THOUGHTS ON COTTAGE GARDENS 5 



that the love of flowers, unless it is killed by that 

 which is coarse and evil, is strong in the heart 

 of every British man and woman ; and long may it 

 be before it is displaced by any taste less worthy 1 



All the same, we may not dare to lay the 

 flattering unction to our souls that gardening, in any 

 true sense, is an instinct of pure British growth. 

 Looking back through the records of past ages, we 

 become dimly aware that before the beginning of 

 the Christian era, the inhabitants of Britain, brave, 

 and, for long years after their partial submission, 

 practically untamable, were little conversant with 

 arts or agriculture, and owed all the training and 

 skill which, a few centuries later, made these islands 

 one of the granaries of the world, to the influence 

 of the all-conquering Romans. To this day, indeed, 

 we benefit by trees and fruits, if not by flowers, 

 bequeathed to us at their departure. About the 

 intervening cycles we know little, except that 

 within the precincts of the monasteries and religious 

 houses scattered up and down the land, the culture 

 of simples and medicinal herbs and some few 

 esculents was always fostered; but there is proof 

 enough to show that nationally — whether it be 

 regarded in its aspect of industry or of pastime- 

 gardening gradually fell away until it became almost 



