THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



limbs, which are also fringed with great masses of 

 the yellow berries of the bittersweet, and clusters 

 of white clematis seeds. A little while ago a group 

 of red-fruited wild cherries stood out in rich relief 

 on a knoll in the valley ; but now the birds have eat- 

 en the cherries, and are chattering and feasting to- 

 day in a half-dozen mountain ash trees that fill a 

 hollow near the mill. Our home world is wonder- 

 fully supplied with blossoming shrubs; and I never 

 discovered half of them until I began to make a 

 collection. 



I recommend the following, that you will find 

 generally wild about New England and the Middle 

 States — the barberries; the dogwoods, in five or 

 six varieties ; the wild plums and the wild cherries ; 

 the elder, the filbert, and the rubus in variety. Be- 

 sides these the thorns are, many of them, exceed- 

 ingly beautiful, and the double ones as well as single 

 ones have found their way into the woods. The 

 Tartarian honeysuckles are naturalized over quite 

 an extent of territory, and many of the spireas that 

 are scattered everywhere are beautiful indeed. For 

 early Spring bloom the ribes in variety are very 

 fine; also the mahonia, a native evergreen shrub. 

 The fly honeysuckle and the rock maple are found 



[96] 



