Evergreen^ 
40 
ISAAC HICKS & SON 
SPRUCE. 
Picea, erroneously Abies, including Pseudotsuga 
The Spruces are always pointed at the top. They generally have sharp needles and hanging cones. 
The firs also have pointed tops, but their needles are generally flatter and less sharp and the cones are 
erect. Hedges of Spruce are excellent because they hold their lowest branches to the ground. In 
trimming hedges, it is essential to favor the lower branches by leaving the bottom much the wider. 
Vertical sides mean open base with almost any hedge. 
White. P. alda. A tree that has all the good 
qualities that an evergreen needs. It is very 
hardy. The severest winters do not hurt it in 
the least. In beauty it ranks with the highest. 
The foliage is a cheerful blue-green, dense and 
handsome. The growth is vigorous, and the 
form of the tree a broad-based cone. It thrives 
near the sea. It is a tree that holds itself up well. 
It will be the bulwark of comfortable homes. 
Norway. P. excelsa. The good qualities of Nor- 
way Spruce are that it is cheaply imported from 
Europe, it grows quickly and it looks well while 
in the nursery and a few years after. There end 
the good qualities of 80 per cent on Long Island. 
The Norway Spruce is responsible for a frequent 
dislike of evergreens. When people say, "I 
don't like the evergreens ; they are gloomy and 
Concolor Fir (see page 32), moved on Hicks' Tree-Mover. 
Our stock oi this tree is perfect in habit and density. 
Norway, continued 
melancholy," it is because the only evergreens 
they have in mind are Norway Spruces. They 
may remember them as shutting out the needed 
winter sunshine. Don't blame our forefathers. 
The little spruces looked pretty in the front yard 
and were about all the nurseryman had. The 
Norway Spruce does not like the alternation 
between bright warm winter sun and dry north- 
west winter winds. They drop some of the 
twigs and some of the foliage turns yellow. That 
makes them ragged, open, tattered and haggard. 
They look unhappy and have a depressing effect 
on the cheerfulness of the landscape. 
Maxwell's Dwarf. P. Maxwelli. A cushion of 
the most compact fohage that in a dozen years 
will be 2 feet high and 4 feet wide. 
Alcock's. P. bicolor; syn., Alcockiana. Worthy 
of planting as a specimen. It is a narrow, pyram- 
idal tree, hardy and handsome. The unique 
feature is that it is bluer than the Colorado Blue 
Spruce on the under side of the foliage. It is 
a native of the mountains of Japan. 
Oriental. P. orientalis. The darkest green hardy 
evergreen. It make a tall, sHghtly tapering tree 
of very dense foliage. It holds its foliage for 
nine years. Native of the Caucasus Mountains. 
Colorado. P. pimgens. The sage-green color and 
strong, needle-pointed leaves, on stiff, shelf-like 
branches, make this a beautiful and conspicuous 
tree. It is a strong, stern tree and can stand salt 
spray. In early summer its color approaches 
that of the Colorado Blue. 
Colorado Blue. P. pungens, var. glauca. This 
conspicuous lawn ornament has become more 
quickly known and appreciated than any other 
evergreen. It instantly attracts the eye and 
forms the center of the picture. It cheerfully 
lights up a dark corner, and harmonizes with a 
background of White Spruce and darker Firs and 
Pines. The scintillations of its silver sheen are 
like a lace of hoar-frost sparkling in the sun. 
We have several thousand trees of these two 
forms, and if any one wants to get a choice tree 
cheaply, plant these little trees in a garden bed 
and later plant them on the lawn. Of larger 
sizes we have trees up to 10 feet. 
Koster's Colorado Blue. P. pungens, var. glauca 
Kosterii. This is grafted from an extra blue 
tree. 
