AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



boulders of granite, purposely left on the lawn. 

 Most of these beds are on the southern side of 

 the island, or quite near the height of ground If 

 on the north side. I have had in the past many 

 beds on the northern and western slopes ; but as 

 few flowers would do well there, most of them 

 have been abandoned and grassed over. It must 

 be borne in mind also that no portion of this lawn 

 is entirely free from trees, many of them being 

 quite large, some of the birches being nearly three 

 feet in diameter. The location of beds therefore 

 was a matter of some difficulty, as we had not 

 only to avoid the shade of the trees, but the 

 spread of their roots also, which in periods of 

 drought take up every particle of moisture, leav- 

 ing nothing for either grass or flowering plants 

 within its "sphere of influence." 



Once the place for a bed was finally settled, I 

 prepared it for flowers by digging out all the 

 good soil and passing it through a sieve with a 

 mesh of a quarter of an inch. This settled the 

 question of stones in the bed for all time to come. 

 I found the soil a light loam for a depth of a 

 little over a foot, beneath which was gravel. The 

 gravel I removed for a depth of six inches more, 

 and its place was taken by sifted earth and leaf 



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