606 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Shrubs are often the keystone to beauty, for they enable the arranger 

 to show off what is worth seeing and hide the bad defects. That every 

 plflnt in its proper place is better than any other is known to all true 

 observation ; in high development evergreen shrubs are very important, 

 as they give the power to produce great variety in small space. The 

 Rhododendrons have rich masses of foliage all the year, and their glorious 

 flowers in season undoubtedly make them the queens of mid-distances. 

 To see the want of a scene is necessary to its development. In an old 

 wooded scene of large timber, for instance, for immediate effect I have 

 planted Silver Birches fifteen feet high, with the quick-growing, climbing 

 Roses, which gave pleasure to all observers, and when they were in flower 

 carpeted the ground and rose to the tops of the trees. While the effects 

 of the Rhododendrons properly grouped, and of the Silver Birches with 

 climbers, are very opposite, yet, as they are of different elevations of 

 growth, it is possible to use them advantageously. The evergreen shrubs 

 are much neglected in American planting, and time is required to gain 

 their effect. They do not grow as fast as the deciduous shrubs, but they 

 last many years longer. 



The Rhododendrons possess many varieties, from the glories of Indian 

 species, available for land where strong frost never enters, to the hardy 

 varieties which, by proper selection and right planting, will grow almost 

 anywhere. Yews are plentiful in England, and full of youth even when 

 several hundred years old. Yews will do well in all parts of America by 

 selecting the variety suitable to each district. The well-known Ilex 

 crenata (Holly) has lately become known in America for its hardiness. 

 I have never seen it burnt by winters that have scorched even Spruce 

 trees. It is a valuable plant and will soon grow into size if planted in two 

 or three feet of good, loamy soil, and its dark green leaves will claim 

 attention and admiration. 



Among the multitudinous parts of scenery, each part has its own 

 character, but must unite harmoniously with surrounding characters. 

 When knowledge is gained as to what makes up the principal parts of 

 scenery, art is enabled to assist Nature to develop and reveal herself so 

 that the beauties of each and all may develop in the fulness of their 

 natural growth. Nature takes too much time to develop for the " survival 

 of the fittest," whereas man, when he knows the "fittest," can assist its 

 development, and gain in a few years a beauty of untold loveliness. Thus 

 the laws of natural principles become the guiding fingers of action to 

 reveal earth's beauties. In arrangement we do not attempt to give every- 

 thing at once, but a proper fulness to each scene, with proper succession 

 of varieties in other scenes ; for in commencing to develop the bare waste 

 land that money often endeavours to give to beauty, these natural laws 

 are the guiding principles to direct the hand in giving silent life back 

 again to the land ; to give that infinite beauty that never tires the eye, 

 taste, or mind of the beholder. If these natural laws are ignored, no 

 matter how much money is expended, the scenes will pall upon the taste • 

 and become ignored after their mere novelty wears off ; whereas if the 

 land beauty is developed according to natural principles, so that the eyes 

 can see it, it will grow upon the beholder in its beautiful repose, so that 

 it continually reveals new beauties. 



