DESIGN FOR A SMALL FLOWER GARDEN. 



503 



treatment for pampered subjects which it is 

 not deemed expedient to destroy offhand. 



The root-cutting I recommend for the cur- 

 rc.nt is practiced at the extremities of the 

 fibres, and is a matter of great simplicity. 

 A line is stretched parallel with the row, at 

 about thirty inches from the stems (if strong 

 bushes,) and the line " chopped out." The 

 line being removed, a trench is opened at 

 one end, and a deep spit dug out, nearly to 

 the bottom of the roots, and placed aside, 

 similar to the manner of making a celery 

 trench. All roots on the farther side of the 

 line, from the tree, are cut entirely away, 

 and the trench merely filled again with the 

 ordinary soil of the garden, which lies close 

 at hand, and for which the excavated soil is 

 substituted. This operation should be per- 

 formed as soon as the leaves are fallen, in 

 order that the bush may commence a series 

 of fresh roots, to meet the demands of the 

 coming spring. Now although I advocate 

 cutting the extremities, I never dig over the 

 surface roots of my bushes ; these remain 

 untouched, and even receive a top-dressing, 

 when necessary, of half decayed tree leaves, 

 more in order to coax the roots to the sur- 

 face than for the sake of manuring. 



In cutting the strawberries, my practice 

 is to trim away all superfluous runners in 

 the end of August ; by which means the 

 principal leaves of the mother plant dis- 

 lodge themselves and separate, and thereby 

 expose a much greater amount of surface to 

 the light to ripen the bud for the ensuing 

 crop. About the middle of October, a slight 

 dressing of half rotten manure, chiefly leaf 

 soil, is scattered over the surface of the 

 ground ; and the centre, between each two 

 rows, merely one spit in width, is deeply 

 dug ; cutting of course all roots that lie 

 within such boundary. I have always found 

 this course to produce precisely the effects 

 that might reasonably be anticipated, viz., 

 a temporary reduction of grossness in the 

 foliage whilst the new leaves are forming 

 in the ensuing spring; with an acquisition 

 of fresh young fibres by the time the great- 

 est demand is made on the energies of the 

 plant, viz., the swelling period of the fruit. 

 Indeed, such good results have I ever found 

 to follow this practice, that I am of opi- 

 nion that a plot of strawberries may be 

 kept in a tolerable prosperity for many 

 years by thus annually digging and manur- 

 ing. 



DESIGN FOR A SMALL FLOVTER GARDEN. 



The old geometric flower gardens, laid 

 out with long beds, bordered with box, and 

 separated by stiff gravel walks, are fast 

 giving place to those more tasteful combi- 

 nations of masses of gay, perpetual flowering 

 plants, arranged upon turf, in the arabesque 

 or English style. 



In the former, you have a miscellaneous 

 collection of plants, of all sizes and habits 

 of growth, only a small part of which are 

 seen in bloom at one time ; while at almost 

 all seasons naked stalks of plants, and bare 

 dry soil of borders, appear here and there, 

 almost in spite of the best eflfurts of the gar- 

 dener, to disfigure and mar the general ele- 

 gance of the scene. 



In the latter, you have always the rich 

 setting of the soft green turf, (which, of 

 course, mown once a fortnight, is short and 

 velvet-like;) and contrasting and enhanced 

 in effect by this, are seen the beds of dwarf- 

 ish plants, grown in masses, so as to give 

 breadth and brilliancy of effect ; these be- 

 ing composed only of plants almost perpetu- 

 ally in bloom, unite to form a floral picture, 

 when well managed, as beautiful as the art 

 of gardening will permit. 



The following little plan of a flower 

 garden, of this kind, on a small scale, is 

 adopted from one of the designs of our late 

 friend, Mr. Loudon. It is supposed to be 

 formed in a plot of smooth level lawn, and 



