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in rural districts ; they have ample opportunities for display- 

 ing taste and ingenuity in arranging other styles; forinstance' 

 one like a log cabin without the second story, an octagonal 

 one ; in fact, a great many beautiful designs will be presented 

 to the mind, all of which can be readily made; one of our lady 

 friends made a neat one of corn-cobs, though it was nofe very 

 durable. If the wire or log cabin style is used, the interstices 

 must be filled to prevent the soil from falling out. For this 

 purpose use sheet moss; it will be found in the woods on trees 

 that have fallen and are decaying. These styles will drain 

 very rapidlj^, and the culturist must take care that the plants 

 in them do not suffer from lack of moisture. If, on the other 

 hand, the bowl of the basket is not porous, a liberal supply of 

 drainage must be used. It is not an uncommon thing to see 

 some plants in a basket growing luxuriantly and others in the 

 same basket in a dying condition, and the appearance of the 

 whole not very creditable to the owner. We are not surprised 

 at this. We have always contended that it requires knowl- 

 edge, taste and judgment to fill a basket so that it will look 

 well and do well, but very frequently none of these are used. 

 We see all in one basket ; plants that require a great amount 

 of moisture and those that want very little ; plants that re- 

 quire a hot house temperature with those that frost will hard- 

 ly kill ; some that require sun with those that need shade ; 

 those whose season of growth is nearly passed, with those that 

 are just springing into a sturdy growth, etc. We enumerate 

 these differences so that you may be on your guard when 

 about to fill your basket. You want the basket to look well' 

 that you may enjoy it, and with j^our friends admire it. If it 

 must be so, it devolves upon you to start right; study well the 

 nature of the plants ; associate together those whose require- 

 ments are similar ; use taste in their arrangement and judg- 

 ment in their location and in their attention. A knowledge 

 of these things may be gained by examining closely our alpha- 

 betical list of plants and their culture, etc. None of the strong 

 and rapidly growing plants are suitable for a basket; as the 

 quantity of soil is limited, their roots would soon " crowd out 

 the roots of the weaker plants; hence we use the more delicate 

 and comparatively slow growing plants for this purpose. We 

 have usually found it necessary to use one plant of upright 

 habit for the center of the basket; this is surrounded with 

 plants of a drooping and half drooping habit; they can be ar- 

 ranged to suit the taste of the owner. A number of baskets 



