THIS, THAT AND TH'E OTHEB. 



89 



looked as if tlie pigs had been turned in and 

 allowed to root to suit themselves. The 

 beds were in holes and heaps where plants 

 had been taken up. Others had been killed 

 by frost, and stood there black and un- 

 sightly. Old trellises stood about here and 

 there, as if wondering what was expected of 

 them, and disorder was everywhere. Now, 

 I think that a garden, to be pleasant both 

 spring and fall, ought to be what the Ger- 

 mans call a 'grass garden' — that is, there 

 should be sward, with flower beds at one 

 side or in the rear — a lawn on a small scale, 

 in fact, with enough grass to serve as a 

 background for the flowers to show them- 

 selves off against. Then there should be 

 plenty of hardy things — Holland bulbs for 

 spring, and late herbaceous plants for fall — 

 something, in fact, for each season, so that 

 the garden may have a charm the year 

 round." 



I quite agree with this correspondent. 

 There is no good reason why the garden 

 should be given up to unsightliness in 

 winter. Go over it after the frost has 

 killed the plants and- cut them all away 

 and burn the rubbish. Store away the 

 trellises. Level the ground, if you take 

 plants out of it. In fact, aim to have the 

 place clean and trim at all times. As to 



the value of sward, it seems to me that 

 there can be no two opinions about that. 

 A neat lawn is the one thing that is of 

 greatest importance in making a home at- 

 tractive. It is that which gives the home 

 picture a good setting. Let there be a 

 good expanse of it between the house and 

 the street, and on each side of the house, 

 if possible. Keep the flowers and shrubs 

 to the rear or the sides. On no account 

 cut it up into flower beds. If I were 

 obliged to choose between a lawn covered 

 with beds of flowers and a lawn alone, with 

 no chance for flowers anywhere, I think 

 I would choose the latter. If I were going 

 to have flowers scattered all over the yard 

 I would not attempt to have any lawn, but 

 I would give the entire place up to flowers^ 

 A stretch of cool green sward rests the eye 

 on a hot summer day, and if there is noth- 

 ing to interfere with it a small piece of 

 it seems quite spacious, but plant shrubs 

 all over it or make flower beds there, and 

 you destroy its dignity. 



A SET OF PRIZE IRIS 

 At the last annual exhibition of the California State Floral Soctetr 



