242 Landscape (iar 



question the most graceful and beautiful evergreen tree 

 commonly grown in (his connlry. In ils wild haunts, by 

 the side of sonic sleep mountain, or on Hie dark wooded 

 hanks of some deep valley, it is most often a grand and 

 picturesque tree; when, as in some parts of the northern 

 stales, il covers counlless acres of wild forest land, it be- 

 comes gloomy and monotonous. Hence there are few of 

 our readers, unfamiliar as they are with il but in these 

 phases, who have the least idea of its striking beauty when 

 grown alone in a smooth lawn, ils branches extending freely 

 on all sides and sweeping the ground, ils loose spray and 

 full feathery foliage Moating freely in the air and its propor- 

 tions full of I he tinest symmetry and harmony. For airy 

 gracefulness, and the absence of thai stiffness more or less 

 prevalent in most evergreens, we must be allowed, therefore, 

 to claim I he Mrsl place for I he hemlock, as a tree for the 

 lawn or park. 



t'nforluualely the hemlock has the reputation of being a 

 dillicult tree to transplant; and though we have seen a 

 thousand of them removed with scarcely the loss of half a 

 dozen plants, yet we are bound to confess, that, with the 

 ordinary rude handling of the common gardener it is often 

 impatient of removal. The truth is all evergreens are far 

 more lender in their roots than deciduous trees. They 

 will not bear thai exposure to the sun and air, even for a 

 short period, which seems to have little effect upon most 

 deciduous trees. Once fairly dried and shrivelled, their 

 roots are slow to regain their former vital power, and the 

 plant in consequence dies. 



This point well understood and guarded against, the 

 hemlock is by no means a difficult tree to remove from the 

 nurseries.* When taken from I he woods, it is best done 

 with a fro/en ball of earth in the winter; or, if the soil is 

 sufficiently tenacious, with a damp ball in the spring. 



* In the mil-scries lliis, and other evergreens, over four feet, should be 

 regularly root pruned; i.e., the longest roots shortened with a spade e\ei v 

 year. Treated thus, there is no diUieully whatever in removing trees of 

 ten or twelve feet hi.^li. A.. I. D. 



