XXX RIVERSIDE LETTERS 233 



wonderfully full of bloom ; I have gathered 

 again and again, literally, armfuls, and still 

 quantities remain : these and the pyracantha 

 berries are nearly the only things we have for 

 indoor decoration. 



There is very little work for me in the 

 flower borders at present, except tidying up 

 and weeding, and even that is now stopped 

 by the bitter wind, it is so strong that it even 

 prevents me from enjoying the delicious per- 

 fume of the bonfires, which at this season are 

 continually burning, but which require a calm, 

 still, misty day for their true appreciation. 

 As to weeds, I have come to the conclusion 

 that the only way to keep the borders free 

 from them is to allow no space for them to 

 grow in ; to have every inch of the ground 

 covered with cultivated plants ; no bare 

 spaces of mould showing anywhere, at any 

 rate during the spring and summer. It is 

 astonishing how soon nature clothes with 

 vegetation all bare places even in the most 

 unlikely spots. In that beautiful water-colour 



