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JOUBNAIi OF HOBTIOULXUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ April 16, 18«8. 



ot these sttitable for forcing, and then sending them to this 

 country by many tons weight annually, in company with bulbs 

 which we are obliged to look to them for. There are two dis- 

 tinct features in the oaltivation of this plant, operating an- 

 tagonistically to the simple efforts hitherto expended in its cul- 

 ture — namely, a great dislike of being uprooted and separated 

 into smaller portions, which do not very readily attach them- 

 selves to the fresh soil ; and, when once they have taken pos- 

 session of the same, such an extraordinary power of multipli- 

 cation of all parts, that they very quickly become very densely 

 packed together, each thereby neutralising the efiorts of the 

 others to attain a line crown likely to flower in the ensuing 

 spring, and, even should it flower, operating prejudicially as to 

 its fineness. Hence the want of greater success in forcing 

 plants grown after the ordinary method. 



With the above suggestions as a basis to our subsequent 

 operations, a piece of ground should be prepared by making a 

 trench 1-^ foot in depth, adding abundance of manure, and 

 working it to the necessary space which may be reijuired, ac- 

 cording to the quantity needed. When finished, the soil should 

 be trodden firmly over its whole surface. Forming little bundles 

 of from two to five individuals, and with all the roots possible 

 attached and uninjured, dibble the bundles firmly in rows, some 

 20 inches apart. Fix them firmly in the soil, putting a thick 

 layer of leaf mould over all when finished. With proper 

 attention and keeping them free of weeds, &a., they will be fit 

 for forcing in three years. Hence it will simply be necessary 

 to plant a small space annually, to ensure after the above date 

 a constant succession of excellent patches. A west aspect is 

 the most suitable. — W. Eabley {in Journal of Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society). 



OUR GARDENS. 



Among the quiet enjoyments of a country life, there are few 

 deeper or more lasting than that of gardening, to say nothing 

 about its health-giving power and refining influence. But then 

 it must be real gardening — that of digging and planting, sow- 

 ing, and weeding, and watering. This enjoyment may be gained 

 under various circumstances, for narrow hmits do not in any 

 important degree influence the return, some of the smallest 

 gardens giving back the most. 



It does not require any large amount of high culture or 

 great physical strength (though both these in their way make 

 work easier and more pleasant, and prevent loss and failure), 

 for the ignorant often grope blindly away from the very end 

 they desire. Not that all loss and failure can be called fruit- 

 less ; sometimes they lead on to a higher success than might 

 otherwise have been achieved. 



It is an enjoyment lessened by no warring element, no class 

 regulations. All may share in it who possess a few feet on 

 the surface of mother earth, and are willing to bring the one 

 thing needed — labour, and without it no garden can long be 

 a pleasant place. So if you have a garden you must work if 

 you have time and taste : if not, you must hire labour, for 

 an ill-kept untidy garden is a constant reproach to ourselves, 

 and an eyesore to our friends. Sometimes it is something 

 more, as when our next neighbour suffered barrowloads of 

 groundsel to seed among her Potatoes during the autumn 

 months and our bit of a garden, standing north-west, received 

 a seven-years benefit. 



Yet there is no denying that gardens are a luxury ; though 

 we would fain make ourselves believe them a necessity belong- 

 ing to the rich, those who are rich in means, or strength and 

 time; for though gardens give long vacations during one part of 

 the year, the other part requires incessant work. Nor is the 

 vacation, though a long one, free from anxious forethought, 

 to those who wish to go along with progressing times ; and 

 if there is ambition to be foremost, then labour and cost 

 are never counted. Owners of pet villa residences will get 

 up soon and sit up late to work or help on work, in their 

 gardens. Mr. Jones, of Woodside, furnished himself with 

 a good oil lamp for that purpose, and every morning through 

 the dark days of winter, when there was no frost to contend 

 with, might be seen digging or planting by its feeble light 

 hours before his fashionable neighbours thought of their 

 breakfasts. The mayoress of a large town, also used often 

 to boast she did aU the work in her not very small garden, 

 even to mowing the grass plots, and clipping the edges ; but 

 the light mewing machine was always out of repair, and cost 

 her husband far more than if a man with a scythe had done 

 the work at the rate of half-aguinea a-time. The large tailor's 



scissors, likewise, which she worked with, wore out her gloves, 

 and bUstered her fingers ; but she had her pleasure and did 

 not mind — a pleasure she often said she would " not exchange 

 for ribbon borders miles long." " What a splendid garden 

 you have ! " said a visitor. " Yes," replied the lady spoken 

 to," we have nearly two acres devoted to Flora's charms, 

 and two men have nothing else to do but attend to her, 

 yet I had more real enjoyment in the httle garden I tended 

 the first few years after our marriage. I am fond of out- 

 door work, yet I never dream of doing anything here." No 

 one ever does where practical gardeners are kept, for of 

 all men they are the sorest about any one intermeddling in 

 their line of business : so it is best, I assure you, to leave 

 them alone to their work ; and do not trouble them with 

 questions as to what this is, or what that is, for fear you 

 are answered like the lady who asked her Scotch gardener 

 what kind of seed he was sowing, and received the courteous 

 reply: " Wait, wait, ma'am, and you will see;" or like one 

 I heard of the other day, who, when desired to plant the herbs 

 for kitchen use nearer to the house, and not at the very far 

 extremity of a long garden, replied : " The'd soon be done, 

 for cooks knew the cost of nothing." 



But speaking of little gardens belonging to people not 

 ashamed to be seen working in them, Who has not often felt 

 astonished at the number of plants and flowers such people 

 can crowd into a small space, often working at short and 

 irregular periods, and with poor tools '? I once saw an old 

 woman digging hard in her garden with a table knife, and 

 when I suggested the absurdity of using wrong tools for 

 wrong work, received the indignant reply, "It's all very well 

 to find fault, but I dig with the best spade I've got — not a very 

 poor one either, and my plants come up and flower just as 

 well as if I worked with a bran new steel spade. Across the way 

 there, they are waiting doing up their garden until they can 

 buy a new trowel, the old one was left out all winter to rust, 

 and they are missing the best growing time. It's a good thing 

 to make decent work with bad tools." 



Then, too, gardens have a great charm for us all ; they are 

 the bit of breathing space we like to call our own, and in 

 which we may do just as we choose — it may be wheie our 

 vagaries run riot, our peculiar fancies crop out to daylight : 

 still it is our own. We may sow our seeds in tiny dots, just 

 as much as a child's cup could cover, all up and down, without 

 any thought of height of growth, or colour of flower ; or we 

 may scatter them broadcast, as the German traveller did 

 his choice Ten-week Stocks, and like him may wonder and 

 wait, and wait and wonder they come not up to daylight. Or 

 we may sow the whole slope of a long terrace with Mignonette, 

 as the poor curate fresh from town did, thinking there could 

 not be too much of what was sweet. Or we may turn all our 

 flower borders into short, soft grass for our little ones to play 

 upon, or for larger children to roll balls about. Still, our 

 garden gives us back full measure of enjoyment. There are 

 times when it does more than this, when its work is as rest. 

 How many weary overtasked heads find balm and strength 

 doing their gardens beneath the budding trees ! And many 

 a poor lady, tired of the sound of her solitary needle, seeks 

 change and pleasure in pricking-out her Asters and Phlox 

 Drummondi — doing it, spite of all professors in the art have 

 said to the contrary, in gloved fingers, otherwise she could not 

 do it, for the fresh soil has a strange power of roughening what 

 is smooth, and would thereby render other work impossible. 



No country English house seems what it should be without 

 a garden — a place for work, and rest, and enjoyment ; and its 

 extent has very little to do with the measure of that enjoyment. 

 Though much may be said in favour of the capabilities of a large 

 one, a small one is not without its advantages. It is more 

 under the command of its owner ; is nearer to the home ; often 

 furnishes more variety, for it is less under the influence of 

 fashion ; its owner dares to cultivate long-discarded plants and 

 flowers, and to venture, without any fear of failure, into new 

 untried ways — ways strange and hazardous, which a veteran 

 gardener wbo had "solved all the mysteries and climbed all the 

 heights of knowledge would never think of going, seeing the 

 probable end. Yet even the risk is a pleasure, and the blame 

 can fall but on one, the master workman. 



Then, too, smdl gardens are more lived-in than large ones. 

 They are resorted to at all hours of the day, from early morn- 

 ing until sunset. Every little plant and flower and coming bud 

 is watched, and noted, and wondered about, and loved. The 

 garden is as it were a summer home. And if it has a thick 

 hedge to afford shelter from the wind, so that the leaves of 



