little of the latter with the wood every time more fuel is required. When the fire is well set agoing and gets powerful, it does not require being broken down so frequently; and a coating of clay 2 feet deep may be put on at a time, while it can be left to become a glowing heap of fire without any attention for the time.
As soon as the desired quantity has been thus burned, and allowed to become sufficiently cool to allow its being spread all over the surface from whence it was. taken, it is spread equally, and a quantity of any vegetable refuse, such as an old garden rubbish heap, road scrapings, leaf-mould, the scourings of ditches, containing principally leaves and decayed grass, and with all, some manure, is spread over the surface of all, and so the burned earth-now like finely pounded bricks-is placed between such vegetable deposits and the best of the original soil. Then a trench is opened at one end, and the whole carefully mixed and turned over, to form a free deep staple of soil, fit to grow almost anything well, and flower-garden plants in particular. In the process of burning and mixing, the subsoil, which is apt to get hard and consolidated, should be broken up and left rough as each trench is turned over.
To dwell on the desirability of thus having a tough wet clayey soil converted into a deep porous one, is not necessary. The merest tyro can easily conceive how the process improves such soils mechanically by reducing its most tenacious part to something like brick dust, which, when well mixed with the best portion of the soil and vegetable refuse, gives a soil at once much more easily managed, and more productive. The chemical changes which take place are as obvious as those that are mechanical. The foreign matters in
clayey soils contain potash, soda, and a few others. All these constituents are found when vegetable produce is burned; but often they are to be found in such combinations in the soil as to be comparatively useless, and the question is how to get at these profitably. burning clay, the potash is rendered soluble, as well as other fertilizing constituents which plants require. On the other hand, burned clay has the power of absorbing ammonia in large quantities from the air and rains. The large portion of potash which is derived from burning with wood is also of no inconsiderable importance.
In the case of small owners who find it very difficult in clayey districts to procure proper soil for flower-beds, as well as shrubbery borders, this is a process far too much neglected. And while a fruitless search is being made for loam of a proper texture, the clay itself may be passed through this fiery ordeal and mixed with vegetable refuse; and when to be used for Rhododendrons and other American peat-loving plants, a portion of sandstone may be added. For such plants as love coolness, but no standing water, this plan is especially to be recommended; for in winter the open body of soil allows rains to pass off into drains, and in summer the burned clay is a capital absorbent of moisture—so laying up a store of it against a time of drought. The finest beds of the large globe-flowering Pelargoniums, such as old Compactum and Shrubland superb, I ever saw, were grown in soil composed largely of burned clay.
Acæna, culture of, 186.
Acantholimon glaumaceum, 186.
Adonis vernalis, culture of, 214.
Æthionema, culture of, 186.
Agapanthus, culture of, 82.
Agathea, culture of, 82.
Ageratum, culture of, 83.
Ajuga, culture of, for spring, 212.
Alpine or rock-work plants, list of,
185; their culture, 188.
Alyssum, culture of, for spring, 213;
speciosum, 186; variegated, 92.
Amaranthus caudatus, culture of, 80;
melancholicus ruber, culture of, 81.
American cowslip, the, its culture,
229.
Anagallis, culture of, 79.
Androsace, culture of, 186.
Anemones, culture of, for spring, 214.
Annuals, hardy, 141; soil for them,
142; time, etc., for sowing, 143;
thinning, etc., 144; staking, 146;
select list of them, 147; half-hardy,
their culture, 148; select list, 149.
Antennaria, culture of, 186.
Anthyllis montana, 186.
Antirrhinums, culture and list of, 80.
Aponogeton distachyon, 201.
Aquatics or water plants, culture of,
200; list of, 201.
Arabis, culture of, 83; for spring, 216.
Arundo donax, culture of, 82.
Asters, culture of, 81.
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Bedding-out plants, review of the
principal genera of, 16; recent im-
provements in them, 17; their pro-
pagation and general treatment, 26.
Beds and borders, preparation of, for
flowers, 114.
Beds and groups of beds, general re-
marks on planting, 280; arrange-
ments and planting of them, 286;
illustrations of this by various de-
signs, 289 et seq.; villa garden
group, 305; long borders, 312;
ribbon borders, 317; shaded beds,
322; pincushion beds, 323; pyra-
midal beds, 323; circular beds, 324;
mixed borders, 326; borders of
foliage plants, 328; designs for
spring gardens, 330.
Beet, crimson, culture of, 84.
Bellis, culture of, for spring, 218;
perennis aucubafolia, 84.
Biennials, sowing of, 150; soil and
transplanting, 151; list of, 152.
Bog bean, the, 201.
Bothwell Castle, the mixed border at,
327.
Bourbon roses, 176.
Boursault roses, 182.
Bulbs, hardy, for spring-flowering,
Bulbocodium, culture of, for spring,
219.
Burning clayey soils, the, 357.
Aubrietia, culture of, for spring, 218; | Burr reed, the, 202.
grandiflora, 185.
Austrian or yellow roses, 181.
Ayrshire roses, 182.
Backhouse, Messrs., on the culture of
alpines, 188.
Banksian roses, 183.
Baskets, plants suitable for, 269.
Bedding or massing system of flower-
gardening, the, 5; objections urged
to it, 7.
Cabbage roses, 180.
Calceolarias, recent improvements in,
19; shrubby, their autumn propaga-
tion, 62; spring management, 65;
soil suitable and list of them, 67.
Calandrinia umbellata, 186.
Calla palustris, 201.
Caltha palustris, 201.
Campanula carpatica, 86; pulla, 186.
Candytuft, culture of, for spring, 237.
Cannas, cultivation, etc., of, 120.
Cardamine, its culture for spring, 220.
Centaurea Ragusina, propagation and
culture of, 67 et seq.; its culture
for spring, 226.
Cerastium, culture of, 85; its culture
for spring, 220.
Cheiranthus, culture of, 86; its cul-
ture for spring, 221.
Chinese roses, 177.
Christmas rose, culture of, 235.
Chrysanthemum Sensation, 87.
Cineraria maritima, 84.
Clayey soil, the improvement of, by
burning, 357.
Cold pits, etc., wintering tender
plants in, 108.
Coleus Verschafeltii, 87.
Colours, their arrangement, 272; ac-
cording to law of contrast, 273;
diagram of, 274; table of contrast-
ing, 276; arrangement according to
law of harmony, 277.
Corydalis, its culture for spring, 224.
Crocuses, culture of, 224.
Crown Imperial, its culture for spring,
231.
Cyclamens, culture of, 227.
Dactylis, culture of, 88; its culture
for spring, 228.
Dahlias, recent improvements in, 19;
culture of, 76; list of dwarf, 79.
Daisy, its culture for spring, 218.
Dianthus alpinus, etc., 186; barbatus,
culture of, 100.
Dielytra, culture of, for spring, 228.
Dodecatheon, culture of, 229.
Dog Rose, the, as a stock for roses,
167.
Dog's-tooth violet, its culture, 230.
Eranthis, culture of, 229.
Erinus alpinus, 187.
Erythronium, spring culture of, 230.
Euonymus, culture of, 231.
Evergreen roses, 183.
Fernery, the hardy, 193; list of species,
etc., for it, 194 et seq.
Ferns, list of, for single specimens,
etc., 128; list of hardy, 130.
Florists' flowers, former importance
of, 4.
Flower-gardening, advantages and
pleasures of, 1 et seq.; improve-
ments in it, 3; the mixed and the
bedding systems, 5 et seq.; sugges-
tions for improvement, 11 et seq.;
Mr. Knight's account of the French
system of, 130.
Foliage plants, borders of, 328.
France, the employment of fine-
foliaged plants in, 130.
Fritillaries, culture of, 231.
Fuchsias, culture of, 88.
Galanthus, culture of, 231.
Gaultheria procumbens, 187.
Gazania, culture of, 89.
Gentiana, culture of, 233; verna, 187.
Gladioli, recent improvements in,
21; culture of, 74; list of, 75.
Gnaphalium lanatum, 88.
Grape hyacinth, culture of, 238.
Hardy Annuals-see Annuals. Per-
ennials-see Herbaceous Perennials.
Ferns-see Ferns.
Heliotropes, culture of, 91.
Helleborus, culture of, 235.
Hepaticas, culture of, 234.
Herbaceous perennials, uses and value
of, 153; their culture, 155; list of
them, 159.
Hollyhocks, culture and list of, 90.
Hottonia, culture of, 201.
Humea elegans, 89.
Hyacinths, culture of, for spring, 235.
Hybrid perpetual roses, 173.
Iberis, culture of, for spring, 237.
Iresine Herbstii, 92.
Iris, culture of, for spring, 238.
Jacob's Ladder, the variegated, 72.
Knight, Mr., account of the employ-
ment of fine-foliaged plants in
France by, 130.
Koniga variegata, 92.
Linaria alpina, 187.
Linum grandiflorum, 93.
Lithospermum fruticosum, 187.
Lobelias, recent improvements in, 20.
Lobelia erinus Paxtonii, 92; herba-
ceous species of, 93; erinus speciosa,
culture of, 71.
Long borders, designs for planting,
312 et seq.
Love-lies-bleeding, its culture, 80.
Lythrum roseum superbum, 202.
Marietti stock for roses, the, 168.
Manure, application of, to flower-beds,
116.
Massing system of flower-gardening,
the, 5.
Mayfield, cultivation of fine-foliage
plants at, 125, 329.
Mazus pumilus, 187.
Mixed borders, how to plant, 326.
Mixed system of flower-gardening,
the, 5; characteristics of it, 9.
Moss roses and hybrids, 180.
Moutan pæonies-see Pæonies.
Muscari, culture of, 238.
Myosotis, culture of, for spring, 239;
rupicola, 187.
Narcissus, culture of, 239.
Nemophila insignis, 93.
Nepeta teucrifolia, 94.
Nierembergia gracilis, 94.
Noisette roses, 179.
Nuphar, culture of, 202.
Omphalodes, culture of, 240.
Orontium aquaticum, 202.
Oxalis corniculata rubra, 95.
Pæonies, herbaceous, culture and list
of, 197; tree or Moutan, 198 et seq.
Pansies, cultivation of, 106; their cul-
ture for spring, 250.
Paul, Mr., his directions for budding
roses, 168; and on pruning, 171,
174.
Pelargoniums, recent improvements
in, 17; how to winter in spare room,
46; lifting and wintering old plants,
49; ivy-leaved, list of, 37; plain-
leaved Zonale, their autumn pro-
pagation and winter management,
26; late autumn propagation, 30;
spring treatment, 31; spring pro-
pagation, 33; soil suitable for beds,
35; list of them, 36; sweet-scented
leaved, list of, 38; variegated, their
autumn propagation and winter
treatment, 38; spring treatment,
41; spring propagation, 42; soil
suitable for them, 44; list of them,
Pentstemons, culture and list of, 97.
Perennials, hardy, for spring culture,
211.
Perilla Nankinensis, culture of, 99.
Petunias, culture and list of, 96.
Phloxes for rock-work, 187; herba-
ceous, culture and list of, 98; culture
of, for spring, 242.
| Phlox Drummondii, 97.
Pincushion beds, how to plant, 323.
Plants, management of, before plant-
ing out, 111; fine-foliaged, list of,
for planting out, 118; directions for
their cultivation, 120; as employed
in France, 130.
Planting out, how to perform, 344.
Polemonium cæruleum variegatum,
culture of, 72.
Pontederia cordata, 202.
Potamogeton fluitans, 202.
Primulas for rock-work, 187.
Primroses, culture of, for spring, 240.
Promiscuous system of flower-garden-
ing-see Mixed.
Provence or cabbage roses, 180.
Pyramidal beds, how to plant, 323.
Pyrethrums, culture and list of, 96.
Ranunculuses, culture of, 242.
Rhododendrons, early flowering, 256;
medium flowering, 256; late flower-
ing, 257; their culture, 257 et seq.
Ribbon borders, designs for planting,
317.
Ricinuses, culture of, 120.
Rock-work or alpine plants see
Alpine.
Roses, recent improvements in, 21;
beauty and variety of, 163; plant-
ing in beds, 164; propagation by
cuttings, 164; and by budding,
167; soil for them, 170; pruning,
171, 174; Hybrid Perpetuals, 173;
training Pillar, 174; Bourbons, 176;
Chinese, 177; Tea-scented, 178;
Noisette, 179; Provence or Cabbage,
180; Moss, 180; Austrian, 181;
Boursault and Ayrshire, 182; Ever-
green and Banksian, 183.
Sagittaria latifolia, 202.
Salvias, culture of, 101.
Santolina incana, culture of, 102; its
culture for spring, 243.
Saponaria, culture of, 100; ocymoides,
187.
Saxifrages for rock-work, 188; their
culture for spring, 244.
Scrophularia, culture of, 102.
Sedums for rock-work, 188.
Sempervivums for rock-work, 188.
Shaded beds, designs for planting,
322.
Shrubs, hardy spring flowering, list
of, 255, 263; spring flowering ever-
green and sub-evergreen, 265;
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