Always see that the back yard is kept neat and tidy the year around. Never allow rubbish of any kind to lie around. Nothing is more disgusting to see old sticks, dirty rags, or refuse of any kind thrown on the snow in winter, or in the mud during the wet season. If I could have either a nice tidy back yard or handsome grounds in front, I should have the back yard, and I should make it neat and clean, and even pretty, with velvety green lawn, and roses, shrubs and a bed of flowers; also nice little beds of radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, etc., if possible. Fine manure is much more valuable for crops and plants than coarse manure, as it mixes better with the soil, and is more easily appropriated by the plants.

The hardy Garden Pinks, in all their exquisite coloring and sweet fragrance, rank high amongst our list of hardy garden plants. There is AIba fimbriata, almost like a lovely pure white carnation. Then Snow, which is certainly the equal of a white carnation in size and form and color. But it is of another flower I would speak, the double Lychnis Viscaria. It is very like the pinks, yet botanically it is quite distinct. It is a very choice hardy plant for the garden, and every plant lover should possess at least one root of it. It grows well in nearly all locations, needing no particular kind of soil. It is very hardy, grows freely and blooms profusely. The flower stems grow to a height of eighteen inches, and support flowers of a bright, rich, magenta color. It may be easily increased by dividing the roots, and is very effective when planted in patches, in beds, borders or rockeries. It flowers in June, and is a pleasing plant.

Exochorda grandiflora is a beautiful hardy shrub, a native of Northern China and Japan. It is related somewhat to the spiraeas, and like them is perfectly hardy. It is of pretty, compact habit. The flowers are produced in racemes, and have pure white petals, showing a dot of green in the center. Each raceme bears from eight to ten flowers, the opened flowers being about an inch and a half in diameter. The buds are so cunning and so round that they look like pearl beads. The foliage is of a bright soft green, which adds to the beauty of the plant. This shrub is not very particular as to soil, as it will thrive and grow almost anywhere.