34 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



dings are generally eaten by children, whose 

 constitutions may suffer through life from 

 the injury done them by this mode of giving 

 a relish to their diet. 



The laurel is rather a heavy than a grace- 

 ful shrub, but the beauty of its green leaves 

 will always ensure it a situation in orna- 

 mental plantations. The foliage is of the 

 most agreeable yellow green, being brighter 

 than that of either the orange or lemon ; and 

 as the greater number of evergreen plants are 

 of a dark or bluish green, and many of them 

 with a tint of reddish brown, nothing in point 

 of colour can therefore be more desirable 

 than the laurel to relieve the sameness which 

 would otherwise too often predominate in 

 our winter greens. The common laurel has 

 flowers in April and May, and although small; 

 their appearing in clusters has a good effect, 

 particularly when the trees have acquired age, 

 so as to produce their white petals in abund- 

 ance. 



The laurel, when trained as a tree with one 

 stem, has a very superior appearance to the 

 common bush, particularly when it can be 

 carried to a considerable height before it 

 branches out ; and to obtain this effect more 

 speedily, it is recommended to graft the 

 laurel on a common cherry stock, or upon 



9 



