386 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, FsbUttabt 28. 18G0. 
was coadjutor with Sir William Hooker. We cannot forbear 
saying that in Mr. Curtis the island has lost a very worthy and 
universally-esteemed resident. La Chaire, with its valuable 
botanical specimens, is the property of his daughter, Mrs. 
Fothergill.”—( 'Botanical Magazine.) 
BEDDING OUT IN SMALL GAEDENS. 
{Continued from page 285.) 
A margin or band of this kind gives great relief to the bed ; 
—in fact, it is the same to the bed as the ornamental bouquet 
paper is to the bouquet. Others might not agree with me ; but 
I prefer every alternate Rose of the first circle of dwarfs to be 
Grant des Ba/aill&s where they are not particularly wanted for 
i he sake of variety, for they would seem to steady the growth of 
that circle, which, when kept perfect, is one of the principal 
points, or a certaiu guide towards keepingthe bed in perfect order. 
J should have mentioned the mode that I have practised to 
increase my small stock of Roses; but it has been so thoroughly 
and skilfully done so very lately by the seemingly ever-ready and 
able pen of Mr. Heaton, that he has not left the least chance for 
a young hand to have a finger in this pie at all. As I pass I 
must say a word or two on old standard Rose trees, or how they 
might be renovated. 
There were when I came here a few single standards dotted 
here and there; but they scarcely seemed worthy of the name of 
Roses,«o rarely did they bloom. But still I could not dispense 
with them, but set to, and have got new heads on them, or 
rather young heads on the old shoulders. I chose some of the 
kindliest of the branches and some that started from the crown 
of the stock as near as possible. Into some I inserted buds as 
early last summer as it was practicable, and as close to the crown 
as I well could. Those that were done early are by far the best 1 
at present. Some of them bloomed this last autumn, and would 
have done so profusely if they had been allowed to do so; while 
the others that were budded much later are lying dormant—that 
is, in the bud, but all ready to burst forth now in spite of the 
severe frosts they have had to encounter. Where this mode of 
renovating old Rose trees is practical it certainly must be far 
better than discarding them altogether, and especially where it 
does not always suit the pocket to supply their places with new 
ones. 
When these are dotted out singly near any of the walks they 
will have a nobler and much more ornamental appearance if 
they have a small bed at their base on a miniature scale; these 
beds to appear as a footstool to the Roses, and to be of different 
shapes, according to people’s fancy or the variation of the walks. 
In some places small circles tell well; in others pincushion 
shapes. Then, where a walk takes a circuitous kind of route, it 
is there that a halfmoon shape seems at home ; but of whatever 
shape these arc, they must be planted with great taste and care. 
It ought to be always in remembrance that these beds are to the 
gardeu what the corner dishes are to the dessert table, or the 
most ornamental plants to the conservatory. But this kind of 
work will not do for a moment in a place where you see in one of 
the most conspicuous places the premises can boast of a bed 
filled with Dahlias, varying in height from a little above two feet 
to six ; and as a match-bed to this I have seen the German 
Stocks one season, and French and German Asters mixed 
together another, with the Geraniums, or the best of them in 
the mixed borders. I do not mean to say all small places are 
planted in this manner—far from it; but there are far too many 
now like it, or were this last summer. The beds would have 
looked much better if they had been all lawn than planted in 
this style. If Dahlias, Asters, Stocks, and many other kinds of 
common (lowers are grown in small places, they ought not to be ' 
grouped in beds on the lawn, but neither entirely discarded. 
Mention of these, however, must come in their proper place; 
But now to the beds as they should be planted, which, although ! 
it may appear a little more trouble at first, yet take the whole of I 
tho summer months together, “To be done well at first,” as the old 
adage lias it, “it is twice done ;” and in nothing will this ada<m I 
apply better than it will to bedding out . The Perilla Nankinensis 
and Man by' s I a,negated Geranium are a very good mixture for a 
small bed if kept well pegged down. I had it this last summer in a 
pan- ot the pincushion-shaped beds beneath the standardRose trees, 
and shall plant them very similar this year; they must be neither 
crowded nor squeezed together, as it were, but twined and twisted 
t.irough each other in that easy careless way which will remove | 
all stiffness to a distance. All the small beds must be planted so 
as to form a link in the chain with the larger ones, and to hold 
possession of the mind until the eye of the gazer is seemingly 
riveted to the larger ones. Here the greater part of my beds are 
j cireles—that is, the large ones, with the exception of one group 
' of beds which nearly surrounds the summer-house. These circles 
are mostly in pairs about eight or nine feet in diameter, and 
' placed each side of the walk, so that those who pass along the 
walks have to walk between them, and might be seen/this next 
summer planted as follows No. 1 I shall call the first pair of 
beds; No. 2 the second. The centre of each of No. 1 to be 
planted with the Humea el eg an a; then a narrow circular band of 
variegated Mint to one, and a narrow band of Flower of the Bay 
Geranium the other. Arranged as a star round this band is 
what is here called Tom Thumb's Master (I have a notion that it 
is tlie Trentham Scarlet , but that matters but little, it is a 
profuse bloomer) ; and the one that has the band of variegated 
Mint to be edged or Vandyked with Flower of the Bay; and 
| the other that has the band of Flower of the Bay to be edged or 
Vandyked with the variegated Mint. This completes the first 
pair. The variegated Mint requires a little attention when it is 
first planted in the shape of pinching back, and also about mid¬ 
summer to keep it from flowering; which, when grown as it 
should be, is sure of ranking amongst the first variegated plants 
for bedding purposes. 
The circular centres of the pair marked No. 2 to be planted 
with the blue Maurandya, which will be pretty well trained 
over two pyramidal-shaped wires before they are planted out. 
The star round the circular centre of each bed to be com¬ 
posed of the Trentham Yellow Calceolaria, which I suppose 
will soon be as hardy as the Laurustinus, having withstood 
these rather unusual severe frosts with impunity. The boun¬ 
daries of the star—that is, inside the margin, to be planted with 
Tom Thumb, and the margin of each to be composed of two 
narrow- bands; the outer one to be Cerastitim tomentosv.m , and 
the other the Lobelia speciosa, which will well entwine together, 
and form an easy graceful margin. This is the way these two 
pair of beds will be planted here this coming summer; but they 
might very easily be altered so as to please the eye of the most 
fastidious. If the tall centres are not liked they might be planted 
with the same as the star, which would make them more pleasing 
to the eyes of many, or another dwarf kind used instead.— 
A. J. Ashman. 
CACTI AND THEIE CULTURE. 
Permit me to say a word or two in favour of this much neg¬ 
lected, yet highly interesting and ornamental class of plant's. 
Their treatment and requirements are so simple, it seems truly 
strange they do not command more favour than is generally 
accorded them. "What can he more showy than the Epipbjlhirns 
and their hybrids when in bloom, covered as they are, even 
under ordinary treatment, with blossom? I have seen plants 
that have not been fresh potted even for three or four rears, a 
complete mass of bloom, and the admiration of all who saw them. 
I am, nevertheless, in favour of bestowing a more liberal treat¬ 
ment upon them, feeling quite sure any amount of extra trouble 
so bestowed will be amply repaid, more particularly as their 
blooming season may be made to extend from Christmas to Oc¬ 
tober, or November, with a little management. 
They delight in a compost of equal parts turfy loam, sheep’s 
dung, and peat well mixed together, with one-seventli silver sand. 
Potting may be done at any time during the growing season. 
Care should be always taken to secure plenty of drainage, and 
■when flowering is over expose them as much as possible°to the 
sun to ripen the wood well for the next course of bloom ; after 
which gradually dry them ofl, and during the winter season give 
no water. 
Plants required to bloom in January should be placed in the 
stove about the first of November, and should be dried oft’again 
as soon as their growth is made, those will then flower oijain in 
(lie autumn. 
Those required to bloom in March should be placed in heat in 
January. 
Those for June end July should be gradually brought on in 
the greenhouse, with plenty of air; or it may be even necessary 
to expose them to the open air, if dry in the month of June, 
n.orc particularly so if required in July and August. 
In the latter month, however, it will be hardly possible to 
retard 1 hem, unless such plants as were put in beat early, and 
