SINGLE TREES. 



291 



SINGLE TREES. 



deners sift most of the soil they use 

 forpotting. Sifting, however, should 

 he used with caution ; as most 

 plants thrive better when the par- 

 ticles of soil are not too fine. Turfy 

 loam, for example, should generally 

 be chopped small with a sp^de or 

 trowel, and not sifted ; and peat 

 should not be deprived of the vege- 

 table fibre in which it abounds. 

 Sifted earth, when of a loamy nature, 

 is very apt to cake together and to 

 become impenetrable to the finer 

 roots of plants. 



Sile'ne. — Silenacece or Caryo- 

 jyhylldcece.—The Catchfly.— Well- 

 known annual and perennial plants, 

 many of whith are natives of Britain, 

 with flowers something Like those of 

 the Pink. They are nearly all 

 quite hardy, and only require the 

 common treatment of their respec- 

 tive kinds. Lobel's Catchfly (S. 

 Armeria) is a common garden 

 annual that requires sowing in the 

 open ground in March or April. 

 Silene Schdffa is a very ornamental 

 hardy perennial introduced in 1846. 

 It is a dwarf plant, with abundance 

 of bright crimson flowers, which 

 continue from June to October. 



Silk Tree. — Acacia JidibrUsin. 

 — See Acacia. 



Single trees and single shrues 

 are the gi-and sources of variety in 

 a la-mi or park, where the surface 

 is flat and without any other re- 

 sources ; and they are also, when 

 judiciously disposed, valuable addi- 

 tions to a surface naturally varied 

 by undulations. The great art in 

 putting down single trees is, to dis- 

 pose them so as to form groups 

 when seen from a distance, and yet 

 so as to produce variety in every 

 change of position in the spectator 

 when near. The kinds of trees 

 and shrubs may be varied at pleasure, 

 provided some attention be paid to 

 the prevalence of one general form 



or character of tree or shrub in one 

 . place. For example, if conical trees 

 I be distributed equally over the 

 grounds, along with round-headed 

 trees, they will produce great same- 

 ness ; but if conical trees prevail in 

 one place, round-headed trees in 

 another, and flat-spreading trees in 

 a third, so many distinct characters 

 will be produced. The same may 

 be said as to shrubs. The sure 

 mode of proceeding on right prin- 

 ciples is to take the ditterent genera, 

 and allow only the species and 



FIG. 49. — PKOTECTING BY FAGGOTS. j 



varieties of one genus to prevail in 

 one place. Single trees should 

 always be planted in prepared soil 

 raised in heaps a foot or more above 

 the general surface ; so that after a 

 year or two, when the earth has 

 settled down, the tree may stand on 

 a little hillock. The trees before 

 planting should be ten feet or 

 twelve feet in height, with trunks 

 three inches or four inches in 

 diameter at the surface of the 

 ground. The shrubs should also be 

 of as large a size as will transplant 

 with ease and a fair prospect of 



