SOME PRACTICAL HINTS 



I do not let my cultivated weeds go to seed, 

 or send out any shoots, and by this judi- 

 cious snubbing I am able to keep them in 

 their places, and make stylish ladies and 

 gentlemen out of them, in appearance at 

 least! What could be more effective, for 

 instance, than a splendid, stately mullein, 

 spreading wide its broad leaves of. pale 

 green flannel, and sending up a big cande- 

 labrum of yellow spikes ? I have often 

 wondered why the American makers of 

 blankets did not copy the leaves of this 

 plant, in both colour and texture. It would 

 be delicious to nestle under such a delicate 

 green flannel fluff of a cold winter's night ! 



Another splendid weed, very effective in 

 shrubbery, is the giant cow parsnip. Its 

 foliage is almost tropical, and its blossoms 

 extremely handsome. Milkweed, fireweed, 

 and many others, are equally striking, and 

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