A dictionary of modern gardening - University Library

B OR B OR
To obtain seed.—To save seed, some
of those plants which have survived the
winter must be left ungatliered from.
Tliey will begin to flower about June ;
and when their seed is perfectly ripe,
the stalks must be gathered, and dried
completely before it is rubbed out.
BORAGO. Six species. Hardy. Division
or seed. Common soil.
BORASSUS flahellifnrmis. Stove
palm. Seed. Loam and peat.
BORBONIA. Nine species. Greenhouse
evergreen shrubs. Cuttings. Peat
and loam.
BORDER, is a name applied to that
narrow division of the garden which
usually accompanies each side of a
walk in the pleasure-grounds, and to
the narrow bed which is close to the
garden wall on one side, and abuts on a
walk on the other. The walls being
mostly occupied by fruit trees, the latter
may be considered as the fruit-borders,
and the first-named as the flowerborders.
1. Fruit-bordeis.—Next to the wall
should be a path three feet wide, fori
the convenience of pruning and gathering.
Next to this path should be the
border, eight or nine feet wide; and
then the broad walk, which should always
encompass the main compartments
ofthe kitchen garden. The whole
of the breadth from the wall to the edge
of this main walk should be excavated
and large stones then put in to the depth
of one foot and a half; and the remaining
two feet and a half filled up with
suitable soil. From the underdrainage
of brickbats, &c., draining pipes should
be laid, with an outfall into some neighboring
ditch. No fruit tree will be
healthy if it roots deep, or if its roots
are surrounded by superfluous water
—
that is, more water than the soil will
retain by its own chemical and capillary
attractions. Shallow rooting crops
do no harm to the trees grown on fruit
borders sufficient to require their total
banishment.
2. Flower borders.—These, like the
preceding, and indeed like every other
part ofthe garden not devoted to aquatic
and marsh plants, should be well
drained. In plotting them it must also
be remembered, that if narrow, no art
will impart to them an aspect of boldness
and grandeur. Indeed narrowness
of surface is inseparably connected with
an impression that the grounds are of
limited extent, and no disposal of the
plants will remove the littleness thus
suggested. If the pleasure grounds are
small, narrow borders are permissible,
but even then the broader they are the
less is the appearance of meanness.
Neatness must be the presiding deity
over flower borders, and no application
ofthe hoe and rake, no removal of decayed
leaves, no tying up of straggling
members, can be too unremitting.
For the arrangement of the plants,
see Flowers; and for particular cultivation,
each will be found under the
name ofthe plant.
BORECOLE, Brassica olerarea fimbriata.
Varieties.—Of the following, 1, 2, 3.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 16, are the
best.
1. Brussels Borecole, or Sprouts.
2. Green Borecole, Brassica oleracea
[ 6.
selenisia.
3. Purple Borecole, B. oleracea laciniata.
4. Variegated Borecole.
5. German or Curled Kale, or Cur-
lies.
Scotch or Siberian Kale, B. o.
' sabdlica.
7. Chou de Milan.
8. Egyptian or Rabi Kale.
9. Ragged Jack.
to the depth of four feet ; the bottom of 10. I
the excavation rammed hard ; brickbats
j Woburn
j the
Jerusalem Kale.
11. Buda-Russian, or Manchester
Kale.
12. Anjou Kale.
13. One-thousand-headed cabbage.
14. Palm Borecole.
15. Portugal or large ribbed.
16. Woburn perennial.
kale may be propagated by
cuttings, six inches long, planted where
to remain in March or April.
Buda kale is greatly improved by
blanching under a pot, like sea kale.
Sowing.—The first crop sow about
end of March, or early in April, the
seedlings of which are fit for pricking
out towards the end of April, and for
final planting at the close of May, for
production late in autumn and commencement
of winter. The sowing
must be repeated about the middle of
May; for final planting, during July,
and lastly in August, for use during
winter and early spring.
Pricking out, — Their fitness for