204 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Fig. 71. THE USEFUL CONIFERS. The Blue Spruce makes one of the finest of 



specimen conifers for lawn planting. It never shows at its best when crowded 



in with other stock, but wants to be alone with plenty of room for development. 



All too often we find it planted too close to the drive or walk 



Wherever home grounds are being laid out, whether large or 

 small, there is always a place for conifers, and plants not sold this 

 year simply grow into more money if left in the nursery or trans- 

 planted so that they can become specimens. You cannot afford to 

 crowd them, no matter what the variety, if you want perfectly shaped 

 plants, and that, of course, is what counts with conifers. 



NORWAY SPRUCE (Picea excelsa) 



I start the list with the Norway Spruce, not because it can be 

 compared with many other beautiful varieties there are, but because 

 it is one of the most useful of all. It is a fast grower, which means 

 that from small, transplanted seedlings, eight to ten inches high, 

 you can get suitable plants for the filling of window boxes the 

 second year. Later on you can offer the larger stock at a more 

 reasonable price than is possible with almost any of the other sorts. 

 There are times when you have to fill an order calling for the largest 

 evergreens for massing in a screen at the smallest possible price 

 and that is when you want Norway Spruce. Also bear in mind that 

 each year more and more specimens of this plant are wanted for 

 Christmas, either in or out of tubs. 



