unsatisfactory, I am almost inclined to declare that the white pine is the best of evergreens. Then there are the oriental spruce, and the white spruce, and the blue spruce of Colorado, the Atlantic cedar, the creeping jumper, the Nordman fir, the weeping hemlock, the Siberian and pyramidal arbor vitæ, the Japan yew, Taxus cuspidata and Retinispora obtusa. Are not their beauties and excellent qualities recorded in the nurseryman's catalogue? We have a hard climate in this country for evergreens. The changes are sudden and great, and the long-sustained weight of the evergreen foliage handicaps them in their resistance to the stress of the revolving seasons. One great mistake many planters make is the arrangement of mixed masses of evergreens and deciduous trees. Evergreens should be grouped generally by themselves. I do not say that no deciduous trees should be grouped with evergreens, for now and then an outlying small group of deciduous shrubs and trees, or even a single one, will often pleasantly relieve the slight monotony of evergreen masses. For instance, one of the most charming landscape effects is attained by interspersing a few white birches among spruces and pines. Throughout the summer the delicate foliage and white stems make a pleasing contrast with the general mass, and in winter, when the evergreens are particularly valuable to the landscape, the effect of the birches is sometimes startlingly beautiful. The red-stemmed dogwood is a shrub that may be used with great effect in the same way. Overcrowding affects evergreens more disastrously than it does deciduous trees, which is saying a great deal. Large evergreens, such as spruces and pines, should never be planted nearer than twenty-five feet apart, and a much greater distance is needed to develop their full beauty.

I know it requires much determination to resist the desire to get immediate effects by close planting, but if you will crowd evergreens, remember they will retain their beauty a comparatively short time. A valuable precaution in setting out evergreens is to keep their roots absolutely protected from wind and sun by a mat, or better still, by a thorough immersion in a puddle of thick mud immediately after they have been taken out of the box or bundle in which they have been shipped. The roots of evergreen trees are peculiarly sensitive and subject to sudden drying up and other injury. Concerning evergreen shrubs which grow so beautifully in Europe, I will say briefly that they are not a general success in this country. Rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas do tolerably well in sheltered positions and suitable soil, but everything must be favorable or they will soon die out. To attain success to a moderate degree it is especially important to limit your plantation to kinds that have been proved hardy beyond question in this country. Many kinds of rhododendrons and, in fact, of all other evergreens are exported from Europe to this country as hardy varieties, which in the end prove anything but hardy. There is one evergreen shrub that I should declare exceptionally hardy, and that is the broad-leaved laurel of America, the Kalmia latifolia. This admirable shrub has picturesque red stems, rich green foliage, and the most quaint, dainty, and curiously formed pinkish-white flowers. fully aware that I have considered only a small fraction of the really valuable trees and shrubs offered in the nurseryman's catalogue, but I believe I have discussed the main and most important ones, the ones that must constitute the chief material that can be used successfully on American lawns in this latitude.

I am

W

The Preparation of the Soil.

Exposure.

Selection of Plants.

Cultural Directions.

Hardy Plants.

Extermination of Vermin.

Vines and their Training. Window and Veranda Boxes.

HEN one has enriched the surroundings with a few fine trees and a number of choice shrubs, and carpeted the domain with luxuriant turf, there is still lacking an important element in the home grounds.

Trees and shrubs, though never so deftly planted, usually convey little to the outer world of the character and individuality of the household. Their growth is on a large scale, not influenced by the daily watchful care of the owner as are the smaller plants, the selection and placing of which give the style or individuality to the grounds. This may be noticed in a walk through almost any village street, though perhaps more generally in the newer, smarter villages where fences are not in fashion. Any family in the street might live in any other home. House and grounds proclaim only the various

The Ideal Garden.

A Water-garden.

Cold Frames and Pits.

Greenhouses.

The Potting of Plants. Successions of Plants. Fern Culture.

Orchids at Home.

whims of the architect, the nurseryman, and the florist. Then one slackens his pace as he passes the home of a family evidently interesting, for here some thoughtful, evidently gentle hands have planted a vine to soften some sharp angles, there a bit of color to gladden the stranger, in another place masses of flowers apparently for friends, who surely are welcomed in-doors.

The adding of the flowing lines of vines and the coloring of flowers and foliage to the home grounds are operations that should be carefully considered. If the reader may be supposed to have taken up his residence in a house located in more or less extensive grounds, with no knowledge of particular plants or flowers, the problem of selection may seem very intricate, for the more one studies the subject the greater seems the embarrassment of