'":> 



Now approaches the time when the tree-agent with 

 book of gaudily colored lithogmphs in hand wanders up 

 and down the earth taking orders for the spring delivery- 

 And as of yore, he will ota certainty- unload upon the gar- 

 dening public man3' specimens of the few species that con- 

 stitute his stock in trade. One does not need the agent's 

 book in order to name them, for specimens ol the same 

 things ma}^ lie seen in almost any garden. There are of 

 course the lilac, rose, spiraea, honeysuckle, Japan quince^ 

 sj^ringa and hydrangea in the north, and an equally well 

 known list forgardens nearerthe equator. That the agent, 

 is able to dispose of the same things _vear after year when 

 there are so man^^ equalh^ valuable shrubs that might be 

 planted is one of the mysteries that possibly ma}- never be 



solved, 



* « 

 » 



There is really no objection to the shrubs above men- 

 tioned except that they are too frequenth' planted. A rose 

 or a cluster of lilac blossoms is both beautiful and fragrant 

 but in an attempt to ornament garden or lawn, there is a 

 chance of overdoing the matter by planting too many. 

 One must not fall into the error made b}' Nature when she 

 planted daisies, buttercups, dandelions and toad-flax. 

 There are corners of the world where these flowers are 

 valued for their beaut^^ but it is not in the Northern and 

 Eastern United States. A rose garden or a garden devot- 

 ed to varieties of any other shrub or plant can not be crit- 

 icised except when it is attempted to substitute it for a 

 properly emljcllished lawn. Monotony of anj- kind is dis- 

 tasteful and even a rose garden ma}' fail to satisfy the 

 average individual. 



*&^ 



* 

 A garden planted to the shrubs already mentioned can 

 scarcely be characterized as monotonous, but when all the 

 gardens on a street or in a town are planted to the same 



