February 29, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



263 



Pinus aristata — Foxtail Pine 



It is strange that this unique and charming tree has 

 not been more extensively propagated. Isaac Polkrd 

 of Nehawka, Nebraska, has a fine specimen and we 

 find now and then one growing in different parts of the 

 country and there is no reason why tliey should not be 

 grown more extensively. People little realize what a 

 wide diversity of beauty and attractiveness a large va- 

 riety of evergreens will give us. Each seems to have an 

 individuality of its own. A single species will branch 

 out into many divergent forms and variations. The 

 Douglas Spruce for instance, has about fifty named 

 varieties. 



Pinus aristata is often called Bristle Cone Pine and 

 sometimes Hickory Pine. I can not forget the first 

 one I ever saw. My friend and myself had been climb- 

 ing mountains till we were completely tired out. We 

 were at an altitude of about 9000 feet among the En- 

 gelman and Pungens Spruce. We were lying down in 

 utter exhaustion. In the distance, we saw a pine dif- 

 ferent from anything we had seen before and we thought 

 we knew every tree in the Kockies. Our curiosity got 

 the better of our weariness and we went to interview our 

 new acquaintance. We lay down on a hillside near by 

 to look the tree over, and then we both broke out into 

 a hearty laugh. "What can it be?" asked my friend. 

 "Haven't you ever heard of the Foxtail Pine? Here 

 we have it." It seemed as if hundreds of foxes had 

 rushed to a common center, all headed toward the stem 

 of, the tree and their tails had all turned green. How 

 we laughed and laughed again over that strange spec- 

 tacle which seemed half tree and half animal. Higher 

 up, we found a grove of them. The same kind with 

 different ages and slightly different forms. Some 

 little, some large — grandmothers, children, and 

 grandchildren. Farther up, in higher altitudes, 

 we found quite a forest of them. Our collectors in 

 the Rockies expect to secure a large amount of 

 seed and a lot of seedlings for the Nebraska Experi- 

 ment Station at York, next year. It is fortunate 

 that a fine tree like this, growing at such a high ele- 

 vation, can endure the heat of our western prairie. 

 There is no reason why nurserymen cannot grow these 

 by the thousands, and so add to the number of the 

 beautiful evergreens with which we can adorn our 

 homes. 



One thing we find and that is we cannot raise all 

 kinds of evergreens successfully in the peculiar soil and 

 climate of Nebraska. The Engelman and Colorado 

 Blue Spruce can not be raised successfully here. So we 

 have started a branch nursery at Payuesville, Minne- 

 sota, under the care of Frank Brown, who goes into 

 his forests and digs up beds and plants the seeds in 

 the leaf mould and there he is meeting witli wonderful 

 success. All these high altitude trees will lie successful 

 in the North. 



The Aristata of the western slope is one of the most 

 charming trees of the Sierras. The needles are clothed 

 with a glossy sheen or polish — often with a silvery tinge. 

 Sometimes there will be one of ideal form, with 

 straight trunk, from which branches extend in pyra- 

 midal form, in beautiful symmetry from the crown to 

 the earth, all those outer limbs harmoniously dressed 

 in beautifully rounded glistening foliage. Some trees 

 have been found on the western slope that were five 



feet in diametei- and ninety feet tall, but this is excep- 

 tional. 



I am not familiar with the wood of this tree but 

 judge from the name, Hickory Pine, which is some- 

 ttimes given it, that it must be the toughest of all the 

 jiines. 



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Clianthus puniceus 



This beautiful cool greenhouse subject I have never 

 had the opportunity of laying my eyes on since my ap- 

 prenticeship days in the north of Scotland, and have 

 ever wondered since that such a beautiful, even gorgeous 

 rtowerinff climber, should thus far have been overlooked 

 by our enterprising plant importers. That it is prac- 

 tically unknown in plant collections on this side of 

 the Atlantic is pretty nigh conclusive, as there is hardly, 

 if any, reference made to it in our horticultural liter- 

 ature. 



Unlike C. Dampieri, the former is an easily grown 

 subject and entirely devoid of the niiffy characteristics 

 associated wdth Dampieri, yet the latter is far more 

 widely known, doubtless on account of its more gorgeous 

 flowers, the dark purple spot so conspicuous on the 

 standards of the flowers adding much to its effective- 

 ness; otherwise they are of equal showiness, the flowers 

 of both being scarlet, 



C. puniceus possesses robust growth habits, and 

 somewhat resembles in vine, growth and leafage the 

 well known Swainsona, only a little larger and stouter 

 in its parts. Its peculiar parrot-bill flowers are freely 

 produced in bunches containing many flowers. It is not 

 fastidious as to special soils yet good friable soil as that 

 is understood will play an equally important part in 

 its successful management as it really does with other 

 plants. Planting out in suitable narrow borders is the 

 easiest and best way for arriving at effective displays, 

 as indeed it is with most all strong-growing climbing 

 subjects, and notwithstanding what may be done in 

 other methods, such as ample pot or tub culture, very 

 fine results may thus be produced. Red spider is par- 

 tial to these plants, but no excuses can be offered for 

 red spider mastering the cultivator so far as C. puniceus 

 is concerned, for it can withstand syringing or hosing 

 to any reasonable extent and feel the better for it. 



This, however, must be somewhat modified as re- 

 gards C. Dampieri : although moisture must be present 

 to ward off red spider or thrips. it is best applied in the 

 evaporated form; frequent syringings according to 

 weather conditions within the precincts of the plants, 

 with an additional absorbent material strewn around 

 them, particularly tobacco stems, will accomplish the 

 necessary remedy. The leaves of the latter variety 

 being soft and woolly in texture do not take kindly to 

 over-head shower baths. It is best to grow this variety 

 from seeds annually, while C. puniceus can be raised 

 from cuttings in the general manner. The latter is fre- 

 quently used as a stock plant for grafting the other on, 

 for the purpose of overcoming the aforesaid miffiness 

 of character, root disturbance being one of its dislikes. 



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