A considerable portion of his spare time was
spent in his garden, in the management of which Mrs. Wallace, who had
much knowledge and experience of gardening, very cordially assisted him.
Here his characteristic energy and restlessness were conspicuously
displayed. He was always designing some new feature, some alteration in
a flower-bed, some special environment for a new plant; and always he
was confident that the new schemes would be found to have all the
perfections which the old ones lacked. From all parts of the world
botanists and collectors sent him, from time to time, rare or newly
discovered plants, bulbs, roots or seeds, which he, with the help of
Mrs. Wallace's practical skill, would try to acclimatise, and to
persuade to grow somewhere or other in his garden or conservatory.
Nothing disturbed his cheerful confidence in the future, and nothing
made him happier than some plan for reforming the house, the garden, the
kitchen-boiler, or the universe. And, truth to say, he displayed great
ingenuity in all these enterprises of reformation. Although they were
never in effect what they were expected to be by their ingenious author,
they were often sufficiently successful; but, successful or not, he was
always confident that the next would turn out to be all that he expected
of it. With the same confidence he made up his mind upon many a
disputable subject; but, be it said, never without a laborious
examination of the necessary data, and the acquisition of much
knowledge.
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