BULLETIN 



OF THE 



Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station 



NUMBER 190. FEBRUARY, 1908. 





EVERGREENS: THEIR USES AND CULTURE. 



BY W. J. GREEN AND W. EMERSON BONTRAGER. 



Evergreens are of peculiar yalue both for shelter and orna- 

 hient. At all times they furnish a barrier to wind and cold, and the 

 remarkably picturesque forms assumed by the adult specimens of 

 many species add much to the attractiveness of a country home, 

 especially when their boughs gracefully bend beneath a load of 

 snow. In winter, when other trees are destitute of foliage, these 

 majestic trees lend to the scene an air of animation which mitigates 

 in a large measure the severity and desolation of the season. If. 

 tastefully intermingled with other trees and shrubs about the home 

 they give a warmth of verdure and variety of outline unattainable 

 without their use. That many of the evergreens can be success- 

 fully grown upon thin sandy soils is an additional argument in their 

 favor. 



Where grown to show the characteristic beauty of individual 

 trees, evergreens should be grouped naturally and not so closely as 

 to crowd upon each other, usually along the sides or at the rear of 

 the lawn. Planting in straight lines should be avoided, and, in small 

 groups, the disposition of trees in odd numbers is to be preferred. 

 Immediate eifects may be secured by planting thickly, but thinning 

 should not be so long deferred as to work injury to the lower 

 branches of those trees which it is intended to grow to maturity. 

 The kidividual who expects to begin the planting of evergreens 

 should not underestimate the importance of ascertaining what 

 species and varieties have been found vigorous and hardy after 

 being tested over a wide range of country under dissimilar condi- 

 tions. After a beginning has been made, specimens may be added 

 from time to time as the planter determines what kinds are best 

 suited to his needs and locality. 



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