46: 



The Country Gcntlcinajis JMagazinc 



little relief when turned to a close, besom- 

 like, bound-up bunch of enveloping ever- 

 greens. Litter of all kinds, unless concealed, 

 is objectionable in flower gardens, and should 

 not be tolerated even in the most obscure 

 parts of the kitchen garden. Some descrip- 

 tions of it are, however, highly useful for 

 mot protection of flowers, and of these the 

 best is Sphagnum or other moss, which has 

 been sufficiently dried to destroy all intermixed 

 weeds; next are the dried or dryish chopped 

 or broken down tops of that common fern, or 

 rather braken, the Pteris aquilina ; and after 

 it come the leaves of forest trees, but more 

 especially those of the beech and the oak, then 

 dryish half-decomposed tree leaves — rough 

 stable and byre dung being only admissible 

 when none of these others can be had. Be- 

 fore applying litter of any kind the surface 

 earth should be made to slope gently from 

 the base of the plant, and be firmly 

 tramped ; then 3 or 4 inches deep of tramped 

 litter will generally sufiice, which may extend 

 outwards from 18 to 36 inches, according to 

 the size of the plant ; and the whole should be 

 covered by good grassy turf, with its surfaces 

 also sloping outwards, so as to prevent the lodg- 

 ment of rain water, and any spaces left about 

 the neck of the plant should be filled in with 

 finely-broken charcoal, reduced coal cinders, 

 or rough sand. But in the event of turf being 

 unattainable, spruce or silver fir branches may 

 be spread over the litter, of sufficient thick- 

 ness to cover and secure the latter, keeping, 

 of course, their natural face up. Then the 

 top protection may be applied by, in the first 

 place, driving in a strong stake, to which the 

 plant should (supposing it "to be deciduous) 

 be pretty closely fastened ; next, a covering of 

 dry ferns, matting, or straw, concealing the 

 whole by neatly disposed evergreens Avith the 

 points inclining outwards in a natural-like 

 manner, in place of being tightly bound in. In 

 some instances the internal enveloping of ferns, 

 straw, or matting may be dispensed with, and 

 evergreens only used, of which none are more 

 suitable than branches of the common spruce, 

 in consequence of its leaves dropping gradu- 

 ally as the season advances in spring, so that 

 they are generally all fallen by the time when 



the branches should be taken away. Any 

 other kinds, of evergreens may, however, be 

 employed, and if a good variety of pines and 

 other conifers, laurels, hollies, &c., having 

 their lower ends stuck into the earth, are 

 tastefully applied, the whole may be made to 

 present the pleasing appearance of a well- 

 arranged winter garden. Evergreens require 

 a somewhat different adaptation of their 

 coverings, inasmuch as any close enveloping 

 should only be applied to their stems and 

 the bare parts of their branches, while the 

 evergreen branch covering should be such as 

 to admit of light reaching to the foliage, and 

 the whole might have an extra supplementary 

 portable covering for being applied only in 

 hard frosty weather. 



Tender and half-hardy plants, which can 

 be thus wintered out of doors, may be classi- 

 fied as follows : — 



1. Bulbous plants. 



2. Deciduous herbaceous and sub- 



shrubby plants. 



3. Evergreen herbaceous and sub-shrubby 



plants. 



4. Deciduous shrubs. 



5. Evergreen shrubs. 



ist, Tenderish bulbs — such as the Japan 

 lilies, Tigridias, Ixias, &c. — may be grown in 

 beds sloping to both sides, and covered over 

 with litter and turf, as before described, 

 taking care that the rows of bulbs are care- 

 fully marked, so that an inch or two of turf 

 may be cut out along the sides of each, when 

 the bulbs begin to push, and a little earth 

 filled into the spaces. The remainder of the 

 turf may lie till its growth becomes too coarse ; 

 or even longer if it is neatly mown. 



2d, Tender deciduous, herbaceous, and .sub- 

 shrubby plants — of which the tall lobelias (Lo- 

 belia cardinalis, L. fulgens, L. splendens, and 

 their now numerous varieties), several of the 

 Salvias, &:c., are good representatives — may be 

 protected in the same manner as the last, but 

 when their young shoots begin to push in 

 spring, it may, in most cases, be advisable to 

 remove a portion of the litter along with 

 those of the turf, then top-dress the surface 

 with fresh soil, and protect the young points 

 from snails and slugs, which are often worse 



