Practical Directions 271 



unnecessary for the ornamental part. Roses, however, de- 

 mand a richer soil and are much improved by the aid of 

 some well-rotted manure, which should not be grudgingly 

 administered 



But where the earth is stiff and clayey and not enough of 

 lighter soil is within reach to correct its retentiveness and 

 incapacity for growing plants, manures will then not only be 

 beneficial but necessary. Common stable manure may be 

 largely applied with advantage in such cases, while lime, bone 

 dust, coal ashes, or the manure from the ashpits of towns, 

 or the sweeping of streets will be invaluable. And these 

 may be used, though with a more niggardly hand, for the 

 parts to be formed into lawn, as well as for the plantations. 



When the opportunities and patience of the proprietor allow 

 it, a garden will be greatly improved both for plants and 

 grass if it can be deeply dug up in the autumn, a year before 

 it is wanted for finishing, and left unoccupied for the season, 

 simply keeping down the weeds. Or it may be planted with 

 potatoes or sown with turnips or mangels, or otherwise 

 cropped and kept clean. All kinds of crudities in it would 

 thus be destroyed and the texture be greatly ameliorated. 

 Considering that there will be such a slender chance of its 

 being broken up again and worked otherwise than very par- 

 tially after the lawn is made and the trees and shrubs planted, 

 a year's preparation of this sort is only a matter of the most 

 ordinary policy and should not, on any but the most impera- 

 tive accounts, be lost. 



There is one tribe, of which the rhododendron is the rep- 

 resentative, that wants a little peculiar attention as to soil. 

 They will, it is true, live in any ordinary garden soil, espe- 

 cially if it be light. But they attain their richest state when 

 the earth in which they are grown is in great part made up 

 of fibrous peat. To have them in their highest perfection, 



