SErTEMDER I4, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



435 



Great Hill is approached from various directions, and its 

 owner has constructed numerous curving roads, one of which 

 leads to its summit, and is planted as an avenue with groups 

 of young trees, and winds among the existing ravines in a way 

 to make use o£ them elt'cctively. When the present propri- 

 etor purchased the property, it was not esteemed valualjle, asall 

 the good timber had been cut, and the mossy, arid surface 

 promised nutriment neither for trees nor crops. Mr. X. did 

 not undertake the experiment of reclaiming it for profit, but 

 as an entertainment for himself, as a means of giving employ- 

 ment to people in whom he was interested, and to show what 

 could be done by intelligent management of even so worn- 

 out a region as this. His ultimate aim is to produce a pleasure- 

 ground that may be of pulilic worth in the future, and the 

 whole venture is so public-spirited and so valuable as an object- 

 lesson that it fills the observer with interest. 



The gradual transformation from desolation to fertility in 

 this once abandoned spot is a proof that with zeal and 

 energy no part of Massachusetts need go to waste, if people 

 are willing to work intelligently and faithfully for the 

 restoration of its soil. Here, where once all was barrenness, 

 are to be seen fertile fields, reclaimed bogs, neat, well-ordered 

 vegetable-gardens, groups of tlourisliing young trees, and 

 nurseries wherein others stand ready for transplantation. 

 Where the ground is hilly the moisture runs off, the trees grow 

 slowly, parched by the drying winds and lack of sustenance; 

 but on the level spaces they flourish bravely, and the soil 

 from the bogs helps to feed their roots. In the kindly shelter 

 of light-existing woods the more delicate trees are growing 

 up, their nurses being thinned out as they increase in size. 

 Beeches and Ginkgos, English Walnuts and Paulownia Ini- 

 perialis flourish under the protection of White Birches, Sweet 

 Gum and Hemlocks, shaded by the kindly Cedars ; and an ex- 

 periment is being made with the Oregon Maple and Acer 

 Colchicum rubrum, which are always planted on the north 

 side of an evergreen. 



Pines have been extensively planted all over the place. 

 White, Pitch, Norway, Scotch and Austrian Pines flourish 

 well. European Birches and Sugar Maples are springing 

 up everywhere, alternating with feathery groups of English 

 Larches. Shrubberies also have been set out, where a goodly 

 quantity of beautiful varieties, such as Thunberg's Spiraea 

 and Berberry, Golden Elders and Spirasas, Deutzias, Purple 

 Hazels, Rosa rugosa and Rosa multiflora are mingled with 

 Cornels and Viburnums and many other shrubs. Space, too, 

 is found for the rarer varieties of trees — Golden Elms and 

 Beeches, Cut-leaved Maples, variegated Elms, Golden Hop 

 Hornbeams, Purple Maples in variety. Purple and variegated 

 Beeches, Chinese Cypress, English Alder, Sycamores, Lindens, 

 and numerous others. 



The native Junipers are very handsome, and show their 

 usual variety — some dark and blue, feathered like a Cypress, 

 others yellow-green, and more like a Cedar in foliage. Where 

 the swamp was once inaccessible, judicious filling has given 

 access to a pond which is not yet completed, but will add to 

 the beauty of the place, with its irregular outline and over- 

 hanging Willows and Maples. The walks about Great Hill are 

 full of variety, whether you climb over the moraines or stroll 

 on the shady hill-sides or mount by the easily winding drive 

 to the very summit to enjoy the view. A visit to the sheep- 

 folds, where the brown-nosed woolly throng come running to 

 be fed, and try to climb the little trees to browse upon such 

 leaves as are just out of their eager reach, is full of amuse- 

 ment. A flock of sheep is always picturesque and entertain- 

 ing, with its surprised rushes hither and thither, its gentle 

 undulations of closely packed forms, its funny cries of wonder 

 or fright, the merry trot-ting of the little hoofs, the shy, mis- 

 trustful little faces that watch your every motion so carefully. 

 These little beasts are very carefully protected with high 

 fences finished with barbed and netted wire, and with locked 

 gates to shield t-hem from dogs, and they are closely guarded 

 in their passage from run to run, while their folds are strong 

 and dog-proof. 



To accommodate the foreman and workmen on this place, 

 which Mr. X. does not himself occupy, he has constructed 

 an immense barn, which, situated at one end of the mo- 

 raines, has convenient entrances for vehicles on three stories. 

 On one side of this barn two stories serve for a dwelling in 

 continental fashion, and the other affords accommodation for 

 horses, the basement being devoted to sheep and cows. By 

 means of a good system of ventilation, and a series of doors 

 between the house and stable part of this construction, the 

 dwelling is kept free from odors, and is as convenient and 

 comfortable as any farm-house need be, with the added ad- 

 vantage in winter of having everything under one roof, and 



entirely under the eye of the farmer and his men, an important 

 thing in an out-of-the-way locality, where depredations might 

 easily take place without attracting attention. 



A visit to this barn shows all sorts of modern conveniences 

 and comforts for cattle. Each sheep is furnished with a little 

 rack of his own for his fodder, which he persists in leaving to 

 try his neighbor's, with sheep-like jealousy, lestanothershould 

 be Ijetter provided than he. The spring lambs bring so high a 

 price, if put early enough upon the market, that it makes their 

 raising profitable, though this flock is not very large, number- 

 ing about sixty ; moreover they are the most efficient means of 

 transforming wild coarse feed into the best manure. 



In the course of his experiment, Mr. X. has discovered that 

 raising timber could never be made profitable on land of this 

 kind, from the fact that the original price paid for seedlings, 

 the expense of taking care of them in their infancy, and the 

 interest on the money, added together, would amount to more 

 than the timber would bring in the twenty or thirty years neces- 

 sary to render it ready for market. 



Having, therefore, provided enough trees to furnish an ele- 

 ment of beauty for many years to come (the nurseries being 

 still overstocked, in spite of all his planting), Mr. X. has now 

 turned his attention to raising crops that may be valuable while 

 the trees are growing. 



The fields are separated by small belts of timber instead of 

 fences, which gives each stretch of open ground the effect 

 of a lawn skirted with forest. Wherever a fine group of 

 trees was found it has been preserved, with its rocks and un- 

 derbrush, to form a pleasing natural feature in the scene. 

 Many of these fields have been troublesome to clear, and 

 are still rough, but by the aid of top-dressing and such tilling 

 as is possible they raise good crops of Hungarian Millet, Corn, 

 Rye, Alsike Clover and various Grasses. Many of them, how- 

 ever, have been brought into good condition, and the smooth 

 fine curves of the brown soil lying ready for the seed, or the 

 level sheets of vivid green where the winter grain is springing 

 up, agreeably diversify the rolling surface upon which one 

 looks down froin the summit of Great Hill. 



The stroll along the recovered river is very beautiful, fra- 

 grant in July with wild Swamp Honeysuckle and Clethra, and 

 gay with wood-blossoms at all seasons of the year. Water- 

 lilies and other aquatic plants flourish close to the shady banks 

 just out of reach, and the fairest blossoms blow always on the 

 other shore. Lovely Ferns spring in these solitudes, and the 

 Swamp Rose grows tall and shows its pink blossoms and 

 slender leaves above the surrounding herbage. Here and 

 there a glimpse of sunny meadow meets the eye on the other 

 bank of the stream as you cross its tributaries on primitive 

 bridges, and brush away the tangle of verdure from your path. 

 At your side the Swamp Maples grow tall, and birds sing in 

 their branches. As you walk, there is revealed to you what 

 is seldom seen, the lovely heart of a swamp, with its lush 

 vegetation, its dark, cool recesses, its lonely, shadowy nooks 

 where man rarely penetrates. This river-walk, reclaimed from 

 the peat-bog, is one of the most pleasing of the various attrac- 

 tions of the Farm of Indian Ridge. 



I have said enough to show that if a need for a park should 

 ever be felt in its region, we have the beginnings of a delight- 

 ful one here. With open ground for playstead, and ample 

 room for all sorts of amusements in addition to commanding 

 views, it could be easily made a delight for two contiguous 

 towns, from neither of which is it more than a mile away. 



Such enterprises as these are valuable to the observer, and 

 promise well for the future of the country. ,, ^ „ ,,. 



Hingham, Mass. M. C. Robbins. 



Edible Fruits in the Pines. 



SIX months in the year, at least, an abundance of wild fruit 

 can be found in the Pines, some of which is very good in 

 quality. The wild strawberry has an exquisite flavor, and with 

 cultivation the size of the fruit is increased vvdthout loss of the 

 delightful aroma. The best berry is borne by Fragaria Vir- 

 giniana, which we readily recognize by its deeply pitted fruit 

 and narrow neck, and the soft silky appressed hairs on the 

 fruiting stems. Other kinds grow here which it is difficult to 

 identify. I think, however, many have escaped from cultiva- 

 tion and are reverting to the original type. The Shad-berry, 

 or June-berry, ripens before the strawberries are gone ; they 

 are sweet and rather pleasant to the taste, although they lack 

 character and sprightliness. We often find the two in com- 

 pany — ripe June-berries hanging over strawberries. Wild 

 Raspberries follow these, but neither the black, the so-called 

 white, nor the red varieties have as fine flavor as those which 

 grow farther north. And yet the cultivated Raspberries of 

 southern New Jersey are specially good. 



