THE MANSE GARDEN. 21 



for the spades have, in all ordinary hands, a strange 

 centripetal attraction, on account of which it is 

 difficult to maintain a due remoteness from the 

 heart of the roots; and notwithstanding the strictest 

 mandate, you will find frequent cause for calling 

 Hold, when the murderous slash is about to de- 

 scend through your living fibres. Set spade over 

 against spade, each a foot from the stem of your 

 hollies, and allow no wriggling or prizing till they 

 have gained an even-down depth greater than that 

 of the roots then lift, and up comes the whole liv- 

 ing form, as unconscious of suffering by the change 

 of bed as a sleeping child. Carry softly : make the 

 new bed broad and deep, of the prepared compost ; 

 set the most projecting branch to the west wind ; 

 pour in a little more of the foreign with a mixture 

 of the native mould ; then drench with water : the 

 wetness of the earth or of the day is no excuse, as 

 it might be found, on a narrow inspection, that the 

 roots, though surrounded, are not closely embraced 

 by the soil, but that there are cavities, within which 

 the roots will become mouldy, and die of dry rot 

 so called ;* level all up, making the surface slightly 



* " So called" In throwing this discredit on the name, the 

 author does not profess to unravel the mystery of the thing , in 

 other words, to account for and cure that remarkable decay, 

 whether it be in the timber of ships or houses, which is usually 

 denominated dry rot. But if the name be wrong it deserves cor- 

 rection, lest it lead to a wrong idea, and the attempting of a 

 remedy, by securing to the wood more wet, and so preventing a 

 disease that may be supposed, from its name, to originate in dry- 

 ness. It is only by comparison that the term has any truth. 

 The cause of rotting is more obvious in wood that is laid on wet 

 grass ; and then it seems mysterious that a waste as rapid should 

 be found in that which is so dry as the floor and panels of a fre- 

 quented parlour. These are indeed dry as compared with boards 

 laid on the grass ; but where the rot occurs in the panels, they 



