ox REARING FLOWERS. 



127 



visited a country Tillage must be prepared to admit : but 

 the practice of training these plants to poles is so seldom 

 adopted in small gardens, that few individuals are ac- 

 quainted with the striking beauty of such objects when in 

 flower, otherwise the system would be more generally 

 practised. In cottage gardens, it would be dilficult to 

 imagine a more interesting feature, than two poles of 

 climbing roses, placed one on each side of the entrance, in 

 the small plot of ground which usually fronts the cottage; 

 and as they require very little attention, and the poles 

 may be procured of any farmer for a trifling sum, it is 

 really surprising that they are so universally neglected. 



Besides training climbing plants to poles^ it is an 

 excellent plan, where shrubberies are possessed, to plant 

 them at the base of the larger shrubs, and twine their 

 shoots round the stems of the shrubs. This system is 

 admirably adapted for honeysuckles and the species of 

 virgin's bower, as well as for some kinds of roses ; and 

 as they will not be injured by the shade of the shrubs, 

 they will impart a degree of beauty and elegance to 

 the shrubbery, which must be seen in order to be 

 fully appreciated. Climbing plants, trained to poles, 

 (especially roses,) should never be pruned in the summer, 

 as they produce their flowers from the extreme j^oints of 

 the shoots ; but, in the winter, they require a slight 

 pruning to keep them within due bounds. The Wistaria 

 consequana is an extremely beautiful object when trained to 

 a pole : but when treated in this manner, it should be most 

 vigorously pruned, othei^ise it will grow too straggling, 

 and will not flower freely : by shortening its lateral shoots 

 every season to three or four inches, it will produce a great 

 abundance of flowers when trained in this manner. 



In concluding these remarks on training climbing plants 

 to poles, it is necessary to state that the height of the poles, 

 and consequently of the plants trained to them, should be 

 regulated entirely by the height of the cottage or dwelling 

 to which they may be contiguous, as it must be clear to 

 every one, that, if they are higher than the cottage, tbey 

 will have a very unsightly and irregular appearance. 

 Climbing roses seem to flourish best when planted in a 

 stifif clayey soil, but all other climbing plants prefer a soil 



