328 TREES. 



fications which properly defend the house and grounds from the 

 cold winds, and the driving storms, that sweep pitilessly over unpro- 

 tected places in many parts of the country. Well grown belts of 

 evergreens pines and firs, which 



" in conic forms arise, 



And with a pointed spear divide the skies," 



have, in their congregated strength, a power of shelter and protec- 

 tion that no inexperienced person can possibly understand, without 

 actual experience and the evidence of his own senses. Many a 

 place, almost uninhabitable from the rude blasts of wind that sweep 

 over it, has been rendered comparatively calm and sheltered ; many 

 a garden, so exposed that the cultivation of tender trees and plants 

 was almost impossible, has been rendered mild and genial in its cli- 

 mate by the growth of a close shelter, composed of masses and 

 groups of evergreen trees. 



Compared with England, that country whose parks and pleas- 

 ure grounds are almost wholly evergreen, because her climate is so 

 wonderfully congenial to their culture that dozens of species grow 

 with the greatest luxuriance there, which neither France, Germany, 

 nor the northern United States will produce; we say, compared 

 with England, the variety of evergreens which it is possible for us to 

 cultivate is quite limited. Still, though the variety is less, the gen- 

 eral effect that may be produced is the same ; and there is no apo- 

 logy for our neglecting, at least, the treasures that lie at our very 

 gates, and by our road-sides the fine indigenous trees of our coun- 

 try. These are within every one's reach ; and even these, if properly 

 introduced, would give a perpetual richness and beauty to our orna- 

 mental grounds, of which they are at this time, with partial excep- 

 tions, almost destitute. 



As we are addressing ourselves, now, chiefly to beginners, or 

 those who have hitherto neglected this branch of arboriculture, we 

 may commence by mentioning, at the outset, four evergreen trees 

 worthy of attention indeed, of almost universal attention, in our 

 ornamental plantations. Those are the Hemlock, the White Pine, 

 the Norway Spruce, and the Balsam Fir. 



We place the hemlock (Abies canadensis) first, as we consider 



