64 My New Zealand Garden 



many stools the sitting would come to naught 

 though not the stench for an unlimited time. 

 Some country houses are built on blocks of wood 

 a foot or more from the ground, with nothing to 

 prevent fowls and small quadrupeds from walking 

 under as they please. 



One morning, having filled half the oven with 

 mutton, I exclaimed to myself, ' Oh that I were a 

 cook, with this house full of eggs within and 

 without !' and, unpacking the cookery-book with 

 all speed, I made something that would satisfy all 

 the out-of-door appetites, soon to return to dinner 

 a huge batter in a flat baking-dish. No sooner 

 was this mixed than the conviction seized me 

 that the potatoes ought to be well under way, 

 and off I set to secure some. Imagine my dismay 

 on my return. I met those awful fowls coming 

 out of the back-door, apparently wearing lemon- 

 coloured gloves. They had been wading about in 

 my batter ! If fowls are fed at the back-door to 

 save trouble, or, in other words, to make cords for 

 your own back, they will pester that spot (the 

 back-door) from generation to generation. 



Everyone, high or low, rich or poor, should 

 plant a Lemon-tree or two, not only for the great 

 convenience of having them always for cooking, 

 but also for making lemon squash that most 

 wholesome, comforting, and efficacious beverage 

 in influenza. The trees do very well here, and 



