356 



HORTICULTURE 



September 5, 1914 



A VISIT TO THE BERKSHIRE HILLS 



The garden committee of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society this 

 year, instead of making a number of 

 isolated visits to various gardens, 

 merged its entire season's work Into 

 one trip to the western part of the 

 State, spending two days in inspect- 

 ing a number of the notable estates 

 in Lenox, Stockbridge and Lee. Head- 

 quarters was at the Wendell Hotel, 

 Pittsfield, and the members of the 

 committee with three invited guests 

 made the rounds in automobiles 

 under the guidance of several of the 

 representative gardeners of that sec- 

 tion, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 

 25 and 26 being occupied in this de- 

 lightful manner and fourteen places 

 in all being visited. 



A Glorious Country. 



The country was at its best after 

 the frequent rains and the effect of 

 the clear cool mountain air on all 

 vegetation was apparent in the bril- 

 liant coloring of 



markets anywhere, the phloxes which 

 for brilliancy, size of truss and profu- 

 sion of flowers made a picture rarely 

 equalled, and physostegias and pentste- 

 mons both of which seemed to revel 

 in their environment. Last winter 

 made awful havoc among the flower- 

 ing shrubs and herbaceous perennials 

 and vast quantities of annuals were 

 planted this year to fill in the gaps. 

 Of these the cannas, dianthuses, nico- 

 tianas, Phlox drummondii, petunias, 

 etc.. make a gorgeous display. 



Expansive lawns, with springy vel- 

 vety surface such as we have been told 

 one must go to England to see in 

 perfection, here come very close to 

 the English standard. The motor 

 mowers are kept constantly going. 

 Hidden behind protecting tree belts 

 are the kitchen gardens which by the 

 quality of the vegetables produced 

 have given Lenox an invincible repu- 

 tation in the annual exhibitions. Only 

 in one respect did the visitors observe 



with the fragrance of this lovely flow- 

 er, plants in large pots towering seven 

 to nine feet and arching under their 

 weight of thousands of pure white 

 and pale blue flowers reaching from 

 pot to tips. The methods of bringing 

 these plants to such floral perfection 

 is to pot them, one year old, in the tall 

 and care for them outside during the 

 following summer until the flowers 

 are about to open, when they are then 

 taken into the piazza or room where 

 the bees cannot get at the flowers to 

 fertilize them. This prevents the for- 

 mation of seed and the flowers last a 

 long time. Such results are impossi- 

 ble in the open. 



Some of the Summer Estates. 



A word as to some of the more no- 

 ticable features of each place may 

 be interesting for our readers, taking 

 them in order as visited. All are in 

 Lenox except as otherwise mentioned. 



Allen Winden Farm, the home of 

 Charles Lanier, is 



the annual and 

 hardy perennial 

 flowers which 

 have been so lav- 

 ishly planted in 

 the grounds and 

 gardens. The 

 mercury had 

 dropped to 38 de- 

 grees on two re- 

 cent nights and 

 golden rods. As- 

 ter Novae Angliae, 

 Japan anemones 

 and other sub- 

 jects that wait 

 for autumn tem- 

 peratures were 

 blooming, w h i le 

 many of the 

 wooded hills al- 

 ready showed 

 traces of fall col- 

 oring. 



There is no 

 more attractive 



and picturesque section anywhere than 

 these far-famed Berkshire Hills. From 

 every vantage point one views miles 

 upon miles of heavily wooded hills 

 and deep sombre ravines with blue 

 mountains far beyond. Each one of 

 the great estates seems to overlook 

 and dominate the entire landscape, 

 all being on high eminences more or 

 less widely separated. Each estate 

 has its own individual attractions, 

 different in the architecture of the 

 buildings, in the la.vout of the grounds 

 and the style of planting. Most of 

 them have a setting of noble old 

 pines, hemlocks and elms. The road- 

 side elms and maples of this entire 

 section are grand beyond description. 



The Gardens. 



Each flower garden also has its dis- 

 tinctive style and outstanding beauty, 

 but there were certain things that 

 were common to all and astonished 

 the visitors by their rampant luxuri- 

 ance and superb quality of bloom. 

 Among these were the asters, the like 

 of which cannot be found among the 

 choicest products in any of the flower 



E,\TR.\NtE TO WHE.iTI.EK.II 



any lack and that was in the compar- 

 atively small attention to fruit cul- 

 ture. From apples down to currants 

 the general absence of fruit gardens 

 was commented upon. 



The Greenhouses. 



Magnificent conservatories are found 

 on all but one or two of the estates 

 visited and the several greenhouse 

 building concerns can each point with 

 pride to one or more splendid exam- 

 ples of their structural ability. If 

 fruit is lacking outside it is not at 

 all so under glass for many houses 

 of grapes, nectarines, peaches, melons 

 and figs afford evidence of the cultural 

 skill of the gardeners in charge in this 

 exacting department. Rose houses, 

 carnation houses, palm houses, chrys- 

 anthemum houses all contribute to the 

 luxury which is apparent everywhere 

 and superb displays of tuberous be- 

 gonias, gloxinias and other indoor sub- 

 jects are frequent. The visitors were 

 all most profoundly impressed by the 

 invariable use everywhere of Cam- 

 panula pyramidalis. Halls and cor- 

 ridors were lavishly adorned and filled 



under the care of 

 A. H. Wingett, 

 and comprises 

 200 acres. Here 

 may be seen some 

 fine sub - tropical 

 bedding. A group 

 of Thuja prami- 

 dalis 2.5 ft. tall 

 was much ad- 

 mired. This i s 

 one of the older 

 estates and it is 

 maintained in ad- 

 mirable complete- 

 ness. 



Elm Court 

 Farm, the W. D. 

 Sloane estate, 

 1000 acres, is in 

 charge of Fred 

 Heeremans. Here 

 are many acres 

 of fine lawn, 

 fringed w'ith well- 

 placed tree belts. 

 The white marble slabs which form 

 a pergola floor have been set an 

 inch or so apart and the grass 

 allowed to grow between, making a 

 very pretty sight and adding the effect 

 of antiquity. A house of crotons here 

 came in for much admiration. Six- 

 teen of the regular force of employees 

 left this place to go home and fight 

 for France. 



W. B. Osgood Field's place. High- 

 lawn, is in Lee. George Foulsham is 

 superintendent. This stately estate 

 overlooking the Tyringham valley is 

 still in the constructive stage, being 

 only six years in existence. Mr. Field 

 met and personally conducted the vis- 

 itors about the grounds. There is al- 

 ready an atmosphere of solid dignity 

 which impresses one. The only flow- 

 ers seen were scarlet cannas and scar- 

 let salvias. Two rows of elms 40 ft 

 high, which had been successfully 

 transplanted three years ago were par- 

 ticularly interesting. The central fea- 

 ture of the plateau where the mansion 

 stands is a large curbed bathing pool 

 and fountain. A large part of the es- 

 tate is maintained in wild condition. 



