450 



THE PAEKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. XXV. 



fast to the upright (as at A), and the other end secnred to the 

 head of the raidisseur (as shown at C), the rnit B is then sere-wed 

 off, and the screw end having been passed through the upright (as 



at D), the nut is again 

 screwed on and 

 tightened with a pair 

 of pincers or a bolt- 

 wrench, until the wire 

 is brought to a proper 

 degree of tension. It 

 will be seen at once 

 that the screw allows of great nicety of adjustment, without 

 involving too much straining or any slackening of the wire." These 

 contrivances, and numerous improvements and modifications of 

 them, are now sold by various English houses who make a 

 speciality of galvanised wire-work. 



Mateeial foe Tying Plants. — The tying of plants, fruit-trees, 

 and many things in gardens, occupies a great deal of time, even 

 in small places. The material usually employed is bast matting, 

 and in most large gardens a number of bast mats are annually cut 

 up and used for this purpose. Of late years they have trebled in 

 price. This expense may be done away with, and a much better 

 material secured, by simply planting a few tufts of the common 

 glaucous Eush (Juncus glaucus) in some moist spot ; where much 

 tying is to be done, a few dozen tufts may be planted. The 

 stems of this plant are smooth and ready for use at any moment, 

 and are suited for tying everything except the strong or " mother 

 branches " of fruit-trees (for which twigs of the Yellow Osier are 

 best fitted) and the finest and youngest shoots of hothouse-plants. 

 The Eush may be cut green and used at once, or it may be cut 

 soon after flowering and stored for winter-use in a dried state. 

 When wanted in winter it is desirable to steep it in water a couple 

 of hours before it is used, to insure the requisite flexibility. It ' 

 forms a neat and lasting tie, and is not knotted like the matting, 

 but simply twisted, then pinched off with the nail or cut with the 

 knife, and one of the ends turned back a little. For tying the 

 young shoots of fruit-trees to an espalier it is admirable, as it is 

 for most other purposes of training. When men are accustomed 

 to it, they work with greater facility with it than with any other 



