THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



437 



tcr ejji;' liiiv. A i)retty conceit is 

 thi?" lollowinj; : — H" you cannot ^ct 

 an ej:;-ji-lramo made, lit up a Iraiuo 

 ol heavy wire screen. Cut a ja<;gcd 

 hole where the chick is supposcil to 

 pick its way out. Cover the out- 

 si^ie with a hiyer <5f sphagnum, and 

 also lill the inside solidly, except 

 where the cut is, and as lar back 

 as can be seen. Cover the outside 

 with one kind of cream or white 

 llowers. Three feet in length, 

 completed, is a good size. Finish 

 the interior, as far as it shows, 

 with yellow or pink. The carna- 

 tion is a capital flower for this 

 work. Some nice workmanship 

 will be necessary to get a good 

 shape. As a setting arrange a 

 group of showy llowers, such as 

 hydrangeas or Kaster lilies. Let 

 the foreground be composed of a 

 path of g'reen moss leading from 

 the egg. Among this path a troop 

 of stuffed ducklings, in interesting- 

 poses, can be placed, the head of 

 one bareh- appearing from' the in- 

 side, one or more in the act of 

 jumping out, and the others mak- 

 ing their way along the path in 

 Indian file. Border this path with 

 low pans of bulbous flowers or 

 ferns. 



The arbutus, or " strawberry- 

 tree," is one of our best ever- 

 greens, thoroug-hly hardy, growing 

 in a variety of soils. They bloom 

 in the winter, and also produce 

 clusters of fruits which are highly 

 ornamental. A. unedo is a native 

 of Ireland, its flowers are creamy 

 white, and its berries are crim- 

 son ; it fruits more freely, and the 

 berries are more highly coloured, 

 in cold lacalities. A. Canariensis, 

 from the Canary Islands, has whit- 

 ish-g^reen llowers and showy yellow 

 fruits, a little larger than those of 

 unedo. A. Andrachne is a much 

 scarcer' plant than the preceding 

 two species ; its flowers and fruits 

 are similar to those o£ the others, 

 but its stems are devoid of bark, 

 which give it a singular appear- 

 ance. A. coccinea is another rare 

 species, having rose-coloured flow- 

 ers. 



To pteserve lavender flowers cut 

 them with long stems, tie them in 

 small bunches and hang the bvmch- 

 es up in some airy place where 

 they wiU not be exposed to sun- 

 shine which would make them 

 brittle. It is necessary to hang 

 them upside down to keep the 

 stems straight until they dry and 

 stifien. Wlien perfectly dry they 

 may be used for any purpose you 

 like, and they will retain their per- 

 fume for a long time. 



Disbudding is often done to re- 

 tard flowering, in which case stikn- 



ulants should be given, which caus- 

 es the plants to make new growth, 

 thus absorbing the energy which 

 would otherwise be spent in the 

 production of flowers. All plants 

 cannot be treated in this manner. 

 For instance. Orchids, Amaryllis, 

 and many others of thqisame class, 

 if they are disbinldcd, it is a dis- 

 tinct loss — the plant wih not exert 

 itself to replenish our treasure. The 

 prevention of flowering is also done 

 to increase the \ igour of a weakly 

 plant, as flowering is very exhaus- 

 tive of plant life, and many valu- 

 able plants arc lost by not defer- 

 ing the flowering period until the 

 plant is healthy and strong, -and 

 therefore able to give I us better 

 flowers. 



House plants should not be kept 

 too wet, and if a tablespoonful of 

 ammonia to a pint of water, be 

 applied once a week it will keep 

 the plants in a thrifty condition. 

 Plants should be taken to the kit- 

 chen sink occasionally and given a 

 thorough spraying, i'lants breathe 

 through their leaves, and unless 

 thev are kept free from dust, they 

 soon take on a very discouraged 

 appearance. Stirring the soil fre- 

 quently will prevent its getting 

 soggy and sour. 



Cut flowers will last longer if 

 the stems are split up about an 

 inch before putting them in water. 

 ^Maidenhair fern will last longer if, 

 when it is gathered, the stems are 

 inserted in boiling water and al- 

 lowed (to stand in it until the 

 water is cold before arranging in 

 vases. 



Toads are most useful reptiles, 

 and devour thousands of small in- 

 sects that would otherwise eat up 

 the vegetation. Gardeners well 

 know this when they turn them 

 into the hot-houses. An English 

 gardener gives the foUowing testi- 

 mony : — " In the autumn of last 

 year a pit wherein I grew Melons 

 was so m.uch infested with ants 

 as to threaten the destruction of 

 the whole crop, which they did 

 first by perforating the skin, and 

 afterwards eating their way into 

 the fruit ;( and after making several 

 unsuccessful experiments to destroy 

 them, it seemed to me that I had 

 seen the toad feed on them. I ac- 

 cordingly put half-a-dozen toads in- 

 to the pit, and in the course of a 

 few days hardly a single ant was 

 to be seen. ^ 



Soil is inhabitated by multitudes 

 of minute forms of vegetable life, 

 known as bacteria or germs. These 

 organisms act upon nitrogen, gra- 

 dually converting the ammonia of 

 nitrogenous matter into nitrates. 



and tliiis making it available as a 

 l)lunt food. This gradual change 

 is known as niirilication. Nitrili- 

 nation is a process ol oxidation, 

 or burning, and as such can only 

 take place where the oxygen of freu 

 air can combine chemically with 

 with ammonia in the soil. It is 

 obvious, therefore, that to enable 

 the ])acteria to do their work soils 

 must be i)roperly aerated. A cer- 

 tain degree of warmth and o£ mois- 

 ture is also al)Solutely necessary. 

 Lastly, the jiresence of lime, phos- 

 phates and potash is needed to~pro- 

 \ide suital)le nourishment for the 

 soil organisms. 



The necessity for deep digging 

 as a condition of successful crop- 

 ping has long been proved ; but be- 

 yond a general notion of the bene- 

 fit of working the soil and expos, 

 ing it to the effects of " weather- 

 ing," much uncertainty prevails 

 among us as to the actual princi- 

 ples underlying the process. For 

 principles there are, and these of a 

 nature which makes their bearing 

 a matter of first importance to the 

 practical successful man. The fun- 

 damental idea, with which science 

 has acquainted us, is that the 

 soil is alive and must be treated 

 accordingly. 



Pansies were first improved from 

 the original type in Great Britain, 

 and new varieties were gradually 

 brought out with larger flowers 

 and varied colors. England and 

 vScotland held the honors for good 

 pansies until about 1878, when 

 three French Specialists, Bugnot of 

 St. Brieuc, Cassier and Trimardeau 

 of Paris made immense strides in 

 de\eloping the pansy. Trim.ardeau 

 created a new race with immense 

 flowers and a very hardy consti- 

 tution. 



One often hears it asked whether 

 it is wise to grow Sweet Peas on 

 the same ground in two or more 

 consecutive seasons. Probably a 



Flower Seedlings ! 



for present Planting. 



Asters, Balsam, Zinnia, Cosmos, 

 Correopsis, Sunflower, Centaurin, 

 Phlox, Petunia, etc., at 2/- per 



100 ; posted, 2/6. 

 Plants for Bazaars, etc., at whole- 

 sale rate — Coleus, Ferns, Begonias, 



Palms, Fuchsias. 



E. A. LASSCOCK, 



LOCKLEYS. 



'Phone, Henley 34, 



