THE AMERICAN PLANE TREE. 



however, be kept shaded. I oiifj^lit to have said when sown, the pots should be 

 phiced in a gentle hotlied or projiagatiug house, where the atmosphere is close, 

 liumid, but not very iiot ; they had better for the first year be grown in a house 

 of this kind. By the first autumn they ought to be three to four, and many six 

 inches high. The first winter they will require shelter in a close frame or pit ; 

 all hardy varieties, such as Catawbiense, maxima, &c., can be planted out in spring 

 in prepared beds of peat or leaf mould, &c., in a shady situation ; in about two 

 or three years they will commence flowering, though many will not for three or 

 four, and some later. In a climate such as that of England, these plants may be 

 cultivated in open exposed situations ; but in such a situation here these plants 

 would suffer under our brilliant suns, their natural habitats being the shade of 

 forests. Under the shade of trees will therefore be found their proper place. 

 These beds or masses may be formed eighteen inches deep, and any given width, 

 and filled with sandy peat, or leaf mould. As the former is not often to be had, 

 the latter will answer every purpose ; with it may be mixed a good quantity of 

 sawdust, either in a fresh or decomposed state. This last has been found one of 

 the best materials to tnix with rhododendron soils ; the small fibres will root freely 

 into it, even in a fresh state ; this may appear strange to some, yet it is neverthe- 

 less true, and I would strongly recommend it to persons forming rhododendron 

 beds. Those who have them made already will find a mulching of sawdust over 

 their beds, three or four inches thick, of great advantage. 



In planting trees and shrubs the universal rule is, plant no deeper than they 

 stood before. Though good advice for trees in general, it will not hold good for 

 rhododendrons ; on the contrary, I would recommend having them planted three 

 or four inches deeper than they stood before ; this is the practice of the best 

 growers. I shall probably be required to give a reason for this ; I would say 

 it arises from the fact that their roots are mere fibres or threads, and they are 

 disposed to produce them from the stems when planted deep or mulched over. If 

 observed in their native habitats, it will be found that there is almost invariably 

 a quantity of decayed leaves and half decayed, congregated about the stems to a 

 considerable height ; hence the good effects of planting deep or mulching high. 



["Mulching high" will answer alone; the best success will be had by those who 

 plant near the surface, in fact only sift leaf mould and sand on the roots, staking 

 them, and letting nature have the same process she loves in the native place of 

 these lovely plants. — Ed.] 



THE AMERICAN PLANE-TREE. 



BY E. N. PLANK, WOLCOTT, NEW YORK. 



There are few, if any, of our native forest trees more worthy of the attention 

 of the student of nature, than the American plane-tree {Platamis occidental is). 

 Its broad and ample foliage, the grandeur of its proportions, and the beautifully 

 variegated appearance which its outer bark presents, combine to render it one of 

 the most attractive olijccts of American forest scenery. Not adapting itself so 

 readily to a cultivated state as some of our native trees, to sec it in all its beauty, 

 it must be sought for in its favorite habitat, the alluvial banks of our creeks and 

 rivers. Until the recent discovery in California of the Sequoia gigantea, the 

 plane-tree enjoyed the distinguished honor of being the largest known tree in 

 America. And though it must now yield the palm to its Californian rival, yet 

 'u merits are none the less. There is now standing within two miles of the 

 e of Wolcott, N. Y., a tree of this noble species, of such giant proportions, 



