IX RIVERSIDE LETTERS 73 



hideous bundles. There are two things which 

 I believe no hired gardener ever can or will 

 do properly, namely, tying- up and weeding. 

 When he does the latter he " worrits " about in 

 the most disastrous manner with fork, hoe, 

 and rake, hoofing all your bulbs and seedlings, 

 bent only on producing great expanses of tidy 

 but bare mould. Nothing can persuade him 

 to use his fingers or to stoop. And, as to 

 tying up, his only idea is to plant a stake 

 right down into the very heart of the plant's 

 roots, and bind the wandering sprays up into 

 a bundle like an old Gampy umbrella. I have 

 only one man and a boy, but even that is bad 

 enough, and I envy not those wealthy people 

 who keep scores of gardeners, for they can 

 scarcely call their gardens their own. In such 

 gardens these minions seem ever present, 

 bobbing up from behind the different bushes 

 like "Clan Alpine warriors true" on every 

 side where you least expect them ; every walk 

 and border is haunted by its real master, 

 every greenhouse has its man in possession. 



