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THE

GARDENER'S MONTHLY

AND

HORTICULTURIST.

DEVOTED TO

HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS.

EDITED BY

THOMAS MEEHAN,

STATE BOTANIST OF PENNSYLVANIA,

FORMERLY HEAD GARDENER TO CALEB COPE, ESQ.. AT. SPRINGBROOK, AND AT THE BARTRAM BOTANIC

GARDENS, NEAR PHILADELPHIA. GRADUATE OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW (LONDON),

ENGLAND. MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. AUTHOR

OF "AMERICAN HAND BOOK OF ORNAMENTAL TREES,"

"FLOWERS AND FERNS OF THE U. S.," ETC.

VOLUME XXIV, 1882.

PHILADELPHIA :

CHARLES H. MAROT, Publisher,

No. 814 Chestnut Street, ,

ILLTJSTI^/^TIOlsrS.

Portrait of Patrick Barrv

Adiantum aneitense,

Anthurium scherzerianum maximtini,

Begonia Schmidtii, .
Bignonia magnifica,

Calendula officinalis meteor,
Celosia. President Thiers,
Chysis Chelsonii,
Croton rpcurvifolius,
Croton Sinilzianus, .
Cymbidium eburneum,

Frontispiece

365
23

47
332

40
362
185
138
237

13

Davallia Fijiensis, 2 cuts,

265

Ficua exculpta, .

Fig Culture, Winter Coverinsj;,

Globba coccinea,

Heliconia aureo-striata,
Heraanthus Kalbryeri, .

Ixora splendida,

James Vick, Portrait of, ' .

Jasminum gracilimum,

Map of Cook's Ranch, California,
Mushroom Culture,

Nepenthes Madagascariensis, .
Nepenthes IMorganiae,
Nepenthes Rnjah,
Nertera depressa,

Pavonia Makoyana,
Phihtdendron carderi,
Pritchardia grandis,

Rheum officinale,
Rheum ribes,
Rosa villosa, .

Selaginella Victoriae. 2 cuts
Side Cleft Grafting, 3 cuts, .
Steam Heating, 2 cuts, .

Tree Label, A New,

Wind Clapper for Bird Scaring,

Wire Glove for Protection against Rough Bark,

W

284

299
204

75

221
46

101
243

344
372

318
152

171
121

90

69

69

133

216
143

232

51

174
334

CLUB.

iSVV YO

GARDENER'S MONTHLY

AND

HORTICULTURIST.

DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS.

Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N.

Vol. XXI Y.

JANUARY, 1882.

Number 277.

Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

In starting on our New Year's journey, it may
be well to remind the reader that gardening is to
be followed chiefly for the pleasure we derive
from it. Pretty flowers and handsome trees,
beautiful lawns and artistically^ designed grounds,
are the essential elements of gardening. As in
other rational enjoyments, the more intelligence
and mental culture we throw into the work, the
greater enjoyment does gardening aflford. At the
present time there is something of a revival in
true gardening taste. Works on art in gardening,
publishers tell us, are in more than usual request,
and fijie books like "Scott's Suburban Home
Grounds." have a more than usual sale. Maga--
zines which in years gone by, would busy them-
selves only with how shall we eat, and what shall
we wear, now find some of their most popular
articles are those which relate to garden culture
and garden art. We cannot forbear repeating ^
what we have taken several occasions to say of'
late, that there is a great want of intelligent
landscape gardeners of business tact and talent
to meet with this increasing demand. Many, to
be sure, have had little encouragement of late
years. When a chance has offered for good work,
it is disheartening to find some one engaged in
it, utterly ignorant of what good gardening

requires. But the good landscape gardener must
remember that this is the fate of all professions ;
lawyers, doctors, clergymen, and other profes-
sions, have a dozen incompetents for every one
fit for his business. The intelligent man must
wait for his chance to show what he is. There
are few large cities now in the Union but would
welcome an intelligent landscape gardener
among them. In some places where there are
already a few, there is room for many more. It
will also be well for those who are about. to make
or improve their gardens, to remember that true
garden taste ought to save and not sp.end money.
It is often sad to pass by places being "laid out"
by some bungler, where hundreds of dollars are
being wasted, under the name of "practical
gardening." It will be money saved to try to find
out the man who understands what fine land-
scape gardening is.

We have often stated that one of the grievous
errors of American gardening is that gardens are
too large. American fortunes are not so steady.
We have a succession o'f years of prosperit3', and
among other luxuries form a good garden ; but
it is hardly put in fair order before we find that
its necessary expenses are too large for our income
and the establishment runs down. We see these
places everywhere. Here are gardens which
ought to have half a dozen men to keep them
properly, cut down perhaps to one laborer, be-

78872

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

sides the gardener; and the gardeners engaged
are of the cheapest kind, and for all grudgingly
paid. It should never be forgotten that it costs
something to keep up a garden as well as to
maintain horses and carriages. We build sta-
bles, and buy fine animals, but we well know
that this is but the beginning of an annual cost. A
garden must be viewed in the same light. Many
lose interest in their gardens through getting
poor gardeners. There is nothing new, no taste,
no enjoyment. Far better to get some one of
superior education and pay him well, though
we have but half the extent of ground, or a much
less number of greenhouses. We should advise
all our friends to cut down their large gardens,
employ with the difference only first-rate men at
a fair price, and it will be wonderful how much
the interest in the garden will grow.

Some judgment is required in pruning flower-
ing shrubs, roses, etc., although it is usual to act
as if it were one of the most common-place opera-
tions. One of the most clumsy of the hands is
commonly set with a pair of sheers, and he goes
through the whole place, clipping off everything
indiscriminately. Distinction should be made
between those flowering shrubs that make a vigo-
rous growth and th ose which grow weakly ;
and between those which flower on the old wood
of last year, and those which flower on the new
growth of next season, as the effect of pruning is
to force a strong and vigorous growth. Those
specimens that already grow too strong to flower
well, should be only lightly pruned; and, in the
same individual, the weakest shoots should be
cut in more severely than the stronger ones.
Some things like the Mock Orange, Lilacs and
others, flo'wer on the wood of last year— to prune
those much now, therefore, destroys the flower-
ing; while such as Altheas, which flower on the
young wood, cannot be too severely cut in, look-
ing to that operation alone.

Among the prettiest effects in gardening is the
combinations of various plants. A mass of Hol-
lyhocks for instance, in front of an evergreen is
singularly pretty. In the fall of the year the
colored leaves of the .Andromeda arborea, give
great beauty to a mass of Rhododendrons, as
also do Chrysanthemums and Japan Anemones
in the fall of the year. There are positions in gar-
dens where hardy Cactuses, and such artificial
things as Yuccas, look particularly beautiful.
It is the test of true garden culture, that one
is able to bring ovit fine effects from these simple
and well known things.

COMMUNICA TIONS,

RARER ORNAMENTAL TREES AND
ORNAMENTAL GARDENING.

BY SAMUEL PARSONS, JR.

(Prize Essay for Massachusetts Horticultural Society.)

(Concluded from page 359.)

Among the lindens, our attention is attracted
by a curious variegated linden, which shows
leaves spotted and streaked with yellowish-
white, often to the total exclusion of green.
And we must not forget to notice, down near
the stream, a fine specimen of the purple-leaved
birch. It is one of the best among new acqui-
sitions of lawn planting material. The general
habit is that of a somewhat dwarf-growing birch,
but the color is brownish red, copper color, or
more truly a deep rich purple. Good purple-
leaved varieties of any tree are not common.
Indeed, we may not hope soon to gain anything
of equal value with the purple beech, but the
birch is in itself so fine that it is a great thing
to discover a purple-leaved variety of that tree.
I feel that I have only touched on the manj'
new and valuable deciduous trees on the lawn,
but have accorded them more space than the
evergreens, because I believe deciduous trees
are, in the main, best suited to our lawns in
America. Intense though short-lived heat and
sudden changes do not favor the growth of ever-
greens in the same degree as the more equable
climate of Europe. We find, however, on this
lawn, a very choice collection of new evergreens.
Among the spruces we noted several, and chief
among those the large-leaved hemlock (Abies
Canadensis macrophylla), the weeping hemlock
(Abies Canadensis pendula Sargentii), and the
blue spruce of the Rocky Mountains (Abies pun-
gens). The hemlocks of this trio are peculiarly
suited to small places, but the last named spruce
is of larger size. Breadth and depth of masses
and color, statuesque form and curious yew-like
habit characterize the broad-leaved hemlock.
It has little of the ordinary appearance of the
hemlock about it, and is more hardy under the
peculiar conditions that sometimes affect the
common hemlock. It was a seedling discovered
in Flushing a few years since, yet it has already
achieved favorable recognition from the best
judges of lawn planting material. If the broad-
leaved hemlock is somewhat stern and mascu-
line in its outline, the weeping hemlock is es-
sentially feminine in its graceful curves and
fountain-like sprays of green. Many ordinary

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

3

hemlocks take on this weeping form in early
youth, but it soon passes away with increasing
years. With Sargent's weeping hemlock, how-
ever, this beautiful habit is absolutely perma-
nent on all specimens grown from grafts of that
tree. Mr. H. W. Sargent discovered this weep-
ing hemlock about twenty years ago, near his
place, at Fishkill on the Hudson, and moved by
his enthusiasm and appreciation of choice orna-
mental trees, entrusted it for propagation to the
distinguished expert J. E.. Trumpy. Turning
from this queenly tree, we note the rich grand-
eur of the third member of our trio of distin-
guished evergreens. Abies pungens is said to be
very grand in its natural home of the Rocky
Mountains, but its young and more carefully
cultured growth on the lawn is without question
more beautiful and charming. It is, moreover,
the bluest of evergreens, and extremely hardy
and vigorous growing withal,

I should, perhaps, note in passing a fine large
Abies excelsa elata, a very singular variety of
Norway spruce originating in Flushing. It grows
strongly and throws out long branches of gro-
tesque form. -One might fancy it, by a little
stretch of the imagination, a fit substitute for
Araucaria imbricata, which many wish to grow
on their lawns in America, but cannot.

The next group of evergreens we notice is
Japanese, and clustered variously in the same
section of the lawn. Abies polita, the tiger-tail
spruce, is one of the finest and most valuable of
the Japanese conifers. It is rich and very char-
acteristic in form. The yellow-barked branches
extend out stiff and straight, and the glossy
bright green stiff-pointed leaves are as sharp and
not unlike the spines of a hedgehog. The
curious appearance of the ends of the young
growth or half bursting leaf buds doubtless sug-
gested the name tiger-tail spruce. Abies polita
grows slowly, and therefore belongs to the class
of evergreens specially fitted for small places.
But this little cluster of evergreens close by is
even better fitted for such work. They are
Japanese junipers, and very hardy. Their ele-
gant forms and rich tints would indeed render
them distinguished anywhere. One is silvery,
at least on a portion of its leaves ; another is
almost solid gold, and another, Juniperus aurea
variegata, has its leaves simply tipped with gold
in the daintiest fashion imaginable.

Let us look at these two Japanese pines that
show so richly even at a little distance. One is

Pinus densiflora, with bright green leaves, long
and very effective. This tree grows very rapidly,
soon requiring the application of the pruning
knife. In coloring and general habit it is, per-
haps, the best of Japanese pines, except Pinus
Massoniana, which only surpasses it in a yellow-
ish tint that generally pervades the leaves. But
the Pinus Massoniana par excellence is the
golden-leaved form of that species. It is bright
gold, that seems to gain a touch of deeper gold
as you pause to look at it. This peculiar effect
is greatly enhanced by the fact that Pinus Mas-
soniana has two leaves only in a sheath, and
these leaves are so clustered on the end of the
branches as to spread in every direction. It
was this peculiai'ity that gave rise to the name
sun ray pine. But the noteworthy habit of this
pine is its late variegation. In June, while iri
full growth, it is rather greenish golden than
golden, but all through the summer its yellow
grows brighter, until in September, it makes a
very striking object amid the fading leaves of
fall. It makes, in fact, a worthy companion for
the golden oak, Quercus Concordia, which you
will remember has the same peculiarity. It
should be also noted that the brightness of the
sun ray pine remains uninjured during winter,
and never burns in summer, a quality that other
so-called golden pines have sadly needed. The
bright yellow of the sun ray pine is confined in
a peculiar manner to about two-thirds of the
leaf. Beginning at the base, first comes gold,
then an equal amount of green, and then again
as much gold at the tip. The dividing lines
between these colors are marked out with singu-
lar distinctness, thus giving the utmost delicacy
and finish to the variegation. Pinus Massoniana
variegata is on the lawn in question, but it is
nevertheless very rare and hardly to be obtained
anywhere.

We come now to theEetinosporas, Japan cy-
presses, choicest, I was about to say, of all ever-
greens ; certainly the choicest, as a class, of all
recently introduced evergreens. To Robert For-
tune, the great English collector of plants in
Japan, we owe probably the real introduction of
the leading species of Retinosporas, namely :
R. plumosa aurea, R. pisifera and R. obtusa, and
a greater benefit could hardly have been done
the lawn planter than the introduction of these
evergreens. They are hardy, of slow growth,
and of most varied beauty in individual speci-
mens, the latter being a quality greatly wanting
among some evergreens commonly used through-

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

out the country, arborvitaes for instance. And
apropos of arborvitses, let me say that the
retinosporas bear a much more close relation to
that species than they do to cypresses, notwith-
standing the latter has been adopted as the
English name. The retinosporas graft readily
on the thujas or arborvitJE, and bear a certain
resemblance to them, but the resemblance only
that can exist between a beautiful plant and one
much less attractive. Let us look at a group of
the new and rare retinosporas, although unfor-
tunately all retinosporas are comparativelj' rare
on our lawns. In asking you to look first at
fllicoides, I am selecting one of the very choicest
and most curious green species or varieties. If
it were not for a peculiarly thick, curled border
along the leaf of this retinospora, it might be
readily taken while young for an evergreen fern.
It is a spreading plant, of slow growth and great
hardiness. Indeed, I might say once for all, that
the retinosporas are of unexcelled hardiness,
both winter and summer, and that their variega-
tions are all permanent. Can a higher character
be given to any other evergreen ?

There are two distinct kinds of weeping reti-
nosporas, namely, a beautiful fern-like pendu-
lous form of R. obtusa, originating in Flushing,
and an extravagant attenuated form imported
recently from Japan through Mr. Thos. Hogg.
The long thread-like leaves of this variety fall
directly down and curve about the stem in
swaying meagre masses, which suggest that in
this plant the extreme of the weeping form
among evergreens has been reached. Almost as
curious as this is another introduction of Mr.
Thos. Hogg — R. filifera aurea. We have known
R. filifera for some time as a rare tree, with
tesselated, shaggy masses of green thread-like
foliage, but Mr. Hogg's new variety offers the
same strange mass of foliage, only in this case
it is turned into gold — broad, solid, permanent
gold. While I am pointing out the golden reti-
nosporas, which are veritable sunbeams amid
other evergreens, let me call your attention to
R. obtusa aurea, one of the best and most dis-
tinct of all variegated forms. It is free-growing,
with a beautiful combination of gold color inter
mixed with glossj'-, rich green all over the plant.
Although not exactly a new plant, I am con-
strained to call your passing attention to R.
obtusa nana, one of the very best of dwarf ever-
greens, a dense, flat tuft of glossy deep green
spray, a cushion or ball of evergreen foliage that
will hardly gi-ow two feet in ten years. The

golden form of R. obtusa nana is charming. It&
yellow is a rich bronze, and I do not know any-
thing of the kind more attractive. R. pisifera
nana variegata is also very beautiful, a dense
miniature bush of a general bluish-gray aspect,
except a portion of the lesser branchlets and
leaves, which are pale yellow. But do not think
I have begun to exhaust the curious forms of
these retinosporas. I have only given the most
noteworthy to be'found on a superior lawn. Any
large group of R. obtusa will give you a dozen
beautiful diverse forms of weeping, pyramidal
and dwarf or spreading evergreens. All, or
practically all, kinds of retinosporas now used,
came from Japan, where they are common but
highly valued in the beautiful gardens of that
country. Mr. Hogg has not only introduced
several of these new retinosporas, but has given
us possibly more new Japanese plants than any
collector since the time of Robt. Fortune's fa-
mous horticultural explorations. I must not
leave these retinosporas without calling attention
again to their excellent adaptation to small
places. If we restrict the planting on a small
lawn to Japanese maples, retinosporas and two
or three shrubs like Spirea crispifolia, we may
almost defy, with a little skill, the power of time
to compass, by means of trees, the destruction
of our grass plots. I must add, however, one
other conifer to this seemingly short but really
varied list of new, hardy plants suited to minia-
ture lawn planting.

I refer to Sciadopitys verticillata, the parasol
pine, one of the most extraordinary evergreens
known. The plant we see on this lawn is
scarcely two feet high, and yet it is more than
ten years old. Travelers in Japan tell us of
specimens in Japanese gardens fifty and one
hundred feet high, but certainly in youth the
plant is wonderfully dwarf. Its strange habit
is produced by the curious long, broad, dark-
green needles, or narrow strap-sha2:)ed leaves
that cluster in parasol-like tufts at the end of
each succeeding year's growth. The color is as
dark as that of the yew, and the growth as com-
pact. It is, moreover, very hardy, and thus
presents a combination of choice qualities of
the most strange, attractive and valuable char-
acter. The plant is so entirely original in its
forms, that it seems some lone type, the correla-
tions of which are lost or yet to be found. As
we look upon it we commence to realize how
thoroughly most plants of the same genus, all
over the globe, are related to each other, just

1882.]

A.Sn HORTICULTURISr.

because we can think of nothing else that re-
sembles the parasol pine.

A Japanese yew near by, of rich and spread-
ing habit, exemplifies this resemblance between
various members of a sonus situated in various
pai-ts of the earth. This Japanese yew, Taxus
cuspidata is, however, very noteworthy for great
hardiness, a character that can be scarcely ac
corded to any other yew in this climate. Thui-
opsis Standishii is another Japanese plant on
this lawn of comparatively recent introduction.
I want to call your attention to it, situated near
the retinosporas, not only because it is a beau-
tiful evergreen, somewhat like the Arborvitae in
general appearance, but because it does belter
here, apparently, than in England. This is a
peculiarit}'- remarkable in an evergreen, for the
moist climate of England seems to make for
them a very home.

I should like to speak of other plants on this
lawn, but they are either too difficult of attain-
ment, like theCercidiphyllum, a promising tree,
or like the dwarf pines and spruces, hardly new
enough to come within the scope of this essay.

Before leaving the spot entirely, however, let
us stand a moment and take a last look at the
unity of effect accomplished on this lawn
Streams, borders of foliage, statuesque small
trees and larger specimens, all flow, as it were,
together in natural lines. Indeed, harmony of
color, and lines combined with conti-asts distinct
enough to give variety, characterize the entire
scene. The position of each plant is so related
to the other, for purposes of beauty and perfect
development, that one delights in the fair pro-
portion and entire unity of the design. It is a
picture and yet something more than a picture ;
a combination of foliage and grass constructed,
riot in servile imitation of nature, but on the
principles employed by nature in her most
pleasing work. The copse or glade is suggested,
and yet the treatment of each plant of our lawn
is v«ry different from that of the wild wood, and_
indeed more honorable to that plant's highly
cultured nature. Perfect maintenance, exquisite
keeping are evident everywhere, from the skill-
fully-pruned shrub to the velvet turf that catches
athwart its beautiful surfiice the level rays of the
setting sun. Unfortunately such lawns are ex-
tremely rare in America. We are learning to
appreciate them, and in time will have them,
though the progress in that direction is slow;
and I feel certain that nothing is more likely to
aid in the development of a true knowledge of

the resources of lawn planting than the consid-
eration of new hardy ornamental trees and
shrubs, and their tasteful and effective arrange-
ment.

MR. HUNNEWELL'S GARDEN AT WEL-
LESLEY, MASS.

BY WILLIAM FALCONER.

NO. I.

The garden of Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, at Wel-
lesley, needs no introduction to American hor-
ticulturists ; it ranks pre-eminent among private
gardens. Wellesley is a town on the Boston and
Albany Railroad, and some forty-five minutes
ride from Boston. Mr. Hunnewell's garden u
fifteen to twenty minutes walk from the depot.
Some visitors like to walk there, others to ride
from the station— the latter may find good and
reasonable accommodation at a stable near the
depot.

The garden comprises some forty acres, and is
beautifully situated with the Waban lake on its
north side, Wellesley College and its park-like
grounds, and a wooded hilly country beyond the
lake, and an uneven timbered country broken
up with handsome and well- tilled farm lands all
around. Before the south front of the mansion
is a manj'-acred open lawn that in unbroken
sweep reaches to the turnpike limit. Deciduous
trees and evergreens are set as isolated speci-
mens, groups, groves and avenues, towards the
side out- edges of the lawn until they reach and
form a part of the pinetum or rather arboretum.
The terrace garden lies between the mansion
and the Waban lake, as also the rockery and
wild garden. There are some flower-beds near
the mansion, but the main flower garden is a
short distance off, somewhat of an oblong
square in form ; on two sides bounded by hedges,
and on the others by a curving belt of trees and
shrubs and a mixed border. The beds are cut
out on grass, and the patterns in the beds por-
trayed by the plants used to fill them. There is
a Rhododendron garden, an Azalea garden, a
kitchen garden, and a village of greenhouses in
which are grown handsome plants and lovely
flowers and tender fruits. Mr. Harris, who is
the gardener, is a man of fine professional talent,
cordial disposition and gentlemanly bearing.

I cannot well refer in detail to so large a gar-
den, but will confine myself to a few of its
prominent features.

Greenhouse ptor?/s— include leading decern--
tive sorts, and some of the choicest and rarest of

THE GARDENER'S MONTHL Y

[January,

exutics. J^ratn'MMs mi; a specially, and besides
the elite of such kinds as may he seen elsewhere
there is a house well-nip;h filled with Wellesley
seedling plants, at once remarkable for their ex-
ceptional beauty, substance and vigorous consti-
tution. A bold, sturd}"- nature seems to pervade
the whole race, and their coloring is deep and
well defined. Some are named Mrs. Hunnewell,
Waban, Bella and Harrisi, and others deserve
countenance. When Phyllota?nium Lindeni and
Alocasia crystallina were sent from Wellesley to
the Boston exhibition they were declared the
finest examples of cultural skill that had been
seen anywhere, and now Mr. Harris points out
to me Alocasia Thibautiana, a young plant with
leaves 16 to 20 inches long, deep crimson on the
back, and broadly marked with silver on the
front, and tells me this is the coming king.
Aralia spinulosa is another novelty. Berto-
lonias glitter inside cases; Hibiscus schizopeta-
lus is in bloom, so are Dipladenias fastened to
tlie rafters, and many other seasonable plants.
But for a winter show of blossoms what can be
brighter or better than Zonal pelargoniums?
Wonderful, New Life and C H. Wagner are
among the many in a greenhouse here; the
others have too hard names in French for my
remembrance.

Orchids.— My. Hunnewell has gathered to-
gether a large namber of these, especially the
freer blooming and more serviceable sorts.
There are large pans of Cypripedium Doyanum,
a handsome leaved as well as a pretty flowering
plant, but more decided in the variegation of
its foliage, is a companion specimen of C. Law-
renceanum. Several other species are in bloom,
and on one plant of insigne I counted forty-three
flowers. A very fine lot of Phalaenopsis grandi-
flora, amabilis and Schilleriana were growing in
a dark corner, and far away from the glass. The
pots containing them were set upon empty pots
that were standing in saucers filled with water;
these act as evaporating pans, and at the same
time prevent the approach of wood-lice, cock-
roaches, slugs and other insects that might in-
jure the flower-spikes or roots. Mr. Harris ex-
pressed himself as averse to growing the mass of
orchids up close to the glass, and quoted his
Phalaenopsis as an example of shadier treat-
ment. We also remembered the splendid Mas
devalleas at Albany, and which were the biggest
and thriftiest specimens I ever saw, and they
were grown right by the floor of a high green-
house with apparently as little concern as if

they were palms or club-mosses. But notwith-
standing these exceptional examples, I am in
favor of nearer the glass.

The Dendrobiunis were gathered together in a
cool house to ripen their shoots. D. Goldii with
terminal spikes of purple flowers, and Formosum
giganteum, white and yellow, were beautifully in
bloom. And in a little basket overhead I beheld
D. Brymerianum with two shoots about eight
inches and thirteen inches long — ten guineas
worth ; and near by the almost equally choice
Laelia anceps alba with four flowers. It would
take too much space to wander through the host
of Cattleyas, Calanthes, Odontoglossums, On-
cidiums, and other genera, but their uncommon
thrift and vigor are well worth critical examina-
tion.

IPOM/EA CRANDIFLORA.

BY P. D. BARNHART, BANKSVILLE, PA.

On page 269, September number of Garden-
er's Monthly, you ask for some information
about Ipomsea grandiflora. In reply, will say
that I have cultivated it for the past five years
and find it to be a very desirable plant for cover-
ing trellises, summer houses or verandas, it
being a rapid grower, with large heart-shaped
leaves, and the flowers, which are very large^
seven inches in diameter — of the purest white
and delightfully fragrant, expanding only at
night. They begin to open — a curious sight to
see — about 6 o'clock p. m., and close the next
morning, to be succeeded by a new flower the
following evening. It seldom seeds, but is a
tender perennial of the easiest propagation.
There is one peculiarity about its flowering stem
that I have never seen in any other plant. The
stems start from the axil of a leaf and continue
to grow and produce blossoms the entire season.
I have had them grow ten inches long, with uo
signs of stopping, when the cold weather cut it
short I may say that on that stem were pro-
duced twelve flowers. It thrives well in hot, dry
situations.

On page 280, the question is asked whether
any one Paiows where Teasel is cultivated in
the United States. In our section of the State
it is so much of a pest that it is with diffi-
culty we get it exterminated. It crowds out
grass, and the stems while in bloom are as hard
as young hickory trees, and if cut before bloom-
ing they throw out a multitude of smaller heads
later in the season, which necessitates two cut-
tings in a season.

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

I have made a rough diagram of a hot-
bed which I find much better than the old style.
First, for durability; second, the difference in
cost of making ; third, to regulate the heat at
will. The arqh and furnace walls only made of
common brick, and the flue made of small
stones which generally abound in this section of
country.

BERMUDA CRASS.

BY ELBERT S. CARMAN. EDITOR RURAL NEW YORKER.

Referring to your note (page 311 Garden-
ers Monthly) let me say : Early in the sum-
mer I received a sod of Bermuda grass about
a foot in length by three inches in width
from Tennessee. It remained in the office
until thoroughly dry and apparentlj'^ dead.
It was then taken to the Rural Farm and
planted in a very dr^"- muck-and-sand soil. In a
few days it showed signs of life, and in a few
weeks was a mass of green, of a bright blueish-
green color. It soon began to send out its short-
jointed, wiry shoots in all directions, which grew
on an average an inch and a half in twent\'--four
hours, rooting at each joint as they proceeded
a,long the surface of the ground, easily making
their way under stones, pieces of wood, etc.,
which had been placed to ascertain in how far
these would obstruct or in what way change the
growth. From so small a sod a little plot seven
feet .in diameter had formed by the latter part of
August. It has bloomed freely during the entire
summer, and is blooming now (November 12).
While all other grasses were browned or killed
by the severe drought which prevailed from mid-
summer until mid-October, this retained its
fresh, pale green color throughout. Its flowers
are borne in spikelets of from three to five, two
inches long, similar to those of common crab
grass (Panicum sanguinale). Though nearly
positive, it would neither seed nor prove hardy
so far North, my object in the experiment was
to settle those questions beyond doubt. You
are aware how the rootstocks of couch grass
(Triticum repens) grow. They run underground,
rooting at every joint, from each of which an-
other plant grows. The rootstocks (as we may
call them) of Bermuda grass creep on the sur-
face of the ground by preference, rooting like
couch grass at every one of its joints. Though
the leaves are narrow and short, this grass forms
a network of roots, rootstocks, stems and leaves
that soon become an entangled mat, and take
complete possession of the soil.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Golden Plume Arbor ViT.ii:.— We are glad to
find our excellent contemporary, the American
Agriculturist, in the field with us against the
European absurdity of long Latin names for
mere garden varieties. It christens Retinospora
plumosa aurea, "golden plume arbor vitae." In
this crusade against the absurd, it will, however,
be necessary to guard against confusion. The
names should be given at the first introduction,
and then stick to them, just as Americans have
done with the "George Peabody" and "Tom
Thumb" arbor vitae, in spite of European re-
pudiation, and attempt to stick on the fearfully
useless Latin abominations.

For some years past this Retinospora has been
known as "Golden Japan Cedar," and it may be
as well to decide at once which one of the two
to retain, the old one or the new one suggested
by the Agriculturist. In regard to botanical
names, the decision is on the question whether
it is best to have to learn for one plant one
"hard" Latin name, or several score of "easy"
English or vernacular ones.

An Avenue of Cryptomeria Japonica. — Mr.
Maries writes to the Garden, that starting from
Nikko, which is two days journey from Yeddo,
in Japan, there is an avenue of Cryptomeria
Japonica, along the roadside, extending for fifty
miles. One of these trees, blown down, meas-
ured one hundred and seventy-three feet long.
The common Brake fern of our country and
Europe, Pteris aquilina, was also abundant in
the Japanese forests here.

History of the Manetti Rose.— This variety,
once very popular in America as a stock to bud
garden roses on, is said, in a recent treatise on
roses, to have been obtained "from Como by
Mr. Rivers over thirty years ago." We do not
know exactly what may be meant by "over" in
this connection. Certainly a good many years
over thirty years ago it was in common use
about Philadelphia for stocks, and it is very
nearly about that time since the force of public
opinion caused florists to utterly discard it.

It has long been a matter of conjecture with
us what this rose sprung from. A recent mono-
graph of roses, by a distinguished Russian
botanist, classes it with Rosa sempervirens, a
native of Southern Europe. It may be, but the
botanical characters agree exactly with our own
native Rosa lucida in every thing except the

8

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[January,

superior vigor of the Manetti, and it is very rare
that a double variety grows stronger than the
single original from which it sprung.

Railway Gardening.— The Boston and Maine
Company now allows its station agents $10 a
year each with which to buy seeds, plants, etc.,
and ofiers prizes of $50, $30 and $20 to the agent
whose stations are best kept and present the
neatest and most attractive appearance. — Scien-
tific American.

Fine Chrysanthemums. — At the November
meeting of the Germantown Horticultural So-
ciety, some remarkably fine varieties of Chry-
santhemums were exhibited by Mr. Walter Coles,
gardener to J. I. Blair, Esq , of Belvidere, New
Jersey. They showed that the improvement of
this pretty fall flower has not yet been finished.
These had the petals all of one uniform breadth,
and all curved inwards regularly. The flowers
attracted much attention Mr. Coles is one of
that class of gardeners whose intelligence and
genuine love of his profession makes gardening
so attractive to so many.

The Cactus Dahlia.— Blooms of this new
species. Dahlia Jaurezi, were exhibited by Peter
Henderson at tlie November meeting of the New
York Horticultural Society.

Florida Jute.— The mixing up of common
names among numerous plants, is a fearful pest
to the intelligent reader. The newspapers tell
us that " a plant which grows wild in Florida —
Florida Jute," produces an article " in tensile
strength superior to Indian Jute," and that a

company has been formed in Philadelphia.
Strangely, however, we are told in the same
paragraph "seed has been ordered from India,"
although the "indigenous Florida jute" is so
superior. At any rate what is Florida jute?

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

TN.IURED Bark. — "L.W.," Philadelphia, writes:
"Some vandal permitted his horse to bark two
of my maple trees, both within three feet of
hitching posts. The weather and growth of
trees burst the strings with which I had secured
a plaster of earth and cow dung, and I find the
edges of the bark healed, but a good deal of bare
wood exposed. Is there anything I can put on
to prevent a rotting of this wood. The trees are
about twelve years old and very healthy.''

[It is best in these cases to paint the wood, to
keep it from decaying, until the new wood and
bark at each side grow over the exposed part. —
Ed. G. M.]

A Blue Bedding Plant. — " W. D.," Sandusky^
Ohio, says: "Can you- give me the name of a
bedding plant that can be used in ribbon gar-
dening, as blue, in making a banner or flag
(Union), with acharanthus and centaurea for
red and white, or any other plant, no matter
what size. Please let me know, if this is not
asking too much from you, for which I shall be
thankful, and oblige."

[Do any of our readers know anything better
than blue Lobelia?— Ed. G. M.]

Greenhouse and House Gardening.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

Flowers grown in pots often need re-potting
while they are growing. This is an operation
requiring much thought and care. As a rule
there is more danger of a plant being in too
large than in too small a pot. It may not grow
well in a small pot ; the leaves may not be of as
dark a green as when it has plenty of earth to
grow in. The trouble with a large pot and a
small plant is that the water does not always run
away fast enough. When this is the rase small
mould grows, or, as gardeners say, the soil gets

sour, and the young and tender points of the
roots are rotted. The plant sickens and very
often dies. In old times, say forty years ago,
there were gardeners who prided themselves on
their success with what they termed the '' one-
shift system." A plant would be taken from a
thumb pot, and at once put into one six, eight
or ten inches in diameter, and they often did
succeed admirably. But it was very much like
the effort of the celebrated driver, who loved to-
see the wheels of his vehicle go straight along
within a quarter of an inch of the chasm, with-
out throwing you a thousand feet down below.

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

9

You would prefer the driver who kept further
away. These " one-shift" fellows had to use
unusual care. One-third of the pot would be
filled with broken pots or broken bricks, and the
soil would be turfy, cut up into squares, or used
in very coarse pieces. All these precautions
enabled the water to pass rapidly away. It ih
safest especially for those with no pretension to
skill not to re-pot unless the plant has a number
of active roots, and to put it in a new pot not
more than a half inch or an inch larger than
before. The hole at the bottom of the pot
should be carefully guarded so as to be sure it
will not get choked. It is this which allows of
the rapid escape of water, which is the great
essential of successful plant culture. The soil
for potting is usually one-third of sand, and this
is to enable the water to pass rapidly away. For
nourishment nothing is better, if it can be had,
than thoroughly decayed cow manure. Any
kind of manure, if thoroughly decayed, is good
fur pot plants. It is not easy to give special
rules for different plants, though in some re-
spects there are variations on which one might
fill the whole magazine with rules. For instance
we might say :

Tree Carnations. These now indispensable
winter flowering plants, want a very light
place to do well. They do not generally care
about very large pots — about five or six inches
— but they are very much benefited by rich ma-
nure water.

The Calla Lily is now extremely popular. This
also loves light. It must have a good supply of
water, and good soil to flower well.

Towards spring the Cineraria comes in re-
markably well for cutting. This is a "queer"
plant. It is one of the easiest to suffer from
frost, and yet will not do well in a high tem-
perature. It also requires much light, and to
be very near the glass. So also of the Pansy
and Violet, although some frost will not hurt
these.

If Pelargoniums are wanted to flower well next
May and June, they should be attended to, and
grow well through the winter. They want a
rather warm house to keep them growing, and
should be pinched back as they grow, to keep
them bushy.

A good supply of young Fuchsias should be
coming on now— re-pot as their roots fill each
pot, let them not want for moisture or light; do
not pinch off their tops, but let them grow rap-
idly. The temperature in which thej' are grown

should not exceed 55°. A turfy loam, moder-
ately enriched with well decayed manure, and
well drained with charcoal, suits them ad-
mirably.

This is only an illustration of what all plants
require, and any one who gets the exact idea as
to how to pot and care for plants, could adapt
the rules given to these few items, to almost any
other plant.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

THE CINCINNATI FLORAL COMPANY'S
ESTABLISHMENT.

BY WALTER GRAY, COLLEGE HILL. CINCINXATI, O.

Those who are conversant with horticulture
will do well to pay a visit to this extensive plant
establishment. In addition to the many thou-
sands of new plants this enterprising com-
pany is forming a large collection of orchids
and nepenthes, all of which are in remarkably
fine health. There are to be seen some fine ex-
amples of Dendrobium nobile, which, with
judicious treatment, can be flowered at almost
any season of the year. D. formosum, D. Jame-
sianum, D. "Wardianum, D. thyrsiflorum, D.
suavissimum, D. Findlayanum^ etc., all making
splendid growths, and many completed and put
into their winter quarters to resft The Cattleyas
are also remarkably well grown, showing their
many flower spathes for a good display of flow-
ers next season. AU the best varieties are grown,
including the beautiful C. Warnerii, C. gijas, C.
intermedia, C. Mossise grandiflora, C. Skinnerii,
C. citrina, C. marginata, etc., a long season of
rest is very advantageous to these plants, causing
them to flower freely and grow more vigorously
afterwards. Cypripediums are also well repre-
sented. There are fine examples of C. Sedenii, a
plant which, when established, is nearly always in
flower. A most beautiful hybrid raised between
C. Schlimii and C. longifolium ; good grown
plants of C. Stonei 0. niveum ; C. Harrisianum,
another hybrid rai=ted between C. barbatum and
C. villosum, exactly intermediate ; C. candatum,
C. Lawrenceanum, C. venustum, C. insigne, C.
barhatum, all these varieties are well adapted
for a warm greenhouse, as they are of easy cul-
tivation, requiring a liberal supply of water at
all seasons. The remarkably handsome Cymbi-
dium eburneum is just showing its flower spikes.
The pretty small-growing Pleione lagenaria is in
bloom. This is frequently called the Indian
Crocus. Odontoglossum citrosmum, O. Rossii

10

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

majus, 0. vexillarium, 0. Roezlii, Cwlogj-ne cris-
tata, Oncidium Kramerianum, O. incurvum, O.
flexuosum, 0. varicosuni, Phalsenopsis Schilleri-
aiia, P. amabilis, P. grandiflora, and a large im
portation of Lielia mnjalis, with numbers of
others, are in such condition of strength and
vigor as is not usually met with. A fine stock
of the New Anthurium Andreanum, an
extremely attractive plant when in fiower. It
remains in perfection for three months, render-
ing it a valuable plant ; the cultivation required
is the same as A. Scherzerianum, of which the
Cincinnati Floral Company have a large stock.
To give the public some idea of the import-
ance of this collection, this company was
awarded at the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition
of this year no less than fifty-two first prizes for
plants. Their Crotons, Palms, Ferns, Pandanus,
Musas, Marantas, Dieflfenbachias, Caladiums,
were grand objects of cultural skill, filling an
area of nearly six thousand feet in the horticul-
tural hall.

A HOTHOUSE ALARM TO GUARD
AGAINST FROST OR GREAT HEAT.

BY CHAS. DUDLEY WARDE, CONCORD, N. H.

To any one who has had the care of a hot-
house during one of our terrible northern win-
ters, the mere mention of a frost suggests hours
of anxious watching and apprehension. I have
sometimes thought that the pleasure taken in
my hothouse during its first winter was more
than counterbalanced by the constant anxiety
and fear lest by some unforeseen circumstance
the little silver column should drop below the
fatal point, 32°, and in an hour the result of the
patient labors of months, and the objects of my
especial pride, should turn to blackness and de-
cay. This fear grew 'to become a perfect night-
mare, and my slumbers were frequently dis-
turbed with visions of plants frozen and covered
with ice. One cold night, after having made
three visits to the hothouse to see that all was
right, I resolved that something must be done,
and commenced soon after to investigate the
subject of electricity and its adaptation to burg-
lar and fire-alarms. After a series of futile ex-
periments, I obtained a small Hat rod or bar
about twelve inches long, three-eighths inch
wide, and one-sixteenth inch thick, formed by a
thin piece of brass and a similar piece of steel
fastened securely together. This was suspended
by one end being firmly fastened in a small
block of wood placed on a board, and the rod

was so placed that the free end could swing back
and forth and just clear the board. On both
sides of the bar, and about one inch from it,
near the free end a thumb-screw was placed, so
that if the bar be moved it would strike the ends
of the screws. The end of the bar was fastened,
and the screws were so arranged as to be esisily
connected with wires. Now the well-known law
of physics that "heat expands and cold con-
tracts" is true in metals, but in a different de-
gree, and by consulting the tables of the expan-
sive qualities of metals it will be found that steel
and brass are widely difierent in this respect,
and in the arrangement above described it was
found that when heat was applied the brass ex-
panded more than the steel, causing the rod to
bow, and the free end to swing in the direction
of the screw on the steel side of the bar ; and
the application of cold caused the brass to con-
tract more than the steel, and the bar to swing
in the other direction. By testing this machine
in various different temperatures, it w-as easy to
make a scale, and to place the thumb-screws so
that the end of the rod would touch them at
any given point of temperature. Then obtain-
ing a common electric call bell, and a battery,
such as the telephone companies use (any good
battery will answer, but this one is always in
order), the bell was placed in my chamber, and
the battery and machine previously described
placed in the coldest part of the hothouse. One
pole of the battery was connected by a copper
wire with the bell, and from the bell the wire
was carried out to the machine and connected
with the end of the bar that was fastened, and
the thumb-screws connected to the other pole of
the battery. I then placed the screw on the
brass side so that it would come in contact with
the bar in case the thermometer should reach
40°, having previously found that the slightest
contact would complete the circuit and ring the
bell. After waiting about two weeks without
hearing anything from the apparatus, I was
startled from my chamber by the ringing of the
bell, and hastened out to find that a sudden and
severe change had lowered the temperature to
38° in the hothouse, and but for the increased
fire that was added the plants would have suf-
fered a bad chill, if not frozen before morning.
This has been kept in operation for two years,
and has several times saved my plants from total
destruction, or at least from great injury. By
adjusting the screw on the steel side of the bar
too great heat is easily detected. Since thor-

1882 1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

11

oughly testing the alarm have come to put great
confidence in it, as it can be regulated to within
a single degree, and while absent or asleep my
anxiety is reduced to a minimum.

TAR WATER FOR INSECTS.

BY D. M. DEWEY, ROCHESTER, N. Y.

In conversation to-day with a farmer friend, I
got from him what I think every planter should
know. As he is a reliable man, I give you his
statement, believing you will confer a favor on
many of your readers by pubhshing it :

Gras tar water sure death to potato hugs- Mr.
S. R. Hart, of Brighton, N. Y., near Rochester,
has for two years past used on his potato vines
water which has been impregnated with gas tar.
Two quarts of gas tar in a pail, and fill the pail
with water ; stir it up well, and let the tar settle.
Then sprinkle the vines with the water from a
sprinkling pot. This has proven more effective
than Paris green. He has also tried it on cur-
rant bushes, and finds it equally effective. It is
inexpensive and perfectly reliable, and no doubt
will prove equally sure death to insects of every
kind on trees. This gas tar can be had for $1.00
a barrel, and one barrel would supply a whole
township. I give you this information, believing
your readers will find it a great desideratum in
these days of insect pests.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Growth of Plants by Electric Light. — We
do not know how the idea originated that plants
do not grow in the dark, though the idea seems
widely prevalent in Europe. In America it has
been proved that Indian corn grows more rapidly
by night than by day. In American cellars
potatoes sprout, and all kinds of vegetables grow
to our aggravation, if there is any heat much
above the freezing point. True they require
light to make a green growth, but the actual
rapidity of growth is at least the same. It does
not seem to be true in England, however, where
they are much exercised over Dr. Siemen's ex-
periments with the electric light. The doctor
has a large forcing-house, in which are many
kinds of fruits and vegetables which mature dur-
ing the winter. There has to be a steam engine
to make the electricity which gives the light;
and the waste steam from the engine, condensed,
gives hot water, by which the temperature is
kept at 60 degrees.

So far as we have been able to gather from
Dr. Siemen's experiments, they are not com-
parative. The electric light was kept all night
in his forcing-house, and under this perpetual
brightness by night and by day, the crops were
wonderfully productive and remarkably satis-
factory. This is all the experiments amount to.
There was not another house just alike, and
under the management of the same excellent
gardener, to show how much better the lighted
house was.

So far as the electric light on the growth of
plants is concerned, we do not feel that it will
be of great value in our culture, not only be-
cause plants grow as well in the dark, but be-
cause the means of communication between the
tropical and the arctic portions of our country
are so perfect that we can have the rarest sum-
mer fruits and vegetables on our tables while
zero winds are blowing on our homes. Forcing-
houses are not as popular as in the old world.
But there is great value to us in Dr. Siemen's
experiments as showing how the introduction of
the electric light may be made use of in heating
greenhouses. As a general rule it will not pay
to buy and run a steam engine for lighting our
country homes instead of gas or oil ; but if at
the same time we can heat our greenhouses with
the waste steam, or make the engine useful in
other things, it may come into general use.

Sick Trees and Flowers. — Mr. Walter Elder,
of Philadelphia, makes the very good point that
the knowledge obtained from long experience
and close study of the laws of health in vegeta-
tion, is deserving of as much pecuniary reward
as, at least, the knowledge required for sick ani-
mals. There should be physicians of trees and
flowers, as well as doctors for horses, cows, dogs
and cats. And we have no doubt that people
would be just as willing to pay for good advice
for a valuable plant as for a valuable animal, if
only those who have the knowledge would
charge for their advice and services. There is
Mr. Elder himself, for instance, who has for so
many years contributed of his knowledge freely
to so many periodicals, could render valuable
assistance to his Philadelphia amateur friends in
this way. There is no reason why he should not
be consulted and paid for his advice. We have
no doubt it would be well w»rth the small fee he
would charge.

Tuberous Rooted Begonias. — An Upland (Pa.)
correspondent of the Ridley News gives a highly

12

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[January,

interesting account to that paper of the re-
markable manner in whicli the tuberous Begonias
have been improved by a Mr. Tipping, of Not-
tingham, England.

Choosing Hyacinths. — A correspondent of the
Oardensays: "Nothing, I am told by an emi-
nent seedsman, amuses the trade more than the
prejudices of gardeners on the subject of Hya-
cinth bulbs. Customers come to the shop and
pick cut the largest roots only, while others will
only have the heaviest and pay no regard to the
size. Both, my informant says, are mistaken in
thinking they are securing the best blooms by
their choice in this way. It is getting much like
trying to determine the sex in eggs, but, as a
rule, those bulbs which are high in the shoulders
• produce the best blooms, and it is said that the
Oerman bulb growers select these when they
wish to produce fine examples of culture. Some
of the ugliest and most lumpy-looking bulbs
they say do best."

A EoYAL Bouquet.— Success in floral arrange-
ments — whether such consist in their disposal
in a vase, a bouquet, a button-hole, or any of the
many ways in which flowers are now so much
used— depends upon the taste of the individual
engaged in the work. A combination of the
most graceful forms and beautiful colors which
the world of flowers affords ends in failure unless
the executant is possessed of a naturally artistic
«ye. Amongst those who stand out as particu-
larly successful in the leading competitions with
bouquets is Mr. Cypher, of Cheltenham, whose
productions — made by his daughter — are invari-
ably illustrative of correct taste alike in the
combination of form and color of the flowers
used as in their arrangement. On the recent
visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to
Chepstow, Miss Cypher had the honor of pre-
senting a bouquet to the Princess, which was
graciously received by Her Royal Highness. It
was composed of Gardenias, Stephanotis, white
Lapagerias, Eucharis amazonica, Dendrobium
formosum, Odontoglossum Roezlii, O. Alexandrse,
and the violet Cattleya Loddigesii, intermixed
with the ferns Gleichenia rupestris and Maiden-
hair. — Gardener's Chronicle.

NEW AND RARE PLANTS.

are Heinze's white and Heinze's red, which are
local varieties, having been raised some years
ago by Mr. Heinze, florist of that place.

Mr. H. takes great interest in raising carna-
tions, as well as importing all the best kinds that
can be obtained from abroad.

Cymbidium eburneum.— The increased atten-
tion given to orchid culture in the United States
renders any information about them particularly
desirable. Some of them are particularly hand-
some, and many of these have in addition a de-
lightful fragrance of the genus Cymbidium. One
species, C. aloifolium, is not uncommon in
American collections, where it is highly appre-
ciated for its delicious fragrance, though the dull
brown flowers are nt^t showy. In this species,
C. eburneum, we have one which not only has
the same odoriferous trait of character, but also
large waxy white flowers. It has been intro-
duced through the efforts of Mr. William Bull,
of Chelsea, near London, England, and will, we
think, become an universal favorite. See cut.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Fine Winter Flowering Carnations. — Mr.
A. D. Mylius tells us that the most popular
varieties for growing for cut flowers in Detroit

Eucharis Amazonica. — A Philadelphia corres-
pondent says: "I have about three hundred
blooms now out, and have a specimen with
fifteen flower stems. To my mind nothing can
be handsomer."

New Coleus, — "T.W.," New Albany, Ind., says:
"Enclosed please find a leaf of our new Coleus,
which is a sport of the Kentish Fire. We have
kept it all summer, and find it good in every
respect. It has not gone back in any instance.
Also find a leaf of our new seedling Begonia.
Will be glad to have your opinion."

[The Coleus is very good. Its value for bed-
ding will have to be decided by competition with
others already known. Begonias of the Welto-
niensis class sometimes come with spotted leaves
like those sent. — Ed. G. M.]

Medinilla magnifica. — "P." a.sks : " Will some
of the readers of the Monthly please be so
good as to give me some information concerning
the treatment of Medinilla magnifica?"

Odontoglossum Cervantesii. — "F."asks: "Will
C. H. S. please give me a few hints as to the cul-
tivation of Trichopila suavis and T. tortilis, also
Odontoglossum Cervantesii?"

Begonia Schmidtii. — "C. E. P." says : "If any

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

13

of the readers of the Monthly have had any Seedling Coleuses.— John S. F., Evanston,
experience with, or can give me any informa- 1 Ills., writes : " By this day's maill send you two

CYMBiDiUM EBURNEUM. (See Opposite page

tion concerning Begonia Schmidtii. I would I of my seedling Coleuses, which I think are an
esteem it as a great favor." | acquisition to our list of Coleus ; they are good

14

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

I January,

bedders. I had them planted out fully exposed
to the sun, and they never burned. The yellow
variety is dwarf and bushy, the other not so
much so. Give your opinion of them through
the Monthly and greatly oblige."

[The Coleuses are very good, but the full
value for bedding will have to be decided by
competition with others already known. — Ed.
G. M.l

Fruit and Vegetable Gardening.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

PLUM STOCKS FOR PEACH TREES.

BY W. C. STRONG, BRIGHTON, MASS.

As you invite testimony on this question in
your November number, I give my limited expe-
rience. The growth of Myrobolan stocks is so
vigorous that I was tempted to bud the peach
upon it, three years since. The buds have taken
only fairly well, and the subsequent growth has
disappointed me. The stocks have been on
heavy and also on upland soil. Though I do
not yet abandon the trial, yet the indications are
not favorable for a vigorous and healthy growth.
On the other hand, the white and pink almond
and Prunus triloba, as also the varieties of plum,
make a very strong growth on this stock. This
season, I have budded into the Damson and St.
Julien stocks, but as yet cannot report results.
These experiments have been made on a consid-
erable number of stocks, in order to arrive at a
definite conclusion. For it has seemed to me
rejasonable to expect that the plum stock would
give exemption from the fungus which we call
yellows, and also might give us a more perma-
nent tree, and in heavier soils than the peach
stock will thrive in. Considering the common
European practice of budding upon the Muscle
stock, it is surprising that this question has not
long since been tested and decided in this coun-
try. It seems to me that no other question in
fruit culture is so important, at the present time,
as this. If we can find a plum stock which
suits the peach, and will give us exemption from
this greatest drawback to peach culture, the yel-
lows, and may possibly add some other advan-
tages, then indeed shall we make an immense
advance in our art. I can think of no field so
encouraging for experiment. In this connection,
and as a warning to make haste slowly, and also
because I owe it to the public, I must state that

my experiments in budding the pear upon a
strong seedling of Cydonia (or Pyrus) japonica
have proved disappointing. The buds grew well
the first season, and some varieties have con-
tinued to grow for the second and third seasons.
But, the indications are plain, after several years
of extensive trial, that there is a want of con-
geniality between the stock and the cion. Of
course, everybody is now wise enough to see
that a Pyrus communis will not thrive on a Py-
rus japonica seedling, however strong it may be.
Well, I am content to be a martyr for, the public
good. For one, I confess that I did not know
until the trial was made.

PLUM STOCKS FOR THE PEACH.

BY H. F. HILLENMEYER, LEXINGTON, KY.

I notice an inquiry from " A.," Union Springs
N. Y., as to the value of plum stocks in the pro-
pagation of the peach.

Eight or ten years ago we worked a small lot
on native and imported stocks, part of which
were sold, and part planted on our own grounds.
Of ten varieties planted in our own orchard, all
are gone, except two Oldmixon Free trees. None
of the trees did well. The growth was dwarfed,
and the crops, though full, were inferior. The
fruit, in quality, did not compare with that of
the same variety grown on our peach roots. The
trees were not altogether exempt from the borer;
none developed a tendency to the yellows, but
seemed to perish from an unsuitability of the
stock.

Some of these trees, planted on tenacious
clay, deemed unsuitable for the peach, on its
own root, have done no better. The same ex-
periment, made by my father, twenty years be-
fore, on different soil, developed exactly the
same results. Peach on its own root does well
here, and if pruned and kept free of worms will
generally last twenty or twenty-five years.

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

15

THE TRUTH AS APPLIED TO TREE
AGENTS.

BY CHARLES FREUND, GENEVA, N. Y.

Having recently noticed in your magazine
also in the Neio York Weekly Sim, some remarks
in regard to tree agents, it would seem, notwith-
standing the ingenious letter written by a Ko*
chester dealer, and which you published a short
time ago, that the plain truth hud nofc been
stated.

You qualified your remarks, by stating that
the public need not be afraid to purchase from
the authorized agents of responsible firms; but.
unfortunately, the public is not very discrimi-
nating in its treatment of tree agents; as a
rule, classing them all alike, and in sections,
where some man has misused them, it makes no
difference how good a firm a man represents, he
is classed as a fraud.

The writer of the article in the Sun, with all
due respect to his literary abilities, proved, by
his sweeping and ignorant abuse, that he knew
as little of the manner in which nursery stock is
sold, retail to the public, as the buyers know
themselves ; and it would have been but simple
justice, on his part, to have, by proper inquiry,
placed the blame and fault where they properly
belong.

The majority of tree agents are employed by
nurserymen and dealers, and therefore, in view
of foregoing facts, it is plain to be seen that, in
the present state of the case, the public are
more than likely to make the many suffer for
the faults of the few, and thus inflict a great and
too often irreparable injustice on an honest and
hard-working class of men.

The only tree agents who can swindle the
public are those who sell for themselves, and
they constitute a very small portion of those
engaged in the business, probably not the one
hundredth part. These men, being irresponsi-
ble and having no reputation to lose, sell for just
such prices as they can obtain, irrespective of
the market value of nursery stock, and when
they come to purchase what they have sold,
often find that they cannot fill their orders with
genuine trees, except at a loss, and then, per-
haps, as a not unnatural consequence, they buy
whatever they can obtain the cheapest, and
make such as they purchase take the place of
what they have sold. The greatest, as well as
the most innocent, swindler in the tree business
is the harmless little label, and if it could only

speak what trouble it would cause — what fraud
it would e.xpose.

The remedy for the fraud practiced in the tree
business is in the hands of those who have its
welfare at heart— the responsible nurserymen
and dealers throughout the States, and if they
would but use their influence to prevent all
wrong doing, the nursery business would be ele-
vated to the position that its great usefulness,
and the many benefits it confers, justify it in
holding.

The agents who represent nurserymen and
dealers cannot swindle the public, for the reason
that they neither grow the stock they sell, nor
pack the orders they take, and being, as a rule,
when they engage in the business, inexperienced
as to the values of the various varieties of fruits
that they sell, tell people just what their em-
ployers instruct them to say, or what the des-
criptions of the various plates they have in
their books, represent such fruits as they describe
to be.

If there is any swindling done here the agent
is certainly not the guilty party.

The public is, like nature, very cruel, and
often makes assertions that it cannot sustain.
As a rule, a man Avho buys trees, and who
for want of proper care loses them, considers
that he has been swindled, and consequently
calls the agent who sold them a fraud. Nine-
tenths of the people who purchase nursery stock
give it little or no attention, and seldom if ever
plant it properlj', and as a very natural result
lose most of what they purchase ; and this ac-
counts for nine-tenths of the so-called swindling
on the part of tree agents. The other tenth may
be ascribed as explained in this letter, or to the
peisistent resolve of the public to buy trees from
those who can tell the biggest stories and sell
the cheapest, irrespective of whom they are buy-,
ing from ; they have yet to learn, at least in the
nursery business, that the cheapest is not always
the best; and as soon as our pomological socie-
ties can make the public understand that the
value of a fruit is not to be measured by the
size of the tree on which it grows; that all trees
do not grow straight and large; that nature, and
not the nurseryjuan, shapes them ; that trees
will at times die from natural or unnatural
causes, such as excessive drought, cold. &c , for
which the nurseryman, being but human is not
to bliine, just so soon will they cease to make
moat ol their complaints of having been swin-
dled. The act of delivering any d-ce tli;U ,s not

16

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January

perfectly straight, to some people, is quite suffi-
cient cause to them to complain of being swin-
dled.

Let us be just to the tree agent, so that he
may not be prevented by wrongful accusation
from earning his livelihood; and let us also en-
deavor, through the powerful mediums of the
press, that are directly connected with the busi-
ness, and of which your magazine is such an
able representative, to instruct the public what
is best for them to plant, in their section, and
also from whom they should purchase — viz.,
responsible men, or their authorized representa-
tives only.

To obtain reform we must first have reformers,
and the most needed reforms in the tree business
are the following :

1. Education of the public, by means of the
press and pomological societies, as to the nature
of trees and plants ; their various habits, their
adaptability to different sections of country, and
to the important fact that they should purchase
only from responsible parties, or their author-
ized representatives, who can if necessary prove
their responsibility.

2. Public and prompt exposure of all known
frauds in the business.

3. Sufficient testing of new varieties before
selling them.

4. Honest and careful discrimination in sell-
ing varieties best adapted to different localities.

We live in a practical age, and men will
readily learn what it is to their advantage to
know.

I ask you to publish this letter in the interest
of and in justice to a A'ast number of men whose
appellation of tree agent makes it, at present,
difficult for them to reap a just return for their
labor, and who I am sure will gratefully thank
you, for anj^ effort on your part to place their
position properly before the public.

EDITORIAL NOTES,

Stealing from Gardens.— It appears that in
England as well as in America, there are lawyers
and judges who do not know the law. In a recent
trial for stealing hot-house grapes, the prosecu-
ting attorney said :

" It was a part of our law that a man could not
be charged with stealing growing grapes, and as
these had been cut from a vine, the prisoner
could not be charged on that account. But a
pair of scissors had been stolen from the same

place and at the same time, and therefore he
would be tried on that charge."

The judge regarded this as good law, and for
stealing a pair of grape scissors tne prisoner was
sentenced to three months' imprisonment.

In spite of this " whipping the devil around the
stump," the English law stands as follows :

" Sec. 24th and 25th, Vic, Chap. 96 : Whosoever
shall steal or destroy, or damage with intent to
steal, any plant, root, fruit, or vegetable produc-
tion growing in any garden, orchard, pleasure
ground, nursery ground, hot-house, green-house
or conservatory, shall on conviction thereof be-
fore a justice, either be committed to the com-
mon gaol or house of correction, there to be im-
prisoned and kept to hard labor for any term not
exceeding six calendar months, or else shall for-
feit and pay over and above the value of the ar-
ticles stolen or the amount of the injury done,
such sum of money, not exceeding twenty pounds,
as to the justice shall seem meet."

Shippers and Growers. — Mr. M. T. Brewer of
San Francisco, in an address before the Califor-
nia Horticultural Society, contended that the
fruit grower should consider the interest of the
shipper his own interest. As it was, some fruit
growers did not deal fairly — mixing inferior fruit
with good fruit in the crates, or otherwise prac-
ticing deception, or " want of thought," by which
the shippers lost trade, and eventually the grow-
ers. Honesty is the best policy in all cases, but
especially when it is necessary to do business
through an agent.

Painted Labels. — The writer was just in from
puzzling over some " tree labels," just after a rain
shower. These labels had been written less than
two weeks, and were almost illegible. On the ta-
ble were some samples of " machine painted la-
bels" from the Penfield Block Company, of Lock-
port, and they were there just in time to impress in
the most emphatic manner their immense value.
It will not be long before the tree seller who does
not use these labels will be regarded as a fossil of
tlae most indurated type.

Bad News for Tobacco Raisers.— After a
careful investigation by disinterested scientific
men, the French Government has concluded
that the use of tobacco interferes with the men-
tal faculties, and general ability to study, and
has prohib'ted absolutely its use in all the Gov-
ernment schools. It is also said that no regular
smoker ever took the highest degree in Harvard,
and the authorities there are inclined to look
into it.

Glout Morceau Pear. — The Garden quotes
Dictionarie de Pomologie, as authority for the state-

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

17

ment that Glout Morceau is the same as Beurre
d'Arenberg, and gives it as but a synonym of the
latter name. Years ago this was discussed in
America, and the conclusion reached that they
were different fruits. Yet it is remarkable that
no one is able to give any separate history to the
Glout Morceau. It is said that Parmentier gave
it the name temporarily^, because the original
name was lost.

Bees .\nd Grapes. — The honey bees, like many
other creatures, seem to profit by experience^
and grow wise in their generations. Every year
there is increasing trouble in Germantown gar-
dens from the ravages of bees on grapes. We
never knew the fruit to be so badly injured as
last year by them. It may be that the very dry
season was unfavorable to clover, and other blos-
soms, and they were driven by necessity to feed
on the grape. But however this may be, we
fear they will not forget in the future how good
grapes are. To be sure, a bee only lives one
season, but we suppose an acquired habit is in
some degree hereditary.

Curing the Yellows in the Peach. — There is
a prevalent belief that when a tree once has the
disease known as the Yellows, it can never be
cured. Yet we frequently read of apparently
well authenticated cases of cure. When these
are brought to the attention of practical men,
they shrug their shoulders and s.ay, "The tree
probably had yellow leaves from starvation, or
from injuries from the borer, and not the disease
known as the Yellows." Does any one know of
a case , recognized by those who know, as being
diseased, that ever recovered, either by being left
to nature or through any supposed treatment?

Improved Cranberries. — Few fruits have
greater commercial importance than the Cran-
berry. Those who labor for improvement in
them deserve credit. Some varieties are better
able to resist unfavorable circumstances than
others. Some are earlier, some larger, and oth-
ers again more productive. There are many
fields in which improvements may be worked
out. Among varieties well spoken of, are " Ea-
ton's Bell" and "Mansfield Creeper." The
former ripens in Connecticut by the 5th of Sep-
tember.

New Varieties of Fruit.— Mr. M. S. Combs,
in a paper read before the Kentucky Horticultu-
ral Society, asserts that it is far better to spend a
little pains in crossing, than to rely on chance

seedlings for the improvement of the varieties of
fruit.

Wearing Out op Soil.— Our farmers and
gardeners in the West who regard the soil worn
out after they have taken twenty years of crops
without manure, from them, must not lose heart.
An exchange says that around Shanghai in Chi-
na, the ground has been cropped for " countless
generations," and is as good or even better to-
day than it ever was. When nature has done
with the ground, art can recover it always. Man
is greater than nature when he sets himself to
work.

Peach Yellows.— W. K. Higley contributes to
the Am. Naturalists paper on the scientific study
of the disease known as the "Yellows," in the
peach. His conclusions, however, do not seem
to have any direct connection with his experi-
ments. '' Care must be exercised in cultivation,
pruning, &c.," and the yellows come ''from a
lack of phosphoric acid and potash." Just what
this " care " is to be ; what kind of " cultivation "
is to be practiced ; how the " pruning " is to be
done ; or what the ''e< cetera " is to cover, is not
quite clear, and it is just possible, though this
paper appears as a contribution to science in an
able scientific serial, that the author does not
quite know himself what he means. Certainly
we do not.

Henderson on Delusions.— Few men keep
doing so much for horticulture as Mr. Peter
Henderson does, by his shrewd, practical com-
mon sense. He may sometimes get wrong, but
he is generally right, and always does good. In
a recent paper on " Delusions," he shows up the
notion that plants in sleeping rooms are inju-
rious ; that money is to be made from the busi-
ness without practical knowledge of the business ;
that there is much special virtue in special
manures for special crops; that plants take more
nitrogen from insects than they can get from the
atmosphere in the ordinary way; that the pro-
duction of variegated leaves by inoculation is a
proof of the truth of graft-hybridism, and some
other notions of similar character. Let us hope
that Mr. Henderson will keep at it. There is
plenty of such work to be done yet.

The Keiffer Pear. — We are watching with
some interest the behavior of this interesting
hybrid, as it comes into bearing in other than its
original locality. The editor of the Germantown
Telegraph reports on some which he has had this
season, and which he reports favorably, as to

18

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

quality. The editor of The Country Qentleman
has had some from New Jersey and from Ro-
chester. Of the former he speaks favorably ; the
latter were poor. We have had some on our
table this winter that were delicious — and some
from the same grower that were as poor as poor
can be.

jvbjv or rare fruits.

Tomato— President Garfield. — This is the
title of a new tomato advertised in Germany.
All the information we can gather concerning
it is that "it will not fail to cause a great sensa-
tion."

Peach — Dyer's June. — This is a chance seed-
ling which was found near Ava, Missouri. It is
said to be a good addition to the early kinds. It
is three inches across, which is a good size for
an early peach. Unfortunately it is a cling-
stone.

Ruby Currant. — The American Garden has a
pretty illustration of this variety which was
raised by Mr. Jacob Moore, the originator of the
Brighton grape. The branches, as represented
here, are five inches and a half from their at-
tachment to the branch to the terminal berry.
Mr. Hooker— excellent authority — vouches for
its superiority. The berries, though not so large
as either the Versaillaise or the Cherry, are next
to them in size, with the advantage of larger
bunches and better fruit. It was raised from
the Cherry, believed to have been crossed with
the White Grape.

The Two Sisters Pear.— Pears and other fruits
are so often named after the raisers, discoverers,
or places where found, that it is worth noting
when one can be named after some peculiarity;
of its own. The "Deux Soeurs" is a French
variety, raised by the two Misses Knoop, of
Malines, and which at the same time usually
has the fruit appearing in pairs. It is allied to
the Marie Louise class, and may therefore not
be of great value in our country, where they
are no sooner ripe than rotten. But it makes a
beautiful picture in the Florist and Pomologist.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Progress in Raspberry Culture. — Mr. N.
Ohmer, of Dayton, Ohio, writes : " Raspberries
are attracting much more attention at this par-
ticular time than ever before. Raspberries have

always been appreciated more or less on account
of filling in the place nicely between strawber-
ries and blackberries. It is a fruit much ad-
mired by many, though never so popular as the
strawberry. Up to within a few years there
were but few varieties. . The Red Antwerp,
American Black, or common Black Cap and
Brinkle's Orange, were popular as far back as I
can recollect. As much improvement has been
made in late years in the raspberry as in any
other fruit ; we are now not confined to three or
four varieties, but varieties of distinguished
merit can be counted by the dozens. I have
grown the raspberry more or less since I have
been engaged in fruit culture, now twenty odd
years, but never to the same extent as at present.
I now plant largely of them, because I find
their culture profitable. I can and do grow
raspberries almost as cheaply as I do corn (not
counting the cost of gathering), and any of you
can do the same if you have suitable soil, varie-
ties, and understand the proper mode of culture.

Winter Nelis Pear. — We made a ilote of the
superior reputation the Winter Nelis Pear had
achieved about Rochester. The ink was scarcely
dry before a sample came to hand from Ell-
wanger & Barry, and they were indeed worthy
of all that had been said about them. With
them were samples of Josephine de Malines,
and the Jones' Seedling, also remarkably fine.
We believe E. & B. were chiefly instrumental in
making the last known, and it surely does credit
to their good judgment.

Gros Colman Grape.— "G. H.," Yarmouth,
Mass., says: "Please let me know in your Gar-
dener's Monthly of Gros Colman grapevine.
Will it do for a cold grapery, quality, color, size
of bunch ?"

[The Gros Colman grape is not considered a
first- class variety for a cold grapery, and it does
not stand as the highest for warmer houses. —
Ed. G. M.]

Japan PERSiMMON.-Mr. P. J. Berckmans writes :
" I send by mail two specimens of Japanese Per-
simmons. The large is Tanenashi or Seedless,
not ripe, but may become eatable in a couple of
weeks. Fruit is not more than two-thirds the
size it attained last year, owing to protracted
drought.

" The small one is Kurokume, and will be ripe
in a few days. I notice that birds begin to find
them out. This specimen is one of fifty-five,

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

19

grown upon a tree planted in March, 1880, and
now 3i feet high. It is one of the smaller va-
rietes, but of excellent quality."

[Hard worked editors cannot get around to
see all the new things as they would like to do,
and are always grateful to those who help them
to keep their knowledge up to the times in the
kind manner Mr. Berckmans has done. It was

a pleasure to see such fine fruit. One of them
weighed 6^ ounces, and was exhibited to the
Germantown Horticultural Society.

We have tried, and know others try, many
varieties near Philadelphia, but all have been
killed to the ground by the winters ; but why
can they not be grown in tubs as oranges and
lemons are?— Ed. G. M.l

Forestry.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Timber is King.— Prof. P. W. Sheafer, of Potts-
ville, in his excellent paper on the geology of
Schuylkill county, says : " In Schuylkill county
we are specialists. We are dependent on one
substance ; coal is king." We fancy after
awhile it will be found in Schuylkill county that
timber is king. It is not possible to work a coal
mine without timber. Of Pinus rigida alone
enough is used by one company in that county
in one year to reach, if the logs are placed end
to end, from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific.

Forests will soon have to be planted there in
an intelligent manner, or coal will no longer
have regal honor.

Pkotection to Forestry. — The United States
Government is already doing much to protect the
lumber interest in so far as it concerns the des-
truction of our forests, and there can be no
reason why it should not recognize the same
principle in the encouragement of new planta-
tions. While farmers and fruitgrowers have t©
build their own railroads, or construct their own
canals, the Government spends money for the
sole reason that the forest-owners may get theirj
timber to market. Immense sums of money
have been spent on the Guyandot River in West
Virginia, for no other reason than improving
on raft navigation.

Protection of Forests a Necessity.— By S-
VanDorrien. New York : B. Westerman & Co.
This is a pamphlet of thirty-one pages, which
goes over and over again the same old story :
trees, clouds ; clouds make rain ; rain makes
springs ; springs make rivers ; rivers make seas ;
seas make universal prosperity. Well, everj'-
body knows the story. What is really needed is

not sermons of this sort ; but to know what is the
best method of encouraging timber culture ? It is a
pity some good, practical mind does not turn its
attention more to this matter, and to ease the
minds of the poets and philosophers, who are
forever urging that " something must be done,"
but leave to others the work of doing and paying
for it. We read carefully through this pamphlet
to get some good idea as to what ought to be
done. To our amazement, the only comfort
after reading thirty-one pages is the assurance
that " what is to be done, must be done at
once."

There is one satisfaction, however, in reading
it; we may learn what not to do. If there is
any special object in the author's mind as he
wrote, besides the furnishing of a pen -portrait of
an arboreal Jeremiah, it is that our Government
should do something, — something because for-
eign governments have done something; but a
careful reading of what he tells us about the
action of foreign governments, shows their action
to have utterly failed to be of the slightest
benefit. No one would for an instant want to
liave repeated here what has been attempted
there. Strange to say the writer seems to sym-
pathize with the tremendous tyranny and oppres-
sion which has often been attempted under the
name of forestry laws. He takes occasion to re-
flect on the " demoralizing penuriousness of the
agricultural classes," who seemed to think they
had the same right to try and make all tbey
could from their land as the mill-owner would
from his mill ; he thinks it scandalous that the
farmer should '' loudly demand indemnity " for
being compelled to keep his land in forest when
it would pay him so much better to make graz-
ing ground of it; and he can scarcely find lan-
guage strong enough to characterize his detesta-

20

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[January,

tion of the "narrow-mindedness which was re-
luctant to make a personal sacrifice for the in-
terest of all." He looks back lovingly to the
time in France when the "Church and religious
institutions," and great land-holders in their in-
terest, had possession of most of the lands of
France. Then they had forests indeed ! and the
happy owners would hunt and sport to their
heart's content.

Fortunately, these views do not suit our
American atmosphere. We want timber be-
cause we have use for it ; we want planting en-
couraged where it can be done with some show
of being within no remote time useful. We do
not want to tax ourselves too heavily for the
benefit of posterity ; but it is the duty of govern-
ments to look after that which private enterprise
will not do, when it bears on national prosperity ;
but no American wishes that all the cost of this
national work should fall on the " penurious
farmer." They are all willing to lend a hand,
and would rather raise a "penny subscription
from every American," than be charged with in-
justice.

Lumber in Virginia.— The Chesapeake & Ohio
Hallway is now consuming lumber and timber
at the average rate of 600,000 feet a month. In
the seven past months of this year, its consump-
tion has been 4,200,000 feet, brought mainly
from along its line in West Virginia. Much of
this has been used in the Newports-News ex-
tension.

A Large White Oak.— A white oak tree re-
cently cut in Salem County measured six feet
and two inches across the stump. Trees of this
size are now scarce in South Jersey ; or East
Jersey either for that matter.— iV; J. Mirror.

Waters of Lake Ontario.— The daily papers
say that :

" No little concern is felt by persons interested
in the harbor accommodations of Lake Ontario
by reason of the assured fact that the level of
the lake has fallen steadily, and in a marked de-
gree, for many years. The records have been
accurately kept, and leave no room for doubt.
Many wharfs in many ports were formerly ac-
cessible to vessels which cannot now come near
them. The entrance to the harbor of Toronto
has been kept open only by means of thorough
dredging, and now, when rock bottom has been
reached, there is scarcely enough water to float
the largest of the vessels which seek to pass.
Various explanations for the subsidance of the
water have been offered, but none of them seems
to be adequate."

In these cases geological reasons are usually
satisfactory. A change in the streams which
flow underground, make a great diff'erence in
the flow of a lake. But it will be in order to
have the above paragraph in the next treatise on
forestry.

Forest Fires. — Ontario is said by the daily
papers to have lost $10,000,000 by the forest fires
of last season, — and next year, and another, and
another, she will probably lose $10,000,000 every
time. And yet all this may be avoided by
spending a few hundred thousand dollars in
carefully keeping down underbrush ; and insist,
ing on the burning at once of the waste from
forest clearings. But somehow it seems both to
Canadians and Americans much easier and more
humanitarian to raise half a million dollars to
give to the widows and orphans of suff"erers by
fire, than to spend a quarter of a million in pre-
venting their homes, with the fathers and hus-
bands, from being burned up. It is a funny
world, especially where it is about forestry.

Natural History and Science.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

SCIENCE NOTES-

BY PROFESSOR T. C. PORTER, EASTON, PA.

In a recent number of the Monthly you say
with a doubt, that you encountered the famous
potato bug on the plains of Colorado in 71. In 73
I saw a stalk of Solanum rostratum in a new
street on the outskirts of Denver, covered with

them, and saw them also on the same plant at a
railroad station of the Kansas Pacific, between
Salina and Denver.

Is Campanula rotundifolia to be Hair-bell, or
Hare bell ? The Origin of the name should de-
termine that. I see no connexion between the
flower and the hare. The plant grows on steep,
rocky cliffs, which hares do not frequent. Nor do
I see any connexion between the flower and hair,
except the remote supposition that it might have

1862.

AND H0R2ICULTUBIST.

21

been so called because used by ladies to adorn
their hair, or because the slender peduncles have
a capillary look. My own conjecture is that the
name is a corruption of Air-Bell, confused
through similarity of sound with the true Hare-
bell, which is probably a Muscari. Looking up
at them from the base of a cliff, as I have often
done in my walks about Easton, the tiny bells of
Campanula rotundi folia appear as if suspended
in the air on invisible threads, and might well
suggest the name. Why not adopt it and so
write it?

m-m-»

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Work for Natural History Clubs. — In
young clubs it should not be a point to get new
fcicts, so much as to familiarize the members
with common ones. This is best done by each
member making original observations and re-
peating them, instead of studying from books.
We were much interested in the way this is done
in the Agricultural College at Lansing, Mich., as
reported in the College Speculum.

" An illustrated paper was presented on ' A
Comparison of the Flowers of Apple Trees with
those of Pear Trees,' by F. F. Rogers. In gene-
ral the apple flowers are larger than those
of the pear. The sepals of apple flowers are
shorter and broader than those of the pear.
In both the sepals are more or lees woolly.
The sepals of pears are at least half as long
as the petals, and are usually quite long and
taper-pointed. Their stamens are not very un-
like. The most marked difference is seen in the
styles. In the case of the apple the styles are
united from one-fourth to one-half of their length,
forming a stalk or stipe ; while in the pear the
styles are distinct to the base. The calyx tube
of the pear is somewhat globular, while that of
the apple is urn-shaped."

Here is information, communicated by a col-
lege student. The facts no doubt numbers have
seen, but which very few, probably, really knew.

Calochortus.— The common name in Califor-
nia is Mariposa Lily. In Colorado, Dr. Newberry
says, the two species Calochortus Nutt^llii, and C.
Gunnisonii are known as ''Black-eyed Susan."
The Indians of Utah call it " Sego.''

Hyqeinic Value of Jussieua grandiplora. —
Dr. Cartwright of Natchez, attributes the exemp-
tion of some districts of Louisiana frora malarial
fevers to the abundance of this pretty, creeping
aquatic plant. We feel bound, as news-gather-
ers, to record this piece, because it will no doubt
have wide currency, but have^o confess that we

see no other ground for the doctor's opinion than
because it so happens that this plant grows there.
Probably hundreds of other plants are abundant
there as this ; and even then the abundance is
no proof of value.

Torch Lilies.— The great objection to com-
mon names is that they become so very com-
mon that each plant gets a score, and no one
knows what the other person is talking of. It is
not altogether because names are hard that
English ones are chosen, but because the Latin
ones seem too learned for common people. What
is easier than Tritoma? yet our people made it
" hot poker flower." Not to accept a name from
Americans the English christened it over again*
They name it "Torch lily," according to Mr.
Robinson's Gardening Illustrated. But in Mr.
Robinson's new book it is again named " Flame
flower." We see by these illustrations that how-
ever easy it may seem, and desirable to accom-
plish, it is impracticable to make any reforms in
this manner. We hope our good friend, the
Garden, will pause in its efforts in this way.

Malarial Fever.— We are often misled by
names. Malarial fever has nothing to do with
malaria as we used to understand it— gases frora
decayed matter along rivers and in marshes. A
letter from Las Cruces, in New Mexico, now be-
fore us, speaks of the alarming extent of mala-
rial fever this year, in a country usually as dry as
dust.

Flowering of Bermuda Grass.— Dr. G. W.
Smith, Canton, Miss., says :

" I think you are mistaken in regard to the
common belief as to the flowering of the Cynodan
dactylon in the South. It is not that the grass
produces no flower spikes, but that it does not
perfect seed; and when it is not kept down by graz-
ing, it produces, on good land, flowers in profuse
abundance, but diligent and repeated search has
failed ever to find a seed."

Introduction of the Camellia. — In a recent
article we showed the strong probability that the
weeping willow was introduced to Europe from
China by the Dutch, when they enjoyed the ex-
clusive privilege of trade with China in the earli-
er times. It is known that the camellia came in
that way. It was first carried by them to their
settlements in the Phillipines, and brought from
there to Spain by a priest named Camelli, after
whom it was named by Linnjeus.

An Almond Growing from a Peach. — The
Rural Press notes the case of an almond pushing

22

THE GARDENERS MONTHL Y

[January'

out from among the branches of a fruiting peach
tree. A correspondent refuses to believe in such
bud variation, but the editor properly reminds
him that it is too late in horticultural experience
to deny the existence of sports. Certainly the
cases where the nectarine has pushed out from
peach branches have been too well attested to
admit of doubt. It originated in that way.

Local Names of Plants. — If any of our readers
know of any common names of "plants which
have not come into general use, or may not be
generally known, Dr. W. R. Gerard, 9 Waverly
Place, New York, would like to have them. He
is making this department of popular history a
si:)ecial study.

Cambridge Botanic Garden.— John A. Lowell
has left $20,000, on condition that it be called the
" Lowell Botanic Garden."

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Autumn Flowers of the Berkshire Hills.—
An English lady, after a trip in late autumn
through this beautiful district of Massachusetts,
writes : " I have just returned from a most de-
lightful trip (principally by carriage and horses)
through the Berkshire Hills. The beauty of the
countr}' reminded us constantly of England, and
the wild asters by the roadside, in such a won-
derful variety of color, delighted us. It seems
to me that large beds of them— in public parks,
etc., in the autumn — would be very attractive.
I am in some perplexity as to whether a profu-
sion of straight stemmed plants, covered with
blue flowers, are gentians or penstemons. If
gentians, they do not much resemble their Caro-
lina cousins, and are certainly far more lovely.
I found them between Pittsfield and Lenox,
growing on the hillsides, while our gentians have
the deep shade of swamp land."

White Cedar.— "F,," Vineland, New Jersey,
writes: "In the East where I came from, the
Arborvitse is known as white cedar ; but here I
find a very diflferent wood called white cedar.
What is the proper one, and how does this con-
fusion arise?"

[The " confusion arises" from the mere use of
common names, which, unlike botanical names
originate with people who are not recognized as
authority in naming plants. Anyone has the
right to give a common name to a plant, and no
one can decide which is the "proper one."

There may be a score of different white cedars
for aught we know In Oregon the Lawson
cypress is " white cedar." In California, Liboce-
drus decurrcns is " white cedar." In New Jer-
sey, Cupressus thuyoides is " white cedar," and
" white cedar" in New England is Thuja occi-
dentalis. As there is no authority to decide
your question, you will have to choose one for
yourself.— Ed. G. M.J

' Early Weeping Willows in America. — W.
Kite, Germantown, says : " I see in thy Monthly
some notices of willow trees. If it will be of
interest I can tell of one.

"In the yards back of the old mansions on
the north side of Chestnut street, grew many
fine old trees. One of them was called Frank-
lin's willow — a stately tree of say eighteen inches
girth, (diameter? — Ed.)— sixty-five years ago
when I used to see it daily. I had it from my
grandparents that Franklin did plant it. The
usual story of the osier basket and the green
twig was attached to the history of this tree.
It was as handsome a weeping willow as one
often sees."

Twin Apple.— James H. Cook, Strathroy, On-
tario, sends a very pretty specimen of a twin
apple. Such cases sometimes occur. The two
original stems are less than one-fourth of an
inch apart. From this upwards there is a com-
plete union for about three-fourths the distance
to the apex, where the apple again separates to
two distinct ones, each having its separate calyx
and crown. It shows that in some very early
stage the two apples were quite distinct, and
united later. But as there is no trace of skin in
the joined portion, we may learn this further
fact, either thaf skin is not formed until there is
a contact with the atmosphere, or else it is ab-
sorbed and changed into ordinary cell tissue
after being formed. In the Wistaria bark — that
is skin — is often found in the stem after the
wood has been cut across, it having come about
by the over-growing of the irregular outline of
the wood, which does not grow in regular cir-
cles. The bark is not absorbed in these cases,
so we are brought down to the probability that
these twins, originally distinct, formed their
union before they had any skin properly so-called.

Bracts and Leaves. — In a recent number we
gave, in a reference to Antigonon, some idea as
to how large leafy calyxes are seen to represent
the leaves they really are. This change from
leaves to floral parts is more readily seen in the

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

case of plants belonging to the Arum family, of
which the common Richardia, or Calla lily, is a

and the flower stem is seen to be nothing but a
mass of leaves coiled up so that all trace of the

F~"?^-

'1

kW

\ • /

r

ANTHURIUM SCIIERZERIAXUM MAXIMUM.

Striking example. In that case the usual white I original leaf stalks of each leaf is nearly lost,
spathe often is half as green as in a real leaf, | In the plant here illustrated the spathe is scarlet

24

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[January,

instead of white, and the real flowers are the
little angular figures on the worm-like spadix.
The common Anthurium Scherzerianum is now

well known. This one of Mr. Wm. Bull's intro-
ductions is double the size of that very popular
species.

Literature, Travels I Personal Notes.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

NOTES AND QUERIES-NO. 30.

BY JACQUES.

The following scraps for the Qardener's
Monthly were found on a table by the death-
bed of Mr. John Jay Smith, after his decease.
It is a remarkable illustration of how the love
of horticulture entered even into his dying
thoughts :

Goldsmith.— Wh.0 does not like Goldsmith and
his writings does not enjoy one of the most
genial and pleasant authors of the English lan-
guage. The series of " English men of letters,"
small as they are, give to the present generation
an opportunity of enjoying the characteristics
and peculiarities of the persons who pleased the
leisure hours of our grandfathers, while they
taught them what literature is. The life of Dr.
Johnson, by Leslie Stevens, as already remarked,
is one of the most agreeable and informing
books in the language ; Goldsmith's life by Wil-
liam Mack, the novelist, fairly comes within the
list for high praise. Impecunious, careless.
Goldsmith was ; he adds another to those so
frail, so seemingly inapt, who are the instru-
ments through which providence works its will
upon the world. What a large army they make
coming down to our own time. What an
anomaly was Poe ; bis career has now been the
topic of many writers who agree as to his ability,
but do not save his habits from severe animad-
version ; how curious that his first biographer,
Griswold, should owe his name being saved from
oblivion by this one act of unworthy vitupera-
tion. Very few can have perused Goldsmith's
life of Beau Nash, but it is worth being over-
hauled. He says what was eminently true of
the ladies of those days and their want of edu-
cation : " But were we to give laws to a nursery,
we should make them childish laws ;" the women
ef that day were little more than infants in men-

tal acquirements. "Followed your prescrip-
tion ? No," says the Beau, whose intellectual
capacity is not magnified. •' Egad, if I had, I
would have broken ray neck, for I flung it out
of a two pair of stairs window." The work con-
tains some excellent warnings against the vice
of gambling.

The had practice of pulling flowers by children
and even grown people, who ought to know bet-
ter, continues. Let out a few city youthful
tramps into a new park and the chances are that
all the butter cups in a given space will be gath-
ered and almost instantly withered, leaving
nothing for the next comers, and so with other
things. The park planter will tell you that ivies
and all running vines are no sooner planted than
they are pulled up and carried home. A lady
was arrested the other day with her apron la-
dened with new ivies, and by good luck only,
escaped a week in jail. This tendency to theft
can be partially corrected by careful teaching in
the public schools. The police of public gar-
dens would be greatly more useful if they were
taught the difference between weeds and flowers.

Greai attention is now very properly paid to the
cultivation of the. important cinchona, or qui-
nine bark. New specimens have been intro-
duced into Madras by the government, obtained
in South America at a distance of three hundred
miles from the coast ; the Santa Fe variety
yields, by analysis, ten per dent, of pure sulphate
of quinine. Jamaica, too, is growing very val-
uable kinds.

Improvements in agricultural machinery feed a
hundred men with greater ease than at one time
a man could feed himself alone. — Seientifie
American.

The enemy of the vine Phylloxara is declared to
be mightier than a German army, for the latter,
once satisfied, goes home, but the former stays
forever. Creatures, unconscious of what they
do, terrify whole nations and give the lie to the
arrogance of man.

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

25

The Rose.— The passage " Mary Ann" would
seek from Spencer, is this :

"Eternal God, in hia almightie power
To make ensample of his heavenly grace,

In Paradize whylomedid plant this flowre;
Whence he it fetched out of her native place.
And did in stocke of earthly flesh enrace.

That mortal man his glory should admyre
In g«ntle ladies' breste, and bounteous race

Of womankind, in fayrest flowre doth spyre,
And beareth fruit of honor and all chast desyre"

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Odr Correspondents. "A friend in Indiana,
pleasantly writes :

•' I was very much pleased with Mr. Harding's
* Under the Hawthorn,' which in this connec-
tion was doubly interesting to me. But the
Monthly has such a splendid corps of contribu-
tors that every page is replete with information
for all classes of readers, and I always think after
reading each number, what a treat you must
have, to be in correspondence with such enter-
taining and instructive gentlemen and ladies
ft-om all parts of the country, and most likely
entire strangers, personally, to you."

Pleasant it is, and yet it has its dark side. It
is unfortunately the case that there are but
twenty-four hours in one day, and of these even
six or seven must go for sleep. Hence, the edit-
or's correspondence has to be very one-sided.
Fortunately the great majority are tender hearted
and kind, and write him dozens of letters to his
one in reply. They know it is easier f»r a hun-
dred persons to write to one than for one to
write to a hundred. Yet the editor often wishes
he could show his appreciation of his correspon-
dents better than he does.

The Phylloxera in France. — By the kind-
ness of Mr. Charles Joly, we have received the
report of M. Tisseraud, on the efforts made to
conquer this foe to the vineyard during the year
ending 1880. It is very pleasant to learn from
M. Tisseraud that " the Phylloxera, like the vine
mildew, is in a fair way to be conquered by sci-
ence." It appears the insect can certainly be
destroyed, wherever the grapes are in a situation
to have the roots submerged during the winter
season, and some useful insecticides have been
discovered. The best preventative is the roots
of American species.

Horticulture.— There seems to be a misap-
prehension in the minds of even intelligent per-
Bons, as to the use of the word "horticulture."
In moat cases they mean pomology. Horticul-

ture has to do with fruit culture ; but then, so
has agriculture. Wliether it should be treated
from the agricultural or the horticultural stand-
point, depends on its special treatment. As a
general thing, however, our Professors of horti-
culture are really agriculturists.

Laws Against Weeds —A correspondent from
Berlin, Conn., writes :

" I have been querying of late what course our
law-makers will take when next they meet, in re-
gard to the law about carrots and Canada thistles.
No attention is paid to the present law by the
majority of the people, and it does not beget re-
spect for law to have plain, specific directions re-
main a dead letter on the statute book."

"We do not know what more anyone could ex-
pect. If our correspondent will examine the
back numbers of the Gardener's Monthly, he
will find that we have always opposed these en-
actments as silly in the extreme.

Diamond Tuberose. — After our letter-press
was struck off for last month, w^e received a brief
note from Nanz & Neuner not to make any note
of it. It was of course too late. After this the
advertisement came to the publisher, as the
reader may have noted, (page 14, Dec. No.) with-
drawing offers to sell it. Since then we have had
notes from Peter Henderson, V. H. Hallock, Son
& Thorpe, to the effect that a tuberose under
this name was offered to them, and found to be
in no way different from the Pearl, and suggest-
ing that Nanz & Neuner had been victimized.
Whether Nanz & Neuner had this suspicion
when making the advertisement above referred
to, we do not at this moment know. For fear
there may be something wrong we think it due
to our readers, as this number is now going to
press, to make this cautionary signal, as the
weather men would say.

Law of Branches Overhanging Neighbors.—
The Philadelphia PuUic Ledger says :

Two persons own land separated by a line
fence, which is common property between the
two parties. One has a.n apple tree on his side
of the fence, whose limbs overhang the fence on
the side of the other. Apples fall on either side.
The question often asked is, Do the apples that
fall on one's land belong to one or the other, or
to both ? This subject haa been several times
discussed, with some contradictory decisions and
judgments, but the rules are now pretty well es-
tablished . If the stem or trunk of the tree grows
so close to the line that parts of its actual body
extend into each, neither owner can cut it down
without the consent of the other, and the fruit is
to be equitably divided. If the stem of the tree

2&

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

stands wholly within the boundary line of one
owner he owns the whole tree with it« products,
although the roots and branches extend into the
property of the other. There was an old rule of
law that the latter might claim from the yield of
the tree as much as would be an ofiset for the
iiourishmerit it derived from his estate, but this
is now obsolete. The law gives the land owner
on whose soil the tree stands the right to cut it
down at his pleasure, and to pluck all the fruit
from it while it atands. In New York State the
courts have decided that trespass for assault and
battery would lie by the owner of the tree
against the owner of the land over which its
branches extended if he prevented the owner of
the tree, by personal violence, from reaching
over and picking the fruit growing upon these
branches while standing on the fence dividing
the lands. The owner of the land over which the
branches extend may lop the branches close to
his line. He may also dig down and cut the
roots square with his line, if he so elects. In
jilain terms, if no portion of the trunk is within
his line he may refuse all trespass of the tree on
liis premises, either above the ground or below
it. But if he gives the tree license either to ex-
tend its roots under his soil or to hang its branch-
es over his premises he does not thereby gain
any right to its fruit. He cannot pick it for him-
self nor interfere with the picking by the owner,
as long as the latter remains in the tree or on
the fence which divides the })roperty. This
right to the fruit does not, however, permit the
other owner to come upon the soil on the other
side of the line to gather the fruit, and all the
fruit which falls without violence to the ground
on that side may thus become the property of
its owner.

Areca Baueri. — Seaforthia robusta, is a syno-
nym of Areca Baueri, as no doubt most persons
who read the note at p. 380, last month, under-
stood, though the accidental omission of the usual
marks ( ) of parenthesis, made it, perhaps, ob-
scure to some.

Ancient Ploughing.— The annexed illustration
of an ancient British plough and ploughman, is

from a recent lecture by Mr. C, C. Babbington,
as given in The London Gardener's Chronicle.

Scholarly Writing, — Sometime since we noted
the request of a correspondent to " excuse his
poor writing, as he had not the benefit of a scho-

lastic education." "We copied a piece from a
school book by Oomstock, and hoped our cor-
respondent would continue to write somewhat
different from such an example of the scholas-
tic. A contemporary copies what we said, and
gives the following from another school book, by
a Professor Harris, but the title of the book is
not given :

" The reality pushes out the potentiality. Or
there may be a reality whose actuality and po-
tentiality exclude each other. Or, when all po-
tentialities are real, it is an immortal being. Or,
when one potentiality is real all its potentialities
are realized in itself."

Southern Nurseries. — Nothing gives us more
pleasure than to see or hear of the increase or
prosperity of first-clasa Southern nurseries, for
there is no part of the Union which has so many
facilities for the best specimens of gardening as
the Southern States. There are already quite a
number of excellent fruit nurseries, and some,
especially that of Mr. Berckmans, of Augusta,
have quite a high reputation for general nursery
supplies. We hear from a friend who has re-
cently visited the Rosebank Nurseries near
Nashville, that these also are taking a high stand
in this superior line. As they are the oldest
nurseries in the South it is quite a pleasure to
know that they are also up among the leaders in
the new order of things. ♦

T, R. Trumpey. — Among the many changes so
frequent in gardening and nursery establishments
it is pleasant to note the fact of Mr. T. R. Trum-
pey having just passed his twenty-fifth year as
propagator to the Messrs. Parsons, of Flushing.
A quarter of a century with one firm is truly re-
markable. Of the many thousands of rare trees
now giving pleasure to numbers over the length
and breadth of the land, how much of this pleas-
ure is due to Mr. Trumpey's labors ! It may be
that he is not yet rich in this world's goods, (how
that may be we do not know) but he must at
least be rich in the satisfaction he must feel
when he thinks of these things.

James Markey, ihb Celebrated Potter. — On
the evening of November 15th, James Markey,
who has gained a national reputation as an ex-
pert greenhouse workman, dropped dead of
heart disease, near his residence on Jersey City
Heights. Though only thirty-four years of age,
he had been employed in the greenhouses of Pe-
ter Henderson for nearly twenty-three years —
having begun at the early age of eleven years.
In all operations in the greenhouse Mr. Hen-

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

27

derson has always claimed he had no peer for
rapidity and neatness. In the operation of pot-
ting he daily did the work of two average men,
and was paid accordingly.

It will be remembered that some years ago
when Mr. Henderson asserted in the columns of
the Monthly that James Markey potted 7,500
plants in ten hours, several of our readers ques-
tioned the fact. Long since then INIr. Markey
had fiir surpassed even that extraordinary record,
and had repeatedly potted 10,000 in one day of
ten hours; and on one special occasion, in April
of this year, potted 11,500 rooted cuttings of ver-
benas in 2]- inch pots ; a feat probably never
equalled or even approached. Besides being an
extraordinary workman, few men of his years
were possessed of such varied and comprehen-
sive knowledge of greenhouse work. Mr. Mar-
key waa a native of county Meath, Ireland, but
came to this country at an early age, and, ex-
cept two years which he served in the war of the
Rebellion, had been from first to last in the em-
ployment of Mr. Henderson. He was modest
and unassuming to a fault ; a generous-hearted,
open-handed fellow, and enjoyed the respect of
his employer and fellow-workmen to an extent
that few men ever attain.

A. S. Fuller. — This well-known entomologist
and writer on gardening has taken to the study
of mineralogy. At least, he was at last accounts
directing some silver mining operations in New
Mexico.

M. J. Donnelly. — This well known Rochester
nurseryman we find claimed by the Montreal
Post as being formerly " one of them," before
Jonathan absorbed him. He does not, however,
forget his old friends, as he went back there last
September and astonished them with an exhibit
of one hundred varieties of apples, and forty of
pears.

The Botanical Index. — The publication of
this valuable quarterly has been temporarily
suspended, the editor, Mr. Cage, having had to
engage in the meantime in some pursuits which
would interfere with his work on it. There are
numerous admirers of this unpretending effort
who will be glad to welcome its reappearance.

The Flowers and Ferns of the United
States. — When this work was commenced it was
regarded as but an experiment, and it was issued
as an experiment by Messrs. Prang, who promised
to issue one series of 196 chapters only. So far

as popular support went, it was a great .success ;
but they found, as being in the business of litho-
graphic printing, it was not wise for them to go
into a publishing business. Over 5,000 subscri-
bers were found for the work, a number perhaps
unparalelled for a mere scientific work.

Mr. Charles Robson, who purchased the work,
concluded also to try the series, plan, before
issuing it as a regular thing. In this way a
second successful series was issued. It became
evident that the American public would perma-
nently sustain a work of this character, and ar-
rangements were in progress to commence a
regular monthly issue on this first of January.

The drawings were all pi'epared, and the edi-
tor has over fifty chapters ready, so as to be sure
to always have enough ahead to guard against
sickness or accidents interfering with the regular
appearance of the work, when Mr. Robson died
suddenly, of cholera, in September, leaving no
arrangements whatever for the continuation of
his business.

Up to this time the administrator has not been
able to make a satisfactory sale of the right to
'• Flowers and Ferns," and thei'e is therefore no
one as yet to continue the publication of the
work, as was intended. As soon as this matter
shall be settled and another publisher found, the
author hopes to continue in a permanent form
a work which he is pleased to know has given
pleasure to so many thousands of men and wo-
men all over the world.

Proceedings of the Georgia State Horti-
cultural Society. — President P. J. Berckmans.
We note that the Nickajack apple is losing favor
in Georgia. In i-egard to peaches, the Alex.an-
der seems the favorite among the societies.
Numbers of new-fangled things, with high re-
commendations, were voted worthless, or nearly
so; and the famous old Crawford's early, and
Crawford's late, still found to be at the top of
the favorable list. . The society seems to confine
itself entirely to fruit culture, and to be doing
excellent work in that line.

American Newspaper Annual, for 1881, by
N. W. Ayer & Son, Newspaper Agents, Phila-
delphia. There is nothing more necessary to a
successful business than judicious advertising.
Fortunes are made and fortunes are lost by ad-
vertising. To advertise, and to know just how to
advertise, is the mainspring of success. If a pa-
per has a hundred thousand readers, and you
have that to sell which a hundred thousand

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[January,

readers want, that paper is just what you need ;
but, even then, you must be sure that the adver-
tisements are read by the "readers," or your
money will be thrown away. It may be that
what you have to sell will not be needed by one
in a thousand, in that case a paper of ten thou-
sand readers will be just as well as one of a hun-
dred thousand, and perhaps better. These, and
points "too numerous to mention," as the hand-
bills say, enter into the success of advertising.

It seems to us that the great merit of this An-
nual is, that it gives attention to these matters,
more than similar works have done in the past.
It gives some account of the business and sur-
roundings of the leading towns in the country,
among the people of which the papers circulate,
and this is a great help to the advertiser, in de-
ciding whether such " readers " are likely to be
any use to him. Probably too much importance
is still given to mere " circulation ;" a set of figures
supposed to represent this standing after each
paper's name. Of course, some idea of circula-
tion must enter into an idea of advertising, but
the great trouble is to get at the accurate figures
and the character of that circulation. We know,
for instance, of a paper which has less than two
thousand which is given here as eight thousand ;
such errors are very annoying to other papers
which tell the truth, and exasperate them
against " Annuals " of this kind. But, granting
that some idea is necessary, it is difficult to see
how the editors of these books are to do any
better, where they have so many to guess at ;
and all we can say is that it only illustrates an
every-day fact, that the innocent must continue
to suffer for the guilty. We cannot, on account
of this difficulty, avoid the conclusion that, for
all, advertisers cannot afford to do without a
work like this.

A Practical Treatise, on Tree Culture in
South Australia. — By J. G. Brown. Published
by the Forest Board of South Australia.

South Australia sees, as other portions of the
earth see, the absolute necessity of looking for-
ward to its forest interest. It has not yet been
shown that a forest planted to-day will prove
profitable to the owner within a reasonable
time, neither is it always made manifest that
one who plants a forest is investing safely for his
children. Yet it is a national interest that there
should be forests. Thousands of interests de-
pend on timber, and it therefore becomes the
duty of governments to encourage that planting

which it will not pay an individual to do for
himself. Our American State governments have
recognized this principle in various ways,
though their manner of doing it has often been
puerile and sometimes ridiculous. In Pennsyl-
vania, for instance, one dollar is deducted from
the road tax of the person who plants four trees
along the road-side ! In other words the whole
community is to wallow in slush, and wade
through a quagmire to pay a dollar for every
four trees, which, after all the planter may cut
down for bean poles a few years afterwards, for
all the law, as it is written, prevents him. The
only good of such a simple law as this is that it
virtually acknowledges the duty of a State to
enact protective laws in the fostering of forestry.

South Australia, as we find by Mr. Brown's
work, acknowledges its duty in a more sensible
manner. It first looks about to see where for-
ests may be needed. It does not like the Penn-
sylvania law, pay a man twenty-five dollars for
a hundred trees planted in front, perhaps, of a
huge forest which is so inaccessible that it would
not pay for firewood ; but it decides first on what
part of the colony shall be a " Forest district."
In such district, and on his own actually-occu-
pied land he must plant five acres, the kinds
prescribed by the government forester as fit for
that district. The tract must be securely fenced
from cattle. The trees are to be set in accord-
ance with good rules provided, and at the end
of five years, " if the trees are in a vigorous,
healthy condition," and " at least ten feet high,"
he is entitled to two pounds sterling ($10.00) for
every acre so planted. There are some other
minor details, but this is the main feature of this
intelligently practical law.

This work of Mr. Brown is intended to teach
farmers how to plant and care for the forests,
and all they are likely to want to know in order
to make their plantings successful. It seems an
admirable plan all through.

Plants of Indiana. — Catalogue by the editors
of the Botanical Gazette and Charles Barnes,
Lafayette, Indiana. Local catalogues are of
great value. They not only aid the collector,
but they serve very materially those who are
studying the geography of plants ; for we are
not only able to judge of distributions as they are
now, but by comparing them with lists that have
been made in the past, we get an idea of the
changes of location that are continually going
on. It is chiefly through local lists like these

1882.J

AND HORTICULTURIST.

29

that we have learned of late j'ears that plants
are almost as restless as man. They are con-
tinually on the move, and the very term " in-
digenous" has to be limited to modern times.

According to this list there are now known as
indigenous to Indiana 1,432 species and 577
genera. Among some recently suggested changes
here adopted, the critical botanist will notice
his old friend the " Pearl Everlasting'' Gnaph-
alium, or Antennaria margaritacea, has been
removed by Bentham and Hooker to AnaphaJis.
It is now Anaphalis margaritacea. This genus
was made manj'- years ago by De Candolle to
cover a dozen or more of old time Gnaphaliums
of the East Indies, and this change gives
America a representative in this Indian family.

Indian Corn. — An essay by Prof. Beal. This
is another of those little pieces of excellent work
which Prof. Beal is continually performing. One
might read a heavy volume on corn, and not
learn more than is taught here. A point which
interested us very much in this paper is that
though the effects of crossing will often be
shown in the grain of the same season, it is not
always so. Sometimes the characteristics of the
male parent do not appear in the seed till the
succeeding generation. This is a very impor-
tant fact which Prof. Beal should have the
full credit of discovering. Even the fate of a
lawsuit might hang on such knowledge.

General Index to the Nine Eeports on the
Insects of Missouri. — By Charles V. Eiley.
Published by the United States Entomological
Commission.

The great want of the age is the indexing of
the facts brought to light of late years. Socie-
ties and public bodies year after year give to the
public " original papers," which are in no sense
new, but a sheer waste of time and money to
publish ; and chiefly for want of good indexes,
few know what is new. The government can
do no more useful work than issue papers like
these.

A Glimpse at Michigan Horticulture. — By
Charles W. Garfield, Secretary of the State Hor
ticultural Society. This should have been enti-
tled Michigan Pomology, for it deals with this
single branch of horticulture. It shows a won-
derful advance in fruit culture in the State, and
how well the State is adapted to fruit growing.
Mr. Garfield concludes his able remarks by ob-
serving :

"Michigan has a motto upon her coat of

arms. Si quccris pemnsulum ammnam circumspice —
If you wish to see a beautiful peninsula, look
about you. That is no flaming advertisement
of exaggerated proportions, but is a simple in-
troduction to those who enter our borders, the
apparently complimentary language of which
is found by every visitor to be a truthful state-
ment.

"The old derisive songs that told of ague,
marshes, rattlesnakes and wolverines as the
natural products of Michigan, are not sung any
more ; and none visit the peninsular State who
do not go away with pleasant accounts of her
climate, soil, productions and people."

The Hessian Fly.— By Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr.;
being Bulletin No. 4, United States Entomologi-
cal Commission. Published by the Department
of the Interior.

This is another of the very useful treatises
published by the United States Government for
which the people will thank their representa-
tives.

No. 5 of the same series is by Dr. Cyrus
Thomas, and treats of the chinch-bug.

The Wild Garden; or, our groves and gar-
dens made beautiful by the naturalization of
hardy exotic plants ; being one way onward
from the dark ages of gardening, with sugges-
tions for the regeneration of the bare borders of
the London parks. By Wm. Robinson, London,
and New York, Scribner & Welford. 1881.

This heavy title reminds of the revival of
learning, indeed, when the mighty warriors in
the cause of truth, issued their "Sandy foun-
dations shaken," or " Satan attacked by his own
sword," or some other equally valiant book
which carried defiance on the very title page.
Yet we sympathize heartily with the object of
the work, and hope it will be the means of not
only inducing a greater love of hardy exotics,
but also for the many pretty native plants in
which British woods abound.

Mr. Robinson's books are always as beautiful
as they are useful, and this, to say the least, is no
way behind any of its predecessors. We hope
it will have a large sale, both in this country as
well as in the old world, aiding, as we are sure it
must, a genuine love for flowers. In perusing
its beautiful and instructive pages, the only thing
we are sorry for is to find that Mr. Robinson is
not yet convinced that his well-meant efforts to
avoid the use of hard Latin words of plants are
only leading to unutterable confusion. We had
hoped it would have stopped with the Garden,
and not have found a place in a work of such

30

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

permanent value as this. There is no doubt
that the work will lose very much of its value
in this country where the local English names,
or the new ones coined, will not be understood.
Not half the readers here will have any idea
what plants are referred to. If one meets with
a botanical name, and does not know what the
plant is, a reference to some botanical work will
explain it; but there is no work that will tell
him anything about plants with these funny
names. We venture to say that if a list of them
were given even to a first class English nursery,
the order would be returned with the remark
that they could not be supplied, simply because
they are not known by those names. Though
we have endeavored to keep the track of Mr.
Robinson's new names as they appeared in the
Garden, we find a large number here that we
know nothing about, and in consequence all
that he says about the plants might as well have
been written in Chinese. We suppose "Ched-
dar pink" is some sort of a Dianthus, and have
something of an idea what a " wind gentian,"
" Bavarian gentian," or " Caucasian comfrey"
may be; among the many of these species there
is some sort of chance to understand how they
look ; but when it comes to " Barren wort,"
" Mug wort," '■ Handsome evergreen alkanet,"
"Pretty little Rosy Bindweed," and so on, even
" can imagination paint" becomes a question.

Moreover, it does not seem to us that the ob-
ject sought — the introduction of easy names
over hard Latin ones, is really accomplished.
"Geneva Bugle dwarf Boragewort" does not
seem easier to say than if we use its full botani-
cal name — whatever that may be. " Goat's beard
spirsea" is surely no better than Aruncus; and as
for "Bears-breeches," we fancy Acanthup, clas-
sical though it be, will be preferred to the plain
English,

It is some sign, however, of a faltering in this
confusing work to find Mr. Robinson himself
evidently disgusted with it before he gets
through. When he comes to give lists of flow-
ers adapted to his wild garden, he uses nothing
but botanical names. That he may go on under
this conviction of wrong-doing will be the wish
of the many admirers of his useful labors.

The New Botany. — A lecture on the best
methods of teaching. By Dr. W. J. Beal, Pro-
fessor of Botany in the Agricultural College,
Lansing, Mich.

Neither botany nor horticulture is what it was

a half century ago. True gardening in these
days embraces a knowledge of flowers to an ex-
tent that makes the gardener really a botanist,
while botany is a great deal more than a mere
classification of a lot of dried sticks. In the
new order of things botany deals with plant-life,
! just as gardening does. Few have done so much,
j probably no one has done more to make botany
' popular than Professor Beal. In this lecture he
j tells how he does it. No better service could be
j rendered to botanists and gardeners than to
! have this lecture in the hands of every teacher.
We hope it will have a wide circulation.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Various Questions. — " G. McC," Boulder,
Colorado, sends us various questions, written on
both sides of a sheet of paper, which prevents us
from classifying them, as it is generally best to
do; so we have to find a place for all of them
under the '' literary " head. It is never wise to
write on more than one side of a sheet when
sending matter to the press. He says :

" Will you please give me information upon
the following points in the Gardener's
Monthly : 1. What work on landscape garden-
ing is best adapted to small rural places ? Can
you recommend Scott's?

" 2. Give the names and addresses of the secre-
taries of the State Horticultural Societies of Cal-
ifornia and Kansas, also Utah, if there are such.

" 3. It is said that fruit of first-class flavor can-
not be gi'owa on land on which water is allowed
to stand, and hence such fruit cannot be grown
in localities which require irrigating. Further-
more, it is said that California Oranges and other
fruits, though often of monstrous size, are defi-
I cient in flavor, and cannot compete in the eas-
I tern markets with those grown in Florida or
Louisiana. Is this true?

'' 4. An esteemed horticultural friend of mine
takes strong ground against horticultural socie-
ties and journals. He says, ' When an inventor
discovers any thing of general value he at once
secures to himself the advantages by letters pa-
j tent, instead of turning it out to public use.
Why, then, should a pomologist be expected to
be so generous as to give away the results of
long and costly experiments 1 As to horticultu-
ral papers, it is generally the novice that writes
for them. The experienced and successful man

1882 J

AND HORTICULTURIST.

31

holds his tongue, and endeavors to profit by his
discoveries.' This reasoning seems cogent. What
says the Gardener's Monthly about it?"

[For first-class work, on large or small places,
there is no work like Scott's. Every one inter-
ested in genuine horticultural taste should have
this work in his library. For smaller efforts,
such for instance as the making of a farm neat
and cheerful in its surroundings, the work of
Elliott, published by Dewey, of Rochester, gives
valuable assistance.

2. There are either horticultural or pomologi-
cal societies in all the States named. The officers
are usually changed about this time every year ;
but if you will write to Mr. John Reading, Salt
Lake City, Utah; Mr. Charles H. Shinn, Niles,
California, and J. K. Hudson, Topeka, Kansas,
they will no doubt with pleasure give the names
of those in office.

3. Report is correct ; but why should water be
allowed to "stand?" It seems to us no more
difl&cult to under drain land that is to be irrigated
than land which is watered by the rain. The
writer of this paragraph has had three separate
occasions of being personally well acquainted

with the soil about Boulder city, and is quite
sure there is no more reason why as good fruit
cannot be grown there as in any part of the
United States. Indeed he looks on irrigation as
a better agent, in successful agricultural or hor-
ticultural operations, than the agency of nature
in her fickle rule of rain, and has seen nothing
to take back since he announced these views in
an address in Greely, in 1871.

4. Your friend is perfectly right, if all the
knowledge he expects to gain is only such as
inventors can patent, or such as any man may-
be largely interested in keeping to himself. We
quite agree that no man should be expected to
be so generous as to give away the results of
long and costly experiments.

We do not pretend to give, for two dollars a
year, this costly and valuable information. But
though our readers may not get a thousand dol-
lars' worth of information for two dollars, it is
generally believed that they do get two dollars
worth ; and we have little doubt, if the esteemed
friend did not want quite so much for the money,
he would find two dollars spent on the Garde
ner's Monthly worth at least that sum.]

Horticultural Societies.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

BY WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, PHILADELPHIA.

On page 320 of the Gardener's Monthly, for
October, you ask why do not exhibitors exhibit,
and say that those engaged in getting up exhibi-
tions have generally to get on their knees and
beg of exhibitors to send something to the fair,
etc. Now, I had an idea that editors were well
posted persons on all subjects, and that the editor
of the Gardener's Monthly was the best in-
formed man among them all. But I regret to
see that I have been mistaken.

Why exhibitors do not exhibit is simply be-
cause the premiums are not enough to cover
the expenses. Allow me to give yourself and
readers some incidents of personal experience.
In September, 1876, at the Pennsylvania Horti-

cultural Society's autumnal fair, I exhibited one
hundred varieties of succulents, consisting of
Echeverias, Sempervivums and Cotyledons —
many of them were new plants shown for the
first time, and were growing in four, sjx and
eight-inch pots. The cost of getting them to and
from the hall, cleaning the pots and labeling
the plants, was as follows :

Two men one day each (at $1.50 per day),
$3.00; one load furniture car to hall, $1.00 ; one
load furniture car from hall, $1.00; one hundred
large labels for plants, $1.00 ; one man one-half
day returning with plants, etc.,75 cents ; making a
total expense of $6.75. This exhibit covered about
one hundred and fifty square feet of table room,
and, although it was the centre of attraction, the
committee for awarding prizes gave a special
premium of only $2.00. You will readily srn
that I was likely to be $4.75 out of pocket. Eii
be it said, to the credit of the secretary of ti.o

32

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[January,

society, that he was so ashamed of the action of
the committee that he made up the deficiency
out of his own private purse; but exhibitors do
not always come out so well, and consequently
will not bring their best productions to the ex-
hibition.

Last year, at the State Fair of the Pennsyl-
vania Agricultural Society, I exhibited fifty dis-
tinct varieties of Coleuses, grown in eight-inch
flower pots, and, after sending a man to water
them every other day during the fiir, which
lasted two weeks, I received the munificent sum
of $3.00 for my prize — about one-fourth the price
of the production of the specimens, and certainly
not half the price paid for the plants, as many
of them were new varieties.

Again, look at the Chester County's Agricul-
tural Society premium list of the State Fair,
held at West Chester in September. For green-
house plants (strong growing collections), first
prize, $5.00; second, $3.00; while for the Bicycle
race the first prize was $20.00; second, $10.00.
For designs of cut flowers for table decoration
the first prize was $2.00; the second, $1.00;
while for the best carriage afghan of zephyr
work, which any one could roll up and carry
under his arm, a prize of $3.00 was given for the
best, and $2.00 for the next best.

Now this kind of treatment is not very en-
couraging for horticulturists to bring their best
productions to the various exhibitions, and, as
long as the prizes will not cover the expenses,
exhibitors will be scarce.

I- is all very well for those who have the
getting up of exhibitions in charge to tell ex-
hibitors that it acts as a good, free advertisement,
thus bringing their names more fully before the
public, etc., etc.; but the most of exhibitors — at
least all of the commercial ones — are willing to
pay for printer's ink for that purpose, and gener-
ally do so.

EDITORIAL NOT^S.

Pennsylvania State Horticultural Society.
— The annual meeting will be held this year in
Harrisburg, on Wednesday and Thursday, 18th
and 19th of January, in the rooms of the State
Board of Agriculture. The usual programme
will be ready shortly.

State Horticultural Societies. — Most of
these have their annual meetings in January ;
nnd after a while we shall have requests foru

" notices," to appear in our January number.
It does not seem to occur to all of our readers
that the preparation of a monthly magazine be-
gins a month before the date of its appearance.
At the time of this writing we have no notice at
hand of any one of those meetings. We can
only say that in former times, when devoted to
fruit growing for market chiefly, they were
always interesting, but since the most of them
have changed from pomological to horticultural
societies, and now take in every branch of gar-
dening, they appeal to every person of intelli-
gent culture, and are more than ever worthy of
the support of the best people in the districts
where the meetings are held.

Horticultural Exhibitions. — According to a
recent paper by M. Joly, the first horticultural
exhibition ever held in France, »vas by order of
Francois de Neufchateau, Minister of the Inte-
rior. It was held in 1798, and brought out 110
exhibits. The Horticultural Society of Paris
was founded in 1827 ; held its first exhibition in
the orangery of the Louvre, and of the Luxem"
burg Palace. Vilmorin had much to do with
their success. The grand international exposi-
tions of 1855, 1867 and 1878, in Paris, did a great
deal to foster and encourage horticulture.

In referring to the exhibitions of London, M
Joly shows how much of the success is due to the
enterprise of its leading nurserymen ; and
names especially in this connection Veitch, Bull,
Sutton, and Carter. He claims that France
should be, by virtue of its climate, the garden o f
Europe ; but inclines to the belief, that the
princely love of flowers is not as great as in Eng"
land. He believes that the French horticultural
societies have a mission to fulfil in doing more to
reach the floral eminence of England.

Essays at Horticultural Meetings. — The
Germantown Horticultural Society had essayists
who were appointed at one meeting to prepare a
paper for the next. This worked well for a little
while, but it was found in time that all the work
fell on a few. Now a person is appointed to pre-
pare a subject for discussion. The subject is
announced at one meeting, to be discussed at the
next. In this way the members come prepared
either to ask more questions, or to communicate
what they may know. A recent discussion on
rose culture was especially interesting, from the
many good points thrown in by persons who
sually say not a word.

<^^

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J- DUX

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A/

CLUB. ^
^ YOBvS;

THE

GARDENER'S MONTHLY

AND

HORTICULTURIST.

DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS.

Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N.

V^ol. XXIV.

FEBRUARY. 1882.

Number 278.

Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

It is often a matter for surprise that the
English should grow what they call "American
plants" better than we can. These plants form
the greatest attraction of their grounds. Why
should not America grow American plants?
Now, what they call American plants are only
those chiefly which belong to the Ericaceous
family. These are Khododendrons, Azaleas,
Kalmias, Andromedas and such well-known
beautiful flowering shrubs in which America
abounds. But it is not generally known here
that they could not grow them there if it were
not for the garden art and garden skill at the
back of their culture. We could grow them
just as well here if we took pains to understand
theif wants. All these plants have delicate,
hair-like roots, and require a cool, aerated soil
to do well in. They hate water above all things,
and yet desire a soil in which moist air abounds.
In their native places in our country they are
often found growing, apparently, in swamps;
but when we examine carefully none of the
roots, or at moat only the tap roots are down in
the water; all the hair-like roots are in the moss
which abounds above the water in the swamp, or
in the cool peaty matter which is above the water
in those places. There is moisture in this material.

It can be often squeezed out as from a wet
sponge ; but there is air, too, any quantity of it,
and it is this combination which these plants
desire. Not even England, where the atmos-
pheric condition is so favorable from the combi-
nation of air and moisture, would the plants do
well unless the same conditions were supplied
to the ground. The good gardener would not
think of planting these shrubs in the ordinary
earth. Soil is usually provided for the pur-
pose, and tons and tons of peat often brought
from long distances in order to grow them well.

It is not necessary that we should get peat for
them. Anything that will tend to lighten the
soil and permit the free passage of air and water
through it is sufficient. Broken bricks, stones
old boots and shoes, rotten logs — anything of
this kind will do, and of course the part of the
grounds the least subject to drying winds should
be chosen. There is no reason why, with a little
study to adapt our circumstances to the wants
of these plants, we should not have as good
"American plants" as they have in England.

As the season for planting is approaching, it
may be as well to remind the planter that there
are now thousands of beautiful trees and shrubs
to choose from. At one time there was some
excuse for the man who planted, over and over
again, soft maples and poplars. These have still
their uses, but the choosing of more variety and

34

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[February,

beauty is one of the best marks of an educated
taste. Those of our readers who have followed
the excellent papers on new or rare trees and
shrubs given in our columns last year, will have
good guidance as to what to choose.

All of this in a general way. It may be as
well to offer a few practical suggestions in the
matter of detail work suited to the season.

Many delay pruning shrubbery until after se-
vere weather passes, so as to see what injury
may be done — but with March all should be fin-
ished—taking care not to trim severely such
shrubs as flower out of last year's wood, as for
instance, the Wiegela — while such as flower from
the spring growth, as the Althaea, Mock Orange,
&c., are benefited by cutting back vigorously.

Those which flower from young wood, cut in
severely to make new growth vigorous. Tea,
China, Bourbon and Noisette roses are of this
class. What are called annual flowering roses,
as Prairie Queen and so on, require much of last
year's wood to make a good show of flowers.
Hence, with these, thin out weak wood and
leave all the stronger.

To make h,andsome, shapely specimens of
shrubs, cut them now into the forms you want,
and keep them so by pulling out all shoots that
grow stronger than the others daring the sum-
mer season.

Graft trees or shrubs where changed sorts are
desirable. Any lady can graft. Cleft grafting is
the easiest. Split the stock, cut the scion like a
wedge, insert in the split so that the bark of the
stock and scion meet; tie a little bast bark
around it, and cover with Trowbridge's grafting
wax, and all is done : very simple when it is
understood, and not hard to understand.

If flowers have been growing in the ground
for many years, new soil does wonders. Rich
manure makes plants grow, but they do not
always flower well with vigorous growth. If
new soil cannot be had, a wheelbarrow of ma-
nure to about every fifty square feet will be
enough. If the garden earth looks grey or yel-
low, rotten leaves — quite rotten leaves — will im-
prove it. If heavy, add sand. If very sandy,
add salt — about half pint to fifty square feet. If
very black or rich from previous year's ma-
nurings, use a little lime, about a pint, slacked,
to fifty square feet.

If the garden be full of hardy perennial flow-
ers, do not dig it, but use a fork, and that not
deeply.
Dig garden ground only when the soil is warm

and dry. Do not be in a hurry, or you may get
behind. When a clot of earth will crush to
powder as you tread on it, it is time to dig — not
before.

If perennial plants have stood three years in
one place, separate the stools, replanting one-
third, and give the balance to your neighbor
who has none.

Box edgings lay well now. Make the ground
firm and level, plant deep, with tops not more
than two inches above ground.

Roll the grass well before the softness of a
thaw goes away. It makes all smooth and level.

In planting trees remember our repeated ad-
vice to use the pruning knife freely.

We would again repeat a suggestion we re-
cently made in regard to rustic summer houses.
They can often be very cheaply made. In our
country they should be open on all sides.

COMMUNICATIONS.

PROPAGATING YUCCAS.

BY A LADY OP CHARLESTON, S. C.

Yuccas, or as we in South Carolina call them,
" Spanish Bayonets," grow wild with us. At a
pic-nic in the woods I had left our party and
was hunting wild flowers at the edge of a tide
swamp when I came upon a quantity of large
Yuccas lying across my path. Evidently they
had been cut oS" the land to clear a path for
some wood cutters, and there they lay in the hot
sun in a heap.

I had the handsomest brought to Charleston,
and used them on my house for Christmas de-
coration, where certainly they remained for
several days. They were afterwards thrown into
a corner of the yard. Sometime afterwards I
perceived my trees were throwing out roots, and
I finally planted them about the garden. They
all grew but one, and are now fine specimens.
As I put in the ground the great stems entirely
without roots, I thought it might interest florists
to know they can be propagated in that way.
Planted in the shifting sand of a bluff by the
sea, they prove excellent aids to preserve the
bluff from being blown away by the wind, and
when in bloom in large heaps, as we see them,
they are very imposing, the heads of blossom so
exquisitely white against the stiff dark leaves.
There is a large-flowered Evening primrose,
CEnothera, (originally the seed was brought from
Germany, it is said,) which covers the sands

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

35

every summer on the coast near Charleston,
which has lately attracted much notice from its
beauty and profusion. The flowers bloom close
to the ground, and are so numerous that the
sands are golden in the evening. The plant has
thick reddish stems, which throw out deep stiff
roots, holding firmly to the sand. The leaves
are insignificant and greyish in color.

SOME NEW ROSES OF 1881.

BY JEAN SISLEY, LYONS, FRANCE.

Tea, Etoile de Lyon (Guillot), splendid yellow,
large, free bloomer, strong grower.

Tea, Beauts de 1' Europe (Gonod), very vigor-
ous, like Gloire de Dijon, large, very full, dark
yellow.

He Bourbon, AbbcS Girardin (Bernaix), large,
full, well shaped, delicate pink, darker centre.

Hybrid perpetual, Ulrich Brunner (Levet), is-
sue from Paul Neyron, cherry red, large, well
made.

Hybrid perpetual, Violette Bouyer (La-
charme), large, well shaped, white, shaded
flesh, style of Jules Margottin.

Hybrid perpetual, Helene Paul (Lacharme),
verj' large, globular, beautiful white, sometimes
shaded pink. Style of Victor Verdier.

PUBLIC GARDENS OF ST. LOUIS.

BY CHARLES CRUCKNELL, ST. LOUIS, MO.

One of the favorite parks of St. Louis is
" Lafayette," and a beautiful place it is. Thou-
sands of people gather here, more particularly
on Sunday, and are seen wandering through the
shady avenues, or sitting about under the trees
enjoying the beauties of nature. The park con-
tains about thirty acres, is centrally located and
of easy access by street car. Near the centre is
erected a bronze statue of Benton and beneath
are the words, "There is the East; there is India,"
from a speech of the great statesman. On the
south side of the park is a statue of Washington,
around which are planted very pretty beds of
foliaged plants. The carpet and mosaic beds
have been a chief feature of the attractions this
season. No less than twenty-five thousand plants
were set out, chiefly foliage plants. These are
contracted for and furnished by the city florists.
In addition many beds are made up of annuals,
Cannas, Caladiums,-grasses, roses and herbaceous
plants. Nine hundred Coleus Verschafi"elti and
fifteen hundred Coleus Setting-sun were planted,

these being the only Coleus used. The last
named bids fair to equal the former in general
usefulness. It has stood the heat and dryness of
the past season extremely well, and being of a
rich golden color has imparted a glorious effect
to the grounds. A variegated Stevia worked in
well for lining the designs. "Lafayette Park"
in large letters cut in the grass near the walk
proved an immense attraction to j'oung and old.
Two rows of Echevaria secunda glauca formed
the outside, and a single row of Alternanthera
spathula in the centre completed each letter. A
c'rcular bed of more intricate design contained
the Missouri coat of arms. The ground work of
this appeared to be a dwarf Pilea about three
inches high, and remained green all through the
season. The bears in this bed made a good deal
of amusement for the youngsters but they were
perfectly tame.

Another bed cut in the shape of a large cornu-
copia, the mouth filled with tea roses, and the
balance planted with various colored foliage
plants was charmingly pretty. Of the many
carpet beds planted, nearly all retained their
distinctive features until the first frost of the
season occurred, November 2d, thus ruthlessly
destroying the floral beauties of this, the garden
park of St. Louis.

BROWALLIA AS A BLUE BEDDER.

BY CHARLES E. PARNELL, QUEENS, L. I.

In reply to W. D., who asks for the name of a
blue bedding plant in the January Monthly, page
8, 1 would say that I know of none better than
Browallia elata major, (grandiflora of some cata-
logues). This Browallia is an old plant but is
not as extensively known as its merits entitle it to
be. It is a half-hardy annual growing about
eighteen inches in height. It can be readily
raised from seed. The plants should be set about
ten inches apart. The flowers are produced in
the greatest abundance and are both beautiful
and delicate. I do not think that the blue
Lobelia will answer W. D.'s purpose and would
advise him not to try it.

MR. HUNNEWELL'S GARDEN AT WEL-
LESLEY.

BY WM. FALCONER.
NO. II.

Rhododendrons.— There is no finer show in any
other garden in the country than that afforded
by the Rhododendrons at Wellesley in early

36

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

May. There are hundreds upon hundreds of
half-hardy plants, vast bushes and little ones,
tastefully arranged in beds upon the grass, un-
der the skeleton framework of a mammoth
tent. While the shrubs are in blossom, the can-
vas is spread over the frame, but as soon as the
flowering time is over the canvas is removed
and the shrubs allowed to make and ripen their
new growth unshaded. Old flowers and seed
vessels are picked off and lots of water given in
protracted drouths. In November these half-
hardy Rhododendrons, with as good balls of
roots and earth as can be taken with them, are
transplanted, or " heeled-in " rather, in earth
beds, in large cellars and other more favorable
quarters, specially constructed for them. Here
they remain cool and uninfluenced by variations
of temperature till April, when they are again
transferred to their outdoor places, as before.
Besides the spacious accommodations formerly
provided for wintering half hardy rhododen-
drons in, Mr. Hunnewell has just had completed
a substantial structure of masonry, with an in-
side measurement of 66 feet long, 18h feet wide,
and 12 feet high; light and ventilation are ad
mitted by windows on the roof and ends. This
building is among the trees on a northern (I
think) slope, and is provided with large doors
and a good cartway leading to them, so that very
large plants may be conveniently handled. An
older but somewhat similar cellar-building is
fitted up with double sashes and shutters as
proof against severe weather, and in it is a fire-
place and flue to be used in case of dampness.

In the summer time palms and other suitable
plants are associated with the rhododendrons
under the tent frame, the pillars and timbers of
which are clad and draped in Clematises, Wista-
rias and other permanent vines. And surround-
ing this are deep banks of hardy Ehododen-
drons, backed for effect and shelter's sake with
other shrubs and trees, and on one side with
hedges. Lilies and other bulbous plants grow up
among the bushes and prolong the flowering
time. But outside of this particular spot, rhodo-
dendrons, old and large, are massed in groups,
banks, and beds, and in great numbers too.
In the case of the hardy rhododendrons, the
beds containing them were deeply and well
made, to begin with, and now they are heavily
mulched with tree leaves every fall. These
leaves are a partial protection against frost in
winter, and are allowed to remain during sum-
mer, partly for nourishment, and partly as a re-

lief against drought. But Mr. Harris says he
should prefer to have the rough leaves removed
in spring, and a dressing of rotted leaf soil ap-
plied instead, as he would thereby not only be
feeding the plants, but bringing their roots
within the influence of every passing shower, in
spring and summer, whereas, when the heavy
mulching of undecomposed leaves remains upon
the beds in spring, many a light but beneficial
shower is spent upon the mulching without
reaching the roots. The following hardy and
half-hardy kinds of rhododendrons are recom-
mended by Mr. Harris : Hardy, — Album elegans,
blush, changing to white ; Alexander Dancer,
bright rose with pale centre; Archimedes, rosy
crimson ; Caractacus, rich purplish crimson ;
Charles Dickens, dark scarlet; Delicatissimum,
pale blush ; Everestianum, rosy lilac ; H. H.
Hunnewell, dark rich crimson ; H. W. Sargent,
crimson ; Lord John Russell, pale rose (apt to
get a little winter hurt) ; Mrs. John Clutton,
white, very fine ; Mrs. Milner, rich crimson and
Purpureum elegans, fine purple. Half-hardy, —
Alarm, white, edged with crimson ; Auguste Van
Geert, rosy purple ; Brayanum, rosy scarlet ;
Cynthia, rosy crimson ; Elfrida, rose, much
spotted; Fleur de Marie, rosy crimson; James
Macintosh, rosy scarlet ; J. Marshall Brooks,
rich scarlet; John Waterer, dark crimson ; Jo-
seph Whitworth, dark lake ; Lady Armstrong,
pale rose, and Lady Eleanor Cathcart, pale rose.
Indian Azaleas are largely represented, and in
addition to forming with the hardy varieties and
the Rhododendrons a special show in the spring,
they are in blossom in succession from Christ-
mas till June. As they finish blooming they are
introduced to warm, moist quarters, and encour-
aged in growth. They are then gradually inured
to cooler treatment, and in the summer time
plunged out of doors, in a well-sheltered yard,
there to remain till the end of September or first
of October, when they are removed to cool
greenhouses or pits. They remain in these pits
till December when a majority of the latest of
them are moved into the cellars with the Rho-
dodendrons, to stay till spring. When any of
them grow out in a straggling, misshapen man-
ner, Mr. Harris has no hesitation in pruning
them hard into the old wood ; this he does early
in the season, and introduces them at once into
heat, moisture and shade. Buds break out all
over the old wood, and although an idea prevails
that this first year's wood will not yield flowers,
Mr. Harris tells me he succeeds in getting some

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

37

blossoms from it. Among the more recent addi-
tions, Mr. Harris recommends Empress of In-
dia, Charmer, Madam Jean Wolkoff, Oswald
de Kerchove, Jean Vervain, Paul de Deschry-
mer. Countess of Beaufort, Princess Louise, Ar-
gus, Imbricata, Madam Marie Van Houtte, and
Segismund Rucker. And he speaks highly of
Prime Minister, Lady Musgrave, and one or two
other varieties of Amoena, and which are an im-
provement on the typical form ; they must be-
come popular, as they are so easily forced.

Deciduous or hardy Azaleas are the chief ful-ni-
ture of a garden, by themselves, where they are
grown in beds like roses. They comprise what
are generally known as Ghent Azaleas, also the
Japanese mollis, and its many varieties. The
azalea garden is surrounded by trees and shrubs,
and it is instructive to note how the azaleas
turn their backs to their shade-bearing shelter,
and stretch forth their branches to the light.
They are not mulched with leaves, as the Rho-
dodendrons are, but instead are top-dressed with
compost. The brilliance and variety of these
beautiful shrubs, when in bloom, are great, and
they are so hardy too that they appeal to every
amateur. Although there are many named va-
rieties, Mr. Harris is of the opinion that mixed
varieties are good enough for any purpose.
Speaking of azaleas reminds me of a remark by
Professor Sargent, and made to me in his garden
a year or two ago : " If I were confined to one
shrub, I should choose the hardy azalea."

remarks about designs, letters, or otherwise in
beds, not being done with neatness. I have
read and travelled for information on this sub-
ject, but have always come back home with your
opinion. Bedding I have studied for years as
done in Europe and elsewhere.

r thank you for your kind remarks on my
beds, of which I sent you photographs, which
only give you an imperfect idea of what they
are, as many other designs are just as correct in
line and form as those sent.

BLUE FLOWERS FOR MASSING.

BY N. ROBERTSON, GOVERNMENT GROUNDS, OTTAWA,
CANADA.

For "W. D's.," Sandusky bed, instead of the blue
Lobelia (you suggest) to accompany the Achry-
anthus and Centaurea would be the Ageratum
John Douglas, and then the Achryanthes and
Centaurea will have to have frequent stopping to
keep them to one height and be effective.

A better bed can be made of his design if he
will use any of the following plants that I sug-
gest: Alternanthera, red ; LeucophytonBrownii,
white, and then blue Lobelia, as they grow about
one height, and the two first will bear trimming.

Another, Phlox Drommondii, scarlet and
white and blue Ageratum, but must be in good
mass, the phlox to be pegged down to the same
height and line, which will much add to the
poass of color.

I can assure you that I agree with you in your

NOTES FROM THE WEST.

BY IROQUOIS.

How we all admire a beautiful lawn, during
summer, with a well selected collection of orna-
mental trees, shrubs and vines, properly trim-
med and otherwise cared for, but how desolate
and dreary this same lawn usually looks, for at
least four months of the year, especially if not
well supplied with evergreens. Now we all
know that nearly or quite all the so-called ever-
green trees and shrubs, not included in the class
of Conifers, in this latitude (40° North), wil
retain their foliage but a short time after the
cold and freezing weather of autumn and early
winter has fairly set in ; and that the true ever-
green of our temperate zone must, almost ex-
clusively, be a Conifera, which is not, as a rule,
a popular or even desirable tree or shrub to
plant on the lawn, with the majority of our peo-
ple, whose idea of a fine tree or shrub is one that
produces " lots of flower? " during spring. As a
rule, the existence of the lawn during the winter is
perfectly ignored, except possibly to tie up a
favorite and tender rose and shrub with a big
bundle of straw or some other equally unsightly
object.

Now it is a well known fact that our native
trees, shrubs and to a large extent our native
vines are not considered worth the time and
trouble of transplanting, by the majority of our
people, consequently, not being saleable, our
nurserymen devote very little time and attention
to their culture and improvement. But there
certainly are among our native forest trees, many
that are worthy a place on any lawn, and equal,
if not superior, to many foreign and unaccli mated
species for which we are all often only too glad
to pay an exorbitant price to secure even a poor,
sickly specimen. Among the number of worthy
native trees— and the last whose foliage seems to
defy the conquering elements with its great

38

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

power of endurance — is the oak ; and, as if to add
additional beauty to its majestic form in the
last days of autumn, it is clothed with the most
gorgeous dress of crimson, bronze and green,
which makes it the glory of our autumn
forest. However, their foliage is in time seared
and browned from the effects of the continuous
frosts and crisping autumn winds, and although
often attached to the tree for a long time, still,
by the middle of November or first of December
their beauty is gone for the season. Were it
not for an insignificant, and (by the landscape
gardener) rejected native vine, our forests would
be entirely devoid of green foliage after the first
of December. This despised vine, our native
Smilax, or as it is popularly called by the
country people, the Bramble or Greenbrier,
comes nearer being a true evergreen than any
of our native deciduous plants. Holding as it
does its large glossy green leaves until late in
the winter, it forms a very conspicuous feature
in many a thicket and grove, especially if it be
in a warm and sheltered position. In our
enquiry among those living near its native
habitat, no one seems to know It by the names
of cat brier China brier, rough-bindweed, or
even sarsaparilla as the popular name is some-
times said to be applied to it in some botanical
works.

Our standard botanies enumerate fifteen
species as natives of the United States, all of
which are found growing wild in the great Mis-
sissippi Valley, and all of which are worth culti-
vating; but I do not remember to have ever
seen a single specimen under cultivation. I
very much doubt there being a half dozen plants
so grown in the country. All portions of the
world furnish a proportionate number of spe-
cies, many of which are of great economic
value in their contributions to medicine ; while
a few foreign tropical species are among our
choicest greenhouse plants. Perhaps it would
not be amiss to say that Sir Joseph Paxton, in
his Botanical Dictionary, reduces the whole
species of Smilax to six, four of which are found
in North America and two in China, while the
remaining forty species he classes as varieties or
eynonyms of valid species. This is without
doubt too conservative a view of the subject to
meet the ideas of the botanical student of
today.

As Smilax rotundifolia, or the large round leaf
Bramble would be to our notion the handsomest
and most desirable of all our native species for

cultivation, we will call particular attention to its
many good qualities, with the hope that it may
stimulate a desire on the part of those want-
ing plants of actual merit for ornamental pur-
poses, to make a trial of this native vine ; for the
effort certainly will repay all cost and trouble.
As seen in its uncultivated condition, we find
this species growing in moist, rich ground,
usually in a thicket of underbrush, where its
long and flexible stem often reaches the length
of thirty feet; not usually, however, growing
more than ten or fifteen feet high, but creeping
from branch to branch, holding fast to each one
by its wire-like tendrils thrown out from the
base of each leaf-stem. While the whole upper
portion of the stem is thickly covered with large
round-ovate or heart-shaped leaves. Sometimes
it prefers a location in a neglected fence corner,
when it trails along the fence, occasionally grasp-
ing a stray weed or shrub for additional support ;
and rarely it is seen climbing to the height of
twenty or twenty-five feet from limb to limb on
a thorn-apple bush or something of similar
habit, where its glossy foliage makes it an object
of great beauty after the tree has dropped all its
leaves and fruit. Now, if we only follow nature's
instruction and plant in deep rich soil and ^ow
them to cover a fence, frame, or even on a low-
growing tree, and to make up for their natural
lack of branches, plant a number of specimens
near together, we have from our own fields what
we cannot procure from the nurseryman, i. e., an
evergreen vine, hardy, and most certainly adapted
to our climate. One serious objection to its
popularity with many will be its inconspicuous
greenish flowers, but its bunches of bluish
black fruit in autumn will more than compen-
sate for the loss of flowers in spring when all
nature seems to be alive with flowers.

A FEW HINTS ON THE CHRYSAN-
THEMUM.

BY WALTER COLES, BELVIDERE, N. J.

Having received several inquiries respecting
the Chrysanthemums I exhibited at the Ger-
mantown Horticultural Society, probably a
short article on their culture would be interest-
ing to lovers of this beautiful Fall flower. I
have been asked what varieties they were, and
where they can be obtained. There were only
four in number, which were George Glenny,
Venice, Virgin Queen, ' and Eve, which I got
from Mr. Peter Henderson of New York ; there

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

39

are many more varieties which are just as good,
if not better than those named. While in Phila-
delphia, in November last, I made a visit to the
Horticultural Hall at Fairmount Park. The
Palms and Ferns were a lovely sight, and in ex-
cellent condition. But to my eye the most
striking thing there was a house of Chrysanthe-
mums. There was almost every color you can
mention, with the exception of blue, and that
we must never expect to see, if we look into the
natural law of colors. I made note of one or
two of the most striking varieties, — Temple of
Solomon, a very large yellow, extra fine ; Hero of
Stoke Newington, Antonella, Empress of China,
Jardin des Plantes, Mrs. George Mundle, and
many others. I find it best, if good specimen
plants are wanted, to start the cuttings from
November to January, but I prefer the former ;
after the cuttings are started, a cold greenhouse
near the glass is the best place to grow them ;
never let them get dry or pot-bound. "When
they have obtained a height of four or five in-
ches the top should be pinched out, to encourage
side shoots ; as soon as the small pots are filled
with roots give them a liberal shift, which, by
the end of June, will require pots from eight to
twelve inches. I think the Chrysanthemum,
like the rose and strawberry, delights in new,
fresh loam, with one-third good, rotten cow ma-
nure. Some people will advise to fill the pot
one-third full of bi-oken pots, for drainage ; but I
think it is quite time for us to leave ofi'such old
whims, that our grandfathers practiced years
gone by.

1 found last summer I had to water our plants
twice a day, without any crocks at all in the
bottom, only a piece of rough turf, and the pots
plunged into the ground to their rims. I think
nine out of ten will agree with me that good,
rough, rich loam is better for a gross feeder like
the Chrysanthemum to grow in, than a lot of
old broken pots. In stopping the shoots it is im-
portant to stop them all at one time. i''ou will
often see some a little stronger than others; but
you will find if they are stopped, and the weaker
ones are left, the growth will run to the ones
left untouched, and an uneven plant is the result.

Last May I planted a row of young Chrysan-
themums in a border, on the north side of the
house, forming a back row of some bedding
plants, mixing with each plant a good spadeful
of well-rotted manure. From the end of October
to the middle of December, this row of Chrysan-
themums was the admiration of the town. Thev

flowered fully two weeks later than our neigh-
bors'. The Chrysanthemum can be trained to
almost any shape, of which I will write some
other time, should the editor think it would be
interesting to our readers.

A BLUE BEDDING PLANT.

BY C. D. WARDE, CONCORD, N. H.

In answer to the inquiry of " W. D.," in the
January number, would suggest as a fine blue
bedding plant for ribbon beds, and as a most ex-
cellent companion for Centaurea and Achyran-
thus, some of the dwarf compact growing varie-
ties of the Ageratum mexicanum. Have seen
beautiful efiects produced with them in the
Jardin de Luxembourg, in Paris, in the fine
gardens of Hon. S. W. Hale, of Keene, N. H.,
and elsewhere. Start the plants early and trim,
to the proper shape.

N£IV OR RARE PLANTS.

New Alterkanthera Aurea.— This is a great
acquisition for yellow lines in ribbon-line plant-
ing; of a fine habit, dwarf and compact ; foliage
light green and golden yellow— the yellow pre-
dominating.— P. Henderson.

Dwarf Double Geraniums. — These are the
"newest novelties" in the Geranium line. On the
Continent of Europe, they have now Princess
Stephanie of this class. It grows only from ten
to twelve centimeters high. The flowers are
double, rose color with a light centre.

New Dahlia, " Juarezii."— The grandest nov-
elty of the year, and not only a novelty but a
most valuable and useful decorative plant for all
purposes through the late summer and autumn
months. Its blossoms are of a rich scarlet, and
very much resemble in shape and color the well-
known Cactus, Cereus Speciosissimus. Height
about 3 ft., very bushy, flowers of very striking
appearance, and quite unlike those of an ordinany
double Dahlia, the florets being flat and pointed;,
during the fall and winter the flowers sold at
fifty cents each.— P. Henderson.

New Dwarf Sweet Chestnut.— A new orna-
mental shrub lately introduced from Japan.
The fruit or nuts are edible, and are produced
freely on plants three feet high. The nuts are as.
large as the common " Horse Chestnut," and are
equal in quality to the common small chestnut.

40

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[February,

The enormous size and good quality of the fruit
will undoubtedly make it a valuable article of
commerce, while the ornamental character of
the shrub will recommend it for lawns or hedges.
Perfectly hardy around N. Y. — P. Henderson.

Improvement of the Common Garden Mari-
gold. — Among the ti-iumphs of modern garden
art is the taking up of old garden flowers, and
making them yield to the improving ideas of the
florist. Every body knows the common garden
pot Marigold ; and, pretty and popular as it is,
who would suppose that after culture for so many
hundred years, anything more could be made of

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

CALENDULA OFFICINALIS, METEOR.

it? Yet here we have a drawing of one sent out
by Haage & Schmidt of Erfurt, and which they
call " Meteor," which is as " double as a daisy."
Besides the double flower it has the novelty of a
pale orange stripe down the centre of each straw
colored petal. Now that improvement has been
started, we shall expect a race of new kinds in
this popular garden flower.

The Diamond Tuberose. — We are crowded
this month, and have hardly room for all the
long correspondence on hand in regard to this
plant. It seems sufficient to note that Nanz
& Neuner say they were aware that an attempt
was made to impose on two eastern firms a kind
which was " far from being the Diamond which
we offer." They "know it to be just as they repre-
sented it," except that it was an error to say as
we did, "five to eight inches ;" it should be " fif-
teen to eighteen inches." But, since the ques-
tion has been raised, they decided not to sell till
they had exhibited plants this summer, so that
all could see for themselves. This seems fair
enough.

The Drop Worm. — W. F. Bassett, Hamraon-
ton., N. J., writes : '• If I understand what you
call ' Bag. or Drop Worm,' I think you are in
error on one point. Some of the cocoons are
doubtless emptj', but others are full of eggs for
next year's crop, and if all of them are care-
fully collected now and burned, there will be
none next year; as the full-grown cocoons are,
from their color and size, much easier seen than
the small ones, this comparatively leisure sea-
son is a much better time to destroy them than
summer."

[Mr. Bassett is right. The statement was one
of those unaccountable slips sometimes made
for which there is no excuse. — Ed. G. M.]

Hardiness of Rose Reine Marie Henri-
ETTE. — Mr. Terwilliger, of Saratoga, N. Y.,
writes : " Please state that the rose ' Reine
Marie Henriette,' stood outside uncovered dur-
ing the winter '80 and '81, mercury going to 32°
below zero, and came out nicely, bloomed all
summer and is now in bloom (Sept. 6). La
France was by them, also unharmed, plenty of
snow to cover them."

Greenhouse and House Gardening.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

CULTIVATION

OF THE
MUM.

CHRYSANTHE-

BY D. RHIND,

With very little
ment I have good success with these,

canandaigua, n. y.
care and simple treat-

I propa-

gate in March ; as soon as well rooted pot them
in two and a half or three inch pots, pinch-
ing them if they grow too lanky before planting
out, which I do as soon as the ground can be
got ready. They should be placed in a cool
house or frame for a few days previous to setting
out; frost won't hurt them if so treated. When

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

41

they have grown about a foot, cut them back
near the ground so as to get them stocky with
as many branches as possible. Afterwards only
pinch the strongest shoots every third or fourth
week ; it should be discontinued some time in
August, according to the weather. Water when
necessary; make a small basin around each
plant to hold it. Lift and pot as soon as the
flower buds can be seen. I get plants by this
system having from thirty to fifty shoots. As
soon as potted plunge in a tub of water, which I
do with all plants taken up at this season. Place
in the shade and sprinkle overhead as long as
necessary. The large flowering varieties, like
Empress of India, should be disbudded, leaving
only one bud to a shoot. After two weeks use
liquid manure till they are almost in full bloom,
then discontinue — the flowers last longer. I
grow about a hundred plants this way. If there
is a shorter way I would be very glad to find it
out.

ISOTOMA LONCIFLORA.

BY V. DE NIEDMAN, WASHINGTON, D. C.

In the December issue of the Gardener's
Monthly I have noticed the remarks on Isotoma
longiflora, and was surprised at the price asked
for this plant, Isotoma longiflora, or Rapuntium,
or Hippobroma longiflora Don., is an inmate of
our gardens here for more than thirty years, and
as a native of Jamaica it will never make much
in winter in a cold or greenhouse, while in a hot-
house it will thrive very luxuriantly, and rather
too much so, as often to my great amazement —
will not say at all '' a pleasant surprise." I
find the Isotoma, together with Pteris serrulata,
Oxalis and a few more other good things, to
overrun our orchid and stove-houses to such an
extent that it is at times difficult to state which
of them is the worst weed and the most trouble-
some to the grower, as the Isotoma seeds in
great quantities and freely, although the flowers
generally come one by one. The plant itself, by
this latter quality, will never produce a showy,
striking eS"ect as a winter-blooming hothouse
plant, but is likely more adapted for out of door
culture in a rockery, perhaps, among other
herbaceous plants. In regard to using Isotoma
for cut-flower work, I would have little to say,
as I never have used them, but would think
little adapted for this kind of work on account
of their length and soft character. In speaking
of the fragrancy of the flowers, I would like to

mention that Isotoma belongs to the order of
Campanuleae lobeliarise, and, like a good many
plants of the same order, possesses in all its parts
poisonous properties, even also in the odor or
fragrancy ; and as there are records of people
having suffered from effects of this poisonous
plant, I thought a little cautioning would be per-
haps not altogether disregarded.

THE AUSTRALIAN GLORY FLOWER
CLIANTHUS DAMPIERI.

BY WILLIAM FALCONER, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

At Oakley, Mount Auburn, on November 20th,
I saw a lovely specimen of this most gorgeous
plant. Last spring Mr. Allan, the gardener, had
a lot of seedlings, robust plants in good bloom-
ing order; some he grew in cold frames and
others planted out in the borders ; those in the
frames gave most satisfiiction. Seeds ripened
by those plants were sown on August 4th, and
the beautiful specimen just referred to is one of
these late seedlings. It is growing in a cold
frame, well packed around with dry litter and
matted over when occasion requires to exclude
frost. The earth in the frame is about fifteen
inches beneath the glass surface, and the
branches of the plant, about four feet in spread,
are trained out horizontally about eight inches
under the sashes. The plant is growing vigor-
ously, and from every leaf axil arises a cluster
of blossoms or buds. When we saw it, about a
dozen clusters were fully expanded, and Mr.
Allan assured us he had already cut off twenty-
three clusters. The sunny position of the frame,
the nearness of the Clianthus to the glass, and
the cool temperature of the season, incited a
brilliance of color not attained in the blossoms
of spring and summer.

The great difficulty in growing this Glory
Flower successfully is its susceptibility to damp
off at the neck and sensitiveness to root-mutila-
tion in re-potting. To avoid these, Mr. Allan
grows his seedlings in three-inch pots, and just
before they would likely need shifting knocks off
the bottoms of the pots, and without disturbing
the roots in the least sets the pots to within an
inch of their depth in prepared beds, where the
roots can ramble at will. The little pot acts as
a collar-guard to the plant, and no water is
afterwards allowed to be given within that col-
lar ; thus although the roots may be well watered
the neck of the plant is kept dry.

The Glory Flower is a native of the desert

42

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

\ February,

regions of Australia, where it assumes the form
of a small scrubby bush or woody vine. Its
leaves and young wood are thickly clad with
white woolly hairs; its brilliant scarlet blossoms
have a large black-purple spot at the base of the
standard, are very showy, and vividly distinct
from any other of our cultivated flowers. Al-
though a true perennial, as a garden plant, it
has usually given most satisfaction when treated
as an annual.

TRICOPILIA TORTILIS AND T. SUAVIS,

BY C. H. S,, BALTIMORE, MD.

The above Orchids can both be cultivated in
the same way though they come from different
countries. Owing to their mode of flowering
they are best cultivated in pots, and I find that
tney are impatient of too much water when they
are beginning to grow, being liable to damp off
if too much heat and moisture is given at that
time. I fill the pots to within two inches of the
top with broken crocks, then fill with sphagnum
moss tightly pressed down, and then make a
mound nearly two inches high, and on the top
place your plant. This is necessary, because the
flowers are pendant. It would be advisable in
making pots for orchids to have some small
holes under the rims, through which to run
copper wire to secure the plants on the moss.
After they have become well rooted the wire
may be drawn out. This mode of potting is
suitable to all the Tricopilias, Lycastes, Maxil-
larias, Pilumnse, Bollas, Batemania and other
orchids that have large flowers with short stems.
I prefer, with any of the above, to give the roots
a good soaking, by putting the pots in water
once every two or three days, to slightly damp-
ing the moss with a syringe. This will be often
enough even when in active growth, and when
they have finished, once a week will be suffi-
cient. Tricopilia tortilis and suavis do well with
a rather dry temperature of from 50° to 60°
from November 1st until April, and after that
to be kept from 60° to 75°. It may be that at
times the thermometer will go up to 90° in spite
of shading, but it will do no harm if the house
is kept well saturated with moisture. Odonto-
glossum Cervantesii and all its near allies, are
a little difficult to grow nicely, owing to our ex-
tremely hot and dry climate. They come from
an elevation of about 4000 feet in Mexico in the
shady valleys. The young growth is easily rot-
ted ofi" by too much heat and moisture, which is

also the case with most cool orchids. I grow 0*
Cervantesii in saucers, such as are used to place
under flower pots, but the saucers are hung
vertically, and the plants secured by wire through
holes made for the purpose. I am growing
many small Orchids in these saucers, which are
one and a half inches deep and of various diam-
eters. Odontoglossum Rossii, 0. Ehrenberghii,
Oncidium Kramerii, O. varicosum, all do well,
and it is impossible almost to overwater them,
even though they ai-e dipped every day, in the
growing season, as any surplus immediately
runs off. These saucers can be made of any
size. 0. Cervantesii should be grown as cool
as possible in summer, and at about 50° through
winter.

STEAM HEATING.

BY WALTER M. TABER, DETROIT, MICH.

If agreeable to the readers of the Gardener's
Monthly, we accept Mr. Fowler's invitation and
give our experience with steam heating, well
knowing that if it give others the satisfaction it
has given us, the days of hot water heating, as
well as those of all other modes are short. In
August, 1880, we intended placing in our green-
houses a hot water apparatus, when the articles
in this magazine by Mr. Bochmann and Parker
Bros, on steam heating, attracted our attention.
And after quite a correspondence with these
gentlemen, and for whose kindly suggestions we
are grateful, we erected what we believe to be
the first successful steam apparatus in the West.
Our boiler is below the radiating pipes, thereby
doing away with the use of a steam trap, which
would only be necessary were the boiler placed
above the pipes, and which comes to the relief
of those who cannot secure drainage, to place
their boiler below the ground surface. We carry
the steam from the boiler through a two inch pipe
to a two inch pipe crossing the ends of all the
houses, above the doorways in the shed, with a
drop pipe and valve of from one to one-and-a-
half inches for each coil, according to the amount
of radiating surface in the coil, which connects
by a manifold with one inch radiating pipes
under the bench, running the entire length of
the house, with eight inches fall in one hundred
feet, connecting at the further end of the house
by manifold pipe and valve with a two inch re-
turn pipe to boiler, which crosses the ends of all
the houses, receiving the condensed steam from
all radiating coils — the return pipe being about
one foot under the ground, and having a fall

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

43

towards the boiler, thus obtaining a complete
circulation much the same as in a hot water
apparatus. In the severe weather of last winter
with the thermometer fifteen degrees below zero,
five pounds of steam was all that was necessary
to maintain a temperature of sixty-five degrees;
and we find that steam will circulate in all the
pipes when the guage shows not one ounce of
pressure. We have visited the establishment of
the Messrs. Reneman & Bro. of Pittsburg, whose
apparatus was erected we believe by Mr. Boch-
man, and noticed that their radiating pipes were
two inches, each pipe being supplied by a three-
quarter inch pipe, with an outlet of one half
inch, their boiler being above the heating pipes;
they use an Albany steam trap to return the
condensation to the boiler, the use of which I
think objectionable, where not necessary. Mr.
Fowler says, " Regarding the larger pipes, their
cost is nearly double that of the smaller, and if
the latter can be made as efi'ective. this is surely a
saving." While I do not see any special advan-
tage of large pipes over small except in cheap-
ness, Mr. Fowler must know that more heat is
obtained from one two inch pipe, than from two
one inch pipes. Others were so pleased with the
working of our apparatus, that to-day there are
six greenhouse establishments in this citj' heated
by steam, all erected the past summer; and as
far as I know are giving entire satisfaction.
Steam has been used to some extent in Chicago,
but has never been made a success, and as I
intend visiting that town soon, I may be able
to tell the readers of the Monthly in a later
number, why it is thus.

THE OLEANDER.

BY FLORAMANT.

The Nerium, commonly called the Oleander,
is a much neglected though a very beautiful
plant. It is an erect-growing, evergreen shrub,
of the easiest culture, abundant in flower, ex-
quisite in fragrance. They flower freely when
scarcely a foot high, but will attain a height of
ten or twelve feet. Hardy along the gulf coast.

To bloom them in perfection they need a
stove, and yet do well in the parlor and out of
doors, budding out finely. In potting give plenty
of pot room, and use a soil composed of equal
parts of loam, well rotted manure, and peat or
leaf-mould.

Their natural period for blooming is July; but
that may be changed and bloom produced at any

season. Under favorable conditions they will
bloom until frost, bedded out.

One way to manage these plants is to let them
have a short rest after the summer flowering,
which can be effected by drying. Then trim to
within a few ej'es of the previous year's wood,
having due regard to the symmetry of the plant,
and place in a warm greenhouse, encouraging
them to make a short growth before winter sets
in. In the spring shift into above compost, and
stop the young growth so far as necessary to
make good heads. If not convenient to shift as
the plant grows, give liquid manure.

Another system is to pot in spring as above ;
and if any of the plants have bad heads cut them
down to the shape desired. The old wood will
push new shoots. Keep the plants thus headed
down until May, when they may be planted in
the garden ; or if that cannot be done, turn them
out, reduce the ball of earth by probing with a
pointed stick all around the sides and bottom of
the ball, cutting off any very matted roots. If
any of the roots are decayed cut them into the
sound wood. Re-pot into same tub, filling in
with fresh compost, and give very little water
unless there are signs of vegetation.

These plants may also be re-potted in August;
and as they are of a strong habit will not be in-
jured thereby, and that is a convenient season to
do the work, as it is out of doors. They may be
wintered in the house or in a light cellar, and
should then be but slightly watered; during the
growing and blooming seasons, however, they
should have plenty of water. Cuttings strike
root with great ease if kept moist.

Neriums are generally seen, when blooming,
with as much growth above the flowers as below
them ; this is the result of neglect. Soon after
the trusses of bloom show themselves, young
growths of wood start from the base, and if these
are allowed to remain, the flowers are weakened
and hidden. Pick them out as soon as seen,
and the flowers will form beautiful heads above
the foliage.

Flower buds frequently form late in the fall,
lie dormant all winter, whilst the foliage and
branches continue to grow, and in the spring
expand into full-blown flowers, which then ap-
pear stuck in the midst of leaves, with branches
all around them.

These plants are frequently infested with
white scale. For that, scrub stems and wipe
leaves with a strong decoction of tobacco, heated
to about 100°, and clean afterwards with soap

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

and water ; or, with a whisk broom sprinkle
thoroughly with Paris green prepared in water,
as for potato bug, repeating several times
through the summer.

It must be noted that the wood, bark ^and
leaves of this plant are all poisonous. Death
has resulted from eating meat in which skewers
of Oleander wood have been used ; the pow-
dered bark is used as a rat poison, and an infu-
sion of the leaves is a powerful insecticide.

The principal varieties described are Nerium
oleander, the common rose-colored single-flow-
ering species, from which many varieties have
originated ; N. 0. splendens, the most popular, a
double rose colored flower; N. 0. striata fl. pi.,
with double flowers, striped rose and white ; N.
album maximum, semi double, white ; N. grand-
iflorum plenum, double rose ; Shaw's seedling,
deep crimson, single ; N. macrophyllum, very
double and large, deep pink ; N. album plenum,
double white; N. atropurpureum plenum, dark
. purple, rich ; N. cardinale, double rich purple
vermilion, lighter in centre of petals, very fine.
N. flavum duplex, double yellow, fine and dis-
tinct ; Geant des Battailles, single, light blue cen-
tre, petals edged with crimson, very fine; N.
madoni grandiflorum, double white, free flower
ing, fine ; Professor Durand, fine double yellow ;
N. 0. Eleganti ssimum, a most beautiful plant
with deep, silver-edged foliage, and young wood,
striped white and green ; and many other fine
varieties. The writer, however, doubts whether
there is such a thing as a truly double white, or
a true vellow.

STEAM HEATING.

BY ALEX. MURDOCH, PITTSBURG, PA.

Friend Fowler can rest assured that steam will
not ''smoulder." It is undoubtedly the coming
heater for greenhouses — until superseded in its
turn by electricity — and before long is destined
to enter into the construction of all new ranges
of houses ; if not substituted for other methods
in those already built. Around Pittsburg it has
been introduced with invariable success, and
rose-growers from Summit and Madison have
been here taking notes. Where we (John R. &
A. Murdoch) grow our roses in the 22nd Ward,
we this summer took out a No. 16 and a No. 17
Hitching's corrugated boiler and two thousand
feet of four-inch pipe ; and after making an ex-
tension of 100 feet by 20 feet, put in steam with
most satisfactory results, adding a steam-pump,

with which we raise water from the brook below
to water the houses and supply the boiler.
Two-inch pipe was used excepting where the
valves were placed; here we used one-inch pipes
and smaller valves to reduce the cost of valves.

We consider steam as safe as hot water, and
much easier to regulate, aside from the economy
of labor resulting in the decreased number of
fires necessary. After a winter's experience, we
may refer again to this important topic.

DENDROBIUM CAMBRIDCEANUM.

BY WALTER GRAY.

"G. C." will find this plant do best to grow it on
a block of wood or in a basket, with peat and
moss ; suspend it from the roof and as near the
glass as possible. It requires plenty of heat and
moisture when growing, and when it has made
its growth, should be placed in a cooler position
with less water until it begins to grow; then
bring it back into more heat and moisture to give
it a quick growth. It produces its flowers upon
the first season's growth early in the spring.
It is a grand species ; flowers, dark yellow, some-
times orange color, tip crimson.

ON THE CULTURE OF THE CAMELLIA,

BY JOHN WOODING, PENCOYD, MONTGOMERY CO., PA.

The soil heat adapted to the growth of Camel-
lias is a mixture of peat and rotten sod in nearly
equal proportions, with a little silver sand added.
Where the soil is peculiarly light and sandy, a
less quantity of peat is requisite. Mix this well
together, but not sifted ; use it as rough as possi-
ble, as it is necessary the soil should be open and
porous ; the plants will have a more healthy ap-
pearance. In potting use plenty of broken
crocks, thereby securing a free drainage, a cir-
cumstance indispensable to the success of the
plants. The proper season for the general shift-
ing is when the young growth is hardened, and
the blossom buds for next year can be detected
at the extremity of the shoots. After shifting
all those that require it, place them <)ut in the
open air in a shady place; an occasional
sprinkling of the foliage will improve the ap-
pearance as well as be beneficial to the health of
the plants. At all times attention must be paid
to watering them properly, the roots being apt
to become matted in the pots, so as to render the
ball of earth impervious to moisture ; hence it is
necessary to see that the ball of earth is moist-

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

45

ened by the water poured upon it instead of the
web of fibres only, this requiring an examina-
tion of the roots, and reducing or pruning them
at least once a year, a measure almost indis-
pensable.

At the respective periods of growth and flower-
ing, the plants will require plentiful watering,
during the latter, if not regularly supplied, the
bloom buds will infallibly fall off instead of ex-
panding into flower. At other times a moderate
supply is essential. The eff'ect of constantly
watering may be presumed to diminish or des-
troy the fertility of the small quantity of earth
allotted to each plant; therefore, when the an-
nual re-potting occurs, carefully take away as
much of the former ball of earth as can be done
without injuring or cutting the roots.

The Camellia may be considered as a hardy
greenhouse plant, requiring a temperature only
just above freezing point. Like the myrtle, it
will succeed much better than when grown in a
higher temperature.

The usual methods of propagation are by
grafting and budding on the single red Camellia,
cuttings of which are found to strike root more
readily than of the double varieties. The cut-
tings are taken as soon as the young shoots are
sufficiently ripe at the base. They are carefully
prepared by being cut smoothly over with a
sharp knife at a joint, and divested of one or two
leaves at the bottom, and then planted firmly
about two inches deep in pots filled with the
Camellia compost, before described, and the
upper part filled with fine sand. They are then
well watered and the plant^s plunged over a little
gentle heat and kept closely shaded for three or
four months, by which time short fibres or a
callus, from which they afterwards diverge, are
produced, When suflftciently rooted to bear re-
moval, they are potted singly in small pots, the
sand being then carefully removed. The pots
should be well drained and filled with the
Camellia compost, with the addition of a little
white sand. They are afterwards to be sprinkled
with water and placed in a close frame or pit,
until they begin to root afresh, and by degrees
exposed to the air.

The succeeding season they may be potted in
the same soil as the other Camellias, and simi-
larly treated, and many of the plants will then
have obtained sufficient size and strength for
budding, and all of them by the following sea-
son. The best time for budding is as soon as the

new wood is sufl3ciently ripened, but it may be
done at almost any season of the year.

NICHT-OPENINC FLOWERS.

BY J. H. KRELAGE, HAARLEM, HOLLAND.

The fact related in the Gardener's Monthly
of November, 1881, page 341, of a Cactus flower-
ing usually at night, and by exception in the
daytime is very interesting, and it would be of
great interest to know the name and origin of
this plant. From the given notice it might be
Cereus triangularis (Haw.); Cereus compressus
(Mill.); Cactus triangularis (Lin.); Cactus triangu-
laris aphyllus (Jacq.); which in our climate usu-
ally opens at six o'clock in the evening, and lasts
till eleven o'clock the following morning. It has
fine white flowers, and broad flat epiphyllum-
like leaves. Here it flowers very rarely, and
only when of some age, and when permitted to
fix its aerial roots in some brick wall. Cereus
Napoleonis (Grab.) ; Cereus triangularis major
(Salm. not Pfeifier's), is very near to this, also with
white flowers, but which open in the morning
and close in the evening of the same day. If
this last w^is not so very scarce, one could think
the described Cactus to be a hybrid between the
triangularis and Napoleonis. Like some hybrids
of Cereus grandiflorus, the well-known night-
bloom^g Cactus, also, has here a different flow-
ering period.

ROSES FOR ORNAMENTAL FRUIT.

BY W. C. STRONG .

Fully endorsing your opinion as to the desira-
bleness of the Dog, Cinnamon and Carolina Roses,
for their showy fruit in autumn, let me add that
Rosa rugosa (Japan) is superior, by far, to any
other variety in this respect, and also that its
large flowers and rich, luxuriant foliage render
it one of the most desirable shrubs of recent in-
troduction.

DENDROBIUM CAMBRIDCEANUM.

BY MANSFIELD MILTON, YOUNGSTOWN, O.

This fine Orchid from the north of India de-
serves more attention by lovers of the beautiful
than it gets. It is a deciduous drooping species,
and is shown to best advantage when grown in a
basket, given plenty of water during the period
of its growth, gradually withholding as the

46

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

shoots mature. The flowers, which are of a j temperature to grow in, and will produce its
bright orange, having a crimson blotch on the i flowers more abundantly if well ripened by

jASMixuM GRACiLLiMUM. (See Opposite page.)

lip, are produced on the young growths during I being kept close to the glass, having plenty of
-the spring months. It requires a good high | light, but not too much of the burning sun.

1882.]

AND HORIICULTURIST.

47

NEW OR RARE PLANTS.

Jasminum gracillimum (see illustration on
preceding page). — We have briefly noted this
novelty in our last year's volume. It seems
to be an introduction of more than ordinary
value, on account of the great demand for
first-class winter-blooming flowers. We give the
following representation of it, together with a
sketch of its history with which we have been
favored by Messrs. J. Veitch & Son, of Chelsea,
London, through whose enterprise it was first
introduced to public notice :

"A beautiful Jasmine, collected for us in Bor-
neo by Mr Burbidge.

"The following is Sir J. D. Hooker's descrip-
tion of the plant in the Gardeners' Chronicle for
January 1st, 1881 :

" ' A very near ally of the well-known Jas-
minum pubescens of India and China, the type
around which are to be arranged a good many
closely- allied species, differing in habit, in the
size and number of flowers, and of the divisions
of the corolla, all of them natives of Eastern
Asia and its islands.'

" ' Of these Jasminum gracillimum is one of the
most distinct in its graceful habit, and in the
abundance of its large sweet scented flowers,
w'hich are also more copiously produced, in
which respect I know of none to compare with
it. It appears to be a small species, with long,
very slender branches springing from low down
on the stem, and curving over on all sides,
weighed down by terminal globose panicles as
large as the fist.'

" We may add, that as a decorative plant for
the stove and w^arm conservatory, Jasminum
gracillimum is probably the best of recent intro-
duction. It is exceedingly floriferous ; a flower-
ing shoot is produced from every joint, which
terminates in a dense cluster of pure white frag-
rant flowers. The plant is continuously in
bloom from October to January, and its grace-
ful habit renders it one of the most beautiful of
flowering plants for table decoration at that
season."

" It received the award of a first-class certifi-
cate from the Royal Horticultural Society, De-
cember 14th, 1880.

Cyrtodeira metalica. — A new basket plant
now popular. Of creeping habit. Its leaves are
a rich bronze color, marked in the centre with
pink. The surface of the foliage being covered
with minute white hairs, gives it a silvery ap-
pearance ; very beautiful . — Henderson.

Begonia Schmidtit.— Although we have seve-
ral times referred to this pretty addition to the
popular Begonias,we continue to have inquiries
concerning it, and have thought that the follow-

ing sketch of its history, furnished by Haage &
Schmidt, of Erfurt, will be generally interesting :

"Begonia Schmidtii, Kegel. A new species
grown from seeds which we received from the
South of Brazil. It neither belongs to the tu-
berous-rooted nor to the large-leaved ('Rex
hybrid') sorts and maybe classed to the shrubby,
small-leaved and free-flowering kinds such as the
well-known species : Dregei, incarnata, Ingrami,

Weltoniensis. Among'these it is certain to rank
foremost and become a very popular sort on ac-
count of its extraordinary abundance of flowers ;
the latter are white, slightly veiled with pink,
and form an agreeable contrast to the foliage,
being dark green with a metallic lustre. The
dwarf branching and regular globe-shaped habit
of the plant makes it a most desirable acquisi-
tion for decorative as well as for market pur-
poses. Literally covered with flowers from May
to the end of October, it will continue in bloom
through the winter if treated under any ordi-
nary circumstances ; so that this species may
justly be called a perpetual-flowering Begonia.
The culture is tlie same as of all the other
shrubby sorts, thriving well out of doors during
the summer and in a temperate stove during the
winter months.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Shy Flowering Plants.—" B." says : "Can you
or some of your readers inform me what treat-
ment is required to make Ageratums bloom
freely? I have three fine varieties, Blanche,
Lady Jane and John Douglas, and they grow
very vigoreusly but produce very few flowers.
How long does it take seedling Geraniums to

48

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

(February,

flower? I have some twenty which I raised from
seed last winter, and most of them are over one
foot in height but only one shows any signs of
flowering."

Violet Eubra Plena. — " C. E. P." says : " If
any of the readers of the Monthly have had any
experience with Violet rvibra plena, which is
described as ' being of a red (?) color and very
distinct,' and Violet Marie de Savoy which is
described as being ' very large and fragrant and
of a deep blue color with a white centre,' they
will confer a favor on me by reporting the result
through the columns of the Monthly?"

Anthurium crystallinum. — " Subscriber "
wants to know: ''Can you or some of your
readers give me some information concerning
the treatment of Anthurium crystallinum ; of
what country is it a native ; do the flowers possess
any beauty, or is it grown only for its superb
foliage? I am giving my plant the same treat-
ment that I would give A. Scherzerianum ; but
it does not seem to thrive under it."

Harris' Lilium longiflorum.— Mr. Kift places
on our table a plant of his ''Floribundum," to
show how freely it flowers. It having been
grown in a three-inch pot. This is indeed re-
markable.

We have no doubt in our mind that Mr. Kift's
Lily and Mr. Harris' are essentially the same,
and that it is not worth while perpetuating the
two names. As Mr. Harris' was first named,
we suppose under the rule of priority it will con-
tinue to be called the Harris Lily. From all we
can learn this variety has become partially
naturalized in Bermuda, and has come to us both
direct from the island and also sent through
Florida. Its original home is in Japan.

Double Red Bouvardia.— -F. Morat, Louisville,
Ky., writes: "I sent you to-day by mail, one
flower of a rose colored double Bouvardia. It
is a sport of double white A. Neuner. It is quite
constant. I have about 300 plants of them now
in bloom."

[This is very beautiful, and to say the least is
quite as desirable as the double white. — Ed. G. M.]

Fruit AND Vegetable Gardening.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

In managing the vegetable garden the highest
excellence should be aimed at. This is the chief
source of pleasure in a garden. If one can take
no pleasure in his garden, — if the watching of
the beautiful processes of natiire in furnishing
him food, and the many lessons they teach him,
which he in a thousand ways can so pleasurably
and profitably apply, have no] charms or attrac-
tions for him, — he had better give up gardening,
for assuredly, in most cases, — even 99 in 100
instances, — the market gardener will bring the
vegetables to his own door cheaper than he can
grow them. Amateur gardening should prima-
rily be pursued for the lessons it teaches, and the
pleasure it affords ; when it ceases to do this it
should be abandoned.

All those kinds that are grown for their leaves
or stems require an abundance of nitrogenous
manures ; and it is useless to attempt vegetable
gardening without it. To this class belong cab-

I bage, lettuce, spinach, etc. The other class,
which is grown principally for its seeds or pods,
as beans, peas, etc., do not require much ma-
nure of this character — in fact they are injured
by it. It causes too great a growth of stem and
leaf, and the earliness — a great aim in vegetable
growing — is injuriously affected. Mineral man-
ures, as wood ashes, bone-dust, etc., are much
better for them. For vegetables, requiring rich
stable manure, it is best that they have it well
rotted and decayed. Nothing has yet been found
so well fitted for the purpose as old hot-bed dung ;
though to the smell no trace of " ammonia " re-
mains in it.

All fruit trees like a rather dry, rich soil. On
a cold, clayey bottom, diseases are usually fre-
quent.

Do not plant deep; cut off tap roots, and do
all you can to encourage surface fibres. Surface
manuring is the best way of doing this, after the
tree is planted. Do not allow any thiag to grow
vigorously around your trees the first year of

1882.J

AND HORTICULTURIST.

49

planting, nor allow the soil to become hard or
dry. Let trees branch low, and prune a little at
transplanting.

The Strawberry, where it has been covered
during the winter, should be uncovered as early
as possible in spring, that the warm spring suns
may exert all their influence on producing an
early crop. As soon as growth commences, a
sowing of guano has been found to be of great
benefit to the crop of fruit.

Raspberries and Blackberries may be planted
towards the end of the month ; they should be
cut down to within a foot of the ground at
planting ; they will, of course, not then bear the
next season after planting. But this is a benefit ;
no fruit tree should be allowed to bear the same
season.

Pruning of fruit trees, when required, should
be proceeded with at favorable opportunities.

The rule, in pruning grape vines, is to shorten
the shoots in proportion to their strength ; but,
if the advice we have given in former summer
hints has been attended to, there will be little
disproportion in this matter, as summer pinch-
ing of the strong shoots has equalized the
strength of the vine. Those who are following
any particular system will, of course, prune ac-
cording to the rules comprising such system. As
a general rule, we can only say, excellent grapes
can be had by any system of pruning ; for the
only object of pruning, in any case, is to get
strong shoots to push where they may be de-
sired, or to increase, with the increased vigor of
the shoot, which pruning supposes will follow
the act, increased size in the fruit it bears.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

FRUIT CROP IN TENNESSEE.

BY E. S. NIXON, CHATTANOOGA, TENN.

In this part of the South, the fruit crop of
the season just closed affords a subject for reflec-
tion and thought that is worth looking into.
Not that there can be any remedy, as the terri-
tory affected is so extensive, but a knowledge
of the probable cause of the failure may do some
good.

In the early spring it was noticeable that there
were some localities, particularly in low ground,
where the peach trees failed to bloom, and the
trees looked as though they were dead, not a
single bloom appearing on any of them, while on

higher grounds on either side within a short dis-
tance all the trees were in full bloom.

A strip of this kind running parallel with, and
east of Missionary Ridge, in Tennessee, extended
quite a distance into Georgia. This was our first
trouble.

Subsequently, or on the first day of April,
there was a heavy snow storm, the wind blowing
from the north-west ; the weather after it re-
mained was very cold for several days. At this
date the fruit trees were in full bloom. It was
a beautiful sight, but to the fruit-grower a very
unwelcome one.

The cold wave seemed to take a south-east
course, its eastern edge being about the line of
the Nashville & Chattanooga and Western & At-
lantic Railroads, resulting in the almost total
destruction of the fruit crop of Alabama and that
portion of Georgia west of said line, and south of
Atlanta. Apples, pears and peaches all fared
alike, the pears probably came off a little the
best.

At Calera, Alabama, there are a few pear or-
chards that are well cared for ; they bore proba-
bly one-tenth of a crop of defective fruit, and this
was the best that could probably be produced in
the State.

During the summer I visited several counties
of North-east Georgia, east of the Western &
Atlantic Railroad and north of Atlanta, and the
fruit crop there was immense. I saw hundreds
of peach trees with every main limb broken
down with the very heavy load of fruit on them.
The apple trees were equally well loaded, but
they were able to sustain the weight.

It must be remembered that the trees have no
care whatever, never having been pruned to
make them able to sustain the weight of the
fruit. The people said this was the first crop
they had seen in four years.

East Tennessee, which also escaped the cold
wave, has had the best fruit crop it has had for
some years. The people of that section dried
the most of their fruit, which brought them a very
good price, while the people of Georgia, with
very few exceptions, saved but very little of it,
the hogs coming in for the largest share. Some
of the finest was hauled to the railroads, where
the parties lived adjacent to them, but hardly
any of it was shipped off. Most of the peaches
(being grown on seedling trees) were small and
the owners did not know how to dispose of
them.

In several localities I noticed that the Shock-

50

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

ley apple trees looked very badly rusted, the
leaves dropping off; many of them were dead
outright, while other trees in the same or-
chard looked green and healthy. I fear the days
of the Shockley — in the South at least — are num-
bered. It promised to be the best late apple
ever introduced in the South, and I have seen
some very fine ones this fall ; but from the way
the trees are decaying in various places that I
have seen, even before the dry weather set in, I
would not plant another tree of it, or advise any
of my friends to do so.

FORCING STRAWBERRIES IN POTS.

BY WALTER COLES, GARDENER TO J. I. BLAIR, ESQ.,
BELVIDERE, N. J.

"P. F.," Jersey City, N. J., in your November
Gardener's Monthl-s;, asks for a few hints on
strawberry forcing, which no doubt will be in-
teresting to most readers of this paper. I willstate
the method I have most successfully fruited them.
The first thing is to get a mixture of soil three
parts good rotted sod, previously cut from an
old pasture and one part well rotted manure thor-
oughly mixed. Fill as many three inch pots as
the required number of plants you wish to force,
sink them to their rims alongside of the rows
from which you propose to obtain your plants ;
this should be done as early as possible, for in
this earliness depends the success. Layer the
young runners into the three inch pots; keep them
well watered, and in about three weeks they will
be rooted nicely. Be careful only to have one
plant in a pot, as one plant produces better results
than two or three. As soon as the small pots
are filled with roots, they are ready to be potted
into six inch pots which I consider the most
suitable. They should be potted with the soil
above described, rather firm. Then stand them
in a open, airy situation; never allow them to get
dry,but encourage them to make as much growth
as possible, so as to get the six inch pots well
filled with roots. If not well filled with roots
before the end of the season j'ou might as well
throw your strawberry plants away as to attempt
to force them. If it is convenient, after the plants
are potted they had better be plunged to the rim
in sawdust, coal-ashes or waste tanbark, which
will keep the plants moist. Be careful not
to plunge them or place them anywhere for the
worms to get through the bottom of the pots.
Leave the plants in this open situation until tne
middle of November. Then they should be put

in a cold frame, the pots plunged to their rims
! in some light material, or an old hotbed pit, filled
' with dry leaves would do as long as it keeps the
roots from freezing, and so they can" be got at
I easily at any time for the forcing department.
The ashes should be put on to keep the plants
from severe freezing, but air should be admitted
I on all favorable occasions to keep them as cool
, as possible, for one should imitate nature as near
as possible; therefore, the plants should be in
j their dormant state at this time. Now the time
1 of introducing the first lot of plants to heat will
be considered with due regard to the time when
' ripe fruit is expected.

j If wanted by the first of March, the first lot
I had better be brought in about December loth
or 20th, into a heat not exceeding 45° or 50°;
about this temperature should be maintained
until the fruit is set. After the berries are set
the temperature may be increased to 60° by
night and 80° by day, with sun heat, with plenty
i of moisture. The plants should be liberally
! watered with liquid manure while they are
swelling their fruit. As soon as the fruit begins
to color, less water should be applied and more
air ; it makes the fruit firmer and better flavored.
Of course a batch can be brought in every two
weeks in succession. We are not yet done with
those forced plants, for if planted out in the
I garden in April, and all the runners kept pinched
off, they will fruit again in autumn, when a dish
of strawberries would be very acceptable. I
have forced many hundred strawberries every
year, for eight years, until this year. But here, I
am sorry to say, we have not the room or con-
veniences.
I ■

I FRUIT NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

BY C. M., RYDE, ISLE OF WIGHT.

I have been interested in your American fruits
and have obtained many sorts for trial in the
past few years. I have a good stock of them
now, and next season hope to fruit quite a num-
ber of them. Of strawberries I am much pleased
with the Boyden. Some that I had in pots last
season forced well, fruited freely, and the fruit
was very fine. The Cumberland Triumph also
promises well. But T am disappointed in Charles
Downing, The fruit was very small, which sur-
prised me, for, from what I had read of it, I had
formed the idea that the fruit was of good size.
The peaches promise very well. The Alexan-
der's Early gave me a few fruits last season, as
also did the Oldmixon — the latter very late in

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

51

the season. I see Rivers speaks very highly of
the Alexander. It seems to bear very abun-
dantly. The stock on which you work the peach
— the seedling peach I think — seems much better
suited to the healthy growth of the tree than
does the plum stock used by our nurserymen ;
and I like the look of American trees much bet-
ter. With these trees stock and graft swell away
together. This is not the case with the plum
stock. The peach never takes kindly to it, and
the result is a gnarled looking joint which does
not suggest, nor is it favorable to a healthy
growth.

I doubt not but I shall get something good
from American pears and apples, but I must wait
awhile before being able to say anything positive
of them.

American blackberries do well with me, but
somehow I don't think they would be cared for
by our people. Of all the American raspberries
that I have tried, there are none better than our
own, if so good. There is a certain flavor which
the Antwerp class have which seems lacking in
American sorts, decreasing their value. They
seem not so soft, even when fully ripe, as ours
are, and not so good flavored.

I have not yet fruited any American grape vines,
but .1 have a Concord planted in a favorable
place, and from the good growth made last year
I, think I shall get fruit this season. But our
summers are hardly hot enough for these grapes
out of doors, even here in the south of England.
Occasionally a summer will be favorable enough
to color grapes of the Black Hamburg, grow-
ing against a south wall, but never enough to
ripen them. Still, American sorts may do better
with us.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

ANEW Tree Label.— "J. H.", Stanwood, Iowa,
writes: "I send you a sample of a new Label
designed to be used on all nursery stock. The
name is to be written on the outside, and inside
it is also to be written, to keep a record of the
name in case the outside should be washed out
by the rain or weather. They are not very

Kansas Products. — The farmers of Kansas
raised nearly one hundred and twenty-three
millions of dollars of produce the past year.
Pretty good for a State reputed to be " drouthy,"
and in a " drouthy " year.

Mild Weather. — The English seem to have
had the same mild weather to new year that we
had. A correspondent of the London Daily
News says on December 5th : Fucshias were still
in bloom in the open air of the Isle of Wight,
and that he gathered ripe raspberries from
late Pall growths, and strawberries were getting
ripe.

smoothly made yet, but you can see what they
are meant for. Please attach them to a tree,
and you will see how they will do. I have some
that I have used for a year, and the writing in-
side is as good as when put on, but the outside
is gone."

Remedy for Bark Scale.— An Iowa City,
Iowa, correspondent sends us an article on his
manner of applying a wash for scale, but has
omitted to state what it is that is to be used as
the wash.

Season and Pears.— Few fruits are more easily
affected in their good qualities than Pears. A
correspondent of the London Garden says,
that in England, Williams' Bon Chretien— our
Bartlett— was almost flavorless in his part of
England this year. Even with us the time of
gathering makes some difference. As a rule we
believe the Bartlett is best "when gathered before
it is thoroughly mature. In other words best
when ripened off the tree.

Phylloxera Laws.— The Am. Naturalist says :
The existing laws regulating the traffic in plants
with a view of preventing the introduction of the
Grape Phylloxera, are thus summarized in the
annual report of the Syndical Chamber of Nurse-
reymen at Ghent.

" Introduction of living plants is wholly for-
bidden in Italy, Spain, Turkey, Roumania, Alge-
ria, Cape of Good Hope.

" Introduction of living plants is permitted, as
usual, except in the case of vines, which are pro-
hibited—Germany.

" Introduction of living plants packed as usual,
\s permitted, but with a certificate of origin, in

62

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

Switzerland ; and a similar certificate attested by
a consul in Austria -Hungary,

" Introduction under ordinary conditions if
provided with a consular certificate, viseed, is al-
lowed in Portugal and its colonies."

Protectiok from Drouth. — While some are
talking of contrivances against drouth, Mr. C. M.
Clay, of Madison, Ky., gives us the following ex-
cellent ideas :

Deep cultivation is therefore essential to all
high culture. It gives more food and space to
the roots of plants, and thereby increases pro-
duction, but in dry times it especially secures
more moisture. The deeper the culture the
more rain is secured against surface drainage;
Hence, steep lands deeply ploughed are often
saved from washing, the soil absorbing all that
falls, and no surface drainage taking place. I
am now eating roasting ears of sweet Mexican
corn which grow upon stalks having had hardly
a single inch of rain. The ground was ploughed
deep and well pulverized; then the crop was
ploughed and hoed often, not waiting for weeds.
The space was small and used as an experiment.
The light rains and dews were utilized by imme-
diate hoeings, breaking all ciods, and drawing
the damp surface into broad, flat hills, thus
covering up, to some extent, the moisture.
Squash vines, which could not be hoed, laid
down in the same soil and ploughing, are entire-
ly dead ; and watermelon vines in grass sod,
turned ten inches deep, and followed by a small
plow throwing five inches more soil upon it,
making in all fifteen inches of depth, are barely
alive. Yet the corn grows under culture, the
melons not permitting it.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Grapes for a Cold Grapery,—" S. H.," Yar-
mouth, Mass., says: "I wrote you last month,
but it may have arrived too late. Which is the
best vine for a cold grapery, Gros Colman or
White Syrian, and which are best vines to get
from the South of France? Please answer in
your Gardener's Monthly."

[It should be borne in mind by correspondents
that it takes a great many days work for the Ed-
itor to answer all the letters, and prepare for a
whole month's number of the magazine. The
matter for the printer has to go to the oflSce, for
the greater part, a month before the date of pub-
lication. Yet it is not unusual for some corres-
pondent, who may write on the 20th of the
month, to wonder why there is no notice of his
letter, when the magazine appears a few days
later. We do not wonder at this misconception,
for^few persons have a full idea of the immense
amount of work involved in getting up a num-

ber like ours. In regard to the grapes, we would
not advise either of the grapes for a cold vinery.
There is nothing equal to the Black Hamburg
for this purpose. Nor do we think there would
be anything gained by introducing, for this pur-
pose, any from the South of France. Those
which have been already well tried in our vine-
ries should be preferred. — Ed. G. M.]

Culture of the Quince.— Mrs. Alice M. A.,
Kennett Square, Chester Co., Pa. This lady in-
quires for information as to the cultivation of
the quince. It is remarkable that so little has
been said of the culture of this fruit in works on
fruit culture, for it is one of the most useful of
fruits, and when well cultivated one of the most
profitable for market ventures. Though not
seemingly understood by authors on fruit, it is
by the old-fashioned but truly practical German
fruit gardeners of Southern Pennsylvania, where
large quantities are very profitably grown.

For their successful cultivation there ia
nothing like a rich sandy soil. All fruits hate
poverty, but none turn up their noses more at the
man who cannot afi'ord manure, than the quince.
It dearly loves to be where it can have the wash-
ing of land above it, and hence when it finds
itself at the base of a steep hillside, it feels just
at home. Although for this reason it loves river
bottoms, it does not like standing water about
its roots; indeed, what is jocosely termed wet
feet by some fruit growers, is the especial abhor-
rence of the quince. All persons cannot have
just such situations for their quince trees, but
fortunately the plant will grow on the dryest
soil, with good success, if the surface be well
mulched. If one has the chance of hauling
some sand from ditches or river bottoms and
spreading it under the high ground trees, they
will do well. If this cannot be had, old corn
roots, gathered in spring from out of a corn
field, or any similar waste material that may
help to keep the body of the soil moist and
cool, does good. Kitchen waste mixed with
coal ashes is a capital mixture to spread under
the trees to keep the surface cool and make the
trees grow.

To keep the soil cool and to keep the plants
manured enough to grow strongly, is the chief
art of quince culture ; but a few words may be
added on pruning. No fruit tree is so much
benefited by the free use of the knife, but only
to cut out the poor, weak branches. The strong
and vigorous ones should never be touched.
The chief troubles arise from the fire blight,

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

53

spur blight, and the quince borer. The best
precaution .against blight is annual washing of
the tree with a wash of lime and sulphur. It
may not be a perfect insurance, but it goes a
good way. The quince borer works in near the
ground. If a piece of brown paper be tied
around the stem, below the ground, and extend-
ing several inches above ground, and then well

greased or tarred, it is a complete protection ;
but one must be sure there are no borers in the
wood when the paper is put on. It is best to go
over the trees the following season and see
whether any have been accidentally enclosed.
Where a borer has gained an entrance a piece
of flexible wire is the best kind of messenger to
send in with a notice to quit.

Forestry,

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Unexplored TERRiTORY.-r-If the enclosed news-
paper paragraph correctly represents the case,
there ought to be a good field here for the botan-
ist as well as the lumberman :

" Vast pine forests containing upward of 24,000
millions of feet of a superior quality of pine
lumber, with facilities for getting it to market
equal to the best, have been discovered up the
Spanish River in Ontario."

Eedwood Timber, — Some Redwood timber,
Sequoia sempervirens, used in the stockade at
Fort Ross, in Mendocino Co., California, by the
Russian Fur Company, in 1811, was found re-
cently to be perfectly sound, though in the
ground seventy years. It has the habit of sprout-
ing when cut down, as the chestnut does in the
East, and this second growth makes equally good
timber with the first.

Timber of British Columbia. — Professor Daw-
son estimates two-thirds of this territory to be
yet under timber. The Douglas Spruce "West-
ern Hemlock," and " Red Cedar," are said to be
the chief timber trees.

Forest Schools in the Old World. — We are
often told that our country will never manage
forests profitably till we go to the old world and
learn how to do it. But there is the celebrated
^' New Forest " of England. It comprises 63,000
acres. The timber is saleable, but the sales last
year were about $540,000, while the expenses
were about $600,000, or $60,000 loss, from even
full grown timber.

Profits of Forestry — It is very difficult to
gather from figures in foreign works whether

the forestry of the old world is profitable or not.
For instance, one of the best in England is said
to be the 20,000-acr« forest of Dean. It is said
to be very profitable. But the only figures we
find are those which show the income over ex-
penditures in a single year. Last year it is said
to have been " very profitable," because the in-
come was over $24000, and the expenditures but
about $15,000. No reference whatever is made
to the capital account, or the years when nothing
came in. It will be seen that even this way of
counting " profit " only gives 45 cents an acre.

Rapidity of Growth in American Timber
Trees. — In Europe — at least that part of it which
influences our literature — forest trees grow
slowly and endure long. The " preservation "
of old forests, and especial protection to young
ones, becomes a question of grave national im-
portance. Most of the newspaper talk, if on
forestry in our country, is derived from library
studies, and not from practical acquaintance
with American trees. Noting the opinions of
the Gardener's Monthly on this subject, the Lan-
caster Farmer well remarks :

" As a general thing, people greatly exaggerate
the length of time required for a forest to grow
up, and it is this as much as anything else, that
causes the reluctance that exists in regard to
planting. Let any man who located in Lan-
caster thirty years ago, take a stroll along those
places which had not a tree or shrub on them
then, and he will be astonished to now find large
buildings perfectly embowered in trees. Thirty
years more, and many of these trees will become
large, unwieldy and perhaps dangerous, and will
have to be removed, and younger and smaller
ones planted instead. If sixty years develops so
much, what may be expected from one hundred
and sixty or two hundred in an open country ?"

54

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February»

Natural History and Science.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

FERTILIZATION OF KALMIA.

BY PROF. D. P. PENHALLOW, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

The stamens of Kalmia are drawn down and
backward by the expanding corolla, to such an
extent that, when released from their attach-
ment by insects in search of honey, they throw
their pollen up and forward toward the stigmatic
surface with considerable force. A few measure-
ments gave the following as the distances to
which the pollen was projected :

Kalmia glauca.

Vertically.

Horizontally

5.2 c. m.

7.5 c. m.

6.0 "

8.0 "

7.5 "

Kalmia latifolia,

14.0 "
9.0 "
13.0 "

From this it is evident that, while the direc-
tion of the pollen is toward the stigma of the
same flower, the chances are more favorable for
its reaching any other flower of the same inflor-
escence.

KALMIA POISONOUS TO SHEEP.

BY W. F. BASSETT, HAMMONTON, N. J.

Since writing upon this subject for a previous
number of the Gardener's Monthly, I have been
informed by a Hammontonian who formerly
owned a sheep farm in Pennsylvania, that he had
often seen sheep poisoned by " Laurel," and I
have no doubt that if necessary, I could soon
produce positive evidence sufficient to convince
the Editor even without a chemical analysis ;
although I see no reason why if prussic acid
exists in our Kalmia, it cannot be taken from it
as readily as from the European Laurel.

A case of poisoning bj' Wild Cherry was re-
ported in Massachusetts some years since, but
in this instance it was either a horse or a bovine
that was poisoned, and the branches of the tree
were cut off" and thrown over a fence. I think I
saw this in the N. E. Farmer, and in comments
upon it the editor or another correspondent stated
that Wild Cherry and Peach leaves contained

prussic acid, but in small quantity, and animals
seldom ate enough to produce serious effects,
and that the animal poisoned had probably eaten
more freely because the leaves were wilted.

[Wild Cherry — Cerasus serotina — does contain
prussic acid, as also does the Laurel, which is
Cerasus lauro-cerasus. But the " Laurel " of the
Hammontonians is not a laurel, and therefore
need not necessarily contain the poison which
the laurel has.

There seems to be no reason to doubt but that
sheep and perhaps other cattle sometimes die
after eating, not only Kalmia leaves, but many
other green things, when they suddenly come on
them amidst the hunger of a snowed-up time.
As chemical analysis seems unable to find any
poison in these plants, it is just as reasonable to
suppose they died from having made beasts of
themselves under temptation, as that the plants
are poisonous. We have known cows, horses
and rabbits, time and again to die from eating
clover ; but who will say clover is " poisonous?"
It must not be forgotten that we do not dispute
the death of the cattle ; our point is that the
laurel is not poisonous. — Ed. G. M.]

NICHT-OPENINC FLOWERS.

BY J. H. KRELAGE, HAARLEM, HOLLAND.

Referring to my letter of 14th of November
last, I can now give a new example of the chang-
ing of the flowering time of hybrids of Cactus
obtained from the night-blooming sorts. There
are several such hybrids already known in col-
lections. Under the name Cereus hybridus spe-
ciosus cum grandiflora (Newbert) there is given
in the Deutsche Magazin fur garten und Blumen-
kunde, Stuttgart, 1881, number 10, page 809-311,
description and colored plate of a Cactus ob-
tained from Cereus speciosus crossed with Cereus
grandiflorus. It has somewhat the form of the
last and much of the color of the first. The
flowers of this hybrid open in the evening, and
last till the middle of the following day ; it has
scarcely any smell. This is a new proof that
hybrids between night-blooming and other Cac-
tuses have an intermediate period of flowering.

1882.1 AND HORTICULTURIST. 55

EDJTQRIAL NOTES. Ig^age of woe thereat, and wish them all abol-

1 ished. But they are not all so by any means,

and where they are failures it is the defective
STOMATA.-The College Speculum states that a , ^lanagement. and not that the principle is
student of the Lansing Agricultural College, i ^^^^^ The fact that some have proved institu-
found that the upper surface of a leaf of man- ^^^^^g of which the whole nation is proud, shows
gold, Calendula officinalis, of four square inches ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ necessities that should be encour-
contained 27,008 stomata, the lower 40,512. ^^^^ r^^^^ failures only show that education ia

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- j like any other business in which the failures ar&
PHiA. — For the ensuing year the officers elected j always more numeroias than the successes. It

were: President, Dr. Joseph Leidy; First Vice
President, W. S. Vaux ; Second Vice President,
Thomas Meehan ; "Recording Secretary, Dr. E. J.
Nolan ; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. G. H. Horn;
Treasurer, W. S. Henszey. Dr. Euschenberger,

is a pleasure to know that the Missouri college
at Columbia is following in the track of its suc-
cessful sisters. By judicious management, over
$200,000 have been realized out of a part of their
college lands, and in all probability the balance

for twelve years President, but who declined a will bring enough to make a fund of nearly half
re-nomination, was added to the councillors. ! a million dollars. We happen to know that

i among the sciences, botany and horticulture —
How Trees Spread Over Cleared Land— If | ^^-^^ ^^^ ^^^^ science-have always commended
a large tract of land is cleared for culture, and, j themselves strongly to the management, and we
after some years it is neglected, it is not long , ^^^ therefore always glad to hear of the financial
before forest trees spring up all over it. This is I g^^^^^g ^f ^^^ Institution,
a well known fact, especially in the Southern

States. It is not that the seeds are already in the 1 Flowers of a Fig. — Talking to some young
earth, or they would have sprouted and been j folks recently about flowers and fruit, and re-
destroyed by cultural operations ; but the seeds j marking that no one could produce an instance
are carried there by various outside agencies. I of any fruit without flowers, a young lady said
Pine seeds for instance are blown some distance that surely there were no flowers on the fig, for
by wind or on to the feathers or backs of animals, [ her parents had a plant growing in a tub for
and are dropped often at long distances from the , years, alwaj's producing fruit, but it never had a
parent tree. Heavier seeds with acorns and nuts j flower on it. But there is flower even to the fig,
are carried by birds or animals as food, and a few j hundreds of them inside a single fig, for it is inside
escape eating, and then grow, and in numberless of what is popularly called the fig that the flowers
ways get a chance to grow a long distance from j are found. As we told our young friend, if the
the original tree. lu a few years, according to fig is cut open in an early stage, and the interior
their kind, these again produce seed and form face examined with a common pocket lens, it
new centres of distribution, till, in say one hun- \ -will be found completely walled with little flow-
dred and fifty years forests may appear as many j ers, having each the usual parts of fructification,
miles away from an original forest centre. If j This also may be further remembered when
however anything happens to keep the trees from examining the interior of a ripe fig, for the ma-
growing high enough to mature seed, such as the j ture seed will be found, such seed having been
browsing of animals, or prairie fires, extension j produced by a single flower.
from a centre could not go on. We thus see how \ q^^ t^^j^g however is true, they have not the
there are circumstances which sometimes favor flowers of ordinary plants, that is to say flowers
the extension, and sometimes restrict the forest that we can readily see and admire, as we can
^^6^- the flowers we ordinarily cultivate for their beau-

These views have been recently narrated by
the writer of this in papers on the "origin of
grassy prairies," and "on the timber line of high
mountains," but some recent inquiries make a

tiful blossoms. Still they have many of them
beauty of form, especially in the foliage, and are
very popular on this account. They deserve
more than ordinary attention from the cultivator,

repetition necessary. i because of their ease of culture, very few plants

The University of Missouri.— Some of the | taking to neglect as kindly as they do. They are

agricultural colleges have been great ftiilures, I especially valuable for room culture, perhaps from

and the agricultural papers are full of the Ian- ' this very fact that they can stand abuse. There

56

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

are hundreds of species known to botanists, but It has been introduced from the South Sea Islands,
somehow not a large number of them under cul- j The leaves are shortly stalked, lanceolate in out-
iure. One of the best that we know of is a com- j line, and sinuately lobed, the lobes again sinuate

paratively recent introduction, and known as | so as to produce a prettily-cut margin, the curi-

Ficus exculpta. A handsome plant, furnished
with evergreen leaves of a peculiarly elegant form.

ous crenations giving the leaf the appearance of
having been stamped or punched out. In the

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

57

upper half the lobes become so much enlarged
that the margin is deeply pinnatified. This was
one of the twelve new plants with which Mr.
William Bull of Chelsea, near London, England,
gained the first prize at the Provincial Show of
the Royal Horticultural Society, held at Preston
in 1878.

A Lucky Botanist. — There is a great deal in
industry, but after all there is such a thing as
luck. " Only think," said recently to the writer
of this, friend Isaac C. Martindale, the well-
known banker and botanist, of Camden, N. J.,
" I had all the known ferns of the United States
in my herbarium but five, and was wondering
where I could possibly procure them, when I
chanced to examine a bundle which had been
waiting some time, and which I did not consider
of great importance. Judge of my surprise and
pleasure when I found four of the five in that.
Now, when I get Adiantum tricholepis, I shall
have a dried specimen of all." And so we write
this paragraph, not merely to suggest to the lazy
that there may be " luck in old chests that have
long lain hid," but also that if any one has a
spare bit of the much desired treasure, they
could not do better with it than gladden the
heart of one who studies chiefly that his own
collections of intelligence and material may be
freely at everybody's service.

The Candle Tree. — This Chinese tree, which
for a hundred years or more has been one of the
popular street trees of New Orleans and other
Southern cities, is creating some attention in
California just now. It is believed that tallow
can be obtained from these trees cheaper than
the illuminating oils now used in light-houses
and elsewhere. The colored candles used in the
decorations of our Christmas trees, are said to be
made from this wax. Can any of our New
Orleans correspondents tell us of any experi-
ments actually made there? The botanical
name is Stillingia sebifera.

Sparrows in Australia. — The Sydney Mail of
of July 16 says : " On Wednesday a deputation
from the Agricultural Society and Chamber of
Manufactures interviewed jthe Chief Secretary,
to ask him to introduce an act for the destruc-
tion of sparrows, and pending this to appoint an
honorary Sparrow Board to prepare and distri-
bute poisoned wheat and give advice. Mr. Bray
would not promise to introduce a Bill until it
was known what action the other colonies had

taken, but thought a board might be ap-
pointed."

Odor in Butterflies. — Miss Mary E. Murt-
feldt calls attention, in the April number of
Psyche, to the fact that she. observed, while
spreading fresh male specimens of Callidryas
eubule, a delicate, violet-like odor emitted from
the specimens, and which was retained, to some
extent for several days ; the females being not
at all fragrant.

•Double Broods of Insects. — At the Lansing
College Natural History Society, Professor Cook
spoke of the curious fact that many insects are
double brooded this year, such as were never
known to be so before. He mentioned particu-
larly the tent caterpillar, the tomato moth, and
the luna silk moth, although the latter is com-
monly double brooded farther south.

Movement in Roots. — At the Cincinnati Meet-
ing of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, Dr. Beal presented a pa-
per on " The Movements of Roots in Germinat-
ing Indian Corn, of which the following is an
abstract : '' Mr. C. Darwin in his last book says,
'In whatever direction the primary radicle (or
root) first protrudes from the seed, geotropism
(or the attraction of the earth) guides it perpen-
dicularly downwards.'

" Dr. Beal studied over 400 kernels of sprout-
ing corn, of seven or more varieties. These,
after starting a little, were pinned fast to a stick
and put in a dark place, over water. Most of
the roots went obliquely downwards, many mak-
ing one or more coils on the way, while some
went off liorizontally ; some went upwards, di-
rectly or indirectly. One of those which went
upwards made two coils, another made three.
All the experiments did not coincide with those
of Darwin."

Flowers of South Carolina.— The following
extract from a letter of a lady living in a small
country village in South Carolina will please our
readers : " You must be aware how very difficult
has been in our State, the collection of wild
flowers ; for the deadly eflfects of malaria engen-
dered in our swamps deters the boldest from fre-
quenting their environs. Happily our village is
healthy, and from it we make long journeys
with a light rockaway and good horse, the
trip often lasting all day long. I doubt if any
spot (except California) in our country produces
more lovely flowers than our own environs."

58

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Fruiting of the Maiden Hair Tree. — Mr. B,
Landreth writes : " In the report of a meeting of
the Academy of Natural Sciences in the Phila-
delphia North American, I read that Mr.
Meehan referred to some seeds of the Salisburia,
or Ginko biloba, from a tree growing on the
grounds of C. J. Wister, in Germantown, and
stated that they were probably the first pro-
duced in the United States. The plant has been
considered strictly dioecious, but the fact that
these seeds were borne by a tree at Germantown,
there being no flowering specimens nearer than
Woodlands, would indicate that the commonly
received opinion is not correct. The subject of
the sexes of plants was further considered, and
evidence was advanced to support the opinion
that distinctions of groups in coniferse, founded
upon sexual characters were not of much value.

''I have noticed the above paragraph respecting
the seeding of the Salisburia, and take pleasure
in informing you that the largest tree at Blooms-
dale has produced fruit since 1871 — ten years ;
the past season fully a peck. There is no
other tree that I know of for miles near it."

Evolution of Heat in Plants.—" D. P. F.,"
Hanover, York Co., Pa., asks : "Can you tell me
where to find any information in regard to the
evolution of heat in tlie growth of plants? Is
there much heat evolved and is this in propor-
tion to the amount of growth and vigor or not?"

[We do not think there has been much written
anywhere about this subject, except what has
appeared from time to time in the pages of our
magazine.

We have taught in our pages that in all vital
action, equally in the vegetable as in the animal
kingdom, the evolution of heat is an attribute
of life. In other words the decomposition of
food is essential to life, and heat is evolved by
this decomposition. That there is a specific de-
gree of heat in plants is proved in various ways.
For instance, if a maple tree be subject to sev-
eral weeks temperature, say of near zero, and
suddenly the temperature rises to 38°, the sap
will run out in streams from a cut branch, and,
during the night following icicles often form a
foot long. If there were not a specific degree of
heat in plants the juices of the tree would freeze
solid, and it would take days to thaw when pro-
tected as it is by non-conducting bark. The sap

could not run out freely, immediately the tem-
perature of the atmosphere rose above the freez-
ing point.

Again, a very good illustration of the way in
which a plant can hold its heat in spite of exter-
nal influences may be seen on a warm day
towards spring, when the leaves and fences are
covered by thawing snow. The steam will arise
under the warm sun, from corn stalks, dead
leaves, or dead wood in fences, but not from
living leaves. The dead matter readily receives
heat from the sun— the living plant resists heat
as readily as it resists cold. A living tree seems
cool to the hand in hot days, when a dead tree
or a post is warm.

Sometimes we find parts of plants warmer at
times than at others, and especially when they
have a great deal of work to do — just as we find
to be the case in animals. It has been found
that when a palm or a large flowered aroid is
about to open its blossoms a thermometer thrust
into its spathe will show a temperature of 80°,
while the external air may be but 70°. This
shows that plants have some specific heat.

Just what this is, however, so far as we know,
has never been determined. What has been
ascertained is chiefly in the direction we have
here outlined, and may be reduced to little more
than this, that life in plants and life in animals
in its relation to heat is substantially the same.
—Ed. G. M.l

Bauanas from Seed. — " D. B. W.," Crockett's
Bluff, Arkansas, writes : " You say ' it is gener-
allj^ known that the ordinary banana never pro-
duces seed.' ' The fruit is a pulpy seed vessel,
but the seeds never perfect.' I can hardly think
this entirely correct. There must be some place
where this plant perfects seeds, else where do
the varieties come from ? I have found instances
of individual plants of a polygamous species,
like the persimmon or grape, that produced fine
fruit containing no seeds, but had supposed that
all plants that produce what are commonly
termed fruits also produced, at least some of the
plants of the same species, perfect seeds. I be'
lieve we have plants that flower but give no
seeds ; also plants that neither flower nor pro-
duce seeds. For instance we have a rank grow-
ing three-sided and very common sedge in the
Illinois river swamps that produces neither seeds
nor blossoms. I am also informed that the
'cane' of the Southern 'cane-brakes' neither flow-
ers nor seeds ; also the ' sugar cane.' The sweet

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

potato shows no bloom in the Middle States,
but it must give bloom and seed somewhere.
With the cane of the ' cane-brake' I have heard
the rumor that it does not bear seed, disputed.
As a fact I found young, small isolated plants of
it everywhere in South-western Arkansas, seem-
ingly seedlings. The query results, do not all
species bear seeds under certain conditions? Or
are there some that only reproduce their kind
by self-division ?"

[When a botanist or gardener says " never,"
he seldom means that there is no possibility of
an exception. He simply means that this is the
rule within a very wide experience. There is
little doubt but that the banana has produced
sometime during its existence, and possibly
would seed, — perhaps does seed at times
somewhere on the earth at the present time.
There are perfect female flowers and perfect
grains of pollen ; it is only necessary that some
conditions occur in addition to these to make
the flowers seminally fruitful. For all this it is
true so far as we know, that no person living
«ver saw a banana seed.

Varieties, however, are not necessarily pro-
duced from seed. We received once from the
editor of the Prairie Farmer, a bunch of sweet
potatoes, all attached as they grew to one parent
stem, in which half the tubers were tapering and
white, and the other half blunt and red. But
this plant never flowers under Illinois culture.
The kinds originated as many other things do,
by " bud- variation,"— Ed. G. M.]

Cambridge Botanical Gardens. — "Dear Edi-
tor : As it is not true that the late Mr. John A.
Lowell left $20,000 to this establishment 'on
condition that it be called the Lowell Botanic
Garden,' we should like to have you contradict
the statement. That would not be like Mr.
Lowell in any case. Certainly not in a case

where other individuals have given as much,
and where other equally generous gifts are ex-
pected.

" What Mr. Lowell did was to add $20,000 to
the original subscription fund for the foundation
of the garden, and to ask that this be named the
Lowell fund, in memory of his grandfather, who
originated the subscription and was most influ-
ential in furthering it and in founding the gar-
den. The announcement of the terms of the
bequest was, in the first instance, clear enough;
but one Boston paper misread it, and distant
papers and magazines— your own among the
rest— copied the error, which appears to spread
farther and faster than our correction. It is
still open to any liberal man of wealth by making
a sufficiently ample donation to have this garden
named after him. Asa Gray."

Coco Grass.—" D. B. W.," Crockett's Bluff; Ar-
kansas, writes : " In our travels in Arkansas we
came across a grass with the local names of
' coco grass ' and ' Johnson's grass,' near the
mouth of the Arkansas river. This grass ap-
pears to be a terror to the cotton planters, for
when it gets a start on a cotton plantation they
cannot kill it out or get rid of it. It grows from
four to eight feet high, and spreads rapidly from
under-ground stems, or rather suckers from the
roots. It also grows readily from seeds. By
some it is thought to be a great acquisition to
this almost grassless region, for it makes a great
abundance of most excellent pasturage for stock,
and on good land makes from two to four heavy
crops of haj^ in a season, that sells in the I^ew
Orleans market for nearly the same as the best
timothy hay. What can you tell us about it, if
you can recognize it by these local names ?"

[We do not know the plants intended by these
local names. — Ed. G. M.l

Literature, Travels I Personal Notes.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

NOTES.

BY JACQUES.

The Mandrake.

Not poppy'nor mandragora,

Nor all the drowsy syrups of the'world

Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep

Which thou ow'dst yesterday. Othello ni.

Mandrake is a solanaceous plant and partakes
of the usual poisonous character of the order.
The roots will sometimes go four feet deep, and
have been known to live for fifty years. Some-
times they fork so as to somewhat resemble hu-
man forms ; but many of those offered in Europe
are made from grafted Bryony roots. The

60

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

"insane root" of Shakespeare (Macbeth) is the
Mandrake. Mandragora officinarum is the full
name.

In our country •' Mandrake pills" are made
by the quacks from Podophyllum peltatum, a
plant of the Berberry family; the May-apple
of the woods. The Skunk weed is of the Arum
family. Mandragora officinarum is a native of
the south of Europe— Greece, &c.

The Salisburia again.— In a long course of read-
ing on horticulture and arboriculture, the writer
recollects of no allusion in the English books
to the peculiar use mentioned in these columns
of training it to shapes and on walls. " You can
do anything with it," is a true remark. If any
reader can point out notices, or even a notice of
this we should be glad to have the reference.

Grouping. — Nothing perhaps in the way of a
small group can excel the Dogwood and Judas
tree planted almost in contact. They bloom
early and together, the one nearly white and
the other red.

The Eucalyphis, as it is more and more planted
and studied, continues to prove a success. In
Algeria the best results are found, malaria dis-
appearing wherever the wonderful tree is
planted. On the Campagna around Rome, at a
place called the Three Churches, a place aban-
doned every night because of the disease pre-
vailing, it is found suflBciently healthy and the
monks sleep there with impunity. What a
blessing this proves, and how sad to think that
the world has been so long deprived of the bene-
fit. With quinine and Eucalyptus, a new era in
medicine, nay, in the world, begins.

Ants. — A new traveller in Africa has come
across a part of the country where ants are found
as large as roaches, and prove themselves masters
of man and beast. They make every known
animal disappear, infesting the napes of cattle
and killing them outright. Dr. McCook, we
hope, will not endeavor to introduce them for
examination.

Sir John Lubbuck, who is a minute observer of
nature's doings, says : " The flower of the little
Linaria of our walls pushes out into the light
and sunshine, but as sure as it is fertilized it
turns round and endeavors to find some hole or
cranny in which it may remain safely until the
seed is ripe." See his curous articles repub-
lished in the Popular Science Monthly.

Virginia and the Grape. — It appears that Vir-

ginians in the neighborhood of Charlottesville
have turned their attention, successfully, to rais-
ing wine grapes, and that an American Bur-
gundy they make is in greater demand than the
supply. Thus far the great enemy of the grape
vine has not appeared there.

UNDER THE WILLOWS AT LICHFIELD.

BY WM. T. HARDING, MOUNT HOLLY, N. J.

An able and pleasant writer, much impressed
with the grandeur of arboreal beauty, thus feel-
ingly alludes to his leafy favorites. " Trees seem
almost human in sociability, and in isolation."
And while acknowledging the truth of his ob-
servations, your correspondent has often thought
there could be little that was human in the bi-
pedal creature, in whose bosom there is no love
for either flower or tree.

History informs us, that from the first man
made, to the wisest of men, trees and flowers
were duly valued for their relative uses, and pic-
turesque beauty. And that the modern man of
refinement and taste, greatly enhances his happi-
ness in their cultivation and care, is obvious, to
all who see and understand.

That certain biblical trees were justly regarded
with feelings akin to. reverence, by the pastoral
patriarchs of old, the sacred writ frequently testi-
fies ; and that we, in our day, should love them
for their own sakes, is not to be wondered at.

A grand and stately old tree is a living monu-
ment of the creative power of the Great Archi-
tect of the universe, who made it '' a thing of
beauty," to make glad the heart of man, who
wisely appreciates the good our Father sends.
Setting aside their mercantile, economic or do-
mestic uses, there are many other reasons why
we should encourage their presence, which add
so much to our health and comfort in making
the world more beautiful wherever they grow.
Their aesthetic, sanitary and humanizing influ-
ence around our domiciles, are undoubtedly
many, as every day's experience proves.

The recorded associations of great men and
trees are numerous, and their authentic history
often reads more like the pages of romance than
of fact. But the writer's intentions are not to
dilate upon the many interesting narratives,
legends, reminescences, or traditions, our ances-
tors give of past events, connected with memora-
ble men and trees, otherwise than a brief allu-
sion to Dr. Johnson and his willow.

M

AND HORTICULTURIST.

61

While on a tour in England, during the past
summer, I paid a visit to " the ancient and re-
spectable city of Lichfield," as an observant old
writer designates it. From the noted house in
Saint Mary's Street (the lower part of which is
used as a draper's shop), where the celebrated
Dr. Johnson was born, is but a short distance
to a very remarkable edifice, in Saint John's
Street, on which Henry II. settled a valuable
revenue for its maintenance. And Edward VI.
also further endowed it. But it is most remarka-
ble for having been the Alma Mater of Addison,
Wollaston, Ashmore and Dr. Johnson — men of
mighty minds.

After viewing the many archaic specimens of
architecture about the city, and feeling a strong
predilection for all things Johnsonian, I made
my way to the magnificent Cathedral, the origin
of which dates back to A. D., 675. In the south
transept of the sacred fane, placed side by side,
are two conspicuous monuments, erected to the
memory of those famous men, David Garrick
and Dr. Johnson.

On a large mural tablet, surmounted by a
marble bust of the Doctor, is the following in-
scription : " The friends of Samuel Johnson,
LL. D., a native of Lichfield, erected this monu-
ment, as a token of respect for a man of exten-
sive learning, a distinguished moral writer, and
a sincere Christian. He died the 13th of Decem-
ber, 1784; aged 75 years."

Deeply impressed with the solemn grandeur of
the superb structure, and the many mementos
of former greatness around me, I thoughtfully
passed along the richly fretted silent aisles, to
the green yard outside. And not far from the
gatewaj^ void of all sepulchral pomp or sculp-
tured ostentation, beneath a mass of pretty flow-
ers, calmly lay the mortal remains of one of the
most remarkable, exemplary and useful men of
his time, the late Bishop Selwyn.
. Pursuing my way to the adjacent fields, along
the same hedgerow foot-path the Doctor had
often trod, the spot was soon reached where " the
great Lexicographer" used to rest beneath the
peaceful shade of a venerable wiUow, Salix Rus-
selliana.

The original noted tree kiiown as Johnson's
Willow, in 1810, measured in circumference 21
feet at six feet from the ground. But as trees
and men only bide their time in our mundane
world, so it was with both the Doctor and his
favorite tree ; they each succumbed to the fell
destroyer, and ceased to be.

The writer well remembers his father pointing
to the decayed old tree, when prostrated by a
storm in 1829. And much regretted, thus ended
the life of a veritable arboreal magnate among
willows — as much so as was the erudite Dr. John-
son among his fellow-men.

After the ancient ligneous denizen had passed
away, a thrifty branch raised from the old tree
was, with much ceremony, planted in the same
place, and to this day successfully grows in ita
stead.

About a quarter of a mile off, and in full view
of the tree, stands the old Church (and close by
the holy (?) well) of Saint Chad's, founded twelve
hundred years ago. And near the ancient pile»
standing on a slight eminence, embowered in
lovely unbrageous trees and shrubs, is the commo-
dious and comfortable old mansion of Stow Hall,
once the residence of the renowned Molly Aston,
whom the Doctor always called upon whenever
he returned to his native city.

At the time of my visit. Willow 11. was in a
flourishing condition, and promises well for the
future. Running a tape-line around its hand-
some bole, its girth measured twelve feet seven
inches, at four feet from the base. The height
was about eighty feet, and a more perfectly
formed or better balanced tree is seldom seen.

In conclusion, I have only to say the citizens
of Lichfield take great pride in protecting and
showing the handsome successor they hopefully
planted in 1830, for its honored sire's sake.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Horticultural Hall, Philadelphia. — Thi»
beautiful building, destroyed through proximity
to a burning church, a year or so ago, has been
rebuilt by W. L. Schaffer, President of the Penn-
sylvania Horticultural Society, and was re-
opened on the 5th of January. It is 200 feet
deep by 75 feet wide. The main hall for exhibi-
tions is 140 feet long, 70 feet wide, and 30 feet .
high. As a measure of safety to a large audi-
ence in case of fire, there are seven doors lead-
ing from the building.

A grand concert was given in order to test its
audiphonic powers, and it was pronounced a
complete success. Horticultural Hall was. with
all its supposed faults, an almost indispensable
building to Philadelphians. and one of which
they were always proud, and the congratulations
to the President of the Horticultural Society, ia

62

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[February,

the re-erection of the beautiful building were
on the re-opening numerous and sincere.

High-toned Papers. — The publisher once in
a while drops into the Editor's box items he
thinks may be of interest to his department,
and among others he finds just now the follow-
ing from " W. H. O.," Geneseo, N. Y., " Please
discontinue the Gardener's Monthly. It is a
splendid magazine, but too high- toned for an
ordinary cultivator." I

At the end of- every year, everj^ periodical
has some discontinuances among many new ac- j
cessions ; but it is not often that there is a dis- j
continuance for fear the subscriber will learn I
too much. The Colorado friend, referred to in j
our last, would not subscribe because papers like
ours are " not high-toned enough," — written by
novices who did not know enough for him. We
should be glad to please all parties certainly,
but amid so many contradictory desires, it is
safest to assume that most persons are striving
to learn more than they already know, and that
there is no reason why even an ''ordinary" cul-
tivator should rank below his neighbors in ordi-
nary intelligence. The true aim of the Garden-
er's Monthly is rather to elevate the horticultu-
rist, and it is a real pleasure to us to find
wherever we meet one who really loves his
garden, that he or she is generally one who, for
intelligence, is ranked far above the average.

The Uncertainties of Expositions. — The
Emperor of Germany offered a premium of
$3,500, at the great Exposition at Sydney, for
that exposition of an industry that should be
likely to prove most valuable to Australia. After
all we have heard of Australian wool, Australian
meat, Australian wheat, and Australian mine-
rals, it is a surprise to find the premium awarded
to the wine makers ! After all, it will no doubt
please the Emperor to know that the immigrant
from the Rhine carried away his premium in
that distant land. There is this fitness in the
result of the award of the jury, although the
Australians themselves seem by no means satis-
fied with the award, from other considerations.
They contend that juries are "oncertain," as
some of our fellow-citizens have it.

Masdevalleas. — Mr. Falconer informs us
that the magnificent Masdevalleas at Albany, of
which he wrote, were grown by Mr. Tweddle.

CoL. M. P. Wilder. — Our readers will be glad
to learn that the health of our venerable friend

continues excellent. He took a prominent part
in the Centennial exercises of the Honorable
Artillery Company recently, himself the oldest of
all living members, on which occasion he made
one of his usual speeches of masterly eloquence-

The "American Naturalist." — The December
Number closes the 15th volume of this admira-
ble monthly magazine. It is one of those able
scientific serials of which Americans may
well be proud. A marked feature is the employ-
ment of specialists for separate departments.
Entomology is edited by Prof. Riley ; Botany by
Prof Bessey ; Microscopy by Dr. R. H. Ward ;
Geography by Ellis Yarnall ; Anthropology by
Otis Mason, and next year a new department.
Mineralogy, will be under the charge of Prof.
Carvill Lewis, one of the ablest of the rising
generation of scientists.

It is published, at $4 a year, by McCalla &
Stavely, Philadelphia.

The American Farmer. — This, one of the old-
est and best known of American agricultural
monthlies, has changed from the ordinary maga-
zine form, and appears among the folio sizes.
With this change of form it will also appear
tw'ice a month by its old publisher and editor,
S. Sands, Jr., Baltimore, Md.

Transactions of the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society for 1881. — Received from
Secretary, Robert Manning. — Since the celebrated
T. A. Knight and his contemporaries made, by
their contributions to the Transactions of the
Horticultural Society of London, a work of refer-
ence valuable for all time, we know of nothing
approaching that series in excellence so nearly
as this. It is really worth being a member of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, though one
lives hundred of miles from the place of meeting
and never sees the exhibitions, even if they get
nothing more for the annual subscriptions than
these volumes. A society with a secretary like
Mr. Manning is particularly blessed.

Bacteria, — the smallest of living organisms,
by Frederick Cohn, translated by Charles S,
Dolley, Rochester, N. Y.

Bacteria, — their relations to plant culture, by
Thomas Taylor, Washington, D. C.

These two pamphlets are very timely in view
of the recent discoveries of Prof. Burrill, in con-
nection with "Fire-Blight" in the Pear and the
Yellows in the Peach. As our readers know
Bacterium is the smallest of all vegetable organ-

18S2.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

isms. They are always present in ferments and
putrefactions ; and they abound in the circulatory
vessels of human beings, and animals suffering j
from epidemic and contagious disorders. Prof, j
Burrill found them in great quantity in the j
early stages of the Pear and Peach diseases, and j
matter taken from a diseased part induced dis- [
ease in healthy places, yet none of Cohn's experi-
ments prove that Bacteria ever interfere with life.
Their mission seems to be to rot up rapidly
organisms from which life has departed. They
are the scavengers of nature.

Yet it has to be explained why they are in such
immense numbers in sick people, and why the
virus in which they abound carry the diseases
to the Pear and Peach tree. We have no doubt
these seeming 'contradictions will yet be recon-
ciled. It will not do to say the observations con-
tradict each other, and so both cannot be true.
There is no doubt of the correctness of the
observations on both sides, and it will be the
province of future researches to reconcile them.

Art Museums and their Uses.— By Dalton
Dorr, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Museum
and School of Industrial Art.

This is an appeal for an effort in the direction
of higher art education, and the establishment of
industrial education. The interesting facts gath-
ered together in this pamphlet must be of great
value to all who desire to study these great
questions. But the weak point of the treatise is
in its lack of any feasible plan of operations.
There is the usual vague suggestions, about the
State's duty, and municipal duty, and the duty
of citizens, and the very common recommenda-
tion with every thing under the sun that " it be
introduced into the public schools." The fact is
no one disputes the needs or advantages of indus-
trial education. The real question is, what is the
best method of introducing it? And it is the
misfortune of this as of all good subjects that
they are ruined by the introduction of crude and
ill-digested plans. For instance, the State of
Pennsylvania gave in 1873, $1,500,000 to erect a
hall in Fairmount Park as an industrial museum,
but not one dollar to sustain it afterwards. The
present prospects are that the hall will be closed
before many more years elapse.

In like manner those who clamor for the intro-
duction of such teaching in the public schools
have no practical knowledge of school manage-
ment. Th ere are but about five school hours, and
already in the primaries and secondaries of

Philadelphia there are about ten different branch-
es of study, or only about a half hour to each.
It is no uncommon circumstance as the writer
of this knows from actual experience as a
director of the public schools of Philadelphia,
that children pass through all the grades of the
primaries and reach the highest in the se-
condaries, with but a crude knowledge of the
three studies of most general importance. The
great portion of children want to leave school
when they reach the highest «grade in the se-
condaries, and this want should be encouraged
by those who desire to see their children thrive
by manual labor; but under the present plan of
teaching a little of everything, and nothing
thoroughly, it is necessary for a child to go
through grammar or high schools, and reach
the age of eighteen or nineteen perhaps, before
he has a thorough knowledge of language or
figures, and by which time he has lost all taste
for that "industrial" life which is to get him a
living by the use of his hands.

These practical questions seldom occur to
authors of theoretical works like this before us.

Sheldon's Dairy Farming.— Published by
Cassel, Petter, Galpin & Co., New York. Part
twenty-five of this beautifully illustrated subscrip-
tion work is on our table, and which completes
the work. The colored plate represents an
Alpine Dairy Station, and the text refers to dairy
commerce.

THE FLOWER.
Once in a golden hour

I cast to earth a seed,
Up there came a flower,

The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went

Through my garden-bower,
And, muttering discontent,

Cursed me and my flower.

Then it grew so tall

It wore a crown of light,
But thieves from o'er the wall

Stole the seed by night.

Sowed it far and wide.

By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried :

"Splendid is the flower."

Read my little fable,

He that runs may read ;
Most can raise the flowers now,

For ail have got the seed.

And some are pretty enough,

And some are poor indeed ;
And now again the people

Call it but a weed.

— lenny'ioii.

64

THE GARDENER'S MONTH L Y

[February,

Lines on a Head of Cabbage.— The best poets
are often familiar with numerous branches of
science; on the other hand men devoted to
science are not unfrequently gifted with the
poet's fire. Prof. T. C. Porter, the distin-
guished botanist, was known as the " plant-
presser" in his earliest years. The following
lines, quoted from Lafayette College Journal,
written when but seventeen years old, shows
a love for the Muses quite as worthy of re-
cognition as wasi^his other love :

Let frog-devouring France and beef-fed Bull

Disdain thee, Cabbage, when their mouths are full ;

Let laay Neapolitan discard.

Who eats his macaroni by the yard ;

And Chinese gourmand think that dish the best

Which savors of the swallow's gluey nest ;

Or, brought from distant ocean-isles, prefer

The relish of the costly biche-de-mer;

I^t Abyssinian cut the quivering flesh

From the live heifer and devour it fresh.

While Alpine monk esteems the slimy snail

Above the juice of broccoli or kale;

Let Paddy whistle at the very thought

Of nevi paratees boiling in the pot.

And Yankee tell, with rapture in his eye,

The varied virtues of the pumpkin pie —

But, as for me, sprung of Teutonic blood,

Give me the cabbage as the choicest food.

O far-famed Sauer Kraut ! compared with thee,

All dainties rifled from the land and sea

Were heaps of trash, and viands on the boards

Of prodigal Lucullus, or the hoards

Of which renowned Apicius could boast.

Detestably insipid— and the host

That followed Epicurus, at the best.

Mere common swine, unpampered and unblest.*

Had but the gods on high Olympus' brow
Caught thy rich odor wafted from below,
Loathing as bitter their celestial bread.
They all in haste to Germany had fled.

What gave the fierce Barbarian strength to wield
His ponderous weapon on the battle-field.
When from the North his brawny right arm hurled
A bolt of vengeance o'er the Roman world?
Thy hidden power, O matchless Cabbage, thine.
Dweller upon the Danube and the Rhine.

Ye vain philosophers of titled worth.

Go to this lowly denizen of eaith.

And read a lesson from his furrowed leaves ;

Their words are truth ; that volume ne'er deceives.

Castles and monuments have passed away.

Pillars and temples crumbled to decay.

Leaving no trace behind them to proclaim

To after ages their possessor's fame.

While on his brow unfaded yet appears

The wrinkled wisdom of six thousand years.

I love thine honest countenance, old friend ;
My earliest mem'ries with thy history blend,

•Me pingnem et nitidum bene curata cute vises,
Epicuri de grege porcum. Hor. Ep. 1-4 : 16.

And Hallow Eve, free to the wile and plot
Of boyish cunning, cannot be forgot;
The ringing shout, the merry laugh and cheer,
Still and will ever linger in mine ear.

May never he who slanders thy good name
Have hi.s recorded on the scroll of fame !
May he ne'er taste thee, whose proud looks (l^spwe.
But Time increase thine honor as he flien I

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Paw-paw, Michigan.— E. A. Dodge says : " In
relation to ' Paw-paw,' Michigan, I can say it
was named after the Papaw fruit which I have
seen growing there very luxuriously. Why it
came to be spelled Paw-paw I cannot tell."

" Ozone" for Coring Meat. — R. B. Warder
writes ; " And has it come to this that even so
high-toned a journal as the Gardener's Month-
ly lends its aid to the popular delusion that sul-
phurous acid gas ' is simply and purely ozone, as
produced and applied by an entirely new pro-
cess?' The real character of the 'ozone' adver-
tised so widelj' was described in the Cincinnati
Commercial and Gazette of the 23d inst, I may
send you a copy."

[The editor is not responsible for what appears
in the advertising columns. Even if he had
been, he should probably have ,been no wiser
than the publisher; for he has to confess that he
did not know that the material offered was
simply sulphurous acid disguised, until this note
of Professor Warder directed his attention to the
proceedings of the Cincinnati Academy of Sci-
ences. There certainly is nothing on the face of
the advertisement to indicate any more fraud
than in the average of " patent" stuff, which we
are sorry to say, high-toned papers must
advertise, so long as thousands of high-toned
people are willing to use and want to buy. High-
toned papers only advertise what they are con-
vinced high-toned people want to get. Professor
Warder and the Academy of Sciences deserve
public thanks for their services in this matter.
The reading columns of the Gardener's Month-
ly are always open to this good work,whether the
vile stuff happens to sneak into the advertising
columns of this paper or not. Publishers are
but fallible men, and are liable to be imposed
upon as well as any other member of the com-
munity.— Ed. G. M.]

THE

GARDENER'S MONTHLY

A\D

HORTICULTURIST.

DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE, ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS.

Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N.

Vol. XXIY.

MARCH, 1882.

Number 279.

Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

There is no doubt the fashion now common of
clipping evergreens till they look like the little
mossy toys children play with, is an abomination
not to be tolerated in tasteful grouncJs. But it is
not wise to abhor all trimmed trees. It is the
fate of all good reforms to be run to extremes.
The taste for the natural in gardening is one of
these good reforms exaggerated. We do indeed
often meet with wild spots that are charming. A
huge pile of rocks, with ferns and mosses spring
ing from any nook or cranmy that will catch a
little soil, shaded by trees, and these again
draped and festooned by hanging vines ; or it may
be clump of wild bushe-' on mossy banks, along-
side of which gurgling streams or babbling brooks
pursue their everlasting way— all these antl other
lovely snatches of nature's art in landscape
adornment, are always to be admired— but gar
den art is another matter. It is not only that
we wish to get perfect specimens of natural
beauty; we wish furllier to show that we can
make nature do more than she would ; we love
to make her bend to our whims and fancies, and
then garden art will ever be more than mere
nature can give us. There is beauty in a wild
meadow with its buttercups and daisies, and the
tall grass bending before the breeze like the

ocean waves; but no less beautifnl is the closely
shaven lawn. The hedge, beautifnl as the wild,
wayward plant might have been in some lonely
and neglected spot, is no less beautifnl under the
artistic shears of the hedge trimmer. In like
manner there should be no objection to trimmed
trees, when there is evidently an ideal of beauty
underlying the gardener's art. Mere resem-
blances to beasts or buildings without any other
meaning are usually failures. Trees clipped into
fancies, without any ideal beyond an effort at
resemblance, caused the reaction against all
clipping. But what is there against an arbor
formed by the drawing together of the tops of
half a dozen Linden or O^age Orange trees, and
then to have windows or doors cut as they may
be desired through the leafy mass? Why may
we not have clipped archways over gates, clipped
avenues, clipped ^^creciis, and even clipped trees
when they are trained to shapes in keeping with
some of the surroundings? There seems no
more reasonable objection to clipping trees and
shrul)S judiciously as a genuine part of good
garden taste, than to clipping our hair, and it
is to l)e hoped that there will be more of it seen
in good garden work than there has been. All
this is suggested by the fact that spring is the
best time for trimming evergreen hedges and
other plants that it is at all desirable to trim.
Trimming should be left till all danger of cold

66

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

winds are gone, but the sooner before the young
growth is made the better.

Ornamental hedges judiciously introduced into
a small place, add greatly to its interest. No
easier method offers whereby to make two acres
of garden out of one in the surveyor's draught-
The Arbor-vitae (Chinese and American), Hem-
lock, Holly, Beech, Hornbeam, Pyrus japonica,
Privet and Buckthorn may be applied to this
purpose.

Shrubs are not nearly enough employed in
planting small places. By a judicious selection a
place may be had in a blooming state all the j'ear ;
and they, besides, give it a greater interest by
their variety, than is obtained by the too frequent
error of filling it up with but two or three forest
trees of gigantic growth. Plant thickly at first,
to give the place a finished appearance, and thin
out as they grow older. Masses of shrubs have
a fine effect on 'a small place. The center of
such masses should be filled with evergreen
shrubs, to prevent a naked appearance in the
winter season.

Herbaceous plants do badly if several years in
one place. Every second year, at this season,
take up and divide them. Sow as soon as possi-
ble some hardy annuals. The earlier they are
in the ground after the frost leaves it, the finer
they bloom.

This is the proper season to lay down box-
edgings. To make them properly, the soil along
the line of the edge should be first dug, and then
trod very hard and firm, so that it may sink
evenly together, or the line will present ugly-
looking undulations in time. Rooted plants
should be employed; cuttings are feometimes
used, but frequently die out in patches ; a good
edge can rarely be made from them. The plants
should be set pretty low down, leaving the plants,
when set, one or two inches above the soil,
according to their stockiness. Sometimes box
edgings are laid around beds formed in grass.
When so, a few inches of clear ground should be
kept clean between the grass and the box, or the
weeds will be so intermixed with the box, after
awhile, as to render it a nuisance.

Walks should now have their spring-dressing
— the verges cut, and a thin coating of new
gravel laid on. Before putting on the new, har-
row up the tace of the old gravel with a stroag
iron-toothed rake. Roll well after the new is
laid on.

This is particularly the month to pay attention
to the hardy annuals. The sooner they are

sown, the finer they will flower; that is, provided

they are really hardy. Tender annuals, such aa
Globe amaranthus. Balsams, &c., rot if they are
sown before the weather becomes quite warm.
The seedsmen's catalogues usually distinguish
these classes for their customers. In sowing
annuals, the soil should be slightly stirred with a
broad-bladed knife or trowel ; and after the seeds
are sown, they should have a little soil sprinkled
over them, about one-sixth of an inch deep,
according to the size of the seeds ; barely enough
to cover is all that is required. Failures usually
arise from the seeds being buried too deeply-
Failures also frequently occur from the soil with
which the seeds are covered being too stiff or
clayey, " baking " after a rain. Light sandy
earth or decayed vegetable loam from the woods
should be employed for the purpose. Stick a
peg in where the seeds are sown, so that when
turning out the plants in May from pots, the
annuals will not be disturbed. Also take care to
preserve the names of the kinds. This is a great
part of the interest in flower-garden.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

MR. HUNNEWELL'S GARDEN AT WEL-
LESLEY.

BY WM. FALCONER.
• NO. III.

The Italian Garden, of which an excellent
illustration appeared in Harper's Monthly, p. 517,
March, 1881, lies between the mansion and the
Waban lake, and consists of a series of terraces,
whereon are growing many trees clipped into
curious and abnormal forms. It is the most ex-
tensive and pertinent garden of the kind in
America. The clipped trees consist of White
pine, Norway spruce, Hemlock spruce, Arbor-
vitae, Retinosporas as squarrosa, obtusa and
pisifera, American beeches and European lar-
ches. And here and there upon the banks are
spread thick mats of such Junipers as tamarici-
folia and squamata. Mr. Harris tells me that,
although these Junipers do so well on this nor-
thern exposure, in other portions of the garden
facing south, they do not thrive.

The Arboretum is well stocked with many rare
and handsome trees, particularly evergreens, as
pines and spruces, junipers and retinosporas.
The pinetum is on mostly sloping ground, and
includes fifteen to twenty years' old specimens
of many subjects that are yet novelties in our

1882.J

AND H0R2ICULTURIST.

67

gardens. There are some exceptionally fine
specimens of Abies Nordmanniana, Engelmanni,
alcoquiana, orientalis, picbta, grandis, excelsa
inverta, Douglassi, nobilis, and others. The
golden variegated form of the white spruce is a
pretty tree, and one of the finest specimens and
bluest varieties of the Colorado blue spruce, is
conspicuous on the slope. But the trees and
shrubs are too many for detail. There is an
extensive collection of Japanese maples. Pre-
paratory to planting trees, holes some eleven
feet in diameter are dug out and filled in with
good soil, and in after years dressings of manure
are freely given to petted plants. For trees, Mr.
Harris strongly recommends good soil to start
in, when they are up a little they will take care
of themselves, and plenty of manure for ever-
greens. And, considering the condition of these
trees, and the dry gravelly soil of the land, his
treatment deserves r-ecognition.

Fndt growing under glass is an important fea-
ture here; but at the time of my visit, in No-
vember, beyond some grapes still clinging to the
vines, and figs swelling and ripening on the
bushes, all was cool and leafless, and inactive.
For general purposes, Mr. Harris considers the
Black Hamburg and Muscat of Alexandria as
the best of grapes. His favorite peaches are
Early Rivers, Early Beatrice, Hale's Early, Fos-
ter's Seedling, George the Fourth, and late Ad-
mirable; nectarines. Lord Napier and Stanwick ;
apricots, Moorpark, Brussels, St. Ambroise, Bre-
da and Peach ; plums, Angelina Burdett, Jef-
ferson and Standard of England; and Brown
Turkey as a fig. The Castle Kennedy and some
other figs grow too much.

A BLUE FLOWERING BEDDING PLANT.

BY MANSFIELD MILTON, YOUNGSTOWN, O.

In the Gardener's Monthly, just at hand,
you ask if there is anything better than lobelia for
a blue bedding plant. There is. The dwarf blue
Ageratums are far ahead of it for free flowering
during the hot weather. I have three varieties
of ageratun)s, any of which are very suitable for
forming ribbon lines with achyranthus and cen-
taurea. One, named J. Douglas, will do well if
planted between the achyranthus and centaurea.
Another I have under the name of Countess of
Stair is a much dwarfer, but of as free blooming
habit, as the one mentioned ; the most suitable
place for it is in front of the centaurea.

These ageratums are so much ahead of the old
late-growing kind, which does not flower until late
in the fall, in the flowering qualities, and dwarf-
ness of habit, that it gives them much more value
as bedding plants. They begin to flower just as
soon as set out ; in fact they are never out of
bloom from the time they leave the cutting
bench until the frost catches them in the fall.
It is difficult getting cuttings off" them free of
flower bud*.

The lobelia does well in a partially shaded
position, or when it is newly set out; but when
the dry, hot weather sets in it quits flowering,
and does not make a very attractive plant again
until late in the fall, when it begins to flower,
and continues until frost. I tested last summer
in several positions the ageratum and lobelia,
alongside of each other, but the ageratum in
every position was far ahead of the lobelia.

AGERATUM.

BY MRS. H. E. WHITE, BRYAN, BRAZOS CO., TEXAS.

There are two varieties of Ageratum that I
have found growing in the river bottom, near
me, and on the Post Oak hills, beyond the river.
TheVariety growing in the bottom is sometimes
two-feet high, and the fringe-like blooms are
pale blue, fading to white. The roots are peren-
nial, and if killed by frost put up again when-
ever we have a week or two of warm weather.
It is a vigorous grower. The ageratum of the
sandy " Post Oak " land is low and bushy in
growth, like the dw.arf ageratum of floral cata-
logues; the color is a lovely purplish blue. I
planted one in a pot, and the root threw out
white, succulent shoots, underground, that grow-
ing near the surface put up leaves that grew
into bushes, and it spreads thus somewhat like a
verbena. The pot looked as if little seed plants
were coming up all over it, when really they
are root plants. I think this variety a valuable
acquisition as a bedding plant. Indigenous
plants stand the variations, the heat and dry-
ness of our climate, much better th^ imported
plants.

FLORIST FLOWERS.

BY A. VEITCH, NEW HAVEN, CONN.

Those who take an interest in the improve-
ment, as they believe, of florist flowers are now
receiving little encouragement from a class of
writers in English journals, some of which
claim that better results would have been ob-

68

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

tained had as much attention heen bestowed
upon single as has been upon double varieties.
And others, again, regard wild flowers with
greater fiivor than they do garden varieties ;
thus raising an issue without cause, as each class
in its own phice is worthy of all esteem.

Florists need have no contention with those
who prefer flowers in their natural state to cul-
tivated varieties, and many of them look upon
all natural productions with as much interest as
do those who protest against the changes which
have been wrought on many by their hands.
The clear-sighted among them can see two
fields wherein to exercise their faculties, the one
wide as the flora of the globe, the other an en-
closure wherein are gathered the choicest speci-
mens, and such as are best adapted for use and
show. In this limited field the mind is less
liable to be distracted by a multiplicity of objects
than in the other, and is therefore at greater
liberty to concentrate its energies upon a few
chosen specimens with which to experiment and
cultivate up to ideal perfection. In so doing no
violence is done to nature, for " The art itself is
nature," and as they find her so far yielding to
their wishes as to permit changes which, al-
though not conducive in every case to the go'od
of the individual, adds so much the more to
their own and to others enjoyment as to entitle
them to a place among puVjlic benefactors.

A similar course has been pursued in the im-
provement of vegetables. While we know not
with what esteem Brassica oleracea and cam-
pestris were held by primitive man, we do know
that those products would make a poor display
now, in the garden or on the farm, in their nor-
mal state. But since they have "grown great in
bulk and succulent of leaf," by cultivation, Ru-
tabagas and Drumhead cabbage are justly held
in high esteem. So it has been with the dahlia
and the rose. In their natural state both are
interesting and attractive ; but he who would
prefer them in this state to the double forms
now so common, and which add so much to the
beauty and ^traction of modern gardens, must
have a poor conception indeed of elegance with
grandeur combined.

And yet, because of their unassuming elegance
and grace, a single wild rose may make a deeper
impression upon the mind than could be pro-
duced by any one with a fuller compliment of
petals. Objects of this nature address themselves
directly to the finer feelings of mankind, and
excite a sympathy which is ever responsive to

the calls, or seeming calls of every thing that ia
tender and beautiful. Such were the feelings of
Robert Burns, when, on that farm of his, he
turned a daisy under the sod to bloom in his
verse for evermore. Wordsworth, too, was un-
der the same inspiration when he said :

" To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that too often lie too deep for tears."

This, in part, might be regarded as the sentimen-
tal love of flowers, and is strongest in minds of
deep reflection and poetic taste; it stoops not to
commercial valuations, but is fully occupied
with that beauty in flowers which addresses
itself alike to the imagination and the judg-
ment.

But the florist must be true to his calling,
which is not so much to hold to the sentimental
and severely simple as to make use of every
flower at his disposal which may aid in making
his flower beds and greenhouses showy and
attractive. And few will dispute that garden
varieties, in their rounded fullness, are better
adapted for this purpose than their representa-
tives in a natural state.

But double varieties are especially obnoxious
to a class of writers who claim that the highest
types of beauty are to be found amongst those
that are single, which claim may be true ; but it
is also true that very high types of beauty are to
be found amongst double sorts, such as the
Marechal Niel rose and double white Camellia
fully attest. In setting forth the superior claim
of single varieties it has been asked, " Why are
the primrose, the wild daisy, or the buttercup so
much admired, and the dandelion held in con-
tempt? It is gaudy, it is inelegant, it is a wisp of
of petals, hence it is a failure, a ' hissing and a by-
word,' and— and a model for florists." This is
hard on the dandelion and the florist; but, had
the writer studied more closely the elements of
floral beauty, he would not have so estimated
the dandelion, and also have given due credit to
the florist, for selecting such a flower for his
model. At the same time, the statement is what
might be expected from one who believes that
the highest beauty consists of simplicity and
elegance, combined with delicacy of color. A
statement by no means complete, and no state-
ment of principles can bes complete which does
not give due prominence to form, congruity. or
harmony and smoothness, as well as delicacy of
color. And, moreover, we do not see how sim-
plicity can be regarded as an element of floral
beauty, but rather as the outgrowth and so-

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

quence of a happy combination of such ele-
ments as have been named. If this is not so. a
blow is struck at all ornamenttition, and by the
same token a flail is more worthy of admiration
and esteem than a threshing machine, or a
phial three parts filled with water suspended by
a cord attached to the bottom, than an elabor-
ately' constructed barometer, with all modern
improvements. But this will not be believed ;
neither can we believe that the beauty of a
flower depends upon simplicity, but upon the
harmonious blending of such elements as enter
into its composition, no matter whether the
petals be many or few, provided they are all
perfectly formed, all harmoniously arranged, all
delicately smooth, and of whatever color, clear
and distinct, or when of different shades, these
60 disposed as to produce the most agreeable
impressions.

I do not pretend to give a complete analysis
of beauty in flowers, but only to draw attention
to some of its principal constituents, and as
every family has its own kind of ideal beauty,
the criterion for one may not meet the case of
another. This is equally applicable to the dif-
ference between double and single sorts of the
same species. But if the petals of a single rose,
for example, come up to the standard of utmost
perfection, no difficulty can be felt in recogniz-
ing the importance of symmetry and proportion
in those that are double. And yet. strange to
say, the men who are loudest in their protesta-
tions against double flowers stand up in defence
of semi-double ones, in the new strain of dahlias,
which, if we may judge from wood-cuts, come
nearer to being " wisps of petals " than the under-
rated dandelion. But they say they are finely
colored. Be it so; but color alone, however
elegant, cannot make up for a deficiency of
form, symmetry and proportion. And, we re-
peat, that these principles are of the utmost
importance in all flowers either single or double.
Without them, they may be gaudy, but they
cannot satisfy the judgment which takes cogniz-
ance of order and congruity, as well as of
color. As well say that a human countenance
of fair color is beautiful, when the features are
ill-formed, irregular and disproportioned, as that
a flower, especially a double flower, is beautiful
without these prerequisites. And perhaps it is
not too much to say, that greater progress
would have been made in floriculture had culti-
vators attended more strictly to the principles
I have endeavored to set forth.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Ornamental Rhubarb. — We have several
times called attention to the great beauty of the
large-leaved herbaceous plants, when set out as
specimens on the lawn or worked in with
shrubs or trees, even in massing. The common

RHEUM OFFICINALE.

garden rhubarb is rather coarse as an ornamen-
tal plant, though striking when in full flower;
but there are some species not used as esculents,
that have greater elements of beauty. HaageA
Schmidt, of Erfurt, have introduced two that are
particularly beautiful, and of which we give

RHEUM RIBES.

illustrations here. One, Rheum officinale, has
an additional interest in this, that it is
the species from which the medicinal rhubarb
root is prepared. The Rheum ribes is so called
probably from the resemblance of its panicle of
fruit to bunches of currants or Ribes, is particu-

70

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

larly ornamental by reason of its leaves as well
as flowers and fruit. The old Acanthus of the
poets is another very pretty leaf plant for single
specimens on lawns.

PiLEA REPENS. — This is reported to be an ex-
cellent plant as a green base to flower beds. It
has a moss-like habit.

Ornamental Grasses. — Few have any concep-
tion of the immense demand for ornamental
grasses. We have heard of one seedsman whose
stock of seed of the feather grass (Stipapennata)
alone was this winter eight tons.

Crat^gus arborescens. — Dr. Engelmann, in a
recent issue of the Botanical Gazette, says this is
the largest N. American Hawthorn. It grows on
the alluvial river bottoms below St. Louis. It
makes a trunk often 28 inches in diameter. The
red or orange-colored fruit persists all winter,
long after all other kinds of Hawthorns have
fallen.

Arnold Arboretum.— By the Annual Report of
Director Sargent, we find that the city govern-
ment of Boston has not yet provided for the
joint occupancy of the Arboretum and the city
as recommended by the Park Commissioners,
according to the plan given by the Gardener's
Monthly last year. It is to be regretted, as it
would make one of the most instructive and
beautiful public grounds in America.

Rare Trees in Germantown.— The death of
Mr. Norton Johnson, of Germantown, Philadel-
phia, removes the last male representative of a
family which has been closely identified with the
fame of Philadelphia as a horticultural and
botanical centre. One of the streets running
through the estate is named Upsal Street, after
the home of the great Swedish botanist, Lin-
naeus. One of the brothers, who died a few
years ago, left all his property after the death
of his wife, to the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia.

On these grounds is the famous Silver Fir of
Europe, planted in the beginning of the present
century, one of the first four introduced into the
country by the Princes of Flushing, and which
has been so often written about and pictured.
It is one hundred feet high, but has been on the
downward path for some years. The finest
American Yew in the world is probably the one
here. As generally known, it is rather a trailer
than an erect grower as the European is. This
plant makes a dense mass over fifty feet wide,

rising to about six feet in the centre. It forms a
circular bush of rare beauty. It is also about
one hundred years old.

The only livingspecimen of the great Sequoia,
a mammoth tree of California, that probably ex-
ists in the Atlantic States, is here. Under our
suns the lower branches die, and generally after
a few years die upward so rapidly as to kill the
tree. This specimen happens to be growing
under the shade of some huge white pines, which
have lost their lower branches; hence though
the mammoth tree loses the greater number of
the last year's side shoots, the growth of the dis-
ease is not rapid enough to kill all the same
season, and hence there are enough to start the
growth the next year. This sole representative
of the California wonder is not therefore any-
thing to boast of as a matter of beauty. Besides
these, are some remarkably pretty Cryptomeria
japonicas, which seem to be quite hardy after
they have once been able to get a deep tap root.
Pinus excelsa has also grown here to a very
beautiful tree. In the garden borders are numer-
ous rare herbaceous plants.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Hardy Cy.pripediums. — " If any of the readers
of the Monthly can give me any information con-
cerning the treatment of Cypripedium acaule,
parviflorum, spectabilis, and pubescens, I should
be very thankful for it." — Q.

A Fine Ohio Thorn. — L. B. Case, Dayton, 0.,
writes : " In a former note to you I expressed a
doubt of there being an evergreen thorn in this
latitude ; at least I never had seen one. It was
never my good fortune even to see a tree retain
its fruit plump and perfect until mid-winter. But
to-day I saw a tree about fifteen feet high with
about ten feet spread of branches growing in an
open woods about two miles east of Xenia, Ohio,
with its bright golden yellow fruit hanging on its
branches in perfect condition. The leaves
had entirely disappeared, but the fruit
made the tree very attractive and ornamental."

Winter Flowers in Texas.— Mrs. S. E. Byers,
Houston, Texas, under date of January 9th,
writes : " I sent you a cigar-box containing a few
roses with my card, from the out-door flower
garden. I scarcely hoped that they would reach
you before their leaves had fallen. The large
white rose, Estelle Pradelle I esteem the most

1882.

AND HORTICULTURISl.

71

constant bloomer, and best in my collection of
three hundred varieties — over a dozen white
roses. I have read with interest, from time to
time in Gardener's Monthly items on roses, and
often console myself with the thought that we
can grow roses to perfection in Texas, in the
open border.

This list is now in bloom in the garden ; my
garden is well protected by evergreens. Solfa-
terre, with highly perfumed golden buds ; Jean
d'Arc, beautiful evergreen foliage, and white |
pointed buds— both Noisette roses. Banksia, |
gaudy with snow-white flowers and evergreen j
foliage, very hardy here, but blooms once, and
that for about six weeks; Jacqueminot, Mad.
Chas. Wood, Crown, and other Hybrids, besides
a host of Tea Roses ; while Devoniensis, Mad.
Damasin, Bourbon and Bengal Roses, all have
their representatives. Of Perpetual, the rose
Belle Allemande is certainly here never out of
bloom, unless frosted, and soon rallies after a
freeze. Bella is not much found here, unless it
would be under glass, as it yields only flowers in ;
the winter. j

I have half a dozen Seedling Roses of my own '

raising, that are very good, and may some day
find admirers. One closely resembles Appolline,
a very constant bloomer. I often wonder that
our Southern amateurs do not experiment more
with rose seeds. The plant 1 have bloomed
when three months old, and only four inches
high, so that anyone can see the color, and if
double or single ; still, they have to wait a year
or more to get a strong plant from seed. It is
important to pick off" the buds in order to get
strong growing plants. We know of a Marechal

Niel Rose, grown by a Houstonian, Capt. T ,

that occupies three hundred and twenty square
feet, and bears thousands of roses. There are
quite a number of fine M. Niels about town ;
this is the largest one known to me. It is eight
years old.

[These flowers arrived in excellent condition,
except that those roses which had partially
opened when gathered, soon dropped their petals
when taken from the bud. If gathered when
not quite mature, a Philadelphian might have
flowers from his farm in Southern Texas fresh
on his table every day, at but a trifling expense.
—Ed. G. M.J

Greenhouse and House Gardening.

COMMUNICA riONS.

CCELOCYNE CRISTATA.

BY MANSFIELD MILTON, \OUNGSTOWN, O.

All Ccelogynes are beautiful — in fact, all
flowers are beautiful — nature is not the author
of anything ugly ; but she appears to combine in
some particular objects more attractions than in
others ; the subject of these remarks is one of
them. Who can look at a flower of Coelgyne
cristata and be an infidel ?

The flowers are produced on drooping spikes
proceeding from the base of the ball. They are
of a beautiful white with a yellow blotch on the
lips, and will last a long time in perfection.

It is an evergreen orchid, and succeeds best in
a pot, with equal parts peat and moss. Give plenty
of drainage, as during its season of growth it re-
quires an abundant supply of water, withholding
as the bulbs mature. Give but little water when

at rest, and keep in cool house, and by all means
prevent from exciting into growth prematurely,
as by doing so the flowering of the plant is often
checked. Keep the leaves scrupulously clean,
and encourage a good growth of bulbs and roots.
Be careful to protect the latter from the depre-
dations of woodlice, slugs, and other insecta
which are very fond of them. Keep a dry at-
mosphere during the time the flowers are open,
as damp is apt to make them spot and decay
soon.

CLERODENDRON.

BY CHARLES E. PARNELL, QUEENS, L. I., N. Y.

The showy Clerodendron (C. speciosissi-
mum) forms a dwarf branching plant, growing
from four to six feet in height with large
cordate leaves and a furrowed almost square
stem. It is also one of the most distinct and
prettiest species, and produces its flowers in
large terminal panicles on healthy and well

72

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[March,

grown specimens from July until October. The
flowers are of a vivid scarlet color, the single
flowers being over an inch and a half in length,
and as the large panicles are thrown up well
above the foliage they render the plant re-
markably attractive. The flowers last for a
considerable time.

Propagation is effected by cuttings of the young
wood, and if the young plants are repotted as
often as necessary and liberally treated, they
will form flowering plants in the course of a year.

It is a plant of easy culture, and in the mixed
border is peculiarly attractive ; when grown
for this purpose it can be planted out in good
rich soil about the tenth of May, or when all
danger of frost is over. Water freely in dry
weather, and on the approach of frost take the
plants up carefully, pot them, and place in a
greenhouse having a temperature of 50° or 55°.
When they have ceased flowering the plants can
be placed under the stage if the room is desired
for other purposes. While in a dormant state
give but little water.

If grown as a pot plant it must be given an
abundance of room for its roots, good drainage,
an abundant supply of water during its sea-
eon of growth, and a compost of two-thirds
well rotted sods and one-third manure well
mixed. During the summer season plunge the
pot in a sunny position, give it a watering of
liquid manure water once a week, and it will
produce its scarlet panicles in such beauty as to
surprise all who are so fortunate as to behold it.

When the plant is grown in the greenhouse
during the winter season it is unfortunately very
subject to the scale, mealy bug and red spider,
so that great care will be necessary to keep these
pests in check.

large plants of Coelogyne have been undisturbed
for four years, and have now bulbs three inches
long and very strong flower spikes. Good drain-
age is essential, as the plant after growth has
fairly commenced, can hardly get too much
water. My plants are set on benches covered
with an inch of sand, and are watered thoroughly
twice a day from the time the new growth shows
until in September, when the flower spikes ap-
pear prominently from the base of the bulbs ; then
the supply of water is reduced somewhat as the
plant goes gradually to rest, until now (Decem-
ber) the plants get a watering once a week if in
pots and an occasional light syringing over the
leaves besides. Those on blocks will require
dipping about twice a week if there is considera-
ble moss on the blocks, which there should be.
The plants should never get entirely dry or the
bulbs allowed to shrivel much. One plant in ten
inch pan is now showing thirty flower spikes,
(very strong) and ought to give one hundred and
fifty flowers. Last year it had eighty-four flowers
which lasted five weeks in bloom. Five plants
were taken ofi" last spring, each of which will
bloom in February. The Coelogyne is not partic-
ular as to temperature, though in warm houses
it will bloom earlier. My little orchid house
14x14 is ventilated under the benches, with slight
roof ventilation. The door and ventilators are
generally kept open night and day in summer
except in storms. The roof is whitewashed
which gets off" in October and is renewed in
March. In this house are grown one hundred
and fifty orchids all in the best of health, and
some in flower at all times. The attention given
is less than is required by a general collection of
plants, and the results far more satisfactory.

CCELOCYNE CRISTATA.

BY F. W. WOODWARD, EAU CLAIRE, WIS.

" G. C." asks in December number for a few
notes on the culture of Coelogyne cristata. This
plant with me is one of the easiest of all orchids
to grow and flower, now that its wants are under-
stood. It will grow well either in pots or upon
blocks with sphagnum moss. If in pots it grows
very luxuriantly in moss alone, without the
addition of peat which is an injury to any orchid
in my opinion. At least orchids have never
grown well for any length of time in a potting
material of which peat formed a portion, even
the pure Jersey article. While in moss some

GREENHOUSES HEATED BY STEAM.

BY AUGUST D. .MYLIUS, FLORIST, DETROIT, MICH.

Mr. Fowler's article about steam-heating for
greenhouses in December number, is in the
right direction. It is throwing money away to
pay two dollars for what can be bought for
seventy-five cents. I saw how steam worked last
winter in greenhouses, and I never saw healthier
roses and plants of every description than those
grown with its aid. I made up my mind then
after noting how well everything did with steam,
that I would not build another house without it.
I took out hot water boiler and flues, and put a
ten horse power boiler in to heat four houses,
each twenty-two feet by sixty. Now to heat this

1882/

AND HORTICULTURIST.

73

amount of glass well it takes two hot water
boilers, doable amount of pipe ; besides, hot
water pipe is four inch, where steam pipes are
only one inch, except main pipe which is two
inch, from this the one inch pipe gets its supply.
The price for steam heating is, boiler $200; pipes
and fittings, $400; or everything complete in
working order for $600; and if put up last year
when iron was lower in price, perhaps it would
not have cost $500. For hot water it would have
•cost me at least $1,500 or more, with less satis-
faction. It takes less time to tend to fire, and
less fuel. Mostly all florists here will use steam
after this; they all see it is a success, and all are
wondering why it was not used before this date
for structures of this kind. Five or six florists
here put in steam last summer, and others that
possibly can will put it in next year.

CCELOCYNE CRISTATA.

BY WALTER GRAY, COLLEGE HILL, CINCINNATI, O.

Kindly allow me a few words on the cultiva-
tion of the above in reply to " G. C," p. 369
This plant will thrive well in any warm green-
house, in pots, in a compost of rough peat and
moss. The pots should be well drained, so as to
let the water pass quickly through the compost.
If it should require potting, it is best done when
the plant begins to grow. It requires abundance
of water in its growing season ; in fact, should
never be allowed to get dry. I have grown this
plant beautifully upon blocks of wood ; also, in
baskets suspended from the roof near the glass.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

RoGiERA GRATisiMA. — A plant about two feet
high, and about two feet thick, with scores of
bunches of fragrant whitish flowers was ex-
hibited by Alex. Young, gardener to Mr. R. S.
Mason, at the January exhibition of the German-
town Horticultural Society, showing it to be an
admirable kind for conservatory decoration at
that season of the year.

Steam Heating. — There is little doubt that
where there are large ranges of plant houses to
be heated, steam is destined to play a much
more important part in American gardening
than it has yet done. There is no reason why
it may not be employed in connection with the
electric light and the warming of whole blocks

of houses by one steam-heating company in each
block, and we pay for the steam we use as we
pay for gas. This will be a great boon to the
florist who may be near such a public steam
company. Only think of the enjoyment of going
to bed at nights without worrying over fires ; no
coal bills to pay, no dirt, no dust, no smoke, no
trouble but to grow flowers or fruit, and turn
these to pleasure and profit ! Will it not be
glorious ?

LiBORNiA Penrhoseana. — A plant of this about
two feet over, with I'terally thousands of flowers,
was one of the gayest of the many pretty things
exhibited at the January meeting of the German-
town Horticultural Society. It came from Mr.
Gallagher, gardener to Amos R. Lyttle, Esq.

Cut Flowers in Paris.— The chief flowers
forced for cutting in winter, are Hydrangea
paniculata, White Lilacs, Lantanas, Violets,
Stockgillies, ''Anthemis"— which our growers
would perhaps translate to "Daisies" — Roses,
Azaleas, New Holland Acacias, Epiphyllums,
Tulips, Hyacinths, Narcissus, Chinese Primroses,
Ericas, or Heaths, and " Muquets " or Lilies of
the Valley. It seems strange that so very useful
a plant as the Myrsiphyllum, or " Smilax,"
should not be known there in connection with
cut flower work.

Stephanotis floribunda. — This waxy white,
and sweet flower, would be extremely profitable
to that florist who could discover how to get it
in bloom cheaply and profusely all winter. It
seldom flowers, however, before the winter and
season for expensive flowers is almost over.

AcALYPHA marginata. — These, so numerous
as the species are, afford little of interest to the
cultivator ; but Acalypha marginata, as shown
by Mr. Kinnier, at the January meeting of the
Germantown Horticultural Society, shows this
one to be as beautiful as the choicest coleus
which the prettily-margined leaves very much
suggested.

Buttonhole Bouquets -These are not as popu-
lar in our country for everyday use as they are
in Europe, on account of the dryness of the at-
mosphere causing the flowers to wither very
soon. But there are many flowers which might
be selected of more enduring character. The
double white Bouvardia seems one of this
character.

Chrysanthemums. — Referring to Mr. Walter
Coles' article on the Chrysanthemum, it should

74

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

read that the Chrysanthemum should be planted
on the south side of the house instead of the
north.

Cut Flowers in Eastern Cities. — Many of the
plants used for cut flowers are grown in open
ground during summer, and transplanted to the
forcing houses in the fall. The past season in-
terfered very much with the summer growth of
these plants, and hence they have not given the
amount of flowers as usual. On the other hand,
there seems to have been a more active demand,
and hence prices have been very well sustained.
General Jacqueminot Roses still bring the high-
est price of any rose. Cornelia Cook and Cathe-
rine Mermet are growing in popularity ; though
Bon silene, SafTrano, Isabella Sprunt, and Mar-
shal Niel, are still the main dependence.

The best class of bouquets brought generally
from $10 to $15 each. Bouvardias, Mignonette,
Callas, Heliotrope, Carnations, are still the
chief reliance of florists. Violets, Orchids,
and other rare things are special fancies.
There seems to be an increasing tendency to
value some special novelty. Any florist who has
courage enough to grow some really beautiful
thing in large quantity and can get the use of
some large firm to introduce it, can usually suc-
ceed.

Red Berries in Winter Pot Plants. — Few
plants are more desirable for pot plants in win-
dows than Ardisia crenulata. The holly-like
berries are really beautiful, Cotoneaster Sim-
mondii is equally beautiful, but not so well
known.

NB^ OR RARE PLANTS.

A Double Dahlia.— There are already double
Dahlias and single Dahlias so-called, but this
doubling is simply the enlargement of the disc
petals. A real double is now ofiered in England.
The disc florets have sm.qller ones inside their
little cups. It is called " Double floret Dahlia."

President Garfield Zonale Geranium. — This
is a new introduction in England. It is said to
be a sport from Vesuvius, and to be of the color
of Jean Sisley, with large white eye.

Improved Chinese Primroses. — At the recent
meeting of the Pennsylvania State Horticultural
Society, Mr, Brenneman, florist of Harrisburg,
had a fine collection of Chinese Primroses, of the

Rupp improvements. They are of many forms
and shades of color, andja decided improvement
on the old stock.

A White Heliotrope. — A pure white Helio-
trope, long desired, seems to have been at length
produced, judging by the following from the
Journal of Horticulture : " Fragrant flowers are
general favorites, and any improvement upon
those we already possess must be welcome
to all. This Mr, H. Cannell has unques-
tionably provided in the new Heliotrope White
Lady, which was shown in excellent con-
dition at Kensington last week and awarded a
first class certificate. The chief characteristics
distinguishing it from other varieties of the well-
known plant are the great size of the corymbs,
the large individual flowers of which are quite
white, and the fragrance is powerful even for
Heliotrope, The habit, too, is compact, and the
plant appears to be sturdy and floriferous in no
mean degree."

Steam Heating. — Mrs. M. P. Green remarks :
" None of the writers on steam heating of green-
houses has told us definitely about their radia-
ting surfaces. Do they use two inch, or larger,
or smaller pipes as radiating surfaces, the whole
length of the benches or houses, or do they use
shorter ' coils ' at separate distances after the
manner of heating dwelling houses. One uses
two inch and others use various other sizes of
pipe, but we want more definite details about
the radiators."

Asparagus plumosus. — "J. R. G." St. Stephen's
Ch. P. 0., Va., writes: "Can the Gardener's
Monthly tell me if Asparagus plumosus is
hardy. From the beautiful print of it and
the editorial endorsement I am anxious to
get it."

[With no personal knowledge of the culture of
this plant, the Editor can only say that from its
native country and other associations, it ought to
do well in a cool greenhouse.]

Ixora splendida. — Among the most valuable
flowering plants are those furnished by the order
Rubiaceae, of which the well known Bouvardia
may be taken as a type. There are other genera
closely allied, which are also very beautiful, such
as Pavetta, Rondoletia, Rogiera, and Ixora, of
which we give an illustration here. Ixoras are
particularly showy, and in places where specimen
plants are cared for, always find a favor. Like
Bouvardia they require some heat to bloom well

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

75

in winter. There are a great number of species
scattered chiefly over the Islands of the Indian

vation. The species here illustrated, I. splendida,
is one of these recent introductions for which the

Ocean, and new ones are being continually dis- 1 floral world is indebted to the enterprise of Mr.
covered or introduced for the first time to culti- 1 Wm. Bull, Chelsea, near London.

76

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Asparagus Plumosus. — Mrs. " R. B. E." says :
" In the December Monthly inquiry is made
about Asparagus plumosus, and whether it is in
this country. John Saul, of Washington, and
Hovey & Co., of Boston, advertised it in their
catalogues for the spring of 1881. I have never
seen it in growth, however, but if the illustration
is correct, and its habit of growth satisfactory,
it must be a verj'^ great acquisition."

[This illustrates a point we often make, when
people write to niagazines to l?now where they
can get rare or interesting plants or fruits. The

editors of these magazines cannot always know
these things ; indeed such question^ come rather
under the head of business matters, and are
more adapted to the advertising than the read-
ing columns. But to the point referred to,
which is, that the best way to get at these ques-
tions is io write to or send for the catalogues of
the firms who may have eminence in these
branches. If they hav^not the kinds ready, on
application, they soon get them. — Ed. G. M.]

Begonia Schmidtii.— Messrs. Nanz & Neuner
find Begonia Schmidtii a desirable acquisition.
Besides good habits and foliage, it is a profuse
bloomer.

Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,

SEASONABLE HINTS.

The pruning knife often injures as much as it
benefits, and hence arises two schools in garden-
ing, namely, those who prune on all occasions,
and those who prune not at all. As an instance of
very bad pruning, we may go to many dwarf-pear
gi'ounds, and fir.d them continually shortened
in till the tjnd is like that of the injudiciously
pruned maple trees, along city streets, they die
altogether, or present so poor an aspect that the
owner concludes, not that he is a failure, but
that dwarf pears are not worth growing. Much
of the failure with the dwarf pear comes from
bad pruning, though with the best of care there
are few places where they succeed to such an
extent as to warrant the extravagant encomiums
showered on dwarf pear culture a quarter of a
century ago. The dwarf pear delights more,
perhaps, in the pruning knife than any* other
fruit tree, except the grape; but instead of short-
ening in the vigorous shoots, which are the life
of the tree, and leaving the weak and half dead
wood, it is this small trash that should be cut
away. Then, again, we have to look at the
questions of growth or fruitfulness. If a tree is
already growing with great vigor pruning will
only induce a more vigorous foliaceous growth,
which is antagonistic to fruitfulness. And again,
if not growing as vigorously as we desire, one

good pruning may remedy this. Pruning is a
great art, and yet one which is soon understood,
if we reflect on a few fundamental truths.

Grape-vines in the open air, on arbors and
trellises, should have their pruning finished be-
fore warm Spring days set in, or they will bleed.
It does not injure them much, but it looks bad.
The pruning must be regulated by the condition
of the vine. If thts vines are young and the
shoots weak, cut them all back, to make a new
and vigorous growth. If already a fair quantity
of strong shoots of last season's growth exists,
cut out the weaker ones, so as to leave enough
of stronger ones. The cane sj'^stem, slightly
modified, is best for arbors and trellises in the
hands of amateurs generally. This implies a
new set of canes every year or two. If, as fre-
quently happens from bad management, all the
young and strong-bearing wood exists only at
the end of the vines. — and these latter have be-
come nothing but long, ropy-looking apologies
for what a vine should be — the whole cane may
be buried down in the soil to where the strong
shoots spring from, and the young wood of last
season trained up from this. The plant will
then recover its good appearance quite as well
as by cutting down, with the advantage of not
sacrificing a year's crop of fruit.

Pruning of most kinds of fruits has been ac-
complished through the winter. It is customary,

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

77

however, to leave the peach till towards spring,
in order to cut out any wood that may be in-
jured through the winter. In other respects, the
peach should have little pruning at this season,
as it tends only to make it grow more luxuri-
ously; and a too free vigor of growth is a fiiult
of the peach in this climate. The only pruning
admissible is that which has for its object the
production of shoots in naked or desirable
places.

After a crop has been borne, however, prun-
ing may be more severely practiced. We once
heard a good fruit grower say that peaches sel-
dom had the yellows till after they had borne
one good crop, and that a good pruning the
winter following the first bearing was a sure
protection against the dire disease. How mufh
there may be in this notion is not clear, but it is
worth a thought.

In the vegetable garden we might give a hint
in asparagus culture, that if very large stalks are
desired, the soil must be very rich, and the
plants set as wide apart as rows of corn. It is to
be observed that those who believe there are
some varieties of asparagus that may be repro-
duced from seed urge the necessity of planting
very wide apart. We do not know that very
large stalks are especially desirable, and for
ordinary use would set the plants about twenty
inches apart; about four inches beneath the
surface is deep enough to set. Good deep soil is
generallj' good; but if in a stiff soil, deepening
it for asparagus, only makes a well into which
the surrounding waters drain. It is much better
in such situations to plant in raised beds. The
alleys between them serve as surface ditches.
Many failures in planting asparagus arise from
this depth of bed, under such circumstances.
The plants rot from water about them.

In vegetable garden culture, it must be re-
membered that we have to operate the reverse
of fruit culture. A woody growth is what we
require for fruit trees; but we need for vegeta-
bles a soft, spongy, succulent character, the very
reverse of this. For this end the ground cannot
be too deep, too rich, or too much cultivated.
The hoe and the rake should be kept continu-
ally going, loosening the surface and admitting
"air and light," as the old books used to say.
There is not only an advantage in this for the
direct benefit of the plant, but an early use of
these tools keeps down the weeds, and thus we
save labor. It is a great thing to be ''fore-
handed " in the weed war.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

PRUNING FRUIT TREES.

BY REV. L. J. TEMPLIN, HDTCHINSON, KANSAS.

It is doubtful whether there is any other sub-
ject connected with fruit raising upon which
there is such a wide difference of opinion as that
of pruning.

Two wide extremes are held by different men ;
some holding that pruning should be done at
almost all times and with but little limit to the
quantity. On the other hand, there are those
who are opposed to pruning at any time and in
any quantity.

The one argues that nature knows the needs
of her own productions better than man, and if
it were best for the growing tree for a considera-
ble portion of its annual growth to be cut away, it
would either not he produced, or it would fall
away of its own accord. And this is what does
take place in the case of forest trees; when the
growth is too thick so that some of the branches
do not receive a sufficient amount of light and
air, such branches die and fall oflf. By this pro-
cess of natural pruning the lower branches of the
treps in the thick forest have been gradually re-
moved till the trunks are entirely devoid of them
for many feet. From this it is argued that if
fruit trees be left to this natural process of prun-
ing, they will be both more healthy and more
fruitful. But would this follow as a consequence
of this let-alone system ? It appears to me there
are very strong reasons for believing that it would
not. It should be remembered that the condi-
tions of the forest tree are wholly natural, while
those of a fruit tree in the orchard are largely
artificial. The forest trees are generally crowded
so closely together that the sunlight and air
are largely excluded from the lower branches^
which being thus deprived of their natural
stimulus, die and fall away. The fruit tree, on
the other hand, is, or should be, planted out
in an open space where it receives abundance
ol both light and air, so that so far from its being
deprived of its surplus branches by natural prun-
ing, the tendency is to grow thicker almost
without limit. Again, the acerb and astringent
fruits that are produced by the trees of nature's
own planting and pruning, are hardly to be com-
pared with the highly developed, luscious fruits
of our cultivated orchards. It is doubtful
whether even those who contend for leaving the
pruning to nature would be satisfied with that

78

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

which is produced without the aid of artificial
means. It has been my observation that or-
chards, even though composed of the better va-
rieties of cultivated fruits, if permitted to go
without any pruning, soon become so overgrown
with useless, or, at least, surplus wood that
the fruit, though abundant as to numbers, is
very inferior as to quality. An excessive growth
of wood is incompatible with the production of
abundance of good-sized, high-flavored fruit.

For the development of fine flavor in fruit, it
is essential that it be exposed to the rays of the
sun while ripening. Fruit that is grown in the
shade is always insipid compared with the same
variety that has been freely exposed to air and
sunlight. Some trees, if not kept somewhat in
check by pruning, will run to wood to such a
degree that but little of their vitality is left to
produce fruit. Others with such an abundance
of branches set such a large amount of fruit that
none of it can reach much excellence. It is
evident that a judicious amount of pruning will
remove these evils by thinning out the surplus
branches, thus concentrating the sap in a smaller
number of branches and buds, causing a more
vigorous development of the fruit. At the same
time, this thinning out of branches admits the
air and sunlight to all parts of the tree, causing
a more perfect elaboration of the sap in the
leaves, and of the juices of the fruit.

Assuming, then, that a certain amount of
pruning is required for the fullest degree of ex-
cellence in the growth of fruit, I proceed to a
brief descrfption of the principles of pruning.
And in this inquiry there are three things that
present themselves as claiming attention and
elaboration. First, the time when pruning
should be done; second, what should be cut
away in the operation ; and, third, how pruning
should be done. As to the first, much depends
on the object sought by the operation.

There are various and apparently contradictory
ends to be attained by pruning. We prune to
reduce the vigor of trees ; to increase the vigor of
trees ; to thicken the head of branches ; to induce
fruitfulness; to reduce the tendency to form fruit
buds ; to cause a more spreading growth ; to
induce a more upright growth, and various other
purposes. From this it will appear that in order
that pruning may accomplish the end desired, it
is essential that it be performed under such con-
ditions as will secure that particular object. It
is evident that if it be not done with a correct
understanding of the principles involved, a very

diQ"erent result may be produced than the one
intended. The difference in result depends very
much on the season of the year and condition of
the tree when the pruning is done. In order to
understand the physiology of pruning it is
necessary to have some knowledge of the princi-
ples of vegetable physiology. The fruit tree is a
living being influenced by soil, climate, and
especially the seasons of the year. The internal
condition of a tree does not diff'er so materially
as the outward manifestations at the diS"erent
seasons of the year. No sooner has the leaf fallen
in the autumn than the tree begins the process
of accumulating a store of moisture charged with
vegetable food for the use of the tree during the
following growing season. This is evident from
the fact, that if a tree be examined just after the
fall of the leaf it will be found comparatively
destitute of sap; but if the examination be made
in the spring, the wood will be found full to
repletion with the moisture that has been grad-
ually accumulated during the winter. During
this gradual increase of sap, there is a considera-
ble amount of tree food carried up and deposited
in various parts of the tree, near where it will be
needed for the early growth of the season.

Of course the more branches and buds the tree
has the more this plant food is divided, and the
less relative efTect is produced on each part.
Now it is evident that if a portion of the branches
be cut away early in the season, the remaining
buds will receive a greater proportional amount
of the nutriment accumulated afterwards. The
result would be increased vigor in the growth of
the remaining portions. If the desire is to in-
crease the vigor of a tree, according to this theory,
the pruning should be done as soon after the fall
of the leaves as practicable. But if there is
already sufficient vigor, pruning at this season
will have a tendency to increase the number of
branches, as the material laid up will cause
adventitious buds to form which will produce
numerous water sprouts that cause a thickening
of the sprays that will increase the evil that was
sought to be remedied by pruning. This ex-
plains why many persons complain that pruning
only makes the matter worse.

If the desire is to reduce the vigor of a tree
and thus cause it to form fruit buds and bear
fruit, the pruning must be done at a time when
the tree has expended the material for its season's
growth ; say about July or August. But a tree
to endure much pruning at that season should be
in great vigor, as severe pruning at that time

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

79

strikes at the life of the tree. Between these two
extremes there is a season during which the vigor
of the tree will be but little if at all affected. This
is evidently the best time to prune for the pur-
pose of simply removing surplus branches. My
experience and observation have led me to be-
lieve that the best time to prune, if this be the
purpose, is just at the time the tree is making its
most vigorous growth of the season. This, in the
Northern States, is during the latter part of May
and fore part of June, varying with the latitude
and the earliness of the season.

What to prune will be determined in part by
the purpose for which the operation is performed.
But it is evident that all branches that cross and
chafe must be removed. With most trees the
pruning should begin at the center and progress
outward. The head of the tree should be kept
open so that air and sunlight may have free
access. If a tree is inclined to grow lop-sided
the branches are to be pruned off and cut back
till a proper balance is secured. All water
sprouts and other branches that start where they
are not needed should be removed at once. The
better way is to rub or pinch them off with the
fingers as soon as they have started.

If a tree is too upright in growth, it may be
made more spreading by cutting the branches
back uniformly to buds that point outward. If
on the other hand, the growth is too spreading,
the pruning is to be done to buds pointing up-
ward or inward. But little remains to be said on
how pruning is to be done. The common fault
of leaving a stub where a branch has been
removed is to be avoided. The branch should
be cut off with a smooth cut just where the
swelling at the base begins, so that the wound
will be just the size of the large part of the
branches. Large branches are to be removed
with a fine saw, and the wound pared perfectly
smooth with a sharp knife, and then covered
with a coat of white lead or shellac dissolved in
alcohol.

Pruning done with intelligence and skill is a
blessing ; but if done in ignorance and in a bung-
ling manner it were better not done at all.

mate than they can at the South. A French

savant has recently uttered a thought confirma-
tory of my position. "Tropical fruit grown in the
temperate zone is greatly improved," or words
to that effect. As an instance, Florida oranges
are a hundred fold better than the same fruit
grown in the West Indies. Certainly we cant be

FIC CULTURE AT THE NORTH.

BY GEO. F. NEEDHAM, WASHINGTON, D. C.

In a note before me from Mr. Thos. D. Lloyd,
Barrie, Ont., Canada, he is quite jubilant because
he has ripened tigs in the open air. I sincerely
believe that we can grow better figs in our cli-

worse off than the fig-growers of Georgia, who
for two years have had their trees cut down by
frost. In fact our trees being protected are alive
and flourishing.

In France and Germany where the climate is
often as cold in winter as in Canada, figs are ex-
tensively grown and mature in the open air. The
branches are simply bent down and covered by
earth during the winter. De Breuil gives the
annexed illustration of a plant in which the
branches have been arranged in the form of a
cross before putting the earth on them.

CULTURE OF TEASEL.

BY J. MCLAUGHLIN, SKANEATELES, N. Y.

Our attention has been called to an article in the
January number of the Gardener's Monthly,
written by P. D. Barnhart, of Banksville, Pa., in
the course of which he gives a reply to the ques-
tion asked on page 280, as to whether any one
knows where the Teasel is cultivated in the
United States. We can give a more definite an-
swer than your correspondent above mentioned,
for what is a " pest " in his section, the farmers
in this part of New York State have converted
into a useful and valuable article of commerce,
which brings them annually about half a million
of dollars. The two towns of Maroellus and

so

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

Skaneateles in Onondaga County, produce all
the teasels grown on this continent. They were
first introduced here about fifty years ago, by
the celebrated English pill doctor, John Snook.
Having realized a large sum of money by the
sale of his receipt for making his pills, he came
to this country with the intention of raising tea-
sels. He visited several different localities
throughout the country, but could find no soil
suitable to produce a perfect teasel, until he
tried that of Skaneateles and Marcellus. His
first attempts were successful, but such was the
prejudice at that time against everything Ameri-
can, that he was obliged to sell his production as
French growth, and it was not until about
twenty years ago that the American teasel was
admitted to be the best grown in the world.

The seed is sown about the beginning of May,
and about one month afterwards is given its first
hoeing. In another two weeks it is ready to
thin out, which is done by hand, one plant being
left every six inches in the row, and the rows
three feet apart. In August the ground is again
hoed for the last time in the first season. The
second season we keep the horse cultivator at
work pretty steadily for two weeks, and the
plants that were formed from the seed the first
year, throw up a main stalk the second year, and
when about two feet high, a leaf makes its ap-
pearance, which gradually forms a cup around
the stalk ; from the base of this other
branches arise, and these in turn repeat the pro-
cess, until the*plant has from forty to fifty stalks.
On the end of each stalk is a teasel. The cups
act as reservoirs, with a capacity of from three
to five quarts of water, and thus keep the plant
supplied from one rain-storm to another. The
main stalk teasel is called the " King," and is
the male part of the plant. It blossoms first, be-
ginning at its apex and gradually going towards
the base, and while this is in operation, it sheds a
fine pollen over the other teasels, called queens,
by which they are impregnated. They all blos-
som with a white flower, and as soon as this
drops, they are fit to cut. When taken from the
fields they are placed in drying sheds built for the
purpose, and cured. When they are ready for
market, they are bought by dealers, who take
them into their factories, and prepare them for
the woolen mills. The preparation consists in
clipping off, by hand, the beard that grows at
the base of the teasels cutting the stems to about
three inches in length, sorting them into four
different qualities, into eight different lengths, and

gauging them by machinery into thirty-six dif-
ferent diameters. The different lengths, diame-
ters and qualities are packed sj'stematically in
separate boxes, measuring 3Jx3Jx5 feet. There
are seven different houses engaged in shipping,
employing from twenty to fifty hands each,
throughout the year, with trade extending from
St. Jose, California, on the West, to St. Peters-
burg, Russia, on the East, including the Canadaa
and Mexico.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Sowing Seeds. — It requires much judgment to
sow seeds properly. It is an art that cannot be
completely taught, though a few hints may be
given to put the learner on the track. We must
first remember that it requires an effort to push
the young growth through the earth, and that
all efforts require food. The material in the
seed feeds the young plant, and the greater the
effort to get through the earth, the weaker it
will be when it gets to the top. Many seedlings
burn off, because they are too weak to live by
the time they get to the surface.

Then we must remember that seeds must
have some moisture, and an absence of light.
The deduction from all this is that the seeds
must be as shallow as possible in the ground,
consistently with darkness and moisture. How
just to do this must be determined by each
sower. It is just here that the point so much in-
sisted on by Peter Henderson is of so much
value. By " firming " the earth about a seed, it
may be sown much shallower, and yet meet with
the necessary conditions of darkness and mois-
ture.

Coal Tar. — At a recent meeting of the Mont-
gomery Co., O., Society, Mr. H. C. Smith stated
that pitch tar was found to be more dangerous
than coal tar to keep insects from injuring the
bark of trees. This is very important informa-
tion, as the general belief has been the reverse.

Hothouse Geapes. — Few people have an idea
of the vast strides which have been made in the
skilful culture of the hothouse grape. The
Florist and Pomo^ogist. has recently placed on
record the full notes made at the National Show
of 1881, at Manchester, in England. The prem-
iums for the heaviest bunch of grapes was
awarded to Mr. Roberts, gardener to the Countess
of Charleville. It was the variety GrosGuillaume,
and weighed twenty pounds ! He also exhibited

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

81

one bunch of Trebbiana, a white grape, which
weighed twenty pounds, three ounces. The
premiums ranged from $100 to $150.

Plum, Bassett.— The Bassett Plum is receiving
encomiums at the West. Prof. Budd speaks
well of its doings at Ames, Iowa, and doubts
whether it is a variety of Prunus maritima.
Stark & Co., of Louisiana, Missouri, have this to
«ay of the relative value of the fruit for that sec-
tion :

" A remarkably prolific variety. While it is
not of first quality, it is good, and bears abun-
dant crops and is practically proof against the
curculio. Fruit small ; deep crimson with a
heavy bloom ; sweet, rifch, and pleasant. Ripens
last of September and will bear shipment in per-
fect condition, almost any distance. The great
value of this plum is for culinary uses — it has no
equal for dessert — for which it is superior to the
cranberry, as it requires very little sugar, and
needs only a little cooking to prepare it for use."

Raspberries in the North. — The raspberry is
a native of high northern or mountainous re-
gions, and hence we read of success with kinds
in the cooler portions of our country with varie-
ties which, becoming enervated by climates they
are not adapted to become the prey of the in-
sects or diseases, and are then too tender to stand
even a moderate winter. The editor of the
Canadian Horticulturist gives a list of kinds which
do well in that region. He commends Highland
simply for ita earliness, though the Turaer, bet-
ter in other respects, is nearly as early. It a
a profuse suckerer, and must have the hoe kept
going freely over the ground in the growing sea-
son. He thinks well of the Cuthbert, and re-
gards the Niagara as a promising variety. The
Caroline is a fair white kind. Philadelphia is
valued for its enormous crops, but nothing more.
Franconia and Clarke, with some faults, seem to
be the favorites.

The Earliest Peach.— In some extended ob-
servations at Rochester the past season, Mr. W. C.
Barry finds the Brigg's Red May ripe on July
24th, though he had splendid specimens of Alex-
ander and Arasdea on July 26th. Waterloo
came in on the 27th. Beatrice was ripe on the
4th of August ; Louise on the 7th ; Rivers on the
10th ; Le<jpold on the 15th ; Rivers' Early York,
18th ; Early Mignonne, 20th ; Hale's Early Au-
gust, 22nd.

Some years ago, when introducers claimed
that their novelties would ripen ten days or two
weeks before the Hale's Early, it was thought
almost too good to be true ; but we find here

that nearly a month has been gained, at least in
the latitude of Rochester. This is certainly a
great advance.

Raspberry, Shaffer's Colossal.— This seems
to be one of the native class, perhaps of the race
of the Black Caps. Mr. Green compares it with
the Mammoth Cluster. It is in season about
the same time, and roots from the tip, as do
others of that class. The color is reddish brown.
Mr. T T. Lyon says that it has more than the
usual vigor of Rubus occidentalis. It has a ten-
dency to fruit on the growth of the same season
as the Catawissa does. From accounts it appears
to be a promising fruit. It was introduced to
notice by George Shaffer, of Wheatland, Monroe
Co., N. Y.

Bees and Fruit. — At the recent meeting of
the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Society, a
member contended that bees could not, from the
structure of their mouths, penetrate the skin of
a grape, unless the fruit was cracked, or in some
way injured first. The evidence, that where
flowers were scarce, bees did immense damage
to fruit, was conclusive, and that bunches were
always saved when enclosed in paper bags,
seemed to prove that the bees did all the
damage.

Very Hardy Apples. — A large number get in-
jured by Canadian winters. The Canadian Hor-
ticulturist reports the following as always hardy
there. Tetofsky, Yellow Transparent, Duchess
of Oldenburg, Wealthy, Magog Red Streak, and
Scott's Winter, and all first class varieties.

Apple, Rome Beauty. — This variety is consid-
ered one of the most valuable from Southern
Ohio.

Can Fruit Trees be Over-fed ?— President
Barry believes that trees or plants that are
under-fed become stunted and are neither use-
ful nor beautiful. The sooner they die the bet-
ter. Those that are over-fed make a rank,
watery growth, which does not ripen, and is not
in a condition to resist cold.

Phylloxera. — The Journal of Horticulture
says : Considerable success, we are informed,
has attended the experiments of M. Thiolli^re
de risle at Tain, in France, to check the ravages
of Phylloxera, by planting his vines in a soil
especially prepared with sulphide of carbon.

Flat Culture in Potato Growing.— A few
years ago there was much dispute whether

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

potatoes were more healthy and prolific when
grown in ridges or when in flat land. The dif-
ference in the reports disgusted the simple in-
quirer after truth. It has since heen found that
soil and climate have much to do in varying the
results. As a rule, the modern experiments
favor ridge or hill culture. In wet or low soils
it is certainly the best. In very sandy soils,
liable to drought, flat culture wins.

Sponge Growing. — Sponge culture is a new
and promising industry in Florida. Pieces two
inches long are planted, and are found to grow
to seven inches in seven months.

The Blackman Plum. — The secretary of the
Rosebank Nurseries, at Nashville, says : '' This
variety was first brought to our notice last year.
It originated in Nashville, Tenn. It is an acci-
dental seedling from a tree of the Wild Goose,
which stood in close proximity to some peach
trees, and the foliage and habit of the tree of the
Blackman plum so much resembles the peach
that it leads to the belief of a possible hybridiza-
tion with the peach.

" The fruit is equal to the Wild Goose in size,
as brilliant in color, a little later in the season of
ripening, and of better quality, having more of
the firmness of flesh found in foreign sorts. It
makes a beautiful tree in a nursery, is as free
from thorns and spurs, and as strong a grower
as the peach."

Linseed Oil as a Remedy for Scale.— Our
readers may remember that the writer tried lin-
seed oil on his own fruit trees with admirable
results, and fortified by this experiment gave
the result of his experience to the readers of the
Gardener's Monthly. But others who tried it
afterwards killed their trees. We give the fol-
lowing from i\\e 1^01^(^0X1 Journal of Horticulture,
as it shows the same varying experience there:

" On opening the Journal of Horticulture this
morning, I was surprised to see an old letter of
mine again appearing in print. The two up-
right pear trees alluded to in my letter were not
injured in the slightest degree by the painting of
boiled linseed oil which my gardener gave them,
but it was ''all over " with the scale, and the
trees were not infested with that pest again.

"Three years ago, an upright-trained apple
tree was painted with this oil ; care, however,
was taken not to touch the flower buds or the
leading shoots of the year. This tree is now in
good, healthy, fruit-bearing condition, and is
quite free from scale. My gardener has also
painted a peach tree. The last year's growth
and the spurs were not painted, and the result
was most satisfactory. Care must be taken to

obtain pure linseed oil, aa much inferior oil is
now sold under the name of boiled linseed oil.

" I feel I am so much indebted to Mr. Wm.
Taylor for his admirable communications to our
Journal, that I shall be most willing to answer
any further questions he may think proper to
ask on this subject. — C M.

[" A letter will be published next week from a
gardener of great experience, who has found
linseed oil dangerous, and he does not advise its
use as an insecticide. If in the meantime any
one applies the oil to fruit trees, it is important
that the above injunction be borne in mind, and
the oil be obtained pure."]

Gros Colmar Grape. — A correspondent re-
cently inquired about this variety. An English
grape grower, writing to the Gardeners' Magazine,
names it at the bottom of his list ; but has the
following good points to note concerning it :

"The only other black variety I shall recom-
mend is Gros Colmar, unquestionably the most
telling of all the black kinds. Its clusters of
huge deeply-colored berries are sure to bring the
cultivator much credit, and when fully matured
it is not by any means indifferent in quality.
Complaints are frequently made of the inferior-
ity of Gros Colmar, but it has not deserved all
the hard things that have been said of it, and in
many instances the grower rather than the
grape has been at fault. When we hear it
spoken of as being so poor in flavor as to be
hardly worth eating, we may be sure that it has
either been grown in too low a temperature or
has been cut before becoming perfectly ripe.
Gros Colmar is not a cool-house grape; it re-
quires a temperature fully equal to that neces-
sary for the Muscat of Alexandria. I was per-
fectly aware of this when in charge of the Ealing
Park Gardens, and in planting my long lean-to
Muscat house a few canes of the Gros Colmar
had a place in it. They are now removed to
enable me to devote the house entirely to Mus-
cats ; but during the two or three years the latter
were invariably of a rich golden hue two or three
weeks before Gros Colmar had taken on the deep
Color for which it is distinguished. It has also
been long known to me that the bunches are not
fit to cut immediately the berries are black ; and
further, to have the grape in its highest perfec-
tion, it should hang from six weeks to two
months after the coloring process has been com-
pleted. It IS remarkable, considering the length
of time it will hang, for the extreme thinness of
its skin, which to many is a decided recommen-
dation."

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Levy's Late or Winter Peach.— Mr. Need-
ham sends us a copy of a letter from ex- President
Grant, dated New York, November 22d, acknowl-
edging some of the fruit, as showing how late in
Me season this remarkably fine Peach is in

1882.1

A Nl) HOR riCUL TURJST.

season. Mr. Dewey has had colored lithographs
taken of it.

A Fine Peach.— Mr. T. V. Munson, Denison,
Texas, under date of November 10th, 1881, writes :
To-day I mail you a specimen (medium or under)
of a new Peach originating in this Grayson Co.,
several years ago, and which has fruited several
times. It is not yet ripe. For fear of losing the
remaining fruit on the tree, by theft or otherwise,
they were taken off to be sent to a few competent
judges for opinions of its merits. When fully ripe
it has a bright carmine cheek where exposed. It
matures here (N. Lat. 34°) from November 1st to
15th, and exceeds in size and quality any other
cling Peach of its season I know of in the South.
It first appeared in a large orchard in eastern
part of the County, belonging to A. H. Shirley,
but was brought to the notice of our North Texas
Horticultural Society by Mr. Z. P. Stoneman.

The society wished me to send samples to a few
parties for a critical opinion as to its quality, &c.
Downing has been requested to name it and give
classical description if worthy. The tree ia
vigorous and like the Heath to which it seema
aUied, sufficiently productive. This is its north-
ern limit of ripening, but through the Gulf States
and especially in Southern California, it ought to
do well. It is so firm, even when fully ripe, it
can be shipped almost any distance. It shows
no signs of rot. It often reaches ten inches and
over in circumference. The fall here has been
too cloudy and wet for it to acquire high color
or its usual sweetness.

[This fine Peach weighed six ounces. If Mr.
Downing thinks it sufficiently distinct from the
late white Peaches already in existence, to
describe it, we should be glad to have the name.
—Ed. G. M.l

Forestry.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

School of Forestry. — There is a school of
Forestry at Nancy, in France, and the Forestry
Department of India, is having young men
educated there for service in the East Indies.
There is no school of forestry in England, and
hence advantage has to be taken of the French
establishment. It is unfortunately getting to be
too much in England as here, that a diligent
student of forestry would stand little more chance
of an appointment with his graduation papers
than without ; and hence there is little encour-
agement to sustain these schools. In the matter
of appointments, they serve usually to illustrate
that " kissing goes by favor." But there will be
a reaction, and those who know something have
alwaj's the best chance.

Cottonwood in Kansas. — Some cottonwoods
set out near Salina, as cuttings eight years ago,
are now twenty to thirty feet high, and Salina
is by no means one of the most favorable spots
in Kansas for tree culture.

Joaquin Miller on Forestry. — We are not
of those who admire Joaquin Miller's poetry, but
his prose on forestry in the recent number of the
Independent, is j ust of the right stripe. He thinks

as we do, that the owner of a forest who leaves
dead tree trimmings and dry underbrush loose
in the forest, to make fuel for tremendous forest
fires, ought to be held responsible for all the
damage which ensues to others.

In almost all our conventions we have talk
about rewards for those who inform on the hun-
ters whose wads start a fire, the railroads whose
sparks ignite dead grass, or the poor wanderer
whose camp fire makes a new start after- he has
departed, as the cause of a forest fire.

But if the undergrowth is kept down and dead
matter not allowed to accumulate, there will be
no fire to hurt the living trees. We know of a
piece of wood that is burned under every year
by sparks from the Reading Railroad company's
locomotives, but the standing timber has never
been injured.

It will not cost a thousandth part as much to
clear out all the brushwood in the United States
as we lose in one year by forest fires, and the
true way to preserve our forests must start from
just here.

At any rate this idea removes the great objec-
tion to forest planting, that it may get burned. If
rank vegetation is kept down for a few years
during the growth of the forest, it will by its own
shade keep down the growth thereafter.

84

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

Timber on the Pacific Coast. — It appears
Eastern Oregon and Washington Territory are
already troubled about the approaching end of
the " trackless " forests of those regions. Patents
for land on the condition that trees are planted
are popular, but it is charged that numberless
patents given in this way have been evaded, and
popular opinion is growing strongly in favor of
pressing the law against the delinquents.

Elms of Ohio.— At a recent meeting of the
Montgomery Horticultural Society, " Mr. Snyder
claimed there were three distinct kinds of elm,
namely: the yellow, red and white. The yellow
will split like a chestnut; the red is like a Dutch"
man — it likes to go its own road; it is a little
stubborn ; but the white, no man, not even the
lightning can rive it. In selecting your shade
trees be sure and don't get the yellow — think
Bome of the boys have got it — the white is what
you want."

The white elm is we suppose Ulmus Americana,
and the red, Ulmus fulva, also known as slippery
elm ; but which is the yellow elm ? The facts are
useful if we can identify the kinds.

Forestry Meeting.— Dr. Warder informs us
that a convention will be held in April, in Cin-
cinnati, in behalf of forestry interests, and that
the Forestry Association meets there at the same
time.

Honey Locust Timber.— Prof. Budd, of Ames,
Iowa, has a good word for this timber. It will
probably be found very durable for posts, and as
it grows rapidly,* and is not known to have
many insect enemies, it may be valuable for
this purpose. It is, moreover, almost if not
quite as rapid a grower as the Robinia or yellow
locust. It may not be any better than yellow

locust to nail to, which is the reason why yellow
locust had to be abandoned as railroad ties.
Does anybody know how this is ?

AiLANTHUs Timber.— How ever this tree ob*
tained a reputation for durable timber we
never knew, and have been surprised at the
enormous demand for timber planting in the
West. A correspondent of the Country Gentle-
man from Middlethorpe, New York, says he "set
about twenty ailanthus posts six years ago.
They were large and sound, some whole, some
split in two, and others in four posts. In three
years they showed signs of decay. Now there is
not one that is not rotted entirely off, or that
could not be broken by a man pushing against
it." This does not decide the matter, as there
are often local circumstances, but it accords
with our impression. How is it?

Spruce Gum — Forty thousand dollars' worth
of chewing gum is gathered in the State of
Maine every year. In Oxford county is a man
who makes it his business to collect spruce gum.
Every year he buys from seven to nine tons.
The gum is found chiefly in the region about
Umbagog Lake and about the Rangely lakes. A
number of men do nothing else in the winter
season except collect gum. With snowshoes, ax,
and a sheboygan, on which is packed the gum,
they spend days and nights in the woods. The
clear, pure lumps of gum are sold in their native
state, the best bringing one dollar per pound. —
Scientific American.

Locust Shingles. — A correspondent inquires-
about the value of yellow locust shingles. They
would probably split under hot sun, but we-
have no certain knowledge. Has any one tried
them?

Natural History and Science.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

THE BACTERIA THEORY.

BY A. A. BENSEL, NEWBURG, N. Y.

When you say, in the February number, that
•' none of Cohn's experiments prove that bacte-
ria ever interfere with life," you give utterance
to the plain truth in regard to all other experi-

ments, and theories on this subject. Bacteria
can only live and increase upon inert matter.
In healthy trees, the rapid passage of the fluid
containing them through the fibrous tissues will
break and destroy the simple and very delicate
organism. The increase of these bacteria is the
first indication of the suspension of vital activity
in trees and vegetables. The virus passed into
healthy pear trees by inoculation from those-

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

diseased is not the virus produced by bacteria ;
but the poison originates in vitiated sap. Now,
this sap is simply that which has accumulated in
(fee tree and its branches since the fall of the
leaf, and has not been aerated, but frozen and
devitalized during the winter. Remaining in
the tree in spring, it clogs the channels and dis-
turbs the whole economy of the structure.
Warm weather and a mingling of this inert
fluid with the active sap causes a great increase
of bacteria— the operating principle in all fer-
mentation — and when the disease reaches a cer-
tain stage it becomes apparent in suddenly
blackened leaves and withering branches. This
is the only theory that can satisfy all the re-
quirements of the case.

There must be some error about bacteria
abounding in the circulatory vessels of human
beings. They are not in the blood, and can be
found nowhere but in the large intestines. In-
fusoria are, doubtless, in the human body, but
they possess an independent motion, and differ
widely from bacteria.

THE INFLUENCE OF ELECTRIC LIGHT
ON PLANTS.

Translated for the GARDE>fER's Monthly from the
Berliner Tribune.

BY S. M.

How much of human progress we would miss
if we could not master electricity ! As it is,
epace and time are almost annihilated, and elec-
tricity begins even to compete now with the sun.
Night is transformed into day, and that time
may not be distant when every steamer, crossing
the ocean, will carry its electric sun to chase
away the terrors of the night. In this line elec-
tricity seems likely in future to substitute the
sun also for the field and the garden, and may
attain an incalculable importance.

We have heretofore been told that the benefi-
cent influence of alternating day and night on
us mortals is effected both through the change
from activity to rest, and from light to darkness
Our eyelids would not droop so easily, and sleep
would not be so refreshing if the stimulus of
light were uninterrupted. We are likewise in-
clined to believe that the repose in darkness is
necessary for plants, as though it were a rest
from the stimulus of the light of day. Closely
considered, we find that the change from day to
night is after all but a relative one on our plan-
et, and subject to the widest variations. On
one hand, the constantly equal length of night

and day under the Equator ; on the other hand,
night of six months' duration at the poles, and
all the gradations between. This would seem to
prove that, as a general principle, the alterna-
tion of day and night would not be necessary for
plants, and the investigations of Mr. C. W.
Siemens, in London, would almost make sure
that many plants at least not only can stand
constant light, but will improve under it in
growth.

As long as eighteen months ago, Mr. Siemens
already published his experiments on the influ-
ence of electric light on vegetation, and they
showed that its effects on plants were similar to
sunlight, that they formed chlorophyll (leaf-
green) ; that, under it, blossoms and fruit, odor-
iferous and savory, were developed — in fact,
that a periodical withdrawal of light during the
twenty-four hours was not generally neces-snry,
but that, on the contrary, many plants would
grow stronger and richer if, in winter-time, (ex-
posed by day to sunlight, by night to electric
light.

Since then Mr. Siemens has continued his in-
vestigations on a larger scale, and they claim so
general an interest, that it seems proper to spoak
about them here, after his report read last Spp-
tember before the British Association.

Mr. Siemens used two electric lamps, worked
by the currents of two electro-dynamic ma-
chines, each supplying the light of four thousand
candles. One lamp was hung inside of a glass
house of 2,318 cubic feet of space, over the en-
trance, and a metallic reflector was fixed bet': re
it for the purpose of collecting its rays and turn
them on the plants, which otherwise would have
lost them. The other lamp was hung in the
open air, twelve to fourteen feet high over some
low-situated glass houses. These experiments
lasted from the 23rd of October, 1880, to the 7lh
of May, 1881. The electric light glowed from
six in the evening, and, during the shorter
days, from five in the evening. The only
rest given the plants was during Sundays.
There were peas, string beans, wheat, barley,
oats, cauliflower, raspberries, strawberries,
peaches, golden apples (tomatoes?) grapes,
and some flowers, such as roses, Rhodo-
dendrons and Azaleas. The lamp in the
open air had a glass shade, the lamp inside had
none. The effect of the two lamps immediately
showed a great difference. The plants under
the first prospered exceedingly; under the
second they soon got to look wilted. But as

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

soon as a thin colorless glass was fixed between
the plants and the light the pernicious influence
cciised — a remedy acting in wonderfully quick
time. Again, if the glass was fixed so as to in-
tercept the light only on some parts of the
plants, leaving others exposed to the naked rays,
the influence of protection and exposure showed
itself in one single night, and very markedly.
The exposed parts looked shrunk, the protected
parts looked sound and strong. And not the
leaves alone showed the marks of the destruc-
tive power, but also, though less markedly, the
young stems showed them after they had been
exposed to the open light at a distance of about
twenty feet from it.

Now, why does that glass shade protect the
plants? The really illuminating rays are not
obstructed by it. Stokes, however, has shown,
in the year 1853, that the arc of electric light is
rich in those invisible rays of great frangibility,
which are of ultra violet color, and also that the
greater part of them is absorbed by glass. It con-
sequently seemed as though thesie were the ene-
mies of plants, whilst the illuminating rays of
less frangibility would stimulate their growth. To
arrive at greater certainty, Mr. Siemens planted
mustard and other quickly germinating seeds,
dividing the ground in equal radii, so that all
the plants should be at an equal distance from
the light. Part of them were exposed to the
naked light, another part was covered with a
pane of glass, a third with yellow glass, a fourth
with red, and a fifth with blue glass. The rela-
tive development of* the plants was noted down
every day, and the diti'erences were of a marked
character. The plants under the colorless glass
were strong and health}'^ beyond all the rest.
Next came those under yellow glass ; they were
as large as the former in size, but color and
thickness of stem were less than in the former.
The plants under the red glass were lanky, and
their leaves had a yellow tinge. Under the blue
glass they were still more lanky, and the leaves
looked sickly. The plants under the naked
light were worst of all, looking very poor, their
leaves very dark and partly shrunk. These re-
sults agree with those which Mr. Draper in the
year 1843 obtained, in his investigations of the
influence on plants of the different colors of the
solar spectrum, viz., that it is principally the
yellow rays which work the disintegration of
carbonic acid in the cells of the plants, and not
the violet rays, contrary to their usual chemical
effect.

Mr. Siemens, after these experiments, put a
glass shade round the electrical lamp, and ob-
tained marvelous results. Peas, sown end of
October, gave a ripe crop on the 16th of Fafth
ruary. Raspberry plants, brought into the
greenhouse on the 16th of December, had ripe
fruit on the first of March ; and strawberries,
planted at about the same time, bore ripe fruit
of superior flavor on the 14th of February.
Grapevines making shoots on the 26th of De-
cember, bore ripe grapes on the 10th of March,
but these were more acid than usual. Wheat,
oats and barley grew with tremendous rapidity,
but did not ripen in proportion to their strength,
they had grown too fast, and when twelve inches
high had fallen to the ground. When sown out
of doors, and exposed until beginning of May to
the electrical light, hung in the open air, after
having been sown on the 5th of January, and
retarded in their growth for some time by snow
and frost, they developed quickly as soon as
mild weather set in, and had ripe grains end of
June following.

The next experiment was to find whether, con-
trary to the doubts of botanists, such planta
would propagate their kind. So peas; grown
under the constant influence of the electiric light,
and gathered on the sixteenth of February, were
planted on the eighteenth of February. They
came up in a few days and grew finely. How-
ever further requirements will be necessary to
establish positive conclusions.

Now, although darkness seems to favor length
of growth in stems, Mr. Siemens is of opinion,
after experiments made in the course of two
winters, that the continual stimulus of light calls
forth an accelerated and sound growth of the plant
through all its stages, from the first leaf to the
ripened fruit. Moreover the fruit, thus obtained,
is superior in size, aroma and flavor, and finally
the seed in it will germinate and produce. A
particularly strong influence had his light on a
Banana plant, which was twice exposed to it, first
during its first stage of growth, next during the
stage of fruiting — February and March, 1880 and
1881 — and produced fruit weighing about seventy-
five pounds, each banana of unusual size, and
declared by connoisseurs of unsurpassed taste.
Melons also succeeded remarkably and were of
unusual size and aroma.

These experiments were not made to obtain
results in the way of quantity, but to establish
the influence which electric light had on plants
generally. Nevertheless, Mr. Siemens thinks

AND HORTICULTURIST.

87

that it will not be long before electric light will
be of great service to horticulture, inasmuch as
it makes the gardener independent of climate and
season ; and, he adds, it might further lead to
the production of new varieties. What he has
obtained thus far, warranted him, he says, in
obtaining better and better results, as soon as he
learned the proper conditions of temperature
and the proper strength of light applied. He
will not let these experiments stand as mere
curiosities, but he will try to make them practi-
cally useful to agriculture. Here, of course, the
cost comes in and decides. To produce electric
light a motive power is required, putting in mo-
tion a dynamo-electrical machine yielding the
required electrical current. Where there is water
power, the cost will obviously be small. But the
cost of steam can also be reduced, if after having
done its work for the dynamo-electrical machine,
the steam were used to heat the greenhouses and
saved fuel there; otherwise daylight would be
equal to a positive loss. Again, the electro-
dynamic machine, used by night to produce
electric light, could in the daytime be used to
furnish power. The electrical current might be
directed through wires to various points on the
place and drive electro-dynamic machines for
various purposes, such as cutting wood, pumping
water, etc., perhaps also for threshing, mowing
and ploughing. These things are now done by
movable steam engines which require water and
fuel all the time, and also a skilful and careful
attendance, and are comparatively heavy. Elec-
tro-dynamic machines on the other hand are
comparatively light and are simply fed through
wires with electricity, produced at the central
station, and there less fuel is necessary to pro-
duce steam than in the open field.

Thus electricity seems to claim a new field and
a promising" one in the development of our
civilization.

FREMONTIA CALIFORNICA, AND A
HOWL.

BY A COLLECTOR.

Our Fremontia was once known as Cheiranth-
odendron Californicum. I revere the name of
the man who changed it.

There are probably very few of your readers
who have ever seen the Fremontia in bloom ;
and when gathering its seeds in the fall, I almost
wish there were none of them who desired to do
so. Yet I wonder why there are no more who
undertake its cultivation. It cannot be very

tender, for I find it growing so high upon the
mountains that no one attempts to raise any
sort of vegetables. Where it freezes every
month in the year, there it grows, in low bushes
three or four feet high. This is the highest lo-
cality I know of. Lower down it extends almost
to the level of the valley; one bush growing
near the mouth of Lytle Creek. A few miles
further up this stream it is in its glory ; large
spreading bushes, eight to tenjfeet high,Iclothed in
the spring, with dense masses of bloom, which so
thickly cover the twigs, that'one flower crowds
the next. From the ground to the summit one
mass of golden yellow flowers, scarcely a glimpse
of the little oak-shaped green leaves can be seen
through the glow or color. Its large flowers are
an inch or two across, and last quite a long time
in bloom. After the fading of the flower, comes
a long, pointed seed vessel, containing a few
small, black, hard, round seeds, with a little
golden-yellow dot at one end, where they grow
fast to the capsule, the outside and inside of
which is covered with a thick coating of short,
stiff, sharp hairs, that cause vexation to the
spirits, and itching to the skin of the collector.
In gathering the seed on a warm day, the irrita-
tion caused by these little prickles, is almost un-
endurable ; on cleaning the seed in the cooler
weather in the fall, I find the irritation much
less.

Ah, the torments I have endured in gathering
Fremontia seed ! When arriving hot and sweaty
at the bush, you begin gathering carefully, cut^
ting them off with a knife. This does well for a
time ; but'presently you strike your hand against
a twig full of them. How they sting— the villain-
ous things ! You become more reckless ; the
back of your hand is covered with their little
prickling points. Gathering with a knife is slow
work ; surely one can carefully gather them by
hand ; to be sure, that gets along faster. But
have I got the hives ; or what is this intolerable
stinging between the fingers in the tender skin
at the j unction with the hand ? Why, Fremontia
stings ! As I live by bread, I would almost as
soon be rolled in a nest of ants. And to cap
the climax, one or two get down the back of my
neck, leaving a long stinging trail as they roll
over and over on their long journey to my waist.
I never before knew my back was so long.

My belief is that the first Fremontia was
white. A prehistoric'collector came along hunt-
ing for seed, began gathering ; and the more he
gathered, the hotter his temper got, until finally.

88

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[March,

the sulphurous fumes of his cursing became en-
crusted on the flowers so deeply and indelibly,
that their color was changed and their progeny
has retained it to this day. I doubt if one
could conscientiously remain long a deacon in
the church and be a collector of Fremontia seed
at the same time.

Perhaps you think if it is such a vile stinging
thing, " I won't try to grow any." For your
consolation be it known, that it is very likely
not to seed with you, and as the capsule alone is
the annoyance to be found, this need be no
detriment, as it is a shy seeder in its native
habitat, and in a new home might not seed at
all. Even should it do so, you are under no ob-
ligations to go clawing around among them as a
seed collector is compelled to do.

I would be sorry to deter any one from the
cultivation of this beautiful shrub. When cov-
ered in the spring with its spreading wealth of
yellow flowers, few can equal it in beauty.

As regards hardiness, I think it could be
raised anywhere in the Eastern States ; but it
would be in its prime at, and especially south of,
Philadelphia. The seeds are hard to germinate,
and the plant is not a rapid grower, but, like
many good things, requires time to mature. I
would recommend the thorough soaking of the
seed until swollen, and not too sandy soil to grow
them in, as it loves best a red soil with considera-
ble clay in its composition, but not stiflTwith it.

This is not apt ever to become a fashionaWe
flower, as it is harder to start, and not as easily
raised as a florist likes to have plants; besides, it
did not come from Japan, which just now seems to
be the criterion of the East. Perhaps if it was ex-
tensively advertised as the Fremontia Califor-
nica"from Japan," more might be induced to
try its culture ; but simply an American plant,
"why, it must be common." In Europe, the
thing is reversed. "From California? why, it
must be good," and they buy it.

The time may come when Americans will
raise American plants, as well as wear American
silks and American watches. Does not the
broad sweep of hills and prairies and plains,
from ocean to ocean, from the twin gulfs of the
South to the land of blue noses and snow of
Cousin Johnnie, possess plants enough worthy
of a place in our gardens, that we must play
second violin to European flower merchants,
who furnish us with most or nearly all of our
novelties ?

Who knows ; perhaps my coUectoral grapes

may be sour. I never expected them to contain
over ten percentum of saccharine matter ; but it
is provoking after having gathered seeds of some
handsome flowers, and written, trying to induce
some one to try a few, to receive for answer^
" but this, but that, but the other thing." All
meaning that they are afraid to risk a few dol-
lars or cents on a new American thing, because
people will not buy it. I don't know how they
found out; they never seem to try, but go on in
their catalogues, up one page and down another,
Callirhoe, Calandrina, Candy- tuft, Catch -fly,
Clarkia, Collinsia, the same old weary grind of
common trash, scarcely worth weeding. Why,
there are going to waste on American lands and
pastures, or hill-top and mountain valley, and
the hot sands of California deserts infinitely
handsomer plants and often as easily raised.
Yet they drone over and over the same old
stereotyped list year in and year out, both
wheels in the rut, and no wish to get out of it.

" Yes, but because it is new is not saying it is
good." True for you most sapient florist; but
perhaps the collar will fit the off" horse. All that
is old may not be good ; you know everything
that is, is not alwaj's right.

I fancy the fault is as much with the people as
with the florists. They have not the true love
for flowers that causes them to hunt for new
ones ; they desire more a show of bright colors to
please the eye, secured with as little labor as
possible. Some cheap showy annuals fill the
bill for them, and the florists pander to their
wishes.

Give us a larger list. Oh ye brothers of the pot
and package ! Increase your borders and enlarge
your catalogues, whistle the star spangled banner,
tell the printer to buy a new electrotype with an
addenda on it, where a few, ever so few native
plants may appear.

Think what a catastrophe a war with Europe
would be for seedsmen, so dependent are they on
foreign dealers. I wonder how many of them
could keep on for six months. I do not wish to be
understood as begging custom as a collector, as
my bread and butter is secured from another
source; but I plead as an American for as com-
plete an independence as we can achieve, as a
lover of plants, for the diff'usion of desirable
species ; but chiefly because I love to watch a new
plant develop its leaves, see the new growth
start, observe the expanding buds and wonder at
the shape of the flowers. And, Mr. Seedsman,
there are hundreds just like me, simple male and

1862.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

89

female mortals that love flowers and like to work
among them, and try new ones as our means
permit; when the opportunity presents itself we
buy. Offer us the chance and perhaps we will
buy more frequently.

[Perhaps some of our readers will think some
of the fuzz from the Fremontia capsules are wor-
rying our friend's back even as he writes. We
mufl": say a word for American horticulturists.
We do not believe any such a dislike for Ameri-
can plants exists as our correspondent supposes.
Nine-tenths of all the plants in cultivation in the
Atlantic States are of American origin. Japan
trees are only popular because they have gener-
ally been found to thrive well in the climate
California annuals are popular because they
mostly do well. California trees and shrubs are
not popular for no other reason than that they
have not been found to do well. The Fremontia
deserves all the commendation our correspon-
dent bestows on it, but we do not know that it
has ever been tried under culture in the East.
Though experience with so many other things is
against it, it would be well worth a trial. — Ed
G.M.I

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Coco Grass. — We have three answers to our
Arkansas correspondent's query, at page 59, in
our last.

One says, ''The awful nuisance referred to is
Cenchrus tribuloides." But this is an annual
grass, while our corre.spondent describes his as a
perennial, and the "great nuisance " comes from
its perennial roots.

Another correspondent, having evidently the
perennial root in mind, writes : '' He means Cy-
perus rotundus, var. hydra. It is a horrible
pest ; " but here again we are met with the
statement that it " grows from four to eight feet
high," which we are sure Cyperus hydra never
does.

Two correspondents write that " Johnson
grass is Sorghum halapense," and this may be,
SIS that is a tall perennial grass, but yet hardly
likely to be a serious pest in a cotton field. It
seems as if" What is it? " is still a fair question.

The P.\st Season in California. — A corres-
pondent from Nordhoff, Ventura Countj% writes
that there has been no rain there for nine
months, to January 17th. Sheep have been of

fered at 75 cents each, and no buyers. Stream*
for irrigating are low, but still sufficient to keep'
the crops in fair heart. The climate is, however,,
admirable for those suffering from pleural trou-
bles. The mountains are covered with a luxu-
riant forest vegetation. He encloses some-
spirited lines from a local poet, representing
Diana complaining to Jupiter of the woodman's-
axe in other parts of the country, destroying
the arborescent retreats given to her and her
chaste maidens for the pleasure of the chase,
and Jupiter directing her to these woods of the
Ojai (pronounced 0-he) valley, where they will
probably never be disturbed.

Section of the Mammoth Tree of Califor-
nia. — Can any of our readers tell what became-
of the large section exhibited at the Centennial f
A correspondent would be glad to know.

North American Lichens.— A synopsis by
Edward Tuckerman is in preparation, and vol-
ume first will be issued from the press early in^
the spring.

The Winter in France.— Under date of De-
cember 25th, Mr. Jean Sisley, writing to a friend
in this country, describes the French winter a»
being open and peculiar, much the same as ours,
has been.

Desmodium penduliflorum. — Under thi»
name, and also that of D. racemosum, one of the
most beautiful hardy herbaceous plants known
to our gardens has been rather widely circulated
since it was admired in the Japanese garden in
the Centennial grounds in Philadelphia. Dr.
Hooker has recently examined the history of"
the plant, and finds its proper name to be Les-
pedeza bicolor.

Pritchardia grandis. — Palms have their
homes in tropical climes. Their remains are
found in arctic geological formations, but nothing
like palms grow there now, so tropical are they
that they barely enter the limits of the United
States. In the Atlantic region of our country,
the Palmetto and other allied species are found
from, say, Louisiana eastwardly down through
Florida, and a few years ago a species was found
coming up on the west into California. This wa*
at first supposed to be a Brahea, a genus allied
to Corypba, which is well known to those who
love to grow palms. With better knowledge it
was found distinct from Brahea, and it was placed
in Pritchardia, under which name our pretty

90

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

California Palm is yet generally known in collec-
tions; though as it has been still better studied it is
found by Wendland not to be even a Pritchardia,

Palm, gives an interest to all those of ita old
name, and with which it is so closely allied. We
now give an illustration of a new species just

but an entirely new genus which he names j made known to horticulturists by Mr. William
Washingtonia. However, the widespread name Bull of Chelsea, near London. It was discovered
of Pritchardia in connection with the California I in the South Sea Islands by one of Mr. W. B.'a

18 82.

AXD HORTICULTURIST.

91

Plant Collectors, and takes rank amongst the
most distinct and attractive palms ever intro-
duced. Of robust compact habit, producing large
handsome leaves, which are nearly orbicular in
general outline, with a wedge shaped somewhat
truncate base; the venation is palmate, and the
margin for the greater part of the circumference
is divided into narrow oblong lobes, each of which
is slightly notched. The leaves are originally fiat,
but become convex above as they grow older ;
they are of a dark shining green color above,
paler beneath, and the surfjice is quite destitute
of pubescence.

The Rain Tree.— There seems to be no doubt
of the truth of the travelers' statement that
Pithecelobium Saman has the power of growing
in the driest deserts, and of condensing from
the atmosphere the moisture it needs, which
falls in drops from the tree to the ground. The
English government is introducing it to cul-
ture in India.

The Chinese Varnish Tree. — In the last re-
port of Kew Gardens, the feet for the first time
appears that the Chinese Varnish tree is a very
distinct plant from the Japanese. The latter is
Rhus vernicifera, closely allied, if not indeed
quite the same with our poison ash, Rhus vene-
nata. The Chinese is Aleurites vernicia, one of
that class of euphorbiaceous plants to which the
candle tree belongs.

Arctic Conifer^.— The following are the
Pines which Baron Nordenskjold found to the
extreme north of the Russian possessions : Larix
Sibirica, Pinus Cembra, Pinus Sibirica, sometimes
known as R. pichta, Pinus sylvestris, a Scotch
Pine, and Picea obovata, which is the same or
nearly the same as that grown in our nurseries
as Oriental spruce.

A Sweet Orchid.— Cymbidium aloefolium is
not a remarkably showy orchid, nor is the Mig
nonette a showy plant. This orchid is sweeter
than the mignonette. A plant with five fine
spikes of flowers at the January meeting of the
Germantown Horticultural Society, filled the
hall with fragrance. How sweet must be those
East Indian woods in which it grows wild.

Influence of the Stock on the Graft. —
Dr. Sturtevant in the proceedings of the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society, has an exhaustive
paper on this subject. Thirty-eight cases where
there appears to be some influence, and twenty-
six where the scion had an influence on the

stock. Most of the latter however seem to refer
chiefly to variegation. It is interesting to note
that this fact seems to have been known. Dr.
Sturtevant quotes from John Bartram, February
3d, 1741-2, viz.: "Take a bud from a variegated
jessamine and insert it into a plain jessamine ;
not only the bud will continue its variegation,
but will also infect and impregnate the circula-
ting juices that the branches and leaves above
and below the bud will appear variegated." —
Darlington's Memorials, 148. And there are earlier
cases on record in England. The other cases
seem to us to need confirmation. The following
case for instance is one, on which we have before
commented as doing, we believe, injustice to
Prof. Beal : " A potato scion set into a tomato
plant induced the latter to set small tubers in the
axils of its leaves, as we see sometimes on the tops
of potatoes. The grafting of an artichoke plant
into a sunflower caused the latter to set tubers un-
der ground."— Pro/. Beal, Ag. of Mich., 1876, 204.
In the way it is presented here, and has been
in other papers. Prof. Beal is made to appear as
the authority for the fact, while if we remember
correctly, Prof. Beal was only enumerating what
had been reported to be done by some unknown
person . To our mind such a fact as this reported,
should be repeated and placed bej'ond the shadow
a doubt before it is an accepted truth. A few
cases are recorded where there seems to have
been some distinct character, a sort of hybrid-
ization or crossing effected, but in a general
way there is little but what may be referred to
nutrition. That is, the plants or the fruit were
larger or smaller, highly colored or dull colored,
sweeter or more acid, flowered earlier or flowered
later, any of which might be produced by varia-
tions in soil or situation as well as by the influ-
ence of the stock. In other words various stocks
have the same varying influence in afi'ecting
nutrition as varying soils would.

Our own opinion is, after carefully going over
the ground, that there is reason to believe that
distinct varieties (not merely temporary changes)
may originate from grafting, but that the un-
doubted facts recorded are too few to render it
wholly safe to believe that this ever occurs to
any great extent.

Manipulated Wines.— It is said that a large
quantity of first cla-ss wine exported from
Europe is made of 90 per cent, water, 10 per
cent, alcohol, and 5 per cent, tannin with some
variation in the relative proportions according
to the brand.

S2

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[March,

Literature, Travels I Personal Notes.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

IPROF. C. V. RILEY AND THE YUCCA
MOTH.

BY PKOFESSOR C. V. RILEY, WASHINGTON, D. C.

The above is the title of an editorial in th e
October number of the Gardener's Monthly.
Though containing reflections upon others, as
well as myself, I have taken no notice of it till
now, which I hope will be evidence to you that
in what I now write I have no personal feeling
beyond the friendliness that has for so many
years existed between us.

First, then, it is to be regretted that you are
not more careful in your quotations. You
charge me with using the following language in
the paper which calls forth your comment:
"misrepresentation," "gross misstatements,"
" misconstruction unjustifiable." There is not
one of these expressions in my paper, and
this fact very well illustrates the inaccuracy and
looseness of your article. The expressions which
you correctly quote, viz. : " unscientific state-
ments," " pure misstatements," and " famous "
ones, are more than justified by the text of my
criticism, and (as I think you will admit upon
reflection) are not in that case of such a charac-
ter as to warrant your charge that said criticism
is an " attack " upon you. If you 'deny this as-
sertion, please publish the criticism, and leave
the judgment with your readers.

The gravest charge in your editorial alluded
to is, however, not against me, but against the Per-
manent Secretary of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, who has during
so many years earned the confidence and re-
ceived the approbation of the Association for his
impartial editing of its proceedings. You say,
" The volume has just been issued, and besides
•the paper ordered to appear are copious foot-
notes added, which the ofl&cers of the society did
not order in. Thus we have the anomaly of a
volume of ' transactions ' issuing a paper which
was never transacted." Not to comment on the
oddity of the sentence, or the " anomaly " of a
volume issuing a paper, I must remark that the
statement in the sentence is utterly false.

My paper appears as it was read and pre-
sented, though in order to occupy less time, as

stated on the occasion, the foot-notes were but
briefly referred to and the substance only of the
more technical and classificatory material was
given. Having been a member both of the Sec-
tional and Standing Committees which passed
upon the papers, I know that the oflBcers of the
Association ordered the paper printed without
reading the whole of it. This, as you are very
well aware, is the common practice even with
papers not read from manuscript, but of which
the substance merely is given by the author be-
fore some particular section of the Association.
Large discretion is necessarily left with the Secre-
tary, on whom your unjust accusation really
falls.

The approbation which you offer to the officers
of the Association in the concluding paragraph
of said editorial is, therefore, as awkward and
disingenuous as the compliment you pay me, for
I beg to assure you, in conclusion, that my
criticisms were not, as you put it, " simply a
thoughtless act of impropriety," since they were
well weighed and, in my judgment, well de-
served.

They give the gist of my comment in unre-
ported discussion before the Association of some
of your communications thereto, during the
past few years, and if, as I believe and hope, you
are working for the truth rather than the en-
forcement of any pet views or theories, you will
find room in the columns of your magazine for
this communication, and I will then follow it by
a brief statement of the points at issue be-
tween us.

[We must decline Professor Riley's offer to
continue the discussion of this subject. It will
be apparent to the reader that the only excuse
the editor can offer for the admission of even this
letter is, that some personal feeling might be at^
tributed to him by declining it. Those who care
enough for the subject to see how " utterly
false " the editor's statements were, will of course
read the "Proceedings," and judge for them-
selves.— Ed. G. M.]

THE WILD GARDEN.

LETTER FROM MR. W. ROBINSON, THE EDITOR OF
THE GARDEN.

I had never much reason to suppose that you

AND HORTICULTURIST.

sympathized, greatly with plain ways of talking
about things, especially about plants. But I am
sure you do not want to be unjust to my book,
and therefore I want you to print a few words
about your notice of the " Wild Garden." From
the tenor of your review any one would suppose
that my mission was to use English names in-
stead of Latin ones! I never thought of this,
though I have sympathy enough with non-tech-
nical people— that is to say, with the public,
educated or non-educated — to know that you
will never succeed in cramming Latin — dog
and otherwise — down their throats. I also
know that in other countries, as scientific as the
country of your adoption, or as this country,
writers habitually use their native tongue in
speaking of plants and other things that men of
science talk about. I could refer you to excel-
lent books in French and German where men of
the highest knowledge use their own language
(sometimes in addition to the Latin nomencla-
ture) in speaking of things that ought to be so
familar to everybody as the flowers of our gar-
dens, and the trees of our woods. No one
would suppose, from your review of the '• Wild
Garden," that the Latin names were given in the
descriptive part, as well as the English names,
when good or fitting English names happened
to exist. When you go on to criticise the Eng-
lish names that are given, and express surprise
at such a name as the " Cheddar pink," then
one sees the amount of attention you have paid
to the subject.

You say : " Though we have endeavored to
keep the track of Mr. Robinson's new names as
they appeared in the Garden, we find a large
number here that we know nothing about, and
in consequence all that he says about the plants
might as well have been written in Chinese. We
suppose " Cheddar pink " is some sort of a Dian-
thus."

If, indeed, your knowledge of the English
flower does not inform you that the Cheddar
pink is a well-known English plant, that grows
in that most interesting and beautiful rocky
gorge at Cheddar, in Somerset, then one cannot
suppose you have gone very deeply into English
plant names. The name Cheddar pink is not
mine, but a well-established English name. So,
too, the other English names you speak of are,
some of them, mere translations, which ought
not to be difficult to anybody that knows plants,
and which would be used in preference by many
persons who knew both names. I have no
doubt that many American lovers of plants

would willingly use fitting English names, and I
have reason to know that the leading weekly
journals in America sympathiate with eflforta in
this direction.

Further on you take a set of phrases used in
the '' Wild Garden " as descriptive, such as
"pretty little rosy bindweed," which is part of
the text, and has nothing to do with English
names, and you call it an English name !

If one advocated the abolition of Latin names
altogether — an absurdity, in the ftice of the fact
that we have no organized English names — one
could understand your objections in the matter,
but that you should object to the use of an Eng-
lish name where it is possible to get a good one,
or to the invention of a name where the Latin
one is very awkward, seems to us to indicate a
want of sympathy with the real wants of the
flower-loving public, as distinguished from those
brought up on botanical terms, so to say. It
may suit a minute philosopher to raise a question
of this kind (entirely apart from the aim and plan
of the book), and to take no account of the
book itself, its artistic illustrations or what it ad-
vocates. But that is not fair to the book, and is
scarcely common sense. English names are in
no way made more prominent than they are in
Professor Gray's book on the plants of North
America, abook on a professedly more technical
subject. Indeed my practice is that of your best
American authors, and is justified alike by the
genius of our language, the wants and tastes of
our people, and in the interest of science itself!
We have no right, as the Professor of Anglo-
Saxon at Oxford says, to bar the fiiirest gate of
knowledge, by the use of more technical terms
than are necessary. I find that American books
and American literature help me, in my desire
to give an English name in addition to the Latin
one. I am now preparing the English Floiver
Garden, the vast mass of matter for which must
be arranged alphabetically after the Latin names,
but it is pleasant to be able, instead of saying
Epigaea repens alone, to add the pretty name of
May flower, which is an American name. How
very shocking of some American botanists to
add that this plant is also called " trailing arbu-
tus! " I am sure they will meet with your disap-
probation ! But this simple New England name,
with the associations it calls up, tells even in this
country, where it has only been used of late,
more of the history of the plant than its Latin
name ever can. Wishing you a happy New
Year, and that Heaven may deliver you and

94

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

every earnest soul from pedantry and bad Latin,
love of jaw-breakers, and every other misfortune
and illusion.

[Certainly, we do not " sympathize with plain
ways of talking," as illustrated by Mr. Robin-
son's letter, which is inserted only because jus-
tice is invoked in its behalf. We are proud to
believe that the style of writing, employed both
by Mr. Robinson and Mr. Riley as above, is not
popular "in the country of your adoption."

And, as it is a question of justice, our readers
will see it is far off the mark. We have never
objected to common names when they are com-
mon. We have Pansy, Violet, Sweet William
and hundreds of similar common names. These
are genuine common names, and we wish we
had more of them. We use " May flower " and
" trailing arbutus ;" these came to us from the
common people. They are truly common names.
Our point with Mr. Robinson is, that he is man-
ufacturing and issuing names as common names
which are not common, and of which not one in
a hundred ever will be.

Dr. Gray is referred to as though he had coined
names as what Mr. Robinson is doing. If he
has, he is probably sorry. The writer of this
has attempted something of the kind, and
certainly regrets it. He fell into the error he
believes Mr. Robinson is still under, of believing
he could make common names for the common
people. He found they will make their own
names, and however desirable and pretty they
may be, we must wait till they make them. It
is not with common names, but with what in
propriety we may call their spurious and whole-
sale manufacture that we contend, proceeding
which the people themselves will overturn when
the " names " in question become common
enough for the public to take a vote on them. —
Ed. G. M.]

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Legend of the Cornelia Cook Rose.— This
rose we believe was raised by Mr. Koch, florist,
of Baltimore, in the usual way that new roses
are raised. He will no doubt be amused at the
following account of his eflforts, as given in the
Philadelphia Press :

'''Cornelia Cook' is another very beautiful
specimen of the flower queen. This species is
quite a recent addition to the variety, and was
forced by judicious transplanting and gra/ting.
It is of a creamy white color, large and full, and

also worth fifty cents apiece. Quite a little ro-
mance, so I was told, is connected with its name,
A young florist was deeply in love with a beauti-
ful young girl named Cornelia, and was engaged
to be married to her. However, she sickened
and died a few days prior to the wedding. The
heart-broken lover was almost distracted with
grief, and spent hours at her grave transforming-
the gra.ssy mound into a bower for Titania. In
life the young lady had a delicate creamy com-
plexion, and the lover determined to produce a
rose which would remind him of his lost one.
After repeated failures with different plants, he
at last succeeded, and christened the graceful
blossom Cornelia Cook. Sometimes it is called
' Love's Last Gift.' "

Flora of Australia. — Robert Brown, in the
beginning of the present century, collected an
enormous number of species. He made no dis-
tribution, however, till the collection fell into
the hands of Mr. Bennett, in 1858. Bennett
died in 1876, when the collection was divided.
Although the collection which went to Kew was
but the third set, it contained the great number
of 3,015 species.

Pennsylvania Fruit Growers' Society. — This
Society, after a struggle of twenty-two years with
a limited name, becomes the " Pennsylvani?*
State Horticultural Association." Under its old
name it was found next to impossible to interest
the general public in its real work. At the re-
cent meeting in Harrisburg, there was scarcely
more than a dozen of the citizens at the meet-
ing, outside of the very large attendance of mem-
bers from other parts of the State. The general
belief was that a '' Fruit Growers' Society " was
a body of men who met together to groan over
the prospective short crop of peaches which
never occurred, but served to put up prices on
the down-trodden consumer ; or similar '' shop "
work. The Society has always embraced among
its objects everything which tended to make the
garden not only more profitable, but more lova-
ble, and in the pursuit of these objects it will not
at least be burdened in the future with a name
which misrepresented it before the best classes
in the communit)\

Michigan Horticultural Society. — The roll
of some of our Western horticultural societies
shows that the Great West is growing out of
childhood. Mr. A. Sigler, of Adrian, has been a
member of the Michigan Horticultural Society
for a quarter of a century. It must be a source
of pleasure when these old members look around
them and note how much for good has been ac-
complished by their public-spirited labors.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

95

Disappearance of a Gardener.— Robert Carey,
a gardener, and well-known successful hot-house
grape grower, of Hnlmeville, Backs Co , Pa.,
disappeared in January, and has not since been
heard of. He was about Go yeai-s of age, had
lorig been with his employer, and was regarded
as a remarkably steady and sober man. He
was sent to Philadelphia to settle accounts and
make purchases, and in searching for him he
was found to have faithfully executed all his
commissions, except one of 62.00 before trace
of him was lost.

W. O'Brien. — Among those recently deceased
we have to notice this gentleman, who was for-
merly one of the most intelligent and successful
gardeners in the East ; but for years past was the
able manager of the Belle Conservatories of Sa-
cramento. He was especially successful there in
growing the famous Victoria Lily. His death is
classed with that of B. F. Fox, a serious loss to
California Horticulture. He died on the loth of
January.

The Florist and Pomologist. — This very beau-
tiful monthly magazine gives in its January num-
ber colored plates of Lilium Parryi of California,
and L. polyphyllum from the East Indies. It
is one of the most valuable European magazines
that comes to our table, and we are glad to know
that it has a growing and appreciative patronage.
It gives every month a colored plate of some
new and desirable fruit as well as one of flowers.

We notice, by the way, that its editor, Thomas
Moore, who, since the death of Dr. Lindley,
has been jointly with Dr. Masters, editor of the
London Gardener's Chronicle, retires now from
that responsible position, with renewed work, as it
would seem, on the Florist and Pomologist. He
has been for many long years a patient worker
in horticulture and kindred arts and sciences
without much recognition of the valuable work
he has done. The Gardener's Chronicle, Treasury
of Botany, Epitome of Gardening, Ferns of Great
Britain, Index Filicum, Handbook of British Ferns,
edition of Thompson's Gardener's Assistant, be-
sides the Florist and Pomologist, have all been
under obligations, while he still continues his
many years' labors as Curator of the Chelsea
Botanic Garden. ^ Some of us in America think
we work hard for the public good, but we have
at least aa good an example in Mr. Moore.

Produce of French Vineyards. — By the kind-
ness of Mr. Charles Joly, we have received the
•tatiatical results of last year's crop of wine in

France. For the eight years previous to 1879,
the average production of wine each year was
about 54,000.000 hectolitres. The highest (1875)
gave over 83 000,000, and the lowest (1873), nearly
30,000,000. But in 1879, the serious troubles be-
gan, and the product sank to 25,770,000. Since
then there seems a gradual recovery, and the
past year shows a production of 34,138,000. The
calculation has been made by districts, so that it
is seen that the increase in the average is not
through the great advance of a few favored spots.
Some few districts still show a loss over last
year,— still going down hill,— the Department of
Herault, for instance, showing a loss over last
year of 1,273,000. But :\s a general rule, those dis-
tricts wliich have lost last year, have lost
very little, while most of those which have
gained, have gained enormously. It is evident
that the Phylloxera is not the formidable foe
any longer it was once, either in France or in
America.

It will surprise those not well conversant with
French products, to note the enormous amount
of cider produced in France, which shows it to
be an industry of as much importance in many
respects as grape-growing. In 1875. there were
j8,257,000 hectolitres produced, which is, how-
ever, the highest during the past ten years. Last
year the product was 17,122,285, higher than it
has been any year since 1875, and remarkable
when we consider the reports which come to us
of the great losses among fruit trees in Europe
by the winter of 1880-81.

General Index and Supplement to the Nine
Reports on the Insects op Missouri.— By
Charles V. Riley. Being Bulletin No. 6 of the
United States Entomological Commission.

Prof. Riley's work as Entomologist of Missouri,
did infinite credit to the State which employed
him ; but these labors are considerably en-
hanced in value by this Index. It is often a
matter of astonishment that there is not more of
this indexing done by public bodies.

Report of the Royal Gardens for 1880.—
From Sir Joseph Hooker, director. — As in our
country, so in the old world, government print-
ing is slow work, and it seems slow work to read
in 1882 of what was reported on a year ago. On
reading this admirable report, one cannot help
wishing we had such a garden in our own coun-
try. Great attention is given to the examination
and exact determination of the various economic
vegetable products which from time to time

96

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[March,

appear, with careful suggestions as to how these
may be made to aid English interests. This
report is especially rich in information about the
various kinds of India rubbers and gums of that
class.

Bulletin of the United States Geological
AND Geographical Survey of the Territories.
— Vol. vi. No. 1 and No. 2 of Hayden's reports
has just been issued by the Department of the
Interior. No. 2, contains the Birds of Nevada,
North American Moths by Grote, and much very
interesting paleontological matter. No. 1, has
the account of the Rocky Mountain Flora by
Gray and Hooker.

Annual Report of the Chief Signal Officer
OF THE Army to the Secretary of War. — As we
recently noted, among the silliest of questions is
that raised by some of the leading newspapers,
Of what use are expeditions to the North Pole?
No one knows of what use to humanity any new
fact may be. One cannot go into any unknown
region, or enter any unknown field of research
without stumbling on some new fact. What use
we make of this new fact we cannot tell till we
get it. As regards Arctic research the probabilities
in favor of useful facts are greater than we might
expect from any other part of the world. Our
climate depends wholly on these Arctic wastes.
Did they not exist, the Northern United States
might be but a desert waste. The heated mois-
ture of the tropics is forced to rise by the pressure
of the heavier cold waves from the Arctics, and
the condensation of the moisture by the meeting
of the warm and cold currents gives us our rains
and snows. It is of immense importance, espe-
cially to us as cultivators to know ail about the
weather. We all know how great has been the
advantage to us of even the daily prognostica-
tions; how much more should we be benefited
if we could see for a week or a month ahead.
We do know now the main principles of climate,
and the great relation which these ice fields
bear to it. There is nothing improbable in that
when we shall know more of them in detail we
shall be able to get this exact knowledge. Even
this present season, with its mild winter so far,
was clearly foreseen when earlier it came to our
knowledge from some of the Arctic expeditions,
that the great ice fields had pressed much further
westerly than usual. The natural consequence
of this must be that the warmer atmosphere of
the Gulf Stream would also press further west
than usual, following the retreat of the ice, and
necessarily modify the usual severity of winter.

It is just in this direction that we have to collect
the exact facts on which to build a true science
in meteorology.

The signal officer well sets forth in this report
the value of this Arctic knowledge. He says :

'•The study of the weather in Europe and
America cannot be successfully prosecuted with-
out a daily map of the whole northern hemis-
phere, and the great blank space of the Arctic
region upon our simultaneous international chart
has long been a subject of regret to meteorolo-
gists. I was, therefore, pleased to have an oppor-
tunity, with your permission, to carry out the
promises of my predecessor, and to co-operate
with the International Committee on Polar Re-
search, which has during the past two years
organized a system of stations in both the Arctic
and Antarctic regions.

"These stations will conduct simultaneous
hourly or bihourly observations in meteorology,
magnetism, and tides, and special observations
on gravity, auroras, earth currents, earthquakes,
&c. The general object is to accomplish by
observations made in concert at numerous sta-
tions, such additions to our knowledge as cannot
be acquired by isolated or desultory traveling
parties. No special attempt will be made_ at
geographical exploration, and neither expedition
is in any sense an attempt to reach the North
Pole. The single object kept in view is to eluci-
date the phenomena of the weather and the
magnetic needle, as they occur in America and
Europe, by means of observations taken in the
region where the most remarkable disturbances
seem to have their origin."

Horticulture of Boston and Vicinity. — By
Colonel Marshall P. Wilder. It is surprising
what a wonderful amount of work Colonel Wil-
der has done for one of his years. The writer of
this was talking of Colonel Wilder with the
venerable General Patterson a short time before
his death, and happened to say he was about en-
tering his eighty-third year. ''Oh! nonsense," re-
marked the General, "tell him he is but a boy
compared with me." One might surely think
Mr. Wilder was nearer the boy than the patriarch
judging by the work which he does. Here before
us is a pamphlet of eighty-eight pages, giving a
history of Horticulture about Boston and vicinity
from its first settlement to the present time, and
which must have cost a great amount of research
to say nothing of mental labor. Governor Endicott
bought 250 acres of land for 500 apples trees in
164S. The first colonists under Governor Win-
throp had fruit-seeds of all kinds, as part of their
cargo. This is among the first facts dwelt on by
Mr. Wilder, and he goes on through all the
records that can be obtained to the present day.
All the public spirited citizens o^ Boston, and not
merely those devoted to horticulture, should be
proud of this work. It makes a valuable chapter
in Boston's local history, one that will be the more
valuable with every year that rolls over it ; and
the city may well be as proud of this one of its
merchant princes, as horticulturists everywhere
are to have him in their ranks.

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THE

GARDENER'S MONTHLY

AND

HORTICULTURIST.

DEI/OTED TO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS.

Edited by THOMAS MEEHA.N.

Vol. XXIV.

APRIL, 1882.

Number 280.

Flower Garden and Pleasure Ground.

SEASONABLE HINTS.

Just now the newspaper wits see in Oscar
Wilde a shining mark. They have their fun at
the esthetic craze, and their little giggles go the
rounds. Perhaps the philosophy of Mr. Wilde
has been run to the extreme by would-be fash-
ionable people. There are always some whose
cravings for social distinction outrun good sense
— idiotic people, whose only notions of taste and
culture are to do that which some one else does,
and whose efforts naturally result in poor
counterfeits of excellent originals. So far as the
jokes of the scribes, and the satire of " Patience "
hit these people, no one need care who is hurt.
But this ought not to blind sensible people as to
the real objects of Mr. Wilde's work. He sees
that the world is beautiful, and that to join with
nature in the culture of beauty, is the noble
work of man. But there is a time and place for
all things. Tt does not follow because we assent
to this principle, we need discuss whether a pig-
sty should be built after the Norman or the
Grecian style ; whether the street-sweeper should
study whether his mud pile would be better in a
conical than in a square heap ; or whether a lady
with a sunflower on her bosom is more becomingly
ornamented than if a bunch of humble violets
occupied the honored place. But it does follow

that the humblest home is more enjoyable, and
the humblest person more agreeable, when in
proper time and in proper place, beauty is culti-
vated as it should be. Especially is this princi-
ple acceptable to gardening people. The vines
and climbers around the cottage door ; the win-
dowsill and the window-jambs crowded with
humble pot-plants, or bearing the brackets or
hanging-baskets, from which the trailing plants
depend ; the little front yard, with its roses,
shrubs, or choice dwarf tree—any of these com-
pared for an instant with the miserable hovels
too often seen, is enough to make one embrace
the most aggravated forms of Wildeism, stupid

i conventionalities and all, in preference to the
utter barrenness so profusely observed in every

I walk around. Even the best of us may do more
in garden beauty than we do ; and, very often, at

I little cost of either money or of time. Let us, at
this season of the year, give a little thought to
our surroundings. The little taste displayed in
even arranging properly a few native flowers
from the woods, will not be lost on the character
of the planter. He will himself feel that he is a
better man after his work is done, and his neigh-
bors will think the more of him that he gives
some attention to this aesthetic work.

With this seasonable hint as to the wisdom of
garden adornment, we may add a few on mere
practical matters of detail. The garden is made

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

up in the main of trees and shrubs, lawn and
flower beds. Of tree-planting we have said so
much in the past that even the "line upon line,
precept on precept," for the necessity of which
there has been so many sermons preached,
seems stale doctrine. It may, however, be as

for watering this way cools the soil, ultimately
hardens it, and in other respects works to the
injury of the transplanted tree.

In your flower-beds, if the plants sickened last
year, change the soil. Renovated earth is
renewed health to consumptive flowers. Sow

early sowing and deep covering rots seeds very
often. This is frequently the cause of one's
seeds being "bad." Prepare flowers in their
winter quarters for the summer campaign, by
gradually inuring them to the air before setting
out finally. Set out when all danger of frost is
over. Don't set out a plant with a dry ball ; but
water well while in the pot an hour or so before^

COMMUNICA TIONS.

well to say that to prune out the weak shoots, I Annuals as soon as the ground is warm. Too
leave the strong ones, and press the earth about
the roots as firmly as it is possible to press it, are
among the secrets of successful planting.

Not to let the roots dry for an instant between
taking up and planting, everybody knows, but
everybody don't do it; in fact, everybody de-
ceives himself. We have seen this distinguished
individual leave the tops of trees exposed to the
sun, with a mat or straw thrown over the roots ;
and think all was right,— or heel in for a day or
two, by just throwing a little dirt over the roots.
This is a little good; but everybody's fault is,
that although this may be ten minutes of good,
he expects to get ten hours, or even ten days'
value out of it, and thus he suffers more than if
he had done nothing, because he forgets that the
branches evaporate moisture from the roots in a
dry wind, and the juices go from the roots
through the branches, very nearly as well as
directly to the air from the roots themselves.
So with heeling in . The soil is thrown in lightly,
or, at most, just "kicked" down. "It is only
temporary," very few of the roots come in con-
tact with the soil. They can draw in no mois-
ture to supply the waste of evaporation, and

PUBLIC SQUARES OF PHILADELPHIA.

BY WALTER ELDER.

The sketches of public gardens and private
grounds which, from time to time, appear in the
Gardener's Monthly, are, I am sure, read with
pleasure by thousands. It is worthy of the cos-
mopolitan character of the magazine, that we
thus get information of what is going on to the
uttermost ends of the earth. It will do no harm
to consider now a little of what is going on near
the home of the Gardener's Monthly, in the
public squares of Philadelphia. As often noted.

they are a disgrace to modern civilization.. Even
thus they stay day after day, — everybody satisfied j people without a particle of taste have become
because he sees the roots covered, — really ^orse i ashamed of them ; and the pressure from this
than if they had been exposed. We have no 1 source has resulted in at least a mechanical im-

doubt that more trees are lost from imperfect
heeling in than from any other cause whatever.
Of course, if the tops be covered as well as the
roots, there is less waste of moisture and more
chance of success.

provement in Independence Square, and the
commencement of a similar attempt for Wash-
ington Square. Even here, no attempt whatever
is done in the way of gardening taste. Trees are
left which would be better away ; others are

Place broad-leaved evergreens where they will j taken away which might as well remain. They
get no sun in winter, yet away from where the j are pruned with a vengeance ; or, that which
roots of trees will make the ground dry in sum- j should be thinned out left to offend. Insects,
mer. Deep soil, but shallow planting, is all im- i which any person of intelligence could control,
portant for them. In transplanting, take care '\ are left to destroy the most valuable material,
of the roots. Good roots are of more importance i and things are planted so that they cannot live,
than good " balls." Balls of earth are useful in i or in places where they could not live even
keeping fibres moist ; but don't sacrifice the best j though the editor of the Gardener's Monthly
fibres five or six feet from the tree for the few | planted them. There is no question but though
fibres in the ball at the base. When roots are j special pains were taken to select from the million
rather dry, after filling a portion of soil, pour in ! the most unfitted to improve or look after our city
water freely. After all has settled away, fill in | squares, the city money could not be more ig-
lightly the balance of the soil, and let it rest for j norantly or more wastefully squandered. Why
a few days. This is as a remedy, not as a rule; ' is it that so intelligent an art as gardening should

1882 J

AND HORTICULTURIST.

fall into the hands of ignoramuses? Can any-
one tell?

[Our correspondent has not exaggerated the
state of affairs. The city squares are in the De-
partment of City Property, which means a very
varied species of supervision. A Commissioner
of City Property may be remarkably well fitted
for some of those duties, and yet not know a
maple tree from a cedar of Lebanon. For any
thing he know^s, a man who is able to distinguish
a wheelbarrow from an express wagon is a first-
class gardener, and the employment of such a
one will seem to him all the more proper per-
haps if he is able to command a few votes at
election times ; for even a commissioner is hu-
man, and will stretch a little to hold a fat office
if he possibly can.

The best remedy for the disgraceful state of
things referred to by our correspondent, would
be to place these small city parks under the care
of the Park Commission. But the Commissioner
of City Property, by virtue of his office, is a
member of the Park Commission, and it might
be that he would still be a "sub-committee " to
superintend the squares. There would, however,
be this advantage, that a body of men with more
intellectual pride than a mere "City Commis-
sioner" is supposed to need, would be responsi-
ble for the disgrace.— Ed. G. M.l

A BLUE BEDDER.

BY W. ROBERTSON, GOVERNMENT GROUNDS, OTTAWA.

In bedding, some of the principal points seem
to be often lost sight of. One is in the use of
plants dissimilar in height, and that cannot
be trimmed to it. If flowering plants are used
in conjunction with foliage, the lowest grower
should be chosen, as foliage can be trimmed
to any height almost ; but flowering plants can
only be pegged down, and many of them do
not well admit of that.

Let us take as an example W. D.'s bed, where
he wants to represent a flag, red, white and blue,
and use C. W. Warde's plants. The first point
is to look from what point this bed is to be most
seen, and place it so that the design can be
best distinguished; the lowest side to that point ;
now, by the use of Ageratum Mexicanum, the
highest will be closest. This plant grows two
feet, pegs badly, and will be one foot higher than
the others, Centaurea and Achyranthes, and the
effect is lost and confused, as an even surface is
indispensable to show this design. The Agera-

tum, John Douglas, is a low, compact grower,
and will show a compact mass of blue the whole
season if treated properly ; there is no better blue
— is one of our best bedders. I never strike them
sooner than a month before I use them, as they
are very liable to red spider, and if put out old
and affected with them, they soon burn up and
make a poor show. Let the cuttings be put in
soft a month before use, and they will be one
mass of blue in a short time. There is no doubt
but the Ageratum Mexicanum is good in rib-
bon lines.

Browallia, recommended by C. E. Parnell, is a
plant growing one and a-half feet ; flowers late
and small, with much foliage, and will make a
very poor show of blue. Now, if W. D. does not
get his bed to show an even surface, the effect
will be lost, and like many designs, we have to
be told what it is. before we can tell what is
meant by it.

It will never do to plant and expect that lines,
&c., will be complete without frequent trim-
mings. When plants are growing rapidly, I
look over them once a week, and see if leaves
or shoots are getting out of place, and have them
trimmed ; never wait till you see them in disor-
der, so that when you trim you take the most
beautiful part of the foliage; in fact, never allow
them to grow so that trimming will be noticed.

NOVELTIES.

BY EDWARD KOETHEN, PITTSBURG, PA.

It is difficult for purchasers who are com-
pelled to buy by catalogue to judge of the value
of horticultural novelties, and probably always
will be so. Many new things are thrust on the
market with what seem to be the best of recom-
mendations, and are advertised in all available
ways, which have only been tested in one
locality, and in many cases not in this country
at all; but even in this country the climate is so
varied that but few things do well and are valua-
ble acquisitions all over the States. Yet the de-
mand for novelties is so great that dealers are
compelled to buy most of these much-heralded
varieties, and grow them for sale, until they are
either admitted among the standard articles, or
are rejected as worthless, and in most cases they
are catalogued at high prices, with their original
descriptions, without first being tested at all.
Thus the purchaser who buys from these deal-
ers, is no more certain of getting a good thing
than the dealer was, and the public it seems

100

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

will never learn that the most advertised articles
are not necessarily the best. Now, here comes
in one of the great uses of the Gardener's
Monthly and other similar journals. By read-
ing comments on these novelties, from different
persons in different localities, we are enabled to
decide on their true worth.

It is with these thoughts that the writer de-
cided to speak of a few of the newer, or poorly
appreciated plants which are in the market at
the present time. Among the newer Abutilons,
none better deserve mention than A. Darwinii.
This beautiful plant is too free a bloomer to be a
rank grower. Planted out in the spring it will
be a continual mass of bloom, from planting
time till the severe frosts destroy it in the fall.
It is as hardy as a geranium, and seems to de-
light in dry, hot weather. It is delicate in color
and graceful in habit, and sells well in spring, as
it is sure to be in bloom at selling season. A.
Snowball is the best white one we have seen, and
is an improvement over Boule de Niege in being
more compact in habit and a free bloomer.

Of the new Geraniums which Mr. Thorp sent
out last fall, Richard Brett has proved the best
with us. We also tested three varieties of Acal-
pha this last summer, as bedding plants, and are
well pleased with the result. For though Mr.
Henderson asserts in his "Handbook of Plants "
that A. tricolor is the only one worth cultivat-
ing, we find by test that A. marginata, A.
mosaica, and A. Macafeeana are not only worth
cultivating, but that they are real valuable ac-
quisitions to our list of bedding plants. A. mar-
ginata is the strongest grower of the three. The
foliage is ovate acuminate with long petioles.
In color the leaves vary from dark green to a
reddish tinge, with dark red veins ; the margin
is shaded with a band of light colors, varying
from bright crimson and pink to yellow. In
large specimens they measure nine inches in
length and five in breadth. A. Macafeeana is
next in rapidity of growth ; its leaves are cordate
and very irregular, often having deep folds in
them. The larger ones are often eight inches
long and six inches broad. Thej^ vary in color
from dark bronze to bright red, blotched with
yellow and crimson. A. Mosaica is a dwarf
grower, but is probably the best of all. Its leaves
are variegated in rectangular and irregular
blotches of rose, yellow, pink and bronze. The
yellow usually being the predominant color.
They also have a tendency to curl downward.
There was a bed of this variety planted out in

the Allegheny parks during the last summer
which made quite a striking appearance.

In the way of double Petunias, we have seen
nothing to beat Charm, for robust habit, good
shape and freedom of bloom. Two Begonia rex
varieties, which are new to us, promise ta
become valuable for cutting leaves for floral
work, besides making handsome plants. Their
leaves, when full grown, are never too large to
use for baskets. There is but little difference
between them in appearance. Both have a pe-
culiar gloss, such as we see in shells, and less
hair on their surface than we find on the old rex
varieties. Indeed, the probability is that they
are a cross between the rex and the flowering
varieties; they seem to be free bloomers. Their
names are Louise Cretine and Countess de Thell-
uson respectively. The former has a reddisli
shading in the leaf, near the centre which the
other does not possess. The latter is the freest
grower. Boiivardia A. Neuner is, we believe, alt
that is claimed for it.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Blood-leaved Trees.— The three best are per-
haps the Blood-leaved, or Schweidler's Norway
Maple, the Purple Beech, and Purple Birch.

Cercidophyllum Japonicum. — This, a corres-
pondent of the London Garden found one of the
finest forest trees of Japan.

Schizophragma hydrangeoides. — There was a
difference of opinion expressed in our columns
a few years ago, as to the ornamental merits of
this plant. Mr. Maries, the Japanese traveller,
tells the G'arrfenthat " the most beautiful climber
is Schizophragma hydrangeoides. This does al-
ways best on a living tree with a long branch-
less trunk, and requires to be old before it
produces flowers. I have seen trees perfect
masses of large Hydrangea-like blossoms."

The Largest Norfolk Island Pine. — This
beautiful denizen of Eastern greenhouses is
hardy in those parts of California where there is
little frost. The finest one in the State was in
the Post Office yard of San- Francisco. It had to
be removed for improvements, and though only
thirty feet high, those who undertook it, were
not equal to its success.

Improvement of Agricultural Grounds. — A
large number of Agricultural and similar socie-

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

101

ties have permanent exhibition
grounds, and it is sad to reflect
that these bodies, wliich one
would suppose to be leaders in
art and culture in true taste, gen-
erally have the most disgustingly
neglected properties that it is
one's misfortune to meet with.
They give •' premiums " for works
of art and improvement, and
present themselves the most
wretched examples of that which
they profess to encourage. Occa-
sionally there are some attempts
at cultural decency, and we have
pleasant recollections of one in
New Orleans as we write; but
these instances are rare.

We have a plan of an improved
place before us as we write,
which, though somewhat of a
private rather than a public en-
terprise, suggests these thoughts,
and in the hope that others may
profit by it, we have had an en-
graving of it made expressly for
the Gardener's Monthly. It was
designed by Mr. VVm. Webster,
the eminent landscape gardener,
of Rochester, K Y.

SCRAPS AND
RIES.

QUE-

Trees and Shrubs for the Sea-
side. — ' W. C," Bayview, Glou-
cester, Mass., writes : " Will you
please be so kind as to inform me
what kind of shrubs I can find
hardy enough to withstand our
extreme peculiar climate, on the
north-west side of Cape Ann.

" Such plants as Lilacs, Sy-
ringas, Forsythia, Deutzia, Al-
thea, Ribes, Guelder Rose, Wie-
gelia, Japan Quince ; also, the
Norway Spruce, Common White
Pine, Austrian Pine, all winter
kill.

" I think it is more from the
effect of the vapor rising from
the ocean in extreme cold

102

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[April,

weather, than from the intense cold, as the
above-mentioned plants all thrive when planted
either on the south-east side of hills, or any-
where under shelter within two or three hun-
dred feet from the water; hut as soon as ever
they get tall enough for the north-west blasts
to strike them, down they go."

[It is the salt in the vapor, blown into the
plants by the keen sea-breezes, as much as
the wind itself, which does the damage. The
following list of plants is of such as do not mind
a salt atmosphere so much as others, and we
should select from it, for experiment, in situa-
tions suggested :

Acer campestre, Amorpha fruticosa.

Ailanthus glandulosa, Azalea viscosa,

Aliius glutiiiosa, Berberis vulgaris,

Alnus maritiiiia,
Aralia spinosa,
Amelanohier botryapium,
Betula popullfolia,
Catalpa bignonioides,
Ccltis oocidentalis,
Nyssa multlflora,
Populus alba,

" angulata,

" monilifcra,
Prunus Americana,

" chicasa,
Quercus nigra,

" obtusiloba,

" tinctoria,
Sallx alba,

" Russeliana,
" vitellina,
Tamarisk Africaua,
" Indica,
" tetandra,

Carragana arborescena
Cephalanthus occidentalis.
Chionantlius Virginica,
Clethra alnifolia,
Fothergilla alnifolia,
Itea Virginica,
Myrica cerifera,
Prinos verticillata,

" arliutifolia,

" floribunda,
Viburnum nudum,

" prunlfolium,

Andromeda calyculata,
Arctostaphylos uva-Hrsa,
Kalmia angustifolia,
Leiophyllum buxifoUum,
Pinus inops,

" muglio,
Prinos glaber.
Yucca fllamentosa.

—Ed. G. M.l

Greenhouse and House Gardening.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

THE ROSE-CROWINC CRAZE.

BY PETER HENDERSON.

The readers of the Gardener's Monthly in
remote rural districts are unconscious of the
extent to which the culture of roses is extending
in and around our large cities. In consequence
of the extraordinary prices obtained for rosebuds
during the past two or three years, not only have
the regular tiorists used their large profits in
extending their greenhouse structures for that
purpose, but the fabulous reports of the profits
of rose-growing has excited the cupidity of many
capitalists in the vicinity of New York, Boston
and Chicago, and in all probability in the other
large cities of the Union. These men have an
abundance of means, and begin on a scale usu-
ally at which the ordinary florist, who had to
climb his way up, ends; so that we have already
in the vicinity of New York at least a dozen
establishments for the forcing of rosebuds in
winter, owned by men who count their capital
by millions. These gentlemen, of course, know
nothing practically about the business, relying
altogether upon their gardeners for success ; —
for who ever heard of a millionaire florist?

Whether they do succeed or not in making a
profit of a few thousand, dollars a year is not
vital to men who count their income by the
hundred thousand ; yet it is curious with what
interest the rise or fall of a few cents in the rose
market is regarded even by them. New Jersey
has more than her quota of these millionaire
fl&rists. Already we have four in Madison, one
in Summit and two in Orange, New Jersey, and
it is said that there is as much interest mani-
fested by them in the prices at which, in the
technical slang of the flower-shops, "Cooks,"
"Jacks," "Mermets" and "Perles" are quoted
in Broadway, as is evinced in Wall Street in
" Wabash," " Lake Shore," "Erie" or " Central."
It is true that one, at least, of these gentlemen
gives all the profits that accrue from his roses
to charitable purposes; but it is feared that he
has few imitators among his compeers in this
particular ; for the motive is the same as in all
other investments— to get the largest profit po8«
sible from the smallest amount of money in-
volved. A wholesale dry goods merchant, or a
manufiicturer, doing a business of a million dol-
lars a year, is amply paid by a net profit of five
percent.; but Avhen he is given to understand
that some illiterate digger of the soil, by an in-
vestment in rose-growing of $10,000, gets a net

1882.J

AND HORTICULTURIST.

103

profit of twenty-five per cent., he foolishly
imagines that a larger amount of capital invested
will bring corresponding profits. Such, at least,
seems to be the opinion of many capitalists; for
within the past twelve months I have been con-
sulted by at least a score of gentlemen about to
embark in the business of rose-growing, and I
have no doubt others in the trade have had the
same experience. Only last week a gentleman
entered into negotiations with a greenhouse
builder in Jersey City to construct at his country
residence, some sixty miles from New York,
600x20 feet, or nearly 15,000 square feet of glass,
as a "beginning," which, furnished, heated by
hot water and stocked, will cost not much less
than $15,000. It is true that many of these
amateur florists will get their fingers burnt, and
will not only never realize a dollar on their in-
vestments, but will work at a loss; yet enough
of them will succeed to give zest to the risk, for
at present prices, when success is attained, the
profits are so great as to produce the present
craze on the subject — a "craze "that probably
will result exactly as the Morus Multicaulis did
in 1840, or the grape vine fever in 1865. We
Jill know the disastrous results of these
speculations. Hundreds thought there were
"millions" in it, but found, to their sorrow, that
they were thousands out. So, we predict, will
be the result of the rose mania, for an over-
supply may quickly change the fashion. For,
assuredly, when the plebeian Smiths or Browns
can buy rosebuds suited to their limited means,
the Flora McFlimseys will turn up their aristo-
cratic noses even at the rose. All experience
shows that, in the perishable commodities of
fruits, flowers or vegetables, whenever an over-
supply floods the market and brings down the
prices below a paying level, less is sold than
when they bring a fair price. Two years ago, in
.Tune, strawberries and cabbage in the New
York markets got so low as not to pay even the
cost of marketing. The result was that hun-
dreds of loads had to be taken back and dumped
in the manure yards, as they could not be dis-
posed of at any price. Some thirty years ago
peaches one day fell down to twelve cents a
basket in Washington Market, New York, and
would not sell at that. In those daj's the crop
was perhaps held by a score of dealers only.
They got their heads together and decided to
destroy every peach in the market. It was
done. A scarcity was produced, and in twenty-
four hours peaches went up to $1.00 per basket.

The lejider in the movement had no doubt been
a disciple of Adam Smith, and had wisely
studied the laws of supply and demand.

The present excitement in rose-growing is no
doubt largely due to th« unprecedented prices
realized this winter, which has been caused in a
great measure by the unusual heat and drought
of last autumn, which weakened in many cases,
and in others entirely destroyed, the plants that
would have been used to produce the crop of
flowers. This, together with a brisk demand,
has resulted in profits which it is unreasonable
to expect can ever be long continued in any
legitimate business.

STEAM HEATING.

BY W. C, BAY VIEW, MASS.

I am glad to see the subject of steam as a
heater being discussed through the columns of
the Monthly, and should it prove as great a boon
over hot-water as hot-water has over the old
brick flue, it will be a great relief to gardeners
and their assistants. But the main question is
will it be as economical as regards fuel, and can
boilers be made that will keep up steam say from
10 o'clock, P. M., until 6 o'clock A. M., without
attention? If this can be done then we may
say good-bye to hot water; if not, then we must
understand the management of hot-water boilers
better than is now generally understood. The
great fault with most makers of boilers is mis-
representation, r. e., they invariably represent a
boiler to be capable of heating, say 1,000 feet of
four-inch pipe, when under ordinary circum-
stances it will heat about 700 feet. Another
fault, not generally understood, is in not putting
enough pipe into greenhouses. Invariably you
will find greenhouses, say one hundred feet long
by twenty to twenty-five feet wide, with eight
rows of piping— that is, four pipes on one side
and four on the other. Now, to think that, with
that amount of pipe you can maintain a tem-
perature of 65° in zero weather, is entirely out of
the question, no matter what kind of a boiler
you use. The fact is, put in four more rows of
pipe, and a boiler capable of heating the con-
tents of said pipe, and then you will get satis-
faction.

HINZE'S RED AND WHITE CARNATIONS.

BY AUGUST D. MYLIUS, DETROIT.

Mr. Hinze tells me, since the January number
of Gardener's Monthly appeared, he receives

104

THE GARDENERS MONTHLY

[April,

scores of letters inquiring about his carnation
eeedlings. And as Mr. Hinze is not accustomed
to English writing, he is not able to answer these
inquiries, but would be glad for me to state in
your magazine all about the above. The seed
was imported from Europe some years ago, and
as soon as the merits of these plants were known
the florists around Detroit City would not grow
other varieties, except for the sake of other
colors. Mr. Hinze tries new plants every year,
but these are his best. Any other florist would
have advertised these plants and sold them for
high prices. Mr. Hinze did nothing of the kind ;
he raised a large stock and had the best of
the flower market for two years or more. Since
then all about Detroit have them, but very few
florists outside of Detroit knew of their existence
till the appearance of little article in January
Monthly. They bear double as many flowers,
and are very healthy plants in all seasons, and
are stout and strong growers. I had 3,000 put
in this winter for cut flowers, and I can speak
from experience. I am propagating 6,000 for
next year, all for cut flowers. I found one
house of these pay better than anything in the
flower line. The single flower is very large>
larger than of other varieties, and they are
pleasantly scented. The Red is a very bright
pure red, and the White a very large pure
white.

HOT WATER BOILERS.

BY WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, PHILADELPHIA.

During many of my summer rambles among
the horticultural establishments of this vicinity
I have noticed a tendency to discard the old
smoke-flue, and to use hot- water heating appara-
tus in houses of any pretension. Many
florists are puzzled to know what boiler to use
for the heating of water. There are now so
many kinds, sizes, shapes, and patterns, and
each inventor claiming that his particular boiler
is superior to all others, &c., that to choose be-
tween them is indeed a difficult task. What is
wanted is a boiler that attains a rapid circula-
tion, and, consequently, the quickest with which
to heat water ; at the same time burning but a
small quantity of fuel. Hearing that several
commercial florists in the neighborhood of this
city were adopting locomotive boilers, I paid a
visit to the extensive establisnment of H. A.
Dreer, at Eiverton, N. J., who has had two in use
the past winter, and gleaned the following facts

through the courtesy of the foreman, Mr. J. D.
Eisele.

The boilers in use in this establishment are
what are known as fifteen horse-power boilers
with two and a-halfinch tubes, though a boiler
with three-inch tubes would be better, if at all
procurable. These boilers cost about one hun-
dred dollars, and the necessary fixing, so as to
make them adapted for greenhouse heatinc.
costs some twenty dollars. So it may be counted
that a good locomotive boiler can be procured
and adapted to horticultural purposes for one
hundred and twenty-five dollars.

This boiler, if properly set, will heat twenty-
five hundred feet of pipe, besides a smoke-flue
of seventy-five to one hundred feet in length.
Last winter, which was a very severe one. fully
tested the eflSciency of these boilers. On the
coldest nights, the fires were fixed up at 10 o'clock
p. M., and were not touched until six the
next morning. Each furnace consumed twenty-
five tons of coal, making fifty tons for both
boilers, and each boiler heated five greenhouses,,
one hundred feet long by sixteen feet wide, mak-
ing sixteen hundred square feet of surface room.

It is well known that a locomotive boiler is
the quickest with which to make steam, and
therefore must be the quickest with which to
heat water. With proper care it will outlast any
other boiler, for, being made out of wrought
iron, it possesses this advantage, that any of its
parts can be replaced without much trouble.

ODONTOCLOSSUM CERVANTESII AND
TRICHOPILIA SUAVIS.

Anticipating " C. H. S.'s " reply to the inquiry
of " F," regarding the treatment of the above,
permit me to say that there have been two dis-
tinct plants oifered by the importers as Odont-
oglossum Cervantesii the past season. The first
with light, pea green, soft, roundish, wrinkled
pseudo bulbs was not true, but was Odontoglossum
nebulosum, and identical with the 0. nebulosuni
imported by the same party two years ago. The
true 0. Cervantesii imported by the same firm
subsequently, has small, rather dark green, flask-
shaped pseudo bulbs, often spotted with brown
near top, and resembling in growth and in-
florescence, Odont. Rossii. This is scarce and
rare, but much easier to grow and flower than
O. nebulosum, not being as impatient of any
excess of moisture or of sun heat. I have it with

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

105

flower spikes soon to bloom. I have not suc-
ceeded in bloonnng O. nebulosum. All the
Trichopilia suavis I have seen were either
touched with frost before arrival and subsequently
perished, or excessively dry. The latter are now
coming out well, thanks to good care and gener-
ous treatment. It is perfectly wonderful what a
drying and wasting away some of these epiphytes
can survive. There are said to be two varieties
of Trichopilia tortilis, and I supposed I had both
the summer and the winter blooming varieties ;
but I find that by the same treatment the plants
that bloomed for the past two summers are in
bloom this winter also, and I conclude the differ-
ence is only due to the date of importation.
Some varieties are more distinctly marked than
others, however.

LUCULIA CRATISSIMA.

BY A. J. E., SOUTH AMBOY, N. J.

This beautiful plant is worthy of a place in
every collection however small it may be. None
but those who have seen a specimen can form
any idea of its beauty, when covered with its
immense Hydrangea-like trusses of rosy pink
flowers, as fragrant as a Heliotrope ; in fact it
fills a whole house with its perfume. There is
in Mr. Geo. Such's Camellia house, South Am-
boy, N. J., a magnificent specimen planted out
amongst the camellias. All those who saw this
plant just before Christmas will forever think of
its beauty. It lasts for several weeks in bloom,
and is in great demand by the florists, which
makes it more valuable, at that season of the year
especially. Why is it that this plant is neglected
so long when it is without doubt on« of the finest
plants in cultivation, and so easily grown when
planted out?

CULTIVATION OF EUCHARIS.

BY W. RHIND, CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

For the third time 1 have succeeded in flower-
ing this valuable plant in greenhouse tempera-
ture, and as many persons own it who only have
a greenhouse, with your consent, Mr. Editor, I
shall briefly state how I do it.

About the end of March I shake all the soil off"
the plants, preserving the roots as well as possi-
ble, place an inch of drainage in large pots,
covering with some rough material — tobacco
stems suit well. Grasp as many of the bulbs
by the leave.* as the pot will hold, each clear of

the next a fourth of an inch, then work the soil
in among the roots, tapping the pot on the bench
as the work proceeds ; by so doing the soil is
made firm about the roots without the pound-
ing-stick, which in this case would break the
roots. Common potting soil is used, as rich
compost will rot the roots before they commence
growing. Three stakes are placed around the
plant, on these a string to support the leaves ;
water with warm water, and the operation is
completed. Pots of any size may be used, from
six inches up. After they get fairly to growing
use liquid manure freely until the end of August ;
by that time they should have made the season's
growth. Rest them by withholding water, only
giving enough to keep from wilting. In a month
or six weeks they will send up their flower stems ;
then resume with liquid manure while the
flowers last, afterwards watering sparingly. The
growth of young leaves Avill surely damp away
at a temperature of 45°. The foliage must be
kept clean at all times by the frequent use of
the syringe in summer and the sponge in winter..

MEDINILLA MACNIFICA.

BY JAMES TAPLIN, MA-SWOOD, N. J.

This fine growing Melastomaceous plant, being
a native of the hottest part of the world, requires
a very strong heat at all times and also liberal
feeding. It can either be grown in a mixture of
peat and loam, or a good turfy loam, with some
well-decayed manure. The main fault is that it
makes too large a plant for a reasonable sized
house in a short time, as a plant from a cutting
will be six feet or more through in one season.
It requires abundance of water during the sum-
mer, both overhead and at the root, with plet*y
of potroom in the growing season, and in the
winter just water enough to prevent the foliage
turning yellow. With plenty of heat and light
it will show blooms at every joint. If sufficient
room is available it may be cut in after flower-
ing, the ball may be reduced, and it may be re-
potted in the same sized pot and treated as
before, but every cutting will strike in a strong
heat; in fact, every eye will strike, which is
probably the best way to grow it in a limited
space, it being one of the strongest and freest
growing plants in existence where a strong heat
can be maintained.

jq^OTE.— Trichopilia suavis and T. tortilis are
best grown in pots, in a mixture of sphagnum
and peat, in a house ranging from 50° to 60° in

106

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

the winter. Odontoglossum Cervantesii is best
grown on blocks, in about the same temperature
in winter, but in summer grown in a north house
and always kept wet. I have a number of these
now coming in flower under this treatment. I
would like to know if " C. H. S." has grown any
of these plants, under treen in the open air, and
how (hev have succeeded?

GLAZING.

BY M. M. GREEN, I,OtIISVILLE. KV.

Having built a house with permanent rafters,
and desiring to glaze it in such a manner that
the glass could be easily removed in the sum-
mer, I stretched ordinary candle wicking from
end to end of the rafters, letting it lie on the
shoulder of the rabbet, and bedding the glass on
this, not lapping it, but laying it with one end
against the other and tacking it down with ordi-
nary tacks, four to each pane. I have in this
the closest roof in a range of eight houses glazed
with putty. The work of removal, as any prac-
tical man will see, will be very light, with but
little danger of breakage, and the work of re-glaz-
ing will be as light as at first.

RAISING CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS
FROM SEED.

BY W. FALCONER.

Dr. H. P. Walcott, of Cambridge, has succeed-
ed in raising a large number of Chinese and
Japanese Chrysanthemums from seed. Some of
his seedlings are of good merit, especially a pale
pifrple and a chestnut-colored Japanese, and a
crimson and yellow reflexed Chinese flower.
Now, raising seedlings of Chrysanthemums (C.
Indicum) is no uncommon thing in Europe, but
I have not heard of it before in America ; still,
seeds of it are advertised in some seedsmen's
catalogues. Whence are the seeds obtained?
From plants grown in the Channel Islands, the
South of France and Algeria, but mostly from
Algeria. But Dr. Walcott's seeds were raised,
in 1880, in his own garden at Cambridge.
This is the first instance of raising Chrysanthe-
mum seeds in America that I have heard of; do
any of your readers know of another?

The seeds were sown out of doors in July ;
they soon germinated, and by the end of August
had formed nice little plants, which were lifted

and potted into four and five-inch pots, and
nearly all of them blossomed during the last two
weeks of October and the first fortnight of
November.

The Doctor tells me that the plants from which
he saved the seeds, at and after blooming time,
were kept in the greenhouse, where the atmos-
phere was as dry as he could keep it, without
using unnecessary fire-heat. He considers that
a dry atmosphere is essential to success.

On December 17th, the Doctor told me he
had recently returned from a visit to Georgia,
and was assured there that the cultivation of the
larger Chinese varieties was on account of their
hot, dry, summer weather — an impossibility. He
further told me that he did not think he should
be able to secure any seed from his own plants
this season, nor did he find any of the plants in
the Southern States with perfected seed ; the
moisture of their Novembers seems to be as fatal
to the ripening of the seed as our greenhouse
conditions are.

HEATING BY STEAM AND WATER COM-
BINED.

BY JAMES BROWN, GARDENER, STATE FARM, LAN-
CASTER, OHIO.

I notice in the Gardener's Monthly that the
subject of steam heating for greenhouses is at-
tracting a good deal of attention at present ; and,
if agreeable, I will relate our mode of heating
with steam and water.

We use the ordinary four-inch cast iron pipe,
put up the same as for hot water apparatus ; but
in place of hot water boiler, we have a cast-iron
tank, five feet in length and two feet in diameter,
placed in north end of house, underneath the
floor, below the level of the pipes. In this tank
there is a coil of one hundred and fifty feet of
one and one-quarter-inch steam pipe. The steam
is brought from a main pipe in one of the build-
ings nearest to the greenhouse in the same sized
pipe, inch and a quarter, the entire distance from
boiler, seven hundred feet, with twenty pounds
of steam pressure. We have about five hundred
feet of pipe in this house, and raising this one
and aquarter-inch valve the thirty-second part
of an inch, will make the water boil. You can
readily calculate how much water this steam
will heat by opening the valve to its full extent.

In reading Mr. Murdoch's article in the
MoNTrtLY, where he tells about taking out two

1882.1

ANJJ HORTICULTURIST.

107

thousand feet of four-inch pipe, and putting in
steam-pipe, I think he made a grand mistake, as
he had the pipe on hand. And for all those con-
templating putting in steam, I believe this mode
of heating far superior, especially for those who
have hot water in operation, because of it being
more economical and safer ; for in case anything
should get wrong with the steam, you have the
pipes in the greenhouse full of hot water, which
will retain the heat much longer than in steam
pipes, and is more economical because of the
saving of fuel to generate steam.

A CHEAP PLANT STAND.

BY W. F. BASSETT, HAMMONTON, N. J.

We made a very eflective plant stand for our
front yard last summer in the following manner:
A cedar stake two or three inches in diameter
was driven into the ground so as to stand firmly
and of the required height, a small piece of
board nailed across the top and another piece a
little larger nailed over this so as to make a sub-
stantial base, and a cheese box nailed to this.
Then we filled the box half full by putting in a
couple of inches of sand and sphagnum over it.
The whole was then covered with the pendant
lichen which grows on our swamp cedars, so as
efiectually to conceal the materials used m its
construction, and the box filled with plants in
pots — tall ones in the centre and smaller ones
around them with trailing plants to hang over
the sides. It was shaded by trees during the
hotter portions of the day, and such plants as
Glechoma, Alyssum, Ivy, Othonna crassifolia, &c.,
succeeded finely by merely pressing a handful
of sphagnum around the base of cuttings and
pressing them into the spaces between the
pots.

MEDINILLA MACNIFICA.

BY MANSFIELD MILTON.

The first time I saw this plant in flower was at
Craigo House, Forfarshire, Scotland, and I do
not know if I ever came across a plant since
which left such an impression from first sight as
this one did. A fine, large, magnificent specimen,
growing in an eighteen-inch pot, had hanging
from the points of its shoots large racemes of pink
flowers, — a gorgeous sight. The plant, when
not in flower, is ornamental, the leaves being
large, smooth and of a dark green color.

As this plant produces its flowers from the
previous year's wood it is necessary to have it
well ripened, as unless this is attended to but
few flowers will be seen. I have seen specimens of
this plant grown, year after year, without ever
a single raceme of flowers being seen, the mis-
take being in not ripening the wood sufficiently
the previous year. It requires a high tempera-
ture to grow in. For soil, a mixture of peat and
loam with plenty of sand is most suitable, and
upon no consideration over-pot.

It holds good with almost all plants grown in
greenhouses and hothouses, ihat those whith
produce their flowers on the previous year's
wood should not have too much root room, while
such as produce their flowers on the present year's
growth will bear more liberal treatment in this
respect. Unless with very succulent growing
plants, very large shifts are not advisable with any
kind.

RHYNCOSPERMUM JASMiNOIDES.

MRS. M. D. WELLCOME.

I have a very attractive climber with the above
name that 1 think cannot be extensively grown,
or I fail to find it in any of my catalogues,
though from the largest floral firms in this
country. It was sent to me about six weeks ago
from Indiana, and it very soon began to throw
out new shoots full of buds, and the main stalk
has grown more than half a yard since it came
to me and is in bud and bloom. The flowers are
pure white, fragrant, and hang in clusters over
the rich, dark green leaves which greatly re-
semble those of the Camellia japonica, though
not so glossy. I have it trained on a small pot
trellis, and it is very handsome.

CIRRHOPETALUM MEDUS/E.

BY A. J. E.

This is a very rare Orchid and seldom found in
collections, and is a most singular plant. It has
flowers in masses having the appearance of heads
with long hairs hanging from them, these hairs
being twisted about in a strange manner. It
succeeds well on blocks of wood, or in a pot with
rough peat and sphagnum moss, but I prefer the
former and the flowers show to better advantage.
If grown in a pot it is as well to keep the active
part near the edge a§ possible, so that when in

108

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

bloom the flowers will be free from the pot, and
it can be suspended to the roof of the house, and
the flowers will be free from damp, to which
they are very liable. It is easily grown in a warm
house. The flowers are of a creamy white spotted
pink. It is a native of Singapore.

SMALL GREENHOUSES.

BY J. C. C, PROVIDENCE, K. I.

It may be interesting to some who are not
'blessed with ranges of '"glass-houses," and whose
wants exceed their means, to have a trifle of the
experience of one, who for three short years
enjoyed a very small span-roof house, (only 12x
12) and from which he gained not only much
ipleasure and recreation, but also a deeper knowl-
edge of floriculture than constant reading would
have given him in thrice that time. The green-
house was situated in a large city, where yard-
room is an expensive luxury ; and few would
have thought that so many plants could be grown
successfully in so small a place. For six months
before building the writer had contemplated a
house, but his ideas, like those of most amateurs,
were on a much larger scale than his plot of
ground would allow. But finally he built a house
which was so erected that, by taking out one end,
it could easily be enlarged. The wood-work
beneath the benches was double, so that no heat
should be lost; three inches empty space between
the outer and inner boarding. Although a fill-
ing of sawdust was recommended, it was never
found necessary. The house was heated by three
rows of four inch pipe, carried from a Smith &
Lynch boiler, capable of heating 150 feet of pipe.
The boiler was at first placed in a trench in a
corner of the house and worked from the outside ;
but as this was found to be not only inconvenient
but also unpleasant to work in severe or stormy
weather, and as it was also difficult to keep water
out of the trench, the boiler was finally placed in
the cellar of the dwelling; the flow and return
pipe being laid in a wooden box beneath the
pavement. This arrangement worked admirably,
although there was considerable heat wasted,
but that was a small matter when we consider
the ease with which the fire was run. In the
winter of 1880 and 1881, which was as constantly
severe as Philadelphia has experienced for many
years, only two-and a-half tons of coal were
burned, the thermometer ranging from 40° to
50° Fah. at night, and from 60° to 70° during the

day. The fire was usually covered at eleven P. M.,
and not looked at until seven A. M.

At first the writer— like many other beginners
— tried to grow anything and everything, but he
soon found out that such a course was by no
means practicable. Camellias and Azaleas did
not enjoy a heat suited to Begonias and Marantas,
or, in other words, plants that luxuriate in a
temperature ranging from 50° to G5° could not
be placed alongside those that enjoy stove treat-
ment. So in the course of two years Camellias,
Carnations and Roses gave place to Azaleas,
Amaryllis, Geraniums, etc. And it may seem
almost incredible to the readers of this article,
who have had no experience with a small green-
house, when the writer says that he had at times
upwards of 400 plants in his house, some of them
by no means small, but every inch of space was
brought into requisition by means of shelving
and iron brackets. The plants were kept from
being drawn only by constant turning and re-
arranging, and although that pest, the green fly,
would occasionally appear in the early spring,
yet a couple of careful tobacco fumigations would
be sufficient to smother hitn. The writer thinks
that there are few who have five times his space
who could boast of such a blaze of Azaleas,
Amaryllis and Geraniums, the last named plant
constantly in bloom from the first of December
until time for bedding in the spring. The average
time spent in this house for watering, repotting,
etc., was one-and-a half hours a daj*.

Fearing that this article is already too long for
a corner in the Gardener's Monthly, and that
the editor may think it an old story, which has
been told too often, the writer will conclude
rather abruptly, at the same time hoping that his
experience may cause some one else to try a
small house, and enjoy it until he is able to build
one of larger proportions.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

JusTiciA CALYCOTRICHA. — A plant which is much
more valuable than is commonly supposed is
Justicia calycotricha. When cut the inflorescence
is most useful for vases, and it lasts in beauty a
considerable time. The flowers are very numer-
ous and of yellow color ; they do not individually
last long, but open in succession. Not only is
the corolla yellow, but also the calyx, which is
formed with long slender lobes about equal to
the corolla in length. These give a character to

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

109

the inflorescence. In the Cambridge Botanic
Garden this plant forms quite a useful and orna-
mental feature in the stove. There it grows in
the soil beneath the stage and pipes, quite hiding
the latter with luxuriant foliage. Hundreds of
flower heads have been produced during several
weeks, and almost always it may be found in
bloom. It grows better as above situated than
in pots. If pot culture is desired the chief con-
sideration is to overcome so far as possible its
naturally tall habit. To this end it should be cut
back periodically, and to form a specimen several
may be planted together in a pot. It is fond of
moisture, and to produce the best result strong
shoots must be grown for flowering. This is the
Justicia flavicoma of Lindley, under which name
it is sometimes known. It is a native of Brazil.
— Journal of Horticulture.

Dinner Table Decoration. — This is a matter
which many take great interest in, and to which
they devote much attention. Like all other
fashions it needs to be changed to retain admir-
ers. When the numbers at dinner vary and the
tables are changed in size accordinglj', plants of
diff'erent size can be worked in, and a change of
the plate or chief centrepieces affords the same
chance. Alterations of the kind are always
favorable to those who decorate, as none of us
like to have the table the same night after night
before the same company. •

As a rule lightness is always appreciated.
Plenty of green with a few bright colors is gen-
erally most effective. Small glasses are, to our
mind, much more pleasing than spreading the
decorations on the cloth, and the main pieces
should always be done well. Of these we have
arranged many, but one of the best we had
recently. The stand has a massive silver base
some two feet wide, and on this stands for figures
holding a flower basket over their heads. This
basket is about eighteen inches across, and is
sometimes filled with plants and sometimes with
flowers. On the occasion we refer to there was
a good plant of Cocos Weddelliana in the centre.
A quantity of a small green Selaginella covered
the pot of this and filled the basket. As a fringe
Adiantum farleyense was used, and white Chin-
ese Primula and Roman Hyacinth spikes were
cut and placed, not too closely, over the surface
of the green. The effect of this was more pleas-
ing than any centre we have made. The Prim-
roses and Hyacinths looked as if they were
growing on the little green mound, and the
graceful Palm spreading over the whole made

the combination complete. — M. W. in Journal of
Horticulture.

SCRAPS AND QUERIES.

Steam Heating.—" T. J.," Hartford, writes :
" I notice, in your February number, an article
on steam heating, by Mr. Taber, in which the
author asserts, as a well-known fact, ' that more
heat is obtained from one two inch pipe than
from two one-inch pipes.' Now, I am using one-
inch pipes under the impression that two of
them present the same heating surface and
therefore give as much heat as one two-inch
pipe, besides taking only one-half the quantity
of steam and consequently consuming less fuel.
Will Mr. Taber please inform me through the
columns of your Monthly, whether I am right
or not, and if not, why not ?"

Steam Heating— Mr. Mylius, Florist of De-
troit, says : " Mr. Taber, of Detroit, writes an
able article about steam, and he states what I
know are facts. I think few will use other than
steam for heating, in time. Mr. Taber has the
same size boiler as mine, but I heat double as
much glass with mine as he does with his."

Camellia Bud Dropping. — " W. F.," Sandusky,
Ohio, writes : " I have a Camellia (double red)
which has about fifteen buds. They seem to be
on a standstill, and I think they should be open-
ing now. I have had them this way before
when they finally dropped oS". I had a double
white one in full bloom, about a month ago ;
they both had the best care, their leaves being
sponged every day since last fall. I have them in
a front room, where geraniums, roses, azaleas,
heliotropes, and other flowers are in bloom ;
average temperature about 60° Fahrenheit ; hard
CDal stove in adjoining room. No buds dropped
oS" as yet. If j^ou could advise me what to do,
to save the buds and get them to bloom, I shall
be under many obligations to you.

[There are so many reasons why Camellia buds
drop, that without seeing the plants no one could
give a reason in a special case. If for a long
time the plants have been in the shade and sud-
denly removed to bright sunlight, they may
drop. If sulphuric acid gas, from bad coal,
attacks them, they may fiill. Or they may fall
from anything which injures the tips of the
roots — that is fungus, stagnant water, or dryness
of the soil— Ed. G. M.]

110

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

Fruit and Vegetable Gardening,

COMMUNICA TIONS.

PLUM STOCKS FOR PEACH TREES.

BY W. F. HEIKES, HUNTSVILLE, ALA.

Noticing the interest manifested in your pages
of late, upon this subject, I am tempted to give
a few facts from my experience with peach on
plum in the nursery. As long ago as 1866 my
attention was called to an experiment made by
Mr. David Miller, formerly of Carlisle, Pa. — a
gentleman well known to horticulture — on the
Sand Hill Plum, known locally as the Sand Hill
Cherry (Prunus pumila), common to the sand
hills of Kansas, Nebraska and the Northwest.
Mr. Miller had bearing peach trees on this stock
at that time, and wrote me very favorably of the
result. I made a determined effort to get the
pits of this plum, but there was so much con-
fusion concerning the name and so much pro-
crastination in the minds of those to whom I
applied, in neighborhoods where I supposed
them to abound, that I did not get any until I
went for them myself, and then with difficulty,
as no one seemed to know them by any name
that I had ever heard. Finally, it was found on
Saline Fork, Kansas, after following an old man
eeveral miles over the sand hills, in a doubtful
way, after what he and his neighbors called the
Mountain Cherry. I procured pits enough to
make an experiment, in view of their propaga-
tion in the nursery. The peach buds set well
and they made a healthy growth, but what with
the difficulty of getting the pits, the slender
growth of the seedlings, and their disposition to
drop their foliage before budding time, I was
forced to abandon the project.

I also experimented with Myrobolan as a stock
but found it very unsatisfactory. The buds set
well, but their growth was very irregular, and
whilst there was an occasional tree that seemed
healthy the most of them seemed stunted in
growth and sickly in foliage. I never tried the
peach on Horse Plum or St. Julian, because I
could not grow plum trees upon them profitably.

The subject of the plum stock for the peach held
its fascination for me in view of its probable
value in exempting the peach from its great foes,
the yellows and the borers, and the prospective
prices for the young trees should I succeed.
Upon taking the management of the nurseries
here I noticed the striking similarity of the foli-
age and habit of many of the seedlings of the
Wild Goose Plum to the peach, and I was in-
duced to try the peach upon the Chickasaw of
this particular type. After growing trees upon
this stock for three years in succession I felt so
strongly convinced that I had found the true plum
as stock for the peach that we budded over thirty
thousand of them in the summer of 1880, and
as they have done each year, they grew very
perfectly and regularly — a little more stocky and
better branched, although not quite as tall as the
peach on its own roots. This stock makes hand-
some fibrous roots, on our soil, and carries its
size up well to the peach, completing a perfect
union.

I have noticed also that this stock is influenced
much less by drouth than any plant in the nur-
sery. The past summer was remarkable for its
great heat and severe drouth, so trying to nur-
serymen who had much to bud ; there was not a
day in which it could not be budded, and the
buds put in lived, whilst buds inserted in peach
stocks at the same time perished. It is strictly
healthy every way, holding its foliage and con-
tinuing its growth until chilled by frost, equaling
in this respect the Mahaleb Cherry. After my
experiment of the first year with this stock, my
expectations of its value were greatly strength-
ened by the experience of Mr. John Frazer, our
superintendent, who had a thorough education
and much practice in this business in England,
where the peach is grown exclusively on plum ;
and also from his knowledge of a peach tree in
Missouri worked on this stock, which is distinc-
tively healthy and bears fine crops of fruit. The
wood of the peach on plum is more solid, stur-
dier and hardier than on peach, as any one will
believe who has grown the Apricot on the difler-
ent stocks and noted the difference.

1882.1

AND H0R2ICULTURIST.

Ill

HOW I CROW CELERY.

BY AUGUST D. MYLIUS, DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

I think there are few localities better adapted
to celery culture than that around Detroit city.
The soil is well suited, being heavy and of a dark
sandy nature. Of course celery will do very
well in other soils, such as a light sandy one or
clay, if manured heavily. And, indeed, celery
gives good returns for manure, no matter what
the soil may be. Cow and hog manure are best;
fertilizers are of little use except on low lands.
I have raised the best of crops on new ground
of a dark, heavy nature without manure. The
time for sowing seeds with us is, one lot the first
week in April, the other the third week in the
month. The seeds are sown in rows, in beds,
and well patted down with the spade afterwards.
This makes the earth firm around the seeds and
is worth a dozen w-aterings. Planting is com-
menced about the middle of June and continued
until the middle of July. The first planted we
commence to earth up the end of August. This
is done three times ; the final banking up being
about the middle of September. Celery bleaches
best when boards are used, but the boards stop
the growth by confining the plants too much ;
hence such plants are not as large or as heavy as
earth bleached ones are. For winter use we dig
trenches a foot wide, standing the plants close
together and putting earth on the roots only. A
foot board covers the top and horse manure is
put on it little by little as the cold increases.

YELLOWS ANDPEACH CULTURE.

BY CHARLES BLACK, HIGHTSTOWN, N. J.

Enough has been said about the character and
causes of this so-called disease of the peach by
experts. I do not propose to explain the origin
or character of it ; but give a few hints of practi-
cal experience of several years past.

I do not intend to deny the existence of such
a disease as the yellows ; but think it is often
blamed for the distraction of our orchards, when
the real cause is something else that is within
our power to avert. I intend mentioning several
causes, the most important being starvation,
either from close setting or insufficient cultivar
tion when the trees are set, or very often from
both.

Many of our orchardists appear to think the
more they get on an acre the more fruit they
will get. This is a serious mistake, for one
might as well expect ten head of cattle to live on

one acre of pasture as long as one would. When
planted thickly they exhaust the natural ele-
ments of the soil and in a short time become
yellow, dwindle to nothing, then yellows is said
to be the cause. This is especially the case up
the Hudson. Some of our friends there set as
close as eight to ten feet, when they should not
be less than eighteen or twenty. At eight feet
they have sixty-four square feet to live on, at
twenty, four hundred square feet, and then to
help consume the needed food of the trees small
fruits are planted between them. In this half-
starved state is it any wonder that fungus, black
aphis, or any other foe has an easy prey?
The dead and dying are examined ; these foes
are found on them, and ascribed the real cause.
When thus diseased, I am satisfied that the
ofispring of such trees, either from seed or buds,
would be short lived and worthless and should
never be used, as it is the principal cause of dis-
eased trees seen occasionally in the best or-
chards.

It is not only the richest soil that is best for
peach culture ; in fact sometimes on such they
will become diseased as soon as on poorer soil,
as they make too rapid and succulent growth.
They appear to get surfeited from too much
food or from improper elements of the soil.
The very best soils for peach are high, rolling
or hilly, with warm loam and clay sub-soil.
Peach trees will succeed in a great variety of
soils and situations; but are very sensitive to a
cold, retentive soil and should never be planted
largely on such.

Another cause of failure is from planting trees
from any source they can be purchased the
cheapest. Every few years trees are in great de-
mand, at good prices. At these times around
nursery centres generally, and elsewhere, num-
berless small nurseries spring up, and the owners,
knowing nothing of the principle of the busi-
ness, and having no reputation at stake get
buds, seeds, etc., where they can get them the
cheapest, particularly the buds. They go to
those having orchards, and not knowing the va-
rieties, or a healthy tree from a diseased one,
procure buds for nothing and raise what ap-
pears to be a first-class tree. These trees are
generally bought by dealers, many of them
peddled around the country by agents ; badly
raised, badly packed, and in a half-dead
state they are delivered to the planter, and
if they live at all they never can make healthy
trees. Southern planters do not suffer from this

112

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

cause, as long experience has taught them to
deal direct with honest, reliable nurserymen,
who have an interest in every tree sent out.

Insufficient cultivation is another cause.
Many plant healthy trees at proper distances, and
if they are cultivated once, they think this is
sufficient, and they become stinted and yellow.
By all means, give young peach trees as thor-
ough cultivation as you would a cornfield, if
you expect to raise a long-lived, healthy peach
orchard. If you reside in a peach section, select
high, warm soil. Procure from a reliable
source small, healthy trees, raised from long-
lived Southern seed, and budded from healthy,
young nursery trees and not from fruiting or-
chards. Plant from eighteen to twenty feet each
way, being careful not to set the trees deeper
than they were in the nursery. Give them good,
clean cultivation, or, better still, raise corn or
some cultivated crop that needs constant care.

If the soil is light 'and no means of properly
fertilizing the crop, better not raise anything
with the trees; but just give clean, thorough
cultivation up to August 1st, then sow rye with
300 or 400 lbs. bone or phosphate to an acre ;
let this stand until it shows signs of heading the
following spring, then roll or drag down and plow
under. In this way an orchard can be raised and
manured cheaper than any other. To avoid the
borer, make a small mound of earth as compact
as possible and six to ten inches high around
the trunk of the trees. This must be done by
June 1st. Let this remain until September 1st,
then remove mound from trees and with a
coarse cloth rub the portion of the trunk that
was covered with the soil thoroughly; this will
cleanse the trees of any signs of borers ; and if
this method is followed for two or three years
there will be no loss from borers. After the
trees get older with an unbroken bark, they can
make but little headway.

The best method of pruning and that which
our most successful and intelligent orchardists
follow here, is when the trees are first planted to
cut the main stem down to within eight to
twelve inches of the root — small trees are better
for this mode ; let three or four shoots start
from the main stock. This makes a low head
in every way preferable to a high head formed
from large trees. Where a vigorous growth is
made it is well enough to cut back one-half of
the present year's growth. Keep young, feeble
branches well thinned out inside^so that plenty
of air and light can get through, them.

As to varieties, it is best to depend on old,
well-tested varieties known to succeed in the lo-
cality. If the natural elements are provided to
the peach tree, its long life will astonish many
who look on it as a short-lived tree. I have in
mind a tree standing alone over twenty years
old, vigorous and healthy, and no other cause
than that it stands where its roots can reach out
every year and supply it with the food required
to makejust a medium growth, and it does not
starve or get overstimulated.

Let anyone who has an orchard that they
think has the yellows, leave occasionally one of
the best, and if the soil is well cultivated and
fertilized, these trees will turn green, live and
produce fruit for several years, and only because
they have room to procure the elements they
need from 'the soil. When occasionally a tree
in a young thrifty orchard becomes sickly take
it out ; but when your orchard turns yellow gen-
erally, give them more thorough cultivation
and fertilize them if the soil is poor.

If your trees are .too thick, pull out every
other tree or row, and as a rule you will cure
the yellows ; if your orchard has been started
from healthy trees, some seasons have a great
effect on them, and they may appear diseased
and failing one year, and the following season
being more favorable they will be healthy and
all right.

THE CROS COLMAR CRAPE.

BY A. SIGLER, ADJIIAN, MICH.

In your January number of Gardexer's
Monthly, I noticed an article of inquiry about
the size and quality of the Gros Colmar Grape.
I would not differ very materially from the
answer it received from the editor. But as I have
had some experience in the cultivation of
forcing grapes under glass for nearly twenty
years I will give my experience with that variety,
and must say that it is a very shy bearer in a
cold grapery and not first quality. It produces
very large berries but no long clusters, and it
takes almost a lifetime before you get any fruit,
at least seven to eight years after setting before
you get fruit.

PETITE MARGUERITE PEAR.

BY C. G. WKIKERSHAM, PARSONS, KANSAS.

My Petite Marguerite Pear has fruited with
me here, three seasons. The last season I picked
live bushels, and placed them for marketing in,

1882.1

AND HORTICULTURIST.

113

baskets graded ten to the bushel, and took one
dollar per basket, and realized the snug sum of
fifty dollars net for the fruit. I had but few
Peaclies last season, and the Alexander did the
best of the early kinds. The prospect now is
good for all kinds of fi-uit the coming season.
I fruited the Bidwell Strawberry last season
and was much pleased with it. I have in my
collection about twenty varieties and think the
Bidwell takes the lead.

A CURATIVE AND PREVENTATIVE FOR
THRIP ON CRAPES.

BY JOHN PEATTIE, GARDEXER FOR MRS. WM. KELLEY,
RHIXEBECK, N. Y.

As the time is drawing near for starting our
early graperies, I wish to relate to the profession
and horticulturists, my experience of last season
with grape growing under glass. For some years
back I have been very much annoyed by the
aphis or the so-called light brown thrip, which
has been a great deal of vexation to most grape
growers, at the latter part of growth destroying
the foliage and also leaving a filth on the fruit.
Fumigating destroys them somewhat, but is not
effectual ; fumigation also leaves a taste on the
fruit which gentlemen of refined taste dislike,
and is a discredit to the grower. I have asked
some of our best chemists to give me a remedy
for this pest without injury to foliage or
fruit, but found none until last season. After
thinning my early house of grapes, foliage
being young and tender I did not wish to fumi-
gate; it destroj's many tender points. Finding
Mr. Thrip making headway and having a large
bale of tobacco stems on hand, I mulched the
whole inside border or floor with it, which
gave with the heat and moisture a strong gas
of tobacco or what the chemist calls nicotine.
This completely destroyed the thrip or drove
them out, giving no injury to either fruit or
foliage, and my vines ripened with a beautiful
golden foliage. I followed up the same remedy to
the second house, then to the third, and all three
houses gave me great satisfaction and relief, and it
was a pleasure to look on both foliage and fruit.
I renewed the mulching in all the three houses
about three times during the season, adding a
little fresh stems to keep up the so called nico-
tine. I also found that the wasps and flies did
not injure my ripe fruit or care to come in the
houses. Since I made this discovery I have also
used the same mulching on roses, and find it
destroys the green fly. I have no doubt if it

was applied to the rose beds outside in the
summer, it would have the same effect if the out-
side evaporation is not too much. Outside I
have not tested the effect, but will guarantee the
inside. I have no doubt your readers will be
satisfied with this plan and would like to hear
from some of them through your columns after
testing.

JAPAN PERSIWIMONS AS TUB PLANTS.

BY J. B. GARBER, COLUMBIA, PA.

I notice in the January number of the Gar-
dener's Monthly that Mr. Berckmans, of
Georgia, sent you some specimens of Japan Per-
simmons and that they were good fruit. You say
all the trees planted around Philadelphia have
been killed by the severe winters. You then ask,
"Why can they not be grown in tubs like
oranges?" These trees can be grown in tubs
like oranges without difficulty and make beau-
tiful dwarf shrubs.

I had a tree of the Japan Persimmon growing
for several years in a nine-inch pot, and in 1880
this shrub ripened five fruits, yellow as an orange
and of a most delicious quality — none of the
astringency of our native varieties. Last spring
I gave it a larger tub and it bore no fruit, but
made a good growth. All my native persim-
mons bore no fruit last season. Though the
trees (half-dozen) were not injured I suppose the
fruit buds must have suffered by the severe cold
of the winter of 1880 and 1881—22° below zero.

Yes, these Japan persimmon shrubs may easily
be grown in tubs and they can be placed in a
cellar or some out-house in the winter. The
ground in the pot of my plant was frozen hard
as a rock, yet it did not injure the plant, unless
the cold may have injured the buds, but the
shrubs grew well last season. I have now several
other varieties which I intend to grow in the
same manner, in tubs.

BENTLEY'S SWEET APPLE.

BY J. r. k., near lovettsville, va.

I send you two apples by mail— Bentley's
Sweet — which you will see described by Down-
ing. I don't remember ever seeing it mentioned
in my nurseryman's list or catalogue, and pre-
sume it cannot be in general cultivation. I got
it from Ohio, Downing says it is a Virginian.

It comes up so fully, as I think, to the require-
ments of a first-class apple, that I am induced to
send you a specimen for your criticism. It is

114

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

the most perfect bearer I ever saw ; bears heavy
crops of the most perfect apples. The fruit is so
regularly distributed all through and over the
tree, that every apple has a full chance for de-
velopment. The tree makes a regular symmetri-
cal head, with no crowding of the branches.
The fruit is borne on spurs and small branches
on the large limbs, and out on the limbs, and
nowhere in clusters, consequently giving the en-
tire crop a chance to become perfect. It prom-
ises to be an excellent keeper— is just now be-
ginning to ripen.

While it is a sweet apple, it is still remarkably
sprightly, as you will discover from the speci-
mens. They may not yet be as ripe as they
should be to have their best flavor. I should
say, too, that the tree bears very young.

[This came to hand on the 20th of February.
The apples were in first-rate condition, and had
the appearance of being able to keep a long
time yet. Though a sweet apple, it compares
favorably with many Baldwins, which are the
popular table apple of this section at this season,
and perhaps would suit some tastes better. It
ought to become a standard variety. — Ed. G. M.]

JAPANESE PERSIMMONS.

BY OLD DOMINION.

It may be of interest to you to know that the
Japanese Persimmon is hardy in Virginia, lati-
tude of Norfolk. Grafted plants imported in
1879, bore fruit the past season which ripened on
the tree at the Barker Floral Gardens, Bram-
bleton. One small tree, not two feet in height,
bore nine plums, three of which remained upon
the tree until fully ripe, and the largest meas-
ured three and a-half inches in diameter, and
ten and a-half in circumference. They were of
the seedless variety, and resembled the native
persimmon in flavor, but very rich and of the
consistency of the custard apple. Dried like
dates and figs, they must be very delicious.

[This note on Persimmons, from Virginia, re-
minds us of an anecdote told in connection with
the celebrated Captain John Smith, who in days
long before woman's rights became a popular
question, was protected by Pocohontas. He sent
some of our native persimmons to Queen Eliza-
beth, which, we are told, "turned her Majesty's
face awry." But Smith said the Indians called
them "Pasheman." So far as we know the
meaning of Persimmon in the language of the
Virginia Indians, has never been ascertained.

We don't know how the orthography became
changed to the modern usage, and we call atten-
tion to Captain Smith's mode of spelling it, as
perhaps affording some better chance of getting
at the explanation. — Ed. G. M.]

LONGEVITY OF APPLE TREES.

BY MILD BARNARD, MANTENO, ILL.

The minds of horticulturists in this prairie
country are very much exercised over the seem-
ing fact that apple orchards must be renewed
every fifteen or twenty years, and the question
naturally suggests itself, why this short life and
early decay, when forest trees seem as healthy
and as long-lived as in other countries?

The hypotheses advanced to account for this
state of things, vary as much as do specifics for
pear-blight or hog-cholera. One man thinks the
trouble is climatic, and another thinks it is
something in our soil, or something lacking in
the soil; others think it is caused by the present
mode of propagating the apple tree by root-
grafting, pasturing our orchards, close planting,
low-branched trees, and high-topped trees, etc.,
We often hear of apple trees in the Eastern
States and tn Canada living and producing
bountifully for a hundred years or more, and
just in their prime at forty or fifty years old. Is
this a fact? and, if so, what varieties attain to
such longevity? Is it the improved varieties, or
the seedlings of ye olden time ?

Can you give us any informtition in regard to
the short career of our apple orchards ?

[There is little doubt but the average life of an
apple tree in Pennsylvania is about fifty years.

The length of life in any tree depends on its
vital power. The English oak, in England, has
an average of 500 years. In America, its aver-
age, so far as the few instances known will allow
us to judge, is but about 100. The apple, we be-
lieve, has about the same comparative duration
in the two countries.

Anything that affects the vital power of a
plant affects its longevity. A tree which has to
struggle with high winds and a low temperature,
will not live nearly as long as the same kind of
tree protected from these trying circumstances.
In like manner, one subjected to very dry or
very wet influences, or anything that is not the
most favorable to vegetation, will not live as
long as one which has everything favorable
about it.

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST.

115

Thus we see that all the hypotheses named by
our correspondent may have an influence so far
as they bear on this question of vital power.
Climate, soil, management, all relate to the
question. We could make trees live as long in
Illinois as anywhere else, but it would probably
be at the expense of something we prize. What
we call culture, is usually opposed to abstract
laws of health in plants. We want something
which nature unaided would not give us, and
she insists if we will have it, it shall be only at
the expense of something else. It may be that
we have the best of it, even with a shortened
longevity. This is the practical as against the
abstract question.— Ed. G. M.]

case with much of the fruit this season in New
England. On being placed in a box in a very
damp cellar, without straw or paper wraps, the
fruit has kept nicely, can be brought into eating
condition in a few days when exposed to a
warmer temperature, and as noted above will
keep three months longer than usual. What
occasions this is an interesting question.

Seckel Pears were abundant here this season
but not up to the usual standard of excellence,
while Sheldon's were fair in form, and of high
flavor.

WINTER NELIS PEAR.

BY A. HUIDEKOPER, MEADVILLE, PA.

Several articles have lately appeared in the
Gardener's Monthly, with regard to this Pear,
which I think is deserving of the notice taken of
it. Thirty-six years ago I got a tree of it, with
some other kinds, from Messrs. Ellwanger &
Barry, and it is now the sole survivor of the lot.
I do not mean to say by this that there is any
unoccupied space in my little orchard.

The Nelis has some distinct characteristics.
In growth it cannot be called a shapely tree.
Some branches shoot upwards, while others have
a tendency to droop and become bushy. A pro-
per application of the pruning knife is the
remedy for this.

The tree is profuse in its flowering, yet (with
me) seldom sets more than a proper amount of
fruit. Occasionally a branch or two will require
thinning. The fruit matures here at latest period
that is safe for it to hang on the tree and escape
frost. After being kept five or six weeks it is fit
for the table; and may be classified among the
finegrained, juicy, sweet varieties, very good, and
oftentimes among the best. The predominant
color is yellowish green, but many specimens
have a rich russet at mellow maturity. It has
generally lasted with me until about the 20th of
November; and I began to doubt if my tree was
the winter or autumn Nelis, until this year, when
the fruit promises to keep until the Ist of March.
The fruit this season was large, many specimens
weighing ten ounces, a larger portion weighing
eight.

The fruit on being placed in a dry room had a
tendency to wilt, and this seems to have been the

EDITORIAL NOTES.

Catching the Codling Moth with Sweets.— It
has been disputed whether the Codling Moth can
be caught by sweet liquids in bottles, as wasps
are caught. Professor Claypole, of Antioch Col-
lege, 0*iio, says he caught some the past year in
a sugared dish .

Birds and the Gardener.— A beautiful paper
on our feathered friends was read at the Penn-
sylvania State Horticultural Meeting, by S. P.
Eby. It created a spirited discussion in which
the other side was heard. Few would be with-
out the birds, we must have them, should en-
courage them, but have to study how to guard
ourselves when they become audacious. The
European sparrow found many enemies among
the speakers ; a few who thought it too soon to
decide, and no earnest advocate.

Silk Culture.— The Women's Silk Culture
Exhibit, held in Philadelphia last month, was a
very successful one. Instructions for raising the
worm and reeling the silk are sent free to any-
body. So far as we know there is a ready market
for all the raw silk that can be raised, and the
prices are fair. Miss. H. Annie Lucas, 1328
Chestnut street, is the Corresponding Secretary
of the Association.

Choice Grapes. — By attention to firm and
rather dry soil it is now known that almost any
kind of true native grape maybe made to thrive
in any part of the Union. Loose open soil is
unfavorable.

Newtown Pippin Apple.— Judging by the notes
in English papers, it appears that considerable
quantities of this variety are yet received in
England from America. The general impression
here is that it is rapidly giving out. Probably^

116

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[April,

the one famous spot on the Hudson River
where it found itself at home, still keeps up a
good supply for England. It is extremely rare
to find a barrel on sale in the Philadelphia
market.

Burdock Roots. — It is said these make a fair
vegetable when cooked. The flavor resembles
salsify. The Japanese have improved the wild
kind till it has become much superior to the
original.

The Ribston Pippin Apple. — This has long
been the most popular of English apples, but we
judge by the remark of the Garden, concerning
a recent exposition, that the " Ribston is still
often seen in good form," that it is regarded as
on the downward track.

Profitable Peaches. — It is a nice thing to
have peaches to sell when your neighbor has not
any. The winter of 1880-81, which destroyed so
many fruit buds, made a fortune for the owner
of trees which escaped and thus furnished a new
illustration of the old story about th6 bad wind.
Last autumn, Mr. Aaron Rhodes, of Highland,
received $721 from ninety-five Stevens Rareripe,
set out in the spring of 1879. The number of
baskets was 143 — being a trifle over $5 each.
One shipment, October 6th, 14 baskets, (14 quarts
each basket) brought just $100 as follows, one
basket $8, two baskets $7.20 each, 11 baskets at
$7 each. Mr. Rhodes has 650 trees which cleared
$3,300. Mr. Charles Downing, struck by the
figures, made some inquiries and has reason to
believe that they are strictly correct.

The Baldwin Apple. — One of the reasons for
the extensive planting of this apple in Mass., is
that in does well on high dry soils, where
other more surface rooting kinds compara-
tively fail.

Over-cropping. — President Barry tells the
members of the Western New York Horticul-
tural Society that '' In the management of fruit
trees over-cropping is a great and very general
evil. A tree overloaded with fruit can neither
perfect the fruit nor ripen its wood properly and
in a severe climate is quite likely to succumb to
a degree of cold, which under proper treatment,
it could have resisted perfectly. It is safie to say
that millions of trees are annually ruined in this
country by overcrops. The grape is very sensi
tive in this respect, if overloaded the fruit will
not color nor ripen, nor will the wood ripen. It
is not uncommon to hear people complain of

their grapes not ripening and the vines being
killed and ascribing the trouble to every cause
but the right one, over-cropping. This is an
error committed not by novices only."

SuBSOiLiNG. — Mr. Barry advocates subsoiling
for fruit trees, and all farm and garden crops.

Lemon Trees. — It is surprising that more per-
sons do not grow these in pots and tubs aa room
ornaments. A comparatively young plant will
grow from twenty-five to fifty lemons a year, and
usually they are much better than those we buy.
We saw a test recently where one was taken from
a tree which yielded double the quantity of juice
to a first-class store fruit.

Remedy for the Currant Worm. — Mr. Long-
streth of Dayton, Ohio, believes that the best
remedy is a strong tea of the white hellebore,
applied with a syringe to the young wood and
under surface of the leaves before the insect is
hatched, when they will turn white, drop
ofi", and the bushes and fruit will mature ad-
mirably.

Value of Worms.— Dr. Storer of Harvard
University, has entered the list against Darwin's
views of the value of the earth worm. He
concludes a long paper in the Country Gen-
tleman, by asserting that though they may
sometimes do good, they may also work to
cause sterility.

Raspberry, Reder. — This is of unknown
origin, at least it was seen to be something differ-
ent from the rest in a bed of some kind, at
Bayview, Mich. It has some repute in the
Chicago markets.

The American Wonder Pea. — This variety
introduced by the Messrs. Bliss, is holding its
ground admirably in England, where the pea is
a standard crop, and good varieties in constant
demand.

Strawberries in Michigan. — According to
recent reports, the most popular strawberries in
the State are Wilson and Crescent. The Michi-
gan Farmer suggests they are popular because
they are the " Lazyman's " varieties.

Mulberries for Chickens. — The fruit ripening
and falling so long in succession, makes the tree
an excellent one for planting in chicken yards.
The birds are very fond of the fruit. The White
Mulberry or perhaps the everbearing sorts, will
be the best to have.

1882.]

AND HORTICULTURIST

117

Forestry,

COMMUNICA TIONS.

AILANTHUS AS A TIMBER TREE.

BY R. DOUGLAS, WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

I noticed an article in Country Gentleman on Ail-
anthus. We grow the tree but do not recom-
mend it for durability ; and you may recollect
how quickly I called your attention to an error
in Gardener's Monthly, where you had me as
recommending it for durability. You will see
that we recommend it as being of value for fuel
and cabinet work. Prof. C. S. Sargent is having
it tested on Boston and Providence Railroad, for
ties, along with Catalpa and other kinds.

You will see by our mailing circular that we
■only recommend it south of forty degrees, and
especially recommend it for poor, dry, barren
land only. We are planting two hundred acres
of Ailanthus for a Boston capitalist, four by five
ffiet, in Southeast Kansas ; also planting them
•on the railroad tree section in same locality,
where small one and a half year old trees, cut off
<o four inches of ground, make a growth the first
year equal to broom handles and hoe-handles,
and do not kill back at all. We find that seed-
lings do not sucker at all so far, and as the trees
shade the ground completely after two years'
growth there can be no danger of suckers till
the plantation is thinned.

I don't think Ailanthus trees have been planted
to the extent you intimate, and it is all a mistake
about there being an " enormous demand for
them in the West," as I think we are the only
firm who have offered them until this season.
Now, you will perhaps be surprised to learn that
of all we have grown and sold, at least two-thirds
of them have been sold to eastern parties and
the remaining one-third has gone mostly to Cali-
fornia, Oregon, Salt Lake and Texas. The Mor-
mons call it the Paradise tree.

I think the Ailanthus fills a place for the
Jersey shore, and the arid lands in the far West,
where no other tree will do as well or be as pro-
fitable. Somehow it has become a habit with
eastern men to give the western men some hard
hits, and for this reason it is a great satisfaction

to me to be able to say that this tree was grown
by us at the suggestion of eastern men ; two
men, who have said little, but have been the
means of more forest trees being planted than
any other two men in America.

It may interest you to know that with the two
hundred acres of Ailanthus, referred to above,
we are planting three hundred acres of Catalpa
speciosa, and sixty acres of white Ash, five hun-
dred and sixty acres in one body. Within four
miles of this plantation lies the railroad section,
six hundred and forty acres. The incessant rains
last Fall, and at present, will retard us so that
we will not get all planted till next Fall.

[Our remarks on the paragraph in the Country
Gentletnan, were not intended as hits at any-
body. It seems as if nothing positive is known
about the value of the Ailanthus wood, and it
is desirable to get tkis information if we can.
—Ed. G. M.]

EDITORIAL NOTES.

New Work on Forestry.— Dr. Franklin B,
Hough, United States Commissioner of Forestry,
is preparing a work concisely outlining the
general subjects of Forestry in Ameiica.

Timber in Virginia.— Black Walnut and Tulip
Poplar are mostly exported in logs. Over one
thousand of these logs went over a single rail-
road—Norfolk and Western— during the single
month of October, last year.

Timber Planting Along Railroad Lines.—
The newspapers say that Burlington and Cedar
Rapids Railroad Company is planting trees along
the line of their road, between Muscatine and
Nichols. In the East the railroads are cutting
trees away from their tracks, because of the ten-
dency to fire which the collected leaves and dead
branches excite.

American Forestry Association.— As noted
in our last, this Association, in connection with
the National Forestry Congress, will meet at Cin-
cinnati from April ?5th to 29th. Dr. Warder has

118

THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY

[Aprit,

been untiring in the endeavor to secure a full
attendance, and has been so successful that the
meeting promises to be one of the most valuable
in its results. Every one feels the need of more
attention to our forestry interests ; but just what
should, or what can be done, has not been well
defined. Some important, practical suggestions
will no doubt be the result of this promising
meeting.

Timber Duration in Iowa. — Professor Bqssey
believes timber is less durable in Iowa than else-
where, and that the abundant presence of the
dry rot fungus is the cause thereof.

Timber Cdlture in Australia. — It is proposed
in South Australia that a block of 200,000 acres
be reserved for systematic tree planting, and
that in the first year $70,000 be expended upon it,
and in each of the eleven following years $52,500,
a total expense of $650,000. After the first five
years it is estimated there would be a revenue
from periodical thinnings of $175,000, and in
twenty-one years they would possess 310 square
miles of forest.

United States Timber Laws.— We recently
referred to the evasion of the timber laws in
Oregon. The law is : " Any person who is the
head of a family, or who has arrived at age of
twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United
States, or who has filed his declaration of inten-
tion to become such, who shall plant, protect
and keep in healthy growing condition for eight

years forty acres of timber, on any quarter 8ec>-
tion (one hundred and sixty acres) of any of the
public lands of the United States, or twenty
acres on any eighty acres, or ten acres on forty
acres, or five acres on any twenty acres, shall be
entitled to a patent for the whole quarter-section
or for such legal sub divison thereof as he may
have taken up, at the expiration of eight years,
on making proof that the terms have been ful-
filled, by not less than two credible witnesses.
Moreover, any person having a homestead on
the public domain who, after three years' resi-
dence thereon, shall, in addition to the improve-
ments now required by law, have under cultiva-
tion for two years, one acre of timber in good
thrifty condition for every sixteen acres of the
homestead, shall, upon proof thereof by two
credible witnesses, receive a patent for the home-
stead." It will be well for those who intend to
act under this law to get from the Commissioner
of the General Land Office at Washington, a list
of trees acceptable to the government. By a
recent decision Catalpa, Ailanthus and Osage
orange are ruled out, or^ the ground that only
such kinds of timber already well known in
lumber markets were intended.

Since this was written we learn that N. C. Mc-
Farland, Commissioner in the General Land
Office, has announced the intention of the office
to regard Osage orange, Catalpa, and Ailanthus
as timber trees entitling the planter to land under
the United States laws.

Natural History and Science.

COMMUNICA TIONS.

WILD GARDEN.

BY ED. L. JELLETT, GERMANTOWN, PHILA.

The season of the year is now at hand in
which we can go with pleasure to the woodland,
the hillside, and the meadow, and find objects
worthy our closest attention and consideration.
The love of flowers is natural, and this love

coupled with a spirit of investigation creates a
pleasure which corresponds to the amount of
effort put forth. In the selection of objects for
pleasure or study, we should discard those thor-
oughly " epicurean " in character, and select
those combining as much as possible — pleasure
present, and pleasure in its permanence ; their
object seems to be found in scientific pursuits,
and especially among the objects of the vegeta-
ble kingdom. We should therefore take advan-

1882.

AND HORTICULTURIST.

119

tage of the opportunities aflforded ua, and espe-
cially of those which are scattered around us in
such abundance. It is well known that '' wild
flowers " in general are looked upon as " weeds,"
but that does not in the least detract from, or in
anywise alter their beauty. To persons who
consider things from an intellectual point of
view, wild flowers are far more interesting than
those wh