12 Notes on Planting. 
ful trees at ten years, even, crowded in by shrubbery, fences or 
barn, and the pruner begins his work. The symmetry and regu- 
larity of growth is destroyed and the plant utterly ruined. The 
araucaria should never be pruned at any time—to do so is 
barbarous. It would be better to cut to the ground than to let it 
stand a helpless deformity. They are most effective on large 
lawns and are not suitable for a small grass plot crowded with 
everything that you admire and must have. 
Nearly everyone is familiar with the ‘Norfolk island pine’ 
which is Araucaria excelsa. This variety is quite sensitive to 
frost and is therefore not seen growing so well in Northern Cal- 
ifornia. It also requires more room to spread, needing fully fifty 
feet of ground for perfect growth. Araucaria Bidwellii is a very 
beautiful sort and is a strong contrast to Araucaria excelsa. It 
has a dark, dense foliage, formidable indeed if you dare approach, 
intended by nature to fight well against the mutilations of the 
pruner. 
Araucaria Bidwellii will grow absolutely perfect if let alone, a 
fine example of such treatment being in the plant at the old 
Cowles place, El Cajon—twenty-five feet high—a veritable monu- 
ment to its planters. It has not a scar, uot a limb gone. A tree 
of this species bore last year thirteen cones, each weighing from 
five to seven pounds, but none of the seed ripened. 
Araucaria imbricata is the most striking and singular, the 
rarest and most expensive of all the species. It, as well as A. 
Bidwellii, is sometimes called the ‘monkey tree,’ as they are said 
to be the only trees a monkey cannot climb. This species branches 
symmetrically, but the leaves are like small scaly spines set close 
on the limb, making the tree appear as though it were without 
foliage. There is but one plant in San Diego (to my knowledge) 
large enough to show its characteristics. This plant,which is at 
the northeast corner of Fourth and Maple, now about two and 
one-half feet high, will in five years stand six to seven feet high, 
and at that hight could not be replaced for less than $50. The 
finest specimens in the state are at San Francisco and Oakland 
and should be examined by everyone interested in choice plants, 
as the beauty is developed with age, and no idea can be formed 
from a small plant. It will grow from fifty to one hundred feet 
high and is a native of Chile. 
