GENERAL REMARRb. 
17 
to keep privet or laurel hedges properly clipped ; and a stout 
deep basket must be deposited in 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 keen 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 eff slips ; and the knife is 
sufficient for all the purposes of a flower garden, even for cutting 
string. 
The second article which I 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. 
