124 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 212. 



It is perhaps from tlie schloss and other points on the west- 

 ern, or village, side of the park that the finest views of the best 

 part of it are to be obtained. The arrangement of the speci- 

 mens and groups of trees is so admirable that there is not a 

 feature distracting or displeasing to the eye. Fresh vistas and 

 landscape-pictures are brought out at every step or every visit, 

 and roads and paths are so skillfully planned that their exist- 

 ence is unsuspected until they are stepped upon. 



Most of the roads are so simply and naturally laid out, with 

 due regard to the natural conformations of the land, that one 

 wishes for a Prince Puckler in the designing of some recently 

 made parks where roads often seem to be a main feature, 

 where hills and great rocks have to be removed or mutilated 

 and natural ponds filled in order to conform to lines traced on 

 some chart, apparently without much reference to topography. 



The banks of the river flowing through the estate, and of the 

 artificial lakelets, are broken and hidden by appropriate trees, 

 shrubs, reeds and grasses. Where different kinds of trees 

 have been used in grouping they have been so carefully selected 

 with regard to color and quality of foliage, that the whole 

 makes a perfectly harmonious picture ; and where shrubs are 

 used about them to hide trunks and make an unbroken mass 

 of verdure to the ground, the same thorough discrimination 

 is shown. Specimens and groups of Lindens, Maples, Beeches, 

 etc., have been used witli charming effect, and the general 

 absence of variegated or other unnaturally colored foliage is 

 very pleasing. Two or three splendid specimens of the purple- 

 leaved Beech do not look out of place. Sometimes three trees 

 have been planted together, the trunks arising together at the 

 ground, but afterward spreading apart, and a broad and hand- 

 some effect has been produced, the lower branches resting on 

 the ground. The native White Oak (Ouercus pedunculata) 

 has chiefly been used in this way. For a number of years, 

 during the planting of the most beautiful and interesting part 

 of the park, large trees were brought from wherever they 

 could be found in the surrounding country, in order to more 

 speedily bring about old, park-like effects. When it is stated 

 that some of these trees were fifty feet high when brought 

 here, we have a slight idea of the tediousness and expensive- 

 ness of the work. 



A large nursery was established in 1824, and it was then 

 managed without regard to cost or income, as the first 

 great aim was to raise plants for the estate and to introduce 

 desirable species and varieties. To-day this nursery is a regu- 

 lar commercial establishment of 150 acres of thrifty-looking 

 stock. Comparatively few of the plants propagated are now 

 used on the park, and the present proprietor endeavors to make 

 the nursery profitable. 



Prince Piickler's enthusiasm led him to expenses beyond his 

 means, and in 1847 he was obliged to sell his beautiful park to 

 Prince Friedrick of the Netherlands, who, it is pleasant to 

 know, carried on the work in much of the spirit of the de- 

 signer. Prince Puckler died in 1871, and the Prince of the 

 Netherlands in 1881, and the estate then passed into the hands 

 of Count von Arnim, the present owner. 



As notices of a general character occasionally appear re- 

 garding the Muskau Park, it may be of more interest to briefly 

 note the condition of some of the trees and other plants which 

 have been introduced here. Almost opposite the main en- 

 trance to the park is a very fine specimen of the Silver Linden 

 (Tilia argentea), with a trunk fully fifteen feet in circumference. 

 At the time of my visit (August nth) it was in full bloom and 

 giving forth a rich powerful fragrance. It is grafted, apparentlv 

 on stock of the indigenous species of Linden, at some distance 

 froiT> the ground, and the stock is now considerably smaller 

 in circumference than the trunk of the main tree. One or two 

 other smaller specimens of the same species are to be seen. 

 The marked discrepancy in size and color between the stock 

 and cion, of course, destroys the beauty of the trunk, gives the 

 trees a top-heavy appearance, and affords a warning against the 

 use of poorly grafted ornamental or shade trees, unless the 

 color of the bark of both stock and cion is known to harmonize 

 and the rate of growth to be equal. Of course, where the 

 point of grafting is below the surface of the ground, or even 

 where branching begins, there is not the same objection 

 against the use of dissimilar species as when the grafting is 

 done midway on the stem. Fortunately, cases of this kind are 

 rare in the Muskau Park. Grafted specimens of our Black Ash 

 (Fraxinus sambucifolia) and of the Ohio Buckeye (^sculus 

 glabra), the latter on Horse-chestnut stock, are smaller than 

 their stocks, while Fraxinus pubescens grafted on F. excelsior 

 at several feet above ground has grown much faster than the 

 stock, and the difference in the bark of the two species forms 

 an unpleasing contrast. 



Prince Piickler's enterprise secured for him quite an assort- 



ment of someof the best of our hardy American deciduous trees 

 The Red Oak (O. rubra) is here and in other parts of Ger 

 many greatly valued and much planted as a shade tree, and 

 it thrives admirably and grows very fast even on compara- 

 tively poor soils. A specimen of this species in the park has 

 a trunk about four feet in diameter ; a Black Oak (Q. tinctoria) 

 is about three feet through, and there are fine examples of the 

 Pin Oak (O. palustris). Our annual fruited or White Oaks do 

 not appear to thrive here like the three species mentioned, 

 which belong to the biennial fruited or Black Oak-section. A 

 specimen of the Red or River Birch (Betula nigra) has a trunk 

 over two feet through ; the Tulip-tree flourishes, and the Wild 

 Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) grows to small timber size. 

 The ubiquitous Locust (Robinia Pseudacacia) is seen in various 

 parts of the park, and in differing soils. In some situations it 

 has become like a weed, and 1 saw a small plantation of Picea 

 Sitchensis, which was considered ruined, owing to the per- 

 sistency with which Locust-suckers came up among the 

 Spruces. Our Juneberry or Shadbush (Amelanchier Canaden- 

 sis) is here a fair-sized tree, and has been planted in situations 

 where its early summer bloom may make an effective feature 

 in the landscape. There appears to be much interest in our 

 Hickories in Germany, but there is frequent complaint that 

 they do not thrive well. In good soil at Muskau, fiowever, they 

 seemed perfectly at home, and quite as vigorous as any I ever 

 saw. Shagbarks (Hicoria ovata) forty or fifty feet high, Mock- 

 ernuts (H. alba) forty feet high, and large Bitternuts (H. mini- 

 ma) were fruiting freely, and the new growths on the branches 

 averaged six inches or more. Of our conifers the White Pine 

 and Taxodium are among the best, and there are some very 

 fine specimens of the latter. 



Although many foreign trees have been introduced through- 

 out the park, the skillful designer relied upon indigenous spe- 

 cies in his most effective work and in the planting of woods. 

 Native Oaks, Lindens, Beeches and Maples are largely em- 

 ployed, and the free use of the Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus), 

 with its light foliage, breaks the monotony which too many 

 heavy-leaved species would produce. Groups of the native 

 Alder (A. glutinosa) have been freely planted. This becomes 

 a large tree, and a splendid specimen of a cut-leaved form was 

 noted, which has a trunk nearly two feet in diameter, and has 

 much of the aspect of a Red Oak in foliage and branching. 

 Some good specimens of the so-called Crimean Linden (Tilia 

 dasystyla) are to be found here. This is a tree of compara- 

 tively recent introduction into cultivation, and it gives promise 

 of becoming valuable in street-planting. It is a very distinct 

 species, being easily known from all others by its dark shining 

 green foliage. For size and age and sturdy grandeur some na- 

 tive Oaks (Ouercus pedunculata) are the pride of the estate. A 

 number of these are from sixteen to eighteen feet in circum- 

 ference ; other individuals measure twenty-two and twenty- 

 four feet, while the largest, known as "Hermann's Oak," is 

 twenty-eight feet around at two or three feet from the ground, 

 and is estimated to be over eight hundred years old. 



The scientific as well as the aesthetic interest of those who 

 planned and completed the park is shown in the arboretum 

 which was planted about 1858 underthe direction of E. Petzold, 

 the park inspector, who was most deeply interested in the 

 project. This arboretum comprised several hundred acres, 

 most of the soil being sandy or rocky, although there were 

 some fairly fertile small portions. During the past ten years 

 it has been entirely neglected, and has become overgrown 

 with Lichens, Heath (Calluna) and Broom (Cytisus scoparius), 

 and haunted by deer, rabbits and other animals encouraged by 

 sportsmen. 



All the trees and shrubs were systematically arranged ac- 

 cording to families and genera, and the species were thor- 

 oughly and distinctly labeled. A large number of these labels 

 still stand, where not broken by roaming hoofs. They are 

 neatly made of coarse earthenware, about an inch thick, with 

 the lettering stamped in and painted black, and afterward 

 glazed and fired. "The length of the label is over a foot, the 

 upper half neatly squared and margined, the lower tapering, 

 to facilitate insertion in the ground. The catalogue number, 

 scientific name, with the authority, the family and habitat are 

 given. This gives an imperishable label, if not subjected to 

 hard knocks. In arranging the specimens three individuals of 

 a kind were commonly planted in a triangle ; but a larger 

 group was sometimes formed. 



A walk through the arboretum now furnishes some inter- 

 esting object-lessons in the behavior of some of the intro- 

 duced plants under absolute neglect and in sterile soil. Most 

 of them are dwarfed and stunted, and it is only a matter of a 

 few years before they will disappear. Gray, lichen-covered 

 specimens of Viburnum dentatum, Myrica cerifera, Halesia 



