THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
183 
to be ripe when the pods become a little brown and hard. They are 
then cut as they ripen, and hung up in a dry place till near the time of 
sowing, which is in May. I sow the seeds in a frame, without any 
bottom-heat; and when the plants are sufficiently up, I take away the 
glass, and throw a net over them, to keep the birds from pulling them 
out. If they come up too thick, I transplant them into another bed, 
where they continue till they are planted out for good. I may observe, 
that some of them are longer in coming up than others, and are also very 
weak and small. These I nurse in pots, as I frequently find them turn 
out the very best sorts, although they sometimes do not flower till the 
third season. 
“ I have only to add, that every one has not the conveniency of a good 
greenhouse; but there are few places where there is not either a green¬ 
house, hothouse, or hotbed frame, any of which will be found very useful 
to ripen carnation seed.”— Mem. Cal. Hort. Soc ., vol. i. p. 397. 
EVERGREENS FOR HIDING A WALL. 
Madam, —I am just now laying out a small piece of garden-ground, 
near London, after a plan in the Suburban Gardener, and I should feel 
very grateful if you would, through the medium of your valuable 
Magazine, give me a list of good showy evergreens. Having a wall at 
the end of the garden, I wish to hide it entirely, winter and summer, by 
raising a large bed and covering it with evergreen shrubs; if you could 
instruct me how to mix them, so as to form the greatest variety of foliage, 
you would still further oblige me. I also want a list of luxuriant 
climbers, both evergreen and annuals, and a list of showy flowers for the 
parterres and for filling vases ; as there are so many hundreds in the same 
situation as myself, I think your readers would feel equally obliged as 
your obedient servant, A Constant Reader. 
Stoke Newington. 
P. S. What is the best soil for the common sorts of evergreens, and 
what for the Cypress ? 
In the case mentioned, I should recommend first covering the wall in 
question with ivy, so that if a glimpse of it should appear through the 
trees, it may harmonise with the rest. Hollies may then be planted at 
suitable distances to allow them to spread at the base; as trees should 
never be planted near together when they are wanted for a screen. 
Dark, smooth-leaved varieties of the common kind, are better than those 
with prickly or variegated leaves. Next to the hollies may be planted 
some bushes of Arbutus and Phillyrea. All these are plants with dark 
