178 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYATAN 
LAWN SPECIMENS 
Uiifoi’lunatoly the Swiss Stone Pine, Pimis cembm, 
belongs to the live-leaved group which is under a cloud 
on account of the White Pine blister rust, and is not he- 
. ing handled so freely by the nurseryinen on that account. 
It is such a distinct and desirable kind that it would 
he a pity if it were lost to our gradens. It should at least 
he preserved in those ar(‘as where there is no danger of 
it spreading the disease until such times as the disease is 
stanij)ed out or dies out like most epidemics do. Nature 
is its ow n doctor in most cases in spite of the hysteria of 
men. 
I have been watching an old orchard for the last five 
years that was infested with the once dreaded San Jose 
scale. It looked as if it were doomed hut w ith no atten¬ 
tion whatever in the w^ay of pruning and spraying, the 
ti-ees are coming hack in great shape. This year they are 
full of blossoms and very different to what they were 
four or five years ago. The only reason seems to be that 
the trees have become immune or else the scale has lost 
its virility. 
To return to the subject of our illustration, the Sw iss 
Stone Pine is a very slow growing kind, retaining its 
bushy conical shape for a great many years. The illus¬ 
tration is characteristic of its habit and represents per- 
liaps 2o years’ growth. 
being a native to the mountains of Central Europe and 
to Siberia, it is very hardy and w hat is better, adaptable 
almost to any climate for it seems to stand w^ell in hot, 
dry situations. There are several varieties or forms, the 
most commonly seen in nurseries being more slender and 
symmetrical than our illustration. 
There is no group of trees that have greater possibilities 
for the nurseryman and landscape gardener than the 
Pines and it might be added receive less intelligent con¬ 
sideration. With the exception of the Austrian, Scotch 
and the White Pine, they are little grown, yet no tree is 
more ])ictures(iue and ornamental. 
As a nurseryman’s plant, they grow into money quickly, 
hut need cojistant transplanting to develop a proper root 
system for safe handling. Left to themselves, they make 
tap roots and big tops and quickly graduate to the brush 
pile. 
Le Foyer du Soldat 
Union Franco-Americaine 
April 17th, 1918 
Dear Editor:— 
Having received the March National Nurseryman* and 
seeing my name on your Honor boll, I thought perhai)s 
you wmuld he interested in know ing w hat one nursery¬ 
man is doing wdthin gun lire, near the front. 
Having comei to France w ith the Signal Corps and re¬ 
maining with them a month, the entire battalion w as 
broken up and scattered all over, my transfer w as to the 
13th Engineers. 
being more of a nurseryman than a railroader, my lot 
fell to taking care of the garden, which to me was a 
great privilege. 
Having plenty of ground at my service, I laid out a 
vegetable garden, using what seed I could obtain from 
one of the largest French cities. I constructed a small 
hot bed and have radishes almost ready to eat. Tomatoes, 
cabbage, pe])pers and caulillowers were started in Hats 
and are doing exceedingly well, taking into consideration 
all the rainy w eather w e have had. 
Now' vegetables being a little out of my line, I turned 
my attention to making a small Howler garden, in the for¬ 
mal design, using the native plants that are grow ing near¬ 
by and also a few" Howlers that I w"as fortunate to obtain. 
The location of such a garden somewhat ])uz7ded me. 
because a barrack and a bomb-proof dugout surrounded 
by lields, tracks and very few" trees does not afford much 
of a place for a formal garden, hut I figured that during 
the summer days and evenings most of the fellows w ouhl 
he somewhere near the dugout and my garden with its 
little rustic, vine covered summer house would he an ideal 
s])ot to rest and cool off between airplane raids, so as a 
result I laid my garden near to the dugout as the “Dug- 
out Clide” is quite popular here. 
Having outlined my garden, staking out the beds and 
paths, I built my summer house and spaded up the llow"er 
beds, also huilding an arch as an entrance upon w"hich I 
hope to train climbing roses, I used a beautiful specimen 
of Picea excelsa wdiicli I found grow"ing near here. At 
the four corners I planted a specimen plant of Crataegus. 
At the rear of the summer house are grouped Gornus, 
Lonicera, Symphoricarpos and Euonymus. The entire 
garden wdll he outlined by a fence of sw-eet peas. I 
located a few^ plants of Clematis, w"hich I will train over 
the rustic house. Iris is common here and that too will he 
transplanted to a new^ home. 
Although subject to shell fire and constant danger of 
having the garden ruined, I feel it is my duty to make 
things as pretty as possible under the existing conditions 
and I thought you w ould be interested in knowing how 
the nursery spirit exists even under shell fire. 
Sincerely, 
Howard E. Andrew's. 
A CORRECTION 
Harrishurg, Pa., May 10, 1918. 
Re{)orfs have come to my attention that several nursery¬ 
men credit me with statements urging general prohibition 
of interstate shipment of nursery stock. 
I hope there is no malicious motive in circulating such 
unfounded reports, for no such ideas have been pro[)osed 
at any time, nor would they be given consideration by any 
right-minded inspector. 
Only the occurrence of extremely dangerous pests in a 
district would warrant a prohibition of movement of al- 
fected or susceptible stock. 
J. G. SanderSj Economic Zoologist of Penna. 
