136 
THE FLORIST. 
garden are all that I now consider it necessary to make; a very busy 
time is coming on, and every one will have their hands full; it is a 
pleasant thing to be marking out beds, selecting plants, and calculating 
on the display you will make by-and-bye. Already, too, spring flowers 
are peeping forth under shelter, and greenhouses are gay with Azaleas 
and other early flowers. I have but little to say as to operations, for 
bedding-out will be the chief employment, and the first word I should 
write— Auriculas —calls up such an unpleasant topic, that I can go no 
further. Gentle reader, have you ever grown them ?—then listen to 
my tale of sorrow. You know how carefully we have watched their 
growth for the past twelve months—how nicely we potted them—how 
careful we were to keep them from frost and damp—with what glad¬ 
ness we watched the opening hearts, and saw the truss reposing in its 
folds—already our eyes kindled at the flowery bloom, and we pro¬ 
nounced the handsome foliage really nearly as pretty as the flower ; 
such was my happiness ten days ago. I was, however, obliged to leave 
home on business for a week, leaving my old man in charge, with strong 
directions to water and give air. Early in the morning after my return 
I went out to see my pets, lifted up the frame, and almost fell back 
with horror. There they were—my Ne Plus Ultras, Blackbirds, Sir 
John Moores, &c., &c.—shrivelled like a piece of parchment; they 
had been kept close and not watered! and the care of twelve months 
nullified in a week. My old man said it must have been a maggot! 
Yes, thought I, a two-legged one, eighty years old, and a very tough 
one too; but I forbore. Is it any wonder, then, that I can get no 
further in a “Calendar of Operations ”—that I should put my Auricula 
frame into mourning—and say to others, who will perhaps say “ Can’t 
be helped,”— 
“ Give me no counsel, 
My griefs cry louder than advertisement ?” 
Beal, April 17, 1858. D. 
OLD WALLS AND MATERIALS AND METHODS OP 
TRAINING. 
We are so frequently asked questions on these points, that 
a short notice of the matter must serve for answers to the 
inquiries of numerous correspondents. Our opinion is, that for 
brick walls nothing is better than the old system of nailing the shoots to 
the walls by shreds and cast-iron nails ; our objection to loops or nails 
driven into the wall permanently, for tying the branches to is that, although 
they in some measure save the walls, they inflict great injury on the trees, 
by the branches, in the course of time, growing into them and causing 
canker. We have tried both loops and common nails extensively, and 
are now discontinuing their use for the above reason; besides a man 
can get over a wall of trees much quicker with the nail and shred, than 
by tying in the shoots to the nails, and make a better job of them to 
boot. The shreds should not be cut too wide, and when the young 
