be induced to be fairly happy in a light soil — rotted manure and the 
soil made very firm about the plants going a great way to meet their 
requirements. 
Deep cultivation is, of course, of the first importance; but deep 
cultivation is not of itself enough, and besides turning over the soil and 
loosening it all clods should be smashed, thorough pulverization hav- 
ing a remarkable effect for good. It is possible to make soil, by the 
introduction of much crude manure, too stimulating, resulting in the 
production of soft and rank vegetation. 
The manure, therefore, should have been laid away for a long 
enough period to have lost much of its stimulating properties, when it 
may be employed abundantly without any but good effect. A com- 
bination of horse and cow manure is to be preferred to either alone, 
and all manures should be finely comminuted and mixed thoroughly 
with the soil rather than dug into it in lumps in a haphazard fashion. 
In addition to this principal manuring, a layer of material prepared 
from old mushroom beds, pigeon manure, soot, wood-ashes and old 
composts, with perhaps a slight addition of newly slaked lime spread 
over the surface of the border previous to replanting, enables plants to 
make a vigorous start. A similar dressing is also beneficial if applied 
to established borders which have not for any reason been otherwise 
manured. 
Hotel Cecil, Delhi, January 30, 1914. 
My dear Mrs. Martin: 
I have been most anxious to write you to tell you how glorious 
beyond expectation I have found the flora of the East, but India, 
enchanting, tragic but always fascinating India, has absorbed all my 
time, though not all my thoughts. I have visited gardens, asked in- 
numerable questions and everywhere am always looking for more 
interesting and lovely growing things. 
Ceylon is bewildering, for it is all one tropical garden, graceful 
palms, great trees, climbers with enormous leaves or gorgeous flowers 
and the ground carpeted with dainty blossoms, the lakes begemmed 
with Nymphea and Lotus, their banks decorated with rare lilies, and 
the trees, as if not gay enough with their own bright blossoms, bedeck 
themselves with the jewel of an orchid. It is hard to keep one's feet 
on the ground in Ceylon, for beauty carries one away and one is quite 
sure the Mohammedans are right in claiming it as the original Garden of 
Eden. 
The gardens of Hakgalla are most artistically laid out and the 
wealth of flora for material make an embarrassment de riches. The air 
is full of perfume from the orange and jasmine blossoms and a de- 
liciously scented magnolia with the blossoms of the nutmegs and clove 
