New-York tribune., 1902-08-03

dIIelei' 1HIS soon Nils up, and the plant VIII
not appear again" We commend this to the
despairing maker of the suburban lawn, to
whom the tireless plantain has seemed even
as an envoy from the Evil One himself.
OF rock gardens the canon discOurses in
judicious and lively fashion. The ma jority of
these he agrees with us in considering hdeous
and he is urgent in condemning any suggestion
of artifce in forming such a garden. But how
difficult to strike the happy meant Why expect
even well trained, practical gardener to con-
struct a thing which demands the inspiration
of an artist? One thing to DE avoided, the
author notes, is too much neatness. He in
stances an otherwise charming rock garden,
which was utterly spoiled by this out of place
virtue. Not only every shrub carefully
clipped, but every stone was twice year
thoroughly scrubbed and scraped, so that
though it was more than twenty years old when
L saw 1t, 1t looked s if made yesterday; nature
and time had done all they could to soften it's
hardness and to clothe it's bare surfaces but
the gardener was able to defy them.' The most
successful rock garden the author ever saw was
that of little suburban villa-a garden formed
out of the rubbish of old houses pulled down
in the neighborhood and ms de and planted by
an old lady and gentleman, both over fourscore.
Mrs. Mne-Home's notes of country life
the Scottish border are made up of personal OBJ
servations and experiences, combined with Gu
rious lore from many oldtime author. The
verse with which she peppers her agreeable
dish of gossip could easily spare; it is mostly
her own, and, if we'll intentioned, is extremely
poor. She is most interesting when she writes
of old customs and of modern instances; when
she tells of the French sorrel, which still
grows where Mary Stuart planted it, when she
came, fair young widow, from France; when
she sets down the of a robin building a
nest in the heart of a cabbage; when she records
of the big, white scented iris that it is an old
'pOticary" remedy against lazneSs, and OF the
white flowers of the wild elder that great
punches of it make soft and delicious the hard
water of her bath; when she writes of the old
beau whose niShtcap of white satin. embroidered
with pink rosebuds has down through
long years from one heir to another, or of the
little black pigs of Britain, the alert,
kind; and when she recounts her adventures
with wildlings of the field and wood. These
the baby peewits whaups, found hiding in
the marShy ground:
We almost trod on these two before
them, lying curled up in the deep dry foot
mark OF cow, where they looked just like
black, furry caterpillars or hairy oubts- l took
one UP in my hand, dear little, long legged,
lang nebbit" creature, with white and downy
underside and a sort of white ruff round its
neck. In the North of Scotland, jamie
says, the devil is sometimes called Aud
Whaupneb,' and in Roxburghshire, near here,
a person with a long was called
Whaupnebbt. The dear little whaup it curled
itself up quite snugly in the hollow OF my hand,
and looked me fearlessy with its little bright
eye, like little black bead. have heard that
peewit babies, If startled before they fy.
and hide their heads like ostriches in any
handy tussock. and think they are ali hid
This may be their habit but l have never seen
them do anything but just squat in the inequall-
ties of the ground, tucking their long legs under
them in the most marvellous way l think they
are not much beloved the Border by the
country folk, because in old days, when the
fugitive CoYenanters took refuge from their
pursuers In the marshlands and bogs, the er-
IA tic hight of the disturbed peasweeps often Id
to the capture Of the rcliEiOnists. The o!d
Scotch term for a complaining person was
peesWeepy creature.
The pecuiarities Of gardeners are a never fall
ing source of amusement and irritation to the
owner of a garden and Mrs. Milne-Home IS
not without anecdotes thereof. one Of these
notable persouaGes. she discovered, held firmly
to an aristocracy Of vegetables as of flowers
The cock II the border mansion house, berefi
of carly onions for seasoning. sent in piteous
petition for chives. Master Gardener was ali
hauteur. "Chiyes," quoth A. OH Chiyes have
never been In ths garden yet. Ou ay, | ken
II wccl: ven find it in all the kinds gardens,
but no in the Lairt's There's some Cooks
wadua deu.an thcirsels TO cook them for the
likes Of you. They're just common vegetable.
common, common. no arstocratclike, But I'll