I send you photos taken from my beds as they appeared on the Government Grounds, Canada, during the past year, which I hope you will find interesting.

A description of them will be necessary, so as to enable you to understand their meaning. In one you will see the representation of a bee-hive and two bees, with the words, Virtute non verbas, around its margin. The first is a portion of the crest of our Governor General; and the words his motto, the letters of which are made with Alter-nantheras; the bee-hive of Silver Thyme. The figures are put in to break up the sameness of the carpet which is of Sedum. The outer border is of Salvia officinalis, a plant which makes a fine contrast on grass and ought to be oftener seen than it is, especially on dry soils, as it will bear trimming without spoiling its appearance. It requires particular treatment to make a nice edging.

In another bed you will seethe name, Abercorn, through the centre, the governor's wife being a daughter of the Duke of Abercorn. Above and under you will notice two acorns, their crest being an Oak tree which I could not make and show good results, so I put in the acorns as the nearest representatives of it. The surroundings are, as of the former, put in to break up and add to the appearance of the bed.

Another has on the background the words "Reign Victoria," which needs no explanation. Below is the Prince's Feather, with his motto on each side, " Ich Dien." The space on the sides is cut up so as to allow filling with different shades of carpet material. Standing beside this is the designer of those beds. Here you will notice also, but too far off in the background to be very distinctly seen, a bed of Cactus. To the right is a border of flowering plants, and on the left rises a bank about ten feet. Above the lower level, on the upper margin of it, is a line of ornamental plants of which only one is seen. This rise runs over two hundred feet. Those plants have a very fine effect as seen from below.

Now, I am not a lover of much of this carpet bedding, but would be far from condemning it altogether; for, when you have many beds to fill, it helps to diversify their appearance greatly, and gives variety to them, which in all cases ought to be a main point of consideration. I. always aim at having every bed distinct from the others. I do not mean that I can do so without using the same plants sometimes twice; for where you have forty beds to fill this is no easy matter to do, and select them so that they will show well during the whole summer. Our climate is so short as to not admit of changes once or twice during the season. Those beds are considered difficult to make, and when well done surprise many that such work can be done with plants in such uniformity. For my part I consider it a much easier task than to make one with flowering plants. The sole aim of the planter seems to be to cover up the soil, the effect never thought of. But this is the all-important point. Yet some good ideas may sometimes be gathered from carpet beds.

Uniformity and order can be carried so far as to give a stiff appearance; but I think all who make them should have some aim in view before they proceed to plant.

In carpet bedding any one who can draw on paper can just as easily put a design on a bed with his compass and foot rule; but it must be borne in mind that this design will not do to be made on paper without having the dimensions of the bed, and drawing to a scale, so that when you lay out the bed there be no cramping for room, or an over-amount of it. And when your lines are drawn there is little difficulty of following them with your plants. Another thing is, if they should not be just in conformity to the eye, the first trimming will mostly remedy the defects, if not too bad. In carrying out designs I never use a plant I cannot trim. Such as Alternantheras require only side trimming; cutting much on the top of such plants removes the color, and mars the effect of the plant. This new one, Aurea nana, can hardly be over-estimated for both its golden color and neat compact habit of growth. No one should be without it, as it far surpasses the old one in every respect.

There are many plants recommended for this kind of work that I never have been able to use to any purpose, owing principally to their rough untrainable habits. Such are always to be avoided. If you really wish to show the purport of your design, the limited number of plants fit to be used for this purpose properly are so few that it would be my principal objection to this kind of work. So I say, let us have a little of every thing that can be produced with plants. Never condemn any system, though overdone as this certainly is. Give us as much variation in beds or borders as you possibly can. Nature has many subjects that can be used in various ways, but, like every thing else, the mode of presentation has much to do with what may be produced by it.

Supt. Gov't Grounds, Ottawa, Can.

[We quite agree with Mr. Robertson that the crusade against carpet bedding is as extravagant as the abuse of this method of gardening. There is really no more reason why flowers or plants should not be made to represent a carpet, than that a carpet should have flowers worked thereon. The answer might be that true taste requires use as the basis of ornamentation. We are first to get the useful and then make it ornamental. The carpet is useful, and then we ornament it; we cannot so use a flower bed. But it is the lawn and the surroundings that are to be ornamented, and if the carpet bed, by its contrast to the lawn, add to the lawn's attractions, as it undoubtedly often does, it is a legitimate portion of true art in gardening. Even the imitation of letters, words and armorial bearings, pleasant fantasies, undoubtedly do give pleasure to thousands, and there must be something natural and rational beneath a practice which so many human beings love to see. - Ed. G. M].