Aflgust 4, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICTJLTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



87 



-.1 trench, and then taking off the suckers without disfigur- 

 ing tlie parent or checking its growth so much as lifting 

 would. These suckers are planted in lines, three in a four- 

 feet bed, and the plants about a foot apart in the line, more 

 or less according to their size, fi-om whence after a couple of 

 years' growth they are transplanted to their final quarters. 



After i^lanting, deciduous Berberries require very little 

 management. The shi-ubbei-y should have the weeds kept 

 under, never allowing them to seed, and be slightly hoed 

 and raked over at least twice during the summer, besides 

 any weeding that may be required, and a general clearance 

 of decayed wood and leaves after aU the latter are fallen. 

 "When hard fi-ost prevails, a couple of inches of decayed 

 leaves or other vegetable matter throi\Ti on the surface vrHl 

 materially increase the health of the slu-ubs ; and however 

 much the flower-beds may requii-e a little of this vegetable 

 eiirth I would not forget to let the slu'ubs have the decayed 

 remains of the leaves taken from them the year before. I 

 object to digging amongst shrubs at any time, especially 

 when the roots nearly occupy the whole of the ground, and 

 are close to the sm-face. The sui-face roots of shrubs are of 

 as much moment to their wellbeing as those of a Vine are 

 to successful Grape-gTowing. Transplant a tree every year, 

 and it becomes a dwarf; and slu'ubs in like manner, robbed 

 of their roots annually by surface-digging, become stunted. 

 Pruning must be limited to cutting-out in-egular growths 

 and such as overlap each other, as weU as any dead wood 

 that may be found. Should any shrub become unsightly it 

 may be cut do^vn ; but if the plant be very old it would be 

 Ijetter to stub it up and plant a young one, having fii-st 

 renewed the soil. 



Evergreen Species. — These are svutable for beds and 

 groups on lawns. In either case the ground should be dug 

 deeply, and a liberal amount of leaf mould or weU-rotted 

 stable-manure added, and if the turf has to be removed it 

 should be tiu-ned in. Turf, however, makes such a nice 

 compost for plants, pot Vines, Pines, &c., that few gardeners 

 can resist the temptation to rob the intended occupant of 

 the bed of its due share of decayed vegetable matter by 

 taking the turf away to the compost-heap. Turf is so 

 difficult to come at in most places, that we can hardly insist 

 on its being dug into the new bed ; but stOl, every barrow- 

 ful of turf taken away is equal to a barroivful of dung, or 

 two of decayed leaves : therefore, for every ban-oivful of turf 

 removed the same qvrantity of vegetable matter shovdd be 

 returned to the bed. 



Where the ground is of a clayey nature the soil should be 

 taken out 18 inches or 2 feet deep, and its place filled with 

 a compost formed of two-thirds rich loam and the remainder 

 leaf moxdd ivith a sprinkling of river sand. In digging-oirt 

 tills hole or bed another point must be taken into considera- 

 tion : .Can the water escape readily through the bottom of 

 the bed so as to prevent stagnant water lodging ? If not, a 

 drain must be cut to take away the water that ^viU filter to 

 the bottom, and where, unless there be a drain to carry it 

 off, it will very soon cause the shrubs to assume a sickly 

 appearance. Without drains in clay soils, beds dug out a 

 couple of feet deep are little short of a swamji dviring the 

 greater part of the year, and the last plant to put in such 

 \ beds is the Berben-y, for like the Sikkim and Bhotan Rho- 

 dodendi'ons they are all natives of the hills, where the rain- 

 fall is lai'ge, but the substratum of the soil of such a nature 

 that no water can lodge so as to become stagnant. 



Evergreen Berberries are better planted in early spring, 

 but any time from the middle of October until April wUl 

 answer ; and even they may be removed in summer imme- 

 diately after flowering, when it is possible to take up with a 

 ball, and water freely for some time after planting. They 

 may be planted in groups on lawns without any preparation 

 of the soil, but then, xinless the soil suits them they will do 

 anything but thrive. 



Whether in groups or in beds they need little pruning, 

 which should be confined to cutting-in'straggling gro\vths, 

 and such as are weak and old. The beds should be kept 

 clear of weeds and leaves, and raked roughly occasionally 

 to prevent moss foi-ming on the surface. A dressing of leaf 

 mould will tend to increase their vigoirr, and if it be pointed- 

 iu with a fork the bed will have a neat appearance during 

 winter. The leaf mould may be put on any time in the 

 autumn. 



Some of the evergreen varieties make handsome pot 

 plants ; in fact, all the evergreens are useful grown in that 

 way, either to ornament the conservatory in spiing, or to 

 plunge in the flower-beds in winter, where their evergreen 

 character is more beautiful than red brick, no matter how 

 fine the tracery, and their rich yellow flowers impart a 

 chann in spring to an otherwise anything but garden-like 

 object. 



I by no means deprecate the present rage for flower gar- 

 dens, but I wish to see them more like a garden in winter 

 and spring than many are at present. Mr. Beaton (the loss 

 of whose pen every amateur and gardener deplores whilst 

 sympathising for his affliction), the father of the massing 

 system, had shrubs of low gi-owth to succeed the gaudier 

 summer occupants, with other spring-floweiing plants, to 

 give at least an interesting character to the beds during 

 winter and spring, if not a good display at the duU and 

 reviving seasons. If a garden be worth having fine in 

 simimer, it surely is worth making interesting in winter. 

 The evergreen Berberries are so beautiful, compact, and 

 low-growing, as to fit them for an honourable position in 

 any °an-angement of plants required to be interesting in 

 ^vinter and spiing. 



The following list includes some of the best species, most 

 of which are of a higldy ornamental character. 



Those marked thus * bear fruit, which makes excellent 

 preserves ; and evergreens are indicated thus t- The others 

 are deciduous, or their foliage becomes so much browned La 

 winter as to be not suited for beds. 



•Berberis vulgaris 8 feet ... England April and May. 



Tulgaris violacea 8 feet ... England April and May. 



• TulRaris alba 8 feet ... England April and May. 



• vulgaris nigra 7 feet ... Europe April and May. 



• vulgaris purpurea ... 6 feet... Europe April and May. 



• vulSarislutea 6 feet ... Europe Apnl and May. 



• vulgaris aspenna 6 feet ... Europe April and May. 



• + dulcis 8 feet ... Austria, Magellan. May. 



cauadensin 6 feet ... Canada April and May. 



sinensis 4 feet... China April and May. 



t aristata 6 feet ... Nepaul April and May. 



t (aacicularislMahonia) 8 feet ... California April and May. 



t ilicifolia 4 feet ... Terra del Fuego ... July 



T Wallichiaua 4 feet... Nepaul May and June. 



+ heterophylla 4 feet ... Magellan May. 



T trifoliata 4 feet... Mexico April and May. 



1- nepalensis 5 leet ... Nepaul May and June. 



t asiatica 4 feet .. Nepaul May and June. 



t empetrifolia 3 feet ... Magellan Apri and May. 



T dealbata 6 feet ... Mexico Apri and May. 



T Darwinii 5 feet ... Mexico Apri and May. 



t Fortuni 5 feet ... China.... ......... April and May. 



Lesckenauliii 5 feet... China.Neilghernes Apri and May. 



intermedia 4 feet ... China.Neilgherries Apri and May. 



t japonica 4 feet ... Japan Apri and May. 



t ilSmacea 4 feet ... Japan April and May. 



+ Bealei 4 feet ... Japan April and May. 



crassifolii 4 feet ... Japan Apri "nd May. 



+ diversifolia 4 feet ... Japan April and May. 



In addition to the above, there are B.tinctoria, Hookeriana, 

 Jamiesoni, Neuberti, triftu-ca, umbeUata, and tenuifolia 

 chiefly from Nepaul, aU well worth looking after, and several 

 more in the gi-eat nui-series undergoing a period of probation, 

 and I hope some correspondent wUl give us a brief de- 

 scription of them, with hints as to their cultivation. 



The Mahonia aquifolia is so closely allied to the Berbeny, 

 that I cannot refrain fi-om noticing it. It is second to the 

 Laurel only in usefulness, and yields to no evergreen under- 

 shrub in the beauty of the flowers in eariy summer, and its 

 beautiful pui-ple beiiies in ^vinter ; these are produced m tar 

 greater abundance than those of the common Berben-y. and 

 make quite as good a preserve. Phinted in woods it affords 

 one of the best, if not the very best, cover for game, un a, 

 lawn it makes a good bed or gi-oup, and in shrubbenes and 

 by woodland walks it is quite at home. The treatment re- 

 commended for evergreen Berberries suits it. but it wm 

 thrive in nearly all soUs and situations without any trouble 

 beyond planting.— George Abbey. 



SLUGS ON STEAWBEREIES. 



In reply to your correspondents, who inquii-e the best 

 means of protecting Strawberries from slugs, I would advise 

 them to act in pursuance of the old adage, "Remove the 

 cause," &c., by making one or two sowings of sifted air- 

 slaked lime over the beds, and, indeed, over the whole 

 o-ardeu; for I have never found it injure even the tenderest 



