HOW TO BEAUTIFY THE FARM YARD. 451 



have pushed about one inch through the soil remove the rest, unless 

 the weather is very frosty, when it can be left a little longer. A 

 freeze will not injure the plant in the least, only if warm weather 

 occurs early in the spring it might force the blossoms so early that 

 they are liable to be caught by a later freeze, which mars their 

 beauty. They soon come into bloom, and you will wonder how you 

 ever did without them. Keep the weeds and grass out of the bed, 

 stirring the soil occasionally to prevent baking. After the tulips 

 have died down or nearly so, you can plant some low growing an- 

 nual, like sweet alyssum, in the bed and that will help to keep the 

 weeds out. In the fall, cover the bed again. Once in three or four 

 years the bed should be dug up and replanted. You will then have 

 enough bulbs to plant two beds and give some to your less enter- 

 prising neighbors. There are other spring flowering bulbs that are 

 very desirable and beautiful, but I would begin with the tulip. It 

 is less expensive and easily managed and a genuine surprise to those 

 who have never grown them. 



On the farm, or elsewhere. I would, if possible, devote a small 

 plot of ground to the cultivation of annuals. In fact, this is the 

 class of plants most commonly seen in farm yards. Much pleasure 

 can be derived from them, and the children become interested, and 

 2ach orie wants a little flower garden— and they should have one for 

 their very own to do with as they please, even to the pulling up of 

 the plants and seeds to see how they grow. One restriction should 

 be laid, viz., not one weed must go to seed. It saves work and gives 

 good results to have no set form for the annuals. I would not make 

 beds in the grass plot for annuals. The grass is nice without flow- 

 ers, and with the exception of the tulip bed and, perhaps, some clumps 

 of peonies I would not break into the grass plot. The good man 

 will use his scythe to better advantage and with less friction on 

 both scythe and temper if the flower beds are few and far between; 

 besides, I am afraid those shrubs, evergreens and border I have 

 suggested will stretch his good nature to the extreme. I would 

 take a part of the vegetable garden if near the house, as it surely 

 should be, and appropriate that for my annuals. They should have 

 a sunny place, and if you can have them where you can see them 

 through your workroom window, so much the better. I would not 

 have too many kinds, and they will have a better effect if planted 

 in masses, each variety by itself. 



I always plant my seed in boxes or in beds and transplant to 

 the garden when the plants are large enough and the ground suffic- 

 iently warm. Most annuals are easily transplanted if the ground 



