194 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



In fact, it might easily be put on land 

 which, owing to its steepness or other 

 incidents, is useless for any other pur- 

 pose. 



If it were simply a question of beauty 

 alone it would be worth attempting, but 

 there is another gain important to con- 

 sider (at least in a southern county and 

 in hot years), and that is the shade of 

 these fruit trees which is so well suited 

 to growing many of the finer hardy 

 plants. Stately herbaceous plants, Ferns, 

 Lilies, Primroses, Foxgloves, and many 

 other lovely things do well in this partial 

 shade, as at Penshurst, and also atWarley 

 where there is a distinct and charming 

 flower garden under fruit trees, which 

 give their fine form, light shade, and 

 protection for the plants that enjoy such 

 shelter. Many things do better in this 

 sort of shade than in the open, flowers 

 last longer and, assuming that the soil is 

 a good one — as it often is where orchard 

 trees are grown — their growth is freer. 

 For this purpose tall trees are better than 

 dwarf or half-standard trees : that is, the 

 standard grafted on a free stock, giving 

 height and air, is fully as good for shade 

 as the dwarfer forms, which would be 

 useless where we are to have a flower 

 garden beneath them. They should take 

 their natural forms, nor should any stiff 

 pruning of the usual sort be allowed, the 

 only trimming being the cutting away 

 of cankered, crowded, or worn-out 

 branches. 



As to kinds, the Apple tree is the 

 most important, owing to its vivid beau- 

 ty and variety, not merely of the usual 

 kinds to be found in catalogues, but also 

 the cider Apples, which are hardly ever 



planted for effect. Most of the French 

 and our own cider Apples flower late 

 and are beautiful in form and in flower. 

 The Plum, Cherry, and also the hardier 

 kinds of Pears should be grown, but 

 only the kinds that ripen well in our 

 country. The Quince and the Medlar 

 (on a much smaller scale) are pretty in 

 bloom, and there is a host of Double 

 Cherries, Almonds, and Apples, includ- 

 ing the Siberian Crabs,which might well 

 come in for flower if we are not satisfied 

 with the kinds grown for their fruit — 

 in themselves an ample host and rich in 

 every charm of colour. 

 A GARDEN CANTON.— Through- 

 out the long-coming of spring there is 

 one happy corner of Switzerland to 

 which our hearts turn with delight. It 

 is the luminous, the glowing Ticino, 

 where, under the Federal flag, an Italian 

 flora flourishes — a land of flowers, of 

 perfumes, of blue lakes and sunny skies; 

 it is our own Nice, but Nice calm and 

 restful — Nice, without Monte Carlo, 

 with its dust and tumult. The Ticino 

 is the eldorado of the botanist and the 

 plant lover, for there are gardens every- 

 where, overflowing with flowers and 

 breathing sweet perfume. I have visited 

 it at all seasons, and have never failed to 

 gather flowers, both native and exotic, 

 that were new to me, flowers that one 

 never sees this side of the Alps. In the 

 country about the lakes (in other parts 

 it is not nearly so warm) this vegetation 

 is so richly varied and so luxuriant that 

 one's whole being glows into harmony 

 with the prevailing sense of gladness, till 

 even the saddest of mortals is lifted out 

 of himself and reflects something of the 



