236 MY GARDEN 



port the great top growth, and a deep and wide hole, 

 well manured, should be prepared for their reception. 

 Yearly enrichment should be given, and frequent culti- 

 vation of the soil around the vine will insure a freer 

 growth. It is the part of wisdom to start the training 

 of young climbing plants at a very tender age, for once 

 let them have their own way for a season, and much 

 cruel mutilation is necessary to bring them back to the 

 paths of decorum. In many a situation, however, the 

 vine may be allowed its own sweet will, and sweet indeed 

 it is, when one observes the delightful manner in which 

 Nature hangs her festoons of Virginia creeper, Wood- 

 bine, Bittersweet, and Clematis over stumps and fences, 

 dead trees, and rocky hillsides; but when some special 

 object is to be covered, no time should be lost in pointing 

 out to the young vine the path it is to follow and seeing 

 that it obeys. The matter of pruning is of importance, 

 and is much better left entirely undone unless knowl- 

 edge and experience guide the shears. Most vines may 

 be safely left unpruned if doing well, but if in a weak 

 condition may be cut hard back to induce a sturdier 

 growth. 



Maeterlinck says: "Though there be plants and 

 flowers that are awkward and ungainly, there is none 

 that is wholly without wisdom and ingenuity," and it 

 seems to me that climbing plants are gifted with a 

 special intelligence. It is well known that all the twin- 

 ing vines twine in a given direction that is, from left to 



