IMPROVED CARNATION CURB. 161 



it flowers during many of the summer and 

 autumn months. I wish we could obtain it. 



I have lately seen a new method for prevent- 

 ing the pods of carnations from bursting, which 

 I think superiour to the old one : it consists in 

 cutting off both ends of a broad bean, and 

 thrusting out the contents: the skin of the 

 bean, which is remarkably tough, is then drawn 

 over the pod of the carnation; there it dries, 

 and its toughness prevents the carnation flower 

 from splitting it. This plan is better than that 

 of the card, which is unsightly. 



We have turned what was formerly rather an 

 ugly object on the lawn, into an additional orna- 

 ment to the garden. You must remember the 

 cherry-tree, under which we have so often sat 

 and played together: for some years it has 

 been dying, and the gardener wished much to 

 cut it down. We resisted this, because this 

 tree has always been called "the children's 



