10 THE RHODODENDRON. 



sued, always pusHng the soil out from the upper to 

 the lower side, until an oval plateau was formed, 

 just the size of the proposed bed, but everywhere 

 four feet below the level of the upper line where the 

 excavation was begun. 



The whole bed was then filled in with soil pre- 

 pared as we have described, four feet deep, so that 

 a large level bed extended out at an angle to the 

 hill-side. The heavy banks at the sides and lower 

 part were then sodded, and the bed was ready for 

 planting. 



This is a most satisfactory mode of making a 

 bed, and we should recommend it to every one who 

 has a northern hill-side. It utilizes and beautifies a 

 place where little else will grow, and the plants are- 

 more effective both in foliage and flower from their 

 position. We should not advise such a treatment 

 of a southerly slope, as the plants would probably 

 suffer from the sun both in summer and winter, i 



PLANTING. 



The bed being prepared, a few days should be 

 allowed for the soil to settle to the level of the sur- 

 rounding ground ; then planting should begin. The 

 time should be about the first of May in the latitude 

 of Boston, but we have often varied it a fortnight 

 earlier or later. If the plants have been imported, 

 they will have come close packed in the cases, every 

 interstice being filled with moss. In unpacking, the 

 branches should all be carefully straightened out, 

 and the plants, which always come with good balls 



