EDGINGS. 



92 



EDGINGS. 



be given overhead, as it will rot the 

 centre, where there is an indenta- 

 tion, if suffered to lie there, and this 

 can hardly be avoided if water is 

 poured all over the plant. They sire 

 propagated by seeds, which should be 

 sown in silver sand, and placed in a 

 warm shaded situation ; or by cutting 

 off the top of the plant, and after let- 

 ting lie a day or two to dry, planting 

 it in silver sand, and not watering it ; 

 when it will soon throw out shoots, 

 while the other part of the plant will 

 form anew top. The young plants, 

 when raised from seed, should not be 

 watered when transplanted, for seve- 

 ral days after transplantation. The 

 flowers of all the porcupine Cacti are 

 very ornamental ; and those which 

 are considered to belong to Cereus, 

 often have the tubes of their flowers 

 a foot long. 



E'chinops. — Composites. — The 

 Globe Thisile. Hardy annual, bien- 

 nial, and perennial plants, generally 

 with blue flowers ; that require only 

 the common culture of their respec- 

 tive kinds, and which will grow in 

 almost any soil and situation. 



Echi'tes — Apocynecce. — Beauti- 

 tiful stove-climbers, which grow freely 

 in a mixture of sandy loam and peat ; 

 and which should be trained up the 

 pillars, and under the rafters. They 

 are propagated by cuttings, which 

 strike readily. 



Echium. — BoraginacecB. — Vi- 

 per's Bugloss. Perennial, biennial, 

 and annual plants, generally with 

 rich dark-blue flowers ; though some 

 of the kinds that are natives of the 

 Cape of Good Hope and the Canaries, 

 have red, white, or violet flowers. 

 They all require a light soil, and will 

 grow well in either sandy or peaty 

 loam ; and they are easily propagated 

 by seeds or division of the root. 



Edgings are lines of plants, gene- 

 rally evergreens, to separate walks 

 from beds or borders. The plant in 



most universal use for this purpose 

 in British gardens is the dwarf Box: 

 a low evergreen shrub, which retains 

 its leaves for two or three, and even 

 four years, and bears clipping, so as 

 to be kept not more than three or 

 four inches high, two inches or three 

 inches broad at the base, and one 

 inch at top. Being once planted, if 

 clipped every year, it will retain its 

 form and efficiency as an edging, for 

 six, seven, or more years. In plant- 

 ing it, the first operation is to prepare 

 tlie soil by digging it, and reducing it 

 to an even surface, parallel to what is 

 intended to be the surface of the 

 gravel, or material of the walk, on 

 the one side, and of the bed, or bor- 

 der, on the other. The next is to 

 stretch a garden-line, so as to indicate 

 the direction in which the edging is 

 to be planted; the next is to cut out 

 a narrow shallow trench with a spade, 

 on the side of the line next the walk. 

 Then the Box is evenly distributed 

 along this trench, with the tops of 

 the plants about an inch above the 

 soil ; and the earth is drawn in over 

 the roots of the plants, and firmly 

 pressed to them with the feet, so as 

 to reach within about three inches of 

 the tops of the plants. After this, 

 the gravel is laid on so as to cover 

 the soil about two inches, and to 

 leave one inch of the Box above the 

 gravel on one side, and above the 

 soil on the other. It is particularly 

 to be observed, that the trench must 

 always be made on the side next the 

 walk, in order that the soil may be 

 placed about the roots of the plants, 

 and the gravel laid over it ; otherwise, 

 if the trench were made on the border 

 side, the Box would lean against the 

 gravel, and the roots, being entirely 

 covered with soil, would grow with 

 so much luxuriance, that the plants 

 would be with difficulty kept within 

 bounds by clipping. Other plants 

 which are used for edgings to walks 



