This section is from the book "A Dictionary Of Modern Gardening", by George William Johnson, David Landreth. Also available from Amazon: The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses.
Barberry (Berberis vulgaris). There are five varieties of this elegant shrub - the red, without and with stones; the black sweet, which is tender, and requires a sheltered border; the purple, and the white.
Propagation. Suckers, cuttings, and layers may be employed either in the spring or autumn. The seed is very rarely used.
A sandy, or calcareous soil, with a dry subsoil, suits it best.
It requires no other pruning than such as is necessary to keep it within bounds.
This is fully ripe in October, and is gathered in entire bunches for preserving, pickling, and candying.
It is liable to be infected with a parasitical fungus, once believed to be the same as that which is known as the mildew on wheat, but they are now known to be different species. That which preys upon the Barberry is Puc-cinia, and that which attacks Wheat is Uredo. Consequently the old popular opinion among farmers, that the mildew on wheat originated on and was propagated by the Barberry, has exploded.
 
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