April 4, 18S8.] 



Garden and Forest. 



65 



can more safely be cut off and thrown away than the leader. 

 In fact, in the production of a perfectly symmetrical coni- 

 ferous tree the first principle is the repeated extirpation of 

 the leader. By removing it you throw the strength of the tree 

 into the lower branches, and cause them to grow full, vigor- 

 ous and beautiful. You need have no fear about the upward 

 development of the plant. Nature will always provide a leader 

 for it ; and if you cut it off to-day, a new shoot will be there to 

 take its place to-morrow. Some of the most beautiful Coni- 

 fers that I have seen in the famous collections of England have 

 been those whose leaders, notwithstanding all the care of the 

 gardeners, have been broken off by storms, and whose gen- 

 eral symmetry and vigor have been promoted in conseciuence. 

 My practice in the treatment of these plants is to apply the 

 pruning-knife constantly, though, of course, with judgment, 

 and especially to keep down the leader. 



Nothing is more necessary, however, than that the drainage 

 of the spot where a Conifer is planted should be complete and 

 unobstructed. A marshy spot, a stiff clay soil, or an impene- 

 trable liard-pan near the surface, are all to be sedulously 

 avoided. Every traveler who was in England thirty years ago 

 will remember with delight the beautiful Douglas Firs near 

 tlie nursery of Mr. James Veitch at Combe Wood. But a 

 few years later they began to decline, and when I looked for 

 them in 1886 they were gone. A dense hard-pan a few feet 

 below the surface had done the business. 



If my advice were asked respecting the sorts of Conifers 

 which, for purposes of beauty and decoration, it is most ad- 

 vantageous to cultivate, the reply would be very much influ- 

 enced by the facts of soil, climate, moisture and shelter from 

 strong winds in the place designed for planting, No Conifers 

 should be set out where they are subject to violent gales. They 

 require shelter more than most kinds of deciduous trees. Our 

 American White Pine especially illustrates the truth of this pro- 

 position, and so do the Canadian Hemlock and the Hemlocks 

 of the Western coast [Tsitga Mer/ensiana and T. Pationiana). 

 The beautiful Japanese Hemlock [T. Sicboldianii) seems to 

 stand the wind much better than either of its relatives. The 

 Scotch Pine I am not able to praise in any respect except for 

 its occasional transitory beauty, but the Austrian Pine, on the 

 other hand, may be planted with conhdence in its future form, 

 color and duration, and especially in its j^ower of resisting the 

 wind; and on Long Island I have found it very useful as an 

 outer shelter to protect more delicate kinds of plants against 

 the gales. But this is a question of locality. At Castle Kennedy, 

 in south-western Scotland — the most charming and enviable 

 country-seat in the United Kingdom — they use for this purpose 

 the exquisite and tender Piniis insignis of Southern California, 

 which cannot be grown at all in our climate. 



Next to the White Pine, the Canadian Hemlock and our com- 

 mon Juniper ( yimiperits Virginiana), I have found the Red Pine 

 (P. resinosa), the White Spruce (Picea alba), the Rocky Moinitain 

 tree formerly described as Menzies Spruce [P. pungens), and that 

 beautiful Fir of the Rocky Mountains (^^zWrf^wt'o/cr), the most 

 useful. With our Balsam Fir I have never been able to do 

 much, because it needs more moisture than can be found any- 

 where except in a mountain elevation. Pinus rigida and 

 P. inops I cultivate as a matter of interest, but without looking 

 to them for any remarkable effects of beauty. The admirable 

 long-leaved Pines of California and of the South are alike 

 unavailable. 



When we pass from the Conifers of our own hemisphere to 

 those of Europe and Asia our resources are immensely en- 

 larged. Among the most beautiful of these acquisitions the 

 Retinosporas are to be classed as of the very first value. Simi- 

 lar to the Thuyas, they are more varied, more graceful and 

 more lasting. In a soil of moderate moisture and in a year of 

 reasonable rainfall, their growth and their color are lovely be- 

 yond description. Of the other Japanese Conifers Abies 

 brachyphylla and the Picea polita seem to me the most valua- 

 ble, while Abies firma should by all means be avoided on 

 account of its irregular and shabby growth and its constant 

 suffering from unfavorable weather both in winter and sum- 

 mer. A. polita is of exceedingly slow growth, but it stands 

 every sort of climate, and when it is in perfect condition its 

 color is delightful. P. Orienlalis is also a treasure. 



The Japanese Yew (Taxus ciispidata) is beautiful and hardy 

 even in a severe climate, but its slow growth removes it from 

 the category of plants for general and popular planting. The 

 Cryptomerias are graceful and beautiful trees, and they grow 

 rapidly, but they are not tough enough for our climate. 

 C. elegans does not last out the winter, "but C. Japonica will 

 live with us, and I have seen it 70 feet tall on high land. Yet the 

 frosts play the mischief with the lower branches, and it is no 

 longer the fascinating plant whose charms bewilder every be- 



holder. The Glyptostrobus. Sinensis is much more available. 

 Grafted on our ordinary southern Cypress (Taxodium dis- 

 tichum) it gains a height of 40 feet, and its slender, conical 

 head and long, droopmg foliage make it a most agreeable 

 object. 



I have had very fair luck with Yews and Cedars. With a very 

 slight protection in the winter the Deodar flourishes in all its 

 graceful beauty ; but the Lebanon and the Atlantic are Ijoth of 

 much slower growth and less graceful habit. The Atlantic, 

 which comes from the mountains of Morocco, is much more 

 hardy than the Cedar of Lebanon, tliough the latitude of the 

 two regions is about equal. 



Finally I have one piece of advice for the young planter, 

 whether his purpose be aesthetic beauty or material profit ; and 

 that is, never to planta Norway Spruce. One of the great misfor- 

 tunes that have happened to the gardens and pleasure-grounds 

 of our Northern States, is the introduction of this ugly and use- 

 less tree, which is never beautiful except in its old age ; and 

 even this beauty is so rare an accident that it forms an excep- 

 tion which no one can count upon beforehand. 



Dosoris. March istli. C. A. Dana. 



JI 



Wanted — A Hancl-bouk (jf Horticulture. 



'HE number of manuals of horticulture in the English 

 language is certainly very large, and yet it is not saying 

 too much to assert that a really satisfactory work has yet to be 

 written. An amateur wishing for useful information upon any 

 point has usually to consult two, three or even more works 

 before he can find all that he desires to know. The want of 

 thoroughness in English works is familiar to all who use them, 

 andby English works we do not mean only those which are pub- 

 lished in England. Fortunately there is an excellent French work 

 — the well known ' 'Fleurs de Pleine Terre " of Vilmorin-Andrieux 

 — which comes very near to the ideal treatise and is to be found 

 in every good horticultural library. The third edition of this 

 work was published without date upon the title page, but we 

 believe about the year 1880. In 1884 a supplement appeared 

 containing valuable additions, but still, as regards complete- 

 ness, the work leaves something to be wished. What is in it is 

 usually admirable and always to be depended upon, but the 

 work is somewhat behind the times. The arrangement is 

 alphabetical, the figures excellent, and the descriptions, as a 

 rule, sufficient. In addition, however, to figures and descrip- 

 tions, the work contains a rare amount of information upon 

 horticultural topics generally most useful, and hard to find 

 elsewhere. Thus, among other things very fully treated, we 

 have a special list of seeds which may be planted in Septem- 

 ber ; a selection of annuals and biennials ; a selection of 

 hardy plants ; a selection of bulbous plants ; a selection of 

 plants for borders ; a list of plants proper for carpet beds ; a 

 selection of climbers ; a selection of fragrant plants, with a 

 supplementary list of plants with fragrant stems and leaves ; a 

 selection of plants with ornamental fruits ; a choice of plants 

 with ornamental leaves in great variety and detail ; a selection 

 of hardy Ferns ; a selection of aquatic plants, including several 

 subdivisions, as, for instance, floating plants, submerged 

 plants, half emergent plants, etc.; plants for rockeries; a list 

 of plants growing in the shade ; a selection of picturesque 

 plants for lawns, and another of green-house plants which can 

 be used for the open ground in summer; a list of plants 

 for bouquets ; a calendar of the seasons at which ditferent 

 plants flower ; details of the arrangement of gardens, etc., etc. 



The recent edition of Robinson's " English Garden " contains 

 much valuable matter, and is deservedly a favorite in this 

 country, but it is often very deficient in details and is not 

 brought down to the date of its publication. German works 

 on horticulture are very numerous, and it is hard to say which 

 is the best, but here also the want of minute and careful 

 detail is often keenly felt. 



It seems worth while to consider what ought to be required 

 in a good manual. In the first place, the alphabetical arrange- 

 ment is certainly the most convenient. Now — given a particu- 

 lar plant — what the amateur and the educated florist wishes to 

 know is, 1st. — the natural family, genus and species to which 

 it belongs; its English or common name if it has one ; the Latin 

 name and its synonyms ; 2d. — the character of the plant, 

 whether perennial, biennial or annual, whether hardy, half- 

 hardy or tender ; 3d. — the exact description of the plant itself, 

 with an estimate — not the salesman's estimate— of its precise 

 horticultural value under appropriate conditions ; 4tii. — the 

 country in which it, or the species of which it is a variety, is 

 found growing naturally, and especially the natural conditions 

 of its healthy growth as regards soil, climate, exposure, dryness 



