86 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
the committees, furnish a pretty safe crite- 
rian of relative merit. 
Collections. —For the best dissimilar col¬ 
lection of hot and greenhouse specimen 
plants, not less than 12, $12—George Ham- 
lyn, gardener to W. C. Langley, Esq., Bay 
liidge ; for the second best, $10—Martin 
Collopy, gardener to J. H. Prentice, Gowa- 
nus; for the largest and best collection, 
comprizing new and rare plants, not less 
than 20, $12—J. E. Rauch, Gowanus ; for 
the best two specimens of ornamental or va- 
riegated-leafed specimens, $7—Martin Col¬ 
lopy, Astoria. 
Hothouse Plants. —For the best four 
specimens, $3—Alexander Gordon, gardener 
to Edwin Hoyt; for the second best, $6— 
M. Collopy ; for the best single specimen, 
$3—J. Weir, Bay Ridge ; for the second 
best, $2—Thomas Templeton, gardener to 
Alfred Large, Brooklyn. 
Greenhouse Plants. —For the best iour 
specimens, $3—A. Gordon ; for the second 
best, $6—M. Collopy ; for the best single 
specimen, $3—A. Gordon ; for the second 
best, $2—Column, gardener to Cummings. 
Pelargoniums. —For the best six speci¬ 
mens, $8—George Hamlyn ; for the second 
best, $5—George Hamlyn ; for the best four 
specimens of fancy varieties, $5—George 
Hamlyn ; for the second best, $3—A. Gor¬ 
don ; for the best four specimens of.scarlet 
varieties $3—D. Murphy, gardener to J. S. 
T. Stranahan ; for the second best, $2—D. 
Murphy, gardener to J. S. T. Stranahan. 
Azaleas. —For the best four specimens, 
$3—Alexander Fraser, gardener to Dennis 
Perkins ; for second best, $G—S. Hamlyn ; 
for the best single specimen, $3—J. Temple¬ 
ton ; for the second best, $2—J. W. De¬ 
Grauw. 
Roses. —For the best twelve varieties of 
Bourbon,Tea, Noisette &c.,$3—J. E. Rauch : 
for the second best, $6—James Weir; for 
the best six varieties, $5—James Weir. 
Fuchsias. —For the best six dissimilar 
specimens, $6—Win. Poynter, Brooklyn; 
for the best three specimens, $3—Wm. 
Poynter, Brooklyn ; for the second best, $2 
—T. Templeton. 
Cinerarias. —For the best six varieties, 
$4—T. Templeton; for the second best $2— 
Wm. Poynter; for the best three, $2—Wm. 
Poynter ; for the second best, $1—Ed. 
Decker, gardener to J. Q. Jones, Staten 
Island. 
Monthly Carnations. —For the best four 
varieties, $3—J. E. Rauch ; for the second 
best, $2—Jas. Weir. 
Verbenas. —For the best dissimilar col¬ 
lection, not less than 12 varieties, $5—J. E. 
Rauch ; for the second best, $3—Jas. Weir ; 
for the best six specimens, distinct varieties, 
$3—Jas. Weir; for the second best, $2—J. 
E. Rauch. 
Stockgillies. —For the best specimen, 
Jas. Weir. 
Hyacinths. —For the best six varieties, 
$3—J. DeGrauw ; for the second best, $2— 
J. DeGrauw. 
Cut Flowers. —For the best twelve varie¬ 
ties of Roses, $2—Jas. Weir; for the second 
best, $1—J. W. Burgess, Glen Cove ; for the 
best six varieties of Camelias, $2—Jas. 
Weir; for the second best, $1—W. & J. 
Parks ; best twelve Pansies, James Weir. 
Bouquets, Baskets, Etc. —For the best 
pair of hand Bouquets, $3—W. & J. Parks; 
for the best Baskets of Flowers, $4—Wm. 
Poynter; for the second best, $3—W. & J. 
Parks. 
Vegetables. —For the best Asparagus, 
twenty-five stalks, $2—George Hamlyn ; 
for the best dish of Mushrooms, $2—Ed¬ 
ward Decker; for the best six heads of 
Lettuce, $1—Edward Decker. 
Besides these regular premiums, several 
special ones were awarded by the judges. 
Best collection of Roses in bloom ; J. W. 
Burgess ; Vase of Flowers, W. & J. Parks ; 
correct labeling of specimens, J. E. Rauch ; 
second best, W. & J. Parks. 
EVERGREEN SHRUBS- 
BY WM. SAUNDERS, LANDSCAPE GARDENER, GER¬ 
MANTOWN, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
The scarcity of evergreen shrubbery in 
our pleasure grounds is a standard theme 
with writers on rural taste, and comparisons 
with other countries in this respect invaria¬ 
bly result unfavorably to us. That there are 
good reasons for such conclusions will not 
be questioned by those best acquainted with 
our rural improvements ; but they console 
themselves with the reflection that at no 
distant period we will be in a position to in¬ 
vite comparison instead of shrinking from it, 
and avoiding, as at present, all allusion to 
our examples of artificial landscape scenery. 
We become more sensitive on the institu- 
tionofthesecomparisons when we reflect that 
no country in the temperate zone is more 
bountifully supplied with the material neces¬ 
sary for the composition of landscape. 
Those who have any doubts on this point 
have never attempted to penetrate a Jersey 
swamp, or followed the course of a river in 
Pennsylvania. The Holly, Kalmia, and 
Magnolia, of the former, and the Hemlock, 
Spruce, Rhododendron, and Yew, of the 
latter, are familiar examples of our native 
evergreens, and their beauty as ornamental 
plants are not surpassed by any foreign pro 
ductions available for these purposes ; while 
our deciduous trees, for variety and beauty, 
are beyond comparison superior to any other. 
The attempts to successfully remove 
these native plants into cultivated grounds 
have so often proved abortive as to lead to 
the belief that the operation is generally im¬ 
practicable ; but when we consider the most 
favorable conditions in the native localities, 
and compare them with the treatment the 
plants receive after removal, we will find 
sufficient reasons for the failures. Alluding 
more particular to our native broad-leaved 
evergreen shrubs, we find them most abund¬ 
ant under the shade of the Hemlock, Spruce, 
White Pine, and other evergreen trees. Thus 
sheltered from the aridity of summer, and 
shaded from the morning suns of winter, 
they attain their greatest beauty and luxur¬ 
iance ; and although frequently met with in 
exposed situations, they are never so healthy 
as when sheltered by taller evergreens, or 
located on the sides at the base of slopes, 
where they are protected from sudden 
changes in winter and have the advantage of 
a more humid atmosphere in summer. If 
we therefore find these conditions most con¬ 
genial to our native broad-leaved shrubs, 
with how much more force do they apply to 
those of foreign origin, accustomed to a more 
uniform climate—less heat and more humid¬ 
ity. We see the necessity for a modifica¬ 
tion of climate, by sheltering from the ex¬ 
cessive aridity of the atmosphere during 
summer and otherwise protecting from the 
sudden changes and extreme cold of winter. 
Now let us look at the preparations made 
for shrubbery in our pleasure grounds. 
These are for the most part destitute of veg¬ 
etation capable of affording either shade or 
shelter. It is a prevalent custom in sleeting 
a location for a country residence, for gen- 
tlemeu to “ turn their backs upon the num¬ 
berless fine sights with which our country 
abounds, and choose the barest and baldest 
situation in order that they may dig, level, 
and grade, and spend half their fortunes in 
doing what nature has, not a mile distant j 
offered to them ready made, and a thousand 
times more beautifully done.” These “bald 
and bare ” situations have to be planted. 
Catalogues are ransacked for choice and rare 
evergreens, or, perhaps, the native forest is 
searched for a supply. In either case the 
results are the same—the plants linger out a 
miserable existence. Some few may ulti¬ 
mately recover the change, but their appear¬ 
ance is anything but ornamental, and the 
culture of evergreen shrubs is forthwith pro¬ 
nounced a failure. 
In planting evergreens, therefore, more 
particularly those of foreign origin, we must 
place them in situations similar to their na¬ 
tive localities, or otherwise modify extremes 
in the elements of growth so far as they are 
under our control. In adapting circum¬ 
stances to the growth of plants, there are cer¬ 
tain influences which can be modified, and 
favorable conditions which we can supply. 
The most favorable conditions are those 
which involve the least change, and that 
change the most gradual. It is well known 
that the early exposure to sun after a severe 
night’s frost, will prove fatal to plants which 
would remain uninjured under a gradual 
thaw ; consequently we find plants subjected 
to a northern exposure surviving through se- 
vere winters, while those seemingly more 
favored with a southern aspect will perish. 
The former never being so greatly excited, 
is therefore not subjected to so sudden 
changes, and hence its endurance. 
The hardiness of plants, or the amount of 
cold they are capable of enduring, is, to a 
certain extent, dependent upon the nature of 
the soil in which they are growing, so far at 
least as concerns its contained moisture. 
Soil naturally wet produces late growths of 
succulent, unripened shoots. Early winter 
frosts acting upon these soft shoots expands 
the watery matter in their structure and dis¬ 
rupts their tissue. De Candolle, in his laws 
of temperature with respect to its influence 
on vegetation, remarks that plants resist ex¬ 
tremes of temperature in the inverse ratio 
of the quantity of water they contain. We 
know the oak to be a hardy tree ; but if we 
were to transfer a growing plant from a hot¬ 
house to the open air in mid-winter, it would 
be very likely to perish. The young, imma¬ 
ture shoots of our hardiest plants are fre¬ 
quently destroyed by late spring frosts, and 
young plants are destroyed by cold which 
has no effect upon older ones of the same 
species. Hence the necessity of draining 
soil and allowing the escape of superfluous 
moisture. A few dollars expended in laying 
a permanent drain is often the only differ¬ 
ence between failure and success in the cul¬ 
tivation of plants. We have it, therefore, 
in our power to modify the severity of cli¬ 
mate in winter by choosing a proper aspect 
and location, shading from sun, and draining 
I of the soil. But winter is not the only try¬ 
ing season for plants. The severity of our 
hot summers is more frequently injurious 
than we are in the habit of supposing. It 
is questionable whether the excessive 
aridity of our summers is not more hurt¬ 
ful to exotic evergreens than the winter’s 
cold. The expansive foliage presents a 
large surface for evaporation, and in con¬ 
junction with a diminished supply of nour¬ 
ishment through the roots, the plant is 
drained of its juices and ceases to grow. To 
render the extreme aridity less injurious, we 
must have recourse to shelter. Experiments 
have shown that the effect of wind is to in¬ 
crease the dryness of the air. “ Evapora¬ 
tion increases in a prodigiously rapid ratio 
with the rapid velocity of the wind, and any¬ 
thing which retards the motion of the latter 
is very efficacious in diminishing the amount 
of the former. The same surface which, in 
a calm state of the air, would exhale 100 
parts of moisture, would yield 125 in a mod- 
