ARBUTUS. 31 



the Dwarf, and the Acadian Arbutus. These trees mostly 

 hke a moist soil, but the Acadian prefers a wet one : it is 

 a native of swampy land, and if grown in a pot should be 

 kept very wet: the earth, also, should be covered with 

 moss, the better to retain the moisture. The other spe- 

 cies should be watered every evening when the weather 

 is dry, but not so liberally. When the frosts are severe, 

 it will be more secure to shelter them ; for though they 

 will bear our winters when in the open ground, they are 

 somewhat less hardy in pots. In mild seasons, a little 

 straw over the earth would be a protection sufficient. 



The berries of the Thyme-leaved Arbutus, which is a 

 native of North America, are carried to market in Phila- 

 delphia, and sold for tarts, &c. Great quantities of them 

 are preserved, and sent to the West Indies and to Europe. 

 The London pastry-cooks frequently use these instead of 

 cranberries, to which they are very similar ; but they are 

 inferior to cranberries of our own growth. 



In Tuscany, many years ago, a man gave out that he 

 had discovered a mode of making wine from the Arbutus. 

 His wine was very good ; but, upon his leaving the country, 

 his wine-casks were found to contain a quantity of crushed 

 grapes. 



Upon the whole, the Arbutus, with its strawberry-like 

 fruit, its waxen-tinted blossoms hanging in clusters, their 

 vine-coloured stems, its leaves resembling the bay, and 

 the handsome and luxuriant growth of its branches, is 

 one of the most elegant pieces of underwood we possess : 

 and when we have reason to believe that Horace was fond 

 of lying under its shade, it completes its charms with the 

 beauty of classical association. 



