March 22, 1893. 



Garden and Forest. 



135 



The flower-buds are formed during the preceding summer, 

 or winter pruning would, of course, cause these to be lost. 



The common Barberry seems to be very widely distributed 

 in the Old World, and a number of named kinds, found in both 

 Europe and Asia, are probably only varieties. There are also 

 cultivated in Europe a number of selected forms which have 

 fruit of a yellow, white, violet, purple or black color. There 

 is a form known as the seedless Barberry, while still another 

 has berries which are considered sweeter and less acid than 

 those of the type. But it should be stated that the trials of 

 these at the Arnold Arboretum have not shown them to pos- 

 sess any remarkable individuality to make them worth special 

 consideration. The fruit of the so-called sweet-fruited form is 

 certainly not sweet ; one rarely finds a berry without a seed in 

 the seedless form, and the fruit of the white or yellow berried 



Fig. 23.— Sections of Blighted Branch of Filbert. — See page 134. 



forms is poor and undergrown, and even the plants appear 

 to lack vigor. A variegated-leaved variety is both ugly and 

 useless ; there is a purple-leaved variety which grows well and 

 may be sparingly planted with good effect. It may be grown 

 from seed. 



Within a comparatively few years there have been introduced 

 into our gardens two or three Chinese and Japanese species of 

 Barberry, which are thoroughly hardy and very distinct from 

 those in common cultivation. They have been frequently 

 referred to in these pages, but it may be as well to again call 

 attention to them. Berberis Sieboldii is a Japanese species, with 

 stout gray stems and erect rather than the pendulous habit of 

 the common Barberry. Its leaves are larger, of a lighter green 

 color and have the margins thickly beset with slender bristles. 

 The flowers are larger, of a paler greenish yellow color ; they 

 are followed by juicy fruit, which at maturity is somewhat 

 larger than the fruit of the average common Barberry, though 

 not so long. In autumn the foliage changes to bright, warm 

 orange and scarlet colors. By its strong stems and erect, close, 

 compact habit, this Barberry is likely to prove useful planted 

 thickly as a hedge. 



Berberis Amurensis, or Berberis vulgaris Amurensis, as it 



has been called by some botanists who consider it but a va- 

 riety of the common species, has an erect habit of growth 

 much like that of B. Sieboldii, but less rigid. The foliage is 

 not so attractive in summer, nor so brilliantly colored in au- 

 tumn, and it falls earlier. The plant, however, appears to be 

 an extremely hardy one, and, according to Professor Budd, it 

 withstands the cold of winter and the heat and drought of the 

 prairie region at Ames, Iowa, better than almost any other 

 species. 



The most unique among hardy Barberries is the deservedly 

 praised Thunberg's Barberry (Berberis Thunbergii), now adver- 

 tised in many catalogues. It is of rather low stature, usually not 

 growmg more than three or four feet in height, and the 

 branches have a tendency to grow horizontally or to become 

 deflexed or pendulous, so that the whole bush finally assumes 

 a broad dome shape. It differs very strikingly from its con- 

 geners in northern gardens. The small dark green leaves are 

 without teeth or bristles on the margins, and are so thickly 

 produced that they very effectually cover the branches and 

 give the whole plant a handsome verdurous appearance. In 

 autumn the green is displaced by rich colors, lasting for some 

 weeks before the leaves fall. The flowers are of a lighter yel- 

 low color than those of most Barberries. It is most prized for 

 the fruit. The berries are somewhat smaller than those of the 

 common Barberry, and, instead of being produced in many- 

 fruited racemes, grow in short clusters of two or three along 

 the under side of the branches. They are of a shinmg bright 

 scarlet color. This alone would not give them value over 

 other Barberries, but they have the quality of keeping their 

 color and of remaining full and fresh-looking throughout the 

 winter, and even until the plants blossom again the next sea- 

 son. These berries are particularly dry and juiceless, there 

 being comparatively little pulp, so that the outer skin remains 

 entire, and does not become shriveled and wrinkled. Their 

 juicelessness renders them unfit for any culinary use, but 

 causes them to be of more lasting beauty than any of the ordi- 

 nary kinds. 



The branches are very spiny and numerous ; they interlace 

 closely and form an effective barrier to any small animal. B. 

 Thunbergii will prove an excellent undershrub or border to 

 the shrubbery or to drives. It may be planted in masses 

 for the effect of its bright fruit in winter, or be used as a low 

 hedge-plant. For a hedge its peculiar compact habit of growth 

 will necessitate little or no pruning, and it will yet have a cer- 

 tain formality of outline agreeable to the taste of many per- 

 sons. It is one of the most inferesdng and satisfactory of all 

 hardy shrubs not grown for their flowers which have been in- 

 troduced into cultivation for many years. 



As some difference in fruitfulness has been noticed among 

 a large number of seedling plants, it might be well, where fruit- 

 age is especially desired, to select some of the very best forms 

 and to perpetuate them by layering or by cuttings. Cuttings 

 of the ripened wood of this and other species of Bar- 

 berry may be made in the autumn, or layers may be 

 put down at the same time. Grafting is sometimes prac- 

 ticed, but it is very objectionable in this class of plants, and 

 should be avoided. For all ordinary purposes, growing the 

 common kinds from seed is preferable. As a rule, the seed 

 will germinate much more quickly if the fruit is allowed to 

 freeze hard a number of times before it is gathered. It 

 should be washed from the pulp, and may be sown directly 

 in prepared soil in the open ground, or in shallow boxes in the 

 propagating-house. Unless subjected to the action of frost, or 

 if allowed to become dry, the seed is likely to be slow and un- 

 equal in germinating and to tax the patience of the grower. 



Arnold Arboretum. J. G. Jack. 



Sowing Seeds of Annual Plants. 



SEEDS of annuals suitable for cutting and general planting 

 may be sown from now until the middle of April. A hot- 

 bed is necessary for tender kinds, and, while hardy annuals 

 germinate freely enough in an ordinary cold frame, time is 

 gained by early sowing in a little heat. In preparing for a hot- 

 bed, good fresh stable manure should be gathered into a pile 

 and moistened, if dry, when it will soon generate a strong 

 heat. If violent it should be turned over a few times until the 

 rank odor, caused by an excess of ammonia, is dissipated. It 

 should be still further moistened, if disposed to burn. The 

 frame should be dug out to the deptli of four feet and filled 

 to the depth of two feet with hot manure and covered with six 

 inches of loam. When the temperature of the soil falls to 

 about seventy degrees seeds should be sown. A good plan is 

 to mark out drills four inches apart, with a straight stick, to 

 keep the varieties separate. Only a light covering of soil 



