262 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



by all lovers of evergreen Rhododendrons who endea- 

 vor to grow these plants out of doors in New England. 

 The effects in general were disastrous though fortu- 

 nately there were exceptions. In some gardens these 

 Rhododendrons came through exceptionally well, 

 in others the mortality was greater than ever before. 

 In the Arnold Arboretum varieties for twenty years 

 considered "ironclad" were killed outright. No gen- 

 eral statement can possibly explain these inconsis- 

 tencies, but the fact outstanding is that for New Eng- 

 land a tougher and more adaptable race of evergreen 

 Rhododendrons is absolutely necessary if they are 

 to occupy in gardens the permanent place their 

 beauty merits. Continuing to import plants bred 

 and nurtured in alien lands where milder climates 

 prevail will not solve the difficulty. Neither will dig- 

 ging plants from the mountains of Pennsylvania, 

 shipping them in carload lots to furnish the estate 

 and coaxing them in every possible way. This de- 

 spoiling of the countryside is most reprehensible. 

 It is vandalism; it is destructive and absolutely op- 

 posed to the true spirit of gardening which essays to 

 be constructive. None of the easy and apparent 

 short cuts will attain the object. The problem has 

 to be studied from a very opposite viewpoint and 

 attacked accordingly. True horticulturists should 



