78 GAEDENING FOR WOMEN 



surely so it should be. The charm of woman lies 

 in her softness and gentleness. Must we not 

 preserve this above all else ? 



Thus the father of a family views with alarm 

 the profession of a gardener, when it is first sug- 

 gested to him for one of his daughters. It seems 

 undesirable to him that she, who has been accus- 

 tomed to gentle living and refinement, should lead 

 the monotonous, solitary life which h^ pictures it to 

 be. He sees her, in imagination, constantly weed- 

 ing and digging amongst plants, without leisure 

 during the day for any of the relaxation to be 

 found in mental employment or development, and 

 returning home at night physically exhausted. 

 Her mother thinks that rough exposure to all 

 weathers will play havoc with a good complexion ; 

 visions of a brown sunburnt face, or a wrinkled 

 parchment one, knotted fingers, stifi joints, un- 

 even shoulders, rise up to alarm her. Many are 

 the prophetic croaks that the young girl hears 

 about rheumatism and age before its time, or 

 misgivings as to the results of digging and trench- 

 ing and the bad efiect they may have on back and 

 hip muscles. I know one young woman who was 

 so frightened lest she should develop a huge hump 

 on her back from stooping, like the old road- 

 mender whom she met daily, that she always laid 

 down quite flat on her bed, during rest hours, to 



