126 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



Climbing the hills not far from my home, I saw 

 my friend and neighbor swinging the scythe in the 

 fence corners. 



" I want these corners," he said, " for wild grape- 

 vines and Virginia creepers, and over there I am 

 keeping it free for sumac to be scarlet in September, 

 and there are elder berries for August. There is no 

 telling what lots of fine things Nature fills into these 

 private corners only it is necessary to cut out the 

 weeds." 



I said to him, " Neighbor, what are weeds? " 



He leaned a moment on his scythe, and said: 

 " There are not nearly as many as there used to be ; 

 folks have learned the value of some of the worst, 

 and I guess that by and by everything will be worth 

 something. However, I cannot wait for that not 

 altogether." And his scythe went on clipping out the 

 stick-tights and the thistles and the elecampane. It 

 was Adam over again, set into the Garden of Eden 

 to tend and keep it. 



A Government bulletin informs me that the chief 

 charm of a lawn " consists in an even stand of grass, 

 of uniform color, kept closely mown." I wonder at 

 this, or I should wonder if I did not know that some 

 of our Government employees are young in their 

 tastes and judgment. I look everywhere else for 

 this uniformity of color and fail to find it. How 

 happened it that Nature never found out this law of 

 the beautiful? She has probably never read the bul- 

 letins from Washington. My daily wonder is the 



