20 
THE HOME GARDEN. 
and the under side of old pasture sods to give it sufficient 
body. River sand, leaf mold, loam, and manure (the latter 
well rotted), in equal quantities, make a garden soil that is 
satisfactory to nearly every plant that grows. 
Ribbon beds, where the flowers are all in lines of color, 
are extremely stiff affairs, and require much care and culti¬ 
vation, as the flowers must not only be of properly con¬ 
trasting colors, but, to produce the desired effect, they 
must all bloom at the same time. Complicated geometri¬ 
cal beds are never agreeable to the eye, and the most 
desirable form for a small garden, where any variations 
can be made from the long beds, or for lawn gardening, 
is the round or circular bed, varied by an oval. The 
fomer is easily shaped by planting a stick in the middle 
of the space, then tying a string to it, and another stick 
to the other end of the string. The second piece of stick 
is drawn around the first one as far as it will go, and this 
defines a perfect circle. 
The oval should first be marked by a long line from 
end to end, and a shorter one across the center; it can then 
be shaped by degrees until the proportions are satisfactory. 
