STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 375 



the turf, but it is altogether more airy in form, and of a richer and darker green 

 color. At this size it is the symbol of stately elegance." The late Prof. F. B. 

 Hough, Chief of Forestry Division, United States Department of Agriculture says: 

 "The Douglas Fir (Abies Douglasii) is incomparably the finest of the firs, surpass- 

 ing them all in size and equalling the best in value as a timber tree, and is found 

 to withstand the drouth better than most conifers, vrhile it equals or surpasses most 

 of them in growth." Thomas Meehan in his valuable "Gardener's Monthly" in 

 speaking of it, says: "Raised from Colorado seed, this fine tree has proved 

 itself perfectly hardy in the very low temperature and severe winds of the north- 

 western prairies, and in eastern Massachussetts where it has stood entirely uninjured 

 during the last sixteen years, although plants raised from seed from the Pacific 

 coast are quite tender and unable to endure our winters." Robert Douglas of 

 Waukegan, 111., the most extensive grower of evergreens in the world, having fully 

 tested seeds planted in his grounds from California and Colorado, says that "trees 

 from seed collected in California proved not hardy, while trees produced from seed 

 of the same species, collected by Prof. Parry, from trees on the Rocky Mountains 

 in Colorado, were perfectly hardy." 



Abies Menziesii. — According to De Engleman, the Colorado Menziesii is Picea 

 Pungens, and not the Menziesii of California. This tree commonly called the 

 "Blue" or "Silver spruce" of the Rocky Mountains, must be seen to fully appreciate 

 its faultless beauty. They are, however, rare, and seldom met with. They are 

 found growing at from 7,500 to 9,000 feet altitude, in rich, moist, alluvial soil, at 

 the foot of the mountain, near a stream of water. On account of their peculiar 

 glaceous color and symmetrical form, they are much sought for. In Denver they 

 take the lead of all others. Referring again to the "Gardener's Monthly" Mr. 

 Meehan says, "It was a good winter (1879) to test the point made by Professor 

 Sargent that Abies Menziesii of Colorado is much better adapted to endure eastern 

 winters than a Menziesii of the Pacific coast. We (Meehan) examined recently 

 some specimens in Germantown that had been through the winter side by side, 

 and found all the Pacific plants with their leaves off, while the Colorado specimens 

 had not a leaf injured." 



The Colorado form is known in nurseries as Abies Menziesii Parryana, we suppose 

 named in honor of Dr. Parry the celebrated American botanist, who years ago 

 collected and distributed to professional growers seeds of the Rocky Mountain 

 Conifer." This species, says Thomas Meehan, has been tested at various times on 

 our northwestern prairies, enduring a temperature of 30° below zero without injury, 

 and also very extensivisly near Boston where it has stood out entirely uninjured 

 during the last sixteen years. This is not only one of. the hardiest, but the most 

 beautiful of all spruces. 



In April 1860, John F. Baldwin of Oltey, Iowa, dug some Menzis spruce out of 

 the snow up on the Rocky Mountains. When dug they were less than two feet 

 high. They were packed in hay, nothing better to be obtained and hauled across 

 the plains in a wagon to Iowa, being over a month on the way. In Mr. Baldwin's 

 report to Prof. Sargent in 1880 he says, "these trees are now twenty-five feet high, 

 and are very hardy, having withstood the most severe winters without being the 

 least killed back." 



He considers them as hardy and beautiful as any tree found in the country. 



