that, in its cultivation, we must be prepared for occasional disappointment. It has, to a very great extent, the bad habit of making a late growth; so it does not ripen its wood well: and, though I have two or three dozen trees eight or ten feet high, many of them are disfigured by a loss of a portion of their branches, and it is difficult to find a perfect specimen; indeed, I saw but few in Europe.

Thuiopsis borealis, the Nootka-sound Cypress. Here we have a perfectly hardy tree, of large size, which cannot fail to give good satisfaction, and must be considered a decided acquisition in any collection.

A varie

gated variety has lately been sent out, which will also, no doubt, be found hardy.

Thuja gigantea. — It is gratifying to be able to state that this tree, which had just been introduced when Mr. Sargent's book appeared, has been found perfectly reliable on further trial. It is described as a noble evergreen, with an umbrella-shaped top, from the Columbia River, growing to the great height, for an Arborvitæ, of one hundred and forty feet; and it is to be hoped our enterprising cultivators will lose no time in getting up a stock, so that it can be freely distributed throughout the country.

Cephalotaxus Fortuni. A fine evergreen-tree, of undoubted hardiness; growing forty to fifty feet high in the north of China; resembling very much the English Yew, which it is likely to replace where the latter does not perfectly succeed. It is a very ornamental tree, and merits general cultivation. There is another variety, called Cephalotaxus drupacea, which I have had several years; but it is of very slow growth, and has made very little progress so far.

Pseudo-Larix, or Abies Kaempferi, the Golden Larch. - When Mr. Sargent's book was published, small seedling plants of this tree had just been received; but their growth has been so slow, they are still quite small, though hardy beyond any question. It resembles very much our common Larch; but, from some cause or other, the price continues too high in England for any except very limited importations to this country.

Of trees of a medium size amongst the Arborvitas and Junipers, we have a considerable number, all more or less desirable for general cultivation, and indispensable where any complete collection is attempted. They consist of Thuja Lobbiana, variegata, glauca, Meldensis, Wareana, and Hoveyii,

Juniperus sabina, Hispanica, squamata, tamariscifolia, Suecica, Bedfordiana The latter will be found one of the most

Chinensis, and oblonga pendula. lovely weeping-trees imaginable.

There is little to be said in regard to such Pines as excelsa, Lambertiana, monticola, ponderosa, Benthamiana, laricio, Pyrenaica, and cembra, except to confirm opinions heretofore expressed as to their extreme hardiness, and to hope that in future they will be more freely introduced in all ornamental plantations. The excelsa is an object of great beauty when its growth is not too rank, and will probably continue to be the greatest favorite with cultivators.

-

Thuiopsis dolabrata. This is one of the new Japanese trees which I have had out for two or three winters, and found perfectly hardy. It is described as one of the most beautiful of all evergreen-trees, with a pyramidal-shaped head and vertical branches drooping towards the points. There is also a variegated variety equally hardy.

Retinispora ericoides is a neat, heath-like, pyramidal bush from Japan, quite hardy, though it changes its color somewhat in cold weather. It bears. the shears well; and, by clipping, I have found it to make an extremely pretty edging for gravel-walks. There are several other Retinisporas and Arborvitas now under cultivation; but there is so much confusion in regard to them, that no reliable description can be given at present. We have a variegated variety under the name of pisifera aurea, a wonderfully pretty plant, of a light golden-colored foliage, than which nothing of the kind can be more lovely. It is so delicate in its appearance, it might be taken for a stove-plant; but I have had it out for two or three winters in exposed situations, and have no question of its resisting our most severe weather. It is not mentioned in Gordon's Pinetum, and it is more probably the obtusa aurea variegata; but, whatever may prove to be its name, it will surely be found a perfect little gem in its way.

Sciadopitys verticellata, the Umbrella Tree. This is described as a very singular evergreen-tree, from Japan: but my plants, being quite small, are out for the first time this winter; so I can say nothing as to its hardiness at present.

Cupressus Lawsoniana. - I have purposely left for the close of this article a notice of this beautiful Cypress, because I consider it an "evergreen

glory," to borrow one of Downing's expressions in speaking of the English Holly; and I think, upon the whole, it possesses so many good qualities, it is likely to be brought into general cultivation more speedily than any other of the new conifers. It comes from the mountains of Northern California, where it grows a hundred feet high; is easily cultivated and transplanted; of undoubted hardiness in our climate, and a most vigorous grower, ripening its wood so well, that I have never noticed a branch in the least injured by our most severe winters. It is nearly related to the Thuiopsis borealis, and, according to Murray, was the handsomest tree seen by him in his whole expedition. Gordon, speaking of it, says, "Its habit is most graceful, the branches at first curved upwards like those of the common Spruce, and, towards the ends, hanging down like an ostrich-feather, with the leading shoots, when young, drooping like those of the Deodar cedar." This droop of the leader here referred to is most marked and unique, hanging down, in strong growing plants, eighteen to twenty inches; and some of my largest trees, which are eight to ten feet high, fully come up to the description given of their beauty. It is readily propagated by seeds; and it also grows freely from cuttings, which seem to make as strong-growing plants as those raised from seeds: this must greatly facilitate its introduction, and I doubt not it will soon become a great favorite with all who are desirous of adding to the attractions of their country-places. It has but one single fault, I believe, an unfortunate trick, in some cases, of throwing out its branches on one side only, leaving two or three feet of the trunk opposite bare, thus marring somewhat the symmetry of the tree in its general appearance. It is difficult to account for this blemish, as it occurs on the north as well as on the south side of the tree; but it is to be hoped it will not continue as they arrive at a greater age. There are two new varieties lately sent out, called the gracilis and argentea fol. var., which I shall test this winter; and with success, I trust, as the former particularly has been much admired.

It is well known that the labor and expense attending the importation and acclimatizing of these new evergreens have been heavy; and the question naturally arises, How far have the efforts of cultivators been rewarded with success? That there have been many disappointments is true, though no more than it was natural to expect under the circumstances; and, upon

the whole, I think it will be admitted we have great reason for congratulation, upwards of fifty new evergreen-trees having been found adapted to our climate. Such an accession to the meagre list of some half-dozen now seen, consisting principally of the Norway, Hemlock, Balsam Fir, White and Austrian Pines, Scotch Fir, with an occasional Silver Fir, cannot fail to have a most happy influence in the advancement of public taste, and add materially to the resources of those, who, tired of the excitement of the city, seek occupation and enjoyment in rural pursuits. By their great numbers

and beauty, they will be found invaluable to the skilful planter in his attempts to give greater variety to his plantations, and in producing examples of the highest order of merit in the beautiful art of landscape-gardening.

Though it cannot be denied that evergreens possess many great advantages over deciduous trees for many purposes, it is occasionally urged against them, that their perpetual verdure produces a dull and gloomy effect; and, of course, it is possible that their introduction in too large proportions may render them open to this objection in the minds of a few persons, as in the case of the famous Elvaston Castle in England, where it is generally considered the evergreen feature has been overdone, its enthusiastic pro`prietor having confined his extensive plantations almost exclusively to evergreen-trees. It is not probable, however, that any one in this country. will go to the same extent in that direction, as may be inferred from the fact that I was told by a nurseryman that he furnished him on one occasion with three thousand pounds' worth of a single shrub, the Golden Yew. H. H. Hunnewell.

DRESSING ASPARAGUS-BEDS.—When the stems become yellow, they should be cut off close to the ground: the beds may then be covered with from three to six inches of half-decayed manure, and the soil from the alleys. neatly dug out, and thrown on the beds. The only good that can result from the stalks being spread over the beds before covering with manure will arise from the berries being left on the beds, and young plants coming up in the following year. Some pick off the berries, and scatter them. on the beds, covering with manure afterwards, and remove the stalks: others remove the stalks and weeds, and then cover with manure. The one plan is as good as the other.

"Journal of Horticulture."

A NOVEL DEPREDATOR OF THE GRAPE-VINE.

THE wonderful ingenuity with which the white ants of tropical countries construct for themselves habitations of great size and strength was first made known in detail by Smeathman, who in 1781, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, gave full and accurate accounts of several species. His statements and illustrations, with some minor additions, whether of observation or fancy, have found their way into all the encyclopædias and text-books since published. Accounts have also been given of other species of the genus Termes. In the fourth volume of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Dr. T. S. Savage, a missionary of West Africa, gave some interesting observations on the dissection of nests of Termites, both confirming and criticising Smeathman's account.

It is not generally known that white ants are found in this country. We have, however, one species, which has spread quite widely, and has become, at times, very destructive. There is, indeed, no fear that the devastations of these insects will equal those of their congeners of Africa and India; that our houses will be undermined, and our furniture crumble to dust at a touch for it is under ground, and in damp, moist localities, that they are generally found; although, in some instances, they have been discovered at work on perfectly dry material. A friend of mine noticed a colony, one spring, in an old stump: the stump had been standing for years, too dry to rot away, its roots scarcely buried in the gravelly soil of the hill-side.

According to Dr. Asa Fitch, in his third and fourth reports on the injurious insects of New York, these ants are found in myriads in that State, where they wholly consume the interior of posts and stakes, leaving the outer surface entire; and, at times, destroy a fence in the course of four years. Their favorite abode seems to be in posts from which the bark has not been removed. There, hidden from view, they consume the soft sapwood immediately under the bark, and afterwards extend their burrows into the more solid heart-wood. Decaying stumps, wood lying on the ground, and especially logs of the white pine, are everywhere occupied; and where pieces of the "second-growth," so much softer than those of the original or