duce the Ivy in place of the Box. Of course, in hundreds of cases it could be done advantageously in the case of large beds and long borders, in connection with gravel, but in scroll work it could not be used. But this sort of gardening I look on as useless; therefore it would be a waste of valuable time to try to find a substitute for such silly gardening as Box embroidery. Another plant could be used with grand effect in many gardens-viz. Thuja aurea. At the ends of a large Chestnut avenue here we have formed squares on gravel, enclosing statues, with this plant. It has an excellent effect, and I have no doubt, in connection with borders of flowers, they could be used singly with good effect. Golden Yew also is a fine plant, but not equal to the Thuja. We have used ourselves upwards of 600 for different purposes. The sunk panelled garden which I made when I came here very hurriedly, is to be changed this spring; all the grass banks surrounding which are at such an angle that they get sun-burnt in summer; and I proposed to form Ivy banks of it instead of grass. The plan of the garden itself will also be changed, but is not as yet decided on. At present it is all in grass, with beds cut out on the grass. It has also been proposed to form an edge of Thuja aurea around the top of a bank encircling the whole, with variegated Holly at the terminating points, which are occupied with large marble vases. Surrounding this garden on the Chateau level are clumps of Magnolias and fine Conifers; also standard Rhododendrons, but it is too hot for them: these are to be replaced with large round bushes of Yew. Pyramidal-formed plants-with the exception of Conifers are preferred. Standard plants are not liked, with the exception of drooping plants, such as weeping

Holly, variegated and green. The Pyramidal Magnolias form another exception, but they are 15 and 20 feet high, and, planted as they are in clumps, look like one immense plant. As a rule, I myself have a prejudice for small pyramidal plants; the round ball form I think preferable to pyramids for flower-gardens. Of course I am speaking of gardens surrounded with large pyramidal Conifers and other trees.

'In confined gardens where other trees are not seen, then all shapes of shrubs may be used with effect in connection with flowers. No plant has a finer effect in any position than the round outlined form of the Yucca. If we have one of this family, we have at least a thousand, planted in beds, vases, and rock-work, and large ones on grass, and other positions. I have one plant of the variegated Yucca aloifolia, which has stood out four winters, with 143 leaves, and standing only 31 feet high. With a little half-rotten litter around the roots, and a straw cap, this plant has withstood 28° of frost.

'Nothing in France exists equal to your fine borders —such combination of colours are never dreamt of. I have done a little myself in this way, which has been very much admired by a few of the great gardeners here; but whether they will attempt anything like it, time alone will show. Certain it is, an extraordinary fine. effect on the terraces at Versailles could be produced with your system of bedding, in place of the ugly arrangement now in vogue there; at St. Cloud also it would be grand in the extreme. At the same time, fine foliage plants, both hardy and tender, would have to replace the deciduous shrubs in certain places, not to the same extent, however.'

CHAPTER V.

HARDY ANNUALS.

ANNUALS Occupy a very subordinate position in gardens now, compared with former times. It cannot be denied that, compared with those plants which have displaced them, they are generally only second-rate for the purpose of keeping up a long-continued display. Their deficiency in this respect is more fully realized on poor, hot, sandy soils, and on very heavy soils when they become hard and cracked during droughts. While this is a generally acknowledged fact, many annuals are in themselves strikingly beautiful, and in airy gracefulness far surpass many of our chief ornaments of the parterre, although they lack that solidity of habit and colouring which makes the Pelargonium and its associates so surpassingly effective for artistic decoration.

To some extent, at least, annuals owe the second-rate position into which they have fallen to bad management and neglect, as well as to the greater effectiveness of their popular compeers. With the same care and good culture bestowed on many of our annuals which have been devoted to their rivals, it is possible they would have held a more prominent position now. They have one great recommendation to those who cannot afford either to grow or purchase other bedding plants, and that is, that as many seeds can be bought for a few

shillings as will, in conjunction with a selection of hardy perennial plants, make the humblest garden gay for a few months of the year. But to attain this they require to be much more carefully cultivated than is general at present. Far too often all the cultivation that is bestowed. upon them is to tickle the surface of a partially shaded bed or border, and sow them in 'rings,' where, if they escape being devoured by slugs and snails as soon as they come up, they are left unthinned and uncared for; and, as a consequence, the result is a weak, sickly, and short-lived crop of bloom. It is with the conviction that those who are so circumstanced as to be mostly dependent on annuals for a gay bed or border, can, by proper management, enjoy that source of pleasure, that the following cultural directions and list of varieties are given, which, if carefully attended to, will produce a display of annuals such as is seldom met with in the generality of gardens now-a-days.

Soil. The soil most suitable for the great majority of annuals is that which is known as a sandy loam, deeply worked, and moderately enriched with manure. Trenching or deep digging is of the first importance; and where annuals are sown amongst herbaceous plants, as is very general, it is hopeless to expect them to do well if the soil is merely pointed over for a series of years. It will not only be best for the annuals, but for the permanent plants, to lift them at intervals of a few years, and trench and manure the soil. The best time to do this is in early spring, when the hardy plants are commencing to grow. When a shallow sandy soil has to be dealt with, if possible some heavy soil should be added to and mixed with it, and more manure should be applied than is necessary for better soils. A cold heavy soil should

have the contrary treatment; old lime rubbish, road grit, or any light sharp soil added and mixed with it, instead of much manure, will help to improve it. It should be turned up with a rough surface to the winter's frost; and in early spring hot lime sprinkled over its surface, and pointed in, will prepare a finer and more healthy staple for small seeds, while it will also help to counteract the growth caused by adding much animal inanure. In this case the herbaceous plants must be heeled in somewhere for a time.

Time of Sowing. The time when the display of bloom is wanted, must to some extent determine the time to sow. If required for autumn display, the end of May or beginning of June is sufficiently early. Indeed, early sowing under any circumstances is not to be recommended. If sown early, there are more chances against their coming up well, and slugs are much more likely to destroy them; for these pests are particularly troublesome to annuals in a young state. As a general rule, the end of April.or beginning of May is early enough to sow. Those sown in May bloom at a time when, after the turn of the day, they continue much longer in good condition than when they come earlier into flower. When an early summer bloom of annuals is an object, and a little artificial heat in a frame or pit is attainable, I would recommend that, instead of sowing in the open border, they be sown in small pots, and placed in a gentle heat-60°-till they are an inch high. Then, after being well hardened off, they should be planted out without breaking the balls, say about the end of April, or even the middle of the month.

Sowing. In sowing a bed of annuals, the first thing to do is to level and make fine and even the surface of