2o6 MY GARDEN. 



WHORTLEBERRIES. 



Whortleberries {Vaccinium Myrtillus) come up spontaneously in the 

 peat in my ferneries, but if they bear fruit the birds get it. 



DEWBERRIES. 



The extreme beauty of the Dewberry {Rubus ccBsius, fig. 390 a), as it 

 grows freely on the banks of the Lea and .of the Thames, — especially 

 when the fruit is covered with its exquisite bloom, — makes me think 

 it ought to be cultivated where ground can be spared. 



BERBERRIES. 



We grow the Berberry {Berberis vulgaris, fig. 391), which makes 

 delicious preserves. Oddly enough, it blossoms well, but it hardly 

 ever sets its fruit,- so that I very seldom get a crop. 



Fig. 390a.— Dewberry. Fig. 391.— Berberry. Fig. 392.— Elderberry. 



THE ELDERBERRY. 



We have three varieties of Elderberries {Sambuais), — the white, 

 the black, and the scarlet. The black {S. nigra) is the more common, 

 and is generally used for wine — which, when mulled, is no bad drink 

 on a cold day, whilst carrying out the winter garden works ; I often 

 use it with strips of toast, and the latter my robin always comes to 

 share with me. The white elderberry I have never tried for wine, but 

 I shall attempt it the first time I can get enough fruit. There is a 

 scarlet elderberry {S. racemosa, fig. 392), but it has not yet fruited at my 

 garden, although I have observed it to be a common plant in Scotland. 

 One pretty standard .flourishes in front of the Trossachs Hotel. 



