at Bahtiiam's. It ■would be intercstinfj to know the fate of the others. Some of 

 the ".'I'litlomon still connected with that estublishiiient might be able to favor the 

 readers of the IlortnnUurist with some account of them. The Silver Fir is d<'- 

 scrvedly cominf;; into greater note than it has heretofore enjoyed. It is superior in 

 beauty and rapidity of growth to many more popular novelties. Its growth is rather 

 sluw while young, and at that stage of its existence is apt to have its leading shoot 

 and terminal bud killed or injured in severe winters. This injury is entirely pre- 

 vented by wrapping the part in danger with cotton wadding early in winter, taking 

 it off again early in sjiriiig ; a thin covering will suffice, — just enough to keep the 

 sun from thawing suddeidy the fro7X>n shoots. 



Near to the Silver Fir is a very handsome specimen of the Snow Drop or Silver 

 Bell tree (ITalcsia fctnijjfcni^, a perfect snow storm of blossoms, which, at this date 

 (May 18th), are rather past their best. This beautiful tree has not one objectiona- 

 ble feature, a character possessed by few others ; and while it will grow as large as 

 an Apple tree is so accommodating in its disposition as not only to thrive in any dry 

 soil, but also to commence blooming when only a few feet high. 



Another tree, which, with me, has always been one of the most interesting spe- 

 cimens on the grounds, is the Bladderuut {Staplii/lea trifolia). This, which in 

 botanical works is described as a shrub "six to twelve feet high," and which I have 

 never met in a wild state in any other condition than a thick bush, here reaches the 

 height of about twenty-five feet, and has a stem two feet three inches in circumfer- 

 ence. At the present time its large round head is a mass of greenish white, heath- 

 like, sweet-scented blossoms, and though its period of blossoming is of shoi't duration, 

 is very well worthy of claiming for the plant a place in every collection. It has one 

 fault — a great fault — but one common to many other very handsome ornamental 

 trees ; namely, a great propensity to throw up suckers, so much so as totally to in- 

 capacitate it from enjoying the privilege of being a lawn tree. Its proper place is 

 the tcilderness ; and as no garden of any pretensions ought to be without this inter- 

 esting feature of a landscape, no garden should be without the Staphylea. 



The garden is so shaded by Pines and Spruces, which keep the atmosphere beneath 

 them humid and the soil so cool, that large masses of the Mountain Laurel (^Ehodo- 

 dendron maximuni) thrive in remarkable luxuriance under their branches. Some of 

 their leaves equal in size those of the English Laurel {Prunus lauro-cerasus). In 

 the deepest shade, the Periwinkle ( Vifica major') luxuriates in evergreen splendor 

 the whole year, where grass would not live a month, — an excellent plant for such 

 situations. A plant of the aucuha Japonica, that has been out many a year, comes 

 out of last winter's struggle unscathed, showing how much situation and circum- 

 stances have to do with the hardiness of these plants. A large Canadian Yew 

 {Taxus Canadensis), though indigenous ten miles from these grounds, has had 

 many of its leaves very much damaged ; as indeed the Wood Laurel (Kalmia 

 latifoli(i), a much commoner plant, has in many instances. The habit of this Yew 

 is to trail rather than to grow erect, and though probably covering a circle fifty feet 

 in circumference, is not more than six feet in its highest point. 



One of the finest Catalpas (^Catalpn hi<jnono!de!<) is also here; its trunk at three 



