BERRY-BEARING PLANTS. 
Our friends hold us to a very strict account. The ink of an unguarded sentence is scarcely 
dry, before half a dozen communications point out our carelessness or mistake. There, is, there¬ 
fore, no danger that we shall go very far astray. In one of the numbers of the GUIDE, in speaking 
of winter, and particularly Christmas decorations, we 
puDlished the following: “Those who are familiar 
with the usual style of winter decoration, and realize 
how gloomy a room is made by the heavy dark 
wreaths of cedars and hemlocks, unrelieved by a 
flower or berry, or any bright color, will thank us 
for urging them to save every flower that will keep- 
its color during the winter. Make all wreaths light 
and airy, and enliven them with bright flowers. In 
England, the Holly, with its bright scarlet berries 
and beautiful glossy leaves, furnishes the choicest of 
Christmas trimming, and the condition of the Ilolly- 
enuush holly. berry crop is a matter of no little concern. At our 
last visit we were several times desired to observe the fine promise of an abundant crop of Christ¬ 
mas berries. We need some bright red berry in America to fill the place of the English Ilolly, 
of which we give a little sketch. The French rely almost entirely upon flowers for winter deco¬ 
rations. Americans have been content with a mass of sombre evergreens, but we need only point 
out the better way. In no other country is 
horticultural taste making such rapid prog¬ 
ress as in our own pleasant land.” 
This brought us a flood of communica¬ 
tions, and what we were equally delighted 
to receive, almost a little forest of American 
Holly, Ilex opaca , covered with its beautiful 
scarlet berries, and all claiming, and not 
without some truth, that such a plant was 
hard to beat anywhere. 
This Holly abounds on the sea-coast, 
north and south, but is not found far inland, 
so that we who live in the interior are apt 
to forget the blessings that our friends near 
the salt water enjoy, and arc glad of an 
occasional reminder. 
Another excellent shrub, and one to be 
found almost anywhere, we believe, in the 
North, on the banks of creeks and in moist 
places, is the Winter Berry, Hex verticillata. 
Many of our marshes are ablaze with its 
masses of fiery berries at this season of the 
year, and in this section we have nothing to 
equal it in beauty. Though natural to moist 
places, we find no difficulty in transplanting 
it to our grounds, where it seems to flourish 
as well as in its natural localities. We give 
an engraving of a branch, and also of a few winter berry '.lex vekticu.ata). 
berries of natural size. 
Another Holly, Ilex hevigata , very much resembles the above, and we believe abounds ai tne 
West. It is known as the Smooth Winter Berry. R. Ellie McDonald, of Ashland County, 
Ohio, calls attention to this beautiful shrub: 
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