The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-05-30
Agricultural.
The Flower,G Garden.

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Hfowers were as rare and as difficult
to collect as rubies and dianonds, they
would be accounted as. of far greater
value, because more beautiful than those
gems. Nay, if any one of the precious
stones had possessed, IN addition to its
other qualities, a perfume as delicious
as that of the most evanescent of spring
flowers, men would have bartered for it
the most valued fruits of industry, and
poets would have embalned it In i'm
mortal song. It Is only because flowers
are so plentiful that we forget or fail to
perceive that they are so surprisingly
beautiful. 1t is strange that any body
should grudge the little cost or pains
their culture requires Yet over some
cottage door no vines are growing: be-
fore them no delicate blossoms are
opening to the sky around them the
breeze of summer watts no perfume. If
one asks why there are no flowers there,
the reply is, ooh they are too much
trouble" It is intended in this and
some articles which will follow it to
show that the cultivation of flowers, so
far from being "too much trouble, .
will give more value for less work and
expense than any thing which can be
done or bought to improve the surround
ings of home. This is as true where
there is but little space as where. there
is abundance. Let us suppose that the
ground available for garden, after
taking off what is needed for a path,
leaves only a single bed of earth. Give
this, if possible, some regular shape,
rectangular, diamond, oval, circular,
crescent-shaped, heart-shaped, double
curve like an $50 only that it has a
definite form. It is apt to be inconveni-
ent if more than three feet wide as
flowers should be easily accessible. The
soil should be enriched with dead leaves
and spent manure. Only those who
have had experience can use in the
garden the strong manures of the field.
Water with sOap-suds on wash-daYs.
IF the bed has fence at the back, put
the tallest flowers in the middle and
| the smallest at the edges. For a cen
ter-piece a dahlia is good, but uncer-
tain. A caladium, with its immense
green leaves, is snowy, but may be too
| costly. The castor-oil plant is cheap,
fast growing, and viii give in fall a
| splendid spike of purple or scarlet; but
| its long hands, which Mexicans call
paynao Christi, take up considerable
| room. 1t will give beans enough the
| first year, if the season is sufficiently
long, to physic a village; but there is
need to be careful of them, as they are
| said to contain some poisonous substance
as we'll as castor-oil Around the cen
ter-piece the plants of medium height
! should be put in without much regu-
| 1arity, except to give each room enough.
Summer bulbs, like the gladioIus iris,
! Japan lily, and tuberose take up little
| lateral room. All the old garden favor
! ties have been much improved of late
/ years. After the novelty of an improy-
ed flower is over its price falls till it
comes within reach of ordinary purses.
There are large, rich-colored, improved
| flowers, whose seeds can now be had for
a few cents, that once brought as many
dollars; asters and zinnias, as double
and as close-quilled as dahIias; chry-
| santhemums, with every excellence save
scent; balsams that are each a mass of
bloom; portulaccas that only want
stems to be mistaken for roses. Near
the edge of the bed it is better to put
in the shorter plants, which will not
stretch over the garden-wa1ks. These
little things may be cheap, like candy
tuft, pansies, daisies; or more costly,
like verbenas and zonaI geraniums.
Next year there should be scattered
here, crocus, tulips, narcissus, Petu-
Mas viii give any amount of variety.
and bloom. In general, few choice
flowers show better than many inferior
ones, and are more easily managed. IF
means are limited to one, two or three
dollars, even such q sum, sent to re-
putable florist, he making the selection,
will bring back a good variety of seeds.
If, still, anybody fears that money is
wasted when paid for flowers, let him
take slate and calculate. Would the
same money spent in paint, decorate an
equal space even approximately, with
so much verdure and splendor?