4G2 Recollections <)f a Tour made in Mrnj, 1 839. 



pots, the stratum of dung will be found at the top in the form of black vege- 

 table mould, and the stratum of lime at the bottom tinged with yellow. The 

 completion of this experiment ma}' be accelerated by artificial watering, so as 

 to exhibit the effects described within a year. 



In the lawn to which we allude, the soil being dry, and with a good decli- 

 vity, we found, after twenty years, the mixture nearly as homogeneous as when 

 it was newly made ; and on June 14th, though the weather had been warm and 

 dry lor some weeks previously, the grass was of a dark green, forming a strik- 

 ing contrast with the grass of an adjoining field, across a sunk fence, where 

 the soil had never been mixed. We are convinced, from this instance, as well 

 as from general reasoning, that all the dry grass lands in the country might be 

 greatly improved by this mode of treatment; and, in many cases, so as to pay 

 the expenses during a fifty years' lease. At all events, it would well repay, 

 both in effect and in produce of grass, the proprietors of parks. With respect 

 to lawns, and, indeed, kitchen-gardens, on sandy soils, it is evident that to 

 render such soils as productive, and as retentive of moisture, as loams, must 

 be one of the greatest improvements that can be made in them. Some may 

 consider the plan we recommend too expensive, or, in other words, it may 

 require more money than they can afford to lay out ; but, in the case of small 

 suburban residences, where the most is to be made of every thing, no money 

 could be better expended. Indeed, on a large scale, say in the case of an es- 

 tate of from a hundred to a thousand acres of poor sand, with loam or clay 

 at no great distance, we should think the money laid out would at least pay 

 as well as money laid out in the purchase of land. It is less expensive to 

 improve sand by adding clay, than to improve clay by adding sand ; because, 

 in the latter case, the subsoil requires to be drained, and this can only be 

 done effectually by the frequent-drain system. For example, it would be much 

 easier to prevent the grass on the sandy parts of Hyde Park from being burnt 

 up in hot weather, than it would to render the clayey loam of the Regent's 

 Park so firm by sanding and draining, as not to be poached by cattle in wet 

 weather. 



The Italian Style of Gardening, when adopted round a mansion, though 

 more costly at first than the English style, is kept at less expense afterwards, 

 on account of the comparatively small portion of mown lawn which this style 

 requires, and its definite and fixed edgings to the beds, borders, and walks. 

 The lawn beyond the boundary of the Italian garden may always be fed with 

 sheep, or the grass made into hay ; and hence, in many cases, instead of the 

 pleasure-ground being an annual expense, it may afford an annual profit, or, 

 at all events, it will pay itself. 



Mowing Lawns. — In general this is but very indifferently done by profes- 

 sional gardeners, or by labourers who are not much accustomed to it. We 

 would therefore recommend that in all places where there is much lawn to 

 mow, a man, or set of men, should be exclusively devoted to mowing it. As 

 it is the most laborious of all country labours, such men ought either to have 

 higher wages, or, what is preferable, the work ought to be let to them by 

 contract. We are strongly inclined to think that the mowing of the lawns, 

 the keeping of the walks, the hoeing, and the weeding, of all large places might 

 be so let, much to the advantage of all parties concerned. A labourer who is 

 accustomed to do work by the job soon becomes a very superior being to one 

 that works by the day. In one of our earlier volumes, we have recommended 

 classing the labours of a garden as common and professional ; and, as far as 

 possible, letting the whole of the former to common labourers, while the gar- 

 dener was employed only in professional operations. The practice has been 

 long adopted at Flitwick House, and we have lately seen it in operation at 

 various gentlemen's scats. 



Keeping Shrubberies. — Much labour is spent in this way to very little pur- 

 pose. Shrubberies, and all other plantations, when young, ought to have the 

 surface of the ground kept free from weeds ; and, for a year or two, forked 

 over or slightly dug : but, wherever the trees and shrubs cover the surface, 



