placing them under the glass of the green-house or grapery, and then count the number of plants which appear. But with all this care, complaints are often made that the seed was not good,-seed that I knew was good, because it had been proved so, under my own inspection, by an infallible test. There are various causes of the failure of good seed. One of these is, the injudicious manner in which an attempt is made to start it in a hot-bed. In consequence of the seeds having been sown upon the beds in a rank heat, they are prematurely forced up and easily destroyed, by being pent up without air as soon as the plants begin to appear above ground. season. I once planted half an acre of Carrots, rather late in the I examined the field one morning, and observed the carrots were breaking through the ground finely. The day had been a very warm one, with a scorching sun, and the ground rather dry; at night I examined the field again, and to my surprise could not, at first sight, see any vestige of the young plants I had noticed in the morning, but upon a close inspection, found them all withered and brown, burnt by the sun. In this way the plants are often destroyed before any notice has been taken of them. Young flower-plants are often destroyed in the same way as were the carrots. Many young plants are destroyed by a minute black fly, or some other small insect, just as they emerge from the ground. Small seeds are often planted so deep that they cannot push through the soil, while some large seeds are not planted deep enough. A friend has suggested the importance of giving some directions in this work, relative to the subject of planting seeds as to their depth, time of planting, and the time required for the plants to appear above ground. In answer to these inquiries, it may be stated, that in regard to the depth of planting, something de pends upon the soil. In light soils, the seeds should be planted deeper than in heavy ones; but the following directions may be a guide in soils of a medium texture, viz.: Sweet Peas, Lupins, Morning Glories, Four-o'clock, and other large seeds, should be planted about one inch deep. Balsams, Asters, Centaureas, etc., about one-half an inch. Cockscombs, Amaranth, and many other seeds of like size, one-quarter of an inch. Many of the very small seeds should be sown on the surface with a little fine earth sifted over them, just so as to cover the seeds, and then gently pressed with a piece of board. Great care must be taken with these minute seeds, to keep the surface of the ground moist if the weather is dry, and watch carefully for the first appearance of the plants, when they should be shaded in the middle of the day by spruce boughs, or a gauze covering, such as is used to keep off the insects from cucumber vines. They should be thus cared for until the plants have acquired strength to resist the scorching rays of the sun. Cypress Vine, Indian-shot, and many other hard-shelled seeds, require a long time to vegetate in the open ground, unless first prepared by pouring scalding water over them, in which they should remain until the water is cold. When planted, thus prepared, the last of May, these seeds will appear above ground in about one week, if the weather is warm. The Three-thorned Acacia seed will sometimes remain in the ground a year before it vegetates, and I have known Asparagus seed sown late in May, remain in the ground until August, before the plants appeared; but if treated the same as recommended for the Cypress Vine, they will vegetate in a week or ten days. Globe-Amaranth seeds, (Gomphrena globosa) and some other seeds enclosed in a cottony substance over a shell, will not readily vegetate unless this outer covering is taken off, which may be done with a sharp pointed pen-knife; but this is a tedious process when many seeds are to be planted. I find no difficulty without removing this coating or without scalding the seeds mentioned, if pots of the seeds are plunged in a hot-bed, where there is a powerful heat; they will start in a week or less, according to the degree of heat, but great caution must be observed as soon as the plants appear, to see that they have plenty of air, or they will surely be destroyed. It is impossible to give directions for planting seeds, that will be applicable to all soils, situations, or seasons; but judgment, discretion and care must be exercised under all circumstances to ensure success. Plants, long propagated by cuttings, lose their power to produce seeds. This is the case with many fine perennial plants, with double or single flowers, that have been propagated by divisions of the roots, as well as by cuttings. It is a great disappointment and vexation, to find, after you have made ample preparations, and planted your seed, that it was worthless, your labor all lost, and probably too late in the season to make trial of other seed. Perhaps the following hints may remind one of the importance of beginning right. "To raise your flowers, various arts combine, SELECTION OF FLOWERING PLANTS. FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN, AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE VARIOUS SORTS ON THE LAWN OR BORDERS.* "How exquisitely sweet This rich display of flowers, This airy wild of fragrance, So lovely to the eye, And to the sense so sweet."-Andreini's Adam. "And round about he taught sweet flowers to grow "-Spencer. "The leading faults in all the flower gardens I have seen, are, the want of a proper selection of kinds, and a very bad mode of arranging them. It makes very little difference how elegant or striking a plan you may have for a flower garden, if that design is badly planted, so as to conceal its merits, or is filled in with a collection of unsuitable kinds that have a coarse, or ragged habit of growth, or remaining in bloom too short a time. * This article was written at my request by Mr. Robert Murray, Landscape Gardener, of Waltham, Mass. I have always admired the exquisite taste he has exhibited in the arrangement of the flowering plants and shrubbery, in the garden under his management on the "Gore Farm," as it is called, in Waltham, of which he had the sole charge for many years, while it was in the possession of the late Hon. Theodore Lyman, and afterwards S. C. Green, Esq. For a number of years past, Mr. Murray has devoted himself to the study and practice of landscape gardening, in which profession he has been eminently successful. Where ornamental grounds are to be laid out, I know of no other person who is better qualified than Mr. Murray to execute the work to the satisfaction of his employer, however refined he may be in his taste on this matter. I have oftentimes been pained to see places beautifully situated by nature, and susceptible of great improvement by artistic skill, almost ruined by the unfortunate mistake of employing a person without skill or taste in laying it out. Better that the place should have remained in a state of nature, than to have employed an ignoramus, in such an important work. A work of this sort is a work for an age, and if badly planned and executed, cannot be corrected, without much expense and loss of time. Beware then of being " pound foolish.” penny wise and A flower garden that deserves the name, should resemble a rich picture, where the artist has all his colors nicely contrasted and blended together; rejecting almost every kind that does not afford a continual display of beautiful colors, and sweet odors, and have a neat and agreeable habit of growth. I know that it is difficult to restrain a passionate lover of flowers from having a great variety of species, but the most beautiful flower gardens that I have seen, and had the management of, were those where but very few kinds were introduced, and those kinds possessing the qualities I have already mentioned. And it will, likewise, add very much to the effect of the selection, to give up the old method of mixing and intermingling the species and varieties in all the beds, and adopt the modern style of grouping and massing the colors in sepa rate figures, selecting the most delicate and beautiful shades of pink and white, light blues, and straw-colored yellows, with the soft tones of crimson and vermillion. These beautiful colors, when boldly brought into contrast, so as to form a pleasing attraction to the eye, make a more immediate and forcible impression than a confused mixture, not distinct enough anywhere to give a decided effect to the whole. The system of massing plants has another great advantage, of preventing you from seeing any bare surface of soil, or parts of figures not covered with foliage and flowers, the parched appearance of such bare surface, when seen, tends to impair the air of freshness and beauty of the flowers, and when beds are planted with a large mixture of different varieties, such as straggling and spreading, tall and short, it is almost impossible to prevent large portions of the soil from being seen. I would recommend, not to have the flower beds scattered promiscuously over a lawn, without any connection. with each other, but a simple group of regular beds or figures of various sizes, such as circles, or ovals neatly cut |