THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



at the front of the boundary belt. So much 

 for the background of our picture. The fore- 

 ground will be left pretty open that the view 

 may not be obscured, and the house may not 

 be smothered as it were and rendered un- 

 healthy by having too close a wall of trees 

 around it. The middle ground and side 

 borders admit of very varied treatment. There 

 will be ranged trees and shrubs with bright 

 colored bark or persistent berries and some 

 choice evergreens. The precise arrangement 

 of these must be left to the taste of the 

 person planning the ground, but we will men- 

 tion some of the materials that may be used. 



Some willows we would choose for the color 

 of their bark. The golden willow (Salix vitel- 

 lina Aurantiaca) would be one of the best, and 

 is not hard to obtain, Salix vitellina, a Rus- 

 sian variety, with yellow bark, and S. Vitellina 

 Britzensis, and S. Palmaefolia with red stems, 

 are other varieties obtainable from American 

 nurseries at a cost of about half a dollar. Wil- 

 lows are fast growers and so are good for early 

 effects. The red bark of the dogwoods looks 

 well too against a snowy background. The 

 Siberian (C. Siberica) is the best, having a 

 more brilliant stem than Cornus alba or any 

 other variety. Much brighter colors can be 

 obtained from the dogwoods if the old stems 

 are cut down level with the ground every 

 spring. The suckers which will spring up will 

 be of much fresher tints than older stems. 

 Treated in this way the native dogwoods which 

 can easily be got from swamps or the banks of 

 streams will be fairly satisfactory. Clumps 

 made up of willows alone or entirely of dog- 

 woods, or groups in which both grow together, 

 will all look well. 



The native striped maple (Acer Pennsylvani- 

 cum), a small tree, lo to 20 feet high, has an 

 attractive trunk in winter, and the Kerria, some- 

 times misnamed the yellow rose, has a green 

 stem though perhap s too slender to make much 

 show. There is a dwarf variety, Kerria ram- 

 ulis aureis, in the market with a stem striped 

 with yellow and green. There are basswoods 

 too with colored bark. 



The forms of some deciduous trees are very 

 picturesque in winter, and although it would 

 take too long to grow them for our winter 

 gardens, yet if they are already on the property 

 it would be a pity to remove an oak or an elm 

 or a beech to make way for evergreens. After 

 the birch the beech is one of the most satis- 

 factory of our larger trees for winter effects. 

 The weeping variety with its great, tortuous 

 spreading branches, is curious and interesting. 

 The light colored bark of the beech takes away 

 the sense of bareness that most other deciduous 

 trees are apt to inspire, and makes it preferable 

 to the dark trunked elm with all its symmetry or 

 the gaunt form of the oak, despite its majesty. 



The garden will have more interest if some 

 trees and shrubs, with bright colored berries, 

 are given a place. Of these, for city gardens, 

 nothing can surpass Thunberg's barberry for 

 planting in masses. It bears very profusely 

 short clusters of bright scarlet berries, which, 

 as they are less watery than the common bar- 

 berry, do not shrivel or lose color so much, and 

 indeed will remain full and fresh till spring. Its 

 foliage is lovely in autumn, and in winter in 

 contrast with snow or evergreens it is very 

 pleasing. It is very hardy, and may be easily 

 raised from seed. The fruit of Berberls Amu- 

 rensis fall too early to make it desirable ; but 

 there are other good barberries, the common 

 European variety, the Japanese, Sieboldii and 

 the variety Canadensis. Unfortunately as it is 

 a host plant for wheat-rust fungus, the barberry 

 is not desirable for the farm-home grounds. At 

 the Model Farm, Guelph, some fine barberry 

 hedges had to be destroyed to prevent loss. 



Other trees, with red fruits that remain for 

 part or the whole of winter, are the Rowans, 

 both the American, with orange berries, and the 

 European, with smaller red fruit ; the Thorns, of 

 which the best are Crataegus Crus-galli, with 

 showy berries, lasting all winter, and C. Cordata, 

 the Washington thorn; the high-bush cranberry ; 

 the cotoneasters ; some of the roses and the 

 alders. The different kinds of Euonymus are 

 most desirable for the late fall, and cannot be 

 too warmly commended, A pretty group can 



