Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



prieties. If you insist on keeping them within prison- 

 walls, you must at least leave them pretty much alone. 

 For small grounds they are simply impossible ; they 

 spoil their surroundings, and their surroundings return 

 evil for evil ; but in semi-rough nature, in some frag- 

 ment of a lawn that is not supervised too much, they 

 feel at home and are interesting. 



The best native species are the dwarf and the stag- 

 horn ; the latter aspires to be a tree, and very rarely 

 succeeds ; the dwarf is about the most satisfactory, nor 

 is it so dwarf as the name implies, as it sometimes 

 reaches a height of fifteen or twenty feet; unlike the 

 others its pinnate leaves are very glossy, and it rivals 

 all its kindred in autumn's fiery brilliancy. One of 

 the most strikingly effective little trees in the Park 

 in October proved to be the dwarf sumach. The cut- 

 leaved variety of the smooth sumach is very orna- 

 mental. 



If you have spacious grounds, create in a far-off 

 corner a semblance of nature's wildness, mingle sumachs 

 with low shrubbery and scattered trees, and a refreshing 

 glimpse of unconventional freedom will be afforded. 



Never fraternizing with these humble sorts is the 

 more elegant Venetian sumach, better known as smoke- 

 tree j but it takes a microscope to see the relationship. 

 If it were human it would probably wish to repudiate 

 its connections, for it moves in a much higher circle 

 than its country cousins ever aspire to. This makes an 

 elegant centre-piece for a small greensward when wrapped 

 in its smoky cloud ; but at other times, with its long- 

 stemmed round leaves, it has nothing special to com^ 



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