres (the most 

 potent factors of every garden picture), is to neglect a golden 

 opportunity. A garden has need to be lived with on friendly, 

 intimate terms if its interests are to be safeguarded and if the same 

 taste which characterises the interior of the home is to be exercised 

 in its surroundings where, unhappily, the gardener's, alone and 

 undirected, is too often expressed. Where a garden lacks an 

 appreciative master or mistress of intelligence and taste it is apt 

 to be no more inviting than a house without one. Such ever 

 lacks personality and soul. 



339 



