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SUGGESTIONS ON THE CULTURE OF 
FLOWERS. 
When one, with a view to selection, looks over 
any one of the beautiful flower catalog ues that are now 
obtainable on every side, it must be with the feeling 
that Mrs. Stowe once said it gave her—a sensation of 
“ exasperated bewilderment,” not being able to make 
any choice where all were so beautiful and seemed 
to have so many advantages. If one who has a 
knowledge of flowers feels thus, how puzzled must be 
the novice who is just starting out to cultivate a few 
flowers, with perhaps but little room and little 
cash! 
These remarks are given as the result of experi¬ 
ence and observation, and are especially addressed 
to the consideration of those who have but limited 
means and opportunities. It is the general peculi¬ 
arity of flower books and catalogues that they seem 
addressed to those who, if they have not the purse of 
Fortunatus, must at least have good “ long pock¬ 
ets.” 
In a garden intended for flowers alone the beds 
may be laid out and planted according to individual 
preference; there is no absolute rule for such things, 
but due regard should be paid to the requirements 
of the plants as to sunlight, shade, shelter, etc., and 
observe care in planting so as to avoid all inharmo¬ 
nious mixture of colors. Do not plant tall varieties 
in front of low ones, nor leave running vines with¬ 
out support. All the peculiarities of each plant as 
to color, height, duration of bloom, etc., are describ¬ 
ed in the larger catalogues at comprehensive length. 
Portulacas, Pansies, Fuchsias, Ice Plants, and a 
few others need to be slightly shaded from the mid¬ 
day sun; plant beside taller-growing plants, so 
placed (hat they will intercept the vivid sunlight, 
or beside a lattice fence; a tree or a board fence 
makes too much shade. 
Most of the more common flowers delight in all 
the sunshine they can get, and will do well with pret¬ 
ty much the same general cultivation. Give them 
rich, light, open soil; keep clear of weeds and do 
not let them suffer for water, but remember that the 
rain does not come every day, and you will see that 
flowers do not need watering nearly so often as many 
people think. Remember, too, that rain-water in the 
growing season is never cold, so never give flowers 
water that will chill them. Water that has stood in 
the sunshine all day is of the proper temperature, and 
the best time to water flowers is late in the evening 
or very early in the morning; never water when the 
sun is hot upon them. A weekly watering about the 
roots with good strong soapsuds is of great benfit to 
almost all growing plants, but be careful of its use 
on the leaves of delicate, soft-wooded ones; I once 
completely killed a fine lemon-scented and a nut¬ 
meg scented Geranium by being too liberal with soap¬ 
suds. 
Roses, especially the finer kinds, require special 
culture. Give them a warm, sheltered spot, and 
bear in mind that yon cannot make the soil too rich 
for them. The Rose is a rank feeder and sends down 
its roots sometimes more than two feet, so the soil 
cannot be made too deep. Use a compost of leaf- 
mould, well-rotted stable-manure, bone-flour, and 
good garden-soil. Dig a hole two feet deep for each 
bush, or, if you prefer them in groups, a hole the size 
you wish the bed to be, and fill it with the compost 
well pressed in but not too hardly packed. Plant 
carefully and firmly a fraction deeper than they grew 
in the pot, water freely, and shade from the sun for 
several days. They will scarcely fail to thrive if 
care is taken to keep them free of bugs and slugs. 
Any one wishing to grow Roses to any extent must 
be provided with some one of the good books on 
rose-growing; the directions for pruning, pinching, 
etc., take too much space for this article. Some pre¬ 
fer to grow their own Roses from cuttings, but I have 
found it better to get good strong plants from reliable 
florists, for though I have tried about every plan of 
which I ever heard or read, I have never succeeded 
in growing Roses from cuttings. 
In the hope to be of help to some of modest means, 
I will make a few suggestions as to the beauty and 
profit that may be evolved from the possibilities of a 
ten-by-twelve backyard in a city, even New York. 
The first Requisite is the soil; almost any market 
gardener will haul two or three barrels of good gar¬ 
den earth for a small compensation. From the 
florist’s can be cheaply obtained a half-bushel of leaf- 
mould or peat-soil, and a few pounds of bone-flour; 
a gallon or two of silver sand would also be a good 
addition. When these are obtained they must he 
well mixed together; then there is a compost in which 
almost anything will grow nicely. Property-owners 
will not allow the displacement of many bricks or 
flags, and as there is so little ground-space the flow¬ 
er-beds, instead of being laid out, must be built up, 
as are the New York houses. 
When you are sure of your soil, provide a lot of 
rough boxes of different sizes, some nail and small 
cracker kegs, a bundle of laths, a pound of lathing 
nails, and a pound or two of eight and ten-penny 
nails. If 3 'ou haven’t them and do not wish to buy, 
borrow a rule, a saw, and a hatchet; get your ma¬ 
terials out in the yard and go to work. You will be 
surprised, when once begun, how ideas will come to 
you and things shape themselves to your eye. Al¬ 
most any girl can do all the work for herself; per¬ 
haps at the cost of some mashed fingers and a few 
scratches, but these will feel good when they get done 
hurting, and it will be so pleasant, when the sum¬ 
mer fills your little garden with odor and loveliness, 
to feel that your own hands were the instruments 
which helped you to so much comfort and pleasure. 
One of your boxes should be a big, rough packing- 
case, say four feet long, three feet wide, and twenty- 
seven inches, or perhaps three feet, high. Divide the 
height into three equal parts, draw a line with the 
rule and a pencil, and saw the box into three parts; 
there will be one box with a bottom and two with¬ 
out. The loose top of the case will make one bot¬ 
tom, odd bits the other. Now knock off one end 
and one side of each of the bottomless boxes and saw 
sixteen inches off the length and eight inches off the 
width of one, and two feet off the length and sixteen 
inches off the width of the other; nail the corners 
up into shape again and nail on the bottoms. Now 
Gffie SSGHljlCUUGR. 
you will have three trays, say nine inches deep; one 
four feet by three feet in size, one thirty-two by 
twenty-eight inches, the other one sixteen inches 
shorter and eight inches narrower than that. Set 
your largest tray on the bricks and nail it firmly to 
the fence. J3aw one of your other boxes down to the 
height of nine inches and set it down in the one 
you have fixed; let it be as nearly as you can the 
size of the box that is to rest upon it; you will save 
much soil thereby. Set the second-size tray on this 
and nail it firmly to the box and fence. Fix a small¬ 
er box in the same way and nail the smallest tray to 
that and the fence. Now you have two three-sided 
flower borders each eight inches wide, and one the 
whole square of your smallest tray. With two 
cheese-boxes, a nail-keg cut in halves, and a halved 
cracker-keg, you may make two round pyramids to 
stand in the corners of the yard. You may make 
more if you like, and with larger and more boxes 
make them higher. You will soon he inventing addi¬ 
tions and improvements. Fill your trays with the 
prepared soil and plant your flowers. If you can 
afford pot-flowers you have but to get them from the 
florist and set them in the traj’s in the order that best 
pleases your fancy; but if you must economize, get 
flower seeds and sow them thinly and very shallow 
where you wish them to stand. As the soil is so 
shallow you cannot grow large plants. The smaller 
plants are more sweet and beautiful. Along the 
edge of the bottom tray plant Abronia of both colors, 
inside Sweet Alyssum. In the second tray, Lobelia 
Erinus. In the top plant Pansies, Portulacas, China 
Pinks, or Verbenas; in any case using the mixed 
seed. When your plants bloom, as they will con¬ 
tinuously through the summer, you will have a pyra¬ 
mid with a border of white and rosy lilac at the bot¬ 
tom, next tier deep blue, and the top, if Pinks, Por¬ 
tulacas, or Vebenas, all shades of red; if Pansies, a 
mosaic of velvet browns, purples, and yellows. The 
round pyramids should be different. One may have 
narrow-striped Tradescantia in the bottom, second 
tier Sedurn Carneum, at the top Saxifraga Sarmen- 
tosa. These are not easily grown from seed, but can 
be had at any florist’s for a few cents each. In the 
other plant at bottom mixed Portulacas, second 
tier Mignonette, at the top Drummond’s Phlox, 
dwarf mixed, or pink Oxalis. 
Most flowers do best to be sown where they are 
to grow, but there are but few varieties that may 
not be successfully transplanted, with proper care. 
Some time may be gained, if you have a warm room 
in which to keep them by sowing the different seeds 
in a box and placing them at first near the fire heat 
and then in a window with warm exposure. The 
little seedlings are extremely tender and must be 
shaded from too hot sunlight and be gently and care¬ 
fully watered. I think I have named no flower in 
this article than such as bear transplanting. 
With the hope that my suggestions may be the in¬ 
centive to some tired, homesick soul to create for it¬ 
self a little brightness amid the city’s waste, I am, 
A Sincere Friend of The Cabinet. 
As a general rule, moisture is death to insects 
which infest conservatory and window plants. 
