BULLETIN NO. 52. 
The winter of 1913-14 will be remembered in all parts of eastern 
North America as a winter of exceptional severity. The unusually 
low temperature accompanied by high gales of a day or two in Janu- 
ary when there was no snow on the ground, and the severe cold and 
high winds of late February and early March caused much anxiety to 
the lovers of plants in eastern Massachusetts. So far as the Arbore- 
tum is concerned these fears have not been realized, for the losses 
from the winter here are few and unimportant. The plants of a small 
Rhododendron, R. Gowenianum, chiefly interesting as one of the hybrids 
between an Azalea and a Rhododendron, have been killed; otherwise 
the Rhododendrons are in remarkably good condition and their flower- 
ing promises to be the best that the Arboretum has seen. A few of 
the small, half hardy conifers, like some of the Torreyas and Cephalo- 
taxus planted near the top of Hemlock Hill, have suffered but will 
probably recover, and here and there through the Arboretum the dead 
tips of small branches show how severe the winter has been. Even small 
plants of Buckeyes from Georgia and Texas, and several species of 
Plums from Texas planted in the open ground, show no signs of injury. 
The effects of the cold on the new plants from western' China are of. 
special interest for it would seem that any plant that could survive 
such a winter might be considered hardy. It is gratifying, therefore, 
to find that very few of the Chinese plants even when planted in the 
most exposed positions have suffered. The Oaks, Birches, Poplars, 
Willows, Ashes, Cherries, Plums, Yellowwoods, Davidias, Eucommia, 
Catalpas, Berberis, Cercidiphyllum, most of the Cornels, Viburnums, 
Cotoneasters, Honeysuckles, Spiraeas, Lilacs, several of the Evodias 
and Ehretia and many others are uninjured. Some of the Chinese 
Roses, as might have been expected, are killed back nearly to the 
ground, while others are quite unhurt. Two of Wilson’s conifers, 
Picea Watsoniana and Tsuga chinensis, have been growing for three 
years in the open ground without protection and are now as bright 
and fresh as any conifer in the collection. This is interesting for 
these two trees came from the region where Wilson later found the 
large number of new conifers, the introduction of which into cultiva- 
tion was one of the important results of his travels, and the hardi- 
ness of this Spruce and Hemlock indicate that other species from the 
same region may perhaps be equally hardy in New England. 
It is interesting to note that the flowers of the winter-flowering 
Witch Hazels from southern Missouri, Japan and western China were 
not affected by the severe cold. The Chinese species, Hamamelis 
mollis, produced its flowers for the first time in the Arboretum in 
February. These flowers are larger than those of the other species; 
the petals are bright yellow and remained for weeks in good condition. 
This promises to be a valuable plant for persons who can use winter- 
flowering shrubs. 
The spring is exceptionally late. The bluebirds did not arrive this 
year until March 25th; they have been known to come as early as the 
21st of February, and the average date of their arrival for the last 
thirty years is March 9th. In the bulletin published last year on April 
25th there was announced the flowering of several Cherries, of the 
