12 DWABF AND 8L0W-GE0WIN0 CONIFERS 



One must select coloured varieties with care, rejecting 

 any that are not clear in colour or distinct in marking. 

 It is a mistake to have too many. One should include a 

 number sufficient only to break the monotony of universal 

 green. Of glaucous blue forms, Juniperus virgiiiiana, 

 var. Kosteri, Cupressus Lawsoniana, var. Fletcheri, 

 Abies concolor glauca compacta; and of golden foliaged 

 forms, Juniperus chinensis, var. aurea, Thuya occidentalis 

 " Rheingold,'^ and Chamoecyparis pisifera filifera aurea 

 may be selected. 



Propagation — Grafting. — All dwarf conifers can be 

 reproduced by grafting, but this method should not be 

 adopted except as a last extremity; in the first place, 

 grafted plants as a rule grow stronger than those on their 

 own roots ; in the next place, they are frequently affected 

 in their growth, habit, and characteristics by the stock on 

 which they are grafted. Carriere notes one case where a 

 dwarf form of Cupressus obtusa completely lost its identity 

 by being grafted on the Lawson cypress. In the third 

 place, grafted plants more frequently revert to normal 

 arborescent trees. Avoid grafting, then, if possible, and 

 discourage your nurseryman from supplying you with 

 cheap Continental grafts. Of course, the pines are difficult 

 to grow without grafting, but there is no reason why one 

 should ever have to put up with grafted spruces or junipers. 



Cuttings. — Most of the conifers, spruces, yew^s, junipers, 

 and firs can be easily propagated from cuttings; the 

 majority of nurserymen w^ill not tell you so; they prefer 

 grafting, but some of the Continental nurserymen do it 

 regularly. Spath of Berlin used to raise thousands of 

 dwarf spruces yearly in this manner, and he was advertis- 

 ing them as late as 1914. I have raised young plants in 

 this manner myself, and have struck Picea<s, Abies, Taxus, 

 Juniperus, Sequoia, Cupressus, Pseudotsuga, Tsuga, 

 Thuya, and Thuyopsis ; in fact, the only conifers that I 

 do not recollect striking are Cedrus a,nd Pinus. 



I do not know what method the Continental nurserymen 



