63 AfY HANDKERCHIEF GARDEN. 



ing. It demands very little labor and gives an ad- 

 mirable chance to show that you are skillful at artistic 

 effects. Nothing is more pliable than a grape vine, 

 and with taste and a little patience your fence can be 

 made to produce a beautiful effect, to say nothing of 

 big crops. A neglected or ill-trained vine is simply 

 ugly and unproductive. A well-trained vine is both 

 a picture and a continued sourrce of pleasure. Even 

 in winter the well proportioned canes, neatly tied to 

 the trellis, can be made quite effective as a bit of wall 

 decoration. 



This use of a city yard for a fruit garden costs more 

 at first than if the lot is used for a vegetable garden, 

 yet it pays quite as well, as the crops, when they do 

 come, are worth more and last longer. The whole 

 plantation is in the nature of a permanent investment 

 in pleasure and profit. The rhubarb, asparagus and 

 grapes will produce with care regular crops every 

 season for many years, and even the currants will not 

 require renewal more than once in ten years. The 

 strawberry bed will be the least permanent, as it 

 cannot be kept in good condition more than three or 

 four years. On the other hand, it is easily renewed 

 in one season and by a judicious system of re-plant- 

 ing not a single crop need be lost, though occasion- 

 ally only half a crop will be gathered, while a portion 

 of the bed is being renewed. The best way to do 

 this will be to dig up and throw away half the plants 

 as soon as the crop is gathered, and to re-plant the 

 ground in August. These plants will give a crop the 

 next year, when the rest of the old plants can be 

 renewed in the same way. It is the same with the 

 currants. As soon as the bushes begin to show signs 

 ot giving out, pull a part of them up and set new 

 plants. It will be found a good plan to put a few 

 cuttings in the ground each fall for new plants. In 



