THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
190 
was imparted to the ground; such was not Mr. Hol¬ 
land’s aim. It is obvious, however, that the non¬ 
conducting powers of leaves in a fresh state must he 
much greater than people commonly imagine. Here¬ 
in is a beauteous illustration of the great wisdom, as 
well as the apparent simplicity, of the principles in 
which God has founded the order of things: leaves 
are not only the chief ornaments of our trees whilst 
existant, and the great elaborators of all the juices, 
which are convertible, respectively, into fruits, starch, 
gums, &c., or timber; but when decaying, are made 
to subserve the purpose, in some degree, of protecting 
the roots from sudden extremes of temperature. 
We may now offer an opinion as to how it is that 
outside roots sometimes succeed in early forcing. First, 
then, the vine root, when in action, is more suscep¬ 
tible of injuries than most of our fruit-trees. In 
addition to its impatience, as a tropical tree, to sud¬ 
den depressions of temperature, it adds an equal 
amount of dislike to stagnant moisture. Secondly, 
we know, by long experience, that not one border in 
half a dozen (as they have hitherto been constructed) 
has proved a sufficient guarantee against the above 
excesses during extreme seasons. Thirdly, that no 
thorough success can be expected if the young and 
tender fibres are but once destroyed, or seriously 
impeded in their operations, any time between the 
blossoming and the ripening period. Now, if such 
arguments be admitted—and they are somethingmore 
than mere suppositions—it will be no marvel that we 
find such anomalous results arising from grape for¬ 
cing in various quarters. Indeed, the whole ques¬ 
tion is simple, and lays in a nut-shell; some writers 
however, have managed to invest the subject with a 
considerable amount of mystery, as, indeed, hath 
been done in most other gardening matters. 
Let us advise, then, those who cannot confide in 
their border, not to commence forcing too early. But 
let them instantly set to work and examine the roots 
carefully, and, if stagnant waters exist, to make as 
many outlets for its escape as possible, even making 
holes in various parts of the border, and filling them 
nearly full of bricks or stones, and having, if pos¬ 
sible, an outlet into a drain, or escape. Let those 
who will begin forcing, cover the border immediately, 
getting up, if possible, a slight fermentation in the 
covering; and, as they cannot meddle with the roots, 
they may throw out an open gutter as close to the 
extremity of the roots as possible, provided they do 
not mind appearances. R. Errington. 
THE ELOWER-GARDEN. 
Hardy Climbers. —The white vine, or Travellers’ 
joy, called by botanists Clematis vitalba, which I 
instanced last week, in order to point out how plants 
of that character, which have been neglected for a 
time, should be dealt with at first, is the British 
representative of a very useful family of hardy 
climbers—natives of various countries in the tempe¬ 
rate regions of the old and new world—which are not 
grown nearly to the extent they deserve to be, and no 
doubt would be, if they were better known to amateurs, 
or to the great body of the people, amongst whom the 
different writers in The Cottage Gardener are all 
so anxious to infuse a healthy and sound practical 
knowledge of all departments of gardening. 
The English name of this family, to which our 
Travellers’ joy belongs, is The Virgins Boner; not, 
as many suppose, because they are all well adapted to 
cover harbours, bowers, or summer-houses, in which 
maidens might sing, or coo, or dress their flower- 
pi ANUARY 10. 
wreaths, but because the first species of the genus, 
the Vine-bower clematis, was introduced here from 
Spain, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1569 ; 
and the name of virgin’s bower was given, to convey 
a complimentary allusion to her Majesty, who, as is 
well known, liked to be called “ the Virgin Queen.” 
Clematis, the scientific name of this family, is derived 
from the Greek word kleema, a small branch or 
tendril of a vine, because most of these plants climb 
after the manner of a grape-vine. Although the 
word clematis is as currently in use as virgin’s bower, 
nine persons out of ten in the country unfortunately 
pronounce it wrong, by putting the accent on the a, as 
in tomcftoo, instead of on the e and having the a short 
thus,—clematis. 
Some one or other of the species of clematis, will 
come in for all the conceivable ways in which strong, 
hardy climbers can be grown or trained. Almost all 
of them are quick growers, and would soon cover a 
large space, and live to a great age, if planted in 
deep, rich light soil, on a dry bottom; but a damp 
clayey bottom does not suit them well. I shall notice, 
when considering each species, those that will do 
best in stiff, or wet soil. The whole of them grow 
remarkably well over a chalk bottom, as I can affirm 
from my own experience here, where we grow a good 
selection of them, and the first of them begins to 
flower, some years in February, but never later than 
March. The name of this is cirrhoza, with the ac¬ 
cent on the o. The meaning of this name is, that 
the footstalk of the leaf clasps round any thing for 
support, like the leaves of the Maurandia , and the 
tendrils of a grape-vine; being, if literally translated, 
tendriled. There are two or three varieties of it, as 
cali/cine and pohjmorphace, but they have all the 
same habit; are very nearly evergreens, with small 
delicate leaves, and therefore, and for their early 
flowering, are suitable to train up the pillar of a 
veranda, or somewhere not far from the windows, 
whence they may be seen in dull weather, and when 
flowers are scarce. The flowers are produced singly, 
or one in a place; are large, dullish white, and hang 
down gracefully with a bell-shaped mouth. The 
plant is not liable to get naked below, like some of 
them, and is said by some not to be very hardy; 
but that is a very great mistake—not an inch of it 
was hurt here in an open situation, and against an 
iron arch exposed to all weather, without any cover¬ 
ing, during those very hard winters of 1838 and 1841. 
The only secret in growing it to perfection is, to have 
it planted on a perfectly dry bottom. It is well 
suited for sunk areas in large towns, to be planted 
above the pavement in a raised border, eighteen 
inches deep, supported with a box-like edging, the 
wall forming one of the long sides of the box. I 
never pass through London without “ thinking to 
myself,” what a grand place they could make of it, 
after all, if they would but grow hardy climbers 
against their street doors. 
But I must follow out this idea a little farther, and 
show how it could best be accomplished. In country 
towns and villages, where the houses have no sunk 
areas, we often see vines, and other plants, doing 
very well trained against the houses, and their roots 
covered with the flag-stones of the pavement, and 
the street beyond; so that one wonders how they can 
exist at all. I have seen the grape-vine produce 
fine successive good crops of fruit, even while the 
roots were so situated, that they did not receive a 
drop of water all that time. Still, I would be very 
loath to plant climbers in the natural soil, in the 
sunk areas of town-houses, as we often see them, and 
