INTRODUCTORY 



5 



the way in which the spiral form assumed by the tendril 

 makes, as it were, a spring by which the strain is 

 relieved when the climber or its host is exposed to gales 

 which might tear them apart. 



Even more fascinating is the study of the movements 

 of the climbers in search of support. Some of the 

 twiners revolve with, and some against the sun ; some 

 seek the light, and others shun it, so as to cling to 

 something in the shade. Yet almost all have a 

 revolving motion when in search of something to lay 

 hold of. They sweep with regular motion the limited 

 space they can reach and are thus afforded opportunities 

 of reaching a support they could not have touched were 

 they devoid of this power. Darwin has given much 

 information on these points, and all growers of climbing 

 plants would derive pleasure and profit were they to 

 study his work carefully. From a purely gardening 

 point of view one conclusion of the eminent scientist 

 deserves attention. That was that some climbers upon 

 which he experimented required to be well cultivated 

 and placed under favourable conditions of all kinds in 

 order to attain the full development of their climbing 

 powers. This is an observation of some importance, 

 showing as it does, that much of the non-success of 

 some climbing plants in gardens is due to want of 

 satisfactory conditions in the way of soil exposure, or 

 of a suitable medium to which to attach themselves. 



In this connection it must also be observed that some 

 people err in thinking that all climbers will grow 

 against similar objects, while Darwin's experiments 

 prove that even different species of the same genus 

 required supports of different thickness to meet their 

 wants. 



Besides the true climbers, twiners, and scandent plants 

 which are cultivated in gardens as "climbing plants," 

 popular usage has frequently classed with them in con- 



