183 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



tufts, there are several annual species and varieties 

 very generally grown in gardens. These annual 

 Candytufts have also been greatly improved of late 

 years. The sweet - scented, however, or Iberis 

 odorata, still holds the most prominent place. The 

 old purpurea is also extensively grown, though the 

 crimson and carmine strains have largely superseded 

 the older purple Candytuft. The white Rocket and 

 white Spiral are marvellous improvements on the 

 older varieties, while the white and rose dwarf, or 

 Tom Thumb, form dense masses of rich and rare 

 beauty, far exceeding any of the older Candytufts, 

 annual or otherwise. 



These fine annual Candytufts possess the merit of 

 being almost as hardy as the shrubby or perennial 

 lerbaceous ones. They may also be had in flower 

 throughout the greater part of the season by simply 

 sowing them in succession from September to June. 

 The seeds should be sown thinly on rather poor soU, 

 in a sheltered spot, in the autumn, and again in 

 "February and May, when annual Candytufts are 

 •wanted to keep up a succession of their beautiful 

 and useful flowers throughout the season. 



The shrubby and evergreen herbaceous Candy- 

 ■tufts, such as sempervirens and Tenoreana, may also 

 be propagated by seeds sown in the open, either so 

 soon as ripe or in February or March. But these 

 :are more generally increased by cutting or division. 



The best time for rooting the cuttings is about a 

 fortnight or three weeks after blooming. Remove 

 the young shoots vrith a heel, and dibble them in 

 thickly under a cloche or hand-light, in sandy soil, 

 and slightly shade from bright sunshine till rooted. 

 Oradually expose to light and air, and plant out in 

 flowering quarters, so as to have them fuUy estab- 

 lished before winter. Those who have no glass may 

 root Candytuft cuttings on a shady border without it. 

 In that case the cuttings should be a little older and 

 firmer before insertion, and the process of rooting 

 will be slower. It will also be needful to frequently 

 sprinkle the cuttings overhead, as well as shade them 

 from direct sunshine. 



Root or stool division is not so suitable for the pro- 

 pagation of Candj^ufts as for Alyssums, Aubrietias, 

 and many other plants. They are far more prone to 

 run up with a single or a few stems than those 

 similar plants ; and old plants of Candytufts flower 

 more freely than younger ones. Hence it is not wise 

 to disturb or divide them too often for purposes of 

 propagation. Nor is it needful in situations where the 

 shrubby Candytufts ripen seeds. Besides, plenty of 

 cuttings may always be obtained, and when these are 

 thinned out vrith knowledge and • discretion, an 

 abundance may be obtained for propagating pur- 

 poses without greatly lessening the amount of bloom 

 on the old plants. 



What with the more permanent species and varie- 

 ties of shrubby and herbaceous, and the improved 

 quality and. greatly augmented numbers of annual 

 Candytufts, a garden might be kept fairly well 

 furnished with these alone throughout the year, at 

 less cost and less trouble than with any other plant. 

 Candytufts are also so tenacious of life, so easily 

 suited with soil and .other conditions, and seed so 

 freely, that when once introduced into a garden, they 

 mostly reproduce ;hemselves without much further 

 care or trouble, and hence, to a great extent, they are 

 perhaps the most common of all common flowers. 



GAEDEN WALKS AND EOADS. 



GARBEUr WALKS. 



IN a flower garden no walk should be narrower 

 than three feet, as two cannot walk comfortably 

 abreast on a narrower space. Beyond this, their 

 breadth should be mainly determined by the wants 

 and tastes of the proprietor, the size of the demesne, 

 &c. In the majority of gardens and pleasure- 

 grounds the walks are too narrow; in very few are 

 they too wide. A distinction should also be drawn 

 between walks for pleasure . and those for mere 

 utility. Flower garden and pleasure-ground walks 

 are of the former class, those in the kitchen garden 

 of the latter ; and as long as these are of sufBcient 

 wddth to allow of two barrows passing, they serve 

 every useful purpose. But very often the kitchen 

 and fruit gardens are as much used as a promenade 

 by the family as any other part of the demesne, and 

 in such the width of the walks must be determined 

 by similar Considerations. 



Hence, in not a few gardens the walks are of a 

 uniform width throughout. This imparts a noble, 

 enjoyable, and easily accessible character to a place, 

 which is seldom the least of its charms. 



No garden can appear neat and pleasurable where 

 trim walks, clean and neatly kept, do not exist. 

 Beyond doubt, gravel walks are most to be com- 

 mended, though asphalt, cinder, grass, &c., often 

 exist. The former is, however, liable to injury by 

 frost and the use of the wheelbarrow; the second 

 looks poor, and the third is not desirable during 

 rainy weather, to say nothing of the labour it entails 

 in mowing, and want of firmness generally. The 

 base of a gravel walk should consist of rough 

 brickbats or stones to half its depth, rough gravel 

 for making it up to the needful level, with a, coat 

 of hoggin, or finely-sifted gravel, for the surface. 

 From three to four feet are good widths for them, 

 and they are mostly carried round the garden 

 at distances of from six to nine feet from the walls ; 



