156 



GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



rather the concern of the trained landscape architect than of 

 the ambitious young fiedgUng, so that one would be rash 

 indeed in these few pages to suggest changes. 



Permit us, however, to take a look at the back yard. This 

 can seldom be called too civilized or too conventional. On 

 the contrary, it remains in savagery. Its gods are apparently 

 the washtub and the flapping clothesline. The services of 



A LITTLE BACK YARD 



a missionary are certainly required. So little are the possi- 

 bilities of a back yard appreciated that a proposition to make 

 it beautiful has many a time been greeted with derision. That 

 the back yard is probably tiny is a foregone conclusion, but 

 so was the old Salem garden whose summerhouse is thus 

 described. "" What a refreshing sense of comfort these vine- 

 covered structures gave to the little back-yard gardens. Here 

 the housewife would come to shell peas and pare apples, or 

 to read awhile in the cool shade after a hot fight with the 

 unwelcome weeds of the garden. And the children of the 



