U KUce a Mo^W CtaJ, 



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To the awakened mind there is nothing so lowly 

 in the things below and above ground but can com- 

 mand respect and study. Darwin spent only thirty 

 years on the study of the humble earthworm. 



To get the greatest good from a garden we should 

 not undertake more than we can personally take care 

 of. I have not had a gardener since the first year 

 when outside help was necessary for the translation 

 of the sumach and briar patches of our Wilderness 

 into arable land. A gardener is only helpful for the 

 preliminary work of spading, after that his very 

 presence is a profanation. 



Garden making is creative work, just as much as 

 painting or writing a poem. It is a personal ex- 

 pression of self, an individual conception of beauty. 

 I should as soon think of asking a secretary to 

 write my book, or the cook to assist in a water 

 color painting, as to permit a gardener to plant 

 or dig among my flowers. For in even the most 

 unimportant parts of my garden are little secret 

 treasures — a stray cornflower that a Bedouin wind 

 lured from its home bed; a shy wild violet that 

 strayed from the woods, being tired of blushing 

 unseen; a bloodroot which must have been brought 

 some night by a fairy; where is the gardener whose 



goo 



