AN ISLAND GARDEN 89 



earth (the soil in a ditch), and which in despair 

 threw out a venturesome root, reached the cov- 

 eted earth, buried itself there, and gained a solid 

 footing, so that by degrees, although a motionless 

 thing, it changed its place, let its original roots 

 die, and lived resuscitated upon the organ that 

 had set it free. I have known elms which were 

 going to eat up the soil of a fertile field, whose 

 food had been cut off from them by a wide ditch, 

 and who, therefore, determined to make their 

 uncut roots pass under the ditch. They suc- 

 ceeded, and returned to their regular food, much 

 to the cultivator's astonishment. I know an 

 heroic Jasmine which went eight times through a 

 board which kept the light away from it, and 

 which a teasing observer would put back in the 

 shade, hoping so to wear out the flower's energy, 

 but he did not succeed." 



This happened in France, but here in New 

 England I myself know of a great Wistaria 

 which grew over one side of a fine old house in 

 an enchanting garden, and which did something 

 quite as wonderful. It was a triumph of a vine ! 

 The butt or stump, where it emerged from the 

 ground, was a foot in diameter, and its branches 

 covered one side of the house, a space of thirty 

 feet by thirty feet. So large a vine required a 

 great deal of water, so it sent its roots down eight 

 feet under the foundation of the house, passed 

 along under the brick floor of the dairy, a distance 

 of fifteen feet, making a solid mat of roots under 

 the whole floor, reached the well and went straight 

 through the cracks and crevices of its stone wall 

 to the desired moisture. An elm root in the same 



