i88i.] THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 75 



After dropping from the trees, they are constantly being shifted from place to 

 place by every breeze that blows ; and unless they are gathered and put away, 

 the majority of them get driven into quiet corners and sheltered nooks, where 

 their presence is of no use. 



No doubt, to allow leaves after they have fallen from the trees to remain 

 ungathered about lawns and pleasure-grounds, we would thereby provide in 

 the garden amusement and information of certain kinds for the inmates of the 

 dwelling-house, without putting them to the trouble of going out of doors to 

 see the performance or acquire the knowledge. It would also produce some 

 mirth to see the young ladies of the house going forth to visit their floral 

 favourites after a summer shower, with their feet and legs encased in clogs and 

 leather gaiters, or mounted on stilts to prevent themselves from getting wet feet 

 and draggled tails, each armed with a long-handled rake or scraper, wherewith 

 to search for their pets among the long grass, rotten boughs, and half-rotten 

 leaves. The fair ones might not think this the most comfortable way in which 

 to take a stroll about the flower-garden on a sultry summer afternoon ; but the 

 picturesque appearance they would exhibit while going to and fro, extricating 

 "spreading colonies of choice things" from dead leaves and other rubbish 

 in various stages of decay, would in some measure recompense them for any 

 little inconvenience they might suffer through the use of the gaiters and stilts. 



When sitting by a window on a dry breezy day, it is very amusing to watch 

 withered leaves "racing and chasing "each other, like the pursuers of young 

 Lochinvar on Cannobie Lee, up and down the lawns, in and out amongst the 

 shrubs and trees, gathering in thousands, and forming little irregular-shaped 

 hillocks here, bolting up in the air Will-o'-wisp fashion yonder, gambolling, 

 turning somersaults, and cutting all sorts of antics like legions of "leaflets" 

 out for a holiday. Then by observing the direction in which the majority are 

 travelling, a pretty correct idea may be formed of the direction in which the 

 wind is blowing at the time, without vacating the chair to consult the weather- 

 cock. On these grounds, it might be advisable to discontinue the practice of 

 collecting the leaves as they fall from the trees ; but I fear there are not many 

 gardeners or their employers who will think so. J. H., B. 



THE FRUIT -GARDEN. 



No. 11. 



THE GRAPE VINE. 



If there is to be an inside border, you will require to build up pillars 

 from the bottom on which to rest your flue — for we advise you to build 

 a flue so that you may apply a little fire-heat when necessary ; and a 

 flue, constructed of 6-inch glazed pipes, will answer your purpose ad- 

 mirably, and be much cheaper than a boiler and hot-water pipes. Had 

 your house been larger, we would have advised you to have a boiler, as 

 heating by hot-water is more economical in large houses — or a series 

 of them— than flues ; but for a small house such as yours, where only 

 a little heat is wanted occasionally, we certainly think a flue, such as 

 we have recommended, is best. It is important to have it resting on a 



