to set them in formal beds, from which they must
either be removed when their blooming time is past, or else one runs the
risk of spoiling them by planting deep-rooted plants among them.

The piece of sunny ground in the angled dip of the old wall, which you
call "decidedly squashy," interests me greatly, for it seems the very
place for Iris of the Japanese type,--lilies that are not lilies in the
exact sense, except by virtue of being built on the rule of three and
having grasslike or parallel-veined leaves. But these closely allied
plant families and their differences are a complex subject that we need
not discuss, the whole matter being something akin to one of the dear
old Punch stories that adorn Evan's patriotic scrap-book.

A railway porter, puzzled as in what class of freight an immense
tortoise shall be placed, as dogs are the only recognized standard,
pauses, gazing at it as he scratches his head, and mutters, "Cats is
dogs and rabbits is dogs, but this 'ere hanimal's a hinsect!" The Iris
may be, in this respect, a "hinsect," but we will reckon it in with the
lilies.

The culture of this Japan Iris is very simple and well worth while, for
the species comes into bloom in late June and early July, when the
German and other kinds are through. I should dig the wet soil from the
spot of which you speak, for all muck is not good for this Iris, and
after mixing it with some good loam and well-rotted cow manure replace
it and plant the clumps of Iris two feet apart, for they will spread
wonderfully. In late autumn they should have a top dressing of manure
and a covering of corn stalks, but, mind, water must not stand on your
Iris bed in winter; treating them as hardy plants does not warrant their
being plunged into water ice. It is almost impossible, however, to give
them too much water in June and July, when the great flowers of rainbow
hues, spreading to a size that covers two open hands, cry for drink to
sustain the exhaustion of their marvellous growth. So if your "squashy
spot" is made so by spring rains, all is well; if not, it must be
drained in some easy way, like running a length of clay pipe beneath, so
that the overplus of water will flow off when the Iris growth cannot
absorb it.

Ah me! the very mention of this flower calls up endless visions of
beauty. Iris--the flower of mythology, history, and one might almost say
science as well, since its outline points to the north on the face of
the mariner's