THE BACK-YARD GARDEN 



it the one garden most worth having. Ask the 

 busy woman who catches fleeting glimpses of the 

 beauty in it as she goes about her work, and she 

 will tell you that it is an inspiration to her, and 

 that the sight of it rests her when most weary, 

 and that its nearness makes it a companion that 

 seems to enter into all her moods. 



Last year I came across such a garden, and it 

 pleased me so much that I have often looked back 

 to it with a delightful memory of its homeliness, 

 its utter lack of formality, and wished that it 

 were possible for me to let others see it as I saw 

 it, for, were they to do so, I feel quite sure every 

 home would have one like it. 



" I never take any pains with it," the woman 

 of the home said to me, half apologetically. " That 

 is, I don't try to make it like other folks' gardens. 

 I don't believe I'd enjoy it so much if I were to. 

 You see, it hasn't anything of the company air 

 about it. It's more like the neighbor that ' just 

 drops in' to sit a little while, and chat about 

 neighborhood happenings that we don't dare to 

 speak about when some one comes to make a 

 formal call. I love flowers so much that it 

 seemed as if I must have a few where I could 

 see them, while I was busy in the kitchen. You 

 know, a woman who does her own housework 



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