434 



MY GARDEN. 



Fig. 951 — Lemon 

 Verbena. 



of doors, though sometimes cut to the ground by frost. This I shall 

 try next year, for the scent of the leaves is exquisite. No garden 

 should ever be without a plant, although it is now 

 the fashion amongst gardeners to discard it because 

 it has been common. It is only by the more intelli- 

 gent cultivators of plants, who are above such silly 

 notions, that it is now grown. It is said to attain a 

 height of twenty feet in China. 



I have sometimes used the Hornbeam (^Carpinus 

 Betulus), but sparingly, and I have no large tree of 

 it. It grows wild to a great extent in Epping 

 Forest, and it is ,said to be much appreciated for firewood. It is 

 adapted to make hedges of protection. 



The Acacia {Robinia Pseud- Acacia) is used to shut out low build- 

 ings. It grows with great rapidity when young, and has a blossom of 

 delicious scent. The wood is rematkably brittle, and breaks readily from 

 the force of the wind ; this causes the trees to become ragged and un- 

 sightly. For this reason the tree, although extravagantly extolled by 

 Cobbett, is of but limited utility. " Acacia — that consecrated and vene- 

 rable tree of the burning bush and of the tabernacle." (Stanley.) 

 The Yew-tree {Taxus baccata) is useful in a young state to plant 



in moist places, and under shade, 

 where other trees will not grow, 

 and I use it advantageously for 

 that purpose. In Beddington 

 Churchyard there is a fine yew 

 (fig. 952), and upon the downs 

 about three miles south of my 

 garden it grows wild plentifully 

 and vigorously in the hedgerows, 

 where its dark foliage gives a 

 peculiar character to the landscape. 

 The Irish Yew {Taxus fastigiatd), 

 or Upright Yew, is a stiff tree of upright growth, and is very useful 



