230 



SHRUBBERIES AND FLOWER-GARDENS. 



[chap. 



and to pole or sward the grass in the middle of the week, to 

 knock or cut off the heads of the daisies, and to take away the 

 castings of the \a orms, ^Yhich are very troublesome in the greater 

 part of grass-plats. Where the thing is well done, the worm- 

 casts are rubbed off by a pole or rod the evening before the 

 mowing is performed, otherwise they interrupt the progress of the 

 scythe and take off its edge. A good short-grass mower is a 

 really able-workman ; and, if the plat have a good bottom, he 

 will leave it very nearly as smooth and as even as the piece of 

 green cloth which covers the table on which I am w riting : it is 

 quite surprising how close a scythe will go if in a hand that 

 knows how to whet it and use it. If, however, you do not resolve 

 to have the thing done in this manner, it is much better not to 

 attempt it at all. The decay of gardening in England in this 

 respect is quite surprising. 



3 16. It is very much the fashion to have clumps of shrubs, or 

 independent shrubs, upon grass-plats : people must follow their 

 own taste ; but, in my opinion, nothing is so beautiful as a clear 

 carpet of green, surrounded with suitable shrubs and flowers, sepa- 

 rated from it by walks of beautiful gravel. The hedges of grass, 

 whether ogainst walks or against shrubberries, are sure to grow out, 

 and ought, therefore, to be kept in by trimming or pairing off very 

 frequently ; for the whole ought to be as smooth as a piece of 

 cloth. If thistles or dandelions, or even daisies, come amongst 

 the grass, the mowing of them off is not enough, for each wi'l 

 make a circle round the crown of its root, and will overpower the 

 grass. This, however, is easily cured by cutting these roots oft' 

 deeply with a knife, and puiling them up. This done during two 

 summers successively, will destroy the dandelions and the thistles ; 

 and, as to the daisies, which have a shallow root, they may easily 

 be kept down, if not extirpated. 



317. In the fall of the year, all shrubberies (in the month of 

 November) should be digged completely w-ith a fork : all suckers 

 should be taken away, all dead wood taken out : all leaves carried 

 oft' or digged in, and better carried off than digged in ; for if 

 digged in, they make the ground hollow, and harbour slugs and 

 other vermin. The ground should be made smooth, therefore, 

 when it is digged : ail hares and rabbits kept out, for they are very 

 mischievous in shrubberies, barking during the u inter many of the 

 trees of the most valuable kind. Uui ing the summer, there should 



