214 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



Ornamental Shrubs. 

 By William C. Strong, Newton Highlands. 



I have been requested to add a few suggestions in regard to the 

 use of Shrubs ; which include a class of plants occup3'ing an inter- 

 mediate position, in point of size, between the trees and the herbs 

 of the field. 



When we consider the vast range of material in the vegetable 

 kingdom, extending from the minutest forms of microscopic fun- 

 gus-growth and running by easy gradations up to the towering 

 heights of the Sequoias, which lift their giant heads in air more 

 than a hundred feet higher than the topmost stone of Bunker 

 Hill monument, we become lost in wonder and admiration of 

 the wisdom and the goodness of Him who has so freely displayed 

 his limitless resources in the works of his hand. What infinite 

 skill in the vast variety in form and size and diverse fitness for 

 every conceivable requirement ! With reverent thankfulness 

 should we seek to make the best use of these gifts of a bountiful 

 Creator. 



At the outset, then, we shall naturally consider the special ad- 

 vantages of Shrubs in respect to size. 



There is a place for everything and each will fit in its own place 

 better than anytliing else. We would not be guilt}' of such incon- 

 gruity as to dwarf a humble cottage into insignificance at the foot 

 of some mighty monarch of the woods. However much we may 

 admire the noble grandeur of the forests, their heavy shades are 

 not fitting places for the abode of man. Our dwelling places 

 must be under the open sky where we can get the benefit of clear 

 air and warm sunlight. We may use trees for protectiug our 

 houses from the too fierce glare of the sun ; we may line our streets 

 with trees for shade ; we may plant groups for landscape effect 

 and for wind-breaks ; but there is a limit to the use of trees in 

 proximity to our dwellings which becomes the more apparent as 

 the population becomes more dense. 



It is at this point that we find the greatest usefulness of plants 

 of smaller growth, which will yield wooded eliects without pro- 

 ducing an overshadowing mass of foliage. 



We can readily see how api)ropriate for the homes in our popu- 

 lous towns are the shrubs and ti'ees of smaller growth, of which 



