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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



6 inches high and perfectly solid, a sheet of flower in August, rather later 

 than if the plants had not been cut, and a couple of months later the fine 

 straightish canes will all turn to the tone of the clearest hazel-nut. 



Spiraa callosa, though somewhat more expensive to plant in mass, 

 is very fine if treated in the same fashion. The flowering is improved 

 rather than injured by the treatment, and the canes, though of the same 

 colour when bare as the last-named, are much stouter, of looser habit, 

 and bolder and more varied in growth. 



Spiraa canescens and S. hypericifolia look well at all times of the 

 year, and however dealt with, make large graceful shrubs of pendulous 

 habit, covered with small clear white bloom, or if cut down and massed 

 they grow thickly about 18 inches high, and the tiny refined leaves are 

 always admired, while the bright dark wood makes them conspicuous in 

 the dead of the year. 



Berberis vulgaris purpurea. — The handsome foliage of this shrub is 

 well known, but it has a tendency to get leggy, carrying few or no leaves 

 within 2 or 3 feet of the ground. A couple of years ago I tried the 

 experiment of cutting down a fairly large bed in the spring, with the 

 result that we had a very fine show of plum-coloured stems in the 

 following winter ; but this rich purple is entirely confined to the young 

 wood. 



Populus canadensis aurea. — A showy bed can be produced by cuttings 

 of this free-growing plant if cut down each spring, and it has the merit 

 of being at its best in September, when the Golden Elder and other like 

 foliage shrubs have lost their brilliance. Moreover, the yellow wood 

 retains its tone for some time after the leaf has gone. 



Baulownia imperialis. — The expense of buying this in quantity has 

 deterred me from making a bed of it and keeping it cut down, but the 

 good result of doing so can be seen at Kew, where they have the nation's 

 purse in which to dip their hands. 



Deutzia crenata fl. pi. — In the case of this well-known shrub, I have 

 also been prevented from taking a similar course, but for a different 

 reason, namely, that it hardly grows with sufficient vigour on our 

 heavy clay, but in a lighter soil I am convinced it would be a success, 

 for, as in nearly all plants, the full beauty of the light brown bark is 

 confined to the season's growth. 



Ailanthus glandulosa. — In many places I have seen this tree sending 

 up suckers freely over a wide circumference round the parent stem ; and 

 in such cases it would be well worth while to collect them and form a bed 

 treated as I have described in the cases of Bhus typhina, Symphori- 

 carpos, &o. By so doing, that which hitherto has been a nuisance could be 

 converted into an ornament. 



Next to the Cornus there is nothing that looks brighter in bark and 

 stem than the young growth of Willows. I have been collecting 

 these for some years, and I do not think I can do better than give you 

 the benefit of my experience by making a short list of those which 1 

 consider most striking among the many varieties that exist ; several of 

 them are easily obtainable in England, and others I have got from Herr 

 R. Larche, Baumschulen, Muskau, Silesia, who possesses a fine collection 

 of forest trees. They are as foUows : — 



