208 
NATURAL MODE OF TRAINING CLIMBERS, 
to do in a state of nature. All endeavours, therefore, to train them in anything ; 
like order, or place their branches by rule in parallel lines, unless with the view of 
giving them effectual support till they have acquired strength enough to develope 
a due proportion of lateral branches, are much to be deprecated as destructive of 
the true and natural expression of the plants. 
Starting, then, with the assumption that climbers, to display their real 
charms, ought to be treated naturally in the way of training, and not be perma- 
nently forced into any approach to regularity of growth, we may go on to give 
these remarks a practical turn, by applying them to a variety of the cases which 
are of commonest occurrence. Before doing this, however, it is necessary to define 
a little more explicitly what we mean by imparting to climbers their own natural 
appearance. 
If we examine a climbing plant in a wild condition, we shall soon have a suffi- 
cient illustration of this point. Springing up at the base of a mass of bushes 
which vary considerably in height, or near a tree or a group of trees, they fling 
their flexible shoots over the former in all directions, until they themselves appear 
to constitute the bush, wdiile its own branches are only here and there visible at 
the extremities. Or, entwining the stem of a tree, they continue mounting till they 
reach its branches, and then throw themselves along these, depending carelessly 
from their points. In these examples we have the type of what we call the natural 
treatment of climbers. 
To apply it first to those beautiful dwarf summer plants, of nearly herbaceous 
habits, such as Tropoeolums, Maurandyas, Thunbergias, Lophospermums, &c., we 
may observe that the custom of training these over trellises of various forms is by 
no means suited to their character ; nor does it at all contribute to heighten their 
effect. Their own natural elegance is lost in such circumstances, and they are 
rendered far too formal to be pleasing. 
The better way of managing these plants is to put one or several bushy stakes 
into the pots or the ground where they are growing, and let the plants scramble 
over these in their own fashion, simply assisting them when they seem likely to 
fail in clinging properly to their support, or when the young stems are disposed to 
wander away in another direction. This may easily be done by the use of a small 
piece of matting occasionally, or by placing the shoots so completely amono-st the 
branches of the stake which is to sustain them, that it will be almost impossible 
for them to extricate themselves. 
In this manner, if the size of the stakes be duly adapted to the strength of the 
plant, the latter will form a close and dense bush, presenting long waving shoots, 
studded with blossoms all over its surface, and exhibiting those free, flowing 
characteristics which render climbers the admiration of every one. 
Nor is the adoption of this system to be limited to plants that are of only very 
limited growth, and whose branches disappear every summer. Some of the more 
woody and rambling kinds that grow in the open ground may be fitly subjected to 
