BU'XUS. 



39 



BU'XUS. 



found in this position are generally fe- 

 males, just about to lay their eggs. 

 Sometimes, butterflies thus placed, 

 are found, when they are examined, 

 to be dead ; and when this is the case, 

 the adjacent branches and leaves 

 should be searched for eggs. 



Butterfly Plants. — See Onci- 

 dium and Phal#:nopsis. 



Bu'xus. — L. — Euphorbiacece. — 

 There are only two species known ; 

 viz., B. sempervtrens, and B. ba- 

 ledrica, the Minorca box, both hardy 

 shrubs or low trees. The former is 

 one of the most valuable plants in 

 European gardens, both as an under- 

 growth in woods, and as an ornamental 

 hedge for sheltering gardens. Box is 

 also much used for forming edgings to 

 walks ; but the kind employed for this 

 purpose, though it is considered to be 

 only a dwarf variety of JS. sempervi- 

 rens, is so different from the tree-box 

 in its habit, that it might almost be 

 considered as a distinct species. The 

 box-tree has been grown in European 

 gardens almost from time immemorial. 

 It was one of the principal ornaments 

 in the gardens of Pliny ; and in more 

 modern times the dwarf box was almost 

 the only plant used for forming the 

 embroidery or scroll-work, or what- 

 ever that terrestrial arabesque may be 

 called, which came into fashion in the 

 time of Louis XIV. At present, this 

 kind of scroll-work is no longer in 

 use; but the dwarf-box is still a 

 favourite for edgings to beds, and it 

 will be perhaps always preferred to all 

 other plants, from its hardiness, easy 

 culture, and compact habit of growth. 

 It is also evergreen, and of great dura- 

 tion ; it is easily propagated, and bears 

 clippingor cuttingremarkably well. It 

 is readily propagated by taking up the 

 plants, and after dividing them, re- 

 planting them farther apart, and a 

 little deeper than they were before. 

 It will grow in any soil not saturated 

 with moisture, and it may be cut or 



clipped at any season of the year. 

 The best time for clipping box, how- 

 ever, is about the end of June ; after 

 which, especially if well-watered, the 

 box makes a second shoot of half an 

 inch, or an inch in length, which obli- 

 terates the marks of the shears. To 

 form edgings of box properly, is an 

 operation of gardening that requires 

 considerable care. First, the ground 

 should be rendered firm and even ; 

 secondly, a narrow trench should be 

 accurately cut out with the spade in 

 the direction in which the edging is to 

 be planted ; thirdly, the box should 

 be thinly and equally laid in along 

 the trench, the tops being all about 

 an inch above the surface of the soil ; 

 and fourthly, the soil should be ap- 

 plied to the plants, and firmly trodden 

 in against them, so as to keep the 

 edging exactly in the position re- 

 quired. The trench is, in general, 

 made on the side next the walk, and 

 after the soil is pressed down, and the 

 walk gravelled, the gravel is brought 

 np, over the soil, close to the stems 

 of the box, so as to cover the soil at 

 least an inch in thickness, and to 

 prevent any soil being seen on the 

 gravel-walk side of the box. A box- 

 edging once properly made, and clip- 

 ped every year, so as to form a minia- 

 ture hedge, about three inches wide 

 at bottom, three inches high, and two 

 inches wide at top, will last ten or 

 twelve years before it requires to be 

 taken up and replanted ; but, if the 

 edging be allowed to attain a larger 

 size — say, six inches wide at bottom, 

 six inches high, and three inches wide 

 at top, — it will last fifteen or twenty 

 years , or probably a m uch longer period. 



Box-hedges for shelter are treated 

 like other hedges, and being clipped 

 at the same period as box-edgings, 

 will last for an unknown period, pro- 

 bably for centuries ; provided the sur- 

 face of the hedge, or, in other words, 

 the points of the shoots, are cut back 



