ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS IN NORTH AMERICA. 379 



the following precautions, no more difficulty is found than with deci- 

 duous trees. In transplanting, choose the spring of the year, at the 

 time the buds are swelling : cut as few of the roots as possible, and 

 do not suffer them to become dry before you replace them in the soil. 

 Among our most ornamental evergreen trees may be mentioned the 

 different species of pine, natives of North America. Several of them 

 are fine stately trees, and one which is particularly ornamental as a 

 park tree, is the white or Weymouth pine, Pinus strobus. Pinus 

 rigida, when old and large, is a very picturesque tree ; and Pinus 

 alba, rubra et fraseri, the white, red, and double spruce firs, are trees 

 of moderate size, very generally diffused in the middle States, and 

 easily obtained. The well known balsam fir, Pinus balsamea, is such 

 a beautiful evergreen, and succeeds so well in this climate, that it 

 should find a place in the smallest plantations. We have observed 

 it thriving well even in confined spaces in cities. Thuja occidentulis, 

 the arborvitae, is a very interesting tree, and, as well as the exotic 

 T. orientals, will be considered very ornamental in districts where 

 it is not common. 



Among the most ornamental foreign coniferous trees we will no- 

 tice the Norway spruce, the drooping branches of which, in a large 

 specimen, are so highly admired ; the well known Scotch fir, the 

 finest timber tree of Europe, celebrated for growing on thin soils ; 

 and the beautiful silver fir, Pinus picea; all of them are noble 

 trees, and as they can be readily procured at the nurseries, should 

 be found in the grounds of every country residence. 



Several other species of this genus which are thought the most 

 beautiful trees of Europe, unfortunately are yet scarce in this country. 

 The stone pine, whose seeds are a delicious fruit, and whose " vast 

 canopy, supported on a naked column of immense height, forms 

 one of the chief and peculiar beauties in Italian scenery and in the 

 living landscapes of Claude," and the not less interesting Pinus Pi- 

 naster and P. Cembra of the mountains of Switzerland. But the 

 most desirable evergreen tree which flourishes in temperate climates, 

 is the classic cedar of Lebanon, Pinus cedrus. Its singular ramose 

 branches and wild picturesque appearance in a large specimen, give 

 a more majestic and decided character to a fine building and its 

 adjacent scenery, than any other tree whatever. It is a nativ* of 



