of Rural Art and Taste. 



361 



spring ; and if you do not have an extra 

 richness to the turf, then charge us with being 

 false prophets. A coat of ground bones is 

 also to be recommended highly. Some peo- 

 ple do not like to cut their grass very late in 

 the season ; preferring to allow it to rot down 

 on the surface and protect the roots. Others, 

 again, say cut it off and let it lay, as it will pro- 

 tect as well in one instance as the other. Doubt- 

 less it will ; but we fear the cutting late in the 

 autunui has a tendency to hurt all vegetation. 



Gravel walks and drives should receive 

 some attention before they become sticky and 

 soft. The edges must be neatly trimmed, 

 and all holes or depressions carefully leveled 

 up, and thoroughly rolled hard. Coal ashes 

 and coarse cinders make as firm a walk as 

 anything else ; and, when once firm and well 

 packed, they remain so for years. It is per- 

 fect nonsense to expect to have a hard road 

 without a deep bed of broken stones ; and 

 yet some people try to delude themselves into 

 forming such, under the fallacy of economy. 

 This is poor economy indeed. 



And as soon as winter is upon us, with all 

 its severity, then the real value of evergreens 

 is fully apparent. As we sit by the side of a 

 very warm fire, and look out over the lawn, 

 these green reminders of summer days appear 

 doubly valuable in our eyes. They are the 

 one link that binds us to green trees and 

 bright flowers, that for the present have 

 passed away ; but which will assuredly reap- 

 pear with the advent of our feathered friends. 



Winter has its uses, let grumblers say what 

 they will ; for at no other season have we 

 more leisure, or can we better appreciate the 

 necessities of our lawn than now. Sugges- 

 tions of our friends, and ideas of our own, 

 should have due weight in our plans for the 

 future. A place is never completed, or else 

 there are very many of us who would be un- 

 happy indeed. A small change here, or a 

 little addition there, will, in many instances, 

 give a new and improved character to a place, 

 that somehow did not appear quite the thing, 

 although very beautiful. 



There are dozens of insignificant articles 

 that we know we shall require next season ; 



and during the cold, stormy days of winter is 

 just the time to prepare them ; for there is 

 plenty to be done as soon as spring starts the 

 vegetation. Stakes, labels, and other like 

 assistants, close to one's hand, are of the 

 greatest use when very busy. 



Seeds should be collected, dried, and put 

 away in a dry place ; and cuttings of shrub- 

 bery may be made into suitable lengths, and 

 buried to the topmost bud in the soil. Ex- 

 amine the hedge to see that no dead weeds or 

 leaves have accumulated to entice the ground- 

 mouse. See that no loosened twig of your 

 favorite vine is flapping about in the wind. 

 A minute or two devoted to this work may 

 be rewarded l)y extra bloom in the future. 



Prauhig l'r<(iHe Bones.— 'No other hardy 

 plant can show such a cataract of bloom, or 

 display it with more elegance than these mag- 

 nificent roses. But they should stand well 

 away from the eye, like an oil painting ; and 

 as for fragrance they have none to offer. The 

 best position is against the wall of a back 

 building, a hundred feet or more from the 

 front or chief jwint of view. The wall is con- 

 venient for support and spread, and the cool, 

 rich soil around and beneath the building 

 secures bixuriance of growth. Ked and white 

 varieties planted together, as the Queen and 

 Baltimore Belle, enhance the beauty of either, 

 j especially when distance lends enchantment 

 ' to the view. That which mars their beauty, 

 and the satisfaction of the culturist of these 

 ! grand climbers, is the almost universal omis- 

 sion of seasonable pruning. All the old wood 

 should be sheared out directly after blooming, 

 just as is done with cap raspberries after 

 fruiting, and at the same season, about the 

 first of August ; the earlier it is done the 

 stronger will be the young wood for the next 

 summer's bloom. All that is left will appear 

 bright and growing, and, if neatly tied up, will 

 delight the eye and fill the thought with expec- 

 tations of a still finer, stronger and brighter 

 show next season, from the more numerous 

 and better ripened fruit buds and a freer flow 

 of sap up the healthy young wood. — 'Country 

 G-enlleman. 



