THE PLOEAL WORLD AND aARDEN GUIDE. 



83 



18 it ? The reply is of a very definite 

 kind, and it is this: Lapagerias from 

 cuttings never live ; Lapagerias from 

 layers cannot always be depended 

 on ; but Lapagerias from seed are as 

 sure to grow as Virginian creepers, 

 give them but the proper soil and 

 suitable conditions. This brings us 

 to the second point. In a pot, Lapa- 

 geria is like an eagle caged : it must 

 pine and die — its doom is upon it. 

 A. F. will soon kill his plant by keep- 

 ing it in a pot in a cucumber bed ; 

 the sooner it is removed from that 

 stewpan the better. The only way 

 to be safe is to plant it out in a capa- 

 cious bed of peat raised above the 

 level. If we could choose all our 

 conditions, we would train the plant 

 up a back wall with a west aspect, in 

 a roomy airy house heated by hot 

 water — just enough to keep frost 

 out. The bed should go right across 

 the house, and be of any length, 

 from ten to twenty feet or more. It 

 should be three feet wide, two feet 

 deep, and be kept up with a brick 

 wall in front. In any case, the plant 

 ought to have a depth of eighteen 

 inches of peat, and a surface of 

 border equal to twelve square feet, 

 which will allow for six feet of length 

 and two feet of width, and in less 

 than that bulk of earth we should 

 not expect to make much of it. 



Supposing the bed to be two feet 

 deep, there may be six inches of hard 

 rubble at the bottom, and the rest 

 filled up with peat of a gritty nature 

 — such is that from Wimbledon or 

 Shirley ; but a greasy peat of a 

 strong character would require a fifth 

 part of its bulk of small pebbles 

 added, say clean shingle of the size 

 of hazel-nuts and less. Now with 

 this bed there is another help wanted, 

 and that is a run of ivater. At one 

 end of the bed there should be a sup- 

 ply pipe with a tap, and at the other 

 end an outlet, which may also be a pipe 



and tap, or a drain to cany the water 

 away under the floor of the house. 

 All the summer long the supply pipe 

 should dribble, to keep the bed sod- 

 dened with water — say from May to 

 the end of July ; the outlet must be 

 kept open to prevent overflow, and to 

 relieve the soddened state of the soil. 

 Merely soaking the bed with a water- 

 can every day will not do near so 

 well, but it will be the best substi- 

 tute for a run of water where the 

 latter is not possible or convenient. 

 As to temperature, the plant requires 

 much the same treatment as a Cape 

 heath — to be kept airy at all times, 

 protected from frost, but to taste as 

 little artificial heat as possible. Of 

 course, if it is not possible to have a 

 run of water, there must be plenty 

 of water supplied by hand labour, or 

 by a hose. The " hydropult" comes 

 in admirably for such work as this if 

 there is a cistern near at hand to 

 draw from. 



It need scarcely be remarked that 

 the front of the bed may be used as 

 a stage for pot plants, provided they 

 are stood on empty pots inverted, 

 both to keep the plants from rooting 

 through into the damp peat, and to 

 prevent the peat getting pasty and 

 sour, which it is sure to do if the at- 

 mosphere is excluded by covering the 

 bed with pots. But the best way to 

 treat the surface will be to plant it 

 all over with two-inch lengths of 

 Ziycopodimn denticulatum, six inches 

 apart ; these will meet, and form a 

 dense carpeting of most delightful 

 verdure, and do no harm to the roots 

 of the Lapageria. As to training 

 and pruning, we apprehend the culti- 

 vators of this beautiful climber will 

 find no difficulty. If any of our 

 readers who have grown this climber 

 successfully have any hints to oflTer 

 either in modification or amplifica- 

 tion of our views, we shall be very 

 glad to hear from them. 



A NEW METHOD OE TEAININa PLANTS TO A WALL. 



The season of crushed fingers and 

 cracked knuckles in nailing cut trees 

 is anything but a delectable period 

 to look forward to, whether the gar- 



dener be professional or amateur, so 



that, perhaps, the method I adopt to 



reduce the disagreeables of the job 



1 to a minimum may not be unaccept- 



E 2 



