A SIMPLE FLOWER GARDEN. 



9 



dens do not actually need drainage, yet all are benefited by- 

 it. The why and wherefore cannot now be explained in 

 detail. The principal advantage results from the increased 

 power that the soil acquires of receiving heat of the sun. 

 Undrained soil is much later in the spring in absorbing that 

 degree of warmth necessary for successful plant life. 



MANUFACTURED SOILS. 



It often happens that the spot of ground is deficient in the 

 materials of a good soil. The house may have been placed 

 upon a sand-bank, or some other barren site. If it is de- 

 sired to have a flower garden upon such a spot, the loam, 

 sand, and other materials must be procured from some other 

 spot, and spread over the place to the depth of, at least, 

 eighteen inches. Good common soil from a wheat or potato 

 field, mingled with one-fourth its bulk of fine sand, will 

 make a mixture suitable for such a garden. To this must 

 afterwards be added barn manure and other fertilizers, to 

 which reference is made further on. The cost of such a pre- 

 pared and manufactured garden will not exceed, in the 

 neighborhood of great cities, two dollars per square of six 

 feet. 



BORDERS. 



By this is meant the prepared beds or spaces in which 

 the plants are to grow. They may be of any size or shape. 

 The best method of laying out will be discussed farther on. 

 At present we have to do with the two narrow borders on 



