EYERGBKEN SUKU113. 



I li.-iw iiiiiuiivd for it at miniberU'ss nurseries witliout ever fimliiii; nmre than a stray 

 iilant or two. And I can only say, it" this meets the eye of any one who lias a slock 

 for sale, I think he will linJ uie a good customer. 



Rhododendrons you are quite rij,'ht in supposing may be introduced with much 

 advantao-e. Mr. Saunders, I remember, in a recent number of the Horticulturist^ 

 gave some excellent advice upon planting the native varieties ; and where they fail, 

 (as I have heard some persons allege they often do), the circumstance is to be (gener- 

 allv) attributed to the want of a little more knowledge in the planter of the laws of 

 veo-ettible physiology ; some of which can not be disregarded with impunity. 



The gloi-ious Kalmia latifolia of this country, so little esteemed because so common, 

 is in itself a host, if properly used. Perhaps with the exception of the Camellia and 

 Kho<lodondron, it is not too much to say that it is the most beautiful of flowering 

 evergreens indigenous to the temperate zone. 



With regard to the hybrid varieties of Rhododendron which have multiplied so 

 laro-ely in Europe of late years, there is httle doubt that many of them will be found 

 eligible for our purpose here (2) ; but the misfortune is that these can only be intro 

 duced very gradually ; the price and the comparatively slow rate at which they can be 

 propagated, forbidding their rapid introduction except for the puqiose of experiments. 

 With this latter view, the efforts of Messi-s. Parsons & Co., the well known firm at 

 Flushino-, L. I., deserve mention, for they have succeeded in wintering in their open 

 grounds several of the newer kinds, and a visit to them in May and June will well 

 repay the admirer of one of the most gorgeous families of shrubs. The Uimalaya 

 varieties of the Rhododendron, Avhich Dr. Uooker has introduced recently, are also 

 now to be met with at some of the largest nurseries ; and as some of them produce 

 seeds freelv, it will not be difficult to test their capacity to flourish here. I am not, 

 however, sano-uine as to their doing well ; for although the altitude of their native 

 habitat would indicate their enduring the rigors of this winter, it is doubtful whether 

 the absence of the excessive moisture which is a leading characteristic of the Sikkini 

 country, in which they were discovered, will not be fatal to them. This, nevertheless, is 

 bv no moans a problem to be decided theoretically. Some years ago I made a series 

 of experiments with this family of plants, that satisfied me that their powers of endu- 

 rance are very great. 



The Prinos glahcr is a native plant which might with advantage be extensively used, 

 and I am not aware that it possesses any quality that unfits it for the shrubbery. Too 

 many people suppose that beautiful results in ornamental planting can only bo effected 

 with nncominon, and consequently, expensive plants. There can be no greater mistake 

 than such a supposition. It is the arrangement and the knowledge of the materials 

 employed (as to their color of flower, time of blooming, and habit of growth, &o.) that 

 produce the pleasing result, and not the rarity of the plants made use of; and very 

 much may be done in renewing and ornamenting an old, neglected place, by a skillful 

 hand, simply by the re-arrangement and regulation of the materials on the premises 

 with such additions as the surrounding woods afford. 



Of exotic evergreeni; that appear best adapted to the purpose under consideration there 

 are two, that may be found at moderate prices in most nurseries ; — the one is the Ber 

 aqnif(jUum^ or Mahonia ; the other the Euonymus Japonicus. The Mai 

 rtunately, in many situations suffers in the leaves during the winter, from h 



