AND THEIR CULTURE. 



271 



face of the ground be covered with a considerable 

 depth of grass or fog, as many of them will find 

 their way to the soil as will produce a sufficiently 

 thick crop. Most berries lie two years in the 

 ground before they germinate ; but of those of the 

 mountain-ash a considerable number spring up the 

 first season. When propagated for underwood this 

 tree should never be pruned. There is an objection 

 against its admission into plantations, which, when 

 they are situated in the neighbourhood of towns or 

 villages, is of some weight. The tempting appear- 

 ance of its berries in autumn encourages the inroads 

 of schoolboys, a kind of depredators that are very 

 injurious to woods. 



The Birch, both v^eeping and common, may also 

 be introduced as underwood, even in situations 

 where ornament is the principal object. For though 

 it carries neither showy flower nor berry, its leaves are 

 not destitute of beauty, and they emit an odour which 

 most people find highly agreeable in taking a walk 

 through a forest. If the herbage on the surface of 

 the ground be not very deep, the best way of raising 

 birch for the purpose in question, is to sow its seeds 

 in the month of April. 



Several of the hardier kinds of shrubs, whose cul- 

 tivation is generally confined to the parterre, may 



