22 THE FLOUAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Laguriis oratus, the soft and pretty hare's-tail grass, quite indispen- 

 sable from its distinctness. Setarla viacrochceta and germanica, 

 handsome, free-growinp:, and noble grasses, very useful and sti'iking 

 for vase decoration. Eragro>^iis elcgans, second to no grass in exist- 

 ence for beauty when the inflorescence is springing from the ligule, 

 or indeed at any time : it, like other grasses, may be cut with advan- 

 tage in two or three stages; the first cutting will be quite distinct 

 from the last. ILmhuni juhatam, the most elegant of the barleys, 

 but which must be cut iu a very young state, or it will fall to pieces 

 in drying. Sorghum bicolor, with a pendulous and elegant inflo- 

 rescence ; the pampas grass cut when in its prime, and Bromus briza- 

 formis, somewhat like, but larger and far prettier than a briza, but 

 with a peculiarly elegant habit, drooping and arching in a singularly 

 graceful manner. The seed of these may be had from most respect- 

 able seedsmen, and should be sown in the open border about the 

 end of April, or better still iu pots in a cold frame in March, and 

 then divided and planted out about the end of April. In this way 

 they would escape being mingled with the common grasses, the 

 seeds of which are always plentiful in the ground. They might be 

 planted here and there in vacancies in the mixed border, and would 

 delightfully vary it. But to grow them specially for cutting, not an 

 unwise plan, the best way would be to give them a little bed to them- 

 selves in the kitchen-garden, or nursery, or any such place. They 

 would then be more under the eye, and more likely to get cut at the 

 proper time, z". ('., when fresh, and young, and perfect. So much for 

 grasses, now for the brightly- coloured and charming everlastings 

 with which they may be intermingled in vases for the drawing-room, 

 with such a pleasing result. 



EYEELASTI^rOS. 



Here, again, I must caution ladies against taking as an example 

 of what may be done with everlastings the hideous ungraceful-looking 

 sets of them to be seen iu some London windows. These are chiefly 

 made up of the flowers of the very pretty little Gnaphalium aren- 

 arium^ a perennial which grows nicely on a sandy soil, and which is 

 used so much in the making of immortelles; it is dyed in many 

 colours, but is never prettier than in its own clear shining yellow. 

 But with it the seedsmen stop. There may now be seen in London,, 

 bouquets of grasses and everlastings, ugly enough to deter people 

 from having anything to do with such plants. They are, I believe, 

 imported from the Continent. If you look for a bit of Rhodanthe, 

 or Acroclinium, or Waitsia, or any of the very cream of everlastings, 

 you don't find a bit of it ; but you may readily find things like the 

 double chrysanthemums, calliopsis, zinnias, and other annuals, that 

 are not everlastings at all, and which are difficult to dry and na 

 good when dried. This, perhaps, results from the continental people 

 wishing to show what they can do in drying flowers. JSTow the only 

 drying that the best everlastings want is to be cut and laid on a 

 shelf for a few days, and they will remain perfectly beautiful till the 

 next year's crop is fit to cut, or as much longer as you like to keep 

 them. The best way to secure a crop is to get good seeds of the 



