NEW AMSTERDAM GARDENS 61 



cious disregard alike of the settlers' advice and en- 

 treaty — and wished to live under the protecting wing 

 of the Fort. These houses in particular must have 

 had very tiny gardens indeed, for the Fort was close 

 at hand, and there was very little space between its 

 sides and their rear walls. 



But, however tiny the space, we may be sure it 

 was well cultivated; and because order is essential 

 in cramped quarters, whatever they are devoted to, 

 we may infer that it was orderly: even if order were 

 not almost a Dutch obsession — which it is — we should 

 know that these plots must be orderly, if anything at 

 all was to grow in them. 



And what did grow in them? What could they 

 raise in these toy gardens? "A patch of cabbages, a 

 bit of tulips," one writer credits to every Dutch home — 

 with accommodations for a horse, a cow, a couple of 

 pigs and a flock of "barn door fowls," in addition. 

 But this is a flight of fancy rather than an authentic 

 enumeration, for no garden was limited to cabbage, 

 small though many were. All had their bed of tulips, 

 however, no doubt — or border of them — and certain 

 other flowers inseparable from the Dutch and their 

 flat, toylike land. 



Extended lists, indeed, under carefully arranged 

 heads, are given in that priceless "Description of New 

 Netherland" — Beschryvinge Van Nieuw-N ederlant — 



