HINDRANCES AND HELPS. 295 



not open the eyes of men of humble estates to 

 the beauties that are lurking in the forest all around 

 them, and which only need a little humanizing care to 

 rival the best products of the nurseries. Steering clear 

 of this intolerance, I have domesticated the Whit - 

 birch, and its milky bole is without a rival among 

 all the exotics ; the Hardbeam (Carpinus), with its fine 

 spray, and the Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginica) with 

 its unique bloom upon the bare twigs of November, 

 are thriving in my thickets. The swamp Azalias, and 

 the Kalmias I have transferred successfully, in their 

 season of flowering.* There are also to be named 

 among the available native shrubs, the Leather-wood 

 (Dirca palustris) with delicate yellow bloom, glossy 

 green leaves, and an amazing flexibility of bough, on 

 which once a year my boy forages for his whip- 

 lashes ; the Spice-wood (Laurus benzoin) is always 

 tempting to the children by reason of its aromatic 

 bark, and in earliest spring it is covered with fairy 

 golden flowers ; the spotted Alder is a modest shrub 

 through the summer, but in autumn it flames out 

 in a great harvest of scarlet berries, which it carries 

 proudly into the chills of December ; the red-barked 

 Dog-wood (Cornus sanguinea) supplies annually a 

 great stock of crimson whips, and a charming liveli- 



* A much safer way is to give the young plants a season or 

 two of domestication in a patch of nursery ground. 



