38 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



the saddle trellis (a, b, and c), the middle one (c) to be 

 cut away as the trees at each end require space, and 

 two " riders " (d and e) will be sufficient for the back 

 wall. The span-roofed 

 houses can be planted 

 with half or full stan- 

 dards eighteen to twenty 



Fig. 9.— Single Cordon. 



feet apart for permanent 

 trees, and single cor- 

 dons (Figs. 9 and 10), 

 previously grown to a 

 fruiting state, intro- 

 duced between them, 

 will give an immediate 

 supply of Peaches until 

 the others come into 

 bearing. If cordons 

 are not in favour, then 

 some other kind of 

 tree should be intro- 

 duced as a supernumerary 



10.— Branch, of Fig. 9, 

 Enlarged. 



their first cost is but 



trifling, and they soon give a return. 



CHOICE HAEDY BOEDER 

 PLANTS. 



By Richard Dean. 



Aconitum (Monkshood). — This is a very large 

 genus of strong - growing perennials, varied in 

 character, some of them having stout, erect stems 

 five feet in height, while others are two feet or less, 

 all bearing numerous helmet-shaped flowers, differ- 

 ing in colour ; some are blue, others yellow, white, 

 purple, &c. Many of them are exceedingly orna- 

 mental. They are, in the main, European plants, 

 though a few have come from regions further 

 remote. They are related to the Crowfoots (Ranun- 

 culacece). 



The generic name — Aconitum — is said to be de- 

 rived from Acona, the plant being plentiful about 

 there. The English name Monkshood, which is 

 more particularly applied to Aconitum Kapellus, a 



plant found frequently in borders, is said to have 

 been derived from the resemblance of the upper 

 sepal to the cowl of a monk. But it has another 

 English name, viz., Wolf's-bane. This is of great 

 antiquity. The true "Wolf's-bane is A. lycoctonum, 

 a Japanese plant, and a noble late-flowering peren- 

 nial, blooming in autumn, of a pale creamy-yellow 

 colour, and growing to a height of three and a half 

 feet. It does best when planted in the borders of 

 shrubberies and naturalised in woods in semi- wild 

 places. Wolf's-bane means Wolf's-poison, so called 

 because, says Gerarde, " the hunters which seeke 

 after woolfes put the juice thereof into rawe flesh, 

 which the woolfes devour, and are killed." In 

 Sweden, a decoction or powder of the root of this 

 plant is used for destroying flies and other insects. 

 In his book on " Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics," 

 Mr. R. Folkard states that " by the ancients (who 

 were unacquainted with mineral poisons) the Aconite 

 was regarded as the most virulent of all poisons, 

 and their mythologists declare it to be the. invention 

 of Hecate, who caused the plant to spring from the 

 foam of the many-headed Cerberus, when Hercules 

 dragged him from the gloomy regions of Pluto." 

 With this venomous plant the ancients were wont to 

 poison their arrow-heads when engaged in war, and 

 also in pursuit of wild beasts. Ovid was of opinion 

 that the Aconitum derived its name from growing on 

 rocks almost barren. In Greece the Wolf's-bane is 

 credited with man) T malignant influences, and the 

 fevers so common in the neighbourhood of Corinth 

 w^ere attributed to it. Until the Turks were dis- 

 possessed, the aga proceeded every year in solemn 

 procession to denounce it and hand it over to 

 destruction. A species named A.ferox, which grows 

 in North India, is used as a poison for arrows, the 

 poison which is obtained from the roots being of 

 remarkable virulence and activity when infused into 

 the blood. 



It is necessary to name only a select few of the 

 Aconitums as worthy the attention of the amateur 

 gardener. They are — A. autumn ate, from Southern 

 Europe ; height three and a half feet, the flowers 

 pale blue, tinged with lilac, produced in August and 

 on to November ; it does well on the fringe of a 

 shrubbery border, in light garden soil. This is the 

 Autumn-flowered Monkshood. A. chinense is a native 

 of China, a large and stately species, height four 

 feet to six feet, flowers bright blue, produced in large 

 compound racemes, in summer ; should be planted 

 on a warm border, in sandy loam. A. japonicum is 

 the Japanese Monkshood, a noble - flowering late 

 species, being from two and a half feet to three feet 

 in height ; flowers produced in autumn, large, deep 

 blue or lilac ; and it does well in borders, and here 

 and there among low shrubs in fine, deep, sandy 



