CHAPTER VII 

 THE BEST HARDY CONIFERS 



SOME PLAIN FACTS CONCERNING CERTAIN WELL-KNOWN 



TREES WHICH EXPERIENCE PROVES TO BE OVERRATED. 



THE BEST FEW FOR GENERAL USE 



CONIFERS rank among the patriarchs of the 

 vegetable kingdom and in their size, their 

 beauty, and their usefulness to man they are 

 not surpassed by any other family of trees. In a 

 general way every one is acquainted with these cone- 

 bearing plants and they are universal favorites. 

 The family is distributed from the Arctic Circle 

 nearly to that of the Antarctic, and its members are 

 abundant in the temperate regions of both Hem- 

 ispheres but they are rare within the tropics. One 

 genus only, Libocedrus (Incense Cedar), is common to 

 the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In longevity 

 and massiveness of bulk, the Redwoods of California 

 (Sequoia) exceed all other trees, and in height these 

 giant Conifers are only approached by the broad- 

 leaved Blue Gums (Eucalyptus) of Australia. With 

 exception of the Larch (Larix), the Chinese Golden 

 Larch (Pseudolarix), the Swamp Cypress (Taxodium) 



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