

EVERGREEN ORNAMENTAL TREES. 483 



plants, which, when judiciously arranged and combined 

 in the summer, will alter the whole character of their 

 grounds. We have in our eye at this moment, many 

 fine places, both on this river and in different parts of 

 the country, where large green-houses and conservatories 

 are kept up all winter, at a great expense, and where 

 the plants literally " waste their fragrance on the desert 

 air," as the families are away in cities at too great a 

 distance to admit their flowers being sent to them. 



These very places in summer present a very unat- 

 tractive and meagre appearance, being planted simply 

 with the older and less beautiful trees and shrubs in 

 many cases with little or no flower garden. The Came- 

 lias, Azalias, Geraniums, and other plants being stowed 

 away out of sight, until the return of another winter, 

 when they will again bloom for the benefit, solely, of the 

 gardener and his friends. 



"Were these same houses at a consumption of one-half 

 or one-fifth the amount of fuel and labor, devoted to the 

 cultivation (or rather to the preservation, for they re- 

 quire no cultivation or attention in the winter beyond 

 an occasional watering), of half-hardy evergreens and 

 tender plants, the compensation and enjoyment from 

 them in summer would be ten-fold that derived from 

 the usual occupation of plant-houses ; and in cases 

 where families are permanent residents of the country, 

 let them devote a portion of their green-houses to this 

 purpose, or have some arrangement of pits as we have 

 above described. 



We must bear in mind one fact : that as excellent 

 models as the English are in all matters pertaining to 

 country life, yet they use their places only in the winter, 

 and we, as a general rule, only in the summer ; while 

 it is, therefore, very important for them to have their 

 grounds and green-houses adorned with those plants and 

 shrubs which will make it most agreeable and delight- 

 ful at the season when they are at home, in the winter, 



