4 



A SIMPLE FLOV/ER GAUDEN. 



"You see, Frank, nothing prevents our having such a 

 little garden, if we choose to take the trouble or spend the 

 small sum that it will cost. It will be a great pleasure to 

 me, when jou are away in town, to be able to have some- 

 thing to attend to besides tliat perpetual sewing-machine 

 and tiresome cook. Gardening will be a cheerful, attrac- 

 tive employment, and a sanitary measure, at the same time." 



' ' I appreciate all that ; — but the cost and trouble of the 

 thing? We must consider these. In the first place, we 

 city-bred people know nothing about gardening. If we did, 

 who is to do the work ? I cannot. Business forbids. Then 

 there is the expense. We can hardly afford to hire a 

 gardener at present." 



" Could I not attempt it myself? " 



"Perhaps you might make the attempt; yet when the. 

 weeds appear, insects gather, and the long hot days of 

 August arrive, I fear the garden would prove a costly 

 trouble, with a few flowers and much vexation for the 

 final result, — a thing to be abandoned as not worth the 

 labor." 



' ' All that may be true ; but let me tell you of a late 

 experience. As I was walking up from the station yester- 

 day I passed Aunt Louisa's mite of a cottage. Seeing her 

 seated at the window among her lovely flowering plants, I 

 stepped in for a call. While there the conversation turned 

 to house and garden plants. Aware of her wonderful suc- 

 cess in her scrap of a garden, and having those splendid 



