WINTER MEETING, 18S0. 11 



cedar, or hemlock to stand guard in these emergencies. In relation to the 

 orchard, the evergreens as a protective agency perform a very important part. 

 There are men here who can point to instances in their own experience where 

 a slight protection given by a screen of evergreens might have saved trees from 

 destruction. 



WHAT EVERGREENS TO USE. 



There is a wide range of evergreens to choose from, and some of the very 

 best are those that can be obtained the most easily and at the least expense. I 

 would mention first the white pine. Its great value as a timber tree is too well 

 understood to require consideration, especially since it would be foreign to our 

 present purpose. Accustomed, as we are, to see this as grown in its native 

 habitat, with tall, naked trunk, and a few vigorous branches at the top only, 

 we need to study it in younger specimens, as they may be frequently seen in 

 fields or open spaces, under the full play of air and sunlight, if we would 

 properly comprehend its value for the purposes under consideration. Grown 

 thus it maintains fully the vigor of its lower branches, and remains clothed 

 with foliage to the ground. Its foliage is finer and softer than that of any of 

 the other pines usually seen in our climate, and has a somewhat glaucous 

 appearance. Like all the other pines, it does not readily respond to the use 

 of the knife and shears, and it is therefore better adapted to tall, open screens, 

 where there will be little necessity for their use. If planted as a single speci- 

 men, it demands a wide space in which properly to develop and display its ma- 

 tured beauties. Under such circumstances it will be found to have few if any 

 superiors, even as a lawn tree, although we cannot feel sure that, when of 

 large size and mature age, it will not, even here, vindicate its long indulged 

 habit of dwarfing and casting off its lower clothing. 



The Austrian pine is a beautiful, tall, round-headed tree, which seems to be 

 entirely hardy in our climate, as indeed it is throughout the northern States. 

 Its stout, vigorous shoots, and its long and comparatively rigid foliage, main- 

 taining its color unchanged throughout the winter, render it a desirable tree, 

 whether for screen or shade. It can hardly be commended for close planting, 

 to be subjected to shearing or cutting in, to produce dense growth, since at 

 the best it yields very reluctantly to such treatment. In fact, if a shoot is cut 

 away, or even a leading bud destroyed, it often requires a long time to supply 

 the deficiency from the side growths. This tree, therefore, while it is quite 

 effective as a single specimen upon the lawn, will be found most effective for 

 the purposes now under consideration, when employed for tall, open screens or 

 windbreaks, in which, as a rule, pruning will not become necessary. 



The Scotch pine, although not a native, seems to take very kindly to our 

 climates and soils. Probably its vigorous habit, and the ease and safety of 

 removal, may have something to do with its popularity; still, it is a very rapid 

 grower, even too much so to become fully effective for the purposes we are 

 considering, since its very vigor creates a loose, open habit of the tree, whether 

 young or old. We doubt if any system of pruning or shearing can be made to 

 fully remedy this tendency, although frequent removal or judicious root- 

 pruning, while young, might suffice for the purpose, as it no doubt would with 

 any and all the pines already noticed. Such a process, however, must prove 

 a serious drawback to its longevity, and for that reason objectionable. The 

 only other remedy to be implicitly relied upon is to plant in double or even 

 tripple rows, and, in so doing substitute breadth for density, a process involv- 

 ing an increase in the number of trees to be planted, as well as in the amount 



