290 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



October 



the Efarden would be bare enougli. In addition 

 to this they are unrivalled for culture in the 

 house during the Winter months. As nearly 

 all can be grown in so many ways — in pots, or 

 baskets of sand or moss, or in vessels of water — 

 they are an almost endless source of interest 

 and amusement in every stage of growth. With 

 a little moss from the woods or swamps, a few 

 quarts of sand, some pots or a shallow box or 

 two, and a few dozen Crocuses, early Tulips, 

 Hyacinths and Narcissus, any one is prepared 

 for a pleasant little Winter garden. Of course, 

 a few Hyacinth glasses are desirable, but not 

 essential. Very pretty boxes can be made with 

 a little taste and patience, and some sticks and 

 bark from the woods. 



In addition to the kinds above named, the 

 Anemone and Ranunculus are beautiful Spring 

 flowers for all who have rotten cow manure to 

 fertilize the ground with, and will give the beds 

 a little protection from the severest weather. 

 We are also very partial to the old Crown Im- 

 perial, of which there are now several varieties 

 of red and yellow. 



Many kinds of hardy annuals flower much betr 

 ter next Spring, when sown at this season of the 

 year. A warm, rich border should be chosen, 

 and the seed put in at once. Early in Spring they 

 must be transplanted to the desired position in 

 the flower border. 



Few things are more valued in Winter than a 

 bunch of Sweet Violets. A few may now be 

 potted, and they will flower in the window to- 

 wards Spring ; or a small bed of them may be 

 made in a frame, which should be protected by 

 a mat from severe frost. To have Pansies 

 flower early and profusely in Spring, they may 

 1)e planted out in a frame, as recommended for 

 the Violet. 



Herbaceous hardy border flowers are often 

 propagated in the Fall by dividing the roots ; 

 but, unless it is convenient to protect the newly- 

 made plants througli the Winter, it is better to 

 defer this till Spring, as (he frost draws out of 

 the ground and destroys many. Where it is 

 now resorted to, a thick mulching of leaves or 

 litter should be placed over the young stock 

 when transplanted. 



Chrysanthemums now in flower should have 

 their names and colors rectified, against the 

 time when in Spring they may have to be re- 

 planted, "When they can be re-arranged with ac- 

 cui'acy and satisfaction, according to the owner's 

 taste. ■: •!■ i 



Amongst the petty effects which we have seen 



this year, have been several attempts at forming 

 Winter gardens of evergreens. It was suggested 

 in England a few years ago, that the massing 

 system of growing flowers in Summer was ob- 

 jectionable in this, that it left the beds naked 

 through the Winter. To remedy this, they had 

 a reserve garden of evergreens, from which the 

 plants were taken every year after the frost had 

 killed the flowers, and set in the places where 

 the flowers were. This makes the flower gar- 

 den look green at least during the Summer 

 season. This reserve garden of evergreens is 

 usually put into an out-of-the-way place, and 

 does not look very inviting in the Summer 

 time. In the case we have reference to, the re- 

 serve garden had the evergreens set rather wide 

 apart and the spaces between filled with Coleus, 

 Achyranthus, and other colored and variegated 

 leaves. The effect was very pretty indeed. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



RURAL CEMETERIES. 



BY JOHN QUINN, ASTORIA, N. Y. 



If my memory is not at fault, it was Father 

 La Chaise who first conceived the idea of a Ru- 

 ral Cemetery. He it was who first invoked the 

 aid of the landscape gardener to make the last 

 resting place of the dead attractive — to divest it 

 of the dreary monotony of the country church- 

 yard described'in " Gray's Elegy." 



The great cemetery near Paris — "Pere La 

 Chaise" — bears his name. I have not the data 

 at hand to state accurately which American city 

 was the first to inaugurate a rural cemetery — 

 whether it was Philadelphia, with "Laurel Hill;" 

 Boston, with "Mount Auburn," or New York, 

 with "Greenwood." It is enough for the pur- 

 pose of this article to state that there is not a 

 city of any pretensions in the United States to- 

 day that does not take a local pride in her rural 

 cemetery. With singular unanimity the found- 

 ers of these cemeteries have selected locations 

 from which the landscape views are superb, 

 whether one takes "Greenwood," at New York, 

 or "Lone Mountain," at San Francisco; the 

 views from the latter are unrivalled. It is as 

 an educator of the masses in a taste for trees, 

 plants, flowers, and statuary that I Avish to write 

 of Rural Cemeteries. In this respect they have 

 taken the front rank. Here the multitude see 

 the two areat arts of sculpture and landscape 



