The directions given in ihe previous sheet on 

 the laying out, shelter, and exposure of kitchen 

 gardens, ajjply also to flower-gardens. The 

 soil should be rich, dry, soft, and partially im- 

 proved with decomposed peat and leaf mould ; 

 the exposure should he toward the sun ; a free 

 air should be allowed to play over the ground ; 

 and means should he at hand for procuring a 

 plentiful supply of pure, soft water for irrigation. 

 Every flower arardcu, al.so, should pos.sess a 

 small store of tine w.ished sand as a restorative, 

 and for scattering beneath the iiner kinds of 

 flowers when in bloom, an a protection from 

 creeping vermin. Besides the utensils usually 

 employed, the flower-gardener should have a 

 pair of small scissors to clip off decayed leaves, 

 and some strips of mat Jbr tying up certain 

 drooping plants. 



The greatest difference of taste prevails on 

 the subject of disposing the various parts of a 

 flower-plot or garden. Straight-lined borders, 

 ovals, circles, and fancy figures have each their 

 admirers; and we should advise every one to 

 adopt that form which will be most effective in 

 striking the eye. If the garden is seen from a 

 parlor windo'w, as is often the case, the plan most 

 agreeable is to laj- out the foreground as a patch 

 of well-shaven green, which is fresh both winter 

 and summer ; on its farther side there may be a 

 semicircular border ; then a wa^ ; and next 

 parterres of such form and size as will suit the 

 'extent of the ground. If the garden contain 

 kitchen vegetables, they should be out of sight 

 of the W'indows of the dwelling-house, or at least 

 not brought ostentatiously forward. "It is more 

 difficult," says the author of the Florist's Manual, 

 •• than may at first appear, to plan, even upon a 

 small scale, such a piece of ground ; nor, perhaps, 

 would any but an experienced, scientific eje be 

 aware of the difficulties to be encountered in the 

 disposal of a few shaped borders interspersed 

 with turf. The nicety consists in arranging the 

 different parts so as to form a connected glow 

 of color ; to effect which, it will be necessary to 

 place the borders in .such a manner that, when 

 viewed I'rom the windov^-s of the house, or from 

 the principal entrance into the garden, one bor- 

 der shall not intercept the beauties of another — 

 nor, in avoiding that error, produce one still 

 greater, that of vacancies betwi.vt the borders, 

 (brming small avenues, by which the whole is 

 separated into broken parts, and the general ef- 

 fect losti Another point to be attended to is the 

 JQSt proportion of green turf, which, without 

 nice observation, will be too much or too little 

 for the color with which it is blended ; and. 

 lastly, the breadth of the flower-borders should 

 not be greater than what will place the. roots 

 within the reach of the gardener's arm without 

 the necessity of treading upon the soil, the mark 

 of footsteps being a deformity wherever it ap- 

 pears among flowers." 



Whether all the flowers of a class— such, for 

 instance, as violets, hyacinths, &c. — should be 

 cultivated together, orintersper.xed and mingled 

 with others, is another matter for taste to decide. 

 The preferable pl;ui seems to be to form a choice 

 variety in borders and in other spots, but also to 

 cultivate a quantity of certain sorts in compart- 

 ments by themse"lves. Neill Judiciously ob- 

 aeni-es, on the choice of flowers for borders — 

 ■' The plants are aiTanged in mingled flower- 

 borders, partly according to tlieir size and part- 

 ly according to their color. The tallest are 

 planted in Uie back part, those of middling size 

 occupy the centre, and those of humble growth 

 (831) 



are placed in front. The beauty of a flower- 

 border, when in bloom, depends very much on 

 the tasteful disposition of the plants in regard to 

 color. By intermingling plants which grow in 

 succession, the beauty of the border may be 

 prolonged for some weeks. In a botanic gar- 

 den, the same plant cannot be repeated in the 

 same border; but in the common llov^er-garden, 

 a plant, if deemed oraamenlal, may be often re- 

 peated with the best effect ; nothing can be 

 finer, for example, than to see many plants of 

 double scai-let lychnis, double sweet-william, or 

 double purple jacobasa." 



The Dutch, who are among the best flower- 

 gardeners in the world, have lateh' begun to 

 copy the Engli.sh in oniamcnting turf lawns with 

 plots of various kinds of flowers : but in all their 

 large and regular gardens, they still dispo.se each 

 kind of flowers by themselves. " We ridicule 

 this plan," says Hogg in his Treatise on Flow- 

 ers. " because it exhibits too great a sameness 

 and formality ; like a nosegay that is composed 

 of one sort of flowers only, however sweet and 

 beautiful they may be, they lo.se the power to 

 please, because they want variety. It must un- 

 doubtedly be acknowledged, that a parterre, no 

 matter in what fonn — whether circular or 

 square, elliptical or oblong — where all theshrub.s, 

 plants and flowers in it, like the flowers in a 

 tastefully arranged bouquet, are variou.sly dis- 

 posed in neat and regulated order, is a delight- 

 ful spectacle, and worthy of general imitation. 

 Yet still, in some particular cases. I am disposed 

 to copy the Dutchman ; and I would have my 

 bed of hyacinths distinct, my anemones, my ra- 

 nunculuses, my pinks, my canialions distinct, 

 and even my beds of hollyhocks, double blue 

 violets, and dwarf lark-spurs distinct, to say 

 nothing of different .sorts of roses. Independ- 

 ently of the less trouble you have in cultivating 

 therii w hen kept separate, you have beauty in 

 masses, and yon have likewise their fragrance 

 and perfume so concentrated, that they are not 

 lost in air, but powerfully inhaled -when you ap- 

 proach them." Leaving this question to be set- 

 tled accordinc: to taste and other circumstances, 

 we have only to recommend that no flower or 

 herb of any "kind should be sown or planted in 

 figures resembling familiar objects. Some per- 

 son.s, for example, will be seen sowing annuals 

 or planting crocuses in the figure of a letter of 

 the alphabet, a spoon, a ship, a house, &c. — a 

 practice so essentially vulgar that it cannot be 

 too loudly condemned. 



An error not uncommon in deciding which 

 flowers shall be planted, is to select numbers 

 merely for their rarity or novelty, without refer- 

 ence to what will be their ai>pcarance when in 

 bloom, and which generally leads to disappoint- 

 ment. Unless for botanical illustration, make a 

 choice of flowers on two principles — tho.se 

 which will be beautiful when in blooui. although 

 common, and those which will bloom at the par- 

 ticular seasons required, to ensure a succession 

 of variegated beauty from spring to antumu. 

 The true amateur gardener takes a pride in im- 

 proving even the commonest flowers — nr^iug 

 them by careful culture to the highest stale of 

 perfection as to size and brilliancy of coloring 

 of which they are susceptible in our climate. 



Bat.sam or TvnPENTiNE. — Melt by a gentle 

 heat black rosin 1 lb. ; remove the vessel from 

 the fire and add oil of turpentine 1 pint. 



[Cooley'B Cyclopaedia of Practical Rcccipff.] 



