i: I 



12 



of Rochester, N. Y., speaks of the great beauty of A. mollis, but 

 says it is only half hardy and needs protection. What difference 

 in hardness there is in the offspring of plants of different 

 elevations. 



BERBERIS— Berberry. 



These I have not made notes of. However the seedless Ber- 

 ;>erry is recommended as an acid little fruit— good for preserves. 

 The Chinese sweet varieties, which are said to be dried like raisins 

 by the Chinamen, I did not see. 



BBTULA— Birch. 



t. A 



The beauty of the Russian Birches is a matter of general 

 remark by travellers. In general appearance they are not like our 

 own, nor the Birches imported from Western Europe. The A/da 

 of Linnaeus, or Puksittts of Ehrhart, has a leaf in shape like our 

 canoe birch, but smaller and velvety. Sometimes it is very 

 aromatic. It is probably the fastest grown, and is suited to 

 moist soils only, and is the best variety for the far North, The 

 trunk is mostly white, and that almost to the ground. These 

 notes were given to me by a Forester who had made a special study 

 of the question. On the other hand the Alda verrucosa is a weep- 

 ing or drooping tree, with triangular leaf, a leaf like our common 

 White Birch, and when over lo or i?. inches in diameter of trunk 

 the bark becomes rough and covered with black clefts. 



This latter, this weeping form, is the o j I wish to draw special 

 attention to. It is the Birch growing upon the dry soil of the 

 Petrovskoe park near Moscow, that park which is the summer 

 resort of the residents of Moscow. The most attractive feature of 

 this park is its avenues, and groves of weeping Birch. Some of 

 these groves seem to have sprung up as thougii planted irregularly 

 at distances cf irom 6 to 9 feet apart, each way. Thus the one 

 thing that presents itself is a vista of bright, translucent, white 

 barked trunks. The effect is almost magical, and could not be 



