156 CONIFERS 



feet? for that stupefying height is attained in California by the 

 sugar and Western yellow pines (Pinus Lambertiana and ponderosa). 

 England has at least one hundred-foot specimen of the latter. 



GROTESQUE CONIFERS 



An Alice-in-Wonderland tree that spoils many a fine park 

 picture in England is the monkey puzzle (Araucaria imbricata). 

 In its native country, Chile, this tree doubtless fits and attains 

 age and dignity, but in cold countries it is preposterous a mere 

 curio. 



It has a wretched mimic in the Spanish fir (Abies Pinsapo) 

 which is the stiffest and hardest conifer that I know, alternately 

 dismal and ridiculous. It is literally a horrid tree, in the ancient 

 sense of the word. 



The loveliest species of the genus Araucaria is A. excelsa, a 

 marvel of symmetry, which promises to become an elegant 

 feature of Florida homes south of Miami. 



To sum up: England grows taller conifers than we, but we 

 possess a greater variety of evergreens, North, South, and West. 

 No one section of America, probably, can grow as great a variety 

 as England can. Our job is to try Japanese conifers on a small 

 scale and plant our native conifers by the million* 



* Veitch's "Manual of the Coniferse" is a standard work on evergreens, but is chiefly botanical. Elwes and Henry's 

 "Trees of Great Britain" is the leading English work. Sargent's "Silva of North America" is the American standard and 

 his "Manual" is a popular abridgment. We have many popular books on native trees, mostly descriptive, but Dame and 

 Brooks's "Handbook of the Trees of New England" contains estimates of their horticultural value by W. H. Manning. 

 A good all-round book is "The Tree Book" by Julia E. Rogers. Felt's "Insects Affecting Park and Woodland Trees " 

 is Memoir 8 of the N. Y. State Museum. The Bradley Bibliography now being published by the Arnold Arboretum 

 is the most complete list of books, pamphlets, and articles on trees from every point of view. There is much to learn 

 about the best evergreens for different soils and climates and for all the different uses. 



