What is the meaning of "lap" here and why is it used?
I'd say it means "covered", "enfolded", "surrounded by".
birdeen's call.
"lap" can often mean to enfold with a soothing or comforting effect, which seems especially applicable to being "lapped in the bosom of" something. On first reading I assumed the writer felt "lapped in the bosom of plenty" as he was reassured and heartened by what he saw.
But on reading it again after your query, that isn't so clear. Is the writer describing the farm-house as "resting in the hollow, lapped in the bosom" or himself as feeling "lapped in the bosom" as he surveys this scene? I'll put in em dashes to clarify what I mean.
"I felt less a stranger in the land; and as my eye traced the dusty road winding along through a rich cultivated country, and skirted on either side with blossomed fruit-trees, and occasionally caught glimpses of a little farm-house resting in a green hollow, and lapped in the bosom of plenty – I felt that I was in a prosperous, hospitable, and happy land."
"I felt less a stranger in the land; and as my eye traced the dusty road winding along through a rich cultivated country, and skirted on either side with blossomed fruit-trees, and occasionally caught glimpses of a little farm-house resting in a green hollow – lapped in the bosom of plenty, I felt that I was in a prosperous, hospitable, and happy land."
I think it is ambiguous, but as Barb suggests, I'm sure the writer, the farmhouse, the trees and all and sundry are feeling nicely lapped in the bosom.
not a teacher