MAY 8 1 



substratum of gravel which we came upon at one 

 point was removed, and good soil substituted for it. 

 The clay substratum (nowhere within eighteen 

 inches of the surface) in another place we tempered 

 with lighter stuff. No pains were spared at the 

 beginning so far as our knowledge served. I cannot 

 help believing that we did the best that could be 



THE NIGHTINGALE 



done, and that the contour of the ground is more to 

 be blamed than we. One pays penalties after all 

 for "laying warm," as Sterculus puts it, and having 

 a natural drainage. 



A quantity of Dobbie's white spiral candytuft, 

 sown almost at random a year ago in odd corners 

 of the borders, failed to germinate in last summer's 

 drought, and has now come up and is bursting into 

 beautiful bloom. It is wonderful how much hand- 



