December 30, 187B. ) 



JOUKNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



677 



when placed in contact with moisture which induced the 

 miraculona and enperstitioua importance of the plant, and it 

 was believed that this appearance always took place on the 

 anniversary of the birth of our blessed Saviour. The plant 

 may be kept for years if taken up before it is withered and 

 then preserved in a dry room ; at any time when the root is 

 put in a glass of water, or the whole plant immersed, it will 

 expand, and, in the course of a few hours the buds of flowers 

 will swell and appear as if newly taken from the ground. 



Possessed of extraordinary vitality is the plant now ligured. 

 It may be called a toy plant, and few other toys will give more 

 salutary teachings. It is also appropriate to the period. The 

 old year is closing and the new year opening ; the plant is old 

 and collapsed, apparently dying; but nourish it, and in the 

 few hours still remaining of the old year the plant and new 

 year will awake together. 



Further, both the plant and year are what we make them ; 



level, but which in reality is not so ; nevertheless, the whole 

 work is of such a nature that without some judgment at the 

 commencement as well as in the process of the work, some 

 great error may be run into which may render the ultimate 

 completion of the work both difljcult and needlessly costly. 

 To obviate this let ns take a survey of the whole before a 

 spade is put in. By the exercise of some of the rules of geo- 

 metry, aided l>y what is still more serviceable — the judgment 

 of the eye, a rough idea may be formed of what number of 

 slopes and their elevation, as well as the number and widths 

 of the terraces or landings, the ground may be conveniently 

 formed into. The hard-and-fast lines of the architect in all cases 

 that I have witnessed means a larger outlay than the pru- 

 dent gardener would recommend ; as when material has to be 

 brought, or it may be taken away, in order that a precise 

 width of terrace or height of panel to an inch may be com- 

 plied with ; whereas a little discretionary power given to the 



Fig. 118.— Rose of jeeicho 



by onr efforts each may be made joyous. Without kindred 

 nourishment the plant sleeps, but kindness bestowed it returns 

 cheerily. So with the year ; and as the assistance received by 

 the plant makes it forget past neglect, let us in the new year 

 forget and forgive any neglects which we may have experienced. 

 Obstacles and impediments have beset the paths of all. Em- 

 ployers and employed have alike been tempted to utter hard 

 words and, mayhap, commit harder acts. Let these be as if 

 they bad never been, and, like the newly nurtured plant, the 

 new year will flourish. — W. 



GROUNDWORK— SLOPES AND TERRACES. 

 Allusion has been made to inclinations on lawns and ter- 

 races appearing to the eye as being level — a subject well worth 

 the notice of those contemplating groundworks of that kind. 

 The usual accompaniment of a terrace — viz., "the slope," is 

 sometimes dispensed with when a wall is adopted, but it is 

 common where there is a number of descents made to have 

 the top one only as a wall with balustrade or parapet, and 

 the others constituting a series of slopes, which may either 

 be of turf or shrubs as desired. As such works usually come 

 under the management of the resident gardener, a few hints 

 may be of service. Lot us take a common case as an example. 

 A residence occupies a rather elevated position, and the ground 

 descends from the base of the building in the direction in 

 which it Is proposed to form dressed grounds. In such a case 

 it is not unusual to cut the slope into a series of terraces, and 

 at the bottom to form a panel, which to the eye appears to be 



operator will usually save a large outlay, and the appearance 

 be really the same. 



Taking into consideration the ultimate effect that is looked 

 for in a place carried out in slopes and levels, especially when 

 viewed from the top, we may say that where the buOder's 

 work does not dictate the forms the gardener has to work to, 

 a certain amount of conformity to the existing grounds may 

 be made with great advantage; and even mechanical works, 

 as steps and landings, ought to be made to act in like manner. 

 The advisability of this is not for mere appearance only, but 

 for the more imperative object of utility. Many years ago we 

 remodelled some slopes that form the garden front of the 

 mansion here (Linton Park), and added a flight of steps, of 

 about 15 feet wide and forty-seven in number, in a series of 

 flights and landings, and each step inclined outwards about 

 one-eighth of an inch, while the landings had likewise an in- 

 clination of about 1 in 30 or thereabouts, the groundwork par- 

 taking of the some character, while the slopes which corre- 

 sponded with the easy and comfortable flight of steps were 

 formed on the gradient of about 2} base to 1 in perpendicular; 

 or about 20"- — a slope for grass quite steep enough in a dis- 

 trict like this where the summer drought tells so seriously on 

 grass slopes. A moister soil and north aspect may allow a 

 steeper incline perhaps, but we would not advise a less in- 

 cline than what mechanics call 2 to 1 in ordinary cases, as it 

 is not easy to walk up a steeper one. Many other reasons 

 might be put forth for not having a steeper incline than that, 

 not the least being the frequency the turf gets broken and 

 destroyed when it is too steep ; and unless some important 



