148 CONIFERS 



in America it can never stir such emotions as the yew does in Eng- 

 land for it is not native and it will always be a menace to life. If 

 England had dozens of native conifers, as we have, the yew would 

 be a mere incident. But England has practically only two native 

 conifers the yew and the Scotch pine. No wonder these two 

 have become almost a part of the English character! 



I am almost glad that English yew is a failure in America, 

 because no country ought to copy any other; each should make 

 the most of its own character. In the hemlock we have a tree with 

 practically the same foliage-effect, which has strong American 

 traits (see plate 60). The peculiar grace of both trees is 

 produced by short, soft needles arranged in two ranks, but pre- 

 senting the effect of a flat spray. Hemlock is not so enormously 

 long-lived, it grows too tall for gardens, we must use more care to 

 preserve its lower branches, especially in hedges, and its trunk is 

 less interesting than that of yew. On the other hand, hemlock has 

 a more delicate spray (owing to the shorter needles), and is not 

 poisonous, so that we can plant it everywhere and by the million. 

 Hemlock and white pine ought always to be the most prominent 

 evergreens in the North and East, for the former is the best embodi- 

 ment of the idea of grace among available conifers, while the latter 

 best expresses the idea of strength. 



OUR EQUIVALENT FOR THE CEDAR OF LEBANON 



As the yew is the most decorative conifer in England, so the 

 cedar of Lebanon is the most picturesque (see plates, 61, 63). 

 You see it everywhere, centuries old, the pride of every country 

 gentleman's estate. In Asia Minor specimens have lived two 

 thousand years. The peculiar glory of this cedar is the perfection 

 of its strata. It is a very open tree, and its successive tiers or 



