THE FLORAL WOULD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



151 



beries ; at Kew it towers up on the margin of the lake, a true queen 

 of the greensward ; and in private gardens everywhere it has its 

 place — in the rockery, the rootery. and beside the fish-pond. 



Like some of our commonest English grasses it will grow any- 

 where, no matter what the nature of the soil or climate, but there 

 will be a vast difference iu the respective luxuriance and beauty of 

 plants grown under circumstauces congenial to the habit of the 

 species, and those grown under difficulties. In a dry, barren sand 

 it will throw up its elegant tufts of green, but never attain to its 

 proper stately dimensions, and in a hot aspect the colour of the 

 foliage will be injured during the latter portions of the summer 

 season. To grow it well it requires a deep, moist loam, heavily- 

 enriched with rotten manure and leaf-mould, and, during its season 

 of vigorous growth — from the end of May to the end of September 

 — it should be frequently supplied with weak liquid manure. Its 

 proper home is beside the rapid and frequently-swollen streams of 

 the South American Pampas, where it forms dense jungles, through 

 which it is impossible to pass, except by cutting a way through, 

 owing to the serrated character of the margins of its wavy leaves. 



The best season to turn out small plants from pots is from April 

 to the end of May. A hole, three feet deep and four feet wide, 

 should be made. Into this should be thrown a mixture of rotten 

 dung, leaf-mould, and fat loam, in about equal proportions, till the 

 hole is filled up to within eighteen inches of the surface. It should 

 then be filled up with loam and leaf-mould only, and the plant should 

 be turned out in the centre, and firmly made up with the soil. A 

 few good waterings will cause the roots to strike out into the com- 

 post, and after that the plant will prosper with no other attention 

 than occasional supplies of moisture. The soil in which it is planted 

 will probably sink in the course of a few weeks, when it should be 

 liberally mulched with short dung only half-rotten, the foliage of 

 the plant being gathered up and tied to a stake when the dung is 

 laid down, in order that none of the leaves may be covered. The 

 soil around the plant should on no account be elevated above the 

 surrounding surface; on the contrary, it should be below that sur- 

 face, as in the case of an American bed, in order to retain as much 

 as possible the heavy summer rains. Established plants may be 

 taken up and replanted with perfect safety any time from December 

 to April. We have transplanted large specimens during winter for 

 three seasons past, and never lost one, though very severe frosts 

 followed the transplanting. If the plants were cut over close to the 

 ground at the time of such transplanting, they would probably 

 perish ; therefore let the old foliage remain. It will wither and form 

 a protecting screen to the crown of the plant, and may be cut away 

 carefully as soon as the new spring growth appears. As bhe seeds 

 of this plant are now offered through the ordinary trade channels, 

 we advise those who wish to plant in any quantity among their 

 ■brubberiea and collections of iems and grasses, to raise a stock 

 from seed. It may be sown in any of the ordinary fine composts 

 used for spring seeds, and is best started with a gentle bottom-heat, 

 the plants to be kept under glass in a cool house till large enough to 



Miiy 



