2 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



procure them admission into all gardens where distinctive character 

 and elegance of form are understood and appreciated. 



In giving a few hints upon the management of the subtropical 

 garden, we are desirous it should be understood that this style of 

 gardening is not so well adapted for small places as for large. The 

 main point is to study the convenience there may be for growing the 

 plants through the early stages of their existence, and for preserving 

 during winter those that are best worth keeping. It is by no means 

 a wise proceeding where there are but one or two beds, to fill them 

 with such strong-growing subjects as the castor oil and tobacco 

 plants. These should be grown in quantity where there is plenty of 

 room, and there used to give effect to plants of smaller size. For 

 the small garden there are many choice plants more suitable for beds 

 which come close under the eye. 



As most of the plants employed in this system are natives of 

 warmer climates than ours, a little labour is necessary to form the 

 beds, so that the roots obtain the greatest amount of warmth possible 

 from the limited amount of sun-heat. Now to afford the plants the 

 advantage of a genial warmth without employing artificial heat, a 

 better plan cannot be well adopted than that of Mr. Gibson, at 

 Battersea Park. We might write a long dissertation on the why 

 and wherefore of this, possibly with advantage to many of our 

 readers, but we refrain because of our insufficient space. 



The beds are taken out to a depth of three feet. The bottom 

 is filled in with brickbats, two feet deep, and a layer of light soil is 

 placed on the top for the plants to grow in. The soil is placed on 

 the brickbats to a depth of about two feet, and kept in its place by 

 a strip of turf laid on to form a bank. Now when the bed gets 

 warmed through, which it does with amazing rapidity when made 

 in this manner, the plants grow with a vigour unknown in beds 

 prepared in the ordinary way. It may not always be practicable to 

 take the beds out to the depth named, but they ought to have at 

 least a foot depth of bricks, and the bed be that height above the 

 level of the surrounding surface. It must be recollected that in 

 dry hot seasons the plants will require a larger amount of water 

 lhan they would if planted on the level. Their free growth and 

 healthy appearance will more than repay for the labour incurred, 

 and if it should happen to turn out a cold wet summer, the robust 

 health of the plants will afford striking proofs of the advantages 

 arising from the adoption of this system. There can be no doubt 

 of the benefit of preparing the beds in the way described, or why 

 should the plants at Battersea Park do so much better than at other 

 places, particularly in cold wet seasons ? 



It i3 only in such a summer as that of last year that we see 

 GAeas Verschajfelti looking first-rate in the generality of places, yet 

 Mr. Gibson has the most glorious beds of it every year, and the way 

 he manages it is after this wise : — The beds are prepared as above 

 described, and the plants, which are nicely established in five or six- 

 inch pots, are plunged in the soil instead of heing planted out. 



The site for the subtropical garden should be as warm and 

 as shc'teredas possible. When planted in bleak exposed situations, 



