16 



ladies' flowee gaedenee. 



being allowed to fall gracefully over the brims, give a remark- 

 ably pleasing and varied appearance to the parterre. 



Where mould is not easily to be procured — as, for instance, in 

 towns — the tubs or receptacles may be half filled with any kind 

 of rubble, only space must be left to allow of two feet of fine 

 mould at the top, which is quite sufficient for bulbous roots, 

 creepers, &c. These receptacles have one powerful advantage 

 over ground plots ; they can be moved under sheds, or into out- 

 houses, during the heavy rains or frosts of winter ; and thereby 

 enable a lady to preserve the more delicate flowers, which would 

 deteriorate by constant exposure to inclement weather. 



A lady requires peculiar tools for her light work. She should 

 possess a light spade ; two rakes, one with very fine teeth, and 

 the other a size larger, for cleaning the walks when they are 

 raked, and for raking the larger stones from the garden borders. 

 A light garden fork is very necessary to take up bulbous or other 

 roots with, as the spade would wound and injure them, w T hereas 

 they pass safely through the interstices of the fork or prong. A 

 watering-pot is indispensable, and a hoe. Two trowels are like- 

 wise necessary ; one should be a tolerable size, to transplant pe- 

 rennial and biennial flower roots ; the other should be pointed 

 and small, to transplant the more delicate roots of anemones, 

 bulbs, &c. 



The pruning-knife must be always sharp, and, in shape, it 

 should bend a little inwards, to facilitate cutting away straggling 

 or dead shoots, branches, &c. The " avroncator," lately so much 

 in request, is an admirable instrument ; but it is expensive, and 

 of most importance in shrubberies, where heavy branches are to 

 be cut away. The Sieur Louis d'Auxerre, who wrote a work 

 upon gardening in 1706, has a sketch of the avroncator of the 

 present day, which he designates as caterpillar shears. 



A light pair of shears, kept always in good order, is necessary 



