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row of shrubs for a little distance, and again the plantation should swell out in a bold mass and recede again to one row. This will give a waving, irregular line that will please the imagination, by suggesting mysterious receding nooks and corners where the bloom of a flower and sheen of a leaf may seem to come on us unawares, as we change our position on the lawn. In this way, the most simple general arrangement may secure the greatest variety of effect. But beware of seeking variety for mere variety's sake. Treat your problem in

When the general outline of the grouping of the trees and shrubs has been decided on, just as the painter blocks out the arrangement of his masses on his canvas, then comes the selection of the plants, or the colors and forms, in other words, that are to fill up the spaces that have been laid out. Let us look first at what should be the constitution of every shrub group. There should be a high and a low part, the low part making the border and the high part the centre of the group. This rule is evidently simple enough and

really artistic group arrangements, you must not hesitate, on occasion, to break up entirely this formal system of high shrubs in the centre and low ones outside. Indeed, in practice, you should always avoid setting the high shrubs exactly in the centre; and, now and then, the most picturesque effects can be obtained by planting a mass of high shrubs directly out to the very border line. In these cases such kinds of high shrubs should be selected as grow bushy close to the ground, because all shrubs planted on the border of the group should be furnished low with branches. Furthermore, due restraint should be exercised in the use of shrubs having purple or golden leaves. Usually greenleaved shrubs are to be preferred, as more modest and refined, and more likely to harmonize with the foliage around. But for the same reason that we are impelled now and then to thrust our high shrubs directly out to the border line, so it will prove sometimes artistic to throw into the general grouparrangement a considerable mass of purple berberry or golden elder. There is nothing to be said against a purple- or golden-leaf shrub for its own individual characteristics, but, all the same, it may be used so as to produce a discord in the group, so as to be forced, theatrical, and unhappy-looking.

I have said all this about the exterior and interior arrangement of shrub groups, because I want the reader to realize the importance of attaining a complete conception of how best to arrange the plantation before a single plant is chosen. When you undertake, however, to select different kinds of plants from your palette, or rather trees and shrubs from your nurseryman's catalogue, and have a conception of the general arrangement properly worked out in your mind, it is wonderful how much the task of selection is simplified.

you treat the subject as I have advised, that only a small list of shrubs is required to do your work. Afterward you can exercise the utmost freedom in planting entire groups and single specimens of any one of a large variety of shrubs and trees. Let us see what number of kinds of actually hardy and successful plants we should be likely to use in the ordinary mixed-shrub group.

It will surprise you, I know, to learn how small this number is, in view of the vast extent of the nurseryman's varieties. One could readily secure the best effects of a shrub group by the use of a dozen kinds, and fifty would really make a large collection, although I do not know that the larger assortment would necessarily produce a better effect than the smaller. It would be, in a sense, more curious and interesting, but more artistic? No! The large collection would be, moreover, more liable to fail at certain points, the small one being more sure to succeed in all seasons, and in sunshine and shade, and in different kinds of soil.

A few words, at this time, concerning the members of this list of twelve shrubs will be opportune. Probably I should not say twelve exactly, for there may be fifteen and there may be twenty; but we will stick to twelve, nevertheless, and I think I can show you that twelve will do the work satisfactorily.

In this list there are still subdivisions. There are the high shrubs and the low ones, the bushy kinds, and those more sparsely clad. There are those which we should use in large quantities, and others that are effective and yet not desirable in masses. These subdivisions, however, intermingle more or less. There is no hard-and-fast line between them. One of the best high shrubs for all kind of grouping and for great masses is the Spiræa opulifolia, and close to it for value should stand Philadel

tions would not be conspicuous. And this reminds me to say that some shrubs, on account of lack of bushiness, should always stand within the mass of the group. Such a shrub is the dark-green leaved Euonymus europeus, with its bright-red, curiously shaped berries in autumn; and the same may be said of the smoke-tree, Rhus cotinus. The rounded masses of oval leaves, and the delicate, dainty, rosy-brown flowers, whence the name Smoke-tree, make this shrub especially attractive. It is, moreover, large, growing vigorous, almost a tree, and at the same time takes kindly to almost any soil and exposure. Two excellent shrubs for such positions within the group are the dark-green, shiny, laurel-leaved willow, Salix pentandra, suited for moist and sandy soils and quick-growing effects; and the somewhat more tree-like appearance of the cockspur thorn, Crategus crusgalli, and C. coccinea. These last - named shrubs grow in almost any dry soil, and are shiny-leaved and picturesque. The Privet, Ligustrum ovalifolium, or L. vulgaris, is particularly well suited for the interior of groups, and grows as well in shade and poor soil as any shrub in the catalogue. It is especially valuable in crowded city grass-plots. I hesitate, however, to recommend it highly, for it is somewhat stiff and formal in outline, and if not pruned, in time becomes "leggy," if I may be allowed such a phrase. The only remedy for this "legginess" is to stand it as long as you can, and then, when you find the shrub has grown big and naked in foliage, to cut it down within a foot of the ground. The worst system of all is to keep clipping and clipping every year. Extreme stiffness and deformity is sure to result. I speak thus at length about the privet, not because I altogether like it, even in its best estate, but because it is so hardy and

at Southampton, L. I., on the seashore, it is almost the only shrub that is used in quantities, and certainly no plant does better in the down-town yards of New York.

One of the very best shrubs for the interior of groups is the bush honeysuckle, and there are several admirable kinds; Lonicera fragrantissima (the fragrant bush honeysuckle) is the most valuable. It makes a large shrub of graceful weeping habit, and bears quantities of pretty pinkish-white, fragrant, early flowers before the leaves. fully appear. In every way it is useful and ornamental, and different from its relatives in that it is suited alike to the interior and exterior of shrub groups. Lonicera tartarica and L. zeyherii and other bush honeysuckles are also attractive and valuable, but should be planted rather in the interior of the group than on the outside.

This

One of the most really valuable shrubs of the entire collection is the Japan quince (Cydonia japonica). hardy shrub has pretty, bright-green foliage and a rounded form. It blooms beautifully in early spring, bearing, on its different varieties, red, white, or orange-colored flowers. In size it is considerable, and for hardiness unsurpassed. It is well suited for the outside of groups. Another charming early-blooming shrub is the Forsythia viridissima, or golden bell. In April its great masses of golden flowers often cover the entire plant, and are made still more picturesque by its drooping, low-growing habit. It is, for this reason, well suited for the outside line of shrub groups. In stature it is of good. size, and is hardy and vigorous. Like other early-flowering shrubs, and more, perhaps, than any other, it is benefited. by pruning away the flowering wood as soon as it has done blooming. This