IS73-] COMMON SHRUBS FOR DECORATION. 329 



young men," for it is we who one day will be called upon to "tread 

 the road our fathers trod ; " and we should strive to do better than 

 those who have "gone before," seeing we walk in times when science 

 has thrown a clearer^ light around the occupations of our everyday life. 



Under-Gardener. 



COMMO]Sr SHRUBS FOR COVERING AND ORNAMENT- 

 ING THE WALLS OF HOUSES. 



It is often very interesting to observe some of the various modes 

 which modern ideas have adopted in the way of variety, and even use- 

 fulness in many instances, to make screens of different shrubs, and 

 even to ornament the walls of cottages, and the residences of many of 

 our merchants and manufacturing gentlemen. Of course there are the 

 old baronial mansions covered with time's mantle of everlasting Ivy. 

 Few plants, if any, are better suited for covering the walls of such 

 houses, giving an ancient, and even a venerable, appearance to them, 

 which is not to be seen nor expected about more modern erections. 

 However, to have Ivy to look well upon the walls of any residence, 

 especially during summer, and in the neatest way possible, where 

 everything else is kept and dressed in the trimmest manner, it is very 

 essential to trim it during the month of April. The usual mode of 

 doing this is with a reaping-hook or some such weapon, to slash off all 

 the fore-shoots and leaves from the Ivy. However, this way only 

 partially removes the litter, as most assuredly all the footstalks of the 

 cut-off leaves will fall off, and that, too, ere the month of June has 

 passed away. To obviate this I have on various occasions pulled 

 every leaf off by hand, footstalk and all ; thus doing all we could to 

 prevent any littery mess during summer, while everything else was in 

 the best of trim, and wearing a smiling appearance. 



The following are only a few of the plants we have seen used for 

 covering walls with, and very successfully, of what we may term 

 common shrubs. To some minds it seems not a little strange to 

 see the pleasing effect which some shrubs make when used to cover 

 walls, especially when judiciously managed ; some people like those 

 plants that are evergreens for this purpose. Many plants are highly 

 ornamental when full of leaf and flower, while during the long dull 

 months of winter they are often like so many dried hazel sticks ; 

 however, the few which we here enumerate are very useful and orna- 

 mental. 



Amongst evergreens which we have seen used to ornament the front 

 walls of dwelling-houses and garden-walls, &c., may be named Irish Yews, 

 Common Yews, Arborvitses, Cotoneasters of sorts, and Pyrus Japonica. 



