OEKAMENTAL SHEUBS. 



29 



There are several varieties. garden should be with- 

 out this flower, of peculiarly delicious scent. 



The flowering currant, Bihes sanguineum^ for its 

 bright pink, abundant early bloom, and pretty growth, 

 should be plentiful in every garden of flowers of various 

 heights. The trees begin to flower while quite young, 

 and go on until they are tall and large. I have had one 

 as much as twelve feet high^ when it was really a 

 splendid object in spring. They grow readily from seed 

 or cuttings, will do in any garden soil, and in almost 

 any locality, objecting but little to smoke and confined 

 air. There are several sub-varieties, difl'ering in the 

 colour of the flower. There are also Eibes of other 

 varieties, all of which are hardy except Sihes jjunctatum, 

 which is a native of Chili. 



The fruit-bearing Berberry, generally called Bar- 

 berry, is very ornamental. A pretty way of growing it 

 is to train it to a single stem, when it forms a head, 

 which falls over gracefully, and looks very gay in spring, 

 covered with its yellow blossom, and again in autumn, 

 with its abundance of bunches of polished scarlet 

 oblong fruit. There are five sub-varieties deserving 

 notice : the scarlet, with and without stones ; the black, 

 the fruit of which is sweet, but which is tender enough 

 to require a sheltered border; the purple; and the 

 white. The seedless kind, Berheris vulgaris asperma, 

 is preferred for preserving. The fruit is ripe in October; 

 it has a fine acid, and makes a most delicious preserve, 

 either plucked from the stalk or in bunches. The 

 bunches are also preserved in salt and water, for gar- 

 nishing, and it is good for candying. It does best in a 

 sandy or chalky soil, with dry subsoil, and it may be 

 propagated by cuttings, suckers, or layers, in spring or 

 autumn. As it is a tedious little fruit to gather, the 

 bush should be well cut out in the centre, like a goose- 

 berry. The spines are so sharp and strong that it is a 

 good plant to fill gaps in hedges to keep out tres- 

 passers. 



The evergreen Berberry {Berleris aquifolia) is a hand- 



