The Flower Garden. 147 



In some cases it is better to drive strong wooden rods throngh 

 the holes we have spoken of, for the support of the climber. 

 Slender climbers, like the cypress vine and the morning glorj, 

 require a lighter and more elegant support. 



In the arrangement of the shrubs and trees the same prin- 

 ciple applies as to the herbaceous plants. "We should endeavor 

 to produce the effect of banks, and irregular and picturesque 

 conical masses of foliage, rising higher as they recede from the 

 eye. "We therefore place the larger growing kinds in the back 

 row, or in the center of a group, as the case may be ; some- 

 what smaller ones next in order, and still smaller ones in front. 



III.-GENEEAL DIRECTIONS. 



Our very limited space will not permit us to go into details 

 in reference to the cultivation of flowers. "With a few general 

 directions, however, one may get on very well in the manage- 

 ment of a small flower garden. "What is most needed is some 

 guide in the selection of plants to be cultivated ; and this we 

 shaU furnish in the next section. 



1. Soil^ etc. — For most kinds of flowers a rather sandy soil, 

 well enriched with vegetable mold and well-rotted stable man- 

 ure, is the best. It must be thoroughly broken up or pulver- 

 ized before planting. This is even more necessary here than 

 in the kitchen garden. The ground should be dug to the depth 

 of fifteen inches, and raised a few inches above the general 

 level of the garden or yard. 



2. Annual and Biennial Plants. — Annual* and biennial t 

 plants are in general very easy of cultivation, merely requir- 

 ing, in a majority of cases, to be sown where they are to 

 bloom, thinned out (with a few exceptions, which wiU be noted 

 in their place) to give them room, and kept free from weeds. 



I^ever sow till the soil has become tolerably warm and dry, 

 as some flower-seeds are very liable to rot in the ground. In 



* Annual plants are those which live but one year. 



+ Biennial plants are such as endure two years ; blooming oh the second. 



