We greatly need a better quality of fine walk material than we yet know to be available. Mr. Vanderbilt decides against such broken brick combinations as have been made, and prefers the color of the crushed Gneiss as laid on the Bowling Green, but this stuff is very soft and will be dusty and muddy. As you travel about (Mr. Boynton, especially), search should be constant for bank gravel of good binding quality. Deposits of it are found along the base of the Appalachians, in New York, and with sufficient search will probably be found in North Carolina. Let examples be gathered of everything promising and have additional trial samples laid, combining different materials, for Mr. Vanderbilt’s examination at his next visit. Consult the brickmaker and see if he cannot find clay that will burn a darker and cooler color than that of the brick he has been making. We look most hopefully to what Mr. Boynton may find in natural bank gravel that can be brought by rail. Railroad men may be consulted, and the best chance of finding a satisfactory deposit may be in watching the banks of railroad and common road cuttings, but I must confess that I have watched these for a hundred miles, east, west and south of Biltmore and have seen nothing promising. Perhaps some artificial means of obtaining a darker color in the crushed, burnt clay can be used. This question of gravel is of much importance and will justify experiments at the brick kilns [793]and elsewhere. At present, the walks seem likely to be the most unsatisfactory of all our works on the Estate, and our best lookout is yet for something to be obtained from the Brick Works in combination, perhaps, with something to be obtained by crushing rock. Experiments in this direction should be continued, while search is made also for bank gravel.

In traveling by rail from Biltmore, and through other parts of the Carolinas and Tennessee, I have seen many sports, and, possibly varieties of Red Cedar which I wish that we had. I caught sight of one in Southern Tennessee the other day which appeared, possibly, to be nearly the most interesting small conifer that I had ever seen. Mr. Boynton should be sharply on the watch for young and movable sports of Red Cedar; some spreading and pendant; some taking an extreme fastigiate form; some of a tinge of green differing greatly from that of most, etc.

Looking critically at most of our plantations on Ram Branch, and on the roadside of the Upper Approach, Glen Road and Service Road, I see that in our close roadside border plantings yet to be made there may well be less continuity of high growing trees and a more common effect of rounded masses of foliage, of which those within fifty feet of the road will often be exclusively of low trees and high bushes. As a rule, on the Shiloh Road and on other road borders yet to be planted, it should oftener occur, that for a distance of two to four hundred feet, between the road and the high forest of old trees, much more of second and third class spreading trees should be seen, so that the face of the woods will be graduated with a broken slope; that is to say, it should oftener occur that the foliage near the road is of low shrubs; further back of high shrubs; then low trees, then high trees. This arrangement being irregular, of course, and with some caprice.

We should have in view a good general exposition of the landscape resources of the country apart from the systematic Arboretums. So far, in our planting, we have not been doing justice to the landscape value of various small trees in association with large shrubs. There are many of these which are either indigenous or are well adapted to be naturalized, which would help to form good facings to the older forest. Do not let the nursery run short of them. Let them not be overlooked in collecting. At the worst get seeds of them.

With reference to popular Arboretical education, it is to be considered that in our country there are, and there are to be, a hundred places where the smaller trees and large shrubs may best be planted to one where the trees best known as “Shade Trees” are desirable. In the greater part of the length of the roads which will be used in going to and from the Arboretum, inclined planes of foliage, of which the foremost parts are of such small trees and shrubs, will be more beautiful, as well as more popularly instructive than lofty trees with sparse foliage near the ground.

I cannot, as I write, think of the names of all the low trees and high shrubs which I should like to use more freely on the immediate borders of our roads than we have been using them, but, as an illustrative criticism on [794]what we have so far been doing, I should say that it would have been better at various places, close on the border of Glen Road to have set fewer Tulips and other lofty trees and more of Chiananthus, Maclura, Persimmon, Sassafras, Sour Wood, Thorns, Chinquipins, the larger Sumach, the smaller Magnolias, Acerstriatum and Pennsylvanicum, Papaw, Cladastria, Hazel, Kohlrenteria, Christs Thorn, Black Jack, Bohemian Olive, Holly, etc. With a sufficiently large stock of these trees in nursery, I shall be disposed, after two or three years, to take up for use elsewhere a number of individuals of the larger sorts of trees that we have planted, and replace them with these smaller ones, and then to piece out near the roadside plantation with various middle class shrubs, blueberries and brambles; (using, besides the wild native sorts of brambles, Lawsons and the English Nursery varieties, such as leucodermis and crataegifolia). Not nearly enough common brambles and Common native bushes have as yet been moved scatteringly into the Upper Approach shrubberies. As to this, as I have before written, laborers ought to be trained by Mr. Bottomley to be employed in transplanting more plants from the Wild, breaking joints and interlocking the several groups. This ought to be done on a large scale next Fall. I have several times written of it, but if anything has been done, there should yet be ten times as much done. We will never again try to do so much at wholesale, expecting to mend by patchwork afterwards, as we have. Do not fail to have some men ready to go at this work early next Fall who can proceed without much direction and oversight. It will cost too much otherwise, and we shall never get enough done. With simple general directions there need be little danger that any fairly instructable man will go wrong at such work. The Upper Approach is now almost offensively unnatural in many places for want of a little patching, mending and mingling of the edges of groups. A few days work for the purpose, close upon the border of the road, would improve the effect materially, and as there is no nice work required there can be little danger that a common laborer would go wrong. Suppose you try some of the young Negroes who have been at school.

The main ledge planting on the Upper Approach looks promising but wants more ivy, chiefly to give a darker background to some of the light plants now established there. Euonymus radicans could be introduced with advantage. There is a lack of suitable variety of small planting on and below the ledge nearer Week’s house. See that all this patching work is well provided for early next Fall, and that it shall not then require much headwork and supervision. I do not like to give up Taxus Canadensis in such situations as I have last been writing of, and wish that you would try it again near the Upper Rocks on the Approach, taking care to secure depth of wood mold and good roots, and, above all, shade. Use artificial shade, mats or boards, if necessary, for a year or two. Try also the Japanese Yew and over the rocks, more prostrate Junipers. There should be abundant, luxuriant lush and crowding low vegetation in these places in a few years.

I am writing mainly as to what should be had in view to be done [795]during the next planting season. Take care that it is well kept in mind then, and that nothing to be got ready beforehand, is lacking.

On the Lower Approach no cane yet appears from the road in the intended Cane Brake near the second bridge. Has it not been planted? If not, it should be, profusely, next winter, with facings in the foreground, near the road, of Bamboo; as soon as Bamboo can be propagated in sufficient quantities to be so used. Provide early for getting enough cane roots; to be brought from a distance, if necessary, and have men ready to do this work next Winter, who will not require much personal supervision to do it well. The outer back parts of the canebrake should be planted with Magnolia glauca, and Mr. Boynton should look up the necessary quantity of small plants for this purpose, getting them, if necessary, from the Eastern part of the State, where I have seen them by thousands.

All this should be done without fail next Fall and Winter. Be more anxious now to complete details of work mainly executed than to commence upon new work. It is full time to look closely to detailed effects upon the Lower Approach, and to be making little improvements of refinement. Mr. Beadle should, accordingly, go carefully through the Lower Approach and make notes and leave directions on stakes for the purpose, in course of the Summer.

Next Winter many more of the ungainly trees in sight from the road in Ram Branch must be taken out, and about the base of the remaining old trees, large deep patches of rich soil must be placed this Summer, and vines and creepers planted next Winter. Most of what has been done in this way (and it was never nearly as much as we meant should be) appears to me to have been a failure, but the little success shows the possibilities, and the interest and character of the scenery, verging towards that of a sub-Tropical forest, to be gained by the addition of this element, is essential to the ideal meant to be kept in view. Besides grapes and creepers,—Ampelopsis of all sorts, Ivy, Wisteria (both Chinese and American in dry, warm places); Trumpet Creepers and Yellow Jessamine, there should be dense thickets of Cat Brier screening the poorer trees; this, mainly, a few rods off the road. All the poor Rhododendrons and Kalmias should be veiled by the more delicate creepers, chiefly Clematis of all sorts. I doubt the perfect recovery of a good many of the larger Rhododendrons and Kalmias, but as trellises for Clematis, Yellow Jessamine and climbing Hydrangea, and some other creepers they may be made useful. See that your nursery is well stocked with this class of plants, and let Mr. Boynton collect them by thousands.

The young Pine plantations on the Lower Approach will nearly all want judicious thinning next Winter.

May not some of the poorer trees and bushes on the Lower Approach now be taken out to make room for your new crop of grafted Rhododendrons for Bamboos, for Cornus sanguinea and, above all, for a few thousand Abelia rupestris?

I am much pleased with the thrifty appearance of our Northern [796]collected Myrica and should like to see more of it in the front ranks. It is cheap and we had better contract for it largely to be used on the Upper Approach, and upon the borders of the Shiloh and Glen Roads. It seems to be perfectly at home and promises to be highly useful. It is a clean, wholesome, fragrant bush and appears to best advantage in dense patches. It associates agreeably with Red Cedar and other Junipers; also with Woad Wax.

It is obvious that you cannot get glass enough to propagate a quarter part of all the low growths that we would be glad to have for planting in the next two or three years. Carefully think over what can be done by growing cuttings without glass, by collecting from the Wild and by growing from seeds, to lessen the deficiency.

Are not these Myrica patches suggestive of possible large collections from the Wild, and of saving in some materials the slow process of propagation under glass? Myrica in large quantities might be used in the Arboretum, and Mr. Boynton may be able to collect other suitable plants in large quantities. We shall much need all sorts of low shrubbery that can be made available, and we must get it at low cost. Even imported seedlings will cost too much to be used as freely as will, within three years, be desirable.

Let every man to whom this comes read it over two or three times during the Summer and keep his best wits at work to bring about what is wanted. It is a great work of Peace we are engaged in and one of these days we shall all be proud of our parts in it.