132 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
In the Highland Park Pinetum very little disbudding has been 
done, as it is desirable in a collection of this kind to leave 
them as much as possible to natural development. The main 
attention has been given towards the preservation of the 
leaders, and occasionally central buds have been repressed in 
branches of pines, spruces and firs where they extend too 
far. 
Mulching is excellent treatment for young evergreens where 
it is practicable, and I have elsewhere seen splendid results 
from it. With us this is impracticable, but we do the next 
best thing. 1 he soil is kept thoroughly cultivated and stirred 
from eighteen inches to two feet from the extremities of the 
branches, and this also saves them from possible damage from 
fires, which are sometimes liable to occur in the dry grass in 
early spring. Amongst the various insect pests that attack 
evergreens the two worst with us are Red Spider and the 
Pine-Tree Blight, Eriosomo strobi. The re’d spider in a dry 
season will attack some of the spruces so badly as to seri- 
ously disfigure them. With an abundant supply of water 
under pressure applied frequently, Red Spider can be con- 
trolled, but that is seldom under command The Pine-Tree 
Blight has a particular liking for the white pine, and will 
cover the branches thickly, producing a white downylike ap- 
pearance. 
It can be destroyed by any of the soap insecticides. Some- 
times the white pine when apparently in the best of health 
and vigor will die with what seems like mysterious sudden- 
ness. This usually occurs, however, when it has been planted 
in a heavy damp soil and is making a rank growth. In a 
light, well drained soil the causes that produce this sudden 
demise are rarely operative. 
Among the different species of pines that are the most 
useful for ornamental and decorative planting, the white pine 
undoubtedly comes first. Our native red pine is excellent. 
The Bhotan, Corean, Thunberg’s, Swiss Stone, densiflora and 
ponderosa pines we believe can be depended upon in sheltered 
situations. The dwarf Mugho pine, and the variety known 
as rotundata are extremely useful and serviceable in many 
situations. The Austrian and Scotch pines are not generally 
long-lived but they grow easily, are very accommodating and 
we confess to having a tender regard for them. 
The spruces are very attractive and among some of the 
best are our native white spruce and its blue form. The 
Oriental, Engelman’s, Douglas', Alcock's and of course the 
popular blue spruce are all excellent. A spruce introduced 
fifteen or twenty years since from southeast Europe, Picea 
Omorika, has great promise. 
Our native hemlock spruce and its weeping form are in- 
dispensable, but although a native, do not plant it in bleak 
cold situations or it will look forlorn. The Carolina and 
Patton’s hemlock spruces are very promising. Albert’s hem- 
lock spruce from British Columbia, and the Japanese species 
do not look very happy with us so far. Among the firs I 
have no hesitation in placing Abies concolor from Colorado 
as one of the most decorative in these parts. Nordman’s, 
Cephalonian (the latter will sometimes get scorched in a 
young state by the winter's suns, but it will soon outgrow it), 
and the Japanese brachyphyla and Veitch's firs will, if 
planted in sheltered spots, be satisfactory. The balsam fir in 
Western New York looks wretchedly after fifteen or twenty 
years. The numerous forms of the native Arbor Vitae such 
as Hovey’s, Siberian, compacta, Vervaeneana, Tom Thumb, 
• globosa and minima, with their prim and stiff forms, are 
useful in many situations. 
The two best yews are the Japanese and the Canadian. The 
English yew, with its numerous forms, are liable to get 
badly scorched in a severe winter. 
The Nootka Sound Cypress, Cupressus Nutkaensis appears 
to do well with us and is very ornamental. The Japanese 
Retinosporas are very unsatisfactory in Western New York. 
In the junipers we have some excellent evergreens. The 
red cedar of Virginia juniper is one of the most virile and 
hardy evergreens in existence. It will grow and look happy 
in the poorest soils, and bleak exposures, and we have some 
pretty forms of it such as venusta, elegantissima, and the 
glaucous variety is exceedingly handsome. The Savin juniper 
and its varieties, tamariscifolia and alpina, can be used with 
excellent results on banks and slopes, and in connection with 
rocky formations. The carpet juniper J. prostrata, and the 
Himalayan species J. Squamata are perfectly hardy, and also 
excellently adapted for draping slopes and rocky banks. The 
common juniper, J. communis, in its procumbent forms is very 
useful. 1 he so-called Irish juniper with us is useless, but 
the Swedish form we believe can be depended upon, and the 
Japanese and Chinese junipers appear to be satisfactory. 
In flowering and other evergreens that can be depended 
upon to be satisfactory in Western New York the list is 
small. Among the “flowering" evergreens no plants can 
compare to the chaste beauty of the Rhododendrons wherever 
they prove to be happy and healthy. In Western New York 
the cultivation of Rhododendrons cannot be said to have 
been successful, but this is more due to soil conditions than 
anything else. The soil is mainly limestone, and it is well 
known that they will not thrive in soil containing lime. In 
limestone soil they will make a fairly good growth, but 
they seem to lack the necessary vigor to pass through the 
winter, as even when protected closely, they look unhappy 
when spring comes. Their cultivation, however, in Highland 
Park in excavated beds filled with humus or soil of a peaty 
nature has so far given excellent results. They grow freely, 
flower abundantly, pass through the winter without any scorch- 
ing, and they are not coddled by close protection, other than 
that afforded naturally from the prevailing winds, and from 
the direct rays of the late winter's sun. What is known as 
the Hunnewell list, which contains about twenty-five varieties, 
with Catawbiense blood, are all that can be used here. 
The mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, an excellent shrub, 
should always be used wherever it can be coaxed to grow, 
but it will not thrive in lime. The narrow leaved form, K. 
angustifolia, is useful and the early flowering hardy species, 
K. glauca, is pretty in early spring. 
Leucothoe Catesbaei with its beautiful glossy leaves, is 
excellent for planting in quantity in sheltered situations. 
Amongst the Andromedas, A. floribunda and the common A. 
polifolia are very satisfactory. The latter used in large 
quantities around the margins of ponds, and lakes can be 
easily made to produce denser effects than it does- in its native 
sphagnum bogs. 
The native leather leaf, Cassandra calyculata, can be coaxed 
to grow without much trouble, but it is not very decorative. 
The pretty little Labrador-Tea is difficult to handle. The 
Barberry, Arctostaphylos, when seen covering the ground 
with a dense carpet of green in a wild state in parts of Long 
Island and along the Atlantic Coast is very attractive, but 
in our experience it takes unkindly to cultivation, and it is 
moreover hard to propagate. 
Among the heaths Erica carnea, E vagans and the Scotch 
heather in several forms, take kindly to cultivation and form 
real pretty clumps. The evergreen Euonymuses are very 
useful farther south, but the climbing radicans form is the 
only one of any account here. In the evergreen barberries 
aquifolium, fasicularis and the low growing repens are per- 
fectly hardy, but they need to have natural protection from 
the late winter sunshine or they will get badly scorched. 
These evergreen barberries are very ornamental and cheerful 
in the winter months. 
