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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



English was quite apparent, and still the distinctive characters 

 were very obvious. In the opinion of Professor Sargent the tree 

 is a hybrid of Juglans regia with some American species, prob- 

 ably Gary a sulcata, in which case it is similar to the origin of 

 J. Vilmoriniana, a probable hybrid of J. nigra and J. regia. 

 The Professor knows other specimens of natural hybrid origin. 



The small Kalmia angustifolia and Myrica (Comptonia) 

 asplenifolia are found everywhere wild in the grounds, and I 

 wondered not a little to find the latter so thoroughly established 

 in an often dry and poor soil, and holding its own against the 

 other spontaneous bushes, whilst we in Europe take so much 

 trouble to cultivate it in peat, and then sometimes fail to succeed. 

 Is it to the vicinity of the sea and the somewhat moist atmo- 

 sphere that we are to ascribe this vitality, or are we killing the 

 plant by coddling it too much ? In Boston they plant it in poor 

 sand, and simply let it alone. 



The beautiful Japanese Betula corylifolia is as fine in the 

 Arboretum as I ever saw it, even at Kew. The yellowish tint of 

 the shoots and golden hue of the foliage, along with its healthy 

 appearance, make it quite distinct and fine. Good use is made of 

 two small or trailing American species, B. humilis and B . pumila. 

 They are excellent for covering banks and forming large beds. 



Of the Conifers large-sized specimens are not to be seen in 

 the Arboretum. Their section of the grounds being a new 

 addition, they are as yet only from 6 to 15 feet high. In the Firs 

 and Spruces, the Japanese species, Abies brachyphylla, A.Veitcliii, 

 Picea Alcockiana, and the American P. _p?m#e«s, seem to promise 

 very well. At Mr. Hunnewell's I saw a fine young tree of Abies 

 sachalincnsis and a large and beautiful blue Douglas Fir 35 feet 

 high. In the same place there is a bluish Larix leptolepis of about 

 the same size. The beautiful Western Larch has been planted in 

 choice places in the Arboretum ; the finest are those grafted on 

 L. leptolepis. A singular creeping form of Thuya canadensis was 

 found in a wood near Boston ; it is very curious, and has been 

 propagated by the New York and Kochester nurserymen. A 

 great favourite in New England is Thuya japonica or Thuyopsis 

 Standishii. It stands the winter better than the American T. 

 gigantea, Nutt. (T. Lobbii, hort.), and the branching habit is more 

 compact in the Japanese tree. The Japanese Taxus cuspidata 

 is also preferred to the T. baccata, which would often be injured 



