LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 31 



horizontal form. In foliage it is light and open, feathery, and 

 together with its wood studded with long, pointed thorns, and 

 seed pods of five or six inches in length, which hang on all 

 winter, create for it a tree very desirable in the composition of 

 groups, and also for roadsides or streets, where only a partial, 

 not deep shade is desirable. 



Larch. — Larix. — The European Larch is a tree almost 

 indispensible in ornamental planting of grounds. Seemingly 

 indifferent as to the nature of the soil, it grows with surprising 

 rapidity in thin, poor, light sands, in wet, boggy loams, in high 

 rocky knolls, or in rich garden loam. It should, however, be 

 sparingly planted in grounds where the graceful, rather than the 

 picturesque, is designed to be created. The European Larch, 

 when the tree is so planted that it can plainly be seen, is very 

 beautiful with its bright pink flowers early in spring. 



Magnolia. — To this family, many varieties of which are the 

 pride of our Southern States, too little attention is given by the 

 majority of tree planters ; whether it is that good plants are 

 difficult to be obtained, or whether it is because the trees arc 

 rather sensitive and unwilling to be carelessly and negligently 

 handled* when transplanting, very few planters make room for 

 them on their lists or in their grounds, but how any landscapist 

 can form an extensive group of evergreens and deciduous trees 

 without using Magnolias, is beyond our comprehension. In our 

 experience we have found no difficulty when transplanting, 

 provided we kept the roots from cold, drying winds or clear, 

 burning suns ; exposure to either of which, by reason of their 

 soft, spongy texture, is injurious and often destructive of life. 

 Of the varieties all are beautiful, but some are not perfectly 

 hardy in tjie Northern States. A sandy, loamy soil suits them 

 best, but if it is strictly dry the trees of some varieties, as 

 Macrophylla, etc., when grown on their own roots, are liable to 

 die out in from five to ten years. Any soil containing lime is 

 injurious to the Magnolia. We prefer to make our soil, when 

 not naturally suited, by digging a place three to four feet deep 

 and eight to ten feet in diameter, and fill it with light, rich, fresh 



