94 THE CHRONICLES OF A GARDEN. 



a piece of cork, the top was covered with stout brown 

 paper, tied down, a row of holes large enough to admit 

 the ends of the cuttings being previously made all round 

 the paper; a larger hole in the centre admitted of water 

 being poured into the flower-pot when the first supply- 

 sunk low. The cuttings rooted in about ten days, if I 

 remember rightly, and were then planted in small pots, 

 and kept moist and shady for a few days, till they were 

 accustomed to draw their nourishment from the more 

 solid soil. I remember also that the gardener smiled 

 c()ntemi)tuously when the flower-pot was placed in his hot- 

 bed ; but if my readers wish to enjoy the garden and the 

 work in it, they must learn to bear with ecpianimity the 

 quiet contempt with which then- little experiments will 

 frequently be treated by the initiated : if the experiments 

 succeed, the triumph is all the greater — if they fail, keep 

 your own counsel. 



It is often against the will of the gardener that many an 

 old-fashioned plant is left growing, or that some are allowed 

 to spread out into large clumps ; but most jieople w^ho 

 love a garden and flowers, without being florists, will 

 greatly prefer having plenty of common flowers, and large 

 masses of them, to having a few rarities, however finely 

 grown, which they dare not pull, and can scarcely consider 

 as their own at all. I like the old-fashioned plan of having 

 what used to be called a back border ; boxwood is cer- 

 tainly the best and triggest for tlie front, but all along the 

 ])a(;k of the border I like to see a thick row of jH-imroses 

 or double daisies, f(jrming quite a wreath of flowers; by 



