August 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
341 
be its leverage power, in disturbing alike roots and stem 
supporter. Almost every system I have seen or beard 
ot has more or less of this fault. Now, this is what 
Mr. Gardiner next to completely gets rid of, and will 
get rid of altogether, if it succeed perfectly in exposed 
places; and, I must say, reasoning from analogy, I have 
great hopes that it will. Most, if not all of Mr. 
Gardiner’s standards are supported, as far as the point 
where the head forms, by a single stout, green painted 
stake. 
A circular hoop of stout wire is placed over the head of 
the plant, the diameter of the circle being in proportion to 
the diameter of the plant; one man holds it level on one 
side, and another on the opposite side, and while they re¬ 
spectively hold it, each ties a stout branch to the hoop, and 
so. the process goes on, until all are secured. In the case 
ot Hoses, the hoop is held rather lower than where the 
head is formed; this admits of the shoots being slightly 
bent as they are secured, which causes the buds to break 
more regularly, and affords more room for strong shoots 
to grow in the centre of the plant, to be brought down 
again next season. When wanted, several hoops may 
be used. A file, and a pair of nippers that cuts wire, 
will enable any labourer to make them with great 
rapidity. Cottagers, to whom wire might be an object, 
could form them of bramble, or hazel, &c. It will be 
seen there is no connection whatever between the hoop 
and the stake; in fact, the hoop supports the branches, 
and the branches hold up the hoop. When the wind 
blows on one side, the very strain produces a reaction 
on the other, and thus the balance, is restored without 
greatly influencing the supporting stake, or, consequently, 
the security of the plant. Some of our friends may 
burst out — “ Mucb-a-do about nothing — any body 
might have devised such a simple thing as that.” Aye ! 
but why was it not done? There is nothing difficult 
when known. There is always a connection between 
the simply effective and the truly great and generally 
beneficial. I am mistaken, if this Gardinerian mode 
will not give an impulse to standard growing, for orna¬ 
ment, as the supporting of them efficiently and neatly 
was the chief hindrance. R. Fish. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
( Continued from page 288. ) . 
Botanic Gardens, Birmingham. —The lower part of 
these gardens is occupied with American plants, of 
which there is a good collection. There is also a small 
pond for hardy Aquatics. I observed in it large patches I 
of Galla palustris, Typha latifolia, and T. angustifolia, i 
Menyanthes trifoliata, and others. Indeed, they have 
grown so freely, and spread so rapidly, that the pond is 
m danger of being filled up with them. There is also 
a conservative wall, against which grow admirably, 
Edwardsia microphylla, Arundinaria falcata, Forsythia 
viridissima, Magnolia, Photenias, &c. In front of this j 
wall there is a large piece of ground occupied with a j 
Rosary, forming three sides of a parallelogram, the ; 
centre being occupied with several beds on turf, in the ! 
modern style of massing in colours. This Rosary is quite j 
concealed from public gaze, being in a retired corner, 
bidden with belts of shrubs. The visitor comes upon it 
unexpectedly, and is most agreeably surprised. The 
trees and shrubs are planted in their natural orders, but 
many of the labels are unfortunately defaced or ob¬ 
literated, but it is intended to renew them shortly. 
By natural orders, I mean, all the various species of 
Oaks that are planted near each other, and also the 
Conifers, the Ash, the Primus, or Blums, the Thorn 
{Cratcegus), the Spirea, &c; thus rendering great 
assistance to the unlearned, as well as tire well-informed, 
botanist. This massing principle is also carried out 
with the annual flowers — large patches of one kind 
forming a bed quite showy and attractive, even at a 
considerable distance. This massing is far better, and 
more effective, than if the annuals were sown in small 
patches, dispersed all over the ground. I was parti¬ 
cularly pleased with the Nemophila insignis, and Col- 
linsia bicolor, and several others grown in that style. 
On the lawn I observed a largo clump of variegated 
Hollies, at least, there were twenty distinct varieties of 
them, and the greater part of them were handsome 
specimens, from twelve to fifteen feet high. On a 
sloping bank, still lower down the garden, there is a 
large bed of Scotch Roses ( Rosa spinosissima). The 
garden abounds in fine specimens of both deciduous 
and evergreen trees and shrubs. I particularly noted 
the following:— 
The Weeping Beech, Fagus sylvatica var. pendula. 
This is a very curious variety, it both weeps and grows 
upright. The leading shoot at first droops, but gradually 
recovers, or attains an upright position, but all the side- 
shoots droop downward almost perpendicularly. It was 
thirty feet high, and the lowest tier of branches swept 
the ground. 
Two majestic, handsome Oaks, that were on the 
ground many years before the gardens were formed, are 
now more than sixty feet high, with trunks in pro¬ 
portion. These trunks have circular, neat, iron seats 
placed around them, and a more agreeable, shady 
resting place, on a warm day, can scarcely be conceived. 
That rare variety, the Cratcegus stricta, or Upright 
Thorn, has attained the height of thirty feet. 
I noticed, also, that rare tree, the Cerasus malialeb, or 
Perfumed Cherry, the top of which covered a space of 
twenty-five feet diameter, and its height was about the 
same in diameter. 
The Cotoneaster affine, au immense bush, was in full 
flower, and, as Mr. Catling informed me, the blossoms 
are succeeded by handsome black berries. Just in the 
front of the Victoria Blouse there is a very large speci¬ 
men of Garrya elliptica, fifteen feet diameter, and seven 
feet high, and the rare Betula Jorolensis. 
The garden is rich in Conferee; they were planted 
originally on a bank facing the west, and, consequently, 
many of them are bent forwards from the quarter, espe¬ 
cially such heavy-branched species as Pinus pinea and 
P. Austriaca. Others, with smaller foliage, and light 
branches, keep their upright position. Here I observed 
the evil of keeping Coniferae too long in pots. A good 
specimen of P. Pallasiana, 20 feet high, was blown so 
much on one side, evidently from wanting spreading 
roots to retain firm hold of the soil, that had it not been 
timely propped up with strong, forked branches of trees, 
it must have been torn up by the roots long ago. 
Araucaria imbricata, a handsome tree, clothed with 
branches down to the ground, 22 feet high. 
Cupressus torulosus, in an exposed situation, had 
suffered from last winter’s frosts, but, in a sheltered 
place, was uninjured. 
G. Lambertiana, uninjured; 21 feet high. 
C. sempervirens, 18 feet; uninjured. 
Cedrus Deodar, 15 feet. 
Cryptomeria Japonica, 14feet; very dense and unique. 
Abies moriiula, uninjured; 20 feet high ; a very hand¬ 
some symmetrical tree. 
Picea nobilis, a very fine specimen of this rare pine; 
quite uninjured; 12 feet high. 
P. Webbiana, 18 feet; injured to a considerable 
extent. 
Pinus cembra, 20 feet; a handsome tree. 
P. ponderosa, a fine, upright treo, 25 feet high. 
P. Austriaca, a densely clothed tree; 25 feet high, and 
the branches covering a space 18 feet diameter. 
P. excelsa, a young flourishing tree; 18 feet high. 
