THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
246 
horse sense would be the better word, on behalf oi the 
nursery interests, to work with the F. H. B. to its 
own advantage rather than to object to its decisions. 
Even if we look at Ihe F. H. B. through political eyes, as 
the nurseryman's worst enemy, all we can see is the lor- 
estry, lumber and agricultural interests looming hugely 
in the potential majority to support its decisions. Even 
if the decisions may be unnecessary and unfair to the 
nursery interests. As a last resource, the I. II. B. 
controls that powerful weapon, the power to stampede 
the voting power of the country by fear of a pest oi dis¬ 
ease. The fear may be groundless, but the results of it 
would be quite effective in backing up any decision made 
to protect the larger interests. 
MISUSE OF PLANTS 
The misuse of plants is almost as common as their 
proper use and sad to say, by planters and those who 
ought to do better work. 
The above statement is made on the assumption that all 
agree that results of the object of planting sit on the 
judges bench to decide “what is misuse?” 
If we decide at random on any group of plants, then 
get into our automobile and make a tour of inspection, 
say through a suburban district near a large city, where 
wealth and refinement shows itself in fine residences and 
neatly kept grounds, it is not difficult to prove, that plants 
are used very much like bricks and mortar, woodwork 
and paint, but unlike these materials, the plants are alive 
and refuse to obey the misguided efforts of those who use 
them. 
Take for instance the Norway Maple, within certain 
limits there is no better shade tree. It is quick growing, 
symmetrical, conventional in outline, adaptable, dense in 
growth and fairly free from disease and pests, in fact its 
many good qualities have led to its misuse and abuse. 
Planters in some localities must have adopted as their 
motto “when in doubt, plant a Norway Maple,” or per¬ 
haps the nurseryman is to blame, he has them in quan¬ 
tity and will sell them cheap because they grow so easily. 
In our trip of inspection we pass down a nice wide 
street, the attractive houses on each side built in pairs, 
set back about 30 feet from the side walk, with the object 
of having a nice front yard, with vine covered porches, 
window boxes, closely shaven velvety lawns, porch beds, 
rose covered party fences, old fashioned herbaceous bor¬ 
ders or any variation in the taste in gardening the oc¬ 
cupiers of the houses might desire, but what do we see? 
Nothing but a row of Norway Maples occupying the front 
yards for the houses are effectively hidden to the ex¬ 
clusion of most other plant life and much of the air and 
li^ht. 
The landscape gardener, builder, or someone misused 
the Norway Maple by placing one in the middle of the 1 
lawn in front of each house. They doubtless looked well 
and were in no way objectionable for the first ten years 
and perhaps helped to sell the houses, but suppose in¬ 
stead of planting them, the Pin Oak, Lombardy Poplar, 
Ginkjo, Honey Locust, Birch or such like tree had been 
used setting them a little to one side so they would frame 
the houses instead of hiding them like the Norway Maples 
do, what a difference in results there would have been. 
Lawns, flowers, hedges, vines, all would have been pos 
sible, as well as shade from the hot sun and not so much 
obstruction to a free circulation of air. 
How arc shrubs misused? Largely by planting them 
where they cannot show their natural beauty and so 
cluttering up the ground with useless cripples. Let us 
continue our trip of investigation and see how some 
specific group of shrubs are used. At random, we will 
select and look for the bush honeysuckles. 
They are large, fast growing shrubs whose beauty is 
in their flowers, fruit and whose ornamental value cannot 
be secured unless they are planted so there is ample room 
for free developemcnt of their branches. What do we 
find? Isolated specimens clipped and sheared of their 
flowering wood until they look like an unsightly bunch of 
growing sticks, or planted in masses among other shrub¬ 
bery a few feet apart forcing them to grow into leggy 
sprawling unsightly brush such as the tidy farmer feels 
it his duly to clean up with the brush hook in the winter. 
To get the full beauty of these plants they should be 
planted twenty-five feet apart instead of five. Hours of 
search fails to reveal one solitary specimen planted so 
that it can develope its full value although we have seen 
thousands. 
Why does the nurseryman propagate so many kinds 
when one would be sufficient considering the way they 
are used or misused? 
Lonicera tatarica, L. tatarica grandi flora, L. Ledebouri , 
L. Standishi, L. Ruprechtiana all produce about the same 
effect under such conditions, an unsightly bunch of sticks 
in the winter with green on them in the summer. 
These same remarks apply to a greater or lesser extent 
to many other kinds of shrubs and trees. In most plant¬ 
ings it has too often been the right tree or shrub used in 
the wrong place and for the wrong purpose even in plant¬ 
ings designed by our most eminent landscape gardeners. 
While on our trip of fault finding let us take a glance 
at the evergreens. The misuse we find is not quite so 
glaring, due largely to the fact they are slower of growth, 
and give very pretty effects while they are young, as 
when they are grouped in porch beds, so if the owner of 
the grounds is willing to pay there is no reason why he 
should not have them removed every few years. Unlike 
the Norway Maple they are generally moved when they 
become unsightly, or fail of the purpose for which they 
were originally planted. 
Too often however we see illassorted groups, when it 
is naturally impossible for the selection to grow together 
in harmony and beauty. Three or more planted where one 
would be better or if a group is desired for immediate 
effect, a Pine, a Retinispora and a Blue Spruce planted 
six or seven feet apart when a group of three Pines or 
three Betinisporas would have been so much better bolh 
for the plants themselves and the future appearance of 
the place. 
We come back from our trip, convinced, plants are 
very much misused and it is about time a new school or 
vogue in landscape planting was started. 
A school that would take for its motto in the garden, 
‘The Plant is King.” 
“Design,” “Immediate Effect,” “Quick Results” and all 
the other lame reasons for the misuse of plants be reg¬ 
ulated to second place in the courts which decide what is 
