SOILS AND CULTIVATION IN THE FLOWER GARDEN. 399 



hollow places is to destroy the incidents of the ground, usually far 

 prettier in form than the results of smug levelling up, or, worse still, 

 the formation of such artificial mounds as we see examples of in the 

 parks. Even the squares in our level Thames valley are not exempt 

 from outrage of this kind, of which, perhaps, the most hideous example 

 is that of Euston Square, in which a high and ugly earth-bank has 

 been put all around the Square, so steep that even the cheap nursery 

 rubbish of the London squares Privet and Elder refuses to grow 

 upon it, and so in the summer days, instead of the grass and tree-stems 

 and cool shadows, a bank of dusty rubbish meets the eye ! 



Another serious source of waste of the inexperienced in ground- 

 work is burying the top surface, the most precious, and in many cases 

 the result of ages of decay of turf and plants. In alluvial land and light 

 friable hill soils this mistake does not so much matter, but in heavy 

 land where there is a clay subsoil it is fatal. The first thing in all 

 groundwork is to save the top soil with the greatest care, for the sake 

 of using it again in its proper place ; and how to save it, so that it 

 may be available at the end of the work, is one of the most essential 

 things the good ground-worker has to think of. 



Trenches for the reception of pipes, drains, and foundations should 

 not be opened until the materials are at hand, as in wet weather, 

 doing so often leads to the sides falling in and much needless labour. 

 The direction of walks, roads, or designs for beds, borders, or 

 gardens, should be carefully marked out and looked at from every 

 point of view before carrying them out, having regard to their 

 use and their relation to all things about them, and not merely to 

 any plan on paper. Attention to this will often save much labour in 

 groundwork. 



A cause of much waste of labour in moving soil is the usual 

 way of treating mud after the cleansing of artificial ponds often 

 a poor inheritance to leave to one's children. The silting up with 

 mud goes on for ever, and while the mere expense of getting this 

 out of the pond bed in any way is usually great, the cost is often 

 increased through the idea that the stuff is of manurial value. This 

 leads people frequently to heap it up on the banks to dry, then to 

 liming it, and eventually to moving it onto the land, these various labours 

 adding to the disfigurement of the foreground of beautiful ground often 

 for a long time. Pond mud has very little manurial value generally, 

 though it will differ to some extent according to the sort of soil the 

 supply comes from. Usually, however, it has very slight value, and any 

 labour bestowed upon it from that point of view is nearly always wasted. 

 The best and simplest way is to put it direct on to some poor pasture 

 near, or on to any ground where it may be got rid of with least labour to 

 man or horse. Where the pond is ugly in outline and not essential 



