RIDGES FOR HEAVY SOILS. 425 



RINGING. 



coloured fruit of the Giant varieties, im- 

 part to select plantations, shrubbery, and 

 flower borders, quite an oriental aspect. 

 The Ricinus is better known to most 

 people as the " Castor-oil Plant." In the 

 gardens around Paris they form one of the 

 principal features of attraction, and if 

 planted out and grown as single specimens 

 on our lawns and pleasure grounds, orna- 

 mental foliage plants would form a new 

 and striking feature. The dwarf varieties 

 (3 to 4 feet in height) are of a compact 

 growth, with rich and beautiful-coloured 

 foliage, stems, and fruit : these are pecu- 

 liarly adapted for breaking the monotony 

 and giving a picturesque effect to the 

 flower borders of suburban gardens. They 

 succeed best in rich soil, and are generally 

 propagated by seed. 



Ridges for Heavy Soils. 



There is an objection to laying heavy 

 soil in ridges, except for certain purposes 

 as for sowing peas, beans, &c. For plant- 

 ing early potatoes the advantages of ridging 

 are great ; but heavy, clayey ground does 

 not pulverise easily : the action of frost is 

 wanted on the surface. Of course, the 

 thicker the surface acted upon the better. 

 In digging heavy ground, lay the soil in 

 solid spits as they are cut out with the 

 spade ; the spits should not be broken, but 

 laid roughly together, with plenty of open- 

 ings for the air and frost to act on them. 

 Ground managed in this way is easier to 

 crop in the springtime than that which has 

 laid in ridges, because, when the ridges are 

 levelled, a new surface is turned up, and 

 the pulverised surface is buried. Ground 

 ridges this month, therefore, should be 

 levelled again in P'ebruary, and another 

 surface exposed and pulverised. At this 

 time it is very necessary to give attention 

 to the state of the drainage ; unless surplus 

 water gets away readily, great incon- 

 veniences may result. Heavy rains may 



make the garden a swamp, and spoil the 

 crops already put in, besides preventing 

 others being sown or planted. The ground, 

 moreover, wherever imperfect drainage 

 exists, is rendered soft and slimy to the 

 feet by heavy rains, and difficult to culti- 

 vate. 



Ridging. 



A term applied to the operation of 

 throwing soil into ridges, the ridge being 

 formed of earth taken out of the trench 

 that separates the ridges. The object oi 

 ridging is to expose as great a surface as 

 possible to the pulverising action of the 

 frost. 



Ringing. 



The sap ascends from the roots to the 

 stem, branches, and leaves of the plant by 

 the woody fibre enclosed by the bark, but 

 it returns to the root through the bark 

 itself. Advantage has been taken of this 

 to promote root growth in the case of 

 hard-wooded plants which are difficult to 

 deal with in this manner by an operation 

 which is known as ringing, and which con- 

 sists in removing a small narrow ring of 

 bark all round the stem in the place in 

 which the formation of roots is desired to 

 take place. Care must be taken not to 

 cut deeply into the stem indeed, it is 

 better to peel off the bark only, and not 

 cut into the inner wood at all, for thus no 

 hindrance is offered to the ascent of the 

 sap. A callus is formed on the bark which 

 forms the upper edge of the ring, and this 

 thickens as time goes on, and ultimately 

 emits roots. Branches and trailing stems 

 operated on in this way should be firmly 

 pegged down, and earth should be drawn 

 over the incision. Layers should be 

 brought into as erect a position as possible, 

 and they may be shortened back. When 

 layers are made from plants in pots, the 

 layers should be pegged down in the soil 



