144 NEr.UASKA STATE IIoUTlClI/rUllAL SOCIETY 



were used to good advantage and tliey made a splendid showing. Excel- 

 lent results were attained wiili Zinnias and Asters in ornamental bedding 

 work. ' -' : . 



Very good results were obtained m using such plants as palms, tropi- 

 cals, rubber plants and agaves. These beds were much larger than the 

 ones in the parterre and one at the side, where they made great foliage 

 masses. The tropical plants were divided into dilTerent groups, as medic- 

 inal poisons, oils, perfumes, etc. Two magnificent beds were made with 

 the rubber plants, with their large glossy leaves. Good effects were at- 

 tained with Agaves, the largest plants being in the rear, the smallest 

 ones in the front, thus giving a graduation in size. Some cacti make 

 good beds while others are too ragged and shapeless. The best bed 

 of tropical plants wa,3 one which bordered one of the greenhouses. It 

 was composed of Manihot palmeta (Tapioca plant), pomogranits (Punica 

 granata), in the rear, with a Cassia and Lagerstroemias in the front. The 

 rear plants were for foliage and the anterior plants were flowering, the 

 cassia having yellow flowers and the Lagerstroemias red and white. All 

 of the plants used in the above manner are only plunged in the ground. 



My first impression of the trees in the garden was that there wasn't 

 any tree that we can grow that they can not, but there were a number 

 that they couid grow to perfection that we could not. The garden was 

 once rich in conifers, but the smoke had told the tale. Quite a factory 

 district has been built up near the garden and the smoke has greatly 

 affected the conifers, although the tsugas and bald cypress seem to be 

 doing quite Avell. The soot in the smoke ledges in the sunken breathing 

 pores cf the pines and thus suffocates them. Smoke consumers do away 

 with the soot, but they do not eradicate the SO™ gas which dissolves in 

 the dew on the plant and forms sulphuric acid. Among the deciduous 

 trees there are the magnolias, sw'eet gums, horse chestnuts, buckeyes, 

 beech, cladrastis, a yellow wood, sassafras, silver bell and bladder nut 

 and ginko which are not familiar to us; at least we can not grow them 

 successfully. Beech, liquid-amber or sweet gum and the buckeyes are the 

 most beautiful trees owing to color and form. I was disappointed with 

 magnolias when in flower. The flowers were beautiful but the mass of 

 them lack effect in the absence of foliage. 



As it was with trees ao it is with shnibs; namely, many shrubs do 

 well there that do not do well here. This is especially true of roses. 

 Roses thrive better there as the climate is not as dry as here and you 

 will find that they still do better in the east. If you go a step farther, 

 they thrive much better in England, where they have 60 inches of rain- 

 fall, than in any place in the United States with the possible exception 

 of California and Oregon. I found that "Grusz and Tepiiz" was perhaps 

 the most glorious of all the varieties at the garden. Clothllde soupert is 

 a good border rose. Maden, Charles Wood and George Washington also 

 do splendidly at that place. The evergreen shrubs such as rhododendron, 

 azalia, kalmia, and conton-caster are not a great success, and I would 

 only pronounce them fair for that locality. Of the deciduous shrul)s none 



