Flowers in Cities. 33 



The exposure, however, has much to do with the capabilities of the front 

 plat for a garden. Where the street runs north and south, there is little 

 difficulty ; for the houses receive on both sides an equal amount of sun, and 

 there is litde difference in the fitness of the front-yard for flowers, and a 

 garden may also be made in the back-yard. • ■ 



Where the street runs east and west, either the front or the back yard, as 

 the case may be, will receive very little sun ; but the yard having a sunny 

 exposure may be the flower-garden ; and that facing the north may be orna- 

 mented with such shrubs and plants as thrive best in the shade, some of 

 which are very beautiful. 



One primary obstacle to city gardening is the shallow soil of these 

 garden-plats. The yards are generally the depository of all the debris of 

 building ; and, while a thin skimming of loam is spread on top in order to 

 support the sodding, the subsoil is a compost of broken brick and stone, 

 lime, bits of wood, and the multitude of other materials used in the build- 

 ing of the house. No wonder that on such a soil nothing grows, and that 

 the ground is parched with drought, as a deep soil is essential to freedom 

 from drought ; and, even with constant watering, a shallow soil will become 

 dry and baked. 



Therefore the first step is to prepare a proper soil. The yard should be 

 excavated to the depth of at least three feet, and filled in with a compost 

 of rich loam and well-rotted manure in equal parts, with about one-half a 

 part of sharp sand. Such a soil will grow most plants, and, if well prepared, 

 will last for years without manuring. It is well to throw a load of old sods 

 in the bottom of the hole. This preparation may be made either in autumn 

 or early spring : the former is the best season, as spring-blooming bulbs 

 may immediately be planted, and the garden will begin to give flowers in 

 early April. 



We will, however, suppose the renewing of the soil to have been made in 

 April, and will give the management of the garden for a year from that time. 



About the first w-eek in May, all danger of frost will be over ; and, except 

 in exposed situations, seeds may be planted, and bedding-plants set out. 

 The garden should be dug over, and, unless the soil is rich, a few barrows 

 of well-rotted manure spaded in. As the space is small, it should not be 

 divided into beds ; but a strip or border of turf a foot wide may be laid 



