TKE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN aUIDE. 133 



full six feet high at the end of the season, allowing for the pruning 

 away of the soft tops, which, however, should not be done till spring. 

 The next season the pyramid may be ventured upon ; but the 

 plants are full young yet for the work, and ought to have two years' 

 more growing. But as the cultivator can judge for himself whether 

 it is expedient to use them, we will suppose them to be fit ; and the 

 next business is to consider the planting. I prefer to plant on the 

 level ; but it is impossible to do so until the plants are very tall and 

 very strong, and it is seven years' work at least to have them fit for 

 planting on the level. The alternative, in the case of young plants, 

 is to raise the bed into a conical form, or rather into the form of an 

 inverted basin, with a flat space in the centre, and rather steep sides. 

 The height of the pyramid may be regulated by the height of the 

 plants, or it may be less than the height of the tallest, because it is 

 an easy matter to cut them down to fit. But its eftect will depend 

 very much upon its height, and I prefer to have it a few feet higher 

 than the measure of the extreme breadth — a cone, in fact, with a 

 sharp point, though we call it a pyramid, in order to be more readily 

 understood, as the word cone is rarely used in garden literature. 

 The question of importance is, How tall can you make it with the 

 plants you -have ? You may make the centre pole two feet taller 

 than your tallest plants, because the strongest shoots can be trained 

 in to clothe the centre pole, and the two feet will be made good 

 before the middle of July, Now, there are many ways of planting ; 

 but I have discovered one that is very effective and easy, and does not 

 consume so many plants as the method ordinarily followed, I drive 

 down in the exact centre a stout ash or larch pole, and take care to 

 have it perfectly upright. Supposing that to be ten feet high, I 

 proceed next to put in poles of seven feet in a circle about three 

 feet from the centre, and all leaning in upon the centre, and lashed 

 to it with tarred rope. Thus is formed a tent of poles, with a space 

 inside which is to remain hollow. If you were to plant geraniums 

 there, they would perish of suflocation. But when this tent is 

 formed, I begin to plant outside it all the tallest plants I have, 

 causing them to slant inwards, and tying them pretty firm with good 

 bass to the slanting poles ; but in this operation room must be 

 allowed for the wood to swell. Next, I drive in another circle of 

 slanting stakes, of five feet, at a distance of three feet from the 

 last, and these are directed inwards, but are not all rigidly tied to 

 the first circle, but are nevertheless made firm by a few lengths of 

 rope here and there, as the eye may direct, while the work proceeds. 

 A circle of the next-sized plants is set round these stakes, and 

 trained in to them. Now, by a general scrutiny, it will be found 

 that here an extra stake is wanted, here a rod must be shortened or 

 cut out, etc., etc., allowance being made, of course, for the growth 

 of the plants, which will soon hide stakes and ties, and destroy the 

 harsh rigidity of the aflair, which, in truth, is rather ridiculous at 

 first. The last job will be to plant the smallest plants in a circle, 

 and insert stakes as needed again, slanting stakes and plants inwards. 

 The finishing may be a ring of strong plants of some free-growing 

 variegated geranium, but a horseshoe-leaved scarlet wiU be better, 



