Dacember 21, 1876. ) 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



525 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 1 Day i m 



Average 













Clock 



Day 



of 1 of DECE5I3EK 21—27, 1876. 



Temperature near 











Age. 



before 



of 



Honth Week.l 



London. 











Sun. 



Tenr 









Day. 



Night. 



M-an. 



h. in. 





h. m 



b. m. 



Days. 



m. s. 





21 



Th 



St. Thomas; Linneaa Society, 8 P.K. 



44.1 



84.0 



39.0 



S 6 



3 51 



11 19 



9 48 



7 



1 23 



856 



22 



F 



Qaeckett (Microscopical) Clao at S P.H. 



45.0 



82.5 



88.7 



8 6 



3 51 



11 30 



10 54 



8 



53 



857 



23 



S 





44.1 



31.7 



379 



8 7 



8 52 



11 40 



morn. 



5 



23 



358 



24 



Son 



4 Sunday ih Adyant. 



41.0 



81.S 



876 



8 8 



8 53 



11 50 



7 



10 



before 



859 



25 



II 



Christ 4as Day. 



43.4 



29.4 



86.4 



8 H 



3 63 



0a 2 



1 22 



11 



37 



S60 



26 



To 



Bank Holiday. 



43.2 



31.4 



37 8 



8 8 



8 54 



17 



2 42 



12 



1 6 



861 



27 



W 





43.0 



29.7 



36.4 



8 8 



3 55 



38 



4 7 



13 



1 86 



862 



Froa ob&arrationa taken near London daring forty-three years, 



the average day temperature ol the week is 41.2'; and Its night temperature 



81.4'. 











GARDEN IVIES, THEIR USES AND 

 CULTIVATION. 



ARDEN Ivies are more uneful than the little 

 attention paid to them would lead any one 

 to suppose. The number of their varieties 

 would vie with many of our florists' flowers, 

 and I think a good collection of Ivies to be 

 no small addition to any garden. 



" A rare old plant is the Ivy green," says 

 Dickens, and such indeed it is ; for many are 

 the fine old ruius and buildings that we see 

 covered with its verdant foliage always 

 pleasing and attractive. The chief characteristic of Ivy 

 is that of a climber, although it may be grown in a 

 , variety of other ways, which I shall endeavour to notice, 

 affording also some hints relative to its cultivation arid 

 management under its different forms of growth. 



Ivy will climb as long as it has anything to adhere to, 

 but when it has reached the summit of its support and 

 has nothing to cling to its nature changes ; it ceases to 

 emit aerial roots or dingers, and throws out horizontal 

 branches which terminate in flowers and fruit. The 

 time of flowering is September and October, and the 

 berries ripen in early spring, when thfy look very beauti- 

 ful as they hang in bl-.ck clusters. One characteristic of 

 the Ivy is this : If growing up a wall or old building and 

 its main stem becomes severed from the ground it will 

 still live by reason of its aerial roots adhering firmly and 

 feeding on the substance to which they cling ; but if 

 growing up a living tree and it becomes severed from the 

 ground it may live for a time, but will not thrive if com- 

 pelled to derive support from the bark of the tree alone. 

 I believe Ivy to be hurtful to trees, for when once it 

 obtains the mastery over them it cheeks the flow of sap 

 in the bark, deprives the trunk of light and air, and 

 decay of the tree is the result. The trees it seems to 

 favour most are the Oak and the Elm. In the grounds 

 of Wimbledon House there is a fine old pollard Oak 

 grandly covered with Ivy ; with the exception of a small 

 branch the Oak is quite dead, having become completely 

 smothered by this evergreen marauder. 



Some people affirm that Ivy is hurtful to buildings ; 

 such may be the case where in the course of years its 

 aerial roots have penetrated the brickwork and loosened 

 it. For instance, I recently saw an account that the 

 walls of Arundel Castle were threatened with destruction 

 through the fissures in them caused by this means ; the 

 evil was checked and the masonry preserved by pulling 

 the Ivy down. Generally, however, it is a protection to 

 a building by excluding wet, and it also holds many a 

 ruin together. 



The uses of the Ivy are many — namely, protection to 

 buildings, food for cattle ; the flowers being rich in honey 

 provide food also for bees and numberless insects, and 

 the berries are food for birds. In the garden it is em- 

 ployed as coverings for walls, for decorating the flower 

 garden and conservatory during winter, as edgings for 

 beds, carpetings under trees, and especially for enibel- 

 No. 821.— Vol. XXXI.. New Saras b 



lishing churches and rooms at Christmas-tide. If grown 

 in pots and plunged in beds with a piece of crock under 

 the pots to keep out the worms specimen Ivies look well in 

 the flower garden during winter when mixed with a few 

 Tews and Hollies. When many shrubs are bare and 

 leafless I think such specimens are a great means of cheer- 

 ing the dreary aspect of the winter months. 



The Ivy may be propagated by seeds, cuttings, layers, 

 and grafting. When the seeds are ripe they may be 

 gathered and sown thickly in a bed of sandy soil. Keep 

 the ground clear of weeds. When the seedlings are of 

 sufficient size plant them in rows in a nursery bed, and 

 after they are strong enough plant them where required, 

 for permanent use or effect. Variegated kinds are rarely 

 raised from seed, but are sports from the green varieties. 

 The sports may be propagated by taking off a young 

 shoot 4 inches long, with some green in the leaf, and 

 inserting under hand-glasses in sandy soil. 



Cuttings may be quickly struck by taking young shoots 

 from a wall, and inserting them in pots or in the ground ; 

 they seldom fail to root if put-in in June or July. Layers 

 may be obtained by pegging-down long shoots on any 

 damp soil ; they root quickly in old cocoa-nut refuse, 

 and may be multiplied to any extent. Or another way 

 is, in July procure long cuttings, and instead of putting 

 them upright in the pots peg them down firmly ; these will 

 root at each joint, and as many plants can be made as 

 desirable. Grafting is performed in nurseries, therefore 

 I shall not say anything on that mode of increase. 



The Ivy will grow in any soil, good garden ground 

 suiting it very well when planted out ; but for growing 

 in pots it requires good loam, manure, and leaf soil, 

 especially if it is tc remain in the pots for a great length 

 of time. The large-leaved green and free-growing varie- 

 ties thrive in a moist soil, but the variegated kinds re- 

 quire a poorer soil, so as to retain their rich colours, 

 otherwise they will be liable to revert to their normal 

 colour — green. 



If good variegated specimens are required the soil 

 suitable for them is a light loam mixed with old broken 

 brick rubbish. They should in all respects be treated as 

 hardy plants and be given every exposure to the weather. 

 Different aspects exert considerable influence on colour ; 

 dark rich shades are obtained by exposure on a damp 

 north wall, while the lighter-coloured blotches are clearer 

 when fully exposed to light ; but in all cases shelter and 

 shade promote free growth and briDg out rich green hues. 



The best Ivies for walls are the quick-growing large- 

 leaved sorts — namely, Hedera canariensis, H. algerienBis, 

 H. Roegneriana, and H. dentata. The common English 

 Ivy (Hedera Helix) looks neat and clings closely, but is a 

 slower grower than those that I have named. The varie- 

 gated kinds look well on walls also, When Ivy is to be 

 planted for covering a wall strong plants should be ob- 

 tained, and planted in April in deepJy-dug ground, water- 

 ing the plants and nailing the shoots until they attach, 

 themselves to the masonry, when they will require no 

 further attention beyond securing stray loose shoots. 

 When thoroughly established all the leaves and laterals 



No. 1173.-7- Vol. LVI., Old Suams" 



