GARDENING. 373 



the earliest liveries of spring. All these are pleasant objects to look 

 upon, after the black frosts and dingy snow of winter have left the 

 ground crumbling and soft, while those old gardeners the worms 

 come out, and with their castings throw up the richest and lightest 

 soil in the garden. 



Then, when March comes in, what a number of things there are to 

 attend to ! balsams to sow in a little hot manure, and, if possible, to 

 cover with a hand-glass ; verbena cuttings to be taken off and 

 potted ; geraniums to be dealt with in the same way, using loam and 

 silver-sand to strike them in, and keeping them warm under a little 

 frame ; and what boy cannot get a bit of glass or buy an old window- 

 sash, put a few boards round for it to rest upon in a sloping direction, 

 and facing the south ? then place cuttings and seeds in pots under 

 the glass to be ready to plant out in the garden beds about the end 

 of May. It is wonderful how forward seeds will be, placed in pots, 

 under a square yard of glass, and what strong plants they make 

 when the time comes for taking them out of the pots and planting 

 them in the garden beds. 



Then how pleasant it is to see the rose-trees and the lilacs in early- 

 March covered with young green leaves; the almonds and japonicas 

 in blossom; the birds singing around you while you are digging, 

 sowing, hoeing, or raking ; the murmur of some solitary bee who 

 has come out to see how nature is progressing, and to report to his 

 brother bees what flowers are beginning to bloom ; while a butterfly 

 or two, that has been hidden no one knows where, darts round you 

 as you set the sweet-peas, and perhaps thinks what a jolly swing he 

 will have on them when the painted ladies are in flower. The goose- 

 berries and currant-trees are also covered with green buds, bringing 

 before the eye dim visions of pies and puddings, rolly-pollys, and 

 great fat-looking pots of jams, which it is so pleasant to get into a 

 corner with, and, having had a shave from the new loaf, finish the 

 lot, even to licking the spoon on both sides. Heigho ! pots of black- 

 currant and raspberry jam are wicked temptations to place in the 

 way of hungry, growing boys ; and those who leave them so easily to 

 be got at are not free from blame. 



Then, it seems hard not to have enough of what can be grown 

 without any trouble at all. Take and cut a straight young shoot, 

 about a foot long, from off either a gooseberry or currant-tree in 

 winter, cut off three or four buds at the thick end of it, just long 

 enough to go into the ground, whip off an inch of the top or thin 

 end, and wherever you can find earth enough to stick it in, there 

 it will grow and become a tree, and in a couple of years beat 

 fruit. Vines and roses can be propagated in the same way ; it is 

 only cutting a stick off (a young one), cutting off three or four buds 

 at the thick end, sticking it in the ground, and there you are. These 

 are called " cuttings," and the last year's shoots hardly ever fail. 

 Geraniums and verbenas may be cut off and grown in the same 

 way, though a little silver- sand is necessary to get them to strike ; 

 and when once the " cuttings" have sent out into the sand a few 

 white strong fibres, they may be put into little pots at once, in. 



