Probably there is no feeling in the
human mind stronger than the love of gardening. The prisoner will
make a garden in his prison, and cultivate his solitary flower in
the chink of a wall. The poor mechanic will string his scarlet
bean from one side of his window to the other, and watch it and
tend it with unceasing interest. It is a holy duty in foreign
countries to decorate the graves of the dead with flowers, and
here, too, the resting-places of those who have passed away from us
will soon be gardens. From that old time when the Lord walked in
the garden in the cool of the evening, down to the day when a Poet-
Laureate sang -
"Trust me, Clara Vere de Vere,
From yon blue heaven above us bent
The gardener Adam and his wife
Smile at the claims of long descent,"
at all times and in all ages gardens have been amongst the objects
of the greatest interest to mankind. There may be a few, but I
believe they are but a few, who take no interest in the products of
gardening, except perhaps in "London Pride," or a certain
degenerate kind of "Stock," which is apt to grow hereabouts,
cultivated by a species of frozen-out gardeners whom no thaw can
ever penetrate: except these, the gardeners' art has contributed
to the delight of all men in their time. That there ought to be a
Benevolent Provident Institution for gardeners is in the fitness of
things, and that such an institution ought to flourish and does
flourish is still more so.
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