272 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



daisies. It is true that from the middle 

 of July till the middle of August it pro- 

 duces myriads of lovely little white blos- 

 soms. But the appearance is very diffe- 

 rent to that of a daisied lawn ; the blossoms 

 are smaller, more numerous, and look 

 more like a fall of sleet than a sprinkling 

 of daisies ; and this fall of sleet may in 

 some cases interfere with the colouring of 

 ilower-beds, and for a few weeks be objec- 

 tionable on that ground. In any discus- 

 sion it is best to admit as much as you can 

 of the arguments used by the other side, 

 and in the defence of Spergula pilifera 

 this is all I am disposed to admit ; and I 

 apprehend it does little to weaken the 

 claims of the plant to general adoption for 

 out-door carpets. My circle of Spergula 

 is not in the best place for such an experi- 

 ment ; it is close to the house, it is under 

 the shade of an immense robinia, has walls 

 on each side within a few yards of it, and 

 yet it has thickened now into a close and 

 elastic felt, and is as smooth as a billiard 

 table. I do not trust wholly to my own 

 opinion as to its excellence. It has been 

 seen by Mr. Yeitch, Mr. Gritty, Mr. 

 Oubridge, Mr. Cole, Mr. Cutbush, Mr. 

 Holland, Mr. West, and a vast number of 

 gent'emen gardeners, whose judgment in 

 such matters is as ripe as that of most 

 professionals, and they all say it is a 

 triumph. I have made up my mind to 

 the same verdict. It is a triumph, and 

 those who hold back in doubt only defer 

 the enjoyment of a new pleasure. I sug- 

 gested in a former note on the subject 

 that possibly Sagina procumbcns and 

 Spergula saginoides might be turned to 

 account for the same sort of work. I 

 have planted a small patch of Sagina 

 inside a little semi-circular rockery in a 

 rather damp position, and it looks as if it 

 would not be long in constituting itself a 

 respectable feature. But Spergula sagi- 

 noides has been well proved by Mr. Sum- 

 mers ; and if he does not offer it as a 

 companion plant to the original, he will 

 be like one who has put his hand to the 



plough, and then turned back. I saw this 

 Spergula when I called last at Forest Hill ; 

 its growth is somewhat different to pilifera, 

 and for certain hungry soils it will proba- 

 bly supersede it. Spergula saginoides is 

 a British plant, and therefore no difficulty 

 can arise in its culture as to climate. It 

 is almost as abundant in Scotland as the 

 renowned heather, and a companion plant 

 of the heather on mountain slopes and 

 rocky hollows. During winter this pre- 

 serves its bright green hue unhurt by frost 

 or damp, and it is a shade darker in colour 

 than pilifera, and, like it, produces myriads 

 of starry, snow-white flowers, only half the 

 size of those of pilifera. But its distinctness 

 as regards adaptation and culture arises 

 out of the fact that it is as much at home 

 on sand or gravel as pilifera is on heavy 

 loams or clay. In all other respects what 

 has been said of one holds good as to the 

 other. Lawns are quickest produced by 

 planting tufts, and the more the tufts are 

 divided the greater is the economy, and a 

 close turf may be produced just as quick 

 by planting pieces an inch across, four 

 inches apart, as by using tufts as big as 

 one's hand, at the same or greater dis- 

 tance, because it is only on the circumfer- 

 ence of each that it can make lateral 

 growth. Saginoides is as fond of the 

 roller as pilifera, and the firmer the ground 

 is kept after the first dressing the faster 

 will it grow. As a proof of its vitality, I 

 may mention that Mr. Summers sent me 

 a scrap of the plant in a letter in June last. 

 It lay on my table three days ; I then cut 

 it up, dibbled it in some sandy stuff in 

 little bits, about the size of pins, in a five- 

 inch pot, put a bell-glass over, and every 

 one rooted. There is now, therefore, a 

 choice of two distinct plants for those who 

 are disposed to vcuture on a new idea in 

 the formation of lawns, bowling-greens, 

 and verdant ground-work for geometric 

 gardens, and the chances of final success 

 are by the proof of S. saginoides, as two 

 to one upon what S. pilifera had previously 

 brought us to. Shirley Hibberd. 



A GERMAN FBTTIT-ltOOM. 



Two kinds of fruit-rooms should always 

 be provided, one for summer and another 

 for winter fruits ; for that which would be 

 siutable for the pear would not answer for 

 the strawberry : the former must be kept 

 in a dry, dark room, where the air has but 

 little access; but the strawberry should 



be laid in a place like a larder, cool and 

 airy. 



The winter fruit-room requires greater 

 care in its construction, and is much more 

 expensive than the summer one. The cost 

 of erecting and fitting up a winter fruit- 

 room in as complete a manner as might 



