36 THE CHRONICLES OF A CxARDEN. 



allowed to attain to a luxuriant growth, it is apt to be 

 torn off by the wind, and its root-like fibres, when once un- 

 fastened, will never cling again : there is no help for it ; it 

 must be cut down to where it is still adhering, and allowed 

 to spring again from thence. But when ivy is allowed to 

 grow freely on a tree, or over a paling, it is a much more 

 beautiful object than when pruned down, and its bunches 

 of grape-like fruit add to its ornamental appearance. Ad- 

 vantage might be taken of this climber, especially the Irish 

 ivy, to plant out unsightly buildings, or to form a hedge- 

 like screen, where such is required, by training it in • the 

 one case against a tall rough pole, and in the other against 

 a few stakes, when it will run up and festoon with an ever- 

 green garland the dead wood which supports it. In one 

 of the pleasant papers in the Cottage Gardener, called 

 " My Flowers," the authoress says — " I do not think the 

 ivy is sufficiently considered as an ornament to the garden. 

 Its rapid growth makes it invaluable where large buildings, 

 or walls unfit for fruit trees, require to be covered ; but it 

 is equally useful as an embellishment among shrubs, par- 

 ticularly those which shed their leaves in winter. The 

 dead stem of a tree, with its boughs left on a foot or two 

 in length, clothed with ivy, is a beautiful object, standing 

 in quiet statelincss among the lighter beauties of the shrub- 

 bery, with its dark, rich mass of foliage growing richer 

 and handsomer as its neighbours sicken and die. When I 

 first saw an ivy tree I was struck with its beauty and 

 solemnity of look : it gave an appearance of age to the 

 garden, which is also an advantage. Any stump, or rough 



