DECIDUOUS SHRUBS OF THE FARM 145 
spirea and blueberry and other small-leaved things. The 
twigs of azalea, witch-hazel, the hobble-bush, the spreading 
dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) and other shrubs of the shade 
tend to spread in horizontal strata; those of the New Jersey 
tea and of willow and others that grow in the sunshine, to rise 
erect. Buckthorn and prickly ash and brambles stand with 
all their naked thorniness revealed. There is the utmost 
diversity of habit, even among those near of kin. Among the 
{ie 1913 
19s 
Fic. 57. Diagram of the growth of shrubs, showing annual increments. a, an old 
shoot of maple-leaved viburnum, 5b, a young shoot of the same. c,a four-year-old 
shoot of sumac. d, a two-year-old shoot of black-berried elder. 
honeysuckles are arrant stragglers (Lonicera sullivantit) and 
compactly-growing bushy shrubs (Lonicera canadensis). 
Some shrubs, like azaleas and blueberries, attain their full 
stature by slowly-added annual increments, and others, like 
elder, shoot up stems to full height in a single season. In 
several genera of shrubs, such as blueberries and sumachs, 
there are both giants and dwarfs. 
All shrubs are underlings; they cannot compete with the 
trees. Once in possession of the soil, they can keep trees out 
only by forming so dense a shade that no tree can get a start. 
Once an oak or a maple gets its head above the common level 
