22 THE JOY OF GARDENS 



pegs and string, deciding on shrubbery clumps, ordering 

 seeds, digging, planting, cultivating, and gathering flow- 

 ers all these are only a small part of gardening when 

 you have thoroughly entered into the spirit of it. 



On gray days discouragement haunts the paths, upon 

 which one turns his back and hunts the shelf with the 

 books of magic. Here is one that never failed. It is 

 Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne. If it is a 

 stranger, don't seek introduction through the edition de 

 luxe in your library, but buy a little book, and it will be 

 handy to slip in your pocket; and if by chance it is left 

 on a garden seat, and the dews drench it, you will not sor- 

 row for money lost, but will take it up tenderly, dry it, 

 and read again. 



From Gilbert White one learns contentment and the 

 riches of life in nature. What a rare man he would 

 have been in the midst of a family of children ! But had 

 it been so the world would have lost a magic book. At 

 the glimpse of a page billboards, soggy earth, cutworms, 

 or whatever has bothered the mind, take flight, and our 

 little lot is a small world with vast possibilities. 



The poorest neighbor can plant crown imperials for the 

 pleasure of watching for the little bird that runs up the 

 stems to poke its head into the bells of the flowers to sip 

 the sweets standing in the nectarium of each petal. He 

 may set snapdragons for bumblebees, and seek honeyed 

 blossoms loved by insects that invite the redstart to make 



