WINTER CHERRY. 



569 



WIRE ESPALIERS. 



trained about the recess. For this purpose 

 the Passion-flower is very suitable ; if 

 allowed, after crossing the top, to hang 

 down before the window in festoons, dis- 

 playing its naturally graceful pendulous 

 habit, it will form a pleasant screen for a 

 sunny window. But it is advisable to 

 attempt nothing in this way which cannot 

 be carried out perfectly ; a single plant 

 properly grown is to be preferred to the 

 most elaborate attempts, the working out 

 of which has not been thoroughly con- 

 sidered ; for instance, climbing plants 

 must be very closely watched and carefully 

 trained, or they become so entangled as to 

 be anything but ornamental ; they are api, 

 also, to harbour spiders and other insects, 

 to drop their dead leaves and flowers, and, 

 in common with other plants, they must 

 be watered, which is always inconvenient 

 in a room, for the pots must be well 

 drained of superfluous moisture, otherwise 

 'the earth soddens in them. It would never 

 'do to let the superfluous water run over 

 the carpet, the pots must consequently 

 'have glazed saucers to receive it, and the 

 water removed from the saucers without 

 delay. 



Winter Cherry (nat. ord. Solana'cese). 

 This is a hardy perennial, which will 

 igrow under shade anywhere. The fruit is 

 very pretty and much used for winter 

 decoration ; it is largely grown for the 

 bouquet-makers in Covent Garden. 



Winter Flower Garden. 



Spring flower gardens and flower gardens 

 for summer and autumn are everywhere to 

 be found ; but a winter flower garden is a 

 luxury enjoyed by comparatively few, and 

 yet, to a greater or less extent, it is within 

 reach of every possessor of a greenhouse, 

 vinery, or orchard house, and that without 

 interfering with the legitimate occupants of 

 ither. 



Boxes varying in depth from 6 to 9 

 inches, and in width corresponding with 

 the floor space at command, should be 

 provided, and in these hyacinths, early 

 tulips, polyanthus, narcissus, ixias, &c., 

 may be planted, with snowdrops, crocus, 

 Scitta siberica, sparaxis, spring snowflakes, 

 &c., in their front, all arranged in whatever 

 way the fancy and taste of the cultivator 

 may dictate. A portion of amalgamated 

 cocoa-fibre and charcoal may with great 

 advantage be incorporated into the soil 

 with which these boxes are filled ; it will 

 greatly increase the beauty and vigour of 

 the plants. 



As, however, the plants named do not 

 all flower at the same time, but yield a 

 succession of bloom for upwards of two 

 months, it is necessary, in order to secure 

 an effective display, that they should be 

 carefully grouped and classified both as to 

 colours, height, and time of flowering. 



When the plants have done blooming, 

 the boxes should be placed out of doors, 

 that the roots may ripen. In orchard 

 houses also, bulbs should be planted in 

 I he borders, where a display combining 

 effectiveness and beauty can be produced 

 which will not readily be forgotten. 



Wire Espaliers. 



Wire fencing has long been used for the 

 separation of the lawn proper from the 

 surrounding park or grass lands, and for 

 the division of fields and large extents of 

 arable and pasture land, instead of hedges 

 or solid fences, and it is not surprising that 

 an adaptation of it has been made for 

 garden use, for the purpose of training 

 trees. The appliances required in the 

 formation of espalier fencing and the mode 

 of putting it up are shown in Fig. I. On 

 the right is the terminal post, two of which 

 are required lor each length of fencing. 

 They are made of ~]~-i ron that is to say, 

 of iron thus shaped in section, so that the 



