THE SECRETAKY'S PORTFOLIO. 237 



usually has been that enough attention has not been given to its native 

 conditions. An Englishman, Mr. Nelson, in Westey Garden, has evidently 

 struck the proper method, for a writer, in speaking of his success, says : 



In this garden the trailing arbutus is growing with great freedom ; and 

 looking as one might imagine it would do in its native habitat. I have used 

 the word culture in connection with this plant, but I should hardly have done 

 so, for the great point appears to be to award it a congenial situation, and then 

 leave it in undisturbed repose. This, at any rate, is what Mr. Wilson has 

 done; he has simply naturalized it in his Avild garden, and his success is 

 perfect. The position chosen for it is a damp one, a leafy screen of oak 

 foliage warding off the hot sun, while plenty of light is admitted at this time 

 of the year. The prostrate shoots travel onward, rooting as they go, amongst a 

 carpet of grass, the dead leaves from the oaks being allowed to remain where 

 they fell. 



CULTIVATING WATER LILIES. 



Miss Euckman, of St. Joseph county, Indiana, ^Yrites the American Agri- 

 culturist : 



"We have a half hogshead in our yard, which is sunk even with the ground. 

 In the bottom is some of the soil taken from the bottom of a little lake where 

 the water lilies grow. "We put in several roots of the lily, filled the barrel with 

 water, and then waited results. The next July we noticed seven small buds 

 on the surface of the water; by the 1st of August the surface of the tub was a 

 mass of beauty, the large white lilies being an attraction for the passers-by that 

 could not be resisted. This was three years ago ; each year there have been 

 more flowers than in the j^i'evious summer. In the fall we throw a little 

 manure into the tank, place some boards over the top, and with this little bit 

 of trouble increase the beauty of our experiment, which has been a success. 



PERIWINKLE IN SHADY PLACES. 



Last year in our Portfolio attention was called to the English ivy as a plant 

 with which to cover bare places under trees where a turf could not be secured. 

 "We note the following item in the Germantown Telegraph, which suggests the 

 periwinkle for same purpose : 



Especially in the front yards of dwellings, both in town and country, which 

 are much shaded, we often see the ground completely bare, not a living thing 

 being perceptible. Sometimes there are many nearly nude, staggering limbs 

 lying upon the ground or very near it, which are unsightly and every way 

 worthless, that ought to be cut away. This would give room for the growing 

 there of some plant or vine that would be adapted to it, and which would not 

 only cover the naked spot and make it a "living green," but would be adding 

 very much to the general appearance of the premises. The best vine for this 

 purpose is undoubtedly the periwinkle. It will grow almost anywhere in the 

 shade if the proper attention is given to it, but )iot otherwise. It is a beautiful 

 vine and will densely cover the ground, producing nearly the whole season a 

 very pretty blue flower. Weeds, however, are its deadly enemies. 



