LITTLE GARDENS 



hedges and borders. Box is of a small leaf, 

 tough stem, compact growth, is at home in all 

 soils and can be raised from cuttings, which are 

 to be removed at the end of warm weather, say, 

 in September, and placed in the shade for root- 

 ing. Some new strains have been announced, in 

 which the leaves, instead of showing the deep 

 green that lasts all winter, are variegated with 

 white and yellow\ These gold and silver shrubs 

 are serviceable when tubs or pots of vegetation 

 are required to margin a walk or lawn, or to 

 sentinel an arbor or a door, or to encircle a pool. 

 The potted box will grow to a height of four 

 or five feet, and it looks quite as well as the yew 

 or cedar that has attained no greater altitude. 

 The same may be said of the privet, which makes 

 a neat appearance as a single plant, but serves its 

 best function as a hedge. Privet is said to grow 

 scrawny in some parts of the country, but in the 

 North and East it can be teased into a hedge as 

 compact as that of box. The proper treatment 

 of it is to cut it ruthlessly in the early spring of 

 its second year — cut it to within a foot of the 

 ground. This will cause a number of strong new 

 shoots to emerge from the central stalks, taking 



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