Evening star., 1928-04-02
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

after road, lane after lane, and on again
to the sea at the north, to the sea at
the east; blackberry hedges, and man
| and beast plod and trot and gallop be-
tween hedges of England, clipped and
clean; beech and laurel, and horn
beamP"
Manysof Miss McIlvaine's readers will
be the very persons she hits" in her
paragraphs devoted to the difference
between ready-made gardening and real
gardening, but this unconscious snob-
/ berry cannot be helped In book written
| from the heart
The truth is that many persons.
forced to live in developments" through
economic necessity possess to the full
the true garden temperament which she
describes so well:
THE enchantment of the little gar
den in the Spring, as in Summer and
Autumn and Winter, depends in no
small degree on the garden tempera-
ment. There must be at least one OF
these In every family. Sometimes they
are very temperamental and wax furi-
GUS over the scratchings and diggings
of the pet cat or dog, but on the whole
they are very necessary. Some people
have natural caresSing love for their
| plants. They watch and hover over
them. They plant with thought and
tenderness. They have an instructive
knowledge. They know what vine will
lightly cover a wall and where a lusty
one is needed. They know how one will
send up suckers like the trumpet vine
but that 1t can be kept within bounds
even developing a trunk like a dwarf
tree If trained and pruned in time. All
this knowing has come bit by bit since
childhood. If there has been an observ-
ing eye. Others must learn by trial and
error as the psychologists say. TO
friend can warn, no book direct; they
will have 1t thus and so; failure simply
makes them more determined They
will dig 1t from there and place it here,
they say, and so they have the hope
and thrill Of expectation all over again.
This Is the vital pleasure of their sort
Of gardening. We need, of course sew
eral kinds Of garden temperament. but
they should all be of the inquiring
variety"
The reader here will begin to see now
| just why Mrs King spoke as she did OF
Miss McIlvaines book. It Is uuotable
Firm in our belief that we'll chosen
excerpts constitute real book reviewing
since they give reader actual tastes
OF book, We select the following. con-
tanning thoughts which every gardener
has had, but perhaps not seen expressed
so well before:
THE little garden has one advantage
over the big one: 1t is apt to be--nay
has to be-near, close up to the house
and in Spring this is an inestimable
boon. For often the only good weather
we have in Spring Is in our memories
OF other years. Then that snow did not
come so late or quite so cruelty. Then
the winds were not so high or so con-
stant, and there were days when we
worked out of doors for hours. Where
as this year just look at the rain
And we gaze disconsolately out of the
window. But If we have planned wisely
our view out of that window and every
| window will give us interest. For we
shall see our dream pictures of color
and form coming true with the days
progress, even though the sun may not
shine and the winds may blow toe
strongly for us to be out"
Miss McIlvaine gives the reader q very
real plan for securing this picture. Her
chapter on American native flowers and
shrubs is most informative. and will lead
many reader-gardener to experiment
with them who otherwise would have
been at the mercy of the seed cata-
logues Those who live in develop
mentS" and must watch the ceaseless
running of little feet will sigh for such
a wall as Is pictured in Spring in the
Little Garden" which Miss McIlvaine
dug up. as 1t were, from an old book-a
yeritable monster of a wall, las feet
| long and "a feet high!