CHAPTER XIV 

 ENGLISH EFFECTS WITH HARDY CONIFERS 



What equivalents can we have for yews a thousand years old, 

 cedars of Lebanon planted by Crusaders, and "Big " trees 

 that grow a hundred feet in sixty years? 



EVEN the most casual visitor to England notices three 

 conifers, or evergreen trees, for every returned tourist 

 chatters enthusiastically about "yews a thousand years 

 old, cedars of Lebanon planted by returned Crusaders, and 'big 

 trees' from California that grow a hundred feet in sixty years." 

 Verily, it is not surprising that we spend many thousands 

 of dollars a year in vainly trying to reproduce such wonderful 

 effects. 



But all this money is wasted because we fail to realize that the 

 climate of the Northern and Eastern quarter of the United States 

 (where a good many of us live) is antagonistic to that of England. 

 Our summer is hot and dry, theirs cool and moist; our winter is 

 characterized by zero spells, theirs is mild and open. Socially we 

 are related to Europe, but climatically to Japan and China. If 

 beginners knew this we could save a million dollars a year which 

 we now spend on European trees and shrubs that die the first 

 winter or soon thereafter. For long-lived material we must look 

 to our own native trees. For "spice " we must look to China and 

 Japan. All else is merely temporary. 



My errand in England was to study the materials of gardening 



