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the branches at some distance from the ground grow more rapidly 
than those at the base of the trunk, and overshadow and gradually 
kill them. The oldest of these trees in cultivation were raised from 
seed collected by Dr. C. C. Parry in 1862 and are thus only fifty-three 
years old. One of these original trees is growing in the -Arboretum 
on the southern slope of Bussey Hill where, although it is a pathetic 
object, it is kept to show the planters of this tree what they may 
expect of it long before it attains half its natural size. For many 
years there have been growing in the Arboretum what have been con- 
sidered the finest specimens in cultivation of the second of the Colo- 
rado Spruces, P. Engelmannii ; they formed narrow and compact pyr- 
amids with slender trunks furnished to the ground with short branches, 
and it was believed until recently that this tree which is so handsome 
on the high slopes of the Colorado mountains would prove to be the 
most desirable of all Spruce-trees for this climate. In the last two or 
three years, however, the lower branches of these trees have begun 
to die and, although the trees appear otherwise perfectly healthy and 
are still growing rapidly, their beauty as specimen trees is much in- 
jured. 
Exotic Conifers. The conifers of western and northern Europe are 
generally hardy here but often short-lived. The Firs, Spruces and 
Pines of Japan are nearly all hardy in this climate, and although we 
have had a much shorter experience with the Chinese conifers than 
with those from Japan there is every hope that many of them will 
prove hardy in this climate and that some of them may be valuable 
ornamental trees. 
The Cedar of Lebanon. The Cedar of Lebanon ( Cedrus Libani ) in 
the Arboretum shows the importance of careful selection of the seeds 
from which to raise trees for any particular climate. One of the Fir 
trees of Asia minor, Abies cilicica, has been growing for many years 
in New England where it has proved to be one of the best of all coni- 
fers of its class to cultivate here as an ornamental tree. With this 
Fir the Cedar of Lebanon grows in Asia Minor on the Anti-Taurus, far 
north of the Lebanon Range in Palestine and in a much coldar climate. 
As the Palestine Cedar is not hardy here in New England the Arboretum 
had seeds of this tree collected on the Anti-Taurus with the view of at- 
tempting to introduce a hardy race of Cedars into New England. The 
seeds were sown here in the spring of 1902 and a large number of plants 
were raised. They all proved perfectly hardy, not one having suffered 
from drought or cold. Some, however, have been lost in attempts at 
transplanting, for no other tree here has proved so difficult to move. 
The average height of all these young Cedars in the Arboretum is now 
about thirteen feet. The tallest is twenty-one feet high and there is 
another specimen twenty feet high. It is doubtful if any other conifer 
can be grown in New England from seed to the height of twenty-one 
feet in thirteen years. 
Torreya nucifera. Of the genus Torreya, which is related to the 
Yews, there are four species found in Florida, California, Japan and 
China. The Japanese species T. nucifera is well established in the 
