36 THE GARDEN OF A 



Ah, yes, but the subject is so broad, and the 

 by-paths so many, that straying is inevitable. Be- 

 sides, I am not exploiting the genuine skilled gar- 

 dener of the main line, the developer of nature's 

 resources, to whom all honour is due. The gardener 

 to whom I take exception should always have his 

 title enclosed in " marks " and is of the tribe that 

 seems to launch itself at the ever-busy and guileless 

 American of moderate means and good taste, who, 

 desiring a garden and having little knowledge of the 

 necessary detail and still less time to learn, hires a 

 " gardener," pays liberally for seed and manure, and 

 from the combination of the three entertains Great 

 Expectations. If the man so hired were really what 

 he pretends to be, all would be well. But the pro- 

 cession marching under the Sign of the Spade is a 

 motley crowd indeed, especially in this land, where a 

 knowledge of country life and its various processes, 

 its pitfalls as well as its potency for good, though 

 increasing daily, has not yet become a part of our 

 national inheritance. As I look out over the hills 

 and think of the people I have known during the 

 past ten years who, for various reasons, have tried 

 this glorious outdoor existence and failed to live it, 

 and judge the cause, it seems to me that one and all 

 they approached it wrongly. 



