94 JOURNAL OF THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM (vol. iv 



over the Conifers. Evonymus, probably Evonymus patens, grows freely 

 as a shrub or as a ground cover according to its location in sun or shade, 

 and there is too, a fine hedge of this interesting plant. 



Hall's Amaryllis (Lycoris squamigera) is naturalized in a number of 

 places. This interesting plant sends up in the Spring its long leaves 

 flatly rounded at the ends. Later the foliage disappears and is followed 

 in August by clusters of beautiful, fragrant pink flowers. 



In another location on the farm there are several large specimens of 

 the Japanese Walnut (Juglans Sieboldiana) producing edible nuts in great 

 round dark cases. 



A delicate shrub flowering early in the Spring, Corylopsis pauciflora 

 still remains in the old garden of Dr. Hall's house, and there is a hardy 

 Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) which occasionally bears fruit. There is also 

 a Loquat. The crowning glory of all, however, is the magnificent great 

 Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata var. nana) which stands in a sheltered 

 spot in the garden. This tree is believed to be the original Japanese 

 Yew brought to America. At the base there is a short trunk twelve inches 

 diameter and from this point the rough-barked branches stretch out like 

 octopus feelers in every direction. The specimen was w r ell clothed through- 

 out until a few years ago when lightening struck a neighboring tree and 

 also killed several branches on one side of the Yew. The heavy crop of 

 bright red berries borne in the fall, when seen against the background 

 of dark evergreen foliage, gives the tree a striking appearance. The 

 hardy qualities of this yew combined with its tolerance for shade are now 

 making it a popular plant for general garden planting. 



Dr. Hall's life in Florida cannot be very clearly traced. He spent a 

 number of winters in his Jacksonville house and then became interested 

 in a development scheme at Fort George Island at the mouth of the St. 

 John's River, tw r enty-six miles below Jacksonville. Here a hotel and four 

 or five cottage were built by Dr. Hall and several associates, and the settle- 

 ment was run with considerable success for four of five years. Then one 

 of the chief supporters of the scheme dropped out, the hotel burned down 

 just at the time when the insurance had lapsed, a storm destroyed a smaller 

 hotel which the company had erected on the beach, and practically all 

 the money invested was lost. Unfortunately, Dr. Hall had little judgment 

 about financial matters, so that this collapse, combined with an even 

 more foolish venture with a gold mine in Georgia, left him with very 

 scanty funds. To complete the misfortune, his Orange-grove was des- 

 troyed by the great freeze of 1880-81 and was a total loss. 1 The farm 

 at Bristol was mortgaged, most of the Florida property was sold, and for 

 the remainder of his life Dr. Hall lived largely on the proceeds of the sale 

 of his valuable Oriental curios. Some of the pieces were bought for the 

 Boston Art Museum and others by private individuals. Fortunately a 

 considerable number were kept and now belong to his daughters. 



1 For a graphic description of the great Florida freeze, see Helen Harcourt's "Florida 

 Fruit, How to Raise Them." 



