SPRING-FLOWERING HARDY VINES 109 
roots abundant space and don’t plant it near 
anything that will interfere with them. Of 
all vines, the clematis is most fastidious as to 
soil. Indeed, I may say that there is no class 
of plants so hard to please in this matter. The 
ideal soil is one that is naturally light and that 
has been well trenched and thoroughly enriched 
with manure. A heavy, clayey soil will not 
grow clematis, unless it has been thoroughly 
worked up, and, if very stiff, had added to it a little 
sharp sand, together with some lime. Some old 
house plaster, in the bottom of the trench, serves 
a double purpose in keeping the soil sweet and 
supplying drainage. The plants are not very 
robust growers and are rather subject to disease, 
but I think nine tenths of the trouble comes from 
the roots. Give them a light but rich soil, keep 
them watered during the growing season (not 
when they are in flower), and a great deal of the 
trouble experienced with these beautiful plants 
will be overcome. 
I have seen specimens do well along the coast, 
but clematis cannot be called a seashore vine. 
Those observed have usually been well protected 
by heavy mass plantings. The spring-flowering 
clematis requires very little pruning, as it flowers 
from wood formed the previous season; any atten- 
