THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
which belong nowhere but in the city — where even 
a spire of orchard grass dare not swing its blos- 
soms alongside a daisy. I am told by a govern- 
ment expert, in one of his reports, that “a good 
lawn demands great skill and judgment in its mak- 
ing, as well as in its maintenance. The chief charm 
of a lawn consists in an even stand of grass, of uni- 
form color, kept closely mown.” ‘This is pure 
humbug. A large country place, or a country 
place of only two or three acres does not call for 
any such sort of lawn. Grasses are nearly all 
beautiful — in blossom as well as when sheared close 
to the ground. A country lawn mowed three or 
four times a year is satisfactory and fits to the coun- 
try; but a little piece of grass plot, over which the 
lawn-mower is rattled all summer, is neither ap- 
propriate nor satisfactory. I sincerely recommend 
that you abolish these intolerable machines alto- 
gether. They have no natural use about a coun- 
try home. Once more, quoting from my expert 
authority, I am told that “in order to secure a per- 
fect lawn we must use a pure grass, such as Ken- 
tucky blue grass, or the mixture must be so per- 
fectly made from grasses of like habit of growth 
and of coloring, that a mottled effect will be avoid- 
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