250 FLOWER GARDEN. 



leaves swept from lawns -or woods, and allowed to lie in 

 heaps- for a few years. For the general purpose of the 

 flower garden, a light loamy soil is advantageous ; and, 

 where the natural covering is thin, or requires making 

 up, recourse should be had to the surface-earth of old 

 pastures, which, especially when incumbent on trap- 

 rocks, is found to be excellent. It is expedient to have 

 a large mass of this material always in the compost yard. 

 The turf and the surface-soil adhering to it should be 

 laid up in a rough state, in which way it is continually 

 ameliorating, by the decomposition of the vegetable mat- 

 ters, and the action of the air. 



Plants requiring a Peaty Soil. — Rhododendron Cau- 

 casicum, ferrugineum, chamsecistus, Lapponicum, hirsu- 

 tum, carapanulatura, maximum, dahuricum, atrovirens, 

 and several beautiful hybrids, such as the alto-clerense 

 and Russellianum, raised at Highclerc. Kalmia latifo- 

 lia, glauca, angustifolia, nitida. Erica australis, arbo- 

 rea, medi-terranea, ramulosa, scoparia, vagans, ciliaris. 

 Ledum palustre and latifolium. Vaceinium myrtillus, 

 the bilberry, and V. uliginosum, the blaeberry of this 

 country, and several North American species. Menziesia 

 coerulea, Rhodora canadensis ; also numerous Azaleas, 

 particularly the Ghent varieties. 



Garden Walks. — During the prevalence of the Dutch 

 taste, grass walks w^ere. common, in our gardens; but, 

 in consequence of the inconvenience arising from their 

 frequent wetness in our humid climate, they have in a 

 great measure been discarded. Their disuse is perhaps 

 to be regretted, as in some situations, particularly be- 

 hind lengthened screens of trees, or in gardens from 



