The best gardens of Vermont, with its still greater area of uplands, are probably those in and around Manchester and Bennington. They are usually of the simplest character, and lovely under the personal care of devoted owners. One worthy of special attention is seen in the view of Longmeadow garden, which is an example of the great value of trees as a background, and a strong argument in their behalf. As a gem needs a setting, so the flowers, in even the most modest planting, are doubly fair when framed in luxuriant green. [Illustration: PLATE 6 Cornish, N. H. Charles A. Platt, Esq. _From a photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals_] [Illustration: PLATE 7 Cornish, N. H. Charles A. Platt, Esq.] [Illustration: PLATE 8 Cornish, N. H. Mrs. George Rublee _From photographs by Jessie Tarbox Beals_] [Illustration: PLATE 9 Cornish, N. H. Stephen Parrish, Esq. _From a photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals_] [Illustration: PLATE 10 Cornish, N. H. Mrs. William H. Hyde _From a photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals_] [Illustration: PLATE 11 Old Bennington, Vt. Mrs. James A. Eddy] MASSACHUSETTS Probably no other section of the Union contains as many gardens, old and new, as does this fertile State, combining the advantages natural to the altitude of the beautiful Berkshires with the favorable climate of the coast. People representing nearly every State help to form the summer colonies of New England, more especially in Massachusetts. Everywhere the luxuriance of bloom is very marked and most noticeable on the coast, where all plants, especially certain less long-lived annuals like Poppies, Salpiglossis, and Mallows, reach their limit of perfection and continue at their best for an unusual period. In the latitude of Boston the season starts two weeks later than near New York City, and the gardens, beginning in the German Iris period, open about the fifth of June. The Sweet William and its contemporaries follow by late June; the Delphinium period is early July; Hollyhocks come about July 20. Tender annuals can be safely planted out soon after June 1. The garden season in the hill country opens a few days later than at Boston, and in the Berkshires the frost is apt to destroy the garden before September 20. Where the thermometer may drop occasionally to twenty degrees below zero, ample winter covering is necessary, and snow adds its still better protection to the plants during most of the winter months. The average summer heat is not excessive and, although droughts must sometimes be reckoned with, the water supply is generally sufficient. It would be a serious matter to attempt to name the best gardens in this State, for who could judge where such an infinite variety exists? At least some of the best examples in photography can be given, although each view but hints at the fuller beauty to be found in the garden itself.