House and Garden 
the Picea, or 
English yew, retinospora, a Japanese cedar, the thuya or arbor-vitae, and hosts of others too numerous to 
mention. We are told that the Japanese dwart evergreen is one of the most valuable decorative plants, 
because it can be used where others would grow too large in a few years, and so destroy the original 
effect planned when they were set out. 
Amongst the conifer family are varieties of the'Abies, (both spruce and hemlock,) 
silver hrs, and the pines, several ol the latter being of the dwarf variety, while others are broad and 
compact. All these trees are constantly trimmed and are transplanted several times a year. 
A collection of 3,500 beautiful Colorado blue spruce trees, demands attention as much for their 
remarkable grayish blue green color as for their healthy appearance and thrifty growth. These are 
worth from two and a half to twenty-five dollars apiece, according to their size and perfection. 
Next we visit the rhododendrons, classed under large leaf and hardy evergreen shrubs, so our guide 
informs us. In a delightfully romantic spot, beneath a beautiful grove of stately trees that covers several 
acres, are planted thousands of these plants, both of the hybrid or English and the maximum or American 
varieties, their flowers varying from pure white to delicate pink. 
Thousands of the hybrid variety are imported each year and these rhododendrons, both foreign 
and domestic, are shipped by the carload to every part of the United States. 
Two entire hothouses, 165 x 25 feet in dimensions, were given up to “tender” azaleas, for the Christmas 
and Easter trade, thirty-five thousand plants in all, forced by artificial methods 
to flower at the proper time. A loss of some 1,500 plants, that were accidentally 
killed by frost during the holiday season, enough to cripple many another 
concern, scarcely affected the output of this place. 
One may procure many varieties of the hardy azalea: the Azalea amoena, 
a superb low growing evergreen shrub, with foliage of a bronze tint and flowe 
that blossom in a bright rosy purple mass in May; the exquisite Azalea mollis , a 
Chinese hybrid, which can be forced for an indoor plant; the Bacchans halimi- 
foha, which grows well at the seashore and in salt marshes, giving forth white 
fluffy clusters of seed vessels and lasting from September until after frost; and 
several Japanese dwarf plants, notably the Azalea amoena of the scarlet vari¬ 
ety, the Indica alba with its pure white flower, the Indica rosea and the 
Indica rosea, (lore plena, the latter a double flowered form. All are the prod¬ 
uct of years of careful nurture and are unexcelled for border decoration. 
Ihe hothouses devoted to ferns and palms now invite inspection. Here 
are thousands of beautiful tropical plants. As we enter, the frail stalks of the 
palms gently sway and the clusters of long leaves rustle softly in the current 
of air caused by the opened door. Of these, the Kentia and the Phoenix or date 
palm are most used for decoration, the latter being espe¬ 
cially adapted for lawns as it is not affected by the 
sun of the northern latitudes. But if the palms 
suggest tropical islands and azure skies, how much 
more suggestive is the next enclosure filled to over¬ 
flowing with orange trees! Now it is the sense 
of smell as well as vision that wafts one to 
the Indies and the Florida Keys. White 
waxy blossoms and ripe golden fruit make 
the air heavy with their perfume. I hese 
are all of the dwarf variety. Another year and 
all these several thousands of trees will be replaced by an entirely 
new shipment. 
At the entrance to one storehouse, a group of truckmen are loading their 
teams with an immense consignment of the kalmia, or mountain laurel, each 
plant about five feet high, the leaves broad, glossy green. 1 hese, all of native 
growth, will be used for lawns, and probably associated with the rhododen¬ 
drons in some decorative scheme. It is somewhat too early for their flowering 
season, but by June they will be covered with large, wonderfully tinted clusters 
of blossoms. Several carloads of these plants at from five to seven dollars 
apiece suggest a problem in multiplication that will run into several figures. 
From the small holly trees, still laden with their scarlet berries, we go to 
the boxwoods. There is a greatly increased demand for this old-fashioned shrub 
English Laurel 
Pink Azalea 
200 
