28 



SITUATION, SOIL, 



[chap. 



really valuable things, require? some little time, some little pa- 

 tience, and great attention, after you have got it. In the end, in- 

 deed, it is a great deal cheaper than any thing else ; but it requires 

 some attention and patience at first, and regular clipping every year 

 twice. I have seen, and have had, as an edging (which ramparts of 

 this sort are called), a little flowering plant called thrift : I have 

 seen strawberries thickly planted for this purpose : I have seen 

 daisies, and various other things, made use of as edgings : but ail 

 these herbaceous things ramble very quickly over the ground ; 

 extend their creepers ovej the walk, as well as over the ad- 

 joining ground ; and, instead of being content to occupy the space 

 of three inches wide, to which it is vainly hoped their moderation 

 will confine them, they encroach to the extent of a foot the 

 first summer ; and, if left alone for only a couple of years, they 

 will cover the whole of a walk six feet wide, harbouring all sorts 

 of reptiles, making the walk pretty nearly as dirty as if it did 

 not consist of gravel. I have sometimes seen narrow edgings of 

 grass, which, perhaps, are the worst of all. Make such an edging, 

 of four inches w'ide, in the autumn, and it will be sixteen inches 

 wide before the next autumn, unless you pare down the edges of 

 it three or four times. Thus must be done by a line ; and even 

 then, some dirt must be cut from the edging, to come into the 

 Avalk : this is, in fact, a rampart of dirt itself. It must be mowed 

 not less than ten times during the summer, or it is ugly beyond 

 description ; besides bringing you an abundant crop of seeds to be 

 scattered over the walk, and over the adjoining ground. Of all 

 edgings, therefore, this is the least efficient for the purpose, and 

 by far the most expensive. 



42. The box is at once the most efficient of all possible 

 things, and the prettiest plant that can possibly be conceived ; 

 the colour of its leaf ; the form of its leaf ; its docility as to 

 height, width, and shape ; the compactness of its little branches ; 

 its great durability as a plant ; its thriving in all sorts of soils, 

 and in all sorts of aspects ; its freshness under the hottest sun, 

 and its defiance of all shade and all drip : these are beauties and 

 qualities which, for ages upon ages, have marked it out as the 

 chosen plant for this very important purpose. 



43. The box, to all its other excellent qualities, adds that of 

 facility of propagation. You take up the plants, when they are 

 from three to six inches high, when they have great numbers of 



