PERSONALS. 



159 



insects than their parents do, as they are 

 more observant of such things and more in- 

 terested in them. 



Lawn Making. — Mr. Hutt, at one of the 

 horticultural meetings recently attended, 

 gave the following instructions in reference 

 to the making of a good lawn :— 



"In the making of a lawn the point of 

 fundamental importance to be observed is 

 the preparation of the soil. The ground 

 should be graded to a perfect level, but the 

 subsoil not brought to the surface. The 

 ground should be cultivated thoroughly un- 

 til all weeds have been killed. The seed 

 should be sown very thickly and evenly, and 

 the ground well rolled afterwards. The 

 best seed for a lawn is a mixture of equal 

 parts by weight of Kentucky Blue grass, 

 Red Top and Dutch clover. This should be 

 sown at the rate of fifty pounds to the acre if 

 a fine velvety lawn is required. He would 

 not recommend the buying of ready mixed 

 seed, as it generally contains the seeds of 

 many obnoxious weeds. The lawn should 

 be allowed to grow the first year, so that the 

 roots may gain strength and headway, and 

 in the second year it should be cut as often 

 as possible." 



Mr. A. Gilchrist, of Toronto Junction, and 

 Mrs. E. M. Torrance, of Chateauguay 

 Basin, Que., were the delegates this year to 

 the horticultural societies in the east. 



Writing from Napanee, the secretary 

 says: "This is probably the strongest and 

 most efficient deputation that has yet visited 

 Napanee. Many beautiful plants were 

 shown at the meeting by the different 

 members of the society. It is proposed that 

 a plot in the town be secured and kept 

 beautiful during the coming summer by the 

 members of the society." 



Dr. C. J. S. Bethune, London, the veteran 



entomologist, was persuaded this year to 

 help with the lecture work in connection 

 with the Horticultural societies, and of 

 course he gave splendid satisfaction, and, as 

 far as we have learned, every meeting at- 

 tended by him was most successful. He was 

 accompanied by Mrs. A. Gilchrist, of Tor- 

 on Junction, who is a practical florist and 

 was able to answer all questions in reference 

 to the growing of herbs, trees and shrubs. 



At Woodstock Mrs. E. M. Torrance is re- 

 ported as having captivated the audience. 

 She advocated the growing of shrubs and 

 perennials on all lawns, as in that way only 

 a succession of bloom can be secured at a 

 reasonable expense. Annuals should be 

 used only to fill up and to supply an oc- 

 casional dash of color. She spoke strongly 

 against planting in rows, or splitting up a 

 stretch of lawn with flower beds. Grouping 

 is far more effective, and it is following 

 nature's plan, which is the aim of gardeners 

 now who have an eye to the beautiful. 

 Among the shrubs that Mrs. Torrance 

 mentioned as growing well in this climate 

 were syringas, lilacs of all varieties, mag- 

 nolia stellata (a shrub little known here, but 

 which is easily grown and blooms very 

 early), spireas, roses, rosa rugosa (which 

 comes in a variety of shades), japonicas and 

 others. In selecting shrubs it would be well 

 to have some in which flowers are succeeded 

 by berries, as in that way bits of color would 

 be insured for a long time, often far into the 

 winter. She also gave a list of well known 

 perennials, such as the bleeding heart 

 (which, by the way, may be grown in the 

 house), the perennnial pea, rudbeckia, Ger- 

 man iris, etc., which are free flowers and 

 easil)' cultivated. These, as well as shrubs, 

 should be grouped, not planted in rows. 



