854 MISSOURI STATE HORTICTLTURAL SOCIETY. 



out laying bare an unsightly side of its neighbor. This is no exaggera- 

 tion. The most difficult matter to press home to most people, in 

 the way of ornament, is the fact that there should be constant and 

 systematic thinning. It is a mistake to suppose that the surroundings 

 of a home should be fixed. The universal law of exchange applies to 

 the private grounds, as well as to the orchard or garden. 



L. H. Bailey, Jr. 



LAWN BEDDING — W. K. GIBSON, JACKSON, MICHIGAN. 



The first requisite is a good lawn, with a strong, well enriched and 

 porous soil, capable of enduring the hot and dry periods, so common 

 during the summer mouths. This is especially necessary where trees 

 are to be planted, for the grass is sure to die out under the trees if the 

 ground there is hard and dry. 



Before grass is sown, or sod laid, the ground should be deeply 

 plowed and enriched with plenty of well rotted manure, the surface 

 made even, stones and roots removed, and the soil thoroughly pulver- 

 ized. 



If the lawn is a small one, avoid planting many trees which grow 

 to a large size ; one or two maj'^ be set, if desired, on the sides, or in 

 the corners, at a distance from the house. In front of the house keep 

 the lawn open and clear ; never plant evergreen trees at intervals over 

 a small lawn; always mass them in groups of not less than three or 

 four, where they will least obstruct the view from the house; one such 

 group will be enough. What is true as to trees is equally true as to 

 shrubbery; do not scatter them, for in so doing you destroy the beauty 

 of the lawn, and also lose the effect gained by grouping them. In 

 lawn bedding and planting, two questions continually present them- 

 selves: How can I preserve the beauty of an open lawn, and not 

 have it appear too bare ? How can I have my tree and shrub planting 

 most effective, and not destroy the beauty of the lawn? The answer 

 to both is obvious. The results sought can only be obtained by the 

 proper grouping of the trees and shrubs, and by a judicious selection 

 of varieties suitable for the places they are to occupy. 



BED cedar. 



It is the opinion of too many whose opportunities should have 

 taught them better, says a writer, that it requires nearly a century 

 for a red cedar to grow from the seed large enough to make a fence 

 post; but there is abundant evidence to prove that it requires but 

 from thirty to forty years for a tree to grow large enough, to be worth 



