82 EVERSLEY GARDENS 



in fair order, I was not sorry when a hard 

 winter and want of work in the village made 

 it a positive duty to get in an extra man to 

 trench it. Espalier Apples and Pears on 

 strained wire up each side of the straight 

 centre walk, and young Pears, Plums, and 

 even Peaches on the walls, soon grew apace ; 

 and it was astonishing to see the crops they 

 bore within two years on what was practically 

 virgin soil. The Raspberries were soon so 

 high and strong that small nephews found 

 them a convenient hiding-place in which to 

 gorge at leisure ; while a distinguished soldier 

 reminded me only the other day of certain 

 Sunday afternoons he passed almost exclusively 

 in the Strawberry beds. 



But to return to the modern shrubbery. 

 In it the detestable Laurel is now almost 

 wholly superseded by the invaluable Rhodo- 

 dendron. 



My old Munshi in Scinde sent me a 

 present of shikar one day that he had shot 

 in Godap, on the edge of the desert. It was 

 a cheap gift, as it consisted of two hares 



