Ghar. 
183 
will grow in almost any situation if the soil is not abso- 
lutely deficient of food, or if the roots of other plants do 
not rob them of a fair supply of nutriment; and in such 
situation nothing would be required but to throw down 
a few tree roots or rough branches for them to scramble 
over. Thus planted, a layer of manure worked in an- 
nually with the fork, and a supply ot water in very dry 
weather, would secure a good result. Again, they rank 
amongst the noblest of ornaments for low walls, trellises, 
ete., to which they must necessarily in the first instance 
be nailed or tied; but once firmly fixed, they should be 
allowed to fall down in rich, picturesque masses. No 
home in the South, however humble, but should have a 
Clematis vine, and if your home is so situated that you 
can have only one vine, let that one be a Clematis, for of 
all the hardy running vines none are more beautiful and 
none more desirable, as they grow more beautiful each 
year after being planted. There are considerably over a 
hundred species, mostly from cold or temperate climates. 
They are wide-spread, in Europe from Russia to Portugal 
and the Baltic Isles; in Asia from the Ural range, in 
Siberia, to India and Java, and even to China and Japan. 
They show themselves in both Americas, in several Poly- 
nesian Islands, and even in New Zealand. Thus they 
extend from pole to pole, from the sea shores to the slope 
of highest mountains. Searcely a species can be said to 
be without beauty, so graceful is their habit, or so bold 
and showy their flowers. The earliest flowering hardy 
species commence unfolding their blossoms in April, and 
these are succeeded by other species and _ varieties 
. throughout ‘Summer and Autumn, some of them con- 
tinuing to bloom up to November. In color they present 
almost every shade and combination of red and blue, and 
pure scarlets and crimsons are not wanting. The lilac, 
