i32 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
MARCH t 
COLOI1DOBLUE SPRUCE 
Hardier on bleak prairies than 
the Norway Spruce or 
even White Pine. 
Hardy in Kansas, Nebraska, 
Northern Iowa and 
Northern Illinois. 
“NOT EVEN THE TERMINAL BUD INJURED.” 
Seedlings Run from Four Green 
to One Blue. 
Easy to Transplant; Thrives both 
in Poor and Rich Soil. 
Notes from Robert Douglas, Illinois; 
President Berckmans, Georgia; 
William Falconer, Long Island; 
Professor Beal, Michigan; Pro¬ 
fessor Saunders, Canada; Ell— 
wanger & Barry, New York; Storrs 
& Harrison, Ohio; Professor T. V. 
Munson, Texas. 
Several specimens of these trees were 
planted in the Rural Grounds about 12 
years ago. The tallest is now 12 feet high. 
They were about three feet high when 
planted. They have never suffered from 
cold, heat or insects or from any other 
cause. What kind of situation or soil they 
prefer cannot be even guessed at as, with 
us, one specimen in a high, dry position 
thrives as well as another in somewhat 
low, moist ground. No tree is more ad¬ 
mired from the time it has made its spring 
growth until midsummer, when the bluish, 
lilac-colored bloom of its leaves begins to 
fade. The name of Blue Spruce is not well 
chosen, since many trees are so far from 
blue that at a short distance they might be 
mistaken for a Norway. It is too soon to 
say with any positiveness how this promis¬ 
ing tree may compare with the Norway 
Spruce or its many handsome varieties. 
As judged at this time, it is the equal of any 
of them, with the promise of superiority in 
several important respects, such as hardi¬ 
ness, retention of its lower branches, less 
liability to injury from exposure and storms 
and freedom from insects. 
Botanists have vied with some of our en¬ 
terprising seedsmen’s catalogues in con- 
fuddling the name of this tree. Its present 
approved name is Picea pungens, though 
our friends will not find it so named in the 
catalogues of to-day as they have not as 
yet accepted that unpardonable change 
which gives Abies to the firs and Picea to 
the spruces. 
Ellwanger & Barry have it Abies pun¬ 
gens; Storrs & Harrison simply the Colora¬ 
do Blue Spruce; Parsons & Sons, Abies 
pungens, syn. Picea pungens. 
The price varies from 50 cents to $2 each 
according to size. 
FROM WILLIAM FALCONER. 
We have a large number of plants of the 
Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens, from 
Colorado mountain stock), planted in dif¬ 
ferent soils and exposures. It thrives well 
in poor soil and in rich soil, in bleak and in 
sheltered places, and it seems to be the 
hardiest of all of our spruces, native or ex¬ 
otic. It is not nearly so fast-growing while 
young as is the Norway Spruce, but it is a 
hardier and prettier tree, and in situations 
where the Norway Spruces are sadly marred 
on the north-west side by searing winter 
winds, the Blue Spruces are perfectly in¬ 
tact. In winter, especially in February 
and early March, we often have icy storms, 
that is, sleet immediately followed by 
hard freezing, which encases the branches 
and twigs in a coating of ice. In case of a 
wind storm when the trees are in this con¬ 
dition the points of the twigs of the Nor¬ 
way Spruces are snapped off in countless 
numbers, but those of the Blue Spruces are 
injured only very little. Our Norway 
Spruces are often much infested with red 
spider in summer, but the Blue Spruces, m 
our grounds anyway, have so far been ex¬ 
empt from this pest. Whether or not old 
trees of the Blue Spruce may hold their 
lower branches I am unable to say, as none 
of our specimens are large or old enough to 
judge by; but true it is, our old Norways 
are thin and ragged enough near the 
ground. Our bluest spruces are all grafted 
plants. From seed they run from plain 
green to blue; indeed, some of our Blues 
from seed are just as good as the grafted 
Blues; but I should say only about 20 per 
cent, of seedlings are good Blues. The 
Blue Spruce is easy to transplant. From 
Waukegan, over 1,000 miles away, we got, 
a few years ago, as many as would plant a 
triple row for a shelter-belt to our or¬ 
chard, and we have never lost one of them. 
Queens County, Long Island, N Y. 
FROM PROF. WM. SAUNDERS. 
The first specimens of Picea pungens I 
obtained, were got five or six yeers ago 
from Douglas & Sons, Waukegan, Illinois, 
and planted on my little farm near London, 
Ont. The trees have grown well and proved 
perfectly hardy, having wintered without 
any injury. In the spring of 1888 I bought 
a number of specimens from Douglas & 
Sons, both of the blue and green varieties; 
these are planted at the experiment farm 
here, and have stood the past winter re¬ 
markably well; I cannot say that any of the 
specimens have been injured, although the 
thermometer showed about 50 below zero 
on several occasions. I think the Blue 
Spruce is one of the most promising and 
valuable of the ornamental evergreens, on 
account of its great hardiness and the 
beauty of its appearance. 
Central Experiment Farm, Ottawa, Can. 
FROM PROF. W. J. BEAL. 
Picea pungens, the Blue Spruce, has al¬ 
ways done well here. It is too soon for us 
to report on old trees, as we have none over 
10 feet high. It does as well as the Nor¬ 
way up to that hight, though it grows 
more slowly. 
Agricultural College, Michigan. 
FROM ROBERT DOUGLAS. 
Only that I am about to start on a long 
journey, I would give the R. N.-Y. a long 
list of praises in describing Picea pungens. 
I have given close attention to it since 
1870, when I found trees standing on bleak 
open prairies unscathed, side by side with 
the Norway Spruce, Balsam Fir and White 
Pines browned badly after a hard winter. 
I went and examined specimens in Kansas, 
Nebraska, northern Iowa and northern 
Illinois, which had been brought from 
Pike’s Peak by the miners returning home 
in their wagons. In no case did I find one 
on which even the terminal bud was 
injured. I offered $100 for a tree 12 feet 
high, but it could not be bought. I have 
had collectors in the mountains, and about 
one year in four we get some seeds. We have 
sold more in Europe than in this country. 
As the cost has been heavy, we ask a good 
price for them. We sell more than we did, 
but mostly to wealthy men. We have a 
large stock now from seedlings up to four 
feet. These run about four to five green 
to one blue, but the green are fine trees in 
form; so are the blue, and being a novelty, 
they are more sought after. We had offers 
from two of the leading nursery firms in 
England to take all our blue at our price ; 
but we took too much pride in introducing 
this tree to send the cream of our stock to 
another country, and let our own people 
have the skimmings. There are fine speci¬ 
mens at Sargent’s and around Boston from 
the first seeds sent out by Dr. C. C. Parry. 
Waukegan, Ill. 
FROM PRES. P. J. BERCKMANS. 
Neither Abies nor Picea, of the sub¬ 
families of pines, thrives in this section,, 
except an occasional specimen of Abies 
Canadensis planted in strong clay soil. 
Picea pungens I have never tried. About 
15 years ago 1 had a few specimens of the 
Norway Spruce which had attained a hight 
of 10 to 12 feet, but they showed a dwarfed. 
growth as they had been planted 15 years. 
Without any premonitory signs of disease, 
all died suddenly in July, and since then I 
have never had a plant that survived more 
than two years. Our climate is too warm 
for these species. 
Augusta, Ga. 
FROM ELLWANGER & BARRY. 
We are greatly pleased with the Pinns 
pungens. It seems to be an extremely 
hardy and vigorous tree, of graceful habit, 
with beautiful blue foliage. We consider 
it a most valuable acquisition to the list of 
hardy coniferous trees. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
FROM THE STORRS & HARRISON CO. 
We have been growing the Blue Spruce 
for only two years. It seems to thrive well, 
so far. It grows on a heavy clay soil in 
rows alongside of the Norway and we can 
see but little difference in the growth of the 
two; perhaps the Norway is a little more 
vigorous. We think it will occupy a prom¬ 
inent place and be one of the most largely 
planted of the evergreens as it becomes 
known. 
Painesville, O. 
FROM PROF. T. Y. MUNSON. 
Not having tried Picea pungens here, I 
cannot say how it would succeed. I have 
found the Norway and other spruces fail¬ 
ures. Nearly all the Northern conifers 
do poorly with us. The Austrian Pine is 
the best of that genus. The most success¬ 
ful evergreens (conifers) here are the Orien¬ 
tal Arbor-vittes, the Red Cedars, the Trail¬ 
ing Junipers, the Irish Juniper, and several 
of the Retinisporas. I hope to try some of 
the Rocky Mountain evergreens, among 
which we may expect some good successes. 
The Lawson’s Cypress does only moderately 
well here. 
Denison, Texas. 
THE DESERTED FARMS OF NEW 
HAMPSHIRE. 
PROF. J. W. SANBORN. 
Sons and homes of the Granite State; 
causes of agricultural depression there 
and elsewhere; cheap rail and water 
transportation all the world over puts 
the cultured, well-fed American farmer 
at work alongside the ignorant, half- 
starved Indian ryot and the brutal, 
wretched Russian ex-serf; tendency of 
population to concentrate in manufac¬ 
turing centers and recent multiplicat ion 
of these; vast and rapid development 
of the nation draws away the inhabit¬ 
ants of the older States ; depreciation of 
land and depopulation of farms every¬ 
where; the national policy a cause of 
agricultural depression; overproduc¬ 
tion; fairer prospects ahead. 
I have been deeply interested in the pub¬ 
lic discussion, in the columns of the R. N.- 
Y. and elsewhere, of the abandoned farm 
homes of New Hampshire. The assertion 
seems to be authoritatively made by the 
officers of the above State that the land 
that raised a Greeley, a Webster, Salmon 
P. Chase, Henry Wilson, Zachariah Chand¬ 
ler, John A. Dix, Benjamin F. Butler and 
women their peers, is no longer held by 
the hardy sons of this invigorating State 
to be a fitting source from which to derive 
their sustenance. If this be true, when 
viewed in the light of its historic setting 
history reveals few more interesting, pain¬ 
ful and yet peaceful revolutions in indus¬ 
trial life. 
Can it be true that inhabitable farms 
have been abandoned outright, as supposed 
by the public, and if so how came it to be 
so ? The moving causes that have brought 
about the present status of farm life in the 
above State, may have more than a local 
interest even though it be found that an 
exaggerated view has become general 
touching the vacant farms of New Hamp¬ 
shire. 
Immediately after the railroads began to 
push out from Boston, especially after 
they had reached out into New Hampshire, 
and as early as 1840, the movement from 
the farms that has now nearly culminated, 
began. Before the railroads were con¬ 
structed food could be transported only 
short distances. Under those circum¬ 
stances every available inch of soil was re¬ 
quired to feed New England cities, and 
was occupied for this purpose. As in case 
of all movements in response to a seeming 
demand, too much eagerness was displayed 
in securing farm homes, just as has been 
the case in sections of the West where 
abandonment has been marked, as a cor¬ 
rection of an error in locating. As the 
railroads extended their arms westward, 
those farms thus occupied in New Hamp¬ 
shire, which Nature never designed for cul¬ 
tivation, were abandoned reluctantly in re¬ 
sponse to an inexorable law. A mistake 
was corrected in case of many, or most of 
the abandoned farms. 
The first loss of population directly after 
1840 was not among the dwellers on the 
farm. Before the days of railroads few 
great centers existed. Newspapers were 
printed, hatters turned out their products, 
stores were distributed and able lawyers 
and doctors were scattered in the rural sec¬ 
tions and out among and on the farms. The 
railroads called them, all and all of the 
trades, to the great business centers, and 
their homes, often surrounded with small 
patches of land, have gradually become ob¬ 
literated. 
Before the shoe manufactories were devel¬ 
oped, all over southern and middle New 
Hampshire shoe shops for hand-made shoes 
dotted every road or occupied a room in 
the farm houses. Where hand shoe-mak¬ 
ing was the prime source of income and a 
few rough acres an incident of the shoe busi¬ 
ness, there you will find a deserted farm. 
Inquiry locates the former owner at the 
great manufactories as an overseer of labor, 
quite largely of foreign laborers. 
Once more we scan the field of movement 
and find a great force drawing away some 
men that we miss who leave a vacuum be¬ 
hind, for over-action always occurs in great 
movements. In the ocean of industrial life 
there has been a great upheaval by the 
forces that have brought to the surface an 
industrial organization such as men 
did not dream of 50 years ago. This coun¬ 
try has had not only to develop new indus¬ 
tries on a truly grand scale, but it has had 
a continent abounding with surface wealth 
to settle. It has had roads, churches, 
schools, and States and their polity to found. 
The last century has been a creative 
period for the world and especially so for 
this country on a scale that we can scarce¬ 
ly comprehend. Into this great country 
foreigners with strong arms and empty 
purses have poured in a continuous stream. 
The hardy sons that the rugged hills of 
New Hampshire had formed entered early 
into this work of development. It was an 
inviting field. Before Maine, Vermont or 
New York farms were settled the move¬ 
ment from New Hampshire began into 
their borders and her sons again joining 
with theirs, have spanned the continent. 
They responded to temptations such as the 
ages alone give birth to. Is it strange? 
In this great movement, a few—and but 
a very few—farms that ought not to have 
been deserted may have been left for sale 
and at last have ceased to stand in the mar¬ 
ket for occupancy. Between the writer’s 
farm in New Hampshire (which is not for 
sale) and the nearest village it is four miles. 
Upon the ridge that connects the two 
points and overlooks a most beautiful val¬ 
ley are about 25 farms on or close by the 
main road. Every one is occupied by its 
owner. I am quite certain that not a mort¬ 
gage rests on one of them and I am confi¬ 
dent that the owners are not in debt $1,000 
altogether, while most of them have money 
at interest. Most of them are church-goers 
and there is not a drinker in the lot. This 
is not decay. I have seen much of the 
North and West and some of the South ; 
but I have yet to travel in any farm section 
where the houses are as good and as freshly 
painted and where their furnishings are as 
excellent and where the accompanying 
barns afford such pleasurable satisfaction 
as in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. 
I do not intend exaggeration, however. 
Much as the fondest memories might tend 
to obscure judgment, candor compels 
me to say that the homes of these people 
will not sell by a long margin for the cost 
of the improvements on them (the applica¬ 
tion of the George theory in equity would 
bring the State in debt to them.) The 
farmers there are now trying to keep step 
with the march of the city life around them 
at a cost they cannot afford even if they 
can meet it. 
But this is about true of the whole coun¬ 
try, and is true of all the country that has 
been settled for over half a generation. 
Prices of land—improvements considered— 
I believe to be lower in New Hampshire and 
Vermont than anywhere else in this coun¬ 
try. They are the oldest points drawn up¬ 
on in the country for the industrial evolu¬ 
tion noted. But New Hampshire is not 
alone in its farm distress. There is a 
greater, more comprehensive and far-reach¬ 
ing reason for the farm decay there than 
noted, although the reasons given mark 
the local causes. These reasons have in¬ 
volved the whole country, and Europe, yes, 
and the Orient as well. Land is 25 per cent, 
cheaper than it was from New Hampshire 
to the Mississippi River, and from the 
Mississippi to the 100th parallel, where pop¬ 
ulation has assumed any density and age. 
The case is the same in Europe. Depopu¬ 
lation is going on in the rural sections of 
the West, and the next census will aston- 
ish many. Attention will be drawn from 
New Hampshire and Vermont to the ques¬ 
tion in a wider field, and one of far more 
significance—of startling significance. 
Interest on investment considered at six 
per cent., the earnings per man on the farm 
have gone down over one-half since the 
census of 1870, gauged by the census of 
