Chapter XL: Part V: Miscellaneous (6)

When he was a little pupil about ten years of age, his master planted a walnut-tree to give a grateful shade to a place immediately outside the house. The planting of this walnut-tree was attended with some ceremony, little Rousseau and his friend, a fellow-boarder, acting as godfathers, singing songs of triumph around it. The master and his assistants formed a kind of basin around the tree, or, in other words, made a little embankment of earth around it, so that the water could not escape. Jean Jacques and his companion saw and were much interested in all this, made up their minds that it was a nobler thing to plant trees than to plant colours on a breach, and at once became very anxious to plant. This they soon did by cutting a slip of willow, and planting it with due ceremony on the terrace near the august walnut-tree that had been planted by the master. They made a basin of earth round it in imitation of the bigger one, and then came their grand difficulty--how to water it. They were not permitted to fetch any, or they would have gladly done so, though it was at a distance. The tree was safe for a short time from some cause or other, and began to put forth a few leaves, which they hoped would in due time afford them shelter and shade; but hot days came, and it was apparent that unless the little tree had water it would surely die. What was to be done? Well, it is pretty evident that either of them could think a little, even at that age, for the little rogues made up their minds to make a tiny grass-covered canal between the large basin and their little one, so that when the master came to water his big tree, the water might run from his basin to theirs! Their first essay failed; the earth fell in, and they were miserable for a moment, but soon set to work again. This time they cut an old box into narrow planks, and lined the furrow with them, made the slope so that the water would be sure to run as desired, and covered the trench over so that nobody could see it, putting a grating of twigs over the upper end, so as to hide appearances and keep out rubbish, and waited in hope and fear for the result. The master and his men came and poured in the water, which soon ran through the furrow to the little tree. This was too much for our otherwise sagacious little gardeners. They roared with delight at the success of their plan, and betrayed it to the master, who immediately sent for a pick-axe, and cut up their little trench, shouting at the same time, “An aqueduct! an aqueduct!” They were of course sorry, but soon took heart, and planted another tree, which lived to be a big one. To have set this slip in competition with a large one, Rousseau tells, gave him a degree of glory he had not known before, and says that he had a juster idea of it at that age than Cæsar had at thirty.

We will next turn to the selection of trees, and to the various wants of those who are likely to plant. The most popular trees in England at present are those noble evergreen pines. They are not all suited for town gardening, but very much so for most parts of the country. Around the beautiful mausoleum raised to contain the remains of the late Prince Consort at Frogmore, there is a row of these trees, mostly tapering and slender in habit, and very dark green. They have been planted by the various members of the Royal family _in memoriam_. The late Prince was very fond of these pine-trees, and many country gentlemen take the greatest interest in their planting. We merely tell you this to point out that the planting of trees is an object of ambition with many of the best and the highest in the land. When Her Majesty, and many other distinguished persons, visit a nobleman’s place or a public park, one of the most graceful acts they can do is to plant a tree; and the custom is very general. Let us hope, then, that many boys will imitate the example of Rousseau, and say, why should not we too plant trees? But to return to our pines, or conifers, as they are called. The race is a wonderfully beautiful one--so much so, that you must take care, or you may plant things that will do very well for a few years, perhaps, but get quite killed by the first very severe frost. It is a sad sight to see a tree which has perhaps grown to considerable size and beauty killed to the very ground by a frost such as we had in January, 1866--some of our noblest pines perished then; and therefore a list of the most thoroughly hardy kinds must prove useful. The giant Wellingtonia of California is fortunately hardy in all parts of these islands. So is the great arbor-vitæ of Nootka Sound (_Thuja gigantea_), a specimen of which obtained the first prize for trees of this kind at the great Paris Exhibition. One of the most beautiful of all pines, one which has its “leaves,” or little branchlets rather, as graceful as those of a fern, is Thujiopsis borealis, and it too is perfectly hardy. We regret that hard names must be used, but then, as thousands of our plants are not natives of England, they have of course no recognised English name, and to translate the scientific one would simply produce an awkward barbarism. In addition to the above, the following trees of this fine family may be planted with the confidence that we shall not see them perish in the vigour and beauty of youth:--Lawson’s cypress (we give you the English name where possible). Nearly all kinds of juniper. Picea Pinsapo, nobilis, and Nordmanniana, all noble trees--also amabilis and cephalonica. Abies Albertii, Morinda, Menziesii, the Cedar of Lebanon, and the Deodar cedar--these are hurt now and then, but on the whole are hardy enough generally. The common spruce fir; the Scotch fir, always a picturesque tree. The deciduous cypress, a fine tree for the margins of water, where after a time its roots send up most curious knobs, in many cases nearly as big as a beehive, above the ground. It is quite extraordinary to see the specimens of this noble tree in the pleasure grounds at Syon, the Duke of Northumberland’s fine place near Brentford. The new Japanese larch (_L. Kæmpferi_), the Austrian pine, the Swiss nut pine (_P. Cembra_), the Corsican pine. The youthful gardener, who lives near a large nursery, park, or place like Kew, Glasnevin Botanic Gardens, near Dublin, the Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh, the gardens of the Crystal Palace, at Sydenham, or many places of this kind, would do well to examine specimens of the kinds named, or indeed any others, so that he may take his choice; making sure to inquire, however, that the particular kind he selects is perfectly hardy: a tree may be quite hardy in one part of the country, and quite tender in another. The curious and fine monkey puzzle (_Araucaria imbricata_), for instance, has been killed in some parts by severe frosts, in others it has always escaped with impunity. It is always easy to ascertain facts of this kind in a neighbourhood, and of course we should make a point of cultivating the things that are best suited to our climate and soil.

So much for coniferous trees. We will next turn to a far nobler group, so far as regards our wants--deciduous trees, or those that lose their leaves in winter. These are generally quite hardy, and make large and long-lived trees. They may be grown in many places where the pines would not live, and are therefore admirably suited for places in and near towns. They should be preferred by all boys who live in suburban gardens, as in such the leaves of pines and evergreens are sure to be soiled and disfigured, if not half-killed, by smut. Many of these deciduous trees flower beautifully, and in not a few the leaves, even in our dull clime, assume rich and varied tints in autumn. The following list includes the noblest, best, and hardiest known:--The great Columbian maple, the silvery maple (_A. eriocarpum_), the red maple (_A. colchicum rubrum_), the Norway maple, the purple-leaved sycamore, and the variegated negundo; the double horse chesnut (the flower of this lasts very much longer than the single kind), the red chesnut, the Hungarian lime-tree, and the Mississippi lime, the tree of heaven (_Ailanthus glandulosa_), the tulip-tree, the Japanese sophora (a noble tree, fine for dry soils), the Kentucky coffee-tree (not a large tree, but with very graceful leaves), the hawthorns in variety, both red and white. Some of the hawthorns bear handsome fruit, and of such the most distinct is Aronia, Layi, Celsiana and Douglasii. The flowering ash, the showy Chinese Pyrus spectabilis, the American ash, the Canadian ash or lancewood; the Cornish, Chichester, and Irish elms (the last being a tree of large growth) and also most particularly the weeping variety of the wych elm; the black walnut, and the yellow-twigged willow; the silver-leaved poplar, the Carolina poplar, and of course the Lombardy poplar; the splendid western plane, which does so well in towns, the Eastern plane, and the Spanish plane. Lastly, we will name the noble oaks, both the American and our own. The American oaks are among the finest trees of the world. The best of them are Q. ambigua, Prinus, the champion oak, the scarlet oak, the black oak, and the willow oak. Any of these will form long-lived and noble trees.

The preceding remarks and instructions generally apply to the wants of boys whose parents have gardens of some size. But a very large class are not so fortunate--have not sufficient space to develop a good tree, and perhaps live in or near towns, where it may be difficult to grow a good one. For convenience sake, we will divide these into two classes--those who have small gardens in the country, and those who have small gardens in or near towns or cities. In the former, it will be better to pay full attention to subjects of a comparatively dwarf though hardy and long-lived habit, and to fine hardy shrubs like the hollies, &c. Except on the very margins of a small country place, it is a mistake to plant great trees, as at some time they are pretty sure to become an overshadowing nuisance, too near the house to be seen to advantage, and also too near to be agreeable or healthful. Of beautiful dwarf evergreen trees suited for such, there is nothing better than the comparatively new Retinosporas, which are at once graceful, hardy, and beautiful. They are natives of Japan, and in any large nursery various handsome and comparatively dwarf pines may be selected suitable for the same purpose. For the town or suburban garden the best things are decidedly beautiful dwarf and free-flowering deciduous trees, like the almond, the various finely coloured double peaches, the beautiful double cherries, the Chinese crab, the silvery eleagnus, the better kinds of hawthorn, and if there be room for a large tree, the plane is the best. Of course there is great difference in the climate and atmosphere of what are called suburbs. Thus, in many of the suburbs of London it is nearly impossible to get a pine-tree to live, while in the suburbs of many other towns and cities the choicest trees flourish freely. But ten or twelve years’ increase of smoke and increase of houses may make a sad difference to the pleasantest of suburbs, and things that flourished healthfully at one time may gradually perish from increasing smut and vileness of atmosphere. The best trees of the pine tribe for town planting are the dwarf and beautiful Thuja aurea, well suited, from its dwarf size, for the pleasure ground or flower garden; the Austrian pine, the common arbor-vitæ, and perhaps a few others; but as a rule, it is better not to plant pines where they will be exposed to the evil effects of a city atmosphere. On the other hand, all trees that lose their leaves in winter are likely to do well in such places, because they are leafless and quite at rest in the winter, when every chimney is vomiting forth poison, and the air is thick with filth. Then, when the atmosphere begins to clear, and the spring returns, they put forth their leaves and expose them during the best of the year, while the poor pine or evergreen has to stand exposed at all seasons.

THE BOY’S FLOWER GARDEN.

Of course every boy who cares about gardening will have a little flower garden. That is the first thing he is likely to attempt, and, perhaps, on the whole, that which he may attempt with the greatest certainty of success. A nice little varied flower garden is a source of interest and pleasant exercise for a boy nine months out of twelve. But it is not by imitating the common style of flower garden that a boy can make his little piece pretty and interesting for the length of time we have named. Nothing can be more bald and awkward-looking, more miserable in aspect, than most flower gardens he is likely to see at the present day; and therefore he must not attempt to imitate them, but follow the instructions to be presently given. The reason why the greater number of flower gardens of the present time are bad and miserably vulgar-looking, is that those who arrange them simply use a few sorts of plants, and many of them in great excess, so that an oppressive kind of monotony is produced, which is anything but agreeable in the flower garden; and, besides, nearly every flower garden you enter is very like every other--no life or interest to be seen in them as a rule; but, on the other hand, a great deal of mere gaudiness.

In addition to these demerits, the ordinary type of flower garden is usually filled with tender plants--plants which must be put out in the ground when the frosts are quite gone, in the beginning of June, and taken up again as soon as they reappear in autumn--leaving the ground bare for the winter and long spring. Now, even if this were the most beautiful way of managing a flower garden, it would not suit the boy gardener. He has, as a rule, no time to attend to tender plants, and if he once plants his garden, keeps it clean, and adds a new member to it now and then, it is perhaps as much as can be expected, considering how many other things he has to do. Besides, he goes away to school now and then, and what is to become of his tender plants then? Most boys will be proud to take care of their own things, and will be much better satisfied with a hardy little plant, which cannot suffer when they go away for six weeks at a time, than with one that may go off with the first frost. Clearly the best thing for the young gardener to do is to cultivate the most interesting and pretty of the hardy flowers of all seasons. Usually these are infinitely more interesting than the tender exotics of the grand flower garden. Many of them are English plants, notably the beautiful lily of the valley, the pink, the carnation, the graceful Solomon’s seal, the various lovely primroses and polyanthuses, and a host of others. Yes, you will do most wisely by adopting all those charming old inmates of our gardens, which, independently of their associations, are not to be surpassed for their beauty by any tenderlings. It will be our pleasant duty to point out to you the kind that you may grow with the greatest ease, and pick out for you the most beautiful kinds known. It is most essential to be very careful about the plants you put in your little flower garden, for your space is generally small, and there is in consequence the greater necessity to take care that every spot of it is occupied with a “good thing,” as gardeners are wont to say. There are hundreds of plants mentioned in garden books, and sold in nurseries, that are little better than weeds, and which would, therefore, sadly disfigure your garden. Presently we shall write you a list, which may be implicitly depended upon--every plant being beautiful, hardy, and in all respects suited to your wants.

As boys are usually allotted but a small portion of border for their flower garden, it is better to adopt the mixed border system, that is, a mixture of different kinds, tastefully arranged, and have nothing to do with what is called “bedding-out,” or planting great masses of one thing. By the mixed system, you will be enabled to enjoy a little of everything, and at all seasons, from the time that the crocus opens its brightly-burnished golden blossoms in early spring, till the Christmas rose ventures to show its large white flowers in the depth of winter. Do you like exquisitely coloured little flowers in the dawn of spring--little brightly blue things that “come before the swallow dares?” You can grow such without expense or trouble in your little parterre. The charming bushes of dwarf shrubs, and large border flowers, which bloom in May, must have charms for you as for all of us, and these too you may have in perfection; while the roses of June and July, the lilies of August, and the grand gladiolus of the autumn, will all be perfectly at home in your borders, as will every good and beautiful flower garden plant. In laying out your small patch of flower garden, it is best to confine yourself to a central bed (which may be square, round, or oval), and borders around that, and not to attempt anything elaborate in the way of laying. Attempts to lay out small bits of ground in a geometrically elaborate or Lilliputian imitation of the natural style, is almost sure to end in the production of something ridiculous or cockneyfied. Confine your attention chiefly to the plants, laying out the ground in a convenient manner. Let the design be subordinate altogether to the plants. All trivial artificial ornaments, in the way of shells, coloured gravel, statuettes, sundials, &c. should be left out of the plan altogether. The most beautiful gardens are those in which plant-beauty, and that alone, is conspicuous. If you can make the visitor forget all about design--forget everything but the fact that he is in a beautiful and varied garden, with nature’s own gems, free and healthy, on every side, you will attain the highest success of which the ancient art of gardening is capable.

We will suppose, then, that you have selected your little bit of ground. The next thing to do is to prepare it thoroughly. Now, in ordinary cases this is not half done. We are going to recommend you to plant permanent things, plants which will not require removal for many years, and you will not have a thorough opportunity of preparing the ground after you once plant. Therefore, the preparation of the ground is of tenfold greater importance in your case than in that of the ordinary gardener, whose beds of geraniums, or suchlike, are empty in winter, so that he has an opportunity of dressing and digging them every year.

Before marking the walks or anything of the kind, when, in fact, your little piece of ground comes into your hands at first, remove all matters from its surface, add manure to it in abundance, and have the whole dug as deep as you can go, without bringing up the bad subsoil at the bottom. If the ground be sandy, so much the better; then all you have do is to give it plenty of cow, or any other rich manure that comes to hand. If, on the other hand, it be of a clayey, stiff, tenacious nature, like much of the ground to the north side of London, you must act quite differently. Most pretty border plants like a light, warm, free or sandy soil, and abhor a heavy, wet one. The way to cure, if we may so speak, or, in other words, improve the very stiff soil, is to add plenty of sand, leaf-mould, horse manure, or gritty scrapings from roads, or any other loosening material of this kind that you can obtain. Dig it in deep, and dig the ground over again, so that it may be thoroughly incorporated with the soil. All this should be done in autumn, if you have the time--in early autumn, if possible. When well done, and the ground levelled, then you may mark your little walks--with a line--and your central bed; and if in this operation you can get the gardener to assist you, do so by all means. In many cases the gardener gets ready the boys’ garden, and presents it to him ready for planting, and that is the best way; for the planting and attention required afterwards will be as much as you can do, if you do it well. A word or two as to edgings for the borders and the bed. Don’t have anything to do with those nasty stone edgings, so much advertised of late, as they look very ugly and out of place in a garden. The neat little edging of box is, perhaps, the prettiest as well as the oldest in existence. But we are inclined to think that little edgings of plants that flower are the best for your case. Try to be original with your edging as with everything else, if possible, and whatever may be used as an edging near your garden, avoid, and have something distinct. We know of about one hundred pretty plants for making edgings, but can only mention such here as you are likely to be able to obtain without difficulty. The best are the rosy thrift (_Armeria vulgaris rubra_), a lovely spring plant; the pretty little white and blue campanula pumila, and its white variety; the large blue gentian of the Alps (_G. aculis_), this is plentiful in Scotland, but not about London; the pretty little blue aubrietia, to be obtained everywhere; the variegated cocksfoot grass (_Dactylis glomerata variegata_;--what a pity it is that we are obliged to use such names); and the double daisy in various colours. Should you make a box edging, use the dwarfest and best kind; and if you happen to notice any other dwarf hardy plants that make tasteful edgings, use any you fancy, by all means. The more variety we have the better, and the only thing that it is particularly desirable you should avoid is any forms of those crockery wares, or artificial stone edgings, as they are all as bad and ugly as need be.

We will now follow with a list of the most suitable plants for your garden. To each plant a figure will be attached, to indicate the position it should occupy in your beds or borders. We will, for convenience sake, throw the various heights of the plants used into three classes--1, for the smallest plants, or those fitted for the front of the border; 2, for the medium-sized, or those suitable for the middle parts; and finally, 3, for the taller kinds, which require to be placed at the back, or near the back of the border. Doubtless you will make a point of growing the rose; that is deservedly everybody’s favourite. You may plant the rose either in the back part of your border, as a standard in the middle, as a dwarf bush, or on the front edge, pegged down close to the earth--not a bad way of growing it, by the way. But avoid the standard rose, if you can; it is ugly, awkward, and by no means so satisfactory as a rose “growing upon its own roots:” that means, a kind not grafted upon another, but quite on its own resources. Roses generally are grafted upon free growing common kinds, known as stocks. The most pleasing in the end, and by far the most satisfactory, are the roses upon their own roots. They make dwarf but long-lived and vigorous bushes--the very best things you can employ in the middle parts of your borders. If there be sufficient room, have a dozen kinds of roses, each different. Every spring, from deaths during the winter, and changes of one kind or another, you will have to look over your borders to fill up vacancies. It is best done about the end of May, when you may exactly see the state of the plants in the border, by filling up the majority of these vacancies with the better kinds of bedding plants, &c. By doing so you may enjoy both phases of gardening--the beautiful and interesting hardy flowers, to be presently named, and the brilliant and common flowers of the summer parterre, the pretty kinds of verbenas, the dwarf and neat lobelias, the variegated and other geraniums, and in fact, any kind of bedding plant that comes to hand.

Next, for the selection of the more valuable and more uncommon hardy flowers, leaving out all such as are difficult to obtain. Among all the flowers of spring, few are better known than some of the anemones--apennina (1), fulgens (1), coronata (1), sylvestris (1), and Honorine Iobert (2), are the very best. Among them we have the sweetest blue, the brightest scarlet, and the purest white. Of the columbines (_Aquilegias_), the best for your purposes are the common border varieties. They are mostly fitted for the central line of the border. Of the magnificent delphiniums, so richly blue, tall, and stately, there are many beautiful new kinds--so many that I need not enumerate them, but most nurserymen are pretty sure to have varieties of them. Being tall, they are mostly suited for the back, or nearly the back portions of the borders: if you have a central bed, they will also look very well towards the middle of it. By the way, the middle of such bed might well be devoted to a choice shrub or two, say a good rhododendron or kalmia--that is, if the soil would suit such. The peony is almost too big for such little gardens; but a plant or two may be ventured in some unimportant spot. The yellow bachelor’s button (_Ranunculus acris_, fl. pl. 2), is very pretty, and so exceedingly is Dielytra spectabilis (2). Baptisia australis (3). Coronilla varia (2). Galega officinalis alba (3). Lathyrus grandiflorus (3), a climbing plant, very fine for going up a low trellis. The white and red everlasting peas (3), also climbers. Orobus vernus (2). The perennial Lupin (3). Achillea ægyptiacum (2), A. aurea (1), A. Eupatorium (3), and A. millefolium roseum (2)--all fine and free. Of Michaelmas daisies (_Asters_), A. versicolor (1), elegans (3), turbinellus (2), Amellus (2), will be found highly beautiful. The Pyrethum in fine variety of beautiful colour and size: they have been raised of late years in great quantity by Mr. Salter of the Hammersmith nurseries, and are admirably suited to the middle line of borders, therefore the figure 2 will indicate their position to a T; their colour is rich and distinct in the extreme. The fine autumnal flowering Phlox (3) is also sold in great and beautiful variety, and should have a place in every good collection. Six or eight of the best kinds should be in the boy’s garden. Nearly every nurseryman supplies them cheap. In the harebell family (_Campanulas_) we will find some very fine, particularly pumila (1), carpatica (1), persicifolia (3), and P. alba (3), grandis (2), macrantha (3), rotundifolia (2). The fleur-de-lis, or Iris, has some beautiful varieties, of which the best are germanica (2), florentina (2), pallida (2), De Bergii (2), pumila (1). Tritoma grandis (3), and glaucescens (3), are noble things for the back of a border. The double wallflowers (2), the alpine wallflower (1) (_Cheiranthus alpinus_). The Potentillas (2). Veronica amethystina (2), and corymbosa (2). The Virginian tradescantia (2); the crimson loose-strife (3); Lythrum roseum superbum. I give you the hard names so that you may have the less difficulty in procuring the plants, for many may know them by their Latin name, who would not know them by their common one, and _vice versâ_. The American cowslip (1): this being a very chaste and pretty plant, have as much as you can of it. Salvia argentea (2). This plant has grand silvery leaves, and should be in every collection. Perennial candy tuft, 1 (_Iberis_). There are three kinds of this--corræafolia, saxatilis, and Garrexiana, all good, hardy, and beautiful. Arabis alpina (1); Aubrietia purpurea (1); Alyssum saxatile (1): all three very easy to grow, and very common. The beautiful little Hepaticas in various colours, blue, white, and red. You must secure a stock of these, above all things; they are among the prettiest of spring flowers, and will “set off” charmingly the front parts of your borders. There is a fine new kind of hepatica (_H. angulosa_), a noble kind, which you will also do well to obtain: give it a rather shady position in light soil. One or two tufts of the Christmas rose will be quite enough. When this begins to show its flowers, a few weeks before Christmas, you will do well to cover the plant with a hand-glass, leaving a little air at the top. This will prevent the flowers from being injured or hurt by rain; they will grow very much larger and whiter than if left exposed. Of Pentstemons (2), a good variety should be grown, especially if the soil be light and good, such as they delight in. Sedum fabaria (2), is a fine autumnal flowering plant, which must not be forgotten. Rudbeckia Newmannii (3), a very fine autumnal bloomer. Lithospermum fruticosum (1), a wonderfully pretty plant for the fronts of borders. Any kind of pink (1) that you can conveniently obtain, should be grown; they are sweet, hardy, neat, and, in a word, perfect for your purposes. They are considerably varied of late years, and highly useful for cutting for bouquets, &c. The front of the border is the best place for them. Immediately behind them, and scarcely so far back as the line of the second row, is the place for the carnations and picotees, which of course you will be sure to cultivate. There is nothing more beautiful in our gardens than many of these, so beautifully and richly coloured, and so delicately and exquisitely margined and striped. Linum narbonense (2), and Perenne album (2), noble kinds of hardy flax, are also good. The Œnothera tribe will furnish some beauty: notably the sweetly coloured Œ. acaulis (1), which opens its very large flowers in the evening, and keeps them open till nearly breakfast-time in the morning; the noble yellow macrocarpa; and the large evening primrose (_Œ. Lamarkiana_). Some dwarf tiny shrubs, that flower freely, will look beautiful in your border, and of such you cannot find one more beautiful than the early spring flowering heath, 1 (_Erica carnea_); it is a mass of handsome bloom, and very hardy and neat in habit. Other capital little shrubs are Daphne Cneorum, sweet and pretty--various dwarf kinds of native heaths, and Genista tinctoria (1), and sagittalis (1).

In addition to the above, it need hardly be added, that such universally esteemed plants as the lily of the valley (1), the primrose (1), and the polyanthus, should be well represented. Latterly there have been raised considerably varied kinds of primrose and polyanthus, and nothing can be more charming than mixed masses of such. From a packet of seed of each (ask for that of the ordinary mixed kinds), you may raise a considerable variety of beautiful kinds. Double daisies (1), too, in various colours, will be found very pretty in the spring, as will the numerous kinds of pansy (1), the gentian, and the forget-me-not. By the way, you must not forget some tufts of the common forget-me-not; it does very well as a border plant in all but the driest soils. At Trentham it is tastefully employed to form a margin round some pretty little gardens, dedicated to the various younger members of the family; and we have known people to be so full of gratitude to a departed dog, as to plant a ring of it round the little monumental slab which indicated his place of burial in the garden border. The various pretty and very dwarf kinds of saxifrage (1), and Sedum (1), too, you will find neat and distinct for the very front of your border, in which you will of course arrange the dwarfest plants.

One word more. It would be a pity to confine you to this or any other selection. The more varied your garden is, and the more distinct from that of your friends or neighbours, the better. The selection above given is as good as can be made, and may save you from getting a lot of ugly weeds in your garden, under the name of flowers; but in addition to these, you would do well to add any other pretty plant met with in your rambles, and which seems to you worthy of a place; while with friends who cultivate plants, you may exchange any that you have plenty of, for new varieties, or anything that you may fancy.

THE BOY’S FRUIT GARDEN.

There are few boys who cannot appreciate the virtues of a delicious melting pear or good apple; and our object in writing this paper is to tell them how to grow such in a comparatively short space of time. In old times, and, indeed, generally at present, people plant for those who come after them--“plant for their heirs,” in fact,--plant trees that will come into bearing in twelve years or so; and therefore some may say, why offer the boys such a far-off treat? But times change, and the system which produces the finest fruits now in our markets, happens to be exactly suited to the boy’s garden. Large and beautiful apples have been sold in Paris during the past spring for as much as three francs a-piece! These were in many, or in nearly all cases, grown upon little trees not more than a foot from the ground, and several of them not more than two or three years old! The French are the best growers of apples and pears in existence; and in France originated this dwarf method of growing them. The way they do it is as follows:--The best kinds of apples are grafted on a variety known as the Paradise, which induces a very dwarf growth and early fertility in the kinds grown upon it. We have seen these fruiting, this year, at two years of age, bearing fine fruit, much better than you see on trees developed to full size. They are grown in two ways, generally as cordons, and occasionally as little standards. The “cordon” is simply a single plant of apple, trained along a wire, supported about a foot from the ground. The little standard, or bush, is simply a diminutive Lilliputian kind of tree--just such as a boy would wish for in his garden. Not taller, if as tall as himself, he can shorten the shoots and gather the fruit with the greatest ease. The culture of these little trees is so simple that no boy need fail with them. A sunny spot should in the first instance be chosen, that is, if the young gardener can get it; and it is not often that he is allowed any but a bye nook of some kind or other; and no wonder, because hitherto boys’ gardens have simply been short-lived little exhibitions of untidiness, never yielding any result and very little beauty. But the young gardener who manages well his fairy part of fruit garden, will soon produce a little feature that any place might be proud of. Next, as to how to do it.

Very little ground is required. A small patch will afford space for a great number of little trees. A sunny open spot should be selected, where the trees will have all the advantages of sun and air to perfect their fruit, and render their shoots short, firm, and fertile, instead of sappy, gross, and useless. The soil should be of a slightly sandy or loamy nature, and not wet. If the ground be badly drained, and water lies in it much, it is almost hopeless to attempt fruit-growing, and the little gardener had in that case better turn his attention to something with which his soil and circumstances are likely to agree. One of the chief points in gardening is to choose the course most suited for your own soil, climate, and position. Thus the boy who lives in a great city, or the suburb of one, and who has to contend with the smoke and other evils incident to such, must pursue a very different plan of gardening to the boy who lives in the country, and has all the advantages of pure, sweet air for his plants. The best of all soils for our little fruit-trees, is one moderately sandy, yet not too loose and free, with what we may term a free bottom, that is, a sandy or other subsoil beneath, which will permit the water to pass off freely from the fertile or upper earth. But although this is the best soil, there are few others that we need reject--the worst, perhaps, being deep, stiff, soap-like clay. The best time to plant is in the autumn. Be sure you ask for the young apple-trees grafted on the “Paradise,” and the pears on the Quince stock. Both apples and pears may be grown as little standard trees or as cordons. In planting, do not put the roots deep, and spread them out even, forming first a rather firm and slightly convex surface, on which to place the little plant. This will be found to suit very much better than making a loose sort of hole into which to put the roots.

It should be borne in mind that when fruit-trees send their roots deep into rich or cold ground, they produce a lot of coarse, useless wood, barren of fruit, or nearly so. To counteract this tendency, what is called root-pruning has been resorted to. It simply consists in taking up the trees once in two years or so, and replanting them--at least, this is the way with our little trees. It may not be necessary on many soils; but where it is, it may be readily done during pleasant dry weather in autumn. The check given to the tree by the disturbance, causes it to form fertile buds and a stubby habit. It is well that the young amateur gardener should know this, so that he may apply a remedy if his fruit-trees grow too strong and prove barren. But generally they are fertile enough, and even sometimes produce a successful crop the first year after planting; the second year they should bear well. The accident of a severe frost while the trees are in flower, will of course always do mischief, and may ruin a crop; but all are liable to this, as well as our Lilliputians. It is best to plant the erect little trees in a small square--pears and apples separate, for uniformity sake--and to place the cordons around this, just as the French make a sort of edging of them in their gardens. Indeed, if the boy cannot obtain a neat little sunny square for his tiny trees, he will hardly fail to succeed in getting permission to arrange a few in cordon fashion along the edge of some border. It is simply done by either driving down a strong wooden post, or an iron one, so as to support a wire at about ten inches or a foot from the ground. Beneath that, the trees are to be planted, say at a distance of six or eight feet, and tied along the wire. When once this is done there is no further trouble, except to pinch back the shoots in summer so as to keep them close and compact. This operation requires a little attention. The main stem, which is of course tied carefully but not too tightly to the wire sends out side shoots in the summer. When these are about four, or say from three to five inches long, they are to be pinched back, or in other words, nipped off, within about an inch of the base of the young shoot, in the case of apple-trees--in the case of pear-trees it should be left somewhat longer. This is for the summer pruning; in winter it may be necessary to go over the trees with a knife, and remove or shorten awkward spurs, or cut out dead bits here and there; but the summer pinching is the chief thing to be done in the matter. When the trees produce too plentiful a crop of fruit, these should be thinned when very young, so that those left may assume the splendid flavour and size which makes fruit grown in this way superior to that grown in the old and large tree system. I will now give you a list of the best kinds to use in this way, and which can be bought in any respectable nursery. Of apples the very best are Colville Blanche and Reinette de Canada, Cox’s orange pippin, Hawthornden, Herefordshire Pearmain, Greaves’ pippin, or any other first-class kind of apple. Of pears, Marie Louise, Winter Nelis, Beurré Diel, Jargonelle, Beurré d’Amanlis, and Joséphine de Malines, will be found very suitable for the dwarf bush or cordon style, as will most first-class pears.

_Cropping the Ground._

DIGGING.

When land is first brought under the spade it should be well dug, and it ought to be trenched up; that is, a full spit or spadeful should be taken and thrown somewhat higher than the general level of the ground, and turned, so that the under part of the soil is brought to the surface; in doing this effectually a sort of trench will be left at the part where the spade goes in, and at the end of digging a piece of ground in this manner this trench will be required to be filled up. It is usual for gardeners to provide for this at the onset by bringing a barrow full of the mould from the part at which the spade is first put in, and filling up the trench so left at the end of the process. Common digging, when the ground is not to be trenched, consists in turning it over regularly and evenly with the spade. When manure is necessary, it is either hoed over the ground and dug in as the digger proceeds, or in trenching it may be laid in each successive trench as it is made, which will of course be covered by the next line of digging. Flower-beds are best turned up with a small three-pronged spade-fork; and it is often necessary to use the same instrument when digging between strawberry and other roots, which is technically called forking. The earth in this process is not turned over, but only broken up and loosened, and the handle of the fork not turned in the process, but drawn gently backwards with a kind of knock, which can be easily acquired by practice.

HOEING.

The hoe is of very great use in a garden. There are generally three kinds of hoes: 1st, the narrow; 2d, the broad; and 3d, the Dutch hoe. The small hoe is used for hoeing in flower-beds; the broad one for earthing up peas, potatoes, &c., and the Dutch hoe is of service in dry weather in clearing the ground quickly of weeds. The two former hoes are used by drawing the handle to you, and hence called _draw hoes_; but the Dutch hoe is used by thrusting forward, when the weeds cut up by it fall through the hollow portion at (_a_) clear of the operation. In hoeing the hoer should be particularly careful to go quite to the roots of the weeds, and clear of the roots of the plants. In hoeing up peas he should be careful to draw the earth nicely among the haulms; and in hoeing up cabbages not to sprinkle the dirt among the tender leaves forming the heart of the plant.

RAKING.

There are two kinds of rakes,--the broad and narrow. The broad rake is for raking over seed beds, and the narrow one for raking borders among flowers, &c. In the use of the rake the gardener should first lightly drag off all the weeds and stones from the soil. In holding the handle of the rake high, all the loose stones, weeds, &c., will be easily drawn from the ground without the mould; when the handle is held low, the teeth of the rake enter the ground and scratch it up, which is sometimes necessary to be done; but the little gardener should be careful not to rake away his soil; and the little hard balls of earth that come over with the stones, &c. should be pulverised by the back of the rake.

WEEDING.

The garden should always be kept perfectly clear of weeds; a weed in a garden is a disgrace to the gardener, and unless a young person makes up his mind to be very particular in this he had better never think of gardening. Chickweed, dandelion, plantain, bindweed, and every other description of extraneous growth should be quickly removed, and that worst of all weeds, called the gardener’s plague, “couchgrass,” should be extirpated entirely, as should all suckers from the roots of trees. Weeds, if not in seed, should be thrown into the manure pit, but sticks or stones should never be mixed with them.

SOWING SEEDS.

The ground having been dug and raked, and otherwise prepared, is fit for the reception of the seed. Radishes, carrots, parsnips, are sown by the hand broadcast; the way of sowing carrot seed is to mix it with the earth in a large flower-pot, and then to scatter it very thinly over the bed: at least, that way is suited to the boy’s garden; in the open garden and the field they sow carrots and parsnips in drills. Peas are sown in drills about three inches deep and four feet apart. Broad beans are put in with a dibber in straight lines about five inches apart, the rows being four feet from each other. French beans are sown thinly in drills about four feet apart. Scarlet runners are put in by the dibber singly about three inches apart, and should have bean sticks placed near them as soon as they appear, upon which to climb. Cabbage-plants should be put in by the dibber about nine inches apart, in rows about four feet distant from each other. Cauliflowers should be planted eighteen inches apart either way, as should Scotch kale and sprouting brocoli. Spinach may be sown thinly in drills three feet apart, or broadcast in beds. Lettuce-seed, cabbage-seed, cauliflower-seed, and all kinds of flower-seeds should be first sown in warm situations in good mould very thinly, and then the plants should be transplanted as they grow of sufficient size. Potatoes should be planted with the dibber nine inches apart, in rows three feet apart, as should Jerusalem artichokes. Onions should be sown broadcast, in beds about six feet wide and fifteen or twenty long. The beds for parsnips and carrots may be six feet wide and thirty long.

TRANSPLANTING.

This is a most important operation, and is indispensable in the art of gardening. A vast number of seeds must be sown in beds, and afterwards transplanted into their final situations; this is particularly the case with regard to flowers. The instrument with which transplanting is performed is called a trowel, of which there are both small and large. In using it the principal thing to be attended to, is to take the best and most vigorous of the plants raised in the seedbed, without injuring their roots, and with the earth around them, and placing them, with as little disturbance of their roots as possible, in their new situations. In transplanting shrubs, &c. from pots, the planter should very slightly break the earth round the roots of the plant, so that its fibres may have free play in the new earth. In transplanting shrubs, &c. particular care should be taken in digging them up, so that the young fibres of the roots are not injured. When shrubs, &c. are first transplanted, they should be moderately watered, and of course it is bad management to plant shrubs at a time when they are likely to suffer from sun. The right time to transplant is in the autumn and spring, when the ground is nice and dry, and “in good working order,” as gardeners term it.

WATERING.

Nature is the best waterer of plants, and it is good policy to leave the matter as much as possible in her hands; but we must assist her now and then by applying it ourselves. In watering, pond water is much better than pump water; and in warm weather, if no pond water can be procured, it is well to pump the water into some large tank or tub, and let it stand for some hours exposed to the sun and air before using it. Morning and evening are the proper times for watering; the middle of the day, or during a hot sunshine, is a very improper time for using the watering-pot in summer-time, although it is the best time for using it in the winter. In watering plants in flower-pots the finger should be first passed round the pot where the mould joins the sides of the pot, so as to close up the little crack or crevice between them, otherwise the water will pass down this crack, and go out at the hole at the bottom of the pot without affording it any benefit. In watering, never let the water pass from the watering-pot close to the stem, but rather turn up the earth in a little circular space for a few inches round the plant, so that the water may soak down to the extremities of the roots, where the spongelets are which draw up the nutriment from the earth to support the plant. When you water, water well and thoroughly, and then there will be little need to do it often. To water frequently, and give a little at a time, is very bad gardening.

VARIOUS MODES OF PROPAGATION.

Plants are reproduced or propagated in various ways; some by seeds, some by offsets, as tulips and hyacinths; some by dividing the root, some by layers, some by cuttings. Currant and gooseberry-trees, as well as rose-trees, and also the vine, are propagated by cuttings; _i. e._ pieces of the young last-year branches are cut off about six inches in length, and, the top being taken off, are placed with the thickest end in the ground. Strawberries are reproduced by dividing the root, or by taking the runner which the plant has itself fixed in the ground as the nucleus of a new plant, and putting it in a proper situation. Raspberries give out suckers from the parent root, which may be taken off and replanted, like the lilac, the rose, and many other plants; but in taking them off, which is generally done by a spade, they should be taken pretty near to the parent stem, and should have fibrous roots attached. In taking offsets, such as those of bulbous roots, it is only necessary to take those which nature herself separates from the parent bulb; in tubers, such as the artichoke and potato, the tubers of middle size are to be taken and planted; or in regard to the latter root, the eyes or shoots only are sometimes planted, the root being cut into various portions.

LAYERS.

If we observe the strawberry plant, we find that at a certain season of the year it throws out offsets, and at certain distances a knob or knot arises, from which roots shoot into the earth, while from its upper centre a bud appears, and then a new plant is formed. The process of layering is to artificially produce this, and similar operations of nature. Some plants throw out roots whenever their stump or branches come in contact with the soil, but others require the assistance of art. The art of layering, therefore, consists in taking the shoot of a growing plant as near the root as possible; this is first to be cut half through, and then a slit is made in an upward direction, and, a piece of twig being placed in the divided part, the shoot is pegged down with the joint buried in the ground. After a time this joint begins to throw out roots, and when these are firmly established and begin to draw nutriment from the earth, the shoot may be detached from its parent stem, and it then becomes a new plant. Layers may be made in the spring months, and also in the month of July.

PIPINGS