PARK AND CEMETERY 
III 
mens carefully collected for planting, 
thus insuring a uniformity of stock that 
can always be relied upon. 
It would tax the limits of these col- 
umns to enumerate the varieties of 
native and foreign trees, shrubs, her- 
baceous and flowering plants, vines 
and fruits that one finds here, for in 
the half century that has passed hun- 
dreds of varieties from every clime 
have been experimented with, and the 
most desirable retained and propa- 
gated. 
Millions of elms, from the smallest 
seedling to the finest of specimens, 
catalpas by the hundred thousand, ma- 
ples, ash, linden, poplar, hackberry and 
all of the better known street and lawn 
trees are grown in abundance. Peter- 
son’s bronze ash and the Geneva maple 
were particularly noticeable. The 
leaves of the latter take on a rich purple 
color in the fall, making it a desirable 
tree for the landscape gardener in plant- 
ing for fall effects. Mr. Peterson re- 
gards the Schwedler variety of the 
Norway maple one of the best trees for 
lawn planting. 
The hackberry, grown here in abun- 
dance, is another street or lawn tree 
that has come to be regarded with great 
favor because of its ability to withstand 
drought. A Nebraska experiment sta- 
tion recommends it above all other 
trees for this reason. 
Noticeable among the ornamental 
shrubs was the cut leaf stagshorn su- 
mach from the White Mountains of 
New Hampshire; a cut leaf elderberry, 
an attractive novelty of Illinois origin 
that will be much sought after; the 
highbush cranberry, with its beautiful 
clusters of bright berries that are so 
effective through the winter months; 
Tamerisk Odessana, with its graceful, 
feathery foliage, useful in ornamental 
shrubberies, and scores of others. 
Mr. Wm. A. Peterson is a recognized 
authority in paeonia culture, and that 
part of the nursery set apart for the 
cultivation of this beautiful and deserv- 
edly popular flower is of peculiar inter- 
est. The field of paeonies seen in the il- 
lustration, ranging in color from purest 
white to deepest crimson, is a mag- 
nificent display that annually attracts 
large numbers of visitors. There is ap- 
proximately six hundred varieties in this 
collection, although probably not more 
than one-third of that number are re- 
garded as being sufficiently distinct to 
be placed on sale. By means of a con- 
veniently arranged card system a very 
accurate record is kept of experiments 
made with every promising variety that 
comes to Mr. Peterson’s attention, and 
he has been successful in bringing the 
plant to its highest degree of perfec- 
tion. The varying destinations of ship- 
ments of roots now being made from 
here for fall planting evidences an in- 
creasing popularity of this old-time 
favorite. 
The transplanting of large trees for 
parks and boulevards has for years been 
a special feature of these nurseries. 
Prior to the World’s Fair in Chicago 
several trees, some of them nearly two 
feet in diameter, were removed from 
here to Jackson Park, where as an ex- 
fiibition they received a diploma and 
bronze medal. Several years ago the 
Petersons planted 540 five-inch nursery 
grown elms on Ridge avenue in Rogers 
Park, of which not a single tree was 
lost. This is a record that is j^rolrably 
without an ctpial. 
The freciueut demands for planting- 
plans for bcautfying public and private 
grounds have induced Messrs. Peterson 
& Sou to take up the business of land- 
scape gardening. The plans for the 
embellishment of the middle parkway 
on Douglas Boule\'ard, Chicago, some 
two miles in length, were furnished and 
the work carried out by them. Ten 
thousand plants were required, em- 
bracing a comprehensive collection of 
material known to be hardy in this try- 
ing climate and suitable for such a 
scheme of embellishment. Among the 
noteworthy private grounds in Chicago 
for which they furnished the plans and 
did the planting are those of Martin A. 
Ryerson, S. W. Rawson, Chas. L. 
Counselman, John J. Iilitchell, and 
time to time. An account of the 
nurseries would not be complete with- 
out some mention of the proprietor's 
extensive library of rare books, and his 
interesting “museum” of Indian relics. 
Mr. Peterson has for many years been 
an ardent collector of flints, baskets, 
and other curios, principally Indian and 
Swedish, and now numbers not less 
than ten thousand objects of various 
kinds, many of them exceedingly rare 
treasures, which he takes great pleas- 
ure in showing to his visitors. 
WATER TOWER, POWER HOUSE, BLACKSMITH SHOP — PETERSON & .SON ’S NURSERIES. 
A BLOCK OF ELMS XN PETERSON’S NURSERIES. 
