LILIES AND IRIS 



times, spaded and carefully raked. Then 

 with stakes and garden cord the beds were 

 marked out, and again spaded and thor- 

 oughly prepared, the whole garden again 

 raked, and the place was at last ready for 

 planting. The pool was begun in early 

 April, but various delays made it the end of 

 May before the garden was finally laid out. 

 The beds were surrounded with Box-edging 

 and many pyramidal evergreens planted. 



On June the fifth, the space between the 

 beds was sown with grass seed, an unheard- 

 of date, and as it was too late to think of 

 Lilies for that year, the beds were sown 

 the following day with Asters. 



For seven weeks there had been no rain, 

 and, worse still, no wind, and the wind-mill 

 did not pump and the great reservoir sup- 

 plying the gardens became dangerously low. 

 Early in June I sailed away for Europe 

 in a sad state of mind, begging the men 

 to cart the water if necessary to keep the 

 Box and evergreens alive. 

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