Terraces and Shrubs 



To cover all this expanse of gravel 

 foundation required untold quantities of requ " 

 loam, so much, indeed, that we thought 

 ourselves fortunate if we could allow an 

 average of four inches over the whole sur- 

 face of the lawn, but this meagre allow- 

 ance seems to afford sufficient hold for 

 the grass-roots, and heavy annual dress- 

 ings of compost add continually to its 

 depth. It is rather a curious study to 

 watch the formation of soil, and the grad- 

 ual way in which the sand below is trans- 

 formed by the roots first into yellow, 

 and then into black loam. How long, we 

 wonder, will it take before a foot of soil 

 is obtained over a surface treated as this 

 lawn is treated, the fine grass dropped 

 from the lawn-mower being left upon it 

 without raking, and the drainage from the 

 heavily enriched trees always helping it 

 along, in addition to its own annual dress- 

 ings ? 



The shrubs on the knoll, at first scat- impossible to 



, , , . . . mass a fe 



tered about rather promiscuously, as they 

 increase in size we are struggling to group 

 properly, according to the lights thrown 

 upon this subject by our reading, but the 

 143 



