Mountain and Forest Rambles. 197 



can Yew, (T^axus canadensis,) and plant it beside the anti- 

 quated and prim English species, in some dark shady spot, 

 by way of contrast, if so fancy. To admire it properly, 

 visit some favorite spot where it delights to grow ; like the 

 vicinity of the picturesque cascades in Royalston, Massachu- 

 setts, or in the cold springy swamps near Brattleborough, 

 Vermont. There it lies before you, half recumbent, looking 

 like some rich plume, occasionally dotted with a most exqui- 

 site gem of a berry, of cornelian hue, of waxen consistence, 

 of vaselike form, with just one round brown seed nestling in 

 its hollow depths. Thus have I often seen it, and never 

 without renewed admiration. 



Could we imitate natural habitats, how impressive would 

 a thickly planted swamp of i?hododendron maximum become 

 in some amateur's grounds ! You almost lose your respect 

 for the shrub when grown in a single specimen and in an 

 open border, after you may have seen it in those gorgeous 

 masses, such as the wide, famous swamp at Medfield (Massa- 

 chusetts) affords, or as I have seen them, in similar condition, 

 near Troy, New Hampshire. How pleasant, too, would it be 

 to be able to pluck the fragrant chalices of the Magnolia 

 flowers from your own coppice of cultivated shrubs, the Rose- 

 bay and the glaucous-leaved Magnolia of Cape Ann flov/ering 

 side by side ! 



The tameness, which must be so severely felt in certain dis- 

 tricts, could be in a great degree overcome by judicious 

 attention to artificial plantings. Beside arboriculture, shrub 

 cultivation should be recommended. Cultivate your shrub- 

 beries as you would your orchards or your flower beds, and 

 you shall see your reward. Do not imagine that a bush will 

 grow anywhere or anyhow, because you have found it in 

 some wild and neglected place. Nature is a bountiful feeder, 

 and lays up in store, year by year, rich materials for future 

 use. We only need do something in the same way to raise 

 our fine native shrubs into really flowering plants. I do not 

 see why artificial grouping of shrubs should not add much to 

 the beauty of scenery. To acquire a love for these trees of 

 smaller growth, to earn a taste for shrubs, a residence of a few 



