May 39, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTi'AjE GAiiDENER. 



433 



his beak, and leaving them under the trees. About the middle 

 of the month a family of "bottle tits" paid us a passing 

 visit. They went from tree to tree, looking for insects, and, 

 not finding any to their mind, went on. Two days after a 

 pair of the small blue titmouse visited us in the same way. 



March is not a great month for bu'ds. In addition to my 

 permanent stock, I saw a few yeUowhammers, and at the 

 end of the month two little creepers went over all my espa- 

 liers, searching the crevices for insects. A pau- of stai'lings 

 came down the chimney one morning into my bedroom, and 

 were secured. A few bullfinches visited us from time to time, 

 coming either singly or in pairs, but now they neglected the 

 Gooseberries, and confined themselves to the buds of the 

 Pershore Egg Plums, which I conclude were just in the stage 

 to suit their epicurean palates. 



April is the richest bird month in all the year. The bright 

 little fellows who have been wintering round the Mediterranean 

 now make their appearance. In the first week we had a 

 passing visit from titmice. This time we had a family of the 

 great tit as weU as of the blue tit, but they only stayed a few 

 days with us. A few days later the travellers began to arrive. 

 On the 11th the yellow and pied water-wagtails made their 

 appearance ; on the 14th the swaUow ; on the 19th I saw the 

 blackcap, the chiff-chaff, and the common linnet ; on the 20th 

 the redstart and the nightingale ; on the 27th the cuckoo, and 

 «n the 29th the wryneck, or, as it is called in these parts, the 

 cuckoo's mate. 



In this month I met with another bird experience, which 

 though it has nothing to do with my garden, may be none the 

 less interesting to some of your readers. I was walking with 

 my brother in the Wyre Forest, and we came upon the body 

 of a small hawk, recently dead, which we both at once pro- 

 nounced to be a cock merlin. A hawk we had neither of us ever 

 seen in Worcestershire before. The bird was lying on his back, 

 not a feather of his plumage ruffled, but without a head. He 

 had been decapitated as cleanly as if it had been done with a 

 knife. That it was a merlin we now feel certain, for about 

 ten days after my brother found the nest on which the hen 

 was sitting on four eggs, about a quarter of a mile from the 

 spot where the body of the cock bird lay. He brought away 

 two of the eggs, which are unmistakeably those of the merlin, 

 covered with deep red blotches. But what had kiUed the cock 

 bird, and what had become of his head ? On this subject we 

 can only offer a conjecture. The railway passes about two 

 hundred yards from the spot, and above it the telegraph wires, 

 which are often so fatal to birds. In the winter woodcocks ai'e 

 sometimes picked up under them, and now and then a par- 

 tridge, and in Scotland they are known to be so destructive to 

 gi'ouse and black game that the wires are covered for miles 

 with white taUies of wood. This was probably the fate of the 

 only merUn which had visited these parts for years. He might 

 have been following a small bird, and in his swoop come in 

 contact with the wire. His head, probably, tell immediately 

 under it, while the impetus of his flight carried his body on to 

 the bottom of the ravine in which we found it. 



Maij brought no addition to the Ust of bu-ds which have 

 been noticed above, but now that the Gooseberries are in full 

 leaf the damage done by the bullfinches is apparent. On many 

 shoots there is only a tuft of green at the end. The long 

 white branch stands out completely disbudded. I have had 

 many of them cut out already, and I mean to have the rest 

 done as soon as the crop is gathered, for nothing will ever 

 grow from them again ; but if the bullfinch is the great 

 enemy of the Gooseberry, the cuckoo is its greatest friend. 

 The abominable grub which devours the leaves always makes 

 its appearance in May, and this year is no exception to the 

 rule. They have shown themselves in places, but two cuckoos, 

 which, as my man terms it, " make a good deal of time in the 

 garden," have hitherto kept them down ; we see them on the 

 bushes, and when we examine the place, the heads only of the 

 grubs sticking to the leaves are discovered. The cuckoos have 

 sucked these pieces, and wisely rejected the skins. 



I have nothing yet to say about the fruit-devouring birds, 

 but if aU is well, you shall have my observations upon them 

 when the season is over. I will only mention now, that I do 

 not think that they do their work so well as they used to do in 

 the good old times in destroying slugs and snails. I never 

 supposed that they did this when fruit once came in, but 

 judging from the way in which seeds have been destroyed this 

 spring, I am incUned to accuse blackbirds and thrushes of 

 ueghgence. The framers of the Small Bh-ds Bill very 

 properly exempted them from protection, on account of their 



fruit. devouring propensities, but kind friends have been agi. 

 fating for the insertion of their names, on the ground that 

 they do more good than harm. I would suggest to them, 

 through your columns, that they are on their trial, and that i{ 

 they do not keep down the slugs more effectually, I for one 

 shaU certainly vote against them.— Willi.mi Le.\, St. Peter's 

 Vicaniije, Droit wich. 



ORNAMENTAL PLANTING.— No. 2. 

 In grounds of limited extent choice specimens may be intro- 

 duced very effectively alternately with flower beds in the form 

 of an aveiiue, on each side of a broad walk, care being taken 

 to maintain an ample margin of turf both to flower beds and 

 shrubs, so that the graceful growth and various shades of 

 green may stand out in pleasing and prominent contrast to the 

 bright colours of the flower-masses. Let no unsightly stand- 

 ards mar the beauty of such a scene, but let us introduce 

 forms that ever gain more of beauty with increasing size- 

 forms whose lowest branches sweep the turf, from whence they 

 taper upwards, not with a stiff and uniform formality, but 

 with an elegance and diversity of contour that are always 

 pleasing, and never distasteful nor offensive. It is among the 

 numerous beautiful varieties of Conifers with which our gar- 

 dens are now enriched that the most suitable plants are found 

 for this purpose. I append a select dozen of these, and also 

 a dozen mixed species of evergi'eens. 



Conifers. 

 1. Cupressus macroearpa. 



Evergreen Shrubs. 



1. Arbutus Unedo. 



2. Golden Queen Holly. 



3. Buxus sempervireus. 



4. EhododendronMajestioum. 



5. Viburnum Tinua. 



6. Ilex torulosa. [lusitanicus). 



7. Portugal Laurel (Cerasus 

 Ligiistrum japonicum. 

 Phillyrea latifoUa. 



10. Ilex Aquifolium. 



11. Laurus nobilis. 



12. Buxus aurea. 



9. 



2. Cupressus Lawsoniana. 



3. .luuiperua virginiana. 



4. Pioea Nordmanniaua. 



5. P. nobiUs. 



6. P. Piusapo. 



7. Cedrus atlantica. 



8. C. Deodara. 



9. Thuja Lobbii. 



10. Thujopsia borealis. 



11. T. dolabrata. 



12. Araucaria imbrioata. 

 Deciduous shrubs, from the bare aspect which they present 



in winter, are quite unsuitable for such a position. Some 

 trees of pendulous habit, as the cut-leaved Birch, Betula iu- 

 cisa pendula, and Sophora japonica, may occasionally be in- 

 troduoed with advantage ; but it is not often found desirable 

 to plant trees of this class singly upon turf. Take, for ex- 

 ample, the Weeping Birch; clothed with foliage in the bright 

 spring and summer months, it is certainly very beautiful ; but 

 when the cold autumnal wmds sweep the decaying foliage 

 from its branches, and the deformity of its growth is laid 

 bare, how great is the change ! That which attracted us by 

 its wealth of greenery, and the apparently graceful disposal of 

 its growth, can now only be regarded as a grotesque object, 

 totally devoid of grace, dignity, or beauty of any kind. The 

 best rule, therefore, to adopt for our guidance in the selection 

 of weeping ti-ees for prominent positions, is to avoid any of a 

 very stiff or formal aspect, choosing only those with that 

 flexible pliant grace which is one of the peculiar charms of 

 the Birch. 



Taken in its broad and fullest sense, a complete pinetum 

 consists of a collection of one or more of each variety of 

 Conifer that is worthy of cultivation. The term, however, is 

 very elastic, and may be appUed with equal propriety to a few 

 dozens as to hundreds. The area to be planted wiU, of course, 

 be the guide as to number. Avoid all approaches to crowding ; 

 let each plant have " ample space and verge enough " for its 

 fullest development and for effect. 



The accompanying plan represents a pinetum of moderate 

 pretensions, containing about two dozen excellent kinds of 

 Conifers. In this arrangement I have placed the towering 

 Abies Douglasii, the gigantic WelUngtonia, and the clump of 

 the elegant and lofty Silver Fir somewhat in the background, 

 not because any of them might not be brought to the very 

 margin of the walk with the greatest propriety, but that an 

 open expanse of turf around trees of such lofty growth and 

 huge proportions presents them to the eye in all the fulness of 

 that dignity and majestic grandeur for which they are so justly 

 esteemed, and which is so much affected by crowding. A belt 

 of Scotch Fir, Larch, and Spruce, or of these kinds mixed 

 with deciduous trees, may be added with good effect behind the 

 borders of mixed shrubs for shelter in exposed situations. 



Very few features of a shrubbery are equal to this either in 

 interest or importance, and yet it is not often that full justice 



