14 ©n tbe Stuop of "(Natural Scenery. 



rivulet and weave their masses of color into tbe most ex- 

 quisite patterns along the roadside. 



This reminds me that tbe roadside itself is one of the 

 most charming natural gardens that can be found anywhere. 

 When a road is old and the sods along its sides become 

 solid, the coarser weeds disappear, and such neat flowers as 

 the mouse ear, wild thyme, field stone crop, golden bed- 

 straw, St. John's-wort, harebells, blue buttons, meadow 

 saxifrage, broad-leaved plantain, and dropwort take their 

 place. Here we may learn how to plant the borders of 

 drives and walks in a pleasing manner. But, unfortunately, 

 every roadside is by no means a proper subject for this 

 study. 



The heath is a form of an open, generally barren field ; 

 when overgrown in parts with juniper and pine it is a 

 moorland. Ling and cross-leaved heath, many species of 

 vaccinium and dwarf junipers cover the surface with a 

 low and dense growth, relieved in places by patches of 

 furze, golden-yellow in summer. When the heather blooms 

 late in summer, the heath is one mass of purple blossoms. 

 At other seasons it is of a dull brownish screen or brighter 

 during times of rain. Many delicate herbaceous plants 

 find a shelter here, such as the exceedingly beautiful pasque- 

 flower, hieracium, mountain tobacco or arnica, and a num- 

 ber of ferns, especially large masses of bracken. Graceful 

 groups and single specimens of weeping birch are generally 

 scattered here and there, and the tree-like juniper often 

 encroaches upon the territory of the heath. Scenery of this 

 kind can be introduced with good effects on barren hillsides 

 and in places where the soil is too thin for a close growth 



