FLOWERING SHRUBS 51 



life. No need is there for us to dilate upon its usefulness or its 

 effectiveness, for these are too well known, and it is because it is so 

 well known that we look upon it as a good market line to grow. Its 

 propagation is of the simplest and is identical with that of its near 

 relative, the red currant. Cuttings are taken in the autumn of strong 

 and well-ripened wood from 9 inches to 12 inches in length and 

 inserted in the open ground. In order to make a stem the lower 

 eyes are removed, plants with a stem being more shapely and sale- 

 able than " stools." Transplanted at one year, they are pruned 

 back each autumn so as to make good heads and become fine bushy 

 shrubs at three years old and fit for any market. The best varieties 

 are the " sanguineum " type, the red colour intensifying in this 

 order : sanguineum, atrosanguineum and sanguineum splendens. 

 There are others, the so-called white, the blush and the yellow, but 

 these are not in equal demand. All are noted for the autumnal 

 foliage tints and are worth growing for that alone. 



SPIIUEA 



This is a numerous family and a very handsome family too. If 

 we were asked to name the best half-dozen we should find some 

 difficulty in making the selection, for they differ so much in form, 

 in habit and season of flowering. There are dwarfs and there are 

 giants among them. Among the best of the dwarf er varieties are 

 Anthony Waterer, Rosea superba, Thunbergi, etc. ; of a medium 

 growth are Salicifolia, Van Houtei, Arguta and Trilobata, while 

 among the larger growing are Lindleyana, Douglassi, Araeifolia and 

 Menziezi triumphans. But these are not one quarter of the really 

 commendable varieties, with colours ranging from pure white 

 through cream and pink and rose to crimson, some being feathery, 

 others being stellate. Growers of cut bloom for market do not hesi- 

 tate to grow them for that purpose, and such is their beauty, in 

 almost any of its forms, that they are very acceptable as such. Van 

 Houtei and some others are valued as good subjects for forcing, and 

 no casual observer, struck by its tiny myriads of white starry 

 flowers, would deem that it belonged to the same class as the lordly 

 Lindleyana, which differs so widely from it in every respect. Many 

 of the spiraeas form clumps and are easily divided ; many, too, throw 



