March.1, 1905 
did effects that the superintendents of our 
public parks and gardens have made, one 
of the finest London pictures being in Bat- 
tersea Park; and to the strenuous support 
that the system has received from such 
leading lights in the world of gardening as 
Miss Willmott, V.M.H, and Mr. William 
Robinson. These enthusiastic amateurs 
have put Daffodils in the turf of their 
estates in all cix:ctions, and the results are 
Deautiful beyond description in the spring 
of the year. 
It is, unfortunately, aot possible for every 
one of us to plant bulbs in the numbers 
that we see in the places adverted to in the 
preceding paragraph, for the simple reason 
that our gardens are not sufficiently large to 
allow of it. We may, however, all do a 
little in the right direction by utilising the 
bulbs which have been flowered~in yots, 
aud which are too frequently thrown away, 
fur positions in the grass where the ragged 
appearance created by the dying leaves of 
the bulbs and the coarse condition of grass 
coasequent upon neglect of cutting is not 
deemed too serious an eyesore. Herein lies 
the one disadvantage that accrues to. the 
cultivation of bulbs in grass, for it is im- 
perative that the foliage be left upon the 
plants until, having turned quite yellow, it 
has obviously fulfilled its functions and may 
be removed. ‘his process of perfect matu- 
ration, which is so essential to success, in-. 
volves delay in mowing, hence the undesir- 
THE 
ableness of planting bulbs immediately in: 
sight of windows, where the untidiness. 
would naturally be intolerable. 
Pasaing a short distance from the par-. 
terre, which is always kept trim and tidy, 
so as to be in harmouy with the external, 
appearance of the house, there will pro-. 
bably come a bend in the grass with a 
background of shrubs ‘and trees, and it is 
#rom just such spots as these that the 
greatest value can be derived in grass gar- 
dening, for the visitor treading the smooth 
turf will turn quite unexpectedly upon a 
picture of golden Daffodils or gorgeous 
‘Lulips, whose flowers, with their soft back- 
. 
‘X 
ground, will astonish'and delight him Le-~ 
yond measure. Here the long grass does 
not irritate by its unkempt appearance, but 
is gladly tolerated because it adds substan- 
tially in-producing one of the most charm- 
ing corners of the garden in spring, 
It bas already been said that the bulbs 
which have done a season of excellent ser- 
vice in the greenhouse are of the utmost 
velue for planting in grass, and, unfortu- 
natsly, some persons appear to think that 
because old bulbs are being utilised it be- 
eomes little more than a waste of valuable 
time to give care and thought to good and 
effective work. ‘This is not, however, the 
way to set about any gardening operation, 
oritis certain that failure in a greater or 
lesser degree will be the lot of the gar- 
dener. Success demands that each detail 
shall have proper attention, and grass gar- 
dening affords no exception to the rule. _ 
Lhe commonest error of all is that which 
vesults in the bulbs being planted in lines, 
and thus tends to bring the formality of the 
flower garden beyond its sphere, Straight 
janes or regular curves should be avoided, 
xud the planting must be so done as to 
zive the possible idea of natural growth, 
AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
This is by no means an easy thing to do, 
more especially where the amount of space 
available for the purpose is at all limited. 
The most satisfactory results have been 
found tc follow upon the studied neglect of 
any suspicion of a plan, and this is best en- 
sured by standing some little distance away 
from the place that is to be planted and, 
taking a good handful of bulbs, throwing 
vigorously so as to make them scatter as 
much as possible.: Or, as an excellent 
alternative, stand in the centre of the area 
and throw the handful of bulbs high above 
the head, giving the wrist a rotary 
motiun at the moment of ejection. In both 
cases the subsequent movements will be the 
game, and will consist of putting each bulb 
into the soil where it fell. } 
Some objection may be raised to this 
practice on the score-that there is a liability 
of many of the bulbs being lost through its 
adoption, but, as a matter of fact, the 
danger in this direction is slight, and if one 
or two do go astray it will not be a serious 
matter, as the varieties which are usually 
requisitioned for the purpose are not gene- 
rally the expensive ones, but rather those 
which can be bought very cheaply. Again, 
the shortness of the grass in autumn when 
the planting is done favors the ready find- 
ing of every bulb by an operator who exer-" 
cises a reasonable amount of care ia his 
work. Hine 
In the distribution of the bulbs in the 
Manner indicated, one has to take into con- 
sideration the ‘space at commend, and 
whether it is desired to have masses of one . 
kind or variety, or a mixture of as many as 
can be got together. There can scarcely 
be two opinions’ as 10 | which system will 
produce the more striking effects, and that 
is separate masses. But this means that a 
fairly extensive amount of room must be 
accorded, as two or three bulbs of a variety 
are apt to look somewhat forlorn in their 
splendid isolation. Let the determining 
factor, therefore, be size and nothing else, 
haying masses or mixtures just as the space 
will allow. If the latter is the only feasible 
plan, then mix Tulips, Crocuses, Snake’s 
Head Liles, and Daffodils in one basket, 
whence they may be drawn for distribution 
in handfuls that are as varied as they can 
be made without attempting anything in 
the way of selection. ~ 
The actual planting demands skill, care, 
and the use of proper tools. It is first of 
all necessary to cut out the piece of turf 
beneath the waiting bulb, and then to sub- 
stitute for the soil some sound loam if it is 
thought that the natural mould is at all 
poor. Next the bulb; or bulbs will be 
placed in position precisely as one would do 
were the work being carried out in the 
flower beds and borders. After the cover- 
ing of soil, new or old, as the case may be, 
| ROYAL | , 
Agricultural and Horticultural 
is put op, it only remains 
. piece of turf that 
“to replace the 
was removed betore the 
work may be said to be completed. The 
requisites are, then, & sharp turf cutter, a 
batrowload of prepared soil, and a cartload 
vf common sense, ‘which will ensure the re- 
sults being in all respects satisfactory to 
every one. It is somewhat tedious work 
certainly, but it will thorougly repay for all 
the time spent upon it. For those who 
would have a turf cutter and a soil excava- 
tor in the same tool there is~nothing to 
equal the admirable implement that has 
been invented by Barrs for this express 
purpose, as it is easy to handle and doves its 
work in a perfect manner.—‘‘ The Gar- 
dener.”’ 
AN ENGLISH BOG GARDEN. 
» 
Some twelve or fifteen years ago im a cor 
ner of the grounds at Wolseley was an un- 
tidy swamp, & disused pond, about a third 
of an acre in extent, surrounded by high 
banks, and beyond these by lofty trees and 
a few shrubs. The middle part was a re- 
gular swamp, overgrown with tall Nettles 
and common Sedges. In my childhood it 
can remember it used to be called the 
“Wilderness, and in the lofty Elms was a 
strong colony, of rooks; these, alas! have 
long since forsaken the spot. Many were 
the suggestions for converting this untidy 
spot into something more beautiful. Some 
suggested a rock garden, but there was too 
others the re-making of the 
pond, but there was already quite enough 
water, about the place, the River Trent 
flowing within a few yards of the house, 
and there being another fish pond close to 
it. At last I;happened to come across 
“Phe Wild Garden,’ and, after reading 
therein the charming descriptions of plants 
naturalised by brookside and in the bog 
garden, I formed the idea of converting 
this wilderness into a semi-wild bog gat- 
den. , 4) 
The first thing was to cut a winding 
ditch through the centre of the bog. and. 
this has ever'since been a running stream, 
bordered with Ferns and other plants, and 
another ditch round the outside of the 
swamp to drain it, with a rough pathway 
all round. and. one skirting the stream 
through the centre, and to construct. some 
rustic. wooden bridges over - the ditches. 
Then I planted several good clumps of 
Rhododendrons, a fair-sized clump of scar- 
let Dogwood, a few clusters of hardy Bam- 
boos, and a few shrubby Spireas.. I also 
planted with Azaleasa good-sized. mound, 
raised. from the soil out of the ditches. 
These formed the foundation for my bog 
garden, and between these clumps and on 
much shade; 
society. 
ANNUAL AUTUMN EXHIBITION, MARCH 2, 3, 4. 
THURSDAY—Stiid Cattle, Draught and Roadster Stock, Horses in Action. 
Main Buildings FRIDAY—Horses in Action;' Flowers; Vegetables, &e., Kc. 
Horses in Action! - 
Concert at 8 pm, in 
-SATURDAY— 
Apaission—Ground, 1/; Reserve, 1/; extra Gates open at tpi. each day. 
JOHN CRESWELL, Secretary 
