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By Henry T. Williams 
NEW YORK, JUNE, 1874. 
Price 12 Cents. 
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Gaeden Decobation—Statue Among Ouna.mental Plants. 
OUT-DOOR GARDENING. 
This article is written for the encouragement 
those who have a love for flowers with but little ex¬ 
perience in the cultivation of them. Do not attempt 
the work without good tools. I head my list of tools 
with a spading fork, which I am proud to say a 
woman can use to advantage; a hoe, rake, trowel, 
and last of all, what I have heard called a Dutch hoe, 
for cleaning the walks. I always try to furnish my 
plants with good living. A pile is started in the 
spring which grows a stately mound during 
the year, at the end of which time it is ready 
for use. Not a day passes without its re¬ 
ceiving some offering—dead 
leaves, weeds, turf, anything 
and everything gathered 
through the day hy the faith¬ 
ful gardener. When ready 
for use the soft black mould 
would delight one who un¬ 
derstood its value. When 
mixed with the soil from last 
year’s hot-bed what plants 
could fail to thrive upon such 
dainty fare ? 
The great defect in.many 
gardens is the narrow walks, 
giving them the look of a 
room in which there is too 
much furniture. No walks 
should he less than three feet 
six inches in width. For 
bordering I prefer Oxalis. 
The variety I use has a leaf 
beautifully marked with a 
dark centre, the flower a deep 
rose color. It blossoms until 
killed hy hard frosts. The 
increase is so great that the 
bulbs from one bed will bor¬ 
der the whole garden another 
year. Not having a very 
large garden I depend upon 
annuals, bulbs, and house j 
plants for filling the beds. 
Japan Lilies are indispen- 
sible in any garden, and I 
find them successfully cul¬ 
tivated by following the di¬ 
rections given in the flower 
of 
catalogue of B. K. Bliss & Sons. As far as possible 
I save my own seeds. It is some trouble, but it 
counts several dollars every year. I can grow much 
finer Verbenas from seeds than from any plants I can 
buy. Always buy the best seeds, and only save from 
very perfect plants. Do not crowd your beds with 
too many plants. When transplanting one can hardly 
realize the change a few weeks will make, and it is 
such a temptation when we ..have rather too many to 
want them in somewhere. After having given two 
dozen seedlings the same care it may seem 
heartless to select twelve and throw out the 
others, but it must be done, so shut your 
eyes and away with them. 
For a long time I feared to 
transplant in dry weather. 
It seemed very much like 
bringing up a large family 
by hand. With many mis¬ 
givings a bed of Phlox was 
filled, and the little plants 
sept covered through a week 
of blasting winds and glaring- 
sunshine, it proved a suc¬ 
cess, and one bed after 
another was transplanted 
until the work was done. 
All of my house plants go 
| in the garden in the summer, 
where they grow and bloom 
most satisfactorily. Fuchsias 
have a bed hy themselves, 
where the sun leaves them 
an hour or more before noon. 
They are trained to frames 
made from willow cuttings, 
grow very large and blossom 
through all the season. 
As far as possible avoid 
watering the flowers. If you 
keep the soil mellow so that 
it will absorb the dew and 
other moisture you will find 
far less use for a watering- 
pot. “ The dryer the season 
the more I cultivate my corn,” 
said a successful farmer. The 
same rule for a flower gar¬ 
den ; you cannot cultivate 
too much. S. E. Jones. 
