26 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the windows. I present to your notice this evening a few examples of plants grown 

 for this purpose, and regret it is impossible for me to lay out a border in this room, 

 so as to give full effect to the beauty of berry-bearing shrubs when judiciously inter- 

 mingled with the best of the evergreens which are adapted for plunging, such as 

 Cedrus deodara, Buxus balearica and sempervirens, Grislinia littoralis, Cupressus 

 Lawsoniana, Juniperus Virginiana, Pinus cembra, Euonymus Japonicus and radi- 

 cans, Lauristinus, etc. Surrounded as I am by practical men, I feel that I need not 

 enlarge on this subject ; the merits of the plunging system will, I am sure, be 

 appreciated wherever it obtains a moment's consideration ; and the only serious 

 impediment to its general adoption will be this, that people are so lavish in expen- 

 diture in absurd attempts to imitate great places by means of gorgeous displays of 

 bedding plants during the summer, that not many will be able to afford to treat 

 their gardens as they should be treated during the winter season.- 



Ill the enumeration of genera which furnish us with berry-bearing shrubs, the 

 Holly should, no doubt, have first place. I will refrain from saying a word in its 

 praise, for if to gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the 

 violet * * * is wasteful and ridiculous excess, so would a panegyric of the 

 holly be in a paper addressed to practical horticulturists. Considered as berry- 

 bearers, there is not much room for choice amongst the many hollies that are in 

 cultivation ; some of the noblest-habited, as Shepherdhi, atrovirens, latispina, cras- 

 sifolia, tortuosa, and others, are very shy in fruiting, and it is but seldom we see 

 them thoroughly rich in berries. There are, however, a few that are ordinarily 

 fruitful under very various circumstances. Ilex aquifolium, the type of our English 

 hollies, and the parent of hundreds of garden varieties, is certainly one of the 

 best of our berry-bearing shrubs. The patience of this tree under adverse circum- 

 stances is remarkable. Among my earliest recollections of observation out of 

 doors were the fine groups of Ilex aquifolium which thirty years ago abounded in 

 "Wanstead Forest, and grew with wonderful luxr.riance under the heavy shade of 

 oaks, alders, and beeches. I fear, by this time, many of tiiose great groups liave 

 disappeared, for Wanstead Forest has for many years past been undergoing the pro- 

 cess of blotting out, and we may expect very soon to hear of it being covered with 

 genteel villas, etc., and every street called a grange, or avenue, or park. Immense 

 quantities of holly used to be cut in Wanstead and Epping forests for the London 

 market at Cliristmas time, and the growth of that district was valued for its brilliant 

 foliage, and the abundance of its berries. As a Loudon tree, the common green 

 holly is of the greatest value, and the only objection that can be urged against it is 

 that, though it usually bears abundance of berries in suburban gardens, no one ever 

 sees them,'" for the simple reason that they become well blacked by soot before they 

 get ripe, and so continue invisible amongst the sombre leafage. And this fact 

 reminds me of an important point to be observed in the planting of gardens in dis- 

 tricts where smoke prevails, and which I have learnt by long observation of the 

 eflfects of smoke on trees and shrubs. It Is this, that every colour except yellow is 

 soon tarnished by smoke, but yellow is always least affected, and apparently keeps 

 its character unhurt. There is, of course, as much soot deposited on a yellow flower, 

 a yellow berry, or a yellow leaf as on those of any otlier colour, but these show it 

 least, and you will observe that yellow chrysanthemums, yellow-leaved hollies, and 

 yellow-berried hollies look better in smoky localities than chrysanthemums and hollies 

 of any other colour. The yellow-berried hollies, I. A. fructu aurantiaca, and I. A.fructu 

 luteo, are, therefore, invaluable for planting in the suburbs of towns. When well-ber- 

 ried examples of these stand side by side with trees bearing red berries, they quite out- 

 shine them, especially if there has been a long period of dry weather. After heavy 

 rains, the led berries being well washed, recover somewhat of their pristine beauty, 

 but, taking the winter season throughout, the yellow berries are certainly the most 

 effective. In the country the case is different. A yelbw-berried holly on a lawn, 

 or in a shrubbery, is a most beautiful object, hut if I venture to compare yellow 

 ■with red on the score of individual merits, I must pronounce the red the best. _ A 

 fine pyramid holly, thirty feet high, which tiie knife has never touched, and which 

 no storm has injured, glittering in the winter sunshine in all its deep green var- 

 nished leaves and its myriads of glowing red berries, is a sight that warms one ; it 

 is a stimulus administered through the eyes instead of the mouth, aud it goes 

 quicker to the brain, and fills the m.ind with a sense of happiness. It not only 

 warms the observer, but it warms the landscape ; and its association with the most 

 joyous festival of the year is an important element in our enjoyment of its lusty 



