276 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



be termed a park, should form one of the principal attractions of 

 every rural home; although no deer may ever tread daintily upon 

 the green turf, or raise their antlered heads to browse among the 

 branches. 



One of the requirements to a perfect lawn is incessant grazing 

 or cutting. The admirable lawn cutters now in universal use have 

 taken the place of the manual labor that made England's lawns so 

 beautiful, and served to prove that labor, and not climate, was what 

 our lawns lacked. Lawns should be cut in May and June about 

 once a week, with longer intermission in the dryest and hottest part 

 of the summer. The farmer's park may be grazed by the young 

 calves and lamljs, making it doubly attractive by their sports, and 

 the interest which he takes in them. 



To live in the rural home, and enjoy all its pleasure, we should 

 love the country. To love the country is to take an interest in all 

 that belongs to it, its occupations, its sports, its culture and its im- 

 provements; to make the birds our friends and call them all by their 

 names; to gather the flocks and herds around us and feed them with 

 our own hands; to rove over the verdant fields with a higher pleasure 

 than we should have in carpeted halls of regal courts; to inhale the 

 fresh air of the morning as if it were the sweet breath of infancy; 

 to brush the dew from the glittering grass as if our paths were strewn 

 with diamonds; to perceive this glorious temple all instinct with the 

 presence of Divinity, and to feel amidst all this the heart swelling 

 with adoration and a holy joy absolutely incapable of utterance. 

 This it is to love the country, and to make it, not the home of the 

 body only, but of the soul. 



I do not wonder that when God looked upon the earth He pro- 

 nounced it good. How can our heavenly home in the great beyond 

 be any more beautiful? But, we have the assurance that "eye hath 

 not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of 

 man " to conceive of the glories there. 



Dr. Hall — I desire to compliment the essayist for the pretty 

 things she has said about the lawn. A well cared for, closely mown 

 lawn should be an adjunct to every rural home. 



Mr. Berry — I find calves the best lawn mowers. My wife some- 

 times objects to living in a pasture, but a few sleek calves do not de- 

 tract from the appearance of the grounds in the least. 



Mr. Dunlap — A lawn is a nice thing on paper, but they are not 

 often well kept by farmers. I keep sheep on mine, but not to the 

 exclusion of flowers, as in the centre I have a flower garden enclosed 

 with a woven wire fence, 



