PROPS. 



256 



groxmd with short sticks in the top, 

 to which chains, ropes, or wires 

 may be affixed, up which the plants 

 may be trained. When the flowers 

 are chiefly to be produced at the 

 top, and the object of the stem is 

 i merely to elevate the top to a con- 

 i siderable distance from the ground, 

 ! then the latter must spread over 

 the former as much as may be de- 

 sirable for the sake of eflfect. In like 

 i manner, when the object is shade, 

 or the covering of a summer shelter 

 I or bower, the stems may be trained 

 upright and may be sbiided to any 

 extent by the head. 

 j Wire frames for training plants 

 i in pots are generally painted green, 

 { for the same reason as the props. 

 I In supporting large flowers, such as 

 I Dahlias, or shrubs, such as standard 

 I Roses, in the open garden, stakes of 

 I cast or wrought iron are frequently 

 i used, and the colour they are painted 

 j is almost always green, though a 

 ' dark-brown colour, or some tint 

 ! nearer that of the bark of rods, say 

 those of the ash or hazel, would 

 undoubtedly be in better taste. 

 Twining j)lants, such as the Con- 

 volvulus, are frequently encouraged 

 to twine round cords made fast at 

 the root of the plant at one end, 

 and to a wall, horizontal rail, or 

 some other fixed point or line at 

 the other. Very handsome screens 

 may be formed in this manner, and 

 also very agreeable figures, provided 

 care is taken that the figure shall 

 not be much broader at the summit 

 than it is at the base. An obelisk, 

 a column, a cone, a pyramid, or a 

 cross, in an open airy situation, 

 may be covered so as to produce a 

 very striking effect. Arcades and 

 covered ways, formed of framework 

 of wood or wire, may be covered 

 with creepers of every description, 

 ligneous or herbaceous; but the 

 beauty of the flowers is only seen ! 



externally, and the advantage to 

 the spectator walking beneath is 

 shade alone. When shade and the 

 beauty of the flowers are to be both 

 enjoyed by the spectator in a covered 

 walk, the covering ought to be pro- 

 duced by arches placed at regular 

 distances, so as to admit of the air 

 and light between, by which means 

 the plants will be covered witli 

 flowers from the ground to the 

 crown of the arch. The arches may 

 either cross the walk at right 

 angles, or they may cross each 

 other, so that the vertical profile of 

 every two arches would form a 

 cross. 



Trees, after they have gi-own for 

 some years, frequently lean to one 

 side, especially such trees as the 

 Judas tree, the Mulberry, the Pin- 

 aster, and even the Laburnum. 

 These require props to set them 

 upright, and the kind requisite for 

 this purpose is a wooden prop forked 

 at the extremity. In like manner, 

 the branches of trees sometimes 

 split, or for other reasons hang 

 down, so as to incommode the path 

 or the surface beneath ; and in this 

 case the branches require to be tied 

 together by iron rods. 



Pro'tea. — Proteacece. — Singu- 

 lar-looking plants, natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, which are very 

 difficult to cultivate, as their roots 

 are fleshy and very apt to be in- 

 jiu'ed either by a want of water or 

 an excess. They must also have 

 abundance of light and air, and not 

 be crowded vrith other plants. They 

 should be grown in pots nearly half 

 filled with potsherds, in light turfy 

 loam, mixed with equal parts of 

 fine silver sand, and placed in a 

 greenhouse. Great care must be 

 taken in shifting them Avhen they 

 require larger pots, as their roots 

 are very brittle, and will be found 

 to have entwined themselves among 



