152 PLANT-LIFE ON LAND [ch. 



his mowing machine, and his roller he does in 

 mechanical and prosaic fashion what is so much 

 more picturesquely done by the free agencies of 

 Nature. He fixes the " blow-outs " as bunkers, often 

 arresting the effect of the wind by lines of railway 

 sleepers, or piles of sods, thus straightening their 

 irregular edges into rigid lines. He opens out new 

 and artificial hazards, placed not by accident as 

 were those of the original course, but as intentional 

 traps which bear their artificiality upon their very 

 face. He cuts away the heather and creeping willow, 

 trims down the bents, and reduces the green to the 

 quality of the best-kept lawn. He may by these 

 means produce a course on which a record score 

 may be lowered by a stroke or two. But to the 

 Naturalist he merely appears to upset the balance 

 of Nature, the observation of which is one of the 

 keenest delights of the links. 



There have not been wanting those who have 

 publicly expressed their regret at the change which 

 is passing over some of our leading courses. The 

 "Fairway" is mown and mown again. It widens 

 imperceptibly as the process is repeated, till the 

 outgoing course merges with the incoming. Not a 

 Bent dares to show its head in these ever-broadening 

 avenues. On some courses you must wander far 

 afield indeed before any serious obstacle of vegetable 

 origin penalises you. The policy of the green com- 



