THE FLOWER GARDEN. 95 



and dwarf ; they must never overrun the box edging, because 

 the figure is at once destroyed. There is a vast difference 

 between the management of these and mere chimps on lawns 

 or beds in any other place. It is of the highest consequence 

 to keep everything within the figure, w^herever that figure 

 is valued. 



Formation of Geometrical Gardens. — The formation of 

 these gardens on paper, in the manner we have liinted, renders 

 it very easy on the ground, because it will occur to any prac- 

 tical man that by placing a stake on the spot where the point 

 of the compasses are placed on the paper, a cord doubled and 

 tied the exact length you want will be your compasses ; put one 

 end of the loop over the stake, and put a stick to the other 

 end, and you may mark your circle as well on the ground as 

 your compasses do on the paper. You therefore dig and 

 trench the wdiole plot, level it and roll it to an even surface, 

 then mark it by means of your line and stakes until you have 

 your figure on the ground ; when you have all your marks 

 made, rub out with the foot all those you do not intend to 

 use ; leave none but your beds and the paths between them 

 to divide your attention. You then commence operations by 

 throwing out the earth a spit deep along the middle of your 

 paths to make room for chopping the sides down like a bank, 

 carefully pressing the back of the spade in a sloping direction, 

 so as to make the beds all perfect and standing in relief ; the 

 earth you have thrown out of the paths is as well on the beds 

 as anyw^here. This being all perfected, and the loose earth 

 chopped from the sides being in the path, trim all your box 

 of a length, with the tops cut square, and thin it out almost 

 into single stems ; the box when planted ought not to be 

 more than an inch wide in any part, and unless it be torn 

 into small plants, you cannot manage to make it even. The 

 surface of the ground being perfectly level wdien you begin, 

 and the earth thrown on to the beds lying on the middle, and 

 not interrupting the line of plan, take your box in sufficient 

 quantity, and lay it against the bank you have formed, with 

 the tops just half an inch above the surface, and this being 

 cut square can be so w^ell adjusted that when finished it ■will 

 be as level and even in thickness as it can be made. As you 

 lay it, bring the loose earth in the path up against it to hold 

 it in its place, forming a bank outside it to keep it firm. We 

 need hardly say that if this be all properly done the figures 



