On the Cultivation of American Plants. 363 



Surely,, then, if the many boggy places and swamps Avhich 

 are to be found in the plantations, on the borders of • drives,' 

 and even in view from many of our noblemen's princely 

 mansions, are not worth reclaiming for any other purpose, 

 they afford excellent situations for the display of taste and 

 liberality ; the ultimate result of which must be to gratify 

 the eye of the proprietor, to enrich the landscape, and to 

 give to our woodland scenery a beauty which is now, ex- 

 cept in a few isolated cases, confined to the shrubbery and 

 the pleasure ground. 



" If only a moderate amount of stagnant moisture is pres- 

 ent, ordinary draining is all that will be requisite. But there 

 are situations in which this is not available, or would be too 

 expensive, as, for instance, where the bog is of such a depth 

 as would require a large amount of labor to procure suffi- 

 cient -fall' for the drains. Under such conditions the de- 

 sired end can be arrived at by the following means : — Pro- 

 cure a quantity of brushwood, faggots, poles, old ' pollards,' 

 or any materials of a like nature, and with them form a 

 foundation on the spot you wish to plant ; upon this, suffi- 

 cient soil must be placed, that, allowing for subsidence, not 

 less than eighteen inches of suitable compost will remain 

 above the surface of the bog. In such localities the rhodo- 

 dendron will flourish in all its native beauty, and as the 

 groAvth will be rapid, the Y\'hole substance of the soil will 

 quickly become matted together by the roots of the plants, 

 completely preventing any subsidence in the soil after the 

 wooden foundation is decayed." 



Suppose, however, that soil is naturally dry, and there- 

 fore the reverse of what " American" plants require, then 

 Messrs. Standish & Noble give the following directions for 

 nevertheless securing an adequate amount of moisture. 



" The means by which this can be attained are — 1. deep 

 trenching the natural soil ; and 2, keeping the beds perfectly 

 flat, and h€h^D the surrounding surface, in order to prevent 

 the escape of moisture, otherwise than by evaporation. In 

 such situations, it is absolutely necessary to trench or in 

 some way prepare a soil, three or four feet in. depth, and the 



