.VOTi.  XXXIV.  No.  .5. 
WHOLE  No.  1.383. 
NEW  YORK  CITY,  JULY  29,  1876. 
PRICK  SI3L:  CENT8. 
S‘.^.«.5  PER  VEAR. 
[Entered  iiccordinx  to  Act  of  Coneross,  In  the  ye'ir  1.S7H,  by  tho  Rural  Pudllsblnif  Corapany,  in  the  ofHoe  of  the  Librarian  of  Oonttreag  at  Washlnuton.i 
PABSONS’  SILVER  FIR  (Ficea  Parsonsiaua). 
Of  the  many  species  of  evergreen  trees  known 
under  the  name  of  Fir,  there  are  none  more 
grairdly  beautiful  than  those  found  on  the  Rocky 
jStouutains  and  tho  Pacific  Slope.  The  Great 
Silver  Fir  (Piccn  gi'amllK)  of  California  is  well 
worthy  of  the  naino  bestowed  upon  It  by  tho 
muoh-lamented  Dod(h.as.s  .  It  grows  to  an  im¬ 
mense  hight  in  its  native  clime,  in  some  instances 
reaching  an  altitude  of  over  251)  foot,  and  tho 
stem  16  to  *20  feet  in  circumference.  Like  most 
of  our  natis'e  forest  trees,  it  varies  somewhat  in 
its  general  characteristics,  giving  us  what  the 
botanists  terra  natural  or  local  varieties,  and 
among  these  there  are  none  more  wortiiy  of 
consideration  than  the  /’nrao'usinuft,  or  Parsons 
Silver  Fir,  named  after  tho  well-known  P  kh^oss 
BROTHEas,  nuriH'rymen.  of  Flushing.  X.  Y.  The 
accompanying  illustration  was  taken  from  a 
handsome  specimen  growing  iu  their  grounds, 
hut  it  gives  only  a  very  \  ague  idea  of  the  gran¬ 
deur  and  beauty  of  tho  living  tree,  Tho  leaves 
are  long  and  slender,  and  the  smallw  branches 
have  a  fem-liko  appearance,  which  srldom  fails 
to  call  forth  expressions  of  udnaratioi.  At  thU 
season  the  bright  green  loaves  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  tho  young  branches  slightly  curve  in¬ 
ward  and  upward  toward  each  other,  reminding 
one  of  the  ribs  of  a  vessel  when  tirst  set  to  the 
keel,  before  being  covered,  giving  to  the  whole 
tree  a  moat  unique  and  graceful  appearance. 
Specimens  in  our  ovra  grounds  have  withstood 
the  cold  of  the  past  five  winters  without  any 
material  injury,  aud  there  Is  little  doubt  of  the 
hardiness  of  this  fir  all  through  the  Middle 
States,  and  probably  ia  many  portiona  of  the 
Northern.  It  has  been  in  cultivation  a  auflicient 
number  of  years  to  give  us  a  pretty  good  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  learn  its  merits,  as  well  as  afford  tho 
nnraerymen  a  chance  to  propagate  a  stock  of  the  ( 
trees  for  sale,  which  some  of  them  have  done ; 
therefore  they  are  not  now  so  rare  or  high-priced 
as  to  prevent  persons  in  moderate  circumatairces 
purchasing  a  specimen  or  two  if  they  so  desire. 
- - - 
SPORTS  OR  FREAKS  AMONG  EVERGREENS,  , 
Every  person  who  may  have  an  opportunity  of  j 
selecting  evergreens  from  seed-bods  or  from  the 
forests  should  be  constantly  on 
the  lookout  for  what  the  nursery- 
men  call  freaks  or  sports  —  that 
is,  iieculiar  and  distinct  varia- 
tions  from  the  original  type  of 
the  species.  By  a  little  care  in 
this  direction,  some  very  distinct 
varieties  are  frequently  secured. 
Some  of  the  very  best  and  most 
attractive  evergreens  iu  our  own 
grounds  were  secured  in  llris  way. 
among  which  we  may  mention  a 
dwarf  Norway  Spruce  20  years 
old  and  not  three  feet  high,  hut 
five  or  six  broad;  a  goldeu-tiiJ- 
ped  Arbor  Vitai  —  a  real  gem  in 
its  way,  also  a  silver  -  tipped  va-  -  ^ 
riety,  which  promises  to  bo  a 
worthy  acquisition ;  also,  several  " 
very  compact  sorts  and  a  slender 
drooplng-brauched  variety.  Some 
ten  years  ago,  among  one  lot  of  * 
hemlock  seedlmgs,  wo  noticed 
one  which  appeared  to  be  very 
compact  and  quite  distinct  from 
all  others.  It  was  taken  out  and 
planted  by  itself,  and  to-day  it  is 
one  of  the  most  unique  speci- 
mens  in  our  grounds. 
But  we  did  not  commence  to  '  ‘ 
write  this  article  for  the  purpose 
of  tolling  what  wo  havo  done,  and  only  men¬ 
tioned  tho  above  to  show  what  others  may  do  if 
they  will  only  keep  their  eyes  open  aud  havo 
willing  hands  to  respond  to  the  call. 
Pines,  spruces,  firs,  aud  other  kinds  of  ever¬ 
greens,  08  sowed  in  nursery  Ke6<l-beds  or  iu  the 
forests,  are  more  or  less  lucllueil  to  vary.  Home 
will  bo  more  compact  than  others.  The  branches 
of  one  will  grow  upright,  of  another  quite 
drooping,  or  perhaps  somowbiit  iu  a  sjnral  form. 
There  will  also  bo  variations  in  the  length  and 
color  of  tho  loaves.  All  these  varieties  can  bo 
readily  assorted  by  a  pniotlced  eye,  and  most  of 
such  deiiartures  frotn  normal  types  will  remain 
permniient,  giving  the  cultiv.ator  an  opportunity 
of  scouring  a  diver-sity  of  form  without  being 
obliged  to  plant  n  great  number  of  kinds.  One 
of  tho  most  serioii.s  errors  committed  by  those 
wlio  have  not  studied  ornamental  gardening  is 
the  pLauting  of  rows  or  groups  of  trees  all  just 
alike,  or  as  near  alike  as  “two  peas."  Now, 
just  the  opposite  of  this  would,  in  nine  cases  out 
of  ten,  produce  far  tho  best  effoct  and  be  more 
satisfactory  to  all  concerned,  and  this  is  one 
reason  why  we  seek  for  tho  oddities  or  freaks 
among  seedlings  of  all  kinds. 
lomological. 
WHETHER  IT  WERE  BETTER  TO  PRUNE. 
Here  is  a  subject  upon  which  many  words 
have  been  expended  and  will  be,  possibly,  till 
the  end  of  time,  or  at.least  as  long  as  horticultu¬ 
ral  journals  exist  and  horticultural  writers  arc 
put  to  it  for  Motuetliing  to  write  about! 
It  is  an  ill  wiod  that  blows  no  good,  and  those 
worthy  upholders  of  a  noble  art  are  fortunato  in 
having  to  deal  with  questions  so  irrepressible — 
so  diffusive  and  gushing  that  though  corked  up 
to-day  securely  in  oue  part,  they  break  loose  to¬ 
morrow  in  another. 
m 
WmBWM 
Slr>KClMK]Sr  XREK 
I»ICJE.A.  I>A.RSOISrSIAJSri, 
It  seems  to  u.s  that  pruning  is  a  question  that 
oveiy  person,  guided  by  soil,  climate,  situation, 
as  well  as  by  the  habit  and  constitution  of  the 
plant,  must  decide  for  himself ;  aud  that  no 
rule  for,  against  or  iiiterraodiato  can  be  written 
which  the  privctitloncr  may  wisely  follow  without 
corresponding  alterations  ofttimes  so  sweeping 
that  tho  rule  has  no  application  whatever.  Tho 
theory  of  following  nature  is  an  easy  theory  of 
immeiiHO  apriori  force- -but  it  is  one  frequently, 
if  uot  always,  departed  from  when  we  come  to 
adapt  Nature’s  ways  and  productious  to  the  needs 
of  men.  Their  habitations,  their  clotliing,  occu¬ 
pations,  food,  drink,  associations  all  prove  tliis. 
Onr  very  methods  of  sowing  seeds,  of  propaga¬ 
tion,  of  grafting  are  unknown  to  nature  and 
these  methods  havo  been  devised  by  the  necessi¬ 
ties  of  ingenious  man  to  provide  for  himself 
those  conveniences  and  luxuries  of  life  of  which 
in  detail  nature  ia  profoundly  ignorant.  In  her 
unlimited  bounty,  she  spreads  over  all  soils  her 
vegetable  productions  adapted  thereto.  8ho  has 
made  no  provisions  for  high  civilizations.  She 
has  provided  the  raw  material  in  rioli  abundance 
and  bade  man  utilize  it  to  his  increasing,  more 
refined  and  exacting  needs  or  fancied  needs. 
Tliiis,  man  clears  tho  field  of  its  native  wood — 
and  coneentrated  food,  as  wo  may  torm  it,  is 
cultivated  instead.  As  populations  become  more 
nuineruUB,  local  tracts  of  laud  iu  a  state  of  nature 
can  no  longer  supply  them  with  the  means  of 
supporting  life,  ka  land  becomes  impoverished, 
niamiros  are  collected — are  manufactured  and 
thu*  the  farmer  upon  a  few  acres  may  supply 
himself  with  all  that  is  necessary,  instead  of 
traveling  over  extensive  areas,  ns  he  would  be 
obliged  to  do,  for  a  scanty  subsistence  if  things 
wore  loft  in  a  state  of  nature. 
This  looallzatiou  of  tho  products  of  the  earth 
necessitates  changes  corresponding  to  the  extent 
to  which  nature  has  l>eeu  departed  from.  The 
little  garden  by  such  doviations  ia  provided  with 
its  dwarf  pears  and  pooohes — its  Paradise  apples 
Myrobolan  plumbs,  Mahaleb  ohemes — its  grape 
vines  etc.  and  is  thus  made  to  produce  in  con¬ 
siderable  quantities  what,  in  a  state  of  nature,  it 
never  could  have  produced  at  all. 
It  would  seem  that  nature  in  its 
I  superabundance  snd  distribution 
&  of  every  thing  had  in  thi.s  way,  by 
^  its  very  subserviency  to  art,  pro- 
vided  for  the  inoreaso  of  man, 
for  his  segregation  iu  villages, 
towns  and  cities,  and  spreading 
settlements  over  the  face  of  tho 
earth.  Here,  says  the  farmer  or 
suburban  proprietor,  I  have  an 
^  acre  which  I  propose  to  turn  into 
an  orchard,  and  in  which  I  pro- 
y  poso  to  plant  all  fniits  which  are 
snited  to  this  climate  and  to  this 
locality,  with  which  to  supply  my 
family.  Every  step  is  an  utter 
departure  from  nuUure.  The 
ground  Is  heavily  manured — 20 
apple  trees  —  20  standard,  20 
dwarf  pears  —  20  peach  trees  — 
half-a-dozen  cherries  and  plums 
— berries  of  all  kinds  are  here 
planted.  Tho  highly  enriched 
soil  induces  a  corresponding- 
iy  luxuriant  growth,  and  this 
growth  is  restrained  by  prunirg 
to  any  desired  form  and  within 
any  desired  limit.  These  fruit 
trees,  rendered  prematurely  pro- 
lifio  by  artificial  means,  come  into 
bearing  in  half-a-dozen  years  in- 
stead  of  15  or  20,  as  would  have 
proved  tho  case  hod  they  been 
natural  seedlings.  Are  these  art 
methods  promotlvo  of  early  de- 
cay?  Doubtless  some  are,  as 
— ■  -  '  when  we  join  one  species  to  an¬ 
other  by  grafting.  Perhaps  some 
