ON REARING FLOWERS. 121 



They all, however; succeed best in a sunny and airy 

 situation. 



If still larger trees are desired in a garden, the lime is 

 perhaps the most ornamental and suitable where only two 

 or three large trees are wanted. Elms are fine old English 

 plants, but spread their roots widely, and rob the soil very 

 much. The ash has a similar fault, and comes into foliage 

 very late in the spring. The acacia is extremely elegant, 

 though liable to be broken by winds. Horse chestnuts 

 are handsome. Their fruit and leaves have, however, a 

 littery appearance. Lombardy poplars are execrable 

 when standing alone or in rows; and common poplars and 

 common willows are both coarse and poor in appearance. 

 The beech is a noble tree, requiring plenty of room. 

 Birch, especially the weeping kind, is both beautiful and 

 suited for small gardens. The mountain ash and the ser- 

 vice are both excellent. And the sycamore is admirable 

 in the neighbourhood of the sea. Rare or peculiar trees, 

 such as the purple beech, the variegated sycamore, the 

 tulip tree, &c., are not in character with a very small place. 



Drooping or weeping trees, being adapted for standing 

 alone, and in the centre of a garden, recommend them- 

 selves for those of limited extent. The weeping ash, and 

 elm, and lime, and the small-twigged weeping elm, and 

 the weeping laburnum, and standards of cytisus, thorn- 

 less acacia, Portugal laurel, rhododendron, cotoneaster, 

 roses, weeping cherry, &c., form capital plants for the 

 centre plot of a garden, and can be bought ready grafted 

 at any good nursery. 



Hedges for gardens may be composed of the common 

 hawthorn, or privet, or holly, or box. The holly is best 

 as an evergreen, but it is of slow growth. An excellent 

 hedge may be formed of hawthorn and the more evergreen 

 variety of privet, mixed in nearly equal proportions. 

 These are fast growing, and the thorn will give strength, 

 while the privet will impart some degree of greenness in 

 winter. A single row of plants, placed about nine inches 

 apart, will be sufficient. They should, after the first year, 

 be kept neatly and vigorously clipped, keeping their sides 

 in the shape of those of a slender cone. If left broad at 

 the top, as is more customary, they will grow weak and 



