80 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



acquainted with veterans of both sexes who, to 

 the last days of a green old age, have taken the 

 liveliest delight in garden work and garden lore. 

 And have we not all made friends with children 

 who revel in their own little out-of-the-way plots 

 where they may grub as much as they please 

 without let or hindrance ? 



We may be sure that no pursuit will give 

 quicker or better returns in health and well-being 

 for thought and work and money expended than 

 horticulture in any of its varied aspects. For in 

 a well-ordered garden good work goes hand-in- 

 hand with good play and many another bright 

 and pleasant thing. There is no exaggeration in 

 calling it, after John Parkinson's old-world phrase, 

 " in very deed an earthly" Paradise." 



But to enjoy gardening in all its fulness, there 

 must be patience. It is not recognised as it 

 might be that gardening is the most powerful 

 counterpoise within our reach in the exhausting 

 struggle for existence which is now a component 

 part of our national life. It is not by the expell- 

 ing force of one excitement over another that it 

 works, but by the soothing anodyne of a calm and 

 quieting influence insensibly acting upon over- 

 strained nerves and tired brains. If this be so, and 



