COTTAGE GARDENS 27 



account. Fully as great pleasure may be extracted from a 

 tiny plot as from broad acres, and a few plants well grown 

 are as productive of satisfaction as is the largest collec- 

 tion. " It was a singular experience that long acquaintance 

 which I cultivated with beans," said Thoreau, " but 

 I was determined to know beans." That is the true 

 gardening spirit, and with that as a possession one may 

 pluck as much joy from the cultivation and study of 

 Thistles or Brambles, or even Docks (as Canon Ella- 

 combe reports a friend as growing — his acquaintances, 

 of course, laughing at him for making a Dock-yard), as 

 from the rarest Orchids of the millionaire. 



One of the greatest gifts of a perfect garden is the 

 gift of solitude, and that is generally beyond the power 

 of the little cottage plot to offer; but, as a source of 

 infinite pleasure to its owner, as a source of pleasure to 

 all those who pass by, as a cheering feature of English 

 landscape, and as a great force tending towards content- 

 ment and peace, the cottage garden is beyond price. 



