Missouri Botanical Garden

PETER H. RAVEN LIBRARY

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191

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Itt ti\ ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST.

EDITORIAL JOTTINGS.

NOTES FROM CORRESPONDENTS.

In a recent trip through Southern Illinois we
made a few botanical notes, which we give our
readers. The low bottom lands near the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers are heavily timbered.
One of the commonest trees is the American or
White Elm ( Ulmus Americana^ L.) This has
just passed the flowering stage. The Ked Maple
(Acer ruhrum, L.) occurs frequently, and is
a^lso just out of flower. The Sweet Gum
-v {Liquidamhar) is abundant in many localities,
^ a large number of the prickly fruit-balls still
[ " remain upon the tree. That vegetable thief, the

% Mistletoe (^Phoradendron jlavescens, Nutt.),
i ^ seems to have a particular attachment to the
Elm trees, occurring much more frequently on
them than on any other tree. It grows also on
the Sycamore {Platanus occidentalism L.), on
I the Red Maple (Acer ruhrum, L.), on the Black

Vt Gum (Nyssa multijlora, Wang.), and on some
other trees. Some large Elms seemed loaded
{ with this parasite, a hundred or more bunches

growing upon one tree. These masses of yel-
lowish-green vegetation give the trees a peculiar
appearance.

In many cases the small branches of the
^ Sweet Gum were covered with broad corky

f ridges; sometimes this occurred only on the

lower limbs, and in other cases all the branches
\ were free from the exci-escence. These corky

ridges are much like those which occur on the
Winged Elm ( Ulmus alata) which also grows
I in the same places.

' On rocky ledges at Cobden we found old

i fronds of some interesting ferns, viz. : Cheil-

j anthes vestita, Swartz, Polypodium incanum,

\ Swartz, Asplenium ebeneum, Ait., and Aspleni-

f um trichomanes, L. Old stalks were also

' abundant of the False Aloe (Agave Yirginica,

L.) This plant sends up a large and preten-
tious stalk, but its flowers are insignificant.
Patches of the small cane (Arundinaria tacta,
f Muhl.) were frequently visible, and at first sight

/ might be mistaken for small willow bushes. The

r low and swampy grounds are everywhere be-

. coming verdant with extensive patches of the
; Copper-colored Iris (Iris ciiprea, Pursh).

i Many other rare plants occur in this region,

\ of which we shall probably have occasion to

1 speak hereafter.

Many plants could not be perpetuated but for
the agency of insects, and especially of bees;
and it is remarkable that it is chiefly those which
require the aid of this intervention that have a
nectarium and secrete honey.

We have the following notes from Mr. E.
Hall, of Menard county. Ills., and commend
his inquiries and observations to the attention
of our readers :

Ground Nut — (Apios tulerosa, Moench). — Will the
readers of this journal everywhere, during the coming
season, make observations on the fruiting of this vine,
and will those who are so fortunate as to find it in fruit
examine carefully anfl report the conditions under
which they so find it? Its habit of reproducing itself
from the tubers is the suppo^d cause of its general
infertility; and when found in fruit the tubers should
be carefully unearthed, and their development and
health noted, as well as their connections with the plant.
I have only once met with this plant in fruit in the State
of Kansas, and where I had no opportunity to examine
the development of its tubers. Its flowers are very
fragrant, thus attracting insects that may destroy the
fertilizing elements of the female organs by undue
irritation, or by producing premature dissemination
of the pollen; but, whatever the cause, careful and
patient observation will detect it.

Qiiercus alba-macrocarpa.~A Jtme_hybnd,.
perfectly fertile, is growing near Athens, in Menard
county. Ills. The mother tree was undoubtedly Q.
macrocarpa of the variety called oUvmformis, as young
specimens, apparently of the same age as the hybrid of
that species, are or were growing in its vicinity. In
general character its paternal blood largely predomi-
nates, its maternal characters are chiefly notable in the
fruit, the younger branches, and in the form and
pubescence of its leaves. From these several charac-
ters its parentage is readily traced, and it affords a most
interesting instance of a fertile hybrid of these two
distinct species of oaks.

Tlie grenus Ctuercus in Menard County, Ills.

— The species of this genus here have prevalence in
about the following proportions :

White Oak {Qmrcus 33 per cent.

Yellow and Scarlet Oaks (^. coccinea), 25 per cent.

Ked Oak {Q. rubra), 10 per cent.

Burr Oak {Q. macrocarpa) , 10 per cent.

Chestnut Oak {Q. castanea), 8 per cent.

Post Oak {Q. oUusiloba), 5 per cent.

Laurel Oak {Q. imbricaria), 5 per cent.

Black Jack {Q. nigra) ^ 3 per cent.

Pin Oak (Q. palustris), 3^ per cent.

Swamp White Oak prinos, var.), 34 per cent.

I have placed the Yellow and Scarlet Oaks together
from the fact that the species are not easily known or
readily separated; even good botanists are often puz-
zled to discriminate between them, and some have
doubted the existence of both species, but the weight
of opinion is at present in their favor. Their specific
differences are to be sought chiefly in what might be
called constitutional characters. Eleven-eighteenths of
the species of the Northern United States east of the Mis-
sissippi are represented in this locality — a much greater
proportion than the general flora of the same region —
showing that these kings of the forest have somewhat
equal powers in competing for existence under the
conditions here prevailing. Since the settlement of the

county a new generation is springing up , which
somewhat differently proportioned. The above esti-
mates are for the original forests.

BOTAN ICAL

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MISS'"'-- - f!5p.r)EU

192 THE AMEEICMf-"

From New York.— You ask for some botanical
notes from this part of our great country. Yegetation
is yet mostly dormant, and we must confine ourselves
to anticipation of what Nature will soon present. Here
and there, however, in warm sheltered spots, by brush-
ing away the masses of fallen leaves we may recognize
some of our early spring flowers nearly ready to burst
forth into life and beauty. Among these is the Liver-
leaf {Hepatica), the Spring Beauty {Glaytonia GaroUni-
ana), and several kinds of violets.

Of the violets I must speak a little at large, although
it is yet too early for their appearance. The commonest,
and perhaps the most beautiful, is a blue violet growing
in wet or damp grounds, especially in meadows and by
the borders of brooks and streams, the Viola cucullata^
Ait., which rendered into English means the Hooded
violet, from the manner in which the young leaves are
rolled together in the form of a hood . Tlie color of this
violet is quite variable, from a light sky-blue to a dark
purple, but always bright and attractive. Next we
have, in low or wet grounds, the small White violet
( Viola Uanda,^^^.), with roundish, heart-shaped, or
kidney-shaped leaves, and delicate white flowers on
short stalks, seldom rising more than an inch or two
from the ground. Then we have the low yellow violet
( Viola rotundifolia. Mich . ) , which is found on wooded
slopes and hill sides. This has small, bright yellow
flowers, opening in early spring. The leaves, at the
time of flowering, are about an inch broad and nearly
round, but when fully grown they are often three or four
inches across . The three species we have mentioned
aref stemless violets, the leaves and flowers springing
separately from the root or root- stock.

Of the stemmed violets we have a number of species.
In damp shady places the low leafy blue violet, a variety
of Viola canina, L, , or the Viola Muhlenbergii, Torr., the
Long-spurred violet {Viola rostrata, Pursh.), in rich
soils on wooded hills, the Striped-flowered violet ( Viola
striata, Ait.) , and the large white violet ( Viola canaden-
sis, L.), which is the largest species we have in^ the
country , common in rich , open woods, the flowers of
good size, whitish, and delicately tinged with violet.
Lastly, we have the large yellow violet ( Viola pubescens,
Ait.) which is common in open, and especially in sandy
woods .

I was much pleased the other day , in crossing a low
place in a meadow, to observe the young flower- stalks,
or spathes, of the Skunk Cabbage {Symplocarpus fostidus,
Salisb.) just shooting into sight. With a knife I cut
down into the ground, and severed some of these from
the root, that I might examine their very singular
structure. They consist of a roundish mass, or head,
in which grow many small crowded yellowish flowers ,
the whole surrounded by a thick, leathery kind of leaf,
of a purplish color, spotted and striped with yellow and
green, and extending beyond the cob, or head of flowers,
enwrapping and almost entirely concealing them from
view. The young leaves are already beginning to press
out of the ground, and when fully developed they form
a mass of large heart-shaped leaves, looking not unlike
a head of cabbage, and, from their strong and peculiar
odor, meriting the name by which it is generally known.
A plant of such oflensive odor should have some com-
pensating qualities, and we And that the root of this
plant has a pretty well established reputation in the
Materia Medica.

Meagre as is the botanizing field among the flowering
plants at present, we find it little more satisfactory among
cryptogams. Several kinds of mosses have found warmth
sufficient to make some growth, and send up fruiting
pedicels and mature capsules. On the bodies of trees
are several species of Orthotrichum (particularly 0. stran-
gulatum, Beauv., and 0 . crispum, Hedw.) in little round
patches, and occasionally large masses of the handsome
JVeclcera pennata, Hedw. l*often gather this in fine con-
dition on the beech wood which is brought into market.
Yarious other kinds of mosses are still under beds of
snow, where they find conditions favorable to their
growth, and when their fleecy covers are melted away
they will please the eye with their bright and lively
colors, and repay tenfold any labor taken in a close
examination. These small delicate objects are worthy
of more careful study . P .

Utica, N. Y., April, 1870. '

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Plants to Name — Mrs. B. S. LaTce, Golorado. — It is
a pleasure to look upon such finely preserved specimens
as the Colorado plants you send. No. 1 is the sky-blue
Columbine {Aquilegia cerulea, Torr.), one of the finest
ornaments of the Rocky Mountains. The flowers are
larger and more showy than either the garden Colym-
bine {A. vulgaris, L.) or the wild Columbine (A. cttna-
densis, L.) of the Eastern States. It grows about two
feet high, has la^ge bright blue flowers, the spur of the
petals being two inches long. It is well worthy of
cultivation . No . 2 is the smooth Mountain Maple {^Acer
glabrum, Torr.) It is a small shrub, six to eight or ten
feet high, with small smooth leaves, somewhat three-
lobed and toothed, and producing an abundance of the
winged fruit peculiar to the maples. No. 3 is Oxytropis
Lamherti, Pursh. , without any common name so fai^ as
we are aware. It belongs to the Pea Family
minoscc). It is a low plant with perennial root, bearing
all the leaves at the ground and sending up simple
spikes of flowers, varying from light blue to pimple,
which are succeeded by upright cylindrical pods ^out
an inch long. The plant is wide-spread over the f>lains
and among the lower mountain ranges . No . 4 is a shrub
peculiar to the Rocky Mountains, nearly related to the
Hydrangea, and is botanically known as Jamesia Amer-
icana, T. and G., in honor of the discoverer. Dr.
James, the Botanist of Long’s Expedition in 1820.
No. 5 is a plant well known in the Western States,
occurring in hazel patches and the borders of prairies,
and is sometimes called Shooting Star, sometimes Pride
of the Prairie {Dodecatheon Meadia, L.) It is a unique
and beautiful plant of the Primrose Family. We do
not mean the Evening Prim/rose Family, but the true
Primrose Family {Primulacece) . The type of this family
is the Primrose of Europe, of which genus we have but
two species (both rare) in this country. The Dodeca-
theon has a number of large, oblong, smooth leaves at
the surface of the ground, from which rises a long
naked stem a foot or two in length, and surmounted at
the top with an umbel of from five to twenty flowers,
which are nodding when fully open, but in fruit
are strictly erect. It has been somewhat introduced
into cultivation, and is well worthy a place in every
garden.

NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA.

November 2.

The President, Dr. Euschenberger, in the chair.

Twenty-eight members present.

Natural Hybrids. Quercus heterophylla.^ Mx. — Mr. Thomas
Meehan said, that in reference to the minutes of the last meeting
just read, he might offer a few additional remarks on Q. hetero-
phylla, and its connection with Q. Phellos. It was a subject
of much interest equally to the mere botanist, the student of the
origin of species, and to those who were investigating the fre-
quency or otherwise with which hybrids occurred in nature.

He doubted, he said, whether hybrids often occurred naturally,
and yet with the supposed abhorrence of plants to use their own
pollen, and the consequent invitation which they extended to
foreign pollen to fertilize them, it would be remarkable if some
instances of hybridism did not occur, and perhaps remarkable
that it did not occur oftener than it was supposed to do. It was
such questions as these which gave the supposed hybrid origin of
this oak its chief interest. In this connection he referred to the
number of *the Revue Scientifique then on the table, with an ab-
stract of some remarks of M. Ch. Naudin before the Academy of
Sciences of Paris, in which he says, that, of a large number of cases
of hybrids that he had experimented with, only two retained their
hybrid forms beyond two generations, and these two, grasses of
the genus JEgilops^ lost their respective forms, and reverted to
that of the original female parent in four generations.

Mr. Meehan said that the original tree described by Michaux
grew on the original Bartram estate. That tree had long since
been destroyed; but there were now large trees, both at Bartram’s
an^d Marshall’s, which were said by the late Col. Carr, who had
married Miss Bartram, and up to comparatively recent years
owned the garden, to be seedlings from that original tree. If this
were correct, it would sustain Naudin’s views, as these trees were
so like the willow oak as to be scarcely distinguishable. They
only differ from the willow oak, in an occasional lobing of the
leaf, a matter of little consequence in determining a species in
this genus. It is»more than likely, for reasons he would presently
state, that William Bartram found young plants with lobed leaves
growing, and transplanted them to his garden, believing them to
have been seedlings of the Q. heterophylla., and not that they
were from seed actually gathered from the tree.

In his description Michaux speaks of it as probably having Q.
imbricaria for one of its parents, but there is no proof nor pro-
bability that this species ever grew in these parts. It could not

<o2^G

438 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OP

then be considered in this relation. Moreover, hybrids, which
cannot necessarily be abundant in nature, or there would not be
the order we see, seldom come in more than one place, or if so, be
exactly alike, and yet investigation shows this form to be by no ;

means uncommon. Michaux rashly undertakes to say that there Missouri BoTIK
is not another tree to be found within a hundred miles of Phila-. George Euge M
delphia, yet Professor Buckley found one in a single day’s botan-
izing in New Jersey near Camden, as recorded in our Proceedings ;
he had himself found it during one day’s botanizing in Delaware
as recorded in Gray’s manual. Professor Leidy, Mr Smith, Mr.

Cope, and Mr. Burk have found it in New Jersey, and there were |

now on the table specimens gathered by the latter gentleman

near Woodbury, who had found two trees on this occasion, and ;

had seen quite a number on other occasions. There is no

doubt that when these casual visitors meet with trees, there is no

great scarcity, and this is not in accordance with what we have to

expect from hybrid trees.

Now as we see in these specimens of Mr. Burk, as well as in
the original drawing in Michaux, the venation is wholly distinct
from QuercAiS Phellos, and Q. imbricaria^ and it is here that we
find the best characters for distinguishing the species of oak.

There is a petiole nearly an inch long in these specimens, and also
in Michaux’s drawing, and more or less of a petiole in all the
specimens he had seen; and, while the leaves of the Q. Pheilos • j «

are thin, those of Q. heterophylla are coriaceous. A hybrid unites j

the characters of two parents, but there were no two parents here |

in the North which could unite and form a character like this,
and so the supposed Bartram and Marshall progenies are out of
the question. -r^ n •

In the monograph on Gupuliferse by Alphonse De Condone in
the ProdroTYius^ this oak is made a form of Q. aquatica, Ihis
suggestion, misled by the probably historical error in regard to ^

the living Bartram tree, he had regarded as preposterous, and he |

believed most North American botanists had agreed with him. -j

The forms of leaf most familiar to Quercologists, in Quercus aqua-
tica^ were the triangularly wedge-shaped, nearly sessile ones, com-
mon in the South on mature trees. But further norjh, and in
young and vigorous trees south, the leaves were petiolate, ap-
proaching those now exhibited by Mr. Burk. Besides this there
was in Michaux’s figure an outline of one of these forms of leaves, |‘_

which one could see by comparison with his figure of Q. hetero-
phylla to be the same. The habit of growth ^ the trees of Q. |

aquatica is very distinct from that of Q. Pheilos^ and Mr. Burk \

reports these trees in New Jersey to be so distinct from the Q. :

Pheilos among which they grow, that he can distinguish them a
long distance away. The only remaining difficulties to students |

would be that De Candolle classes Q, aquatica^ variety heterophylla,
among the “ sempervirentes^ while we know it is deciduous, and jj

then that it is a too high northern range for this species. The first

NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 439

difficulty be could dispose of. He had had in his garden for a
number of years a Quercus aquatica from seed gathered near
Vicksburg, where it was evergreen. But with him the same tree
was deciduous. In regard to the range, He Candolle noted on
'UCAL. Gard— authority of Michaux that it grew in Maryland, and Mr. Can-
H Pa-.- reports it common in Delaware. This brings the range of the
^ "^^^^pecies up to our doors.

It is therefore clear that Quercus heterophylla is simply an
outpost in the camp of Quercus aquatica^ barely indeed ranking
as a variety ; and the result of our investigation is a tribute to
the remarkable acumen of Alphonse De Candolle, who, with so
little material before him, was able to guide us who had it all.

Hybrid Juglans. — Mr. Meehan, continuing his remarks on natu-
ral hybrids, exhibited a fruit from a tree growing near Meadville,
Pennsylvania, and handed him by Alfred Huidekoper of that
place. The fruit was of the oval form of J. cathartica (Butternut),
but had the comparatively smooth surface of J. nigra (Black
walnut), and was quite destitute of viscous glands. It was be-
lieved to be a natural hybrid betw^een these two species.

Hybrids of Pyrus Sinensis. — Not exactly as natural hybrids,
continued Mr. Meehan, but yet as hybrids without intention by
man, were some pears he now exhibited, raised by Mr. Peter Kie-
fer of this place. For near twenty-five years Mr. K. had grown
the Pyrus Sinensis^ or Chinese sand pear, and for some years
past had been fruiting seedlings from the original tree, and these
have fruit uniformly the same as its parent, and as they seem to
do in other parts of the world. Mr. Meehan exhibited a fruit and
compared it with a figure in a recent number of the Gardener's
Chronicle of London, then lying on the tabled the two as similar
as if the specimen had been used as copy for the sketch. Some
years ago a Flemish beauty pear, a well-known variety of our com-
mon garden fruit, had fiowered in close proximity, and since then
pears mixed in character had been raised from this supposed to
be hybrid seeds. The specimens exhibited by Mr. Meehan were
much larger than the sand pear, the female parent, and as large
as the average' Flemish beauty of our markets ; the red cheeks, and
fine lemon color, being rather more beautiful than the average of
Flemish beauty, though this kind is popular as a particularly hand-
some fruit. ^

November 9.

Dr. LeConte, Vice-President, in the chair.
Twenty-three members present.

A paper entitled “ On a New Genus of Lophobranchiate Fishes,’’
by Edw. D. Cope, was presented for publication.

440

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF

November 16.

The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair.

Twenty-seven members present.

The following papers were presented for publication : —

“ Descriptions of New Fossil Shells from the Tertiary of Califor-
nia.” By R. E. C. Stearns.

“ A Descriptive Catalogue of Scalidae of theWest India Islands.”
By 0. A. L. Morch.

On TrichocephoMs affinis, Dies. — Dr. Chapman noticed having
found in the intestine of the llama the Trichocephalus affinis de-
scribed by Diesing as occurring in the camel, and observed that
it was interesting to find the same intestinal worm in animals so
closely related structurally, though so widely separated geogra-
phically.

On the Castor Glands of the Beaver. — Dr. Chapman also called
attention to the arrangement of the castor glands in the American
beaver, the lower symmetrical glands opening into the ano-pre-
putial passage consisting of only two glands, whereas the European
species in this respect exhibited three.

November 23.

The President, Dr. Ruschenberger, in the chair.

Seventeen members present.

On the Mesozoic Red Sandstone of the Atlantic States. — Prof.
Persifor Frazer, Jr., said that the art of stratigraphy has proved
itself capable of most wonderful extension, and has given the
foundation for whatever of exactitude of statement can be claimed
for geology.

It is another instance of the surprising lengths to which proba-
bility can be carried by inductive reasoning based on compara-
tively few but generally admitted premises. It is surprising to
read over the results of the application of this method in any
general outline of geology, and to note that mere relative position
of things can unfold to us a marvellous story of motion, and
evolution or successive changes, according to law.

The more facts we know the wider is the range of this applica-
tion, and sometimes one very little fact well established will require
vast continents to be plunged in the imagination thousands of feet

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copyright reserved

Missouri

BOTAN ICAL

Garden

VOL. XXXIV. No. 13. )

WHOLE No. 1391. f

NEW YORK CITY, SEIT. 23, 1876.

(PRICE SXX CENTS

1 S2.50 PER YEAR.

lEnterea according to Act of Congr^

ess, in the year 1876, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Co

ngress at Washington. j

I^rkrirtilitiral,

BY THOMAS MEEHAN.

I HAVE made the Oak family a special study,

and from the experience and knowledge thus ac-
quired, I do not hesitate to say that the lover of
would have more satisfaction in growing
Oaks other class. Some

have hesitated trees because of an

idea that they are difficult ^(9 This

is true of a tree that has never been mo^’^.-
take an Oak from the wild wood to the garden is
surely labor thrown away. Oaks have each a
large tap-root and a few main roots that run
rather deep. If these are cut off when the tree
is but a year or two old, the tree makes a new
set, and these latter keep tolerably near the sur-
face. In the course of a few years, however,
they assume a downward tendency, and ought to
be again transplanted.

A good nursery Oak tree should be transplanted
twic# — once wffien one or
two years old, and again
when five or six. Such
trees never die when trans-
planted under ordinary cir-
cumstances. I have seen
hundreds moved, after such
previous treatment, that
were at least 12 feet high
and 9 to 12 inches in cir-
cumference, with no more
loss than if they had been
willows or poplars and but
6 or 8 feet in bight. Two
years ago I saw over a thou-
sand planted with a loss of
less than five per cent.

In transplanting all trees
a little pruning is neces-
sary, and to the Oak espe-
cially is the use of the
pruning-knife very grateful.

But a proper discrimination
should be made as to what
you cut away. Usually
people simply “ shorten the
branches.” I have seen
them cut so that they were
but stumps, with half a
dozen snags — ^mere posts for
clothes-lines.

The common people, who
who are supposed to have
little horticultural sense,
say they may as well get a
smaU tree as pay for a large
one and then cut it back to
stump. And I guess they
are right, as there is no oc-
casion for it. It is bad
pruning in science as well
as in practice. Good prun-
ing leaves all the solid, vig-
orous branches and cuts
away only the weaker ones.

It is these sickly, delicate
things that always die first
in a pinch, any how, and
when we are going to have
a fight with Nature, as we
do when we transplant, the
sooner we clear the field of
aU sickly soldiers the better
it will be for the rest. Let
any one try this in trans-
planting and he will find it
literally as well as figura-
tively true. Some people
object to meddling with

Oaks because they grow slow. They say they
will not live to see tfees of them. Now, it is
rather the other way.

Most of the Oaks are rather rapid growers.
True, they do not grow with the briskness of a
willow or a poplar, or the HeHniniera of Africa,
which will increase its diameter four inches a
year ; but I know of numerous cases, and in dif-
ferent species, where the diameter of the Oak
has increased three-quarters of an inch in a
year, and not under specially favored circum-
stances either. I have cut many a branch from
an eight or ten-year old tree that has given four
and five feet of growth as its season’s work.

I once made a dozen first-class hitching-posts
out of an Oak tree but twelve years old, and
} >ad to cut away because of a new street.
Surely thS^ ^Jpwth enough to satisfy any
reasonable creature. irPP was of a foreign

species, however, the Quercus fdbWf 9¥ Royal
Oak, which the English teU us has “ borne f©r
a thousand years the battle and the breeze,”
though I presume not growing at this rate aU
the time throughout the centuries.

Now, I am not much of a materialist. I love
money, perhaps, some, but I prefer to have with

it some of the spiritual enjoyments of life,
have some trees on my property no money could
buy. They seem friends of mine. There are
among them Cedars, Tulips, Chestnuts, Gums,
Sassafras and Oaks, and many a time have they
entertained both me and mine.

I fancy there are thousands who, like me, look
up to some tree as to a part of themselves, and
who would indignantly spurn the thirty pieces of
silver offered to betray it. But there are other
trees and other aspects, and I never feel so much
like going West and making money as when
I look upon my young Oaks and note how freely
they grow. There is no timber to equal that of
the Oak for certain purposes. Ask any railroad
man, any fence - maker, any bridge-buUder, any
maker of a “barrack ” or other farm building—
they all place the Oak above and far in advance
of other woods. Ask British shipbuilders as to
its value in the construction of ships, and they
will tell yon of its lasting qualities and point en-
thusiastically to their old, wooden walls of Oak
in proof oi what they say. It is indeed the Oak
which hast nade England the great nation she
to-day.

A plantation of Oak in the West would be

OR ROYAlJL. OA-R,

fortune to any man, and he could turn the for-
tune over a dozen times in a| lifetime, for Oaks
become profitable very soon. I should plant
them about as far apart and in the same manner
as corn, so that for the first two or three years
they could be hoe-harrowed like com, to keep
the weeds down.

The first thinning might then commence, and
the product be turned to account for “ straps ”
for hoops and boxes, for which there is always a
good demand ; and for some years afterward, in
ways which are hardly necessary to specify, there
is an annual use to which the thinning can be
applied. In about ten years the acorns appear,
and then the mast is of value in feeding hogs
and turkeys, and long before we know it the real
timber is there ! I am quite sure that if I had
160 acres of land in a prairie country, I would
put at least 10 acres of it in Oak timber, feeling
perfectly satisfied that long— yes, Zon^— before I
should grow gray, if I were as young as I once
was, I would make more out of the land in that
way than I should out of any other part of the
farm.

Of varieties for rapid timber growth, I incline
the opinion that the English is the best, not-
withetandingr my I'cs'ard for
species of our own land.
I believe grow into

money faster and tfee
timber is at least as good as
any in this country,Live Oak
not excepted, and then for
the purpose of hog feeding
none can come near it. It
bears young and abundant-
ly, and every year.

For timber purposes, of
the hardy kinds of our own
species adapted to cold cli-
mates the White Oak is
good ; so is the Chestnut
Oak ; next I should place
the Black, Scarlet and Red
Oaks. The bark of the
Black and Chestnut Oaks
is valuable for tanners’ use,
for after all the substitutes
for bark in tanning and the
4 per cent, of tannin found
in Sumac, Polypodium am-
phibium, and other things,

I doubt whether most tan-
ners would not prefer good
old Oak bark. At any rate,
while we are growing good
oak timber, we are making
bark also, whereas in most
of the substitutes the whole
growth is useless, except for
the percentage of tannic
acid they contain.

Passing now from the Oak
as an aid to the physical
wants of man, I may say a
few words for the benefit of
those who take an intellect-
ual enjoyment in knowledge
for its own self. There are
about 300 different species
of Oak known.' A few of
them are natives of Europe,
but are more abundant in
the United States. The
Oaks of the latter country,
however, have not much in
common with the European
species. The Japanese Oaks,
on the other hand, bear a
close affinity to those of
the Eastern United States.
When we get to the Rocky
Mountains we find Qu&rcui
undulata, and here we
the first near approach ^

copyright reserved

ISS

ilOOBE’S BOBAL WEW-¥©BiCEB.

SEPT, %%

tlie European kinds, it being between the Turkey
Oak (Q. cerris) andtbe English ( Q, robur). In
Mexico the species are numerous, and in the
East Indies and the Phillipines they abound.
What might be termed the Mexican race of Oaks
extends up into California.

Many California trees will stand the rigors of
the winters of the Middle States, but the Cali-
fornia species of Oak will not, probably because
they are but emigrants to the Golden State from
the land of the Aztecs and have already gone as
far north as prudence would dictate.

For ornamental purposes adapted to our gen-
eral cultiu’e, I would make a list were it not that
all capable of standing the climate are worthy
of culture. They are all so beautiful, it is hard
to make a choice. Where it is practicable and
the greatest beauty is desired, I think they look
best when branching direct from the ground;
but still a bold, heavy trunk, straight, tall and
branchless, with its head formed of bold, strong
branches, is so beautiful that I should not be
sorry if I had to be fined heavily for not making
a choice. Of those adapted to culture in the
Middle States, there are the Overcup Oak (Q.
lyrata), the Mossycup Oak (Q. macrocavpa),
Spanish Oak (Q. stellatci), White Oak (Q. alba),
Post Oak (Q. obtusiloba), Durand’s Post Oak (Q.
Durandi) — a recent discovery of Buckley in
Texas; Swamp White Oak {Q. bicolor), Kock
Chestnut Oak (Q. pnnus), Michaux’s Chestnut
Oak (Q. Michauxii of Nuttall), Eocky Moun-
tain Oak (Q. undulata)—onQ of the best for
forming into an Oak thicket; Pin Oak (Q. palus-
tris), Eed Oak (Q. rubra). Scarlet Oak (Q. coc-
cinea). Black Oak (Q. iincioria), Jersey Scrub
Oak (Q. ilicifolia)—a, good dwarf for thickets ;
Black Jack Oak (Q. nigra), Southern Black Jack
Oak (Q. Catesbaei), Water Oak (Q. aquaiica).
Upland Water Oak (Q. laurifolia), Shingle Oak
(Q, imbricaria). Willow Oak (Q. Phellos), En-
glish Oak (Q. pedunculata), and Turkey Oak (Q.
cerris).

Besides the above there are numerous other
varieties, the European especially being abun-
dant, and in their characters for practical pur-
poses they are as good a species ; indeed, in
many respects they are much more distinct.

Our native trees are often found varying in a
remarkable degree — so much so, indeed, that
some of our best botanists regard the variations
as ‘-'hybrids.” But gardeners who are familar
■ with the wonderful variations among the English
i Oaks, in which no hybridization is possible, do
\ not accept this opinion. Those who would know
y all about the American Oaks adapted to culture
' should read Guay’s Works— “ The Monograph of
Oaks,” just issued by that great botanist, En-
GELMANN-— and the KuE.iL New-Yoekee.

ENGLISH OE EOYAL OAK.

Mr. Tuomas Meehan, in his excellent article
on the Oak, which may be found preceding
this, speaks in such high terms of (tJje
the English or Eoyal 'ORlk^ikltwe'Wero prompted
(as will bo seen by refer-
ring to first page) of a handsome specimen of
this tree now growing in the grounds of one
, of our esteemed correspondents, residing a few
miles from this city. The tree is about twenty-
five years old, and having been planted where it
had room to grow, being unobstructed on all
sides, the branches consequently spring from
near the base of the stem, assuming a natural
and most graceful form.

lit is to be regretted that our native as well as
foreign species of the oak are so little planted in
this country, for they are deserving of especial
attention, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Mee-
han’s remarks will awaken a new interest in
these trees among all of the many thousands of
our readers, even if they do not extend any
further.

Jjifllr Crops.

EYE EOE PASTUEE.

In localities where the drought has prevailed
during the present season, pasture will be light
and thin next spring, and it would be well for
farmers to provide some substitute to make up
for the deficiency. We have already recom-
mended the sowing of rye for this purpose, and
are pleased to add to our own experience that of
the Journal of Agriculture as to the value of
this crop for pasture.

Two years ago our corn crop was a short one
on account of an extended drought. All kinds
of expedients were resorted to, to bridge over
the winter months. Not only corn but all kinds
of crops save wheat, were comparative failures.
We experimented that year with rye and our
success was far beyond our expectations. Our
first sowing consisted of a ten-acre field upon
which we had grown and fed down the corn to
hogs. The corn crop had been well cultivated
and the ground was entirely free of weeds and
grass. We commenced about the first of Sep-

tember by sowing down on the ground and
harrowing in with a two-horse harrow. We
completed about half the field in this manner,
using about five bushels of seed, or one bushel
per acre, when we concluded we were not putting
our rye in as we should. The remaining five
acres we plowed in with double-shovel plows
after which we harrowed thoroughly. Our rye
soon came up and made a luxuriant growth
upon which we grazed pigs, calves and cows
during the winter (when not covered with snow)
and until such time in the spring as blue-grass
pastures would do to turn on. Contrary to our
expectations the portion that was only harrowed
afforded much the best grazing and the rye was
much less injured by the stock going over it
than the other portion. After taking our stock
off, the rye made a fine growth and yielded more
per acre than did our wheat crop, which was not
pastured at aU and Which was sown on much
better soil.

We mention this little experience that others
may give our readers the benefit of their experi-
ence. We are satisfied this crop will grow and
be a profitable one upon soil upon which wheat
will not pay expenses. As regards the benefits
to stock, lambs, sheep, calves or any other kinds
of a change of diet during the long winter
months it is not necessary to speak, all acknowl-
edge this as a necessity.

COEN EOE THE POOE OF ENGLAND.

The London Pall Mall Gazette says:— The
enormous import of wheat from the United
States into this country, and the probability that
it will increase rather than diminish in time to
come, lead us to reflect how it happens that
Indian corn, which is so largely consumed in
various forms by aU classes in America, fails to
find favor with Englishmen at home. In some
way maize is certainly to be preferred to wheat ;
and those who have once acquired the taste for
it on the other side of the Atlantic certainly miss
the Indian corn on their return. We suppose,
however, that there is little hope that our work-
ing classes will ever take to this cheap, whole-
some and nutritious food. The mere fact that it
is cheap, operates in some measm-e against its
adoption. There is nothing, perhaps, in an En-
glishman’s nature so stupid as his dislike to have
it supposed that he is content with
And Indian corn is very cheap.

SOWING SALT ON WHEAT L *ND.

The Toronto Globe recommends tha| the best
time to sow salt on land for winter wheat is im-
mediately before the seed is sown. Where land
is plowed in the fall for spring crops then sow
the salt late in the season on the plowed land.
It is always sown broadcast when applied alone
and it has been applied with jgood effeet at the
ratje to twelve bushels per acre,

Bujlt ah trouble and labor of that kind may be
saved by scattering it on the manure heap,
when it will do just as much service as when
sown alone. That salt is beneficial on many
soils there is no question, but it has not been
tried sufficiently on the several kinds of soils to
indicate with certainty how much or how little
will serve as a fertilizer.

^arm 05 fouaing,

EAEM CEOPS IN NOETH CAEOLINA.

Anothee year of toil is closing and the farmers
are reckoning the results. The heat in the first
half of July was intense and destructive in this
State. The drought was protracted, except in a
few limited localities ; but the heat was so great
that unusual injury was done to farm crops in a
short time. The month of August was generally
seasonable — restoring the corn and tobacco to a
considerable degree.

A respectable but not full crop of corn is
made. Perhaps a little over one-third of a crop
of tobacco was planted. That is much improved
during the last month. I think that more than
usual of the old crop was held back and is seek-
ing the market now. Prices are rather high.
It seems in this case that waiting will pay. The
year has been quite favorable for hay. The first
moving was good ; the second injured by drought;
the last (not yet cut) promises a very fine yield.
Indeed it is seldom that grasses grow as they
have for the last month.

Potatoes average well. Early Irish potatoes
were hastened by the heat. My experiments
this year proved the Early Vermont estimable
for quality and earliness, but unprofitable as to
quantity. Brownell’s Beauty, though not white
or mealy, gave satisfaction at the table and pro-
duced well. The Snowflake, with only ordinary
care, made thirty to one, and possessed every
good quahty.

Apples are scarce in the central part of the
State— probably the same throughout the entire
State. There has been enough of them for a
limited supply for immediate demands. Enough

peaches to remind us of the delicious feasts of
other years and awaken the hopes for another
season.

The scarcity of money is sorely felt. The
people generally are perforce practicing more
economy, and slowly adaptmg themselves to the
stringency. There is a growing impression that
we have seen the worst of the “ hard times.”

Yom-s truly, N. c.

A COEN‘ HOESE.

H. Ives writes to the New York Times that a
corn-horse is an implement of so much utility in
harvesting corn that it is a wonder that so many
farmers will cut up their corn without the aid of
one to stand the shock up to while cutting. It is
a tool which any farmer who wants it will make
for himself, for there are none in market, and no
agent about to tell us of their great usefulness.
But they are of no less merit for all that. By
using one to form the shock to, instead of placing
it against a standing hill, we have something
much firmer to^stand it to, we have all tho corn
cut up, and are pretty sure to have the shock
better balanced, and for that reason standing
better, because every quarter as it is cut will be
placed into each quarter section of this imple-
ment (or corn horse), thus bracing the whole
nicely from each quarter when bound together
at the top.

For instance, if I take six rows of corn for a
row of stooks, and six hills of a row (as I
generally do), giving thirty-six hills to a bunch,
I take my horse in between the third and fourth
rows and stand it for the shock between the
third and fourth hills ; standing so it represents
nine hills in each quarter Then I cut the first
three hills of the third row and place in one
quarter, while the man working against me cuts
the first three hills of the fourth row and places
them in the second quarter opposite. Then
each cuts the next three hills of the same rows,
placing into third and fourth quarters. Next
cut the second and fifth, then the first and sixth
rows just the same, thus only putting three hills
into each quarter at once alternately, will balance
it up good to stand.

The best way to make a corn horse is to get a
dry cedar pole 16 feet long, about 4 inches at the
butt, and if a little crooked, bowing about a foot
all the better. Put two legs into the butt of the
pole 2)4 or 3 feet long, with a spread of 2 feet on
the ground, and so as to have the pole bowing up
if it is crooked, for then it won’t require so long
legs. At 5 feet back from these legs bore an
inch hole horizontally through the pole, through
which insert a loose pin 20 inches on each side,
that is, 33^ feet long. Then for use stand this
in the corn as described above, so that the shock
will be stood lip into the angles made by this pin
and tlie pole. When this is cut and bound pull
out this long pin, then taking the large end of
the pole draw it ahead through this shock and
place it for another, and so on through the field.
It will be found plainer, handier work, and can
bo done by coarser or less skilled help to put it
up in good order as quick and as well as in any
other way.

PEOTECTION AGAINST GEASSHOPPEES.

Daniel G. Lane writes to the Council Bluffs
Globe, from Bermuda, W. I., teUing how crops
may be protected against grasshoppers, and po-
tatoes kept clear of beetles. Now while we do
not believe either of the protective agents
proposed are of any practical use still they may
be worth trying. Mr. Lane says For the last
two weeks I have been in this country from the
West Indies, and I find the grasshoppers making
great ravages in vegetation. In order to prevent
this, burn one pound of sulphur on charcoal, in
the center of a field, and save what it has taken
so much toil to develop. To prevent potato ])ugs
from destroying the crop, plant two grains of flax
seed in each hill. This will prevent them from
injuring the potatoes, as they will not go near
the flax.

f orscmaii;.

THEICOACH OE GAEEIAGE HOESE.

The Kentucky Live Stock Record takes a very
sensible view of the late excitement in breeding
fast trotters, to the neglect of the good carriage
and general utility horse, and we are pleased to
place its remarks before our readers as they are
worthy of a careful consideration.

The old style coach or carriage horse is almost
extinct in Kentucky. His place is supplied by
the trotter. The horse of five and twenty or
thirty years ago is rarely seen now-a-days. The
big bays, browns and chestnuts of former days,
ranging from 15% to 16% hands high, with deep
and well-proportioned bodies, arched crests,
strong and clean bone under the knee, open,
sound, tough feet, with great knee action, lifting
their fore feet high, are as scarce now as they

were plentiful at that period. The display of
coach and carriage horses at our local fairs some
years ago, as well as at other less notable gather-
ings, was one of the most popular and charming
parts of these exhibitions. Most of these horses
walked and trotted well, picked up their fore feet
smoothly, bent their knees and kept their hind
feet well under them. This activity, with their
great beauty, short, pointed ears, extra style,
hardiness, endurance and docility, eminently
distinguished them as splendid specimens of the
coach and carriage horse.

Without the speed of the modern trotter, they
stood remarkably well over our hard unyielding
macadamized roads, and could travel all day.
Our farmers -would do well to go back and breed
this class of horse and give up to a great extent
the breeding of trotters, the supply of the latter
in the last few years being greatly in excess of
the demand.

Suitable sires to cross with the common mares
and stock of the country can be obtained at a
trifling expense among the many thoroughbreds
that either break do-wn yearly, or have not suffi-
cient speed to be classed high as racehorses.
Among them are many strong, stout and sound
horses that can be bought cheap and whose
service fees could be put at from $10 to $25, and
pay a handsome per cent, on the investment.
Nearly all our farmers seem desirous of breeding
a trotter, and every year valuable mares are
bred to inferior sires because they stand cheap,
many of whom possess serious deficiencies. In
this section, one of the best breeding districts in
America, there are every year many indifferent
sires advertised, whose stud career it would be
better for the country at large if it was cut short
by the free use of the knife. Many of these
candidates for public patronage possess neither
beauty, style nor finish, but have many faults
which should not be perpetuated, such as weak,
narrow loins, light thighs, bad curby hocks,
light bones and thin, shelly feet. Many of them
have nothing beyond their breeding to recom-
mend them, and this often consists of some
remote connection with a once fashionable strain
of blood.

When farmers use such sires there is great
uncertainty in producing sound, good-looking
offspring. We would not be considered as
opposed to the breeding of trotters, for we are
not ; but we are opposed to the indiscriminate
breeding of mares either unsound themselves, or
to sires that are unsound, with the expectation
of getting a sound colt, fast trotter or good
coach horse. When a farmer possesses a well-
bred mare of known blood or of high
marked characteristics, it m ifco tbe

best sire withiBi reach, but to breed a common
mare of little trotting action to the best trotting
sires, will oftener fail than succeed in producing
a good trotter, and in nine cases out of ten will
bring the farmer in debt before the youngster is
half developed. Dissatisfaction and disappoint-
ment are nearly sure to follow such breeding,
and when it does fail, the blame is generally laid
on the sire, irrespective of the bad or indiffer-
ent qualities of the dam.

With young trotters selling in Kentucky at
from $150 to $250 per head, even after they are
broken and partly handled, it will not pay to
breed anything but the best mares to high-priced
stalhons. Most of the stallions in Kentucky
have been standing too high, and they must
come down to suit the times. It is well enough
perhaps for a few who have acquired a national
reputation through their produce to demand
high fees, but they are few and far between. It
will not pay to breed common or ordinary
mares of the country to $100 and $150 stallions.

We firmly believe that it will pay a majority of
our farmers better to breed and rear the old
style coach and carriage horse than it will the
trotter, especially when you take into considera-
tion the cost of the stallion’s services, and the
expense necessarily incurred to develop the
trotter. There are a number of men who make
a speciality of breeding trotters, and it should be
left with them. If a farmer possesses good
mares he had better breed on the shares or farm
them to some reliable breeder, than to breed
himself, and have the country dotted all over
with tracks, his sons driving young trotters to
the neglect of more important work on the farm.
The farmers of this State have enormous
advantages over other less favored sections of
country. We have better material than is to be
found elsewhere, from the long and free use of
thoroughbred sires, which enables our farmers
to enter into breeding under more favorable
circumstances. We are in possession of the
most delightful climate, the finest soil and most
luxuriant grass region in the world and need
fear no rivals ; and the large number of thor-
oughbred horses bred annually that are not good
enough for races, fm’nish capital material to
produce the coach, carriage and general utility
horse.

Fenee in the Feet.— There is nothing better
for fever in the feet of horses than bandages
wet with water. It is better than “stuffing’^
with filth, so often recommended.

Si"'/™""-''-

eoRge Engelhann Papers

copyright reserved

The Old Cork Oak at Fulham Palace. ,
-The engraving on p. 145 (^g- 22) represents one of
the oldest and finest Cork Oak trees in the country. The
engraving was executed from a photograph taken for
us by Mr. Arthur Smith in the autumn of last year .
The tree has passed its prime, having been planted
af Fulham, probably by Bishop Compton, more
than 200 years since. At breast height the tree
girths about 10 feet. It is a fine specimen, but needs
the support of Ivy-clad props. From ^e a^rns
numerous seedlings have been raised. The Cork Uak,

Q Suber, is a native of Southern Europe and
Northern Africa. When the, br^e is about fift^n
years old its bark is removed by incision^ in such a
manner that no injury is done to the. ‘tree. After
eight or nine years the process can be repeated. The
outermost layers form the “ male cork,” which is oj
little value, except in the form of “ virgin cork.
After their removal new corky layers are formed in
the denuded bark, which constitute the female cork,
or cork of commerce. The tree at Fulham stands in
the angle between the palace and the newly- erected
chapel, on the walls of which latter Ivies of various
kinds are placed, some of which have made extra-
ordinary growth, especially the Silver Ivy.

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ai

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^ LARGE LIVE OAKS.

BY W. ST. J. MAZYCK, HAGLEY PLACE, S. C.

Neither of the five live oaks, Q. virens, of
which I write, are as large as the Cawthorpe
Yorkshire oak, mentioned in your January
number, hut they are very respectable sticks of
timber nevertheless. At Old Town plantation,
on the west bank of the Ashley river, the site
of Charleston, which was abandoned about 1680
for Oyster Point, there stands a live oak that
measures thirty-two feet in circumference.
One side of this tree was injured many years
ago by fire. It must have been a big tree when
the Indians burnt the town.

At Peach-tree plantation, on the west bank of
the South Santee, there is a live oak that meas-
ures twenty-nine feet around, the first limb meas-
uring sixteen feet around, and extending seventy-
five feet. At midday it shades half an acre of
ground. Prof. M. Numey said it was probably
the finest tree this side of the Mississippi river,
and that it was worth a man’s time and money
to come from Canada to see it, — rather an ex-
pensive trip in 1846 when he saw this tree.

At Weehonoka plantation, on the east bank
of the Waccamaw river, three live oaks grow
near each other. The first one measures twenty
feet, the second seventeen feet nine inches, and
the third fifteen feet around. These trees were
all measured in the smallest part ; all of them
have the hour-glass shape to a greater or lesser
degree. Not far from these last trees there is a
common fox grape-vine, that measures four feet
and two inches round.

IS

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ig

ly

in

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ay

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;ed

irer

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lys

ary

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•os-

noie : ” ± amused myseit on one or tnose recent
cold days by roasting some sweet potatoes in
hot ashes— roots that I bought from Mr. Garcia,
in Covent Garden. I mean the Sweet Potato of
Korth America, which is so good when roasted
or baked. For the first time I found that these
Covent Garden specimens turned out very well.
The sweet potato is an excellent vegetable, and
I should advise our American friends to send us
quantities of well-ripened roots, and also tell us
how to cook them. I noticed in America, that
just as with our common Potato at home, there
are wet and dry tubers, mainly owing to differ-
ences of soil. I understand those grown in the
sandy soils of the South are much better in
America than those raised elsewhere. It
seemed to be a greater favorite than the com-
mon potato, which was there called the Irish
Potato to distinguish it from this one. I believe
it to be more nutritious than the common po-
tato, and when good it turns out something
between a sweetmeat and a vegetable. To im-
port a vegetable which our climate prevents us
growing, and which in consequence is a novelty
to most people, is very desirable. I do not know
if their price is high in America, hut it would be
a great boon if they could be sent here in such
quantities as would allow of their being used as
food. At present they are merely Covent Gar-
den curiosities.’’

Prohibiting the Importation of Living
Plants.— For fear of introducing the Phyllox-
era, the government of the Cape of Good Hope,
have absurdly prohibited the importation of
living plants and bulbs of all kinds. This is on
a, nar with much of oiir own lee^islation on hor-

copyright reserved

copyright reserved

ITE]
LE NOW

or 1881 .

rovelties have m

rom the Royal f
len recognised a;
nds already la

tratagem.

ertificated by the It
m 1879.

aled packets, 5f. p«rf

Blephone.

rst-class Certificate
ociety, 1878.

-d packets, 3J.

de of the m

rfPeaforGardeaa;
d packets, 3s. 6d.f

Telegraph,

:hibition variety,
packets, 2j. pef|i^

e Wonder.

Marrow, as early:
packets, 2s. 6i?

Orange.

in a competitioi;-
ne Show of tie!

Rovai I

ijuirement of hardier varieties
lay be supposdii that allusion
acclimatisation^ theory which
efended by sonfe horticultural
so by remarking that I have
;ory, the advocates of which
although only perpetuated by
igs, layers, graft|, or buds, can
rdy by gradually^^exposing and
temperatures. J^The Aucuba
the well-known ^potted-leaved
Britain in 1783^ was the only
:t eminent botaijfical collector,
brtune, sent the ^ale and other
,1861, which old \|Lrietyhas often
Dntrovertible evidjince in favour
theory, the def^der of which
irst introduced it< required hot-
1 although only perpetuated by
gradually becam^ so hardy as
and our severest? winters. No
r, as to its originally requiring
but, like many jnore exotics,
deserving of hothouse treatment
listake ; and looking back to the
ere winters of 1837^38, 1860-61,
t79, when the temperature fell to
ng effects on the old Aucuba were
,d, curiously enough, ihe Aucuba
;ed upon as one of the'jbest proofs
es can only be got frpm among
leen reared from seeds, and in
’ of these some are perfectly un-
jrs, as well as the ol| spotted-
'6 been more or less severely cut
if last winter.

'of our favourite fruit trees, which
^ted by budding or grafting, afford
ence against acclimatisation ; for
3ton Pippin Apple, which is sup-
jinated at Ribston Hall from seeds
and the Jargonelle Pear, which has
in cultivation, are both as unsuit-
las standards in Scotland as when
ped ; while the Moorpark Apricot,

nating with flowers of a reddish-purple.

Two small circular beds were dotted over with
the flowers of Crocus multiflorus and C. specio-
sus ; and another charming plant was Convolvulus
mauritanicus, which one so seldom meets with, but
which for decorating vases, or hanging in baskets, is
much to be admired. Begonia Veitchii was also
making a fine disp%, wi!a/£%^ex& 24m:hes across,
of a rich orange-sc^let ‘ft iis'Q,- native - oF.

Peru, and among ti|berous-roof§(f a’,

first-class place. SeJ^eral other varieties werV als^"*'^
flowering. Among ^rane’s-bills were Erodium hy-
menoides and E. rnfmescavi, the latter with dense
tufts of elegant foliag|, from which spring numerous
flowering stems, be^ing umbels of purplish-red
flowers. One of thr^ triangular beds was planted,
with a collection of ^r. Nelson’s new varieties of
Phlox setacea ; these ^e slightly raised, and include
P. Model, P. Perfectio|i, P. compacta, P. grandiflora,
and P. The Bride, wh^ch are most attractive in the
late spring and early Rummer months. Campanula
turbinata was still downing, and quietly flowering in
a most shady peat-beij was the beautiful yellow-
fringed Orchis,' Haben’^ria ciliaris, of which three
spikes of its orange-coloured flowers were at their
best. It is a North American species, and a decided
acquisition. The reddishtflowers of Anemone japonica
were making a goodly dil^lay. Othonna cheirifolia is
a curious-looking speciesf, from Barbary, with oblong
spathulate leaves of a bli|ish glaucous hue. Tropm-
olum tuberosum was growing vigorously, and flower-
ing profusely ; Delphinium cashmirianum, a new
species, was just passing its/flowering season ; Chelone
barbata was producing from its slender flower-stems
its scarlet tubular flowers Gaura Lindheimeri was
also flowering, as was also* Hyoscyamus physaloides,
a singularly ornamental species from Siberia, with
celestial-blue and white flowers.

A fine specimen of Lychnis dioica alba flore-
pleno had evidently be^ making a fine display
during the greater part|of the summer, and was
still flowering with that freeness which alone
should give it a place in all collections. Several
forms of European Cyclamen were springing
into flower ; the ever-welcome Androsace lanuginosa '
was still producing in abundance its rosy-coloured

folium, with yellow flowers, is a distinct Crucifer,
with neat attractive Fern-like foliage. Phygelius
capensis, with scarlet tubular flowers borne on
panicled stems^ds attractive everywhere, but was doing
much better he|e than it is generally seen. Cheiranthus
tristis, the “ni^t-scented Stock,” and C. variabilis,
were also floweilpg. Neither of these two can fairly be
considered harc^^, although they will flower freely,
well 4 r nine months of the year. Adonis
verhklis was in '^Lry fine clumps, and judging from
ihe^e, a good di^lay of its yellow flowers may be
expected in the su|ny days of early spring.

In cold pits, ‘lyhich for the most part are
planted with the ^rer bulbous plants, Croci of the
different autumn-flowering species were just opening,
their buds, which re|resent a great variety of colour ;
among these I notM C. tingitanus, C. Spruneri,
and C. zonatus. In tais frame also I noted Iris cris-
tata, a pretty species M North American origin, and
introduced as far back ks 1756 ; this is still uncommoir
in gardens, and should be grown largely. It is oj
dwarf habit ; the floweri which are of a pale lavender!
blue, rising from 4 to 6 pches in height. It is grow
ing here in the greatest hfixuriance. Another species
named I. cretensis, is ih habit closely allied to !
ruthenica, which I am nqt familiar with. 1

Among Calceolarias, of which many species aj
grown, were Calceolaria myssopifolia, C. bicolor, (
crenatifolia, C. lobata ana C. Pavonii ; this latter
a large and gross-feeding! plant, requiring plenty |
moisture. Of Salvias thfere is almost an endh'
variety ; the most noticeable are Salvia confertifloj
of distinct habit and g 4 od flower ; S. Pitchy
S. farinosa (syn.), S. leftcantha, a white-flowe?
Mexican species. Loasa yulcanica was one n^'
of pure white blossoms ; ' it is of prickly ha
and has a tendency to sting one’s flesh and ca
irritable pain. A whitish flowered variety of 1
phinium Staphisagria was also flowering. Such a;
few among the many interesting plants to be seei
this garden.

j ^

THE

dartom’ d^Iiranide.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 1881.

THE OAK.

I SHALL not trouble the reader with a
learned dissertation on the varieties of the
Oak, intending to confine myself chiefly to the
lotice of remarkable trees which I have myself
;een. The British Oak is indigenous to the
rountry, and there are two distinct varieties—
ome botanists have called them species —
lamely, Quercus Robur var. pedunculata, and
2- R. var. sessiliflora. In the former the acorns
ire on fruit-stalks, in the latter they are sessile,
ntermediate forms are common. Mr. Grigor
,ays, in his Arboriculture, that the pedunculata
s the more common tree both in natural and
flanted woods throughout Britain. I observed
hat the acorns of the Royal Oak at Boscobel,
3f the Cressage Oak near Shrewsbury, and ot
the Swilcar Lawn Oak in Needwood Forest are
stalked.

The leaves of sessiliflora are long, the acorns in
clusters ot two or three ; the timber is less close-
grained and durable, and more liable to rot than
that of the other sort. The inferior variety was,
according to Mr. Rhind, introduced ages ago
from the German forests, which consist chiefly
of this species. It abounds in the New Forest
and other parts of Hampshire, around London,
in Norfolk and the Northern Counties. The
inferiority of the imported species was unsus-
pected in English dockyards until the dry rot
in our ships revealed it. The tree has the merit
of growing more freely than the older British
Oak, when young, particularly in poor soils and
unfavourable situations.

The most remarkable specimens and planta-
tions of Oaks I have seen are situated in and
about Needwood Forest, which, like the Oak-
growing Wealden, is not a superior clay for
agricultural purposes, but well suited for the
Oak. Bagot’s Park, enclosed from Needwood
at an unknown date, presented, with a little herd
of goats, by Richard II. to the“Bagot” of
Shakespeare, and now the property of Lord
Bagot, his descendant, has a wonderful display of
Oak trees. The Squitch Oak is its largest sped-’
men, and was valued in its prime, some years
ago, at 1012 cubic feet, or, in money, ;^24o \2s.
It measured 21 feet 9 inches round the trunk at
5 feet from the ground, which is very much less
than some of the reported measurements of
Oaks. Mr. Selby says, in one of the best books
on its subject, his British Forest Trees, that the
Squitch Oak “ seems one of the largest, being
upwards of 43 feet in circumference at the base.”
Not having measured the tree himself, Mr.
Selby was obliged to say “ seems,” because
these reported measurements are often taken at
the ground, where the trunk of the Oak some-
times spreads amazingly. When the Mayor of
a town in the Eastern Counties received the
Prince of Wales, he made the most of the
little town in driving His Royal Highness
round. “ Mr. Mayor,” said the Prince, think-
ing he had seen one of the streets
before, ‘‘are you not dodging me to and
fro ? ” That is just what happens when people
pretend to 40 feet or 50 feet girth for an Oak

they have not measured fairly. The Oaks at
Bagbt’s Park are not pollards and squats ; their
^ noble trunks run up to a great height, and hence
^ their large cubical contents. The King Tree,
which I partly measured and partly estimated,
standing in the “cliffs,” is 20 feet round at
5 feet, runs up without a limb 30 feet, and
thence to the top 70 feet. That is a tall Oak.
The trunk of the Beggar’s Oak measures 33 feet
to the crown. This is the most picturesque
tree in the park, with a noble trunk 20 feet, and
27 feet in girth, measured fairly, or 68 feet if
you measure round the spurs which buttress
the tree all round, and project several feet
above the surface of the ground which they
clutch. The price offered for the King Tree in
1812 was ;£2 oo for the first length of the trunk
at 12s. per foot, and ^93 for the remainder,
including bark at ^14 per ton.

The Oak trees of this park are all of the best
and oldest British breed, with stalked acorns ;
one among them has variegated leaves. There
are 1000 acres of park, and 1300 acres of
planted Oak outside the park. When the price
was 6^*. per foot, 100,000 worth of Oak timber
might have been felled, it is said, without
touching the ornamental timber ; so the noble
owners, notwithstanding their residence is
several miles distant, have incurred no small
sacrifice for the sake of their timber.

I mentioned the poor soil. A wretched patch
of lias clay soil overspreads the high ground
here, a remnant of a larger area. It is a poor
yellow or slate-coloured clay, which could not
be farmed profitably just now. Owners of-
similar soils, as yet unplanted, will, perhaps,
take the hint.

I made a special pilgrimage, when staying in
the district, to visit that tall and sturdy patriarch
of Needwood Forest, the Swilcar Lawn Oak. It
stands on the highest ground of the neighbour-
hood, measuring 27 feet round at 5 feet, and
towering to a great height. This old Oak —
larger, stronger, and possessing more vitality
than its neighbours — reminds me of a constitu-
tionally tough family living on the spot. An
old deer stealer, who plied his trade here before
the enclosure, lived to the age of a hundred ;
his son mowed the grass round the Swilcar
Lawn Oak at eighty-eight, and died at ninety
of his epidemic ; and his grandson seems
in for a very long innings, too. Mr. Mundy, of
Eland Lodge, who rode after his hounds
in green through the glades of Needwood, and
published a poem, called the Fall of Needwood^
in 1808, about the time of the enclosure prac-
tically, named the Swilcar Lawn Oak the
forest’s “ chief mourner.” There was much
which a poet might mourn who kept hounds, ]
for the forest in its pristine state was a pic- ‘
turesque maze of great Oaks and other forest ’
trees, of Hollies, Thorns, and underwood. *
There were 10,000 acres full of deer and other ^
game, with any amount of poaching on the part ^
of the “ ancient cottagers ” on the spot, and of ^
people from the adjacent villages. Originally f
the forest had its customary officers — a lieu-
tenant, rangers, axe-bearers, keepers, and wood- f
mote court ; it had five wards, including those <1
of Uttoxeter and Tutbury, and four lodges, the ti
residences of the keepers. These are now good
country houses, leased from the Crown, and
around them are parks which form specimens
on a small scale of what the forest once was.
One of these was occupied by Mr. Mundy, the
poet who rode in green, and the ancestor, I
believe, of the owner of the Royal Agricultural
Society’s ist prize dairy farm of the present
year. Yoxal Lodge was occupied by Mr.
Gisborne, author of agricultural articles in the
Quarterly Review. A Traveller.

, ■

The ^ Pkhdhoh^ . in presid ing

over the Phylloxera Congress at Montbrison, alluding
to the unnecessary restrictions placed on the transport
of Vines, and stated that cuttings of the young wood
without any heel of the old wood might be sent from
place to place without danger, and still less danger
attended the transport of the seeds.

Autumn Color of the Bartram Oak.— it may be of interest
to note that the autumn leaves of Quercus heterophylla color like the
.. scarlet Q. coccinea. The early leaves of the season are more or less

entire, but when the plants are growing freely, and make a secondary
growth, as vigorous oaks often do, the later leaves much resemble
Quercus coccmea. Indeed, when mixed it is difficult to separate them.
I think with Martindale it is a good species, and that its relationship
is with the Scarlet and Black oak. — Thomas Meehan.

01 23456789 10 Missouri

Botanical

cm copyright reserved garden

.xiv^uiiub uiiuer ttie trees, and often are scattered about for
many rods. Any of tliese spines is strong enough to pierce through
a CO whid^ boot-leg j/ inH when it reaches dfefleish you are gone.

The retror\e barbs /Cause ft to continue entering the mWe you strug . . _

gle. The oest thmg to do\is to break if/ off at once

and let the Vest fester and mine away \yith the pus. \ Gr EmG’"* P/w’.^RS

‘‘Almost a^cruel are thVbushes of an acacia, appropriately called
“cats’s claws,\/that crowd in tfre^^tr'kil, and reach their slender limbs
across the way, armed every half inch with pairs of strong, recurved
thorns, that tap your veins unawares, and cause you to add drops of .

blood to thf-

copyright reserved

oldest and finest specimens are to be found in this heli

2.4

Pyramidal Oaks. — I have been much interested
in the illustration and description of the»-pyramidal >
Oak given at p. 179, and wilder if the tree that is
these grounds isinQ. lQst one y our cmre-

i spondS l^ats of. The specimen growing here is
somewhat more compact than that shown in your
illustration, and does not branch out so much at the
top. Its height is 75 feet, and its girth at 3 feet from the
ground is 6 feet. It was planted probably al^ut eighty
' ■ ■ 1 Marquis of '

i or ninety years since by the then Marquis of Blandford,

and great-grandfather of the present Duke of^Marl-
borough, whose great talent for ’ ’

landscape gardening
raised Whiteknights Park to such a high position among
the gardens of that day. The tree growing in these
groundl^,5vhich I have had charge of for upwards of
twenty years, has ripened a few acorns once only in that
time, which was, I think, in 1867. I collected what ^
few there were, and sowed them ; the result was, pjf
that about a dozen came up ; the largest of them are
now from 6 to 10 feet high, and are pretty much the N
same in habit as the parent tree. The specimen
growing here has 4 feet of clear stem, from whence it
branches out, and forms a perfect pyramid. W, Lees,
Wilderness, Reading. [There is a fine specimen, but
not so high as that mentioned, in the nursery of
Messrs. Kmmont & Kidd, at Canterbury. Ed.]

iSTni:

copyright reserved

foliaged stove plant, it is posse;
cal interest. The spadix, like
branches, is produced on extra-
stem, having all the appearance i.
pendent of the leaves, Flowers

amoui ^ .or more purely s

which would otherwise not be manife.
sent pamphlet contains the substance
delivered at Kingston by Mr. Morris, tl
Public Gardens and Plantations, Jam>
development of Cacao plantations in
After some introductory pages devoted to
and description of the plant, Mr. Morris
once into the practical part of his subject—
tion of land, raising plants from seed,
gathering and preparing the crop, basing h.
ments upon information acquired in the isi
Trinidad. The cultivation seems to be of i
character, shade and shelter from wind being of ,
importance, while the conditions in the mo.
valleys of Jamaica are so favourable for its cultival
that the promise for the fiitnrp ?=

' February lo, 1883.}

THE GARDENERS' CHRON

A PYRAMIDAL OAK.

Pyramidal Oaks are not common in England.
Why not ? I do not know the reason, but perhaps
it is because they are not enough known. They are
very ornamental trees, in habit resembling Lombardy
Poplars, but surpas.sing them much in point of beauty.
They are rather common in German gardens, but the
oldest and finest specimens are to be found in this

this park. This is the parent tree, or, as we Germans
say, the mother tree of all the pyramidal Oaks found
in garden^s. W e have several specimens here in height
not much behind the parent tree, but in point of
beauty not one can rival it. The tree is now about
100 years old and just 100 feet high— the same height
in fact, as the pyramidal Oak near Babenhausen. The
circumference of the stem at 3 feet above-ground is
8 feet 6 inches. C. Wissenbach, Royal Gardens, WiR
helmsholie^ near Cashel,

5 possessed of some
ix, like the lateral^
)n extra-axillary pj^..
earance of being c|
Flowers of both*

more purely scientjj
lot be manifested.!.

the substance 0/

’ Mr. Morris, the
lantations, Jamaic,
plantations in (
pages devoted (oi
lant, Mr. Morris
irt of his subjeep
ilants from seed,,
the crop, basin/:
acquired in
3n seems to be
er from wind bei^
conditions in
avourable foritsj-

Fig. 26. pyramidal oak in the park at wilhelmshohe.

park, and I hope the illustration of the tallest one,
shown in its winter state (fig. 26), will gain them
many friends.

The oldest pyramidal Oak, a natural sport, is
standing in a forest near Babenhausen, in North
Bavaria. Efforts were made to propagate the tree by
grafting, and three young plants resulted. One of
them came to Worlitz, and another one was planted
here. It is not known where the third one is.
The Oak in Worlitz soon perished ; of the third one
nothing has been heard, and it also may be dead, so

cm copyright reserved gTr^d'e n

.y in-
Indian
^an during
.mg work in
should now
ne East Indian-
A 70° by day ; the
. 65° by day, and a
. 45° with a day tern-
uitable for the cool plants,
s the day temperatures may
from 5° to 8° higher, but as
y fitful at present extra pre-
taken to keep the houses
1 they occur. The potting
iw begin to assume a wider
mber will be commencing to
to be seen to at once. The
selected first, and after being
sy should be kept together as
at a little extra shade or a trifle
be maintained around them,
ing plants of Lselia anceps will
i be seen to early, so that no
roung growths. All the Lselias
r roots freely exposed to the in-
ling atmosphere, and in potting
luced into the pot or basket
covered with a thin layer of the
sphagnum moss in equal pro-
old material is in sweet con-
leed be removed, as a disrooting
r Laelias or any other Orchids,
lediums will be starting, and
lus will be found in all the
De treated according as they
f potting. In the East Indian-
Stonei, C. Lowii, C. ca-udatum,
okerii, C. concolor, and some
us states of growth. In potting
:)wers, such as C. Stonei and C.
i little sound fibry loam incor-
at potting time. They are free
ants, and will be benefited by
,han the weaker growers. For
f two parts fibry peat to one of
noss will be suitable. In the
irbatum group will be located,
useful C. Sedeni and C. insigne
id. These are all quite as well
^ when kept in a pot-bound con-
not be allowed to suffer for the
y time. Among the terrestrial
hing more useful than Phaius
uis will now or soon be in condi-
nay be as well to state that
)am with the greater part of the
*ved, and the addition of a little
ad, will grow it to perfection. It
and plenty of moisture at the
bring it to the highest develop-
Odontoglossums in the Cattleya-
)lants of O. citrosmum will be
, and as the flower-spikes come
g growths, the potting of these
d till the young spikes are a foot

GyiRDEI^'RS'

GHRq^j^LE.

[February 10, 1883.

this plant no effort should be spared to get rid
them at once, or they will soon spoil the appearance
and seriously affect the future well-being of the
plants. The method we adopt to get rid of them is
to run a feather or soft brush between the leaves at
intervals of a few days. It is necessary to be careful
in watering this plant so that no moisture settles
among the young foliage, as decay will quickly set in,
which is difficult to arrest when once it commences.
A regular and steady moisture should be kept at the
roots of the plants, as an excess of either drought or
moisture maintained for any length of time will soon
show on this plant, y. Roberts^ Gunnersbury Park
Gardens,

Making Up Orchids for Exhibition.— In-
tending competitors in the Orchid classes at the
summer show of the Royal Horticultural Society, to
be held on May 22 and 23, and especially those who
practise the art of “ making up,” cannot be too early
warned that, according to a paragraph in the recently
issued schedule, “ The judges in the Orchid classes
will consider, in making their awards, whether the
plants shown are single specimens or made-up plants.
Any plant shown as part of a collection of Orchids
which, being made-up, contains in the opinion of the
judges more than one distinct variety of the species it
represents, shall disqualify the collection of which it
forms part.” The nurserymen’s class at this show is
fora “Group of Orchids, not exceeding fifty pots,”
while that for amateurs is for ten, distinct. In addi-
tion to these, Sir Trevor Lawrence offers a prize of
£10 “for the best collection of exotic Orchids,”
under the following conditions : — “ Collections to con-
sist of twelve plants of distinct species ; made-up
plants to disqualify the collection in which they are
shown.”

L^lia Crawshayana. — Among the many Lselias
that are flowering at this season of the year none
perhaps are so welcome as this rare and fine species.
It has been in flower with us upwards of a week, and
it is quite distinct from anything else that I have
hitherto seen. It seems to me to be related to L.
anceps and L. autumnalis, but in itself very distinct ;
the bulb and leaf partake very much of the nature of
L. autumnalis ; the lip also, in that the lobes do not
cover the column, which is the case in those of L.
anceps, while the markings again are similar to the
latter, differing only in that the patch of yellow is
more developed and much deeper in colour. The
sepals and petals are of a deep purplish hue, but not
lengthened so much as those of L. anceps, and it is
undoubtedly far superior to any of its congeners. The
finest varieties of L. anceps and L. autumnalis that I
ever saw are nowhere in comparison to it for colora-
tion. Any one may well be proud of it if fortunate
enough to possess it. The plant has been grown on
a block in the intermediate-house, in company with
plants of Lselia anceps. It is to be regretted that
such a fine species is still so uncommon amongst us.
W, Gosiling^ Sudbury House,

Odontoglossum crispum.— One of the finest
varieties, if not the finest, we ever saw, was shown
us a few days since by Mr. Stevens. The individual
flowers measured over 4 inches in diameter, the sepals
and petals were very broad, white, flushed with rose,
but without spots, the lip richly spotted. The speci-
men came from the garden of C. Walker, Esq., Bret-
borgh Holt, Milnthorpe, and is to be photographed
life-size by Mr. Stevens.

Orchids at Whitchurch Rectory. — In the
extensive collection of Odontoglossums here, which
fill four good-sized houses, there are a large number
in bloom, amongst which are many of unusual excel-
1 crisDum section, ranging from the

a straw-coloured ground, the former heavily barred
with light brown, the petals spotted with the same
colour, base of lip bright yellow. Of the O. Ander-
sonianum type there is one superior to any we have
met with, the magenta marking on the interior por-
tion of the petals brighter and more decided than
ordinary, the flowers large, and the individual parts
of unusual breadth. Amongst other cool species in
the same collection Lycaste Skinneri is exhibiting its
ever-varying character in shade and marking, from
those that are of the darkest hue to the pure white
form, of which there is one example that produces
flowers of enormous size.

Enthusiasts in Orchid Culture are not now
content with the rich harvest yielded by ransacking
most of the known, as well as all but unknown
regions of the tropical and more temperate parts of
the world where Orchids are found, but they set to
work in producing new varieties by hybridising with
already results such as at one time would have been
looked upon as beyond the reach of probability ; in
proof of which it is only necessary to mention the
doings of Dominy, Seden, Mitchell, Swan and others,
whose work in this direction has produced some of
the most beautiful plants that now go to fill our
Orchid-houses ; but it is evident from what has been
done, as well as what has not yet been accomplished,
that some divisions of the Orchid family are much
more amenable to intercrossing under cultivation than
others are. The Cypripediums evidently are amongst
the most willing to answer to the hand of the hy-
bridist, as shown by the host of hybrid seedlings that
have made their appearance ; of Cattleyas, and their
near allies the Lselias, and also the Dendrobiums,
there is ample proof of their crossing freely. In the
cool section, such as Odontoglossums and Masde-
vallias, there has not yet been much done so far as
completed work goes— completed, we repeat, for the
process of Orchid raising, from fertilising the flowers
to growing the plants up to a blooming state, is in
most cases a slow and patience-trying operation— a
very different affair from the raising of many other
kinds of plants — consequently there is no knowing
how much of this kind of work there is going on, or
how much has been attempted that has failed. Of
the latter — that is, the failures — it is more than likely
that there is uncertainty as to the cause. Such
genera as the Masdevallias and Odontoglots to all
appearance produce seed freely when the flowers have
been crossed by hand, as shown by the way in which
the pods swell off and ripen j but whether the seeds
are wanting in fertility, or they perish after being
sown through something that is wanting to enable
their germinating, does not seem to be yet known ;
not unlikely the treatment of the seed will ultimately
turn out to be at fault.

Orchids for Cutting. — “ Coelogyne, ” at p. 82,
makes inquiries respecting Orchids for cutting that
would be likely to succeed under temperatures ranging
from 45° to 55° and 55° to 65° respectively. For cool
treatment the following are likely to give satisfaction,
and have large highly-coloured or otherwise attractive
flowers to recommend them Odontoglossum Alex-
andrse and its varieties, Pescatorei, Bluntii, and cir-
rhosum, have white flowers, spotted with brown or
purple, and O. Hallii is heavily marked with a
chocolate colour. Barkeria spectabilis, Lycaste Skin-
neri and varieties, Cypripedium insigne, Masdevallia
Lindeni and tovarensis, Disa grandiflora, Coelogyne
cristata, Zygopetalum Mackayi, and Maxillaria gran-
diflora, keep up a show during winter and spring.
Oncidium macranthum, Trichopilia suavis, Epiden-
drum vitellinum and its variety majus will bloom
chiefly in summer; and Laelia autumnalis, anceps,
Perrinii, and elegans from autumn onwards to winter.
These, especially the two latter, should be placed at
the warm end of the house. In the higher tempera-
ture numerous beautiful and varied Dendrobiums may
be grown, as D. densiflorum, D. formosum giganteum,
nobile, Cambridgeanum, Dalhousieanum, and Far-
meri. These require the warmer parts of the house.
Cypripedium barbatum and variety superbum,
Angrsecum eburneum, with long racemes of green
and white flowers, Limatodes rosea, Calanthe vestita
and varieties, C. Veitchii, and Oncidium crispum will
give variety during the winter months. Trichosma
suavis and Epidendrum bicornutum ought not to be
omitted, on account of their fragrance. Some of th e

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