144 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 26. 
are soon rendered useless if that duty be delayed. Even 
Sj)inach is thinned with advantage, although the 
summer crops (where the press of other kinds of work 
renders it difficult to attend to all) often get neglected; 
in fact, we scarcely know of any production to which 
thinning may not justly be applied; and, in conclusion, 
we beg to repeat the often quoted sage advice which a 
worthy patron of the craft gave to his 'protegees, as lie 
sent them forth to the world, “ Sow thick, thin in time, 
and keep on good terms with the cook.” J. Robson. 
FLOWER GARDEN PLANS.—No. 6. 
HOUSE. 
“I enclose for your criticism a plan of a Geometrical 
Flower Garden, which I laid out last spring. The ground 
is open to the south, having the house on the north, a row 
of beech on the east, and a clump of birch on the west. 
The beds are upon grass, and my method of planting them’ 
with a view to contrast and succession of flowers, will he 
understood by reference to the preceding enlarged scale of 
a bed. 
“The dots round the edge represent the early flowers— 1 
Crocuses and Snowdrops. The second succession is repre¬ 
sented by an o, and the third and fourth by an x. 
“The beds numbered 1, 0, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31, and 32, are 
permanent evergreen beds, which serve to ornament the 
garden in winter. The bulbs and hardy herbaceous plants 
remain in the ground the whole year, and the annuals, 
which are either autumn-sown or raised in a hotbed, are 
transplanted into the beds when requisite.— An Amateur 
in Lancashire.” 
