26 THE HOME ACRE. 



greens will be determined chiefly by the fact that 

 they are always beautiful, are easily managed, and 

 that by means of them beautiful effects can be 

 created within comparatively small space. On 

 Mr. Fuller's grounds I saw what might be fittingly 

 termed a small parterre of dwarf evergreens, some 

 of which were twenty-five years old. 



Numbers of this family might be described as 

 evergreen and gold; for part of the perennial 

 foliage shades off from the deepest green to bright 

 golden hues. Among the group of this variety, 

 Japanese in origin, Mr. Fuller showed me a 

 " sporting " specimen, which, from some obscure 

 and remarkable impulse, appeared bent on pro- 

 ducing a new and distinct type. One of the 

 branches was quite different from all the others 

 on the tree. It was pressed down and layered in 

 the soil beneath ; when lo ! a new tree was pro- 

 duced, set out beside its parent, whom it soon 

 surpassed in size, beauty, and general vigor. Al- 

 though still maintaining its green and golden hues, 

 it was so distinct that no one would dream that it 

 was but a " sport " from the adjacent dwarf and 

 modest tree. Indeed, it reminded one of Beatrix 

 Esmond beside her gentle and retiring mother. 

 If it should not in the future emulate in caprice 

 the fair subject of comparison, it may eventually 

 become one of the best-known ornaments of our 



