386 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is the longest period of the year, the most important thing for con- 

 sideration, in the writer's estimation, is the problem of instituting 

 all improvements with a view to making them as effective as possible 

 when nature is taking her long rest, between the months of Novem- 

 ber and May. This is not so difficult as is sometimes imagined. 

 The beautiful and unexcelled scenery in our native woods and hill- 

 sides, during the winter, oft'ers one solution to the question of perma- 

 nent home improvement, for even the untrained eye cannot fail to 

 perceive the exquisite shades and contrasts between the whiteness 

 of the snow, the blue and brown of the hills and slopes and the rich 

 green of the native evergreens. It is said that nature furnishes the 

 pattern for everything that is really beautiful in human existence, 

 and the statement is probably nowhere more true than when we look 

 abroad over the forest and valley for hints to assist us in making the 

 home what it should be. That this can be accomplished, even in 

 the most limited space, has been proven many times by people living 

 in crowded city lots, and that it is worth the effort is beyond question. 

 A word said for the native or cone-bearing evergreens is to 

 speak of one of the most important items in the decoration of the 

 home grounds. To one who has made a study of varieties and their 

 arrangement for landscape effects, the evergreen offers almost un- 

 limited possibilities. Certain it is, that in the reproduction of natural 

 scenery in miniature on the lawn, no more effective tree exists ; and 

 when we consider the brilliant contrasts and yet soft effects it gives 

 against the glaring whiteness of the snow or the sombre browns 

 of late autumn, it becomes an indispensable factor in the home. 

 There is a delicate, downy appearance in the thickly growing needles 

 of even our common jack pine that is not duplicated by any decidu- 

 ous tree. The greatest characteristic of the evergreen is, of course, 

 its perpetual nature. By the time the deciduous trees have lost their 

 leaves in autumn the evergreen has also shed its old needles, and 

 when winter has begun in earnest the boughs are covered with only 

 the freshest and greenest of the lately grown foliage. In varieties, 

 the pine, spruce and cedar families offer us the widest assortment 

 for northern culture, and furnish trees adapted to all purposes : 

 stately specimens for the lawn, thick growing species for shelter 

 belts, combined varieties for mass or clustered effects, low growing 

 sorts for hedges and boundary lines — all these features of a well ar- 

 ranged home can be constructed, not only of living material, but, 

 through the use of these evergreens, may also be made in a manner 

 that will give to w^inter a touch of warmth and beauty that will make 

 the home attractive the vear around. 



