252 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{August, 



the condition of our own. But the traveler 

 over the Pennsylvania Railroad to New York, 

 will find that however true this reproach may 

 Tiave been in the past it is now in a fair way to 

 be removed. In many places the banks have 

 been newly sodded, and are kept mown, and 

 at some of the stations, notably Princeton Junc- 

 tion, which is the branching place for Long 

 Branch, the flower gardening, the walks, and the 

 general finish, are all creditable to correct gar- 

 dening taste. Further improvements may yet 

 be made b}^ the introduction of Virginia creep- 

 ers. Trumpet vines, and Honeysuckles over the 

 stations and bridges, as well as the grateful shade 

 -of deciduous trees on hot Summer places. This 

 famous company already deserve well of the 

 traveling public by the expense they have been 

 under in stone ballasting their roads, thus re- 

 moving the terrible annoyance of dust that ren- 

 ders so many roads a punishment instead of a 

 pleasure to the traveler ; and when to this the 

 eye is to be delighted with beautiful scenes in 

 living characters, as well as "beautiful architect- 

 ure in station-houses, railroad traveling will be- 

 •come as great a recreation as a " ride in the 

 park." A ride to New York is however prolific 

 in natural floral beauty ; for we have to go a 

 part of the way through New Jersey which may 

 be regarded emphatically nature's flower garden. 

 On this occasion the Blue Flag and the Sweet 

 "Water Lily made sheets of prett}^ color, and 

 the Cynthia Virginica, a peculiar orange tinted 

 composite gave an unique appearance to the 

 meadow scenery. The Sisyrinchium, or " Blue- 

 eye" grass, made the fields as blue as the sky, 

 but those- who would enjoy this pretty sight 

 must travel before noon, for soon after that the 

 flowers close for the day. 



The towns and cities along the line grow ; but 

 ■not particularly fast. Trenton with its potteries, 

 having recently added to this peculiar industry 

 the art of burning pictures in fine porcelain, is 

 evidently prospering. New Brunswick, Eahway, 

 Elizabeth, and other cities with their wealth of 

 frame buildings also grow slowly, but chiefly 

 apparently by their contiguity to their larger 

 sisters, Philadelphia and New York. Numerous 

 handsome frame dwellings have been built of 

 late years, evidently by some who do business 

 elsewhere ; and this class of houses will no 

 doubt become more numerous, as the railroads 

 make traveling rapid, cheap, continuous and 

 comfortable. The gardening connected with 

 these houses— and it is with this chiertv that our 



readers are concerned^did not strike me as hav- 

 ing progressed much of late years. Trees, 

 plants and flowers wholly unsuited to the wants 

 or characters of the surroundings abounded, 

 and I could not but be impressed with the fact 

 that the tree peddler had been there. Right near 

 the windows in the glare of the full 'sun, where 

 some pretty and fast growing tree might delight 

 by the fragrance and beauty of its flowers, or 

 afford a luxury by its grateful shade, a little Kil- 

 marnock Willow or a Weeping Mountain Ash, 

 would be stuck in; or if in some cases a tree 

 had been thought of, it would be perhaps a 

 switch about as thick as ones thumb, and six or 

 seven feet high, and we may be tolerably sure 

 of reading the inscripitoo "In the sacred mem- 

 ory" on the owner's tombstone, long before 

 there is the possibilitj'^ of his fondling his chil- 

 dren or lolling in his easy chair under its um- 

 brageous branches. For the tree peddler is 

 always an enthusiast on small trees. " The}' grow 

 best 3'ou know." In some cases, especiallj' 

 where new streets are laid out, larger trees are 

 employed, but these are generall}'^ of the refuse 

 stock of nurseries in which they had evidently 

 been standing for years thickly together with- 

 out removal since they were first set out, 

 have to have their heads cut off" by the planter 

 who has " guaranteed them to grow," and so 

 has had to cut them down to bean poles in order 

 to save their lives. The gardening is on a par 

 with the planting. The trees being planted 

 without reason, the walks and roads correspond. 

 Why they are led here or there no one could tell. 

 The chief fashion seems to be to have an im- 

 mense circle between the front door and public 

 road, around which you wind 150 feet perhaps in 

 the full sun, when a straight walk of one hun- 

 dred feet would have done just as well. Won- 

 dering- and musing on all these things I found 

 myself at last on board of a beautiful river 

 boat, bound for Providence ; a sort of floating 

 palace in which tasteful art had been given free 

 scope, and furnished so much to admire, and little 

 for fault finding, that I wondered still more that 

 men and women who evidently could enjoy 

 good taste and culture, should be satisfied with 

 garden horrors. So we sailed along Brookh'n 

 and the Long Island shore for miles ; the houses 

 more pretentious, but still generally tasteful 

 and beautiful ; the gardens larger, but still exe- 

 crable. It is no wonder that Americans seem 

 to take no "stock" in gardening. They are 

 rarely enjoyable. Why it is that that which above 



