THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Is all mixed beds or borders, if properly planted, 
there will be a mass of bloom this month. The early 
flowering bulbs, such as Scillas, Crocuses, Snowdrops, 
Narcissus, and the early flowering Tulips, and many of 
the herbaceous plants, should be in the height of their 
bloom, and the borders present a scene of cheerful 
beauty. Flowers are never so beautiful, nor so welcome, 
as in the early spring. Coming so soon after the cold 
storms of winter, they make us forget the disagreea¬ 
bleness of the past, and fill our hearts with joy with the 
bright scenes of the present. Spring flowers should 
never be neglected, no glare of gaudy color in the 
autumn can compensate for the absence of the simple 
little Violet, the Primrose, and the Daisy, and other 
children of the spring. With these bursting every¬ 
where into bloom and beauty, garden work of all kinds 
will seem easy and doubly interesting. With a bed of 
Hyacinths and Tulips in full bloom beside you. the task 
of making your beds for Annuals and Gladiolus will be 
a joyous one ; you will see around you. not only the re¬ 
sults of your last autumnal work, but sure promises of 
a rich reward in the coming months, for the labor you 
are now bestowing, and the money expended in the 
garden. Flowers pay for each other: those in the early 
spring paying with their smiles and sweet perfumes for 
those that come later on, which, in their turn, will pay 
you ten-fold in summer and autumn on those that are 
to come in spring-time. Thus an unbroken chain of 
labor and reward is kept up the whole year. Do not 
let a link get broken: if you do, much of your pleasure 
for the year will be lost. Continuous bloom gives con¬ 
tinuous pleasure, the only stimulant that can be taken 
that is sure to make labor easy. As the pleasure in the 
garden this month is very great, there will be in it as 
well a corresponding amount of work. The grass must 
be well raked, swept, rolled, and, in many localities, cut 
with the lawn mower. Dox and other edgings laid and 
trimmed; borders hoed and raked amid flowering bulbs 
or plants: the turf sides of walks and beds, freshly cut 
with the edging knife, or clipped, and everything be 
made to look dressy and clean, to welcome the flowers, 
and add to your enjoyment of them. 
Much of the future effects depend upon the prepara¬ 
tion of the soil and the mode of planting, to grow 
masses of flowers to perfection. The earth should be 
made as deep and as rich as possible. Tin's enrichment 
may be called the foundation of summer beauty. The 
latter rests upon the former, as (he bridge upon tho 
key-stone; and this foundation should have been laid 
last autumn or winter. But better late than never; 
and if there is a piece of empty border or a flower-bed 
that you intend to be the grandest portion of your 
garden, give it four or six inches of well-rotted 
manure, and dig it up deeply at once, breaking the 
lumps as fine as possible. Never mind the surface 
until planting time, before which, it will have already 
become mellow into great fineness by the action of the 
elements. 
If not already done, finish trimming Roses. Cut the 
weaker shoots back to two or three eyes or ends, while 
strong shoots may be left a foot or more. After prun¬ 
ing, top-dress with a coating of the richest manure that 
can be found. The Rose is a great feeder, and can 
hardly have a surfeit. The roots delight in partially 
decomposed manure from the cow-stable; that of 
horses is not strong enough, besides it is more ex¬ 
citing than nourishing to the plant. Give Roses the 
richest, strongest, deepest piece of ground in the gar-, 
den, and don’t worry their roots with any surface crop 
of flowers. The end of this month, or at the beginning 
of the next, is the best time to plant Tea Roses. These 
are the most satisfactory Roses to plant, particularly 
for small gardens. Get young plants, such as can be 
bought for about one dollar per dozen, and they will 
make charming bushes by autumn, and give you Roses 
very nearly, if not all the summer, and in the fall, a 
bountiful supply of choice buds, the fragrance of which 
is beyond compare. Attend now carefully to providing 
a sufficient number of plants, of good size, but young, 
and have them sufficiently bordered off for all the 
vacant places in your border, and for such beds as you 
are to plant. 
If not already done, prepare your flower beds for 
Annuals. Manure them well, heavily, as though you 
were to grow a crop of potatoes. Flowers take as much 
out of the earth as any other crop, and the foundation 
of.floral beauty is laid in the the compost heap. Seeds 
of many Annuals can be sown this month—such as the 
Nemophila, Candytuft, sweet Alyssum, Calliopsis, 
Sweet Peas, in fact, all that are termed hardy Annuals. 
The Pansy-bed should be planted, and that should be of 
a rich heavy loam. For early flowering, plant Gladiolus 
as soon as possible, if the ground is dry, and plant 
eveiy two weeks for a succession of bloom. 
NEW YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
March Meeting. 
Notwithstanding the most severe storm of the sea¬ 
son, the meeting was well attended, showing plainly, 
that when Tare flowers are to be exhibited they will be 
duly appreciated. Offering liberal premiums for the 
best display of plants and flowers, in their season, which 
the managers are now doing, is the only way to keep 
up the interest in the Society which is now thoroughly 
awakened. The exhibition of flowers and flowering 
plants, at this meeting, was exceptionally good, and 
afforded plenty of interest to the officers and members, 
their friends, and the public in general. Tho tables 
were all filled to over-crowding with Roses, Orchids, 
Hyacinths, Tulips, Amaryllis, Lily of the Valley, and 
miscellaneous cut flowers. 
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