THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



which belong nowhere but in the city — where even 

 a spire of orchard grass dare not swing its blos- 

 soms alongside a daisy. I am told by a govern- 

 ment expert, in one of his reports, that "a good 

 lawn demands great skill and judgment in its mak- 

 ing, as well as in its maintenance. The chief charm 

 of a lawn consists in an even stand of grass, of uni- 

 form color, kept closely mown." This is pure 

 humbug. A large country place, or a country 

 place of only two or three acres does not call for 

 any such sort of lawn. Grasses are nearly all 

 beautiful — in blossom as well as when sheared close 

 to the ground. A country lawn mowed three or 

 four times a year is satisfactory and fits to the coun- 

 try; but a little piece of grass plot, over which the 

 lawn-mower is rattled all summer, is neither ap- 

 propriate nor satisfactory. I sincerely recommend 

 that you abolish these intolerable machines alto- 

 gether. They have no natural use about a coun- 

 try home. Once more, quoting from my expert 

 authority, 1 am told that " in order to secure a per- 

 fect lawn we must use a pure grass, such as Ken- 

 tucky blue grass, or the mixture must be so per- 

 fectly made from grasses of like habit of growth 

 and of coloring, that a mottled effect will be avoid- 



[104] 



