A WORD IN PAVOR OF EVERGREENS. 329 



it, beyond all question, the inost graceful and beautiful evergreen 

 tree commonly grown in this country. In its wild haunts, by the 

 side' of some steep mountain, or on the dark wooded bants of some 

 deep vaUey, it is most often a grand and picturesque tree ; when, as 

 in some parts of the northern States, it covers countless acres of wild 

 forest land, it becomes gloomy and nionotonous. Hence, there are 

 few of our readers, unfamiliar as they are with it but in these 

 phases, who have the least idea ^of its striking beauty when grown 

 alone, in a smooth lawn, its branches extending freely on all sides, 

 and sweeping ^e ground, its loose spray and full feathery foliage 

 floating freely in the air, and its proportions full of the finest sym- 

 metry and harmony. For airy gracefulness, and the absence of that 

 stiffness more or less prevalent in most evergreens, we must be al- 

 lowed, therefore^ to claim the fii'st place for the hemlock, as a tree 

 for the lawn or parkj 



Unfortunately, the hemlock has the reputation of being a diflS- 

 cult tr^e to transplant ; and though we have seen a thousand of 

 them removed with scarcely the loss of half a dozen, plants, yet we 

 areboimdto confess, that, with the.ordjnary rude handling of the 

 common gardener, it is often impatient of removal. The truth is, 

 all evergreens are far more tender in their roots than deciduous 

 trees. They will not bear that exposure to the sun and air, even for 

 a short period, which seems to have little efiect upon most deciduous 

 trees. Once fairly dried and shrivelled, their roots are slow to re- 

 gain their former vital power,^and the plant in consequence dies. 



This point well understood and guarded against, the hemlock is 

 by no means a diflBcult tree to remove from the nurseries.* ■ When 

 taken from the woods, it is best done with a frozen ball of earth in 

 the winter ; or^, if the soil is sufiiciently tenacious, with a damp 

 ball in the spring, as has lately been recommended by one of our 

 correspondents. 



' Of all the well known pines, we give,the preference to our native 

 White Pine (Pinus strobus) (or ornamental purposes. The soft 



* In the nurseries this, iind other evergreens, over four feet, should be 

 regularly root pruned ; i. «., the longest roots shortened with a spade every 

 ■ year. Treated thus, there is no difficulty whatever in removing, trees of ten 

 or twelve feet high. 



