so many wild plants fail
to thrive when brought into cultivation; manure is no substitute, but
often distasteful to them.

=SOMETHING BESIDES IVY.= Trees must be divided into two broad sections,
=deciduous and ever-green=. Very few plants will do well under the latter,
but as regards the first, =ivy= is not by any means the only thing that
will grow, though it is often a good plan to use it as a foundation, and
work in plants here and there afterwards. There is no need to choose the
large kind; those elegant varieties with long pointed leaves are =more
ornamental and just as easy to grow=. Their roots must be restricted when
other plants are near, or they will soon take up all the room. =Ferns=
will do very well under trees, if they are plentifully watered during the
dry season. Here also a few of the choicest kinds should be grown, for
though some of them may not do so well as in a shady open spot, most of
them will give a fairly good account of themselves. Always plant them with
the rhizome above ground, not forgetting that when each fern has its full
complement of fronds, it will take up a considerably larger space than it
does at the time it is set out.

If the _Osmunda regalis_ is tried--=the royal fern=--it is necessary to
get a good established turf of it; strong clumps cost about 1s. 6d. each;
plenty of water must be given it in the summer. I have seen it in splendid
form under a tree in a very small garden.

Perhaps the =St. John's worts= come next to ivy and ferns in their
usefulness for planting under trees, as they are =always decorative, being
ever-green=. In the spring, the foliage is a most lovely soft apple-green,
and in summer when the golden cups filled with anthers issue forth from
the axils of the leaves, the effect is beautiful. _Hypericum calycinum_ is
the Latin term for these plants, and though they will do on the dryest
bank and in the poorest soil, being very tough and wiry, if they are grown
in good loam and manure is occasionally given them, they will repay with
far finer flowers, which will be produced for a longer season.

=A good breadth of woodruff= makes a very pretty picture for several
weeks, and has a delightful scent; here and there bulbs can be planted
amongst it, neither being harmed by this plan. The _aubrietias_ =flower
with unfailing regularity= under trees, even when the aspect is north, and
no gleam of sunshine reaches them; their greyish-green rosettes resist
drought splen