THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
i>l(i 
^|■(‘;ll(‘st Ix'jnily. as IIh' yoim^ shoots, of vai ious shades of 
or hlii(\ ar(' now grow ing‘ rapidly on many of tlies(' 
lr(‘('s and oflon alTord good diaractc'is for dislingnishing 
lh(“ I'drs. Sj)i iKM's and Pinos. lhirli(*nlarly handsoino just 
now ar(‘ tin' Carolina IP'inlook {Tsiifjd ('((rolinidud), the 
Coloiado White Fir {Abies concolor), the two lioeky 
Mountain Si)ruees iPicea yinujens and P. EngeluutnyiU) ^ 
now l)luer than they will In' later in the s('ason. and the 
Douglas Spruee. {Pseuflolsiu/d iiu((‘ro)iaP(). An ('n- 
1 ranee to the Piin'tinn is (‘lose to the Walter Street gate. 
WHAT A NURSERYMAN SEES IN HIS TRAVELS. 
ORNAMENTALS IN THE COAL COUNTRY. 
The (h'vastation of tin' eoal and allied industries to 
tin' natural In'autii'S of the eoal region an' particularly 
notiec'ahle along the Pennsylvania Railroad in the west¬ 
ern jiarl of that slate. 
Although eoal must In' had at any cost oin' eannot 
help but think that this ])aitieular country is ])aying a 
biggT'r jiriee than is iT'ally necessary for its pi'osperity. 
The miles of coke ovens belching their jioisonous fumes 
and smoke in the air cry waste and destruction even to 
the mind of the layman. He sei's hills devastated, the 
trees killed and the couidry blackened and scarred. May 
the conservationists scream louder until the ('vils of 
wast(' are reduced to a minimum. 
The nui'seryman, accustomed as he is to natural 
heauties, may regret the ugliness caused by modern com¬ 
merce. yet out of the evil comes good. He gels his 
moiety of tin' wealth produced. A mining town may ap¬ 
pear as ugly as sin but it gives the coal baron the w ealth 
to lay out his country estate. 
Ibttsburg, w ith all its smoke, dirt, iron and ridhless 
disregard of anything exc('|)t the jiroduction of moin'y, 
has its Sewickley, jiarks and bcxiutifnl suburbs and it is 
in thes(' the nurseryman is mostly iidere.sted. With 
wn'alth usually comes refinement and a demand for the 
nursi'ryman’s goods. 
A study of the plants in the coal regions from a hor¬ 
ticultural |)oint of view I'eveals many interesting things, 
the main one being that the smoke and dust seem to have 
a greater detrimental efD'ct on evergreens than on de¬ 
ciduous plants and least of all on the herbaceous and an¬ 
nual v('getation. 
The elimination of the ('vergreen is particularly no- 
lic('able even in tin' line comdry estates near the rail- 
I'oads or in tin' vicinity of coke ovens and smoke-jiroduc- 
ing works, ('ven where lln^y were well cared for tberu 
w ej'(' f('w^ notew orthy spc'cimens to be seen. Even the 
hardii'r Pelinisporas looked rathci' ill-noui'ished, Spruc('s 
thin and hungry and the Ilh.oPodendrons, ('ven in local- 
ili('s when' tlu'y an' indigi'iious to the woods, inior and 
unsatisfactory. The soot and dirt accumulates on them 
until llu'y ar(' many degrees darker than noianal and 
doiiblh'ss slops up llu'ir bn'alhing pores until llnw are 
('^('nlually smollu'ri'd out of ('xisl('nce. 
The gardener of the coal regions has his own 
troubles to jiroduce results. The successful one is be 
who knows what to plant to give the best resnlts under 
the adverse conditions he has to contend with. 
Schenbw Park is a good illustration of this. What 
an oasis this is considering the conditions and surround¬ 
ings. Pittslmrgers owe a great- deal to Mr. Faulkner, 
who I believe was the superintendeid during its forma¬ 
tive period. I did not have the pleasure of meeting 
(leorge W. Rurk, the jiresent incumbent, but its jiresent 
splendid condition shows able management. The ave¬ 
nues of trees in tlu'ir imiformity and health show a mas¬ 
ter hand in selection and thoroughness of jilanting. 
The Oriental Plane takes the lead as a tree that 
thrives under the adverse conditions of city influence, 
although a line lot of Fiinkgos, all pyramidal in shajie, al¬ 
most like Lombardy Poplars, indicate a close second. 
How" were these selecb'd, Mr. Faulkner, to produce 
such an upright, uniform jiyramidal growth? Maybe 
it is the locality that produces this habit as it differs 
greatly from those growing in Washington, I). C. and 
other parts of the east. 
Horse Ohestnuts, Elms, Maples and Ash are thriving 
and making normal grow th. The Sweet Gum is doing 
particularly fine, yet the Pin Oak, which might be said 
to have the same natural associations, does not appear to 
be entirely at home in Schenley Park, at least that were 
noted. 'Hu'y w('re largely minus leaders and have a 
short stunted appearance. Chinese Magnolias, Dog¬ 
wood and Red Bud were making a brave show, the tw o 
latter grow ing w ild and ari^ a ])articularly attractive fea¬ 
ture of the Pennsylvania Mountains during tlieii- flower- 
ing si'ason, as is also the Pijrus coronaria or Wild Crab. 
What a splendid display of Tulips. The large beds 
mostly planted in solid colors are strong and bold and in 
harmony of jiroportion to their surroundings. The se¬ 
lection and maniimlation of the colors showed a thorough 
know ledge of the varieties and color harmonies and con¬ 
trasts. 
The beautiful but unsociable jiurple colors were lo¬ 
cated wdieiT' they could not fight w ith their neighbors, in 
OIK' instance being completi'ly shut in by a high hedge. 
Wise John Jones, w ho is the man in chaige of conserva- 
