270 THE FLORIST. 



THE LADIES' PAGE. 



" The sapless branch 

 Must fly before the knife ; the wither'd leaf 

 Must be detach'd, and, where it strews the floor, 

 Swept with a woman's neatness ; breeding else 

 Contagion, and disseminating death." 



Cow PER. 



The flight of birds to warmer climates, the rustling of falling leaves 

 becoming more loud and constant every day, and the lengthening 

 shadows and contracted hours of daylight, remind the gardener that 

 there is no time to be lost. In this department of labour, as well 

 as in all others, physical, mental, and moral, we must " work while 

 it is day ; for the night cometh, when no man can work." Besides 

 the usual routine of operations which the advancing season brings 

 with it, October seldom passes away without a frost, w 7 hose effects 

 demand great exertions to remove or counteract them. I was about 

 to use the epithet mournful, or lamentable, in connexion with those 

 effects ; but a moment's reasoning displayed the folly of such a senti- 

 mentalism. It is by the interchange of seasons that we are kept 

 from tiring in our waiting upon Nature ; and although it gives a mo- 

 ment's pain to see in one night the beauty of our Dahlias, Verbenas, 

 and Geraniums perish, we soon entertain better thoughts, and clear- 

 ing away the wrecks which the iron king leaves behind him, we fill 

 the beds and borders with Hyacinths, Tulips, and Crocuses, the 

 sources of new hopes and pleasures. Most gardeners have felt that 

 a mild autumn may continue too long to be welcome. We wish the 

 summer garniture fairly gone, that we may prepare for spring ; and 

 should a bed of flowers persist in tarrying on to the very boundaries 

 of winter, we are obliged unceremoniously to pull them up and de- 

 stroy them, to make way for their expectant and budding successors. 

 It is in this way human friendships may outlive their interest and 

 attraction ; and it is better, therefore, that they should be dissevered 

 in time to prevent so humiliating a result. 



When the beds are quite free and ready for the spring bulbs, 

 they must be dug over, and have a good portion of leaf- mould and 

 coarse sand mixed with their soil. About four inches deep is suffi- 

 cient for the bulbs ; and when they are put in their places, a little 

 sand sprinkled over them half an inch thick will be of service. For 

 circular beds, we have found the following arrangement produce a 

 good effect. Round the outside, about three inches from the edge, 

 a circle of Crocuses ; next, early Tulips ; and over the whole remain- 

 ing portion, Hyacinths and Narcissus. A bed of this kind will be 

 attractive from January till May. The Crocuses will appear at the 

 earliest-mentioned period, if the weather is mild ; and when they are 

 off bloom, their long leaves make an elegant border to the bed until 

 the latter bulbs have done blooming. If my readers will carry out 

 this plan on either a large or small scale, I am sure they will thank 

 me for the idea. 



The Bury, Luton. Henry Burgess. 



