i88 Hints on Landscape Gardening 



lightful, and gives it a particular charm, is the 

 ahnost unbroken carpet of huckleberries, cran- 

 berries, ferns, and wild rosemary which densely 

 cover the ground. The bright green and shining 

 leaf of the huckleberries, alternating continually 

 with fern, is undoubtedly preferable in a wood to 

 the finest lawn, and certainly cannot be artificially 

 created in such lusty growth ; nay, even where 

 these plants were taken away in former times for 

 litter, they have never grown again in the shade. 

 It seems that more than a man's lifetime is re- 

 quired before large stretches become richly clad 

 with them. This deer park, the castle of which 

 contains plenty of room for many hunting guests, 

 is used as head rendezvous for stag, boar, and roe 

 hunting. The most interesting hunting for many, 

 however, is heathcock shooting; growing else- 

 where rarer every year, it can still be enjoyed 

 here in great abundance. Indeed, one may hear 

 from thirty to forty birds "calling" simultane- 

 ously in the territory of the park. For this sport 

 one must rise very early, and as city folk are 

 averse to this, the following plan of mine met 

 with much appreciation: One drives from Mus- 

 kau at midnight by torchlight through the woods, 

 one of the cheapest as well as most agreeable 

 methods of illuminating, then spends the rest of 

 the time blowing the reveille at the hunting 

 castle, and immediately afterwards "beats up" 

 the heathcock, as it is called in hunting terms. 

 In this manner ladies could frequently take part, 

 and on their account I may be excused tor men- 



