368 D B ClbUO us TREES. 



such evergreens as the pines and Norway spruce are best adapted ; 

 and they must have a deep, warm, moist soil, in which their roots 

 can revel below the reach of the frost. Most of them need all the 

 sun they can get on their tops, but their roots must be cool and 

 shaded — a condition easily maintained by a well-kept lawn and 

 their own shadows, if they are encouraged to grow low. 



The bark of all the magnolias is favorite food for rabbits. 

 Where practicable the stems near the ground should be bound with 

 lath at the beginning of winter, and then covered with matting or 

 straw as high as possible. Of course the ground around the stems 

 should also be thoroughly mulched a little further than the roots 

 extend. 



The peculiar habits and needs of the different species will be 

 noted in their descriptions, which follow : 



The Evergreen-Magnolia or Big Laurel. Magnolia gran- 

 diflora^ {Laurier tulipier or tulip laurel of the French.) — We begin 

 with a description of this, the most tender of all the magnolias, be- 

 cause its fame is world-wide, as the acknowledged and worthy head 

 of a royal family. Michaux, in his great work, the Sylva Americana,, 

 published nearly fifty years ago by the French government, says of 

 it : " Of all the trees of North America, east of the Mississippi, the 

 big laurel is the most remarkable for the majesty of its form, the 

 magnificence of its foliage, and the beauty of its flowers. It is first 

 seen in the lower part of North Carolina, near the river Neuse, in 

 latitude 35°; proceeding from this point, it is found in the mari- 

 time parts of the southern States, * * * and as far up the 

 Mississippi as Natchez, 300 miles above New Orleans. The 

 French of Louisiana call it Laurier tulipier. It grows only in cool 

 and shady places, where the soil, composed of brown mould, is 

 loose, deep, and fertile." 



Bartram (the great tree-hunter of the last century, whose superb 

 collection south of Philadelphia, known as Bartram Garden, is now 

 an illy cared-for wild-wood) speaks of it as forming "a perfect 

 cone, placed on a straight clean trunk, resembling a beautiful col- 

 umn ; and, from its dark-green foliage, silvered over with milk- 

 white flowers, it is seen at a great distance." 



