10 THE GARDENER. [Jan. 



steep bank of earth on the other; there are various angles and straight^ 

 lines, in the manner of a star. Now down there the vegetables might 

 be expected to grow in perfect tranquillity from all the winds which 

 blow, but it is not so ; the place seems haunted with eddies and cut- 

 ting currents at all times, and the vegetables have a poor time of it, 

 to the great mystification of the gallant commandant who draws on 

 our supposed wisdom. This is, however, the sort of shelter we be- 

 lieve that garden-walls give, but in an aggravated form — indeed no 

 shelter at all, unless complemented by surrounding hedges and planta- 

 tions : and the question is whether garden-walls in these days might 

 not be entirely dispensed with so far as shelter is concerned ; and 

 certainly from an economical point of view, and as objects of taste, 

 they are entirely unnecessary so far as vegetables are concerned ; and 

 they are fast losing their prestige in the culture of fruits. But let 

 the existing walled garden be devoted to fruit-trees, which of them- 

 selves break the force of the wind, and in those days of high-priced 

 labour and refined gardening, let the kitchen be supplied from the 

 field, where the necessary skill to secure good vegetables is only of 

 the field standard. The Squire's Gardener. 



LAPAGEEIAS. 

 ALBA AND ROSEA. 



These magnificent evergreen climbing plants are indispensable in the 

 greenhouse and conservatory ; trained up the walls and rafters, they 

 have a grand effect, and cannot be too highly praised. 



The beautiful, waxy, pure-white flowers of the former, and the deli- 

 cate rose-coloured flowers of the latter, afford a rich and pleasing con- 

 trast when grown adjacent to each other, and, backed up with luxuriant 

 dark-green foliage, have a most noble appearance, and are universally 

 admired. Both varieties can be increased, though slowly, by cuttings 

 put in any time from October to December, choosing well-ripened wood 

 that has not flowered for the purpose. Cut the shoots into cuttings with 

 four to five eyes on each — two to be inserted in the soil, and two or three 

 above, with leaves attached, using small, 4-inch pots. Drain them well, 

 and fill them with a compost consisting of equal parts light loam and 

 peat, with a good sprinkling of sand and powdered charcoal. Insert the 

 cuttings firmly all round the edge of the pot ; water them with a fine 

 rose, and place them in a cool, moist pit, in a shady position. They 

 can also be propagated by layers, when the plants are at rest ; and if 

 the plants to be operated on are planted out, the shoots should be laid 

 in the border in soil prepared for them, the same as for cuttings, mak- 

 ing a neat, clean cut up the centre of the growth, and pegging them 

 into the soil the same as Carnations. If pot specimens are to be 



