208 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



Pears : Louis Bon of Jersey, Williams' Bon Chretien, and 

 Winter Nelis. 



Plums : Kirk's Blue Plum, Kivers's Early Prolific, and 

 Victoria. 



I plant Potatoes for main crop, and also manage to find room 

 for a few Beans, Cabbages, Carrots, Onions, Parsnips, -and Peas. 

 The front garden of the house has the American Pillar Rose as 

 a living fence, with a substantial square arch of the same prolific 

 climber over the gateway, and three small shrubberies, mostly 

 consisting of Evergreens, such as Aucuba, Box, Euonymus, 

 Cypress, Holly, Portugal Laurel, Veronica, and Yew, with decidu- 

 ous shrubs such as Arbutus (Strawberry Tree), Berberis, Coton- 

 easter, Forsythia, Judas Tree, Pyrus, and Spiraea. 



This brief survey will give the reader a fair idea of the number 

 and kind of plants which have habitation in rny garden, and as 

 the total is considerable for so small a plot, and they are increasing 

 in size each year, small wonder need exist at the variety of wild 

 life which my garden shelters. The prevailing wind is south- 

 west, and, knowing this beforehand, decided me to plant 

 mostly Evergreens as western and southern boundaries, 

 with, as I have proved, most satisfactory results. I use 

 bone meal as a fertiliser, and rarely water. I believe in 

 feeding from below ground, rather than cold shower baths from 

 above. 



The simple outline plan on page 209 will afford a better idea 

 than a written description of how my garden looked when com- 

 pleted. The scale is 20 feet to 1 inch. The following are the 

 explanations of the initial letters :' 



A. Rose border, 5 feet 6 inches wide. 



B. Grass Walks between two borders, 3 feet 9 inches wide. 



C. Cordon Apple borders, 2 feet wide. 



D. Herbaceous border, Flowering Shrubs, etc., 5 feet 6 inches 



wide. 



E. Small Vegetable and Fruit Garden. 



F. Ashphalted T-shaped path. 



G. Top border for Cordon Fruit Trees, 6 feet wide. 

 H. Steps from lawn to kitchen garden. 



J. Ornamental Iron Flower Vase on pedestal, containing 

 Geraniums. This acts as a set piece for the whole garden. 

 Width of garden, 43 feet. Length of back garden, 116 

 feet. 



