238 WOOD AND GARDEN 



scent wlien its leaves are bruised. The wild Dog- 

 myrtle, so common in Scotland, has almost the sweet- 

 ness of the true Myrtle, as has also the broad-leaved 

 North American kind, and the Sweet Fern-bush 

 {Oomptonia asplenifolia) from the same country. The 

 myrtle-leaved Rhododendron is a dwarf shrub of neat 

 habit, whose bruised leaves have also a myrtle-like smell, 

 though it is less strong than in the Gales. I wonder 

 why the leaves of nearly all the hardy aromatic shrubs 

 are of a hard, dry texture ; the exceptions are so few 

 that it seems to be a law. 



If my copse were some acres larger I should like 

 nothing better than to make a good-sized clearing, 

 lying out to the sun, and to plant it with these 

 aromatic bushes and herbs. The main planting should 

 be of Cistus and Rosemary and Lavender, and for the 

 shadier edges the Myrtle-leaved Rhododendron, and 

 Ledum palustre, and the three Bog-myrtles. Then 

 again in the sun would be Hyssop and Catmint, and 

 Lavender-cotton and Southernwood, with others of the 

 scented Artemisias, and Sage and Marjoram. All the 

 ground would be carpeted with Thyme and Basil and 

 others of the dwarfer sweet-herbs. There would be no 

 regular paths, but it would be so planted that in most 

 parts one would have to brush up against the sweet 

 bushes, and sometimes push through them, as one does 

 on the thinner-clothed of the mountain slopes of 

 southern Italy. 



Among the many wonders of the vegetable world 



