534 EVERGREEN TREES AXD SHRUBS. 



shoot is three or four feet long, and extremely succulent, this rup- 

 ture is most often the result when the sun being hot, activity of 

 circulation is excessive. When, however, the exuberance of 

 growth is checked by poor, thin soil, the tree grows enough, 

 and seems to mature its wood — at any rate sufficient to with- 

 stand what might be called determination of sap to the head ; 

 so that, in future, we shall always plant excelsas in poor soil." 



It is some years since the above was written. Mr. Sargent's 

 finest trees of this species are now in a precarious condition. He 

 has stated the symptoms of their decline, but there seems to be 

 something in the inherent organism of the tree to produce these 

 results, which will not be fully counteracted by the treatment 

 recommended. The fact that Parsons & Co.'s superb tree — 

 probably the finest in this country — is growing healthily (thus far) 

 in a soil rich enough to produce the most luxuriant growth, tends to 

 prove that the rank growth is not the invariable cause of the decay 

 of these trees. This tree is growing in a position exposed on all 

 sides to wind and sun. We have seen the commonly cultivated 

 varieties of cherry, like the black tartarian and the yellow Spanish, 

 growing in different soils in the same town ; in one, always forming 

 short well-ripened wood, and growing into healthy trees; and in 

 the other, growing excessively, and developing early disease and 

 decay. A well-drained stiff clay produces the healthy trees ; and 

 a warm sandy surface soil, with a springy subsoil, produces a 

 plethora of growth, rupture of the bark, exudation of gum, and 

 all the symptoms of a diseased condition. If a tree that succeeds 

 so generally in the northern States as the cherry, is liable to the 

 peculiar form of disease that distinguishes the Bhotan pine, it is a 

 reason to be hopeful that the best soil and exposure for the latter 

 may be determined, so as to give assurance of growing it to maturity 

 in some localities. We would follow Mr. Sargent's suggestions 

 implicitly as far as relates to starting the tree in a poor surface 

 soil, but we would leave it exposed on all sides to the sun and 

 wind from the beginning, and seek to harden its growth by giving it 

 deep root in a rich dry subsoil. 



But it must be remembered that the Bhotan pine is a native of 

 the latitude of the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico : and it is 



