The Laying-out of Lawns 53 



If these instructions are followed out exactly, 

 it will seldom be necessary to have to weed out 

 isolated encroachments of flowers or weeds ; they 

 either die out of themselves, or have no time to 

 affect injuriously the evenness of the turf. It is 

 also a mistake to try to weed out all moss in a 

 lawn of this kind. Many kinds, under the treat- 

 ment I have described, in the shade of the trees, 

 where no grass will grow, make a carpet which 

 is like satin in softness and excels even grass in 

 freshness. I remember to have seen in the Isle 

 of Wight a long stretch of moss of this kind, 

 which, in elasticity, soft green, and closeness of 

 texture, excelled any lawn I have seen in Eng- 

 land, and also I have succeeded in making charm- 

 ing places of this kind under high trees. 



As soon as the grass is cut, the lawn should 

 be raked off and then swept carefully its entire 

 length with sharp brooms, until it is as clean as, 

 a floor. It is then more pleasant for walking 

 than the best gravel path and does not at all 

 require the anxious warnings and notice boards 

 which in our gardens often border on the ridicu- 

 lous. One may play ball on it all day without 

 fear of doing it any damage. It is true that, 

 during a severe drought, I have been compelled 

 to water my lawns with a large fire engine con- 

 nected with a pump which was stationed for 

 this purpose near the castle, with sufficient power 

 to use a leather hose having a length of more 

 than three hundred feet. I cannot, however, as- 

 sert that much good was accomplished thereby. 



