44 



stroyed, as the butterflies found in 

 this position are generally females, 

 just about to lay their eggs. Some- 

 times butterflies, thus placed, are 

 found, when they are examined, to 

 be dead ; and when this is the 

 case, the adjacent branches and 

 leaves should be searched for eggs. 

 Butterfly Plants. — See Onci'- 



DIUM and PnALiEXO'PSLS. 



Bu'xcs L. — EuphorhiacecB. — 

 The most common cultivated species 

 are B. seinpervh'ens, and B. haled- 

 rica, the Minorca Box, both hardy 

 shrubs or low trees. The former is 

 one of the most valuable plants in 

 European gardens, both as an under- 

 growth in woods, and as an orna- 

 mental hedge for sheltering gardens. 

 Box is also much used for forming 

 edges to walks ; but the kind em- 

 ployed for this purpose, though it 

 is considered to be only a dwarf 

 variety of B. semxjervlrens, is so 

 difi"erent from the Tree-box in its 

 habit, that it might almost be con- 

 sidered as a distinct species. The 

 Box-tree has been grown in Euro- 

 pean gardens almost from time im- 

 memorial. It was one of the prin- 

 cipal ornaments in the gardens of 

 Pliny ; and in more modern times 

 the Dwarf-box was almost the only 

 plant used for forming the embroi- 

 dery or scroll-work, or whatever 

 that terrestrial arabesque may be 

 called, which came into fashion in 

 the time of Louis XIV. At present, 

 this kind of scroli-work is no longer 

 in use ; but the Dwarf-box is still a 

 favourite for edgings to beds, and it 

 ■will be perhaps always preferred to 

 all other plants, from its hardi- 

 ness, easy culture, and compact 

 habit of growth. It is also ever- 

 green, and of great duration ; it 

 is easily propagated, and bears 

 clipping or cutting remarkably 

 well. It is readily propagated by 

 taking up the plants, and after 



dividing them, replanting them 

 farther apart, and a little deeper 

 than they were before. It will grow 

 in any soil not saturated with mois- 

 ture, and it may be cut or clipped 

 at any season of the year. The best 

 time for clipping Box, however, is 

 about the end of June ; after v.-hich, 

 especially if well watered, the Box 

 makes a second shoot of half an 

 inch, or an inch in length, which 

 obliterates the marks of the shears. 

 To form edgings df Box properly, 

 is an operation of gardening that 

 requires considerable care. First, 

 the ground should be rendered firm 

 and even ; secondly, a narrow trench 

 should be accurately cut out with 

 the spade in the direction in which 

 the edging is to be planted ; thirdly, 

 the Box should be thinly and 

 equally laid in along the trench, the 

 tops being all about an inch above 

 the surface of the soil ; and, fourthly, 

 the soil should be applied to the 

 plants, and firmly trodden in against 

 them, so as to keep the edging 

 exactly in the position required. 

 The trench should always be made 

 on the side next the walk ; and 

 after the soil is pressed down, and 

 the walk gi-avelled, the gravel is 

 brought up over the soil, close to 

 the stems of the Box, so as to cover 

 the soil at least an inch in thick- 

 ness, and to prevent any soil being 

 seen on the gravel-walk side of the 

 Box. This also prevents the Box 

 from growing too luxuriantly ; as 

 it would be apt to do if the trench 

 were on the border side, when the 

 plants would lean against the 

 gravel, and the roots, being entirely 

 covered Avith soil, would grow with 

 so much luxuriance, that the plants 

 would be with difiiculty kept within 

 bounds by clipping. A Box-edging 

 once properly made, and clipped 

 every year, so as to form a minia- 

 ture hedge, about three inches wide 



