i859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



255 



the cultivation of flowers. It can be done at lit- 

 tle trouble and expense. You can have flower- 

 beds bordering the walks that lead to your house. 

 Yon can set out in them flowering shrubs, like 

 the Deutzia, Althea, Rhododendron, Japan Pear, 

 Spira'a, and the most beautiful of all, the Rose, 

 with its infinite variety of color and fragrance. 

 You can have flower-beds under your windows, 

 which, with a little care, will furnish you with 

 bouquets to adorn your rooms in summer ; your 

 dwellings would be much improved by training 

 up some of the many varieties of running roses, 

 and Honeysuckles, at the corners and up the pil- 

 lars of the piazza. 



If you wish a flower garden on a little more 

 extensive scale, a plot of ground, which every far- 

 mer can spare, 100 feet by 60, would be amply 

 sufficient. Make a bed 4 feet wide round the 

 whole of it, then a walk 3 feet wide ; then let 

 your boy or girl who has been at school, apply 

 practically their geometrical knowledge, and draw 

 a circular bed at each end, and an oval in the 

 centre, with a walk round each ; border each bed 

 with a narrow strip of green turf, fill the walks 

 with gravel and roll them down hard. When all 

 this is accomplished, you will have a simple ar- 

 rangment of a flower garden, which, if well done, 

 will be attractive, before a seed or bush is plant- 

 ed. There is no necessity for an extensive vari- 

 ety ; leave the rare and costly plants to those who 

 have money to buy them. By a judicious selec- 

 tion of the right kinds, you can have an abun- 

 dance of blossoms the whole season. You will 

 want, of course, some of the bulbous-rooted 

 plants, such as the Snow Drop, Crocus, Hyacinth, 

 Tulip and Crown Imperial. These ought to be 

 planted in the fall from 2 to 4 inches deep, and 

 they will be among the earliest blooming flowers 

 we have. As soon as the frost is out in the 

 spring, you can set out some flowering shrubs. 

 You will want the Azalea one of the most beau- 

 tiful plants ; the '^alycanthus, the flowers of which 

 are of a dark brown color, and very fragrant, re- 

 sembling the odor of ripe melons ; the Japan 

 Quince, the flowers bright scarlet, and blooming 

 in April ; the Deutzia, which is a plant of easy 

 cultivation, having a profusion of white blossoms 

 which are highly fragrant; the Rhododendron, 

 which bears an abundance of rose-colored flow- 

 ers, spotted with yellow or orange blossoms, in 

 June or July, and wants shade and humidity ; the 

 Spiraea, of which there is a variety, all beautiful ; 

 the Spira'a prunifolia plena and Reeves's Spi- 

 raea, are two of the best ; the Weigela Rosea, 

 which ought to have a place in the smallest col- 

 lections ; it blooms in April and May, and bears 

 an abundance of fine rose colored-flowers, which 

 hang in graceful bunches, from the axils of the 

 leaves and ends of the branches. It is easily 

 raised from cuttings, which strike readily. Dur- 

 ing the spring months you will certainly want 

 some varieties of the Rose, the queen of flowers, 

 some of the Moss Roses, some of the red, white, 

 scarlet and yellow. You can have a choice from 

 over 3000 varieties. There is no flower which 

 better repays the cultivation bestowed upon it 

 than the rose. The infinite variety, in color, frag- 

 rance, and shape, and ease with which it is cul- 

 tivated, serve to render it worthy of a place in 

 every one's garden. Any one who will procure a 

 dozen of the finest varieties, will become slightly 



touched with the rose fever. In order to make 

 it flourish, the soil must be deep and well drained. 

 Give it plenty of manure ; the richer you make 

 the ground the better. Mr. Rivers recommends 

 as a specific stimulous, what he calls roasted turf, 

 which is easily made by paring sods from the 

 road- sides, and half charring them. It acts like 

 magic upon the little spongiolesof the rose, mak- 

 ing new buds, and fine fresh foliage start out very 

 speedily. For climbing roses, none take prece- 

 dence of the Baltimore Belle and the Queen of 

 the Prairies. Downing says, that "if he could 

 have but one rose, his choice would immediately 

 fall upon the Souvenier de Malmaison, from its 

 constant blooming habit, large size, hardiness, 

 beautiful form, exquisite color, and charming 

 fragrance." I have found it, however, rather 

 tender, and the buds liable to blast. May is the 

 most suitable month for the general sowing of 

 flower seeds ; many varieties do better to be 

 started in hot beds in April, and transplanted to 

 the border, the latter part of May. The follow- 

 ing varieties of annuals ought to be in every ones 

 collection : Ambrosia, German Asters, Balsam, 

 Canary bird flowers. Candy Tuft, Coreopsis, Cy- 

 press Vine, Eschscholtzia, Pansy, Dwarf Rocket 

 Larkspur, Lupins, Mignonette, Nasturtium, Nem- 

 ophila, Petunia, Drummond Phlox, Portulacca, 

 VVall Flowers, Schizanthus and Verbena. The 

 above mentioned will give you a succession of 

 bloom the whole sf ason. One of the most valu- 

 able of the bedding-out plants is the verbena, es- 

 pecially the scarlet flowered. Their dazzling, 

 brilliant scarlet flowers cannot be exceeded by 

 any other plant yet introduced. It blooms from 

 May to November. There are many other vari- 

 eties of every color and tint, excepting yellow 

 and blue. The Asters and Balsams do much 

 better to be started in a hot-bed in April, and 

 transplanted to the border in May, about one 

 foot apart. Of the biennials and perennials you 

 will want the Canterbury Bell, the different vari- 

 eties of the Pink, the good old-fashioned Holly- 

 hock, Honesty, Sweet Williams, Wall Flowers, 

 Larkspurs, and Phlox. You will likewise want 

 the Dahlia, one of the most brilliant and perfect 

 of flowers, sporting in every variety of tint. The 

 Paony, a genus which contains many magnificent 

 flowering plants, and the Dielytra Spectabilis, 

 which Breck says is "the finest herbaceous per- 

 ennial in cultivation." 



But there is no end to the varieties which a 

 person can have, if so disposed. 



I will conclude by giving a formula for a liquid 

 manure, which I have found very efficaceous in 

 making plants grow ; it is likewise well adapted 

 to vines and trees. I obtained it from Mr. Bull. 

 Put a wheelbarrow load of peat into a half hogs- 

 head, fill with water, add two pounds of potash 

 to the mixture, and water once a day in dry 

 weather. 



Strength of Camels. — The Galveston Ncivs 

 states that one of the camels in that city kneeled 

 down and received a load of five bales of hay 

 weighing 1,400 pounds, which it raised without 

 he least effort, and walked away with apparent 

 ease. In there native country the average load 

 for a full grown camel is some 800 pounds, with 

 which they perform long journeys over deserts 

 with but little food or water. 



