42 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



of a drill with moderate pressure, and with- 

 out disturbing the subsoil, is attended with 

 similar advantage to the use of a dibble, 

 and in practice will be found to have some 

 points of preference. If the top soil is light 



after planting, it may be gently beaten with 

 the back of the spade; this operation, how- 

 ever, must be only done in dry weather, and 

 may be repeated just before the plants 

 come up. 



>c«xxx>*coo<xx;-cos<p<x>c>oooo< 



PROFITABLE GARDENING. 



CHAPTER II. EDGINGS AND PERMANENT PLANTING. 



Now the garden will be in skeleton. 

 The next thing is to determine on the 

 edging, for without some kind of edging 

 a kitchen garden has an untidy look, 

 and I hold it incumbent on the diligent 

 gardener to preserve neatness and 

 order, as one of the elements of success. 

 The eye is not to be annoyed because 

 the garden is devoted to mere eatables. 

 Strawberries are often recommended as 

 a fit edging for a kitchen garden. Many 

 would like a border of flowers and box 

 edgings, and a very pretty arrange- 

 ment this is. Daisies, hepaticas, parsley, 

 and even lettuces are used as edgings, 

 just to mark the line occasionally; but 

 to give a neat finish, and preserve a 

 clean line on each side of the walk, 

 there is nothing like stone or tile. In 

 some districts the mere carting and 

 putting down, is the whole expense 

 that attends the use of stone, but in 

 the neigebourhood of London every 

 kind of stone-work is expensive, but a 

 tile that will last for ever, and look as 

 well as stone, may be had at one-third 

 less the price of dwarf-box, and that 

 is the one invented by Mr. Hogg, and 

 sold under patent by Mr. Blackett, of 

 Witham, Essex. I have put down a 

 quantity of these lately, and, from 

 their clean appearance, durability, and 

 the firm support they give the walk, 

 even when the spade comes near them, 

 I should like to see them very exten- 

 sively used. They cost 4^d. a yard 

 ouly, and serve to drain the path and 

 border, as well as forming a strong 

 edging that will last for ever. Any 

 amateur, or unskilled labourer can lay 

 them down, and that is an additional 

 item in their favour. I lately put 



down two hundred before dinner, on a 

 broiling hot day, and in a curved path, 

 where the gravel had been rolled as 

 hard as flint, so if a thousand or two 

 are wanted, no one need fear the task 

 of placing them.* The annexed cut 

 shows, a mode of using bricks as an 

 edging ; it is cheap and eifective. 



In the planting of such a garden as 

 we are considering, the stock will 

 naturally assort itself into two great 

 divisions ; namely, those that are to 

 occupy the ground permanently, and 

 those that shift and change, appearand 

 disappear, according to the seasons. 

 Among the first, fruits have the first 

 importance, and unless there is a good 

 open space, in which justice may be 

 done to all things, it is better not to 

 grow fruits at all. But to have a little 

 of everything should be the motto ; and 

 a very good plan of growing fruits in 

 such a garden, is, to have plenty of 

 bush fruits, and espalier apples, pears, 

 plums, and cherries, borderiug the in- 

 ner plot, next the walk all round. The 

 walls offer sites for fruits of higher 

 class — peach, apricot, grape, and cherry 

 —and by having none but trained trees, 

 except, perhaps, an occasional standard, 

 in a good spot, to diversify the scene, 

 very heavy crops may be taken, with- 

 out shading the ground at all ; indeed, 

 such shade as espaliers produce, will 

 be found very useful for many crops 

 that need shelter from the full blaze 

 of the sun in summer. Have a lot of 



* The manufacture of these tiles has been discontinued. Any plasterer would mould 

 au edging of Portland cement to any pattern. Messrs. Bazley, White and Co., of Mill- 

 bank, exhibited a neatly-moulded tile at Chiswiek, last June, the object being to show the 

 applicability of Portland cement for such a purpose. The tile exhibited was, we believe, 

 moulded by Mr. G. Spurway, Tufton, Westminster, who would supply them in quantity, 

 at 6d. per foot run. — Ei>. 



