412 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



fit a whole school of children. Dead things can be molded and shaped, accord- 

 ing to pattern, but wlicn one conies to care for anything with tlie principal of 

 life in it, tiicrc must be some appreciation of the peculiarities of that life and 

 the conditions under which it will best thrive. S. Q. Lent. 



SUNKEN GARDEN BEDS. 



It is very common for a young couple who have just taken possession of a 

 home to themselves, and wlio wish the whole place to look as bright and com- 

 fortable as they feel tliemselves, to plant some of the showiest flowers they 

 know of in the neat bit of lawn wliich forms the base on wliich their pretty, 

 newly-furnished house is nestled. And cynical indeed mu.st be the temper that 

 would do anything but sincerely admire and. commend such a fit and innocent 

 adornment of a happy home, tliat is n true source of happiness itself, and 

 reflects more or less enjoyment on every healthy-minded, passer-by. There are 

 fresh beginners always coming forward, beginning a life, the happiness of which 

 will greatly depend upon whetlier home can be made and kept more enjoyable 

 than other jilaces, and it is to aid in preventing one of the little disappoint- 

 ments that, like injurious insects, come creeping in to annoy and destroy, that 

 this paper proposes to offer a bit of advice. 



Beginners are apt to mound up a bed for their flowers so that the beauties 

 may display the better. But this plan is scarcely nsed even in the humid cli- 

 mate of England excepting for succulents, etc., that can endure very dry soil ; 

 and here, under our lierce sun and parching, baking winds, it is impossible to 

 supply moisture to a mound even by assiduous daily watering ; and the result is 

 that not only are plants and hopes lost, but disappointment, disgust, and deter- 

 mination never to take so much trouble again for such ungrateful subjects, all 

 set in and take fast root in the vexed niind, spreading tlieir baleful influence 

 over other things. 



A method of making a bed which will secure such a growth of the plants as 

 to insure their attracting notice and admiration, is to dig the center very deep, 

 say two feet, and fill one foot with stones or sticks for drainage ; set on this a 

 water tub about eight inches deep, which may be sawed from a fisli-kcg or simi- 

 lar vessel, say two feet in diameter. Tlie top of the tub will be four to six 

 inches below the general surface, and may be rimmed with short green moss 

 from a locality reached 1)y tlie sun. The soil around is gently sloped downward 

 to the tub, and planted say with verbenas. The moistened air of this little 

 dell, and the degree of shelter afforded from winds, will promote healtli, luxu- 

 riance, and brightness, just as mucli proportionately as we see in a mountain 

 dell compared witli tlie foliage, growth, and bloom on a wind-swept plateau or 

 mountain crest. The water can be kept })ure and bright by occasionally taking 

 out a plug that will reach above the surface in the center, letting off the stale 

 water, and filling with fresh. 



In connection with this concavity of form, it may bo added that where a 

 garden path is asphalted, as is now frequently done because of its many merits, 

 it is best to let the walk be highest at the sides instead of low, as is usual. 

 Then, with deep coping at the sides, and especially with a good understratum 

 of stone for drainage, no moisture gets under the composition, even in the 



