EPILOGUE 297 



This gentleman encouraged me most cordially and 

 his liberality in the matter of space, his cooperation, 

 and the courteous manner in which he met every sug- 

 gestion made the task an enjoyable one. 



My question has been answered in a manner that 

 cannot be mistaken. Letters have reached me from 

 East and West, North and South, and from all the 

 states which link these compass points. That there 

 is in this country a universal awakening in the inter- 

 est of outdoor gardening and to the recognition of the 

 fact that a garden transforms a dwelling into a home, 

 is proved to the hilt. The art of gardening and the 

 love of hardy flowers have come to stay. 



Now, in gardening and in the full and proper devel- 

 opment of its spirit, there are four elemental forces: 

 the Amateur, the Gardener, the Trade, the Press. 

 Their respective spheres of usefulness are self-evident. 

 They are co-equal and interdependent and each, by 

 itself, can accomplish nothing. Neither can any 

 dual or triple combination of these forces attain any- 

 thing of real and lasting value. The quadruple alli- 

 ance is absolutely essential to the art and love of 

 gardening. No one of these forces is the master key, 

 for that is held by the Spirit of man which — no mat- 

 ter how glossed over by the struggle for existence, by 

 the sordid cares of every-day life, by ambitious desire 



