TREATMENT OF TEE GROUND. 
19 
Even the petals of white flowers will display an added bril¬ 
liancy, and the green leaves take on a greater glossiness. 
It is advised that ferruginous material be applied to the soil 
by procuring a supply of oxide of iron in the form of dark- 
colored scales that fall from the heated bars of iron when 
the metal is hammered by the blacksmiths. 
“ When there is an excess of vegetable mold in a flower¬ 
bed, and a deficiency of silica or sand, the flowers will 
never be so rich in color, nor so brilliant as they would be 
were a liberal dressing of sand or sandy loam worked down 
into the bed where the growing roots could reach it. If 
wood ashes can be obtained readily, let a dressing be spread 
over the surface of the ground about half an inch d^ep 
and raked in. A dressing of quicklime will be found ex¬ 
cellent for flowers of every description.” 
A liberal covering of manure or of leaves in the 
autumn is a valuable aid to spring operations, and the 
former is often administered in a liquid form to the grow¬ 
ing plants with very good results. The clippings from 
horses’ hoofs are highly recommended for this purpose— 
one bushel of clippings put into a barrel, which is then 
filled up with water. After standing for a week, it is 
ready for use, and may be applied with a watering-pot; 
every other day not being too often for bedding plants, if 
not confined in pots. It makes the plants strong, and the 
flowers large and bright-colored, being not a stimulant, 
but nourishing food, and, while quite as powerful as guano, 
is much more lasting. It has the advantage over most 
liquid manures of not injuring the foliage—although it 
will change at first to a golden tint; but after a few weeks 
this gives place to a dark, glossy green. 
A soil naturally rich and mellow is half the battle won 
for a flower garden ; but the cultivator is usually engaged in 
fighting against nature, trying to make a clayey soil porous 
by the addition of sand, while a light one demands ashes 
