New-York tribune., 1900-03-17

Gilbert White would surely have recognized
as kindred soul this feminine dweller in the
beautiful country his own Selborne. Miss
Jekyll has something of his affection for and
understanding OF things a-growing' the affec-
tion and understanding that imply the kinship
Of Mother Natures children, whether they ram
bic on an old wall in the guise of a brier rose
or stroll happily along woody lane on two sub
stantial English feet. The authors delight in
her house and her garden is winning and infec-
tious: Il is hard TO say which is the more fasci-
mating, the story of the quaint cottage reared
under her happy eyes in the sturdy and honest
fashion of ancient times, or that of the sandy
nook blooming into loveness under her expert
mental hand.
The house was built as il might have been
two or three hundred years ago, of materials de-
rived from its neighborhood, OF the local
stone and with solid oak beams that through
most OF her life Miss Jekyll had known as old
friends green and growing. The traditional
local ways of using these materials were fol-
iowed-al the incidental methods Of adapting
means 10 ends known for centuries in Surrey
SO that the building seemed to grow naturally
out of the ground. We read with envy that all
the smaller permanent fittings well
thought out and so thoroughly made that there
Is hardly anything that get out of order.
There are no random choosings from the iron
monger's pattern book; no clashing of styles no
meretricious ornamentation; no impudence OF
cast iron substitute for honest hand work; no
moral slothfulness in the providing Of all these
lesser finishings II takes more time, more
trouble it may take q good deal OF time
and trouble. but then it is just right, and to
see and know that il is right is daily reward
and ending source of satisfaction" No
wonder this house its owner repose
and serenity of mind. Skilled in many hand-
works herself, workshop being an important
part Of her home she recurs again and again TO
the precious qualities of the things made by the
hand None of those mighty agencies of mod
ern times, OF steam machinery, of business cal
cuation. of backing by money, possibly
stand in the place Of that divine combination
of artist and craftsman that alone can surely
bring forth the good work as the union of soul
and body must go to the making Of the most
perfect living being"
The authors garden bears testimony to her
faithfulness TO this theory. for it is triumph
Of beauty. achieved by loving thought and tire
less industry reluctant and unpromisng
soil. Old Bacon holds that to plant a Garden
is the Greatest Refreshnent to the Spirits of
Man" and il is OF Miss Jekylls merits that
even in her recital she imparts to something
Of this refreshment She feels in making her
garden the desire Of the painter for related
harmonies of kind and color; she wants not only
flowers but beautiful groupings Of flowers, OF
flowers gloriously contrasting with another
in methods Of growth and hues OF blossom and
leaf. We gather from her talk about her plants
and from her charming illustrations that within
the borders of her tiny estate she has indeed
made growing pictures and always after the
natural methods-as in her setting OF saxifrages
in long drifts rather than in compact patches
This principle. which is Natures own, she tells
she has found Of value in all kinds of plant
ing, whether of small or large plants in rockery
border of damodils in copse or meadow or
of tree and shrub in larger spaces. She
looks at her garden always with the eye of the
artist. not that of the fancier-lf she does
find place where her critical garden conscience
approves OF having any one plant she would
rather be without il. 1T is better to me to
deny myself the pleasure OF having it, she says
than to endure the mild sense of guilt of hav-
Ing placed it where it neither does itself justice
nor accords with its neighbors, and where il
reproaches me every time I pass it"
She argues wisely and forcibly against the
common practice of doing away with simple
natural features which might be developed into
beauty TO put in their places some hackneyed
and incongruous form of gardening. Every true
lover of Lord Bacon's 'Purest of Humane
Pleasures must sympathize with the authors
impatience with the shop window form of
planting the gardener being enamoured Of
eo-called variety" She appears to have a
peculiar faculty for continuing deliciously
unexpected effects, for beautifying odd cor
ners and covering unsghtly objects with
bewitching LEAKAGE and blossom Her reminis-
ences in this direction especially entertaining
and suggestive to amateur gardeners Would
that all such amateurs might learn to cultivate
her habit of close observation, How many for
example. would discover that in the Austrian
copper rose the vivid scarlet of the inside of the
PETAL is laid on in a thin film over a ground of
yellow, so that this film be delicately peeled
off. showing the yellow ground? We are re-
minded that to get the same powerful quality of
red coloring painter has use exactly the
same artifIce. Miss Jekyll has not allowed
painful and inadequate sight to interfere with
her powers of observation, and as If in COM
pensation, moreover. for that drawback she has
very keen hearing:
When / hear little.r .rustling rush in the grass
and heath, or in the dead leaves under the trees
l can tell whether it is snake lizard. mouse
or bird. Many birds am aware OF only by the
sound Of their flight. / can nearly always tell
what trees am by the sound of the wind
in their leaves, though in the tree it differs
much from spring TO autumn, as the leaves be-
come OF harder and drier texture. The Birches
have small, quick. high pitched sound: so like
that Of falling rain that L often deceived
into thinking il really is rain. when It is only
their leaves hitting each other with a small
rainlike patter. The voice of Oak leaves is
also rather high pitched though lower than that
of Birch. Chestnut leaves in mild breeze sound
much more deliberate; sort of slow slither
Nearly all trees in gentle wind have a pleasant
sound, but confess to distinct dislike to the
noise Of all the Poplars, feeling It to be pain
fully fussy. unrestfu and disturbing On the
other hand. how soothing and delightful is the
murmur Of Scotch frs both near and far! And
what pleasant, muffied music is that of a wind
waved field Of corn, and especially Of ripe bar
ley. The giant Grasses, Reeds and Bamboo
sound curiously dry. The great Reed CArundo