THE SECKETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 415 



SCUFFLING. 



Deny a place to weeds iii the borders, and no matter how clean the ground 

 may be, the plants are ])rofitcd by weekly scuniing the soil, thus retaining 

 moisture and withstanding drouth, admitting lieat and preventing baking and 

 cracking. If you sculUed yesterday and it rained last night, but is dry to-day, 

 scuffle again to-day — it will pay you. 



RAKING. 



Fine raking is worse than useless. The rake is good enough when lightly 

 run over the ground to level it and clear away any rubbish, and thus leave all 

 neat and tidy, but its further use cannot be recommended. 



STAKING. 



Vegetation is now growing so rankly that it needs timely staking, or disfigure- 

 ment will result. Kains and wind batter, break and prostrate, and no matter 

 how nicely we may stake our plants after their being thus affected, we cannot 

 erase tiieir uncomfortable look. Bad staking is worse than none, for it is 

 ridiculously hideous to see a dahlia's laterals and stems, a massive specimen of 

 clematis recta, a big poppy or paBonia, or a clump of tall thalictrums bundled 

 around a single stake like a blanket round a lamp-post or a sheaf around a 

 pump. Tall-growing plants like hollyhocks require strong, straight stakes 

 some six feet high above ground, dahlias and delphiniums four feet, and other 

 plants just according to their size, weight and local growth. One stake is gen- 

 erally sutiicient, but if the clump be large, two or more may be used, just as 

 discretion demands. Stakes should be applied long before actually wanted, 

 and inserted so as to be pretty much hidden. The ligatures should be imper- 

 ceptibly fastened, crushing no leaves, and holding only the main stems or 

 branches, all minor ones depending loosely. In applying two or more stakes 

 to one plant, the clump should be parcelled off, and a little practice in tying 

 can make it appear as one undivided specimen. Clumps of veronicas, asperu- 

 las, and some campanulas, are apt to be thrown open by wind or rain, but if 

 three or four stout, short stakes, thus, : : with a string run round them, be 

 applied when the plants are only a few inches high, there will be little or no 

 prostration, but, instead, a spreading and depending of the head, like a vine 

 hanging over a fence, and thus we have a perfect cushion of blooms. Timely 

 staking, timely tying, and neat, but strong ligatures, not too tightly fixed, are 

 one of our mainstays in good gardening. 



THINNING. 



It is often necessary to thin out plants, and better to do it just after growth 

 begins than when gaps would occur. A dozen stems to one hollyhock are not 

 so good as three ; therefore rub off as surplus the weakest. In fact, no matter 

 what the plant may be — Spircea, Veronica, Monarda or Pentstemon — if it be 

 vigorous and large, it is much better to thin out the weaker growths, and thus 

 strengthen the stronger and the plant's constitution generally, than to let all 

 grow unchecked to choke one another. This is just the equivalent of summer 

 pruning in trees and shrubs. 



PROLONGING THE BLOOMING SEASON. 



It is often desirable to prolong the flowering period of our plants, and some 

 are very tractable in this way, particularly such as sucker determinedly, and 



