6 MY HANDKERCHIEF GARDEN. 



the place would be to sow grass seed over all the 

 ground, and keep it in grass. Merely to let it run up 

 to grass would be cheap but ugly. If in grass at all, 

 it must be kept as a lawn. A lawn would certainly 

 look well, save all care and expense, except the 

 weekly clipping to keep the grass in order. That 

 means a lawn-mower, costing ten dollars. It means 

 labor in pushing it over the grass, not less than fif- 

 teen times every summer. It is doubtful if this could 

 be done for less than fifteen dollars. Some of my 

 neighbors tell me it costs $1.50 a week for five months 

 each year to keep a small lawn in order. The cost 

 on this place, including the mower, would not be less 

 than twenty-five dollars the first year. The cost of 

 preparing the ground and sowing the seed would not 

 be less than four dollars more, and each spring, fer- 

 tilizer to the value of two dollars would be required. 

 It began to look as if the cheapest thing that could 

 be done would be pretty expensive. Of course, the 

 place could be left to take care of itself, but this 

 would be morally wrong. There were gardens on 

 every side kept free from weeds at a greater or less 

 expenditure of time, labor and mone3^ To suffer 

 weeds to bloom and scatter their seeds over these 

 gardens, and thus to injure the neighbors' property, 

 would be inexcusable. No man has a right to propa- 

 gate weeds near any cultivated land. It is simply 

 unjust to permit weeds of any kind to grow on 

 your land while others are trying to keep them out 

 of their land. A lawn is, therefore, a moral measure, 

 as it checks the growth of weeds, and by its beauty 

 enhances the value of the estate, and of all those 

 near it. 



That settled the matter. Something must be done 

 with the ground. It must be either laid down to 

 grass, or cultivated as a garden. The chief cost of a 



