A New Perennial Garden 



farm. Some sprigs of Box, broken from 

 the arbor, and set in the soil at the edge 

 of the bed, took root and made a rough 

 border, and here, in August, I trans- 

 planted Lily bulbs, and a little later put 

 in such perennials as needed to be set out 

 in the fall. 



Between this flower-bed and the street Some old 



, - ,. i j T> Pear-trees. 



were three rows of straggling old Pear- 

 trees that gave some suggestion of possi- 

 ble fruitfulness, though it seemed likely 

 that they were too old to profit by prun- 

 ing. They had been famous in their day, 

 and still preserved the remnants of a repu- 

 tation, though more modern varieties have 

 borne away the palm in newer gardens. 

 But Bartletts and Sheldons and Seckels 

 will never be out of date, and there are 

 others, the very names of which the old 

 settlers have forgotten, which still yield 

 sweet and luscious fruit, when the weather 

 and the insects permit. Half dead they 

 seemed when we first went to work at 

 them, cutting away the dead branches and 

 scraping their mossy trunks, to the infinite 

 disturbance of the insects which had clus- 

 tered there for warmth, and we recognized 

 79 



