CONCERNING LAWNS 358 



away, and found there one of the finest lawns I had 

 ever seen. The old Georgian house was built on an 

 eminence overlooking the valley and stood in the 

 centre of a square and perfectly flat piece of ground, 

 which was all lawn ; then the ground sloped on 

 all sides to a terrace, and slope and terrace were all 

 lawn too and one with the level ground above. 

 The great extent and marvellous smoothness of 

 this lawn filled me with admiration when I saw 

 it at a distance ; but I no sooner set foot on it 

 than I began to quarrel with it. To begin with, 

 the ground was hard ; there was no elastic, no 

 real turf ; it was like walking on flagstones. Noth- 

 ing but grass grew on that lawn, not in a matted 

 turf, but each grass or grass plant by itself, so 

 that when looking closely down at one's feet 

 one saw the hard ground between the blades and 

 roots. On all that ground there was not a daisy 

 to be seen, nor any of the small creeping plants 

 and clovers usually found on lawns. 



Before my visit was over I succeeded in getting 

 hold of the gardener and asked him how he managed 

 to keep his large lawn so clean and smooth. He 

 took it that I was praising his work and began to 

 tell me what a tremendous task it was to keep it in 

 that perfect condition. 



" But I think," said I, " that if you would call 

 in the earthworms to help you and did less yourself 

 you would have a better lawn." 



At first he thought I was joking and was much 

 amused. Earthworms, he assured me, were the 



2A 



