EMP 
EUO 
the trees are derived. All of them grow 
freely in porous soil, and are increased by 
layers, or cuttings of the current year’s 
wood, taken off early in autumn, and 
struck in a warm shaded border. 
EMPETRUM, Crow-Berry (Linn.) 
Nat. Ord. Bmpetracene. Very hardy, 
dwarf evergreen shrubs, resembling the 
common heather, than which it is even 
more hardy, being usually found on ex¬ 
posed moors and bleak mountain situa¬ 
tions. There are two species, both having 
apetalous flowers, followed by numerous 
purple berries; they are desirable for 
large masses of rockwork, or in unshel¬ 
tered places where little else will grow. 
Peat soil is requisite, and they are pro¬ 
pagated by layers, or from seed. 
EPIGiEA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Bricacere. 
There are two species of these pretty 
trailing shrubs; they are evergreen, and 
being natives of elevated districts in 
North America, are quite hardy with us. 
B. repens has white flowers, and in B. 
rubicunda they are suffused with a deep 
blush colour. Their stems emit roots in 
their progress, and thus the plants are 
readily propagated. Eor rockwork, or 
the fronts of American beds, each are 
particularly desirable. 
ERICA, Heath (Linn.) Nat. Ord. 
Bricacere. There are upwards of thirty 
species and varieties of heaths capable ol 
bearing the rigours of our seasons, with¬ 
out assistance of any kind, and yet how 
few are found in gardens ! seldom, indeed, 
are half a dozen met with together, and 
yet all are surpassingly beautiful; they 
are remarkable alike for their neat, pleas¬ 
ing habit, the copious display of elegant 
and varied flowers, and the little trouble 
necessary to keep them in good order, 
yet with all these advantages it is rare to 
find them cultivated to any extent, or 
properly valued when present; from what 
cause this disregard arises it is difficult 
to imagine, unless the same false notion 
which used to prevail with regard to the 
more tender species has been applied to 
these—that they are troublesome to ma¬ 
nage. The error in the former case is 
really not so great as in the present in¬ 
stance, for none of our hardy shrubs en¬ 
tail less attention. If placed in suitable 
soil they soon attain a good hold, and 
when once established, may be left to 
nature. The particular kind of soil in 
which they do best, is that description of 
peat obtained from open commons and 
moors, containing a considerable amount 
of partially decayed vegetable matter; the 
black, unctuous _ mould of boggy land is 
sometimes used in the formation of Ame¬ 
rican beds, but it is by no means the best, 
because of its impervious character. The 
material of such beds should always be so 
porous as to allow a quick passage of 
superabundant water completely through 
it, at the same time sufficiently solid to 
prevent the immediate action of the air 
upon the roots contained therein. All 
the plants of this family have extremely 
small fibrous roots, readily susceptible of 
injury from excess of either drought or 
moisture, and in order to preserve them 
it is necessary, when the plants are moved 
in autumn, to cover the bed with long 
litter, straw, or some such covering, to 
throw off excessive wet; while in the 
summer succeeding their removal, a li¬ 
beral and often-repeated application of 
water will be required in dry weather; 
but when the earth in which they grow 
becomes consolidated, and the plants have 
recovered the check of transition, no fur¬ 
ther care will be necessary, the annual 
growth and production of flowers will be 
matter of certainty. A judicious selection 
of species will insure suitable plants, 
either for grouping in beds with the usual 
occupants of the American garden, among 
whom the contrast in character renders 
the heath very desirable : for planting in 
masses, for edging, or for filling the lower 
projections of rockwork, and where any 
number of kinds are grown, there will be 
a regular succession of flowers from April 
till far into the decline of the year. 
EUONYMUS, Spindle Tree (Linn.) 
Nat. Ord. Celastracece. This genus is com¬ 
posed chiefly of fast-growing deciduous 
shrubs, with neat, pale-green foliage, and 
inconspicuous flowers, which are succeeded 
in some species by handsome red berries. 
They are all suitable for dense shrub¬ 
beries, growing freely in any soil, and in 
almost all situations, but are not hand¬ 
some enough for prominent stations; 
