GENERAL REMARKS. 



17 



to keep privet or laurel hedges properly clipped ; and a stout 

 deep basket must be deposited iu the tool-shed, to contain the 

 weeds and clippings. These are the only tools absolutely essen- 

 tial to a lady's garden. I have seen a great variety decorating 

 the wall of an amateur tool -house, but they must have been in- 

 tended for show, not for use. A real artiste, in whatever pro- 

 fession she may engage, will only encumber herself with essen- 

 tials. All else is superfluous. 



I have reserved two especially necessary recommendations to the 

 last, being comforts independent of the tool-house. Every lady 

 should be furnished with a gardening apron, composed of stout 

 Holland, with ample pockets to contain her pruning- knife, a small 

 stout hammer, a ball of string, and a few nails and snippings of 

 cloth. Have nothing to do with scissors ; they are excellent in 

 the work-room, but dangerous in a flower garden, as they wrench 

 and wound the stems of flowers. The knife cuts slanting, 

 which is the proper way of taking off slips ; and the knife is 

 sufficient for all the purposes of a flower garden, even for cutting 

 string. 



The second article which 1 pronounce to be indispensable is a 

 pair of India rubber shoes, or the wooden high-heeled shoes 

 called " sabots " by the French. In these protections, a lady 

 may indulge her passion for flowers at all seasons, without risk 

 of rheumatism or chills, providing it does not actually rain or 

 snow : and the cheering influence of the fresh air, combined with 

 a favorite amusement, must ever operate beneficially on the mind 

 and body in every season of the year. 



