428 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and seed plot for all sorts of weeds. The 

 council might also be induced to remove the 

 large stones on Tecumseh street (some of 

 which would make an excellent road mater- 

 ial) and to grade up both streets, and put 

 the sidewalks in good repair. But on the 

 whole, it seems to me that it would be bet- 

 ter that the movement for the beautifying 

 of the town should be based in the public 

 spirit and voluntary effort of the citizens 

 rather than on municipal action. 



To the Horticultural Society would fall 

 the work of arranging for the organization 

 of the guilds, and otherwise of fostering the 

 movement. I thought, perhaps, too, that 

 the society might provide a lawn mower and 

 other tools, if necessary, for the first streets. 



I have mentioned only two streets for the 

 start, believing that two would be better 

 than one, because a rivalry would be 

 aroused between them. But my hope, of 

 course, is that the movement would be taken 

 up by the other streets, and if others are 

 ready to begin at once so much the better. 

 Brant street, for instance, another street 

 which is particularly well suited for the 

 work of a guild. The slope of these three 

 streets, and their outlook over the lake, 

 make it possible to make them exceedingly 



pretty. My idea is that on each of these 

 streets where it is proposed to carry on the 

 work, the residents should have a meeting, 

 organize into a permanent body, elect a su- 

 perintendent or secretary-treasurer, whose 

 duties it would be to attend to the finances, 

 to give instructions to the man employed, 

 and to see that he did his work, and who 

 should be some one who has interest enough 

 and leisure enough to ensure the proper per- 

 formance of the duties. The guild should 

 also decide annually what scope the work 

 would take on its street, and what amount 

 each would contribute towards the fund. 

 In most cases a flat rate would appear to me 

 advisable, even though there might be some 

 difference in frontage, but in a few instan- 

 ces where the frontage is particularly large, 

 the owner might be willing to give more 

 than the ordinary rate. Where a street is 

 too long for one man two guilds could be 

 formed. I might add that where there is 

 vacant land, whose owner is unwilling to 

 contribute, or in case of residents who can- 

 not well afford to do so, the street should, it 

 seems to me, be kept in order in front of 

 their premises, uniformity being a desidera- 

 tum. 



HOW TO PLANT HYACINTHS. 



FIRST in importance among hardy 

 bulbs I should place the hyacinths. 

 Much has been written about putting them 

 in position in the bed and then covering 

 them with soil, putting sand under them, 

 etc. ; but in actual practice these slow and 

 laborious methods are not essential to suc- 

 cess. If, however, the planter prefers lO 

 follow the more laborious — and possibly 

 surer — method, then, remove five or six 

 inches of the top soil and cover the surface 

 of the soil where the bulbs are to be set with 

 an inch of sand. One advantage of this 



method is that it enables the planter to ac- 

 curately place the bulbs in position as to 

 depth and distance apart, so that the effect 

 at flowering time is more regular as a whole 

 than if planted with a dibber. The layer of 

 sand has its advantage, inasmuch as it pro- 

 vides drainage at the base of the bulbs and 

 minimizes the chances of decay from con- 

 tact with manure in the soil and from water 

 lodging immediately beneath them. The 

 writer has seen good beds of bulbs obtained 

 by both methods, but the last one described 

 is possibly the surer one. 



