88 YARD AND GARDEN 



lia). Its good points are its quick growth, its 

 absolute hardiness, its extraordinary beauty 

 when it wears its summer dress of green foliage 

 and its gorgeous hues when it dons an autumn 

 robe of red and adds a touch of purple with 

 its dainty berries. The Virginia Creeper, or 

 woodbine as it is sometimes called, is easily 

 obtained and can be found in almost any wood, 

 or growing along fences by country roads. It 

 is available for use as a screen and with its 

 rapid growth will hide a multitude of sins in 

 a surprisingly short time. Its one bad feature, 

 so far as small places are concerned, is its 

 tendency to grow to the top, and as the top 

 gains in strength and mass of spread, the vine 

 ceases to show leaves near its roots. While 

 this makes a plant desirable for growing up 

 old trees or for hiding from view dead tops, 

 it renders it of little use in screening objects 

 of less height, although in its younger years 

 it answers this purpose very well. It tends 

 also to exhaust the soil rapidly and its roots 

 ramble subterraneously over a considerable 

 territory. The familiar "Dutchman's Pipe," 

 (Aristolochia macrophylla) , however, a robust 

 grower with enorm>ous leaves, continues to 

 throw out its foliage from the base and so 



