CLIPPING. 161 CLIPPING. 
covering walls, ornamenting trellis- | Yew, and Box, are generally clipped 
work, arcades, verandas, er orna- about midsummer; and this is also 
mental props, in the form of cones, | the season for clipping Box edgings. 
pyramids, parasols, &c. | Deciduous hedges, such as those 
Cuvea.— Amaryllidécee.— An | of the common Thorn, may either 
imperfect bulb, or leek-rooted plant, | be clipped immediately after mid- 
of easy culture in the greenhouse | summer, or during winter ; us, dur- 
in loamy soil; it preserves its deep | ing the latter season, the sap is in 
green foliage all the year, and sends la great measure dormant, and the 
up strong stems bearing red and| wounded points of the shoots are 
yellow flowers from May to August. | the less liable to be injured by frosts. 
Cuinto'nta.— Lobelidcee—Beau- | In general, both evergreen and de- 
tiful little annuals, flowering pro- | ciduous hedges and edgings may be 
fusely the whole summer. They clipped at any period after the 
are natives of California, but will! growth for the season is completed : 
bear heat better than the generality | but if cut or clipped before that 
of annuals from that country. They | takes place, the amputated shoois 
are generally raised on a hotbed 
(the seeds being sown in February), 
and planted out in May; but they 
may be sown in the open border in 
April. They require a very rich 
soil, consisting of one part of sandy | 
loam, two of vegetable mould, and 
one of rotten manure; er, where | 
vegetable mould cannot readily be | 
procured, of equal parts of sandy 
loam and manure; and they should 
be constantly watered while they 
are growing. ‘The seed-pod is be- 
low the flower, and looks like its 
footstalk. If the seeds are sown in 
pots as soon as they are ripe, and| 
kept im shelter all the winter, they 
will be ready for planting out into 
beds or boxes, fora veranda or bal- 
cony, in March or April, and they 
will be brilliantly in flower by May; 
and if constantly watered, they will 
continue to produce a succession 
of blossoms, till the plants are de- | 
stroyed by frost. 
Currrine or shearing plants was 
a very common practice in gardens 
with all shrubs, many trees, and_ 
even fruit-bearing bushes, such as 
the Gooseberry and Currant, from 
the earliest times up to the com- 
mencement, of the last century ; 
but it is now chiefly confined to/| 
hedges and edgings. Evergreen 
hedges, such as those of Holly, 
14* 
are apt to make a second growth, 
which thickens too much the sur- 
| face of the hedge, and, by excluding 
| the air, causes the decay of the in- 
terior branches. Broad-leaved plants 
used as hedges, such as the com- 
'mon Laurel, should be cut with the 
knife by hand; as when the large 
leaves are cut through, the appear- 
ance of the hedge afterwards is 
mutilated and unsightly. Holly 
hedges are also best cut by the hand. 
Privet, Yew, and Box hedges may 
also be clipped. ‘Thorn hedges, iv 
the best agricultural districts, are 
generally cut with a hedgebill; and 
the stroke is always made upward, 
‘in order not to fracture the shoots; 
as breaking them, by admitting 
moisture, causes them to decay at 
the points, and also stimulates them 
to produce small shoots, 
thicken the hedge too much at the 
surface. There are two kinds of 
| shears for cutting hedges; the com- 
mon kind, in which the two blades 
work on a fixed pivot, and make a 
crushing cut which bruises the 
-shoot; and the pruning-shears, im 
which the pivot is fixed into one 
blade, and the other moves over it 
"ina groove, in consequence of which 
a draw-cut is produced in the same 
manner, as if the hedge had been 
‘eut by hand with a knife. All 
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