THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 14. 
28 
existed) than a beardless Spangled Poland Cock or 
Hen. There is one point you do not mention, but which 
I look upon as very necessary, if not indispensable, to per¬ 
fection in the head of a Spangled Poland, “ a small, 
well-formed crescent, right in front of the top-knot, resem¬ 
bling exactly the crescent on the front of the Turkish turban, 
&e. &c.” 
[Here this controversy between the Rev. Mr. Brown and 
Dr. Horner will close, and we thank the latter for his 
courtesy.—E d. C. G.] 
GARDEN PLAN.—No. 5. 
i 
HOUSE. 
1 Geranium Lucea Rosea 
2 Lobelia ramosa 
3 Tropoeolum Canariense 
4 Verbena Beauty su¬ 
preme 
5 Cupliea elegans 
G Dog - leaved Geranium, 
pink 
7 Gazania elegans 
8 Salvia patens 
9 Verbena mylindres 
10 Verbena Eliza 
11 Eschscholzia 
12 Phlox Drummondii 
13 Dahlia Zelinda 
14 Scarlet Geranium 
15 Nemopliilia insignis 
10 Verbena Clotilda 
17 Calceolaria amplexicaulis 
18 Convolvulus major 
19 Scarlet Geranium 
20 Verbena St. Mai’garet 
21 Salvia fulgens 
22 Verbena White Per¬ 
fection 
23 Heliotrope 
24 Anemone japonica 
25 Calceolaria—yellow 
26 Variegated Geranium 
27 Lobelia gracilis 
28 Tropoeolum Canariense 
29 Verbena — Robinson’s 
Defiance 
30 Ivy • leaved Geranium—• 
White 
31 Fuchsia Thompsonii 
32 China Roses 
33 Lobelia fulgens 
34 Mixed plants 
This is a very good geometric plan of a flower-garden, 
with the list of the plants that were in it last season, and 
the owner (W. S.) wishes to know “How he might improve 
the planting for another year.” 
The first thing to look at in a plan of this kind is to see 
how the artist intended to group his plants. Here the 
grouping is in double groups, and each group in double 
pairs. The four beds round bed 8 make the first group; 
and the four round 13 a corresponding group. Each of 
these groups have corresponding ones in the other half of 
the garden, and it is a matter of taste whether, in planting, 
the colours in the group, No. 8, are repeated in the corres¬ 
ponding one round 18, or in cross corners round 21. As j 
the windows look across the garden from the longest side, , 
whatever colours are put in the first group round 8 must not 
be repeated round 13. If the whole garden is on a level, , 
across from the house’s side , all the plants in the beds might 
be just of one height, supposing that could be, without pre¬ 
judice to the style of planting terrace-gardens, or geometric- 
gardens on a dead level. But if the garden falls either to, 
or from the house, the lowest side, or the lowest end, ought 
to be planted with taller plants—still keeping to the corres¬ 
ponding colours. As, however, it is not possible, or desir¬ 
able, to have all the plants of one height for these uniform¬ 
sized beds, the tallest kinds ought to be planted on the 
side farthest from the house, unless the situation of the 
I garden is several feet below the level of the front door, or 
drawing-room windows. When a garden is seen from a 
height, or by a bird’s-eye view, as they call it, the relative 
! heights of the plants are of very little moment, as com¬ 
pared to the proper distribution of the colours and shades. 
All these are points, or principles which are equally appli¬ 
cable to every geometric flower-garden in which the prin¬ 
cipal beds are balanced as they are in this garden. 
V hat I mean by being balanced is this :—If we look 
across the centre of the garden from the front-door, we 
have two rows of principal beds on each side, and of equal 
size throughout, and if the garden were turned, so that the 
centre of one end pointed to the front-door, the whole are 
equally balanced on each side of the centre walk in the 
same way. On the whole, therefore, I consider this a very 
good design to learn the fundamental rules for designing 
geometric, or terrace-gardens from, and also to learn how to 
plant them according to the present style of arranging 
them. I hold it to be far more desirable to be able to 
understand the rules or principles by which a given design 
of a flower-garden ought to be planted, than the kinds of 
plants to be used for doing so, and for this reason: If 
principles are true they never alter, and if not true they are 
not principles, although we might call them so; but the 
plants are governed by fashion, and fashion is a weathercock ; 
therefore, a gardener, or a critic, might just as well be 
a weathercock too, as to think of convincing ladies that 
such and such plants were the best for their gardens, or 
that such and such dresses were the best for them to wear. 
Gentlemen arc never so hard to turn on either of the 
two points, but still, one would be as likely as not to burn 
his fingers with them, as with the ladies, on the choice of 
flower-garden plants, and that is exactly the reason why I 
try to avoid the subject as much as possible. I am never 
at a loss in judging for myself on such matters, but laying 
myself “ out ” like a flower-bed to be judged, requires even 
more nerve than I can venture. 
I do not alter any of 'the figures on these beds, because I 
suppose the garden is entered at one end in front of 3 ; but 
the planting is not, or ought not to be done with reference 
to this entrance, but as it looks best from the front-door or 
windows. I may remark, however, that beds 3, 8,13, 18, 
21, and 28, ought to bo very neutral, if all the rest were very 
gay; or better still, planted with permanent green low plants 
that have few or no flowers, or flowers of no striking colour, 
or long duration.—D. Beaton. 
TEA SEEDS. 
Respecting the Tea seeds mentioned at page 459, it 
seems that our readers have come in for a share, and we 
are asked how to manage the seeds, and the young Tea 
