CHAPTER XIII. 
THE PERPETUAL FLOWER GARDEN. 
There Las been enough said in these pages upon the short¬ 
comings of the prevailing system of embellishing gardens, 
and we may turn from the negative to the positive, in hope of 
some advantage to our readers. We propose, then, to unfold 
to them a plan for the perfect abolition of tameness and 
sameness, for making an end of monotony and wearisomeness, 
for the termination of the floral see-saw, the feast and fast 
system, by which we make sure of flowers during June, July, 
and August, and of a beggarly account of empty beds during 
the remaining months of the year. We are to propound the 
Arcanum—the secret, the mystery—which is to be no mystery 
by the time we have done with it; and it is all to be made so 
plain and pleasant, that from this time forth garden grumblers 
are to cease from off the earth, disappointments are to be 
known no more, and the reign of concord and flowery bliss is 
to set in with such severity as to overcome all obstacles. Tou 
are now expecting something new, yet Solomon has averred 
that there is nothing new under the sun. So beware! 
The arcanum to be expounded is the Plunging System. It 
cannot be our invention, because plunging in some sort of 
■way was done before we were born. But we claim to have 
discovered and developed the full possibilities of the system, 
and profess to know more about it than any practitioners of 
gardening in all the world. The object of the plunging 
system is to keep up a rich display of flowers or leaves on the 
same spot the whole year round, and this is accomplished by 
growing suitable plants in pots, and plunging them where 
required when they are at their very best. 
The plunging system is nothing unless there are at least 
four changes in the year—say in April to put out Hyacinths 
and Tulips, and in May or June to put out Geraniums, Cal- 
