1882.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



3 



hemlocks take on this weeping form in early 

 youth, but it soon passes away with increasing 

 years. With Sargent's weeping hemlock, how- 

 ever, this beautiful habit is absolutely perma- 

 nent on all specimens grown from grafts of that 

 tree. Mr. H. W. Sargent discovered this weep- 

 ing hemlock about twenty years ago, near his 

 place, at Fishkill on the Hudson, and moved by 

 his enthusiasm and appreciation of choice orna- 

 mental trees, entrusted it for propagation to the 

 distinguished expert J. E.. Trumpy. Turning 

 from this queenly tree, we note the rich grand- 

 eur of the third member of our trio of distin- 

 guished evergreens. Abies pungens is said to be 

 very grand in its natural home of the Rocky 

 Mountains, but its young and more carefully 

 cultured growth on the lawn is without question 

 more beautiful and charming. It is, moreover, 

 the bluest of evergreens, and extremely hardy 

 and vigorous growing withal, 



I should, perhaps, note in passing a fine large 

 Abies excelsa elata, a very singular variety of 

 Norway spruce originating in Flushing. It grows 

 strongly and throws out long branches of gro- 

 tesque form. -One might fancy it, by a little 

 stretch of the imagination, a fit substitute for 

 Araucaria imbricata, which many wish to grow 

 on their lawns in America, but cannot. 



The next group of evergreens we notice is 

 Japanese, and clustered variously in the same 

 section of the lawn. Abies polita, the tiger-tail 

 spruce, is one of the finest and most valuable of 

 the Japanese conifers. It is rich and very char- 

 acteristic in form. The yellow-barked branches 

 extend out stiff and straight, and the glossy 

 bright green stiff-pointed leaves are as sharp and 

 not unlike the spines of a hedgehog. The 

 curious appearance of the ends of the young 

 growth or half bursting leaf buds doubtless sug- 

 gested the name tiger-tail spruce. Abies polita 

 grows slowly, and therefore belongs to the class 

 of evergreens specially fitted for small places. 

 But this little cluster of evergreens close by is 

 even better fitted for such work. They are 

 Japanese junipers, and very hardy. Their ele- 

 gant forms and rich tints would indeed render 

 them distinguished anywhere. One is silvery, 

 at least on a portion of its leaves ; another is 

 almost solid gold, and another, Juniperus aurea 

 variegata, has its leaves simply tipped with gold 

 in the daintiest fashion imaginable. 



Let us look at these two Japanese pines that 

 show so richly even at a little distance. One is 



Pinus densiflora, with bright green leaves, long 

 and very effective. This tree grows very rapidly, 

 soon requiring the application of the pruning 

 knife. In coloring and general habit it is, per- 

 haps, the best of Japanese pines, except Pinus 

 Massoniana, which only surpasses it in a yellow- 

 ish tint that generally pervades the leaves. But 

 the Pinus Massoniana par excellence is the 

 golden-leaved form of that species. It is bright 

 gold, that seems to gain a touch of deeper gold 

 as you pause to look at it. This peculiar effect 

 is greatly enhanced by the fact that Pinus Mas- 

 soniana has two leaves only in a sheath, and 

 these leaves are so clustered on the end of the 

 branches as to spread in every direction. It 

 was this peculiai'ity that gave rise to the name 

 sun ray pine. But the noteworthy habit of this 

 pine is its late variegation. In June, while iri 

 full growth, it is rather greenish golden than 

 golden, but all through the summer its yellow 

 grows brighter, until in September, it makes a 

 very striking object amid the fading leaves of 

 fall. It makes, in fact, a worthy companion for 

 the golden oak, Quercus Concordia, which you 

 will remember has the same peculiarity. It 

 should be also noted that the brightness of the 

 sun ray pine remains uninjured during winter, 

 and never burns in summer, a quality that other 

 so-called golden pines have sadly needed. The 

 bright yellow of the sun ray pine is confined in 

 a peculiar manner to about two-thirds of the 

 leaf. Beginning at the base, first comes gold, 

 then an equal amount of green, and then again 

 as much gold at the tip. The dividing lines 

 between these colors are marked out with singu- 

 lar distinctness, thus giving the utmost delicacy 

 and finish to the variegation. Pinus Massoniana 

 variegata is on the lawn in question, but it is 

 nevertheless very rare and hardly to be obtained 

 anywhere. 



We come now to theEetinosporas, Japan cy- 

 presses, choicest, I was about to say, of all ever- 

 greens ; certainly the choicest, as a class, of all 

 recently introduced evergreens. To Robert For- 

 tune, the great English collector of plants in 

 Japan, we owe probably the real introduction of 

 the leading species of Retinosporas, namely : 

 R. plumosa aurea, R. pisifera and R. obtusa, and 

 a greater benefit could hardly have been done 

 the lawn planter than the introduction of these 

 evergreens. They are hardy, of slow growth, 

 and of most varied beauty in individual speci- 

 mens, the latter being a quality greatly wanting 

 among some evergreens commonly used through- 



