New hybrid Mahonia. 235 



I have much more reason to complain of the spring frost than 

 that of the winter. The frost of the 16th of May did me ten 

 times more mischief than all the frost of the winter. From that 

 one night's frost, I think, I lost what would have been six tons 

 weight of filberts, and other fruit in proportion ; and many plants, 

 with young tender foliage, were in a mournful state when the 

 next morning's sun had shone a few hours on them. I have not 

 seen so much mischief from a spring frost since 1802. 



When I have the pleasui'e of seeing you at this place, which 

 I hope will be when my American plants are in blossom, I want 

 to draw your attention to some of my notions of improvements in 

 growing apple trees. My old favourite dwarf trees, in shape like 

 gooseberry bushes, now give way to standards, with their buds 

 spurred in, all up their stems ; similar to the pears treated en 

 quenouille, so as to form pillars of fruit ; but I must point out to 

 you these things in practice, for you to describe them to your 

 readers. — Glazenwood, January 10. 1839. 



Art. VIII. Notice of a new hybrid Mahonia, or Evergreen Ber- 

 berry. By T. Rivers, Jun., F.H.S., &c. 



In common with all plant cultivators, I have from the first 

 felt much interest in that beautiful tribe, the mahonias, or ever- 

 green berberries. Thinking the species distinct and well defined, 

 I without hesitation concluded that seedlings would have the true 

 characters of their parents, and that by such means they could 

 be propagated speedily and extensively. Guess, then, my sur- 

 prise to find, from three years' experience, that the seed of Ma- 

 hbma repens, growing near MahonzVz fascicularis, has produced 

 invariably plants, which, having lost all the characters of M. re- 

 pens, and approach to those of M. fascicularis, but with larger 

 and more robust foliage, and vigorous upright growth ; produc- 

 ing their flowers from the axils of the leaves, as in the latter spe- 

 cies, and not in terminal corymbs, as the former is inclined to do. 



I need scarcely tell you how great an acquisition this hybrid 

 is to the mahonias. It is, in fact, a most robust and perfectly 

 hardy variety of M. fascicularis (the most beautiful species yet 

 introduced) ; and it will, undoubtedly, form one of the finest 

 evergreen shrubs in our collections, not even excepting MahomVz 

 ^quifolium. As accidental impregnation has done so much, 

 for no artificial aid was resorted to (further than that the plants 

 which happened to be blooming at the same period had been 

 planted near together), we may expect numerous evergreen va- 

 rieties, if M. repens and its hybrids be crossed with some of the 

 more rare species. We have thus reason to hope for some in- 

 teresting additions to our flowering evergreen shrubs, and that 

 very speedily. — Sawbridgeworth Nursery, March 18. 1839. 



