SOME WAYS AND MEANS 169 



wider range of plant-life than in a meadow run 

 upon English lines, and the season of interest is, 

 therefore, as long-lived as that of any part of our 

 garden. " Accident," indeed, is the constant charac- 

 teristic of it, and floral variety the natural corollary. 

 When the hay has been made upon the richer 

 portions of it, the poorer or more broken parts and 

 the rocks continue to abound in blossom, giving 

 us such things as the Thalictrums, IMonkshoods, 

 Peas, Veronicas, Pinks, Saxifrages, Sempervivums, 

 and Sedums. 



When, therefore, we choose the parcel of ground 

 to be transformed into a Swiss mountain meadow, 

 we should not be dismayed if its surface is already 

 more than undulating ; we should not summon 

 assistance to level it up and smooth it out. We 

 are not proposing to make a croquet-lawn, but 

 are supposed to be inspired by Nature in one of 

 her wild, " irresponsible " moods. Violence, how- 

 ever, should depend upon size. If we are dealing 

 with several acres, we can afford to be grand 

 with regard to " accident " ; but if the land at 

 our disposal is, perhaps, half an acre, irregularity 

 should be to scale ; for to be artistic we should 

 avoid extravagance. 



Rocks, as has been said, are an almost essential 



