The household (of the Detroit free press)

While the seeds are germinating prepare the ground for them. Have plenty of clean bright grass for a background to the beds. If possible, have a nice gravel walk between the beds or through the yard. Make the foot walks wide or narrow, according to the size of the yard. To make the walks hard and smooth take three-fourths gravel and onefourth cement, dig the earth away from the walk to a depth of four inches, and fill up with the gravel and cement. Water and roll after the material is down. This will make the walk hard and smooth. Much taste may be displayed in the selection of designs for flower beds. Fancy, complicated plans are pleasing, but, unless such beds are carefully bordered, their outlines soon become marred. Long, sweeping curves are always effective ; nowhere does the " line of beauty " attest its grace more decidedly than in a flower border. Circles are always pretty, and well suited for ribbon beds or masses of small flowers. A convenient size is six or eight feet in diameter. Two pretty beds are known as "scroll work" and "carpet." In the former the ground is laid off after the fashion of a bit of scroll wall paper border ; gravel walks form the background, while the figures are represented by bright colored flowers. The carpet plan is to put low bedding plants together in stripes and figures of various patterns. This style of bedding requires a great number of plants, and is not to be recommended unless one is an experienced gardener. The little star and ribbon beds can be made simply by laying out beds in the proper shape, and then planting the flowers in stripes, circles or squares, alternate rows of red, white or other colors ; the effect is very pretty. For such beds nothing can be finer than phloxes, verbenas and asters. Another pretty one is constructed in this way : In the center of the circle a white foliage plant, around that a yellow ; next a circle of Master Christine geranium, the whole edged with blue lobelia. A very pretty ribbon bed may be made as follows : At the back of the bed a collection of dahlias are planted; then a line of perilla, a dark foliage plant, growing about eighteen inches high; next a row of scarlet flowered geraniums, followed by a line of yellow foliage plants ; then a row of white Tom Thumb geraniums, and the outside line with verbenas. Oblong beds, four or five feet broad and ten or fifteen long, are easily kept in order, and have the merit of affording considerable border room for long, unbroken lines of carnations, petunias and other small plants. Back of these flowers may be taller plants, and, in the center of the beds rows of spireas, dentzias and other shrubs. There should be several small beds — round, square, oval, oblong or of any other shape desired — reserved for choice bulbs, and the small annuals that are not showy except in masses. Three feet square is a pretty size for such beds ; but no matter what may be the dimensions of a garden, the walks should be wide, at least three to five feet, and wider if possible. It is better to sacrifice a little more ground than to give a garden the contracted appearance always produced by narrow walks. DESIRABLE BEDDING PLANTS.