190 HOME AND GARDEN 



so that it should be well rotted by the time the 

 growing roots should reach it next year ; then the 

 soil was partly filled in, leaving the plant standing 

 in a shallow depression (for economy in watering) 

 over whose surface was spread another good coating 

 of cow manure, and this coating was renewed for 

 several years in succession. Even this careful 

 planting must also be followed up by copious 

 waterings in dry seasons, for all plants of this class 

 are moisture-loving, and though, when they have 

 been growing some years, and have so well covered 

 the ground that it is kept somewhat cool by their 

 own shade, they may do fairly well, they would do 

 very much better if they had the constant comfort 

 of moisture within root reach. 



My Rhododendrons are in large clumps, with 

 Auratum Lilies in many of the spaces between 

 them, and hardy Ferns, Andromedas, and some 

 of the Dwarf Rhododendrons filUng up the outer 

 spaces between them. But the Azaleas, some 

 distance away, stand unevenly apart, among open 

 spaces of grass and Heath, and want yearly atten- 

 tion because the grass and weeds so soon invade 

 the richer preparation at their root. I often bewail 

 the waste of these lovely shrubs when I see them 

 planted close together in bare beds of poor soil, or, 

 worse still, mixed up with even more starved and 

 unhappy Rhododendrons. Though all my Azaleas 

 are some yards apart, I sometimes wish they were 



