282 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



A plantation of hardy Bamboos was made in quite a different 



situation in mid June a hollow slightly shaded with trees, and 



therefore not nearly so much exposed to danger 



A Bamboo as the southern slope above mentioned. It 



plantation. is known, however, that Bamboos are the better 



for mulching in any situation, and as there was 



no manure at hand, and even if there had been it would have 



needed a good deal of carting, the waste and weeds near were 



placed over the surface of the ground. In this case, mowings, 



dead flower-stems, scum of a pond (which was very bad this 



year, coming off in masses of most indestructible stuff), were 



laid over the surface of the Bamboo plantation, in which the plants 



did remarkably well, and never turned a leaf. 



An orchard of fine young standard trees was planted in 



1897 on a rather steep slope to the south, where the soil was 



not good. Faggots of little value, the sweepings 



Protecting young of roads, and any vegetable refuse about the 



orchards. yards were put over these 4 feet all round. It 



would be impossible to see trees healthier or 



less affected by the starving drought of the hot year. Such aid 



would, not be so precious in good valley land, but in many soils 



it is of the greatest help. 



Very often weeds are removed from the surface of garden 

 ground which would be much more useful if buried on the spot 

 if there be room, or allowed to dry up if cut off very small as 

 they should be if possible. The upper surface of garden ground is the . 

 best of it, owing to mulching and manuring, and to take away the 

 best of the ground is bad gardening. What would become of the 

 farmer who systematically removed an inch of the surface of his best 

 fields? It would be folly; and it is no less so in the garden. The 

 winter being a very mild one, encouraged the growth of weeds very 

 much, and, where there was other work going on, they got too big. 

 A plantation of Barberries, evergreen and others, was in this state in 

 early summer, the weeds nearly as high as the bushes. They were 

 cut down with much labour, and I just came upon the scene when 

 the carter was beginning to take away the surface of rich weeds 

 and soil, and I left the weeds and soil where they were, spreading 

 them equally over the surface. As it happened, this was followed 

 by many dry weeks, and the dead weeds formed a protection for 

 the bed itself, which did not suffer in the least during the heats. 

 To remove this mass of stuff would have been a costly labour, 

 the surface would have been exposed to direct evaporation, and 

 the plants starved by the drought. 



Many people fidget at the sight of beautiful leaves in autumn, 



