contact.
For it seems impossible for a vine to grow anywhere without making
everything it touches beautiful. It is possessor of the magic which
transforms plain things into loveliness.

If I were obliged to choose between vines and shrubs--and I am very
glad that I do not have to do so--I am quite sure I would choose the
former. I can hardly explain how it is, but we seem to get on more
intimate terms with a vine than we do with a shrub. Probably it is
because it grows so close to the dwelling, as a general thing, that we
come to think of it as a part of the home.

Vines planted close to the house walls often fail to do well, because
they do not have a good soil to spread their roots in. The soil thrown
out from the cellar, or in making an excavation for the foundation
walls, is almost always hard, and deficient in nutriment. In order to
make it fit for use a liberal amount of sand and loam ought to be added
to it, and mixed with it so thoroughly that it becomes a practically new
soil. At the same time manure should be given in generous quantity. If
this is done, a poor soil can be made over into one that will give most
excellent results. One application of manure, however, will not be
sufficient. In one season, a strong, healthy vine will use up all the
elements of plant-growth, and more should be supplied to meet the
demands of the following year. In other words, vines should be manured
each season if they are expected to keep in good health and continue to
develop. If barnyard manure cannot be obtained, use bonemeal of which I
so often speak in this book. I consider it the best substitute for
barnyard fertilizer that I have ever used, for all kinds of plants.

The best, all-round vine for general use, allowing me to be judge, is
Ampelopsis, better known throughout the country as American Ivy, or
Virginia Creeper. It is of exceedingly rapid growth, often sending out
branches twenty feet in length in a season, after it has become well
established. It clings to stone, wood, or brick, with equal facility,
and does not often require any support except such as it secures for
itself. There are two varieties. One has flat, sucker-like discs, which
hold themselves tightly against whatever surface they come in contact
with, on the principle of suction. The other has tendrils which clasp
themselves about anything they can grasp, or force themselves into
cracks and crevices in such a manner as to furnish all the support the