382 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



hares, goats, or other browsing animals exist. The best way to do 

 this is to have a very stout stake Larch or old Oak. Sometimes 

 in the debris of old sheds a number of rafters are turned out which 

 are of no use for building, and are excellent for staking strong young 

 trees in orchards, first digging the hole and putting the stake firmly in 

 to a depth of 3 feet below the surface. Cradles of Oak and iron are 

 much in use ; the first is very well in an Oak country where labour is 

 plentiful ; iron is costly and ugly, and not so good as the single stout 

 stake, which is easy to get of Larch or stub Oak in many country 

 places. The common way of tying a faggot of Quicks or any thorny 

 shrub is often good when done by a good fencer. The trees should 

 be tied with care with soft ropes of straw or other material, and when 

 planted be loosely but carefully wired with netting well out of the 

 reach of browsing animals. This wiring is supported well by the 

 strong stake, and, well done, it keeps rabbits and hares, as well as 

 cattle, at bay, and, worse than all for trees, young horses. A usual 

 way in Kent is to drive in three stout stakes, 6 feet or more in height, 

 round the tree, and fasten cross-bars to them. This can be done at a 

 total cost of about lod. a tree, and should last twelve to fifteen years. 

 THE ORCHARD WILD GARDEN. One of the reasons for a good 

 orchard, from the point of view of all who care for beauty, is its value 

 for wild gardening. It is so well fitted for this, that many times 

 Narcissi and other bulbs from the garden have even established them- 

 selves in its turf, so that long years after the culture of flowers has 

 been given up in the garden, owing to changes of fashion, people have 

 been able in old orchards to find naturalised some of the most 

 beautiful kinds of Narcissi. Where the soil is cool and deep, these 

 flowers are easily grown, and in warm soils many of our hardiest and 

 most beautiful spring flowers might easily be naturalised. Those who 

 care for beauty as much as fruit may throw careless garlands of the 

 hardier Clematis over the trees here and there. They do not rob the 

 ground much and add a careless grace which is always welcome. On 

 the cool side of the orchard bank, Primrose and Oxlip would bloom 

 long and well, and on all sides of it Daffodils, Snowflakes, Snowdrops, 

 wild Tulips, or any like bulbs to spare from the garden ; and from the 

 garden trimmings, too, tufts of Balm and Myrrh to live for ever among 

 the grass of the bank. The robin would build in the moss of the bank, 

 the goldfinch in the silvery lichen of the trees, and the thrush, near the 

 winter's end, herald the buds with noble song. 



