WINTER MEETING AT LEBANON. 315 



a heroic clearing out of the more aggressive trees or the planting of 

 only such shrubs as can hold their own. 



Another mistake which has been productive of infinite discour- 

 agement is the planting of rare and costly exotics, which, so far as 

 my experience and observation go, with few exceptions are dreary fail- 

 ures, and spoil any design we may undertake to carry out. I speak of 

 design, for the end must be seen from the beginning to obtain a satis- 

 factory result. In regard to larger shade trees, soft maples will con- 

 tinue to be planted by those who desire speedy growth, but they are 

 far from proving most satisfactory in the end, yet with abundance of 

 room they make large and symmetrical trees. 



The Norway maple, though of slower growth, is the most beauti- 

 ful of its order, and is to be commended for its sturdiness and ability 

 to withstand the winds. The same is true of the hard maples gener- 

 ally. The catalpa Speciosa and the Sycamore prove satisfactory on all 

 but thin soils, with an impervious clay near the surface, which causes 

 them to present a sorry appearance after a drouth. The box elder and 

 several varities of our native oaks, form beautiful trees when not 

 crowded. The tulip is an upright and elegantly formed tree, with foli- 

 age of remarkable beauty. As single specimens, no tree in our climate 

 can surpass the cut-leaved weeping burch, which should have a place 

 in every collection where large trees are admissable. The sweet gam, 

 with its starry and fragrant foliage and corky bark, is well worthy of 

 cultivation. The sweet chestnut, though indigenous to but few places 

 west of the Mississippi, is easily grown and forms an attractive tree. 

 The Scotch larch, differing from most deciduous trees, is generally 

 admired. The black walnut is a beautiful tree, especially in deep soil, 

 but is liable to attacks of the tent caterpiller. 



Among shrubs and smaller trees which have proved satisfactory 

 here are the holly, the niahoma and the privet, either as ornamental 

 hedge plants or as single specimens ; the purple fringe, altheas, bar- 

 berries, wigelias, syringias, spirea Van Honte, thunberyii, hydrangea 

 grandiflora, upright honeysuckles, snowball, and the hardy magnolias, 

 succeed admirably. 



The evergreen trees which have proved best adapted to our 

 locality are the arbor vitae, hemlock, Irish juniper, Norway spruce, 

 white pine, rhetnospora, aurea, plumosa, and the Lawton cypress. The 

 Scotch and Austrian pines are too coarse and branching for small 

 grounds. 



The native red cedar may be recommended for its ability to with- 

 stand drouth and to thrive in almost any soil, and is unsurpassed as a 

 hedge plant or ornamental screen, but care is necessary that the lower 



