NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL UNDERCOVER FOR GAME. 57 
The common rhododendron can nearly always be used in under- 
planting, and is a splendid plant for the purpose. It is not 
particular as regards soil, and soon forms a good, thick, dark cover; 
one great point in its favour being that rabbits and hares do not 
interfere much with it. 
The following would be a good mixture for ordinary cases, viz., 
one-third Rhododendron ponticum, one-third hazel, and one-third 
common evergreen privet. For ordinary cover these plants recom- 
mend themselves, because they can be obtained cheap, and when 
once settled, they soon make considerable growth. I have found 
it quite customary to plant masses of rhododendron alone for cover, 
the plants being so close together, that in about five or six years 
they are all growing into each other, and three or four plants are 
then occupying the ground which ought to be filled by one. 
When rhododendrons are so thick together, it is very difficult to 
get game out of them, and as a rule pheasants do not seem to like 
them. A mixture of other stuff, such as hazel and privet, helps to 
keep them open and dry. 
In regard to rhododendrons, a good deal of money could be 
saved on many estates by making use of the hundreds of seedlings 
which come up around the old bushes. In fact, I have seen 
estates where, with a little care and management, rhododendrons 
for cover purposes need never have formed an item on the nursery- 
man’s bill. Privet could soon be grown in any quantity from 
cuttings, while hazel might be bought as seedlings, and afterwards 
grown in the home-nursery, strong and bushy, just to the mind of 
the planter. d/ahonia is also a very good cover plant, and can be 
obtained very cheap ; it is a valuable addition to covers of a semi- 
ornamental nature. 
In damp places alder should be used pretty extensively, as it 
stands a good deal of cutting, and grows freely. -A whole host of 
other plants might be used, such as Rosa rugosa, yew, laurel, 
holly, box, ete., but as a rule they are far too expensive for 
general cover purposes. I would only just mention, that for covers 
in exposed situations on the sea-coast, nothing succeeds better than 
the sea buckthorn and the tamarisk. 
For successful cover planting the plants used should not be too 
large; while in the nursery they should be transplanted rather 
frequently, so as to ensure their being well furnished with fibrous 
roots, and encourage them to assume a compact bushy habit 
of growth. Long lanky stuff, such as we often see used, 
