The Gardening World, January 25, 1908. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“ The spring fir and stately box.”— Pope. 
An Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs. 
CO NTEN TS. 
Amateur’s Letter to Amateurs, An 45 
Apple Spitzenburg (illus.) . 5 1 
Celery for Beginners . 46 
Clerodendrons . 46 
Cockspur Thorn, The . 48 
Competition Awards . 46 
Competition, Prize Letter . 48 
Enquire Within . 55 
Flower Garden, The (illus.) . 53 
Fruit Garden, The (illus.) . 53 
Grape Fruit, The . 50 
Greenhouse, The Amateurs . 54 
Hemp, The Giant . 60 
Ixias, etc., and Their Cultivation ... 50 
Japanese Plant, An Uncommon (illus.) 59 
Kitchen Garden, The (illus.) . 53 
Knotgrass, A Himalayan (illus.) . 47 
Novice, Points which Puzzle the . 59 
Orchids for Amateurs . 54 
Rhubarb, Forcing . 49 
Rockeries: How to Build and Plant 
(illus.) . 49 
Small Garden, To Make the Best of 
the . 58 
Sweet Scented Plant, A (illus.) . 51 
Sweet Peas and Superfluous Super ... 47 
Sweet Peas, Vagaries of . 52 
Sweet Peas: Work for January . 52 
Trees and Soil . 58 
Wallflowers in Pots . 47 
Work of the Week . 53 
-4-M-- 
t 
t 
TJeauty of tfie, Ssass. 
By JOHN RUSKIN. 
Consider what we owe to the 
meadow grass, to the covering of the 
dark ground by that glorious enamel, 
by the companies of those soft, count¬ 
less, and -peaceful spears of the field l 
Follow but for a little time the 
thought of all that we ought to re¬ 
cognise in those words. All spring 
and summer is in them—the walks by 
silent scented paths, the rest in noon¬ 
day heat, the joy of the herds and 
focks, the power of all shepherd life 
and meditation; the life of the sun¬ 
light upon the world, falling in 
emerald streaks and soft blue shadows, 
when else it would have struck on the 
dark mould or scorching dust; pas¬ 
tures beside the pacing brooks, soft 
banks and knolls of lowly hills, 
thymy slopes of down overlooked by 
the blue line of lifted sea; crisp 
lawns all dim with early dew, or 
smooth in evening warmth of barred 
sunshine, dinted by happy feet, soften¬ 
ing in their fall the sound of loving 
1 
CXXVII. 
A Note on Winter Protection. 
Probably most of us have in our beds 
and borders some few plants that are of 
rather doubtful hardihood. I like such 
plants, because, I fear, I appreciate the 
element of chance as to their surviving a 
severe spell of frost. During such a spell 
they are subjects of care, speculation, and 
pleasurable anxiety. If they die, you 
shrug your shoulders, and if they live, as 
very often they contrive to do, you are 
filled with a curious gratification and 
satisfaction. You put ashes round them 
when frost threatens, and lightly cover 
them with bracken, and perhaps hold this 
a fixture by thrusting through it an ever¬ 
green branch. Now, this is all well and 
good, but what I desire to point out to-day 
is that it is better to remove this protec¬ 
tion at the break up of severe weather; 
it can be retained in some dry shed and 
replaced when needed; but it is not a 
good thing to envelope a plant in this 
amount of shelter and protection when un¬ 
necessary, as it tends to promote pre¬ 
cocious growth, and this of all things is 
undesirable. 
Rose Cuttings. 
Frost does not as a rule injure these in 
the slightest degree, but there is a certain 
amount of danger when a thaw sets in. 
If the soil has become loosened by the 
action of the frost, and the stem of the 
cutting bare of soil about it, it will perish. 
But if the soil be carefully trodden down 
about it and brought firmly up to it, no 
danger is to be apprehended. Likely as 
not, year-old cuttings of Rambler and 
other varieties that make considerable top 
growth will have been planted out in the 
autumn, if the arches or pillars about 
which they are to grow have not yet been 
put into position some temporary support 
ought to be given to prevent the growths 
from being wind shaken, this being an¬ 
other cause of the plants loosening in the 
soil and ultimately perishing. 
Winter Subjects in the Border. 
It has always been a theory of mine that 
a border has much additional interest and 
beauty if it can show, at any rate a small 
proportion, of plants that are at their full 
beauty in winter. A very few flowers go 
a long way in the winter garden, as I sup¬ 
pose most of us have found out. Thus, a 
small patch or two of Iris Vartani, in 
some sheltered position, has a decorative 
value difficult to overrate. And beside 
flowering subjects, a few bold evergreen 
plants that do not die down in winter are 
highly desirable. In a certain border 
where grow for the most part Galegas, 
Campanulas, Doronicums, and other sub¬ 
jects that are only in dwarf clumps, at this 
season I always feel how invaluable dur¬ 
ing winter are a few bold clumps of Phor- 
mium tenax, otherwise known as the New 
Zealand Flax. I do not quite know on 
what grounds, but this plant has often 
been described as not altogether hardy in 
our climate. It is a great pity, because 
it is far hardier than a great many plants 
we grow out-of-doors. I have known it a 
good many seasons now, and through 
severe winters; but, even in an exposed 
northern aspect, I have never known one 
single plant to succumb. I have read of 
this plant recommended as a conservatory 
subject, and here again I would say that 
treated as a hardy plant out of doors it 
attains to far larger and handsomer pro¬ 
portions than would be convenient under 
glass. It has the clean cut, straight- 
edged foliage resembling a Yucca, and it 
may be interesting to note that it belongs 
to the family of the Liliaceae. Seed is 
listed in some few of the catalogues, and, 
I may add, it is well worth while to grow 
it in this manner, and presents no diffi¬ 
culty. The flowers are not particularly 
showy nor beautiful; it is, however, one 
of those things that we prize for other 
qualities. It is one of the handsome char¬ 
acteristic plants that helps to give that 
choice and distinctive look to a border. 
There is a variety with variegated'foliage, 
but I am not prepared- to say that this is 
as hardy as the green-leaved one. It is 
extremely effective and a capital subject 
to test as an experiment. 
Scilla sibirica.—-This little flower of 
deep rich blue is wonderfully delightful 
in effect in the April garden. The plant 
is a bulbous one, and flourishes well in 
colonies under deciduous trees. I men¬ 
tion it to-day because where it has been 
established for some seasons, very pro¬ 
bably by this time many young seedlings 
will be through the soil. I have noted 
them sometimes by the New' Year, and in 
great quantities. My experience, how¬ 
ever, is that many of these seedlings if 
left alone do not live to become flowering 
plants. I have no theory as to why this 
is so, unless it be lack of moisture, and 
very different is the story of self-sown 
Aconites (Eranthis). But if, as they 
begin to wither in the later spring, these 
seedlings are lifted and planted in some 
spare border, they succeed much better, 
and should make flowering-sized bulbs by 
their third 
F. Norfolk. 
