NATIVE AND HARDY EVERGREENS 227 



of the British Isles, especially in the southern and 

 western counties, and constitute one of the great 

 glories of the English garden, delighting in these 

 sea-bound islands, with their cool and moist atmo- 

 sphere. 



It has been established, therefore, that the ever- 

 green seeks an equable climate, free from extremes 

 of cold and heat, and with an even supply of mois- 

 ture to both leaf and root, favouring in a marked 

 degree the sea-coast with its salt-laden winds. As 

 we travel south, so opportunities for growing an 

 increasing variety of evergreen trees and shrubs 

 become more apparent, until, in the south of Corn- 

 wall and the south-west of Ireland, things may be 

 planted out with safety which towards the midlands 

 and north would scarcely exist. But latitude is not 

 everything, and easily proved so by the rude vigour 

 of plants from New Zealand and the Himalayas 

 that are happy in the north of Scotland, but failures 

 in the midlands and further south of England, 

 requiring the protection of glass to develop their 

 characteristic beauty. 



The place for the tender evergreens must be pro- 

 tected from dry north and east winds. Mr. Bean 

 writes me : " One of the most striking examples I 

 have met with of the importance of having a situa- 

 tion such as is described is the Duchess' garden at 

 Belvoir Castle. Belvoir is in the eastern midlands, 

 a district where the average temperature is certainly 

 not high, and where, during my stay there, the ther- 

 mometer fell on more than one occasion to zero 



