editor's table, 



two strong iron staples, one near, but not close to, eafeh corner. These staples must be 

 cleft to admit and embrace the iron sheet ; rivet also two staples behind, so that a horse, or 

 two or three men, may, by means of ropes, drag the contrivance on either side. The tree 

 is to be placed upright on this iron sheet, and fastened to it by cords passed through the 

 four staples ; it can now be dragged over the ground without any shaking, and as it slips 

 over the surface without much labor, and as no lifting has been required to place the tree 

 on the carriage, very large balls can be conveyed with the tree, thus lessening the risk of 

 moving." 



Hints on Bedding out. — As the time for planting the bedding out plants, where they are 

 to form the great display of the flower garden, has arrived, it cannot be too strongly urged 

 upon those who have this work to do, that system iti arranging the colors is absolutely 

 necessary to complete success. It ought to be no satisfaction to an amateur or professional 

 gardener that his grounds look well, while it is plainly seen they might have looked better. 

 Those who have paid attention to this part of the gardener's business, must have often 

 noticed that diflferent artists produce very different effects with the same plants, and this 

 will be found to arise more from the judicious arrangement of the colors than from any 

 other cause. A flower garden may be richly furnished with plants, but be very inefi'ective, 

 if the colors are badly arranged, and, unfortunately, this subject receives very little atten- 

 tion generally, although nothing can be more important. Thus, what can be more beautiful 

 than some of the yellow calceolarias or white verbenas ? but place the two sorts together, 

 and the pure white of the verbena is destroyed. For producing brilliant efl"ect in masses, 

 reject particolored flowers ; such are never efi'ective. Use pure and decided colors, such, 

 for instance, as pure white, scarlet, deep purple, bright yellow, good blues, &c. ; also take 

 care not to mix plants which are of a doubtful duration when in bloom with those of a 

 more permanent character. The prevailing system of edging beds with contrasting colors, 

 imparts a highly interesting feature ; for instance, a bed of scarlet geraniums edged with 

 white alyssum, or manglesii geranium, with the flower buds taken ofi' as they rise, or the 

 yellow calceolarias edged with blue lobelias, have a good efl"ect. Those which are in close 

 afiinity kill each other. J. B. 



CoNCOKD Grape. — A valued correspondent writes : " If I were confined to but one grape- 

 vine, it would certainly be the Concord." 



A Good Potting-Bench Practice. — This is a quick and pleasant way of shifting a plant 

 without disturbing tender roots, and endangering a loosely-held-together ball. I have used 

 it for years, and in some cases it is invaluable. 



Place the new pot before yoii ; crock it, drain it, moss it, and bottom it with soil as in 

 the usual way. Now take the plant in its old pot, and place it bodily on the bottoming of 

 the new pot ; fill up the space between the inner side of the new pot and the outer side of 

 the old one, using the potting stick or your fingers, as the case may require. Now take out 

 the old plant, pot and all, and you will liave a beautiful mould or matrix, a little larger or 

 smaller than the ball of your plant, according to the depth in which you potted the old pot 

 in the new one. Now turn out the ball, pop it into the hole, press it down, and the thing 

 is done. If the rim of the old pot is kept a trifle higher than the rim of the new, the ball 

 will generally fit. This part will depend on the operator. I can only describe the opera- 

 tion. A Practical Friend. 



Mk. II. W. Sargent, of Wodenethe, has sent us an excellent article on the state 

 various evergreens this spring, which shall appear in our next. 



