84 F L O W E it S A iN D F R U IT IS . 



deserved place in our pleasure grounds ; the.^e are succeeded by 

 large, red shiny berries, which ripen very late and remain to 

 ornament the tree even after the leaves have fallen ; formino- besides, 



' O 



a storehouse of provisions for the birds, which they could not well 

 dispense with. This fruit very much resembles that of the low 

 Cranberry, it is intensely acid and somewhat bitter. 



The name of this genus is reckoned by some authors as coming 

 from vieo, to bind ; but by Linneus it was counted among the Latin 

 names whose origin it was impossible to trace. The specific 

 name is derived from oxus, sour, and coccus, a berry, owing to the 

 character of its fruit. The whole genus consists of remarkably 

 beautiful and ornamental shrubs ; some one of them is in flower 

 during all the summer months, and the handsome berries which 

 succeed give a pleasant appearance in autumn and the first part of 

 winter. This tree emblematizes CHASTE WIT, or Attic Salt. 



This tree as we remarked before would be a great addition to 

 our pleasure grounds, if tastefully arranged with the proper colors 

 near it to harmonize. Philips remarks that in planting flowers an 

 indiscriminate mixture of colors is generally bad, although it may 

 be admitted in some instances. Nature seldom confuses her colors 

 and we should in arranging them endeavor to imitate her opera 

 tions, and let the dyes in bright suffusion glow. Addison says thai 

 there are as many kinds of gardening as of poetry ; the makers 

 of parterres and flower gardens he styles the epigrammatists and 

 sonneteers in the art; contrivers of bowers and grottos, treillages 

 and cascades, he compares to romance writers, while those who 

 lay out extensive grounds, he honors by the title of heroic poets. 

 Philips proceeds to say that the all-wise Creator who raised the 

 cedar, formed also the smallest moss ; but the former he planted 

 on the mountains of Lebanon, whilst the latter was placed on a 

 pebble. From this wise ordinance of nature, we should learn to 

 select Flora's miniature beauties for the small parterre, leaving 

 the towering and wide spreading plants to ornament extensive 

 grounds. 



