Shrubs, hucodermti, which is in fact distinct from it, and has a creeping 



Spring" habit like a Blackberry, whereas the former has upright canes like 



Pruning" a Raspberry, and is most showy in Winter, when it presents the 



curious and distinct effect of having been washed all over with 



lime white. In the cold, stiff clay soil to which I am accustomed 



it does not, however, appear to-be over hardy or vigorous. 



Spir<za Douglasii^ of which S. bella is a somewhat improved 

 form, grows with us like a weed, and reproduces itself by the 

 hundred. I used to look upon it as barely worth growing until 

 it was massed and cut down every Spring ; now the beds are 

 quite a sight. They are about 2 feet 6 inches high and perfectly 

 solid, a sheet of flower in August, rather later than if the plants 

 had not been cut, and a couple of months later the fine straightish 

 canes will all turn to the tone of the clearest hazel-nut. 



Spir&a c allot a, though somewhat more expensive to plant 

 in mass, is very fine if treated in the same fashion. The flower- 

 ing is improved rather than injured by the treatment, and the 

 canes, though of the same colour when bare as the last named, 

 are much stouter, of looser habit, and bolder and more varied 

 in growth. 



Spir&a canescens or S. hypericlfolla look well at all times of 

 the year, and however dealt with, they make large graceful shrubs 

 of pendulous habit, covered with small clear white bloom, or if 

 cut down and massed they grow thickly about 18 inches high, 

 and the tiny refined leaves are always admired, while the bright 

 dark wood make them conspicuous in the dead of the year. 



Berberis vulgaris purpurea. The handsome foliage of 

 this shrub is well known, but it has a tendency to get leggy, 

 carrying few or no leaves within 2 or 3 feet of the ground. A 

 couple of years ago I tried the experiment of cutting down a 



*74 



