CONIFERS AND PINES 103 



chalky waste might be taken as a guide to planting 

 some of these with nearly allied foreign kinds. But 

 the important thing in all such planting is to have 

 the satisfactory restfulness and beauty of harmony 

 that can only be obtained by the right and limited 

 choice of material. 



Although a few Conifers are deciduous, such as 

 the Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba), Taxodium distichum, 

 the Golden Larch (Pseudolarix Kcempferi\ and the 

 true Larches, the great bulk of the family consists 

 of evergreens. It is to the Coniferae, indeed, that 

 belong the only hardy evergreen trees which in 

 stature and size rival the large deciduous trees of 

 cool temperate latitudes. Although our only native 

 Conifers are the Yew, the Scotch Pine, and the 

 Juniper, there is a sufficient variety of soil and 

 climate within the limits of the British Isles to 

 provide suitable conditions for nearly the whole of 

 the family. It is only a few subtropical species that 

 cannot be accommodated. This does not imply that 

 the whole of the hardy Conifers can be grown satis- 

 factorily in any one place. In even the best Conifer 

 localities there are some species that will not reach 

 perfection, and in the general run of gardens there is 

 a considerable proportion of species about which 

 the same must be said. This fact, however, has 

 often been overlooked. 



The extreme popularity of Conifers, which was at 

 its height from forty to fifty years ago, undoubtedly 

 led to the enriching of the parks and gardens of this 

 country with what are now, in many instances, 



