JANUARY, 1909 
“‘Wellingtonia’’ is the English name for the 
“big tree.’’? This one was planted by the Duchess 
of Wellington. Notice the bunchy foliage-effect 
is poisonous, and therefore cannot he planted 
where cattle may nibble the foliage, for to 
eat a spray of it is to die. Consequently, 
yew is not conspicuous in the landscape, but 
it is in everyone’s home grounds; it hedges 
gardens; it makes stately avenues, as at 
Hampton Court; it lines walks of beautiful 
solemnity approaching many an exquisite 
church; and in the graveyard it is the ever- 
present symbol of immortality. 
Unfortunately yew is a failure in America. 
It exists only in places protected in winter 
from strong wind and sunshine. Our native 
yew is what people call “ground hemlock”’ 
(Taxus Canadensis), but this can never fill 
the place of the English yew, because it is 
only a trailing bush. The real equivalent of 
the yew, as a lawn tree, is the Japanese yew 
(Taxus cuspidata), because it forms a low, 
round-headed tree. It has the same red ber- 
ries, showy in autumn. (Luckily the berries 
are not poisonous.) Moreover, the bark of 
the Japanese yew is redder and warmer 
than that of the English yew. ‘The tree is not 
“harmed by zero weather, drying winds, or 
sudden bursts of sunshine when the ground is 
frozen, and is hardy even in New England. 
But even if Japanese yew should live for 
-thousands of years in America it can never 
stir such emotions as the yew does in 
England, for it will always be a menace to 
life. If England had dozens of native con- 
ifers, as we have, the yew would be a mere 
incident. But England has practically only 
two native conifers — the yew and the Scotch 
pine. No wonder these two have become 
almost a part of the English character! 
I am glad that the yew is a failure in 
America because no country ought to copy 
any other; each should make the most of its 
own character. In the hemlock we have a 
tree with the same foliage-effect which has 
strong American traits. The peculiar grace 
of both trees is produced by short, soft 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
needles arranged in two ranks, but presenting 
the effect of a flat spray. Hemlock is not so 
enormously long-lived, it grows too tall for 
gardens, we must use more care to preserve 
its lower branches, especially in hedges, and 
its trunk is less interesting than that of yew. 
On the other hand, hemlock has a more 
delicate spray (owing to the shorter needles), 
and is not poisonous, so that we can plant it 
everywhere and by the million. Hemlock 
and white pine ought always to be the most 
prominent evergreens in the North and East, 
for the former is the best embodiment of the 
idea of grace among available conifers, while 
the latter best expresses the idea of strength. 
OUR EQUIVALENT FOR THE CEDAR OF 
LEBANON 
As the yew is the most decorative conifer 
in England, so the cedar of Lebanon is the 
most picturesque. You see it everywhere, 
centuries old, the pride of every country 
gentleman’s estate. In Asia Minor speci- 
mens have lived 2,000 years. The peculiar 
glory of this cedar is the perfection of its 
strata. It is a very open tree and its 
successive tiers or platforms of foliage are 
spread out for every one to enjoy. It 
also has very interesting cones. We have 
absolutely nothing like it growing wild in 
America. 
Of all the foreign conifers the cedar of 
Lebanon is the most conspicuous in Eng- 
land, but it is also the most thoroughly at 
home. ‘Technically, this is not true, because 
it does not “‘self sow,”’ but humanly speaking 
it fits the landscape to perfection. It never 
has the stern or tragic look of our picturesque 
conifers, eloquent of a thousand battles lost 
and won. The mellowness of old England 
has descended upon it like a benediction. 
But never has a grander personality made 
a poorer start in life. A young cedar of 
Lebanon grows very slowly and has little 
reaky 
Ne 
f 
Cedar of Lebanon at the left, Scotch pines at the right. 
A better tree of the same type as the Scotch pine is our native red pine (Pinus resinosd) 
of the first. 
265 
beauty. At the time when other conifers 
are symmetrical and graceful it is a rough, 
. tousled mass of harsh foliage having the 
texture of the larch. But in old age and at 
a distance the foliage-effect becomes wonder- 
fully soft and the whole tree assumes a pro- 
phetic appearance, so that one is transported 
as if by magic to Old Testament times. 
Unfortunately the cedar of Lebanon is a 
failure in America. The exceptions only 
prove the rule. But Professor Sargent is 
doing a splendid work in sending explorers 
for the hardiest forms of the most important 
trees, and the Arnold Arboretum has a stock 
of Cedrus Libani raised from seeds found 
in the northernmost mountains of the 
Taurus range and at the highest altitude 
where this cedar grows. 
But even if Professor Sargent’s form of the 
cedar of Lebanon should prove disappoint- 
ing there is another cedar which is certainly 
hardier than the common stock and in old 
age it cannot be distinguished from the cedar 
of Lebanon. This is the Mount Atlas cedar 
(Cedrus Atlantica), which Mr. William 
Robinson believes is only a geographical 
variation of the cedar of Lebanon and not a 
distinct species. In the young state, the 
African cedar has an upright leader, while 
that of the Lebanon cedar is nodding. The 
leaves of the former are generally less than an 
inch long and thicker than broad, while those 
of the latter are an inch or more long and 
broader than thick. But their landscape 
effects are identical. I saw a superb avenue 
of African cedars at Dropmore, composed of 
trees about seventy feet high, and a picture of 
it is published this month in Country Life in 
America. 
At-the home of Major Rogers, Sevenoaks, 
Kent, I saw a cedar of Lebanon practically 
too feet high which was planted in 1815. 
At Enfield I paced under one about 250 years 
old which had a spread of over roo feet. 
Professor Sargent has found the hardiest form 
