THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 327 



that human beings need for health and sustenance. To he sure such 

 trees cau be cut down when they become a nuisance, but too many 

 people lack the courage to lay the axe to the root, and suffer the 

 depression and enfeeblement consequent on the exclusion of light 

 without knowing that the tree is a deadly enemy, Moreover, robust 

 habited coniferous trees are not fit for planting near to dwelling 

 houses. It is impossible to see their beauty when so placed. How 

 different is the aspect of a cedar of Lebanon black as ink, stiff and 

 hard in outline, filling up all the space of a forecourt so that every 

 room on that side of the house is as" dreary as a cell devoted to a 

 criminal, to a similar tree on an open lawn which it sweeps with its 

 far-reaching branches, and which can be seen in all its grand outlines 

 against a relief of green grass one way and of blue sky another ! 

 A place for everything, and everything in its place, is a suitable 

 motto for planters of coniferous trees ; and above all I beg of our 

 readers to plant nothing which shall some day shut out the light 

 from the dwelling, for light is healthy, cheerful, and as needful for 

 our well-being as bread. 



A considerable proportion of the noblest conifers are not well 

 adapted for gardens, because of their great size when mature, and 

 their comparative plainness of aspect when young. Firs that make 

 fine woods are rather in the way in gardens, though occasionally we 

 see a few spruces and Scotch firs tell with good effect in garden 

 scenery where space is plentiful, and there is need of striking 

 objects in the background. But for lawns and conspicuous positions, 

 and for the centres of beds otherwise occupied with flowers, there 

 are many that are at once exquisitely beautiful in form and colour, 

 and that never attain to any great size, and consequently do not 

 dwarf or shrink by comparison everything around them. 



As this is the planting season, I will enumerate a few that are 

 eminently adapted for gardens — large and small — and that should 

 be secured first of all in the endeavour to form an interesting 

 collection. As a rule, these trees require a deep nutritious loam, 

 well drained, yet tolerably retentive of moisture. The first effect of 

 a starving position or bad treatment in planting is the decay of the 

 lower branches, and the mixture of much rusty leafage with the 

 growth all over the tree. Every care should be taken to preserve 

 the growth intact to the very base. Let them not suffer by re- 

 maining out of the ground any length of time. Plant them with 

 care, working in dry soil amongst their roots so that no hollows are 

 left, and in planting valuable trees use a mixture of leaf-mould, dry 

 chippy nodules of turf, and good mellow loam, thrusting it in 

 between the larger roots, and carefully spreading out the exterior 

 fibres. When the work is finished and trodden firm, stake the trees 

 in such a way that during gales the stakes will not chafe the bark, 

 for many trees are injured in that way. It has long been my 

 practice in planting choice trees to stake them with three stout 

 stakes of proportionate size, thrust into the ground obliquely at 

 some distance from the tree, and brought together and bound to the 

 stem with a hayband betweeu them and the bark, and there fastened 

 securely. The stem of the tree then stands in the centre of three 



