108 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



trouble of making up a dung-bed is to sow 

 in the square pans made by Messrs. Adams, 

 of Belle Isle. Cover each pan with a square 

 of glass smeared over with wet clay, and 

 put them on the top shelf of a lean-to, 

 where the wall keeps them hot by sun- 

 heat, and the glass prevents evaporation, 

 so that no water is required till it is time 

 to shift them and remove the glass. When 

 a lot of pans are fdled with fine compost, 

 they are saturated with boiling water, 

 which kills every concealed enemy, and the 

 seeds sown while the soil is still warm. 

 There is no fear of damping, if the young 

 plants are looked to at the right moment, 

 and transferred to a shady place, with mo- 

 derate ventilation, and no more water till 

 they really want it. Rut what of the rib- 

 bon and beds when the annuals are over ? 

 Why, from a shilling packet of Lobelia 

 speciosa, last year, I got fifty yards of blue 

 for ribbon. My lobelias will be out of 

 their pans, and showing bloom in thumb- 

 pots, long before the annuals are gone, 

 and they will all be clipped over to make 

 new growth, and show bloom again in time 

 for service. Then there is the choice of — 

 for front row, Cerastium tomentosum, fif- 

 teen inches, which does not come into 

 the category cf tender bedders, for it 

 has kept out of doors here in the 

 wettest part of the garden, as well as in 

 frames ; next row, Lobelia speciosa, fifteen 

 inches, Tagetes miniata, a dwarf brown 

 marigold, No. 8G8 of Henderson's Cata- 

 logue, eighteen inches; for third row, Perilla 

 nankinensis, eighteen inches, and planted 

 in three rows, six inches apart all 

 through, diagonally, thus, * * * 

 The perillas, lobelias, and * * * 

 tagetes came along with age- * * * 

 ratums, balsams, cuttings of fuchsias, and 

 a dozen other things of the same degree 

 of hardness, with one candle power in the 

 Waltonian. By burning two candles at 

 a time, and changing the water twice a-day 

 by means of a tin pipe and funnel, melons, 

 cockscombs, and cannas, and a dozen or 

 two other stove seeds, come as quick and 

 as sprightly as in brisk dung-heat. The 

 people who pronounced the idea erroneous 

 have had to eat their words ; so much the 

 worse for condemnations based on profes- 

 sional jealousy. 



Then, for similar quick work, and 

 costing next to nothing, we have the 

 variegated mint. Get young growth, and 

 top and strike to any extent you please 

 without bottom-heat. Three joints of the 

 young growth make the best cuttings. 

 Shade, moisture, cold frame, pot into 

 thumbs when rooted, and turn out when 



these are full of roots, but beware not to 

 put the mint anywhere near the Cerastium, 

 for they spoil each other. Asters, sown 

 the first week in May, and grown in a 

 generous mixture of sandy loam and old 

 dung, and not allowed ever to get root- 

 bound, will show bloom just in time to 

 follow the hardy annuals, which, in well- 

 kept gardens, should be cleared off the 

 moment they begin to look seedy. Now 

 that asters are positively perfect as to 

 shape and quilling, and of all shades of 

 colour, from white to crimson and purple, 

 a set of them, well arranged, would make 

 a ribbon border or geometric garden mag- 

 nificent from the 1st of August till the 

 first thorough frost. Last year I grew 

 Betteridge'e, supplied by Mr. Turner, and 

 they were the finest lot I ever saw, better 

 than the majority shown at exhibitions. 

 They were well fed with both solid and 

 liquid food, were shifted on to forty-eights, 

 and then turned out in a rich border, and 

 never once needed fumigating or tying up. 

 Their legs were as sturdy as balsams, 

 though not so fleshy. This year I have 

 had a set of continental-grown seeds from 

 Messrs. Henderson, one hundred seeds in 

 each packet, separate colours, and the 

 first sowings look just now as if they 

 would overtake the dahlias. Don't be led 

 away by the catalogues which say, sow in 

 March ; the end of April and first week 

 in May are the proper seasons to escape 

 fly and get them forward with least trou- 

 ble. Now, if you still want variety, look 

 over your old fuchsias, take ofT young side 

 shoots by a snap with the thumb, so as to 

 have the heel with each. Pot them round 

 the sides of pots, using plenty of sand ; 

 cold frame and shade, and in the middle of 

 July every one will be in flower unless 

 starved. Climax, Bo-peep, Little Treasure, 

 and Cceur de Lion, make a capital bed, the 

 first for centre, and the last for edging. 

 Fair Oriana is the best of the whites for a 

 bed ; Roi des Blanches the next best, and 

 a true white, without trace of green in the 

 sepals. The Duchess is not beaten, but 

 the flower is lanky, though pure in colour, 

 and abundant ; Queen of Hanover admi- 

 rable. The new manure, " Stercus," a 

 fine, dusty material, like powdered peat, 

 will do wonders as a mulch in places ex- 

 posed to the sun, and ill supplied with 

 water. It is the refuse of wool manufac- 

 ture, and is rich in ammonia, and seems 

 never to get dry. The roots of roses, 

 fuchsias, vines, pelargoniums, cinerarias, 

 and verbenas, run into it as if by instinct, 

 and for whatever plant likes good living, 

 it is invaluable. S, H, 



