THE TREES OF AMERICA. 11 



In France and Germany great attention is paid to the cultivation of American 

 plants and trees, while in England every pleasure ground of any note has its 

 American department, comprising, in many instances, a large number of acres. 

 Our mountain laurel, [Kalmia latifolia,) our azaleas and rhododendrons, are 

 here met with in great profusion. This beautiful shrub, the laurel, which de- 

 serves a place in every garden, has been introduced, to some extent, in the 

 neighborhood of Boston. It occurs, among others, in the garden of the Hon. 

 Bowen Buckman, of Woburn, Mass., a gentleman whose fine taste and public 

 spirit have done much for that beautiful town. Downing says of the American 

 laurel, " There is nothing which surpasses it, when in perfection, as to the richness 

 of its dark-green foliage, or the exquisite delicacy and beauty of its gay masses 

 of flowers." In order to transplant it successfully, it should be taken up in 

 masses in the month of May, or with a frozen ball of earth about it, in the fall 

 or winter. It should be set out in a clump, the larger the better, in a cool or 

 shaded aspect, — a northern exposure is the best, — where the subsoil is rather 

 damp. The soil should be sandy or gravelly, with a mixture of decomposed peat, 

 or a cart load or two of decayed leaves ; or perhaps meadow mud would answer 

 for a part of the compost. This bed should be made at least two feet deep, to 

 retain the moisture during long droughts. It would be well, also, to shade the 

 ground for a few years with a bed of leaves or grass ; this may be secured against 

 the wind by covering it with stones. A mass of this beautiful evergreen, grown 

 in this manner, will convince any one that it possesses all we claim for it. 



As a third means to this end, we would ask the attention of Horticultural and 

 Agricultural Societies to the subject. They have already done so much to devel- 

 op the resources of the country in other directions, we feel confident, that if 

 they were to take this matter in hand, we should soon see great and beneficial 

 results. It would not become us to point out methods, but leave it to those who 

 have already shown so much wisdom in giving direction and energy to the de- 

 velopment of kindred pursuits. 



We cannot better close this part of our subject than by quoting from one to 

 whom we are already so much indebted. " In Saxony," says Downing, " the 

 traveller beholds with surprise and delight, on the road between Wiessenfels and 



