THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



for dressing ulcers, and tlie leaves 

 themselves are applied to corns. The 

 berries have an acidulous, resinous, 

 slightly pungent taste, and were once 

 much used both as an emetic and a 

 purgative. Bat though compara- 

 tively unimportant in respect of its 

 usefulness in the economy of art, ivy 

 has no inconsiderable place in the 

 economy of nature. The blossoms, 

 which expand in October, are rich in 

 honey, and are resorted to by bees 

 and many species of flies. Occasionally 

 during the mid hours of a sunny day 

 in October, places covered with large 

 breadths of flowering ivy are as vocal 

 with the music of bees as lime trees 

 in the month of July. The berries 

 are the favourite food of many of the 

 winter song-birds ; wood-pigeons, 

 thrushes, and blackbirds are particu- 

 larly fond of them. Lastly, the leaves 

 are tolerably good cattle food, if 

 given in moderation; and when cattle 

 and sheep stray from their pastures, 

 it is a common occurrence to find 

 them browsing ivy on some ruin or 

 waste. The fondness of cattle for ivy 

 did not escape the quick perception of 

 Shakspere. In the " Winter's Tale," 

 act iii. s. 3, lie makes the old shepherd, 

 who is presently to discover the 

 " pretty barne," bewail the scattering 

 of his sheep by " those boiled brains 

 of nineteen and two-and-twenty." 

 " They have scared away two of my 

 best sheep, which I fear the wolf will 

 sooner find, than the master ; if any- 

 where I have them, 'tis by the sea- 

 side, browsing of ivy." 



HoETTCULTUBAL USES OE IVY. — 



Among the uses to which ivy may be 

 put, those of the greatest importance 

 are the following : — To cover walls, 

 palings, ruins, rustic buildings, to 

 form dividing screens, and to clothe 

 dead or living trees with festoons of 

 evergreen foliage. For these pur- 

 poses there is nothing more grand 

 than ivy ; it is always beautiful, and 

 it grows with such rapidity and luxu- 

 riance that it soon hides the surface 

 over which it spreads with glossy 

 sheets of deep green verdure. If 

 allowed to trail on the ground, it an- 

 swers admirably to surface planta- 

 tions and the sides of wilderness 

 walks ; to cover mounds and knolls, 



and in fact to beautify the most un- 

 sightly places, or add a fresh charm 

 to spots which nature and art have 

 already combined to embellish. It 

 may also be grown to form standard, 

 evergreen shrubs for the decoration 

 of the terrace, lawn, and shrubbery ; 

 and grown in the form of an umbrella, 

 the ivy may be made immensely valu- 

 able for the adornment of entrance- 

 halls, and to intersperse among the 

 seats and retiring places at festive 

 gatherings. The arborescent and 

 variegated varieties make superb con- 

 servatory plants when grown with 

 care in suitable forms ; and, lastly, 

 ivies may be grown in quantities in 

 pots, and by regular pinching-in be 

 made to assume the form of compact 

 bushes, and these, plunged in the par- 

 terre with hollies and other ever- 

 greens, serve to enliven the scene at a 

 time when it is impossible to make an 

 out-door display of flowers. 



Culture oe Ivy. — All the spe- 

 cies and varieties are, without a single 

 exception, most easily cultivated. 

 The stove and greenhouse kinds will 

 thrive in a soil consisting of equal 

 parts loam, peat, and decayed manure. 

 The hardy kinds will grow in any 

 soil, and in almost any situation, even 

 if so shaded and barren that even 

 periwinkle will not live upon it. But 

 it should be known that whenever a 

 quick and luxuriant growth of ivy is 

 desired, the soil cannot be too rich. 

 In the culture of specimen ivies in 

 pots, a light rich soil is essential to 

 insure free growth ; but those with 

 variegated leaves are apt to become 

 gross in habit, and sutler deteriora- 

 tion of the beautiful colours of their 

 leaves, if grown in a compost con- 

 taining any considerable proportion 

 of animal manure. When grown 

 under glass, the hardy kinds become 

 long-jointed and .tender, so that if 

 exposed to frost their young shoots 

 are killed back ; and all the varie- 

 gated kinds require to be pretty 

 freely exposed, except during winter, 

 both to keep them short-jointed in 

 habit, and produce their variegated 

 tints in perfection. 



Ivy on Walls. — The best ivies 

 for walls are the Irish, H. canariensis, 

 which is the most rapid grower, and, 



