MY GARDENING. 3 
Christian. Nevertheless I affirm that I have done 
all these things, and I shall even venture to 
make other demands upon the public credulity. 
When I first surveyed my garden sixteen years 
ago, a big Cupressus stood before the front door, 
in a vast round bed one half of which would yield 
no flowers at all, and the other half only spindlings. 
This was encircled by a carriage-drive! A close 
row of limes, supported by more Cupressus, over- 
hung the palings all round; a dense little shrub- 
bery hid the back door; a weeping-ash, already 
tall and handsome, stood to eastward. Curiously 
green and snug was the scene under these condi- 
tions, rather like a forest glade ; but if the space 
available be considered and allowance be made for 
the shadow of all those trees, any tiro can calculate 
the room left for grass and flowers—and the 
miserable appearance of both. Beyond that dense 
little shrubbery the soil was occupied with potatoes 
mostly, and a big enclosure for hens. 
First I dug up the fine Cupressus. They 
told me such a big tree could not possibly 
“move; but it did, and it now fills an out- 
of-the-way place as usefully as ornamentally. 
I suppressed the carriage-drive, making a straight 
path broad enough for pedestrians only, and 
cut down a number of the trees. The blessed 
B 2 
