38 STATE rOMOI-OGICAL SOCIETY. 



establish the Norway spruce. There is only one situation, where the 

 wind comes on the water for a considerable length of time during the year, 

 that the Norway spruce will occasionally fail. All you have to do then is to 

 plant a few Balm of Gilead trees, put up a wind-break, make use of a fence 

 or oldstone wall, and you can establish your Norway spruce and under 

 the lea of the Norway spruce you can get any of the pine or deciduous 

 trees to grow. It is one of the most important plants in planting for 

 protection ; it is used by market gardeners and by fruit growers all over 

 the country and takes the place of the board fences. 



There is a new species, the Colorado spruce, which is a favorite 

 now among modern tree planters which comes from the highland 

 in Colorado. It is one of the northernmost forms of this plant and prom- 

 ises extremely well. No trees, however, have been in cultivation more 

 than twenty to twenty-five j-ears and we do not know what its future 

 will be. 



Another tree from Colorado, the Abies concolor. There is no common 

 name for this plant that I have yet heard. This is a beautiful tree ; it 

 might be called the ostrich plume. Its long needles very much resem- 

 ble an ostrich feather, and this fir is a beautiful tree. It has been 

 grown in some of our gardens and seems to succeed admirabh'. It has 

 proved hardy aud thrives apparently in all soils and situations. 



The hemlock, the balsam fir, the European white fir and silver fir, are 

 all good. The hemlock tree is perhaps the best; it is a graceful tree 

 and it relieves the stiffness, the sombreness of the pine and spruce. 

 If you -wish to protect your gardens from the cold winds, put in 

 a belt of Norway spruce, then white pines aud on the garden side 

 finish it oft" with a row of hemlocks. You will find that the beauty, 

 the grace of the hemlock will make a much more desirable back- 

 ground for the flowering plants and shrubs in the garden. There is 

 another Colorado species, the Douglas fir, which could be mentioned in 

 any list such as I am giving you now; but it is a comparatively untried 

 tree ; we cannot tell what its future will be, but so far as we know it is a 

 magnificent tree, but what it will be in the next fifty years no one can 

 forecast. 



Among deciduous trees our choice is much more dilficult. The first 

 one I have on my list is the tulip tree; how likely that is to endure your 

 severe winters it is difficult to say, but I should attempt its cultiva- 

 tion. It succeeds admirably with us provided we will begin with small 

 specimens. If you plant a tulip tree ten or twelve feet high you are 

 almost sui-e to have it die down to the ground. The same thing is true of 

 the magnolias and the Southern cypress when brought north. They 

 ultimately become hardy, if you plant thrifty trees the roots will live 

 and send up shoots and one of those slioots will establish itself. If you 

 begin with trees a foot or eighteen inches high, you are verj- apt to avoid 

 these unpleasant experiences. If you plant any tulip trees or magnolias, 

 at any rate away from the seashore, I should advise that small plants be 

 selected. 



