The Toy River 



south side of the garden between the nut walk 

 and the rock-garden was a waste of very indif- 

 ferent and useless lawn leading up a grass bank 

 to a tangled shrubbery, which it was impossible 

 to enter. The place was never entered, except 

 when there were wild raspberries on the bank. 



It was a disgrace ! It was the slatternly bed- 

 room which suffers in so many houses, so that the 

 drawing-room can be crammed with useless and 

 obviously expensive bibelots. In those days it is 

 very certain that I had no leisure, and deserved 

 none. However, as the sundial remarks : " Time 

 can do much.'''' And in this case, time brought 

 energy and perception that the whole garden was 

 out of balance, while there remained that dis- 

 graceful tangle. 



The first impulse was to destroy, but, before 

 destruction, it is necessary to have some construc- 

 tive idea, however vague. 



My constructive idea was the wildest possible : 

 — to have a river where no water was : a river and 

 a lake. 



With that determined on, the next thing was 

 to have the ground cleared and left as blank as a 

 painter's canvas. The grass was found to be bad 

 and was taken up. Upon practical reflection, it 

 was discovered that there was quite as much lawn 



i43 



