CHAPTER XVII 



ON GRASSLANDS 



Where is peace ? — Troubles of the grass — Roadsides— Glaciers in Switzer- 

 land — Strength and gracefulness of grasses — Rainstorms — Dangers of 

 drought and of swamping — Artificial fields — Farmer's abstruse cal- 

 culations—Grass mixtures — Tennis lawns — The invasion of forest — 

 Natural grass— Prairie of the United States, Red Indian, Cowboy — 

 Pampas and Gaucho — Thistles and tall stories— South Africa and 

 Boers— Hunting of the Tartars— An unfortunate Chinese princess — 

 Australian shepherds. 



WHERE should one seek for peace on earth ? The 

 ideal chosen for one well-known picture is a grassy 

 down " close dipt by nibbling sheep," such as the 

 fresh green turf of the South Downs. 



Others might prefer the " Constable country," near per- 

 haps the famous " Valley Farm " of which the picture now 

 hangs in the National Gallery, and especially in early spring. 

 At any rate, once seen, one remembers for ever afterwards 

 those glossy -coated, well-fed, leisurely cows grazing hock-deep 

 in rich meadows full of bright flowers and graceful grasses, 

 through which there winds a very lazy river bordered by 

 trim pollarded willows. 



The charm of the South Downs and of Constable's 

 meadows depends upon their peaceful quiet, and the absence 

 of any sign of the handiwork of disturbing man. 



But such meadows are entirely artificial. They could no 

 more exist in nature than a coal-mine, if it were not for man's 



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