iSyr.] HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 215 



Newly-planted shrubs may be watered and mulched with grass, &c. ; 

 soil thrown over it will give a tidy appearance and save much labour. 

 Timely mowing and sweeping will now be required to keep the plea- 

 sure-grounds in enjoyable condition. Walks require weeding and 

 rolling after rain, to keep them smooth and firm. 



Flower-borders, where herbaceous and other plants are growing, may 

 require frequent stirring ; and staking the tall-growing plants should 

 not be neglected : a battered hard surface should not be tolerated any- 

 where. Bedding-plants will now be ready for planting out ; but there 

 is not much gained by planting before the 20th of the month, except 

 in some favoured localities, and they are not always in the most southerly 

 districts. We never had so much difficulty in Scotland as in the more 

 southern parts of England, either with spring frosts or drying winds. 

 The more hardy kinds should be put out first, such as Calceolarias, &c., 

 keeping Dahlias, Heliotropes, and suchlike, till the end of the month 

 or beginning of June. It is best when the beds are moist but not wet. 

 It is objectionable to plant in the soil when sodden or dust-dry; and 

 when it is in the latter state, a good soaking should be given to the 

 whole bed the day before planting. The soil about the roots 

 of the plants should be healthy with moisture before they are 

 turned out : hard dry balls give an early but very short flowering 

 period. Stir the surfaces of beds and borders when fit after rain or 

 watering. This is of much importance to free growth. If any borders 

 are to be planted in vegetable gardens, and the crops not shut out by 

 fruit-trees, shrubs, or other means, Sweet Peas may be sown, or other 

 means taken to keep such things as Potatoes, Cabbage, &;c., from view. 

 Flowers appear mockingly beside rough vegetable crops. Better one 

 small bed or border of well-kept flowers, free from dead petals, decay- 

 ing leaves, and the plants kept from growing over the edges of box, grass, 

 &c., than a score of neglected beds or borders. Roses will now be 

 growing rapidly, and the usual care with suckers, looking after insects 

 and grubs, must not be omitted. Although we were to give a chapter 

 on the Rose in regard to soil, free root-action, moisture, &c., the same 

 as we gave on the Vine (as an illustration) at the beginning of the 

 season, it would not now be out of place, as the failures are not so 

 much from the neglect of usual requirements as the roots getting be- 

 yond control, and not receiving the benefit of mulching, fresh loam^ and 

 other necessaries. During a dry season, if soil is at all light, free 

 from moisture, and watering not liberally done^ the points of 

 the roots grow downwards in search of moisture till they may get 

 into poor unhealthy subsoil ; then mildew and badly-formed flow^ers, 

 which last a short time, may be expected. Carnations, Pinks, 

 and similar plants, will soon require staking ; watering with soot-water 



