CONSERVATIVE WALL. 



ro 



CONSERVATIVE WALL. 



common Bluebottle, and the Sweet 

 Sultan ; and others are all ligulate, 

 as in the Dandelion, and Sowthistle. 

 This last genus affords a good example 

 of the iDappus, a soi't of feathery 

 crown apparently attached to the 

 seed, but which is in fact the upper 

 part of the calyx cut into very fine 

 hair-like divisions ; the calyx remain- 

 ing attached to the seed when ripe. 

 The pappus is also seen conspicuously 

 ia Thistledown and the Dandelion ; 

 but some genera of the Compositro 

 are without it, as for example, the 

 Daisy and the Chrysanthemum. 



Compost-Grou^'d. — A space in 

 some secluded part of a garden, near 

 the hothouses and pits, and the tool- 

 house and reserve-ground, in which 

 different hinds of soils, manures, and 

 composts are prepared and kept. 

 Though secluded, it should not be 

 shaded altogether from the sun ; and 

 the ground should be drained, in 

 order that the manure, kc, may not 

 be soaked with moisture. 



Compost. — This word is applied 

 to any soil that is composed of several 

 different ingredients ; such as sand, 

 loam and peat, or vegetable mould, 

 &c. These mixed soils are found to 

 be much better for plants than any 

 soil consisting of only one material ; 

 and thus, whenever choice plants are 

 to be grown, directions are generally 

 given for making a compost for them. 

 In all large gardens, heaps of several 

 different kinds of earths are kept in 

 the reserve-ground ready for mixing 

 as they may be required ; but in 

 small suburban gardens, peat, loam, 

 and sand will suffice. These soils 

 may be bought in small quantities 

 from the London nurserymen, say j 

 sixpenny worth or a shilling's worth 

 of each ; and they may be kept in 

 large pots in a back shed, for mixing 

 as required. 



Conservative Wall. — Many 

 greenhouse and some hothouse plants, j 



particularly such as are deciduous, 

 and are natm-ally of rapid and vigor- 

 ous growth, are found to succeed 

 remarkably well when planted out 

 during the summer season in the 

 open garden, either as standards or 

 against a wall. Those which are 

 planted as standards or bushes in 

 the open beds or borders, grow 

 vigorously during the months of 

 June, July, and August, but require 

 to be taken up in September and 

 preserved during the winter in pots 

 or boxes for planting out next season. 

 This i s practised with Fuchsias, Brug- 

 mansias, Pelargoniums, and similar 

 plants. Other shrubs are planted 

 against a wall with a southern expo- 

 sure ; and these not only grow and 

 sometimes flower during the summer, 

 but if protected during the winter 

 with matting, or a projecting roof, or 

 both, they will live for several years, 

 growing vigorously, and flowering 

 every season. The common myrtle, 

 some of the Acacias, the Eucalypti, 

 and a number of the rapid-growing 

 New Holland shrubs, are so treated 

 with great success ; and the fine 

 appearance which they make in the 

 summer season, amply repays the 

 expense and trouble which must be 

 taken with them. There is scarcely 

 any limit to the number and kinds of 

 shrubs which may be treated in this 

 way ; for while the taller and more 

 rapid-growing kinds are made to cover 

 the upper part of the wall, the dwarfer 

 species may be trained against the 

 lower part, and herbaceous plants, 

 including iulbs, may be planted all 

 along the base. The border in which 

 the plants are grown should be a light 

 sandy soil, of no great depth ; and it 

 would be an advantage to thatch it 

 during the winter season, to carry off 

 the rain to a distance from the roots 

 of the plants. The drier all half- 

 hardy plants are kept in the open 

 ground, the better, excepting during 



