SHADE, LAWN, AND PARK TREES. 343 



eties are also much planted, also the red-flowered and other 

 fine varieties and species. In the Wect the native type of 

 jEsculus ylabra is mainly planted, except south of the 40th 

 parallel, where most of the European and native species and 

 their varieties are hardy. 



The beautiful nursery varieties and species of the beech 

 can only be grown on granitic soils relatively free from 

 lime as a rule. Where the blueberries, huckleberries, and 

 cranberries succeed, the beeches can safely be planted. On 

 the drift soils of the West they fail to thrive. 



Some of the Desirable Evergreens. 



At the North the word evergreen is applied to the cone- 

 bearing trees with persistent foliage. The broad-leaved 

 evergreens are mainly confined to the South. 



328. The Spruces. The Norway spruce has been propa- 

 gated more extensively as yet than any other species, and 

 has been widely planted in the Eastern and prairie States. 

 But it is now losing its popularity. As the trees attain the 

 age of thirty years at the East they become relatively thin, 

 and in the West they begin to fail in twenty years. At 

 this time the first-planted trees west of Chicago are dead or 

 in a low state of vitality. This is equally true of its nursery 

 varieties. Yet the Norway is rapid in growth, and for a 

 number of years it shows thrift and beauty as lawn speci- 

 mens or as shelters and wind-breaks. The White spruce 

 is a Northern species, and varies in hardiness and longevity. 

 As obtained from the Black Hills in South Dakota, it is a 

 beautiful and long-lived tree over the prairie States, and 

 will probably sustain its record east to the Atlantic. But , 

 it seems to be a long-lived tree as obtained nearer the lakes. 

 At Waukegan, Illinois, trees planted over fifty years ago are 

 still dense in habit, regular in form, and are well branched 



