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266 ITVERGKEEN TREES. 



It is Imt a few short years since any but the very few have t^iouirht of embellishing 

 their grounds at all with evergreens ; and, until recently, none but those from a dis- 

 tance have been permitted to take an ado}ited abode near the residence of man ; we 

 are pleased to see, however, in these latter days, a growing disposition to introduce 

 them into pleasure grounds. If the same good taste would extend itself, and sprinkle 

 them with other trees along our highways, the scenery would be improved by the 

 increase of variety. One objection to this, liowever, must remain until men become 

 sufficiently civilized to keep the streets clear of marauding quadrupeds. All animals 

 have a stronger propensity to wage war on this class of trees than upon any other; 

 consequently they are first to sutler from their warfare. Again, an evergreen tree 

 cannot be perfect unless it grows in a conical form ; Nature teaches this fact. Where- 

 ever they are found in open lands, or in tlicir woodlands where their growth is 

 unrestricted, their branches extend nearly or quite to the ground. Time does not 

 deprive them of these lower branches. Nature probably demands them, to shelter their 

 roots from the scorching suns of summer and the severe frosts of winter; beauty 

 demands them, to give perfection to the exquisite models of Nature's workmanship. 

 But plant them in our highways, with ever so much form of beauty, which would extend 

 itself with each successive year, and how long would the tasteless, roving ruminants 

 that infest our streets to the annoyance of all peaceable, progressive citizens, allow 

 the destruction of this beauty to be incomplete? 



But there are other purposes than those of mere beauty to which evergreens can, 

 and eventually -will, be applied. The utility of planting belts of them to protect 

 exposed, bleak situations from the violence of winds, is a fact too firmly fixed to 

 admit of a doubt. The only reason why many such belts are not planted each year, 

 probably, is, that they will not afford the desired protection the coming winter — that 

 a few years must pass after the work is done before the benefits can be fully realized ; 

 so, instead of setting about the work and shortening this time, we suffer delay to 

 carry it further from us, until once, twice, three times the period is passed that would 

 be necessary to realize the protection. 



It was formerly supposed that more care was necessary in removing evergrefns, 

 than was usually bestowed on other trees of the forest. All trees should be removed 

 and planted with the utmost care. As few roots should be broken, and as many of 

 the spongioles retained as possible ; and, acting upon this principle, we have no more 

 reluctance in undertaking the removal of a Pine or a Fir than we have of an Elm or 

 a Maple. The roots of some trees are more easily injured than are tliose of others, 

 which, of course, makes greater caution necessary ; but in removing Pines from low 

 lands where the roots are easily retained, we have uniformly met with desirable success. 

 In such lands, however, we have usually found them growing from bogs or the mossy 

 covering of old logs, where the earth, by a little care, can at any time be retained 

 around the roots, and the rootlets remain undisturbed throughout the whole opera- 

 tion ; so that no delays in growth have been the consequense of removal. May is 

 the month, which, in our experience, is most favorable for transplanting evergreens ; 

 and we have succeeded well in the operation until the new growth of three inches 



