184 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



some parts of the Scottish Highlands, and 

 a very pretty one, too, and one that would 

 make a very soft and acceptable carpet of 

 turf. But instead of the large calyx and 

 minute gray corolla of S. saffiiwides, the 

 now S. filifera produces a very beautiful 

 snow white blossom, nearly as large, and 

 of the same cup-like form, as the blossom 

 of Eugenia ugui. It is indeed a most 

 beautiful plant in flower, and I should 

 think it will rarely be the case that a 

 possessor of a Spergula lawn will brush 

 off the blossoms as suggested by Messrs. 

 Henderson. As we have a new and dis- 

 tinct form of vegetation offered us in this 

 lawn plant, so I can now see plainly we have 

 in it the best material for a lawn that can 

 possibly be used, because, independent of 

 its close tufted growth, forming a spi-ingy 

 felt under the feet, it holds its ground most 

 pertinaciously against all weathers. During 

 the East Indian weather of the first half 

 of July my grass got very much burnt, and 

 there was no help for it, for the pot plants 

 absorbed every night the whole supply 

 of our three tanks, and the well was ex- 

 hausted. But the Spergula was as green 

 at the end of the drought as it was after 

 the rains of June ; but it ceased growing 

 to throw up its bloom. Just then the 

 sparrows were bringing their young out, 

 and at such times they consume a vast 

 deal of greenmeat ; what was my mortifica- 

 tion to see the old birds by the dozen busy 

 on my Spergula plot, tearing it up whole- 

 sale, pulling and tugging at the stems and 

 carrying off as large bunches as they 

 could bear on the wing. I thought, as I 

 had written their history, and all my life 

 made friends with them, I was entitled to 

 immunity from such a persecution, but it 

 shows the arrant impudence of these vora- 

 cious rascals, that they would select for 

 special destruction their benefactor's 

 choicest and most cherished piece of 

 vegetation. That game lasted a fortnight 

 at the least, and I let them have their way. 

 A little mixture would have poisoned them 

 all, but I would sooner lose every plant I 

 possess, from Spergula to Isabella Grey^ 

 than play the part of a cowardly assassni 

 among the feathered tribes. The Crystal 

 Palace folks once poisoned the robins 

 because they would perch on the chairs 

 and tables : there is a large circle of people 

 who will never forgive them so cruel and 

 wanton a deed. I rejoice to say, that 

 among my neighbours here there is not one 

 who will allow a nest to be taken or a bird 

 trapped or shot, and the consequence is 

 that though so near town, the gardens are 

 densely peopled with all the best song 



birds, and warblers ; and thrushes, fly- 

 catchers, blackbirds, etc., regularly build 

 within view of our windows. Londoners 

 who want to hear song birds only need 

 walk as far as Lordship Lane, Stoke 

 Nevvington, at a proper hour, to be 

 thoroughly satisfied. 



But to return. After the sparrows 

 and the drought had done their utmost to 

 reduce the Spergula to a minimum, the 

 storms came and set it growing at so rapid 

 a pace, that on this 26th of July my circle 

 is very closely and regularly turfed, and as 

 the plant is now shedding its seeds, I 

 shall have a thorough good carpeting this 

 present autumn. Had it proved to be 

 but the old Spergula of the peat beds, I 

 should have been satisfied, because with- 

 out Mr. Summers and the Messrs. Hen- 

 derson to set us to work, none of us would 

 have been upon the track we are now 

 wending ; but Spergula pillfera is a real 

 thing, a novelty, a beauty, distinct and 

 valuable, and it will soon be considered a 

 slow garden which cannot show at least a 

 patch of it. 



Another interesting point in the his- 

 tory of this Spergula is that it comes from 

 cuttings as safely and quickly as any plant 

 we are in the habit of pi'opagatiug that 

 way. Hence, it may be propagated at 

 any season of the year— in summer, under 

 a bell-glass on a shady border ; in wintei', 

 with a gentle bottom heat. But I should 

 advise all who intend to give it a trial, 

 never to let it taste artificial heat. It is too 

 hardy and thrifty a plant to bear any kind 

 of coddling. To grow it from seed, tlicrc 

 are two veiy proper seasons — tlie month 

 of March and the month of August. All 

 these hardy things that shed their seed 

 freely do best if sown at the natural season 

 of the ripening of the seed, and instead of 

 having to nurse it in pans and pots, you 

 may sow on the ground at once, while the 

 temperature of the earth is favourable to 

 rapid germination, and so get it well 

 established before winter. The chief point 

 to attend to is to have the ground clean, 

 and to keep it so by constant weeding. 

 My circle of 70 feet circumference and 4^ 

 feet wide, enclosing a central rose-bed, 

 miist contain at least 250 square feet of 

 Spergula pilifera^ liberally planted from 

 the produce of five shillings' worth of 

 seed. We may, therefore, conclude the 

 cost of seed, at its present price, to be 

 about six shillings per rod ; and if plants 

 are raised from cuttings, every rod will 

 require at least two thousand plants. If 

 grown in a nursery-bed for future plant- 

 ing, it may be divided again and again, 



