116 COMMON SENSE GARDENS 



presented the smooth surface so much admired 

 and sought for. The old Buxus sempervirens was 

 used also for specimens on the lawn or in front of 

 the house, and if allowed to grow freely it devel- 

 oped into the most picturesque tree of peculiar 

 conformation. On page 121 is a picture of an old 

 hedge of Buxus sempervirens and a specimen tree 

 of the same variety that was probably planted at 

 the same time. There is one on each side of the 

 porch steps of this old farmhouse in Westchester 

 County. It has taken many, many years for 

 them to reach so large a size. Buxus semper- 

 virens var. arborescens is the Tree Box that is 

 grown in large quantities in Europe. If used for 

 edging it will be found to develop much more 

 rapidly that the old variety, although the colour 

 is not so good nor the growth so compact. In 

 Washington, D. C., arborescens has been much 

 used in the public squares where it has grown to 

 the height of ten or twelve feet. 



Modern Box resembles the low-toned, scarred 

 antiques about as much as machine-made furniture 

 reproduced to-day from the designs of Hepple- 

 white and Sheraton resembles the time-softened 



