218 ‘THE FORMATION AND MANAGEMENT OF GAME COVERTS,. 
Mahonia aquifolia and Berberis Darwin are frequently 
recommended as covert plants and for using in similar situations 
with the laurel and box. Along the margins of plantations or in 
very open places they may and do succeed, but from practical 
experience of these plants we find them next to useless as underwood 
in shady positions. Here, where many thousands of covert plants 
are used annually, we have entirely discarded them from use unless 
in the most open situations. These plants are highly ornamental, 
both in foliage and flower, produce berries which are much sought 
after by game, are quite hardy, and not at all fastidious about soil— 
qualities which specially recommend them for extensive use in 
positions at all suited for their growth, 
The barberry, more especially when planted out in rich soil, and 
when at all confined, is apt to lose the compact, branchy nature 
so recognisable a feature of the plant when allowed ample room in 
the nursery border, and to assume a more upright habit of growth, 
which is anything but desirable in underwood generally. To check 
this and keep the plant in bounds, frequent slight prunings will 
have to be resorted to, and this had best be effected during dull, 
damp weather, as the barberry is not a good subject for the pruning 
shears. Neither the barberry nor mahonia are adapted for planting 
in very high or exposed situations—at least, where such has been 
tried on this estate, the results have been anything but satisfactory, 
the plants soon presenting a miserable, half-starved appearance. 
Both plants are readily propagated—the mahonia, when planted 
in loose soil and an open situation, soon covering a considerable 
space of ground, the running roots being especially active under 
such circumstances. 
Rhododendron ponticum, although useful in an ornamental 
point of view, cannot be considered as a first-class plant for game 
shelter. It has, however, several good qualities which recommend 
it for underwood, such as ease of culture, dwarf-spreading habit, 
and immunity from the attacks of game—indeed, in this latter 
respect, it is not equalled by any other plant, if we except one 
or two species of daphne. It is seldom resorted to by pheasants, 
the bottom being not only damp, but such a tangled mass of 
branches, that it is anything but pleasant quarters for game. For 
ornamental effect along the outskirts of plantations, the rhododen- 
dron is invaluable, and is by no means so fastidious about soil 
as is generally supposed, peat being not at all an essential to its 
growth and successful cultivation. Few plants can be made to 
