THOUGHTS ON COTTAGE GARDENS 



There is a love of flowers fast knit into the very 

 fibre of our British nature which probably lies at 

 the root of the national reputation for gardening 

 with which we are accredited; nevertheless, it is 

 a love we share with such children of Nature as 

 the Kaffir or the South Sea Islander. 



Nothing, nowadays, is more characteristic, as 

 we know, of our English countryside, and there is 

 nothing that strikes a foreigner more forcibly, than 

 the cottage gardens, with their aspect of homely 

 comfort and even luxury, which everywhere fringe 

 our roadsides and village lanes with the broidery 

 of flowers. Yet it is very doubtful whether it is 

 an inborn bent towards the tillage of the soil, or 

 even native-bred industry, which has fostered this 

 love of flowers into the desire to cultivate plants 

 for the sake of their beauty. Other peoples are 



3 



