THE LADYS COUNTRY COMPANION. 
32; 
were spoiled when he reached the end of his 
journey ; perhaps his instructions were not so 
complete as those of Mrs. Loudon, who writes 
to her fair pupil, — 
"As you are fond of having flowers in your 
room, and as your present garden is so far 
from your house, you will perhaps be glad to 
know how to preserve cut flowers as long as 
possible. The most simple rules are, not to 
put too many flowers in a glass, to change the 
water every morning, and to remove every 
decayed leaf as soon as it appears, cutting off 
the end of the stems occasionally, as soon as 
they show any symptoms of decay. A more 
efficacious way, however, is to put nitrate of 
soda in the water ; as about as much as can 
be easily taken up between the forefinger and 
the thumb, put into the glass every time the 
water is changed, will preserve cut flowers in 
all their beauty for above a fortnight. Nitrate 
of potash (that is, common saltpetre) in pow- 
der has nearly the same effect, but it is not 
quite so efficacious." 
Mrs. Loudon does not forget the creature 
comforts, and she is certainly no teetotaller. 
We have recipes for brewing and making 
wines ; making and baking bread, cakes, and 
biscuits. Cooking forms no unimportant 
feature in the volume ; and the dairy is an 
object of peculiar care. In gardening there 
are all the necessary directions, and they are 
pretty well given; not that we agree with the 
choice of favourite subjects on all occasions, — 
two of a trade never agree. At page 131 we 
have the plan of a flower-bed. It is only 
necessary to say this consists of twelve beds, 
radiating from an oval centre, and by elonga- 
tion of some, continuing that figure on the 
outside. Our objections to the plan may be 
summed up in a sentence, — we must have 
uniformity. Nevertheless, as there are some 
who care nothing about this, we give Mrs. 
Loudon's directions for planting them out : — 
" I will now tell you how I would plant 
the beds. As this is the beginning of April, 
I would advise you to get a few pots of Cali- 
fornian and other annuals, usually raised in 
pots, from the nurseryman at the neighbour- 
ing town, and to plant them, putting three 
potfuls in each bed, but no more. In No. 1 . 
put Phlox Drummondi, the flowers of which 
are crimson of various shades, and let the 
stems be pegged down, so as to spread over 
the bed. No. 2. may be Lasthenia californica, 
the flowers of which are yellow, and the stems 
generally procumbent ; but they may be 
pegged down to keep them in their proper 
places, that is, to spread completely and regu- 
larly over the bed. No. 3. should be Nemo- 
phila insignis, the flowers of which are of a 
beautiful blue, and which will not require 
pegging down. No. 4. may be Erysimum 
Petrowskianum, the flowers of which arc of a 
bright orange, but the sterns must be pegged 
down, or they "will grow tall and straggling. 
No. 5. may be Nolana atriplicifolia, the flowers 
of which are blue, and resemble those of a 
convolvulus ; this is a procumbent plant, and 
will not require pegging. No. 6. may be 
Nemophila atomaria, which lias white flowers, 
and is a dwarf plant. No. 7. may be Lepto- 
siphon densiflorus, a dwarf plant, with pale 
purple flowers. No. 8. may be Gilia bicolor, 
a dwarf plant, with neady white flower.-. 
No. 9. may be Clintonia pulchella, a beautiful 
little plant with blue flowers. No. 10. may 
be Gilia tricolor, a dwarf plant, the flowers 
of which are white and very dark purple. 
No. 11. may be Leptosiphon androsaceus, a 
dwarf plant, with pale lilac flowers : and No. 
12. Schizopetalon "Walkeri, the flowers of 
which are white, and the stems must be 
pegged down. These are all annuals, which, 
if properly treated by pegging down, and not 
planted too close, will produce a mass of 
flowers in each bed only just above the sur- 
face, and will have a very pretty effect from 
the windows. Most of them like a poor clayey 
soil best, and they will only require turning out 
of the pots without breaking the ball, into the 
places prepared for them. 
" If you think there are. too many white 
beds, you can substitute Sanvitalia procum- 
bens, the flowers of which are yellow, for No. 
8. but the seeds must have been sown the 
previous autumn to bring it forward, as other- 
wise it will not flower till late in the summer; 
and Bartonia aurea, the flowers of which are 
of a golden yellow, may be planted instead of 
No. 12. Cladanthus arabicus, formerly called 
Anthemis arabica, which has yellow flowers, 
may be planted in No. 8, if Sanvitalia cannot 
be obtained." 
Mrs. Loudon's list of half-hardy plants will 
not occupy much room, and there is no dis- 
puting the fact that the majority, are very 
pretty subjects; and to this we may add bulbs, 
and early subjects for spring. However, we 
shall quote the authoress's own words : — 
"I shall now give you a list of half-hardy 
plants for autumn, as most of the annuals will 
begin to look shabby in July, or the beginning 
of August. No. 1. Verbena Melindres, bright 
scarlet ; No. 2. CEnothera Drummondi, yel- 
low ; No. 3. Lobelia bicolor, blue ; No. 4. 
Calceolaria rugosa, pegged down ; No. 5. 
Verbena Tweediana, crimson ; No. 6. common 
White Petunia ; No. 7. Verbena Arraniana, 
or Henderson's purple ; No. 8. Calceolaria 
integrifolia, yellow ;. No. 9. Purple Petunia ; 
No. 10. Verbena teucrioides, white ; No. 11. 
Frogmore Pelargonium, bright scarlet ; No. 
12. Musk plant, yellow. 
" In October the following bulbs and other 
