402 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



some of the branches of his Cedar of Lebanon, "A good thing, too." We 

 want more light and shade in our trees, and we should never be ashamed of 

 them when they get old. AVe have the finest trees in the world, the only draw- 

 back being that when one gets a little broken or in any way decrepid from old 

 age, we are in too great a hurry to get rid of it. But our woodland pleasures 

 would be increased by leaving here and there a fallen tree, or an old tree 

 stricken in years, even if it does lean before the blast. I never felt the beauty 

 of a larch wood until I saw one near the snow line in the Alps, — some of the 

 trees dashed over the precipice, but still holding by the roots — others, blanched 

 and dead, standing among the living trees with beautiful green buds. — London 

 Garden. 



A GREEN CARPET UNDER TREES. 



Many owners who have enjoyed a fine green carpet of grass under the young 

 trees on their lawns or dooryards, are greatly disappointed when the trees are 

 older and spread their branches to a greater extent, to find that the grass has 

 died out, and a bare surface or a poor growth of moss has taken its place. 

 All attempts to restore the grass by re-seeding have proved fruitless. In such 

 cases the English ivy may be employed to advantage, and after the ground has 

 become covered with its running stems and green leaves, it will remain perma- 

 nently green summer and winter. This plant is not wholly hardy as far north 

 as 42°, when exposed on buildings and walls, an occasional severe winter 

 cutting it down ; but when prostrated on the ground or under trees it is never 

 injured. — J. J. Thojnas. 



CARPET GARDENING. 



This matter of carpet bedding is carried to quite an extreme by French 

 ladies, and in it they find a wholesome source of recreation, and a means of 

 exercising artistic taste. It consists in laying out strips of lawn in flower 

 borders, copying colors from the shades of a rich Persian carpet or Indian 

 shawl. It involves not only a thorough knowledge of colors in the various 

 foliage plants, but accurate information concerning the forms and habits of 

 growth of plants. When the beds are fitted for planting, a paper perforated 

 with holes indicating the design is laid upon the ground and powdered chalk 

 sifted through, which leaves the impression of the design upon the dark mould, 

 and labels are stuck in to indicate the plants to be used in completing the work 

 of art. 



GARDEN DECORATION. 



The London Garden makes a capital hit on the tendency to mix up statues 

 and all-shaped metal and wood forms with plant life, which we are disposed to 

 reproduce as applicable to many places in our own country: "Among the 

 various kinds of garden decoratiou which one sees in other countries, perhaps 

 one of the least desirable is the German one of mixing up hard and 'flourishy ' 



