CONCERNING LAWNS 353 
away, and found there one of the finest lawns I had 
ever seen. The old Georgian house was built on an 
eminence overlooking the valley and stood in the 
centre of a square and perfectly flat piece of ground, 
which was all lawn; then the ground sloped on 
all sides to a terrace, and slope and terrace were all 
lawn too and one with the level ground above. 
The great extent and marvellous smoothness of 
this lawn filled me with admiration—when I saw 
it at a distance; but I no sooner set foot on it 
than I began to quarrel with it. To begin with, 
the ground was hard; there was no elastic, no 
real turf; it was like walking on flagstones. Noth- 
ing but grass grew on that lawn, not in a matted 
turf, but each grass or grass plant by itself, so 
that when looking closely down at one’s feet 
one saw the hard ground between the blades and 
roots. On all that ground there was not a daisy 
to be seen, nor any of the small creeping plants 
and clovers usually found on lawns. 
Before my visit was over I succeeded in getting 
hold of the gardener and asked him how he managed 
to keep his large lawn so clean and smooth. He 
took it that I was praising his work and began to 
tell me what a tremendous task it was to keep it in 
that perfect condition. 
“But I think,” said I, “that if you would call 
in the earthworms to help you and did less yourself 
you would have a better lawn.” 
At first he thought I was joking and was much 
amused. Ejarthworms, he assured me, were the 
