400 TARR YTO U 



paper : so that, in the general good humor, many 

 outsiders contributed. 



These things, or their collaterals, visibly affected 

 Lady Schnipticket, and I thought, for a moment, 

 that Parson Camperdown would have drawn his 

 scheme on her for getting the church horse-sheds 

 shingled and having the holes, pawed by fly-bitten 

 horses for centuries, nicely filled witli solid clay 

 gravel, but he didn't. Perhaps he never thought of 

 it ! Mrs. Tarryer has taught him better. She 

 likes all sorts of people around her in amity, but 

 will have none of them preying upon each other on 

 our premises. The late Col. Schnipticket died sud- 

 denly, far west, with a hole in his hat and very 

 much regretted, in Jay Cooke's time. Parson Camp- 

 erdown was considered too enthusiastic over some 

 of the Colonel's grand railway schemes for the 

 purses of several of his parishioners who could ill 

 afford to lose money. There was a mild corrective 

 meaning in Mrs. Tarryer's giving him "Lily among 

 Thorns " — a new version of Solomon's song — for his 

 last Christmas present. In it are plaintive and 

 touching references to sheep, etc. These fast 

 colors were at the bottom of this grass conversa- 

 tion, and give us a glimpse of how the world moves. 



Lady Schnipticket is alert in money-matters, and 

 well able to take care of herself, so long as affairs 

 continue in a shape she is used to, just like any one 

 else. Men and women spring and fall like grass 

 when circumstances change. " Now do tell us, Mr. 

 Camperdown," she asked, sweetly, "how to bring 

 that old sheep-pasture turf back again ? I really 

 want to know." 



"By studying grass, sheep and the land," re- 

 turned the parson, promptly. He knew he was cor- 

 rect, because he had often heard Mrs. Tarryer 

 say so. 



"Can't you give us a few details ?" inquired the 

 lady, politely. But by that time Mrs. Camperdown 

 had told all her fresh stories to the young people, 

 the mare had grass enough, the wind blew cooler 

 and the parson heard a voice he knew he must 

 obey. Indeed, it was time to go home. 



We two or three old smokers who had not been 



/ LETTERS. 



listening in particular, knew Lady Schnipticket had 

 asked a question — How to get the old sheep-pasture 

 turf back again ? — which is fit to occupy the best 

 minds of this generation. Our Saratoga philoso- 

 phers will have it up within a year or two. A na- 

 tion cannot go back on a forty years "progress" in 

 a moment. Just as the parson said — quoting from 

 Mrs. Tarryer — there must be study of grass, sheep 

 and the land, which is a great deal poorer than it 

 used to be. Sheep are farther off — wilder, and the 

 fences are down. Grass ? Who looks at that but 

 to scrape enough of it ? 



The easiest way to get grass so we can look 

 straight at it — and this is the first step towards 

 sheep-pasture sward — is to take the clean turf that 

 suits our fancy by its appearance and behavior, and 

 cut it into inch pieces and plant it in some such 

 way as this in a garden : 



vt-vf*-;^* ■x■■^7^^^-■if ***** 



* * -;f * * .**■** * _***** ,***** 

 tt^ *-;f-x-**4^ *****ct^ *****i^ ***** 



-f, ***** ***** ***** ^-j ***** 



***** ***** ***** ***** 



4 feet. 



Let us play those plats are four feet square, 

 though any other form will do as well. The 

 spaces between the plats may be two feet and 

 the alleys beside each row of plats four feet. In 

 cutting the sward into inch bits, all mixtures, of 

 whatever kind, will be excluded, and the weeding will 

 be thorough, with the design of growing each va- 

 riet}' tested in pure cultures into a solid sward of 

 itself alone. 



Whoever attempts this very fascinating employ- 

 ment on the smallest scale, as of an inch bit of 

 each variety under trial, cannot fail_^to learn much 

 about grass and the land in a few months. In the 

 words of one who has tried it, "It is as good as a 

 liberal education." Possibly wej may hear Lady 

 Schnipticket talking about the sheep-business for 

 some future letter. She will need to make up her 

 mind what kind of sheep she likes to eat and wear 

 the wool of best, and which will most remind her of 

 her young and innocent days. 



