78 
Like the two preceding it holds its color all 
through the long, dry Southern summer. 
In the North, it is best to place these varie- 
ties so that they will be protected on the south 
side from too much winter sunshine. 
The thread-branched Chinese arborvite 
(Biota orientalis, var. filiformis) is an admira- 
ble form introduced from Japan about 1883 
by Veitch of England, from whom I secured 
four plants the following year. Our speci- 
mens have reached the height of ten feet 
and have never been injured in the least by 
excessive hot or cold weather. Nevertheless, 
I fear this and the next will not be reliably 
hardy north of Baltimore. 
The weeping Chinese arborvite (Bzota 
orientalis var. pendula) is occasionally found 
among a batch of seedlings of the typical 
Biota orientalis, but it does not come true 
from seed. All the seedlings revert. 
I cannot recommend many other varieties 
of the Chinese arborvite (e. g., Meldensts, 
falcata and macrocarpa) but Biota Rosedale 
is very interesting. It is claimed to be a 
hybrid between a biota and a retinispora. 
Not having seen the fruit I do not care to 
venture an opinion on this point. The 
plant has exceedingly fine-cut foliage, light 
green in summer, purplish in winter. It 
is supposed that its ultimate height will be 
four or five feet. It is admirably adapted 
for growing in tubs and window boxes and 
so is Biota nana aurea. 
The California arborvite (Libocedrus 
decurrens) is often called “incense cedar,” 
but it has flat fronds like an arborvite. 
This aromatic tree is remarkable for its 
extraordinary range. It is found from 
Oregon to Patagonia and is perhaps the 
most conspicuous exception to the rule that 
trees of western continental coasts do not 
thrive on the eastern coasts of continents, 
for it is native to southwestern China and 
New Zealand, and thrives in cultivation in 
our Southern states, attaining a height of 
forty or fifty feet. It reaches a height of 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
150 feet in California at an altitude of 5,000 
to 8,000 feet. It is hardy even in Massa- 
chusetts when sheltered, but it is liable to 
lose its lower branches rather early in the 
North and I hardly expect it to grow very 
rapidly to a great height north of Washington, 
D. C. It is one of the most valuable tall 
conifers for the South. 
THE HEMLOCK TYPE 
Everybody knows and loves the common 
hemlock spruce (T’suga Canadensis), but, 
in my opinion, the Carolina hemlock (7. 
Caroliniana) is an even finer tree. Its 
foliage is of a darker and richer color. It 
is more compact and has better head when 
old. The leaves are longer and are a more 
pronounced white beneath. It has proved 
hardy as far north as Ontario, but seldom 
succeeds below the Piedmont region of the 
South, whereas the 7. Canadensis makes a 
medium sized tree in the Middle South. 
THE ARAUCARIA TYPE 
Araucaria is a magnificent genus contain- 
ing the Norfolk Island pine (A. excelsa) and 
the monkey puzzle (A. imbricata). The 
former is a house plant famed for its sym- 
metry. The latter is picturesque. Our win- 
ters are too cold for the first; the second 
needs a cooler climate and a mountain 
range. It does well in California as also 
A. Brasiliana. I have seen the three 
varieties growing luxuriantly at Menlo 
Park, California. 
The best tree of this type for the South is 
Cunninghamia Sinensis, a unique and ancient 
survival. Its leaves resemble Avaucaria 
Brasiliana, and it is a symmetrical evergreen 
for lawn decoration.’ I believe that I have 
the finest specimen of Cunninghamia 
South. A  well-grown, symmetrical tree 
with branches feathering from the ground 
and attaining a height of sixty feet is so 
seldom seen that the noble appearance of 
such a tree cannot well be understood if you 
Marcu, 1908 
have seen only the ill-shaped and many- 
headed specimens that are commonly met 
with. Our tree was planted in 1860 when 
twelve inches high. It was imported from 
Europe and evidently grown from a cutting, 
for it was of rather an unattractive appear- 
ance. The second year a new shoot appeared 
within a few inches of the old plant, which 
was of vigorous growth, and being carefully 
nursed, soon made a most beautiful tree. 
It has now attained a height of sixty feet 
which is said to be greater than it naturally 
reaches in the. warmer portions of China. 
The leaves are from one to two inches long, 
lanceolate, pointed, and bright green. ‘Trees 
should be grown from seed, when a good 
form may be regularly expected. Plants 
grown from cuttings are seldom of any value 
unless there is a new shoot formed after- 
ward from the base of the roots. Cunning- 
hamia should never be planted in very rich 
or moist soil; it thrives best in a gravely but 
deep soil, and cannot be considered hardy 
north of Washington, D.C. It may be con- 
sidered the southern equivalent of the Nor- 
folk Island pine for a tall tree. 
The medium-sized equivalent of the above 
is Cryptomeria Japonica, for while perfectly 
hardy in the Middle South, it is desirable 
only when six to eight feet high. As the 
tree attains age, it often becomes straggling. 
Its foliage is more flattened than that of the 
Norfolk Island pine. In Japan, where it 
attains 125 feet, it is the great timber tree 
of the country and it is also extensively 
planted for avenues. At New York it is 
not generally considered hardy, though there 
is a specimen forty feet high at Dana’s 
Island, and it is hoped that the variety Lobbi 
will prove hardy there. If so, it will probably 
be the quickest growing, short-leaved conifer 
that is hardy as far north as that. All its 
other forms (such as araucarioides, com- 
pacta, nana, spiralis, etc.) are of no value 
South, but when grown in pots are valuable 
for table decoration. 
Seakale 1n Nine Months Instead of Four Years—By W. C. McCollom 
A DELICIOUS VEGETABLE COMBINING THE FLAVORS OF ASPARAGUS, CAULIFLOWER AND CELERY THAT CAN 
BE FORCED LIKE RHUBARB AT ANY TIME IN THE WINTER OR TAKEN FROM THE OPEN GARDEN IN SPRING 
Se is what might be termed a 
“fancy” vegetable. The edibie parts 
are the naked leaf stalks which are forced 
and blanched. They look at first glance 
like celery stalks but have a distinctive taste 
Seakale seedlings two months old, ready to trans- 
plant on May 15th 
of their own which is delicious. Used like 
celery for salad it is excellent. Cooked and 
served with a drawn butter sauce, it 
has much the appearance of stewed celery, 
somewhat the flavor of blanched asparagus 
but with a more marked and special pungency 
that is all its own. I know of no really 
more delicious eating vegetable, and I grow 
an abundant supply from a few cents’ worth 
of seed. You can do the same if you have 
any sort of place for forcing the roots when 
winter arrives and as to its growth during 
summer there is no vegetable that I know 
that needs less attention. Old roots (three 
or four years) cost money; they are usually 
worth about two dollarsa dozen. Fora few 
cents seed sufficient for any ordinary family 
can be bought. 
The common belief that it is impossible 
to get enough results from seakale to make 
it worth growing in less than four years is, 
I think, the chief cause of the neglect of 
Keep the eye just above the soil level when potting 
up the roots. This is the correct way 
