226 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIS'l . 



rid of the evenness. Avoid straight Hnes. 

 Have natural curves. Perennial phlox was 

 good, and of out-door geraniums he men- 

 tioned particularly Carmen Sylvia (white), 

 Sam Sloan (crimson), and Jacqueminot 

 (crimson). The Rambler roses were beau- 

 tiful. He thought they could be grown 

 here — (Mr. E. H. Stevenson from he 

 audience said certainly they could) — but 

 would need protection in winter. Nothing 

 was of so much importance in the beautify- 

 ing of a town as grass. Touching on this 

 point Mr. Fletcher denounced " Lawn Grass 

 Mixtures." What was wanted was not a 

 mixture of grass of different texture and 

 different colors, but one grass. Nothing 

 was better for a lawn than our own Cana- 

 dian " Jiine " grass — also known as Ken- 

 tucky blue grass and spear grass. A little 

 White Dutch clover might be put with it, if 

 desired. Dr. Fletcher spoke of the advant- 

 age to Renfrew people of having nurseries 

 here, from which they could get good and 

 tried trees and shrubs. He also at different 

 points in his address quoted from " The 



Hints for City Improvement," printed on a 

 large card by the Hamilton Civic Improve- 

 ment League, a copy of which was lying on 

 the speaker's desk. He thought it would be 

 well if the whole list of " Don'ts " was pub- 

 lished here. Touching the hint " Don't 

 Spit on the Sidewalks," he remarked on he 

 great change that had come over the Ameri- 

 cans in the last few years. It was noted as 

 a nation of " spitters." Yet to-day com- 

 paratively little spitting was done on the 

 streets or in the cars there, simply because 

 the people had come to the conclusion that 

 they might do harm to others, might spread 

 consumption, by spitting. For consider- 

 ably more than an hour Dr. Fletcher held 

 the interested attention of his audience, by a 

 pleasant address in which there was inci- 

 dentally introduced much teaching of high 

 morality. After several questions had been 

 answered by Dr. Fletcher and the chairman, 

 a vote of thanks, proposed by the mayor and 

 Rev. W. M. H. Quartermaine, was heartily 

 carried and tendered to the speaker of the 

 evening. 



THE OLD FOREST TREES. 



Sir, — On page 59 of the February num- 

 ber some one finds a big fault with the new 

 settler for " guilty thoughtlessness " in not 

 leaving here and there as he clears the for- 

 est away to make a farm, " single specimens 

 of those grand old maples, pines, elms, etc., 

 to be the chief ornaments of the homestead, 

 etc." Now, every one knows some of 

 something, but no one knows all of every- 

 thing. Those " settlers " know quite well 

 that it would be utterly useless to leave one 

 or more of those grand old trees for orna- 

 ment, because the first gale will bring them 

 down. Where they grew they had the pro- 

 tection of other trees, and so did not root 

 strong enough to stand alone. The observ- 

 ing man will note that the edge of old forests 

 is always tangled more or less by uprooted 



trees where exposed to strong winds. No, 

 ornamental trees must be planted, and should 

 be very young so they can prepare anchors 

 as fast as they are set sail. But I do think 

 settlers are " guilty of thoughtlessness " in 

 not planting ornamental trees as soon as the 

 streets are properly lined out, and also thick- 

 ets for sheltering stock yards. How grate- 

 ful we feel to those who went before us, 

 when we see the streets shaded by beautiful 

 trees. Sometimes their beauty is marred 

 by crookedness, too close planting, etc., but 

 they did the best they could, and we will do 

 well by doing better, according to our privi- 

 leges and light. But better or worse, by all 

 means plant trees. 

 Berwick, N. S. D. C. Crosby. 



