September, 1917 
27 
THE BEST BAKER’S DOZEN of EVERGREEN TREES 
Twelve Conifers, and One Other, That Lend Themselves to Varied 
Ornamental Effects—■Their Appearance, Habits and Soil Requirements 
GRACE TABOR 
T HE superlative is almost always better 
used when it is used comparatively. In 
certain connections, of course, there is no doubt 
about what is best—there is no need of quali¬ 
fying the adjective with any clause whatso¬ 
ever; but in certain other connections it is 
hardly fair to use it unless it is followed by a 
reference to the purpose which is to be 
served. What is “best” in trees, for example, 
for one place or purpose may not be best for 
another and different one. 
There are a few trees preeminent among ever¬ 
greens, no matter what purpose they are to 
serve; therefore, it behooves us, if we are going 
to make use of evergreens at all, to know them, 
and to know the whys and wherefores of their 
excellence. They establish, as it were, a sort 
of criterion by which the merits of the entire 
tribe may be judged. 
Before undertaking to decide which trees 
these are, however, let us establish definitely 
just what our requirements with regard to an 
evergreen tree are. What constitutes the per¬ 
fect evergreen? In other words, what do we 
expect of an evergreen tree? 
First and foremost, I assume that the appel¬ 
lative tells us. We expect an evergreen tree to 
be ever green, of course. Very well; please 
note that some are not; that is, that there are 
certain members of certain families that turn 
A good young specimen of Pinus resi- 
nosa, the so-called Norway pine. a 
matter of fact, it is true American—not 
even hyphenated 
rusty at certain seasons notwithstanding the 
fact that they never lose their leaves. 
Then I think that the second thing we ex¬ 
pect is that these trees shall either be very pic¬ 
turesque in form, or that they shall be very 
regular—either pyramids evenly developed on 
The cone-laden tips of red cedar lack 
the long needles of the pines and firs, 
but make up for this by a quaint for¬ 
mality all their own 
every side, or else gnarled and wrinkled vet¬ 
erans, thrusting giant arms across the sky in the 
fashion drawn to our attention by the deft art 
of the Japanese painters. Very well; but there 
are some evergreeens that are neither pictur¬ 
esque nor regular, even though they start out 
by being one or the other. So a fixed habit is 
our demand number two. 
Of course, they must be hardy, for those of 
us who live in the north; and equally, of course, 
they must be suited to the climate, for those of 
us who live in the south. A tree that thrives in 
arctic frigidity seldom endures tropic heat. 
Here, then, we find a dividing line—Mason 
and Dixon’s—and reach a place where we can¬ 
not expect all of the same trees to be the “best” 
trees in both places. Adaptability entereth 
here and maketh its presence felt. 
Simmered down, the things which the very 
best evergreens possess—the things which ren¬ 
der them the peers of their tribe—are good 
color throughout the year, consistent habit of 
growth, hardiness and adaptability to climate, 
longevity, resistance to the elements, rugged 
constitution and rapid growth. This last I put 
last because it is least of our demands. Rapid¬ 
ity of growth is seldom a desirable character¬ 
istic in any tree, for usually it is accompanied 
by weakness and shortness of life; but to a 
reasonable degree, I am willing to allow that 
Arborvitae, spruces and pines, if planted 
with judgment, combine well. But in all 
work with evergreens one should guard 
against too many species 
