8o The Journal of Forestry. 



The Berberis Daru-inii, a beautiful evergreen shrub introduced 

 in the year 1847 from the island of Chiloe and the western shores of 

 Patagonia, has proved to be one of the hardiest and most ornamental 

 of the shrubs grown in the gardens and pleasure-grounds of this 

 country. The foliage is neat and pleasing at all times, and the plant 

 is covered in spring with a gorgeous shower of dark golden blossoms, 

 succeeded in the autumn by an abundant crop of bluish-purple 

 berries, which form a rich contrast to the dark green foliage until they 

 are devoured by game and other birds, many of which feed greedily 

 upon them when other food is becoming scarce, late in the autumn. 

 The berries produce seeds freely, which ripen perfectly in this country, 

 and from which large quantities of plants can be raised at a cheap 

 rate to meet any demands, so that it ought now to be extensively 

 used in the formation of game covers, for which it is very well 

 adapted, affording as it does a dry, warm, and almost impenetrable 

 lair for game ; and in the autumn and early winter the berries pro- 

 vide a large supply of wholesome food for pheasants and other birds. 



It grows freely in almost any soil if moderately dry, but it thrives 

 best in a light calcareous soil, with an open dry subsoil, and being a 

 native of a moist climate, it grows more luxuriantly in the western 

 parts of Britain and in Ireland than in the eastern and drier dis- 

 tricts. 



