THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
127 
Tin: l]NGLOSi:i) C.AUDEN 
The gardens of i)asl generations were invariably en- 
cdosures with high walls or hedges to protect their con¬ 
tents from the ravages of marauding animals. It is very 
('asy to suppose that when man tirst altemptetl to care for 
and cultivate plants the tirst requirement that suggested 
itself was protection and as the idea developed and he 
found that plants thrived better when protected and 
sheltered from the storms and winds as well as animals, 
the protection ultimately developed into the high garden 
walls and thick hedges and tinally into the greenhouse 
and conservatory. After all, w hat is a garden hut a con¬ 
servatory of plants? 
There are still good sized towns that have no laws to 
prevent cattle from wandering along the streets and 
grazing off your front lawn, and in such places the plant 
lover is an ardent believer in high walls and impenetrable 
fences to surround the garden. 
In more built up localities there has been a tendency 
among landscape men towards a more open style or park¬ 
like treatment. This is admirable in its way but it is 
anything but satisfactory to the plant enthusiast who 
likes to gather his rare treasures around him and have 
them completely under his control or to those wdio wish 
a quiet secluded spot for contemplation or quiet restful¬ 
ness and relaxation. 
High garden walls and hedges may sometimes outrage 
the cannons of art but so do some houses that are ex¬ 
ceedingly comfortable within. 
After all »a garden belongs to the individual rather 
than the community and if it is a real one, the welfare of 
the plants in it are the one dominating consideration. Let 
us have more enclosed gardens and we shall reach a 
higher plane in the cultivation of plants. 
EVOLUTION OF THE LARCH 
Most of our coniferous trees, or Gynmosperms, retain 
their leaves during the winter. So well known is this 
habit that the members of the group are often called ever¬ 
greens in common parlance. There are, however, a num¬ 
ber of trees that prove conspicuous exceptions to this 
rule, among which are the American larch {Larix lar- 
irina), the European larch {Larix Europaea), and the 
cypress {Taxodium dislicluun). These cast off their 
leaves at the end of the grow ing season. Whether they 
have alw ays been deciduous, or whether they have grad¬ 
ually adopted the deciduous habit is therefore, an in- 
leresting question. Some light is throw n upon the sub¬ 
ject, however, by the behaviour of young larch seedlings. 
It is well known that plants in the immature condition 
often run through more or less rapidly former conditions 
of existence. Thus the young cactus plant may produce 
true leaves and only later take on the usual cactus form. 
Larch seedlings appear to be no exception to this rule. 
For some years after the seeds have sprouted, the plants 
retain their leaves through Ihe w inter, but when older, 
they throw them off. It seems, therefore, that the larches 
\N ere once like the other evergreen cone-bearers, and have 
since adopted the deciduous habit. A similar condition 
exists today among genera represented in both the tropics 
and temperate zones. In the tropical rain forest, the 
species retain their leaves, but farther toward the poles, 
allied species are deciduous. Tropical oaks are evergreen 
and those of northern regions are deciduous, but even in 
the latter regions seedling oaks often retain their leaves 
through the winter. The deciduous habit is very appar¬ 
ently an adaptation to avoid the drying effects of the cold. 
Only in the dried parts of the tropics do the broad-leaved 
trees drop their leaves and then it is for the same reason 
—to avoid injury through drouth.— The American Bolan- 
ist. 
The following taken form Colliei'’s Weekly deals with 
a phase that is fundamental. 
It is a good tune to play, and one which strikes a re¬ 
sponsive chord in the minds of most men and women. 
It should not be overlooked when sufficient funds are 
promised to start the Campaign for Market Development. 
Gardening—a Privilege 
All this urging people to grow some foodstuff this 
smmner is not any eff ort to saddle them with an extra 
task, but only to wake them up to their opportunities. 
Too many civilized men have hands too soft to be either 
masculine or useful. Hundreds of thousands of people 
in our country stay indoors so habitually throughout the 
year that even silting out on a porch has for them a real 
quality of adventure. Perhaps one reason why porch 
ceilings are sometimes painted sky blue is to remind the 
inmates of the look of the sky! Many of us dodge so 
quickly from one shelter to another, from home to trol¬ 
ley to office and back again, that we get very little notion 
of how lovely the changes of light are at night and morn¬ 
ing. In a garden you get all that and sometimes also the 
coming of the stars. Legend and science combine to tell 
us that we arose from the earth and in time will take our 
rest in it again. Why not know something more of it 
while we are here? In a garden certainly you learn 
man’s place in this universe as chooser between better 
and worse, preferring the one and hindering the other, 
and of his responsibility for his own choices therein. 
How' much of kindness would we have if our race had 
not had to deal with budding and blossoming plants, and 
how" much of intelligence if we had not had to watch the 
procession of the day as it strides past betw een our gar¬ 
den walls? Take your troubles out for cure to the heal¬ 
ing peace of green things growing. Get back to earth’s 
realities this year; go gardening! 
TRANSPORTATION 
The Director General has issued an order No. C.S. 1 A 
on March 25th exempting seeds and nursery stock under 
certain conditions from embargoes and directing that no 
embargoes shall he made by Ihe earriers except and un¬ 
til expressly authorized by the Direetor General. 
On March 19, 1918 all the Regional Directors were 
directed to give special attention to the movement of less 
than ear lot shipments of seeds and nursery stock. 
Curtis Nye Smith. 
