315 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 22.] 
needs be watered every other day to keep the plants 
alive. To get over the difficulty of watering the beds 
like so many tlower-pots, a set of hose-leather pipes, 
with screws and valves, were fixed to the pipe which 
supplies the fountain, and with this hose one man, with 
a boy to lift the hose over the beds as they turned round, 
could water the whole garden, grass and all, in twenty 
minutes. This was a great help; but there may be too 
much watering as well as too little, and when that hap¬ 
pens to be with “hard” spring water, as in the present 
instance, it is not so good as any contrivance that would 
lessen the need for it—hence the cause of the experi¬ 
ment with the clay—and a rough experiment it was, 
and a long one too, for it occupied the time of a dozen 
men for six weeks in the winter, and this is the way the 
work was performed. Three or four beds running in 
one line—“ union flag like,” as one of our friends would 
say—were emptied, and the soil piled up on similar beds 
not far from them ; thus a trench was opened ; a loot 
of clay was then put at the bottom of the beds in rough 
lumps, so as to allow water to pass, but intercept the 
sucking power of the chalk from below; the next and 
rnoi-e difficult process was to plaster up the sides of the 
beds, beginning at the bottom with four inches thick ot 
soft clay, and sloping up to the surface, where one inch 
thick was only used. These sloping sides were well 
plastered with the back of the spades as the work pro¬ 
ceeded ; aud to make the tiling more easy for the men 
a bucket of water was placed near them to plunge their 
! spades in from time to time, and the wet spades would 
glide smoothly over the clay, and set it firmly and very 
even. As soon as one set of beds were finished so far, 
the next set behind them were emptied, and their con¬ 
tents more than filled the clayed ones. By this process 
the bottom soil of the old beds wei’e on the top of the 
renewed ones ; the light top soil thrown over the rough 
lumps of clay filled up the spaces between them, and 
thus secured a free passage for the water to pass through 
to the chalk. Unless this had been provided for, it is 
very likely that in time the rough clay at the bottom 
would “ run together,” and so prevent the escape of 
water altogether, for the sides were made waterproof. 
In this way all the beds were clayed, and now, after six 
years’ trial, we are all satisfied here that the experiment 
has fully succeeded; but the best proof we can adduce 
of the truth of this is, that since then most of the flower 
beds all over the pleasure-grounds have been remodelled 
after the same manner. Had this not been done, my 
belief is that we should have been burnt out this sum¬ 
mer ; and even as it was I began to think at last that 
we must give up all hopes of saving our plants, for from 
the third week in May to the beginning of July we bad 
neither rain nor dew, although at times the rain fell in 
torrents, as the newspapers say, within six miles of us ; 
but with the exception that a few kinds of the geraniums 
are now too strong with us, we were seldom in better 
bloom than at this moment. 
The cause of those geraniums being loo much in leaf 
is, that as soon as they were well rooted after planting 
out, we gave them three or four heavy waterings with 
liquid manure, to cause them to get on a little faster, 
to make up for lost time, and now we find they are 
doing so rather too fast. The way we check them 
may be of some use to others whoso geraniums are 
now growing too much to leaf through any cause. We 
merely cut out so many of their new made leaves at 
first, and this we continue to do from time to time, 
or as often as the grass is cut, and the whole trimmed 
for the rest of the season. If we see a necessity for 
it, about the middle of August we also begin to stop 
the plants regularly over the beds, as well as thinning 
the leaves; by thus exposing the older leaves, which 
in reality prepare the food for a large bloom, and by 
stopping the onward growth of the main shoots, we 
cause the plants to furnish such a crop of flowers as, 
of itself, gives them''a very great check — then to suc¬ 
ceed this bloom a host of side branches must come, as 
the leading ones can go no farther; these, in their 
turn, have their young leaves thinned, and, perhaps, 
stopped also if they grow too fast. Now this will 
appear a tedious process to many, but it is not so in 
reality, but just the reverse. A man with a few grains 
of common sense may be entrusted with the job, and 
after a little practice it is “ wonderful” how fast he gets 
over the ground; no knife or scissors need be used, only 
the forefinger and thumb. A circular bed, ten feet 
through, may be so trimmed in less than ten minutes; 
but it should be so managed that a stranger coming 
round ten minutes afterwards should not perceive that 
any one had been near that bed lor the last month and 
that should be my criterion for a good dresser in a flower- 
garden. No marks of his handicraft should be left 
behind him; every bed and border, the grass, gravel, 
and all should appear to a stranger just come in as it 
the whole bad been made to suit or “ to order ” that 
very morning. The misfortune is, that not one out ot a 
thousand ever thinks of this—we all try to do or undo 
too much, from the very first to the last flower-garden 
in this country; this is as apparent as if the fact were 
put up in large letters over the garden gate. 
This is a good time to think about the Mildew on 
Verbena beds, and to apply the soot and sulphur, as was 
recommended, where any danger is apprehended. Some J 
varieties are more subject to mildew than others. With 
me, Miss Haroourt, a fine white one, takes it first, and 
is, therefore, the first we dust over, or rather under; for 
it will be recollected that one measure of flowers of sul¬ 
phur is added to three or four measures ot dry soot, and 
that a mop-like brush is dipped in this, then pushed in 
between the plants and shook with a sudden jerk, so 
that the ground and the underside of the leaves are 
covered with dust. 
Petunias require now, and for some time past, to be 
topped every week or ten days—only an inch or two j 
taken off at one time. This will make the beds appear 
all bloom, and also cause the plants or shoots to advance 
apparently at the same rate of growth. Wherever they > 
are liable to be beaten down by the rain or winds, small 
sticks, with or without side brauches, should be thrust 
in amongst them to keep them in the^right position. 
Oenothera macrocarpa, a fine large yellow flowering one 
of the evening primroses, ought to be looked over every 
day, or every' second day, to pick ofi the dead flowers, 
as they are very unsightly. Lupines of all sorts, and 
many other plants, will now be seeding as last as you 
pick off their seed pods; but recollect it is one oi the 
grand secrets of keeping up a late bloom to remove seed j 
pods as fast as the flowers fade. The beautiful yellow 
Eschscholtzia, used as an annual, and thus kept from 
seeding through the summer, will last in flower from j 
the end of May to October. 1 wish I had a pen which, j 
by one magic stroke, would influence all my readers at 
once. The first line would run thus:— Procure a bed qf \ 
the White Campanula carpatica. It is the most beautiful 
white flowering plant I ever saw; and we have six beds 
of it here, every one of which is fit lor a queen. It is 
also the easiest plant I know to manage; it is as hardy 
as a crocus, and all the care it requires for the season is 
to divide it in April, and to cut oil the seed pods as last 
as the flowers go off B. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Plants in Rooms.—A correspondent makes several 
inquiries upon this subject, and states his conviction 
that a paper upon such a matter would be interesting 
to many subscribers like himself. He purchases plants 
