58 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February, 



Alleghauians are much moved. As in many other 

 places they get up popular cries for spending 

 money, moving a building for some reason, to an- 

 other place where first the same reasons prevail, 

 with little other good resulting but spending a 

 huge pile of money. Some $700,000 have been 

 spent in moving a prison because the site was 

 not healthy, when the same spot becomes a 

 prison of another sort again. It is not simply 

 "parks and gardens" which find the weak men 

 in the good places. The gardening in the vicin- 

 ity of Pittsburg and Alleghany is very good, 

 considering that there are no landscape gar- 

 deners with anything more than local fame 

 about there, and its architectural beauty is gen- 

 erally very good indeed. But as we get towards 

 and into Ohio, good gardening did not afford 

 remarkable illustrations. I remember how 

 much the architectural beauty of the City of 

 Alliance impressed me, but the gardening 

 was of the meanest possible character. Of 

 course there must be some exceptions if one 

 had the opportunity to go about and search for 

 them, but there was abundant opportunity for 

 good gardening in many places under the im- 

 mediate eye of the traveler, which in many 

 cities with as much taste and wealth as the ar- 

 chitecture exhibited, that would have been taken 

 hold of to better purpose than here. 



It is interesting to note how some weeds are 

 as choice in their selections of new homes as 

 some men are. Here, in Pennsylvania, the 

 European Ranunculus bulbosus is the common 

 Butter-cup of the meadows, and though the 

 Ranunculus acris is found occasionally, it is 

 never abundant; but in Eastern Ohio, this Ra- 

 nunculus acris is the prevailing Butter-cup, — 

 the other being rarely if at all seen in the fields. 

 The European Yellow Charlock, or field mus- 

 tard is also a very common weed in Eastern and 

 Northern Ohio. When the traveler gets to 

 Cleveland, he not only finds nice houses, but 

 nice gardens, and considerable taste displayed 

 in public grounds, and garden neatness every 

 where. But even here one could not but be im- 

 pressed with the fact that gardening knowledge 

 was very far from being up with the times, or 

 at least with the abilities of modern landscape 

 gardening. Mce lawns, well kept walks and 

 roads, and handsome trees abounded, while 

 there was a profusion of flowers in most places, 

 giving a gay and cheerful aspect to the city 

 homes. But there was very little if any design 

 anywhere, or attempts to derive the pleasure 



which the study of true taste in gardening 

 affords. Every garden would have a few Nor- 

 way Spruces, some few common ornamental 

 trees, some shrubs or flowers; but just for what 

 reason they would be planted in any one place 

 rather than in another, it would be hard to tell. 

 The lack of variety also was remarkably ap- 

 parent, and indicated rather the work of the 

 tree peddler than the intelligent selection of the 

 landscape gardener. In the matter of climbing 

 or creeping vines for instance, the Virginian 

 creeper was everywhere, but nothing else out 

 of the many dozens of nice things that might be 

 had. In my drivings and wanderings about the 

 city, I must have seen many hundreds of vines, 

 but besides the Virginia creeper saw but one 

 other, a scarlet coral Honeysuckle in a poor 

 man's garden at the end of Euclid Avenue. 



This avenue is the popular " rus in urbe " of 

 the well-to-do Clevelander. I think it must run, 

 from the heart of the city out perhaps twenty 

 miles. Nearer the city the pavement is of 

 smooth flag stones, then comes to the curb about 

 fifteen feet in width of grass, which is kept 

 neatly mowed. The street is lined with maples, 

 elms, and others, and the whole affords a very 

 pleasant drive. The laying out of the street 

 was very judicious as a real estate speculation. 

 On one side the lots are comparatively shallow, 

 on the other side of the Avenue they range 

 from three or four to even six acres. These 

 last being mostly occupied by very wealthy 

 people have very nice places; while those who 

 can afford only the smaller lots on the other 

 side, have a good view of the pleasant scenery 

 opposite, and will pay much more for a small 

 lot than they would under other circumstances. 



Of the places individually there are some on the 

 avenue that merit much more credit than the 

 general criticism already given would indicate. 

 Some of these I made brief visits to. A very 

 fine grapery is owned by Col. Harris, in which 

 the foreign grape is very successfully grown. 

 Mr. J. H. Perkins, a leading banker of the city, 

 occupies about six acres in a beautifully laid out 

 garden. A small stream of water runs through 

 the centre, and we pass on through a succession 

 of rocky steps, fern-covered slopes, fish ponds, 

 rock work, from shade to sun and sun to shade, 

 in a very agreeable succession of rural objects. 

 In some places the shelter by close planting is 

 so complete, that the yew and other plants 

 usually esteemed but half hardy at best, bends 

 down and covers the water as well as in ever- 



