MOSS-HOUSES, &o. 



687 



Fig. 966. 



in the annexed sketch, fig. 965, which 

 consists of a strong post set in the ground, 

 to the top of which an iron cap is fixed, 

 and from which six or eight iron arms 

 project, from 9 to 18 inches in length, 

 each of which is furnished with an eye, to 

 which a chain is fixed and brought down, 

 and secured near the ground to an iron bolt 

 driven firmly and slantingly into the soil. 



The annexed sketch, fig. 966, shows a 

 natural and efficient trainer, well adapt- 

 ed for single clumps 

 of sweet-peas, Tropse- 

 olums, Eccremocarpus, 

 or other fast -growing 

 plants of one year's 

 duration. It consists of 

 a young larch tree se- 

 lected in thinning the 

 plantations, the bottom 

 of which is bared of 

 its branches to the 

 height of 18 inches : 

 the remainder of the 

 branches are shortened 

 in a tapering manner 

 towards the top. They 

 ^3lr are planted in the 



ground to the depth of 

 18 inches, and the soil 

 ^jfer^^T— made firm about them ; 

 ^ _ -=j = ^ ~ or, for greater security 

 and durability, set in 

 iron-pronged sockets, as shown in the cut. 

 When so placed, the seeds may be sown, 

 or the plants set at their base, and allowed 

 to climb up amongst the branches. Very 

 little attention is required afterwards, as 

 the branches attach themselves to the 

 support, and assume quite a natural 

 character — that of all others the best for 

 showing climbing plants to the greatest 

 advantage. There is one universal prin- 

 ciple in the employment of supports, 

 which should never, if possible, be de- 

 parted from — namely, to make them 

 subordinate to the plant to be trained on 

 them. If this principle were kept in 

 view, we would see fewer of those glaring 

 errors which occur in regard to climbers 

 in most gardens. 



Another glaring error, and one of al- 

 most universal occurrence, is painting 

 supports a green colour — no doubt with a 

 view to imitate nature ; but in imitation 

 of this kind, care should ever be taken to 

 avoid an imitation that might be taken 



for a reality. Stone, or brown colour, 

 resembling that of the bark of trees, 

 would be a much more artistic colour. 



§ 6. — MOSS-HOUSES, SEATS, AND 

 RESTING-PLACES. 



Rustic seats, arbours, and resting-places, 

 are as admissible in gardenesque scenery, 

 as the most classic temple, vase, or piece 

 of sculpture in the geometrical style. 

 Great ingenuity has been displayed in the 

 formation of such structures, which may 

 be considered as being of two different 

 orders — viz., the artificial rustic and the 

 natural rustic. A taste for these appears 

 to have risen in this country cotemporary 

 with the introduction of the modern style 

 of landscape gardening. They are usually 

 constructed of the trunks of trees, having 

 the bark on, planted in the ground, to 

 give stability to the structure. The pa- 

 nels, or spaces between, unless where left 

 open for entrances, are filled with boards 

 or clay noggin ; the inside being covered 

 with moss, hazel rods, or similar material, 

 also with the bark on ; the outside with 

 the rough bark of trees, moss, heath, and 

 often with split rods of young trees, pa- 

 neled into various forms. The roof is 

 almost invariably thatched with heath, or 

 with reeds where the former does not 

 abound. The interior is, however, always 

 cleaner and drier when covered with rods 

 of wood, and there is also much less har- 

 bour for insects. The ceilings are usually 

 of moss, sometimes paneled in rude 

 architectural forms with various coloured 

 mosses, and cornices are introduced, 

 made of the cones of different species of 

 the pine tribe. 



The specimens we offer in the present 

 section may be considered as the artificial 

 rustic, of which the following figures are 

 examples. 



The tasteful construction of moss- 

 houses, rustic seats, vases, &c., is an art, 

 if we may so call it, not easily taught ; 

 nor is it at all an easy matter to convey 

 anything like written instructions, at 

 least such as can be useful, to others, even 

 by those who are themselves proficients 

 in the matter. It is a sort of natural 

 taste that one man possesses, which a 

 thousand around him have not the slight- 

 est idea of. 



