170 ANNUAL REPORT 



own native trees are better adapted to our wants than any imported 

 ones, and will be found in the end to give much more satisfactory re- 

 sults; and when, in addition, we reflect that we have more than twice 

 as many species as are found on the continent of Europe, while many 

 of them excel in grace an 1 dignity, and in beauty of autumnal foliage 

 are beyond all comparison with the forests of Europe, it would seem 

 a waste of words to urge upon tree planters to look no further than 

 our own resources for supplying their wants. But the great difficulty 

 lies in the scarcity of such material in our nurseries, which, with the 

 exception of a few native varieties which are well known and in con- 

 stant demand, like the elm, ash and maple, are stocked almost wholly 

 with foreign trees and shrubs, often inferior in beauty, and always 

 found to be less durable than native stock which may be close at hand 

 and eagerly sought by foreign tree growers. 



European trees, after fifty years trial, and in repeated instances 

 with great promise for a long time of highly satisfactory results, have 

 almost without exception proved inferior in beauty and durability to 

 our native stock. 



No foreign evergreen can compare in majesty and beauty with our 

 white pine, our hemlock or our white spruce. The same comparison 

 may be made between the English elm, the European linden, ash and 

 maples, and ours. 



The European oaks are altogether inferior to ours in number as well 

 as character, and yet we may see how little we appreciate the treas- 

 ures of our native forests, in the contempt with which we regard the 

 overcup oak, one of the most picturesque of the species, which is 

 highly prized by foreign cultivators, but _ruthlessly destroyed with us 

 with the contemptuous remark that " its nothing but a burr oak, and 

 isn't worth saving." 



The Norway maple, the European larch and the French white wil- 

 low, are importations which have proved well worthy of extensive 

 adoption and culture in this country. 



The Japanese gingko tree has proved so valuable an addition to the 

 list of ornamental trees at the East, that it is well worthy of thorough 

 trial here, and it is probable that many very valuable acquisitions 

 may be made from Japan, China and Eastern Siberia, the climate and 

 aspect of which regions correspond more nearly wich our own than. 

 any portion of Western Europe. 



ORNAMENTAL SHRUBBERY. 



It is not as generally known as it t^hould be that the seeds of trees and 



