A PEACEFUL OCCUPATION 273 



perience in the actual growing of the various 

 flowers and trees. Many detailed suggestions 

 might be made, but that one subject, the 

 problem of New Delhi, now absorbs all lesser 

 I interests of its kind in India. 



Gardening, and its interwoven architecture, go 

 to the very root of national life. In the garden 

 the whole history of the nations finds a true and 

 clear reflection. In times of peace and prosperity 

 the craft expands and flourishes, while wars and 

 long unsettled years sweep away the gardens and 

 all their gentle arts. The Aryans of Vedic times 

 brought their intense love of nature, their worship 

 of trees and flowers, from the flowery tablelands 

 and valleys of Central Asia to the Indian plains. 

 After dim centuries, during which the priestly 

 Brahman caste gained complete ascendency, 

 and codes and elaborate ceremonies hardened 

 and led to the creation of a chill, artificial world, 

 the rise of Buddhism was welcomed and assured. 

 The new phase of the old creed owed its immediate 

 success to its restoration of the old joyous 

 simplicities, and the " Lotus-bearers " of Asoka 

 carried their flowers far and wide. Seventeen 

 centuries later, with the coming of the Mughals, 

 the wave washed back from the Central Asian 



35 



