LIBRARY OF CO VWI 00009728879 ee sre A ae aay) : Teh he aa ii ee ot LA iii Nn " r Of iT) i. Ty hey vt Nt ’ 0) i Ne Aah? at, " Pi THE ART OF BEAUTIFYING ! SUBURBAN HOME GROUNDS OF SMALL EXTENT. is. A P ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARD ’/F TWO HUNDRED PLATES AND ENGRAVINGS OF PLANS FOR RESIDENCES AND THEIR GKOUNDS, OF TREES AND SHRUBS, AND GARDEN EMBELLISHMENTS ; WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND HARDY TR Be 1S \., ASN ID: S2neR sue ES GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES. BY FRANK J) SGOre 1' NE W. ¥ ORs: ~ D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 1873, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by FRANE J... SCOrs, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. ote the memory of ott w3 Downing, his frend and tnébiucter, his book dedicated, wih, upection= ave sememlante, ly the abhor, Yer irve Tita ae ' ASETAL a TATTARO vy tee orient ay Ajo \ 71 esta a “4 hase ay = 5 +f? ‘ ; > ns mM select: ie Pepi. OF CON TAN ES. PA RY SE: SUBURBAN HOME GROUNDS. INTRODUCTION, - : : ° ° - CHAPTER .— ART AND NATURE, . : - ° . CHAPTER II. DECORATIVE PLANTING—WHAT CONSTITUTES IT, CHAPTER, Tit: WHat KIND oF HOME GROUNDS WILL BEST SUIT BUSINESS MEN, AND THEIR COST, . CHAPTER, IV. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS COMPARED WITH COUNTRY PLACES, CHAPTER V. BUILDING SITES AND GROUND SURFACES, , 5 r 15 17 20 26 32 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER VL PAGE DWELLINGS, OUTBUILDINGS, AND FENCES, \ 45 CHAPTER VII. NEIGHBORING IMPROVEMENTS, ; ‘ - 3. aiGo GHA P TER”: WIE: MATERIALS USED IN DECORATIVE PLANTING, . ° 70 5} 5 We bed Ne DR DS FAULTS TO AVOID—PLAN BEFORE PLANTING, ° = ETS CHAPTER X, WALKS AND Roaps, : : . ° ° 85 “CHAPTER (XL ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING, ; ° e Plane: 13 CHAPTER 21: RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF LAWN, TREES, SHRUBS, FLOWERS, AND CONSTRUCTIVE DECORATIONS IN THE DEVELOP- MENT OF HOME PICTURES, . 4 : 102 CHAPTER HI. THE Lawn, 5 : . ° ° = Oy CHAPTER “XIV. ARTIFICIAL ADAPTATIONS OF SHRUBS AND TREES, s 112 TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER XV. PAGE PLANS oF RESIDENCES AND GROUNDS, ° ° a, ak CHAPTER XVI. THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES, : oe 238 CHAPTER XVII. FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS AND THEIR SETTINGS, - 7 246 CHAPTER, XVIII. THE PHILOSOPHY OF DEEP DRAINAGE AND CULTIVATION IN THEIR RELATION TO THE GROWTH OF TREES, AND THE SUCCESSFUL CULTURE OF THOSE WHICH ARE HALF- HARDY ; TOGETHER WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR PROTECTING YounGc TREES IN WINTER AND SUMMER, . : 264 PART Af. TIRE ES. Sih ODS AND VINE S. CHAPTERS A COMPARISON OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES, 27 CHAPTER, Il. DESCRIPTIONS AND ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT, . ° 299 CHAPTER » IT. Decipuous TREES, . ‘ F P s “i go2 Vill TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV? DeEcIDUOUS SHRUBS, é 3 : ‘ CHAPTER V. EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS, . e CHAPTER VI. VINES AND CREEPERS, . : ° : APPENDIX, ° ° . . INDEX, e se e e e « PAGE 455 514 poe 601 A KEY TO THE SYMBOLS USED IN THE FOLLOWING ~N IPRA ANTaQ - a Z SSS DESIGNS 2 _ ae wae aes ere Open fence on street lines ee Close hioh (once. or wall Light wire fence, or no fence at all . Road and Walk lines Beds of quite low annuals or perennials Flowering plants , 738 caches Aigh and wpwards } : filled Ground lor Vesetables Rose beds x Pillar Roses as [sj Street trees @) Vase with base {3 Rustic Vase Deciduous trees branching high enough to allow a clear view under ther hranches fe) Pine tree 5 Arbor Vitaes and Cedars © Spruce Firs Hemlocks &c. Small deciduous trees Shrubbery A Apple tree ( Cherry tree Standard Pear tree L A Dwarf Pear tree Peach tree Quince tree 4 ¥ ) Plum tree Q { (rape tree, or vine on stake pe See Grape Trellis er ae ee | jee (Grape Arbor Pon eb. L.; SUBURBAN HoME GROUNDS. LNT RODUCTION:. “The landscape, forever consoling and kind, Pours her wine and her oil on the smarts of the mind.’’ LoweLL, HE aim of this work is to aid persons of moderate income, who know little of the arts of decorative garden- ing, to beautify their homes ; to suggest and illustrate the simple means with which beautiful home-surround- ings may be realized on small grounds, and with little cost ; and thus to assist in giving an intelligent direction to the desires, and a satisfactory result for the labors of those who are engaged in embellishing homes, as well as those whose imaginations are warm with the hopes of homes that are yet to be. It is more than twenty years since the poetical life and pen of 12 INTRODUCTION. A. J. Downing warmed the hearts of his countrymen to a new love and zest for rural culture. In the department of suburban architecture, the work so charmingly begun by him has been carried forward by Vaux and a host of others, whose works are constantly appearing. But in the specialty of decorative gardening, adapted to the small grounds of most suburban homes, there is much need of other works than have yet appeared. Downing had begun in the books entitled “Cottage Residences and Cottage Grounds” and “Country Houses,” to cover this subject in his peculiarly graceful as well as sensible style ; but death robbed us of his pleasant genius in the prime of its usefulness. Since his time many useful works have appeared on one or another branch of gardening art; but not one has been devoted entirely to the arts of suburban-home embellishment. The subject is usually approached, as it were, sideways—as a branch of other subjects, architectural, agricultural, and horticultural—and not as an art distinct from great landscape-gardening, and not embraced in flori- culture, vegetable gardening, and pomology. ‘The busy pen of the accomplished Donald G. Mitchell has treated of farm embellish- ment with an admirable blending of farmer-experience and a poet’s culture ; but he has given the farm, more than the citizen’s subur- ban lot, the benefit of his suggestions. Copeland’s “Country Life” is a hand-book grown almost into an encyclopedia of garden and farm work, full of matter giving it great value to the farmer and horticulturist. Other works, too numerous to mention, of special horticultural studies, as well as valuable horticultural an- nuals, have served to whet a taste for the arts of planning as well as planting. Some of them cover interesting specialties of decorative gardening. It is a hopeful sign of intelligence when any art or science divides into many branches, and each becomes a subject for special treatises. But books which treat, each, of some one department of decorative gardening, should follow, rather than precede, a knowledge of the arts of arrangement, by which, alone, all are combined to produce harmonious home-pictures ; and for precisely the same reason that it is always best to plan one’s house before selecting the furniture—which, however good in itself, may not otherwise suit the place where it must be used. INTRODUCTION. 13 ‘The term landscape-gardening is misapplied when used in connection with the improvement of a few roods of suburban ground ; and we disavow any claim, for this work, to treat of landscape-gardening on that large scale, or in the thorough and exhaustive manner in which it is handled by the masters of the art in England, and by Downing for this country. Compared with the English we are yet novices in the fine arts of gardening, and the exquisite rural taste even among the poorer classes of England, which inspired glowing eulogiums from the pen of Washington Irving thirty years ago, is still as far in advance of our own as at that time. British literature abounds in admirable works on all branches of gardening arts. Loupon’s energy and exhaustive in- dustry seem to have collected, digested, and illustrated, almost everything worth knowing in the arts of gardening. But his works are too voluminous, too thorough, too English, to meet the needs of American suburban life. Kemp, in a complete little volume en- titled “ How to lay out a Garden,” has condensed all that is most essential on the subject for England. But the arrangements of American suburban homes of the average character differ so widely from those of the English, and our climate also varies so essen- tially from theirs, that plans of houses and grounds suitable there are not often adapted to our wants. There is an extent and thoroughness in_their—out-buildings, and arrangements for man- servants and maid-servants and domestic animals, which the great cost of labor in this country forces us to condense or dispense with. ‘Public and private examples of landscape-gardening on a grand scale begin to familiarize Americans with the art. The best cemeteries of our great cities are renowned even in Europe for their tasteful keeping. But more than all other causes, that won- derful creation, the New York Central Park, has illustrated the power of public money in the hands of men of tasteful genius to re- produce, as if by magic, the gardening glories of older lands. But public parks, however desirable and charming, are not substitutes for beautiful Homes; and with observation of such public works, and of examples of tasteful but very costly private grounds in many parts of the country, there comes an increasing need of practical works to epitomize and Americanize the principles of decorative 14 INTRODUCTION. gardening, fo zdlustrate their application to small grounds, and to effect in miniature, and around ordinary homes, some of their love- liest results. Some of the most prized pictures of great landscape painters are scenes that lie close to the eye ; which derive little of their beauty from breadth of view, or variety of objects ; and yet they may be marvels of lovely or picturesque beauty. The half- acre of a suburban cottage (if the house itself is what it should be) may be as perfect a work of art, and as well worth transferring to canvas as any part of the great Chatsworth of the Duke of Devonshire. Of the millions of America’s busy men and women, a large proportion desire around their homes the greatest amount of beauty which their means will enable them to maintain; and the minimum of expense and care that will secure it. It is for these that this work has been prepared. It is not designed for the very wealthy, nor for the poor, but principally for that great class of towns-people whose daily business away from their homes is a necessity, and who appreciate more than the very rich, or the poor, all the heart’s cheer, the refined pleasures, and the beauty that should attach to a suburban home. In planning home-grounds, a familiarity with the materials from which the planter must choose is requisite to success in producing a desired effect. This work, therefore, embraces descriptions and many illustrations of trees and shrubs ; and is intended to be full in those matters which are of most interest to unscientific lovers of nature and rural art, in their efforts to create home beauty ;—such as the expression of trees and shrubs, as produced by their sizes, forms, colors, leaves, flowers, and general structure, quite inde- pendent of their characteristics as noted by the botanist. ‘The botanical information incidentally conveyed in the names and descriptions of trees, shrubs, and flowers, has been drawn, it is hoped, from the best authorities ; but, for any errors that may be found in them, the author asks the kind indulgence of the more scientific reader. Char ise kl. ART AND NATURE. ‘* All nature is but art unknown to thee; All chance, direction which thou canst not see.’ Pope. HE prevalent idea that the best decorative gardening is simply an imitation of pleasing natural scenery, is partially incorrect. If an imitation of Nature were the only aim, if she were simply to be let alone, or repeated, then a prairie, a wild forest, an oak-opening, a jungle, or a rocky scene, would only need to be inclosed to seem a perfect example of landscape gardening. All these forms of Nature have their peculiar beauties, and yet these very beauties, when brought into connection with our dwellings, are as incongruous as the picturesqueness of savage human life in streets or parlors, All civilization is marked by the 16 ART AND NATURE. touch of the arts which have subjugated the ruder elements in human and vegetable nature to mould and re-arrange them. We are not made to be content on nature’s lower levels ; for that spark of divinity within us—Imagination—suggests to us progress and improvement, and these are no less natural than existence. The arts which make life beautiful are those that graft upon the wildings of nature the refinements and harmonies which the Deity through the imagination is ever suggesting to us. Decorative gardening had reached a high degree of perfection among ancient nations before the art now known as Landscape Gardening had its origin, or rather the beautiful development which it has reached in England within the last three centuries. ‘The art which reproduces the wildness of rude nature, and that which softens the rudeness and creates polished beauty in its place, are equally arts of gardening. So too are the further arts by which plants and trees are moulded into unusual forms, and blended by studied symmetries with the purely artificial works of architecture. All are legitimate, and no one style may say to another, “ Thou art false because thou hast no prototype in nature,” since our dwellings and all the conveniences of civilized life would be equally false if judged by that standard. However diverse the modes of decora- tive gardening in different countries, all represent some ideal form of beauty, and illustrate that diversity of human tastes which is not less admirable than the diversity of productions in vegetable nature. That may be considered good gardening around suburban homes which renders the dwelling the central interest of a picture, which suggests an intention to produce a certain type of embellish- ment, and which harmoniously realizes the type intended, whether it be a tree-flecked meadow, a forest glade, a copse belted lawn, a formal old French garden, a brilliant parterre, or a general blend- ing of artfully grown sylvan and floral vegetation with architectural forms. Not to reproduce the rudeness of Nature, therefore, but to adapt her to our civilized necessities, to idealize and improve, to condense and appropriate her beauties, to eliminate the dross from her vegetable jewels, and give them worthy setting—these are the aims of Decorative Gardening. a = y == WARLEY.2 CB ACP TEs lls DECORATIVE PLANTING—WHAT CONSTITUTES IT? ate: . “He who sees my park, sees into my heart !””—PrincE PucKLER To BETTINA Von ARNIM. HE objects sought in Decorative Planting are various. The simple pleasure of working among and developing beautiful natural productions is one ; the desire to make one’s place elegant and attractive to other’s eyes, and therefore a source of pride to the possessor, is also one of the strongest objects with many. To have a notably large variety of flowers, shrubs, or trees, is a very common form of planting enthu- siasm ; and the passion for some special and complete display of certain species of flowers (florists’ hobbies) is another. Finally, and highest of all, zs the appreciation of, and desire to create with ver- dant Nature, charming effects of sunlight and shadow, or lovely exam- 2 18 DECORATIVE PLANTING. ples, in miniature, of what we call landscapes. Decorative Planting should have for its highest aim the beautifying of Home. In com bination with domestic architecture, it should make every man’s home a beautiful picture. As skillful stonecutting, or bricklaying, or working in wood, does not make of the artisan an architect, or his work a fine art, so the love of trees, shrubs, and flowers, and their skillful cultivation, is but handling the tools of the landscape gardener—it is not gardening, in its most beautiful meaning. The garden of the slothful, overgrown with weeds and brambles, could not have been much more ugly to look upon than many flower- gardens, in which the whole area is a wilderness of annuals and perennials, of all sorts and sizes and conditions of life, full of beau- tiful bloom if we examine them in detail, and yet, as a whole, re- pulsive to refined eyes as a cob-webbed old furniture museum, crammed with heterogeneous beauties and utilities. Such gardens cannot be called decorative planting. They are merely bouquet nurseries of the lowest class, or botanical museums. Neither the loveliness of flowers, nor the beauties of trees and shrubs, alone, will make a truly beautiful place, unless arranged so that the spe- cial beauty of trees, plants, and flowers is subordinated to the gen- eral effect. An attempt to make good pictures by hap-hazard applications to the canvas of the finest paint colors, is not much more sure to result in failure than the usual mode of filling yards with choice trees, shrubs, and flowers. It is as easy to spoil a place with too “many flowers as to mar good food with a superfluity of condiments. The same may be said of a medley plantation of the finest trees or shrubs. Numbers will not make great beauty or variety; on the contrary, they will often destroy both. That is the best art which produces the most pleasing pictures with the fewest materials. Milton, in two short lines, thus paints a home: “‘ Hard by a cottage chimney smokes, From between two aged oaks.” Here is a picture ; two trees, a cottage, and green sward—these are all the materials. Unfortunately the “two aged oaks,” or their equivalents, are not at hand for all our homes. Has the reader ever noticed some remarkably pleasant old DECOR A TIV BE PG AN DL TENG. 1g home, where little care seemed taken to make it so; and yet with an air of comfort, and even elegance, that others, with wealth lav- ished upon them, and a professional gardener in constant employ, with flowers, and shrubs, and trees in profusion, yet all failing to convey the same impression of a pleasant home? - Be assured that the former (though by accident it may be) is the bette# model of the two. A well-cut lawn, a few fine trees, a shady back-ground with comfortable-looking out-buildings, are the essentials; and walks, shrubs, and flowers, only the embellishments and finishing touches of the picture. Only the finishing touches—but what a charm of added expression and beauty there may be in those per- fecting strokes! How a verdant gate-way arch frames the common walk into a picture view ; how a long opening of lawn gives play- room for the sunlight to smile and hide among the shadows of bor- dering shrubs and trees; how an opening here, in the shrubs, reveals a pretty neighborhood vista; how a flower-bed there, brightens the lawn like a smile on the face of beauty ; how a swing suspended from the strong, outstretched arm of a noble tree attracts the children, whose ever-changing groups engage the eye and inter- est the heart; how a delicate foliaged tree, planted on yonder mar- gin, glows with the light of the afternoon sun, or with airy undula- tions trembles against the twilight sky, till it seems neither of the earth or the sky, but a spirit of life wavering between earth and heaven ! Let us, then, define Decorative Planting to be the art of pic- ture making and picture framing, by means of the varied forms of vegetable growth. iy ca ii Vell ir AM dll ll : ine | = @H AP TE sRosklakc WHAT KIND OF HOME GROUNDS WILL BEST SUIT BUSINESS MEN, AND THEIR COST. “Nature is immovable and yet mobile; that is her eternal charm. Her unwearied activity, her ever-shifting phantasmagoria, do not weary, do not disturb; this harmonious motion bears in itself a profound repose.’”,—MaADAME MICHELET. T is always a difficult matter to keep the happy medium be- tween extravagance and parsimony. ‘This uncertainty will be felt by every business man of moderate means who begins FOR BUSINESS MEN. 21 the expenditures about a suburban home. All men, who are not either devoid of fine tastes, or miserly, desire to have as much beauty around them as they can pay for and maintain ; but few persons are familiar with the means which will gratify this desire with least strain on the purse. Two men of equal means, with similar houses and grounds to begin with, will often show most diverse results for their expenditures; one place soon becoming home-like, quiet, and elegant in its expression, and the other fussy, cluttered, and unsatisfactory. The latter has probably cost the most money; it may have the most trees, and the rarest flowers ; more rustic work, and vases, and statuary ; but the true effect of all is wanting. The difference between the two places is like that between the sketch of a trained artist, who has his work distinctly in his mind before attempting to represent it, and then sketches it in simple, clear outlines; and the untutored beginner, whose abun- dance of ideas are of so little service to him that he draws, and re-draws, and rubs out again, till it can hardly be told whether it is a horse or a cloud that is attempted. If the reader has any doubt of his own ability to arrange his home grounds with the least waste expenditure, he should ask some friend, whose good taste has been proved by trial, to commend him to some sensible and experienced designer of home-grounds. It may be set down as a fair approximation of the expense of good ground improvements, that they will require about one-tenth of the whole cost of the buildings. Premising that the erection of the dwelling generally precedes the principal expenses of beauti- fying the grounds, this amount will be required during the two years following the completion of the house. If the land must be cleared of rocks, or much graded, or should require an unusually thorough system of tile-drainage, that proportion might be insuff- cient ; but if the ground to be improved is in good shape, well drained, rich, and furnished with trees, a very much smaller pro- portion might be enough; and almost the only needful expense, would be that which would procure the advice and direction of some judicious landscape gardener. As a good lawyer often best earns his retainer by advising against litigation, so a master of 22 HOME GROUNDS gardenesque art may often save a proprietor enough, to pay for all that will be needed, by advising him what wo¢ to attempt. But it is on bare, new grounds, that there will be most room for doubt of what to attempt. The man who must leave his home after an early breakfast to attend to his office or store business, and who only returns to dinner and tea, must not be beguiled into paying for the floral and arboricultural rarities that professional florists and tree-growers grow enthusiastic over, unless the home members of his family are appreciative amateurs in such things. Tired with town labor, his home must be to him a haven of repose. Gardeners’ bills are no pleasanter to pay than butchers’ and tai- lors’ bills, and the satisfaction of paying either depends on the amount of pleasure received, or hoped to be received, from the things paid for. A velvety lawn, flecked with sunlight and the shadows of common trees, is a very inexpensive, and may be a very elegant refreshment for the business-wearied eye; and the manner in which it is kept will affect the mind in the same way as the ill or well-ordered house-keeping of the wife. But the beauties and varied peculiarities of a fine collection of trees, shrubs, and flowers require a higher culture of the taste, and more leisure for observation, than most business men have. AIIl women are lovers of flowers, but few American ladies are yet educated in that higher garden culture—¢he art of making pictures with trees, lawn, and flowers. Without this culture, or a strong desire for it, it is best that the more elegant forms of gardening art should be dispensed with, and only simple effects attempted. Now a freshly mown meadow is always beautiful, and a well-kept lawn alone produces that kind of beauty. But the meadow or lawn, without a tree, is tame and monotonous. Large trees are necessary to enliven their beauty. A well-built house, with broad porch or veranda, may ena- ble one to get along very comfortably without the shade of trees to protect its inmates from the excessive heat of the sun ; but the play of light and shade in the foliage of trees, and upon the lawn, is as needful food for the eye as the sunny gayety of children is to the heart. These two things, then, are the most essential to the busi- ness man’s home—a fine lawn and large trees. The former may be produced in a year; the latter must be bought ready grown on the FOR BUSINESS MEN. 20 - ground. No amount of money spent at nurseries will give, in twenty years, the dignified beauty of effect that a few fine old trees will. realize as soon as your house and lawn are completed. But, unfortunately, the mass of men are obliged by business necessities, or other circumstances which are imperative, to build on sites not blessed with large trees. ‘To enable them to make the most of such places, it is hoped that the succeeding chapters will point the way. There is one hobby connected with removing from a city house to one “with some ground around it,” which has been happily cari- catured by some modern authors. We refer to the enthusiastic longing for fresh vegetables “of our own raising.” A wealthy citi- zen, who had been severely seized with some of these horticultural fevers, invited friends to dine with him at his country-seat. The friends complimented his delicious green corn. “It ¢ capital, I’m glad you appreciate it,” said he ; “it is from my own grounds, and by a calculation made a few days since I find that the season’s crop will cost me only ten dollars an ear.” Certainly this is an extreme case; but among the expensive luxuries for a business man’s home a large kitchen garden is one of the most costly. Grass, and trees, and flowers, give daily returns in food for our eyes, seven months of the year, and cost less; yet many good housewives and masters spend more in growing radishes, lettuce, peas, beans, and even such cheap things as cabbages and potatoes, than it would cost to buy just as good articles, and maintain, besides, a lawn full of beauties. Vegetable gardening is a good and profita- ble business on a large scale, but on a small scale is not often made so, except by the good Dutch women, who can plant, hoe, and market their own productions, and live on the remainders. The kitchen garden does more to support the family of the gar- dener than the family of the proprietor, and it is respectfully sug- gested that the satisfaction of having one’s table provided with “our Patrick’s”’ peas and beans is not a high order of family pride. The professional gardener, who does the same business on a much larger scale, and vends his vegetables at our doors, is likely to grow them cheaper and just as good as we can grow them. But in the matter of fruit, it is different. There are some fruits 24 HOME GROUNDS that can only be had in perfection ripened on the spot where they are to be eaten. All market fruit-growers are obliged to pick fruit before it is ripe, in order to have it bear transportation and keep well. We cannot, therefore, get luscious ripe fruit except by grow- ing it; and we advise business men of small means and small grounds to patronize the market for vegetables, but to grow their own strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and pears; at least so far as they may without making the beauty of their grounds subordi- nate to the pleasures of the palate. The eye is a constant feeder, that never sates with beauty, and is ever refining the mind by the influence of its hunger; but even luscious fruits give but a momen- tary pleasure, and that not seldom unalloyed by excess and cloying satiety. Nature is more lavish of her luxuries for the eye than of those for the stomach, and, in an economic point of view, it will be wise to take advantage of her generosity. To this end, it may be profitably borne in mind that pleasing distant or near views of country or city, of trees or houses, of sea or stream, which cost nothing to preserve or keep in order, are the best picture invest- ments that can be made; and to make charming verdant frames for these pictures as well as little “cabinet pieces” of your own for your neighbors to look in upon, will call into play the best skill in gardenesque designing. To make the most of common and inexpensive materials re- quires the same culture of the eye and the mind, as the manipulation of the rarest. To produce an effective picture with a single color requires the same talent that would produce only more brilliant effects with all the colors of the palette. The most needed advice to novices in suburban home-making is this: if you can afford to spend but little on your grounds, study with the greater care what beauty outside of them can be made a part of the outlook from them ; do not introduce anything which will convey the impression that you desire to have anything look more expensive than it really is; dispense with walks and drives except where they are © required for the daily comfort of your family ; eschew rustic orna- ments, unless of the most substantial and un-showy character, avd in shadowy locations ; avoid spotting your lawn with garish carpen- try, or plaster or marble images of any kind, or those lilliputian FOR BUSINESS MEN. 25 caricatures on Nature and Art called rock-work ; and, finally, by the exquisite keeping of what you have, endeavor to create an atmosphere of refinement about your place, such as a thorough lady housekeeper will always throw around her house, however small or plain it may be. As the wife and family are the home-bodies of a residence, the business man of a city who chooses a home out of it should feel that he is not depriving them of the pleasures incident to good neighborly society. During his daily absence, while his mind is kept in constant activity by hourly contact with his acquaintances, the family at home also need some of the enlivening influences of easy intercourse with their equals, and should not be expected to find entire contentment in their household duties, with no other society day after day than that of their own little circle, and the voiceless beauty of grass, flowers, and trees. A throng of argu- ments for and against what is vaguely called country life suggest themselves in this connection, some of which are treated of in the following chapter, in which suburban and country homes are con- trasted. The former, as we would have them, involve no banish- ment from all that is good in city life, but are rather the elegant culmination of refined tastes, which cannot be gratified in the city ; the proper field for the growth of that higher culture which finds in art, nature, and congenial society combined, a greater variety of pleasures than can be found in the most luxurious homes between the high walls of city houses ; a step in advance of the Indian-like craving for beads, jewelry, and feathers, which distinguishes the city civilization of the present day. Choosing a home out of the city simply because it can be secured more cheaply than in it, is not the kind of plea for a suburban life which we would present, yet we urge that at a given cost of home and living it yields a far greater variety of healthful pleasures, and a fuller, freer, happier life for man, woman, and child, than a home in the city. al GHAPST ERM: SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS COMPARED WITH COUNTRY PLACES. “*Twas town, yet country too; you felt the warmth Of clustering’ houses in the wintry time.”—GEo. ELrort. ANDSCAPE GARDENING, on a grand scale, in this country, is only to be accomplished in public parks and cemeteries. Parks of considerable extent, as private property, are impracticable, by reason of the transient nature of family wealth, in a republic where both the laws and the industrial customs favor rapid divisions and new distributions. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. 27 Attempts to make and keep great private parks are generally con- spicuous failures. Some of the old family parks on the Hudson River, and a few in other parts of the country, may be thought of as exceptions, but they are exceptions which rather prove the rule ; for most of them are on portions of manorial grants, held under almost feudal titles, which have remained in the same families through several generations, simply because they are held under laws which present a jarring contrast with the general laws of prop- erty which now govern in most of the States. Great fortunes can- not be lavished perennially for half a century to keep them up, where fortunes are so seldom made or kept in families of high cul- tivation—the only ones which are likely to be led by their tastes, or qualified by their education, to direct such improvements suc- cessfully. It is from this lack of cultivation, and from sheer ignor- ance of the fine arts, the great expenditures and the generations of patient waiting for results, which are all necessary to produce such works, that so many wealthy men stumble and break their fortunes in ridiculous attempts. to improvise parks. It would be well for our progress in Landscape Gardening that this word park, as applied to private grounds, should be struck out of use, and that those parts of our grounds which are devoted to what feeds the eye and the heart, rather than the stomach, should be called simply HomME-GRouNDs; and that the ambition of private wealth in our republic should be to make gems of home beauty on a small scale, rather than fine examples of failures on a large scale. A township of land, with streets, and roads, and streams, dotted with a thou- sand suburban homes peeping from their groves ; with school-house towers and gleaming spires among them; with farm fields, pastures, woodlands, and bounding hills or boundless prairies stretched around ;—these, altogether, form our suburban parks, which all of us may ride in, and walk in, and enjoy; and the most lavish expen- ditures of private wealth on private grounds can never equal their extent, beauty, or variety. | A serious inconvenience of extensive private grounds, or parks, is the isolation and loneliness of the habitual inmates of the house— the ladies. Few, even of those who have a native love for rural life, can long live contented without pleasant near neighbors. A 28 SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. large family may feel this less than a small one. Those who have the means, the health, and the disposition to entertain much com- pany at home, will escape the feeling of loneliness. But much company brings much care. It is paying a high price for company when one must keep a free hotel to secure it. To do without it, however, soon suggests to the ladies that fewer acres, and more friends near by, would be a desirable change ; and not knowing the facility with which the happy medium may be reached, they are apt to jump at the conclusion that, of the two privations—life in the country without neighborly society, or life in the city without the charms of Nature—the latter is the least. Thousands of beautiful homes are every year offered for sale, on which the owners have often crippled their fortunes by covering too much ground with their expenditures. Instead of retiring to the country for rest and strengthening recreation, they have added a full assortment of losing and vexatious employments in the country to their already wearisome but profitable business in the city. It is the ambition to have “parks” (young Chatsworths !)—to be model farmers and famous gardeners; to be pomologists, with all the fruits of the nursery catalogues on their lists: in short, to add to the burden of their town business the cares of half a dozen other laborious pro- fessions, that finally sickens so many of their country places after a few years’ experience with them. ‘There is another large class of prosperous city men who have spent their early years on farms, and who cherish a deep love of the country through all their de- cennial rounds of city life; who have no fanciful ambitions for parks ; whose dreams are of hospitable halls, broad pastures, and sweet meadows, fine cattle and horses. It is a less vexatious mesh of ambitions than the preceding, but one that requires a very thoughtful examination of the resources of the purse and the calls that will be made upon it, before purchasing the model farm that is to be. And we beg leave to intrude a little into the privacy of the family circle, to inquire how long will the wife and daughters be contented with isolation on ever so beautiful a farm’ how long before the boys will leave home for business or homes of their own; and how long, if these are dissatisfied, or absent, will the “fine mansion”’ and broad fields, in a lonely locality, bring peace SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. 29 and comfort to the owner? ‘That there are men and families that truly fill, enjoy, and honor such life, it is good to know; but they are cluster-jewels of great rarity. Our panacea for the town-sick business man who longs for a rural home, whether from ennui of the monotonousness of business life, or from the higher nature-loving soul that is in him, is to take country life as a famishing man should take food—in very small quantities. rom a half acre to four or five acres will afford ground enough to give all the finer pleasures of rural life. The suburbs of most cities, of from five to fifty thousand people, will have sites at reasonable prices, within easy walking distance of business, where - men of congenial tastes and friendly families may make purchases, and cluster their improvements so as to obtain all the benefits of rural pleasures, and many of the beauties of park scenery, without relinquishing the luxuries of town life. In the neighborhood of large cities, horse and steam railways, and steamers, transport in a few minutes their thousands of tired workers to cheerful villages, or neighborly suburban homes, envi- roned with green fields and loveable trees. To be thus transported from barren city streets to the verdant country is a privilege for which we cannot be too grateful. But, if we are to choose a sub- urban residence for the whole year (not migrating to a city home or hotel with the first chills of November), it is a serious matter to , know whether there is a good hard road and sidewalk to the home. City life, with its flagging, and gas lights, and pavements, comes back to the imagination couleur de rose when your horses or your boots are toiling through deep mud on country roads. This is bad enough by daylight ; at night you might feel like stopping to be- stow a benediction on a post that would sparkle gas-light across your path. Now the moral which we would suggest by thus pre- senting the most disagreeable feature of suburban life, is this: to go no farther into the country than where good roads have already been made, and where good sidewalks have either been made, or, from the character or growth of the neighborhood, are pretty sure to be made within a short time. Some persons must, of course, be pioneers. Those who locate in a new suburban neighborhood expect to buy their lots enough cheaper than the later comers to 30 SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. compensate for the inconveniences of a sparse neighborhood. But, in playing pioneer, one must be pretty sure that followers are on the track, for “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” One of the greatest drawbacks to the improvement of suburban neighbor- hoods is the fact that many persons own long fronts on the roads who are not able to make the thorough improvement of roads and sidewalks in front of their grounds which the new-comers, located beyond them, require. This should have been foreseen by the new-comers. Having chosen their homes with the facts before them, they must not complain if some poor farmer or “ land-poor ” proprietor is unable to improve for their benefit, and unwilling to sell at their desire. In choosing a suburban home, the character of the ownerships between a proposed location and the main street or railroad station should be known, and influence to some extent one’s choice. The advantages cannot be too strongly urged, of forming com- panies of congenial gentlemen to buy land enough forall. Select a promising locality, divide the property into deep narrow strips, if the form of the ground will admit of it, having frontages of one, two, or three hundred feet each, according to the means respec- tively of the partitioners, and as much depth as possible. A depth four times as great as the frontage is the best form of subur-, ban lots for improvement in connection with adjoining neighbors. Lots of these proportions insure near neighbors, and good walks and roads in their fronts, at least. Acting together, the little com- munity can create a local pressure for good improvements that will have its effect on the entire street and neighborhood. In subse- quent chapters we propose to show how such neighbors may im- prove their grounds in connection with each other, so as to realize some pleasing effects of artistic scenery at a comparatively small expense to each owner. Even» the luxury of .gas in our suburban houses and roads is quite practicable in the mode of dividing and improving property which we have recommended ; and with good roads, sidewalks, and gas, added to the delightfulness of rural homes, no healthy-hearted family would wish to have their perma- nent home in a dark and narrow city house. Our cities would gradually become great working-hives, but not homes, for a major- SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS. dl ity of their people. It may be said that such homes as we speak of, in the suburbs of great cities, would be simply village resi- dences. It is true; but they would be villages of a broader, more generous, and cosmopolitan character than old-fashioned villages. Post-offices, shops and groceries, butchers, bakers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, and laborers of all kinds must be near by, and a part of our community, or there would be no living at all; but where a large, and probably the most wealthy, part of the inhabit- ants go daily to the city centre to transact business, the amount of traffic carried on in the village or suburban centre will not be large enough to seriously injure the general rural character of the vicin- ity. The stir of thrifty industry is in itself refreshing, and the attractions of lecture, concert, and dancing halls, and ice-cream re- sorts, cannot be dispensed with. We believe this kind of half-country, half-town life, is the happy medium, and the realizable ideal for the great majority of well-to- do Americans. The few families who have a unanimity of warm and long-continued love for more isolated and more picturesquely rural, or more practically rural homes, are exceptions. The mass of men and women are more gregarious. Very poetical or reflec- tive minds, or persons absorbed in mutual domestic loves, find some of their deepest pleasure in seclusion with Nature. But the zest even of their calm pleasures in the country is greatly height- ened by frequent contrasts with city excitements, and by the com- pany of sympathetic minds, who enjoy what they enjoy. A philo- sophic Frenchman, who lived much alone, was once asked by a lady if he did not find solitude very sweet. He replied, “ Indeed, madam, when you have some pleasant friend to whom you can say, ‘Oh, how sweet is solitude.’” ‘AO LD; on the professional services of educated gardeners. It would be as absurd for the mass of men, engrossed in active business, to devote a large amount of time to the study of the mere rudiments of gardenesque art, simply to enable them to lay out a half acre or acre of land, as it would be for the same business man to pore over an architect’s library and pictures to enable him to design his own house—frovided skillful planters were as easily found as com- petent architects. ‘Twenty years ago there was the same dearth of architects of culture as there now is of educated gardeners. ‘The general study of domestic architecture, which Downing’s works then aided to make a fashion, produced, at first, an astonishing fermen- tation and rising of architectural crudities ; but it also produced, afterwards, a crop of architects. If we can induce every family who have a home to adorn, to study the art of planning and ar- ranging their own grounds, the seed will be planted that will ger- minate, in another generation, in a crop of art-gardeners of such high culture, and of such necessity to the educated community, that it will be one of the honored professions of our best collegiates. Now, however, the number of such men, devoted to this profes- sion, is so small, that we have not heard even of more than half a dozen skilled, professional gardeners among our thirty millions of native Americans ; and not greatly more than double that number of educated foreigners, who have established a deserved fame among us as men of culture in their art. Even these men, with few exceptions, are little known outside the wealthy circles of the great cities, nor half appreciated where they are known. Until employers are themselves persons of culture, artists, even when employed, are regarded as a kind of dilettanti, whom it is neces- sary to employ rather to conform to “the fashion,” than for such service as the employer is competent to appreciate, and really enjoy the results of. We know of nothing that will at the same time cultivate a taste for the fascinating art of gardenesque design- ing, and produce a quick return of pleasure for the time spent, as the study of paper plans for one’s own grounds. Ignorant gardeners, and self-sufficient business men who know nothing about gardening, are apt to indulge in ridicule of this paper gardening, but it is the ridicule only which is ridiculous. eisai ddl, rac mW , ; i Bs 7 ; mi ' i prs: Hee shyla aN il nh Kil te iY bal sit Mit Ge Oe 9 4 ae L eny yee ees eee | in aan | i t | — J dtible | Scale é inch-I foot. as bs Sedans PLAN BEFORE PLANTING. 81 Architecture, in execution, becomes a matter of stone, brick, mor- tar, wood, and iron ; but who, except an ignoramus, would expect the skillful architect to devote himself to the handling of these materials, instead of to his books, his pictures, and his drawing- board? Good garden designs necessitate the same kind of thought, and taste, and careful comparison of different plans, and consid- eration of expense, before commencing to handle the materials, that are to be used to carry out the design. The plan must be complete before commencing work on the foundations, whether for architecture or for decorative gardening. ‘The time to do this can best be given during the days and long winter evenings preceding the season for work ; and cannot be in those few lovely days of swelling buds, into which so many kinds of spring work are neces- sarily crowded. If, however, there is any skillful garden designer within reach, we advise, unhesitatingly, his employment. He will do the planning in one-tenth the time that an amateur can, and probably a great deal better ; and his services should be paid for as for those of other professional men of education and culture. If the reader will be governed by our advice, we shall insist on his having a correct map made of the lot upon which he has built, or proposes to build, and plant ; showing accurately the lo- cation and plan of the house, and all the outbuildings, and the position of every tree or large shrub already growing. Such trees or shrubs should have the breadth of their tops lightly sketched in. Rock boulders, or ledges, which are not to be removed, should also be distinctly platted. The map should be drawn on a scale that will permit of its being pasted on a drawing-board not larger than two feet by three. The best of drawing-paper should be used. It should be moistened, and put on by some draughtsman familiar with the mode of doing it. If a lot 100 x 300 is to be platted on a scale of one-eighth of an inch to a foot, it will cover 124 x 374 inches of paper. Scaled one-twelfth of an inch to a foot, the same lot would cover 8} x 25 inches of paper, which would be the best scale for a lot of that length. For a larger lot it would be advisable to reduce the scale to one-sixteenth of an inch to the foot (or sixteen feet to one inch); and for a lot not more than a hundred feet long, or where not more than one hun- 6 82 FAULTS ~TP.0 40 FD dred feet need be planned for planting, a scale of four feet to the inch (j of an inch to the foot) may be used. It is best to have the scale fourths, eighths, twelfths, or sixteenths of an inch, as these divisions of a foot come on all ordinary measuring-rules. There should be a clear margin of at least two inches of paper outside the lot lines; the outer inch to paste the paper to the board, and the inner inch for a margin, when it becomes neces- sary to cut the paper from the board. A duplicate should be made of this skeleton map, as first made, to keep ‘safely in the house ; and as the plans for planting are matured and carried out from the board, or “field map,” the house map should have such work platted upon it, in duplicate. The map which is pasted to the board may be materially protected from damage by rain, wet grass, or dirt, to which it may be exposed during the planting season, by covering it with ordinary transparent tracing linen. To facilitate the planning or arrangement of the various things to be planted on different parts of the lot, as well as to make the plan more easy to work from in planting, the map should be di- vided into one-inch squares by ordinary blue lines, and these sub- divided into eighth-inch squares by very faint blue lines. Each side of these inch squares will then represent four, eight, twelve, or sixteen feet, according to the scale chosen.. One accustomed to the use of a decimal scale, may have the squares made one and one-fourth inches on each side, and then subdivided into tenths, each one of which will then be an eighth-inch. Paper thus ruled for the use of civil-engineers and architects, may be procured at most large stationers. ‘These squares, when the distances they represent are borne in mind, serve as a substitute for measure- ments on the map. Plate I, which is on a scale of 32 feet to one inch, (our page being too small to admit any larger scale), illus- trates the mode in which a map should be made. It will be seen that the intersections of the square lines with the exterior boun- daries of the lot are numbered on one side and lettered on another, from the same point, marked 0. This is to facilitate measurements and references to the intersections. Before pro- ceeding to lay out walks, or to plant from the plan, it will be necessary to have the fence measured and marked in the same PLAN BEFORE PLANTING. 83 way, I, 2, 3, 4, etc., on two opposite sides of the lot, and A, B, C on the other sides. These marks may be made distinct on the inside of the fence, in some inconspicuous place where they will not mar it. Now let us suppose that the house and out-buildings have been correctly platted on the map of the lot, as shown on Plate I, and that the walks, trees, shrubs, and flower-beds have been planned and drawn as shown thereon. ‘The first out-door work to be done is to lay out the walks on the ground in conform- ity to the plan. The front walk is six feet wide. ‘This will be laid out simply by making its center on the center line of the main hall, extended to the front fence, or by taking for the center, at the street, a point two feet to the right of J, (looking towards the house.) This walk is here supposed to be made with a stone coping at the sides, (after the manner shown in the vignette of Chapter IV,) terminating eight feet from the front steps, with low pedestals and vases, and a circular stone or gravel area, as shown on the plate. The plan supposes the lot to have a street on the side as well as in front, and that its surface is elevated from two to four feet above the front street. The rear walk and carriage-road are combined in a iaiieaclenear eight feet wide, four feet on each side of station 17, which is 136 feet (17 x 8=136) from the front corner. By counting the squares (each four feet), the size and form of the graveled space in front of the carriage-house will be readily ascertained. The curves may be made by little stakes or shingle splinters stuck until they are satisfactory. The grape walk, which is eight feet between the out- side of the trellised posts, is on a right line with the rear part of the house, so that no mistake can be made in its location. The walk at the left is four feet from the trellis, and four feet wide, with a rose or other vine trellis, or a low flower vase, facing its extremity. The walks for the vegetable garden are too simple in their charac- ter to need more than mention. They open at three points into the grape walk, by openings or arches under the top slat of the trellis. It will be observed that the carriage-house, stable, and kitchen department of the house are under a continuous roof; a plan that we commend for those gentlemen who keep all things 84 FAULTS TO 4V OTD: tidy on all parts of their home-grounds, as economical, exceed- ingly convenient, cleanly, and, in the hands of a good architect, effective in adding to the apparent extent and home-look of the place. But for persons unaccustomed to maintain the same clean- liness around the outbuildings as in the “front yard,” it may not do so well. The walks being disposed of, let us attend to the planting ; and’ begin with the front. Further on we may describe in detail what trees and shrubs may be especially adapted, to the different places here marked ; our object now being only to allude to the manner in which the plan, that has been completed on paper, may be worked out on the ground. At a; d, and ¢ are three pairs of trees, intended to form a short umbrageous approach-avenue to the house. They are all seven feet from the walk; @ @ are two squares, or eight feet from the front; 2 4, five squares, or twenty feet ; ¢¢ are eight squares, or thirty-two feet. Flanking these, on the left, is a mass of evergreens, several of which are on the line H, and others on the intersections of squares to the left, as shown by the plan. At the intersection of the lines 2 and A, or sixteen feet from the front, and eight feet from the side fence, is the small tree 7; at the intersection of 2 and D is a small tree or shrub ¢; and four feet farther right, and four feet nearer the front street, is its companion shrub e. The small tree or large shrub d; is shown by the squares to be eight feet from the front, and twenty feet from the side street, on the line 1. The intelligent reader will see how easily the plan for the arrangement of trees and shrubs may be worked out in this manner throughout ; and, after a few years’ growth and good care of his plantings, ought to realize plainly the superior beauty of a well-considered plan. GHA IEE RsX, WALKS AND ROADS. F, as we have insisted, a correct map has been made of the grounds, with all the buildings, and the trees already growing, marked thereon, the next work is to lay out roads or walks upon this map. © First, question your wants as to where the street entrances or gates had better be made. This is to be de- cided principally by the direction of daily travel over them. They should always be in the directions that the family go oftenest, and should be laid out so as to connect most conveniently the street or streets with the entrance doors of the dwelling and outbuildings. LVo more walks should be made than are wanted for daily use, either for business or pleasure. In small grounds, walks made merely for the purpose of having “pretty walks” meandering among suppo- sitional flower-beds, convey the impression of a desire for show dis- proportionate to the means of gratifying it. Where there is an acre, or more, of ground devoted to decorative gardening, and it is intended to keep a gardener in constant employ in the care of it, then walks conducting to retired seats, or summer-houses, or made for the purpose of revealing pleasing vistas, or intricacies in the shrubbery, or charming surprises in flowers that may be arranged upon their borders, may add greatly to the beauty of the place. We would not advise having any carriage-way to the front entrance of a house, unless the distance is from eighty to one hundred feet 86 WALKS AND ROADS. between the steps and the street, and on a lot at least one hundred and fifty feet in width. For most residences the front street is near enough for a carriage to approach with visitors and callers, who generally choose fair weather; and the family can go to and from their own vehicles by some of the rear entrances of the house, past which the road from the street to the carriage-house should lead. Where houses are designed so that their main entrance is on the side, then a carriage-road may pass it properly, though the lot should be narrower than the size just mentioned. For lots having such narrow street fronts in proportion to their depth, this is the best arrangement for the house, as it leaves the finest rooms adjoin- ing each other in the front. See Plates XIII, XXV, and XXVII. In laying out a carriage-drive avoid sharp turns, and, as far as possible, the segments of circles reversed against each other, as in a geometric letter S. Such parts of circles, though graceful on paper, give the effect of crooked lines, as seen in perspective. A line that will enable the driver to approach the main steps most conveniently is the true line, unless trees or shrubs already growing prevent, in which case the same rule must be followed as nearly as practicable. By the most convenient approach is meant that which a skillful driver would make if he were driving over an unbroken lawn from the entrance-gate to the porch. Nearly all amateur landscape-gardeners will blunder in their first attempts to lay out roads or walks, by making the curves too decided. The lines most graceful on paper will not appear so in perspective, as we walk along them ; and it will not do, therefore, in laying them out on a paper plat, to suppose they will appear the same on the ground. If grounds were to be seen from a balloon the effect would be the same as upon your plan; but as we are all destined to look along the ground, instead of vertically down upon it, it will be seen why curves that look graceful on paper are likely to be too abrupt and crooked in perspective. If the reader will place the paper plan nearly on a level with his eye, and glance along the line of the proposed road or walk, he will be able to judge how his curves will seem as seen when walking towards or upon them; supposing, of course, that the ground to be platted has a tolerably level surface. There are several of the plans WALKS AND ROADS. 87 which follow whereon the walks will have the appearance, at first sight, of being awkwardly direct, having neither the simplicity of a straight line, nor the grace of Hogarth’s line of beauty; but if the hint just given about glancing along the line of the walk with the eye nearly on a level with the paper is followed, they will be found more pleasing. There are many places where the house is large compared with the size of the lot, on which straight walks are not only admissible, but where to attempt curved walks would be ridiculous. Some of the succeeding plans will illustrate such. The vignette of Chapter IV illustrates an elegant approach of this kind, over which trees have formed a noble arch. Steps and copings of cut stone, with pedestals and vases, may be designed to make such entrances as beautiful architecturally as the means of the proprietor will justify. The mere platting of walks on such places is too simple a matter to require any suggestions here. All foot-walks should approach the entrance steps either at right angles or parallel with them ; and in all cases should start at right angles with the line of the entrance gate. Thé width of roads and walks must vary according to the extent of the grounds and the character of the house. For a cottage with small grounds, make the walks narrow rather than wide. The apparent size of the ground will be diminished by too ambitious walks. But there are limits of convenience. A broad walk always gives one a sense of freedom and ease, which is want- ing when we must keep our eyes down to avoid straying from the narrow way. For small places, therefore, we must compromise between the prettier external effect of narrow walks and the greater convenience of wide ones. Four feet is the least width appro- priate for a cottage main walk, and two feet for the rear walks. But for most town or suburban places, from four to six feet for the main walk and three feet for the rear walks, are appropriate widths. It is essential, however, that no shrubbery or flower-beds ‘approach nearer than two feet from them. A walk three feet wide, with two feet of closely-shaven lawn on each side of it, is really just as commodious as a walk six feet wide closely bordered or overhung by rank annuals or gross shrubs. At the foot of the 88 WALKS AND ROADS. steps it is desirable to have greater width than in other parts of the walk. The width of carriage-drives should be governed by the same considerations as the walks. Eight feet is the least width, and fourteen feet the greatest, that will be appropriate to the class of places for which this book is designed ; and whatever the width elsewhere, it should not be less than twelve feet opposite the main entrance steps, unless it traverses a porte-cochere. The turnway in front of the main entrance should be on a radius of not less than ten feet to the inner line of the road, and more if space permits ; but not to exceed a radius of twenty feet, unless the location of trees or the shape of the ground make it specially desirable to turn a larger circuit. Opportunities to make or lose pleasing effects are always pre- sented where there are trees or shrubs already grown. To conduct walks or roads so as to make them seem to have grown there; to arrange a gateway under branches of trees or between old shrubs, or leading around or between them ; to have walks divide so that a tree shall mark their intersection ; to weave a turnway smoothly among old tree trunks—all such arts as these are precisely the small things which prove the taste, or lack of it, in the designer. In making the carriage-road and the walks, there is an immense difference in expense between excessive thoroughness and the “good enough” style. Digging out from a foot and a half to two feet of the soil the whole width of the road or walk, tile-draining on each side, then filling up with broken stone or scoriz, and finally covering the surface with several inches of pure gravel, and paving the gutters with pebbles, is the thorough style. But on sandy and gravelly soils we have seen excellent walks and roads (for light carriages) made by simply covering the ground with from two to three inches of good gravel or slate. The prepa- ration necessary for this kind of road-making being to excavate below the level of the Fic. 19. border, so as to leave a rounded surface with tile 7% // jj 7 _of three to four inches “ i. diameter, placed in the WALKS AND ROADS. 89 bottom of trenches on each side, as shown by the accompanying sketch. Four inches thickness of gravel on a road thus pre- pared will, with proper care, make an excellent road. On clay, roads can be made with no more additional preparation than to provide for a few more inches of gravel. Fig. 20 shows a suitable form for such a roadway. Of course the grades of the roads lengthwise must be such as to carry the water in the gutters and drains to proper outlets. We suggest this method of road-making for those sections of the country where stone is costly, and for those improvers who cannot afford to use a large amount of money in road foundations. The main thing to secure good walks or roads is constant care. Weeds and grass must be kept from encroaching by the use of the hoe and edging-spade ; the gravel must be kept in place by the use of the rake and roller. No thoroughness of construction will make such care needless, and by it the least expensive walks and roads may be kept in excellent condition at small cost. Solid stone flagging, if neatly dressed, is of course preferable for walks to gravel, and will be used where it can be afforded. Where the asphaltum or coal-tar composition, now used with great success for walks in the Central Park, can be put down by some one thoroughly conversant with the mode of doing it well, it will be found a very fine material ; but while green it involves much risk to carpets. Where the soil is clay, and good gravel or com- position not easily obtained, (as in many parts of the western states,) and flagging is too expensive, seasoned white pine board or plank walks may be substituted. These, if carefully laid, (across the line of the walk,) and the edges sawed to the requisite curves or straight lines, make very comfortable walks. The main dif- ficulty is to find mechanics who will have skill and patience to put them down in the graceful curved lines that are desired. Inch lumber, daubed on the wader side with hot coal-tar to postpone _ rotting, will answer very well for walks from two to three feet wide. For wider ones two-inch plank is recommended. 90 WALKS AND ROADS. Pine walks, if made of good stuff, and tarred as suggested, will last from eight to ten years ; and if sufficient care is used in their construction, will be found very satisfactory substitutes for stone or gravel, even for curved lines. For straight walks they are always satisfactory as long as sound. In districts where stone and gravel are scarce and dear, they must long continue in use ; and there is _ no reason why they should not be shaped into graceful forms, since wood is so much more facile to work than stone. Several methods of preserving wood from decay are now attracting great attention, and it is believed that some of them will be effectual to so increase the durability of wood that its use for walks will be far more desirable than heretofore. It is essential in all walks that the sod shall be about an inch above the outer surface of the walk, so that a scythe or rolling mower may do its work unobstructed in passing near or over them. To lay out the carriage-drive and the walks in conformity to the paper plat that has been made, is a work requiring some patience and skill. There are persons whose love for beautiful effects in landscape-gardening is evident, who are so wanting in what is called a mechanical eye, as to be incompetent to lay out their own grounds, even with a plat before them. If you, kind reader, are one of those, send for the nearest good gardener to do the work for you; or invite some friend or neighbor, who has given evidence of this talent by the making of his own place, to come and help you. He will not be likely to turn away from your appreciation of his taste and skill. If, however, your ground is large enough to admit of much length of walks, the labor of laying them out would more properly devolve upon a professional gar- dener—if such there be in your neighborhood. It will not, how- ever, be advisable to listen to all the suggestions of improvements that any “professional gardener” may volunteer for your guidance. Genuine landscape-gardeners are rare everywhere, and bear about ‘the same proportion to good common gardeners that accomplished landscape-painters do to house-painters. The probabilities are that your neighborhood has some gardener competent to plat walks, lay turf, cut your shrubbery-beds, and do your planting ; but, ten chances to one, he will lay more stress on the form of some WALKS AND ROADS. 91 curlecue of a flower-bed than on those beautiful effects of rich foliage and open glades—of shadow and sunlight—that are often produced with the simplest means by Dame Nature or the true landscape-artist. If, therefore, you have a well-matured plan, and the gardener is competent to study it intelligently, let him make suggestions of changes before the work on the ground commences ; but thereafter oblige him either to work faithfully to your plan, or else furnish you with a better one; and do not let him bluff you into an entire surrender by his professional sneers at paper plans. Of course these remarks are intended to apply to the common run of illiterate gardeners, who have happened to make a trade of this species of labor, and not to another class who may have chosen the profession from a love for it, and who have intelligence or imagination enough to understand something of the art of arrang- ing their sylvan and floral materials so as to make pictures with them. Almost every neighborhood has a few gentlemen of superior taste in such matters, whose dictums will, perforce, help to educate the common run of self-sufficient gardeners ; and it is hoped that so promising a field of labor will soon attract the attention of Americans of the highest culture, to whom we can turn for profes- sional work in ground designs ; who, as Pope describes one— ‘Consults the genius of the place in all That tells the waters or to rise or fall; Or helps the ambitious hill the heavens to scale, Or scoops in circling theatres the vale: Calls in the country, catches opening glades, Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades ; Now breaks or now directs the intending lines, Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs |!” CHAPTER: Och ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. HOUGH set rules, in matters of art, are sometimes “more honored in the breach than in the observance,” it is also true that every art has certain general prin- ciples, the observance of which will rarely lead to great faults, while their violations may. We therefore hope that the following suggestions or rules, drawn to meet the requirements of small suburban grounds, will be of some use, and serve as a starting-point for that higher culture which educates the intuitive perceptions of the artist to dispense with rules, or rather, perhaps, to work intuitively by rule, as an esthetic instinct. I. Preserve in one or more places (according to the size and form of the lot) the greatest length of unbroken lawn that the space will admit of. Il. Plant between radiating lines from the house to the outside of the lot, so as to leave open lines of view from the principal windows and entrance porches ; also find where, without injuring the views to and from the house, the best vistas may be left from the street into the lot, and from one point to another across the grounds, or to points of interest beyond, ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. 93 III. Plant the larger trees and shrubs farthest from the centre of the lawn, so that the smaller may be seen to advantage in front of them. IV. On small lots plant no trees which quickly attain great size, if it is intended to have a variety of shrubs or flowers. V. In adding to belts or groups of trees or shrubs, plant near the salient points, rather than in bays or openings. VI. Shrubs which rest upon the lawn should not be planted nearer than from six to ten feet from the front fence, except where intended to form a continuous screen of foliage. Rute I. Preserve in one or more places (according to the size and form of the lot) the greatest length of unbroken lawn that the space will admit of. To illustrate this rule we ask the reader’s attention to some of the plates. Plate No. IV represents in the simplest manner one mode of observing it. It is a lot of fifty feet front, and considerable depth, isolated from the adjoining properties on both sides by a close fence or hedge. On it is a small compact house, thrown back so as to leave about eighty feet depth between it and the street. Each bay-window of the principal rooms has a look-out upon all the beauty that may be created on this small space. To economize ground for the greatest extent of lawn pos- sible on this lot, the main walk to the house is entirely on one side of it and of the line of view out of the bay-windows over the lawn ; and leads directly to the main veranda entrance. From the bay-windows to the street, in a right line between them, not a tree, shrub, or flower is to be planted. If the grounds were of greater extent, it would be desirable to have the views out of each of these windows different from the other, so that in going from one room to the other, and looking out upon the lawn, it would exhibit a fresh picture. But to attempt to divide this lawn into two bya middle line.of shrubbery would belittle both, and crowd the shrub- bery so that nothing could be seen to advantage. The lot is quite too small to attempt a variety of views, and the lawn is made to 94 ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. look as large as possible by placing all trees and shrubbery on the margin ; in short, the greatest length and breadth of lawn that the lot will admit of is preserved. Plate VII shows a village lot of the same frontage as the preceding, but on which the house is only twenty-five feet from the street. ‘There can be no good breadth of lawn on this lot, since the house occupies the ground that forms the lawn on Plate No. IV. But a peculiar little vista over narrow strips of lawn skirting the walk is obtained on entering the front gate. This is upwards of one hundred feet in length, and widens out around the flower-bed S, so that in perspective, and contrasted with the length and, narrowness of the strips of lawn near the@ house, it will give the effect of greater distance and width than it has. Such a plan as this requires the most skillful planting and high keeping. Indeed, there is more need of skill to make this narrow strip a pretty work of art than on the larger lots that are planned for this work. Plates XIV and XV show corner lots also of fifty feet front, with houses entirely on one side of the lot, and lawns as long as the depth will admit of, margined by assorted small shrubs and clipped trees. On the former the house is placed against the side street, leaving the lawn on the inside, and a pleas- ing vista over it to an archway that opens into a long grape arbor. This will make a lengthened perspective of lawn and garden as great as the size of the lot will allow. On Plate XV the house is placed so as to leave the lawn space between it and the side street, and the main garden walk is arranged so that from the back veranda and the library windows it will form a little perspective. The latter plan, it will be seen, is for a city basement-house, while the former has a kitchen on the main floor. Plates Nos. V and VI are of lots 60 x 150 feet, where the lawns occupy as great a length as can be spared for decorative purposes. These side lawns are no wider than those of Plates XIV and XV, as the additional ten feet width of lot, on the right, is shut out of view, and devoted to small fruits. This strip in the hands of a garden artist might be made very charming in itself, but where one man would make it so, a thousand would fail. We therefore advise in general not to plant anything against the walls of the house in such narrow strips as these, unless they have the most sunny exposure. In towns, ae ARRANGEMENT FN PLANTING. 95 where lots of this size are built on, other houses are usually so near such improvements, as to darken the ground with their shade. The degree of exposure to the sun and air in these places must govern their use, but in general it is better to have either grass or pavement in them, or a paved walk and bedding plants, that may be renewed from a green-house. Plate XIII shows a lot of one hundred and sixty feet front by three hundred feet deep, on which a vista of unbroken lawn, the entire depth of the lot, is obtained from the main entrance. This place is supposed to adjoin lots whose fronts are improved in common, so that each of the principal win- dows of the house is provided with a distinct foreground for a picture, the middle distance of which will have such character as the neighboring improvements make. Were the ground improved to conform to this plan the effect would be much finer than the rather formal character of the trees in the design would indicate. Plates X and XI are of lots two hundred feet front by three hun- dred feet deep. On the former, the rule we are endeavoring to illus- trate is sacrificed in a measure to the requirements of an orchard and kitchen-garden ; on the latter, the orchard is given up to secure the beauty of a more extended lawn and more elaborate plantation. On Plate XX VII are some good illustrations of this rule applied to the laying out of what are usually considered awkward forms of lots toimprove. It will be seen that the views from the street-corner, at the point A, on the right-hand plan looking towards the house, and in other directions, are long, open, and well varied, in the group- ing of trees, shrubs, and flowers. As one walks along to B and C, at each opening between groups of shrubs the views are over the longest stretch of lawn that the size of the lot will admit of ; while the views from the main windows of the house, and from the front and rear verandas, are as extended as possible. Plate XXII, which is designed to illustrate the advantage of joining neighboring improvements, however cheap or simple their character, is an excellent illustration of the beauty and garden- esque effect that may be secured by leaving an unbroken vista of lawn and low flowers from one side of a block to the other, as shown on the line B C, though the block is covered by five inex- pensive residences. The vignette of Chapter IV is a view taken 96 ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING from the point A, and gives but two-thirds of the length of view that is seen from either of the side streets. Of course the flowers to be planted in the beds on the lawn in the above line of view, should be only those which grow within a few inches of the ground; otherwise the effect intended would be marred. Plate XXIX is a good example, on a larger scale, of long and open views. Plate XXI is an illustration of the rule to which we ask the reader’s attention, as an example of triple vistas on a lot only one hundred feet wide; first, that formed by the small shrubs and flowers bordering the main walk, with the terrace steps and the house bounding the view at one end, and a hemlock archway at the other. From the bay-windows of the house the two other divisions of the lawn are designed to show to the best advantage, and over the low clipped parts of the front hedge, at a a, made low for this purpose, their beauty can also be seen by passers on the street. leone Jb flant between radiating lines from the house to the outside of the lot, so as to leave open lines of view from the principal windows and entrance porches ; also find where, without injuring the views to and from the house, the best vistas may be left from the street into the lot, and from one point to another across the grounds, or to points of interest beyond. . ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. 97 The accompanying plan, adapted from Loudon, gives a good illustration of the observance of the second rule. The plan repre- sents the part of a lot in the rear of the dwelling, all of which is devoted to lawn and decorative planting ; the entrance-front being close to the street. The plantation is supposed to be entirely secluded from the street and from contiguous properties by walls. The space covered is about 150 x 300 feet. The dotted lines radiating from the bow-window show the apparently loose, but really well studied distribution of groups of trees and shrubs in radiating lines. On the right, one of these groups forms a screen of shrubbery to divide the lawn from the elaborate flower-garden which forms the distinctive feature of the view from the dining- room window. On smaller lots the first part of the second rule cannot be illustrated with so much effect, but a general conformity to it may be observed in many of our larger plans. Plate II represents a lot one hundred and fifty feet front by two hundred and fifty deep, where the house is placed much nearer the front of the lot, and nearly in the centre. So placed, the long- est views over its lawn cannot be obtained from the house in any direction, but from many points in the front street, and within the grounds, the lines of view are as long and unbroken as the size of the lot will admit of ; while a partial privacy is given to the space between the bay-windows and the side street, by a close plantation of hedge and shrubbery. Openness, rather than privacy, is the characteristic of this plan, however, and its best views are obtained on entering or passing it. Yet the lawn, as seen from the bay- windows, will be broken by shrubs and trees into a much greater variety of views than a careless examination of the plan would lead one to suppose. From o, at the intersection of the two streets, the eye ranges between two near groups of shrubbery, which frame the view over the lawn to the bay-windows ; and on the right, in front of the back veranda, between slender conical trees, a flower- bed and a pyramid of roses, under the shade of fruit trees in the back yard, to the carriage-house front:—a distance equal to the entire length of the lot. From the point marked 2, the view changes ; the croquet-ground, and the intervening compact shrubs and flower-beds, and an evergreen group at g, come into view. 7 \ 98 ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. Or the eye rests on the near group of shrubs opposite Fig. 3 ; or to the left, ranges to the various groups on that side of the grounds. At Fig. 5 the view on the right, of the trees, hedge, and shrubbery, from g to w, together with pleasing views in other direc- tions, make this point the one from which the whole place is seen to the best advantage. The views through the archway of trees over the front gateway are pleasing in every direction ; and in the line towards wz, extend nearly the entire length of the lot. This form of lot, when the house is so near the centre, is less adapted to illustrate the rule under consideration than most others, and we have pointed out its peculiarities in this connection to show the effort to conform to the rule under adverse circumstances. The reader will please to observe on this plan a dotted line from d to the left, parallel with the front street. This is forty feet from the front. Within a distance from ten to fifty feet from such fronts is usually the part which should be left unplanted, in order that all the places in the block may, on that line, form a continuous lawn of such park-like character as no one lot could furnish. Most of our plans are designed in this manner to secure the advantages of associate improvements, and “views from one point to another across the grounds, or to some point of interest beyond the grounds.” Rute III. Plant the larger trees and shrubs farthest from the centre of the lawn, so that the smaller may be seen to advantage in front of them. The necessity of observing the third rule, in small places, is so obvious, and it is so easy to follow, if one but knows the character of the trees and shrubs he is using, that few remarks upon it are necessary. The vignette at the head of this chapter is intended as an illustration of the great number and variety of shrubs and small trees which may be exhibited in a single group, in such a manner that each may show its peculiar beauty without concealing any of the others, and at the same time form a harmonious col- lection. Not less than twenty species of trees and shrubs may be seen at once in such a group, each growing to a perfect develop- AN ER ALN GSE MOE IN 2 TN EE AP TONG . 99 ment of its best form ; while by a different arrangement in planting, the beauties of all the smaller shrubs might be lost to the eye, and their growth marred by the domineering habits of the larger ones. It will be noticed that in this vignette the weeping elm forms the centre of the group. Close to it may be planted some of the large shrubs which flourish in partial shade and under the drip of trees. Outside of these a few of the smallest class of trees, of peculiar and diverse forms, and then the smaller and finer shrubbery arranged to carry out the spirit of the rule. No engraving, however, can do justice to the variety of character in foliage, flowers, forms, and colors, that such a group may be made to exhibit. Revie OY. On small lots plant no trees which quickly attain great size, of it is tntended to have a variety of shrubs or flowers. The fourth rule is somewhat difficult to illustrate, because of the frequency with which good taste may insist on exceptions to it. Few suburban places are so small that one or two large trees, not far from the house, will not add greatly to their home-look and summer comfort. Trees which overhang the house’and form a background, or vernal frame-work for it, are the crowning beauty of a home picture. But, in planting small lots, the need of a few fruit trees, such as cherries and pears, which one cannot well do without, and which, for the safety of the fruit, must be near or behind the house, is a necessity that obliges us to dispense with the grandeur of great trees where their beauty is most effective, and to endeavor to develop another type of beauty for small places, viz.: that of artistic elegance in the treatment of small things, And it is some satisfaction to know that, with the latter, what we attempt may be achieved in a few years, while, if we set about planting to secure the nobler effect of large trees, a life-time will be required to see its consummation. Where any large tree is already growing, the style of planting must conform to its position, size, and character ; but where the plantation is on a bare site, the tule is a proper one to follow. In the former case the fine tree is LOO ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. to be considered “ master of the situation,” and all things are to be arranged with due regard to it ; but in the latter there is an open field for the taste and judgment. RuLE VY. In adding to belts or groups of trees or shrubs, plant near the salient points, rather than in bays or openings. The fifth rule is one which novices in planting are always vio- lating. It is such a temptation to plant a tree or shrub “where there is most room for it,” and “where it will show handsomely,” that the ignorant planter at once selects some clear place on his lawn, or some open bay, for the new comer ; quite forgetful that a few such plantings will break the prettiest of lawns into insignifi- cant fragments, and change the sunny projections and shadowy bays of a shrubbery border into a lumpish wall of verdure. The placement of large and showy bedding plants or annuals and perennials must be made on the same principle. They are to be regarded as shrubs, and the places for them must be deter- mined by their usual size at midsummer. Low-growing flowers, or brilliant-leaved and bushy plants, may occasionally be relieved to advantage in the shady bays of a shrub- bery border, especially if a walk leads near them ; but in general, flower-beds (except such as are formed into artistic groups as a special feature of a window-view), should be either near walks or the points of shrubbery projections. Like gay flags on a parade ground, they show to best advantage in the van of the advanced columns. Rute VI. . Shrubs which rest upon the lawn should not be planted nearer than from six to ten feet from the front fence, except where intended to form a continuous screen of foliage. The sixth rule is one which may not be practicable to follow on very small lots, or where the space is narrow between the house and the street ; but there would be a marked improvement in the ARRANGEMENT IN PLANTING. 101 appearance of most places by its observance. In the first place, the shrubs themselves, which, it must be supposed, are only planted because they are beautiful, will show to much better ad- vantage with this introductory lawn or foreground to spread upon. To crowd against a fence groups of shrubs which will bend grace- fully to the lawn on every side if room is given them, is much like the misplacement of elegant robes in a crowd, where they may be injured, but can never be seen to advantage. Such a strip of introductory lawn is to the ground what a broad threshold stone is to the house entrance, giving the place a generous air, and seeming to say that the proprietor is not so stinted for room that he must needs crowd his sylvan company into the street. Yet it must fre- quently happen that the exigencies of small or peculiarly shaped lots, require a violation of this rule, in order to secure suff- cient breadth of lawn within, to present a good appearance from the house. The plans on Plates XXII, XXIII, XXIV, and XXVII, are examples of this necessity. Plates II, XII, XIII, and XVIII, on the other hand, show a general attention to the rule ; while in the other plans it is kept in view more or less, as the cir- cumstances of each case seem to require. There is another matter which can hardly be made the subject of any rules, but yet demands the attention of every planter. Nearly all trees and shrubs are more beautiful on their southerly than on their northerly sides, and some trees which glow with beauty towards the sun are meagre and unsightly towards the north. This fact must therefore be borne in mind in deciding where to plant favorite trees or shrubs, so that their fairest sides may be towards those points from which they will be most seen ; and as there are a few varieties and species of trees which are beautiful on all sides—the box and hemlock, for instance—they may be placed in locations where the others will not show to advantage. GHA P-TiEsRes X det. RELATIVE BEAUTY OF LAWN, TREES, SURUBS, AND FLOWERS. HE true lover of nature is so omnivorous in his tastes, that for him to classify her family into different grades of usefulness or beauty, is about as difficult a task as to name which of her vegetable productions is the best food. But though a variety is better than any one, there is, in both cases, strong ground for a decided choice ; and we repeat what has already been suggested, that, of all the external decora- tions of a home, a well kept Lawn is the most essential. Imagine the finest trees environing a dwelling, but everywhere beneath them only bare ground: then picture the same dwelling with a velvet greensward spreading away from it on all sides, without a tree or shrub upon it, and choose which is the most pleasing to the eye. The question of value is not to be considered, but simply which, in connection with the dwelling, will make the most satis- factory impression on the mind. The fine trees are vastly the VALUEH OF TREES. 103 more valuable, because it requires half a life-time to obtain them, while the lawn may be perfected in two or three years. The comparative value of trees and shrubs depends much on the extent of the ground and the taste of the occupants. If the lot is small, and the family has a decided appreciation of the varied characteristics of different shrubs, they will have much more pleas- ure from a fine collection of’them than from the few trees which their lot could accommodate. But if the occupants are not par- ticularly appreciative of the varied beauties of smaller vegetation, then a few trees and a good lawn only, will be more appropriate for their home. Larger lots can have both, but the foregoing con- sideration may govern the preponderance of one or the other. When once the planting fever is awakened, too many of both are likely to be planted, and grounds will be stuffed rather than beautified. One full grown oak, elm, maple, chestnut, beech, or sycamore will cover with its branches nearly a quarter of an acre. Allow- ing seventy feet square for the spread of each tree (all the above varieties being occasionally much larger), nine such trees would completely cover an acre. But as we plant for ourselves, instead of for our children, it will be sufficient in most suburban planting to allow for half-grown, rather than full-grown trees. Grounds, however, which are blessed with grand old trees should have them cherished lovingly—they are treasures that money cannot buy— and should be guarded with jealous care against the admission of little evergreens and nursery trees, which new planters are apt to huddle under and around them, to the entire destruction of the broad stretches of lawn which large trees require in order to reveal the changing beauty of their shadows. Where such trees exist, if you would make the most of the ground, lavish your care in enriching the soil over their vast roots, and perfecting the lawn around them ; and then arrange for shrubs and flowers away from their mid-day shadows. Even fine old fruit trees, if standing well apart on a lawn, will often give a dignity and a comfortable home- look to a place that is wanting in places which are surrounded only with new plantings. But it is an unfortunate fact that nine-tenths of all the town and 104 BEAUTY. OF. SHR UBBERELES. suburban lots built on are bare of trees, and therefore, after the attainment of a fine lawn, the lowly beauties of shrubs and flowers, with all their varied luxuriance of foliage and fragrant bloom, must be the main features of the place, while the trees are also growing in their midst which may eventually over-top and supersede them. If one could imagine Americans to live their married lives, each pair in one home, what a pleasing variety might the changing years bring them. An unbroken lawn around the dwelling should typify the unwritten page in the opening book of earnest life. Young trees planted here and there upon it would suggest looking forward to the time when, under their grand shadows, the declining years of the twain may be spent in dignity and repose. Flowers and shrubs meanwhile repay with grateful beauty all their care, until, over- shadowed by the nobler growth, they are removed as cumberers of the ground, and give way to the simplicity that becomes “a fine old home.” Most small places can be much more charmingly planted with shrubs. alone, than with trees and shrubs mingled. Indeed, it is one of the greatest blunders of inexperienced planters to put in trees where there is only room enough for shrubs. A small yard may be made quite attractive by the artistic management of shrubs and flowers whose size is adapted to the contracted ground; but the same place would be so filled up by the planting of a cherry tree or a horse-chestnut, that no such effect could be produced. Where the decorative portion of the grounds do not exceed a half acre, there can be little question of the superior beauty of shrubberies to the very small collection of trees that such narrow limits can accommodate. The greatly increased beauty of shrubs when seen upon a lawn without any shadowing of trees, nor crowded one side or another “ to fill-up,” can only be appreciated by those who have seen the elegance of a tastefully arranged place planted with shrubs alone. The part which annuals and low growing flowers should have in home surroundings may be compared with the lace, linen, and ribbon decorations of a lady’s dress—being essential ornaments, and yet to be introduced sparingly. Walks may be bordered, and groups pointed, and bays in the shrubbery brightened by them ; GARDEN DECORATIONS. 105 or geometrically arranged groups of flower-beds may be introduced in the foreground of important window views ; but beware of fre- quently breaking open stretches of lawn for them. Imagine bits of lace or bows of ribbon stuck promiscuously over the body and skirt of a lady’s dress. “ How vulgar!” you exclaim. Put them in their appropriate places and what charming points they make! Let your lawn be your home’s velvet robe, and your flowers its not too promiscuous decorations. Of constructive garden decorations (in which are included pillars and trellises for vines, screens, arbors, summer-houses, seats, rock- work, terraces, vases, fountains, and statuary), and their compara- tive value, we will merely say that really tasteful and durable ornamentation of that kind is rather expensive, and therefore to be weighed well in the balance with expenditures of the same money for other modes of embellishment before ordering such work. The following remarks from Kemp’s admirable little work on Landscape Gardening* express our views so fully that we will give them entire: “A garden may also be overloaded with a variety of things which, though ornamental in themselves, and not at all out of keep- ing with the house, or the principal elements of the landscape, may yet impart to it an affected or ostentatious character. An undue introduction of sculptured or other figures, vases, seats, and arbors, baskets for plants, and such like objects, will come within the limits of this description. And there is nothing of which peo- ple in general are so intolerant in others, as the attempt, when glaringly and injudiciously made, to crowd within a confined space the appropriate adornments of the most ample garden. It is in- variably taken as evidence of a desire to appear to be and to possess that which the reality of the case will not warrant, and is visited with the reprobation and contempt commonly awarded to ”? a work so complete and * This is an English work entitled ‘“‘ How to lay out a Garden, well condensed, that were it not for the difference in the climate, and in the style of living (and consequently of the plans of dwellings, and their outbuildings and garden connections), which English thoroughness and cheaper labor make practicable, there had been no need of this book. 106 GARDEN DECORATIONS: ill-grounded assumption. An unpresuming garden, like a modest individual, may have great defects without challenging criticism ; and will even be liked and praised because of its very unobtrusive- ness. But where a great deal is attempted, and there is much of pretension, whether in persons or things, scrutiny seems invited, incongruities are magnified, and actual merits are passed by un- noticed, or distorted into something quite ridiculous.” The improver must decide, before he begins to plan for plant- ing, what the size and features of his lot, and his own circum- stances, will enable him to accomplish most perfectly. If there are trees or shrubs already of good size growing on the lot, the first study should be to develop and exhibit all their traits to the best advantage; and to this end a rich soil and a perfected lawn are the most essential. If the lot is bare of trees, a smooth surface and fine lawn are still ground-works precedent to planting, whether the lot be large or small. If large enough, choose among large trees the principal features of its embellishment ; if less than an acre, plant sparingly trees of the first class; if a rood, or but little more, then lawn, shrubs and flowers should be its only verdant furniture. We class among shrubs many dwarf evergreens, which, be- cause they belong to species which usually attain large size, are included in nursery catalogues under the head of trees. They will be found classified in our Appendix. We also regard as shrubs, in effect, those vigorous growing annuals or perennials like the ricinus, cannas, dahlias, and hollyhocks, which grow ‘oo high to be seen over, and which cast shadows on the lawn near them. CHAPTER. ALU. THE LAWN. “Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers.” LowELL. **On each side shrinks the bowery shade, Before me spreads an emerald glade; The sunshine steeps its grass and moss, That couch my footsteps as I cross,” ALFRED B, STREET. SMOOTH, closely shaven surface of grass is by far the most essential element of beauty on the grounds of a suburban home. Dwellings, all the rooms of which may be filled with elegant furniture, but with rough uncarpeted floors, are no more incongruous, or in ruder taste, than the shrub and tree and flower-sprinkled yards of most home-grounds, where shrubs and flowers mingle in confusion with tall grass, or ill-defined 108 THE LAWN. borders of cultivated ground. Neatness and order are as essential to the pleasing effect of ground furniture as of house furniture. No matter how elegant or appropriate the latter may be, it will never look well in the home of a slattern. And however choice the variety of shrubs and flowers, if they occupy the ground so that there is no pleasant expanse of close-cut grass to relieve them, they cannot make a pretty place. The long grass allowed to grow in town and suburban grounds, after the spring gardening fever is over, neutralizes to a certain degree all attempts of the lady or gentleman of the house to beautify them, though they spend ever so much in obtaining the best shrubs, trees, or flowers the neigh- bors or the nurseries can furnish. It is not necessary to have an acre of pleasure ground to secure a charming lawn. Its extent may always be proportioned to the size of the place; and if the selection of flowers and shrubs and their arrangement is properly made, it is surprising how small a lawn will realize some of the most pleasing effects of larger ones. A strip twenty feet wide and a hundred feet long may be rendered, proportionally, as artistic as the landscape vistas of a park. And it needs but little more to have room to realize by art, and with shadowing trees, the sparkling picture that the poet, Alfred B. Street, thus presents in his “ Forest Walk.” “A narrow vista, carpeted With rich green grass, invites my tread: Here showers the light in golden dots, There sleeps the shade in ebon spots, So blended that the very air Seems net-work as I enter there.” To secure a good lawn, arich soil is as essential as for the kitchen garden. On small grounds the quickest and best way of making a lawn is by turfing. There are few neighborhoods where good turf cannot be obtained in pastures or by road- sides. No better varieties of grass for lawns can be found than those that form the turf of old and closely fed pastures. Blue-grass and white clover are the staple grasses in them, though many other varieties are usually found with these, in smaller proportions. THE LAWN. 109 The ground should be brought to as smooth slopes or levels as possible before laying the turf, as much of the polished beauty of a perfected lawn will depend on this precaution. If the ground has been recently spaded or manured, it should be heavily tramped or rolled before turfing, to guard against uneven settling. A tol- erably compact soil makes a closer turf than a light one. Marly clay is probably the best soil for grass, though far less agreeable for gardening operations generally than a sandy loam. After com- pacting the soil to prevent uneven settling, a few inches on top must be lightly raked to facilitate laying the turf, and the striking of new roots. Before winter begins all newly laid turf should be covered with a few inches of manure. After the ground settles in the spring this should be raked off with a fine-toothed rake, and the lawn then well rolled. The manure will have pro- tected the grass from the injurious effect of sudden freezing and thawing in the winter and early spring, and the rich washings from it gives additional color and vigor to the lawn the whole season. The manure raked from the grass is just what is needed to dig into the beds for flowers and shrubs, or for mulching trees. This fall manuring is essential to newly set turf, and is scarcely less bene- ficial if repeated every year. Cold soap-suds applied from a sprink- ling-pot or garden-hose when rains are abundant, is the finest of summer manure for grass. If applied in dry weather it should be diluted with much additional water. The old rhyme— “*Clay on sand manures the land, Sand on clay is thrown away” is eminently true in relation to the growth of grass. The clay should always be applied late in autumn. If grounds are so large that turfing is too expensive, the soil should be prepared as recommended above for turfing, and seeded as early in the spring as the ground can be thoroughly prepared and settled. If the surface has been prepared the preceding ° autumn, then it will be found a good practice to sow the grass seed upon a thin coating of snow which falls frequently early in March. Seed can be sown more evenly on snow, because better seen, than on the ground. 110 THE LAWN. A variety of opinions prevail concerning the best grasses for seeding. It will be safe to say that for lawns timothy and red clover are totally unsuited, and that the grasses which make the best pastures in the neighborhood, will make the best lawns. The following mixture for one bushel of seed is recommended in Hen- derson’s Manual of Floriculture, viz : 12 quarts Rhode Island Bent Grass. 4 quarts creeping Bent Grass. 10 quarts Red-top. 3 quarts Sweet Vernal Grass. 2 quarts Kentucky Blue Grass. 1 quart White Clover. We have seen very successful lawns made with equal parts, dy weight, of Kentucky blue grass, red-top, and white clover seed. The quantity required is about a half bushel to each one hundred feet square. When rains are frequent, x0 awn can be brought to perfection of cut less often than once a week, and two weeks is the longest time a lawn should remain uncut, except in periods of total suspension of growth by severe drouth. Where shrubs and flowers are placed properly, there will always be clear space enough to swing a lawn scythe or roll a lawn machine. Only in the most contracted yards should there be nooks and corners, or strips of grass, that an or- dinary mower cannot get at easily, and without endangering either the plants or his temper. Places that are so cluttered with flowers, trees, and shrubs that it becomes a vexatious labor for a good mower to get in among them, are certainly not well planted. Good taste, therefore, in arrangement, will have for its first and durable fruits, economy, a product of excellent flavor for all who desire to create beauty around their homes, but who can illy afford to spend much money to effect it, or to waste any in failing to effect it. ‘The advice to plant so as to leave sufficient breadth to swing a scythe wherever there is any lawn at all, is none the less useful, though the admirable little hand-mowing machines take the place of the scythe ; for a piece of lawn in a place where a scythe cannot be swung, is not worth maintaining. THE LAWN. 111 Rolling mowers by horse or hand power have been principally employed on large grounds ; but the hand machines are now so simplified and cheapened that they are coming into general use on small pleasure grounds, and proprietors may have the pleasure of doing their own mowing without the wearisome bending of the back, incident to the use of the scythe. Whoever spends the early hours of one summer, while the dew spangles the grass, in pushing these grass-cutters over a velvety lawn, breathing the fresh sweet- ness of the morning air and the perfume of new mown hay, will never rest contented again in the city. It is likely that professional garden laborers will buy these machines and contract cheaply for the periodical mowing of a neighborhood of yards, so that those who cannot or do not desire to do it for themselves may have it done cheaply. The roller is an essential implement in keeping the lawn to a fine surface, and should be thoroughly used as soon as the frost is out of the ground; for it will then be most effective to level the uneven heaving and settling of the earth. After heavy rains it is also useful, not only in preserving a smooth surface, but in breaking down and checking the vertical tendency of grass that is too succulent. The season after seeding many persons are discouraged by the luxuriance of the weeds, and the apparent faint-heartedness of the grass. They must keep on mowing and rolling patiently. Most of these forward weeds are of sorts that do not survive having their heads cut off half a dozen times; while good lawn grasses fairly laugh and grow fat with decapitation. Weeds of certain species, however, will persist in thrusting their uninvited heads through the - best kept lawns. These are to be dealt with like cancers. 2 AND GROUNDS. 143 variegated-leaved small plants or shrubs on the border in front of them. ‘The group beyond, projecting towards the house, is sup- posed to be composed of a variety of the best arbor-vites broken in color by some of the dark yews,—the little out-lying member of the group to be the Irish juniper. It is impracticable to trace through all the details. The reader must observe that the very small shrubs which are indicated in isolated positions on the lawn are intended for very com- pact evergreen or other shrubs, which take up but little room and are pleasing objects at all seasons of the year. At the four outer corners of the two bays may be planted, in pairs, specimens of the Irish and Swedish junipers, or some of the slender yews. At the corner of the open space in front of the carriage-house is a horse- block, to be shaded by a white pine. Nearly in front of the side entrance to the house is a rosary, for which may be substituted with good effect a Bhotan pine, with a cut-leaved weeping birch close behind it, if the proprietor does not wish to make and keep up the rose-bed with the expense and care which it annually re- quires. If the birch just named has been selected for the tree near the corners of the front veranda, it need not be repeated. These grounds, with no other plantings than are indicated, would doubtless look bare for some years. The places which the trees and shrubs are ultimately to cover, must be filled, in the in- tervening time, with annuals and, bedding-plants which will make the best substitutes for them. We would decidedly advise not to plant trees or large shrubs any nearer together than they ought to be when full grown, on the tempting plea that when they crowd each other some of them may be removed. Nine persons out of ten will not have the nerve to remove the surplusage so soon as it ought to be done, and when they do see the unsightly result of a crowded plantation, there will be one good excuse for not doing it, viz.: that trees which have grown up together have mis-shaped each other, so that when one is cut away those that remain show one-sided, and naked in parts. It is better to have patience while little trees slowly rise to the size we would have them ; and, while watching and waiting on them, let the ground they are eventually to cover be made bright with ephemeral flowers and shrubs. When 144 PLANS OF RESIDENCES the trees approach maturity they will have developed beauties that crowded trees never show. PLATE [TT Crowded and Open Grounds Compared, on a Cottage Lot of fifty Jeet front. Here we have two lots 50 x 200 each. The plan and position for a small cottage-house, and the walks, are the same on both. The plan on the right is intended to show the common mode of cluttering the yard so full of good things that, like an overloaded table, it lessens the appetite it is intended to gratify. Let us pic- ture Mr. and Mrs. A., master and mistress of the house, unskillful but enthusiastic, engaged in their first plantings. The lot is a bare one. Fruit trees are the first necessities ; places are therefore - found for four cherry, and five pear trees, without trespassing much on the “front yard,” which is sacred, in true American homes, to floral and sylvan embellishments. It is to fill this ground that our proprietors are now to make choice of trees and shrubs. Mr. A. and wife are agreed that evergreens are indispensable, and that the balsam fir and the Norway spruce are the prettiest of ever- greens—for “everybody plants ¢iem.’”’ Accordingly a couple of Norway spruces flank the gate at a little distance inside, and a pair of balsam firs (prettiest of trees as they emerge, fragrant, from the nurserymen’s bundles) are placed conspicuously not far from the house-steps, on each side the main-walk. Mrs. A. suggests that the weeping-willow is the most graceful of all trees. Who can gainsay that? Mr. A. does not, and in go two willows in the two front corners of the yard. Then there’s the mountain ash with a “form as perfect as a top, and such showy clusters of red fruit,” suggests Mrs. A., “and everybody plants them.” Of course this tree is planted, one on each side of the yard, midway between the walk and sides of the lot, in that open space above the willows. Then the walk is bordered from the gate towards the house with rose-bushes of all sorts, while lilacs, honeysuckles, spireas, Plate I. & & soft. 40 uo = Car + a ; " he “dap Pues. J 95 Se RBs 55 BRINN EEO EROS phe & Rasp aULtag at Wt} 2 TTL. 2 ae Ba S| 20 10 10 at ” ea ‘ane 7 Hi i pene One + ada‘grers bat Tinuned + Bar) ecient? A. wi * ad Gate sebwatt seh rot ALi wg atte bo saben ied Ge as iy ts ay (pine ww bs abe oth cls Avni a tm qeo siz, todd gleues, Took! Soe g nah (bom. thy) e ted) suotwat & gathigw ite ie Sint i ; neal, ba, . ston weeiliaddt TiipAer Weer 7s sara fy zed ies gah i fixer aotiby Fe, erin pai Mz ) BES Sw a sf } , aa Abs to a ade . f-, pices a¢ly : Patae: i os i, ijevatep feat wrdtloh ech tek wanker Str | ere ay iheans wat! Sutde : an hae TLE iF ner aif Ht rae. cif Pa Fol and nT entity ‘pe ati niiy etinas “SeKtioe | blo gh HR oct iL ey = 2 st ferred: a SE Shoe enh “toad bite AD ints? balan? bai . hederaan ees re ED PADX UIYIDIY . l | =- tar =) = Aaa tte ge i, pg py ad a ee NM Ns Woop Ee “dg lo AND GROUNDS. 147 breadth of top. In selecting some deciduous miniature trees for these places we would choose those that have low, parasol forms, and clean, tree-like, but very short stems. The common orange quince tree, if planted in a deep moist soil, grown thriftily, and treated with the same attention that we would bestow on a valuable exotic, is one of the most beautiful of very low spreading-topped shrubby trees, and well adapted to the places under consideration. The kilmarnock willow, though it has neither the beauty of blossom, leaf, or fruit, that distinguish a well-grown quince tree, is certainly a sort of model of formal grace and symmetry, and might be used on one side and balanced on the other with a low-grown ever- flowering weeping cherry, Cerasus semperfloreus. Or luxuriantly grown single bushes of the common fragrant syringa, tartarian bush honeysuckle, rose weigela, or lilac rothmagenszs, will be ap- propriate for the same place. The plan in general is too simple to require explanation, and is introduced to call attention to the superior beauty of simplicity, compared with complexity of planting, on small places. PLATE IV, A AND B. Designs for a Lawn on a Lot of fifty feet front with considerable depth. This design has already been alluded to in Chapter XI, on Arrangement in Planting, in illustrating the application of Rule I to small places. The lot has a front of fifty feet, and an in- definite extension in the rear. The plan is designed to show the pretty space of lawn that can be kept on a quite small lot, provided the latter has depth enough, by placing the house well back. The lot is supposed to be between side properties which it is impracticable to connect with, and therefore isolated by close fences and border shrubbery from them. The distance from the street to the bay-windows is eighty feet. The compact house plan is adapted to the position by having its entrance on the side, so that the best window-views possible under the circumstances 148 PLANS OF RESIDENCES will be secured from the bays of the two principal rooms. The walk, as we have previously observed, is made near one side, to leave all the central portion of the lot in open lawn. It is not possible to keep this openness of expression, and at the same time have large trees on the lot. They must be dispensed with ; and in stocking the borders to make a rich environment of verdure for the lawn, the choice must be exclusively among small trees.and shrubs. Let us begin at the gate. Here we would set out to have a hem- lock arch ;—though the trees as shown on the plan erroneously symbolize deciduous trees. At the opposite front corner we would plant the two slender weeping firs, Adzes excelsa imverta and Picea p. pendula. But as their growth is slow compared with that of many fine deciduous shrubs, a mass of the latter may be planted near the firs, to fill that corner with foliage until the latter are from twelve to twenty years old, when the weeping firs will be large enough to fill it beautifully without support. The border on the left should be made up of evergreen shrubs or trees, as varied in foliage as possible, and of those sorts which do not exceed six or seven feet in height and breadth. ‘The iso- lated small trees or shrubs which stand out from this border are designed to be of deciduous sorts, the most charming for their forms, foliage, or flowers ; the largest of which should not, within ten years, exceed ten feet in breadth. These, and the dwarf shrubs which flank them, can be selected from the lists to be found in the Appendix. As some of those which are in time the most interest- ing are of exceedingly slow growth, bedding plants and annuals which will preserve the same form for the groups by their propor- tioned sizes may be substituted. But there is no question of the superior beauty, in the end, of the place which is largely composed of trees and shrubs that make it charming in winter and early spring as well as in summer. The quick and brilliant effects that may be produced with bedding-plants can, however, be combined some- what with more permanent plantings, if the planter will be watch- ful not to let his vigorous but ephemeral summer-plants smother the slower growing dwarfs. The latter will not long survive being thus deprived of sun and air in summer, and then left bare in the bleak winter, while their summer companions which lorded over them wn AND GROUNDS. 149 have been carefully removed to the cellar or the green-house. A pine tree is shown on the left near the house. This is ex- ceptionally large. It is intended for a white pine, which grows rapidly in breadth as well as height, and might soon cover half the width of the lot with its branches. But it is readily “drawn up,” as foresters say,—that is, it is easily reconciled to the loss of its lower limbs, and sends its vigor to the upper ones; so that it naturally becomes an over-arching tree. In time it will over-top, and form an evergreen frame for that side of the house, while the lawn under it will be unbroken. The small round shrubs near the outside corners of the bay-windows may be, one, a golden arbor- vite, and the other the golden yew, both rather dwarf evergreens, of pleasing form, and warm-toned verdure. Between the bay- windows, and near the house, is a suitable place for an elegant rose-pillar or trellis, and a bed of roses. Directly in front of it, and sixteen feet from the house, is a good position for a fine vase, or a basket in a bed of flowers, as shown on the plan. The pair of trees nearly in the middle of the front, near the street, we would have the weeping Japan sophora, on a line with the middle of the house, and not more than four feet apart. The main walk is repre- sented on the plan by two modes of planting; the one, marked A, characterized by an alternation of shrubs and bedding-plants on the right, and beds of flowers on the left ; the other, marked B, by a symmetric disposition of three groups of trees crossing and ° arching over the walk, and a belt of shrubs against the fence. For the first, or shrub and flower-border plan, the following selection of shrubs is recommended on the fence-border. All the way from the street, to opposite the house, we would plant the Irish and English ivy close to the bottom of the fence, and would endeavor to make it cover the latter completely. Supposing the fence not to be more than four or five feet high, these ivies can generally be made to effect this, and although the growth near the top may often be winter-killed, the plants, if taken care of, will finally make a rich wall of verdure. If there is no probability of eventually joining, by openings on that side, with neighbors’ im- provements, it will be a great addition to the beauty of this border to have the fence a well-made stone wall, upon which the 150 PLANS OF RESIDENCES ivy is always most beautiful. From the hemlock arch to a point twenty feet from the fence, plant with tree-box, mahonias, and rhododendrons, set two and a half feet from the fence ; then a concave bed ten feet long is devoted to bulbous flowering-plants and annuals ; the next ten feet to be occupied by the pink and the red-flowered tree honeysuckles six feet apart, with the fragrant jasmine between them ; the next ten feet in flowers as before ; the next to be occupied by the Dewtzia crenata alba and the Deutzia crenata rubra flore plena, six feet apart, with the Dew/zia gracilis between them; the next, flowers ; and the last group of shrubs to be the Lz/ac rothmagensis and the Weigela rosea six feet apart, with the Sfzrea calosa alba between and the golden yew, Zaxus aurea, beyond ;—closing the planting on that side. On the veranda- posts five different vines may be trained ; on the fence in front of them nothing better can be done than to cover it with Irish ivy, or such low-growing annual vines, on cords or wires, as will make the best wall of leaves and flowers during the summer, and which can be readily cleared away before winter. Beyond the veranda, on the left, is a place for a group of shrubs of anything that the lady of the house fancies. The evergreen at the end of the narrow walk around the veranda should be some tall and handsome tree. If the soil is sandy, the white-pine kept well trimmed will make a fine mass of evergreen verdure the most quickly. In a climate not more rigorous than that of Philadelphia, the Lawson cypress, C. fawsoniana, is a good tree for the place; further north, the pyramidal spruce, Adies excelsa pyramidata, a slender, vigorous, and peculiar variety of the Norway spruce, will answer well; and so will a Bartlett or Seckel pear tree, or any good cherry tree. The evergreen, however, makes the best back-ground setting for the house. By planting an evergreen on each side the walk, at that point, an arch may eventually be cut under them to form a vista from the veranda into the garden. This purpose may be most quickly effected with white-pines or hemlocks. The embellishment of the walk-border by the other mode, as shown on the plan B, may be done as follows: the border of ivy along the fence or wall, and the principal shrubs for twenty feet next the front, may be the same as on the first plan ; but all the AND GROUNDS. 151 flower-beds are to be omitted. Twenty-three feet from the street, and two feet from the walk on the right, plant an American Judas tree, Cercis canadensis; four feet further, on the same side, the European Judas tree, Cercis seliguastrum ,; opposite to them, on the left side of the walk, a clean stemmed white-flowering dogwood, Cornus florida. Sixteen feet from the upper Judas tree, plant a pair of sassafras trees four feet apart in the same relative positions as the Judas trees in the first group ; opposite to them, on the left of the walk, the Scamston weeping-elm, grafted eight feet high on a common elm stock. ‘The next group, sixteen feet further on, is made with a pair of Kolreuteria paniculata on the right, and a narrow group of low choice shrubs on the left of the walk. Very dwarf evergreens, or deciduous shrubs, may be planted to the left of each of these groups, as indicated on the plan, or those places may be filled with single plants of rich and abundant foliage, like the more robust geraniums, the Cod/eus verschafelti, cannas, little circles of salvias, etc., etc. It is intended that the groups of low-growing trees which border this walk shall form flat arches over head, not more than eight feet over the walk ; and the trees must be reared and pruned to effect this object. The Judas trees and the dogwood naturally spread quite low. The study with them will be, how to draw them up so that they will not be in the way over head. ‘The sassafras, though a flat-topped tree, sometimes gets too high before beginning to spread. If it keeps a strong centre-stem it should be topped at eight feet high to hasten its spreading. ‘The Ko/reuterias are rather too large for their place, but are low-spreading trees of great deli- cacy of foliage and warmth of color; and even if they finally extend their branches far towards the bay-windows, the view under them will be the more pleasing. 152 PLANS OF RESIDENCES PLATES V AND VI. Designs for Village Lots 60 x 150 feet: one an In-Lot, and the other a Corner Lot. These designs are very simple and inexpensive in their character, and have been partially described in Chapter XI. The house-plan is the same in both ; not compact, but rather stretched along the side of the lot farthest from the street so as to leave a fair space on the other side, upon which the best rooms and the verandas (which may be considered the pleasantest sum- mer rooms of a house) are located. The house-fronts are each forty feet from the main street. Both ground-plans are supposed to open into other yards adjoining, on a line from ten to twenty- five feet from the street ; on that line they are, therefore, left un- planted with anything that will obstruct views across the lawn. On Plate V the walks are made in right lines; while, on Plate VI, the entrance being at the corner, convenience dictates curved lines as the most desirable. If, on the latter, the gateway were in the same place as in the former, the straight-line walk would be pre- ferable, as there would be no object in making it otherwise. PLaTE V.—The front gate is to be arched over in some of the modes suggested in Chapter XIV, and on the left a dense screen to the corner is to be made with evergreen shrubs or shrubby trees. Twenty feet from the front, and five feet from the left side, a tree of medium size is represented. It may be any one of the following: a Magnolia machrophylla, catalpa, double white or red-flowering horse-chestnut, bird cherry (Prunus padus), a cut-leaved weeping birch, purple-beech, Ko/reuteria, Vir- gilia, red-twigged linden, grape-leaved linden, scarlet maple, purple-leaved maple, Saéisburia or ginkgo tree (if cut back at the top), or a sassafras. Any handsome tree will do which branches low, but still high enough to allow a person to walk under its branches after it has been planted five or six years, and which does not quickly become a great tree. Five feet from the fence, av Plate V. asi HU | 4 LON ABS Be EE YS 5 We yy ‘ . h eY eres Pi) y Drving Sard ih ealyA eS id a perme reaaa rat paved vard ep Falak. ak eile ee 8 Hash -reom ow SAYS IG WAAL DD / G7 2 if Self g- Poor Bed- roan 4 je} J fine onl sits 45 F whe aaee Dy. ERE e9 ACTSL Ss | es > gullswb> aha é& tert OSS 7 ine yh teat 5 : TTA one, bee abig'cs Bog Cys i} fs st A! nixon. Hiw alae Gm brn, estowi yhatle enkill kar petingy NOT Iaartey varie! AL : in Lion pechyig eda | wticivnol S77 ailnvnauod Sale 3 “yc lasgpe ieee bry) gash; Fé Io x are porta de or ig (la likinaeto iebmegricrys ages AND GROUNDS. 153 facing the main entrance steps, we would plant the pendulous Norway spruce, Adzes excelsa inverta; along the fence towards the front, a dense mass of low-growing evergreens ; along the fence on the other side of the spruce (opposite the bay-window), a hemlock hedge, merging as it recedes from the front to the grape-trellis into a belt of evergreens. ‘The groups of shrubs indicated in many places against the house, must be of the best species, which grow from two to seven feet in height ; and ought to embrace in each group one or more shrubs with fragrant flowers, so that there shall be no summer month when the windows will not be perfumed from them. It is becoming a fashion to decry the planting of shrubs in contact with dwelling houses. This fashion is a part of an extreme reaction that possesses the public mind against the old and un- healthy mode of embowering houses so completely under trees, and packing yards so densely with shrubs, that many homes were made dark and damp enough to induce consumption and other diseases ; and physicians have been obliged to protest against their injurious effects on the health of the inmates. But low- growing shrubs planted against the basement-walls of suburban houses, and rising only a few feet higher than the first floor, are not open to any such objections. A house that is ested in shrubs which seem to spring out of its nooks and corners with some- thing of the freedom that characterizes similar vegetation spring- ing naturally along stone walls and fences, seems to express the mutual recognition and dependence of nature and art; the shrubs loving the warmth of the house-walls, and the house glad to be made more charming in the setting of their ver- dure and blossoms. Many pleasing shrubs will do well where their roots can feel the warmth that foundation-walls retain in winter, which will not flourish in open exposed ground. Some will do well in shady nooks and northern exposures which cannot be grown in sunny projections ; others need all the sun of the latter exposures, and are grateful in addition for all the reflected heat from the house-walls. The foundations (provided of course that they are of a deep and substantial character) thus become protect- ing walls that offer to the skillful planter many studies in the selection and arrangement of small shrubs. No well-constructed 154 PLANS OF RESIDENCES house will be dampened, or have the sunlight excluded from its windows, by such shrubs as we would recommend for planting in the groups indicated against the houses in Plates V and VI, Small as they are, each one of these little places for shrubs are studies. Whether to plant a single robust shrub in each place, which will spread to fill it, or to form a collection of lilliputian shrubs around some taller one, is for the planter to decide. We cannot here in- dicate, in detail, the plantings for all these places. It will be ob- served that the right-hand front corner of the lot is filled with shrubs, supposed to be but a part of a group, the other part of which is on the lot of the adjoining neighbor. This may be com- posed of large shrubs, such as altheas, deutzias, lilacs, etc., for the interior, and weigelas, bush honeysuckles, Gordon’s currants, berberries, and low spireas of graceful growth for the outside. ‘The tree ten feet from the right-hand corner should be one of the smallest class. The weeping Japan sophora grafted not more than six feet high, the ever-flowering weeping cherry, the new weeping thorn, the double scarlet thorn (Coccinnea flore plena) will make pretty trees for such a place. If something to produce a quick, luxuriant growth is preferred, the Judas tree, Cercis canadensis, or the Scamston weeping-elm, grafted on another stock seven or eight feet high, will do ; thovgh the Jatter will eventually become a wide-spreading tree too large for the place. The isolated small tree, or large shrub, about seven feet from the fence near the middle of the front, may be an Andromeda arborea, or the Indian catalpa (the hardiness of which is not fully tested north of Philadelphia), the purple-fringe (grown low as a tree), the tree honeysuckle, Lonicera grandiflora, grown low on a single stem, the Weigela amabilis, also in tree-form ; Josikia or chionanthus-leaved lilac, the dwarf weeping cherry (a very slow grower), the Chionanthus virginica (a little tender north of Phila- delphia), the rose acacia grown over an iron frame, or any out- arching, low, small tree, weeping or otherwise, the foliage of which is pleasing throughout the season. Or, if a single evergreen is preferred, any one of the following will do: the dwarf white-pine, P. strobus compacta, the golden yew, Zaxus aurea, the weeping silver-fir, Picea pectinata pendula, the golden arbor-vite, or the ee AND GROUNDS. 155 weeping arbor-vitea. None of these will grow to greater size than the place requires, but they grow slowly. A pretty effect may be produced here by planting the erect yew, Zaxus erecta, where the centre of the tree is indicated on the plan, with a golden arbor- vite in front and a golden yew behind it. The erect yew is taller than the others, and very dark, so that if the three are planted not more than one or two feet apart, they will grow into a beautiful compact mass made up of three quite distinct tones of foliage. Or another pretty substitute for the one small tree, as shown on the plan, may be made by using the excessively slender Irish juniper for a centre 1, and grouping cose around it the golden arbor-vite 2, the Podocarpus (or Taxus) japonica 3, the dwarf silver-fir, Picea com- pacta, 6, the pigmy spruce, Adies excelsa pygme@a, 4, the dwarf hemlock, Adies canadensis parsoni, 5, and the creeping euonymus, Faponicus radicans marginatus. This will in time make an irregu- lar pyramid composed of an interesting variety of foliage and color, and easily protected in winter, if the plants are of doubtful hardiness or vigor. The vase and flower-beds in front of the bay-window need no explanation. All the flower-beds shown on this plan, except the one opposite the back-porch, should be filled only with flowering- plants of the lowest growth: the bed excepted, and the place behind it, shown as shrubbery, may be occupied by taller plants, which are showy in leaves or flowers: but we think the effect will be more constantly pleasing if the latter is filled with evergreen shrubs from two to seven feet in height, mostly rhododendrons. At the front end of the bed of roses, on the right, we would plant the Nordmans fir, Picea Nordmaniana, an evergreen tree of superior foliage, and believed hardy in most parts of the country. It eventually becomes a large tree, but will bear trimming when it begins to encroach too much upon the lawn. The hemlock screen represented opposite the bath-room win- dow should be thrown back to the end of the wash-room if the owner prefers to have that strip of ground in lawn, rather than under culture. We ask the reader to excuse us for having placed it where it is, for the space between the house and the currant- bushes allows of a pretty strip of lawn six feet wide, from which 156 PLANS OF RESIDENCES narrow beds may be cut adjoining the foundation-walls, for beds of low or slender annuals, which will not sprawl too far away from the house. ‘The space will certainly be more profitable to the eye in this way than it can be in fruits and vegetables. Piatr VI.—This plan is so similar to the preceding, and both are of so simple a character, that. the intelligent reader will learn by an examination of the plate what manner of planting is intended. This plate differs principally from Plate V in having four pine trees of conspicuous size on the street margin of the lot. This pre- supposes a well-drained sandy soil, for without a congenial soil the pines will not develop great beauty. Supposing this condition to be satisfied, evergreens may be made a specialty of this place, and used as follows: Close by the left-hand gate-post (entering from the street), plant a bunch of the common border-box ; a foot from it, and midway between the walk and side fence, a plant of the broad-leaved tree-box ; a foot further, on the same mid-line, a plant of the gold or silver striped-leaved tree-box; then fill in with hemlocks a foot apart, and a foot from the fence, as far as the group is designated. Four feet from the same gate- post, and two feet from the walk, plant a Podocarpus japonica ; eight feet from the gate, and three from the walk, the Cephalo- taxus fortunit mascula; four feet beyond, and four feet from the walk, the golden arbor-vite. Between the right-hand gate-post and the pine tree, fill next to the gate with the common English ivy, to trail on the ground and form a bush; next, midway between the fence and walk, and four feet from the post, the golden yew (Zaxus baccata aurea); next, same distance from the walk, Sargent’s hemlock (A. canadensis inverta); and between the pine and the fence, fill in with mahonias (aguifolium and japonicum). The pine here alluded to, to be the common white pine. The dwarf trees shown on the plan, twenty feet from the gate, are the Abies gregoriana on one side the walk, and on the other the Picea hudsonica, or the Picea pectinata compacta. ‘These, and the gateway groups, form an entrance through evergreens alone. In climates more severe than that of New York city, substi- tute the Pinus strobus compacta for the Cephalotaxus fortuni _Ple ae VL re pea Se) cS Ree a EN Agee oS Drving Nard Aree NJ 27 LATED ( ees - BLIP LOG IPADLY AB e ; : ; vt ll | c OS qi WW ole i CG Was/e-r | Fe f- hilchen Parlor ade SAISOY JO At =i af hee 3 | earn vu ileene sdd® is ashlp! Ce: o eit: j GRAD VRS 1S (Roth SuigesWr a, ey ahs nobrtiw ns te etude a fhe Py, ee a js pe % 9 7 ty | See = abeite aa % it To oy Wie, aye ela ai ie Laafrrpe exer ehies Re 1k neritneede WEE a, VA soy ac + > Ehret nis se isan lying: £ cs ge oF yal ho tic ih ogh - AND GROUNDS. Ly mascula. The pine tree in the right-hand corner may be an Austrian, taking care to select one of short dense growth. Between it and the corner fill in with a mass of assorted rhodo- dendrons, or with such shrubs as bush honeysuckles, deutzias of the smaller sorts, the common syringa, purple berberry, variegatetl elder, etc. The single tree in the middle of the front may be the weeping Japan sophora, the Judas tree (Cercis canadensis), or a neatly grown specimen of the white-flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). The two small trees marked on the plan ro feet in front of each front corner of the house should be the two slender weeping firs, the Adzes excelsa inverta and the Picea fectinata pen- @ula, which will in time form a graceful flanking for the bay- window, and point the two groups of fragrant-blossomed deciduous shrubs shown on each side of it. The shrubbery shown between the walk and the main side veranda and its column vines should be entirely composed of bedding plants of rich foliage and successive bloom, which can be cleared away late in autumn. The remainder of the plan is so like that for Plate V, that no further designation of trees and shrubs need be made. A planter who is familiar with the dimensions and qualities of trees and shrubs may make a different choice, perhaps improve on those here named, and give another character to the place. The gateway entrance, for in- stance, may be bordered by low-growing umbelliferous trees like the Judas tree, the weeping sophora, the Scamston elm, the sassa- fras, or the Kolreuteria paniculata, of which any two would soon grow to form a natural arch. The use of any of these trees will not prevent the planting, under them, of those small evergreens like the ivy, the box-wood, and some others which flourish in par- tial shade. Or, some of the trees mentioned in Chapter XIV for artificial arches, may be employed in the same place instead of the groups of low evergreen shrubs, or the trees just named. The pine trees which are shown on the plan (if, as before remarked, the soil is congenial to them), in connection with the other ever- greens, in the course of ten years would give an evergreen character to the outer limits of the lot without trespassing too much on the lawn space ; and although a repetition of the same species of tree is not usually desirable on a small lot, the white pine unites so 158 PLANS OF RESIDENCES many more qualities which suit it for the places indicated, than any other evergreen, that we would make its use a specialty of the plan. The exquisite Bhotan pine is still of doubtful longevity with us ; that is to say, it occasionally dies out after eight or ten years of healthy growth, just when its fountain-like tufts of droop- ing foliage have become so conspicuously beautiful as to endear it greatly to the owner. The same may be said of the long-leaved Pyrrenean pine. Neither the Austrian or the Scotch pines drop their lower limbs with so little injury to their symmetry as the white pine, nor have either of them so fine a texture of foliage or wood when seen near by. On small lots, ground-room cannot well be afforded for that extension of the branches of evergreens upon a lawn, which constitutes one of their greatest beauties where there is space enough around to allow them to be seen to advan- tage. Therefore trees which develop their beauty overhead, and permit the lawn to be used and seen under their boughs, are more desirable. Prare Wil: A long, narrow House, with Front near the Street, on an In-Lot sixty feet wide, and of considerable depth. We have here an inside lot of sixty feet front, occupied to the depth of one hundred and thirty feet by the house, the walks and the ground embellishments. The kitchen-garden is back of the grape trellis, which should be of an ornamental character. The house is stretched out to correspond with the form of the lot, which is supposed to have no desirable ground connections with the adjoin- ing lots, yet not so disagreeably surrounded as to make it neces- sary to shut out by trees and shrubs the out-look over the fences from the side-windows of the bay. The style of planting here shown is such as would suit only a person or family of decided taste for flowers, and the choicest selections of small shrubs. In the rear left-hand corner is room enough for two cherry trees, under which the lawn forms a sufficient drying-yard, and a con- venient currant-border utilizes a space next the fence. Besides oY ee > Currant. Border x —- = oper Saxe Bed Room W715 antry WMitehen 1x16 Living Room 15% 18" Parlor 15x16" — LILELAL Bis u Ls y ie We 7 is reel pe OM Cee ea ock-4150 be Yyht: Vist ae Lp 9 ad, iby |, 2 “4 nezeaoin hori lie tert Wisely wide elerale stp jaa Hy vt. create re en rf riya ft ria pinay a iittt AL «ole tam ee Doe a as aig 7 AND GROUNDS. 159 the cherries, no large trees are to be planted except hemlocks (marked H), which are gracefully shrubby in their early growth, and can be so easily kept within proper bounds by pruning, that they are introduced to form an evergreen flanking for the rear of the house, and back-ground for the narrow strips of lawn on either side of it. In time they will overarch the walk, and under their dark shadows the glimpse of the bit of lawn beyond, with its bright flowers, will be brought into pretty relief. Our engraver has been somewhat unfortunate in the extreme rigidity of outline given to all the trees and shrubs shown on this plan, yet precision and formal- ity are peculiarities which the narrow limits of the lot render necessary, and the completeness with which this specialty is carried out will constitute its merit. Nearly all the shrub and tree embellishment is with small evergreens, flowers of annuals, and bedding plants. Flowers are always relieved with good effect when seen against a ‘back-ground of evergreens. It will be observed that the close side-fences are, much of their length, uncovered by shrubbery. They must, therefore, be very neatly, even elegantly made, if the proprietor can afford it. They then be- come a suitable backing for the flowers that may be made to form a sloping bank of bloom against them. By finishing the inside of the fence ez espalier, it may be covered all over with delicate summer vines whose roots, growing under it, will interfere little with planting and transplanting seeds, roots, and bulbs in front of them. In naming the trees intended for this plan, it must not be supposed that other selections equally good, or better, may not be made by a good gardener. The following is suggested as one of many that will be appropriate to the place: A, A. Two hemlocks planted two feet from the fence and from the walk to form an arch over the gate when large enough, as shown in Chapter XIV. B. Parson’s dwarf hemlock two feet from the walk and six feet from the fence. C, C, C, C. Irish junipers two feet from the walk. D. Space between juniper and corner post on the right may be filled with mahonias, English ivy, and azalias that love shade. 160 PLANS OF RESIDENCES E (next to the fence). Dwarf weeping juniper, ¥. oblonga pendula, E (in the centre of front group). The pendulous Norway spruce, Abies excelsa inverta, the central stem of which must be kept erect by tying to a stake until it is from six to eight feet high. F, F. One, the dwarf Norway spruce, Adies gregoriana, and the other the dwarf silver-fir, Picea pectinata compacta. G (in the front group). Golden arbor-vite. G (opposite bow-window of living-room). A bed of assorted geraniums. G (opposite dining-room). A single plant of Codleus verschafeltt. H, H, H. Hemlocks ; for the left-hand front corner use Sargent’s hemlock, Adzes canadensis inverta ;—its main stem to be kept tied to a stake until it has a firm growth six feet high. , 1, I (on the left side of walk). Dwarf-box for clipping. (on right side of walk). The weeping arbor-vitae and the dwarf weeping juniper, F. oblonga pendula, J. LPodocarpus japonica, if protected in winter. K. Parson’s arbor-vite, Thuja occidentalis compacta, two feet from the fence. Between K and L plant a golden arbor-vite. L. The pendulous silver-fir, Picea pectinata pendula, four feet from the fence. Directly back of it, midway between it and the fence, the erect yew, Zaxus erecta, whose deep green foliage will contrast well with the golden arbor-vites near it, and as its hardiness in all localities is not so well proved as that of the other trees near it, its placement back of them, and near to the fence, will serve to insure its safety from cold. Irish and Swedish junipers near the fence. The dwarf white-pine, P. strobus compacta, four feet from the fence ; and behind, on each side, small rhododendrons. Four feet above the pine, near the fence, plant a common hem- lock, and when it is large enough to form a back-ground for the dwarf pine—say from eight to ten feet high—keep it well clipped back to prevent it from spreading over the dwarfs, and taking up too much of the lawn. O,O. Round beds for verbenas or other creeping flowers of con- stant brilliancy. = = 4s AND GROUNDS. 161 P. Bed for favorite fragrant annuals or low shrubs. Q (by the side of the kitchen). Bed for flowering-vines to train on the house, or, if the exposure be southerly, or southeasterly, some good variety of grape-vine. Whichever side of the rear part of the house has the proper exposure to ripen grapes well, cannot be more pleasingly covered than with neatly kept grape-vines ; which should not be fastened directly to the house, but on horizontal slats from six inches to-a foot from the house; and these should be so strongly put up that they may be used instead of a ladder to stand upgn to trim the vines and gather the fruit. ) R. Rhododendrons, S. Bed of cannas, or assorted smaller plants with brilliant leaves of various colors. : T, U, V, X, Z. A bed of rhododendrons. W, W, W. May be common deciduous shrubs of any favorite full- foliaged sort. Y. Rhododendrons and azalias. Opposite the corner of the veranda where fuschias are indi- cated, the space should be filled between the Irish juniper and the fence with the golden arbor-vita and the Podocarpus japonica, planted side by side. The foregoing list for planting is made on the assumption that the owner is, or desires to be, an amateur in the choicest varieties of small evergreens, as well as in flowers, and willing to watch with patience their slow development ; for there is no doubt that with deciduous shrubs a showy growth of considerable beauty can be secured in much less time. Yet the type of embellishment made with such a collection of evergreens as have been named for this place, is so much rarer, and has so greatly the advantage in its autumn, winter, and spring beauty, that we would have little hesitation in adopting it. For the benefit, however, of those who wish a quicker display of verdure in return for their expense and labor in planting, we subjoin an essentially different list of trees and shrubs for the same plan, viz. : II 162 PLANS OF RESIDENCES A, A. Two Scamston elms (planted two feet from fence and walk) grafted on straight stocks eight feet from the ground, to form a tabular topped arch over the gateway, by interweaving the side branches which are nearest to each other. These grow so rapidly that all the space within ten feet from the centre of the gate will in six years be deeply shaded by them, so that only those plants which are known to flourish in deep shade should be planted near the gate. Among these the English ivy may occupy the same place in the corner as before. B. May be the Cephalotaxus fortunit mascula, or purple magnolia. C, C (nearest the gate). Daphne cneorum. C, C (near the ve- randa). Should be Irish juniper as in the first plan, and the space marked fuschias to be filled as before recommended ; C on left-hand tront of lot to be an Irish or Swedish juniper. D. Box-wood, spurge laurel, hypericum, purple magnolia, or rhododendrons. E (middle group). Andromeda arborea, or, south of Philadelphia, the Indian catalpa, C. Aimalayensis. F, F. Spirea reevesit flore plena and Spirea fortuni alba. G (of same group). Spirea Van Houtti. In the spaces between G and F the Deutsia gracilis and the Andromeda floribunda may be planted within two feet of the stem of the Andromeda arborea. H \in left-hand corner). Two deutzias, the white and red, D. crenata alba and D. crenata rubra flore plena, planted side by side. ‘The other H’s to be hemlocks as in the other plan. I, I, I, I. Tree-box on left of walk, Siberian arbor-vite on the right. J. Deutzia gracilis. K. Purple berberry two feet from fence. Above it, the same dis- tance from the fence, the variegated-leaved althea. L. Common red Tartarian honeysuckle, four feet from fence. Behind it, next to the fence, the spurge laurel, Daphne laureola. M. Two Swedish junipers one foot from fence. AND GROUNDS. 163 N. Weigela rosea three feet from fence. Close to fence, on each side of it, the English ivy. . Beds for creeping flowers as in previous plan. Bed for annuals or low shrubs. . Same as in former list. . A bed of salvias, to fill in between the hemlocks. Cannas, or some lower bedding annuals. The lilac, Rothmagensis rubra. . Gordon’s flowering currant. Two dwarf rhododendrons, voseum elegans and album can- aidissima, and behind them towards the grape trellis and next the fence, the taller rhododendrons, granaiflorum and album elegans. These will fill as near to the trellis as anything should be planted. X. Rhododendrons, grandiflorum and candidissima planted to- gether. ACHP ROWO Shrubs shown at the house-corners should be selected from those whose branches droop toward the ground, well covered with foliage, and whose flowers are fragrant; such as the corhmon syringa, bush honeysuckles, jasmines, wild roses, purple magnolia, etc., etc. ; the beauty and abundance of the foliage throughout the season being of more importance than the blossoms. But there are shrubs which combine nearly every merit of foliage, bloom, and fragrance, and these are often the common sorts best known. It is not practicable to name in detail everything which may be planted on a lot of this size, and the two lists just given will form a ground-work into which may be interwoven a great variety of quite small shrubs without breaking the arrangement intended. In whatever way this place is planted, the area in lawn is so narrow that it can only be made to look well by the nicest keeping. 164 PLANS OF RESIDENCES Prarie Value A simple Plan for a Corner Lot one hundred by one hundred and seventy feet, with Stable and Carriage-house accommodations. By referring to Plates IX and XII, and comparing them with the one now under consideration, it will be seen that there is a similarity in the forms and ‘sizes of the lots and the house-plans. A comparison of their differences will be interesting. Plates VIII and IX represent corner lots 100 x 170 feet, having stable and carriage-house accommodations, while Plate XII is an in-lot 100 X 160 feet, without those luxuries, but with convenience for keeping a cow. Plan VIII is designed to illustrate the utmost simplicity of style, requiring the minimum of trouble and expense in its maintenance. In both plans the nearest part of the house stands thirty feet from the side street, and eighty-two feet from the street upon which the bay-windows look out. On this plan the short straight walk from the side street to the veranda is the ‘only one that requires to be carefully made, and is but twenty-seven feet in length from the street to the steps ; while on Plate IX there is an entrance from both streets, connected by a curving walk with the main house entrance, and other walks to the kitchen entrances and carriage-house. This difference in the walks is suggestive of the greater embellishment of the latter plan in all other respects, and, with its vases, flower-beds, and more numerous groups of shrubbery, indicates the necessity for the constant services of a gardener. Plan VIII, on the other hand, with its plain lawn, and groups of trees which require but little care, and its few plain flower-beds, may easily be taken care of by any industrious pro- prietor, before and after the hours devoted to town business— especially if the wife will assume the care of the flowers—and if the lawn is in high condition, and the trees are kept growing lux- uriantly, the simplicity of the planting will not result in any lack of that air of elegance which most persons desire to have theit places express ; for it is not so much costliness and elaborateness that challenges the admiration of cultivated people as the uncon- Plate Vill. Cow-yard 4 Manare en Raspberry Border i iluifi eae mit en ii a WH Wh MH | Hi it Lit yi ial call, I fe aif, a ag) vee Dry ti AG oe # Pate oe \ one He | x Paad =~ x SS) . ny ve NY 3 x is > g7 8 Sa Se CPT te ag Mi a NS 3 ‘ 4. =~ 4 a} vu & f Sed ae ; 2 sCR > ss RN S cS 8 8 oy Ses ‘ & % Be 7% & Ye tS a age 6 cio Cor oak i2ambre pis s igwood ee Ye Ligue Bi 2° Ry ge oS ‘ Me: ef , =e 224 4a) 30 20 Ww 10 1 3 Street 1] in Abi spiny at wm AND GROUNDS. 165 scious grace with which a plain dress may be worn, so as to appear elegant notwithstanding its simplicity. It will be observed that there is no vegetable garden on either plan, but a good number of cherry, pear, and other fruit trees, as well as an abundance of grapes, currants, raspberries, and strawberries are provided for. Yet in the neighborhood of the carriage-house, the ground in culti- vation under the trees may serve to produce a small quantity of those low vegetables which take but little room, and are wanted in small quantities only. Supposing the walks to be laid out as shown on the plan, the first things to be planted are the fruit trees. Three cherry trees— say the mayduke, black tartarian, and late-duke ; seven pear trees (not dwarfs)—say one Madeleine, one Dearborn’s seedling, one Bloodgood, two Seckels, and two Bartletts ; two peach trees, the George the Fourth or Haine’s early, and Crawford’s early ; and a few orange-quinces near the stable, are all the fruit trees there is room for. The sides of the carriage-house and stable will afford the best of places for the growth of grapes; the vines, however, should not be fastened directly to the wall, but on a trellis six inches or a foot from it, to allow a circulation of air through the foliage. Besides these, a few vines may be grown to advantage on a trellis back of the kitchen, and on a circular trellis around the gravelled space in front of the carriage-house,* and also on the back fence, marked raspberry border, if preferred. Currant bushes and raspberries do well in partially shaded situations, while grape vines need the most sunny exposure. The places for one or the other must therefore be chosen with reference to the light and shade adjacent to buildings, fences, and trees. The fruit trees being disposed of, let us turn to the lawn- ground. ‘The front gate recedes from the street four feet, forming a bay from the side-walk. On the left, as one enters, the view is all open across the lawn. On the right of the gate, along the fence, there is a heavy mass of shrubbery, to be composed of lilacs, honeysuckles, weigelas, or any of the thrifty common shrubs which * The carriage turn-way is represented a little broader than it need be. There should be ten feet space between it and the back fence to make room for the trellis for grapes. 166 PLANS OF RESIDENCES do not grow bare of leaves at the bottom. Or, if an evergreen screen is preferred to these blossoming shrubs, the border may be planted irregularly with the American and Siberian arbor-vites. On the left, next to the fence, and close against it, we would plant English ivy, tree-box, periwinkle, or myrtle for the first ten feet, and hardy dwarf arbor-vitaes, hemlocks, and yews: on the next ten feet. On the right of the walk, and two feet from it, is a straight bed for annual and bulbous flowers, which is backed by a bed of shrubbery running parallel with the walk, designed to shut from view the kitchen drying-yard, under the cherry and pear trees. This screen should be composed entirely of evergreens which can be kept within seven feet in height. In the front, next to the flower-bed, may be a collection, in a row, of the finest very small dwarfs, of as many species as the owner desires to procure, backed by a dense mass of arbor-vitzes and hardy yews intermingled. The row of dwarf evergreens should in time occupy the space which is marked as a bed for annuals, while the former are too small to fill it. The masses of. shrubs shown against the house may be of common sorts which are favorites with the proprietor or his family, and that do not exceed seven feet in height. On the left of the walk the flower-beds 1, 2, and 3 may be filled, each, with one species of low flowers not exceeding nine inches in height, so as to make brilliant contrasts of colors. Beds 4 and 6 may be filled with bulbous flowers in the spring, and later, with geraniums, lantanas, or salvias. Bed 5 admits of some skill in arrangement. In its centre, next to the house, we would try the Japanese striped maize ; next to it a half circle of salvias ; outside of these a half circle of mountain-of-snow geranium ; next, a circle of Coleus ver- schafelti, and, next the grassy margin, the Mrs. Pollock geranium. Another season the same bed might be splendid with cannas alone, as follows: for the centre, one plant of the blood-red canna, C. san- guinca chatei, six feet high ; one foot from it, three plants of the C. sellowt, four to five feet high ; next, a circle of the C. faccida, three feet ; and for the outer circle the C. compacta elegantissima, two feet high, alternated with the C. augustifolia nana pallida. If the occu- pant of the house does not wish to obtain plants from the green- house to stock these beds, they may be cheaply and prettily filled AND GROUNDS. 167 by annuals graded in size in the same manner as above indicated for a bed of cannas. The circular border of cultivated ground be- tween the dining-room bay-window and the hemlock border may also be filled with annuals, graded from those that grow only a few inches high next the grass, to an outer circle made with flowering plants from four to six feet high. Bed 7 is intended for an assort- ment of geraniums. At 8 is a good place for the pendulous silver- fir; and at 9 for Sargent’s hemlock, Adzes canadensis inverta, trained toa straight stick, and kept small by pruning. On a line with the side-walls of the house, and twenty feet in front, two sycamore maples are designated. We do not intend to recommend this variety as any better or more beautiful than the sugar, red-bud, or Norway maples, or than the horse-chestnut, but it represents a type of trees with formal outlines, and rich masses of foliage, which are appropriate for such places ;—unless the style of the house is picturesque ; in which case elms, birches, and other loose growing trees would be more appropriate. The centre group of evergreens is mostly composed of common and well-known sorts, the points being representations of the arbor-vite family, and the centre of the taller hemlocks. Lawson’s cypress is still a rare tree, and its hardiness is doubtful north of Philadelphia. Where it may not be safely used, a full-foliaged specimen of the Norway spruce may be substituted. South of New York, near the sea-coast, we would also substitute the G/yp/o-strobus sinensis pendula for the arbor-vite fiucata. While these trees are small they will appear insignificant in so large a bed ; but we advise no one to trust himself to plant trees more thickly than they should eventually grow, on the plea that when they crowd each other a part may be removed ; for however sound the theory, it is rarely carried out in practice. Besides, no trees are so beautiful as those which have an unchecked expansion from the beginning ; and this is especially the case with evergreens, some of which never recover from the malformations produced by being crowded during the first ten or fifteen years of their growth. ‘Therefore, let the open spaces between the permanent trees, in the beds which are out- lined for cultivation, be filled during their minority with showy annuals or bedding plants ;—taking care not to plant so near to 168 PLANS OF RESIDENCES the young trees as to smother or weaken them by the luxuriant growth of the former. The evergreen group on the right is intended to be made up entirely of firs—hemlocks, Norway and black spruces—mixed in- discriminately, to show as a mass, and not as single specimens, If the proprietor has a desire for rarities in this family, they can be substituted. The group on the left, as its symbols show, is intended to be entirely of pines. In the centre, plant a white pine and a Bhotan pine side by side and close together, the former on the south side of the latter. Fifteen feet back of them put in an Austrian pine ; towards the front the cembran pine; to the extreme right, the dwarf white pine, P. strobus compacta, and in the spaces between fill with the varieties of the mugho or mountain pine, or with rhododendrons. The deciduous group lightly outlined near the right hand corner explains itself. If thriftily grown, the trees there marked should make a beautiful group in summer, and a brilliant one in autumn. The pair of trees near the left-hand corner we would have the Kolreuteria paniculata. The hemlock border on the left, opposite the dining-room bay- window, is intended to form a close screen, to grow naturally till the trees occupy from seven to ten feet in width from the fence, when they are to be kept within bounds by pruning. They should be planted about two feet apart. PLATE, LEX. Plan for a Corner Lot 100 x 170 feet, planted in a more elaborate style than the preceding plan. In describing the preceding plate, allusion was made to the greater expensiveness of this plan. Premising, therefore, that it is intended for a person who loves his trees and plants, and who can afford to keep a gardener in constant employ, we will Plate IX. Hemlocks . Re Aadaed Border, PEPE thal It p hated a sliyithiil ital), HH hl! h mh " Hh i H Hil ih HUN (i Sdraw Syl Manure Yard Carriage ve = > oo Sere an ees Wi) al te Grape Bonen inh ~ ar 1°. Bo ~ = S$ KR S. NO %¥ VU 5 ® $ aN wie Sy yr hoes ak x ue is x Roa S wes, Re io gH Pe iy OU ga oS Rae? = 8 Oe he a3 es re latalpa hampfert Ye. RS ss AS ~ Thas Wo d Aces - : ? ws Aieav ie Ee aes Mute ac). 2eEe ieee 4 i oval ; rae i te-allyy) pune azalk tes l¢ k by bu 34 | lL t% j be Cell es ‘ he a oe Z aay an ia i a, AND GROUNDS. 169 briefly describe those features of the place which need expla- nation. The front entrance of the place (the one at the bottom of the page on the plate) is designed to have an elm tree arch over it, similar to that shown by Fig. 40 in Chapter XIV. The group A, on the right near the gate, may be entirely composed of rhodo- dendrons. The group E is composed of a pair of weeping silver-firs (nearest the gate), the mugho pine on the left, and the dwarf white pine, /. compacta, farthest from the gate. Group B, on the right, will shade the walk with the low and broadly spreading top of the Kolreuteria paniculata at its point, behind which may be another group of rhododendrons, and close to the fence a compact border of hemlocks, which must be allowed to spread well upon the ground, and mingle their boughs with the rhododendrons, but not to exceed eight or ten feet in height. The group C, with a sugar maple (in the place of which a pair of Magnolia machrophyllas, planted close together, might be substituted with good effect) in front of it, is to be composed of a circle of choice dwarf evergreens on the side next the house, backed by a hemlock border along the fence, as described for the preceding group. From the following list a choice of dwarf evergreen trees or shrubs can be made: Pinus strobus compacta, Pinus stro- bus pumila, Pinus sylvestris pumila, Pinus mughus, Picea pec- tinata compacta, Picea pectinata pendula, Picea hudsonica, Abies nigra pumila, Abies nigra pendula, Abies excelsa gregoriana, Abies excelsa inverta, Abts e. conita, Abies canadensis inverta, Abies canadensis parsoni, Andromeda floribunda, tree-box, Buxus ar- borea, Hypericum kalmianum and H. frolificum, the kalmias, the creeping junipers Funiperus repens, Funiperus repanda densa, F. succica, F. suecica nana, F. hibernica, F. oblonga pendula, F. spaeroides, Thuja aurea, Thuja occidentalis compacta, Taxus baccata aurea, Taxus erecta, Taxus baccata eegantissima, Cepha- lotaxus fortunit mascula, Taxus or Podocarpus japonica, the rho- dodendrons, and the mahonias. For the sizes and character- istics of all these, we must refer the reader to the descriptions ot 170 PLANS OF RESIDENCES evergreen trees in Part II. By selecting the smallest evergreens for the front of the group, and placing the larger ones behind, even a small bed like this will accommodate a large number of speci- mens. ‘The side towards the veranda is laid out in a formal circle for convenience in first laying it out, but as the planting progresses, and as it becomes desirable to add one small thing after another to the group, this, as well as some of the other groups, may be enlarged in the manner shown by the dotted lines ; or, it can be laid out in that manner at first, if the list of small choice evergreens to be purchased is large enough to fill it. Most of the finer dwarf evergreens are rare and costly compared with common sorts, so that the lists must be made with prudence, in order that these, together. with other more indispensable purchases from the nurseries, shall not amount to so large a sum as to sur- prise and discourage the planter. Where the resources of the proprietor will not permit him to procure at once everything that can be advantageously used on the place, it is best to plant, the first season, all the larger (which are usually the commoner and cheaper) trees and shrubs, keeping the beds filled with showy annuals, while acquiring, year by year, choice additional collections of permanencies. But it is quite essential to the formation, of tasteful grounds that all the large permanent trees and shrubs be placed properly in the beginning, so that whatever is afterwards added will be of such subsidiary character as will group with and around the former. The group’ D, from the gate to the pear tree, should be com- posed of a mass of low evergreen trees or shrubs planted about six feet from the walk; and from the foot-walk gate to the carriage gate with a hedge of Siberia arbor-vitee planted two feet from the fence. Between this hedge and the pear tree, at the intersection of the walks, there will be room enough for the following: mugho pine (P. mughus), the dwarf white pine (P. s. compacta), the Ceph- alotaxus fortunit mascula, the conical yew (Zaxus erecta), the golden yew (Zaxus aurea), the golden arbor-vite (Zhwa aurea), Sargent’s hemlock (Ades canadensis inverta), and the weeping juniper (¥. oblonga pendula). By alternating the dark and light colored foliage of these evergreen shrubs, placing the dark ones * AND GROUNDS. ee 74 F farther from the walk than the light ones, they will form an in- teresting border, and in time a dense screen. Fifteen feet from the end of the veranda towards the front street, and twelve feet from the walk, a pine tree is indicated. This may be either the common white pine, or the more beautiful Bhotan pine, if one is willing to risk the permanence of the latter ; —unless the soil of the locality is such that neither of these pines will develop its beauty—in which case we would substitute either Nordmanns fir (Picea nordmaniana), or some deciduous tree which branches low. This tree is placed for the purpose of breaking the view from the street to the veranda, so that persons sitting in the latter will have a partial privacy from the street passers. If the soil is deeply fertile, and not too dry, the A/agnolia soulangeana may be substituted for the pine, in climates not more severe than that of New York city ; while further north the double white-flower- ing horse-chestnut, allowed to branch low, is admirably adapted to the position. ‘The white birch, in front of the centre line of the house, should be the cut-leaved weeping variety, which is too beautiful and appropriate to the place to allow anything else to be substituted for it. The tree in front of the other corner of the house, in the climate just mentioned, may be the Magnolia machrophylla; in the northern States, any one of the following: the red-flowering, or double white-flowering horse-chestnut, purple- leaved beech, grape-leaved linden, the sugar, red-bud, Norway or sycamore maple (especially the gold-leaved variety of the latter), the oak-leaved mountain ash, or the tulip tree. While the tree is young a group of shrubs may be planted on an irregular line with the side of the house, so that the tree will form its centre, as shown on the plan. The position of two magnolias on the left may be determined by reference to the scale. In a region too cold, or a soil too thin or dry for the magnolias, we would substitute a group of three beeches—the weeping beech in the centre, the cut- leaved nearest the house, and the purple-leaved nearest the street. It will be observed that this side of the lot connects quite openly with the adjoining lot—-having few trees or shrubs on the margin. If there is no division fence, or only a light and nearly invisible one, and that lot is pleasingly improved, the views across it from 172 PLANS OF RESIDENCES the parlor and dining-room windows will exhibit a generous expan- sion of lawn which it is desirable to secure ; and it will probably include in the view from them some embellishments which this place has not. If, however, there is anything unsightly in the neighbor lot, or any unfriendly disposition on the part of its owner that induces him to ignore the advantage of mutual views over each other’s lawns, and to fence or plant.to prevent it, that side may then be filled with masses of shrubbery in a manner similar to that shown on the left of Plate IV. The group G, at the left, may be planted from the street to the pine with the strong growing old shrubs—lilacs, weigelas, honey- suckles, syringas, deutzias, etc., etc. Under, or rather near, the white or Austrian pine (the former pine if the soil is sandy, the latter if it is clayey), plant almost any of the yews, the Sargent hemlock, the Aypericum kalmianum and H. prolificum, the tree- box variety angustifolia, and the variegated-leaved elder, all of which flourish in the shade of other trees. At the upper extreme of the group plant the pendulous Norway spruce, Adzes excelsa inverta; eight feet behind it the common Norway spruce, and between this and the pine the Chinese cypress, Glypto-strobus sinensis pendula, and some of the evergreen shrubs just named. The belt of hemlocks against the fence, opposite the dining- room bay-window, is to be terminated at the front by a slender weeping silver-fir, Picca pectinata pendula. ‘The trees at the two corners of the dining-room bay are intended for Irish junipers, or the weeping juniper, ¥. oblonga pendula. Other trees and shrubs are designated on the plan, and need no explanation. There are many small flower-beds on the plan, and one quite large rose-bed in the middle of the front at F. The latter is to have an elegant rose-pillar, or a substantial trellis in the centre, with groups of roses of varieties graded to diminish in size to the points. Or, if preferred, this may be a group of evergreens with the slender weeping silver-fir for a centre, and lower trees and dwarfs around it, so as to form the same figure of a cross. This will, in time, be more beautiful throughout the greater part of,the year than the rose-bed, but the latter can be made far more brilliant in summer. Yet the rude, briary appearance of rose- oer d1eQ YorESsy, wee AGHi. Tae Wien vor thy i alalinl cH Raspherry & Blaskberry horder tity Bai, aay lait ep Sn geet Mie a Ban ao & % a bx ¥ ie] eS es Ass, {e] [-) AND GROUNDS. 13" bushes, after the leaves fall, is a serious objection to them when compared with the cheerful elegance of a well-formed evergreen group at all seasons of the year. The other flower-beds are small, and of the simplest forms. Beds 1, 1, 1, 1 should be filled in spring with bulbous flowers, and later with verbenasy portulaccas, Lhlox drummondi, escholtzias, or similar Jow plants. Beds 2, 2 may have three geraniums in each, the largest variety in the middle. Beds 3 and 5, in the wall-corners, should have some little evergreen vines, say English or Irish ivies, planted in the extreme corner, with heliotrope and mignonette around them. Bed 4 may be planted as suggested in the description of Plate VIII. Beds 6, 6, 6, 6 may be filled with four varieties of cannas of about equal height ; 7,7, and g with low bulbs in spring, and later with gladiolii in the centre and petunias or other flowers of similarly brilliant and abundant bloom, around them. Bed 8 to have a mountain-of- snow geranium, or a Wigandia caracasana in the centre, and three robust plants of Colleus verschafelti on the points ; 10 is a mass of cannas ; 11 may be a bed of hollyhocks, with a tall sort in the centre, and low varieties around it. We have merely suggested the flowers for the various beds as a starting-point for persons unfa- miliar with flowers. Most intelligent ladies, as well as gardeners, are more familiar with flower culture than with any other garden- ing art, and will be able to vary the beds from year to year, and to improve on the selections here given. They will also learn by experiment, better than they can be told, the best materials to use in embellishing with flowers and wreathing leaves, the vases near the entrance steps. yeaa XS A Simple Plan for Planting an Interior Lot two hundred feet front and three hundred feet deep. This plan represents a large mansion on an in-lot two hundred feet front by three hundred feet deep. Plate XI is the same house and lot treated more elaborately. The same differences, carried out on a larger scale, may be observed between these two plans of 174 PLANS OF RESIDENCES grounds, as between those of Plates VIII and IX ; the one here described having a less extent of drive, walks, and ornamental plantations than the plan shown by Plate XI. All the surround- ings are supposed to be the same, and the different modes of laying out the grounds are meant to represent simply the different tastes or means of occupants. Here the proprietor is supposed to desire grounds of the most simple character, which will be at the same time suitable to the mansion and the lot. The entrance road, turnway, and drive to the stable are the most direct and simple that can be made ; and they constitute also the only entrance walks to the house. Ninety feet of the rear of the lot is devoted to utilities, viz.: to carriage-house conveniences, to a kitchen- garden, and an orchard ; the ground in the latter being also de- voted to culture for small fruits and vegetables until the fruit trees are large enough to shadow the whole ground. ‘The front two hundred and ten feet, is all devoted to the house and its ground embellishments. The drive is ten feet in width ; the circle around which it turns is thirty feet in diameter. An avenue of three elm trees on each side of the entrance-drive are its only decorations, though the street-trees in a line with them will give it the appear- ance of an avenue of eight instead of six trees. In the centre of the circle a pine tree is designated—to be a white pine if the soil is sandy, otherwise an Austrian. These trees are chosen because they are of rapid and healthy growth, and cast their lower branches as they grow large, so that the lawn beneath them, while it is deeply shadowed, is not destroyed, and the view under the branches is unobstructed. This will be rather an objection than a merit with those persons who desire the main entrance to be quite secluded and concealed from view. We would recommend for them that the circle be planted with a group of firs, whose branches rest upon the ground during all stages of their growth, and would eventually cover the whole circle with an impene- trable mass of foliage. A single Norway spruce planted in the centre will do this. So, probably, would a Nordmanns fir, Picea nordmaniana. While these trees are small, the borders of the circle (supposing it to be desirable to shut out the view of the _ approach road from the porch) may be planted, four feet from the AND GROUNDS. Blinds road, with quick growing deciduous shrubs, such as bush honey- suckles, lilacs, weigelas, deutzias, etc., which can be removed when the centre tree begins to crowd them. Or, with one of the same large evergreens in the centre, a gardenesque border may be formed around the circle with single specimens of rare dwarf evergreens, planted four feet from the road. Doubtless the noblest feature of such a turn circle is a single great spreading tree like a mature white oak or American chestnut, and if the pro- prietor appreciates the pleasures of hope, and desires the greatest simplicity of effect, he had better plant the latter. We have seen specimens of the American chestnut of colossal size, which men now living remember as sprouts. A Jot so large as this must needs have a ground-plan of the planting made on a large scale, and as it is extremely difficult to carry out any system of planting for such a place from a verbal description, we shall not attempt to describe in detail all the materials that form the plantation, but make merely a rough inventory of its properties. Though it is an in-lot, and in the main designed without connection with adjoining lots, from which it is shown to be separated by high fences or walls and shrubbery to within sixty or seventy feet of the street, yet on this front space we have left openings on each side for connections with adjoining grounds. Back of this, each side of the lot is bounded by screens of evergreens. On the right of the drive to the carriage-house is a cold grape-house. The house-front is supposed to be to the east, so that this grapery has a southern exposure. It may seem to have no border for the roots of the grape vines, if it is supposed that the road in its front has been made by excavating all the good soil and substituting broken stone and gravel only. But we would not have this done. For a road-bed, or for a grape border, the drainage must be equally deep and effective. That being secured we would make the road-bed of the best grape soil, and pave over it with stone, after the “ Belgian” and “ Medina” pave- ment manner, at least as far as the length of the grape house ; using no more sand or gravel than is necessary to bed or fill in between the stone. Of course this bed will rise and fall by the freezing and thawing of the soil beneath, but this will do no 176 PLANS OF RESIDENCES harm. The rich soil of the pavement-bed will also start vegeta- tion between the stones, but on so narrow a road, in constant use, the extra labor required to keep the surface clean is inconsidera- ble. On the other hand the pavement acts as a cooling mulch in summer and the contrary in winter—it equalizes both the tem- perature and moisture of the roots, and by the reflection of heat from its surface, adds to the heating power of the sun’s rays in maturing the grapes within. Were the road-bed not made suitable feeding ground for the roots of the vines within, such a position for a grapery would of course be impracticable ; but when thus pre- pared it becomes the most advantageous for the production of good grapes, as well as convenient of access. Beyond the cold grape- house the fence is made use of for training hardy grape vines. On the left is a bed designed for growing Delaware grapes on stakes, at first, with the intention of making them eventually into self- sustaining low trees. On and near the garden-walk from the back veranda are also .trellises and an arbor for hardy grapes. A row of seven cherry trees planted one hundred feet from the back line of the lot forms a sort of dividing line between the decorative and the utilitarian parts of the lot. The orchard-rows back of it, when the trees are well-grown, will, however, add much to the pleasant character of the vistas from the front street, and need not be out of harmony with the groupings on the lawn in front of them. While the trees are small, and the ground cultivated in garden crops, it may be desirable to have a grape-trellis or an arbor-vitee hedge-screen midway between the rows of cherry and pear trees, or a bed of tall and massy annuals ; but after ten years the effect will be better if there is no division between the lawn and the orchard. PrArE Xe A Flan for a First Class Suburban Home on a Lot two hundred feet Sront and three hundred feet deep. This plan differs from the coundry residence of a retired citizen in this, that it is a home which does not include orchards, pastures, and meadows, but is devoted to the development of sylvan beauty ae Plate XI - Manure yard & Archery = | ERATURE ERM AND GROUNDS. nuded rather than pecuniary utilities, or farm conveniences. It is a suita- ble home for a family of cultivated people, with ample means, and rural tastes. The orchard which takes an important place in the preceding plan is here omitted, to make a more extensive lawn and a fine pleasure-walk. ‘The entrance-drive is more expensive than in the preceding plan, and a side entrance walk is added. In dispensing with an orchard we have endeavored to introduce in other places enough fruit trees to supply the family with those kinds of fruit which it is most indispensable to have on one’s own place. It will be seen that there are four cherry trees on the north (right) side of the house ; four pear trees along the border leading to the carriage- house, three more on the left-hand border of the kitchen-garden, and four peach trees. Some of the groups in other parts of the grounds may now and then include a fruit tree. Apple and pear trees, Siberian crabs and quinces, which harmonize well with some of the purely ornamental trees, may be introduced in sufficient numbers in this way to furnish a good supply of summer fruits. The north fence back of the evergreen-screen is a continuous trellis for hardy grapes. Grape trellises also occupy the ends of two divisions of the kitchen-garden back of the house. If a grape- house is added, it may occupy either the place indicated on the preceding plan, or be built with its back to the walk on the left of the garden, and facing the left. In this case a few of the trees there would be omitted, and a slight change made in the arrange- ment beyond. Raspberries can be grown in abundance on the border next the back fence, strawberries under the growing fruit trees, and currants on the walks where designated. The kitchen- garden is certainly small for so fine a place, being but 60 x 80 feet, including the central-walks ; but this space, if well used for those things only which can be better grown than bought, will produce a greater amount of vegetables than many persons sup- pose ; and in addition to this space permanently dedicated to such things, room will be found for many years on the borders and among the young trees of a plantation to grow many vegetables which are by no means unsightly. In fact, such plants as beets, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, and sea-kale, all of which have foliage 12 178 PLANS OF RESIDENCES of great beauty and are of low growth, can occasionally be grown to advantage, to cover ground which needs cultivation, in places where they will fill in with as good effect as flowering annuals. A good gardener can also grow strawberries with profit in young shrubbery plantations, where their presence will not be noticed. Let us now suppose ourselves in the street on the side-walk at A. From that corner the house and grounds will be seen to good advantage, but the finest lines of view on the latter will be obtained further to the right. At the point B, the whole length of the lawn to the evergreen boundaries and shrubby groups of the croquet and archery ground is an unbroken expanse, margined on the left by varied groups of trees with clear stems, whose shadows fleck, but do not interrupt the view ; behind these, masses of large flowering shrubs form continuous bays and projections of foliage that rest upon the lawn; while on the right, in the distance, glimpses of the pleasure-walk, now open, now lost to sight behind verdant arches and projecting groups, and nearer, the long vine- covered front of the veranda, and the light colors of many flower- beds in dark bays or on open lawn—altogether, will give from this point of view an impression of beauty and extent not often realized on less than an acre and a half. Nor will the view be less pleasing from the main entrance at C, for from this point the trees and the shrubbery on the left are seen to better advantage, and the evergreen groups, summer-house, and flower-beds of the far corner come into view. From D and E the views are shorter, but take in a variety of groups and single trees which will be more or less interesting according to the choice of materials in planting, and the luxuriance with which they are grown. Glimpses may also be seen from these points of the long lawn and the flower- beds on the south side of the house. At F, over the gateway, we would have a hemlock arch like some of those shown in Chapter XIV. Standing under this arch, narrow openings between shrubs and trees give a glimpse directly in front, margined by low beds of flowers, of the fruit trees and vines that border the drive down to the carriage-house front ; which should, of course, be designed to form a pleasing centre of this vista. The views will also be pleas- ing in every direction as one walks along towards the house. On piss Plate XIL N . —— RLSM aS = = — —$<—< Ti leat er sable’ hei Uh GA 7 RAUL DET Tes Bae sista H % Sede Man ure H th Wedntinas Rasy, defi tihihatts «sah Cow Wood » J “= ! Rubbish Coal oe [ vard S ¥ ri c a PAROS OTA Pe Area | pea Grape borden Leela a Ba ee aa Croquet n nN ground AND GROUNDS. 179 the line G, H, between thirty and forty feet from the street, an open line of lawn is maintained with a view to reciprocity of vistas with the smaller front grounds of adjoining neighbors. As remarked of the preceding plan, this design embraces too much for verbal description, and should be planted after a well- considered working plan. But there is one small feature to which we would call attention, viz.: the triangular piece between the entrance-road and turn-ways. This is marked to be planted with fir trees, to grow into a dense mass, in order to counteract as far as possible, by its shadows and the depth of its verdure, the bare exposure of the surrounding roads. The centre tree should be the Norway spruce, and the others surrounding it, hemlocks. A careful examination of the plan will, we trust, supersede the necessity of any further description. hous DIO An Inside Lot one hundred feet front, and one hundred and sixty feet deep. Reference was made to this plate in descriptions of Plates VIII and IX, the house-plan and the lot, in form and size, being nearly the same; this plan being an in-lot with no carriage-house and stable, and the others being corner lots with these conveniences. The lot here represented is supposed to have an alley on the rear end, and to front on the south side of an east and west street. This gives the bay-window front of the house a northern exposure. A great advantage, in the outlook from the windows, results from this exposure, viz.: that one sees the sunny-side of all the shrubbery in the front grounds, and thus has the satisfaction of finding his verdant pets always in a smiling humor. The house is sixty feet from the front street, and about the same depth in the rear end of the lot is devoted to the kitchen- garden, fruits, and cow, wood and coal-house; this part be- ing separated from the part devoted to lawn by a grape-trellis and border. Near the street the neighbors’ lots are supposed iso PLANS OF RESTDEN CES to offer satisfactory openings where indicated by the upper dotted lines on each side. The groups of shrubbery are placed so as to illustrate many of the suggestions of the rules given in Chapter XI. No long vista of lawn is possible, but the groups and single specimens of shrubs or dwarf trees, with a few bedding- plants and flower-beds, if properly chosen, and planted in con- formity with the plan, and well grown, will hardly fail to make a yard of superior attractiveness ; especially pleasing as seen from the bay-windows ;—the arrangement having been made with reference to the effect from them. Description —Let us begin at the front-entrance gate, from which a walk four feet wide leads straight to the veranda entrance, and a walk three feet in width to the kitchen entrance. On each side the front gate arbor-vitee trees (the Siberian) are desig- nated, with low masses of evergreen shrubs between them and the fence. An opening to a straight walk like this is especially appropriate for a verdant arch, and if the proprietor has the patience to grow one, the substitution of the hemlock for the arbor- vitae is recommended. For an arch, the trees should not be planted more than two feet away from the walk. The only large trees on this plan are a pair of maples, about twelve feet, diagonally, from the corners of the veranda and main house respectively ; a white or Austrian pine on the right border, four cherry trees in the right-side yard, and the pear trees in the kitchen-garden department. The maples may be the purple- leaved, and the golden-leaved varieties of the sycamore maple. A hemlock screen or hedge bounds the croquet ground on the south ; at the corner are a few Norway spruces ; next, in front, a group of arbor-vitees ; then a.continuous hedge of the same for twenty feet, terminated by a group of arbor-vites and yews chosen to exhibit contrasts of color. The group on the left, between the upper dotted lines, is to be composed of a variety of strong growing common shrubs, with a Lawson’s cypress or a Nordmanns fir, or the Chinese cypress, Giypto-strobus sinensis, where the symbol of the arbor-vite is shown. Towards the street from that tree we would put in ever- green shrubs only. AND GROUNDS. 181 The lilac group in front may embrace all the finest varieties of that family—the common white and Charles the Tenth varieties near the centre ; the chionanthus-leaved next towards the house ; the Chinese red, Rothamagensis rubra, next; the Persian white, Fersica alba, next; the dwarf, Syringa nana, at the point ; and the Chinese purple and white for the two wings of the group. Near the fence we would plant a few common bush honeysuckles, as the dust from the street has a less injurious effect on their foliage than on that of the lilacs. The central front group, to the right of the lilac group, may be :—a purple fringe tree nine feet from the fence, and in succes- sion from it, towards the house, the pink-flowering honeysuckle, Lonuera grandiflora, five feet from the fringe tree ; the Deutzia cre- nata rubra, four feet further ; and at the point, the Deutza gracilis, four feet from the latter. The shrub on the right may be Gordon’s flowering currant. The single small trees on each side the entrance, twelve feet from the front, and fifteen feet from the middle of the walk, may be, one the weeping silver-fir, and the other the weeping Norway spruce, grown as slenderly as possible. ‘The shrubs towards the fence, under and next to the fir tree on the right, may be hardy varieties of dwarf evergreens or a bed of mahonias. The group in the right-hand corner may have at its point towards the house a bed for cannas, or other showy-leaved plants ; next to it the Chinese purple magnolia ; back of that the AZagnolia soulangeana, grown low, or a weeping Japan sophora, and between it and the front, a bed of rhododendrons, or two or three mugho pines; the projecting shrub on the left to be the dwarf white pine, P. strobus compacta. The side border, under and near to the large pine, we would have a bed of rhododendrons ; next to these, towards the street, the evergreen shrub, Cephalotaxus fortuni mascula, and for the point in front of it, the golden yew. Along the fence, above the pine, the border may be composed of the finest collection of hardy ever- green shrubs that the proprietor can afford ; or, if they are too expensive, or too long in developing their beauties, the border may be made almost as satisfactory with common deciduous shrubs. 182 PLANS OF RESIDENCES w The groups in front of the veranda, between the cherry trees, and those against the house, may be composed of shrubs which are family favorites, or with annual and perennial flowering plants of graded sizes. ‘The flower-beds adjacent to the main walk are for low-growing plants only. The two small bushes behind the flower-beds nearest the gate are to be, one the golden arbor-vite, and the other the golden yew ; and in the rear of the next flower- bed on the right, an Irish juniper is intended. Between the bay- windows a weeping juniper, ~ oblonga pendula, or the weeping Norway spruce, Adies e. iverta, may be planted, or the bed may be occupied as described for Plate VIII. The beds directly in front of the bay-windows can be different each year, with such plants as some of the medium-sized cannas, the Wigandia caracasana, the (Vicoteana atropurpurea grandifiora, and the Japanese maize for the centre plant, and round, bushy-headed plants, like the geraniums and the Coleus verschafelti, for the projecting parts of the beds. . Since the engraving has been completed, we perceive that the kitchen department of this lot—that back of the grape-trellis— might be more advantageously planned, but as we cannot now correct it, the reader’s ingenuity must be exercised to improve it. lear MOUUE A Flan of the Grounds for a Commodious House with a side-entrance porch, on an Inside Lot having a front of one hundred and sixty Jeet on the street, and a depth of three hundred and eight feet. The front of the main veranda of the house is seventy feet from the street ; the distance from the porch-front to the side of the lot is sixty-five feet, and the space between the house and the right-hand side of the lot is forty feet. This is a very desirable form of lot. It allows of a long reach of lawn on the entrance-side, and sufficient openness on all sides to be in keeping with so large a house ; while there is ample room for stable and carriage-house conveniences, fruit trees, and a vegetable garden. Plate XMl Manure SALsLIVYIN] TF , Pun _ Sanlagdeny : yi Yard a Drying en) ra 100 ft. OS 90 80 AND GROUNDS. 183 This is the first plan that shows a residence with its carriage- porch and main entrance on the side—an arrangement that econo- mizes space to great advantage on narrow lots, and enables the architect to have more liberty in the arrangement and exposure of the principal rooms, and to make more pleasing views from their windows over-the grounds.* It will be seen that the turn-way of the carriage-road is partly back of the house, around a circular grass plat twenty feet in diameter, in the centre of which is a pine tree. The drive turns close to the back veranda, where a platform-step is provided for easy ingress and egress from carriages. ‘This is likely to be the carriage-porch of the family when unaccompanied by friends. Beyond the turn, the road is straight along the trellised boundary of the kitchen-garden, and widens with abundant space in front of the carriage-house. Near the rear of the lot are a few cherry and peach trees ; back of the drying-yard and kitchen are others. A row of pear trees on the left of the main drive are enough to furnish a summer and autumn supply of this delicious fruit; while in other portions of the grounds, apples and crab- apple trees may be introduced as parts of groups. Of the small fruits the garden plan shows an ample provision. The purely decorative portion of the place may be in part de- scribed as follows:—beginning at the carriage-entrance. This starts from the middle of the opening between two street trees, and is flanked on either side simply by a pair of trees of any fine variety of elms or maples, chestnuts, horse-chestnuts, oaks or beeches, to be planted ten feet from the fence, and the same distance from the drive. While they are young the ground for a radius of six feet around them should be kept in cultivation, and planted on its outer margin with such deciduous shrubs as flowering-currants, purple berberries, variegated-leaved elder, privet, glossy-leaved viburnum, common bush honeysuckles, or whatever else will grow in partial shade, not exceeding six or seven feet in height, and with branches bending to the grass. When the trees are ten or fifteen years * We cannot commend this house plan as particularly adapted to the lot. The plan for the grounds grew up around the house as athing already fixed. The latter is designed to meet the wants of a man of “‘ bookish” tastes, as well as wealth, who needs a fine library-room separate from the family room. 184 PLANS OF RESIDENCES planted, all these must be removed. Or the groups of. shrubbery around these trees may be composed entirely of rhododendrons if the proprietor can afford it. The group to the left, adjoining the neighbor-lot, is intended as a continuation of the group around the left-hand gateway tree, and may be composed of similar shrubs of larger growth. The two small pine trees farther up on the left, marked 1, are to be the mugho and dwarf white pines—the latter towards the house. The group of shrubs (2) between these and the carriage-way, and near the latter, should be choice small hardy evergreens—say, for the centre, the weeping juniper, F% oblonga pendula, or the erect yew, Zaxus erecta; each side of this, on a line parallel with the road, and three feet from the centre, the golden arbor-vite, and the golden yew; at the ends, and three feet from the latter, plant the dwarf silver-fir, Picea pectinata compacta, and the dwarf spruce, Ades gregoriana. Outside the line of these, and midway of the spaces between them, plant the pygmy spruce, the dwarf black spruce, the dwarf Swedish juniper, the juniper repanda densa, the trailing juniper repens, and the Daphne cneorum. ‘The first pair of fir trees on the left, next the fence (3), may be, one the Norway, and the other the oriental spruce. The border along the fence is to be of hemlocks ; the next pair of firs (4) may be the cephalonian fir, nearest the fence, and the Nord- manns fir ten feet in advance of it. The pine tree (5) opposite the bay-window of the room marked S, is improperly placed there. It should be fifteen feet further towards the front of the lot; and is intended for the Bhotan pine. The two small trees on the left (6), opposite the turn-circle, are a pair of Judas trees. The group of four trees next the fence (7) may be a pair of sassafras in the middle ; a weeping Japan sophora nearest the house, and the white-flowering dogwood farthest from the house. An _ under- growth nearest to the fence may be made with the red-twigged dog- wood, Cornus alba, the flowering-currants, and the variegated-leaved elder ; and the border continued to the rear corner with common and well-known shrubs. No. 8 is for a Kolreuteria paniculata, connected by overarching shrubs with the side-border,; 9 is a weeping beech ; ro, 10, masses of hemlocks ; the tree in the far corner an Austrian pine; 11 a white pine, and behind it an AND GROUNDS. 185 Austrian pine; and hemlocks and white pines fill the border towards the carriage-house. On the right of the lawn the fruit trees are sufficiently symbol- ized. At 12,a purple beech; at 13, a group of the choicest shrubs increasing in size as they recede from the house. For the point nearest the carriage-road the Andromeda floribunda is well suited ; eighteen inches behind it the Deutza gracilis; the same distance from that, two plants side by side and one foot apart from the A/o- dodendron roseum eegans ; then pairs of plants of rhododendrons in the following order, A. album candidissima, R. grandiflorum gloriosum ; and beyond them, for the end of the bed, Sargent’s hemlock, or the pendulous Norway spruce, 4. ¢. imverta; or, the weeping silver-fir, Picea p. pendula. ‘The group at the turn of the carriage-road, and on a line with the pear trees, may be com- posed of any good common shrubs of large size, being careful to place those which grow bare at the bottom in the rear of those whose foliage bends gracefully to the ground. The bed adjoining the rear veranda is for the choice small pet-flowers of the lady of the house, whatever they may be. On the front, the large tree to the right of the carriage-road, nearest the house, is intended for the cut-leaved weeping birch, or a pair of them planted but a few feet apart. At 14 may bea single plant of the old red tartarian honeysuckle, grown in rich ground and allowed to spread upon the lawn. At 15, on the end towards the house, a Japan weeping sophora grafted not more than seven feet high ; in the middle, on the side towards the street, the Andromeda arborea; and on either side of that the Deutzias crenata alba, and Crenata rubra. At 16, towards the house, the broad-leaved strawberry tree Hvonymus latifo- dius; on the left of the group the Wegela rosea; four feet to the right of it the Weigela amadatis; four feet to the right again, the Weigela arborea grandiflora; and at the right end of the group, the great-leaved snow-ball, Viburnum machrophyllum; and between these and the strawberry tree, the dwarf snow-ball, 7- burnum anglicum. At 17 plant the great-leaved magnolia, JZ. machrophyllum. At 18 we would make a flat pine tree arch over the gateway, as suggested in Chapter XIV. At 19 is a bed of 186 PLANS OF RESIDENCES. shrubs that should be always in high condition, as it is conspicu- ous from every point of view. We will suggest for its point nearest the house the Sfirea callosa alba; then the Deutzia gra- cilis ; next, two feet from the former, the Spzrea reevesi flore plena ; next (in the middle line of the bed), the Sperea callosa fortunit, with a Daphne cneorum on each side of it to cover its nakedness near the ground ; and for the end of the bed nearest the entrance-gate, the Chinese red, or the Chinese purple magnolia. Or this bed may be filled with evergreen shrubs or shrubby trees alone, as follows: for the point nearest the house, the Daphne cneorum ; near, and behind it, the Andromeda floribunda ; next, two feet from the former, a pair of rhododendrons, Roseum elegans and Album can- didissima ; next, in the middle, a single rhododendron, g/oriosum, with a rhododendron, everestianum, on each side of it ; next, in the centre line of the bed, the Cephalotaxus fortunit mascula; and for the end of the bed next the street the golden yew, or the golden arbor-vite. No. 20 is the weeping juniper, Od/onga pendula ; 21 is a grand rose-bed; 22, a belt of common shrubs; 23, an Irish juniper; 24, a Swedish juniper; 25, Siberian arbor-vites, con- tinued as a high hedge around to 26, where it is terminated by a Nordmanns fir. In the centre of the semicircle which this hedge is intended to describe, and on a line with the centre of the dining- room, is to be an elegant vase for flowers ; and four circular beds for low brilliant flowers are intended to make the view from the bay-window more pleasing. The very small shrubs at the corners of that bay-window represent Irish junipers. The flower-beds in this plan need not be described in detail. Quite a number of vases are marked on the plan, but they are not essential to the good effect of the planting, though pleasing addi- tions if well chosen and well filled. | Fig. 43 is a view of the house on this plan, taken from a point on the street line fifty or sixty feet to the left of this lot, looking across a portion of the neighbor-lot, and its light division fence. The architect having kindly furnished a sketch of the house with- out any reference to the grounds, we have endeavored to sketch the sylvan features as shown on the ground-plan, from the same point of view ; but it is quite impossible in small engravings to do Bice Ain: ages sid Wu Bi 188 PLANS OF RESIDENCES justice to the pleasing effects of such plantations. Photographic views occasionally give exquisite effects of parts of embellished grounds, but even these fail to convey a correct impression of the accessories of the central point of view. It is quite certain that a place planted (and well kept) in the manner indicated by this plate and description, will be far prettier than any picture of it that can be engraved. PLaTES XIV anp XV. Two Methods of Planting a small Corner Lot. In these two plates we desire to illustrate two modes of treat- ing a village corner lot of fifty feet front, where the small depth of the lot, or other circumstances, requires the house to be placed quite near the front street. ‘The house plans resemble each other in form, though it will be seen that the one on Plate XIV is set but five steps above the level of the ground, and has its kitchen and dining-room on the main floor, while the plan on Plate XV is a city basement house, with kitchen and dining-room under the bed-room and parlor, the main floor being raised ten steps above the street. The two ground plans (by which we mean plans of the grounds) differ essentially in this, that the first has one side- wall of the house directly on the street, so as to throw its narrow Strip of lawn, and embellishments, on the inside of the lot, away from the side-street ; while on Plate XV the entire length of the house on that side is supposed to be a party-wall, as if it were part of a block, or one of a pair of houses. GrounD PLAN oF PLATE XIV.—The veranda front is but eight feet from the street. Unless the approach-steps are of a character less plain than those shown on the plan, little can be done to decorate this narrow space. The veranda can be covered with vines, and a strip three feet wide in front of it may be de- voted to choice flowers; but we would advise to have nothing there but the vines and the lawn. On each side the steps we would plant either the tree-box, the golden yew; the golden arbor- STREET. SIDE » Plate XIV Paved Yard x s Sh Dee SAAT NT ge t MMi er SSSSSSSF SS | Dining Room ZA Yd Wc pea > 2 dq SSE AO eeermeeeeeneeres SS Sy SSSI Bed Room ae Uy, 7 WWW: | Bee ae | SAME | } LMLLEME LLL UMW » TTT LW if ee: 0 2 4 6 8 0 12 1% 16 % 30 Scale 16 feet 1 Inch. Gj a 8 FRONT STREET. a ’ ag Be oh atin iy" a uae AND GROUNDS. 189 vita, or the arborescent English ivy. If the front were to the north or east, and the soil a moist, friable loam, a very elegant sylvan arch might be made in time by planting six hemlock trees ; two in the corners just described, and four inside the gate—two on each side, and but a foot apart, as shown by the dots at a, a. Two of these could be made to grow into an arch over the gate, and the others to form two arches at right angles to the first, on each side of the walk. This would only be practicable, however, in case the town authorities will allow the trees nearest the gate to develop into the street ; but with four feet additional width in front of the veranda, it would be feasible without such privilege. In the left corner of the front, a Siberian arbor-vita screen is intended. The veranda on the left is intended to be partially inclosed between the posts with lattice-work, and covered with vines—there being just room enough between the veranda-founda- tion and the street liné for the protection of their roots. Let us now turn to the narrow lawn-strip on the right ; a space but twenty feet wide and seventy feet deep to the arch-entrance of the grape-arbor and kitchen-garden on a line with the rear of the house. Midway of this strip the bay-window projects. The two objects to be kept in view in laying out this bit of a lawn are, first, to make the most pleasing out-look from the bay- window ; and, second, the most pleasing in-look from the street. It is assumed that there is no desirable connection to be made with the lot on the right, so that a fence necessarily bounds the view on that side. We must suppose also that there is no house built, or likely to be built, up to that line, otherwise it would not be sensible to place the house on the street-side of the lot, but rather in the manner shown by Plate XV. The close fence, back to opposite the bay-window, should be covered with English ivy if it can be made to grow there. Unless the exposure is due south, there ought to be little difficulty in getting the ivy to cover the fence if the owner will take the trouble to have it thatched over with straw on the approach of winter, and the base well mulched. A fence in such a place, if of wood, must be a neat piece of work, and well painted. Ivy will not creep up painted wood. We would therefore make a kind of 190 PLANS OF RESIDENCES trellis from post to post on the inside of the fence, and put down small sticks with the bark on, by the side of the ivy roots. These should be inside the trellis-bars, and reach nearly to the top of the fence, and be fastened there. The plants will readily climb these sticks and soon hide them from sight. In a few seasons, if they have been safely preserved through the first winter,* the branch- ing arms of the ivy will extend over the bars of the trellis, and by their radiating growth soon weave a self-sustaining wall of verdure. By the time the barky sticks decay, the ivy will have no need of their support. ‘This ivy-wall being the right flank of our little lawn, it is essential that it be well planted. At the street front of this lawn are two Siberian arbor-vites 4, 4, shown on the plan of a size they are likely to attain in about five years after planting. Doubtless at first these alone will leave the front too open, but in ten years they will be all this part of the place will require. To return to the lawn: ¢ is the weeping juniper, 7 oblonga pendula; ad, an Irish juniper; ¢, a pendulous Norway spruce, Abies e. inverta; f, a golden arbor-vite ; g, the weeping silver-fir, Picea pectinata pendula; on one side of the latter may be planted the dwarf silver-fir, Picea pectinata compacta, and on the other the Picea hudsonica. The dotted circle projecting into the lawn in front of the arbor-vitee is for any showy bulbous or bedding-plants which will not spread much beyond the limits of the bed. At 4, plant Parson’s American arbor-vitee, Zhuwja occidentalis compacta ; at z, another pendulous Norway spruce ; in front of it a vase ; at /, &, and /, three bushy rhododendrons ; or, the golden yew, Zaxus aurea, the erect yew, Taxus erecta, and the juniper, Repanda densa. At m, Sargent’s hemlock, Adies canadensis inverta; n, An- dromeda floribunda and Daphne cneorum. Ato and 2, plant a pair of Deutzia gracilis, or showy bedding plants, or fine conservatory plants in boxes, buried ;—plants of gorgeous foliage to be pre- ferred: back of 0, the weeping arbor-vitee ; at Z, the purple-leaved berberry ; 9, Weigela amabalis ; r, r,r, 7, Irish or Swedish junipers. * The first winter or two, these sticks may be turned down along the fence with the ivy upon them for greater ease in protecting the latter. AND GROUNDS. 191 Near the arch entering the garden, two Bartlett pear trees may be substituted for them; but in this case the grape vines on the trellis will be rendered barren as soon as the trees grow to shade them. As the pear trees will probably furnish the most valuable crop and form a not inappropriate feature, there will be no impro- priety in using them. The plants for the side of the house will depend somewhat on its exposure. The following list will do for any but a north exposure. From ¢, back to the bay-window, a selection of the finest low-growing monthly roses, alternated with Salvia fulgens or splendens, or with any of a thousand beautiful annuals or perennials of low compact growth. At the inner angle of the bay-window a group of five rhododendrons ; 2. grandifiorum in the corner, and four of the best dwarf sorts around it, will be appropriate. Ifthe exposure of this wall is to the north, we would cover it with the superb native of our woods, the Virginia creeper or American ivy. At s, the old bush honeysuckle, Lovicera tar- tarica. Under the middle window of the bay make a narrow bed for mignonette and heliotrope. At 4 the Deutsia crenata alba and crenata rubra flore plena planted side by side so as to intermingle their growth ; at w, the lilac S. rothmagensis ; at w, the variegated- leaved tree-box ; at x, Spireas reevesi flore plena and callosa, together ; at y, the Weigela rosea. ‘This completes a selection for this lawn- border. Different selections as good or better may doubtless be made by persons versed in such matters. While the evergreens recommended for the right-hand border are small, tall gay-blos- somed plants may be used to fill the bed. If the occupant desires a quick and showy return for his planting, the evergreen shrubs which we have named for this fence-border may be too slow in their growth to suit ; and the fine varieties of lilacs, honeysuckles, weigelas, deutzias, spireas, syringas, and snow-balls may be sub- stituted. The veranda that opens from the dining-room has some flowers at its base, vines on its posts, a lilac-bush at z on the right of the steps, and a compact hedge of Siberian arbor-vitas on the left to screen the kitchen-yard from observation. The trees near the gate may in time be made to overarch it. The grape-trellis should finish with an arch over this’ entrance to the garden. The 192 PLANS OF RESIDENCES tree 7, in the garden, is an Irish juniper, which is so slender that its shade is not likely to injure the grape vines. We have considered these grounds too small to introduce any trees, not even fruit trees ; but of small fruits the garden may have a good supply. Piate XV.—There being no bed-room projection on the side of the house, the lawn is seven feet wider than on the preceding design. The house being a city basement plan, with a high porch, the entrance is designed with more architectural completeness. The street margin of the lot is supposed to stand twenty-one inches above the level of the sidewalk, with a stone wall all around, the coping of which is to have its upper side level with the lawn next to it, and to be surmounted by a low iron fence. The front porch (designed for iron) is approached by three stone steps on the street line, landing on a stone platform 4 x 6. The side walls of the steps to the porch form vase pedestals. The walk to the basement is fourteen inches below the level of the lawn, and seven inches above the street sidewalk. At the angles of the basement area wall, the copings are squared for the recep- tion of vases. The rear walk, from the side street, rises by two steps on the street line, so that it will be below the level of the lawn for ten or fifteen feet from the gate. The ground should rise about one foot from the fence to the house. For the benefit of readers not very familiar with the study of house-plans, some explanation may be necessary to an understand- ing of the back-stair arrangement on this plan, which will be found quite simple and convenient. The dining-room being in the basement, broad stairs lead down to it from the main hall. Servants may come up these stairs from the basement, and go into the second story by the back stairs from the passage (which also opens into the library-room) without entering the hall or the living-rooms of the main floor. If it is considered essential to have a direct communication between the bed-room and the basement, a private stairway may be made from the closet, under the back stairway. The library is to have a glazed door (glazed low) to enter the } Sa) Yili MLL TELL, LLL LL ll [LG LALLA y =5 came LILI IL LILLTVD LTD Plate XV. aw ALAC y SS WLLL iS S y SSS WAAR RR y Md LAAULS AdIS 70 12 14 1 18 20 le 16 feet. 1 ireh. 6 & Sea 4 | res if to Se Bae, & aisle A aff ante - Maik! ibe roe ** ry 5 ir 4 ‘at BO, jg ae ‘eke y' ie LUSTY VND alt Chores Se AND GROUNDS. 193 side veranda. Through this a pretty perspective down the garden- walk will be seen. More space being devoted to lawn in the rear of this house than on the preceding plan, three cherry trees are introduced there. The best frontage for this place would be to the north, giving the open side of the house an eastern exposure. A front to the east or the south would not be objectionable, as the side lawn and lookout from the house would still be sunny ; but if the house were to front to the west, then the open side would be to the north— an uncheerful exposure, that ought to be avoided where possible. The verdant embellishment for the ground may be as follows : first, four vases filled with flowers, two by the side of the main steps, and two on the area coping. The former should be the more elegant forms. At a, is an Irish juniper (which should be sct a foot or two farther from the walk) ; at 4, a group consisting of a Lilac rothamagensis in the middle, and the double white and double pink-flowering deutzias on each side of it; or of the Weigela amabalis in the centre, with the common tartarian bush honey- suckle on one side, and the pink-flowering deutzia on the other. These are expected to expand freely over the fence and sidewalk. At ¢, Sargent’s hemlock ; at d, a weeping Norway spruce (zzverta) ; at ¢,a dwarf white pine (compacta) ; at f, the erect yew, Zaxus erecta ; g, g, Parson’s arbor-vite and the golden yew; at 4%, the weeping silver-fir, Picea p. pendula; at 2, the Japan podocarpus, in the climate of Cincinnati, and the golden arbor-vite farther north. At 7, another weeping Norway spruce ; at &, the Cephal- taxus fortunii mascula nearest the street, and the weeping arbor-vitze on the side towards the house. At 4 Nordmanns fir, Picea nord- maniana ; from Z to 0, a screen of Sargent’s hemlock ; m, weeping juniper, ¥. oblonga pendula; n, Siberian arbor-vite ; 0, the pendu- lous red-cedar, $ wirginiana pendula; p, the weeping silver-fir ; g, the weeping Norway spruce, Adzes e. mverta. A hemlock screen to be continued along the street line from g across the walk, so that the two trees nearest the gate may in time form an arch over it. At 7, near the front of the house, may be the dwarf Hudson’s Bay fir, Picea hudsonica, or the low dwarf silver-fir, Picea pectinata compacta, or the slender Irish juniper. The shrubs near 13 194 PLANS OF RESIDENCES the house-wall may be low-growing roses, or rhododendrons alter- nated with the scarlet salvia among them. In the inner angles of the bay-window, if of brick, we would have the English ivy, or the Virginia creeper ; if of wood, then some rhododendron of medium height, and around them at y and z, compact masses of the smallest sorts ; or one side may be more quickly filled with a single pink deutzia, and the other with a tartarian bush honeysuckle. The shrubs at the corner of the rear veranda may be the Chinese sub- evergreen honeysuckle on the post ; a Swedish juniper next to it ; and the erect yew, the golden yew, and the golden arbor-vitee around the juniper. The materials for the flower-beds s, 4, u, v, w, x, need not be specified in detail. The border back of the rear walk represents currant bushes. It might better be a grape-trellis. PLATE XVI. A large Mansion on an In-Lot of two hundred feet front by three hundred and forty feet deep. This house is, in size, much above the average of suburban homes, and the area of the lot is sufficient to harmonize with the mansion-character of the house.* The arrangement of the drive- way is quite simple. The house being placed nearly in the middle of the width of the lot, and the stable, vegetable-garden, and orchard, occupying the rear third of the length of it, there is not an extent of lawn in proportion to the depth of the lot; the ground design being in this respect inferior to that of Plate XI, where a lot forty feet shorter has a lawn much longer. The difference is mainly in the greater extent of the orchard, the vegetable-garden and the stable yard on the plan now under consideration ; and the different positions of the mansion and the stable on the respective * The vignette at the head of Chapter VI is from a drawing of this house, kindly furnished by the architect, R. W. Bunnell, Esq., of Bridgeport, Conn., but the grounds as there shown are not intended to illustrate this plan. Plate ‘XVI. c is Ly ay oye 5S < res and Blackberries. “SILLLGYIVIT PUD SItsaqdsoey SoD) + Orchard PAIN BEES Yard Stable Bia Librar ‘he 200 90 it} _— ; rT dy a cal j ee it ee sat i ‘ola tooce baile) Saat it of Sie entodt tego nol oben Sih Bie nettasiionn” ett tis ion & oO} bovis ei ang Inupe an IG fi sat : progres Hae Sognot 1g n Br: gg Sa 16. fobs unde iv “silo sdb may oa loch stat Bo bastart toa yossibe odk Weds teat vito Sitar Ssltagks i ftore hb Sag. Shgag aie iyqernends ol gan-Thpi's 16.9 f g920% StS Mbit) wilt 12 Aatiok 200) Gat pete sisnemreq 1G _eoare Alea qs te remy. Dru toden as elven? sigue lA. amines ac ah etaigas dnile 3 220 25h) fodidgion Zar aspoewee 10 A pie (tim sabage: ods oh oth, wo”: eroliglvaa: Sind crcl lie Sgethegos ye ht. dSo) fesd brig” Saif toh. penshy gitira bouralg qT: 4a Ses shee AND GROUNDS. 195 lots. The design of Plate XI is for a front to the east; the house is therefore placed near the north side of the lot, the exposures of the principal rooms are to the east, south, and west, and the views out of them are made longer and nobler by thus crowding the house and all its utilitarian appendages towards that side. The present plan is suited to a lot having a frontage to the south, and the plan calls for an equally good exposure for the rooms on both sides of the house. The liberal space allowed for orchard, vegeta- ble-garden and stable-yard necessarily deprives the ground of the fine air that longer and broader stretches of unbroken lawn pro- duce; but each of the principal rooms having exposures differing essentially from the others, the variety of views must atone for their want of extent. The carriage-entrances to this place are shown nearer to the corners than they should be. On so broad a front there should be twenty feet instead of ten, between the drive at the entrances and the nearest part of the adjacent lots. Premising this alteration to be made in the plan, the only change in the planting would be that the trees B, C, and I, J, shall be planted nearer together, and more nearly at right-angles, than parallel, with the front of the lot. The capital letters on the plan are used. to designate the larger class of trees of a permanent character, and the small letters, the shrubs and very small trees. Though this is an in-lot, and generally margined by high fences and close plantations, one opening on each side has been left to give views across neighbor-lots which are supposed to warrant it. If the reader will follow on the plan we will select trees and shrubs as follows: on the left of the left-hand gate as we enter may be a weeping willow, midway between the drive and the ad- joining lot line, and ten feet from the front. The margin, 4, 4, is to be planted with a dense mass of fine common shrubs, or left more open, accordingly as the neighbor-lot at that point is pleas- ing or the reverse. B, is a golden willow ; and C, a weeping birch. All these trees grow with great rapidity. D, may be a weeping beech ; E, a group of three sassafras trees ; F (nearest the house), the Kolreuteria paniculata; F (nearest the street), the purple-leaved sycamore maple; G (northwest of the bed-room), the golden-leaved 196 PLANS OF RESIDENCES sycamore maple ; H (though it is not so marked), we would pre- fer to make a pair of pines, the Austrian and the white, the former in the rear of the latter. The pine tree directly west of the bed- room may be either the white, Austrian, Bhotan, or Pyrenean, the two latter being the most interesting, but of uncertain lon- gevity. Beginning at the right-hand front entrance, J, K, may be Scotch weeping elms, and I, the Scamston elm. The shrubbery at and near the entrance is for effect during the first ten years after planting, and to be removed when the elms shadow that entrance sufficiently. At L, plant a Kolreuterta paniculata; at M, the paulonia; at N and O, weeping birches; at P, the Magnolia machrophylla ; at Q, Nordmanns fir; at R, a Magnolia tripetata ; at S, the weeping beech; at T, a white or Austrian pine; at U, a hemlock screen; at V, a group of Norway spruces. ‘The fruit trees on the plan may be known by their symbols. Of shrubbery and shrubby trees the middle group (unlettered) near the front is the most important, as it is visible from almost every point of view in and near the grounds. Measured on the curved line of its centre, it is fifty feet in length, and may be made an artistic miniature arboretum of choice things, either evergreens or deciduous ; but should be all one or the other, on its upper outline ; though the wder-shrubs may be deciduous and evergreen mingled. In either case its arrangement should be planned, and its materials selected by a skillful gardener. It is impracticable, in the limits of this work, to present the working details for such groups on a scale that can be readily followed ; we therefore merely suggest that the centre should be made with something that will not exceed twenty feet in height at maturity, and the group should diminish in height at the sides, so that the points may be occupied by interesting dwarfs that may be overlooked by persons passing on the sidewalk. The shrubberies at a, and 4, 4, 4, d, d, and ¢, are simply masses of the good old syringas, lilacs, honeysuckles, snow-balls, currants, altheas, and the newer weigelas, deutzias, spireas, and other shrubs, which may be arranged in a hundred different ways to give the foliage and forms of each a good setting. The small tree at ¢ may be the American red- bud « or Judas tree, AND GROUNDS. 197 Cercis canadensis; at f, Magnolia conspicua ; at g, Magnolia mach- ' rophylla; at h, amass of hemlocks ; at z,a pair of weeping Japan sophoras ; and behind them the white-flowering dogwood, the broad-leaved euonymus, and the variegated-leaved elder; at 7, a Norway spruce in front of a hemlock hedge ; at & (near the front veranda), a dwarf white pine in the centre, the Hudson’s Bay fir on one side, and the dwarf silver-fir, Picea pectinata compacta, on the other. While these are small, fill in between them with low com- pact rhododendrons. At 7 and m, Austrian pines headed back from time to time to force a dense growth; at 2, , 2, a belt of hemlocks and arbor-vites ; 0, Sargent’s hemlock ; 4, the weeping juniper, ¥. oblonga pendula, or the Indian catalpa. The shrubbery adjoining the house on the east side may be composed largely of rhododendrons ; on the west side, of shrubs and bedding-plants that flourish in great light and heat. The rose-bed adjoining the front middle group may be omitted without detriment to the plan, and a smaller rose-bed made in the triangle formed by the intersecting branches of the carriage-road, where a vase is marked, for which a rose-post may be substituted. Besides the climbing roses to be planted one on each side of the post, there will be room in this triangle for three compact rose- bushes. The flower-beds and vases shown on the plan need no explana- tion to the intelligent reader. We desire to call the reader’s attention to the fact that this house-plan, and the size and form of the lot, are precisely the same as in Plate XVII, following ; but the lots have different exposures, the houses are placed quite differently on them, and the ground designs are totally changed to suit the circumstances. A com- parison of the two is a good study. 198 PLANS OF RESIDENCES PuatTeE XVII. A large Mansion occupying one end of a Block, with streets on three sides, and an alley on the fourth. Having already called the reader’s attention to the identity of this house-plan with that of Plate XVI, and to the fact that the lots are of the same size and form, but otherwise differently cir- cumstanced, we will briefly sketch the peculiarities of this design. The lot is 200 x 340 feet. It is supposed to be desirable that the house should front on the street that occupies the long side of the lot. The house and stable conveniences occupy so much room, that if the house were thrown back to introduce a carriage-road to the front steps, it would be crowded close to the alley ; and even then the drive would be so short as to belittle the noble char- acter of the house and lot. ‘The mansion is, therefore, placed so far towards the front that its entrance porch is but forty feet from the street; a carriage-road to the front is dispensed with, and a broad straight foot-walk alone conducts to the front steps. The private carriage-entrance is by a straight road from the side street to the steps of the back veranda, and the coach- yard ; and the family can get into their vehicles there, or in front, at their option. For visitors, a landing on the side- walk is quite convenient enough tothe front door for all ordinary occasions. It will be seen at a glance that the distribution and arrange- ment of the useful and the decorative parts of this plan are un- usually convenient and beautiful ; and that a place carried out in conformity to it would produce a more elegant effect, with the same materials and expense, than the plan of Plate XVI. This difference is not to be attributed to the greater street exposure of this plan, or to the different position of the house on the lot, which the surrounding streets necessitate ; but is principally the result of a more happy distribution of the several parts. It would be dificult to plan with greater economy in the use of space. But the form and exposure of the lot on the plate alluded to, will ta) 16} Co) ts} fe fe) fe is F 1) OOL ee COPE TEST RETESET SY Ps fitasehaslasi hides heiatidoea ed Mabe oe 1) 4 Z E E . E 2: Se enreb eect fitter Piper eMC, fled tor erent, rans fia oer fy 3 ie By) 5 | TEESE ara ae SRELARARBADSSAAAAAARARRARADAR SALSA! 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Sina mga od Jom yam sablqeente = ooh, SOT Bt ee : , 5 .»eved Sy ston node Se et Jk ; is 1 el) of SORNm 8 aid postianina oat 7 fin tt “s ved: ree aisvule adt mo /t9 ” di “cel | i eto Shade adi * = JesW 905i 98 30 tt Yc) aden ijoofon: ee a gatwollat ~ithire if) bile 20473 5 on bobs ovat {stig ' =. ee - f ¥ cf “ys ele ie Tf AND GROUNDS. 199 permit of modifications in the arrangement of its parts that for some persons might prove improvements. To offset the greater length of carriage-road which the lot as planned on Plate XVI exhibits, this plan calls for a much greater length of foot-walks. In vegetable garden and orchard ground, the two plans are nearly equal. ‘This one, however, lacks a stable- yard, that is shown in the former ; which may be provided, if needed, by placing the carriage-house directly in the rear of the residence, and enclosing a space between the former and the vegetable-garden. If this were done, however, it would be neces- sary to cut off a view of the coach-yard from the main hall looking through the back veranda. A peculiar arrangement of shrubbery will be observed in front of the house. The latter being close to the street, it is desirable to cover it from too close and continuous observation of the passer- by, as far as can be done without belittling the main entrance way, or crowding shrubbery close to the veranda. The walk opening, on the street line, is sixteen feet wide—the gate being in a bay. For this distance the entire front of the house, as well as charming vistas of the lawns on each side, are in full view; and the im- pression of the place obtained here would be the finest. But passing either way, beyond this opening, along the sidewalk, the lower part of the house is entirely concealed by the two diverging masses of shrubbery, a, a, which, while they thus act as a partial screen of the veranda and lower windows, open out so as to leave a fine expanse in front of the house in lawn, vases, and flowers. Two horse-chestnut trees at the points of these groups will make an appropriate flanking for the front entrance. Though this plan may not be impracticable whatever the point of the compass its front faces, yet the most beautiful interior ef- fects—that is, as seen from the house, and within the grounds— will be realized by a frontage to the north; while the best effect as seen from the streets will be produced bya frontage to the south—either a north or south front being better for this plan than one to the east or west. The following is one selection of trees and shrubs for the place—the capital letters indicating the large trees, and the small 200 PLANS OF RESIDENCES letters the inferior trees and shrubbery. A and B are the purple- leaved and the golden-leaved sycamore maples; C, the weeping willow; D, the weeping beech; E and F, the common and the cut-leaved weeping birches ; G, the ginkgo or Salisburia tree ; H, the purple-leaved beech ; I, the Kolreuteria paniculata ; J, J, the red-flowering, and the double white-flowering horse-chestnuts ; K, K, a pair of pines in each place—the Bhotan (exce/sa) and white pine in one, and the Bhotan and Austrian in the other—-to be planted six feet apart, the Bhqtan on the north side in both cases ; L, white pine; M, Austrian pine; on the right of N, the weeping Norway spruce; and on the left, the Cembran pine, or (south of New York and near the sea) the cypress, Glypto-strobus sinensis ; O, the white or the Austrian pine, as the soil may be better for one or the other ; P, a mass and belt of hemlocks ; Q, a weeping Scotch elm; R, the grape-leaved linden ; S, nearest the intersection of the walks, the sugar maple, and to the right of it the purple-leaved sycamoré maple; T and V a mass of Austrian pines, with an undergrowth of hemlocks; U, catalpa ; W, a pair of weeping Norway spruces, with hemlocks behind them; X, the weeping silver-fir backed by hemlocks and flanked with a group of rhododendrons ; Y, a pair of pines, the white and the Pyrenean, six feet apart ; Z, the Austrian and the Bhotan pines, the same distance apart. Of the shrubbery we can indicate only the general character of the groups, and name specimens only when standing singly, or a few ina group. The masses a, a, may be shrubs of fine common sorts, the taller in the centre line of the group, and the margins filled in with rhododendrons; or may be composed entirely of evergreens, such as the arbor-vitas, yews, dwarf firs, junipers, and pines, with rhododendrons and azalias among them. The de- ciduous shrubs, however, would make a fine border in much less time, and at less expense than the latter. At 4, a Weigela amabilis in the centre, and on each side the weigelas rosea and hortensia nivea ; at ¢, the two deutzias crenata alba and crenata rubra flore plena ; at d, d, d, d, d, masses of common shrubs, not allowed to exceed seven feet in height, forced to make a dense mass at the bottom, and planted to form an irregular outline next to the lawn; AND GROUNDS. 201 at ¢, the oblong weeping juniper, ¥ oblonga pendula; f,a pair of weeping Japan sophoras grafted nine feet high, and planted ten feet apart ; g, the Chinese white magnolia; 4, a mass of rhododen- drons and purple magnolias ; z, z, hemlock gateway arches—the hemlocks to form a dense screen for ten or fifteen feet on each side of the arch; 7, the Hudson’s Bay fir; 2, the Magnolia machrophylla; Z(adjoining the house), a mass of evergreens of dwarf character, including rhododendrons, kalmias, and azalias ; m and 7, hemlock screens ; 0, a mass of rhododendrons. The small group under the corners of the drawing-room bay-windows may be composed of the English or Irish ivys in the corners, and low varieties of rhododen- drons ; or, of brilliant bedding-plants alone. This place is large enough to make a conservatory a desirable feature. If wanted in connection with the house, by using the room marked P as a library-room, the room L (if that side of the house has an east exposure) would be an admirable place for it. If a distinct structure is preferred, a good place would be on a line with the carriage-road, and ten feet from it, in the corner of the orchard nearest the house. The large flower-bed near L is intended for large bedding plants. The great rose-bed at the intersection of the walks on the right would require to be filled with uncommon skill to make it pleasing throughout the summer season, though it may be superbly beautiful in June, and interesting under ordinary treatment, with partial bloom, until frosts. In winter and early spring, however, it can hardly be otherwise than unsightly. A group for that place, of more continuous beauty, which will cost less labor in its main- tenance, may be composed of the following evergreens :—for the centre the weeping Norway spruce (zzverta) ; around it the follow- ing, the positions for which must be determined by a study of their characters: the Sargent hemlock, Parson’s dwarf hemlock, varie- gated-leaved tree-box, golden and weeping arbor-vites, the erect yew (erecta), the golden yew, the Cephalotaxus fortunit mascula, the Podocarpus japonica, the creeping juniper (repens), the juniper repanda densa, the juniper oblonga pendula, the juniper speroides, the Hudson’s Bay fir Audsonica, and the dwarf firs, Picea pectinata compacta and Abies gregoriana. 202 PLANS OF RESIDENCES The group of large flower-beds opposite the library window, with a vase in the centre, should be filled with rather low flowers, and made as continuously brilliant as possible. Forming the fore: ground of a fine stretch of lawn beyond them, the view as seen from the main window of this room may be made quite elegant and park-like in its effect. PLaTE XVIII. Plan for a Residence of Medium Size, with Stable and Carriage- house, Orchard, and Vegetable-garden, on a Corner-Lot 200 X 300 Jeet. Here we have a house of moderate size on a lot which gives ample space around it, and which is provided with length of car- riage-road disproportioned to the size of the house. It is suited to the use of a small family, who entertain much company, and keep horses and carriages. The location of a large kitchen-garden in the southwest corner of the lot, where the lawn might be extended with fine effect, as in Plates XI and XIII, was made in order to place the orchard away from the side street, and the enterprise of bad boys. ‘The vegeta- ble-garden offers few temptations for moonlight poachers over a street-fence, but an orchard in the same place is almost irresisti- ble. By interposing the kitchen-garden between it and the street, the fruit is safer. Were it not for this reason we would decidedly prefer to have the kitchen-garden back of the house, the orchard on the south side of the lot, and so arranged that the ground under the trees should appear to be a prolongation of the south lawn. The plan being made with reference to the’ protection of the orchard, sacrifices to this object Rule I, of Chapter XI—there being no length of lawn on the lot commensurate with its size. Yet the manner of grouping, in those portions of the lot which are in lawn, is such as to conceal this defect in a great degree from the eye of an observer in the street, or in the house ; though it is evi- dent enough on the paper plan. Plate XVI. WES HMR hanes Haspboerries & Blackberrtes Va aE ai pe", “a ' ' Coward & manure wLuy == & 1, y & nh > v ¢ a an, eo 5 a xs eee { / < 3d RR SY fe < Curriages gl 5 POs ier S Keto pire Dts ISOS ONO ON ON SN Py Ml I ig & 8 RAPE Ben ca Ts < SS es __ ans TORN aa JZ ee, 4 > Q Croguet Ground © NOENOD Ge c eer : Sua 25 hao kb 9 ee | ‘ nig’ r i obi gant w Jotkiaas ee ote. potmoleeg aa (mews ET Se ree q ANgwent solrig jatky ; . bap 39e gina pif Ti ttle) y acta suri D3N Ge en pitessite hovodiahy gil vine NIG arkadte oomrdt oft ptgaid ARTGWO) if 8) ort bee alow ada ier wal ts Pani Two 26 7 AND GROUNDS. 203 We have alluded to the length of carriage-road on this lot as disproportioned to the size of the residence. ‘This is so decided that we must consider the plan as an example of a fault to be avoided, rather than a plan to be followed. Not only the length of the drive is objectionable for a residence of this simple character, but also the corner entrance, which is usually the least convenient point for crossing the street-gutters and the side-walks. Plate X shows a much more sensible entrance and car- rlage-way. In other respects this plan is better ; the grouping being such as would give very pleasing effects, whether looking towards the house or from it. On the south are several openings to the street, and on the north one only, connecting with private grounds on that side. Supposing the roads, walks, orchard, and garden to have been laid out as shown by the plan, the following trees and shrubs are suggested for some of the principal places. ‘The lines conforming in part to the forms of the groups of shrubs are intended to show the form of beds to be enriched and prepared for them. The group at a, on the left of the corner entrance-way, to be composed of a weeping willow or a weeping Scotch elm in the centre, and the three best varieties of dogwood on the three points of the group ;—the bed to be filled, while these are growing, with spreading shrubs of low growth. The group, on the right of the same entrance, to have an American weeping elm in the centre, anil at z, 7,2, and Z the American and European Judas trees, the broad-leaved strawberry tree (Znonymus latifolius\, and the dog- wood (Cornus florida) ; and between them the syringas, weigelas, variegated elder, flowering currants, etc., etc. The trees at 6 and ¢ may be the double-flowering white and the red-flowering horse-chestnuts ; between them and the fence a mass of large shrubs. At d, a weeping beech ; between it and the fence plant shrubs, to be removed when the beech needs all the space ; near the fence Siberian arbor-vites to form a concave hedge to, and across, (overarching) the side-entrance gate. At e, ten feet from both the walk and the drive, a pair of sassafras trees four feet apart, with an oval mass of low spreading shrubs—spireas, flower- 204 PLANS OF RESIDENCES ing-currants, berberries, deutzias, red-twigged dogwoods, and honey- suckles around them. At jf, a choice selection of the most pleasing shrubs, either deciduous or evergreen ; of the latter an assortment of the best rhododendrons will make a superb group. At g,a Magnolia machrophylla; h, nearest the house, the Kolreuteria paniculata; h, near the gate, the osage orange. At 9, in the centre of the front, a purple beech ; at 7 and 7, groups composed of the weeping Norway spruce (éverta) for the centres, and the golden arbor-vite, and the erect yew (7axus stricta or erecta), the golden yew and the Podocarpus japonica, on opposite sides of them. If for this central space it is desired to make a quick mass of foliage in the place of these small groups, a weeping willow, or a group of two or three osage orange trees planted at 0, a group of ) deutzias at mm, and of weigelas or bush honeysuckles at x, will quickly effect it. At the left of the gateway on the right, a pair of pines, the white and Austrian ; # and g, the dwarf mountain pine (P. pumila) and the mugho pine (P. mugho) ; r, the dwarf white pine ; and between these, while smal], plant evergreen shrubs. At s,is a belt of shrubs terminated by a pair of pines, the Austrian and the Bhotan. At 4, a pair of weeping birches; at w, w, two pairs of trees, the purple-leaved and the gold-leaved sycamore- maples at one end, and the sugar and scarlet-maples at the other, each pair near together ; and between the trees, while they are young, a group of deciduous shrubbery. At v, a Magnolia soulan- geana; at w, the weeping silver-fir (Picea pectinata pendula) ; along the boundary of the lot in the rear of w, a belt of hemlocks broken by an occasional spur of spruce or pine trees; x, x, x, weeping arbor-vites, junipers, or other elegant slender evergreens ; and at z, another Magnolia machrophylla. On so large a place there will be room around the house, and in the various groups, and along the marginal belts of trees and shrubs, to introduce a hundred things which we have not named ; and a reference to the plate of symbols in connection with the ground-plan will explain what we have not touched upon. eSircast: t Silene in ihe ‘ - oD AOE Ce reins U . gat: . 3 hl i % - mad PVE: patito 4d ' et, Vg PUSAN Sat gitolt i neae td CaS t hele: sy) ive pe ice boy Gl LOA4aLs Pa ONES eas i berrees Ela rrants. Hi 1d Three c ett Z 7 ‘ ‘y 4h 700 ft. 90 50 ee AND GROUNDS. 205 PEATE Sole Plan for a Residence of Medium Size on a Corner Lot 150 x 200 feet, with no provision for keeping a horse or carriage. This house-plan is the same as that on Plate XVIII, but the lot is only one-half the depth of that one, though the frontage is the same. ‘The street on the longer side being supposed the most desirable to front upon, the division of the lot in lawn, fruit, and vegetable-garden, resembles, on a smaller scale, that of Plate XVII; though on this the direct walk to the front door is dis- pensed with, and only the entrances at the two front corners of the lot are used. ‘This is rarely a desirable arrangement, but the ex- pression aimed at in the design of this lot is extreme openness and breadth of lawn, in proportion to the size of the lot. ‘To dispense with a walk directly from the street to the front door increases this expression, but it is not essential to it. If the members of the family who occupy the house rarely use a carriage, it is not a matter of much importance to have a direct front walk ; especially if all the travel to and from the house is along the street, so that one corner gate or the other makes a nearer approach than a walk in the centre only. But if the family have often occasion to ride, the side-entrances will seem an awkward detour; and we would then by all means dispense with the walk which runs nearly parallel with the street, and have a broad straight walk to the front porch, and a smaller walk to the rear of the house, nearly as here represented. This would, of course, involve considerable changes in the plan for planting. An alley is supposed to bound the lot on the left ; a shed and cow-house* and small cow-yard are therefore represented in the rear corner on that side, and an arbor-vite hedge is to be planted inside the fence along the alley. Ten feet from the alley, and * The grass from the lawn, on such a place as this, if fed as cut, is more than enough to supply one cow with green food for seven months of the year ;—probably, together with the pail-feed from the house, enough to keep two cows. 206 PLANS OF RESIDENCES back of the front line of the house, is a row of four cherry trees, and two others are indicated on the rear part of the croquet-ground. Six standard pear trees, on the other side of the house, form a row parallel with a continuous grape-trellis which divides the lawn from the vegetable-garden. Some peach trees may be planted in the garden-square next the cow-house. The borders by the fences around the back of the lot furnish ample room for currants, rasp- berries, and blackberries. The decorative planting of the lawn-ground may be as follows: on each side of the gateway, at a, plant a group of pines, white, Austrian, and Bhotan, to be clipped when they begin to trespass on the walk, and to overarch it when large enough. The group on the left of the walk, directly in front of the same entrance, should be composed of shrubby evergreen trees or shrubs, diminishing to those of small size at the point. At 4, the weeping silver-fir. At ¢, ¢, fifteen feet from the front corners of the house, a pair of esther of the following species, of the varieties named :—of beeches, the purple-leaved and the fern-leaved ; of birches, the old weeping and the cut-leaved weeping ; of horse-chestnuts, the double-white and the red-flowering ; of lindens, the American basswood and the grape-leaved ; of magnolias, the machrophylla and the cordata, of mountain ashes, the oak-leaved; of maples, the purple-leaved and the gold-leaved sycamore; of oaks, the scarlet (coccinea) on both sides ; of tulip trees (whitewood), there being no distinct varieties, the same on both sides, or a tulip tree on one side, and a virgilia or Magnolia cordata on the other. Our own choice among these would be of birches, maples, or horse-chestnuts. At d, the face of the hedge may be broken by a projecting group of yews and arbor-vites. At e,a group of rhododendrons. At fand g any one of the following deciduous species of small low trees, if grown with care and symmetry, viz.: .the Indian catalpa (C. Aima- ayensis) south of Philadelphia; the Chinese cypress (G/ypto-stro- bus sinensis); the silver-bell (Halesia tetraptera); the sassafras (although rather large for the place) ; the dwarf horse-chestnuts, Pavia coccinea, P. pumila pendula, and P. cornea superba; the Euro- pean bird cherry, Prunus padus; the American white-flowering and the Cornelian cherry dogwoods, C. florida and C. mas; the AND GROUNDS. 207 American and the European Judas trees; the magnolias, Chinese white (conspicua), and the showy-flowered (sfeciosa) ; the dwarf profuse-flowering mountain ash (ana floribunda); the weeping Japan sophora; the double scarlet-thorn (coccinea flore plena) ; the weeping larch; the Kilmarnock willow; the large-flowered rose-acacia (grandiflora), if trained and carefully supported when young ; the American and the broad-leaved strawberry trees ; the largest and most tree-like lilacs; the purple-fringe ; the syringa, zeyheri; and the new snow-ball or viburnum, V. machrophylium, are all pleasing small trees, or tree-like shrubs, any two of which will be appropriate for these two places. Our preference among them would be the weeping Japan sophoras grafted from seven to eight feet high. If evergreens are desired for these two places, we would certainly select the weeping Norway spruce (zverfa) and the weeping silver-fir. The small group Z, should be made up of choice small evergreens, yews, arbor-vitees, and dwarf firs. The pair of deciduous trees at 4, on the right, may be a catalpa and a pau- lonia for places south of New York; and northward, a pair of sassafras and a dogwood (C. florida), to make a group of three, or a pair of Kolreuteria paniculata only. The group 7, on the upper side of the walk, is intended to be filled by an Austrian pine, sur- rounded by evergreen shrubs that will form a dense mass. At 4, a Siberian arbor-vite, with the erect yew, on one side, and the golden arbor-vite on the other. At 4 an Irish juniper. Atm, a collec- tion of magnolias, beginning with the purple-magnolia nearest the house, next to it the Chinese white, then the AZ. soulangeana, and at 2, the AZ. machrophylla,—all to be encouraged to branch as close to the ground as they will grow. At 0, the arbor-vite compacta, or another purple magnolia. At f, the weeping beech; at g, a group of the following firs, beginning nearest the house with Nord- manns fir, next the Cephalonian, and last the Norway spruce. At vr, another Magnolia machrophylla. At s,a Bhotan pine if on the north or east side, and an Austrian pine if on the south or west side of the house. The shrubbery adjoining the house may be composed of a great variety of common species; but none that attain a height of more than six feet should be planted under or in front of windows where they might eventually obstruct the views. bd 208 PLANS OF RESIDENCES TWAT exe A Compact House, on an In-Lot of ninety-six feet front, with ample depth, and a Lawn connecting with adjoining neighbors. The main house is here 36 x 40, and the rear part 20 x 32 feet. The front veranda is ten feet in width, and between it and the street the distance is ninety-six feet. The lot is one hundred and ninety-six feet in depth back to the grape-trellis that divides the lawn from the garden, and is supposed to have ample room back of this for vegetables and small fruits. Whether or not the occupants of this place keep horse and car- riage, the front and sides of the lot are designed without any refer- ence to them. Floral embellishment is a prominent feature of this design, and this is nearly all in front of the house. The walk with two street- entrances encloses a circle seventy-two feet in diameter, on the margin of which the flower-beds are arranged, leaving the interior of the circle in lawn, unbroken save by a large low vase for flowers in the centre. Most of the interest of the place being thus between the house and the street, where exposure to passers on the street might annoy the occupants in the care and enjoyment of their flowers and plants, it is essential that this circle should be hidden from the street except at the gateways. The reader already knows that we have no sympathy with that churlish spirit which would shut a pleasing picture out of sight from the sheer love of exclu- sive possession ; but we have respect for that repugnance which most persons, and especially ladies, feel against a peering curiosity in their domestic enjoyments ; and as the care of one’s flowers and trees is one of the sweetest of domestic labors, we would protect the privacy of working hours among them to an extent that may not degenerate into a selfish exclusiveness. In this plan, as en- graved, the mass of screening foliage is not as large as would be necessary, but the trees as there placed will form a sufficient pro- tection after ten years growth to insure a reasonable privacy for the floral lawn. It will be observed that this is not effected by a ms 7 ESR Pm ty POI SS Teh Puved § Mi ie 4-5 § Sentlery A Groun d > > Croquet = Scale 8 imch-to 1 foot . (cit BV IV NE ae fee HEP SS BAS Ray STA Teh Boh et OY iG Cold (rape House oe acne Sea aa AND GROUNDS. 209 hedge on the street line, but on the contrary the lawn is open except at the entrances; and one standing on the sidewalk at A, though barred from all view of the circle by the mass of evergreens opposite, may have pleasing glimpses into the place on the lines A B, A C, and across these corners into the adjoining lot lawns. The two front gateways should be overarched with evergreen topiary arches—one side with arbor-vita, and the other with hem- locks, firs, or pines, as the soil and exposure may make one or the other preferable. The glimpses into the grounds from under either of these arches will extend the whole length of the lawn back to the cold grape-house on the right, and from the left, back to the grape-trellis that separates the vegetable-garden from the lawn. A still longer vista may be made from the left-hand gateway by making a decorative arch in the grape-trellis at the end of the garden-walk which corresponds with the one at the end of the cold grape-house. The evergreen group in the middle of the lot near the street may be composed as follows: in the centre two Nordmanns firs, four feet apart, on a line at right angles with the street ; on each side of these a mass of hemlocks (say four on each side) for a distance of sixteen feet each way ; and at each point of the group single specimens of the weeping silver-fir and the weeping Norway spruce. This will make the group about forty feet from point to point, measuring from the stems of the last-named trees. The trees which arch the intersections of the entrance-walks with the circular-walk, may be double pairs of sassafras on one side, and one pair of kolreuterias on the other. At ¢, a weeping beech ; at g, the Chinese cypress (G/ypto-strobus sinensis pendula) south,of New York, and north of it a group composed of the weep- ing Norway spruce in the centre, and the following junipers around it: the F repanda densa, F. oblonga pendula, F. suecica nana, F. speroides ; or, instead of the junipers, the following dwarf firs, viz. : the Abies nigra pumila, A. gregoriana, A. conica, A. canadensis inverta (Sargent’s hemlock), 4. canadensis Parsoni (Parson’s hemlock), the Picea pectinata compacta, and the Picea hudsonica. At d and 4, the finest pines for which the soil and location are suited ; at ¢, the Magnolia cordata; at f, a group of evergreen shrubs next the fence, 14 210 PLANS OF RESIDENCES and a weeping silver-fir in front of them, opposite the parlor bay- window. ‘Two small trees are indicated in front of the corners of the veranda. If small trees are used in these places, they may be of species like the Magnolia machrophylla, the double white-flower- ing horse-chestnut, and the virgilia, which develop most beautifully when branching near the ground, or, like the weeping sophora, trailing to the ground ; but if large trees are chosen, they should be of sorts which lift their heads on clean stems, so that their lower branches will be above the line of view of persons standing on the floor of the house. At the point formed by the intersection of the sidewalk with the circular-walk there should be an interesting collection of ever- greens of very slender, or very dwarf character. Near the point, and two feet from both walks, plant the Adzes excelsa pygme ; three feet from both walks, and back of the former, the Picea pectinata compacta ; back of these, and equidistant between the walks, the Zaxus erecta ; then, a little nearer to each walk than the latter, put in a golden arbor-vita and a golden yew, so as to make the group in the form of a Y. If the proprietor prefers to have something new and striking in this location every year, instead of waiting patiently the interesting development of these dwarfs, this point will be an ap- propriate place for a skillful arrangement of showy-leaved bedding- plants ; but as there is ample space for these elsewhere, we would much prefer marking the intersection of the two walks with some permanent objects that may be seen in winter and summer, and which, by living and growing year after year, will at length have associations and a little history of their own, and become monu- mental evidences of past labors. It is well always to mark the divergence of two walks by some permanent tree or group near the inner angle of intersection, and in the case under consideration, if the group of lilliputian evergreens should seem too insignificant and tardy in their development, or (being rarities) too expensive, we would plant some spreading tree at this intersection, and recom- mend for that purpose the weeping birch. From ¢ and f, on opposite sides of the lot, the side fences should be bordered with evergreen shrubs as far as the back line of the main house, and thence to the garden may be covered Bur wl} a gorihliac | Bia 2 pnahe Dig) cat : Pay aie! MIG hy hE Haid ust quest 16 © OT Mae owt he “ = . motor Shien ade : : ; peeasars | ene snes ay x Ser {% F 1 + hy os aed Be. SortootaRl eis Te oot ee Cae 6 etic Sar apa? Sake i =, : va Pik + or 8 ett abe uid to! yl vy i ty A. mere i i Lrire; - aloud beh en aul of Aout pain, vA per t; ' its anya yaa apr apes pauehittn, ‘ : i bre eeauiart et ati ae 70 dO 7 60 70 90 SAVED) (GIRO UNDIS « 211 with grape-vines or other small fruits, or with a continuous belt of common deciduous shrubs. Against the foundation-walls of the house we would plant a continuous line of varieties of the English ivy, even if they creep permanently no higher than the water-table. Up to that height they often make a shrubby mass of evergreen foliage, and form a pleasing back-ground for the finer shrubs that may be grown near the house in front of them. For a running vine on brick and stone walls, and for draping windows and cor- nices with foliage, the American ivy or Virginia creeper is greatly superior in this country to the English ivy. We can go no further in designating the shrubs to plant near the house-walls than to merely reiterate that they should be of those flowering and fragrant varieties which are usually full-foliaged, not apt to get bare of leaves at the bottom, and which do not exceed six feet in height; in short, low, compact, or spreading shrubs. The fruit-tree features of this place are sufficiently designated by the symbols. There being a cold grape-house indicated, it is natural to sup- ' pose that flowers and bulbs may be forced in it, and that the care of these, together with grounds embellished with so many flowers, will involve the employment of a gardener; to whom, or to the lady of the house, we leave the selection of the flowers to be used in filling the beds on the margin of the circle, and the vase or basket in its centre. PLATE XXI. A Plan for a Deep Front Yard, on an In-Lot one hundred feet wide, with the House on a terrace plateau; designed to harmonize architectural and gardenesque forms. This plan is a peculiar study in many respects. All the deco- rative portion of the grounds is in front of the house, and the depth from the street to the house-front is even greater in propor- tion to the width of the lot than in the preceding plan. The arrangement at the street-front is also more simple and more 212 PLANS OF RESIDENCES formal ; for here we have a hedge close to the street line, a single entrance, and a long straight walk in the middle of the lot. To this extent the plan is simpler than the preceding one; but on approaching the house the style becomes more ornate and costly. The house is elevated on a wide terrace, and the steps to reach the terrace-level are fifteen feet in front of the veranda. These steps should be of stone, not less than twelve inches wide, nor more than seven inches rise, and of a length equal to the width of the main walk. Low stone copings at the side of the steps expand at the top into square pedestals for vases, and thence are continued to meet the veranda. Such copings should, where practicable, be of some warm colored stone. It will be observed that the walk at the foot of these stone steps widens out into quite an area, and at this point the design varies by an easy transition from the formal to the graceful style ; the form of the front of the terrace conform- ing to the curves of the walks. The walks to the left and right diverge first by geometric curves, and then enter, by more path- like lines, dense masses of shrubbery, ending at seats embowered in foliage. From these, vistas open to the most pleasing features of the ground. The house is supposed to be designed in a half city-style, with a basement-kitchen, and all the principal windows in the front and rear only. The blank sidewalks, if of unpainted brick or stone, may be covered with the Virginia creeper, and on the side-ground back of the points shown on the plate, fruit trees may be planted. If the lot is three hundred feet deep, there will be room back of the house for the needful kitchen-yard and a pretty little vegetable- garden, or a stable and carriage-space ; but hardly for both. A lot of four hundred feet in depth would be more suitable for a house thrown back so far from the front street as this, unless space were obtained in the rear of the house by a latitudinal development of the lot in the rear of other lots. As the entire embellishment of this place lies in front of the house, and as its features are of that gardenesque character which presuppose a decided love of horticultural art in the occupants, and therefore the necessity of constant labors to be done near the street, some thorough protection of their privacy is essential ; and AND GROUNDS. 213 we have here first introduced a hedge on the street line. The gate- way should be rather larger than is common on foot-walks, and covered with a carefully grown hemlock arch. The hedge may be of hemlock or of Siberian arbor-vita, and not more than six feet in height. At a, a, it is designed to be hollowed by a concave cut on the sides and top, so that the latter will not be more than three and a half feet high in the middle. With this arrangement there will be three glimpses into the place from the street ; one under the gateway arch, and the others over the concave cuts in the hedge. ‘The buttresses on the inside are intended to give variety in the line, and in the lights and shadows of the hedge. They are easily made with the hedge by placing two or three hedge-plants at right angles with the line of the hedge at the points where wanted. We have called attention in another place to a peculiarity of the arrangement of shrubs and trees on this place. There are three long lines of view, each of pre-eminent interest from the different points where each is likely to be most observed. First the walk- view, as seen from the gateway looking towards the house, or from the terrace steps looking towards the gateway; the second and third, on the lines between the bay-windows and the scollops in the front hedge, ranging the whole distance over an unbroken lawn elegantly margined on both sides with flowers, shrubs, and trees. If the reader will raise this plate nearly level with the eye, and glance along the lines indicated, he will appreciate better than we can explain what we have endeavored to accomplish in this plan. It is desirable, in order to achieve the best result of this arrange- ment, that the character of the foliage on the two sides of the lot should be so different as to give a distinct effect to the views out of the two bay-windows. In addition to these three prominent lines of view, charming long narrow vistas may be made to give interest to the seats at the ends of the walks. One selection of trees and shrubs for the most prominent places on this plan may be the following: Group 1, on the left: at a, the weeping juniper (od/onga pendula) ; at b, the erect yew (Zaxus erecta); at c, the golden yew (Zaxus aurea); at d, the weeping Indian juniper (% 214 PLANS OF RESIDENCES repanda densa); at ¢, the dwarf Swedish juniper (F suecica nana). Group 1, on the right: at a@, the Siberian arbor-vite; at 4, Parson’s arbor-vite (Zhwa occidentalis compacta); at c, the Nootka Sound arbor-vite (Zhwa plicata); at ad, the erect yew (Zaxus erecta); and at ¢, the dwarf silver-fir (Picea pectinata compacta). Groups 2, 2, may be composed of evergreens as follows: at a, a, the mugho and mountain pines (P. mugho and P. pumila) ; at b and ¢, in one group, dwarf white pines (P. strobus compacta); and on the other the Chinese yews, Cephalotaxus fortunit mascula and C. adrupace. Or, of deciduous shrubs, the group may be as follows: at a, on the left, the Weigela amabatis ; and at 6 and ¢, the deutzias crenata alba and crenata rubra flore plena. At a, on the right, the great-leaved snow-ball (Viburnum machrophyllum) ; and at 6 and ¢, the red-tartarian honeysuckle and the lilac vo/Amagensis. Groups 3, 3, are for showy-leaved bedding-plants or roses ; 4, 4, may be filled with choice geraniums. Figures 5, 5, 5, 5, represent a pair each of Irish and Swedish junipers. Beds 6, 6, are for roses or showy annuals, perennials, and bulbous flowers; 7, 7, and 9, 9, represent single plants remarka- ble for beautiful or showy foliage ; and 8, 8, are for brilliant low- blooming flowers. Figures ro, 10, on the left of the walk, may be, one the golden arbor-vita, and the other the Podocarpus japonica; or the rhododen- drons album elegans and gloriosum. If of deciduous shrubs, one the purple-leaved berberry, and the other Gordon’s flowering-currant ; or, one the dwarf snow-ball (Viburnum anglicum), and the other the variegated Cornelian cherry or dogwood (Cornus mascula va- riegata) ; or the Chinese purple and the Chinese red magnolias ; or the dwarf catalpas Aimalayensis and kampferi, or any other compact shrubs or dwarf trees of constant beauty of foliage and annual blossoms ; 10, 10, on the right, may be, one the weeping arbor-vitz, and the other the common tree-box. Figure 11, on the left, the Japan weeping sophora, or the A/ag- nolia cordata ; 11, on the right, the Chinese cypress (Glypfo-strobus i resrea ws: ’ ; ak Puget. Bows emigre} | 3 A a8 Pra 2! 7 sivr./ £ errr: ng 3 ieee if ioe ‘ 4s Per erry ig ry ee ake Z fel Fa} & | Coal ] Wood & Coal am micec urrants, I-) Fast Street 2c] Seale of ZOll. to the inch. AND GROUNDS: 215 sinensis pendula); 12, the Magnolia machrophylla; 13, a pair of Kolreuterias. Figure 14, wherever it occurs, suggests a weeping silver-fir (Picea pectinata pendula), a weeping Norway spruce (zverta), or some other evergreen of slender or peculiar habit; 15, 15, the golden yew and golden arbor-vite ; 16, the weeping beech, or a pair of them; 17 and 18, rhododendrons along the walks, and ro- bust shrubs on the outside—either evergreen or deciduous ; 19, 19, 19, hardy pines best suited to the locality ; 20, 20, 20, borders of the finest shrubs ; 21, a heavy mass of evergreens not more than eight to twelve feet high, covering and concealing the slope of the terrace, with a brilliant flower-bed on its upper or terrace level ; 22, 22, suggest large low basket forms for flowers; 23, 23, are circular beds for tall flowers. The pedestals at the top of the steps to the terrace should have elegant low vases appropriately filled with beautiful plants. The masses of dark-toned evergreens not numbered represent close plantations of hemlocks and Norway spruce, with such other evergreen trees as may best break the monotony of their colors. PEATE OC UT Designs for Neighboring Homes with connecting Grounds. In the chapter on Neighboring Improvements we have en- deavored to call attention to the great advantage that improvers of small lots may gain by planting on some common plan, so that all the improvements of the fronts of adjoining lots may be arranged to allow each of the neighbors a view of the best features of all. This plate is intended to illustrate one of the simplest forms of such neighboring improvements. The houses themselves are such as proprietors often build in rows for the purpose of adding to the value, and increasing the sale of adjacent property ; but the connection of all the fronts into one long lawn is yet seldom practiced. The elegant effect, however, which this mode of improvement lends to places which, without it, 216 PLANS OF RESIDENCES were small and cheap-looking, will add thousands of dollars to their saleable value. It gives a genteel air to the neighborhood that five times the expenditure in buildings would fail to produce, and serves by this fact alone to attract a class of refined people of small means, who might not find the common run of houses, of the cost of these, sufficiently attractive to induce them to select homes there. Though these five houses are quite similar in size and plan, an inspection of them will show that only Nos. 3 and 4 are alike. The others all differ in some respects; the corner houses especially being adapted to their superior locations and double fronts, and therefore needing to be somewhat more expensive. The main part of each is 25 x 38 feet, and the kitchen part 12 xX 20, except on lot number one, where it is larger. ‘There is an alley in the rear, upon which outbuildings are located. The essential feature of the planting on this neighborhood plan is this: that back of a line ten or twelve feet from the front street, to the foot-step of the porches, there shall be no shrub or’ tree planted on any of the fronts; and only those species of flowers which do not exceed six to nine inches in height. This secures a belt of lawn varying from fifteen to forty feet in width, the entire length of the block, and leaves ample space on each lot for a good selection and arrangement of shrubs and flowers. The light dotted lines on the plan show the leading ranges of view over this common lawn. Of course only the lightest of wire fences are to be used between the lots, if any such divisions are required ; and none at all ought to be necessary. Lot 1 is entered from the side-street, under a gateway arbor. From this entrance the whole length of the block to B and E, two hundred and fifty feet, is a lawn, broken only by beds for low flowers, margined one side by the choicest groups of shrubbery, and on the other by the various architectural features of the steps, vases, porches, and verandas of the five houses, and their flowers and vines. Nothing can more strikingly illustrate the advantage of such neighboring improvements than the view from this point, embrac- ing as it does, under one glance, all the beauty that may be created in the “front yards” of five distinct homes, all forming parts of a te. 4 1) » ) H ’ ily t . a = 1 tf ’ y I ' t ‘ rr { + “ . by 7 i : 7 - 2) J fi rapt j 1 y 7. | vs i : v - 1% sex! . _ “yt = 4 ' rl ‘ apy is ow Sf J, i a si TOVCT Ye 4 +f ein < i q MW Ob ’ i-y i > . ‘ , Pan yi ul bit sind wile ? ’ j eon yori * fi ruse f 7 bos Biawont - I ti yea Hotei Saajan yi d 2 STs Vig. BIT Ga Mary : . f om tat of such FA S}HRSIO Oy Yb! we ‘ va : yp, vi ‘a AR ine D 6) iy a en + — i oe . } ) r ‘ ‘ | A eagt. 1 i 1. 2h rz 7 => ws tw ? hes UF tank’ 44 yily ‘ : ‘ rf? 1 - he he ge Swale eS cabs WIS els ie A p) NEAR AND GROUNDS. 217 single picture. Similar effects are obtained on entering the verdant gateway arch at E, on lot 5; and also from the side-streets at the points B and C. The shorter views, from the porches and best windows of each house, are all made vastly more pleasing than would be possible on a single lot. The vignette of Chapter IV is a suppositional view from the porch (A) of the house-plan 2, look- ing towards B. From the front street, the in-look between the groups that border the front, is such as to make each place when opposite to it, appear to be the most important one. Only shrubs, or shrubby trees, are to be admitted on the fronts ; but on the sides, between the houses, cherry and pear trees may be planted. The flower-beds are all shown somewhat larger on these plans than they should be. The selections of shrubs, and their arrangement in the many groups adjacent to the front street, will require a thorough famili- arity with the characteristics of shrubs, and should therefore be done by an experienced gardener. Our plate is drawn on too small a scale to enable us to designate in detail the composition of all the groups and single specimens indicated on the plan, and as such groups of places must of necessity, at first, be all arranged under the direction of one gardener, it is not desirable that we should make a suppositional list of shrubs and trees for each lot. PLATE XXIII. Three Residences occupying the end of a Block two hundred feet in width, on Lots two hundred feet deep. Here the end of the block is supposed to have been divided into four lots, each 50 x 200 feet; the middle two lots being first occupied by a commodious double-house, and each of the side-lots subsequently improved with basement-kitchen houses, of half city, half suburban character, and the fronts of the three places kept by agreement for mutual advantage. The house on the left the reader may recognize as similar to 218 PLANS OF RESIDENCES the one shown on Plate XV, on a lot of the same width ; but it is somewhat differently placed on the lot, and the ground arrangements are different in front and rear. One plan provides for a kitchen- garden, and the other for a fruit-yard only. It will be observed that this house, and the basement-house on the other corner, have blank walls adjoining the neighbor-lots, which are not built up to the line of the fence, but leave a space, one of five feet and the other of two feet, between the wall and the lot-line. This is almost useless for planting ; but we deem it essential to give the owner no excuse for that miserable shoddy architecture which constructs a cornice on one or two sides of a building, and leaves it off on sides that are equally conspicuous ; on the plea, sometimes, that the owner who has built up to his line has no right to build a cornice over his neighbor’s property. Though these houses indicate con- tinuous blank walls on one side, they are not necessarily so, when this space is preserved ; and if the owner of the middle lot is a reasonable man, pleasant windows and out-looks may be made from the halls of both the outer houses, and from the bed-room of the house on the right. The arrangement of rooms in the upper stories is likely also to call for quite a number of windows over- looking the middle lot, and the fact of ownership of even a very little space in front of them will make it safer for the builder to plan them. If the occupants of the three lots are in friendly accord, the high division fences as shown back of the front lines of the houses, may be dispensed with back to the rear of the same. The blank walls can be covered with the Virginia creeper, and groups of shrubbery arranged at their base to better advantage than our plan shows ; the plan supposing a concert of improvements only in front of the houses. The house on the right has the form and extent of an un- usually commodious and elegant town-house ; the main part being 25 x 50 feet, and the rear 20 x 34. The front-entrance is quite peculiar, and, if designed by a good architect, will be an elegant and uncommon style of porch. There is a double object in making it of this form. It being desirable to have the entrance-gate at D, where persons passing in will at once have a vista the whole length of the side-yard to the back corner of the lot (as indicated by the Plate XXIV ‘ Lip Pt YS Friite Yard Ss AND GROUNDS. 219 dotted line), thus receiving a more favorable impression of the extent and beauty of the ground than if the gate-entrance were directly in front of the front door, this location of the gateway naturally suggests a side approach to the porch. Buta porch of this form is of itself desirable in such a location, by permitting a heavy mass of shrubs to be planted directly in its front, leaving the lawn in front unbroken, and making the porch appear more distant and retired from the street than it would were the steps and walk directly in front of it, in the usual mode. It also makes a con- venient front-entrance to the basement at the side of the parlor bay-window. The grounds of this group of places are quite simple in the style of planting ; yet, if laid out as here indicated, the materials properly chosen and well kept, they would be noticeable for their elegance. ‘The necessarily small scale on which these groups of houses and lots are planned, makes it impracticable to describe them in detail, especially with reference to the selections of shrubs and trees. PLATE XXIV. four Residences, occupying the end of a block two hundred feet in width, on Lots one hundred and fifty feet deep, and representing widely different forms of Houses and Lots. We will here suppose that the two lots on the left, each sixty feet front, were first purchased and improved ; and the next twenty- five feet were then purchased by some one who cared little for grounds, and wished merely to provide himself a good town-house ; and then the remaining fifty-five feet of the block by some one who could afford a larger style of improvement, including a carriage- house and stable. Also, that numbers one and two having built their house-fronts about forty feet from the street, purchaser num- ber three has the good taste to put his front on the same line ; but number four having a much longer house is obliged to crowd forward of the line a little. It is pleasant to observe how, in this group of utterly unlike houses, the peculiarity of each adds to the 220 PLANS OF RESIDENCES beauty of the others; and all succeed, by a harmonious improve- ment of their grounds on a common plan, to realize a great deal of beauty for which each one pays but a small share. Suppose the city-house number three were placed twenty feet nearer the street, it would then destroy the opportunity for the fine lawn on the line A, B; its blank side-walls would be marplots of the block on both sides ; and its front-porch and bay-window, which now have charm- ing outlooks in each direction, would then have little in view but the sidewalk and the street. By placing the house back on a line with the others, the owner has therefore made a great profit for himself, and conferred an equal one on his neighbors. Let him carry the same good sense a little farther. He has not cared to have much ground, but that strip twenty-five feet in width in front of his house must, in some way, be made creditable to the neigh- borhood. If it were filled with trees, shrubs, or flowers, these would destroy his grass-plat and outlooks, and his neighbors would have no considerable length of grassy ground ; it would be selfish, after securing pleasant views from his bay-window over his neigh- bors’ improvements, to so plant his own lot that their views would be destroyed. We would therefore suggest to him not to plant a tree, or a shrub, in front of his steps; but to place in the centre of the space in front of the bay-window a vase for flowers, of the most beautiful and substantial form that he can afford, and make it his “family pride” to see that the filling of the vase and of the small flower-beds in front and behind it is as perfect a piece of art as possible. The plain lawn surrounding them, and the absence of any attempt at rural effect in front of this city-house, will alone give it an air of distinguished simplicity, while these characteristics will make its lawn, and vase, and flowers, a harmonious part of the common improvement of the whole block-front. We thus see how the owner of the narrowest lot of the group holds, as it were, the key to the best improvement of the block, and by the use of gen- erous good sense, or the want of it, can consummate or mar the beauty of a whole neighborhood of grounds. On lot 1, the house and grounds resemble those shown on Plate VI, though they are not identical. Besides the fruit trees in the back-yard it should have no other trees, except one of AND GROUNDS. 221 small size as shown near the front corner of the veranda ; for which place we recommend the Magnolia machrophylla. ‘The two small trees near the corners of the front bay-window, may be the catalpas himalayensis and kampferi; and the isolated tree nearest the street, the white-flowered magnolia (conspicua), or a single fine specimen of weigela, deutzia, lilac, viburnum, or honeysuckle. The gateway arch should be of hemlock, with evergreen under- shrubs near it. On lot 2, but two trees are shown in front of the house. These are twenty feet in front of the main house corners. Of rapid grow- ing deciduous trees for this place, none are better adapted than the weeping birches ; of those of slower growth, the double white-flowered horse-chestnut ; or of evergreens, the weeping Norway spruce and weeping silver-fir. The gateway arch should be made with hem- locks. Lot 4 has also two trees in front of the corners of the veranda. These being but eight feet from the latter, should be of some species which makes clean stems of sufficient height to carry their branches over its roof, in order not to darken and obstruct the out- look from the veranda. For this the ginkgo tree, most of the birches, and the scarlet oak are well adapted. But if it is desired to have the veranda deeply shaded, and somewhat secluded by foliage in summer, then the magnolias sowdangeana or cordata, or almost any of the hard maples and horse-chestnuts, or the beeches and lindens, will do. We decidedly prefer deciduous trees to ever- greens, in places so near the pleasantest outlooks from the house as these trees are located ; for the reasons that their shadows are broader and more useful in summer, and by dropping their leaves in autumn, they relieve us in winter of a shade that would be needless and sombre. 222 PLANS OF RESIDENCES PV ATE exexeve Two Suburban Houses with Stables and Gardens, on original Lots 100 x 200 feet, illustrating a mode of embellishment by the addi- tion of a Lot behind other Lots. The reader must imagine these two houses originally built on lots of the same size as that of plan No. 2 of this plate, viz.: too x 200 feet, having similar lots behind them, fronting on the side-street. The owner of the corner lot No. 1, having it in his power, and desiring to enlarge his embellished grounds, buys the lot 100 x 200 feet in the rear of the two lots, first occupied, and thus doubles the area of his ground. The carriage-house and stable which he may or may not have had before, can now be located on the part of the new lot in the rear of the stable on original lot No. 2. Around it, in the rear of the same lot, is ample room for the vegetable-garden, and a yard for the horse and cow. ‘This leaves the entire length of the ground near the side-street clear for decorative improvement. The outside kitchen-door of the house on lot 1 is through the laundry W, where the paths connecting it with the stable and out- buildings are entirely disconnected from the pleasure-walks. The carriage-road which connects with the steps of the back veranda is for the use of the family and household friends only ; the street on the main front being the place for casual callers to alight. Had the house been originally designed for the lot as it now stands, it could doubtless have had its best rooms arranged to look out more directly on the best portions of the grounds. As it is, the parlor gets no part of the benefit of the enlargement of the place by the addition of the rear lot. But the dining-room D, by a wide window or low-glazed door opening upon the back veranda, com- mands a full view of the croquet and archery ground, and its sur- rounding embellishments ; and the family sitting-room S secures a similar view with a different fore-ground, by a bay-window pro- jected boldly towards the side-street for that purpose. The outlook from the unusually large parlor on this plan, depends mostly on the Manare TTT] Hyp bere eeyy ye meh k DOO ce HCE ORFS NUN veTVUAYEE TT se HELE AS) Manure vard aNiGoR & 100 CC, 19] AND GROUNDS. 223 adjoining place for the fine open lawn that is in view from the bow- window ; but as the finest rooms of the house on lot 2 are equally dependent on the outlook across lot 1 for their pleasing views, it is not to be supposed that the occupants of either would wish to interrupt the advantageous exchange. The extreme openness of lawn on the front of both places, and the almost total absence of shrubbery on the front of No. 1, is for the purpose of giving a gener- ous air to both, and to maintain all the advantages of reciprocity. It would be quite natural to suppose that No. 1, which is an old place remodelled, had once had its front yard filled full of shrubs and trees, and that in the formation of the new lawn in the rear the shrubbery was mostly removed to make the lawn more open, and to stock the groups of the new plantation; and then that the flower-beds were planned to relieve its plainness, without obstruct- ing the neighbor’s views, as shrubs and trees might. The house on lot No. 2 is 40 x 44 feet, with a kitchen-wing 18 x 24. Having the main entrance on the side, the carriage-way passes the door, on the way to the stable, without unnecessary detour ; and the best rooms of the house occupy the entire front. The house is considerably smaller than that on lot No. 1, though all its rooms are of ample size ; the difference between the houses being in the stately parlor and bed-room on the first floor, which the house on lot No. 1 has, and the other has not. The sitting-room and parlor of the latter, however, opening together by sliding doors, will be fully equal in effect to the single parlor in the former plan ; and, in proportion to its size, the latter seems to us the best house-plan. The details of the planting on both places we can follow no further than the plate indicates them, without drawings on a larger scale to refer to. ‘The fronts are simple and open to a degree that may be unsatisfactory to many persons—especially near the street- front of the corner lot; but as that lot is supposed to be richly embellished with shrubbery in the pleasure-ground back of the carriage-entrance, we believe the marked simplicity of the front will tend to make the new portion of the place more interesting by the contrast which its plainness presents to the profusion of sylvan and floral embellishments of the pleasure-ground proper. 994 PLANS OF RESIDENCES PLATE XXVI. A Village Block of Stores and Restdences, iwlustrating a mode of bringing Grounds back of Alleys into connection, for Decorative Purposes, with the Residences on the Village Street. We desire to call the reader’s attention to this elaborate study of an unusual mode of securing to homes on contracted village lots the delightful appendage of charming little pleasure grounds. The business of small villages usually clusters on one street, and sometimes occupies but a few stores near “the corners ;”’ and it is a common practice of thrifty and prudent village merchants to have the residence on the same lot with the store, or on an adjoining lot. As the village increases, the lots near the leading merchant’s are those earliest occupied by good improvements, in stores or residences. Our plate shows a village or suburban block of two hundred feet front on the principal street, with lots one hundred and fifty feet deep to an alley. Let us suppose that Mr. Smith, the wealthiest business man of the vicinage, has purchased the one hundred feet front on the right, and erected two fine stores on the corner (one of which he occupies), and a dwelling-house on the balance of the lot. While beginning to amass wealth he was doubtless occupying a much smaller store and house,-and has erected these large improvements when his means enabled him to move with considerable strength. Let us further suppose that on the completion of this fine residence, a couple of well-to-do citizens buy two adjoining lots of twenty-five feet front each and put up a pair of city houses; and that the corner fifty feet, on the left, is then improved as shown on the plate. Mr. Smith, and those who have built after him, have all been intent on getting themselves good houses, and have not had either the leisure or the taste to give much thought to grounds for embel- lishment. With a business exacting all his time, and a young family to provide for, the business man has looked forward to a new store or a new house as the w/tima thule of his ambition. But when these are acquired, and larger means and more leisure and observation of . . h Street ut Ss. oO oie late XX¥' : z FEES yep oe Seats: ie Lit lansa (Pa Ae = —— = ee se re crables “Yard. / ht Carriages) Mats |Tool FRoont| etc. = Library Librar, Libra | ! or Sitting Parlor. Store. Of CS — os ies 2S | o 10 20 30 4O 50 bo 70 80 90 100 fi. Kast Street. Street or Alle North : » Leters geet Lo Sebati ibe fie b iyi SE: i i en -gee ices iriet ow Aik Sue ciithhnn acd Siud at ee. v9) la eres aged ants * ‘Ho eooet Mt that id (lamiphat Se Ee i iow ep olgetacts eon sei a / any #) “rite wot (R5i oli sobs ‘caedth wie need alt ry epaueil oat te # eeHitbe at RE 14 outs id err law on snvrerer pes r Mee Yar Apply eg fl aye Th) red tend, hae ns 7 aia iSuGh 4 s twolin a dl ~ beet inn ee a awe ih Lith seeded Wie ofl toe wl ~7ig a ) 2a soon ¥ } pil} pais mi seco} veruseav Ty iy ee woth dai? ae ety): h sale Bald + athe. wk 9 biti at oa es a: AND GROUNDS. 225 the results of culture and wealth in other places. open his eyes. to other refined objects of expenditure, he cannot but see, living as he does in the centre of a farming country, with open fields and pleasant shade-trees only a few squares away, how he has cramped his house, like a prisoner, between the walls of his stores and his new neighbors, and has not even play-room for his children. But the fine house is built and cannot be abandoned. ‘The neighbors, with fine, but smaller city-houses, are in the same predicament. They are all persons in good business, with (we will suppose) the average taste of tolerably educated people for a certain degree of elegance outside as well as inside their houses. We have represented the entire fronts of the lots as bounded by a low stone-wall and coping, making the grounds four steps (twenty-eight inches) above the level of the sidewalks, and the main floors of the houses five steps more, so that the basement-kitchens for which all the houses are planned will be mostly above the level of the ground. In addition to a fine ow iron fence on the stone coping, and some elegant vases in the centre of each of the front spaces between the walks, and the vines on the porches and ve- randa, the three places nearest the store can have little more done to them to make them attractive homes exteriorly. ‘The back-yard of the double-house has room for a little decoration, and as. the wall next to the alley has an east exposure, it is a good place for a cold grape-house, and is used accordingly. The rear arcade and bay- windows of the library and dining-rooms now have a pleasant look- out on a pretty bit of grass-plat, dotted with a vase and a few beds for low flowers; the grapery bounding the view in front, and a square rose-covered arbor marking the intersections of the walks on two sides of the fruit and vegetable square, behind the store- yards. The other neighbors follow suit with cold grape-houses. along the alley; the one on the extreme left improving on the others by adding a decorative gable-entrance fronting the main street, and forming a pleasing termination to the view of the side- yard as seen from the front. These four places now have about all the out-door comforts and beauties that the lots are capable of ; but after all they are city houses, on cramped city lots.. The pleasures incident to the care of these bits of lawn, the filling of the 28 226 PLANS OF RESIDENCES vases, and the management of the vines and plants in the grape- houses, all have a tendency to beget a craving for more room ; for similar pleasures and more beautiful creations on a larger scale. Mr. Smith, the owner of the stores and the double-house, has been obliged to buy the lot back of the alley (100 x 185 feet) to get room for his stable, vehicle, and man-servant. Not being in a street where property is used for business, or popular for residences, he buys it for a small part of what lots on the east street are worth ; and the lot is first used for a horse and cow pasture, or run-ground, in connection with the stable. Now let us suppose Mr. Smith is one of those good specimens of business-men whose refined tastes develop as their means increase, and that he longs, and that his good family seconds the longing, for those lovely stretches of lawn flecked with shadows of trees, margined with shrubberies, and sparkling with flowers, that some friend’s acre has enabled him to display ; that the family envy the possession of fine croquet grounds where children, youth, and old people are alike merry in the open summer air with the excitement of the battles of the balls; that they desire some better place than the street to air the little chil- dren, and to stroll with family familiarity on fair summer days, and evenings, and sociable Sundays. To obtain all these pleasant features of a home without going into the country, or exchanging the home in the heart of the village for a new one farther off, or giving up the convenient proximity to his business which Mr. Smith has always enjoyed, we propose to tunnel the alley, and to convert the cow-pasture-lot into a little pleasure-ground, as shown on the plan. This project, however, pre- supposes that the soil is naturally so gravelly as to be self-draining, so that water might never rest in the tunnel, or else that drainage for the bottom of the tunnel can be effected by a sewer in the alley beneath it, or not far off. It may be asked—“ why tunnel rather than bridge the alley?” The reasons are conclusive in favor of the tunnel. 240 THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. Fic. 44. up old fir trees just high enough to give a clear view of the lawn under them, as shown by Fig. 44. The reader will observe that a glimpse of quite an extent of lawn is suggested under the branches of this tree. If, however, the branches rested upon the ground, the landscape vista would be effectually shut out. The advan- tage of this mode of treatment is principally on small grounds, for, were there space enough to secure ample lawn-views without it, we would by no means recommend this mode of securing them. In choosing which to cut out, and which to retain, let it be observed that a large tree of an inferior sort may be better worth preserving than a small or thin specimen of varieties that are otherwise superior. There is no more disagreeable impertinence to the cultivated eye than the growth of slender starved saplings planted under the branches of large trees, and striving to get to the sun and sky by thrusting themselves between the limbs of their superiors. As between a sugar-maple and a black oak, for in- stance, the former is by far the most beautiful and desirable species in all respects ; but, if you have a well branched large tree of the latter and only young sapling maples, we would sacrifice the sap- lings of the better breed for the mature beauty of the inferior oak. There is a dignity in big trunks, and loftiness, for which the pretti- ness of young trees is an unsatisfactory substitute. Everybody has heard of the countryman who went to see a city but “could not see the town, there were so many houses!” His quaint speech ludicrously suggests the main fault of most old places ; the multiplicity of their trees and shrubs conceal each other, so that they have little beauty either singly or in the mass ; and they are rarely so arranged as to make the home they surround the centre of a sylvan picture. Wherever there are large trees there must be proportional breadths of unbroken lawn—open spaces THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. 241 from which the trees can be seen, or their beauty is of no avail. A dense forest around a home suggests the rudeness of pioneer life, not the refinement of culture. Forests breed timber, not sylvan beauty. It is the pasture-field, the park, and the brook- space, that give sun and scope and moisture to develop the sylvan pictures that painters love. Therefore in renovating over-grown places, bear in mind that the cutting away of some of your old trees may be necessary to reveal and improve the beauty of the others. Another and different fault of many old places, resulting from the effort of uneducated planters to avoid the error of over-crowd- ing trees and shrubs, is that of distributing them sparsely but pretty evenly all over the place. This is destructive of all picture- like effects, for it gives neither fine groups, nor open lawn ; and even the single trees, however fine they may be, cannot be seen to advantage, because there are no openings large enough to see them from. ‘This must be remedied by clearing out in some places and filling-in in others. There is one value in the possession of thrifty saplings of sorts not especially desirable, that few persons know, and which is very rarely made use of. We refer to their usefulness as stocks upon which to graft finer varieties, and by the greater strength of their well-established roots producing a growth of the inserted sorts much more luxuriant and showy than could be obtained in twice the time by fresh plantings. The black oak is not worth preserv- ing, unless of large size, but it can be readily grafted with the scarlet oak. White oaks in superfluous number may be grafted with the rare weeping oaks of England, or the Japan purple oak, or some of the peculiar varieties of the Turkey oak. The common chestnut (casfanea) may be grafted with ornamental varieties of the Spanish chestnut ; the common horse-chestnut or buckeye with a number of beautiful and singular varieties ; the common “ thorn apple” of the woods with exquisite varieties of the English haw- thorns ; and the same with maples, elms, and all those trees of which grafts of novel varieties of the same species may be procured. Scions of rare varieties may be procured at our leading nurseries, or by sending through our seedsmen or nurserymen to England or 16 242 THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. France for them ; for which purpose application should of course be made as early as mid-winter. These suggestions about using trees to graft upon, apply only to young trees. Large ones should not have their nobler proportions marred by such work. Old apple-trees are not appreciated as they should be. No tree of its size has a grander spread. Their horizontal branches often have the majesty of small park-oaks. This look of low breadth and strength is expressive of its domestic character, and makes it peculiarly appropriate in proximity to residences of mod- erate size and cottage character. Few trees are in leaf earlier ; none are more fragrant or beautiful in bloom ; none bend with such a ruddy glow of useful fruit. The fall of immature fruit is an objec- tion to all fruit trees on lawns. If the proprietor is not tidy enough to have his lawn always close mowed under them, and all insect- bitten fruit and windfalls picked or raked up as soon as they drop, then he does not deserve to have trees that are at the same time beautiful and useful.* These remarks apply especially to full- grown trees. It is only after the apple-tree is from thirty to forty years old that it attains a noble expression, and its best character- istics, like those of the oak and chestnut, are developed in its old age. Apple or other low branching. trees that have become decrepit from age or insects, can be turned to pleasing use by cutting off their branches several feet from the main trunks and training vines over them. The pipe-vine or birthwort (Azistolochia sipho), with its luxuriant mass of large heart-shape leaves, makes a superb show on supports of this kind. Almost any of our twining or creeping vines are beautiful enough in such places, and few more so than the common hop; but running roses, though often used in this way, are the least suitable. Trees whose tops are not sound enough to be thus used, may often be sawed off from one to three feet above the ground, and used for bases of rustic flower-vases or * We protest against doing violence to old apple-trees by cutting them to pieces to gva/t them with better ones. The beauty of a broad old tree is worth more than the additional value of grafted fruit will ever be. One cannot see an old apple-tree near a house thus marred, with- out thinking that the owner is either beauty-blind, or so penurious that he grudges the old tree its room upon the lawn unless he can make it pay ground-rent. Dr Shirai: ¢ Silay lyst Mbby matin satu tial seal tee oor) oe MAG ad) poppies Bil ied! 2400q a Pics kx. Forms «for Mose -~Beds £ | Fig.70 \ ~ ae Y . 4 . | A7y. // ign fas ss | OF Ob 2 Mi Se 6S AL igor toutes ce : Scale ’6™ inch —to one foot THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. 243 baskets ; provided they stand in places where it is appropriate to have flower-vases. Old shrubs of any of the standard species, if of large size, even though unshapely, may often be turned to good account in the places where they stand, by using them as centres for groups of smaller shrubs. Sometimes their very irregularity of outline will make them picturesque objects to stand conspicuously alone on the lawn. Often a shrub of noble size has been hid by inferior shrubs and trees crowding it, which may all be removed to bring it into full relief. The beauty of full and well grown single specimens of our most common shrubs is as little known as though they were the most recent introductions from Japan. Not one American in a thousand, even among those most observant of sylvan forms, has ever seen a perfectly grown bush-honeysuckle, lilac, snow-ball, or syringa, though every suburban home in the land is filled with them. Growing either in crowded clumps, or under trees, or in poor uncultivated sodden soil, we have learned to love them merely for their lavish beauty of bloom, and have not yet Jearned what breadth and grace of foliage they develop when allowed to spread from the beginning, on an open lawn. There are no worse misplantings in most old grounds than old rose-bushes, whose annual sprouts play hide-and-seek with the rank grass they shelter—roses which the occupants from time im- memorial have remembered gratefully for their June bloom, till their sweetness and beauty have become associated with the tangled grass they growin. There is no reason for having a lawn broken by such plants. Rose-bushes do better for occasional trans- plantings, and their bloom and foliage is always finer in cultivated, than in grassy ground. Mass them where they can be cultivated and enriched together. Plate XXXI shows many forms for rose- beds, and by using care in keeping the strongest growers nearest the centre, varieties enough may be displayed in one snug bed to spoil a quarter-acre lawn planted in the old way—“ wherever there is a good open space’”—precisely the space that should not be broken by anything, least of all by such straggling growers as roses. Do not be in haste to decide where the shrubs you dig up shall 244 THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. be planted again. When the air and sun have been let in to the roots and tops of the best large trees and shrubs, and the lawn is completed about them, it may be that the effect of your lawn, and the trees that shadow it, will be nobler it you omit altogether all the smaller shrubs. Large trees and shrubs are robbed of half their beauty if they have not a fair expanse of unbroken lawn around them. VINES ON OLD TREES.—Some evergreens, the balsam-fir for instance, and the hemlock when it is old, becomé gloomy-looking trees. The black oak and red oak have also a similar expression, though entirely different in form. If such trees stand where more cheerful and elegant trees are needed, the desired improvement may be made by enriching the ground near their trunks, and plant- ing at their base, on both sides, such vines as the Chinese wistaria and the trumpet-creeper, which will cover them to their summits in a few years with a mass of graceful spray and luxuriant leafage.* The Chinese wistaria is probably better adapted to cover lofty trees than other climbers, but the trumpet-creeper, Virginia-creep- er, the native varieties of the clematis, and the Japan and Chinese honeysuckles, may all be used. The wild grape-vine is admirable for filling up trees of thin and straggling growth, such as the oaks before named. The hardy grape, known as the Clinton, is well adapted to this use, while very good wine can be made of its fruit. Perhaps no flowering vine excels it in luxuriance of foliage- drapery, but its prolific fruitage renders it necessary to bestow a good deal of time in gathering the clusters scattered among the branches of a lofty tree. There is no question that the value of the fruit will far more than pay for the labor, but unless picked clean every year it may disfigure both the tree and the lawn. Whether the birds will insure against any damage of this kind we have not had the means of learning. * An exquisite example of the’effect of such planting is an old hemlock at ‘‘ Cottage Place,” Germantown, Pa. The tree is three feet in diameter and eighty feet high. At a little distance it cannot be recognized as a hemlock, so completely is its lofty summit crowned with a magnificent drapery of the waving foliage of the Chinese wistaria. A root of the wistaria was planted on eack side of the trunk. Their stems are now from six to eight inches in diameter. THE RENOVATION OF OLD PLACES. 245 In conclusion, it may be safely said that new places rarely afford a skillful planter such opportunities for making quick and beautiful effects at small cost as old places of similar extent. Our town suburbs would in a half dozen years be more beautiful than most persons can conceive possible, even without the addition of a single new home, provided all the old homes could feel the renovat- ing hands of true artists in home-grounds, and be kept up in the same spirit. The metamorphosis of such places, from cluttered aggregations of superfluities, to gleaming lawns, smilingly intro- ducing the beholder to beautiful trees and flowers that luxuriate in the new-made space and sun around them, is too great not to in- spire those who have profited by the change to preserve the beauty that may so easily be brought to light. Op HouseEs.—Old places which have houses “just good enough not to move off or tear down,” are greatly undervalued by most purchasers. It is not quite in the scope of this work to put ina plea for old houses, but we must confess to a very loving partiality for them when tastefully renovated. No one, however, but an _ architect who is known to have a tasteful faculty for such adapta- tions should be employed to direct the work.* There is a thought- less prejudice in the minds of most Americans against all things which are not span-new ; and we have met men of such ludicrous depravity of taste in this respect, as to cut down fine old trees in order to have room to plant some pert and meagre little nurslings of their own buying! Although houses do not grow great by age, like trees, yet, where strongly built at first, and afterwards well occupied, they acquire certain quaint expressions which are the very aroma of pleasing homes ; which nothing but age can give a home ; and this beauty of some old houses should be as lovingly preserved as that of the aged apple, maple, or eli trees around them. * The attention of the reader 1s commended to Vaux’ “ Villas and Cottages,’ page 205, for some valuable remarks on this subject. We are the sweet flowers Born of sunny showers, (Think whene’er you see us, what our beauty saith), Utterance mute and bright, Of some unknown delight, We fill the air with pleasure by our simple breath: All who see us, love us: We befit our places; Unto sorrow we give smiles, unto graces—races. See (and scorn all duller Taste) how heaven loves color ; How great Nature clearly joys in red and green; What sweet thoughts she thinks, Of violets and pinks, And a thousand flushing hues made solely to be seen ; See her whited lilies Chill the silver showers, And what a red mouth is her rose, the woman of her flowers. Chorus of Flowers, LEIGH Hunt. S all vegetable productions, from the greatest trees to the minute mosses, are equally flowering plants, it is to be understood that the subject of flowers, as here treated, is limited to observations on annuals, perennials, and bedding plants. FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, 247 Considering such flowers as the finishing decorations of a home, as accessory embellishments rather than) principal features, it is desired to suggest the places where they may be put with the best effect rather than to give descriptions of even a small number of their almost innumerable variety. The immense collections of our leading seedsmen, and their beautifully illustrated catalogues, give a bewildering sense of the folly of attempting to know, much less to grow, a hundredth part of those which are reputed desira- ble ; and they also force upon us the wise reflection that the good growth and skilful arrangement of a few species only, will produce effects quite as pleasing as can be attained with the greatest variety. Annuals, perennials, and bedding plants are used in three tolerably distinct modes, viz.: First, in narrow beds bordering a straight walk to a main entrance, or skirting the main walk of a kitchen-garden. Second, in a variety of beds of more or less symmetrical patterns, grouped to form a flower-garden or parterre, to be an object of interest independent of its surroundings. Third, as adjuncts and embellishments of a lawn, of groups of shrubs, of walks and window views, to be planted with reference to their effect in connection with other things. On large and expensively kept grounds all these styles may be maintained in appropriate places respectively. But on small lots the first or the last mode should be adopted, though some- times both may be desirable. The simplest and rudest mode of planting in the first style, is to border a walk closely with a continuous bed from two to four feet wide, filled with flowering plants of all sizes and shapes and periods of bloom,—here overhanging the walk with unkempt growth, like weeds, there leaving a broad barren spot where spring-flowers have bloomed and withered. Fortunately this mode is becoming less common, and the pretty setting of a margin of well-cut grass is better appreciated than formerly. Flower-beds cut in the grass have a more pleasing effect than when bordered by gravel-walks. When made as marginal embel- lishments of straight walks, they should rarely be cut nearer than two feet from the side of the walk if they are of much length 248 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, parallel with it; but where the openings between the beds are frequent, or the beds are in circles or squares with their points to the walk, one foot of grass between their nearest points and the walk will answer. Narrow beds of formal outlines or geometric forms of a simple character, are preferable to irregular ones. All complicated “curlecue” forms should be avoided. Plate XXX shows a variety of shapes for flower-beds on straight walks. Such beds must, of course, be proportioned in size and form to the dimensions of the lawn in which they are cut. They should never be planted where there is not a space of open lawn back of them equal at least in average width to the distance across the walk from one bed to another. Being close to the eyes of all those who use the walks, they must be planted and kept with a care that is less essential in beds seen from a greater distance. This style of cultivation necessitates far more labor than the third, which we have adopted in most of the plans for suburban lots. To keep a great number of small beds filled through the summer with low blooming flowers, and their edges well cut, is expensive ; and, if they are also planned so that the grass strips between them must be cut with a sickle, few gentlemen of moderate means will long have the patience to keep them with the nice care essential to their good effect. The border-beds shown on Plate XXX, are all arranged so that a rolling lawn-cutter may be used easily by hand be- tween them. These plans are especially adapted to places with straight main walks, where the gentleman or lady of the house is an enthusiastic florist. Walk No. 1 shows a row of round beds from two to three feet in diameter on each side; the alternate - circles to be filled with bushy single plants from one and a half to two feet high, and the others with low bedding flowers that do not exceed six inches in height. Nos. 2, 3, and 4 are narrow strips, and circles or squares alternated. Such slender evergreens as the Irish juniper, clipped tree-box, and some of the many dwarf firs, may be used with good effect in some of these circles, but must not be too frequent. The beds at the sides of walks 5 and 6, require more lawn-room on each side, and will look best filled, each, with a single color of the lowest bedding-plants. The Pea. 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Ks vst ‘a> Src ¢ eli himeiienaa eT exgntd <3 BATES Was / cca okby feb Yleitens esisoge yaa AND THEIR SETTINGS. 249 same remark will apply to the beds on walks 8 and 11. Walks 7 and ro have larger beds suitable for filling with plants of different colors and heights. The former is intended to be bordered, between the beds, with square boxes filled with plants from the conservatory, and back of them, in the circles, clipped dwarf ever- greens ; the latter (10) is to have the small circles next the walk occupied by a succession of pot-plants in bloom, set in larger pots buried in the grass to receive them, so that the former can be taken up and put one side when the grass is to be cut. Flower-beds which are not more than two feet in width, and on the borders of walks, should have no plants in them more than eighteen inches high, including the height of the flower-stalks, and plants from six to fifteen inches in height have the best effect. In wider beds, by placing the low growing sorts in front, or on the outside edges of the beds, the higher show to good advantage behind them. In sowing flower-seeds, which are intended to cover a bed, put them in drills across the bed so that a hoe may be used be- tween the plants when they appear. To make a fine display throughout the season, in beds for low flowers, it is necessary to have at least two sets or crops of plants ; one from bulbs, such as snow-drops, crocuses, jonquils, hyacinths, and tulips, all of which may be planted in October, to bloom the following spring; while the bedding-plants for the later bloom, such as verbenas, portulaccas, phlox drummondii, etc., etc., are being started. The bulbs of the former should remain in the ground till June and July to ripen, but the summer blooming plants can be planted between the bulbs, so that the latter can be re- moved without disarranging the former. Persons having good hot- bed frames, or a green-house to draw from, may make more brilliant beds by more frequent changes, but two crops, if well managed, will be quite satisfactory. Few persons are aware of the grand displays that may be made in a single season by the use of those annuals, perennials, and bedding-plants which grow quickly to great size. Proprietors com- mencing with bare grounds can make them very effective tempo- rary substitutes for shrubbery. Many species, especially those 250 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, half-hardy plants of recent introduction, which are remarkable for the great size, or rich colors of their leaves, are large enough to form, by themselves, groups of considerable size and beauty, from midsummer till frost. Of these, the different varieties of the ricinus (castor-bean plants) are the most imposing in height, breadth, and size of leaves. The tree ricinus, &. borboniensis arboreus, grows in one season to the height of fifteen feet ; the #. sanguineous, ten feet; the silver-leaved, &. africanus albidus, eight feet, and the common castor-oil bean, &. communis, five feet. These are all great spreading plants. The axunda donax is a tall plant resembling the sugar-cane, grows rapidly to the height of ten feet, and takes up but little room horizontally. The magnificent cannas are of all sizes, from two to seven feet in height, and mass well either in beds by themselves, or with low plants of lighter- colored foliage in front of them, and the avwnda donax or the Japan- ese striped maize behind them. ‘The Japanese striped maize is a curiously beautiful species of corn from four to six feet in height, with leaves brightly striped with white and green. The hollyhocks are noble perennials greatly neglected. Few plants make so showy a display massed in beds, to be seen ata little distance. Height, three to six feet. The wégandia caracasana is a very robust bedding-plant which attains the height of six feet, and is remark- able for the size and beauty of its leaves. The JVicotea atro- purpurea grandifiora is also noticeable for the robust beauty of its foliage, to which is added the charm of showy dark-red blossoms. The beauty of the gorgeous-leaved colleus verschafelli is pretty well known. In the open sun, and in rich moist soil, each plant will form a compact mass of foliage two feet in height and breadth. It also makes a brilliant border for the larger plants. The larger geraniums can also be used for the same purpose, and sweet peas, the larger cenotheras, the “ium giganteum, and many others, are good taller plants to place behind them. While masses of shrubs usually display their greatest floral beauty in the spring and early summer, these grand annuals and semi-tropical plants attain their greatest luxuriance of leaf and bloom at the season’s close. The brilliantly-colored or variegated-leaved plants, most of which are half-hardy, require to be propagated and grown in pots AND THEIR, SETTINGS. 251 in the green-house, but flourish in the open ground during the summer months with great luxuriance, and are among the brightest and most interesting features of suburban lawns. We have named but few out of many of the plants suitable for forming showy masses or conspicuous single specimens. Descriptive lists of all which are valuable may be found in the illustrated catalogues of the great florists and nurserymen. Fic. 45. Walk FO ula Fig. 45, drawn to the scale of one-sixteenth of an inch to one foot, is a design for a group of small beds to border a straight short walk on each side, and opposite each other. A low broad vase for flowers occupies the centre; the beds 2, 2, to be filled with brilliant bedding bulbs for a spring bloom, and such plants as verbenas, phlox drummondii, and portulaccas for the summer and autumn bloom. The larger beds 3 and 4 (which would be better if finished with a small circle at their points), will have a good effect filled first with bedding-bulbs like the former, and afterwards with a variety of geraniums diminishing in size towards the point of the bed; or roots of the great Japan lily, Zum auratum, may be planted in the widest part of the beds to show their regal flowers above the masses of the geraniums. If such a variety of green-house flowers is greater than the planter wishes to procure, these larger beds, two on each side of the walk, may be filled very showily with petunias in one, dwarf perennial poppies in another, dwarf salvias in another, and coxcombs or pinks in another. The vase, if a broad one, may have a plant of Japanese striped maize for its centre, two cod/eus verschafelti, and two mountain-of-snow geraniums alternated around it, and around the edge of the vase the znca elegantissima, the Jobelia erinus paxtoni, the trope@olium, or some half a dozen other drooping plants of brilliant foliage and blossoms which a florist may name. 252 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, Fig. 46 is a group of five small beds on the outside of a circular walk. No. 1 may be filled with four canna plants of sorts from ner ows) Walicy ok ae three to four feet high ; the beds ee aT meee 2, and 2, one with Lady Pollock geranium, and the other with some one gorgeous-leaved plant of about the same size; and beds 3 and 4 with brilliant trailing flowers. Fic. 46. Fic. 47. (el, 4 asad leu Walk Fig. 47 is a group of beds requiring more space, and adapted to the inner side of a curved walk where there is considerable depth of lawn behind. V— is a large low vase. ‘The circular ex- tremities a, a, a, may be filled with compact specimens of curious- leaved plants like the Lady Pollock, or mountain-ofsnow gera- nium, colleus verschafelti, iresene herbstit, etc., etc.; or they may be more permanently occupied by such very dwarf evergreens as the Adies nigra pumula, the garden boxwood, or the Andromeda floribunda, The narrow parts of the two beds next to the walks should be occupied by some shrubby little annuals or perennials which do not exceed nine inches in height, and the balance of the beds filled with plants increasing in size towards the vase, none of which, however, should be higher than the top of the vase. ‘The rear bed should be filled in a similar manner, and being further from the walk, may be occupied with showy plants of coarser foliage than the front beds. By an error in the drawing the circu- lar front of the back bed is made further from the vase than the side ones. It should be made larger in the direction of the vase, and have its corners truncated like the others. AND THEIR SETTINGS. 253 Fig. 48 is a circular series of eight beds formed on an octagonal plan, with a large vase for flowers in the centre, a width of four feet in lawn around the vase, and the beds, ae e = five feet in length, radiating as shown. The plan is suitable for an open space, to give G eS © EB - interest to a window view, or to face a porch where the entrance-walk runs parallel & with the house. So many different plants may here be used with good effect, that, whichever we may name, may be bettered by a more skillful florist. Yet we will suggest for the widest part of these beds, stools of the eight finest Japan lilies, to be sur- rounded by fall planted bulbs that bloom in April and May, which can be removed by the first of June; these to be followed by such plants as gladiolus and tuberoses, on the ends nearest the vase, and by the finest eight varieties of compact geraniums in the outer circles. Or the beds may be planted with an entirely fresh variety of flowers every year. Fig. 49 is a group of flower-beds suita- ble to place at the end of a walk or at the intersection of diverging walks. A rustic or other vase is here, also, the centre. of the group, with four or five feet of lawn around it. The beds a, a, should be filled with flowers that do not exceed six or nine inches in height. The beds 4, ¢, and d, are large enough to allow of considerable vari- ety in their composition. The two smaller ese ve ones should have no plants that grow higher than two feet, while in the middle of the bed @, and in the trefoil end, may be planted those which grow from three to five feet in height. Fig. 50 (drawn to a scale of one-twelfth of an inch to one foot) requires a larger space such as that made by the turn circle of a roadway, or a place where a walk or road describes the segment of a circle with an open lawn on the inside of the curve. A tree might Fic. 48. Fic. 49, 254 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, be planted at the centre, where a vase is designated, and these beds could be formed around it for half a dozen years or more, or until the shade from its branches renders the location unsuitable for the growth of flowers. If a tree Fic. 50. be not preferred, then the single Mk oF Roadway, vase, or a large basket-vase with a aio smaller vase rising out of it, would be the most appropriate centre- © piece for such a group. The four principal beds are about twelve feet in length on their middle lines, ( © and two and a half feet in greatest diameter. The dots show places for nine robust and compact plants, which may be from four to five feet in height in the centre, and diminish to one foot at each end. Where good plants can be ob- tained from a green-house, we recommend for the centre of one bed the Canna cocinea vera, or the C. Lindleyana, which grow to five feet in height, to be flanked with pairs, divided one on each side, of the following varieties, viz.: the C. Ambata major, four feet high; the C. dicolor de Fava, three feet ; C. flaccida, three feet; C. compacta clegantissima, two feet; and C. augustifolia nana pallida, one foot. Many other varieties will do just as well as the ones named, provided they are of a size to diminish symmetrically from the centre to the ends of the bed. For the centre of another bed the Micoteana atro-purpurea grandifiora, a noble, large-leaved plant, that grows five feet in height, and bears panicles of dark-red blossoms ; next to this on either side a plant of Canna gigantea splendidissima, three feet ; then a pair of Acanthus mollis, three feet; next the Amaranthus bicolor, two feet ; and for the ends, the Lady Pollock geranium, one to two feet. For the centre of a third bed the Wigandia caracasana may be used, being another of the splendid leaved plants recently intro- duced. It grows to the height of six feet. This may be flanked on either side with the Ricinus communis, four to five feet high ; AND THEIR SLTTINGS. 205 next to these a mass of hollyhocks of stocky growth; next the Mirabilis (four o’clock), and on the points the Coleus verschafelte. In the centre of the fourth bed may be a stool of Japanese striped maize, five to six feet high; next on either side a plant of the striped-leaved Canna zebrina, five feet high; next, and in the centre-line of the bed, the Ze//ium auratum, with the Lilium longt- florum near the edge of the bed; next the Salvia argentia, three feet; and for the ends of the bed the Amaranthus melancholicus ruber, one to two feet high. The four outside circles may be filled respectively with the Col/eus verschafelti, of gorgeous crimson and purple leaves ; the mountain-of-snow geranium, with white foliage and scarlet flowers ; the Amaranthus bicolor, with green and crim- son leaves; and the Lady Pollock geranium with variegated leaves. The vase for a group of beds of this size should be large, and well filled in the centre with gay-leaved plants, with more deli- cate foliage drooping over its sides. If such groups are made without a vase in the centre, we suggest in place of it, the planting of an Arunda donax within a circle of Japanese maize, the bed to be about three feet in diameter, and well enriched ; or the Irish juniper may be planted as a permanent and more formal centre. Fig. 51 is a design for a number of beds occupying so great a space that it would constitute a flower-garden. ‘The centre bed is supposed to be cut within a circle of four feet radius, so that it will be eight feet in diameter from point to point. The eight circular beds surrounding it are each three and a half feet in diameter, and laid out so that their centres are on a circle eight feet from the main centre. The inside ends of the outer circle of beds are segments of circles struck from the centres of the small beds, and may be made of any form that the surrounding features of the place suggest. The most elegant feature for the centre of the central bed would be a broad shallow vase two feet in height, and four in breadth, on top, elevated on a pedestal two feet high, which should be concealed by a dense mass of shrubby flowering plants around it; the sides of the vase to be draped with pendulous plants overhanging its sides, and its centre filled with plants of a tropical appearance. Next in elegance to the large vase-centre would be a basket-bed similar to the one shown in the 256 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, Fic, 51. Re pain AOCJOb aed ; hy OT engraving at the end of this chapter. This would require a different style of planting. Supposing its base to be four feet in diameter, there would be a margin of two feet all around it for low trailing flowers. The design for a basket-vase is intended for an open lawn, and shows a collection of plants quite different from what would be best for the design under consideration. Here we would have for its centre a single group of the Canna sanguinea chatet, surrounded by a circle of Japanese maize ; next a circle of Salvia argentea, and for the outside border the Lady Pollock geranium inter-planted with some of the slender, drooping, light-leaved plants, named farther on in this chapter, for the decoration of vases. If this central bed is to have neither a pedestal-vase nor basket- vase, it may still be made the most conspicuous point of interest in the parterre with plants alone. It is desirable that the lawn should rise gently towards it on all sides, and that the bed be raised in the centre as much as may be without making the earth liable to be washed upon the lawn. In the centre, 7 ‘his flower-garden is intended to be permanent, we would plant the remarkable variety of the European silver fir, known as the Picea pectinata pendula, or the variety of the Norway spruce, known as the Adzes excelsa in- verta, shown in Fig. 52; and around it a circle of the tallest Japan lilies ; next a circle of the mountain-of-snow geranium alternated AND THEIR SETTINGS. 257 with gladiolii ; and for the outside of the same bed, the Coleus verschafelti, alternated with the Lady Pollock geranium. Some years will be required to grow the evergreens named to the size that will make them appropriate centres for such a parterre. If a showy bed is required the first season without the use of either vase, basket, or evergreen tree-centre, the following plants may be suggested to effect it, viz.: for the centre, the Canna gigantea auriantica, ten feet high; around it on a circle eighteen inches from the centre, the Canna sanguinea chatet, six feet high, to be planted one foot apart in the circle ; next on a circle one foot further out, the Sa/via argentea, or the mountain-of-snow geranium, to be planted one foot apart in the circle ; for the next circle, one foot from the same, the Amaranthus melancholicus ruber, a plant of deep-red foliage from one to two feet high ; and for the edge of the bed the fern-like low white-leaved Centaurea gymmno- carpa; or if plants of the latter are too expensive to use freely, make a border of the common Indian pink, or the blue lobelia. These plants, if successfully grown, will make a magnificent bed from midsummer till frost. For a display in the first half of the season, early blooming bulbous flowers must be relied upon. We have thus far considered only the central-bed of the group shown in Fig. 51, and have suggested various modes of treating it which would be equally applicable to a round bed of the size named, were it disconnected with the surrounding beds. For the small circular- beds, each alternate one may have a cluster of the Japanese striped maize in its centre; the other four beds might have in their centres the Canna flaccida, the Nicotiana atropurpurea grandifiora, the Canna gigantea splendidissima, and the Wigandia caracasana. Around their edges may be planted any well-foliaged flowering- plants which do not exceed nine inches in height, and a different species in each bed. The outside tier of beds are for low bedding flowers or annuals, which should not exceed fifteen inches: in height for the centres, or more than six inches near the borders. | Fig. 52 represents a circular-bed with one of the pendulous firs mentioned in a preceding page, in its centre, and such tall growing brilliant flowers as the Japan lilies and gladiolii next to it ; a circle of petunias around them; and creeping plants near the margin. ati 258 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, Fic. 52. The common firs are often planted to form centres for such beds, but they soon grow to such over-shadowing size as to be quite un- suitable. The weeping silver fir, and weeping Norway spruce, however, are pendulous to such a degree that they make but slow additions to their breadth. If their central stems or leaders are kept vertical by tying to a stake or straight twig bound to the stem below, and the side branches trimmed back whenever they show a tendency to the normal form, the appearance shown in the cut may be preserved for many years. Where these varieties of the fir are not to be had, the-Irish juniper, or the hemlock, may be substituted. The former of those trees is almost monumental in its slender formality, but is pleasing in color and delicate foliage. ‘The latter, if trimmed back every spring in April or May, but not afterwards during that season, will exhibit during the rest of the year the most airy outline of pendulous spray. The trimming in the spring must not be done so as to leave a solidly conical hedge-like form, but with some irregularity, zmtfating within slender limits the freedom of outline natural to the hemlock ;—the idea being to produce by artificial means the appearance of one of nature’s abnormal varieties or sports, which will bear the same relation to the common form of the hemlock that the pendulous fir in the cut bears to its family. The last cut of this chapter, already alluded to, is a form of AND THETR SETTINGS. 259 basket-vase now little used, which we recommend as an appro- priate embellishment for a lawn, when filled with suitable plants. Such basket forms may be made either of rustic woodwork, of terra-cotta, or of iron, and need have no bottom ; or at least only rims around the bottoms on the inside sufficient to prevent them from settling into the ground unevenly. When filled with earth they form simply raised beds to be planted with such things as the taste of the owner may choose. The basket form simply gives an artistic relief to the bed, and at the same time is so low that it does not obtrusively break the views over a small lawn, like those tall vases of a garish complexion which are often seen in lonely isola- tion, thrust forward “to show.” All vases of classic forms need to be supported by architectural constructions of some kind, near by, which harmonize with them in style; or else to be so embowered with the foliage of the plants they bear, and by which they are sur- rounded, in the summer months at least, that they will gleam through leaves and flowers like the face of a beautiful woman seen through a veil. The variety of forms and sizes for basket-beds is illimitable ; they may be suited to almost any spot where a flower- bed is desirable, and can be made cheaply, or with costly art, as the surroundings may suggest. We venture, however, to warn their makers not to put arch-handles over them. A basket form is chosen because it is pretty and convenient, but it does not follow that the bed of flowers should make any pretence to be in fact a real basket of flowers. The transparency of the deception makes it ridiculous. Rustic vases made of crooked joints and roots of trees, and twigs with or without their bark, have become quite common, and are often made so strongly and skilfully as to be pleasing works of art. Strength, durability, and firmness on their bases are the essential qualities which they must have. Any construc- tions of this kind which suggest flimsy wood, or bungling carpen- try, or rotting bark, or want of firmness at the base, though they may be planted to give a pretty effect at first, soon become rickety nuisances. But those which are “strongly built, and well,” are certainly more likely to have a pleasing effect on common grounds than little plaster, iron, or stone vases, and cannot so easily be used amiss. All rustic constructions of this kind will last 260 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, much longer, and look cleaner, if the wood is obtained when the bark will peel readily, and made up with no bark upon it. The first effect is certainly less rustic, but sufficiently so to harmonize with the surroundings of a suburban home ; and after a few years the advantages of the barkless constructions are very evident. There is a frequent fault in the use of vases, whether rustic or clas- sic, that mars all their beauty wherever they are placed. We refer to the want of care in keeping their tops level, and their centres vertical. A house “out of plum” is not more unsightly than a vase awry. The plants used with good effect in rustic vases are those which have large and showy or curiously marked leaves, for the centres, surrounded by delicate-leaved drooping or trailing plants. The gor- geous crimson-leaved Coleus verschafelti is a deserved favorite for vases of good size, being a rank grower and developing its greatest beauty in exposures open on all sides to the sun. The following are some of the plants recommended by Henderson, in his book of Practical Floriculture, for the central portions of small baskets, and will answer also for small vases: “The Centaurea candida, a plant of white, downy leaves, of compact growth; Tom Thumb geranium, scarlet, dwarf, and compact, blooming all summer; Sedum sze- boldii, a plant of light glaucus foliage and graceful habit ;” and for large baskets the following: “ Mrs. Pollock geranium, foliage crimson, yellow and green, flowers bright scarlet; Centaurea gymnocarpa, foliage fern-like, whitish gray, of a peculiar graceful habit; Sedum sieboldit variegatum, glaucus green, marbled with golden yellow; Achyranthes gilsonii, a beautiful shade of carmine foliage and stem ; Alyssum dentatum variegatum, foliage green and white, with fragrant flowers of pure white ; A/temanthera spathula, lanceolate leaves of pink and crimson; pyrethrum or golden feather, fern-like foliage, golden yellow.” For plants to put around the edge of a small basket or vase, and to fall pendant from its sides, he recommends the following: ‘“ Lobelia erinus paxtoni, an exquisite blue, drooping eighteen inches; Zrop@olum (ball of fire), dazzling scarlet, drooping eighteen inches ; Lysimachia numularia, lowers bright yellow, drooping eighteen inches ; Limaria cymbalaria, inconspicuous flowers but graceful foliage.” For the edging or pendant plants of a large basket he recommends the AND THEIR SETTINGS. 261 following, which are also suitable for the edging of a vase: “ Mau- randia barclayana, white or purple flowers; Vinca clegantissima aurea, foliage deep green, netted with golden yellow, flowers deep blue ; Cerastium tomentosum, foliage downy white, flowers white ; Convolvulus mauritanicus, flowers light blue, profuse; Solanum jasminoides variegatum, foliage variegated, flowers white with yel- low anthers: Geranium peltatum elegans, a variety of the ivy- leaved, with rich glossy foliage and mauve-colored flowers: Favz- cum variegatum, a procumbent grass from New Caledonia, of graceful habit of growth, with beautiful variegated foliage, striped white, carmine, and green.” ‘These are mostly half-hardy con- servatory plants, and if the proprietor has no conservatory they must be purchased, when wanted, of the florists, or they may be started by a skillful lady-florist in her own window. Nearly every lady of refined taste longs to have a conservatory of her own. But a building, or even an entire room, built for, and devoted to plants alone, is an expensive luxury. Those who have well-built houses heated by steam, or other good furnaces, may easily have a plant- window in a sunny exposure in which the plants required to bed in open ground the following summer may be reared ; and beautiful well-grown plants may be obtained from the commercial florists to keep the window gay with blossoms and foliage at a price greatly below the cost for which amateurs can raise them in their own con- servatories. These remarks are not designed to discourage the building of private conservatories by those who can afford them—far from it—but rather to suggest to those who cannot afford them, not to be envious of those who can. Roses.—We have not previously mentioned the Rose, among flowers and bedding plants, for the reason that, being the queen of flowers, more than ordinary attention is usually considered due to her. Besides, her royal family are so numerous, so varied and interesting in their characters, and have been the subject of so many compliments from poets, and biographical notices from pens of distinguished horticulturists, that it would be presumption to attempt to describe, in a few brief paragraphs, the peculiar beauties and characteristics of the family; still less of all its thousand members. The mere fact of royalty, however, has at- 262 FLOWERS AND BEDDING PLANTS, tracted such numbers of admirers and chroniclers of their beauty, that, in failing to do justice to them by any observations of our own, there is a satisfaction in knowing that scores of their devoted admirers have written lovingly and sensibly of them; and from their pages, we may glean and present such general information concerning the relative rank, characters, and habits of the various roses as comes within the scope of a work on the arts of arrange- ment, rather than a floral manual of classification or culture. In all the languages of civilized nations volumes have been written on the history, the poetical and legendary associations, the classification, and the culture of the rose; so that, whoever desires to be especially well informed on any branch of knowledge per- taining to roses will seek among the books in his own language for the special and full information he desires. As roses come properly under the head of shrubs, we shall, under that head, give so much on the subject as may be necessary in connec- tion with the embellishment of suburban places, together with a plate of designs for rose-beds, of a great variety of sizes and forms, with various selections of roses that may be used to advantage in filling them. We will only add here what has before been men- tioned in connection with the subject of arrangement, that the planting of rose-bushes, as isolated small shrubs on a lawn, is al- most always a misplacement. There are a few sorts, especially some of the wild bush-roses, which form fine compact bushes, sufficiently well foliaged to be pleasing all the summer months when not in bloom ; but the greater part of the finest roses, par- ticularly the perpetuals which make a straggling and unequal growth, produce a far finer effect when planted fretty snugly in masses. A practice of planting each root of a sort by itself, like so many hills of potatoes, is quite necessary in commercial gardens where they are grown for sale, and each of a hundred varieties must be kept distinct from every other, so that it may be distinguished readily, and removed for sale without injury to the others ; but this is market-gardening, not decorative, and the least interesting of all modes of cultivating the rose. Decidedly, the prettier way in small collections is to learn first what is the com- parative strength of growth and height of the several plants which AND, THETR SHITTING S. 263 are to make up one’s collection, and then to distribute the smaller sorts around the larger, so that all may be seen to advantage, and made to appear like a single bush, or symmetric group. As it is desirable to know each sort when out of flower and leaf, labels, fastened with copper wire, can remain attached to the stems near the base as well when in groups as when separate. It must not be understood that we favor great formality of out- lines in a group, or what is called a lumpish mass, but only that the general outline of bush or group shall be symmetrical, and that it shall contain a sufficient mass of foliage in itself to allow the straggling spray, which gives spirit to its outline, to be relieved against a good body of foliage. However formally a rose-bed is laid out, the free rambling growth of the plants will always give a sprightly irregularity of outline sufficient to relieve it from all ap- pearance of primness. It is as unnatural to force the rose into formal outlines as to suppress the frolicksomeness of children ; but in both cases the freedom natural to each may be directed, and made to conform, to the proprieties of place and occasion. Allu- sion has previously been made to the bad taste of conspicuous pieces of white-painted carpentry very generally used as supports for running roses. The simpler and more inconspicuous such supports are made, provided they are substantial, the better. CHAPTER XVIII. THE PHILOSOPHY OF DEEP DRAINAGE AND CULTIVATION IN THEIR RELATION TO THE GROWTH OF TREES, AND THE SUCCESSFUL CUL- TURE OF THOSE WHICH ARE HALF-HARDY; TOGETHER WITH SUGGES- TIONS FOR PROTECTING YOUNG TREES IN WINTER AND SUMMER. LARGE portion of the gross weight of all soils is water. If we dry any soil perfectly, the residuum of weight will bear avery small proportion to the average weight of the soil in its natural condition. Water, therefore, occu- pies a large part of the texture of what we call solid earth. When we draw the water from any soil by drains, the space occupied by the water in the earth is supplied by air. Thorough draining, therefore, airs the soil to whatever depth it drains off the water. The air transmits heat and cold less rapidly than water by direct conduction, so that, if air occupies the place of water in the inter- stices of the soil, the latter will feel all changes of temperature more slowly. Deep drainage, therefore, tends to equalize the tem- peraturerof the earth’s surface, and to neutralize the effect of great and sudden changes in the air above. It is impossible to drain a subsoil too thoroughly from beneath, because the capillary attrac- tion of the earth is always sufficient to draw up from below all the moisture that is essential to most forms of vegetable life ; and in addition to the moisture thus drawn from below, the earth, when the air can circulate freely in it, has the power when dry to absorb a vast amount of moisture from the air, as well as to yield it up to the air by evaporation when it holds an excess. To all general observations like these, the reader’s intelligence will of course suggest exceptions ; as of trees and plants which thrive best where their roots are immersed in water, and which make water their element rather than earth ; but the fact holds good as to the great PALE OS OP HY OK DE HP Dh ATTN AGE. 265 mass of beautiful trees, shrubs, and plants—that they will thrive best, and bear the winter’s cold and the summer’s heat and drought with least injury, in the most deeply drained soils. If this is true as a general rule, it is plain that for trees which are peculiarly sensitive to either extreme, there is greater need of deep drainage than for any other. The airing of the soil, which deep draining secures, acts in two ways for the benefit of all vegetation: first, by equalizing the tem- perature of the soil in consequence of the non-conducting power of air ; secondly, by exposing the deeper soil to the contact of air, it becomes changed in character, and undergoes a constant process of fertilization by the action of air upon it. It is being oxygenized. Any one familiar with farming operations in new countries, knows that when virgin soils are first turned over, there are, usually, only a few inches of dark soil on the surface. If the plow turns a furrow five or six inches deep, it will generally show a much lighter color than the surface which is turned under ; but in a few years of continued culture this lighter-colored soil becomes as dark as the original surface. By the combined action of the sun and air it has all become equally oxygenized. If such ground were repeatedly plowed without growing a crop from-it, and so as to permit no growth of vegetation to be turned under, it would still, for a time, gain rapidly in fertility, by the mere chemical changes produced by the sun and air. What plowing effects quickly by the direct ex- posure of the upper soil to these elements, deep draining and the consequent airing of the soil effects slowly, and less thoroughly, in subsoils through which the air is induced to permeate. Jifer- ceptibly, but surely, the earth beneath our fect is being warmed and Sertilized by the action of the air upon it, whenever we invite the air in, by drawing the water out. This increased warmth and richness of the subsoil invites the roots of trees deeper and deeper in pro- portion as it approximates in character to the warmth and oxygena- tion of the surface-soil. To have a deeply aired soil, therefore, is to encourage trees to root farther down, and away from the trying changes of winter and spring temperature that weaken or kill semi- tropical trees and shrubs, and often impair the vitality of young trees of hardy species. 266 EARTH HEAT. Next in importance to deep drainage, therefore, is deep tillage. It supplements drainage by often repeated exposure of a certain depth of soil to the action of the air and sun, by which its oxygena- tion is carried on more rapidly than it can possibly be when not so exposed. EartH Heat.—The earth grows warmer as we go down. If its temperature were tested in winter, we should find an increasing warmth with each foot of depth below the frost. The more porous and dry the soil, the less depth it will freeze, and the more rapid the increase of temperature below the frost line. This explains why gravelly subsoils make warm soils, and suggests that deep drain- age is the most efficient means of providing for trees an equable “bottom heat.” In the northern States the range of earth-freezing is from one to three feet deep. It is not always deepest where the cold is greatest ; for where a considerable altitude makes the winters more severe, the greater snow-falls are likely to husband the earth’s warmth as with a feathery blanket, so that the soil may be frozen no deeper at Utica than at Philadelphia. But when the surface protection is the same, altitude and latitude tell quickly on the climate in its effect on trees. Roots at the surface of the ground are either torpid in their icy encasement, or alternately thawed-out or frozen-in during four or five months. Those a foot below the surface are ice-bound not much more than half this time ; those two feet below, a third ; and those three feet below, not at all. All the roots which are just under the frost-line during any part of the winter, are in no colder soil than the winter surface-soil of the Gulf States. Whether six inches or three feet under the surface, where the ground is not frozen, the roots maintain some action. The younger and smaller a tree or shrub, the nearer its roots are to the surface, and all its fluctuations and severities of tem- perature ; and therefore the greater need of guarding against them. The analogy between animals and plants is greater than most per- sons suppose. “Keep your feet warm and dry, and you will not be likely to take cold,” is a trite piece of advice, because it is so ROOTS AS CONDUCTORS OF HEAT. 267 true and so useful. Now if we can keep the plants’ feet warm and dry, or at least save them from the greatest extremes of cold and wet, we do them the same kindness that we do the children by wrapping their feet in wool and leather protections. The roots of trees and shrubs during the first five years of their growth are mostly in that part of the soil which is frozen in the northern States from one to three feet deep every winter. Some rapid-growing trees, as the yellow locust and the silver poplar, send down their roots to a great depth very soon after planting. We have seen roots of the locust that had penetrated a marly clay and were as large as pipe-stems at a depth of six feet below the surface, from trees only three years planted. This power of quick and deep rooting in the subsoil is probably the reason why the locust tree, with its tropical luxuriance and extreme delicacy of foliage. is able to endure a degree of cold that many less succulent and hardier looking trees cannot bear. Deep Roots as Conpuctors oF HrEaT TO THE ToPs OF TreEs.—The deep roots have an influence in maintaining an equilibrium of temperature in the tree that is little understood. They are direct conductors from the even warmth of the unfrozen subsoil, to the trunk and branches which are battling with frigid air, and winds that strive to rob them of their vital heat. All winter long this current of heat is conducted by the deep roots to the exposed top. The greater the cold, the greater the call on these roots to maintain the equilibrium ; and consequently their usefulness in this respect is in proportion to the extremes of tem- perature above ground which the tree may be required to resist, and the proportion of roots which are below the frost-line. Surface roots are the summer-feeding roots—multiplying their myriads of fibres, each one a greedy mouth, when spring opens and the leaves need them ;—and there is always a perfect proportion between their abundance and vigor, and the luxuriance of the foliage above them. Surface manuring promotes a rank growth of these roots, and of the foliage ; and should only be used for young trees and shrubs which are unquestionably hardy, or for the less hardy which are already deeply rooted ; but not for young trees of doubtful hardi- 268 EFFECT ON SEMI-TROPICAL TREES. ness. These must first be provided with the bottom heat that deep drainage and a well-aired subsoil provides, until they are deeply rooted. As newly planted trees have not the means of keeping them- selves warm in winter by means of their deep roots, it follows that they must be nursed in some way so that they will maintain a vigorous life until they are thus provided. Trees or shrubs of half-tropical habit, by which we mean those that flourish in our southern States without protection, and which may be so carefully managed as to develop their beauties healthily in the northern States, of course need this careful nursing more than any other; and not only to guard them against winter’s ex- cesses, but to give them the most equable ground temperature at all seasons. Most trees in their native localities grow in deep shades, and the soil over their roots is rarely heated by the direct rays of the sun, however powerful its heat upon their tops. ‘The very luxuriance of vegetation forms a bower of shade for the soil ; so that in forests the roots of trees are in a soil that is com- paratively equable in temperature and moisture. When trees from such localities are grown on open lawns, they are naturally dis- posed to branch low, in order to cover their roots from the heat of the summer sun by the shade of their own boughs. The mag- nolias and rhododendrons are marked examples of trees and shrubs which are cultivated most successfully in deeply drained soils, but at the same time are ill-at-ease in ground where the soil over their roots is bared to the scorching summer heat. In the case of evergreen trees, their low-branching keeps the ground under them cool and shady in summer, and also protects the roots in winter—acting as a blanket to hold the radiation of the earth’s heat, and to hold the snow which makes another blanket for the same purpose. A well-cut lawn is some protection to the roots of trees, but it interferes with that active oxygenation of the soil which deep culture produces ; and while it acts as a shield against the scorching effect of the summer sun on bare earth, and as a mulch to counteract, in a slight degree, the rapid changes of temperature on the surface-roots, it at the same time reduces the vitality and power of resistance to cold in the tree, by preventing the deep soil from RESULTS OF CULTIVATION. 269 becoming well aired and oxygenized, as it is under high culture. Under the sod of a lawn, therefore, the roots of trees will be nearer the surface than in ground under cultivation, and will have less power to resist cold, so far as deep roots enable them to re- sist it. If a tree is planted in a thoroughly drained soil which is to be cultivated, instead of one which is to be covered with lawn, it may be set several inches deeper, so that the main roots need not be injured by the spade, while they will be kept in warm soil by the occasional turning under of the surface which has been under the direct action of the sun’s rays. The roots at the depth of ten inches, in a soil which is spaded annually, and well cultivated, will be as well aired, and have as warm feeding ground, as in a similar soil two inches below an old sod. ‘This cultivation, therefore, gains for the tree a summer and winter mulching of eight inches in depth above its rootlets; a great gain in winter, and equal to several degrees of more southern latitude. Half-hardy trees should therefore not only be planted in ground drained most deeply and thoroughly, but also where the ground may be deeply cultivated until they are rooted in a warm subsoil below the action of frosts—say ten years. Trees which even- tually grow to considerable size may, when young, be centres or parts of groups of shrubs that also require high culture ; and when the tree begins to over-top the shrubs, the latter should be gradu- ally removed. But it must be constantly borne in mind that all trees, and especially those of doubtful hardiness, need a full de- velopment of low side-branches when young, and no shrubbery should remain near enough to them to check this side-growth. When all the excess of shrubbery around the tree is removed, and the latter is supposed to have become sufficiently established to be able to dispense with deep culture, and have the ground under its branches converted into lawn, then two or three inches in depth of fresh soil should be added all around the tree, as far as the roots extend ; and for half-hardy trees, an autumn mulching with leaves or evergreen boughs should never be omitted at any age of the tree. The subject of mulching will be treated again in this chapter. 270 PROTECTION FROM WINDS. PROTECTION FROM WinpDs.—The effect of protection from the winds 1s nearly the same for delicate trees as for delicate human beings. “Keep out of a strong draught of air”? is a common admonition given to those who are healthy, as well as to invalids ; and this, too, when only the pleasant breath of summer is to be guarded against. Now when we reflect that trees have not the power of warming themselves by exercise, but must stand with suf fering patience the coldest blasts of winter, with no more covering on body and limbs than sufficed them in genial summer air, how thoughtless and heartless of us to expect any of them, least of all the denizens of semi-tropical forests, to laugh with blossoms, and grow fat with leaves, after being exposed to all the rigors of a northern winter. Ought we not to be most thankful that even the hardened species of northern zones can bear the vicissitudes of our climate? And if semi-tropical trees can also be made to thrive by kindly protection, should we grudge them the care which their deli- cacy demands? Much as our horticultural writers have endeavored to impress the importance of protection from winds, by means of walls of hardy evergreen trees, few persons have had the opportunity of observing how great the benefits of such protection. Houses, out- buildings, and high fences may generally be so connected by such hedges and screens as to form warm bays and sheltered nooks where many trees and shrubs of novel beauty may be grown, which, in exposed situations, would either die outright or eke out a dis- eased and stunted existence. This remark applies with most force to the smaller trees and shrubs for which constructive protections against winds may be erected with no great expense ; or verdant walls may be grown within a few years. Yet larger trees like the Magnolia machrophylla and the Bhotan pine (P. exce/sa) may be so protected in their early growth that the health and vigor acquired during the first ten years of careful attention to their needs will enable them to resist vicissitudes of climate which trees of the same species, less judiciously reared, would die under. Vigor of con- stitution in animals is not alone a matter of race and family, but also to a considerable degree the result of education and training. Delicate youths who nurse their strength, and battle with their own* PROTECTION FROM WINDS. 271 weakness by obeying the laws of health that intelligence teaches them, often become stronger at middle age than those of robust organization who early waste their vigor by careless disregard of those laws. By studying the nature of trees we may effect similar results with similar care. Winter protection from winds must be effected principally by hardy evergreens. Of these the Norway spruce is one of the most rapid in its growth. In itself a beautiful object, it may be massed in pleasing groups, or compact belts, or close cut colossal hedges. The white pine in sandy soils has a still more rapid growth, and is, therefore, suited to form the highest screens. The American and the Siberian arbor-vites are naturally so hedge-like in form that the sight of them at once suggests their usefulness; while the rambling and graceful young hemlock is readily trained into ver- dant screens of exquisite beauty. The relative growth of these trees is about in the following order: The white pine planted from the nursery should attain the height of twenty feet in ten years, and forty feet in twenty years. The Norway spruce grows with about the same rapidity, but its growth being relatively less in breadth at the top, its summit gives less check to winds. The hemlock may attain about two-thirds the size of the pine in the same time ; while the arbor-vitees just named may be relied on to make about a foot of growth per year. These facts suggest to intelligent planters the service these trees may be made to render in the capacity of protectors of the weaker species of trees and shrubs. The warming power of evergreen trees in winter is not fully appreciated. ‘They are like living beings, breathing all the time, and keep up, and give off their vital heat in the same manner. In a dense forest the cold is never so intense as on an adjoining prairie ; and the difference between the temperature of even a small grove of evergreens, and open ground near by, is often great enough to decide the life or death of sensitive shrubs and trees. In our chapter on the Characteristics of Trees will be found some interesting facts concerning this quality of trees and plants. Deep drainage, deep culture, and protection from winds are the three great means to give trees a healthy and rapid development, 272 PROTECTION BY MULCHING. and to acclimatize those which are not quite hardy. It has also been suggested that certain trees and shrubs need to be protected from the sun, as well as from cold and wind. This fact will be noted in the descriptions of them. We now come to the sfecia/ treatment of newly planted trees, premising that the general conditions just given have been com- plied with. Mutcuinc. — Mulch signifies any substance which may be strewn upon the ground to retain its moisture for the benefit of the roots which it covers, or to Serve as a non-conductor of the coldness or the heat of the air, and to retain the natural warmth of the earth beneath. Mulching may be done in a great variety of ways, and for different purposes. Summer mulching is intended to protect the soil from too rapid drying under the direct rays of the sun. Winter mulching is designed to prevent the sudden and excessive freezing of the earth. Leaves are the natural mulch for forest trees. At the approach of winter, observe how all the trees disrobe their branches to drop a cover of leaves upon their roots. The winds blow them away from the great trunks which are deep rooted and need them least, to lodge among the stems and roots of the underbrush which need them most. Leaves being the most natural cover for roots are the best. But they cannot be used to advantage in summer in well- kept grounds because of the difficulty of retaining them in place, and their unsightly effect when blown about on a lawn. In autumn, however, they should be gathered, when most abundant, for a winter mulch; and can be retained in place by heavy twigs over them. ‘The twigs and leaves together catch the blowing snow and thus make a warm snow blanket in addition to their own pro- tection. For summer mulching, saw-dust (not too fresh) and “chip-dirt,” are good and tidy protections. Old straw is excellent, but is unsightly and too disorderly when blown by winds to be satisfactory in neatly kept places; and when used too freely harbors mice. Tan-bark is a favorite summer mulch, and very good if not put on too thick. Evergreen leaves and twigs are admirable for either summer or winter mulching, but especially for PROTHCTION BY BUNDLING. 273 winter, on account of the snow that accumulates in them. Massed to the depth of a foot, the ground beneath them will hardly feel the frosts. Trees or shrubs which are hardy enough to be forced into a rank growth without making their new wood too succulent and tender to bear the following winter, may be mulched with short manure, but trees of doubtful hardiness must not be thus stimu- lated. If used at all it should be in autumn, for winter service, and raked off in spring, to be replaced by cooler materials during the growing season. In addition to the mulching required over the roots of young trees and shrubs in winter, it is necessary to cover the trunk, and sometimes the entire tops of those which are half-hardy with some protection. The stems of young trees may be covered with straw bound around them, or with matting, or strong brown paper. Small tree-tops and spreading shrubs may be carefully drawn together with straw cords, and bound up as completely in straw and matting as bundles of trees sent out from a nursery. As such masses are likely to catch the snow, and offer considerable resistance to the wind, it is absolutely necessary in all cases after a subject has been thus bound, that strong gtakes be driven near by, and the bound-up branches securely fastened to them until the binding is taken off in the spring. The following cuts, illustrating a mode of protecting peach trees, to secure their fruit-buds from injury in winter, also illustrates the mode of protecting the tops for other purposes. In the case of the peach tree a strong cedar post is supposed to be Fic. 54. deeply set for 4 permanent fixture at the same time the tree is planted, and that the latter grows up around it as shown by Fig. 53. At the approach of winter the branches which can be most con- veniently bound together are prepared like nursery bundles as 18 274 PROTECTION BY BUNDLING. shown by Fig. 54; and when done are secured by cords to the central post as shown by Fig. 55. In addition to this straw bind- ing, earth from beyond the branches is banked up around the stem, as shown in the same cuts. ‘This mode of protection is especially adapted to the fruit-yard.. It would not be admissible to have permanent posts or stakes in the embellished parts of grounds ; but a similar mode of protection can be employed by the use of strong stakes to be driven when wanted, and removed in the spring. Tender vines, and pliable-wooded bushes, may be turned down on the approach of winter, and laid flat upon the ground or lawn, where there is room. If in cultivated ground, there is no better protection than a covering of several inches of earth. If standing upon a lawn they may be either covered with earth in the same way, if itcan be brought from a convenient distance, or may be pinned down and covered from four to twelve inches deep with evergreen boughs or twigs. Very tender plants must of course be covered more deeply than hardier ones, and the cover should be removed gradually in the spring. It is advisable to mark the exact place where each vine or branch is laid, so that in uncovering, in the spring, it may not be injured by the spade. PrA Rede so Ld. ‘TREES, SHRUBS, AND VINES. — Sines Wee d * 49) shoe res - >. f\07 ahs Vat eno ioe ile: Be CHARICE R 7b. A COMPARISON OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. “T care not how men trace their ancestry, To Ape or Adam; let them please their whim ; But I in June am midway to believe A Tree among my far progenitors ; Such sympathy is mine with all the race, Such mutual recognition vaguely sweet There is between us. Surely there are times When they consent to own me of their kin, And condescend to me, and call me cousin, Murmuring faint lullabies of eldest time Forgotten, and yet dumbly felt with thrills Moving the lips, though fruitless of the words.” LowELt. HEN one reflects that among all the millions of human beings that have existed no two have been alike, and that all their illimitable varieties of ex- pression are produced by the varied combinations of only half a dozen features, within a space of six inches by eight, it ought not to be difficult to conceive the endless diversity of char- acter that may be exhibited among trees, with their multitude of features and forms, their oddities of bark, limb, and twig, their infinitude of leaves and blossoms of all sizes, forms, and shades of color, their towering sky outlines, and their ever-varying lights and shadows. There are subtle expressions in trees, as in the human face, that it is difficult to analyze or account for. A face, no one feature of which is pleasing, often charms us by the expression of an inward spirit which lights it. May we not claim for all living nature, as our great poet Bryant suggests in the following lines, a 278 A COMPARISON OF THE degree of soul, and for all trees that are loveable at sight a sympathy of soul with the observer which constitutes their pleas- i Sri eae ing expression ! “Nay, doubt we not that under the rough rind, In the green veins of these fair growths of Earth, There dwells a nature that receives delight From all the gentle processes of life, And shrinks from loss of being. Dim and faint May be the sense of pleasure and of pain, As in our dreams; but haply, real still.’ Sunny cheerfulness, gayety, gloom, sprightliness, rudeness, sweetness, gracefulness, awkwardness, ugliness, and eccentricities, are all attributes of trees as well as of human beings. How do trees convey these impressions without suggesting those attributes which we call soul? Some trees look sulky, and repel sympathy—the black oak or an old balsam fir, for instance. People never become greatly attached to such trees. Others are warm, and sunny, and deep bosomed, like the sugar maple; or voluptuous like magnolias, - or wide-winged like the oak and the apple tree—bending down to shade and cover, as mother-birds their nests ;—conveying at once a sense of domestic protection. ‘These are the trees we love. The children will not cry when an old Lombardy poplar or balsam fir is cut down ; but cut away an old apple tree, or oak, or hickory, that they have played under, and their hearts will be quick to feel the difference between trees. Some trees look really motherly in their domestic expression. A large old apple tree, Fig. 56, is a type of such trees. All trees that spread broadly, and grow low, convey this expression. ‘The white birch is a type, on the other hand, of delicate elegance, and is styled by one of our poets Fie. 56. wt “% * * the dady of the woods.” There are trees (like those women, who, though brilliant in drawing-rooms, are never less than ladies when busy in domestic labors) which are useful and profitable in orchard and forest, but are doubly beautiful in robes of greater luxuriance upon the carpet CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 279 of a rich lawn. There are others which no care in culture will make ornaments 1n “ the best society.” Whoever studies the varied beauties of trees will find that they possess almost a human interest, and their features will reveal varieties of expression, and charms of character, that dull observers cannot imagine. **The poplars shiver, the pine trees moan.’ The differences between a Lombardy poplar, an oak, and a weeping willow are so striking that the most careless eye cannot mistake one for the other. The poplar, tall, slender, rigid, is a type of formality ; the oak, broad, massy, rugged-limbed, has ever been a symbol of strength, majesty, and protection ; and the willow, also broad and massy, but so fringed all over with pensile-spray that its majesty is forgotten in the exquisite grace of its movement, is, to the oak, as the fullness and grace of a noble woman to the robust strength of man. The more obvious peculiarities and diversities of trees we shall endeavor to present from an esthetic, rather than a’ botanist’s point of view ; not in the interest of science, or of pecuniary utili- tarianism, but so as to aid the student of nature to appreciate their beauties ; appealing simply to that love of the beautiful in nature which hungers in the eyes of all good people. The delightful science of botany is not likely to be over-estimated, but its study is no more necessary to the appreciation of trees than the study of the chemistry of the air, or the anatomy of the ear, to the lover of music. What are the essential beauties of trees? We shall name first that most essential quality of all beauty— THE Beauty oF HrEALtH.—No tree has the highest beauty of its type without the appearance, in its whole bearing, of robust vigor. ‘There may be peculiar charms in the decay of an old trunk, or the eccentric habit of some stunted specimen, which ministers to a love of the picturesque ; but true beauty and health are as in- separable in trees, as in men and women. Luxuriant vigor is, then, the essential condition of all beautiful trees. Thriftiness cannot 280 A COMPARISON OF THE make an elm look like an oak, but rather brings into higher relief the distinguishing marks of each, making the elm more graceful, ‘and the oak more majestic. Yet uncommon thriftiness changes the forms of some trees so much that specimens growing in the shade of the forest, stinted by want of sunlight, and crowded by roots of rival trees, are tall, lank, and straggling in limb, with scanty foliage ; while the same species grown in rich open ground becomes glorious with its breadth and weighty masses of foliaged boughs. Who would know the common chestnut in the forest by its form, as the same tree that spreads its arms in the open field with all the majesty of the-oak? Or the “mast-timber” branchless white pine of a Maine forest as the same tree that forms in open ground a broad-based pyramid of evergreen foliage, and broods with its vast branches like a broad-winged bird upon a meadow-nest? The crooked sassafras of the woods, Fig. 57, running up as if uncertain what point in the heavens to aim at, and at what height to put out its arms, seems as unhappy there as a cultured citizen forced to spend his life among the Camanches. But the same tree, in rich soil in the open sun, expands naturally, as in Fig. 58, into one of the most beautiful heads of foliage among small trees. Few trees attain a full measure of thrift that are not fully exposed east, south, and west to the sun. We do not mean to assert that trees will not be beautiful without such com- plete exposure, but that, to realize the highest Fic. 58. beauty of which any one specimen is capable, it BIGh Sis must be so exposed. A greater variety of beauty is obtained from a group made up of more than one species of tree, thus contrasting several sorts of foliage and form, than from a single tree which might have grown to cover the same space; and we therefore sacrifice the highest type of indi- vidual perfection to produce more striking effects with several trees. But the same fact must be observed with reference to the group ;—its full beauty can only be realized by having the trees in luxuriant growth ; and open, collectively, on all sides to the sun. CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 281 BEauTy OF Form.—Next to the beauty that comes from vigor of growth, or the glow of high health, is beauty of form. On this matter tastes differ widely. ‘To artists it seems a vulgar unculti- vated taste to prefer a solid pumpkin-headed tree, to one of more irregular outline ; but preference is so often expressed for trees of such forms that it may be imprudent to speak disrespectfully of it. Such trees certainly possess the first element of beauty of form, viz., symmetry ; but it is symmetry without variety. They may also’ have the beauty of thrift and good color. An apple tree from fifteen to twenty years old has this quality of head as shown in Fig. 59. As it grows old, however, its form changes materially, so that its outline is quite irregular and spirited —broader, nobler, and more domestic in expres- sion—as will be seen by comparing Fig. 56 with Fig. 59. Young sugar maples have similar forms slightly elon- gated, as shown by Fig. 60, though with age they break into out- lines less monotonous, as shown by Fig. 61, and their shadows have more character. " The same may be said of the horse-chestnuts. The hicko- ries and the white oak, assume more varied outlines while young, without losing that balance of parts which constitutes symmetry. Sugar maples are always symmetric in every stage of their growth ; but their early symmetry is insipid, like that of the human face when unexceptionable in features, but devoid of ex- pression ; or rather like that of the doll-face, which can hardly be said to have either features or expression, but only beauty of color, the semblance of health, and features faintly sug- gested. The change in forms of many trees which are excessively smooth in their early out- lines is towards more and more variety of con- tour and depth of shadow as they approach maturity, and occasionally in old age they de- velop into grandly picturesque trees ; as in the case of the white oak and the chestnut among deciduous trees, and the cedar of Lebanon among evergreens. Fic. 60. s Fic. 61. 282 A COMPARISON OF THE To what extent a tendency to pictur- esqueness may go, without loss of symmetry, it is not easy to say. Fig. 62 is a well-pro- portioned tree of picturesque outline, and symmetrical as to the balance of its parts, but not in the similitude of its opposite halves. It is a form often seen in our native locusts and the Scotch elm. Figs. 63 and 64 are both symmetrical, strikingly pictur- esque in outline, and yet totally unlike each other. The first is a form quite common to young weeping elms ; but with age, unlike most trees, they become more symmetrical and smoothly rounded. A full-grown weep- ing elm is the most perfect example of the union of symmetry, grace, and picturesque- ness, among all the trees of the temperate zone. Tree outlines may be divided into two great classes of forms, which merge into each other in every variety of combination. These are round-headed trees, and conical, or pyra- midal trees. Fig. 64 is a form characteristic of rapidly grown scarlet oaks or ginkgo trees. The contrast between this form and that of the young elm above, is very marked; yet in outline they are almost equally spirited, and in the balance of their oppo- site parts are alike perfect. The elm, how- ever, has the higher type of beauty, by reason of the less mechanical distribution of its weight, and the bolder projection of its branches. All such spirited forms suggest an inherent life and will in the tree, a kind of playful disregard of set forms, a youthful daring and defiance of the laws of gravita- tion that is apt to please persons of imag- inative minds. They are always favorites with artists ; while trees of more compact and methodical arrangement are preferred by Fic. 64. CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. persons with whose characters these traits har- monize. ‘These observations refer to outlines only ; the expressions of trees produced by other traits often modify our preferences for trees of favorite forms, by presenting combinations of other kinds of beauty in trees of less interest- ing outlines. RouND-HEADED TREES.—By round-headed is meant simply a general effect of roundness, or of smoothness of outline in the several masses that compose the head of a tree. The young apple tree, Fig. 65, is a perfect type of this form, and may more specifically be called a globular tree, to distinguish the complete roundness of its form from those other round-headed trees which are more nearly hemispherical. Among round-headed trees the different forms of roundness are distinguished by more specific names. The sugar maple usually takes the form of an egg with the small end up, as shown in Fig. 66, and is therefore termed ovate. ‘The hickory, Fig. 67, more nearly fills the geometric figure that we call oval. The elm, Fig. 68, fills one-half a semicircle or more, with its head, and is of a class of trees appropriately called wm- brella-topped ;—technically they are called od/a¢e, or flattened-oval. An old apple tree, Fig. 69, is a good example of this form, and Fig. 58, page 280, of a well grown sassafras, is another. The white oak, Fig. 70, the native chestnut (castanea), and the hickories, all have outlines much broken, but the general effect is that of rounded forms. Many of the pines when grown to ma- turity become round-headed trees, though pyra- midal when young. 283 284 A COMPARISON OF THE Fic. 70. BIGa 70. ConicaL TREES.—This term is sufficiently explicit, and includes all those trees of flatly conical form which are usually called pyramidal. ‘The latter term refers to those members of the conical class which have a breadth about equal to their height. The pear tree, Fig. 71, among deciduous trees, is a type of the pyramidal form. The Norway spruce and hemlocks, Fig. 72, are types of conical forms. Most species of poplar (the Lombardy poplar being an exception) have the pyramidal-conical form while young, but with age they round out into trees of the first class. The Balm of Gilead poplar, and the cucumber tree, are good examples of com- pact deciduous trees of this class when young, but they all become round-headed trees at maturity. Nearly all evergreens are conical when young, and very many of deciduous trees also. Few of the latter, however, retain this character after they are full grown. The white pine when quite young is an open-limbed conical tree ; but when twenty years old, if it has grown in congenial soil, and an open exposure, it assumes an ovate-pyramidal form, with the rounded masses of foliage that characterize round-headed trees, but retains otherwise the general outlines of the conical class in its after growth. The yellow or northern pitch pine (P. xigida) changes from a straggling conical form when young, to an irregularly branched oblate-headed tree in age. The Scotch pine, which is of a rounded conical form when young, becomes, with age, as picturesquely rounded as the oak. The scarlet oak, Fig. 64, is a good example of a straggling conical form when young, though it becomes a loose round-headed tree at maturity. CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 285 The balsam fir, the Norway spruce, and Fic. 74. the hemlock are conical from first to last, swelling out, however, at maturity, into the ovate-conical form, of which the Swiss or stone pine (P. cembra), Fig. 73, is a type in every stage of its growth. The cedar of Lebanon is a distinctly pyramidal-conical tree when young, but widens out as it ma- tures, and finally spreads into an immense oblate head. The junipers embrace species which are the most slenderly conical of evergreens ; the Irish juniper, Fig. 74, having rather the form of a slender club than of a cone. Some varieties of the Norway spruce, and the European silver-fir, are now being propagated, which have branches so pendulous that they are nearly as slenderly conical as these junipers. Among deciduous trees the Lombardy poplar, Fig. 75, Fis. 75. is the type of what are called fastgiate trees; 7. ¢., trees ; of upright and compact growth, being distinguished from other conical trees by a tendency to vertical parallelism of the branches. The balsam fir and the Norway spruce are both conical trees, but having nearly horizontal branches, are not fastigiate ; while the Irish juniper, the arbor-vites, and the Lombardy poplar, are all fastigiate. It needs to be impressed on novices in the study of trees that all these various types of trees vary greatly among themselves, so that specimens of any species are often seen quite different from the usual type of that spe- cies. These variations are called varieties, and when very marked in their character are named, propagated from, and be- come the curiosities of arboriculture. PENDULOUS OR WEEPING Forms.—Of late years, such num- bers of new varieties of pendulous trees have been introduced, that they might perhaps be considered as a class,; but in a simple classification of trees by their outlines alone, they will be found to group easily with one or another of the classes already described. Pendulous varieties have been found among nearly every species y 286 A COMPARISON OF THE of our hardy trees, both deciduous and evergreen. Many of them are most interesting, curious, and picturesque decorations of small lawns. They include every variety of outline, from the columnar poplar, the slender junipers, and the majestic weeping willow, down to the sorts that creep along the ground. ‘The weeping junipers and arbor-vites (Z/uja) are pensile only at the extremities of their limbs ; the new pendulous firs (Adzes excelsa pendula and Picea pee- tinata pendula) are slenderly conical, but with branches drooping directly and compactly downwards around a central stem. The hemlock and Norway spruce firs belong partly to the class of weeping trees on account of their pendant plumy spray, and the droop of their branches as they grow old, although both are rigidly conical trees in their general outlines. The weeping white birches have upright branches and pendulous spray when young, but as they increase in size the larger branches bend with rambling grace in harmony with their spray, and form picturesquely symmetrical spreading trees ; while the weeping beech, assuming every uncouth contortion when young, becomes a tree of noble proportions, mag- nificently picturesque with age, trailing its slender crooked limbs, covered with a drapery of dark glossy foliage from its summit to the ground. See illustration under head of “The Beech.” Fic. 76. PICTURESQUE Forms.—There are trees which cannot easily be classified— trees of straggling or eccentric growth, like the weeping elm, Fig. 76, the honey locust, Fig. 77, and the weeping beech, Fig. 104; diffuse and rambling trees like young scarlet oaks, old larches and pines, and most of the birch family. These highly picturesque forms are exceptional among park-grown trees, and are charming because they are exceptional. Some of the preceding illustrations show how trees may at the same time be symmetrical and picturesque ; and we ask the reader to observe how much more interesting a tree is which combines both beauties than the CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 287 lumpish globular types which are commonly admired. But there are trees which lose, or never have, symmetry of form, and, like some of our other acquaintances, are interesting for their oddi- ties. Look, for instance, at the accompanying cut of the strag- gling elm, which is a portrait from nature, and the portrait of Parson’s weeping beech, on page 328. ‘The latter is a luxuriant mass of pendant branches and foliage, erratic in all directions, and yet one of the most interesting of young trees. It is bizarre, like the expressions of a wit. Its unlikeness to other trees is its superiority; but the exuberant vigor that clothes it with such masses of glossy foliage, adds to picturesqueness the constant loveableness of beautiful health. Of the trees which by nature grow irregularly, the native larch, or hacmatack, is a familiar ex- ample, its head generally shooting off to one side after it attains a certain height. The osage orange is so rambling that it suggests a comparison with those eccentric geniuses who, having decided talents in many different directions, attempt to follow them all, and whose successes or failures are equally interesting to observers. Many specimens of the weeping elm, while young, like the wild and not unusual form shown by Fig. 76, are fine examples of erratic luxuriance, but they usually fill up, with age, and finally become models of symmetry. Trees are often made picturesque by accidents, as the breaking of trunks or important branches by summer tor- nados, or the falling of other trees upon them. Fig. 78 is an example from nature of a white oak upwards of three feet in diameter, which, when young, was bent by the fall of some great tree that rested upon it, until all the fibres of its wood had conformed to the forced position. Fig. 79 is another sketch from nature of an oak that has been robbed of a part of its main trunk, and is picturesque in consequence of it. Advantage should always be taken of the striking effect of such trees by placing gate-ways or conducting walks under them, if practicable; or, if not, then to make them parts of groups in such a way that their picturesqueness may be brought into high relief. Fic: 77. 288 A COMPARISON OF THE The mere weight, breadth, and height of the trunk and branches of a tree, without reference to its outlines or foliage, are the principal sources of mayesty in trees ; and it is when majesty and picturesqueness are combined that we realize our higher ideals of grandeur. A tree with massive horizontal branches in- voluntarily impresses us with a sense of the immense inherent strength that can sustain so great a weight in a position that most squarely defies the mechanical force of gravity ; and therefore conveys the impression of majesty, though it has no extraordinary height or dimensions. On the other hand, the tulip-tree, or the cottonwood, with a straight and lofty stem from three to six feet in diameter, is a grand object by virtue of its weight, and loftiness, and the power that its dimensions express, though its head may not be proportionally large, nor its bark or branches massive, rough, and angular, or its outline irregular enough to be picturesque. ‘The sycamore, or buttonball, is a familiar example of a swelling trunk of majestic size. Its bark is as smooth in age as in youth; but it has a certain picturesqueness from the contrasts of color caused by shedding its thin bark laminz in scales ; and majesty by its size, and the bold- ness of its divergent branches. Mere size of trunk, and weight of branches, affect us so powerfully, that when we have lived near a fine old tree, it is not so much the beauty of its foliage, or the pleasures of its shade, that produce the reverent love we have for it, but the unconscious presence of the majesty of Nature impressing us like “* * * an emanation from the indwelling spirit of the Deity.” By referring to the vignette of the oak at the head of page 302, the effect produced by mere breadth and weight in producing CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 289 majesty, Will be readily appreciated. There is neither symmetry nor thrift in its rough trunk and huge gnarled branches; but there is a power and strength there, which represents the history of centuries of growth and battle with the elements. It is a scarred old veteran, a forest Jupiter, “a brave old oak.” Bryant thus apostrophizes one’ of these old monarchs : “Ye have no history. I cannot know Who, when the hill-side trees were hewn away, Haply two centuries since, bade spare this oak Leaning to shade with his irregular arms, Low-bent and long, the fount that from his roots Slips through a bed of cresses toward the bay. I know not who, but thank him that he left The tree to flourish where the acorn fell, And join these later days to that far time While yet the Indian hunter drew the bow In the dim woods, and the white woodman first Opened these fields to sunshine, turned the soil And strewed the wheat. An unremembered Past Broods like a presence, ’mid the long gray boughs Of this old tree, which has outlived so long The flitting generations of mankind.” The imagination is stirred to an indescribable affection or reverence for such ancient trunks that it is difficult to account for ;—a something allied to the love or awe with which we regard the Deity. Among the sources of picturesque effect in old trees are the sharp lights and shades caused by the deep furrows and breaks in their bark,* the abrupt angles of their great limbs, and the broad openings through the masses of their foliage that allow the sun to fleck with bright lights parts of the tree which are surrounded with deep shadows ;—causing what artists call bold effects. These are always inferior in young trees, though there is a vast difference in different species of trees of similar age and size in their tendency to produce these effects. * At Montgomery Place, near Barrytown, on the Hudson, are some old locust trees with bark so deeply furrowed as to make their trunks picturesque to an extraordinary degree, so that this character is a sufficient offset to the meagreness of their stunted tops to save them from destruc- tion. A city visitor there once asked the proprietor why she did not have the bark cuc off—‘‘it ! ” 19 looks so very rough 290 A COMPARISON OF THE LiGHts AND SHADOws.—The quality of trees, which is least observed except by painters, and yet one which has much to do with their expression, and our preferences for one or another sort, is their manner of reflecting the light in masses, so that it is brought into high relief by the dark shade of openings in the foliage, against which the lights are contrasted. If the reader will study trees, he will see that the lines of light and shade in the Lombardy poplar, Fig. 80, are nearly vertical, and in narrow strips, Fic. 80. in harmony with the outlines of the tree, while in the balsam fir and the beech, Fig. 81, they are in nearly hori- zontal layers, and looking as though the tree had been so compact that their shadows, seen at a little distance, are much like those of solid bodies, the openings in their spray being so small, that their surfaces are little broken by shadows. Young apple, maple, and chestnut trees, present, when young, such unbroken surfaces of leaves, that it is proper to say of them, then, that they have in- sipid or unformed characters. Compare the cut of the young apple, Fig. 82, with an old tree, Fig. 83, or the young maple, Fig. 84, with the mature one, Fig. 85; and it will be seen that not merely their outlines have changed with age, but that there are bolder shadows, and consequently more Rien. striking lights in the masses of their foliage. The native chestnut (Castanea vesca) ex- hibits a much more radical change from youth to age in its shadows. When young it resembles in form the young apple tree ; but when middle-aged, it breaks up into broader masses than any other native tree, except the white oak, which in age it most resembles. Fig. 105 shows its characteristic break of light and shadow. It will be seen that it is neither in vertical nor horizontal lines, but quite irregular, and in large, instead of small masses. Herein consists one of the characteristics that distinguish majestic, or grand, from simply beau- tiful trees. The sugar maple, as shown in Fig. 85, is broken into built up in stratas. Most of the arbor-vita family grow _~ CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 291 clearly-defined masses of light and shade, but the masses are small—too narrow and too nu- merous to produce the grand effects of the larger openings in the oak and chestnut, though our cut shows larger lights and shadows than are usual in the maple. The ‘brighter green and more abundant foliage of the maple make amends for this inferiority, but it is none the less an inferiority. An examination of the structure of these trees in winter will show why the oak and the chestnut mass their foliage Fic. 83. more nobly. It is because they have fewer and larger branches, not radiating like those of the maple with uniform divergence, but breaking out here and there at right angles with the part from which they issue. The consequence is, that when they are in leaf, the projecting leaf surfaces and the shadow openings are larger and nobler in expression. The hick- ories are all observable for the massiveness of their lights and shadows, and, unlike the chestnut, they assume this character while yet young. By the shadows alone it would not be easy to distinguish a hickory from an oak or chestnut, though they are readily distinguishable at sight by difference of contour—the hickory being proportionally taller and squarer than the others. There is, however, a difference in the shadows that close observers will mark: the wood being more elastic, the branches of old trees bend to form curved lines, which give the shadows a similar general di- rection, as will be seen on Fig. 86. This effect may be seen in many other trees, and is more noticeable in the lower than the upper part of the tree. There are many species which can be distinguished readily by this peculiarity in their shadows in connection with their contours. The sassafras, Fig. 87, naturally takes an umbrella form of head, and its foliage divides into cur- vilinear strata, or rather appears so as seen 292 A COMPARISON OF THE from the ground. The linden tree when old, and the common dog-wood (Cornus florida), have similar lines of shadows. If we classify trees by their surface lights and shadows alone, they will divide into three classes, viz: first, those whose lights and shadows fall in lines approaching the vertical; second, those which divide into strata horizontally ; third, those : which break into irregular masses. - The Lom- bardy poplar will be the type of the former ; the common beech, Fig, 88, of the second ; and the white oak of the latter. Most evergreen trees belong to the second group. The first class comprises a comparatively small number of trees, but many which belong to one of the last two groups at maturity, are members of the first when young. The cedar of Lebanon is the most remarkable of trees in the second class. It is the embodiment of majesty in its class, as the oak of the third class. Of our native trees, the white pine is the grandest type among evergreens east of the Rocky Mountains, of trees with stratified shadows, as the beech is among deciduous trees. The pin oak is a fa- miliar example of stratified foliage. Its foliage layers are as distinctly marked as those of the beech, but its branches droop more ; and are so twiggy, thorny, and inter-tangled, that its expression is ruder and its shadows less noble than those of the pine or beech. The Nor- way spruce and the hemlock, though the small spray falls with plume-like grace, and the branches droop from the trunk, divide into masses of light and shadow in nearly horizontal lines. All the trees which main- tain this stratified character of shadows have more sameness of outline and monot- ony of expression than those which break into larger and irregular masses. The weeping willow, when full grown, with all its delicacy of foliage and CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 293 softness of outline, becomes majestic and noble by the massive irregularity of its shadows; while the Lombardy poplars, Fig. 89, stratified vertically by shadows as of long bundles of foliaged faggots, convey an impression of having all been cast in a common mould. The same effect is produced by the upright junipers, the arbor-vitas, and Fic. 89. other trees of conical outlines and fastigiate shadow lines. Such repetitions of the same formal outlines, how- ever, tend to make them appropriate connecting links between the regularity and symmetry of street improve- ments, of which they form a part, and the wild graces of nature which are in contrast with the repetitions and parallelisms of architectural art. Such trees are, there- fore, used with happy effect in connection with garden walks and terraces, and near buildings. But they must never be seen in numbers together, or they produce the ° effect of a superfluity of exclamation points in composition. Trees like the Norway spruce, though less formal in outline and shadows than those just named, have still so much of this same uniformity and even rigidity of expression, that they need to be introduced much more sparingly among other trees, near to architecture of any kind, than those of more diversified forms and shadows.. One spiry-top tree will serve to give spirit to a whole group of round- headed trees or shrubs, while a group of spiry-top trees with one round-headed tree in it, at once conveys the impression of incon- gruity. Spiry-top trees should be considered as condiments in the landscape—never as main features. Trees and shrubs of formal outlines are the natural adjuncts of grounds arranged on a geometric plan, while those of freer growth are most becoming where geo- metric lines are avoided. In speaking of the “wild graces of nature” as in contrast with architectural art, we do not mean to convey the impression that such a contrast is undesirable. On the contrary, the most perfect works of art in landscape gardening are those in which the free graces of nature are so arranged, that the architectural features of the place will look as 7f they had been made for just such a setting. Contrast does not imply want of harmony ; it is a part of harmony ; it is rest from monotony ; it is as light to shadow. 294 A COMPARISON OF THE EVERGREEN AND Decrpuous TREES AND SHRUBS CoM- PARED.—It is a common complaint among tree-growers that ever- greens are neglected more than other trees, considering their peculiar merits in giving winter as well as summer verdure. We do not agree with this view. The whole coniferze or evergreen tribe were, according to the records of geology, an earlier and (if the harmony of progress in the development of both the vegetable and animal worlds is believed) necessarily an inferior order of vege- tation to the later forms of deciduous trees. And we think that those lovers of trees who study them in middle age and maturity, rather than in their nursery growth and infantile graces, will rank very few of the evergreens as peers in richness and cheerfulness of verdure, or grace and variety of expression, with the finest spe- cimens of deciduous trees. During the first twenty years of their growth, however, their most beautiful characteristics are so con- spicuous, and afford to the novice in the study of trees so many novel graces of form, color and growth—their little pyramids of verdure gleaming brightly through snows in winter, or resting lovingly on the lawn and perfuming the air with their balsamic breath in summer—that they seem to us more like our own chil- dren, than those more aspiring trees of deciduous breeds which stretch away upwards with rambling vigor while young, and whose beauties begin to multiply only after their branches sway in the air far over our heads. The very peculiarity which, in youth, makes the evergreens, as a class, more charming than deciduous trees, viz: feathery gracefulness of their foliage and outlines, is reversed at maturity, when most of them become more rigid and monotonous in outline, and less cheerful in expression, than the average of deciduous trees. There is a comparative sameness of form and manner of branching among evergreens, in marked con- trast with the infinite variety among deciduous trees. But though the conifers may not take equal rank with deciduous trees in the variety of their forms or expressions at maturity, they certainly offer the most pleasing studies for. the beginner in gar- denesque planting. Many new species of a semi-dwarf character have been introduced within a few years, and it has also been found that many of the larger species may, by good trimming, be CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 295 kept within a size suited to the limited spaces of suburban lots, either as single specimens, or as hedge screens. For the latter purpose, where it is desirable to break the force of winds, or hide unsightly objects, they may be grown and cut to almost any height and form necessary for the purpose. While deciduous trees and shrubs, which in summer form massy walls of verdure, are all dis- robed, and suffer the wintry winds to whistle freely through their bare branches, the evergreen screen is still a thick wall of protec- tion to whatever of less height is under its lee. One of the most striking beauties or evergreens is the manner in which their branches bear great burdens of snow, and bend un- der them. The softly-rounded drooping masses of light on the outer boughs, relieved by dark recesses in the foliage, make every tree, at such times, a study for a picture. The winter color of evergreens is much more affected by the temperature than most persons suppose. In extremely cold weather most evergreens become dull in color, and resume their brightness only with returning warmth. This is always observed in the red cedar, and some of the arbor-vites ; the former turning to a dingy brown in cold weather ; and the latter, though less discolored, are much duller in tone during severe weather ; but with the return of the warm days of spring both resume their normal brightness and purity of color. Even the foliage of the white pine shows a very marked change from the effect of cold; often turning to a dull grayish green when the cold is greatest, though with the return of warmth the same leaves regain their warm green color. These facts illustrate that even evergreens are most beautiful in summer, except so far as their masses of foliage afford a resting-place in winter for the snow, and thus create beautiful effects peculiar to themselves which deciduous trees cannot rival. The beauty of trees, whether deciduous or evergreen, depends very much upon the character of light in the atmosphere. The most beautiful foliage of a deciduous tree, under the leaden sky of a winter day, would be most gloomy and unattractive compared with its expression when bathed in the bright light of a June day, or in the golden air of an August sunset. The summer light with its golden shimmer is essential to the highest charm of trees ; and it 296 A COMPARISON OF THE will be found quite impossible to produce with evergreens, in winter, any of that glow of beauty which makes the heart throb with silent love for verdant nature in summer. But in the warm days of April and May, when the evergreens have resumed their true colors, and seem by the sudden change from their wintry dullness to fairly smile a welcome to spring, their superiority to deciduous trees is most apparent. Their beauty is then ripe, and grounds that are stocked (not too densely) with them—especially the smaller species and varieties—have a finish that nothing else, at that season, can give. In June and July also, their long plumes and tufts of leaves open and droop with a grace of which there is no counterpart among deciduous trees or shrub- bery, superior as the latter are in amplitude of foliage and splendor of blossoms. Evergreens, especially the firs, with age are apt to become gloomy and formal, while deciduous trees are generally improved with age. The valuable acquisitions from abroad of new species and varie- ties of evergreens adapted to the embellishment of suburban lots, is very great ; and the number growing within the limits of our own country, and still almost unknown except by a few horticultural pioneers, is astonishing. The new varieties of old species, which, by the propagating arts of the nurserymen are multiplied for the public benefit, are also numerous ; and the homely adage still holds good when we are searching for novelties among trees that are not natives of our own country, that “we may go further and fare worse.” The grandest and most beautiful evergreen that grows in our climate is the white pine ; which, to our shame be it said, is little known or appreciated except for its value to cut down, and saw into the lumber used in our houses. ‘The native hemlock, when young, is still the most picturesque in its outline, and deli- cately graceful in foliage, of all hardy evergreens. The Norway spruce, which is probably the most valuable tree of its type, is not a native ; and is largely indebted to its foreign name for its great popularity and universal cultivation ; while our native black spruce, very similar, and scarcely inferior to it, is little known. For elegant smad/ pleasure-grounds, however, the newly intro- duced dwarf varieties and the curious sports from old species, are CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. 297% novelties which deserve to be studied and planted more than the larger and nobler evergreens. In conclusion, we hope that in canvassing a few of the qualities of evergreens as compared with deciduous trees and shrubs, we have called attention to the best qualities of both, rather than prejudiced any mind against either. WARMTH OF TREES IN WINTER AND COOLNESS IN SUMMER.— Our clear-headed horticulturist, Thomas Meehan, of Germantown, Pa., has treated this subject so well that we take the liberty of adopting his language. “We all know that a stove throws out heat by reason of the fuel it consumes, and that in a like manner the food taken by an animal is, as so much fuel to a stove, the source from whence animal heat is derived, and which is given off to the surrounding atmosphere, precisely as heat is given off from the stove ; but it is not so well known that trees give off heat in the same way. ‘They feed ; their food is decomposed ; and during decomposition heat is generated, and the surplus given off to the atmosphere. “If any one will examine a tree a few hours after the cessation of a snow storm, he will find that the snow for perhaps a quarter of an inch from the stem of the tree, has been thawed away, more or less according to the severity of the cold. This is owing to the waste heat from the tree. If he plants a hyacinth four inches or more under the surface of the earth in November, and it becomes immediately frozen in, and stays frozen solid till March, yet, when it shall then be examined, it will be found that by the aid of its internal heat, the bud has thawed itself through the frozen soil to the surface of the ground. “These facts show the immense power in plants to generate heat, and the more trees there are on a property the warmer a locality becomes. “Evergreens, besides possessing this heat-dispensing property, have the additional merit of keeping in check cold winds from other quarters, thus filling, as it were, the twofold office of stove and blanket.”’* * Am, Hort. Annual, 1867. 298 CHARACTERISTICS OF TREES. The simple facts, as stated by Mr. Meehan, have so great sig- nificance that no intelligent man who thinks of them can fail to appreciate the immense influence of trees on climates ; and every suburban home may be made to feel in some degree their ameliora- ting effect. In riding to a suburban home from business in a city, we have felt the effect of mere grass alone, without trees, in cooling the air in hot summer days. Narrow streets, with high houses, are much cooler at such times than broad streets and open unshaded ground; and the first feeling in leaving a city office and riding across the bare suburbs that usually intervene between the busi- ness part of a city and its pleasant tree-embowered residences, is, that the city street is the most comfortable place. But when we reach a grass-covered field a trifle less dryness in the air is per- ceptible ; and when the shadows of trees are reached, there will be a difference of several degrees between the air under them and that in the open highway; and not merely a difference of tem- perature as indicated by the thermometer, but also an increased moisture that gives the sensation of a greater difference than the thermometer measures. CHAP FER MT. DESCRIPTIONS AND ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT. N the following descriptions little attention will be paid to the uses of trees in the arts, except only their pleasant usefulness as food for eyes that hunger for all forms of natural beauty. Enjoyment of trees, like enjoyment of sunlight, moonlight, and flowers, is not to be measured by money values, nor to be jostled by statistics of the worth of timber to the artisan, or of shade for the farmer’s stock. Yet whoever loves trees will find language inadequate to describe their expressions, or even some of their most common peculiarities, though they be ever so obvious to the admiring eye. We would gladly be able to furnish engravings of every tree and shrub described ; but to do this requires the com- mand of artists whose work would involve the expenditure of a small fortune. Few persons are aware of the skill and care required to make a finished drawing on wood of even a single shrub or tree. We do not mean by a shrub or tree such a generic shrub or tree as any good sketcher may easily represent, but @ speaking portrait of some beautiful specimen, with its animated form, its sunny expres- sion, and its shadowy dimples ; with its drapery of peculiar leaves, and all its airy graces. Artists who can thus faithfully portray them are not easily found, or, if found, are usually engaged in larger and more profitable fields of art. In reading descriptions of trees and shrubs, the reader must bear in mind the great variety of wants and tastes to be provided for. Persons who are enthusiasts for novelties desire to learn as much as possible of the appearance and habits of the latest acquisitions ; while a larger class of persons, who need no great number or variety of shrubs or trees, are not less exigent to have pretty full information of just those things which they do happen to grow or to want. It is therefore necessary to give as full descriptions of new things as of old ones of greater value; and to mention, at least, many trees and shrubs which are neither rare nor very valuable, but 300 DESCRIPTIONS AND are often seen and therefore referred to. In the beginning of the chapter on Shrubs, pages 455 to 459, are some remarks on the con- siderations which influence a choice of shrubs (some of which apply equally to trees), to which the reader’s attention is invited. ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT.—It is extremely difficult to follow any system for the classification of trees and shrubs that will greatly facilitate the reader in finding readily what he wishes to read of, or that will save him constant references to an index. Botanical classifications, when thoroughly made, require quite too much familiarity with botany to give them any value to the mass of readers who know only the a, b, c’s of the science; yet they must, after all, be the ground-work of the most convenient arrange- ment for descriptions. ‘Though the same botanical family—often the same species—has plants of every variety of size, from ground- lings to lofty trees, which differ from each other in their larger characteristics as much as from some members of other families with which they have little botanical connection, yet, zz general, it will be found that grouping by botanical relationship brings together those which resemble each other in the greatest number of particulars. To classify trees and shrubs by their sizes, would separate family groups, and scatter them promiscuously among each other, while in all respects but size, their similarity of traits make it most easy to describe them by families. Take the oaks, for instance. The different species are numbered by hundreds, all having some marks of consanguinity in their general appearance, but quite diverse in forms and sizes. The immense variety of species of the first differ still more among themselves ;—varying in size from lofty trees to pigmy shrubs. If we class them with evergreen trees according to their varying sizes, they would become sadly mixed among the pines, junipers, arbor-vitaes, yews, and a score of newer evergreen families. If classified by forms alone, the same confusion would arise. It is best therefore to keep botanical family groups together. All oaks, for example, large and small, are described consecutively under the head of THE Oak; and as most of them are trees, they are described under the general head of DEcrpuous TREEs ; though there are varieties which are really shrubs only. ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT. 301 The lilac family, on the other hand, being 2” general of a shrubby growth, that is, having several stems springing from the base of the trunk to form a top, will all be described under the general head of SHRuBS, although some of them assume a tree-like character. Many of the smaller species of evergreens, like the arbor-vitexs, tree-box, junipers, and yews, are of shrubby, rather than tree-like appearance ; but as they finally tend to make a single stem, they have by long custom been classed with trees, though some of their smaller varieties are quite diminutive by the side of common garden shrubs. It will be seen by these examples that among descriptions of trees are included many of the smallest materials that enter into the composition of shrubberies ; and among the descriptions of shrubs will be many quite tree-like species and varieties of abnormal vigor, which, if classed by their own characteristics rather than of the family to which they belong, would be described among trees. A copious table of contents giving both the popular and the botanical names for all trees and shrubs described, facilitates better than any new classification, a reference to the subject sought. We shall, however, in an appendix, give some tabular classifications on the basis of sizes and forms, for the convenience of those desiring to make selections, who can by this means compare them in abbre- viation. We shall begin our descriptions of deciduous trees with the oak, and follow with other trees, somewhat in the order of their size and importance in the common estimation, but do not desire the reader to infer that those which happen to be described towards the last, are therefore of less value for decorative purposes than those which precede them. The descriptions will be made in four classes, as follows: Decipuous TREES. DeEcIDUOUS SHRUBS. EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS, VINES AND CREEPERS. Each of these classes will be the subject of a chapter. CHAP DER kids DECIDUOUS TREES. — pe ARLEY 20- “A little of thy steadfastness, Rounded with leafy gracefulness, Old oak give me ;— That the world’s blasts may round me blow, And I yield gently to and fro, While my stout-hearted trunk below, And firm-set roots unshaken be.” LowELL. O convey by words alone an idea of the grand and varied expressions of full-grown oaks would be a task almost as difficult as to impart by description the awful sense of sublimity inspired by rolling thunder. In a country where the oak abounds in all the forests it might seem that it would be sufficiently familiar to most persons ; nevertheless, it is a fact hat not more than one American out of a DECIDUOUS TREES. 303 thousand has ever seen the full expansion of a white oak grown to maturity in open. ground! Downing’s excellent description of the forest monarch is so apt that we here transcribe it ; premising that such general remarks on the oak usually apply to the white oaks, which at maturity are the noblest of all the species. “As an ornamental object we consider the oak the most varied in expression, the most beautiful, grand, majestic, and picturesque of all deciduous trees. * * * When young its fine foliage (singularly varied in many of our native species) and its thrifty form render it a beautiful tree. But it is not till the oak has at- tained considerable size that it displays its true character, and only when at an age that would terminate the existence of most other trees that it exhibits all its magnificence. Then its deeply-fur- rowed trunk is covered with mosses; its huge branches, each a tree, spreading horizontally from the trunk with great boldness, its trunk of huge dimension, and ‘its high top bald with dry antiquity ’— all these, its true characteristics, stamp the oak, as Virgil has ex- pressed it in his Georgics— * Jove’s own tree, That holds the woods in awful sovereignty.’’ While oaks which have already attained great size are the noblest environments of a home, yet for some reasons they are less desirable to plant in small grounds than many other trees which grow to noble size and beautiful proportions in less time, though they may not finally develop so grandly. ‘The finest species of the oak are late in leaf, and of slow growth; are addicted to holding their dry dead leaves upon the branches through the win- ter and early spring, and then dropping them week after week into the fresh grass of spring lawns just when we want them brightest and cleanest. And the younger and thriftier the tree the greater its tenacity in holding the old leaves. This fault is principally confined to the white and Turkey oaks. It will surprise most Americans to know the great number of species of oak that are indigenous in this country, and in their own neighborhoods. Loudon in his Arboretum Brittanicum enu- merates about two hundred species and varieties of oaks known 304 DECTD VOWS 2REEHS. thirty years ago. Nearly one-half of these are natives of our con- tinent. In the following descriptions of a part of them we shall endeavor to name only those which are growing wild in most neighborhoods, and are therefore likely to be objects of study to those interested in trees ; and those foreign sorts which are intrin- sically beautiful, and known to be hardy, or nearly so. There being a great variety of oaks, we hope to facilitate a reference to them by their classification into native and foreign oaks, and subdividing the native oaks into groups, as follows :— I. The White Oak Group ; embracing those trees having lobed leaves with rounded edges and light-colored scaly bark. Leaves dying an ashy or violet brown. II. The Chestnut Oak Group ; leaves toothed, with rounded edges, dying a dirty white or yellow color. Bark resembling that of the chestnut tree. III. The Red Oak group; having deeply-lobed and sharp- pointed leaves, which turn to a deep red, scarlet or purple. Bark smooth when young, and never deeply furrowed. Cup large in proportion to the acorn. IV. The Black Oak Group; leaves obtusely lobed, and gen- erally with points. Bark quite dark, and generally much broken by furrows. V. Willow Oaks ; leaves entire, narrow and small. Sub-ever- green. General appearance of trees when without leaves, like the black oak. THE WHITE Oak GROUP. THe Wuite Oak (Quercus alba).—This is the grandest, the most common, and the most useful of our northern oaks. Al- though indigenous, it is almost identical with the British oak Q. pedunculata and Q. sessifiora. Though we have no such aged and immense trees as can be found of those varieties in Britain, our white oaks may in time become such trees. The great speci- mens which may have been found growing in open ground in the early settlement of the country while the settlers were compara- DECIDUOUS TREES. 305 THE VALLEY-ROAD OAK OF ORANGE, N. J. tively poor, were sadly valuable for ship-timber, and therefore sacrificed on the altars of profit and utility. Trees grown to great size in the forest cannot be preserved when their supporting trees are cut from around them, and we must therefore leave to future centuries to record to what size the trees now growing in open ground may eventually attain. The Wadsworth oak, near Gen- esee, N. Y., the valley-road oak of Orange, N. J., of which the above engraving is a portrait, and a few others scattered at rare intervals over the country, are trees of great size, large enough to show that age only is wanting to give them the colossal dimen- sions of trunk and branches that British oaks have attained, and, compared with which, our largest are mostly but moderate-sized trees. The Wadsworth oak probably comes nearer to the great English exemplars than any other, having a trunk thirty-six feet in circumference. The valley-road oak, just mentioned, has an unusually 20 306 DECIDUOUS TREES. small trunk (about five feet in diameter) for so great a ramification of branches, which cover a space upwards of ninety feet in breadth ; but there is a majestic solidity in the first divergence of the great branches which promises in time to make this an oak of the first magnitude, though it is too rotund to be one of great picturesque- ness. Its height is about eighty feet. There are some superb specimens in a pasture field near the grounds of Robert Buist, Esq., south of Philadelphia, which measure nearly one hundred feet across the spread of their branches, with trunks about fifteen feet in circumference, exhibiting all the grand characteristics of full grown oaks. Yet these dimensions are not great compared with those of living British and German oaks, some of which range from forty to sixty feet-in circumference of trunk; others from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty feet across the greatest extension of their branches, and from ninety to one hun- dred and forty feet in height! One shades an area large enough for two thousand four hundred men to stand in comfortably, and another drips over an area of three thousand square yards, “ and would have afforded shelter to a regiment of nearly one thousand horse!” The trunk of the Cowthorpe oak, which is said to have been the prototype of the Eddystone light-house, exceeds in size, where it meets the earth, the base of that wonderful structure. Many halls in England, of considerable size, are floored with single plank from trees grown on the estates where used. Even as timber trees, our greatest forest-grown oaks are not equal to their venerable European relatives. ‘The author has had a forest oak cut from which ten cords of wood were cut, which is about two-thirds the cubic contents of the largest British trees. This is not an unusual size in our forests ; but, alas, very unusual in trees that are rooted, and low- spreading enough to resist the gales on open ground. Probably the best exemplars of the oak family in our country are the live oaks of the Gulf States ; some of which have been preserved, and rival in the horizontal extension of their branches, the greatest oaks of England. The accompanying cut, Fig. 92, shows the form of DECIDUOUS TREES. 307 the leaf of the white oak, and the characteristic form of the tree when quite young—say from five to ten years after planting from the nursery. In rich and cultivated soil the growth of young white oaks is about two feet a year, but in ordinary soils is not much more than half this. The depth and culture of the soil makes more difference in the rate of growth of the white oak than of the sugar maple or chestnut ; and adds to the beauty of its foliage in the same proportion. The latter trees will often show luxuriant masses of leaves in soils too poor to produce more than a meagre foliage on the oak. When grown in soils that force a rapid growth, it de- velops early those broad masses of light and shadow which, in its later growth, in connection with the grand horizontal projection and picturesque irregularity of its branches, makes it a favorite tree of most landscape painters. The leaves change in autumn to a dull brown or purple, and hang on thrifty trees till they are fairly pushed off by the growth of new leaves the following May. THE Swamp WHITE Oak. (Q. fomentosa.—This common native oak, one of the most valuable for its timber, is also one of the most beautiful ; and forms a connecting link between the chestnut oaks and the white oak. In form, when young, it closely resembles the burr oak, as shown in Fig. 95; but its bark is lighter colored, smoother, and more scaly. The branches are more numerous than those of the white oak, especially the smaller spray, and disposed to droop grace- fully as the tree attains a large size. The leaves, the form of which is shown by Fig. 93, are a shining green on the upper surface and whitish on the under side ; occasional specimens dis- playing leaves so white when turned by the wind, as to be observed among the oaks for this peculiarity. Its growth is a little more rapid than that of the white oak or burr oak, but less rapid, when young, than the red and black oaks. At middle age, however, say from twenty years old and upwards, no oak grows more rapidly. Fig. 94 is a portrait of a beautiful specimen growing on the grounds of T. Van Amringe, near Mamaroneck, N. Y., in a meadow near the waters of Long Island Sound. The 308 DECIDUOUS TREES, form is more elm-like than the usual character of the tree, but serves to illustrate one form of this species. It becomes a tree of the largest size, little inferior, in rich cool soils, to the white oak. Though named swamp white oak, it is by no means a swamp tree, but is generally found in such rich moist soils as the whitewood and the magnolias delight in. We think it the best of all the first family of oaks for decorative planting, be- cause, in a proper soil, it will give the quickest return in beauty. It is reputed the finest of all the northern oaks for straight ship timber, and the most durable in the ground. THE Burr OAK OR OVER-CuP WHITE Oak. Quer- cus macrocarpa.—The accompanying sketch is char- acteristic of the burr oak when young; with age it assumes a spreading form, very similar to, but smaller, than the white oak ; the bark is darker colored, and rougher, and the branches have a corky and ragged look. The leaf is the largest and most beautiful attract attention, and is admirably adapted to use in architectural designs. It has been used with beauti- ful effect as the principal leaf in wrought-stone capi- tals. The acorn in its cup is also a picturesque little object, and has given the name of burr to the tree on account of the cup being rough, shaggily fringed, and almost enveloping the acorn like a burr. Grown in open rich ground it is a decidedly handsome tree in summer, but rude in its winter ap- pearance. The oak openings in some of the western States are largely composed of this variety. Nearly every home in beautiful Kalamazoo, Michigan, is surrounded by these trees “ to the manor born.” When thus found wild, the tree needs much internal prun- among oak leaves, and has a form so peculiar as to DECIDUOUS TREES. 309 ing of dead branches and twigs, and rarely receives the thorough draining and enrichment of the soil without which few oaks develop a high order of foliage beauty. The rate of growth may be inferred from the growth of one planted by Moses Brown, of Germantown, Pa., a mere whip twenty years ago. It is now forty-five feet high, thirty feet in diameter, and foliaged to the ground ; the form is distinctly conical, but at the same time so irregular in outline as to be quite picturesque. THe Post Oak. Q. obtusiloban—A dark-leaved spreading oak found generally near the sea. It is not found much north of New York. Its leaf resembles the black oak in color and texture, but the lobes are rounded instead of pointed. The branching of the tree is like that of a rugged white oak. There is a superb specimen growing on the beach at Orienta, in Mamaroneck, N. Y., near the residence of Thomas S. Shepherd, Esq., which measures upwards of ninety feet across the spread of its branches. Usual height and breadth about fifty feet. THE WATER Oak, Q. aquatica, is a dwarf species, native of New Jersey and Maryland, which, as far as we are aware, has not been thought worthy of cultivation. THE HOLLY-LEAVED OR BEAR Oak, Q. dlicfolia, is a native dwarf, covering vast tracts of barren mountain slopes or table lands where no other tree can resist the winds. In such situations it grows from three to ten feet high. Probably of no value for home- grounds ; but one of those sorts that ought to be experimented with to try the effect upon it of a lowland soil and climate. THE WaTER WHITE Oak OF THE SOUTH, Q. Jyrata, is a swamp variety, with leaves resembling the burr oak, but smaller and less curiously lobed. It grows principally in the southern States, and there attains a height of eighty feet. Michaux states that plants of it grow finely in a dry soil in the north of France. 310 DECIDUOUS TREES. THE OLIve-ACORN OR Mossy-cup Oak. Q. oliveifornus.—This variety is known by some under the name of mossy-cup oak. As the burr oak has a still mossier cup, it seems to us that the botan- cal name which Loudon has anglicized, and which is given above, is more appropriate. Its acorn is long, like the olive, and nearly covered by its cup, but not so completely as that of the burr oak. The leaf of this variety is like a white oak leaf, elongated, and more deeply lobed. Its bark is like that of the white oak, but the growth is more slender, and the branches tend to droop gracefully. A native of the northern States. THE CHESTNUT Oak GROUP. THE CHESTNUT OAK. Quercus prinus palustris.— A lofty tree found principally below the latitude of 42°. It is disposed to form a straight trunk, with- out branches to a considerable height, and then to spread into a broad tufted head. Fig. 97 shows its form of leaf. We have not had the good fortune to see any trees of this variety grown fo maturity m open ground, and cannot, therefore, speak of its usual character as an ornamental tree; but our impression is that for massy and glossy foliage, and rapidity of growth, it is surpassed by few of the oaks. When young its growth is long-limbed like the red oaks. At all times a cleanly-looking tree. THE Rock CHEsTNUT Oak. Q. prinus monticola.—Down- ing considers this one of the finest of northern oaks, and states that it grows on the most barren and rocky soils; thus showing its affinity to its namesake and prototype, the chestnut tree. “In open elevated situations it spreads widely, and forms a head like that of an apple tree.” The leaves are broader proportionally, and less acutely pointed than those of the preceding variety, by which, and its lower and broader form, it can be recognized. We consider this the finest of the chestnut oak family, and for small grounds the most desirable oak to plant, being more opulent in leaves than any other. DECTDUOUS TRE ES. Slut: THE YELLOW CHESTNUT OAK. Q. f. accuminata.—This variety differs little from the Q. primus. The leaves are more pointed, and their petioles are longer. This is not the yellow oak of western woodsmen, which is a variety of the red oak, Q. rudra. THe Dwarr CHESTNUT Oak OR CHINQUAPIN. Q. prinus pumila.—* A low tree twenty to thirty feet high. Highly orna- mental when in full bloom, and most prolific in acorns when but three or four feet high” (Loudon). We have not seen it in rich open ground. THE RED Oak GROUP. These are all distinguished by a more upright growth of their branches when young than the white oaks , resembling in this quality the chestnut oaks. The branches generally form an acute angle with the main stem, and grow most from their points, so that they are straighter and longer in one direction than those of the white oak group, and consequently form trees more open and straggling. The bark is quite smooth and lighter colored till the tree attains con- siderable size, and even on full grown trees is never deeply furrowed. Their growth is more rapid than any of the white oak group, and about the same as that of the chestnut oaks. The above cut gives the characteristic form of young trees, and the usual form of the leaf. THE Rep Oak. Quercus rubra.—A large rapid-growing tree common in all parts of the northern States and Canada. Its early growth is upright but rather straggling. The bark is smooth until the tree is about twenty years old, when it becomes somewhat furrowed, but not deeply, like that of the black oak. The branches are not numerous, but straight and smooth, set at an angle of about 45° with the stem; the foliage tending to their extremities. In color the foliage varies considerably. Qn the coast of Maine we 312 DECIDUOUS. TRE ES. observed this tree growing in open fields, with a broad flat head, and a golden green tone when the sunlight was upon it that con- trasted beautifully with the darker evergreen foliage of that region. But in the neighborhood of the Hudson, and at the west, this fine tone is not common on the red oak, nor is the peculiarly flat top so often seen. It is barely possible that the tree we have seen on the coast of Maine is the gray oak, Q. ambigua, of Michaux, which is a northern oak partaking of the character of both the red and the scarlet oaks. But we have had no means of ascertaining the cor- rectness of this surmise. The most marked trait of the red oak as an ornamental tree is the dull crimson or purplish red color of its leaves in the fall; but as it is much less brilliant than the follow- ing, and in no respect a finer tree, the scarlet oak will be preferred. THE ScarRLeT Oak. Q. coccinea.—This differs from the pre- ceding but little except in its leaves, which are more deeply lobed, more sharply pointed, and have longer petioles. ‘They are smooth and shining on both sides. Their autumn color is a bright scarlet or yellowish red, of uncommon intensity, and at that season it has no superior among trees. It is rather an elegant tree at all times, and one of the cleanest limbed of the oaks in winter. The tendency of its foliage to the extremities of the branches often gives the head too open and straggling an appearance, but this defect can be obviated with good effect on trees from twenty to forty feet high by cutting back the long branches a few times. It flourishes in any good soil, moist or dry. THE BLack Oak GROUP. THE BLAck Oak, Quercus tinctoria, becomes a tree of the largest size, but of little value in ornamental grounds. The foliage is very dark, and though glossy, is apt to be scattered about on the long limbs, forming neither rich masses nor picturesque outlines. The whole aspect of the tree, with or without its leaves, is sombre. The foliage comes out late, and falls early. It grows naturally on dry sandy soils. DECIDUOUS TREES. 313 THE SPANISH Oak, Q. falcata, is a southern oak resembling the black oak in its bark, and with leaves somewhat like those of the pin oak and scarlet oak. THE BLAcK Jack Oak, Q. nigra, is a dwarf species of no value for decorative planting. THE MarsH or Pin Oaxk. Q. fadustris.—It has been prettily remarked of this tree that it is @ graceful savage. A thorny, scraggy tree, armed like a hedge-hog against approach, when growing wild in wet ground, but full of grace with its delicate light foliage when in full leaf in open ground. A multitude of small branches, of great hardness of fibre, radiate at right angles from the main stem, and with their numerous angular branchlets and thorn-like spurs, give the tree the ap- pearance, when bare of leaves, of a prodigious natural : “a hedge-plant. The bark is extremely hard, and darker : _- colored than that of the red oak, but smooth when young. The leaves, the form of which is shown by Fig. 99, are smaller and lighter colored than most oaks. When grown in open ground the lower branches droop to the ground, and the light-green of its fine-cut foliage, the sharpness of its stratified lights and shadows, and the general downward sweep of its branches, altogether make it a pleasing tree ; and, in Loudon’s opinion, “ the most graceful of the oaks.” ‘This, however, is no great compliment, remembering that grace is not a character- istic of the oak family. Our cut gives the usual form of a young pin oak, but does not indicate sufficiently the drooping habit of the lower branches. Fic. 99. WILLOW Oak GROUP. WiLLow Oaks. Quercus Phellos—These are seldom seen north of Philadelphia. There, and southward, they become large trees, whose dark bark and foliage give them a sombre appearance. Leaves very small, lanceolate, smooth edged, and willow-like. 314 DECIDUOUS TREES. THE LAUREL-LEAVED OAK, Q. 2. /aurifolia, is similar to the foregoing, but with larger leaves. Found principally in the southern States. THe SHINGLE Oak, Q. imbricaria, is a species with smooth- edged, elliptic, pointed, glossy leaves, similar in form to the leaf of the chionanthus. It is a native of the middle States, especially the neighborhood of the Alleghanies, and becomes a tree forty to fifty feet in height. From Michaux’ description we infer that it would be a desirable oak to introduce in small grounds. Tue Live Oak. @Q. virens.—Unfortunately this magnificent evergreen of our southern coast is too tender to flourish far north of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a tree of medium height only, but of immense and grand expansion of trunk and branches. A writer in Lippincott’s Magazine mentions a specimen on the Habershaw plantation near Savannah, Georgia, which has an extension of one -hundred and fifty feet between the extremities of its branches! A traveller mentions one at Goose Creek, near Charleston, S.,C., the trunk of which measures forty-five feet in circumference close to the ground, eighteen and a half feet in its smallest part, with a dranch which measured twelve and a half feet in girt! It is one of the grandest trees of the continent, as well as the most valuable of all for ship-timber. FOREIGN OAKS. THE BritisH Oak. Q. pedunculata and Q. sessiflora—These varieties of the white oak group are so nearly the same as our white oak, that it is not necessary to describe them separately. But some odd varieties have come into existence, among which are the following : THE Moccas Oak, Q. p. pendula, is a variety of the British oak, as pendulous as the weeping willow ; and of course a great curiosity. It is said there are none of this sort in this country. An extraor- DECIDUOUS TREES. 315 dinary fact, considering that full grown trees of it seventy-five feet high exist in England, and that, according to Loudon, it generally comes true from seed. If grafts can be procured, they may be put into the tops of our common white oaks. THE Upricut Oak. Q. f. fastigiata.—A tree of extremely fastigiate habit, the most so of any of the oaks, but much less slender than the Lombardy poplar, with which it is sometimes com- pared. Though a native of the Pyrenees, it is hardy at Rochester, N. Y., and makes about the same annual growth as our white oak. The leaves and branches are small and numerous. THE Mossy-cupPED TuRKEY Oaks. (2. cerris—The variety of what are called Turkey oaks in England is large, and some of the most beautiful specimens of oaks grown = Fic. roo, during this century are of one or another variety of this species. Fig. roo illustrates the common form of the young tree, and the leaf. It is distinguished from the British oak (which it resembles more than any other) by longer, straighter, and more upright branches, and more rapid growth. Judging by the specimens to be seen in this country, we do not perceive any strik- ing peculiarity or beauty that should cause them to be preferred, in pleasure-grounds, to many of our native oaks. There is an English variety, the Q. ¢ pendula, the branches of which “not only droop to the ground, but, after touching it, creep along the surface to some distance like those of the sophora japonica pendula” (Loudon). It grows to thirty or forty feet in height. There are also variegated-leaved varieties, but of little value. THE JAPAN Purple Oak. Q. alba atro-purpurea japonica.—Our attention has recently been called to this new tree from Japan. It promises to be the most brilliant member of the oak family. In the nursery of Parsons & Co., at Flushing, L. I., the little trees had as bright and clear a purple tint in September (1867), as the purple beech shows in May and June. It was considered quite hardy. 316 DECIDUOUS \#?R HD8. Such trees as this purple oak, the Moccas oak, and the weeping Turkey oak, can readily be grafted on our white oaks, so that per- sons having young and thrifty trees may, with care and persistency through a term of years, secure samples of these curious oaks, and produce novel effects of foliage and form on the same tree. The work must, however, be done year by year, so as not to give the stock a maimed expression, or injure its health. Tue Hotty Oaks. Quercus virens—These are mostly ever- greens, natives of Southern Europe and Asia, near the sea. They will not bear our winters, though they can with care be grown in some parts of England. (Mek JW (CYS The Elm family embraces many species, mostly large trees. Our indigenous weeping elm, U/mus americana, 1s, however, so much better known in this country than any other, and has so long borne, and deserved, the crown and title of “queen of American trees,” that it is always the species uppermost in the mind when Americans speak of the elm. Yet in England and Continental Europe the Dutch, English, and Scotch elms have not been supplanted by it. THE AMERICAN WEEPING OR WHITE ELM. Ulmus americana.— A full grown luxuriant weeping elm is certainly the queen, as the oak is the king, among deciduous trees. Its grace is feminine. Its outstretching arms droop with motherly grace to shelter and caress with their mantle of verdure the human broods that nestle under them. It is also a grand tree, well characterized by Dr. Holmes as “A forest waving on a single stem.” Few trees are more lofty in their native woods, and none spread with more luxuriant amplitude in rich alluvial fields. The roots around the base of the trunk rise from the ground with peculiar picturesqueness to brace it against the winds. Its long branches, curving symmetrically upwards and outwards, describe the segment DECTDUOUS TREES. et ky of a circle till they bend at maturity almost to the earth with their verdant tips. That master of happy characterization, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in “ Norwood,” makes the following beautiful allusions to the weeping elm :—“ No town can fail of beauty, though its walks were gutters, and its houses hovels, if venerable trees make mag- nificent colonnades along its streets. Of all trees, no other unites, in the same degree, majesty and beauty, grace and grandeur, as the American elm. Known from north to south, through a range of twelve hundred miles, and from the Atlantic to the head-waters which flow into the western side of the Mississippi, yet, in New England the elm is found in its greatest size and beauty, fully justi- fying Michaux’ commendation of it to European cultivators, as ‘the most magnificent vegetable of the temperate zone.’” * * * “Their towering trunks, whose massiveness well symbolizes Puri- tan inflexibility; their overarching tops, facile, wind-borne and elastic, hint the endless plasticity and adaptableness of this people ; and both united, form a type of all true manhood, broad at the root, firm in the trunk, and yielding at the top, yet returning again after every impulse into position and symmetry. What if they were sheered away from village and farm-house? Who would know the land? Farm-houses that now stop the tourist and the artist, would stand forth bare and homely; and villages that coquette with beauty through green leaves, would shine white and ghastly as sepulchres. Let any one imagine Conway or Lancaster without elms! Or Hadley, Hatfield, Northampton, or Springfield ! New Haven without elms would be like Jupiter without a beard, or a lion shaved of his mane!” The weeping elm grows with great rapidity, and where uninjured by insects, or lack of moisture in the soil, is picturesque and beau- tiful in every stage of its growth. No other tree, when young, throws out its arms so free and wild, and assumes so great a variety of forms. Figs. 63 and 76 are two sketches from nature of young weeping elms, illustrative of this characteristic. Very fine specimens of this elm may be seen at the west, which have attained a majestic height in the forest, and then had their environing trees gradually cut from around them. At first they are little more than 318 DECIDUOUS TREES. columnar stems, with a parasol-like tuft of foliage at the top; but -as they are gradually exposed on all sides to the sun the head widens rapidly, the tall trunk covers itself from root to branch with a picturesque small spray peculiar to this elm, the outer branches of the top begin to droop and fall like spray from a fountain, until the whole tree assumes a loftier grace than belongs to its lower and broader-crowned sisters of the eastern valleys. Fig. ror is a sketch of a young forest elm that is beginning to develop the changes just described. Unfortunately, however, such forest- grown trees, if more than forty or fifty years old, usually fall victims of the first summer tornado that finds them in its track. For the formation of wide avenues the elm, in congenial soil, has no equal among trees. But it should never be planted in narrow streets, nor nearer than forty feet asunder in wide ones. Its great size and breadth of head should also cause it to be sparingly planted in or near small grounds, if a variety of shrubs or small trees are desired. The roots of the white elm feed quite near the surface, so that surface manuring in autumn is a wonderful stimulant to its growth. Large street trees are often se- riously injured in old villages by the gradual accumulation of gravel and broken stone incident to annual road improvements, until the feeding roots are so covered that they cease to have any rich surface to feed in. In other places noble old trees are being literally starved to death, while the good people who walk under them are wondering why their elms do not look as well as for- merly. Streets much travelled are continually enriched by drop- pings, and where the soil is not covered by water-proof pavements, there is little danger of trees in such streets suffering from this cause. But many instances have come under our observation of elms in villages and cities that languish for want of fresh food and DECIDUOUS TREES: 319 good soil. Half the diseases that now attack old elm trees are the result of the weakened vigor caused by lack of good fresh soil or manure on their roots, which should be put on over the whole area that is covered by the branches. 5] } CLEMATIS, OR VIRGIN’S Bower. Clematis.—The species are very numerous ; some natives of Europe, and others of our own country. All are twining, of slender, irregular growth, delicate foliage, and marked fragrance of blossoms. ‘They require artificial support, and are adapted to cover arbors, bowers, and low trees, or to be trained on verandas, but not to creep on tree-trunks, or to decorate walls. The petioles of the leaves serve as tendrils. There are many charming varieties in the south, not hardy at the north, and scores of hybrids and varieties have been originated. THE EUROPEAN SWEET-SCENTED CLEMATIS, C. flamula, has compound leaves, with very narrow leaflets. The flowers are quite small, white, borne from July to October, and exceedingly fragrant. Extent of mature vines from fifteen to thirty feet. THE WHITE-VINE CLEMATIS, C. vifalba, is a stronger-wooded vine than the preceding, with broader leaves, greenish white, incon- spicuous flowers, and the distinguishing peculiarity of seeds around which grow long silky tufts or tassels of a greenish white color, forming a feathery mass of beautiful effect in August and Septem- ber, when covering roofs, low trees, or arbors. These tufts have given the names of “old man’s beard” to this species. The vine 596 VINES AND CREEPERS. quickly grows bare of foliage towards the bottom, and displays all its beauty late in the season, and at the summit, where the fresh growth rests in masses. A useful vine to cover unsightly roofs. THE AMERICAN WHITE CLEMATIS. C. virginica.—Similar in appearance to the preceding, but with more profuse and conspicu- ous white flowers, in August, and less showy seed plumes. THE VINE-BOWER CLEMATIS. C. viticella—This is a more showy species, bearing much larger flowers than the preceding sorts, of various colors, blooming from June or July to October, and two inches or more in diameter. Varieties.—The C. viticella venosa has rich purple-colored flowers, touched with crimson, and blooms profusely from June to October: considered the best. The C. v. flora plena has double flowers of the same color. The C. v. cerulea has blue flowers, quite large. THE SHOWY-FLOWERED CLEmaTIs. C. /Vorida.—A Japanese species, with flowers white, blue, and purple, two to three inches in diameter, from June to September. Growth slender, and not quite hardy. THE LarcE AZURE-FLOWERED, C. azurea grandifiora, is a Chinese species, not long introduced, with flowers larger than the native or European sorts. The C. cerudea, of the same species, bears the finest blue flower. Both are hardy, and pretty, woody vines. The C. Sophia, a Japanese variety with very large lilac blos- soms ; and the C. Hedena, another with very large white blossoms, are both elegant vines, but require protection in winter. HoneEysucKLeES. Lonicera.—These most cherished vines have been gathered from all parts of the world, and the species hybrid- ized and improved until their beautiful varieties are so numerous, that, like the roses, they are almost innumerable, and a description of them would fill a small volume. The best varieties are the most suitable of all vine decorations for verandas and porches. We shall merely mention a few sorts. THE WoopBINE HoNEysuUCKLE. JL. periclymenum.—A_ native of Europe. One of the most showy in its flowers, which are red outside and buff within ; June and July ; berries deep red. VINES AND CREEPERS. 597 Tue Late Rep HONEYSUCKLE, JL. /. serotinum, is simply a late variety with darker flowers, and very showy during its blooming. THE DutcH HONEysUCKLE, ZL. p. belgicum, differs from the first only in being more shrubby. THE YELLOW-FLOWERED HONEYSUCKLE, 7. flava, is a native of our States, half hardy, with large ovate leaves nearly joined at the base, and bright yellow flowers in June and July. THE TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLES. JL. sempervirens.—Indigenous, and sub-evergreen at the south. Flowers scarlet, and borne throughout the summer season after May. The . s. superba and Hf. s. Brownti are superior varieties. THE CHINESE OR JAPAN MONTHLY HoNEYSUCKLES. JL. sapfon- ica.—Sub-evergreen, and not quite hardy; but of robust growth, densely clothed with leaves, constantly in bloom and deliciously fragrant, and of course universally popular. Protection is so easily given them that their slight unhardiness is a small objection to their use. The varieties are very numerous. Among them is the GoLp- VEINED-LEAVED sort, L. 7. folies aurea reticulata, the leaves of which are exquisitely veined with gold lines, each leaf as pretty as a blossom, making it one of the most interesting to plant in porches or verandas among the darker leaved sorts. A moderate grower. THE EVERGREEN Ivy. edera. “Creeping where no light is seen, A rare old plant is the ivy green.” “The common evergreen ivy is a rooting climber; but when these roots are opposed by a hard substance which they cannot penetrate, they dilate and attach themselves to it, by close pres- sure on the rough particles of its surface.” Unless, however, the surface presents some crevices into which roots can penetrate a little, the plant cannot sustain itself on a wall by the mere adhesion of its root-mouths against it; in other words, it cannot sustain itself on a Aard and smooth stone surface. In this respect it is neither stronger nor weaker than our Virginia creeper. The evergreen ivy can hardly be said to have become domesticated in this country. Our summers are too hot and dry, and our winters too cold for it; and it rarely clothes lofty walls with y, 598 VINES AND CREEPERS. such masses of verdure as in the British islands. In cities, on north walls, and sheltered corners of church towers and buttresses, it occasionally mounts and covers them, suggesting the beauty for which it is renowned in the moist mild climate of England; but these instances are exceptional in the northern States. It is believed that all the varieties of the ivy may be grown as shrubs, and become quite valuable on account of the unusual purity of color of their evergreen foliage throughout the year. By planting an elm-post, say four feet above the surface of the ground, and ivies at the foot of it, they will cling to the post, and can be protected upon it for a few years in winter with straw. After they are well rooted, and form a mass several feet in thickness around the post, they will not need further protection in most parts of the northern States. No vine we have is so well adapted to cover the trunks of old dead trees which have had their tops cut off. The varieties do not vary widely. THE ENGLIsH Ivy is known as H. vulgaris. The IrisH Ivy, HZ. canarienses, has a leaf a little larger. This is the variety most planted in this country, and usually considered the hardiest. Then there are the GoLp-sTRIPED, 7. foleis aureis, the SILVER-STRIPED, #7. foleis argenteis, the GIANT- LEAVED, HZ. ragneriana, and numerous others with some mark of difference from the normal form. TueE Porson Ivy, Rus toxicodendron, is also a beautiful native creeping shrub with fine glossy leaves, but the plant is a fearful poison to some persons, and should not be allowed to grow in settled neighborhoods. It may be readily distinguished from the Virginia creeper when in leaf by its three instead of five leaflets, and by their smooth edges; the Virginia creeper having strongly serrate leaves. Its wood is somewhat stronger and more stubby than that of the latter, and when the vine is attached to trees it sends out stiff shoots like branches, which do not fall gracefully like those of the Virginia creeper. THE GRAPE-VINE. Vitis.—No intelligent person needs to be reminded that grape-vines are among the most beautiful as well as raluable of climbers. ‘There is much difference in the habitual VINES AND CREEPERS. 599 healthiness of different varieties which bear good fruit. The Clinton and the Concord are probably the most healthy and pro- ductive vines in the northern States when left to grow naturally ; and their fruit, though not of the best for table use, makes a fine wine when carefully made and kept long enough. The Isabella, Catawba, Diana, Delaware, and a host of newer sorts, all do well in the middle States, but require more care than the two first named. In the southern States other varieties are more esteemed. We believe that all our native vines are usually trimmed too much, and their healthfulness impaired by it; and that if their roots have a deep dry soil their tops may be allowed to cover a great space. Tue Perrpioca. eriploca greca.—A shrub from France, also known as the Virginia silk-vine, which is a vigorous twining vine, with large clean-cut, gloss, wavy leaves. The flowers are small, of a rich velvety brown; in July and August. Their odor is said to be unwholesome to those long exposed to it, and the vine should not therefore be planted on porches or near to windows. CiimsBiInGc RosEs.—See roses in Chapter V, Part IT. THE PERIWINKLE, OR RuNNING MyrtLe. Vinca.—A trailing evergreen that covers the ground rapidly, and is adapted to make a deep mat of verdure in shady places under trees where grass will not grow. It bears blue flowers which appear constantly from March to September. Tue Wistarta. Glycine. Wistaria—Twining vines of great vigor, indigenous in our country, and in Asia; with compound pinnate leaves, and long racemes of blue or lilac flowers. THE AMERICAN, OR SHRUBBY WISTARIA, W. (G.) frittescens.— A free-grower, indigenous in the middle and southern States. Leaves composed of nine to thirteen leaflets. Flowers bluish-purple in shouldered racemes about six inches long, and borne from July to September. Tue CHINESE WistaRtaA. W. (G.) sinensis. — This most vigorous of twining vines was introduced from China to England in a 600 VINES AND CREEPERS. 1816, but was little known in this country until within thirty years. There-is no twining vine that will mount so rapidly, or that will cover so great a space. Planted at the foot of a lightning-rod it has been seen to mount to the top of a five-story house within four years after planting. Mr. Fortune, the great botanist, gives the following account of a famous vine which he saw in a Japanese city :—‘“ On our way (May z2oth) we called at Nanka Nobu to see a large specimen of Glycine ( Wistaria) sinensis which was one of the lions in this part of the country. It was evidently of great age. It (the trunk) measured at three feet from the ground, seven feet in circumference, and covered a space of trellis-work 60 x 102 feet. The trellis was about eight feet in height, and many thousands of the long racemes of glycine hung down nearly half way to the ground. One of them which I measured was three feet six inches in length! The thousands of long drooping lilac racemes had a most extraordinary and brilliant appearance.” On page 244 some wistaria vines, in Germantown, Pa., are mentioned, which have covered the head of a lofty hemlock tree, and almost hid it from sight under their own more luxuriant growth. If the vine has an opportunity to keep on growing vertically, it soon loses its foliage towards the bottom. It should therefore have a place for hori- zontal expansion in order to exhibit its greatest beauty, unless wanted to cover tree-tops. The foliage is composed of long pinnate leaves of many leaflets. The flowers appear in May and June, and again in August. They are borne in great abundance in long loose pendulous racemes from eight inches to several feet in length, and are mostly of a pale-blue or lilac color. Tue CHINESE WHITE WistarRtiA, W. (G.) sinensis alba, is a re- cently imported variety with white flowers ; otherwise resembling the preceding. The W. brachybotria is a variety with shorter racemes of more fragrant light-blue flowers. The W. brachybotria rubra is a variety with reddish-purple flowers. The W. magnifica is a new variety with lilac blossoms, believed to be a cross between the Chinese wistaria and the American species; the W. frutescens alba is white-flowered seedling of the latter. APP PND EX: — o-— Tue following tables are prepared merely to facilitate selections of trees and shrubs on the basis of size and growth alone. Deciduous trees are arranged by classes in three tables, as follows; First, DecipUOUS TREES OF THE LARGEST CLASs. Second, DecipuOUS OF SECONDARY SIZE, Third, Decipuous TREES OF THE SMALLEST CLASS. The usual growth, under good culture, at twelve years from the seed, is approximated; and the ordinary height and breadth the tree attains at maturity, in the latitude of New-York City. Evergreen trees and shrubs are divided into three similar classes, except that evergreen shrubs are included with the smallest evergreen trees. Deciduous shrubs form a separate class, with their development indicated at szx years after plant- ing such plants as are usually received from nurseries; and also at maturity, These estimates of size are all based on a supposed good soil and culture ; and for specimens having an open exposure. The trees are classed as of the first, second, or third class, in size, on the basis of their entire weight. is included in the age for which estimates of sizes at twelve years from Seed are given. The Lombardy poplar, for instanc2, by height belongs to trees of the first class, but by breadth ranks with the smallest; it is therefore put between the two extremes in the second class. When trees are budded or grafted on other stocks, as many weeping trees are, the age of the stock But as such “worked” trees are grafted at quite different heights on stocks of the same age, it must be under- stood that the estimates here given are for trees grafted in the manner most common in the great nurseries. ‘'rees marked with a star * are those generally grafted on other stocks. It must not b2 inferred that these tables embrace all the trees described in the preceding work. Most of the leading species are represented by one or more out of many varieties. bpecigs and varieties which are not included in the tables will be found at once by referring to the NDEX. DECIDUOUS TREES OF THE LARGEST CLASS. Usual Size 12 The Usual Size at Page. Popular Name. Botanical Name, Years from Seed. Maturity. Height. |Breadth.\| Height. | Breadth 304) liThe White:@alk. <=. -isasem Quer CUS IB. . Hae nia war ale a 20 ft.| 12 ft || 80 ft.| 80 ft. 307| “ Swamp White Oak...... QO. tomentosd..... 522000 20 12 80 79° O81 155. Dury Oakes. .-aepnt see Q. MACTOCAY PA... 0.00 e ene 20 12 7° 60 grote Chestnut @alece-...,~cte% QO. prinus palustris......+.. 25 15 80 60 310] ‘* Rock Chestnut Oak..... QO. p. monticola......+.. +++ 20 15 50 60 Ayes CSCAMEE OAK seis cio. 2 ONCOECTREG saraniaisla ot ater) st | 2S 15 70° 60 Bratt imiOalksy ars aise ots sae 0 Onn Palecstariswaaeiy. tacts) s ici! 20 15 70 60 Breil ee aourkey, Oakiert..s or. iecec DONCEL IIS ree eee 20 15 70 60 316| ‘© American White Elm... | U@mus americanua.......... 30 2 7° 80 Bron etetish. Bilin s...2s.cse.a/%)a/s (SEER HEA) RSE OCS OOO e 30 20 80 70 22ili GS SCOLCMMLIMN 3 twcetechepiaes LT. eon Aaah. cemi eels pr 25 20 70 7° 326| ‘© Amer'can White Beech . | Magus americana.......... 25 15 80 7o 331 | ‘‘ Anerican Red Beech ... | 7. ferrugined.......-.- es 20 15 60 7° 327| ‘“‘ Weeping Beech......... F. syivaticus pendula...... 25 15 7° 7° 332| ‘ American Chestnut...... Castanea americana..... Re 20 80 80 344| ‘* White or Silver Maple... | Acer eriocarpumt.........+. 30 25 7o 7o 347| ‘* Sycamore Maple........ Acer pseudo platanus...... 2 16 80 70 348 | ‘‘ Norway Maple.......... Acer platrnoides.......+++- 20 16 70 60 349! ‘‘ Great-leaved Maple..... Acer macrophylui......++ 30 25 70 7° gsn| “° Black Walnut...:.<....%- FULIANS NIGIE. ce .eeeeeess 30 20 So 7° 354 | ‘* Shellbark Hickory...... COPGA ADU beste es ons wai of 25 16 80 60 BRO |beee 9 WYylltes pA Secret. octenciars FYAXINUS QINCYICANA.. 4.24 25 16 £0 60 360 | ‘* Cottonwood............ Populus canadensis.....++- 40 20 80 7o 362 | “* Silver-leaved Poplar..... Populus alba canescens..... 35 25 7O 7o 364 | “ Whitewood or Tulip-tree | Liviodendron tulipifera.... 30 16 80 7° 369! ‘* Cucumber Magnolia.... | AWfrenolia acuminata....... rae} 16 80 60 384), <1 SS¥campre! een casptrate cs Platanus occidentalis...... 35 oo 80 80 385 | ‘‘ Oriental Plane-tree ..... Platanus ortentalis........ 30 20 80 80 387 ** Weeping Willow........ | Salix dbabylonica.........+ 40 40 60 60 389 | “ Golden Willow....:.... Salix vitellina.... ahtsis 35 30 60 50 405 “ Ginkgo, or Salisburia.... | Salishuria adiantifolia..... 30 16 80 60 406 ‘ Jarge-leaved Salisburia.. | Sa/¢éshuria macrophylla... 30 16 80 60 406 ‘* Variegated Salisburia... | Sadishuria variegata....... ? ? ? ? 406 | as Scoteh Larchiscc... ons 02 Larix CUVOPAA ace. --- | 35 20 80 50 Co2 A P PUEVNGD TT XX. / DECIDUOUS TREES OF SECONDARY SIZE. Page Popular Name. Botanical Name, sear renee vy ean : i Height. |Breadth,| Height. | Breadth. 314 lThe Shingle Oak..........- . | Quercus imbricaria........ 20 ft.| 10 ft.|! 40 ft.| 40 ft. 315| ‘“* Upright Oak...... Q. fastigiata........ ...... 20 10 7o 35 323| ‘ Weeping Scotch Eim: Utmus montana pendula... 20 20 60 60 324 | “= “SeanistoniElmicas... oe. U. m. glabra wii: 15 20 49 60 329| “* Purple-leaved Beech.... | Magus purpurea.... ....... | 20 15 60 60 330 | ‘¢ Copper-leaved Beech.... | Magus cuprea.............. 20 15 60 60 330| ‘‘ Fern leaved Beech...... Fagus heterophylla......... 20 15 50 50 337| “ Horsechestnut ......... “Esculus hippocastanum.. 20 15 60 50 339 | “ Double White-flowering. |. 4. flore plena.......... 20 12 60 4° 339| “ Red-flowering H.C. ... | 4.2. rubicunda.......... 16 12 5° 42 340 | “ Scarlet- flowering Hi G2. | AES coccznen soe ee. 16 12 50 49 340} “ Big Buckeye of ¢ Ohio.. . | 42. (pavia) flava...... = 16 12 40 4° S4rie Long- fruited ti, eer. | 42 macrocarpa ( pavia m. ). 16 16 4° 4° SAS) eee Sugar Maples tenccs | Acer saccharinumt ......... 20 12 60 50 344| “ Black or Rock Maple... | Acer nigram.............. 16 12 50 50 345) |< wearet Maple, Sees cre | ACEH rbbFU IIR. \.nise eee: 20 12 50 50 347| “ Purple-leaved Maple.... | Acer p. 2. purpured........ 20 16 60 60 “ 1 ] ao - 347.|:r0 Vyeted Nome ey sont: p. es siriatain ve |. 16, sleaze Fl Leggoteandh sees “© Yellow variegated- | Acer p. p~. flava (aurea) } 348 leaved Maple BA eA } VArICLU oo. cer ceceeee 16 we 50? 50? 348 | ‘* Eagie’s-claw Maple..... Acer p. dacianatutt. 0.0... 16 12 50? 50? 348| “ Lobel’s Maple.......... Acer Pp. lobeliv 2 Se 16 12 42 40 348 | “* Shred-leaved Maple..... AIGEFIDISSEELUIIL DD. Moers 20 12 50? 50? 350| ** Round-leaved Maple.... | Acer circimatum........... 12 12 40? 40? 35r| of Butternutieceee ee cctebie Fuglans cinevead............ 20 16 42 4° 300! ‘© Weeping English Aspen. | Populus tremula pendula .*| 16 20 30 40° 360) “ Weeping Amer. Poplar.. | ?04., grandidenta pendula*| 16 20 30 4° 363 | *€ Lombardy Poplar....... Populus fastigiata......... 40 10°" |) 8a 20 370| ‘ Heart-leaved Magnolia.. | Magnolia cordata.......... 20 12 40 30 372| ** Great-leaved Magnolia... | Mlagnolia macro; phylla bende 20 12 30 30 “ ; 1 378 | Cabiaved Weeping Betula lacianata pendula... 30 20 60 5° 379; ** Od Weeping Birch..... Betula pendula ............ 30 20 69 5° 380 | * Paper or Canoe Birch... | Betezla papyracea.......... 30 20 60 4° 381) “*© Yellow inchieeces 1-0 Betunigec ae en ee 30 20 72 4° 382| ‘ American Linden....... Tillia americana........0.. 20 16 7° 5° 333| “ European Linden....... Die eur apanereere epee 20 16 60 5° 333 “ Broad-leaved Linden.... | 72ééa mac ‘rophylla. , ee ide 20 16 60 60 383] Grave-leaved Linden.... | 7 télia vitifolia ............ 20 16 ? Is 333 | ** Red barked Linden..... MILT ME Tika ae | i aA | 20 15 ? : 3383] ** White Weeping Linden. | 7vlia pendula............ *! 20 16 ? ? 399] ‘* Locust, Black or Yellow. | Rodinia pseud-acacia ...... 25 20 60 4° 303i 0: edapangsoplionakers | scr SY he TUpONIGR ste wee 20 16 43 4° 305) wEVireniin nna. > Nocatee Meygatia (tema seers 25 16 45 4° 397| ** Kentucky Coffee-tree.... | Gysnocladus canadensis... 25 20 59 4° 395'|| “A Ailantuse sees cee ames Ailantus ..... Weis kisi. U5 elee 25 25 49 50 399 | ‘* Liquidamber..........: Liguidamer oo .ccccececees 25 16 to 4° gor) S60 Tapeloracssceses sis Mow | 2Vyssa: O2ara... : Siberian Crab.........-+ Chinese Double-flower- } itera hase apsoce European Mountain As kuropean Weeping i Mountain Ash..... Oak-leaved Moun. Ash } Dwarf _profuse-flower- | ing Mounrain Ash.'§ White-flowered Dozwood Cornelian Cherry ....... Judas or Red-bud....... Halesia or Silver-bell.... Thorn-trees ..... eoode TPA WEAD ED, tote oils. a/aetetes American Hornbeam.... Scotch Laburnum....... Amelanchier..........-- ‘Vamarisk - Wych Hazes: «<3 Soar Tree Andromeda......- 2 FPree SUmMaCliviwecasnceas Purple Fringe-tree..... : @hionantlwister-sss stees% Hercules Club. S.berian Pea-tree . European Elder......... Botanical Name. Castanea pumila. ...2.+++++ AE, PAVIA TUB Mes ceceereces AE, CALUOTNICH.. 6c e eevee ACEr SLViAtUIIL. 0... ceaecees Acer p. opultfolium.... +++ ACY SPICALUM. 6.0. aces ence Acer campestris.....+++- ac A cer tataricuin, ...veer eee Fraxinus excelsior Lene FYAQXINUS QUIEA... 16. ee Fraxinus aurea pendula. Negundo frax.nafolium.. Populus tremula trepida... Magnolia tripetela.......- WEN P AUCH rin Salata alesis sie 5 Ss AM. Cconsp:cua M. soulangeana.......++++- Betula popultfolia......+++. S caprea pendula ........ ~ Salix americana pendula., Robinia viscosa. Sephora japonica “pendula.* Cerasus Padus. ......++++0 Cerasus semperflorens. . sees Cerasus pumila pendula. . Larix pendula ......+++ 1 Catalpa h.malayensis.....- Catalpa kempferi.c...+.+++ | Laurus benzoin.......+++-- | Kelreuteria paniculata..... Celtis occidentalis.......+++ Pyrus malus coronaria. .. Pyrus matus pruniflia.... | Pyrus spectab.lis Pyrus sorbus aucuparia.... Pyrus sorbus pendula..... * Pyrus sorhus cat ne (quercifolia). ; Pyrus nana flor ee aeo5 | Cornus florida........++.++ COFRUSIRES. +. we cedcesn sue Cercis canadensis.......+-. Hlalesi2 tetraptera Crategus.. Crategus oxycantha pmetar é Carpinus americana..... Cytissus alpina Amelanchia vulgaris...... Tamarix. Hlamanielis. cee csccsvccen Andromeda arborea.....- > Rhus ty pRin@. 0. woceseee Rhus Covints......+0-00e aa Chionanthus virginica..... Aralia spinosa.......-+- Spec Caragana arborescens.. we eeer cece tee eee | Sambucus NIGVA....00eeees Usual Size 12 Years from Seed. 10 ft, 12 12 20 12 12 15 15 15 20 15 15 25 20 10 15 15 20 8 10 16 12 15 Height. | Breadth. 10 ft. 10 12 16 10 10 12 10 15 12 15 12 16 16 10 10 15 10 10 10 16 10 12 10 * Trees marked with a star are usually grafted on other stocks. Usnal Size at Maturity. Height. | Breadth. 25 ft.) 25 ft. 20 20 20 20 25 30 3° 3° 25 20 25 20 25 20 3° 3° 4° 30 3° 3° 20 20 4° 30 20 20 15 15 20 20 20 30 35 3° 10 15 12 20 20 20 20 20 25 25 15 15 8 8 20 30 12 16 10 14 16 16 20 40 25 25 15 20 15 20 20 30 25 25 15 20 3° 3° 12 12 16 30 14 16 20 30 20 30 16 2 20 25 30 20 16 16 25 20 18 8 25 20 30 30 16 16 20 20 20 12 16 16 18 12 15 20 604 APPEND X. HARDY EVERGREEN TREES OF THE LARGEST SIZE, Page Populur Name. Botanical Name. Usual Size 12 | eae Height. Breadth. || Height. | Breadth. 5I5 The White Pines 3. .ns8& <0 Pinus strobus....ce..0. Seer 25 ft.| 16 ft. go ft.| 60 ft. — 524 Jeffrey's Pines2.....6s.- tt) FEY VEVANE s cniosietee 25 16 100 60 B26) “"" Anistrianweine.msstea done S¢ austriaca ..... eb pies 25 16 80 60 527) fo SCOLEN eine ee clstinerad veo SO: A USYLUESLIES:. cine areteye se es 25 16 7° 60 we §3%| ME Pyreliean. ccc 8 a ° “ hUPUMIN DAU DKW DHKHNNPE AWE DAAWMACNNANANN ADM RAWNE ADS CNrnarnn ow ” Rh ORUMNYIN OC DHMW ADAM Size at Maturity. Height | Breadth. ro fi. 7 ft. 10 10 12 20 6 10 10 12 8 12 ? ? 15 10 10 8 8 10 8 10 6to10 |§tor2 12 10 15 6 6 ? ? 10 15 10 15 10 15 7 10 10 15 8 10 8 10 5 8 10 8 4 4 7 10 7 7/ 7 10 10 7 /) 10 7 10 7 10 4 5 10 15 10 15 10 10. 15 15 8 10 8 10 6 8 6 8 6 8 10 10 Fs 7 1to7 1 to7 3to10 |3to12 10 16 4 6 605 — PAGE | PAGE PAG LESe telehe re nisin ols stetelele)elaleleloistare(sieie > 538 | Besculses, h. flore plend ..cecceceveceeeess «+339 PIM ELL PAGS ROBO HOD GAO SOC OO T DEAE SD 533 Lei He TROL CIILAT wah ole one . 21382 thet 03-9 4 AEBS GS BE OCE ORC OTD Ae ane 53) LEE 5 WG COCCENER sian. ese Boa ee 340 AMO ya re ceric eerie: BERRIES 539 UP gs EIS ee ee 340 AITRILT EO PCNAMA a oni de presi ce= «r 540 SEE Me LOCINUTE AO Dosa eee eee 340 Ale CECOLSID Sarat eVelsiaratetrialal tel ticistey ear 540 AE. h. nana flore plen@......001.. +s 340 6 lew 35 J AI COB eIeT a asa a ocly SOReOeS 541 LEG PULL JUD Dire ars alae stae: stele ei 340 ARES PEL P ETP RTILEL CE rao ofa alsiorwinloyeins = athe 541 Pe Pali den tig So p57 Shoo Goan hos 341 A CNICLEAOKESSELLAMM: ce caiam nivel oo 541 LE: PO AISCOLEP -frockgras. gate eeenerr 341 WN 6 BT ERO T IANA) wrelecny electalaisisteietal 542 AG. BD) IRGEL OCA PA ros toi 341 rele Prada Gian) aneneesaa hoc 542 LEG. P MACHOSLACKIA 52 vominemtenseBiene 342 A. é. Comtpacta.:.. 3.5... rarelokeite oe 542 LAE. PN CALI OTHICE \y \wielecoietnle sine tet 342 Ae. tortuosa compacta... ......0--- 542 | Ailantus, A clantus...... Bodega et eats +o 6 398 PN MH et ee obey UCOSSA mieyeieite sae Ba2)| Airing thessoils 25-0) sce eee Pee oe cca. | Ae! pendula Nose wcines aeShatae ase 543 | Akebia, Ahkebia quinata........+.++++++++s 594 Ae ED BY AIELAALA wa otcioinle\e\s haan eleral =) ols 544 | Alata Spruce Fir.... . ja) aj afarejune Ws toate 544 A eV RU ante eeeeel ia se Ala | Aer s (Al d7zth8 ea a eae peie oie nia;o sivyoisrevegengeteierers 424 Ale Ea D SIFU Satanic onieaeice tee cle nots 544 | Alder-leaved Clethra.............. sisicle sistas GQ VA Ea TILED USELESS reiegaraielot ain)oisiniirie see Ad ||| ELIS « ioicinis w) «ES eae 424 CA OFPATENTLES IRE Ot elatelate\ainyai7 518 aictasiaisigie 544 Ae SLUETBOSO. ws -0/e'2.=s) 2 ale seeeee +425 PAREN SIES ia cee cmons cee vias /aTeuey nie 544 A LECIAIALE one Rocce oie ee 00425 A. smithiana (morinda), ..........- 545 Al. GlULIHOSOIBUTER. ani visiaisioinlstopeiuete 425 Pile (hui OSV 35 SB aS HOOS DON IIO AL AOU ce 540 Als COV AL OULE hata wleswla\siessseinte/clsiele erate 425 AS Lea PLP erste einin in sins eieininieie seis 547 | Alternate-leaved Dogwood....... <5, 35 435 Helis TOPTELTE NS SAAB SAO DOO O OM dna wOS 547 | Althea, A’zbiscus Syriacus........-0.+seeess 47 Pl AC LULLT KY aia GORI DOC COD OUCCOE 547 | Amelanchier, A mzte/anchier vulgaris aioe ate 449 EA eC ILOLT OPA lyeierceiglaeieinsiee chee 549 AA BOLT APIUTE an nisaia elon isiala a fe 4AQ A.c. microphylla ( gracilis) Bees 549 A. florida.......++ Co jolate ale (orobe es baeets ote 45° PEM DEES O LE a crmiccitori cine Neramitonts 54) | American Arbor Vite ........ sie sin sf aoa 564 ents (hau Ail enttae poOeUnGsee ne ne 54) | American Ceanothus........ Sisto aia staeatapaietd 479 CA CMESILO Tes siaeiet cleitis for c\epph ei iemia seleraters 550 | American Cembran Pines... 25 ..ceen se ecb 52 ARNE FLOW STLINE 5. « clave, orcis sce niet sibistareia 550 | American Chestnut, Caslanea americana... 332 A. canadensis taxtfolia .. ..cceceees §50) || American’ Crab-apple:..c: iia 350 Ah, BUAOV A x aioaciya dois an eegiaaeeue sen 473 AS CLL T SCHIP RE eaten clarcie! tes aenades 474. |i BOWeFSy VELGANts «ccc cle wneisiciees ie = 6 vo sininsie 121 PEAS FE UA Cor OUR IROR OOO COB CTOOCD BE /G fi) 1eiay al Oe (5 Preis nolenud boc dpe EOaenbasoe ace 358 Ae DYLOFE oe fainiain ee sae ee scope 475 |)BOxwood, B272Us on. 22 os ane nen oo nie 585 Aan ESCOSUTER Ne ae terion ele sai 473 | British Evergreen Cypress..............--- 569 AR TSPECLOSH Re SF eclelitaleleisieeis Anodaaes.ci 475 | British Oak... 026.022. -2 ssc esec ewer one: 314 A MRE OLESCERS Ad caren eseecies Cejen o ees 475 | Broad-fruited Ash. ............--9.------- 357 Broad-leaved Arbor Vit#..........---+.--- 568 BalfourssPimes 220 oclaccec beeen + 22 | Broad-!eaved Buckthorn...........0.-.--+: 444 Balmiof.Gilead! Poplars eo eee ee. 361 | Broad-leaved Euonymus..........--- Neeer Gs) Balsam-kearing Poplar ............2....--- 362 | Broad-leaved Kalmia...........---+-++--- 589 BalsamMinect poeceeeene Haatincorn stats aBAeee 551 | Broad-leaved Linden..........---+-- +--+ 383 Bank's Pyne cee sateen. econ oncine seen 521 | Broussonetia ....---.++----++4 | oa pee 419 Bartram’s Magnolia...............-- selena BIB | BUCKEYE cle cle sieiere clea cle: @inys\nin\ginisseipib ioe’ fs 340 BSABSWOGG rel Zsa eto See ee eae eee 382 BRELIAG: Rhamnus catharticus.....+.++- 444 Bastard Indig Ose igeiey hae mer anions sie 472 Buddlea, Buddlea........s.0022-s008 eee 476 Beautilal Lilacs saneeee en cece 462 B. THAI ANG sv wen cene ese cree 476 Beauty of formiinitreesy.. sce cet ee eee. 281 PPE LOUOSTONE einls,'s's 215i 6.sjnin ars aN B mele, “ins 476 Beauty of health in trees................--- 279 | Building sites. Chap. v.......-- s+++e-+-s> 32 Bedding plants. chee DEVAL eset lettre 246 | Burning Bush..........--+ cee seeeceececes 443 Bedford Wil'ow. HEC ROPIOL IO ..389 | Burr Oak.. Bee aoe et entrar me wr ekatane 308 Beech, fagus......- Soooeue aiptetts teretatslare’e\s ie 325 | Business men; home grounds for.......-..- 20 Benjamin rey Steen ee ere as TQ GEMELEKNUL cere tele ele xiae elas 510 eo unieieie!elore s'alainian 351 Bentham’s! PinewRshovcesce cas hoe eae e es 522 | Buttonwood, Cephalanthus.....+++++++++++ 476 608 INDEX. PAGE | PAGE DRULUS tow etciee pists ioleitie nateraina/beatdiaicita ore -585 | Cerasus mehaleb .......00..0 PO me 404 WD SEI DET UITENS = aoieis cross oietsaanielt site 585 GC. semper florens ....er eee rae 404 BES HOPLCIIPE eee abcenciest as 586 C. pumila pendula ......... Beverce os 405 UB Se UTED oo iio ade Soe ae etdelsie clas 586 C. lusitanica........ secatote «s+2-405, 581 BN ST SUP MUMCOSE ne scale cei naistate Beadoct GC. lauracerasus o/c deh deedeuee Acie (2) CxCarolinmnz, ...-qconstitee aera Os Galabrian/ Pine? 2: 2222. coon sone cals 530) | Cerczs Camadens¢s’. ..eann Sdaderdslenfe coe 430 Walifornia’ Buckeye=s-. «on oss se eae. sesies 342 Ge SELQUESITF UM 540. denen 20002430 Californial Hemlocksssecsceie teeter a 0in5 50) || GEPRAIAAIAHS. = cs clues elle e ene wee47o California Mountain Pine.................. 523 | , Cephalonian Bitstriskceechioe ol cien lee ataattene 553 GaliforniaPrivet's4.s022 cco assanceecmeaeee 44 | \Gephalotaxus.o.. 5.0 ate Aeoe 574 570 GalifomiatRedwood =a. seca kee el 580 C. drupac@....... a ilahelstata tes . 576 Calophaca, Calophaca............ She COS 478 Gu SOrtuntt MascHle. «4. duce code 576 Calycanthus, Calycanthus floridus......... 477 C.. f. fEMING 22555 Iu ed, oat ae 576 GCRELANCTS Tee eee caeeorieei 477 C. pedunculata.......ee+ AGHA sins -577 OUTS OUIUS To eee ere eer 477 C. umbraculiferaiicnscsav oes deudecks 577 Camperdown Rim: Sess oss e ee ee eee ee 325 | Characteristics of Trees............... aemeary Canadian Amelanchier...............------ 449 Beauty of Health 2s) S2aeceseeceee 279 ‘Canadianhliniper ¢fes.oc cae see eos 561 Beauty of Forme sc votes 281 Canadian Poplar'sss. 55 )s2seeen eee ee 360 round-headed trees.............. 283 Canada Rhodora, Rhodora canadensis..... 50) conical treasii ss. seeeeee cas 284 Canoe Bitch: fcr eee yee eee 380 pendulous forms.2... 22.2 52-2006 285 Caragana, Caragana...........--+ cappiseen 477 picturesque forms........ sian aoe 286 CU GTOOTESCENS (oo ance ceien mente 477 majesty of form...2..i< en eeeee 288 C. friutescens ..... Nopoddsaccosoauecds 478 Lights and’ shadows.....0;:\.000c « fon Poses eee a ee noe ea ola 402 C, tormentosa .... mialaleisiviay ataistays = 480 Gi SYLUESEFIS cow see cce ee cesace eens 402 Cx Acummetnalayecie Vaclcisea Samivistenle oa 5 4Oe CLUUI PUT IS ee emetace ets cans ..402 | Cluster-flowered Yew..............2... Pract; C. virginiana (serotina LW igeneciss 403. 4o4s||;Gockspur Thorne aiafeies = atadiclebtciematatere cite 439 Co PANS (ns eee eed dee ee 403 | Color of D vellings and Out- buildings. « 50 C. p. br ACtOOSA.. 0.0 ececceesseesee~ 404 | Colutea, Colutea arborescens..c...cece.sss. 48c INDEX. 609 PAGE | PAGE Colttede Criutentascecccccececsercerers: .---481 , Crataegus c. punctata AUTEd ....4108 2.00. 443 (Oe ARIS In od Jan onoe co OF oOaooE 431 (e ibead ead CLUSTAIE Ee alelsy.\ ° 443 Common Biack or Sweet Birch............- 183 Cxpy racaHinac. ten sauecnct : 443 Common Cotoneaster........+ conoid Sects PASS MECTEEDENS choca sce ce eietare einiatattiiniatel= s/he ctove' 592 Common Elder .... =. s«» WeeGawneke cel 4540) Creeping UnIper osc cece oate connie rte nares 562 Common Engiish Alder... sce Saertaseomine4g4ae Crenate= “léaved Deutzia..... .. seid ie yaelehs 47° Common Jasmine ........+-2+. ++ Pelee AQT f CO PLOINENIG. LEPONICE shale vaicia siuicin bisleinsieieiets 564 Common Privet......e.escesseeescessceess 493 | CRALER ATS Ne nn eltelate s(ejetnle(ata mieie Bataieiaiete 564 Common: Syringar sso: a2: ccc - scine wielesenierersi-« 465 | | Cucumber Magnolialiciecdsniestisenteeiet: apis 369 Compact Norway Spruce Fir .........-...- Baile Gre ATES StSiso 7 a2 < ae ie =a oh ora sale sent sctawe 568 Compact Red Cedar......... ames Awcibee 559 CNSERDETUFENS 3 <\o wcleinsniaieeheeiney wie 569 Compact White Pine......-...-+-eeeee-e-s 519 (CSMCWSORUCIG vo waloig foie ove eia=i aera 57° Conducting power of deep Roots ...........267 OTL TEL Re LOCC onan Ona Aan: 57° Conical Norway Spruce Fir.........---++-. 542 CO ERACLIS sc xlere siaiceicn nineties stein 571 Continus-leaved Viburnum ...........+---- 467 (CAPO OLRGEISTS wiare x) ahafaliotatal siete ogists 7K Contorted-branched Pine..........--.-+++++ 52 COLA OTLIES. 05:55 oes daeen etiam dnaeeee 571 Constantinople Hazel...........2+ e+--eee- 489 (QUT ATH gst ® Aaah SAO OO SC EDO Gabe. 571 Constructive Decorations .......- ++++-+-- 103 (Qa Sonon ososesopeneeoceo. 571 Copeland's “‘ Country Life”’........--....-- 12 | Chamacyparts........+..++. Slate eetsianl ictal 571 Copper-colored Beech... .... ++. -ee+-eeee- 30 | Cut-leaved Alder........ aise josie maeeie atin 425 Corean Podocarpus......-.-- Be eandececuo 57S) |Meut-leaved Beech. .-\<)c)c sa cles sisisieeeainioine 330 (Gorean Seacoast, Pines .t<<-cse- ee te -s cccnes RamiLCutleavedu Birch. <1 ccccpdancmer oe enacions 378 Cormeliani@herry.cceveni. sttesccalierinces cles. 434 | Cut-leaved Horse Chestnut...... ....... 340 OC Dena BROOD hdc nbeCno” JoncODpens 432 | Cut-leaved (Eagle’s Claw) Maple........... 348 Ciera wee enin bs seaatbdotisicee ee -433 poured Ash-leaved /NegundOser cic cic cone nie 359 GHATS aeons) ccdsececngahour sss ASANNGY dona © S.0 as aaaue cele Beataeee es Cepnen 495 C. alba (stolon ifera) Lesa Aaddosenhcr 434 GROMICALIS seven sie ieee ens oasis treks 495 C. sericea (.AnNUgINOSA).. 1206-020 eee 434 GRSTHEMSIS' Se nacsnuiees Ra eetehte:s .490 Cy PANICUIGIA 0005 cc eo e- eoer-edess 435 CoG RDONECR «Sin .ais.s acacia Hepa nes - 496 WGUIGEZ CIB ie ca se ealeieiaie ««-«.---435 | Cypress Family, G upressus, Taxadiune. C. mascula vartegata .... 0. 000. - + 435 Gly pto-strobus, Retinispora.........+-+-. 568 C. aurea Variegata..... sseeees BeeA SS HLM LISSUS,) Cpe zSSZ6S) - ¢/<)are 424 | Flower-beds. Chap. xvil. ........2.00..---246 z | Fiowers and Bedding-plants. Chap. xvii ...246 agle’s-claw, Maple cin oeist-eisjemieisisis icone o's 348 , Flowery Amelanchier.............. icine 45° iakth\c). s/ajreiate riba ne ben oe MOOb aes dec ea NUESs 72 \Roreten: OAKS. nmissis 76 ole lenis SRR E se) Barth-heat ...cscentinc, , itu cislsiseritrastes paca 266 || Honms of lots... 02-52-2252 Brevi abahed deere 30 Bilder, Sie weOucwesS ys cies aims sos weiorl doch ek dee AS4 |\WBOLMS Of UGGS 1.5/0.4. 0.0 sje05 aden Sesion alee 283 DB SVint 67199257 8 sosz atole =rayeistous, 2\>io,s;0inyn eke hee RTT 316 | Forsythia, Forsythia viridissima.......++- 487 Bleagnus, Lea g719ts.creicc aie cictoiololais sielsteyeleisisis 486 | Fothergilla, Fotheryilla alnifolia........... 487 Py OVLEPISTS isl askin cinins «01 slosstoiiaiet daisies 486) || Bortune’s Cephalotaxus..<.-ce.sis tein lceineas 576 TEN OER EULED falas «sie, ciaerenoe ise OOM 486) | Bountain) Willow..,.<<jns, vie. 9 sikelele BS hey OSL 461 LO.) SAINOUCIOLUL seiste0 a 5si4cins/selo oe =e 358 Euonymus, 2 onyinus oo... cc ccc cece eeees 435 VM Pe LITE MADER ARORA Ae AE As 358 Ze MEY COME Fe atatee ans cmitale saints 485 LE PURO E ans a\ te ol o1ahs apa eletace BARRE 358 E. Atropurpureunt o.cesccevers bigots 486 F. salicrfolia variegatd ...6.... 0005. 358 E. CuvobQ@us o.....- Fewaerats bintoicle saree SO | Mura tame COLeUEAS ie ue rere alates oietel stain tia 480 E. latifolius......+ acchalapteta siento Aen sO Fragrant Cypress or Cedar .........---.--. 571 Ee TEAC TES ola ohn l=ainoistnn ab anise as ae 486 | Fraser’s Silver Fir........ spadinnge wuapaacinieeeee as 551 Earopean Bird Cherry. «. <0..0s.o.0wmbroadeskina 403 | Prizid ‘Cotoneaster. « ensgenceieeio mince ais European Euvonymus.............--06. #450)|Ubremont’s Pine s.6 03 - anca nee eaetseiiee 523 Eoropean! Hallys cae nepssmey ene Smt 582 | Fuschia Gooseberry..... 5 3) 487 Fiawthorns. 2h 2os22s ceca We oeecn ce cece sain 442 | Japan Osage Orange ............. nen ALICE 422 Hazel. Corylus........++- Bese ie Ses Bit ASS y epapan OG OCAT PUSH eiaiew perv alleen es'clslcieleione aac 577 Heart-leaved Alder...... atateerafererttereisteereieys 425 | Japan Purple Oak ........%.0.......0----. 315 Heart-leaved Hydrangea................... 490 SJapan Quince aie te. doe sl v- ole ecm eee 490 Heart-leaved Magnolia...............-.... 370 1| AAP AN HOU VEIN IN s1o101so1staial a a Seleisre, nislolaiavale 556 Heath-like Cypress... : act pani Soplarady ns «so.s'v ead succes. Ot Ae Go erate aed 359 | Liquidamber, Liguidamber...........6 0. GRA aaa aaa tehed oig ts = 559 Liriodendron tulipifera....... .. Mero ete. Lae ae 560 , Live Oak AREER FEE e ORIOME DA pe GO anh POnee oe eagi Maple crena supa 2.0 Tae a Le Sa EID eM AEUN perked poo ee a | Loblolly Bay ......--+-- BRAT 4A cee . FZ. Re ea ae 560 | Loblolly Pine ......... ..--sase Pucci: Y. canadensis i stu sckise kes she eer 561 j Locust... ..--.-- ---<- POA HI He Re eee CAE i clon wie ae Be ae 561 Lombardy aS Paley SE Do 39° Poe Dera susinaee 561 | Loneliness of Isolated Country pene 3 3 3 Lia ns apa octig mis Cages 561 | Long-fruited Horse Chestnut..........0+... : gt pi apr ari my staaratays teloratels 361 | Long-leaved Yellow Pine....-....++.....-- 341 COE 5 dpa gba 3 ek EBL | EigHICeRe cel wasted eee oo 3 20 igen ss obibpaaaaibhage V9 bts A He 561 IB TIE TH aN 493, . repens ET ee ae 561 Toe Oe ne F. prostrata..... ope eee peace ee L. t. grandifolia Se ae ie ree $2 FECUIABEHS Right tS is 2k tes 562 Vie Fragrantissima. oul ote e tees 4 RT a MR a uo > leet 562 | L. beralea. 2. ask, a oe hen ie maaaee es laae 562 L.. periclymentina, ucusvnesoeee 404 Kalmia, Kalmia .......... | Zh. certian J wah 596 Kilgivola amen gid oop pas 589 | L. p. belgicum enna ae Ppa oe: 597 Rc GnBUstipolia an «deh eet te 2 | LE. AVE oma ee spRetkieinee nae! Re ae age 589 7p 597 pene 2 Cardeps foe att Gast gee & HC ~ qe {apOnica..<-5.c0 11, ee oor entuc Ni ER OTe rages | 0. foltis =» Rstete ete 0 elateaseers Poke os bese: aoe Gymmnocladus cana- eee Cie tastes: 5 Lf Saeeeeye 507 K ia FIDO ee ce oe Trousans WOLKS. jc cnc cc ca. sk eRe oe a } ii A SE. leh RNR Bin RA i 9: ovely Cileer Rigs ee ee DO is dhs Fe dore Beene Aan sReibraieaered oo 492 Lovely Weicgi.. MUR Oe 556 Knee EROEK WillOW «2.05 sesesereneeees 390 Law's Silver Bites a.cscclece arent ie aura 409 Botan aa ease? se tneleseeeeeee B20); Paya aise Sawin Conoan saosaneas: sett ’ teria paniculata........ 422 tee =< ane eee ane cites 473 Laburnun, Cytissus...... 7 AU SS vin, agar aaa 451 Tuambert's Pine homeo ccuc kee ae 448 Teel minte Lo oa ae 473 PRE & EINE Cinse van nes -boreeevemeenes 524 ye SEAS EDT pe oF 473 Larch, Lari, «....-. Sn REE a 47 L. i Bictfolia 2. aiotadaeacts satsieae wee 4 SO een fC os arrearage arg ea Fe tae IS Larze Ciethra ea se Clematis ey ee 596 fs ee Ou CE 473 arge-flowered Tru ecearemams oe oa ae | cet fareia FOUL sid ss sonor SOM Large-leaved Henioes Greeperisit i... 594 PEEL UD Saks al RI Oa 473 Large-leaved Magnolia.....s + £99 Mossy-cup Oak ... 0.0.0. seer reese cesses 310 | Periwinkle, Vinca ....-++-++220e222000 599 Mossy-cupped Turkey Oak....--. Sher tocciec 315 | Persian Lilac ......-.++---e2eeseeee seers 462 Mountain Ash, Pyrus sorbus.....62 verses: 431 | Persian Scotch Pine.....----+++20ee05+- 0°: 539 Mountain Elder......-- Pe ce DOES 485 | Persian White Lilac......--.-+++++-++22- 0° 462 Mountain Maple........--- aesenceccceeess 347 | Persicd.eeerseceeceeereereestres ott -.444 Mountain Pine.....-..--+-ee eee eres Siaiete 530 | Persimmon, Dyospyrus Ur ZiNiAna ...+.++-- 424 Mounta'n scenery... .-+-eeeeerer cece er eeee 71 | Philadelphus ....-++-+++++++>+ neni one 464 Mugho Pine.....-.--+-- Bere BOCK DCOCIO 3m6 529 PB. Uttlgaris..c.ccecececvecescerr esse 465 Mulberry, Morus.....++.0+ see0eee2> pdague 415 P. flore plend....cseev veer creeeecees 465 Mulching P. ceyher i. .cccecicceeenenecese sees 465 Myrtle........- P. gor donit....ccsececcren cers ceee: 465 P. speciosa (grand iflora)....++++++++ 405 Narrow-leaved Kalmia.......--- Hew ce 222-589 Pl PEND eae sts ele eee ee .. 405 Neapolitan Maple......--+-++++ s++esee0+°- B5Ol|| Pbecas eile se cles sien reo ena: 550 Negundo.....----s:.-+2 22000 Spocmc code’ 358 P. balsamted.... cece cece ccccrccers 551 Negundo fraxinifoliumt...+++-++++++ eaeS5s P.SVASETE oo cece cece ence nee eees 551 : NV. Crispunt....-.00+ sees Jol nm DDOeOe 359 Po fitdsontC@. vec cave cv ccccceercceees 551 Neighboring improvements .....---+---+--- 60 ; P. fectinata ... vereceesesseverseees 552 Nepal Arbor Vitz.......---+-++++ Ris seicisis 568 Py py pendula... .ceeccenerrcrrer os 552 Nettle, Celtis ......---e22eece cer er erent 423 P. p. fastigiata (snetensis)...-.++++++ 552 New American Willow.....-------+++++++5> 39° P. p. pyraniidata,.. --0++ +2000 eee 553 New- Jersey Tea-plant, C Canolthus...-+-++++ 479 Py p. tOrtudsd....ssoevece ever ser eres 553 Noble Laurel ........---++> Eehearseuarenette . 580 2, p. compacta (nana #)...+ 022-0 553 Noble Silver Fir. ..--+++-+ seeeeeeeesrre: 554 P. p. cilicica (letoclada)....++++++ +++ 553 Nootka Sound Arbor Vite -. ..---+---++-> 565 P. p. ceophalonica.....+ veeveerrr eres 553 Nootka Sound Cypress. ....--++++2++++++95 571 P. novAManntan. vveevecevcreccecees 554 Nordmann’s Silver Fir....- witches Ranier) 504 P. nobilis... cececccccesee ee esee ces 554 Norway Maple......--- sessessereerteeee 348 P. ZrAUdis v0.02 000 eer ener settee: 555 Norway Spruce Fir... -- EE eieiais et acieie sisieoxs = 540 Pg. PAYSON». 00s eens wae een een 555 Nubigean Podocarpus.....---+++++-2s005 278 P. lowiana (lasciocarpa) ..++-++ +00 555 Nut Pine.....--..-2..-2s-2ee2 A OdOUSORa HES 524 P. amabilis....ccecveres Ba ctaiea delete are 550 NYSSA.. 200 sa noaces steiaee Se ivcrore oie a 401 P. PIChha ove ne cevecccrerecseesesees 556 | OS he ic ROO SOO OD 556 Oak-leaved Hydrangea. ..-- aie ae steerer -- 489 P, pinsapo. ..++++++ Pee eC eAr tric 557 Oak-leaved Mountain Ash .....--++++e++0+> 431 P. Pind r0W 2.0. cee ernscrer en ecreces 557 Oaks, Quercus... .-0sescerecceesees sae a RO2 P, webbiana.ccccsccesrcreeseceee oe 557 Oblate Dwarf Silver Fir...-.....+++++++ .++-553 | Pictures, how MAGE noc. «inn Wevaiaterete slvr eieve 19, 78 Oblong Weeping Juniper ....-.---- auis aos yove 560 , Picturesque forms... .-----++2e65 settee 286 Ohio Buckeye. ....------+--eeereeeseeeeee 340 | Pigmy Arbor Vitee...----0+--seererrert ee 568 Old fru t-trees.... 002. e ee eee eee eee cree ceee 239 | Pigmy Fir...-. pag nuia pa eives tees seitones ae 541 Old houses.. ccecscsvee-coceerssseeteceese 245 Pigmy Scotch Pine.....---++ s++--s2 0000" 529 614 EN DHX. PAGE PAGE Pigmy White Pines .4..:00.. 0s iavcesecee \-. 519 t Platting grounds!. 4.7% sletaleisidicleleelceee sleceie (OU Pigenut Hickory. .tatcve ek ae eek more eiwins aleiele 355 | Pliant-branch Viburnum .......... = Saaens4o7. Pince’s Mexican Willow Pine... .......... 525°, ‘Pium-fruited) Yew !.\c-5.6 47 wos eons eens 576 PINGS Pees. jerdarte Ss Shsrste aan Reino oe BIS yj LUM) LI UUS, S52 So eee eee eae 447 American, on Atlantic slope,....... .515 | Plum-tree-leaved Viburnum................ 407 American, on Pacific slope «....-.522 | Podocarpus Yews, Podocarpus ....... 574) 577 European and Asiatic..........+-- 526 Ps BTUPACE Sa dda ciaaie we FOO pe 576 Pink-flowering Double Deutzia..............470 PIF APORICD Sh esieniae ac arstatale HERING iopatets 577 Pink flowering Honeysuckle...............- 464 PB. F.-CLELAHLISSUHIA Jn. ce cts sicale pene 573 Bint Oak iecryetne cree Caneel Soir aise Pajets ae ck 313 PP CRIINEISES:coali leas eleld elit shee 573 Piston (Pines <2:2425%> aneaee ay daha ded aee -524 Ps horaiands § oi ite Seles 578 Pinnate-leaved Staphylia.......... . ....- 513 PS UUBIL ONG Ss accialncae Cees sles ae SS 578 Pinsapo: Firs 4ihn:.gseiaetdaesrer ties +557 NOR iL OURO neo ocdises sre 492 PRE US wrorasane et Yevekesaaiaiohet aaa aly cele lew ae RL SAA CO PELE. 0 e, areniai 2 sipietotelotoliclele beet BITS Vaeeecd 492 UPN SEF OBUS peice wns cod Acs CAV RGEC ie 515 Ps, moutan. Pele ducretate welbin east tole aa ora 492 Ps (Si MBNE 6 ib nciad sap HORE ESC EO ae 519 ORNS ot tak ce BRAC Opmooc ter 493 UE OIS AMATEUR oi nkareiete a Pere is eee 519 Py POPRUVCY ACED 5 Salta gialatsioeme oe, «lero 493 PES COMPAL Rea eee artes 519 | Pointed-!eaved Cotoneaster......... eS ortees 483 PERVED AI 52 eR Ren eee eo eet 519 | Poison Ivy, Rhus toxicodendron....... 452, 593 Px rigs (Ser Otte) arate cate ate nel ele are 519 | [PONS :. <2. sjainjeiesnin «ine = = cleiaminielesr ale Bsicieee 74 PB. rubra (resinosa) ...- 2a. esses se 520 | Pontic Rhododendron ........... solve -- 587 P. pungens ......-- veneuiere Brie1520)|SE Oplar,:OfuiIEs - -a.-)/-)= -leict-telele cme ee eee 359 PGI TShirt ics SADT eee aie ist aheate ee 520 P. tremula trepida....... eid hace 359 WPT AUSLT ELIS «32 sun Re corags ---520 Pi tremidliaess ih ucsis oe cen Bre ee) PA 0 LCCUSE = cacieine taeinialo loge aval biats Mise 521 Pe hot PEMUUIE.winielninics teste Moto Sigua 360 Ps teedas ts sda. mith aero vier 521 P. grandidenta....-..+.+- beep 360 - UPS AM OPS ao aaa A te Oe ae AcRieS G21 Beg Penthlaan ss pote saat eee 360 PF. bankstana s seera kine en te Beemer rete 521 PRCANBACUSIS~ -\c)- cjsicis mei ee 360 BP. Denthasittand.. - ..... OR: (Sa arene 531 | Pyramidal Magnolia...........- Serer cei 374 P. hispanica Pyramidal Silver Fir...... otter aetecs oaee 553 Po C2 CELSRnisisio'es sine SRO an ele» =» 532 | Pyramidal Spruce ‘Fir (2220.2 eae ee 544 PATO SNR w RSS Sales. c os « 530 | Pyrennean Pine....... caret ese Sate et 531 P: bl: COFAMGNICE 1 RR OS ACR SIGNS INS a coe Meee ee BONE gainer aboec 5225.3 429 P: 1. pygmea esaes See Deets ook Q hie yreusseales Oe see eke en cue Bape 426 | et Ee BPRS oils es)... 536 P25 IR ALETUE ieee Cer Oo scart 428 Ps PINASLEF GSB k POSTS Ciena 537 P.M. COFONATIA 0.02 eens Sy icetic Gae 423 LP. pine iFGe0 p PAS. Ses 8 2 837 P. m. pruntfolia..... coe ey aasee shee 429 WP UR LEARIS Sich siidios Ok oa ce bE wk S37, Fs MB SPELLADIUE Sele ain bate rietan eae 429 Ps ROVAICHSIS heir SoA BOOED Mis, 5 oie B37 GP PaSISOFDUS Gece ee heacicee SHeda Daas ations 43 Pitch’ or’ Pond: Pine #23 f00~ costes ots oe 519 PS GUCUPATIR. - Se eilaceesaisetiae ee 431 Plan before planting. Chap. ix. .......... 75 PP. GIEF CANA: Oeste dads sna 431 Plane-tree, Platanus.. 22394 ?. pendu'a RE pace cichs hoe -431 Plans of residences and ‘grounds. Chap. x xv 31 WPS PimalyjEa, Vas sei Seeackk alae 431 PLALTHUS OR seer wlerAreen See Se . 384 P. nana flor bunda..ceecccces cove 432 P, occident@lis a. Foon ieee [Rises 334 PS OF TEMLALIST S « oisiae ta crake owe SSC TES BES) MONEPTHS, coca wateaceleinacs'sm/caecieeee eter Law esO2 INDEX. 615 PAGE PAGE OZOH SAAB ACBOOOOEEORER SO OOn Oc 304 | Rides SANGUIMCUIN 610. cvecvercvenccce 481 O} t0InENLOSA) See écken habe eee 307 Re SSOP A ONE Kan Us lode TAR ees 481 Q. macrocarpa....... Mag chncosat 308 R sanguinea flore plena ...........- 482 ON DOUESHGUM sete sete enn en aae eee == 309 Riu 8. QUUttnOSUumt. Fos. s veivads ces ess 482 Q. aguatica........ Hatt ic SRI GaIeC 205 REP SPEGLOSUUNIE rl HHS sho. 0l0' esi zaTaidte BU eS otase: 2 482 OV UMC OME Fra cdte ac ch ae cncte Son Ring! Wall owes Se SHIR Fe ves, cielo 389 (OS MATT ee BAe EG RISAE SSRIS Ae ACC 309 | Roads. Chap. Stat wisidec. tie :> 391 OME CCE LIET eat tatters sett ane eee grelRockiChestnut Oaks. cisrnjoas,sauaiaegle aeres 310 Ovtiictoriaiencesas! < sea bens oe eee oe SV2t | MRock Mia ple wiverererecicie wielejavai Na oa Sebeloe a oeinere 344 QUI GICAL woo tae eco see “Sea: ZIG WIROSCS OSES ss co sive. ejaie dint pew ete 2019 AOT, (QIN FE A ike Nadebade Adan OOBSAOLE Soc 313) | Roses, | Hardys unc)» = joe somata ais 498 ORT ASERIS Ch coleteinstacke ne ae < aie si 313 Hybrid: Chinaws.. secu oaltes - 498 Ovphelloscn Wek ais biasacate ones Hees he: Hybrid. Provencensvaens. 3-08. 498 On f: laUr fOUd. 262. as-- cece Ab ach Hybrid Damask. ............... 498 OV PUOVIERT AY arsis)s san eaaaa}a she cies: 314 Hybrid: renely xicjace Sens 562 J tpi Al) LOB AR AAA SABIE ACO OOe 573 | Salisburia, Sadisburta adiantifolia . .. ....405 EN OULTSIU ya aeenieemineesisincssTeret 573 IS5 2. PHACTOPHY ME. 53. einen sivls Aes 406 R. pestfera aurea..... oobuponpaps gar 574 SE ee NUAUIER ELE de qeisix oa teelntiaia ta a =fe 406 Rhamnus catharticus.. eee aa ecies VE SLE a) Wsceccos jeldegeic oe Guoleielen seme dlaieees 38 PML OLS seeders sidecases wars as 444 S. babylonicad....22e.0reere cece eeeees 387 Rhododendrons, Rhododendron. .....+. ++. 586 ya ANNUIATIS vo 00 eee eee n ee eee eee 389 VOTE, SOA OS SIS ASCII 587 RON TH ELE GORE OAC. eee FOE TCO 389 Dis RE LIEILTE sola vie acracies ee eeielersis ier 587 Se AUDA. eee eet e een eee inet eee .389 RK. 11. fur fpureuitt .cs.ccrasee ARO 587 AS ruselliana ain ainda feietars Baer «'el~'mej=.5 «5 389 R. catawbhaensis...cc.e.0- Nees 587 S. Lucida... 1. ve ee ence eee eee eens 389 Ws PUNCLOLIOIE «Societies AlShbadane 587 Se COSCTAATIU OU. . scan sae e snes == 399 R. crysanthemutt..secceccee cvseree 587 S. COPTEA.. eee recs ene e eee e eee e ees 390 RR. CAUCASECUM wo cee eee Aqhedoaddgue sey / S. americana pendula. Bera: Serr 399 Rhodora canadensis ...0...+4+++ Pid ade 509 | Sambucus... vente reenceeeeens eS ee 484 PRIS 2 corse aac trey oe acmasa tea Ascmusticeayca 451 Green de r8 iS 465 T. occidentalis Aurea. .c.cccccseceves 565 V. awefuki (japonicum) ... 2.2... 406 MRE LOD OSC wet ayalats,<) tevelsianaiere Bava ss. 566 Vi iStHE SIS: 2 a\seicie.nince ee eda 466 T. minima (?)......+ Seafaraleharaerataliors a's 566 Vie OPULUS. .. a vein Ree aes 406 Dr PLICHUG jainiaicialalals eeiciclelavoreriatalel sis eit 500 Vi 0. foltts Variegatd..crcwwscccos 406 PEE IPIPLE Oa clnlele\alate ciel etuletatale\al eleleletetes 566 AON Lila Pe HCO D OREO OE: o. Bernie 2) Lise POM Ul M@isi)api sick © focal NAS ROE 567 Vi 0 ORD csi SR TT NE 466 pABELES fapsrayigafarciora|cisvehuisVelaye(ieciaieis's Shien podhoun, 7% E05, LY ZUMA. oh aiacls oun eae 466 MABEL ERS 5 Sonsstardiaaieats wle\sieressrtie Boiele ate eer siete stots 382 Vin. 0: (OLY COCCUS.. rca aiels ots etme 466 Ls ACPIET-ICIUILIE IO sin o)x/atn)al ai eve teierata hee 382 Vi, Lamlanaidesses «ais o(tietajcite olalsteiictetalels 407 TIS FACTORY LL aiainisinis alane ein kabel oaks 383 UPR TRIL IATL YF OC OR ROO e ono OAC cee 467 TRCUTAD GAS - CORDHA OO COR. do ob aU oo 383 VA SARI ORG aoe rae Bao asc as 467 AN MICE) OLE CEistatalstete|alatats elcteietateestsiealstaket 383 V. macrophyllum, .occcceesees - 467 Y (A ATOR es SBD OOOO. nant CciCaaAiiC 383 VE OCET UO 4g He Tats elataelo ata el eels dls oletele 467 Le AUTO. nis oo ateie kis Ripe ae e eIAS 383 Rttemte g.0)sa-2csacl-)iemieis ircsieees ass 467 IRE TUT ROE CORI OE COTO CROC CA LCONe 383 Ze APT UP I CLUE viz wins san atol IO clare (cron 467 DE, pendula «.. ceases mietaraieis staves cere 383 ARE EAYOLE RAMON AC SOLOS OCC e 467 Tee COLWILL s,s Betatarn etaitals Peps aerate ee 384 Vis Lent lars. aileis cteeaee Satels oieie ololelor 467 Xom-Thomb: Arbor Witz! ..2- 04 o-aesee- ee 566 Vx PUDESCENS a i micrcicecaie fied telsieie Metered 468 Wooth-leayed Vaburmuin, cz-|..-/ FPA EG aa 2ee 20 RUD OOORROR DOO OTSe [05cm hours one 599 Torreyanu Yews, Tor7veya...ecsssceeess 574: (ah78i|| WADES «415 <\crsielea ais) sics sweaters 73, 242, 244, 592 De AGEL OVLE. soiaianicioxe sistafolatreistelsiere SeeriS7s |) WIne-DOwer) Clematis. ..-cyeict one pene 304, 313 Wreigela,,. Wezzela..... sa pistesiess) ojarecfoletqeisnicte. = 468 | Winter Flower, Chzzzonanthus fragrans...478 VIE, POSE a. io) (on alniciotelsie.s Ga latetateraneerens 468 | Wistaria, Glycine, Wistaria............+-. 599 BZ LesbOiSitb em ovispicteloiiateteneiscieasiers 469 WEN G7 ULESEE NS) Saige» btu, oes leiden sae 599 MMM HIT AO OR ROO sor been Ce 469 WEACGE). SUMENSTS: («can sae 599 W, hOrtenstS NIVEBs « «0 cain dese ce o-ais «2 469 Ss (GDS = ELIE, 26515: say nt aatercpeele eee 600 W. variegata......+5 +200 Pe as 469 W (G.) brachybotria....... 0.02.00 600 Wel e tone chain las rae sejesiemie Mckeerad a 579 WG. UG) Bs Tbr oekete ., wv nerse 600 Western (Nettle iccnt-taehiseseiaetelciens aaa 423 W. (GA) GABA ZEGs tants te ate .600 WihitewAshoecne s..ctte cia oe Serco conics erere tae 356 W.(G-.) frutescens alba... cece... 600 White Beam-leaved Spirza..........- ++++-5r1 | Woodbine Honeysuckle......,............% 596 Wihite Beech mcciea.n.m.\.= soene Siafesiaehiaicde sre 326 | Wych Hazel, Hamamelis........0.+4+200+- 450 White-berried Waxberry...............000. 513} Wych Eim, Smooth-leaved..... spiniajcistersia aie] 324 Wil teg Bo chats frets, ateiaes cvorats siatoneveriae aeteetcs oe 381 Wych (Scotch) Elim’ soi. ecerscreciens 322 pWihhite: Cedars 35 sim sictoeer italia nae ine a 559 White: Cedar! Gypresss.....5 scaawndelswi ote a. Sg1ellow Birch) cg... cee « fare decine see aoe pWihite) Gy tisSusi 3 ei ;) oss. meters is slate ce 482 | Vellow Chestnut Oak. 2. .sphe ee e bee me 311 Wihite Bimini. Saas usc caterers eee 316 | Yellow-flowered Honeysuckle ..-...-......-597 White-flowering Dogwood ......... . ..... 433 | Yellow flowered Trumpet-creeper....... Hpaeiels White-flowering Horse Chestnut........... 337 | Yellow Horse Chestnut..........-. Bates isiste 34¢ White-flowered Weigela 2.0. .cc5ccc.00.0% 469:1\ Yellow bocusts.., .,....ic «seine a4 ~ anes Seca ees =o oe = se ty ee ih we nee aa rege ah ait) . : ae rt it Ae bie gig Bits ‘ Htod . ab i ASD ra iH iat eH i at “ an! nf Bi ,