House and Garden 
bud, should eventu¬ 
ally expand to their 
normal size of five, 
or seven inches 
across. The quali¬ 
ties which make the 
Moosewood desir¬ 
able as a specimen 
tree, for gardens and 
country places, are 
emphasized by the 
praise of Professor 
Charles S. Sargent, 
in the “Silva of 
North America.” 
“The excellent 
habit of this small 
tree,” he says, “ the 
brilliancy of its 
young leaves and 
bud-scales in early 
spring, its hand¬ 
some, graceful flow¬ 
ers, its large bright 
summer foliage and 
brilliant autumn 
colors, and the con¬ 
spicuous markings of 
its trunk and branches, more striking in winter 
even than in summer, make it a valuable gar¬ 
den plant, beautiful at all seasons of the year.” 
A SEED SPRAY OF THE MOOSEWOOD MAPLE 
The history of 
this maple dates 
back to about i 750, 
when it was dis¬ 
covered by a Swed¬ 
ish botanist, named 
Peter Kalm, while 
he was traveling 
through our f o r - 
ests. He was a 
favorite pupil of 
the famous botanist 
Li nmeus, and was 
sent out to this 
country by the 
Swedish Govern¬ 
ment in 1748. The 
n a m e Kalmia was 
given to the Moun¬ 
tain Laurel by Lin¬ 
naeus, in honor of 
his pupil. 
That the Moose¬ 
wood is a native 
of North Amer¬ 
ica, and flourishes 
under cultiva¬ 
tion with the same 
healthy vigor and beauty which it mani¬ 
fests in the woods, justifies a final belief 
in its excellence as an ornamental tree. 
“Our Mountain Garden ” 1 shows that 
a little knowledge is not a dangerous thing 
when, in a garden, it yields the way to 
Nature. There is respect for Her in an 
ignorance which shrinks from making the 
corrective touch that technical knowledge 
always too gladly gives. And yet there is 
wisdom and more than wisdom in the service 
to which the author of this book puts the 
common flowers of the New Hampshire 
Hills. There is a true valuing of the wild 
beauty of Nature, the charm of her wayward 
luxuriance, both of which the author finds 
worthier of imitation than of change. So 
1 “ Our Mountain Garden,” by Mrs. Theodore Thomas (Rose 
Fay). 212 pp. Illustrated. New York and London, Macmillans, 
1904. Price, $1.50 net. 
when the upheavals caused by the building 
of the mountain cottage are to be covered 
with green, wild flowers and shrubs that grow 
near by are chosen. Weeds also are welcomed, 
the particular favorites being the “ splendid, 
stately mullein,” whose leaves are compared 
with flannel, and the giant cow parsnip, with 
almost tropical foliage. The place which is 
the subject of the book is situated between the 
valleys of the Gale and Landaff Rivers and has 
as a culminating figure in its outlook the rocky 
summit of Mt. Lafayette. To this pictur¬ 
esque spot Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Thomas 
retire for summer recuperation, and here the 
garden —“ a strictly home-made affair ”—has 
been created under the disadvantage of no 
hotbed, or greenhouse, or gardener or even 
303 
