12 THE CULTIVATED EVERGREENS 



may be able to raise evergreens. At present, however, conifers 

 planted in a smoky atmosphere are likely to look sickly and to 

 excite feelings of pity rather than of pleasure. 



Attention might be called to some attractive natural effects. 

 At the edges of pine forests, or scattered about in open spaces 

 near the edge, the pines and other evergreens often retain all 

 their branches, the lower ones resting on the ground and 

 reaching out farther than those above to secure light and air. 

 These show the typical appearance which pines, spruces, firs, 

 hemlocks, and cedars should have in one's home grounds or 

 in other places where they are planted for ornament. Some- 

 times a belt of evergreen growth may be useful as well as 

 ornamental by giving protection from cold winds, or shutting 

 out of view unsightly objects. In such belts it is well to arrange 

 the trees in colonies, pines being grouped with pines, and the 

 more pointed and stiff-growing trees, like the spruces, with 

 those of similar habit. It is said that evergreens should not be 

 mixed or grouped with deciduous trees. To a certain extent 

 this is true, but all will recall the beauty of autumn foliage, 

 especially that of the maples, sumacs, birches, and blueberries, 

 when this beauty is heightened by a background or a neigh- 

 boring group of evergreens. A ground-covering of spreading 

 junipers or yews frequently adds much to the artistic effect of 

 the upright growth. Indeed, when the grounds are not very 

 large, it may be well to fill nearly all of the open space with a 

 low growth of this kind. Evergreens are beautiful throughout 

 the entire year and especially so in winter when partly covered 

 with snow and in spring when the new growth comes out and 

 is contrasted in color with the old, and when the trees are 

 thickly sprinkled with beautifully colored blossoms, the pistil- 

 late flowers often a rich red or purple, the staminate a bright 

 vellow. 



