February 9, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



157 



Dosoris 



Dosoris, Glen Cove, L. I., N. Y. — the home of the 

 late C. A. Dana, once editor and proprietor of the New 

 York Sun — is a name connected with my earliest im- 

 pressions of American horticulture. I used to read Mr. 

 Falcpner's articles in the English gardening papers and 

 my intentions were to visit the place on the first oppor- 

 tunity. It may seem strange that I should have put oS 

 doing so until after a residence in the United States of 

 nearly a quarter of a century. I had, however, heard 

 that, since the elder Dana's death, it had "run down," 

 and this I off^r as an excuse poor though it be, for not 

 visiting the place before. This autumn I planned a 

 trip to New York to study horticulture in the neighbor- 

 hood of the country's metropolis, and "took in Dosoris." 



Interest here has been given a new lease. Mr. Paul 

 Dana, the veteran publisher's son, has made it his sum- 

 mer home. Though it has been divided, and is now 

 the home of two families, for horticultural purposes it 

 is one. 



Primarily I went to study coniferous trees and 

 shrubs. It is plain that the small strip of water — the 

 Sound — separating .Long Island from the mainland, 

 makes a great difference in its climate. All insular 

 evergreens — where the test of hardiness and general 

 well-being depends upon congenial conditions as to 

 moisture and freedom from extremes — do well here. 

 Conditions of soil are of secondary importance, conse- 

 quently we find a number, which fail, or do poorly with 

 us, that succeed here. All the things we can grow at 

 Wellesley do well, and more too. 





PAati! by fohn F. Johnilon 



Abies Pinsapo 

 Dana Island — Helgbt 25 feet. 



Photc: l-y John F. Johniton 

 PiCEA MOEINDA 

 Dana Island — Height 40 feet. 



The place has an additional interest to me, because 

 the late H. H. Hunnewell, the elder Dana, and Prof. 

 Sargent were very great friends, and in days gone by — 

 20 or 30 years ago — whenever any new thing in the 

 coniferous line was introduced, each gentleman's place 

 was sure to get some specimens for trial, with the result 

 that we have duplicated here many of our Wellesley 

 trees and shrubs. Parsons' nursery was in full swing at 

 that time. Mr. Trumpey was in charge. He and 

 Jackson Dawson are in a class by themselves. I fear 

 ■we shall never meet their like again. As craftsmen, 

 each is peerless in his time. The result of Trumpey's 

 work was sure to find a home at these places. From 

 Parsons came the Japanese yew Taxus cuspidata, and 

 its variety, brevifolia, now becomes famous twenty-five 

 years after introduction. It is one of the mysteries 

 of the age that these grand hardy yews are so little 

 known. They were probably sent by Hogg to Parsons, 

 and the first plants introduced were grafted upon T. 

 baccata. We have many large plants of both the type 

 and its variety, but ours are exceeded in size by those 

 at Dosoris. For what reason, we cannot tell, but the 

 plants at Dosoris, of the tj'pe, carry a leader, and 

 assume an oval, tree-like form. None of ours have 

 done this. All are spreading and flat-topped. The 

 dwarf form produces seeds freely, and from this source 

 we shall some day have a large supply and some varia- 

 tion in form. Seedlings are already coming up in the 

 neighborhood of the larger plants, and very interesting 



