THE PRACTICAL FLOWER GARDEN 



quent occurrence, either to border paths, or 

 to set into the lawn in spots where wild 

 grasses have been taken out, or to cover the 

 place where a discarded flower-bed has been, 

 or where the turf has become worn out 

 through use. 



For years we have taken the sod needed 

 for these purposes from a field called the 

 " night pasture lot," where the herd is 

 turned at night. The field contains about 

 fifteen acres; a slender, cold brook bordered 

 with water-cress, the outlet of a spring, winds 

 through it, and white-trunked sycamores and 

 ancient elms give it great beauty. The field 

 has probably never been ploughed, and the 

 natural grass is fine and thick. The most 

 distant corner of the lot is chosen, and the 

 sod is lifted with a prayer to the gods of the 

 garden that the farmer-husband may not 

 discover the deed; but, alas! his eagle eye 

 always lights upon the bare spots before new 

 grass is grown. 



Even this fine, close native grass is differ- 

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