purpose of producing specimen trees— that is, trees that are 
practically perfect; that will be useful and ornamental from 
the beginning; that will develop rapidly and increase in beauty 
as they grow older, and, barring unusual accidents and diseases, 
will live until they die of old age, requiring no attention at any 
stage from the hands of a "tree surgeon." 
Great care was exercised, to begin with, in the selection of 
the land for the nursery. It was chosen for its peculiar fitness 
for the growing of ornamental trees, which was demonstrated 
by its natural and artificial growth. The Norway spruce, 
for example, is a tree which usually begins to deteriorate 
at the age of twenty-five or thirty years in the neighbor- 
hood of New York. At Amawalk I have a number of Nor- 
way spruces sixty-five years old which show no signs of im- 
pairment. Other trees, notably maples, larches and elms, show 
the same virility. 
To produce good roots and vigorous growth in our trees the 
ground is prepared for planting with much care. It is plowed 
and cross-plowed repeatedly. It is subsoiled and fertilized 
heavily. The trees, as soon as they are advanced in growth, 
are planted wide apart, giving them exposure to the sun and 
ample room for development. With such preparation and care 
the trees grow vigorously and handsomely. 
To produce straight trees without crooks or forks the young 
trees are inspected three or four times a year by experts. These 
experts prune off imperfect or badly formed branches, and 
correct, by staking or otherwise, any inclination to crooked- 
ness or other ugliness in the tree. 
Trees carefully grown in properly prepared soil develop 
very rapidly and experience no setback after transplanting. 
This is one of the advantages of buying well-grown trees. 
Growing rapidly, they quickly reach full development, render- 
ing a long wait of years unnecessary. 
By such constant care and interest we have been able to 
produce trees of greater strength, promise and beauty than are 
usually grown in nurseries. We are sure that all lovers of good 
trees will take pleasure in examining these specimens. 
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