October . 
97 
this, of course it is a great thing to be able to 
keep old roots. 
Fuchsias do capitally cut down in the beds and 
covered with heaps of coal-ashes. They may also 
be taken up and kept over the winter in sand. 
They don’t bear drying like the Geraniums do 
because they are not succulent sort of plants— that 
is to say, they have not got a supply of sap to 
live on stowed away inside. 
The grand thing in October, I think, is building 
the Turf-pit. It is as good as a house in a desert 
island. It may not be young-lady-like, but I have 
helped to build a great many, and it is such pleasant 
work on a bright autumn day to pile up the turfs to- 
gether and see nice thick walls grow. My weak 
point was always the thatching. I cannot at all 
pretend to say how that is done. But still I 
know it is done with fern, or ling, or heather, 
or straw, or rushes, which are laid on a kind of 
frame and fastened down in some way, and 
this is a sort of thing that can be learnt very 
easily. 
The frames of course are only made to lift on 
and off ; and before I begin to speak of the actual 
building, perhaps I had better describe the lighter 
frames which may be used in spring to cover 
H 
