342 TREES. 



feet in height clothed with foliage and berries of the same orna- 

 mental character as the European holly except that the leaf is a 

 shade lighter in its green. The plant too, is perfectly hardy, even 

 in the climate of Boston while the European holly is quite too 

 tender for open air culture in the middle States notwithstanding 

 that peaches ripen here in orchards, and in England only on walls. 



The American Laurel, or Kalmia, is too well known in all parts 

 of the country to need any description. And what new shrub, we 

 would ask, is there whether from the Himmalayas or the Andes, 

 whether hardy or tender which surpasses the American laurel, 

 when in perfection, as to the richness of its dark green foliage, or 

 the exquisite delicacy and beauty of its gay masses of flowers ? If 

 it came from the highlands of Chili, and were recently introduced, 

 it would bring a guinea a plant, and no grumbling ! 



Granting all this, let our readers who wish to decorate their 

 grounds with something new and beautiful, undertake now, in this 

 month of May (for these plants are best transplanted after they have 

 commenced a new growth), to plant some laurels and hollies. If 

 they would do this quite successfully, they must not stick them here 

 and there among other shrubs in the common border but prepare 

 a bed or clump, in some cool, rather shaded aspect a north slope 

 is better than a southern one where the subsoil is rather damp 

 than dry. The soil should be sandy or gravelly, with a mixture of 

 black earth well decomposed, or a cart-load or two of rotten leaves 

 from an old wood, and it should be at least eighteen or twenty 

 inches deep, to retain the moisture in a long drought. A bed of 

 these fine evergreens, made in this way, will be a feature in the 

 grounds, which, after it has been well established for a few years, will 

 convince you far better than any words of ours, of the neglected 

 beauty of our American plants. 



