NOOKERIES ON THE HOME GROUNDS. 311 



heart of nature I would note again, with increased empha- 

 sis, that one of the peculiarities of the proper treatment of 

 these pleasant corners, whether in garden or woodland, is 

 that it may be said, almost, that the more you plant and 

 the less you cultivate and cut with the sickle, scythe, and 

 pruning knife, the more surely you attain the end desired. 

 Conventional methods are all out of place in the true garden 

 or lawn nookery. Grasses, mosses, tree trunks, fantastic, 

 " lovely climbers and wild flowers, weeds even, and manie 

 a plant that the fastidious woulde cast forthe," tall, purple 

 thistles and asters, and great docks and sorrels, all make up 

 a picture in such nooks, that, irradiated, perchance, by the 

 level beams of the setting sun, surpasses " beyond compare " 

 any number of cart-loads of scentless bedding plants, 

 mechanically arranged and ribbon-bordered. 



