i6 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
a rival. I have seen them shimmering and flashing 
in the sun like burnished silver. 
The sheen is composed of a delicate bloom 
which coats the needles. You may take the choicest 
pungens, plant it in the sod and treat it with neglect, 
and it will take the sulks and turn green. The first 
year after transplanting it generally grows dim. 
Those who buy trees do not understand this, and 
think they have been imposed upon. Once fine 
specimens were set in Copley square, Boston, but 
they look like poor hungry things. The finest 
specimens while young are poisoned by dogs. 
You may take the brightest trees and let them 
be planted on a bleak Nebraska prairie, where they 
will be whipped by siroccos and cufled by blizzards, 
and they lose their beauty, except while growing. 
Yet I have seen very fine specimens, where they 
have been well cultivated and receive a little shelter. 
It is strange that this tree, taken from a high alti- 
tude and on the north side of the mountains, will 
do well in every state in the Union, I think, as it 
has been tested in most of them. This tree does 
far better in the nursery than in the mountains. I 
liave seen thousands growing in their native wilds, 
but they bear no comparison to those under good 
cu'tivation both East and West. 
After they recover from the change the needles 
become much longer, larger and brighter. There is 
no evergreen that can so well resist the dust and 
smoke of cities. One winter I was in Denver. 
The weather had been quiet and trees were laden 
with dust and coal smoke. But on shaking the 
pungens they were as bright as ever. City condi- 
tions are fatal to soft-leaved conifers. 
There are many notable specimens of this tree 
in the East. Some fine ones stand sentinel at the 
gateway of Eorest Hills, near Boston. Probably 
the finest in America is on the grounds of C. H. 
Anney of Methuen. It is the chief attraction in 
his magnificent collection. It is the joy of the old 
gardener. I asked him how he made it so compact. 
He answered “by after transplanting. ” Give this 
tree the best of care, and until it is 30 years old it 
will be of supreme beauty. 
The concolor is a tree on a grander scale. I 
spent two days with Dr. Eernow while he was chief 
of forestry. We studied them where they grew wild 
in the mountains. 
It is worth a journey halt across a continent for 
a lover of trees to see a grove of them in all their 
splendor. 
Some samples like the pungens are clothed in 
silver with deep tints of blue. The young cone on 
one tree will be light green, and its neighbor will 
have those of deep purple. These cones are about 
the size of an ear of early sweet corn. Pure gum 
will exude from these, and they flash and sparkle 
like gems in the sunshine. So take a grove with 
ermine and emerald, its light green and its wonder- 
ful cones, moved by the winds and flashing in the 
sun, and you have a tree that is a gem. 
I have seen them four feet through and 75 feet 
high. They grow very rapidly. They were con- 
sidered hard to move, but frequent transplanting 
gives plenty of fibrous roots, so there is no trouble. 
The fact is this tree grows richer in color as it grows 
older. I have seen large trees half dead flashing a 
beautiful color from the branches yet alive, just as 
the Christian puts on more of grace and spiritual 
beauty as he nears home. 
So having spent years in the mountains, among 
the parks and the private grounds of the East and 
West and the interior, I am sure these two trees are 
the choicest of all, and after thirty years the con- 
color will distance all competitors for hardiness 
and thrift, grace and beauty, that can be raised 
between the Rockies and the Atlantic. 
C. S. Harrison. 
The Carnahuba palm, which grows uncultivated 
in the states of Parahiba, Ca;ara, Rio Grande de 
Norte, Piauhi, and some of the neighboring states 
of Brazil, is the most marvelous tree says the 
Philadelphia Record. ‘ ‘The description given of 
it seems incredible. In no other region of the 
globe is a tree to be found that can be employed 
for such varied and useful purposes. It resists in- 
tense and protracted droughts and is always green 
and vigorous. Its roots produce the same medicinal 
effects as sarsaparilla. Its stems afford stroncr, lieht 
fibers, which acquire a beautiful luster and serve 
also for joists, rafters and other building materials, 
as well as for stakes for fences. From parts of the 
tree wines and vinegar are made. It yields almost 
a saccharine substance as well as a starch resem- 
bling sago. In periods of famine, caused by pro- 
tracted droughts, the nutritious substances obtained 
from it are of immense benefit to the poorer classes. 
Its fruit is used for feeding cattle. The pulp has 
an agreeable taste and the nut, which is oleaginous 
and emulsive, is sometimes used as a substitute for 
coffee. Of the wood of the stem musical instru- 
ments, water tubes and pumps are made. The pith 
is an excellent substitute for cork. From the stem 
a white liquid, similar to the milk of the cocoanut, 
and a flour, may be extracted. Of the straw, hats, 
baskets, brooms and mats are made. A consider- 
able quantity of this straw is shipped to Europe 
and a part of it returns to Brazil manufactured into 
hats. The straw is used also for thatching houses. 
Moreover, salt is extracted from it, and likewise an 
alkali used in the manufacture of common soap.” 
