There is not enough attention paid to this subject in our horticultural literature; and yet, the people are delighted with any plan or suggestion, showing how to arrange their floral borders and ornamental plants; and yet, every place must have its own plan. No distant gardener could give an absolute rule, good for any place, in any town. Hence, plans must be made specially for each place; and then comes judicious advice about planting. Some of these suggestions are urged by the Agriculturist, as follows:

Whatever else there is, let there be a plenty of turf. The humblest place can afford an expanse of grass, which if large is dignified by the name of lawn, and if small is called only a grass-plot. This gives an air of neatness if there should be no flowers, and if there are flowers, no matter whether costly or common, their appearance is many-fold enhanced by the turf-setting. Do not strive after anything elaborate and complicated. Recollect that the more elaborate the pattern, the greater will be the care required in keeping. Scroll, chain, and other borders look wonderfully well in print, especially if they are printed in colors. But these plans which are carried out in the favorable climate of England only by keeping a number of men at them all the time, would utterly fail with us, where one gardener is expected to do everything, and where in the majority of cases there is no gardener at all. Lay out only what can be well cared for from spring until frost. Circles, ovals, ellipses, and egg and "palm-leaf" shapes, neatly cut in the turf, are much better than anything more complicated. Avoid making beds with sharp points and acute angles.

If one has only room for a single bed, as in a front-yard in town, he will get more satisfaction out of plants with striking foliage than with flowers. A circle, edged with some of the silvery-foliaged plants, such as Centaureas, Cinerarias, and Artemisias, then a row of Achyranthes Lindeni, and within this a center of some of the Golden Coleuses would be bright and showy all summer. This is only a suggestion, as the bed may be planted in a great variety of ways. A group of Cannas would give both fine foliage and flowers, and this may be edged with a row of Gladiolus with some low-growing plant upon the extreme margin. Very good effects may be produced with little expense by the use of annuals, among the most popular and best of which is Phlox Drummondii in its various kinds, from white to deep scarlet.

In laying out beds of any kind, recollect that every foot of path and every foot of margin implies a promise to keep the one clean and the other neatly trimmed. Unless there exist the ability and the inclination to do these, the beds had better not be laid out but the grass left unbroken.