THE COMMON SHRUBBERY. 59 



Cowberry (Vacciniuin Vitis-idseu), Dwarf Cornel (Cornus canadensis), 

 Fringed Polygala (P. paucifolia), the Connnon Pipsissewa (Cliiniapliila 

 lunbellata) witli it^; shining deep green heaves, tlie Sjjotted Pipsi^sewa 

 (C macuhita), the sombre -luxed Pja'oha and Gakx, and that bright 

 and easily -grown Club Moss ( Lycopodium luciduluni) ? Add to 

 these such plants as Winter Aconite, Apennine Anemone, Creej)ing 

 Forget-me-not, and the like, together with a few of the most suitable 

 kinds of the host of bulbous ornamental plants which A\-e now possess, 

 and our shrubbery carpets may be replete with garden jewels. It is 

 now generally conceded that shrubs thrive better in beds whose surface 

 is undisturbed than Avliere it is annually loosened bv digging or ijoint- 

 ing. This, coupled with a yearly top-dressing of decayed leaf-soil or 

 light rich vegetable heap compost, is ec|ually beneficial fur i]w slirubs 

 and tlicir carpet. 



" One day last spring, when strolling through the Medford 

 wood, I came ii]ion an open meadow with a high bank — 

 cleared timber land — on one side. Adown this bank in a 

 rough and rocky course, came a little stream of water, bordered 

 on both sides with streaks and patches of Blood-root in its 

 gayest state. The large and showy blossoms, clasped erect 

 in their own leaf- vases and sparkling in the sun, while the 

 sward and other vegetation around were yet dormant, had a 

 cheerful influence indeed. True, near by in the IioILjw, the 

 malodorous Skunk Cabbage was rank in leaf and flower, and 

 the Indian Poke Avas rushing out its plaited, broadly oval 

 leaves, and away in the streamlet a few Marsh Marigolds 

 '•littered on the water. But the Blood -root is neither an 

 aquatic nor a bog plant, but most at home in the leaf-mould 

 beds and linings of rich woodlands." 



" Hereabout, a little wild flower (Erythronium americanum) 

 more commonly known as Dog's-tooth Violet, is a charming 

 plant, with variegated liandsome leaves, and comely flowers 

 in earliest spring. In low copses in rich deposits of A'cgetable 



