AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
14 7 
I 860 ] 
How to Shape a Flower Bed. 
Young and inexperienced gardeners often find 
it difficult to give the right proportions and shape 
to their plots. A plan is, or should be, first drawn 
on paper, where it may look very well, but when 
it is worked out on the ground it often happens 
that the intended circles are not circular, the 
ovals are flattened on one side, the hearts are 
more like gizzards, and the young tyro is discour¬ 
aged by the bungling attempt, and wonders how 
those neat regular forms he saw in his neighbor’s 
ornamental flower plot were made. He can easi¬ 
ly mark out the squares, diamonds and other fig¬ 
ures bounded by straight lines, but the curves, 
which look so much more beautiful are beyond 
his art. It is quite easy though, when the right 
implements are used, which are very simple. For 
striking out circles, provide alight strip, d, Fig. 1, 
say eight feet long, three inches wide, and an inch 
thick, and bore | inch holes through it, six inches 
apart, the whole length. Provide two pins of 
hard wood, sharpened at one end, to fit the holes 
in the strips, and you are ready for work Make 
the surface of the ground as even and free from 
stones and lumps as possible, set a pin where 
you wish the center to come, lay the strip over 
it, put the other pin through the hole that will 
give the right diameter to the circle, and sweep 
it around. Fig. 1 shows the whole very plainly. 
To mark out an oval, (fig. 2,) first mark the 
points of the greatest length and width as at e, 
c,f, g, drive a stake at c, and draw a line from e, 
to /. Take a rod or string half as long as this 
line, fasten one end at c, and carry the other 
around until it meets the line e,f, as at a, and drive 
a stake at that point. Carry the string around 
until it meets the line e, f, near the other end, as 
at b, and drive a stake there also. Then pass a 
cord around the stakes a, l, and c, draw it taut, 
and tie its two ends together. Pull up the stake 
e, let its lower end rest on the ground and against 
the inside of the cord, and carry it thus around 
the plot, and it will mark out the oval through 
the points e, c, /, g. 
If it is desired to lay off curved figures, as 
shown at F, E, first set small stakes say eighteen 
inches apart in a direction to form the outline, 
and then having but a little distance to mark 
from stake to stake, it will be easy to get it right. 
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Hew Annual Flowers. 
The amateur in search of superior novelties for 
the present Summer, should not fail to get the 
following if they can be had. Clarkia pulcliella 
integripetala, the hybrid blue Sweet Pea ; Cal- 
lirrhoe digitala, and Callirrhoe pedata ; CEnothe 
ra hirsulissima, from California ; Dianthus chinen- 
sis laciniatus, which grows two feet high, with 
flowers about four inches in diameter, of various 
colors, and blooms till frost ; Dianthus chinensis 
Heddewigii, one foot high, flowers three inches in 
diameter, and of various colors ; Anagallis gran- 
diflora, var. Eugenie, light blue, shading from the 
center to a pure white border ; Anagallis grandi- 
flora, var. Napoleon Third, rich maroon crimson ; 
Nemophilla discoidalis marginata, like the old dis- 
coidalis, but with a white border. The Dianthus 
Heddewigii is greatly lauded by foreign florists. 
They say the plant is quite large, the leaves broad 
and bluish green, thirty or forty blooms open all 
the while and sporting into various colors. Each 
flower measures about three inches in diameter. 
Of Callirrhoe pedata ; Prof. Gray says : (See 
Transactions Mass. Hor. Soc. p. 30.) “ This is 
a biennial from Texas. The young plants re¬ 
quire the protection of a frame through the first 
Winter, and planted in Spring, they produce all 
Summer long a succession of rich, wirtircc-crimson 
blossoms. In a Conservatory they often attain 
the hight of seven or eight feet. It is the hand¬ 
somest of malvaceous plants.” 
To these we may add Clarkia pulcherrima de¬ 
scribed as far excelling C. pulcliella, the flowers 
being twice as large, more profuse, and of pure 
brilliant carmine ; Schizanthus Grandiflorus ocu- 
lalus, brilliant purple, with dense dark blotch, 
larger than other varieties ; and Heliophila Cce- 
rulea slricta, a very pretty variety, of fine rich 
blue color. The colored prints of the last three 
show them to be of great beauty, and to deserve 
the high praise they have received in Europe. 
Small packages of seeds of these were obtained 
in England, and placed on our list for distribution 
as an extra premium. See page 123, April No. 
The Farfugium Grande. 
This plant is destined to make a great sensa¬ 
tion the present year: we wish, therefore, to 
say a few words about it. 
It belongs to the Coltsfoot class. The leaves 
are large, sometimes more than two feet in cir¬ 
cumference, of a bright emerald green, curiously 
spotted with patches of clear yellow. They have 
footstalks from twelve to fifteen inches long, and 
lapping over each other in luxuriant growth form 
tufts of foliage truly magnificent. The flowers 
are not particularly striking. If not injured by 
late frosts, it may be taken into the house, and will 
there retain its foliage all the year. It is partic¬ 
ularly valuable as an ornament for the green¬ 
house or parlor, enduring furnace-heat and dust 
as well as a Begonia or Oleander. 
Not least important, it is almost hardy enough 
to endure the frosts of any climate. It came from 
the North of China, being introduced by Mr. For¬ 
tune, who has done so much to send us the plants 
and trees and shrubs of that “celestial” land. 
As it is hardy in England, it will undoubtedly be 
so in our Southern and Middle States. North of 
this city, it will probably require wintering in a 
pit, or green-house, or cellar. But it will amply 
pay for this trifling care by its splendid show 
throughout the Summer. Would it not make a 
striking object in a vase on the lawn, or in an 
ornamental pot or box set on a terrace or veran¬ 
da 1 If a circular bed six feet in diameter were 
cut out on the grass-plot and set with four or five 
plants, it would make a grand show. 
The gardeners tell us that its cultivation is 
simple. Divide the roots, and set them in a mix¬ 
ture of leaf-dirt and good garden soil. It likes 
considerable moisture during active growth, and 
the gold tints of the leaves are more distinct if it 
is favored with a little shade at mid-day. Hear 
what the English Cottage Gardener says : “ For 
the next few years, this will be the most popular 
plant among the variegated-leaved plants, be¬ 
cause it is everybody’s plant; a plant for the 
Queen’s drawing-room and for the rooms of all 
her Majesty’s subjects; also for their rock-gar¬ 
dens, wilderness-dingles, and all places not too 
much exposed to the sun.” 
Hew Petunias. 
Countess of Ellesmere is one of the best; com¬ 
pact, bright rose-color, with white throat. Inim¬ 
itable is one of the most striking sorts ; a white 
groundcolor, blotched irregularly with bluish pur¬ 
ple. Mrs. Buchanan; crimson, beautifully striped 
with pure white. Hermionc; large, white ground, 
clouded with delicate flecks of blue. Little Nell; 
a eharmft£ thing, light ground, covered with a 
crimson net work. Attraction ; purple ground, 
finely striped, good shape. Exquisite is perhaps 
the be6t white. Antigone and Gen'l. Havelock the 
best double whites. 
Roses from Cutting's. 
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A correspondent who has some twenty differ¬ 
ent varieties of fine roses, wishes to learn how to 
propagate young plants from cm tings. 
This is not difficult. Prepare a frame six or 
eight inches deep, on the north side of a fence 
or wall, and half till it with .good garden soil 
mixed with sand and leaf-mold. On top of this 
put three inches of clean sand. The sand is used 
to prevent the rotting of the cuttings before they 
begin to grow, and to facilitate the emission of 
roots from the lower end. The cuttings should 
be made of newly ripened wood, live or* six inch¬ 
es long, and inserted two and a half inches in the 
sand, so that as soon as the roots have grown a 
little, they will find their way into the soil under¬ 
neath, and so obtain the nourishment they require. 
In June, just after the first blooming season, is 
considered the best time. 
If each cutting has a “heel” of old wood, it 
will he quite likely to strike or grow. Strip off 
all but one or two of the upper loaves. Stick in 
the cuttings to the depth mentioned, give a good 
watering, and lay on a common hot-bed sash. 
Takeoff the sash every warm night. Every day 
or two, give the plants a sprinkling, just at even 
ing. After they have made a good growth, they 
may be transplanted separately into pots; or they 
may he wintered in the frame, if well protected. 
Hew variety of Moneywort. 
In a former volume, we gave some account of 
the common Moneywort, (Lysimacliianumularia) 
a trailing plant, similar to the periwinkle, and 
having yellow flowers. A new variety has just 
been brought into notice, called Ly si mac hi a 
nutans. It grows erect, and has spikes of crim¬ 
son flowers, three inches long. Its entire hardi¬ 
ness for this climate has not yet been determined. 
Raise your own Seeds. 
To be sure, a single paper of seeds costs but 
little, but to fill a good garden plot with the whole 
round of vegetables each year, makes up quite 
an item : “ ’Tis too much trouble,” says neighbor 
Easy, “to he fussing with these little notions.’’ 
Grant that it is some “ trouble ” to set out a 
dozen or fifteen varieties and take care of the 
seeds—“ there can be no gains without pains.” 
Try this : have an understanding with two or 
three neighbors, and each raise 4 or 5 kinds and 
exchange; or yourself raise a few kinds—say 
this year in abundance, and a few kinds next, and 
so on ; for this will be easier than to care for ail 
the varieties at once. By extending this ar¬ 
rangement, each family in a district might be 
easily supplied, Yankes. 
