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NEGLECTED BEAUTIES. 
Ficus repens, or Creeping Fig, originally introduced from China, is now a very popular delicate 
creeper, which holds itself firmly by its rootlets to any uneven surface, and is much used in conservato- 
ries, but not out of doors. In parlors it should be planted among other plants, as it requires shade and 
moisture. The leaves are small and firm, resembling green parchment, and will endure much neglect 
without being destroyed. 
TRAILERS. 
The epithet “trailing” is sufficiently indicative of the habit of these plants, which 
might be said to hug the ground, so low is their growth. 
Epigwa Repens, or Trailing Arbutus — sometimes called Mayflower — has been put forward in some 
quarters as suitable to be adopted as the national flower of the United States, and is described on page 23. 
Tradescantia zebrina, or Wandering Jew, is a low-spreading, trailing plant, differing from the more 
erect Tradescantias in that respect, and striped in brown and green, zebra-like, whence its specific name. 
There is another species —the ‘I’. alba, or white-flowered. Both are much used for hanging-baskets and 
for rock work, or to cover old stumps or other deformities. They demand copious moisture, but are 
almost indifferent to soil conditions. They are of the same genus as the T. Virginica, page 281. 
Several Trailing Plants have been described elsewhere, as follows: Mentzelia Lindleyi, or Golden 
Bartonia, p. 42. Stellaria media, or Chickweed, p. 81. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, or Ice-plant, 
p- 169. Portulaca grandiflora, or Great-flowered Portulaca, p. 249. Potentilla formosa, or Handsome Five- 
finger, p. 250. Trifolium repens, or Shamrock, p. 274. Fragaria vesca, or Wood Strawberry, p. 287. Ver- 
bena Aubletia, p. 311. Nepeta Glechoma, or Ground Ivy, p. 148. Vinca, or Periwinkle, p. 237. 
These are but a few of the many plants of the four classes—Climbers, Twiners, 
Creepers, Trailers —that might be mentioned, and are chosen because they are all easily 
cultivated, needing but little care when once established, and because they are, in foliage, 
flower and fruit, the most beautiful of their respective kinds. Moreover, they all may 
be easily propagated from cuttings or slips, by layering, and from divisions of the roots, 
as well as from seeds. 
The best general rule for cuttings would be perhaps to make them in the early spring 
before the plants begin to sprout, burying them about two inches, or a third of their length, 
in the ground. In the hands of a skilled workman these cuttings can also be taken in the 
fall, the same method being followed. Green shoots two or three inches long, severed 
from the parent stem, with a little of the old bark attached, will generally make good 
plants if placed to strike root in a box of moist sand, and protected from drying winds as 
well as excessive heat. 
A light, rich soil is congenial to most if not all the climbing plants of the foregoing 
classes; and a good artificial soil will comprise two parts leaf-mold, one cow-manure, one 
loam and one sand. They are, however, not especially dependent on soil conditions, but 
require, as essentials to a thrifty growth, abundance of water for leaf and root; and an 
occasional application of liquid manure, if one wishes to take the trouble, will insure a 
more vigorous growth and an increased loveliness of foliage. Their chief enemies are 
the red spider, scales and caterpillars, which can easily be kept down by daily syringing 
and other careful attentions. 
If it be desired to test the full capacity of the common climbing plants, the soil should 
be dug to the depth of about a foot, and on each available side to a distance of three feet, 
when the earth thus disturbed should be freely mixed with manure and leaf-mold in about 
equal parts, and plenty of root-room allowed to each plant, especially for the first season. 
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