34 : 
THE HOME GARDEN, 
To make a verbena bed it is recommended to dig out the 
garden earth a foot deep, and fill it half full of horse 
manure, which may be taken directly from the stable : the 
Hybrid Garden Verbenas. 
cavity is then made level with rich garden soil. After 
setting out the plants, a peck of white sand is scattered 
all over the bed, which is of sufficient dimensions to ac¬ 
commodate twelve plants. 
The following treatment for a verbena bed already used 
has proved highly successful: “Early in the spring, about 
the middle of March or 1st of April, or whenever the warm 
sun and the condition of the soil make working in the gar¬ 
den a necessity to us old lovers of the earth, I pull up all 
the old verbena vines, pile them and all the leaves that 
have collected around them in the middle of the beds, set 
fire to them, and when they are burned rake the ashes 
well into the soil. A few shovelfuls of rich earth or well- 
rotted manure is a good addition. About the 1st of May 
the verbena begins to come up from self-sown seeds, and 
