146 WOOD AND GARDEN 



In the broad border in front of tbe wall nothing needs 

 protection except Tritomas ; these have cones of coal- 

 ashes heaped over each plant or clump. The Crinums 

 also have a few inches of ashes over them. 



Some large Hydrangeas in tubs are moved to a 

 sheltered place and put close together, a mound of 

 sand being shovelled up all round to nearly the depth 

 of the tubs ; then a wall is made of thatched hurdles, 

 and dry fern is packed well in among the heads of 

 the plants. They would be better in a frost-proof 

 shed, but we have no such place to spare. 



The making of a lawn is a difficulty in our very poor 

 sandy soil. In this rather thickly-populated country 

 the lords of the manor had been so much pestered for 

 grants of road-side turf, and the privilege when formerly 

 given had been so much abused, that they have agreed 

 together to refuse all applications. Opportunities of 

 buying good turf do not often occur, and sowing is slow, 

 and not satisfactory. I am told by a seedsman of the 

 highest character that it is almost impossible to get 

 grass seed clean and true to name from the ordinary 

 sources ; the leading men therefore have to grow their 

 own. 



In my own case, having some acres of rough heath 

 and copse where the wild grasses are of fine-leaved 

 kinds, I made the lawn by inoculation. The ground 

 was trenched and levelled, then well trodden and raked, 

 and the surface stones collected. Tufts of the wUd 

 grass were then forked up, and were pulled into pieces 



