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LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


MASSACHUSETTS 

AGRICULTURAL 

COLLEGE 

NO.__:4--2_(Q.io—  —  DATE__l2.-_\_§k8jb 

v.  n 

Vilni   Lu 


•« ' 


'i 


The  Gardener's  Monthly 


AND 


Horticulturist, 


DEVOTED  TO 


HORTICULTURE,   ARBORICULTURE    AND    RURAL    AFFAIRS. 


-*♦  ♦ 


EDITED   BY 

THOMAS  MEEHAJV, 

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,"  &c. 


VOLUME  XLX.  1877. 


PRLLADELPEIA  ■ 

CHARLES  H   MAROT,  Publisher, 

No.  8I4.  Chestnut  Street 

1877. 


/ZZ  Z5  ZZ.4  TIONS. 

»  .  — 

Frontispiece— Chrorao ' Vitis  heterophylla. 

A 

Amaryllis  Formosissima 295 

Vittatta  Harrisonse 265 

Anchylopera  fragarise— Strawberry  Leaf-roller 143 

B 

Bedding  Plants,  Arrangement  of— two  cuts 355 

Begonia  Rex  71 

O 

Campsidium  filicifolium 110 

Canadian  Lily 55 

Chamsedorea  formosa 72 

Coix  lachryma — Job's  Tears 170 

Currant — La  Versailles 334 

Cyclamen 45 

D 

Dsemonorops  palembanicus 238 

Dianthus  lacinatus 196 

Double  White  Violet— Belle  de  Chatenay 377 

Dracocephalum  Moldavica 324 

E 
Euonymus  radicans 306 

F 
Feather  Grass — Stipa  pennata 184 

G 

Geraniums,  Cutting  Back 167 

I 

Ixora  Regina 297 

J 

Japanese  Persimmon — Dyospyrus  kaki 362 

L 

Lilium  Humboldtianum 26 

Lophospermum  scandens 41 

M 

MacAdam  Road-bed 33 

Macrozamia  plumosa , 156 

O 

Odontoglossum  phalsenopsis 43 

P 

Pansies — Chromo 32 

Pea,  Sabre 242 

Pelargonium,  Beauty  of  Oxton , 112 

New  Life 330 

Phellodendron 186 

Pterodiscus  speciosus 13 

R 

Raspberry,  Reliance 302 

Road-making — two  cuts 33-34 

Rustic  Work — Baskets,  Stands,  Vases — four  cuts , 353-354 

S 

Sash  for  Hot-beds,  Improved — five  cuts 75-76 

Strawberry  Leaf-rotter 143 

T 

Telford  Road-bed 34 

Tuberose  Bulbs — two  cuts 130 

W 

Water  Barrow 243 

Weeping  Cherry , 259 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS    MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


JANUARY,  1877. 


Number  217. 


OWER  KiARDEN  AND  SB? LEASURE  MROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Trees  always  give  a  great  value  to  an  estate, 
and,  as  they  grow  up,  not  only  really  add  to  the 
beauty  of  the  place,  but  much  lessen  its  working 
expenses.  They  also  give  a  little  wildness  to  the 
spot,  which  is  in  itself  a  beauty ;  for,  when  we 
speak  of  neatness  as  essential  in  a  garden,  we 
mean  of  course,  those  parts  which  one  would  be 
expected  to  keep  neat,  and  which  will  look  all 
the  more  neat  for  having  a  little  wildness  to  con- 
trast with  them. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  note  that  the  taste  for  trees 
is  increasing.  They  bring  us  the  best  form  of 
beauty,  and  in  a  state  that  does  not  cost  much 
to  keep.  And  not  trees  alone,  clumps  of  shrub- 
bery often  have  a  beautiful  effect,  and,  once 
planted,  require  no  care  for  many  years.  They 
may  be  selected  from  amongst  the  Spirseas,  Li- 
lacs, Syringas,  Mock  Orange,  Upright  Honeysuck- 
les, Weigelas,  Deutzias,  Forsythias,  ElaBgnuses, 
Pyrus  japonica,  Hypericum,  Willows,  Almonds, 
Calycanthus,  Dwarf  Horse  Chestnuts,  Dogwoods, 
Purple  Hazels,  Snowdrop  Trees,  Bird  Cherries, 
&c. 

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  to  work  with  a  pair  of  shears,  and 
he  goes  through  the  whole  place,  clipping  off 
everything  indiscriminately.    Distinction  should 


be  made  between  those  flowering  shrubs  that 
make  a  vigorous  growth,  and  those  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  Oranges,  Lilacs  and 
others,  flower  on  the  wood  of  last  year — to  prune 
these  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  object  alone. 

Wherever  any  part  of  a  tree  does  not  grow, 
freely,  pruning  of  such  weak  growth,  at  this  sea- 
son, will  induce  it  to  push  more  freely  next  year. 
All  scars  made  by  pruning  off  large  branches, 
should  be  painted  or  tarred  over,  to  keep  out  the 
rain.  Many  fruit  trees  become  hollow,  or  fall 
into  premature  decay,  from  the  rain  penetrating 
through  old  saw  cuts  made  in  pruning.  Also 
the  branches  should  be  cut  close  to  the  trunk,  so 
that  no  dead  stumps  shall  be  produced  on  the 
tree,  and  bark  will  readily  grow  over.  Many 
persons  cut  off  branches  of  trees  in  midsummer, 
in  order  that  the  returning  sap  may  speedily 
clothe  the  wound  with  new  bark,  but  the  loss  of 
much  foliage  in  summer  injures  the  tree,  and 
besides,  painting  the  scar  removes  all  danger  of 
rotting  at  the  wound. 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 

HARDY  RHODODENDRONS. 

BY  SAMUEL   PARSONS,    FLUSHING,  L.  I. 

The  remarks  that  have  recently  appeared  in 
the  Gardener's  Monthly  on  the  subject  of  hardy 
Rhododendrons  have  been  both  interesting  and 
true.  It  has  seemed,  however,  that  certain  dis- 
tinctions or  definitions  should  be  fixed  to  place 
the  matter  before  the  general  public  in  just  the 
practical  light  intended.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  a  very  large  variety  of  Rhododendrons  may 
be  enjoyed  in  America  by  means  of  protecting 
boughs,  nooks  of  larger  trees,  and  light  cellars  ■ 
but  it  is  likewise  true  that  the  inexperienced 
need  some  explanation  as  to  what  varieties  con- 
stitute the  hardy  and  tender  portions  of  the 
series.  To  express  better  the  character  of  this 
hardiness,  all  so-called  hardy  Rhododendrons 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes,  and,  for  con- 
venience, termed  hardy,  almost  hardy,  and  tender, 
for  scarcely  any  variety  remains  absolutely  unin- 
jured under  conditions  that  occur  at  wide  in- 
tervals, and  all  may  retain  their  beauty  with 
protection  throughout  the  winter. 

The  first  includes  such  as  may  be  planted  in 
ordinary  positions,  excepting  bleak,  north-west 
exposures,  and  situations  close  to  buildings 
where  heat  and  cold  are  naturally  concentrated 
by  reflection.  This  class  consists  of  hardly  more 
than  a  dozen  varieties  of  the  nature  of  Roseum 
Grandiflorum,  Bicolor,  Everestianum,  Purpu- 
reum  Grandiflorum,  Album  Elegans,  Mrs.  Mil- 
ner,  II.  W.  Sargent,  Caractacus,  Charles  Bagley, 
and  Lady  Armstrong,  and  comes  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  of  an  improved  pure  Catawbiense  strain. 
Peculiar  conditions  of  health,  grubs  at  the  root, 
&c.,may  sometimes  induce  an  apparent  delicacy, 
in  above  varieties,  that  is  very  delusive. 

The  second,  and  almost  hardy  class,  may  be 
enjoyed  very  generally  by  planting  in  sheltered 
corners,  and  covering  loosely,  both  head  and 
foot,  with  boughs  and  leaves  to  break  the  force 

of  winter  winds.    The  discolorati )fthe  leaves, 

thai  will  now  and  then  occur,  quickly  disappears 
with  the  new  growth.  As  representatives  of  the 
class,  may  be  mentioned  Lee's  Dark  Purple, 
Blandyanum,  Mrs.  McClutton,  Scipio,  Atrosan- 
guineum,  Titian,  Minnie,  Purity,  Stella,  .Mrs. 
Balford. 

The  third  class,  containing  a  number  of  va- 
rieties apparently  hardy  in  England,  should 
never    be    trusted    out    in    our    winters     without 


thorough  protection,  and  are  still  safer  housed 
in  a  light  cellar  during  that  season.  Any  attempt 
to  disobey  this  rule  will  only  be  fraught  with 
continual  dissatisfaction.  These  kinds  include 
such  varieties  as  Concessum,  John  Waterer,  Bar- 
clayanum,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  Michael  Waterer,  and 
many  other  beautiful  high-colored  sorts.  Rho- 
dodendrons, even  in  this  class,  require  the  ma- 
turing effects  of  frost,  hence  the  use  of  a  green- 
house cannot  be  advised,  for,  even  unheated,  a 
certain  freedom  from  frost  and  induced  pre- 
cocity exists  therein  that  will  probably  injure  the. 
after  growth.  If  all  amateurs  and  gardeners  will 
observe  the  above  distinctions,  and  treat  their 
Rhododendrons  accordingly,  we  doubt  not  that 
much  of  the  prejudice,  now  existing  against  the 
family,  will  gradually  disappear.  Certainly  the 
wonderful  success  of  Mr.  Hunnewell  and  others, 
in  cultivating  these  kinds,  seems  almost  perfect, 
and  probably  the  same  judgment  in  manage- 
ment would  secure  the  enjoyment  of  all  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Anthony  Waterer,  who  undoubt- 
edly stands  among  the  first  of  European  growers. 


DOUBLE  LILIUM  AURATUM. 

BY   M.    H.    MERRIAM,    LEXINGTON,    MASS. 

In  the  November  number  of  the  Monthly 
among  the  new  plants  noticed  is  that  of  a  double- 
flowered  Lilium  auratum  which  had  appeared 
in  France.  It  may  be  interesting  to  know  that 
about  two  weeks  later,  or  late  in  September,  I 
discovered  a  similar  production  on  one  of  the 
plants  among  my  own.  There  was  a  perfectly 
symetrical,  well-developed  duplicate  set  of  petals, 
divided,  however,  nearly,  or  quite,  to  the  base. 
The  plant  was  carefully  watched  in  the  hope  that 
seed  might  be  secured,  but  it  failed  to  produce 
any. 

The  bulb,  however,  is  labeled,  and  since  learn- 
ing from  your  journal  the  variety  of  the  phe- 
nomena, I  shall  watch  its  future  flowering  with 
great  interest.  Subsequently,  another  plant 
seemed  to  be  repeating  the  same  phenomena, 
but  on  development  it  proved  to  be  an  irregular 
malformation. 

AMERICAN  TUBEROSES. 
Having  occasion  to  investigate  the  compar- 
ative value  of  Italian  over  American  bulbs,  as 
had  been  asserted  by  distinguished  horticul- 
turists, I  made  particular  enquiry  of  several 
florists  in  my  neighborhood  who  are  in  the 
practice  of  forcing  for  the  market,  and  their  tes- 


1871.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


timony  was  unanimous  in  favor  of  Italian  bulbs, 
for  which  they  were  willing  to  pay  a  larger 
price,  asserting  that  the  yield  of  flowers  was 
from  15  to  20  per  cent,  more  from  Italian  than 
American  grown  bulbs.  This  did  not  apply, 
however,  to  Florida  grown  bulbs,  concerning 
which  I  could  get  no  information. 


CONSIDER  THE  FLOWERS  OF  THE  FIELD. 

BY    W. 

Nothing  on  earth  seems  to  yield  such  serene 
and  enduring  content  as  the  acquirement  of  a 
genuine  love  for  plants  of  all  sorts.  Is  it  in  part 
owing  to  that  annual  resurrection  which  makes 
them  ever  new  and  attractive,  like  the  presence 
of  a  dear  friend  after  a  term  of  absence  ?  We 
become  attached  to  animated  beings,  but  they 
die,  and  we  see  them  no  more,  and  presently  we 
forget  them.  But  there  is  something  wonder- 
fully adherent  in  the  constancy  of  the  lover  of 
plants,  and  something  incomparably  exalting  in 
their  influence  upon  those  who  care  for  them 
for  their  own  sakes. 

A  letter  just  received  from  an  old  friend  whom 
I  knew  very  long  ago  as  fond  of  garden  recre- 
ations and  experiments,  affords  an  instance  of 
this  genial  influence.  He  is  now  on  the  verge 
of  80,  yet  he  is  still  as  fresh  and  as  full  of  talk 
about  plants  and  planting  and  greenhouse 
shelter,  and  apparently  as  cheerfully  occupied 
with  them  as  ever.  What  is  the  secret  that 
secures  such  pleasure  even  in  the  very  winter  of 
life?  Is  there  an  elixir  only,  or  is  there  a 
religion,  a  God's  love,  in  this  caring  for  the 
flowers  of  the  field  ?  and  is  it  their  endless  va- 
riety that  makes  these  quiet  friends  never  tiring, 
or  is  it  the  continual  change  in  each  one  that 
keeps  contemplation  ever  fresh  like  the  Vestal 
fires?  For  each  one  has  its  own  orbit — passing 
through  the  glories  of  summer,  the  autumn 
decline,  the  winter  sleep,  and  re-appearing  again 
and  again  forever  in  a  vernal  resurrection.  If 
the  rainbow  is  a  symbol  of  God's  favor  and  pro- 
tection, are  not  the  bright  plants  which  the 
Creator  seems  to  have  pressed  upon  our  notice 
by  causing  their  presence  in  every  nook,  a  mani- 
festation of  His  favor,  a  glimpse  of  good  things 
to  come?  For  if  the  grass  does  not  die,  but  only 
sleeps,  much  more  shall  not  we,  nor  our  resur- 
rection be  less  glorious. 

Those  pregnant  verses  in  Genesis  which  give 
so  much  of  the  world's  vast  history  condensed  in 


so  few  lines  —  do  they,  when  they  describe 
Adam's  life  and  work  in  a  garden — do  they  mean 
that  his  race  owes  its  superiority  over  the  other 
races  of  men  adverted  to  in  the  sacred  lines  be- 
cause of  having  learned  to  till  and  keep  a 
garden,  to  win  the  service  of  animals,  and  to  live 
quiet  and  harmless,  yet  actively  busy  and 
observant  lives? 

In  the  times  when  strife  and  ferocity  prevailed 
more  than  now,  it  was  said  that  "  Whom  the 
God's  love  die  young."  But  there  are  abundant 
cases  of  God's  manifest  favor  being  shed  upon 
and  continued  to  a  far  old  age,  as  in  the  case  of 
my  friend. 

Here,  then,  is  a  path  safe  to  walk  in.  In  it  are 
to  be  found  sweet  content  and  serene  happiness, 
and  this  being  so,  our  churches,  and  yet  more 
our  schools,  should  guide  at  an  early  age  the 
inclinations  of  all  children  to  the  employments 
and  the  pleasures  of  the  garden,  giving  practical 
lessons  in  this  first  of  all  arts — the  one  upon 
which  all  the  glory  and  the  strength  of  our  race 
are  founded. 

Nothing  will  do  so  much  to  advance  universal 
comfort  and  content  as  thus  imparting,  uni- 
versally, a  love  for  the  life-assuring  art  of  making 
grass  grow  and  trees  bloom.  Then,  and  not  till 
then,  will  the  implements  of  war  be  wrought 
over  for  peaceful  uses ;  and  then,  and  not  till 
then,  will  all  men  live  without  dread  of  penury, 
or  tyranny,  or  punishment. 

For  then  they  will  recover  the  lost  Eden,  and 
extend  over  all  the  earth  that  Mesopotamian 
Paradise  in  which  the  race  had  its  germ.  They 
will  understand  the  dangerous  admixture  of 
good  and  evil  that  has  kept  all  the  offspring  of 
Adam  in  a  fever  for  thousands  of  years,  and  re- 
jecting the  evil,  will  gradually  grow  under  God's 
favor  into  the  perfection  of  humanity. 


MOSAICULTURE. 


TRANSLATED   FROM   THE   N.   Y.   COURIER    DES    ETATS 

UNIS. 

Mr.  Nardy,  horticulturist  at  Hyeres,  south  of 
France,  one  of  the  French  delegates  to  the  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition  in  Philadelphia,  and  Presi- 
dent of  the  French  Workingmen's  Delegation  to 
this  country,  has  permitted  us  to  look  over  his 
traveling  notes,  and  we  extract  the  following, 
showing  us  the  present  state  of  gardening  in 
France : 
"  I  have,"  writes  Mr.  Nardy,"  made  a  grand  prom- 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


enade  right  through  France,  from  the  southern- 
most coast  on  the  Mediterranean  to  Havre  on 
the  channel,  and  there  are  certainly  great  differ- 
ences of  soil,  climate  and  habits,  and  of  natu- 
ral products,  between  Provence  and  Nor- 
mandy. One  passes  pretty  much  through  the 
entire  scale  of  pomology — from  the  orange, 
which  ruined  Atalanta,  to  the  apple  that  ruined 
Mother  Eve.  Nevertheless,  science  seemingly 
generalizes  proceedings  and  helps  nature  propa- 
gate her  products  from  one  zone  to  the  other. 
Hence,  I  find  the  gardens  ornamented  pretty 
much  all  over  with  the  same  plants  and  on  the 
same  artistic  plan.  I  have  started  from  Nice, 
the  city  of  flowers;  have  passed  through  Lyons, 
Dijon,  Paris,  and  reached  Havre,  and  have  found 
everywhere  throughout  France  a  kind  of  com- 
paratively recent  garden  decoration,  called  Mosai- 
culture.  The  word  is  new  and  known  only  by 
specialists  and  amateurs.  It  might,  however, 
be  universally  adopted,  because  it  tells  at  once 
its  meaning,  expressing  as  it  does  an  artistical 
disposition  of  plants,  leaves  and  flowers,  of  such 
shades  as  will  form  masses,  beds,  wreaths — in  fact, 
all  sorts  of  designs,  which  are  truly  vegetable 
mosaics.  I  have  seen  the  most  charming  speci- 
mens, and  I  will  bring  here  a  few  of  them  to 
mind. 

"  In  Lyons,  the  place  where  art,  closely  allied 
with  industry,  creates  tissues  which  are  the  ad- 
miration of  the  world,  horticulture  stands  in  high 
honor ;  and  possibly  the  delicate  taste  for  it  enters 
far  more  than  we  think  into  the  inspiration  of  the 
workingman — artist.  Public  and  private  gar- 
dens are  numerous,  rich  and  well-kept.  The 
Pare  de  la  Tete  d'Orfor,  instance,  with  its  mag- 
nificent shade-trees,  its  vast  lawns,  its  elegant 
greenhouses,  showing  not  only  a  natural  love 
for  flowers,  but  also  profound  notions  of  the  hor- 
ticultural art  and  science.  In  this  noble  park 
have  I  found  the  best  compositions  of  vegetable 
mosaic.  Long  and  wide  beds  (platebandes)  and 
immense  massed  groups  present  a  great  variety 
of  brilliant  and  select  effects.  The  divers  varie- 
ties of  Alternanthera  and  Teilanthera ;  of  the 
various  Coleus,  of  Achyranthus,  of  Amaranthus 
melancholicus  ruber,  etc;  the  Mesembryanthe- 
mum  tricolor,  the  Scdum  carneum,  the  fine 
Centaurea  candidissima,  the  Gnaphalium  lana- 
tum,  the  golden-leaved  Matricaria,  etc.,  are 
planted  so  as  to  form  initials  or  words,  or  to  rep- 
resent richly  shaded  elegant  ribbons,  or  com- 
plicated arabesque  figures,  or  pretty  designs  of 
mnniucterie,  etc. 


"Dijon,  the  capital  of  Burgundy, — where,  al- 
most as  soon  as  you  get  into  it,  there  rises  to  your 
palate  the  flavor  of  those  fine  wines,  which  de- 
light the  French  as  well  the  inhabitants  of  this 
globe, — Dijon  also  aspires  to  a  high  degree  of 
floriculture.  In  the  ornamental  part  of  its  bo- 
tanical garden  I  saw  also  very  successful  mosaic. 
There  I  have  seen  and  afterward  also  found  in 
Paris — but  what  don't  you  find  in  Paris  of  anything 
fine  that  has  been  produced  anywhere  in  the 
world? — a  happy  use  in  mosaic  compositions 
and  in  borders  of  Alyssum  maritimum  fol.  varie- 
gatis ;  a  charming  plant,  compact,  low,  almost  a 
creeper,  resembling  somewhat  Sedum  carneum, 
but  apparently  more  robust  and  vigorous. 

"  Paris  has  wiped  out  the  traces  of  vandalism 
and  has  got  a  new  set  of  jewels  in  her  gardens. 
She  still,  and  more  than  ever,  is  the  capital  of 
the  kingdom  of  flora,  just  the  same  as  she  is  the 
capital  of  France  and  of  civilization.  Her  Pare 
Monceaux  is  the  richest  floral  gem  in  the  world. 
The  plan  in  both  its  ensemble  and  its  details  is 
admirable,  and  it  is  excellently  kept  up.  From 
the  mosaic  composition  in  it  I  quote : 

" '  A  mass  of  Pelargonium  zonale  with  white 
spotted  leaves  mixed  with  Perilla  nankinensis, 
with  Lobelia  erinus — charming  effect. 

"'An  oval  formed  of  ribbons  of  Coleus  of 
well-contrasted  shades,  bordered  with  an  edge  of 
Lobelia  erinus,  Crystal  Palace. 

"'A  mass  of  Pel.  zonale  foliis  sanguineis 
mixed  with  Centaurea  candidissima,  edged  all 
round  with  Lobelia  erinus  and  Alternanthera. 

" '  A  mass  very  much  shaped  like  a  cupola 
(bombe)  dominated  over  by  a  strong  growing 
Agave  atrovirens,  round  which  there  is  a  beauti- 
ful mosaic  of  Althernanthera,  Sedum  carneum, 
and  other  low  growers.' 

"A  good  many  isolated  specimen  shrubs  on 
lawns  are  set  in  a  setting  of  plants  of  one  single 
color,  and  that  a  brilliant  one,  of  either  leaf  or 
flower;  or  of  a  mosaic.  These  settings  look  like 
flowery  nests  put  in  the  grass. 

"  On  the  sides  of  a  large  lawn  there  rises  a 
heavy  mass  of  Acer  negundo  with  spotted  leaves, 
rounded  by  a  double  border  of  Pelargonium  zo- 
nale, with  flowers  of  a  brilliant  red  and  salmon. 
The  effect  of  it  was  both  powerful  and  charming. 

"  But  I  would  not  be  able  to  finish  were  I  to 
enumerate  all  that  is  seductive  in  this  admirable 
park,  half  mundane,  half  mysterious;  one  of 
the  glories  of  Paris  and  yet  hardly  known  to 
the  multitude. 

"  Havre  calls  me,  and  there,  too,  I  find  mosaics 


1877.1 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


in  full  bloom.  Havre  has  superb  gardens,  nota- 
bly the  one  before  the  City  Hall,  which  is  truly 
a  little  paradise  of  a  garden. 

"  On  a  bank  leaning  against  a  deep  mass  of 
high  shrubs  I  saw  perhaps  the  most  successful 
of  mosaic  compositions ;  oblong  border  of  di- 
vers kinds  of  Alternanthera  and  Teilanthera 
in  large  festoons.  On  a  white  centre  letters  of  a 
yard  length,  formed  by  Mesembryanthemum  tri- 
color and  Alternanthera  paronychoides,  edged 
with  Matricaria  aurea,  compose  the  words — City 
of  Havre.  The  execution  is  admirable  and  the 
effect  of  it  is  striking. 

"  I  would  further  instance  :  a  round  group  rep- 
resenting the  national  colors ;  another  large  de- 
sign composed  in  this  way:  centre-piece,  Cinera- 
ria purpurea  spectabilis;  border,  first  dwarf 
Dahlia,  white  flower,  round  which  second  border 
Amaranthus  mel.  ruber,  &c.  But  I  must  limit 
myself,  my  object  being  to  draw  my  fellow-hor- 
ticulturists in  America  to  this  interesting  subject 
of  Europe,  whilst  in  turn  I  shall  borrow  some 
points  from  their  studies,  their  works  and  their 
experience." 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Preserving  Spikes  of  Pampas-grass. — Mr. 
Henry  Vilmorin,  of  Paris,  communicates  the  fol- 
lowing to  the  London  Gardener's  Chronicle : — "  I 
have  always  found  the  best  plan  for  preserving 
the  spikes  of  Pampas-grass  in  perfect  condition 
to  be  the  following : — Cut  the  stems  before  the 
spikes  are  half  out  of  the  sheaths,  store  them  in 
a  dry  place  and  leave  them  undisturbed  till  en- 
tirely dried,  then  remove  the  leaf  which  partly 
envelopes  the  spikes  ;  the  latter  will  appear  per- 
fectly bright,  and  with  a  silky  gloss  on  them, 
only  they  are  rather  stiff;  then  submit  them 
carefully  to  a  goodly  heat,  either  in  a  well-heated 
oven,  or,  better  still,  before  a  brisk  fire,  when 
each  floret  will  expand,  and  give  the  spike  the 
feather-like  appearance  so  much  appreciated. 
The  spikes  prepared  by  that  process  will  not 
drop  one  of  their  glossy  pistils,  and  will  keep  for 
any  length  of  time  if  kept  free  from  the  tarnish- 
ing effects  of  dust." 

Weeping  Sequoia  Gigantea  —  An  illustration 
of  a  beautiful  Weeping  Sequoia  in  the  London 
Gardener's  Chronicle,  makes  us  feel  a  renewed  re- 
gret that  this  tree  is  so  utterly  a  failure  in  the 
Atlantic  States. 


Beautiful  Specimens  of  Trees. — It  would  be 
a  pleasure  to  record  in  our  pages  the  heights  and 
dimensions  of  rare  and  favorite  trees.  These 
often  get  placed  on  record  in  other  countries, 
but  we  have  little  of  it  in  our  own.  The  following  is 
from  the  London  Gardiner's  Chronicle  : — "  It  may 
be  interesting  to  our  readers  if  we  name  some  of 
the  fine  specimen  ornamental  trees  growing  on 
their  grounds,  out  of  the  many  hundreds  which 
are  to  be  seen  there.  A  beautiful  tree  of  Abies 
Nordmanniana,  14  feet  high  (one  of  the  finest  of 
all  evergreens) ;  a  Cut-leaved  Alnus,  25  feet  high ; 
a  Willow-leaved  Ash,  20  feet;  a  Weeping  Birch, 
30  feet  high,  wide  and  spreading ;  Purple  Beech, 
20  feet  high  ;  Cut-leaved  Weeping  Birch,  50  feet 
high ;  a  Salisburia,  30  feet  high ;  Oak-leaved 
Mountain  Ash,  the  original  tree  brought  to  this 
country,  20  feet  high,  the  same  in  diameter  of 
the  head ;  and  specimens  of  the  following  Mag- 
nolias prove  perfectly  hardy,  namely,  Soulange- 
ana  conspicua,  tripetela,  and  Norbertiana"  M. 
macrophylla  requires  a  slight  protection  in  win- 
ter, as  well  as  M.  Thompsoniana.  M.  grandiflora 
will  not  succeed  out  of  doors." 

And  here  is  an  account  of  another : — "We  learn 
from  the  Gardener  that  there  are  two  enormous 
Irish  Yews  growing  in  the  kitchen  garden  at 
Netherplace,  near  Mauchline.  The  largest  is  33 
feet  in  spread  of  branches,  and  its  height  is  29 
feet  eight  inches.  Its  companion  is  32  feet  six 
inches  in  spread  of  branches,  and  30  feet  in 
height.  They  are  dense  and  in  perfect  health, 
being  of  a  rich  dark  green.  These  two  trees 
stand  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Burns'  cottage." 

Enonymus  radicans  variegata.— All  lovers  of 
low  growing  hardy  evergreens,  know  this  plant 
by  this  time,  as  it  has  been  offered  by  leading 
American  nurserymen  for  some  years  past.  But 
it  is  not  known  that  it  has  handsome  berries. 
Of  this  the  London  Gardener's  Chronicle  says : — 
"  The  variety  or  species  radicans,  both  the  green 
and  variegated  states,  is  very  ornamental  and 
suitable  for  covering  small  spaces  of  wall.  Like 
the  Ivy  it  emits  aerial  roots  very  freely,  and  at- 
taches itself  to  rocks-  or  walls,  and,  therefore,  re- 
quires little  or  no  nailing.  The  ordinary  broad- 
leaved  variety,  latifolius  of  the  nurseries,  with 
rich,  dark  green,  glossy  foliage,  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  ornamental  of  small-growing  ever- 
green shrubs,  and  wherever  it  is  hardy,  should 
be  largely  planted.  Unfortunately,  its  handsome 
fruit  is  extremely  rare  in  this  country.  Indeed, 
we  never  saw  it  on  living  plants  until  this  season, 


6 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


but  we  have  heard  that  a  plant  of  it  fruited  at 
Brighton  last  year.  The  plant  we  saw  in  fruit 
was  about  2J  feet  high,  growing  in  a  small  pot 
outside  a  cottage  window  between  Turnham 
Green  and  Kew  Bridge.  The  crimson  fruit  is 
nearly  spherical,  or  more  or  less  flattened  in  the 
direction  of  its  vertical  axis,  and  from  f  to  1  inch 
in  its  greatest  diameter,  and  it  is  more  or  less  dis- 
tinctly two  or  three-lobed,  the  lobes  answering 
to  its  two  or  three  cells.  If  gardeners  could  suc- 
ceed— and  we  see  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
— in  inducing  this  line  shrub  to  flower  and  fruit 
as  freely  as  the  Holly  or  Aucuba,  it  would  add 
considerably  to  its  attractions  in  the  autumn. 
It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  variety  of 
radicans  with  white-edged  leaves  has  fruited  in 
France  this  season.  A  figure  of  it  is  given  in  the 
Revue  Horticole,  from  which  it  appears  that  the 
fruit  is  much  smaller  than  that  of  E.  japonicus 
latifolius." 

Fruiting  of  Chionanthus  Yirginicus. — The 
following  is  from  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  : — "  In 
a  recent  number  of  the  Revue  Horticole,  Messrs. 
Transon  record  a  curious  fact  concerning  Chion- 
anthus  virginicus.  It  is  this,  that  when  grafted 
on  the  Ash  it  never  produces  any  seed,  although 
it  flowers  profusely,  whereas  quite  small  plants 
on  their  own  roots  ripen  and  seed  in  abundance. 
They  further  recommend  grafting  this  handsome 
white-flowered  shrub  on  the  roots  of  its  own  spe- 
cies, because  when  grafted  on  the  Ash  it  enjoys 
only  a  very  short  life,  and  seedlings  grow  very 
slowly  during  the  first  few  years.  This  shrub  is 
not  generally  planted  as  it  deserves  to  be,  for  its 
ornamental  merits  are  considerable."  It  is  not 
generally  known  that  this  plant  is  polygamous. 
Hence,  though  the  imperfect  organs  may  be  fully 
developed  by  peculiar  modes  of  culture,  it  may 
be  thai  a  barren  form  was  used  in  the  grafting. 


NEW  PLANTS. 


Purple-leaved  Daphne! —  We  noticed  this 
beautiful  plant  anion-  the  Centennial  trees 
exhibited  by  Messrs.  S.  I>.  Parsons  &  Son, 
of  Flushing,  N.  Y.  By  the  following  we  note 
that  it  is  also  attracting  attention  in  England: 
"Those  who  arc  fond  of  ornamental-leaved 
hardy  shrubs  should  make  a  note  of  Daphne 
japonica    atropurpurea.    The    effect    which    it 


produces  among  low-growing  shrubs  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  Copper  Beech  among  trees,  and 
we  have  none  too  many  of  such  things  for  en- 
livening our  shrubbery  borders.  We  saw  some 
nice  plants  of  it  lately  in  Mr.  Kinghorn's  nur- 
sery at  Richmond." 

A  Cream-colored  Red  Cedar. — Describing 
"  Juniperus"  Virginiana  elegans,"  Messrs.  Lee 
say  :  ''  This  very  elegant  variety  of  the  Red 
Cedar  was  raised  from  seed  in  our  own  grounds 
in  1869.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  upon 
the  hardiness  of  this  plant,  but  it  is  due  to  its 
character  to  state  that  the  elegant  cream-colored 
variegation  with  which  the  whole  plant  is  suf- 
fused is  perfectly  constant,  and  has  never  been 
injured  by  frost  or  burned  in  the  least  degree  by 
the  hottest  sunshine,  although  fully  exposed  in 
the  open  air.  The  plant  is  of  neat  and  free 
growth,  and  received  the  honor  of  a  First-class 
Certificate  from  the  Floral  Committee  at  South 
Kensington,  in  July,  1875." 

New  Cornelian  Cherry. — Under  the  simple 
and  effective  name  of  Cornus  mascula  aurea  ele- 
gantissima,  Jacobi  et  Caroli  Leei,  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  tells  us  that 
"  This  elegant  and  lovely  hardy  shrub  was  raised 
from  seed  in  our  Isleworth  Nursery,  and  has 
been  proved  to  be  perfectly  constant  in  its  beau- 
tiful variegation.  A  broad  margin  of  pure  gold 
surrounding  a  bright  green  centre  is  of  itself  a 
sufficient  attraction,  but  when  in  July  the  tips  of 
the  leaves  become  suffused  with  the  brightest 
carmine,  it  is  impossible  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
beaufy  and  elegance  of  the  plant,  which  will  bear 
a  favorable  comparison  with  the  best  variegated 
stove  or  greenhouse  exotics.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  it  has  been  seen  and  admired  by  many 
amateurs  and  nurserymen,  and  has  been  award- 
ed a  First-Class  Certificate  at  South  Kensington. 
The  habit  of  the  plant  is  semi-pendulous  and 
very  graceful." 

A  New  Pinus. — The  Gardeners  Chronicle  say- 
"  A  new  Pinus,  related  to  P.  orientalis  or  P.  Men- 
ziesii,  has  been  discovered  in  the  Balkan  penin- 
sula by  Professor  Paneic."  If  by  "Pinus,"  Abies 
orientalis  is  meant,  there  is  plenty  of  room  for 
the  new  discovery  to  spread  itself  in. 

Crocus  speciosus. — We  learn  from  the  Garden- 
er's Chronicle  thai  Crocus  speciosus  is  now  very 
charming,  flowering  in  pots  in  a  cold  house  as 
well  as  in  the  open  border.  Such  a  welcome 
autumnal  Mower  deserves  some  protection,  for 


im.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


out-of-doors  at  this  season  of  the  year  its  flowers 
are  but  very  short-lived.  What  is  now  cultivated 
as  Crocus  speciosus  is  supposed  to  be  a  garden 
seedling;  the  flowers  are  of  a  deep  blue-like 
color,  brightest  on  the  interior,  where  it  is  also 
handsomely  pencilled  with  dark  lines. 

Ampelopsis  japonica. — This  is  a  Virginian 
creeper  that  does  not  creep,  and  belongs  more 
properly  to  the  class  of  furnishing  plants  than 
climbers.  Its  growth  is  that  of  a  diffuse  wiry 
bush,  and  at  any  time  wnile  it  is  in  leaf  it  is  well 
adapted  for  enriching  with  bright  foliage  large 
vases  on  terraces  and  in  entrance  halls  and  con- 
servatories. At  the  present  time  it  is  in  brilliant 
color,  the  prevailing  tone  being  fiery  orange-red, 
shading  one  way  to  yellow  and  another  way  to 
purple.  It  is  a  grand  plant  for  the  front  line  of 
the  shrubbery,  and  might  even  be  used  in  large 
beds  and  borders,  for  the  knife  would  keep  it 
within  bounds,  and  it  does  not  run  as  other  spe- 
cies of  ampelopsis  do. — Gardener's  Magazine. 

Mor.ea  (iris)  fimbriata. — This  is   a  very  re- 
markable plant,  which  well  deserves  to  be  much 
more  generally  cultivated  than  it  is.     Brought 
from  China  to  England  about  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  it  found  its  way  to  Paris, 
and  was  figured  in  that   magnificent  work,  "  Le 
Jardin  de  Cels,"  in  the  eighth  year  of  the  Repub- 
lic; also  in  Curtis'  Botanical  Magazine  under  the 
name  of  Iris  chinensis.     It  was   likewise   called 
Evansia  chinensis,  in  compliment  to  Mr.  Evans, 
who  introduced  it ;   it  then  went  out  of  fashion. 
It  is  found  for  the  last  time  in  Lee's  catalogue,in 
1830,  and  we  look  for  it  in  vain  in  the  French, 
Belgian,  German,  and  English  catalogues  of  our 
time.     Notwithstanding  this  neglect,   it  well  de- 
serves the  attention  of  amateurs  for  its   beauty 
and   elegance.     It   differs   from   other  Irises  in 
having  fringed  petals,  and  might  well  rival  many 
of  our  Orchids  in  the  brilliancy  of  its  colors  (pale 
blue  striped  with  bright  yellow),  its  lovely  trusses 
of  bloom,  delicate  odor,  and  the  long  period  of 
time  during  which  it  is  in  flower.     It  succeeds 
best  when  grown  in  rather  small  pots  ;  when  the 
spring  frosts  are  over  these  must  be  plunged  into 
the  ground  in  a  warm  situation  ;    they  will  re- 
quire plenty  of  water.   About  the  end  of  October 
they  should  be  taken  up  and  placed  in  a  green- 
house, or  even  in  a  cold  frame,  care  having  been 
taken  to  pot  off  the  young  shoots.   Thus  treated, 
the  Mortea  will  bloom  for  months.     Peat  mould 
suits  it  best,  but  it  will  flower  and  thrive  in  al- 
most any  kind  of  soil. — Garden. 


Saxifraga  japonica. — There  are  many  hand- 
some autumnal  flowers,  but  few  excel  the  Japanese 
Saxifrage  in  beauty  and  grace.  It  succeeds  best 
as  a  pot  plant,  left  undisturbed  for  two  years.  It 
has  large,  glossy,  dark  green  leaves  which  remind 
one  of  those  of  Dondia  epipactis,  out  of  which 
spring  many  tall  and  branching  stems  of  feathery 
white  flowers.  The  four  upper  petals  are  short 
and  nearly  even  in  length,  but  the  lower  one  is 
lengthened  out  into  a  tail-like  appendage,  which 
gives  the  flowers  the  appearance  of  a  bird  of 
paradise  in  full  flight.  A  pot  of  it  with  seven 
spikes  of  bloom  has  been  in  great  beauty  in  my 
room  for  the  last  three  weeks. — H.  Harpur  Crewe 
in  the  Garden. 


QUERIES. 


White  Berry  Pyracantha. — A  correspondent 
speaks  of  failure  with  this  in  transplanting. 
When  set  deeper  than  it  grew  before,  it  never 
fails.  It  makes  no  difference  though  half  the 
plant  be  buried. 

Name  of  Plant. — "  Subscriber,"  Columbus,  O. 
— Your  plant  is  Viburnum  suspensum.  We 
should  like  to  know  if  quite  hardy  with  you  ? 
We  suppose  not. 

Lawn  Grass  for  Oregon. — M.  S.  B.,  Portland, 
Oregon,  asks  :  "Would  you  kindly  advise  me  of 
the  best  grass  seed  for  lawns  in  Oregon  ?  climate 
quite  wet  a  portion  of  the  year  and  quite  dry  in 
summer.  How  would  Rhode  Island  Bent  grass 
do,  or  would  your  Pennsylvania  grass  or  Blue 
grass  be  better,  in  your  judgment  ? 

[As  a  general  thing  rye  grass  does  well  in  Ore- 
gon, and  makes  a  splendid  lawn  grass.  Poa 
campestris,  the  Blue  grass,  also  makes  a  good 
lawn  grass  there.  Perhaps  on  a  place  "  wet  in 
Avinter  and  dry  in  summer,"  Bent  grass  (Agros- 
tis)  would  do  better,  but  this  is  a  matter  wholly 
for  experiment. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Akebia  quinata  Seeding.- — Mr.  Galloway  C. 
Morris,  Philadelphia,  writes  : — "I  notice  in  the 
November  Gardener's  Monthly  that  the  Akebia 
quinata  has  fruited  for  the  first  time,  so  far  as 
you  know,  with  Mr.  Wm.  Canby  this  year.  I 
have  had  fruit  on  mine  for  at  least  three  years. 
As  the  fruit  gets  a  little  over  ripe  it  bursts  open 
showing  multitude  of  seeds  in  the  pulp.  I  think 
that  it  has  no  fruit  on  it  this  year." 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


REEN  MOUSE  AND  IMOUSE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Roses,  when  they  are  forced,  do  much  better 
when  the  pots  are  plunged  in  some  damp  mate- 
rial. When  no  better  plan  offers,  they  may  be 
set  inside  of  a  larger  pot,  with  moss  between  the 
space  around.  All  plants  that  come  into  flower 
through  winter  should  have  those  positions  af- 
forded them  that  have  the  most  sunlight,  espe- 
cially the  early  morning  light.  Care  must,  how- 
ever, be  taken  that  the  material  about  the 
plunged  pot  does  not  get  too  cold.  For  winter 
flowering,  and  Roses  especially,  the  flowering  is 
best  when  the  earth  about  the  root  is  a  little 
warmer  than  the  atmosphere.  For  watering, 
water  a  little  warmed  is  an  advantage. 

We  were  speaking  here  chiefly  of  window 
plants.  The  dry  air  of  sitting-rooms  is  the  great 
obstacle  to  the  perfection  of  window  plants.  The 
plants  should  be  sprinkled  or  syringed  with  wa- 
ter as  often  as  practicable,  and  the  leaves  washed 
as  often  as  any  insects  or  dust  appear  on  them. 
In  warm  rooms,  they  should  be  kept  in  the  cool- 
est parts,  and  as  near  the  light  as  possible.  For 
hanging  plants  chere  is  now  an  increasing  taste, 
as  they  afford  so  much  scope  for  arranging  the 
forms,  and  for  beautifying  the  windows.  Linaria 
Cymbalaria  or  the  Kenilworth  Ivy,  Variegated 
Spider-wort  {Tradescantia  variegata),  Money-wort 
(Lysimachianummularia),  the  Creeping  Saxifrage 
(Saxifraga  sarmentosa),  and  Common  Ivy,  are 
among- the  most  useful  of  commoner  things. 
Then  there  is  the  Australian  or  German  Ivy,  as 
well  as  the  many  varieties  of  the  evergreen  Ivy, 
and  many  other  things  of  a  choicer  character,  if 
gas  is  not  burnt  in  the  room. 

In  the  greenhouse,  air  may  be  given  in  fine 
weather;  but  if  the  temperature  is  not  allowed 
to  go  much  above  45°,  much  will  not  be  required. 
The  stereotyped  advice  to  give  air  freely  on  all 
occasions  when  not  actually  freezing,  is  about  on 
a  par  with  the  absurd  practice  that  lays  the 
foundation  of  consumption  in  a  child,  by  turning 
it  out  almost  naked  in  frosty  weather  to  render  it 
hardy.  Ma  n  y  .strike  their  Fuchsias  now,  from  which 
they  desire  to  make  very  fine  specimen  plants. 


All  kinds  of  plants  that  are  required  for  Spring  or 
Summer  blooming,  should  be  propagated  when- 
ever the  time  permits.  All  growing  plants,  as 
Calceolarias,  Cinerarias,  Chinese  Primrose,  Ger- 
aniums, and  so  on,  should  be  potted  as  often  as 
the  pots  become  filled  with  roots.  Plants  which 
have  a  growing  season,  and  one  of  rest,  as  Rho- 
dodendrons, Azaleas,  Camellias,  &c,  should  be 
potted  if  they  require  it,  just  before  they  com- 
mence to  grow,  which  is  usually  about  the  end 
of  this  month.  In  potting,  a  well-drained  pot  is 
of  great  importance.  The  pots  should  be  near 
one-fourth  filled  with  old  potsherds,  broken 
small,  and  moss  placed  over  to  keep  out  the 
soil. 

Daphnes  like  a  cool,  humid  atmosphere,  and 
are  very  impatient  of  heat.  The  best  we  ever 
saw  were  grown  by  a  farmer's  wife,  who  had  an 
old  spring-house  converted  into  a  greenhouse  to 
preserve  her  oranges,  oleanders  and  daphnes 
over  the  winter.  The  natural  heat  from  the 
spring  was  quite  sufficient  to  keep  out  frost,  and 
it  was  surprising  how  charmingly  the  plants 
throve  in  this,  to  a  gardener,  rough-looking  plant- 
case. 

It  is  better  to  keep  in  heat  in  cold  weather  by 
covering,  where  possible,  than  to  allow  it  to  es- 
cape, calculating  to  make  it  good  by  fire-heat, 
which  is,  at  best,  but  a  necessary  evil.  Where 
bloom  is  in  demand,  nothing  less  than  55°  will 
accomplish  the  object;  though  much  above  that 
is  not  desirable,  except  for  tropical  hot-house 
plants.  Where  these  plants  are  obliged  to  be 
wintered  in  a  common  greenhouse,  they  should 
be  kept  rather  dry,  and  not  be  encouraged  much 
to  grow,  or  they  may  rot  away. 

After  Cyclamens  have  done  blooming,  it  is 
usual,  at  this  season,  to  dry  them  off;  but  we  do 
best  with  them  by  keeping  them  growing  till 
Spring,  then  turning  them  out  in  the  open  hor- 
de]-, and  re-pot  in  August  for  winter-flowering. 

Mignonette  is  much  improved  by  occasional 
waterings  with  liquid-manure. 

In  managing  other  plants,  where  there  are 
several  plants  or  varieties  of  one  species,  and 
command  of  different  temperatures,  it  is  a  com- 
mon  plan   to  bring  some   forward   a  few  weeks 


1871] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


earlier  than  others  in  the  higher  heat,  thus 
lenghtening  the  season  of  bloom.  This  ap- 
plies particularly  to  Camellias  and  Azalias  ;  the 
former  are  however,  not  so  easily  forced  as  the 
latter,  being  liable  to  drop  their  buds,  unless  care 
be  taken  to  regulate  the  increased  temperature 

gradually. 

•♦« 

COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


VERBENA  RUST. 

BY  CHAS.  HENDERSON,  JERSEY   CITY   HEIGHTS,   N.   J. 

I  see  there  has  been  some  discussion  of  late 
as  to  what  is  the  cause  of  the  "Verbena  rust," 
or  whether  its  ravages  are  the  work  of  an  insect 
or  a  fungus.  This  is  easily  determined ;  let 
any  one  place  an  affected  leaf  under  a  micro- 
scope of  ordinary  power,  say  two  or  three  hun- 
dred diameters,  and  the  insects  (mites?)  and 
eggs  will  be  seen  almost  invariably ;  while  on 
leaves  that  are  not  affected,  neither  eggs  nor  in- 
sects will  be  seen.  As  far  as  my  observations 
have  gone,  on  all  leaves  affected  with  that  disease 
called  "  verbena  rust,"  insects  will  be  found  by 
aid  of  the  microscope,  varying  somewhat  in 
appearance  in  the  different  varieties  of  plants, 
as  it  is  not  confined  to  the  verbena  by  any 
means,  being  found  on  fuchsias,  heliotropes, 
petunias,  pentstemons,  and  even  on  some  of  our 
native  plants  growing  by  the  roadside.  Now  as 
to  the  cause  of  the  disease,  which  is  the  most 
important  question  to  get  at,  I  am  led  to  believe 
that  it  rarely  if  ever  attacks  plants  unless  their 
vigor  or  vitality  has  been  checked  by  some 
cause  or  other.  My  reason  for  this  opinion  is, 
that  it  is  found  to  attack  verbenas,  heliotropes, 
&c,  when  the  roots  become  "pot-bound,"  or 
from  the  opposite  condition  when  "  over-potted ;" 
or,  in  short,  any  cause  that  will  arrest  the 
healthy  growth  of  the  plant.  This  would  im- 
ply that  the  insect  is  the  consequence  and  not 
the  cause  of  the  disease.  Our  practice  here  in 
growing  verbenas  is  to  take  for  stock,  cuttings 
off  our  healthiest  plants  about  the  first  of  March, 
and  to  grow  them  on  without  check  until  May ; 
then  to  plant  them  out  in  freshly  trenched  or 
subsoiled  ground  which  has  been  heavily  dressed 
with  rotted  manure.  Plants  so  treated,  I  be- 
lieve, have  never  once  been  affected  with  rust 
in  the  open  ground.  I  may  state,  however,  that 
by  mid-summer,  that  on  all  plants  to  be  used 
for  propagation,  the  flowers  are  cut  to  prevent 


the  plants  from  weakening  by  seeding.  Thus 
treated,  by  October  the  plants  will  have  made 
the  soft,  succulent  growth  necessary  for  cuttings. 
Our  propagation  of  verbenas  for  our  main  crop 
is  begun  usually  about  the  middle  of  October, 
and  they  are  rooted  slowly  without  fire-heat. 
After  being  potted  they  are  kept  in  a  tempera- 
ture averaging  45°  at  night.  This  completes  our 
whole  round  of  operations  in  the  culture  of 
verbenas.  We  are  now  growing  varieties  that 
were  imported  twenty  years  ago,  which  are  as 
free  from  rust  as  our  seedlings  of  last  year. 

[We  are  glad  to  get  these  excellent  notes. 
There  is  yet  much  to  learn  about  verbena  rust. 
What  is  the  insect,  for  instance,  referred  to? 
Send  some  specimens  to  Prof.  Riley,  at  St.  Louis; 
Prof.  Packard,  at  Salem,  Mass.;  or  Prof.  Rath- 
von,  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  For  our  part  we  do  not 
know  why  the  insect  should  wait  for  sickly 
plants  before  attacking  them.  No  other  insect 
with  which  gardeners  have  to  deal  are  so  fas- 
tidious. These  and  other  matters  still  need 
investigation. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


VERBENA  CULTURE. 

BY  W.  T.  BELL,  FRANKLIN,  PENNA. 

In  compliance  with  your  request,  that  I  would 
send  yo\\  an  article  on  "  How  to  grow  Verbenas 
well,"  I  have  hastily  prepared  the  following: — 

As  soon  as  irosts  are  over  in  the.  Spring,  select 
the  youngest  and  healthiest  plants  to  be  had, 
being  particular  to  avoid  any  that  are  affected 
by  mildew  or  rust.  The  ground  where  they  are 
to  grow  requires  no  special  preparation,  but 
should  be  in  good  condition  and  dry.  Set  the 
plants  in  rows,  at  least  two  feet  apart  each  way, 
stir  the  surface  of  the  soil  frequently,  during  the 
summer,  and  destroy  all  weeds  as  soon  as  they 
appear.  The  plants  may  be  allowed  to  flower, 
but  should  be  gone  over  at  least  once  a  week,  and 
all  fading  flowers  and  seed-vessels  cut  away. 

About  four  or  five  weeks  before  frost  is  ex- 
pected in  the  Fall,  all  flowers  and  flower-buds 
should  be  removed,  the  plants  cut  back,  so  that 
the  branches  will  be  about  a  foot  or  fifteen 
inches  in  length,  and  all  wTeak  shoots  thinned 
away  from  the  centre  of  the  plant.  The  soil 
should  be  forked  over  about  the  plants,  and  if 
not  already  rich,  should  be  made  so,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  decayed  manure  or  fresh  soil. 

As  soon  as  the  prepared  plants  have  made  the 
proper  growth,  a  few  cuttings  may  be  tried, 
being  careful   to  use   only  such   shoots  as  are 


10 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


making  a  strong  growth,  and  taking  nothing  but 
the  tender  portion  of  the  shoot. 

The  benches  in  the  verbena  house  should  be 
so  arranged  that  the  plants  will  all  be  near  the 
glass  overhead;  and  the  heating-pipes  should 
have  sufficient  capacity  to  dry  off'  the  plants 
and  allow  air  to  be  given  during  the  coldest 
weather,  if  necessary.  The  cutting  bench  should 
be  boarded  tightly  below  and  have  an  extra  loop 
of  pipe  beneath  it  to  secure  a  proper  under  heat. 
If  the  weather  becomes  warm  the  first  lots  of 
cuttings  will  be  likely  to  mildew,  and  should  be 
thrown  out,  even  though  they  may  have  been 
potted  for  weeks. 

Endeavor  to  put  in  the  main  crop  of  cuttings 
just  before  the  first  severe  frost,  as  the  later  in 
the  season  they  are  struck,  the  more  healthy  the 
plants  are  likely  to  be.  The  cutting  bench 
should  be  kept  constantly  moist  and  shaded 
from  strong  sunlight.  The  temperature  of  the 
house,  while  the  verbenas  are  in  it,  should  be 
kept  as  near  as  possible  at  from  40°  to  45°  at 
night,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  degrees  higher  dur- 
ing the  day,  giving  air  whenever  possible.  The 
matter  of  temperature  is  very  important,  and  it 
is  the  point  where  most  propagators  fail.  If 
these  limits  are  exceeded  for  any  length  of  time, 
the  plants  will  become  unhealthy,  even  though 
they  have  the  best  treatment  in  other  respects. 

When  the  cuttings  have  formed  soft  white 
rootlets  about  half  an  inch  in  length,  which 
should  require  at  least  eight  days,  they  should 
be  potted  into  thumb  pots,  using  the  ordinary 
fresh,  rich,  greenhouse  soil.  The  plants  should 
never  be  watered  to  excess,  particularly  during 
the  short,  dull  days  in  winter;  neither  should 
they  be  allowed  to  become  so  dry  as  to  cause 
the  leaves  to  droop. 

When  well  established  in  the  pots,  and  having 
made  sufficient  new  growth,  a  cutting  may  be 
taken  from  each  plant  and  rooted,  thus  doub- 
ling the  stock.  Each  plant  thus  topped  will 
usually  start  two  or  three  new  shoots;  and  as 
soon  as  these  are  an  inch  or  two  in  length  the 
plant  may  be  re-potted  into  a  two  or  a  two  and 
a  half  inch  pot;  or  the  new  shoots  may  again 
be  taken  off  to  make  cuttings  and  the  old  plant 
thrown  away.  This  is  to  be  continued  through 
tin  winter.  Whenever  there  is  proper  material 
to  make  cuttings  from  it  should  be  used  ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  old  plants  cease  to  produce  strong 
shoots,  they  should  be  thrown  out,  and  a  con- 
stant succession  of  young,  vigorous  plants  kept 
on  hand,     fn  my  own  practice  I  seldom  re-put 


the  plants  during  the  winter.  Two  crops  of  cut- 
tings are  taken  from  them,  and  they  are  then 
thrown  away  and  their  places  filled  with  young 
plants. 

The  house  should  be  regularly  fumigated  with 
tobacco,  at  least  twice  a  week,  and  the  plants 
moved  occasionally  to  prevent  their  getting  too 
close  together,  or  rooting  into  the  sand  on  the 
bench.  If  this  treatment  is  followed  persistently, 
and  the  two  tures,  temperature  and  moisture,  are 
particularly  attended  to,  the  plants  will  grow  in 
almost  any  kind  of  soil,  and  will  be  perfectly 
healthy.  But  there  are  very  few  growers  who 
are  willing  to  give  their  verbenas  the  unflagging 
attention  they  require;  and  a  large  majority  of 
the  houses  will  still  contain  their  sweltering, 
mildewed,  sulphur-coated,  long-legged,  aphis- 
covered  old  plants  that  are  such  a  disgrace  to 
the  trade. 


VERBENA  RUST. 


BY   HOWARD   BRINTOX,   CHRISTIANA,    PA. 

Some  time  ago  I  saw  inquiry  in  the  Monthly 
in  regard  to  Verbena  rust,  its  causes  and  result 
thereof:  In  consequence  I  beg  leave  to  offer  my 
opinion  ;  of  course,  like  everybody,  not  without 
thinking  it  is  the  correct  one.  It  would  seem  al- 
most incredulous  with  some,  after  a  close  exam- 
ination, that  this  disease  or  rust  is  caused  by  an 
insect,  or  rather  the  larvae  of  an  insect.  In  warm 
sunshiny  days,  by  watching  closely  in  the 
neighborhood  where  the  plants  appear  most  af- 
fected, a  small  minute  black  fly  may  often  be 
seen  hovering  around  over  them ;  sometimes 
while  watering  I  have  seen  them  rise  in  myriads 
almost,  from  the  plants  where  they  alight  to  de- 
posit their  eggs.  The  fly  itself,  I  do  not  think, 
injures  the  plants  any,  but  it  is  the  larvre  that  is 
so  destructible.  It  is  impossible  to  discern  them 
with  the  naked  eye,  but  with  even  a  good  single 
lensed  microscope  they  can  be  seen  in  innumer- 
able quantities.  I  do  not  know  of  any  remedy 
that  will  dislodge  or  destroy  this  enemy  without 
leaving  its  injurious  effect  on  the  plants  also. 
Tobacco  smoke  will  not  answer,  as  the  insect  can 
imbed  itself  in  the  leaves  of  the  plant  where  it 
can  remain  unharmed  by  the  smoke.  The  insect 
does  not  confine  its  attacks  to  the  Verbena  alone. 
I  have  seen  other  plants  injured  in  like  manner. 
Heliotropes  in  particular,  that  had  become  pot- 
hound,  I  have  seen  blackened  and  injured  al- 
most beyond  recovery.  The  most  effectual  and 
only  remedy  perhaps,  is  to  encourage  a  strong, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


11 


healthy  growth,  selecting  the  best  young  shoots 
only  for  propagating.  Give  the  plants  a  dry  airy 
atmosphere  with  plenty  of  light,  in  preference  to 
a  very  damp,  close  green  or  hot-house  atmos- 
phere. 


VERBENA  RUST  AND  VERBENA  GROWING. 

BY  J.    M.,    PHILAD'A. 

The  two  communications  in  the  Monthly  with- 
in a  short  time  past  on  the  Verbena  and  the  rust 
which  attacks  it,  show  an  unabated  interest  in 
this  old  and  beautiful  flower.  The  rust,  for  many 
years  past,  has  been  a  serious  drawback  to  its 
growth,  many  florists  failing  completely  to  cope 
with  it,  and  few  indeed  are  the  establishments 
where  the  plant  can  be  seen  entirely  free  from 
the  obnoxious  pest.  Mr.  Palmer,  in  the  Septem- 
ber number,  has  told  us  of  a  simple  remedy  of 
his  for  the  rust,  viz.,  pulverized  charcoal  applied 
to  the  rust  spots,  which  if  found'  a  satisfactory 
one  by  all,  will  place  us  under  great  obligations 
to  him.  Preventives  we  know  are  better  than 
remedies,  yet  it  has  never  been  my  fortune  to  see 
them  so  well  applied  that  there  was  no  rust  to 
remedy.  The  Verbena  likes  nothing  better  than 
good  rich  soil  and  a  cool  atmosphere.  It  will 
not  do  to  starve  it  in  poor  soil — or,  look  out  for 
the  rust.  It  does  not  object  to  a  small  pot,  pro- 
vided plenty  of  good  food  be  supplied,  and  it  be 
not  checked  in  any  way.  I  have  seen  to-day,  as 
health}'  a  lot  of  Verbenas  in  thumb  pots  as  one 
could  wish  for.  They  were  struck  in  the  end  of 
August,  from  plants  from  which  all  rusty  ones 
had  been  thrown  out  as  they  appeared;  and  pot- 
ted in  soil  enriched  with  manure.  No  rust  has 
yet  appeared,  but  it  most  likely  will  to  a  small 
extent,  as  no  collection  seems  for  long  entirely 
free  from  it.  Rust,  in  my  experience,  is  the  con- 
sequence of  starvation,  or  of  a  checked  growth 
from  some  other  cause.  This  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  even  rusty  plants  when  bedded  out  in 
Spring,  will  to  a  great  extent  grow  out  of  it,  and 
make  healthy  growth  ;  and  it  is  said,  in  Califor- 
nia where  the  Verbena  stands  out  winter  and 
summer,  and  makes  a  strong  vigorous  growth, 
the  rust  is  unknown. 


THE  VERBENA. 

BY   W.   C.   L.    DREW,   EL   DORADO,   CAL. 

The  Verbena  is  a  native  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
was  first  introduced  into  England  about  1825, 
imported   into   this    country    about    ten    years 


later,  and  created  quite  a  sensation  among  the 
florists  of  those  times,  maintaining  its  position 
as  a  first-class  flower  for  florists  and  amateurs 
ever  since. 

Within  the  last  twelve  years  the  improvement 
in  this  plant,  both  as  regards  size  and  color  of 
the  flower,  have  been  wonderful,  but  it  is  one  of 
the  saddest  truths  of  florieulture  that  this  great 
improvement  in  the  flower  has  destroyed  the  ro- 
bust, healthy,  and  good  constitutioned  plant  of 
old,  and  given  us  a  more  magnificent  flowering 
plant,  with  a  sickly  constitution,  liable  to  the  at- 
tack of  insects  and  disease.  With  this  plant  as 
it  now  is,  we  must  now  deal,  and  though  it 
seems  impossible  to  restore  its  former  vigor  by 
any  means  in  our  power,  yet  by  careful  cultiva- 
tion we  can  have  healthy  plants,  not  it  is  true,  as 
strong  as  formerly  but  still  healthy. 

First  we  must  have  good,  young  plants,  raised 
from  seed;  slips  will  not  do,  for  I  find  that  plants 
raised  from  slips  are  more  liable  to  be  assailed 
by  the  disease  known  as  rust,  and  in  fact  it  is  al- 
ways the  case  that  plants  attacked  by  this  disease 
are  old  plants  saved  over  two  or  more  years,  or 
plants  started  from  slips ;  therefore  I  advise  all 
desiring  healthy  plants  to  use  seedlings. 

I  sow  seed  in  the  Spring  as  early  as  possible  in 
hotbeds,  and  by  the  time  frost  is  over  we  have  fine 
little  plants;  the  frames  must  be  opened  every 
day  that  they  can  be  open  with  safety. 

Have  your  bed  prepared,  good  and  rich  with 
well  decayed  manure;  have  the  soil  rather  sandy, 
but  if  not  naturally  so,  get  sandy  soil  and  mix 
with  it,  and  have  it  in  as  warm  and  sunshiny  place 
as  possible;  by  the  middle  of  May  transplant 
your  seedlings,  doing  so  on  a  cloudy  but  warm 
day;  see  that  the  soil  does  not  get  too  dry  and  I 
think  you  will  have  no  cause  to  complain.  To 
avoid  root-lice  do  not  plant  two  years  in  succes- 
sion in  the  same  bed.  If  you  would  avoid  rust, 
use  no  old  plants  saved  over,  or  plants  raised 
from  slips ;  if  a  plant  gets  rusty  pull  it  up  and 
throw  it  away;  better  lose  one  plant  than  a  bed. 


FLOWERING    OF   THE    EUCHARIS   AMAZONICA 
UNDER  DIFFICULTIES. 

BY   CHAS.   J.    HAETTEL,    SAN   JOSE,   CAL. 

After  many  trials  I  have  at  last  succeeded  in 
flowering  the  Eucharis  Amazonica.  Last  winter 
was  very  hard  out  here  on  all  kinds  of  plants 
that  needed  more  heat  than  was  afforded  by 
Nature. 

From  the  middle  of  January  we  could  make 


12 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[Jauuary, 


no  fire  on  account  of  the  water  rising  to  within 
six  inches  of  the  surface  of  the  ground,  so  it 
dried  off  the  Eucharis  entirely,  and  they  were 
standing  from  January  until  April  in  a  cold 
moist  temperature,  many  nights  as  low  as  40°. 
In  April  I  took  pans  one  foot  in  diameter,  well 
drained  them,  and  planted  six  bulbs  in  each  pan, 
using  soil  composed  of  one  part  peat,  two  parts 
loam,  with  a  little  well  decomposed  manure  and 
some  leaf  mould  added.  They  were  then  placed 
in  a  close  frame,  having  a  strong  bottom  heat, 
maintaining  a  high  temperature,  where  they 
soon  commenced  to  grow.  I  gave  them  plenty 
of  water,  both  at  the  root  and  on  the  foliage,  and 
gradually  a  little  air,  until  the  beginning  of  Au- 
gust, when  they  were  taken  to  a  cooler  place  and 
kept  more  dry  until  early  in  September ;  they 
were  then  again  placed  in  heat,  and  well  sup- 
plied with  water  at  the  root  and  on  the  leaves. 
The  first  flowers  opened  the  last  days  of  Septem- 
ber, which  are  most  beautiful,  being  large  and 
pure  white,  and  deliciously  fragrant. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Verbena. — If  in  a  multitude  of  counsel- 
lors there  is  wisdom,  Verbena  growers  will  be 
happy  to-day.  It  is  a  Verbena  number.  But 
the  Verbena  is  worthy  of  all  the  space  the  articles 
occupy. 

Musa  ensete.  —  This  beautiful  ornamental 
Banana  does  not  seem  to  throw  up  suckers  as 
other  species  do,  and  propagation  is  slow.  This 
is  why  the  plants  are  scarce  and  dear.  One  who 
could  increase  it  faster  than  now  would  find  it  to 
his  profit. 

Duchess  of  Edinburg  Rose.— Some  fear  has 
been  expressed  that  there  may  be  a  spurious  va- 
riety of  this  under  culture.  We  do  not  think 
there  is — the  variations  we  have  seen  being  not 
unusual  in  cases  where  the  heavy  propagation  of 
a  desirable  thing  is  going  on.  We  can  say, 
however,  that  a  bud  from  Mr.  Chitty,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Bellevue  Nursery,  Paterson,  N.  J., 
shows  that  that  firm  has  the  true  kind. 

Covent  Garden  Bouquets.— The  following 
from  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  tells  what  the 
best  bouquets  are  made  of  in  London:  "Some 
exceedingly  effective  bouquets  are  always  to  be 
found  in  the  Central  Avenue  of  Covent  Garden 
Market.   We  noticed  one  recently  which,  though 


formal,  was  very  striking.  A  white  Camellia 
formed  the  centre,  and  from  this  to  the  outer 
edge  of  the  bouquet  were  six  rows  at  equal  dis- 
tances apart  of  single  pips  of  Stephanotis  flowers 
— six  pips  in  each  row—the  angles  being  filled 
with  Violets,  and  the  whole  edged  with  Maiden- 
hair Fern.  Other  bouquets  were  made  princi- 
pally of  Camellias.  Roses,  and  Eucharises,  with 
sprays  of  white  and  scarlet  Bouvardias  slightly 
elevated  above  the  more  massive  flowers.  This 
arrangement  was  very  chaste  and  pleasing." 


NEW  PLANTS. 


Dianella  aspera. — By  the  following  from  the 
Gardener's  Chronicle  this  plant  must  be  very  or- 
namental :  "  One  of  the  finest  blue-berried  plants 
with  which  we  are  acquainted  is  Dianella  aspera, 
and  a  good  example  we  have  recently  seen  in 
the  temperate-house  at  Kew.  The  panicles  are 
very  compact,  in  one  case  9  inches  long  with 
forty-eight  berries,  closely  arranged  on  short 
branches.  The  berries  equal  in  size  a  small 
Solan um  Capsicastrum.  Several  of  this  genus 
would  be  highly  ornamental  in  fruit,  but  for 
their  excessively  lax  habit." 

Double  Geranium — Bishop  Wood. — Mr.  Har- 
ris sends  us  a  specimen  of  his  new  geranium, 
"Bishop  Wood,"  and  it  proves  to  be  an  excel- 
lent addition  to  this  beautiful  class  of  plants. 
The  shade  of  color,  which  perhaps  the  ladies 
would  call  cherry  rose,  is  novel  in  double  gera- 
niums. The  flowers  are  very  large,  one  in  the 
truss  measuring  two  inches  across.  The  truss  is 
rather  small,  measuring  four  inches  over,  but 
Mr.  Harris  says  it  comes  much  larger  in  season. 

Sweet-scented  Rhododendrons. — A  corres- 
pondent recently  referred  to  the  house  culture  of 
Rhododendrons — an  excellent  idea.  The  new 
sweet-scented  class  of  hybrids  are  worth  attend- 
ing to  in  this  connection.  The  following  new 
varieties  of  this  class  have  recently  appeared  in 
England  : 

Countess  of  Derby. — This  is  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  half-hardy  kinds,  being  of  a  compact,bushy 
habit,  and  bearing  on  even  the  smallest  plants, 
trusses  of  large  pure  white  deliciously  fragrant 
flowers,  a  single  (lower  being  sufficient  to  give  a 
delightful  scent  to  a  bouquet.  A  number  of 
plants  were  exhibited  at  Manchester  last  year, 
and  were  awarded  a  First-class  Certificate  of 
Merit. 


18TT.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


13 


Countess  of  Sefton. — This  was  raised  from  the 
same  parent  as  the  above.  The  plant  is  not  so 
dwarf-growing  ;  the  flower  is  white,  with  a  band 
of  rosy-purple  on  each  side  of  the  corolla,  which 
is  beautifully  fringed  on  the  margin. 


flower    pure     white,    with     beautifully    fringed 
margin. 

Mrs.  James  Shawe. — A  pure  white  cup-shaped 
flower,  of  great  substance;  the  plant  of  very 
bushy  habit  and  profuse  bloomer. 


PTERODISCUS  SPECTOSUS 


Lady  Skelmersdale  differs  from  the  former  in 
the  flower  being  pure  white  and  more  trumpet- 
shaped,  with  beautiful  even  edge ;  the  form  is 
very  handsome,  the  plant  bushy  and  free  bloom- 
ing. 

Duchess  of  Sutherland. — Plant  of  robust  habit; 


Pterodiscus  speciosus. — The  Gardener  s  Chron- 
icle recently  gave  the  following  figure  and  de- 
scription of  a  greenhouse  plant  with  flowers  of  a 
somewhat  novel  color,  introduced  by  Mr.  William 
Bull,  which  will  most  likely  prove  of  value  to  our 
greenhouse   cultivators,    and    we    reproduce    it 


14 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


^January, 


here  because  we  have  an  idea  that  it  will  be 
found  a  very  useful  out-door  plant  in  our  sum- 
mer gardening. 

"A  handsome  greenhouse  perennial,  requiring 
full  exposure  to  sunlight.  It  has  large  globose 
tuberous  roots,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  ele- 
vated above  the  earth,  producing  from  its  sum- 
mit a  stem  which  divides  into  several  erect  thick 
branches,  reaching  2  feet  high,  furnished  with 
opposite  sinuate   dentate    leaves,   and    bearing 


showy  flowers  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves.  These 
flowers  are  large,  with  a  funnel-shaped  tube,  and 
a  spreading  five-lobed  limb  of  a  beautiful  lilac 
or  reddish  purple  color,  rendering  the  plant  well 
worthy  of  cultivation  for  its  ornamental  qualities. 
It  flowers  during  the  early  part  of  the  summer. 
This  species  has  been  collected  and  sent  from 
South  Africa  by  Mr.  Naylor,  an  amateur  much 
interested  in  horticultural  pursuits." 


Mruit  and  vegetable  gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Cabbages  and  lettuces  in  frames  for  protection 
through  the  winter,should  have  all  the  air  possible 
whenever  the  thermometer  is  above  the  freezing 
point ;  when  it  is  below,  they  need  not  be  uncov- 
ered. They  require  no  light  when  there  is  not 
heat  enough  to  make  them  grow.  Examine  for 
mice  occasionally.  If  noticed,  soak  peas  in  water 
till  they  swell,  then  roll  in  arsenic,  and  bury  in 
the  soil.  They  prefer  these  to  lettuce  when  so 
prepared. 

The  preparing  of  manure  ready  for  Spring 
operations,  at  every  favorable  opportunity,  should 
not  be  forgotten.  Next  to  draining  and  subsoil- 
ing,  nothing  is  of  more  importance  than  this. 

Much  has  been  said  of  guano,  phosphates,  etc. 
— all  very  well  in  certain  cases — but  nothing  is 
so  well  adapted  to  the  permanent  improvement 
of  soil  as  manure  composed  in  the  main  of  de- 
composing vegetable  matter.  It  is  always  light 
and  porous,  thereby  allowing  air  to  circulate 
freely  through  the  soil;  it  absorbs  moisture, 
which  in  dry  weather  is  given  off  to  the  drier 
soil  slowly,  to  the  advantage  of  the  plants  near 
by;  and,  what  is  not  a  small  point  in  its  favor, 
it  aids  in  giving  a  dark  black  color  to  the  soil, 
which  renders  itso  much  warmer  in  early  Spring; 
and,  by  so  much,  better  adapted  to  the  early 
raising  of  vegetables.  It  is  also  a  good  rule  to 
have  the  manure  well  decomposed  before  using 
it.  There  are  a  few  things  which  do  not  object 
to  fresh  manure,  and  a  still  fewer  number  that 
might,  perhaps,  prefer  it;  but  the  major  part  do 
best  in  thoroughly  fermented  material.  Leaves, 
litter,  and   refuse   vegetable  matter  of  all  kinds, 


should  be  got  together  at  every  favorable  oppor- 
tunity, and  well  mixed  in  with  manure. 

In  the  fruit  garden,  pruning  may  be  advanced 
where  needed.  We  say,  where  needed,  because 
much  unnecessary,  or  even  injurious  work  is 
done.  All  weak  or  imperfect  shoots  may  be  cut 
out,  as  also  all  that  are  likely  to  interfere  by 
crossing  the  paths  of  others.  In  weak  or  stunted 
trees  pruning  may  be  severe.  Top  dressing  is 
best  done  in  the  early  Fall,  but  where  neglected 
may  be  done  now.  If  orchard  trees  have  not 
been  indexed  and  mapped  out  in  a  book,  it 
should  be  done  to  secure  against  loss  of  labels. 
A  large  wooden  pine  label,  with  a  notch  in  the 
upper  end  for  stout  copper  wire,  well  painted 
and  the  name  written  while  the  white  paint  is 
dry,  is  the  best  label,  and  should  be  attached  to 
each  tree.  The  stout  copper  wire  can  be  made 
with  a  large  loop  so  that  in  ten  years  or  more  it 
will  not  need  untwisting  for  the  branch  to  grow. 
Use  large  labels,  and  write  the  name  full  and  dis- 
tinct so  as  to  be  easily  seen.  Wash  the  trunks 
and  branches  with  linseed  oil  where  insects  are 
troublesome,  and  with  colored  lime-wash  if  the 
bark  is  scaly  and  does  not  seem  to  fall  freely 
from  the  tree. 

Grape  vines  may  be  pruned  when  the  weather 
seems  Spring-like.  If  left  late  they  bleed. 
Whether  this  is  much  of  an  injury,  or  not,  is  dis- 
puted, but  it  certainly  does  no  good,  and  it  is  as 
well  to  avoid  it.  Of  course  this  advice  is  not  for 
northern  vines,  which,  for  some  time  yet,  will  be 
buried  under  the  earth. 

Those  who  plant  orchards  this  Spring,  will 
needs  be  inquiring  what  kinds  to  plant.  If  for 
market  or  profit,  it  is  best  to  find  out  what  kinds 
are  popular  in  the  neighborhood.     If  for  one's 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


15 


own  pleasure  chiefly,  a  good  variety  will  interest. 
Even  if  we  were  going  to  plant  for  profit  we 
should  have  some  variety.  If  we  wanted  to  set 
out  a  thousand  trees,  we  might  divide,  say  nine 
hundred  and  fifty  between  a  half  dozen  of  the 
well-known  kinds  in  the  district,  but  we  should 
set  out  the  other  fifty  trees  in  fifty  kinds,  for  the 
chance  that  some  might  be  an  improvement  on 
the  better  known  kinds,  which  could  then  be  top 
grafted  with  them  if  found  desirable. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


SOUTHERN  THORNLESS  RASPBERRY. 

BY   MR.   W.    FOSTER,    LOUISIANA,   MO. 

I  notice  under  the  head  of  notes  on  "  new 
fruits,"  by  Wm,  F.  Bassett,  that  he  regards  the 
Southern  Thornless  as  a  distinct  sort.  I  have 
tried  it  side  by  side  with  Turner's  Seedling,  and 
they  are  identical — my  Southern  Thornless  from 
Indiana,  Turner's  Seedling  from  Illinois.  They 
both  prove  to  be  well-flavored,  good-sized  ber- 
ries, too  soft  for  the  market,  and  canes  too  tender 
to  stand  hard  winters  here.  The  Turner  is  an 
old  variety  here,  and  the  Southern  Thornless 
was  supposed  to  be  new  till  tested.  The  Turner 
seems  to  have  strayed  away,  and  come  back 
under  a  new  name. 


THE  TOMATO  SEASON  PROLONGED. 

BY   GEN.    W.   H.   NOBLE,   BRIDGEPORT,   CONN. 

.     The  supply   of   this   most  healthful  and  pal 
atable    fruit    can    be    extended    easily    several 
months  after  the  frost  has  cut  down  the  vines. 
I   find  so   many   ignorant   of    this    fact   that    I 
propose  to  tell  my  method. 

At  the  first  approach  of  frost  I  gather  all  my 
well-grown  tomatoes  of  every  variety,  in  fact  all, 
which  if  ripe  would  be  of  use.  These  I  place 
singly  on  boards,  covering  the  bottom  of  any 
cold  frame,  or  the  frame  of  a  hot-bed,  put  into 
the  earth  anywhere.  Then  put  over  your  sash. 
Your  tomatoes,  according  to  their  maturity,  will 
commence  ripening,  and  with  care  will  keep  you 
in  supply  till  well  into  December.  Of  course,  if 
one  only  has  sash,  he  can  easily  make  a  frame 
in  which  to  put  his  tomatoes  under  the  glass. 
Any  one  who  has  not  glass  can  cover  such  a 
frame  with  an  old  sheet.  Glass  is  better,  because 
more  translucent  and  defensive  against  frost. 
Should   the   thermometer  point  to  a  thorough, 


deep  freeze,  cover  at  night  with  any  old  carpet, 
weeds,  straw,  or  such  like  protection. 

Any  vacant  space  in  a  cold  grapery  or  a  room 
or  attic,  with  good  Southern  exposure,  will  work 
much  in  the  same  way.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if 
one  would  but  take  the  trouble  to  cut  off  all  the 
leaves  from  a  tomato  vine,  and  then  transplant 
it  into  the  well-moistened  earth,  of  a  glass-cov- 
ered space  of  any  kind,  that  these  fruits  would 
grow  and  mature  long  after  those  out  of  doors 
were  ruined  by  the  frost.  But  the  tomatoes 
picked  from  the  vines  are  just  as  good,  more 
can  be  crowded  into  the  same  space,  and  they 
can  be  better  gathered  for  the  table. 

Now,  I  have  made  this  statement  so  lengthy 
because  I  find  so  few  who  at  once  take  up  the 
idea  of  this  extended  season,  with  all  its  proper 
appliances,  on  the  mere  mention  of  this  help  in 
the  garden. 

If  any  body  has  got  a  better  way,  let  him  give 
it  in  the  Monthly.  If  every  one  only  told  the  new 
things  he  observes,  we  should  all,  by  and  by,  get 
a  good  deal  wiser  in  the  methods  and  products 
of  our  gardens. 


A  GOOD  GRAPE  MANUAL. 

BY  W.    H.    W.,    READING,   MASS. 

I  have  just  been  looking  over  the  "  Bushberg 
Catalogue"  of  grapes,  and  I  cannot  but  think 
you  may  be  doing  a  kindness  to  some  of  your 
readers  by  calling  their  attention  to  it.  It  is  not 
a  mere  dry  catalogue  as  its  modest  name  might 
lead  one  to  suppose.  It  is  a  large  pamphlet  of 
about  eighty  pages,  containing  a  clear  and  sim- 
ple treatise  on  the  best  modes  of  growing,  graft- 
ing, pruning  the  vine,  accompanied  by  de- 
scriptions (many  of  them  finely  illustrated)  of 
almost  every  variety  of  hardy  grape  of  any  value 
now  in  cultivation.  It  seems  to  me,  considering 
the  amount  and  value  of  its  information  (es- 
pecially about  the  most  recent  varieties)  and  the 
exceeding  moderateness  of  its  cost,  to  be  the  best 
treatise  for  beginners  and  amateurs  with  which  I 
am  acquainted.  And  if  any  such  one  wishes  for  an 
admirable  guide  or  for  reliable  information  con- 
cerning any  of  the  varieties  now  before  the 
public,  let  me  advise  him  to  send  twenty-five 
cents  to  Messrs.  Bush  &  Son  and  Meissner, 
Bushberg,  Missouri,  and  ask  for  a  copy  of  their 
Illustrated  Grape  Catalogue. 

[We  endorse  the  remarks  of  our  correspondent. 
The  Bushberg   Catlaogue   is  more  than  a  cata- 
logue— it  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  litera- 
1  ture  of  the  grape. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


16 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January , 


THE  BLENHEIM  PIPPIN. 

BY   W.,  TYRONE,  PA. 

This  apple  supplies  a  notable  proof  of  the  base- 
lessness of  the  common  idea,that  an  apple  origina- 
ting in  a  certain  locality,  must,  of  course,  possess 
a  constitution  specially  suited  to  that  locality  or 
latitude.  A  second  thought  ought  to  disprove 
such  a  notion,  for  if  it  had  any  foundation  we 
could  soon  acclimatize  Southern  grains,  &c,  by 
merely  planting  their  seeds  in  Northern  soil. 

The  Blenheim  is  an  English  apple.  Now,  the 
sorts  of  apples  grown  in  England,  like  the  kinds 
of  wheat,  &c,  grown  there,  are  such  as  will  suc- 
ceed well  in  humid,  cool  air,  and  with  slowly 
moving  growth.  They  mostly  fail  in  our  climate, 
some  one  or  other,  or  all,  of  the  new  conditions 
being  unfavorable.  But  the  Blenheim  is  a  sort 
of  such  remarkable  vigor — so  stout  in  branch 
and  bark  and  leaf— that  it  endures  all  the  trials 
that  our  climate  imposes.  Mr.  Downing  says 
that  Canadian  correspondents  write  to  him  that 
it  is  most  successful  there,  while  here  in  the 
Middle  States  and  through  the  West,  and  as  far 
south  as  Virginia  at  least,  it  is  constantly  re- 
ported as  admirably  fine  and  fruitful. 

All  this  relates  to  the  true  sort,  which  in  Eng- 
land brings  eleven  shillings  a  bushel  when  com- 
mon apples  only  bring  four.  Yet  it  is  most  vig- 
orous and  productive  there,  as  well  as  here. 
There  it  keeps  all  winter ;  here  it  ripens  in  the 
autumn  and  keeps  till  January. 

The  description  of  the  Blenheim  Pippin  given 
in  Downing's  Fruits  and  Fruit  Trees  was  taken 
from  some  spurious  source.  The  true  sort  is 
partially  described  as  the  Blooming  Orange  in 
the  large  edition  of  1869.  Mr.  Downing  has 
since  identified  this  as  the  true  Blenheim. 

It  is  a  high-class  example  of  the  type  of  fine 
English  dessert  apples,  having  the  wide-open, 
eye,  the  richly-stained — almost  mahogany  color, 
and  ftie  crisp,  pungent  flesh,  which  mark  their 
table-apple.  When  in  perfection,  towards  holi- 
day tirht?,  it  has  an  aroma  or  bouquet  which  re- 
minds one  of  the  subtle  flavor  which  connoiseurs 
in  wine  will  smack  lips  and  tongue  over,  while 
they  seem  to  concentrate  all  powers  of  sensation 
in  the  palate  in  order  to  secure  and  enjoy  it,  • 

This  sort  is  a  great  bearer,  but  not  an  early 
one.  Like  other  strong  growers,  it  first  makes 
a  good  deal  of  wood.  But  when  it  sets  into 
bearing  it  is  profuse  and  unfailing — wonderfully 
so,  considering  the  size,  weight  and  perfection  of 
the  fruit.    It  is  now   pretty  widely  distributed 

through  the  States. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Bananas  in  California. — A  correspondent  of 
the  London  Gardener's  Chronicle  says  the  Banana 
has  been  found  very  profitable  in  the  vicinity  of 
Santa  Barbara,  and  that  acres  of  them  will  soon 
be  growing  there.  It  takes  four  hundred  plants 
to  the  acre. 

VlCOMTESSE  HERICART  DE  THURY. — With  all  the 

new  introductions  this  continues  the  most  popu- 
lar strawberry  in  England. 

Raspberry  Culture.— F.  M.,  Cecil  Co.,  Md., 
writes  : — "  I  send  you  the  enclosed  extract  from 
an  '  authority.'  It  does  not  agree  with  my  ideas ; 
what  do  you  say?  "  "They  should  never  be  set 
iii  an  orchard  beneath  the  trees.  An  open,  sun- 
ny situation  ought  always  to  be  selected.  The 
ground,  which  should  be  deep  and  rich,  will  be 
highly  benefited  by  a  mulching  of  long,  strawy 
manure,  both  summer  and  winter  ;  and  cleanli- 
ness and  order  must  prevail  in  all  their  surround- 
ings. Raspberries  should  not  be  planted  deep. 
Many  a  plantation  has  been  lost  from  this  error, 
notwithstanding  the  soil  has  been  in  good  condi- 
tion and  the  plants  entirely  sound  and  healthy. 
Give  the  crown  at  the  apex  of  the  roots  a  very 
slight  covering  with  soil." 

[It  may  be  very  good  advice  for  a  high  north- 
ern region,  but  for  yours  and  other  central  States, 
we  agree  with  you,  it  is  very  bad  advice. — Ed.  G. 
M.] 

A  Large  Bunch  of  Grapes. — The  Dublin  Gar- 
dener's Record  says  : — "At  Latimers,  Chesham,  the 
seat  of  Lord  Chesham,  Mr.  A.  Donaldson,  the 
gardener,  has  produced,  according  to  the  Buck- 
inghamshire Advertiser,  a  monster  bunch  of  Treb- 
biano  Grapes,  measuring  two  feet  across  the  top, 
and  about  the  same  measurement  from  stalk  to 
point.  It  is  calculated  to  weigh  twenty-four 
pounds."  Such  a  statement  as  this  is  worth 
verifying. 

Fall  Strawberries. — A  strawberry  grower  in 
England  is  making  a  fortune  by  taking  plants 
that  have  been  used  for  winter  forcing,  and  en- 
couraging them  to  go  on  and  bear  again.  They 
llowcr  freely  in  the  Fall,  and  bear  full  and  very 
profitable  crops.  There  is  the  germ  of  a  good 
idea  here,  well  worth  looking  after  by  our  own 
market  men. 

The  Ben  Davis  Apple. — This  variety,  as  we 
judged  by  the  frequency  of  its  appearance  at  the 
Centennial,  holds  its  own  as  a  popular  western 
apple. 


1811.  J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


IT 


Rihston  Pippin  Apple. — We  have  been  under 
the  impression  that  this  popular  English  apple- 
was  not  adapted  to  America,  and  believed  it  was 
now  seldom  grown,  and  yet  we  noticed  it  in  no 
less  than  fifteen  different  exhibits  from  the  north- 
west, and  from  Canada,  and  in  splendid  condition. 
Its  frequent  and  superior  appearance  in  this  way 
must  have  bothered  those  who  believe  in  old 
varieties  wearing  out. 

The  Alexander  Apple. — This  large,  very 
showy,  and  yet  comparatively  poor  apple,  ap- 
peared in  many  collections  at  the  Centennial. 
It  goes  to  show  that  size  and  appearance  after  all 
go  a  good  way  in  the  selection  of  varieties,  in 
spite  of  the  warning  to  "  plant  only  the  best." 

Three  Perfect  Crops  of  Pears  in  One  Season. 
— A  California  paper  tells  us  that,  "  The  most 
Astonishing  prolificness  of  fruit  ever  witnessed 
in  this  or  any  other  climate,  came  to  our  notice 
this  morning.  It  is  that  of  a  pear  tree  in  the 
yard  of  Hon.  Mr.  Suverkrup,  of  this  place,  just 
in  front  of  the  Court  House.  This  tree  is  about 
twelve  years  in  bearing.  It  has  as  a  very  com- 
mon thing,  put  in  its  second  fully  matured  crop 
of  delicious  pears  every  season,  and  has  done  so 
this  year,  and  now  on  this  14th  day  of  October 
has  on  it  the  third  crop,  fully  one-third  grown  ; 
the  season  continuing  favorable  will  doubtless 
mature  the  fruit  hanging  in  clusters  upon  the 
tree.  We  have  eaten  from  the  first  and  second 
crops  and  we  shall  apply  for  a  share  of  the  third. 
This  wonderful  production  will  of  course  be  de- 
nounced as  false  and  incredulous,  but  we  vouch 
for  the  truth  of  it,  and  doubters  can  have  all  their 
scruples  removed  by  examining  for  themselves. 
Whether  it  is  peculiar  to  the  tree  or  climate  or 
both  is  a  question  to  be  determined.  Most  likely 
both.    We  do  not   believe   the  like    could  be 

■s. 

produced  in  the  northern  or  eastern  States,  or 
anywhere  else." 

We  saw  this  year  in  Germantown  two  full 
crops  on  a  Smoke-house  apple,  both  ripening  per- 
fectly. The  last  lot  from  flowers  that  opened  in 
June  were  not  as  large  as  those  from  the  early 
ones,  but  still  they  were  perfectly  ripened.  Cal- 
ifornia must  look  out  or  her  fame  will  go  down. 

Hale's  Early  Peach. — An  Editorial  note  in 
the  Country  Gentleman  says: — "  We  have  adopted 
the  practice  of  allowing  the  trees  of  this  peach  to 
grow  in  grass,  a  cultivated  strip  at  one  side,  at  a 
distance  of  seven  feet,  imparting  more  vigor  to 
the  trees  than  they  would  have  if  the  roots  were 
wholly  in  grass,   and  giving  shoots   about  ten 


inches  long.  This  practice  of  seeding  to  grass, 
which  has  proved  more  or  less  successful  with 
other  cultivators,  together  with  the  precaution  of 
gathering  the  peaches  when  well  colored,  and 
before  soft,  has  saved  them  generally  from  the 
rot  (the  season  being  unusually  wet),  only  a  few 
partly  decayed  specimens  being  found,  and  these,' 
so  far  as  examined  always  decayed  at  a  curculio 
mark." 

We  refer  to  the  matter  to  caution  people  who 
grow  peaches  in  grass  not  to  neglect  them,  or 
they  will  soon  get  yellow  and  bear  small  and 
poor  fruit.  The  trees  should  be  top  dressed  with 
some  sort  of  enriching  material  at  least  each  al- 
ternate year.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
only  merit  of  growing  trees  in  grass,  is  that  such 
trees  are  healthier  because  the  feeding  fibres  are 
kept  nearer  the  surface.  The  Hale's  Early  rots 
when  by  "clean  surface  culture"  the  fibres  are 
injured—  but  keeps  sound  where  among  the  grass 
the  little  roots  are  let  alone.  But  they  must  have 
food;  indeed  it  is  the  more  necessary  to  look  to 
this  when  in  grass,  because  grass  and  trees  are 
both  looking  for  something  to  eat. 

Hale's  Early  Peach  in  England. — It  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  while  we  took  in  the  Early 
Beatrice,  Early  Louise,  and  such  other  kinds,  to 
replace  the  Early  Hale,  in  England  they  are 
taking  up  with  Hale's  Early  to  supplant  the 
other  two.  Correspondents  of  the  Gardener's 
Chronicle  say,  that  in  England  Hale's  Early  is  two 
weeks  ripe  before  Early  Louise.  This  is  forcing- 
house  experience;  perhaps,  in  the  open  ground 
they  behave  different. 

Peach  Plum  in  Oregon. — We  notice  in  a  circu- 
lar of  Mr.  Walling  that  he  exhibited  the  Peach 
Plum  at  the  Centennial,  and  that  they  were  so 
large  and  fine  that  "the  committee  claimed  the 
right  to  alter  the  name  to  the  G.  W.  Walling,  be- 
cause they  were  so  superior  in  size  and  quality 
to  the  same  variety  from  other  States." 

We  do  not  know  who  may  be  meant  by  "the 
committee."  The  writer  of  this  was  secretary 
to  the  Group  of  Judges,  and  he  is  sure  no  such  a 
joke  was  perpetrated  by  him  in  his  weekly  re- 
ports, and  this  is  all  the  "Committee  "  is  official- 
ly responsible  for.  There  are  fruit  synonyms 
enough  now,  without  adding  G.  W.  Walling  to 
the  Peach  Plum. 

The  Phylloxera  in  California. — It  was  once 
an  argument  against  the  idea  of  injury  by  Phyl- 
loxera, why  the  foreign  grape  resisted  Phylloxera 


18 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


in  California,  and  the  answer  was,  because  the 
insect  was  not  there.  The  Pacific  Rural  Press 
says  it  has  appeared  there  at  last. 

The  Champion  Wind  Engine. — To  have  water, 
when  nature  does  not  favor  us,  is  one  of  the  roads  to 
fortune.  It  is  surprising  that  more  people  do  not 
guard  themselves  from  injury  by  contrivances  to 
secure  water,  when  nature  is  in  a  wayward  mood. 
We  are  thinking  of  this  just  now  as  we  read  the 
circular  of  the  "  Champion  "  engine  for  pumping 
water  by  wind  power.  It  seems  by  the  descrip- 
tion to  have  many  good  points. 

Pruning  for  Wood  and  Pruning  for  Fruit. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  art  in  being  a  good  fruit 
grower ;  and  we  give  the  following  extract  from 
Karl  Koch's  lectures  to  illustrate  it.  We  have 
adopted  as  the  heading  of  our  paragraph  a  well- 
known  expression  of  Mr.  William  Saunders,  who 
used  to  dwell  so  much  on  the  difference  in  his 
earlier  writings. 

"  Nothing  is  so  well  suited  to  give  us  an  insight 
into  the  ways  and  means  of  the  nutrition 
of  the  fruit  tree,  and  vegetable  nutrition 
generally,  as  the  practical  treatment  of  the  more 
delicate  kinds  of  fruit  trees  in  pruning.  The 
double  task  of  every  individual  organic  being, 
animal  or  vegetable,  to  take  up  nourishment, 
not  alone  for  its  own  development,  but  also  for 
the  production  of  fruit  to  propagate  its  species, 
asserts  itself  as  of  primary  importance  in  relation 
to  pruning.  The  fruit  gardener  distinguishes 
these  processes  as  the  formation  of  wood  and 
the  formation  of  fruit.  He  makes  it  his  aim  to 
maintain  the  equilibrium  of  these  two  forces. 
But  this  view  of  the  condition  of  things  is  neither 
natural  nor  right.  In  our  fruit  trees — I  am 
speaking  now  of  the  North,  for  even  in  the  South 
of  France  they  behave  quite  differently — there 
is,  for  reasons  which  I  shall  afterwards  explain, 
a  preponderating  tendenc}'  to  the  formation  of 
wood.  Trees  in  North  Germany  grow,  on  an 
average,  four  times  as  fast  as  those  in  the 
warmer,  and  more  particularly  those  in  tropical 
regions,  and  consequently  produce  four  times  as 
much  wood  in  the  same  period.  Therefore  the 
fruit  gardener  in  the  North  has,  in  respect  to 
this  increased  production  of  wood,  a  more  form- 
idable difficulty  to  encounter  than  in  the  South. 
In  his  treatment  of  a  fruit  tree  his  endeavor  is  to 
prevent  it  from  making  more  wood  than  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  assimilate  in  its  leaves  the 
food  required,  on  the  one  hand  for  the  immediate 


growth  of  new  wood — that  is  to  say  for  just  so- 
much  new  wood  as  it  wants,  and  on  the  other 
hand  for  the  next  crop  of  fruit.  From  the  differ- 
ence in  the  growth  of  trees  in  diverse  climates — 
taking,  for  example,  the  North  of  Germany  and 
the  South  of  France — it  is  clear  that  the  treat- 
ment of  fruit  trees  in  these  two  regions  should 
not  be  the  same.  Whereas  the  Frenchman 
prunes  for  wood,  we  are  often  obliged  to  prune 
for  fruit.  Therefore  all  translations  of  even  the 
best  French  treatises  on  pruning,  with  a  view  of 
carrying  into  practice  here  the  precepts  they 
contain,  do  not  possess  the  slightest  value  for  us. 
Indeed,  I  would  warn  our  gardeners  against  fol- 
lowing out  these  directions  in  the  North. 

The  German  fruit  grower  not  only  carefully 
watches  growth,  even  where  there  is  a  super- 
abundance of  nutritive  substances  present,  so  as 
to  limit  the  production  of  wood  to  a  certain 
quantity,  but  he  also  knows  how  to  interrupt  the 
growth  of  the  young  shoots  by  shortening  them 
to  a  given  length,  thereby  diverting  the  food 
stored  up  to  the  fruit,  and  increasing  its  volume. 
But  a  good  fruit  gardener  does  not  stop  here  ; 
he  likewise  reduces  the  number  of  fruits  in  order 
to  obtain  a  larger  size  and  better  quality-;  and 
by  this  means  he  has  about  the  same  weight  in 
finer  fruit  that  he  would  have  gathered  from  the 
more  numerous  smaller  fruit." 


NEW  FRUITS. 


New  Apples. — The  list  of  apples  is  so  long 
that  for  years  past  we  have  been  able  to 
note  but  few  new  ones  that  have  any  claims 
to  introduction.  Unless  there  is  a  point  of 
merit  not  yet  reached  b}r  some  other,  it  is  rather 
an  injury  to  fruit-culture  than  a  benefit  to  in- 
troduce new  kinds.  We  feel  this  more  than  ever 
since  our  centennial  experience,  where  nearly 
everything  of  all  this  great  multitude  came  be- 
fore us  in  one  shape  or  another,  and  we  shall 
feel  more  embarrassed  than  ever  in  deciding  that 
a  new  seedling  is  worthy  of  naming  and  dissemi- 
nation. We  have  now  three  excellent  kinds  be- 
fore us  from  Canada.  One  is  Bradt's  Seedling 
Russett.  It  is  medium  sized,  and  as  good  to  say 
the  least,  as  any  average  Russett  known,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  good  keeping  qualities.  We  made 
a  Christmas  offering  of  it,  and  it  then  was  in  such 
good  trim,  that  it  looked  as  if  it  might  have  been 


18TC.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


19 


kept  a  year  longer.  Then  there  is  the  Swazie 
Porame  Gris,  quite  as  good  as  its  original,  and 
this  is  surely  saying  a  good  deal.  And  lastly  there 
is  a  seedling  from  the  Spitzenburg,  rather  round- 
er, a  little  darker  and  firmer  fleshed  than  its 
parent,  and  may  prove  superior  on  the  whole. 
This  is  raised  by  Mr.  Ed.  Blogdon,  East  Flam- 
boro,  Canada,  but  the  specimens  were  kindly 
sent  to  us  by  Mr.  John  Freed,  of  Hamilton. 

St.  Augustine  Grape. — At  the  Centennial  Ex- 
position were  some  bunches  of  this  variety, about 
which  the  following  appears  in  the  Semi-tropical. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  its  being  a  native  grape, 
in  many  respects  approaching  the  old  Elsinburg, 
if  the  specimens  were  accurately  labeled  : 

"  From  Dr.  Davis'  article  on  the  St.  Augustine 
Grape,  Messrs.  Bush,  Son  &  Meissner,  of  Bush- 
berg,  Missouri,  were  led  to  inquire  whether  it 
might  not  be  identical  with  the  Black  Spanish, 
which  is  now  in  demand  for  exportation.  We 
referred  the  inquiry  to  Mr.  Atwood,  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, whose  knowledge  and  experience  in 
grape  culture  qualify  him  to  determine,  and  we 
received  the  following  reply:: 

"  'The  St.  Augustine  and  Black  Spanish  grape 
are  not  identical;  the  former  is  nearly  a  month 
later  than  the  latter  and  a  vastly  superior  grape; 
indeed  T  doubt  if  there  ever  was  a  finer  grape 
grown  than  the  St.  Augustine ;  they  are  truly 
bags  of  wine — the  seeds  so  small  and  the  pulp  so 
melting  that  it  seems  almost  like  a  seedless 
grape;  while  with  the  Black  Spanish  the  first 
thing  one  notices  in  eating  itis  its  preponderance 
of  seeds  in  proportion  to  its  pulp.  I  doubt  if  the 
true  origin  of  either  of  these  grapes  is  known, 
only  that  tradition  says  the  St.  Augustine  '  was 
brought  from  Madeira  in  old  Spanish  times.1  I 
have  repeatedly  thought  that  I  had  eaten  these 
grapes  in  the  island  of  Madeira  and  still  think 
BO,  though  I  dare  not  trust  a  very  positive  ex- 
pression on  this  subject,  as  it  was  more  than 
twenty-six  years  since  I  was  there,  and  then  I 
knew  very  little  comparatively  about  the  quality 
of  the  different  varieties  of  what  would  be  called 
fine  grapes.  Since  then,  however,  I  have  propa- 
gated a  great  many  varieties  of  grapes,  and  to  the 
extent  of  perhaps  ten  acres,  but  among  all  these 
and  all  the  grapes  produced  by  others  that  have 
come  under  my  observation,  none  have  equalled 
in  quality  those  of  the  St.  Augustine  grape.'  " 

The  James  Veitch  Strawberry. — A  Yorkshire 
cr  rrespondent  of  the  Garden,  Mr.  Lovel,  Wea- 
\  crthorpe,  says  that  among  forty  varieties   of 


strawberries  which  he  grew  last  year,  the  largest 
was  James  Veitch,  eight  fruits  of  which  weighed 
1  lb.  This  season  it  took  from  seventeen  to  eigh- 
teen to  weigh  1  lb.,  a  result  partly  owing  to  the 
cold,  frosty  weather  which  we  had  in  May  and 
June  ;  so  severe,  indeed,  was  the  frost  in  June, 
that  all  the  earliest  bloom  was  destroyed.  The 
large  fruits  gathered  in  1875  were  Cockscomb- 
shaped,  not  those  of  a  globular  or  conical  form, 
which  is  the  normal  shape  of  this  variety.  He 
noticed  also  in  these  large  strawberries  a  great 
tendency  to  decay  if  in  contact  with  the  damp 
soil.  He  has  gathered  during  the  past  season 
very  fine  and  large  fruit  from  Dr.  Hogg,  Presi- 
dent, and  Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  all  first  season 
plants.  Many  of  the  finest  fruit  of  these  kinds 
weighed  nearly  1  oz.  each.  He  considers  these 
three  varieties  superior  in  many  respects  to 
James  Veitch,  especially  as  regards  quantity  and 
quality  of  fruit. 

Stump  Apple. — At  the  Horticultural  Meeting 
held  in  Rochester,  January,  1876,  President 
Barry  said  that  there  is  an  apple  known  as  the 
Stump  Apple,  that  is  attracting  much  attention 
— an  oblong,  brilliantly  colored  fruit,  like  the 
Chenango  Strawberry,  very  attractive,  and  sells 
high  in  market;  has  been  sold  as  high  as  $8.00 
per  barrel  the  past  season.  It  ripens  in  October. 
J.  S.  Stone,  of  Charlotte,  N.  Y.,  in  describing  the 
tree  which  he  visited  says  :  "The  fruit  hung  in 
ropes,  and  was  uniform  in  size  and  apparently 
free  from  imperfections.  Ten  barrels  were  picked 
from  the  tree  which  was  not  a  large  one." 

"  Olivet  "  Cherry.— S.  P.  W.,  Dansville,  N.  Y., . 
says  :  "The  'Olivet'  takes  a  place  not  occupied  up, 
to  the  present  time  among  the  list  of  early  cher- 
ries in  central  New  York.  Nearly  all  of  the  early 
sorts,  that  we  possess,  are  sweet,  amber,  or  red 
varieties  with  a  limited  fruiting  season,.  'The 
'  Olivet '  Cherry  is  a  large,  globular  and  very  shi- 
ning deep  red  sort.  The  flesh  is  red,  with  a  rose 
colored  juice,  tender,  rich  and  vinous,  with  a 
sweet  sub-acidous  flavor.  It  ripens  in  the  begin- 
ning of  June  and  continues  till  July  without 
losing  its  quality.  It  possesses  the  fertility  of  the 
best  of  the  '  Duke  '  tribe  and  is  perhaps  the  larg- 
est of  the  class." 


QUERIES. 

Butter  from  the  Cydonia  japonica.— Some 
nice  fruit  of  the  Japan  Quince  sent  to  us  from 
Tennessee,  we  handed  to  Mr.  J.  0.  Schimmel, 


20 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[January, 


the  well-known  manufacturer  of  this  and  similar 
articles  in  Philadelphia,  and  we  have  the  following 
about  it :  "I  have  made  '  Cydonia '  into  butter, 
and  will  forward  you  a  sample.  Its  quality  for 
jellies,  <fec,  is  in  my  opinion,  equal  to  the  bitter 
orange.  For  butter  I  do  not  think  it  could  be 
used  to  advantage  over  orange  or  lemon.  You 
will  find  the  seeds  inclosed,  perhaps  they  are  of 
some  value  to  you." 

Pear  Blight. — A  New  Jersey  correspondent 
says  :  "What  do  you  think  of  syringing  the  pear 
trees  that  blight,  with  carbolic  acid  or  other  pre- 
paration, and  how  strong  would  it  do  to  use  it  ? 
Would  chloride  of  lime  in  water  injure  trees? 


Did  any  one  ever  try  salt  around  the  trees,  and 
with  what  result?" 

[Better  paint  the  trees  with  oil — or  wash  with 
lime  and  sulphur  in  the  winter  season.. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 

Highland  Hardy  Raspberry. — A.  0.  W.,  St. 
Joseph,  Mich.,  says  :  "  Is  the  Highland  Hardy 
Raspberry  one  of  the  old  varieties  re-named,  or 
is  it  something  new  ?  It  is  being  largely  dissemi- 
nated as  a  new  kind,  and  if  it  is  not,  it  should  be 
known." 

[The  Raspberry  has  been  extensively  and  very 
cheaply  advertised;  beyond  these  advertisements 
we  know  nothing  of  it. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


;0RESTRY. 


COMMUNIGA  TIONS. 


LIGNEOUS  MARVELS, 

Or,  The  Three  Big  Trees  of  Upper  Sandusky. 

BY  WM.  T.  HARDING,   COLUMBUS,   O. 

There  are  no  objects  more  generally  useful, 
beautiful,  or  interesting,  in  the  physical  geogra- 
phy of  our  country,  than  the  grand  indigenous 
old  trees. 

"  The  forest  trees     .... 

So  mossy,  vast,  yet  green  in  their  old  age," 
will  never  fail  to  attract  the   attention   of  every 
intelligent  being,  who  finds  a  companionship  in 
Nature. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Upper  Sandusky,  Wy- 
andot County,  Ohio,  where  I  was  engaged  in  lay- 
ing out  a  cemetery,  during  the  Spring  and  Sum- 
mer of  76;  and  while  in  search  of  the  beautiful, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  genial  friend,  I  was  in- 
duced to  follow  a  romantic  pathway,which  pleas- 
antly led  us  from  the  bluff  above,  down  easy 
verdant  slopes,  to  the  river  side,  where  the  sil- 
very Sandusky  gently  glides  on.  And  oh  !  what 
a  striking  picture  was  there.  Prolific  scenes  of 
matchless  beauty,  spread  around  us.  The  native 
roses  and  hawthorns  were  profusely  scattering 
their  odorous  blossoms  over  the  sunny  landscape, 


so  beautifully  varied  with  all  the  charms  which 
pretty  wild  flowers,  and  irregular  low  spreading 
bushes,  springing  through  luxuriant  grass,  could 
give. 

Even  the  sleek  looking  cattle  seemed  as  happy 
as  any  well-favored  kine  could  possibly  be,  as 
they  quietly  cropped  the  rich  verdure  around. 
All  nature  seemed  to  equally  share  in  the  pas- 
toral scene,  so  picturesquely  unique. 

The  poetic  limning  of  Burns  was  only  wan  ting  to 
invest  it  with  such  sylvan  charms  as  "  Ye  banks 
and  braes  o'  bonny  Doom"  But,  from  a  lack  of 
fitting  language  to  fully  describe  its  many  pleas- 
ant features,  I  am  constrained  to  stop  ;  and  in 
lieu,  say  something  about  the  big  button-wood, 
near  by,  and  in  whose  shadow  I  musingly  sat. 

The  subject  under  notice  is  botanically  known 
as  Platanus  occidentalis — the  western  plane-tree 
— or  more  generally  called  the  button-wood — and 
often,  erroneously,  sycamore.  That  it  is  no  ordi- 
nary specimen,  the  reader  will  admit,  when  its 
gigantic  dimensions  are  known.  Its  altitude  is 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet. 

At  four  feet  from  the  ground  the  colossal  trunk 
measures  forty-eight  feet  in  circumference.  At 
the  height  of  fifteen  feet  from  the  base,  the  mas- 
sive trunk  ramifies  into  eight  large  column-like 
shafts,   the  round   measurement  of    which,    ia 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


21 


from  ten  to  fifteen  feet,  and  above  which  the 
heavy  branches  spread  over  an  area  of  seven 
hundred  feet. 

I  have  seen  in  my  travels  many  strange  trees, 
historical,  beautiful,  magnificent,  venerable,  gi- 
gantic, ancient,  and  remarkable,  to  which  I  have 
frequently  alluded  in  the  Monthly.  Much  larger 
specimens  have  often  amazed  me  in  other  lands, 
but,  nowhere  else  in  this  country  have  I  ever 
met  with  such  a  ligneous  immensity  as  this. 

I  will  quote  from  Loudon,  on  Recorded  Trees, 
and  than  whom,  there  is  no  better  authority. 

"  On  a  little  island  in  the  Ohio,  fifteen  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  the  elder 
Michaux  measured  a  button-wood  tree  which  at 
five  feet  from  the  ground  was  forty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. Twenty  years  before,  General 
Washington  had  measured  the  same  tree  and 
found  it  to  be  nearly  the  same  size.  In  1802,  the 
younger  Michaux  found  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
same  river,  (the  Ohio,)  about  thirty-six  miles 
from  Marietta,  a  plane-tree,  the  base  of  which 
was  swollen  in  an  extraordinary  manner; 
at  four  feet  from  the  ground,  it  measured 
forty-seven  feet  in  circumference." 

Other  writers  give  instances  of  large  planes, 
but  much  less  in  size  than  the  above  mentioned 
tree.  So  I  think  I  am  safe  in  pronouncing  the 
arboreal  Upper  Sanduskian,  the  biggest  tree  of 
its  kind  on  record. 

Not  far  from  the  huge  Platanus,  stands  an  un- 
usually fine  Robinia  pseud-acacia,  or  locust-tree. 
This  exceedingly  handsome  specimen,  (which  is 
not  the  general  character  of  them  when  aged,) 
is  a  hale,  green  tree,  of  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet  high.  At  four  feet  from  the  base 
the  girth  of  the  bole  measures  sixteen  feet ;  and 
up  to  thirty  feet  above,  where  it  first  branches 
off,  maintains  nearly  the  same  calibre  as  below. 
A  more  portly,  vigorous,  or  stately  locust-tree  is 
seldom,  if  ever,  seen.  The  rich,  deep  alluvium  in 
which  they  are  growing,  has  evidently  nourished 
them  well;  for  in  truth,  they  are  "burly  and 
big." 

As  I  looked  at  the  noble  old  trees,  thinking  of 
the  past,  a  past,  so  fraught  with  the  history  of  the 
aboriginal  race,  in  the  days  when  the  once  pow- 
erful nation  of  Wyandot  Indians,  occupied  the 
primeval  forests  around ;  I  thought  on  how  much 
the  affairs  of  life  have  changed  since  then.  It  is  not 
improbable  in  the  events  which  then  occurred, 
that  the  great  Chief  Farhee,  (the  good  Indian,,) 
better  known  as  the  "  Crane,"  may  many  times 
have  met  in  solemn  council,  or  noisy  pow-wow, 


with  his  swarthy  braves,  beneath  the  shady 
boughs  of  the  ancient  plane. 

It  was  while  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  Upper  Sandusky,  in  the  year  of  grace,  1816, 
after  seventy-four  summers  and  winters  had 
come  and  gone,  since  the  face  of  the  forest  child 
was  first  warmed  by  the  western  sun,  when  the 
"  Great  Spirit  "  called  the  old  Sachem  away. 

If  the  long  suffering  reader  is  not  already 
wearied  with  the  tiresome  tale  of  a  tree,  I  will 
venture  to  tax  his  patience  a  little  longer, 
while  describing  a  noted  "  Indian  apple  tree." 
This  famous,  and  in  many  respects  remark- 
able tree,  grows  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
and  about  a  mile  from  where  stands  the  locust 
and  plane.  Inasmuch  as  the  circumference  of 
this  "  sour  apple  tree  "  is  considerably  more  than 
my  tape-line  ever  girdled  before,namely,  at  three 
feet  from  the  ground,  twelve  feet  six  inches ;  I 
trust  I  may  be  pardoned  for  having  mentioned 
it.  At  five  feet  above  the  ground,  the  trunk 
branches  off  into  a  number  of  good  sized  boughs, 
and  which  attain  to  a  height  of  some  sixty  feet 
above,  and  spread  over  a  circle  of  seventy  feet. 
Undoubtedly,  the  tree  is  a  very  old  one,  and  has 
been  at  some  past  time,  at  least,  fourteen  feet  in 
circumference.  A  part  of  it  having  been  riven 
off,  branch  and  stem,  some  years  ago. 

The  late  Mr.  Downing  thus  describes  three 
enormous  sized  apple  trees :  "  Among  others,  we 
recollect  two  in  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Hall,  of 
Raynham,  Rhode  Island,  which  ten  years  ago, 
were  130  years  old ;  the  trunk  of  one  of  these 
trees  then  measured  at  one  foot  from  the  ground 
thirteen  feet  two  inches,  and  the  other,  twelve 
feet  two  inches.  The  trees  bore  that  season 
thirty  or  forty  bushels;  but  in  the  year  1780, 
they  together  bore  one  hundred  and  one  bushels 
of  apples.  In  Duxbury,  Plymouth  County,  Mass., 
is  a  tree  which  in  its  girth  measures  twelve  feet 
five  inches,  and  which  has  yielded  in  a  single 
season  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  and  a  half 
bushels. 

Unquestionably,  they  were  three  good  old  trees, 
and  were  no  doubt  as  much  valued  by  the  own- 
ers, as  the  aforementioned  trees  are  prized  by 
the  cultivated  and  intelligent  citizens  of  Upper 
Sandusky. 


VALUE  OF  A  TREE. 

BY   W. 

Bagot's  Park,  Staffordshire,  is   very  large  and 
contains  some  grand  oaks,  some  of  which  have 


22 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


been  noted  trees  for  600  years  and  are  supposed 
to  be  1,000  years  old.  The  climate  of  England 
favors  slow,  firm  growth,  and  trees  are  seldom 
injured  there  by  climatic  influences.  The  King 
Oak  was  valued  at  293  pounds  ;  (a  Mr.  Bullock 
offered  200  pounds  for  the  first  length  ;)  and  the 
Squitch  Oak,  the  largest  tree  in  the  park,  but  not 
quite  sound,  was  valued  at  240  pounds  12  shil- 
lings, (about  $1,200).  These  trees  are  still  increas- 
ing in  circumference.  The  Squitch  has  increased 
17  inches  in  50  years. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Tree  planting  in  Canada. — We  are  glad  to 
note  the  encouragement  to  individual  effort, 
which  we  see  given  in  every  direction.  The 
Toronto  Globe  saj-s  : — "  The  importance  of  re- 
placing by  fresh  efforts  extinct  forests,  or  those 
which  are  in  process  of  gradual  removal,  is  re- 
ceiving official  consideration.  The  Act  of  the 
Dominion  parliament  passed  last  session,  grants 
an  additional  quarter  section,  on  payment  of  a 
trifling  fee,  to  every  settler  on  Dominion  lands 
who  plants  thirty-two  acres  in  successive  annual 
instalments." 

Address  of  Burnet  Landreth. — The  admi- 
rable address  of  Mr.  Burnet  Landreth,  before  the 
American  Foresty  Association,  has  been  issued 
in  pamphlet  form. 

Pinus  Lambertiana. — The  Sugar  Pine  of  Cali- 
fornia is  said  to  be  equal  to  the  Yellow  Pine  of 
the  East  for  flooring  and  similar  purposes. 

The  Pitch  Pine. — Common  names  are  so 
mixed  that  we  hardly  know  what  the  person  is 
talking  about  who  uses  them.  In  pines,  for  in- 
stance, we  never  know  what  any  writer  means 
when  he  says  "Yellow  Pine."  An  English 
writer  says  that  in  America  "  vessels  have  been 
made  for  a  considerable  time  past,  wholly  of 
Pitch  Pine."  We  understand  by  Pitch  Pine, 
Pinus  rigida,  and  would  be  glad  to  know  whether 
vessels  are  made  wholly  of  it,  and  if  so  where? 

ToRREYA  TAXIFOLIA  AS  DURABLE  TIMBER. — The 

Semi-Tropical  tells  us  that,  "Judge  P.  W.  White, 
of  Quincy,  Florida,  is  having  a  fence  built,  the 
posts  of  which  are  of  the  celebrated  Torreya  tax- 
il'olia  trees,  and  the  rest  of  cypress.  Some  of  the 
posts  were  gotten  out  of  trees  blown  down  in  the 
terrible  storm  of  1833,  and  are  perfectly  sound 


after  having  lain  on  the  ground  43  years.  The 
wood  while  green  is  very  heavy,  but  when  per- 
fectly dry  is  very  light.  It  has  a  very  fine  grain, 
and  is  a  little  more  of  a  dark  yellow  color  than 
the  white  pine." 

Commissioner  of  Forestry. — We  have  always 
opposed  the  effort  made  in  some  societies,  and 
in  some  quarters,  to  engage  the  government  in 
the  Forestry  business,  because  we  know,  as  our 
government  is  constituted,  the  less  it  interferes 
in  what  people  can  do  themselves,  the  better  it 
is  for  the  people.  There  is  real]}7  nothing  for  a 
national  forester  to  do  that  we  know  of,  but  to  sit 
in  Washington  and  address  circular  letters  to  A, 
B,  C,  and  D,  asking  them  to  give  the  government 
their  experience  for  nothing,  and  their  time  in 
telling  it  at  the  same  price  ;  or  in  asking  news- 
papers to  advertise  for  the  government  free  of 
all  cost,  that  the  government  has  now-  a  forester, 
and  the  people  can  now  send  their  contributions 
to  him  instead  cf  to  the  newspapers.  This,  we  be- 
lieve, is  all  it  can  do — for  it  is  well-known 
that  it  would  not  appoint  any  practical  person, 
or  to  undertake  to  teach  practical  forestry  from 
the  seed  to  the  saw  log.  We  have  always  felt,  in 
short,  that  a  "  Bureau  of  Forestry  "  simply  meant 
comfortable  quarters  at  Washington,  with  com- 
fortable clerks  at  comfortable  salaries;  and  with 
calls  on  the  newspapers  or  individuals  to  do  all 
the  practical  work. 

It  seems,  however  that  other  people  differ  from 
us,  and  the  efforts  of  these  fellow-citizens  have 
already  been  so  far  successful  as  to  have  the 
office  started.  We  do  not  know  what  the  official 
title  is,  but  the  salary  is  two  thousand  dollars 
a  year,  and  Dr.  Franklin  Hough  is  appointed  to 
fill  the  place.  We  can  only  say  that  we  oppose 
the  office  on  principle,  believing  it  is  money 
thrown  away,  and  increasing  unnecessarily  the 
deplorable  army  of  office-holders,  but  if  it  is  to 
be  as  it  is,  no  better  person  than  Dr.  Hough 
could  have  been  found  to  fill  the  place. 

Large  Oak  Trees. — We  should  like  to  know 
what  is  the  largest  American  oak,  Quercus  alba, 
known.  So  far  as  the  writer's  experience  goes, 
he  has  seen  the  largest  in  the  woods  of  Southern 
Ohio,  but  has  no  exact  figures.  We  can,  perhaps, 
hardly  hope  to  equal  the  following  which  we  find 
in  an  English  paper,  but  should  like  to  know  how 
near  we  approach  it.  "The  most  magnificent 
oak  ever  known  to  have  grown  in  England  was 
that  dug  out  of  Hatfield  bog;  it  was  120  feet  in 
length,  12  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  10  in  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


23 


middle,  and  5  at  the  smaller  end,  where  broken 
off;  so  that  the  butt  for  60  feet  squared  7  feet  of 
timber,  and  4  for  its  entire  length.  £20  were 
offered  for  this  tree. 

Forests  in  Europe.— If  there  is  any  change  in 
the  climate  of  Europe,  it  can  hardly  be  from  the 
disappearance  of  forests.  Recent  statistics  say 
that  about  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  area  of 
Europe  is  covered  with  forest,  aggregating  500,- 
000,000  acres.  We  do  not,  however,  regard  these 
floating  figures  as  always  reliable,  but  give  them 
as  they  come  to  us.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
loose  calculation  going  on  in  the  world. 

Alder  and  Sweet  Fern  in  Tanning. — When 
forestry  becomes  a  business,  all  the  minor  prod- 
ucts will  be  incidents  of  profit.  The  Alnus  and 
Comptonia  seem  to  have  good  points  about  them. 

The  Ellsrvorth  American  says  that  Captain 
Eaton  made  another  shipment  of  two  hundred 
barrels  of  sweet  fern  extract  to  the  Boston  leather 
market  and  with  it  his  first  consignment  of  extract 
of  alder.  This  alder  extract,  like  sweet  fern  ex- 
tract, is  new  to  the  leather  trade  of  this  country. 
The  tanning  properties  of  these  new  agents 
have  been  thoroughly  tested  by  practical  tanners 
of  Ellsworth,  and  found  to  be  equal  to,  if  not 
superior  to  the  best  tannin  material  in  use  in 
this  country.  Calf  skins  tanned  with  both  the 
fern  and  the  alder  are  as  mellow  and  firm  as  the^ 
best  tanned  French  calf  skins,  and  much  more 
beautiful  in  color. 

The  Profits  of  Oak  Timber. — We  give  the 
following  as  we  find  it  in  a  foreign  paper,  be- 
cause it  shows  the  incidental  profits  that  may  be 
made  in  growing  oak.  We  doubt,  however, 
whether  for  paper  pulp  anything  will  be  found 
so  profitable  as  poplar.  Though  nothing  can  be 
made  from  the  bark,  it  grows  into  profit  so  soon  : — 

"  Dr.  Mitscherlich,  of  Darmstadt,  has  devised 
a  method  of  making  paper  stock  (cellulose) 
from  wood  by  a  chemical  process,  which  differs 
somewhat  from  those  previously  in  use.  The 
chief  peculiarity  of  this  process,  which  is  in  use 
already  in  Prussia  and  Saxony,  says  the  Hesse 
Gewerbeblatt,  consists  in  this,  that  the  incrusting 
substance  of  the  wood  is  not  destroyed,  but  only 
separated  from  the  cellulose,  and  eventually 
rendered  soluble. 

"  In  this  process,  it  is  not  necessary  to  cut  the 
wood  up  very  fine,  as  in  the  Sinclair  process,  but 
only  to  split  it  up  like  ordinary  firewood  for  a 
parlor  stove.     A  chemically  prepared  solution 


of  lime  is  boiled  for  six  hours  with  the  wood 
under  a  pressure  of  three  atmospheres.  After 
the  boiling,  a  portion  of  the  incrusting  material 
is  found  dissolved  in  the  liquor,  and  part  of  it  in 
the  pOres  of  the  wood,  from  which  it  is  extracted 
by  a  suitable  squeezing  apparatus. 

"  If  it  is  desired  to  make  a  very  valuable  paper 
stock,  which  shall  be  as  white  as  possible  without 
bleaching,  they  only  employ  white  wood  as  free 
from  rosin  as  possible,  like  poplar,  linden,  etc. 
These  kinds  of  wood  are  not  decolorized  any 
farther  in  this  process,  and  the  albuminoid  and 
gummy  substances  are  mostly  dissolved.  The 
success  of  this  process  depends  less  on  the  pres- 
sure during  boiling  than  on  the  temperature, 
which  must  not  exceed  248°  Fah. 

"  The  use  of  oak  wood  for  paper  stock  offers 
one  advantage,  namely,  that  the  tannin  con- 
tained in  it  is  obtained  as  a  by-product,  and  the 
solution  thus  obtained  can  be  very  profitably 
employed  for  tanning,  as  experiments  in  this 
direction  have  abundantly  proved.  The  solution 
which  runs  off  from  the  wood,  or  expressed  from 
it,  in  this  new  process,  is  already  so  concentrated 
that  evaporation  seems  superfluous,  and  is  only 
undertaken  when  a  very  concentrated  solution 
of  tannic  acid  is  required  either  for  transporta- 
tion or  for  keeping.  The  other  chemicals  con- 
tained in  the  lye  are  in  no  way  a  hindrance  to 
the  tanning  process,  but  rather  aid  it.  Experi- 
ments show  that  hides  prepared  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, when  simply  laid  in  this  liquor,  were  per- 
fectly tanned  in  ten  days." 


QUERIES. 


Eucalyptus  globulus  in  Vermont.— H.  N.  R., 
Brandon,  Vermont,  writes:— "A  friend  in  Italy 
has  secured  for  me  a  few  hundred  plants  of  this 
wonderful  tree,  and  of  which  I  propose  to  make 
a  plantation  on  a  piece  of  land  I  have.  I  am 
quite  elated  at  the  prospect  of  being  the  first  in 
this  part  of  the  world  to  introduce  it— at  least  I 
suppose  I  am,  for  I  can  learn  of  no  one  who  has 
planted  it  hereabouts ;  though  in  the  papers  I  see 
they  have  it  growing  in  California.  As  I  wish  it 
to  do  well  I  wish  you  to  assist  me  with  advice, 
as  I  am  informed  you  are  liberal  with  question- 
ers through  the  Gardener's  Monthly.  If  you  are 
kind  enough  to  reply  to  my  questions  please 
send  me  a  copy  of  the  paper  containing  your 


24 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


answer.  What  I  want  to  know  is, — when  I  saw 
it  in  Rome  it  was  growing  in  swampy  ground  ; 
my  land  is  rather  dry.  It  is  protected  on  the 
northeast  by  a  high  ridge  of  hills.  I  was  told  by 
an  Italian  gardener  it  might  want  a  little  of  such 
protection  in  the  United  States.  Is  it  necessary 
to  bring  some  mud  to  put  in  the  holes  in  such  a 
situation  as  this?  I  am  so  anxious  to  be  the  first 
to  have  a  plantation  of  these  wonderful  trees  in 
this  part  of  the  world,  that  I  would  not  mind  the 
expense  of  a  few  barrels  of  dirt  by  railroad  to  add 
to  the  natural  soil,  if  necessary  to  success. 
Should  the  trees  be  set  deep?  How  about  prun- 
ing the  roots?  " 

[We  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  this  letter. 
We  are  "  liberal  "  on  questions  when  it  concerns 
our  regular  readers,  which  it  seems  this  gentle- 
man is  not.  We  may  say  that  in  the  soil  and 
climate  of  Vermont  he  need  not  get  any  "  mud  " 


or  other  soil,  and  it  does  not  matter  how  deep 
they  are  set.  The  location,  also,  is  good  enough, 
and  when  the  "forest"  grows  up,  he  will  no 
doubt  get  thousands  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
to  come  to  look  at  it,  and  he  himself  will  go 
down  to  posterity  as  one  of  the  greatest  benefac- 
tors of  his  race. 

The  conditions  are  all  right,  but  instead  of  bring- 
ing mud,  we  should  prefer  to  lay  in  a  big  stock  of 
cord-wood  to  keep  up  a  good  fire  all  around  the 
plantation  during  the  winter  season.  We  think 
this  is  essential.  But  why  does  our  correspon- 
dent want  to  be  so  distinguished  in  the  matter  of 
Eucalyptus?  Why  not  try  the  cocoa  nut?  They 
grow  fast,  and  then  there  is  the  fruit  too,  which 
the  Eucalyptus  has  not;  fruit  with  milk  in  it, 
which  will  illustrate  his  human  kindness  much 
better  than  he  can  ever  hope  from  the  Eucalyp- 
tus tree.— Ed.  G.  M.l 


ATURAL  ?MIST0RY  AND  fSClENCE. 


PRAIRIE  FLOWERS. 

BY   REV.  L.  J.  TEMPIJN,  HUTCHINSON,  KAN. 

(Opuntia  Rafinesqii.) 

In  traveling  over  the  plains   about  here,  it  is 
not  unusual  to  meet  with  large  specimens  of  this 
thorny  cactus.     Some  places  considerable  space, 
even  at  times  several  acres,  will  be  almost  com- 
pletely covered  with  them,  branching  and  spread- 
ing over  the  ground  in  all  directions.    They   are 
propagated  both  by  seeds  and  by  the  broad,  flat- 
tened stems  coming  in  contact  with  the  soil  and 
taking  root.     And,  though  I  have  not  tried  it,  I 
believe  that  cuttings  of  the  stems  will  take  root 
and  grow  if  planted  in  the  soil.     It  is  very  much 
inclined  to  branch,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to  see 
a  bunch,  or  a  cluster  of  bunches,  four  feet  in 
diameter,  all  of  which  have  proceeded  from  the 
same  root.    The  stems  are  from  three  and  one 
half  to    five    inches    in   length,  and  from  two  to 
three  in  width,  and  from  one-fourth  to  one-third 
inch  in  thickness.     The  stems  are  dotted    over 


with  tufts  of  fine,  sharp  bristles  that  are  ready 
to  let  go  their  hold  on  the  plant  and  adhere  to 
the  hand  on  the  slightest  touch.  From  the  base 
of  these  tufts  issue  a  number  of  sharp,  slender 
spines,  from  one-half  to  one  inch  in  length. 
The  number  of  these  varies  from  three  to  five 
or  more;  the  central  one  is  usually  the  longest. 
The  general  color  of  the  stem  is  rather  a  dark 
green. 

The  flower-buds  grow  on  the  edge  of  the  stems, 
and  appear  to  be  distributed  without  regard  to 
any  law  of  regularity.  The  flower  expands 
from  three  to  four  inches,  and  has  a  very  silky 
texture  and  appearance.  The  color  is  a  beauti- 
ful pinkish  yellow,  running  into  a  dark,  velvety 
maroon,  or  purple,  toward  the  base  of  the  petals. 
They  bloom  quite  profusely;  a  plant  that  I 
transplanted  from  the  town  commons  to  my 
yard  last  April,  though  only  about  eighteen 
inches  across,  produced  some  forty  of  these 
showy  flowers.  They  remain  open  two  or  three 
days,  when  they  wilt  and  fall  away.     The  flower 


187?.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


25 


stem,  which  is  about  an  inch  in  length,  becomes 
the  seed  pod  or  berry.  This  generally  attains  a 
length  of  about  two  inches  and,  when  full  grown, 
is  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  at  the 
largest  place.  It  is  pyriform  in  shape,  the  small 
end  being  at  the  base.  These,  when  ripe,  are  of 
a  dark  purple  color,  and  are  filled  with  small 
bony  seeds.  The  contents  of  one  pod  of  which,  I 
enclose  to  your  address. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  that  I  have 
observed  in  connection  with  this  plant  is  its 
change  of  habit  on  the  approach  of  cold  weather. 
During  the  summer  the  joints  of  the  stems  gene- 
rally occupy  a  vertical  position,  but  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  cold  weather,  all  of  them  that  are 
not  hindered  by  some  obstruction,  assume  a  hor- 
izontal position,  each  apparently  striving  to  get 
as  near  to  the  earth  as  possible.  Another  pecu- 
liar change  that  takes  place  in  the  stems  is  in 
their  form.  During  the  warm  season  they  are 
smooth  and  free  from  wrinkles  on  the  surface; 
but  when  the  cold  season  begins,  they  shrink  up 
from  one-fourth  to  one-half  their  normal  size, 
becoming  very  wrinkly  or  ridgy.  This  contrac- 
tion takes  place  almost,  if  not  entirely,  in  the 
length  of  the  joint,  often  reducing  it  to  less  than 
the  width. 

This  change  is  probably  the  result  of  the  larger 
portion  of  the  sap  withdrawing  from  the  plant. 
These  changes  are  probably  a  provision  of  na- 
ture to  enable  the  plant  the  more  readily,  to 
endure  the  rigors  of  winter — a  kind  of  vegetable 
hybernation.  Possibly  Mr.  Darwin  might  see  in 
this  the  prophecy,  if  not  the  remote  origin,  of  the 
hybernating  animal.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  it 
is  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  curious. 


MJW  PLANTS. 


Lilium  Humboldtianum.— This  splendid  spe- 
cies is  a  native  of  Humboldt  County,  California. 
It  is  quite  hardy  and  produces  large  golden 
yellow  flowers,  which  are  spotted  with  purple. — 
William  Bull.    See  cut,  page  26. 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


Pritchardia  filifera. — Just  as  we  go  to  press, 
a  botanical  friend  calls  our  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  Californian  Palm,  which  Mr.  Watson 
referred  to  in  our  pages   as  Pritchardia  filamen- 


tosa,  has  rigid  teeth,  and  not  filaments  on  the 
petiole,  and  that  probably  the  one  we  have  fig- 
ured is  another  and  distinct  species. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  proper  to  say 
that  the  copy  given  to  our  engraver  consisted  of 
a  frond  furnished  by  one  of  our  prominent  flor- 
ists, and  a  sketch  made  from  the  catalogue  of 
J.  Linden, of  Ghent.  The  frond  was  not  seen  by  us, 
being  mailed  direct  to  the  office,  and  the  engrav- 
ing shows  that  in  the  outlines  Linden  was  fol- 
lowed. It  may  therefore  still  bear  the  name  of 
Pritchardia  filifera  of  Linden,  leaving  it  more 
than  probable  that  Pritchardia  filamentosa  of 
California,  is  another  thing.  It  is  too  late,  as  we 
go  to  press,  to  find  out  which  kind  is  the  one  in 
the  hands  of  our  cultivators. 

Since  writing  the  above  we  have  from  Mr. 
John  Rock  a  stereoscope  of  one  growing  in  Santa 
Clara  street,  San  Jose,  which  is  fifteen  feet  high. 
This  has  no  filaments  on  the  peteoles,  and  those 
few  on  the  blades,  are  simple  extensions  of  the 
divisions.  The  leaf  stalks  are  thickly  studded 
with  spring  teeth.  Linden's  plant  is  either  not 
accurately  drawn,  or  it  is  another  thing,  and  may 
bear  the  name  of  P.  filifera,  while  the  true  Cali- 
fornian will  be  P.  filamentosa. 

Variations  in  Conifers. — How  our  American 
coniferre  vary  is  now  well  known.  It  appears 
that  the  Norway  Spruce  varies  in  the  same  way, 
and  no  doubt  other  species  of  the  order  do  the 
same.  The  Gardener's  Chronicle  says  : — "At  a  late 
meeting  of  the  Berlin  Botanical  Society,  Mr. 
Braun  exhibited  and  described  a  series  of  cones 
of  wild  forms  or  states  of  the  Spruce  found  in 
Germany.  Just  below  the  upper  tree  limit  on 
the  Brocken  a  dwarf  variety,  8  to  10  feet  high, 
grows  and  bears  cones  1£  to  2  inches  long,  not 
unlike  those  of  Picea  nigra.  The  longest,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  this  collection  are  from  7£  to  8 
inches.  There  is  also  an  equal  diversity  in  the 
length  of  the  leaves,  but  this  exists  in  no  definite 
relation  to  the  length  of  the  cones.  The  seeds 
vary  from  about  .40  to  .58,  in  the  smallest  cones, 
to  about  .75  of  an  inch  in  the  largest  cones." 

Wearing  out  of  Varieties. — That  a  tree  is  but 
an  individual,  that  the  grafts  and  cuttings  are 
but  extending  the  individual,  and  that  an  indi- 
vidual must  be  short-lived,  is  one  of  the  so-called 
scientific  "  theories  "  which  are  often  built,  and 
then  facts  looked  up  to  sustain  them.  For  this 
particular  theory  facts  do  not  come  out  very  fast. 
The  Golden  Pippin  apple,  the  Bibstone  Pippin 


26 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[January, 


^pple  the  Red  Dutch  Currant,   and  many  other   "Taking  a  broader  view  of  the  subject  it  must 
"individuals,"  still  hold  their  own,  though  a  cen-   be  patent  to  those  who  go  about  the   world  with 


ui  ium  humboltianum.    fee  page  25. 


tury  is  approaching  since  they  were  doomed.    A  |  their  eyes  open,  thai  all  those  varieties  of  the  ap- 
correapondent  of  the  Gardener's  Magazine  says  :   pie  and  pear  which,  thirty  years  ago,  were  said  to 


18*77.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


2t 


be  nearly  worn  out,  are  still  to  be  found  as  pro- 
ductive as  ever  they  were.  At  the  present  mo- 
ment we  have  in  the  fruit-room,  samples  of  Rib- 
stone  Pippin  apple  as  fine  as  one  could  wish  to 
see;  the  Golden  Pippin  apples,  from  old  trees, 
are  still  as  satisfactory  as  ever ;  the  old  Forge 
apple  is  another  variety  which  still  holds  its  own 
against  all  comers  for  productiveness.  As  these 
facts  are  undisputable,  I  cannot  understand  what 
sound  arguments  in  favor  of  the  wearing-out 
theory  can  be  brought  forward." 

Absorbtive  Power  of  Clay. — It  is  now  well 
known  that  clay  has  the  power,  when  dry,  of 
absorbing  ammonia  from  the  atmosphere.  It  is 
the  principle  of  what  is  known  as  the  earth 
closet  system.  There  is  no  longer  any  question  as 
to  where  the  earth  gets  its  nitrogen.  Dr.  Joseph 
Leidy  has  now  made  the  additional  and  import- 
ant discovery  that  wet  clay  as  well  as  dry,  has 
absorbent  powers.  In  a  verbal  communication 
to  the  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences  Oct.  31st,  he  detailed  some 
dredging  experiments  made  below  the  gas-works 
on  the  Schuylkill  river,  and  found  the  mud  in 
the  bed  of  the  river  highly  charged  with  bitumi- 
nous matter,  evidently  from  the  gas-works.  As 
oil  floats,  of  course  it  became  a  question  how  it 
got  to  the  bottom,  and  Dr.  Leidy  says  that  the 
oil  combines  with  the  clayey  particles  in  the 
water,  and  thus  both  sink  together.  In  this  way 
he  thinks  many  geological  problems  may  be 
solved.  The  oils  of  decomposing  plants  and  ani- 
mals have  no  doubt  given  the  bituminous  char- 
acter to  the  ancient  muds  and  shoals  very  often 
in  a  similar  way. 


QUERIES. 


Horticultural  Science.  —  A  correspondent 
says  : — "  Will  you  please  note  down  some  of  the 
experiments  in  Horticulture  which  you  think 
are  most  needed,  to  be  tested  thoroughly.  It 
will  need  some  thought,  but  you  can  print  the 
list;  then  your  time  will  not  be  wholly  lost." 

[A  very  useful  experiment  would  be  the  bot- 
tling, or  in  some  way  burying  beneath  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  seeds  of  acorns,  nuts,  or  other 
seeds,  several  lots  of  one  kind  to  be  taken  up  at 
different  periods,  so  as  to  know  something  about 
the  vexed  question  of  the  vitality  of  seeds,  and 
the  succession  of  plants  in  forests.  We  want 
many    more  experiments  on  Graft  hybrids,  by 


splitting  scions,  or  summer  buds  ;    or  in  uniting 
tuberous  plants  on  fibrous  ones,   or  the   reverse. 

Bulbs  placed  in  the  ground  several  inches  deep 
and  at  once  encased  in  frozen  soil,  have  grown  to 
the  surface  when  the  first  thaw  comes.  Just 
how  much  they  grow  when  frozen,  and  their 
whole  course  of  growth  through  the  frozen  ground 
would  be  interesting.  Kerner  says,  in  the  Alps, 
some  Gentians  grow  and  thaw  for  themselves  a 
house  in  the  ice,  and  flower  therein — it  might 
not  be  impossible  to  repeat  some  such  experi- 
ments, and  the  result  would  teach  us  much  about 
the  internal  heat  of  plants. 

Honeyed  secretions  appear  to  be  given  to  plants 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  a  nourishing  liquid 
to  pollen.  The  surplus — as  there  always  is  a 
large  surplus  in  all  nature  does — being  freely  at 
the  disposal  of  the  insect  world.  At  any  rate  the 
pollen  tube  is  only  emitted  when  there  is  a  hon- 
eyed secretion  on  the  stigma,  and  it  is  said  that 
flowers  which  do  not  seed  are  made  to  do  so  by 
applying  nectar  artificially.  Experiments  would 
be  useful — as  well  as  many  other  experiments  in 
relation  to  fertilization.  Can  any  one  make 
Amaryllis  fulva,  seed? 

Whether  the  same  amount  of  heat  is  given  out 
to  a  greenhouse  from  a  ton  of  coal,  when  heated 
by  hot  water,  as  when  heated  directly  from  a 
flue — and  if  not,  how  much  is  lost? 

These  are  some  of  the  problems  that  occur  to 
us,  as  we  write.  There  are  many  more  which 
might  come  from  reflection,  which  correspon- 
dents might  suggest  and  which  we  should  be 
glad  to  note  in  these  columns. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Tree  Growth. — M.  H.  D.,  Detroit,  Mich.,  says: 
"  In  an  argument  with  a  friend  to-day,  we  agreed 
to  leave  the  following  question  to  you  for  con- 
sideration :  '  Do  fruit  or  forest  trees  grow  after 
the  leaves  drop  in  the  Fall,  or  before  the  sap 
rises  in  the  Spring  ? '  My  friend  says  they  do,  I 
say  they  do  not." 

[Practically  the  answer  is  in  the  negative.  No 
one  would  be  able  to  perceive  the  slightest  dif- 
ference in  girth,  at  any  time  between  the  peri- 
ods named.  Yet  there  may  be  growth  of  some 
character  at  such  times.  Gardeners  know  that 
a  "  callus,"  a  cell  growth,  forms  on  the  ends  of 
cuttings,  and  often  roots  of  a  considerable  length, 
before  any  leaves  appear;  and  after  the  leaves 
fall,  fibres  of  trees  grow,  many  believe  all  through 
winter,  and  to  some  extent  even  when  encased 
in  frost.  In  the  Spring,  when  the  buds  are  push- 
ing, there  is  often  considerable  growth  before  the 


28 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


leaves  are   formed.     These  considerations,  how- 
ever, were  probably  not  part  of  the  argument, 


and  we  should   say  your  friend  is  wrong. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


ITERATURE,  §|RAVELS  &  pERSONAL  If  OTES. 


COMMUNIGA  TIONS. 


HORTENSIA  OR  HORTENSIS. 

The  following  note  explains  itself: 
My  Dear  Mr.  Meehan.— Some  weeks  ago,  in 
a  hurried  note,  I  called  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  you  had  inadvertently  called  the  common 
garden  Hydrangea,  H.  hortensis,  a  very  common 
error,  and  one  that  I  was  sorry  to  see  in  the 
Gardener's  Monthly.  Knowing  it  to  be  named 
H.  Hortensia  in  honor  of  some  French  Madame 
Hortense,  I  wrote  it  "  Queen  Hortense,"  without 
stopping  to  consult  the  authorties,  as  I  should 
have  done  had  I  supposed  that  the  note  would 
be  printed.  I  was  wrong  as  to  the  particular 
Hortense,  but  right  as  to  the  point  I  wished  to 
make — that  Hortensia  is  the  proper  specific  name 
of  the  plant,  and  that  Hortensis  is  wrong. 

The  Rural  New  Yorker  of  Nov.  18th  takes  up 
the  matter,  and  thinks  that  your  critic  (meaning 
the  subscriber)  "  tumbles  into  a  pit  of  his  own 
digging."  I  will  take  the  measure  of  that  pit 
presently,  but  first  let  us  hear  our  friend  of  the 
"  Rural,"  who,  after  giving  in  substance  what  I 
said  in  my  note,  adds,  "all  of  which  Mr.  Meehan 
publishes  with  thanks  to  the  critic,  never  so 
much  as  hinting  that  Hortensis  is  from  Hortus,  a 
garden  ;  hence  the  common  name  of  the  species, 
notwithstanding  the  very  Frenchy  story  about 
Queen  Hortense."  In  my  note  I  returned  the 
remark,  "But,  then,  we  can't  all  be  perfect" — 
but  at  the  time  I  did  not  think  of  the  "Rural," 
although  I  illustrated  its  truth  in  my  own  case 
by  mistaking  one  French  dame  for  another. 
"The  Rural"  reads  us  the  law  with  much  posi- 
tiveness,  and  it  may  be  worth  while  to  see  how 
the  authorities  agree  with  him.  If  our  friend 
will  refer  to  any  French  work  on  gardening,  he 
will  find  that  the  common  name  for  the  Hy- 
drangea is  ELortensia,  and  the  Bame  name  is  also 


in  common  use  among  the  Germans.  If  he  will 
refer  to  any  botanical  work  of  acknowledged  au- 
thority, as  De  Candolle's  for  Europe,  and  Gray's 
for  America,  he  will  find  the  botanical  name  of 
the  plant  given  as  Hydrangea  Hortensia.  The 
reason  for  giving  this  name  is  told  by  several 
authors,  but  the  story  is  nowhere  more  concisely 
related  than  in  Loudon's  Arboretum  et  Fruiticetum, 
vol.  2,  p.  996.  As  this  account  will  no  doubt 
interest  other  readers,  while  it  instructs  the 
"Rural,"  I  will  quote  it.  After  giving  the 
names  for  the  plant  in  Chinese  and  Japanese, 
Loudon  says  :  "  In  Europe  it  was  named  by  the 
celebrated  Commerson,  in  honor  of  Madame 
Hortense  Lapante,  wife  of  his  most  particular 
friend,  M.  Lapante,  a  watchmaker.  Commerson 
first  named  it  Lapantia,  but  in  order  that  the 
compliment  to  Madame  Lapante  might  be  the 
more  direct,  he  changed  the  name  to  that  of 
Hortensia,  from  her  Christian  name,  Hortense. 
The  plant  was  afterwards  discovered  to  be  a 
species  of  Hydrangea,  a  genus  previously  estab- 
lished by  Gronovius ;  but  the  name  Hortens/a 
was  retained  as  its  specific  appellation,  and  it  is 
still  the  common  name  by  which  the  plant  is 
known  in  French  gardens." 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  "  Rural  "  can  find 
some  works  in  which  the  specific  name  of  this 
Hydrangea  is  given  as  H.  hortensis,  the  writers 
having,  like  some  others,  assumed,  without  in- 
vestigation, that  the  name  was  from  "Hortus,  a 
garden." 

Any  rap  over  the  knuckles  that  you  may  feel 
from  the  "  Rural's  "  criticism,  I  regard  with  sat- 
isfaction as  retribution  for  publishing  my  private 
scribblings. 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  it  is  only  a  case  of 
mistaken  identity.  If  any  of  that  family  of  La- 
pante are  now  living,  I  owe  them  an  apology 
tor  confounding  that  Hortense  with  another 
Hortense,  who  though  a  queen  was  not  an  alto- 
gether  lovely  one.    Lovers  of  flowers  will  be  glad 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


29 


to  know  that  Hydrangea  Hortensia  keeps  alive 

the  memory  of  the  wife  of  a  mechanic,  rather 

than  that    of   a    royal    example    of    feminine 

profligacy.  T. 
~*~* 

EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


"  To  All  Wanting  Homes." — The  publisher 
desires  to  say,  that  the  advertisement  in  the  last 
number  under  this  head,  came  to  him  from  the 
Advertising  Agency  of  Edwin  Alden,  174  Elm 
Street,  Cincinnati,  and  he  never  had  any  reason 
to  doubt  that  it  was  a  perfectly  reliable  firm. 
This  statement  is  made  in  reply  to  some  corres- 
pondents who  question  very  much  whether  they 
will  get  the  worth  of  .their  money  in  the  way 
proposed. 

Fairmount  Park. — Mr.  C.  H.  Miller,  Chief  of 
the  Horticultural  Bureau  during  the  Centennial, 
and  under  whose  direction  the  difficult  task  of 
combining  the  wants  of  exhibitors  with  good  ar- 
tistic taste  was  so  successfully  accomplished,  has 
been  appointed  consulting  Landscape  Gardener  to 
the  Fairmount  Park  Commission. 

The  Royal  Oak. — The  oak  in  which  King 
Charles  II  took  refuge  from  his  pursuers  after 
the  defeat  at  Worcester,  by  Cromwell,  is  stated 
by  a  correspondent  of  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  to 
be  of  the  stalked  variety,  Quercus  pedunculated. 
The  tree  is  still  living,  and  is  about  11  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. 

Nurseries  of  Hargis  &  Sommer. — We  call  at- 
tention to  an  advertisement  of  this  firm  in  our 
present  number.  We  believe  this  firm  to  be  one 
of  the  most  successful  in  the  West.  Mr.  Hargis 
has  been  now  for  about  five  months  sick,  and 
Mr.  Sommer  not  being  a  nurseryman  but  in 
other  business  in  the  town,  make  good  reasons 
for  wanting  to  sell. 

S.  S.  Jackson. — The  Cincinnati  Commercial  tells 
us  that — "The  golden  wedding  of  S.  S.  Jackson 
and  wife,  on  Thursday,  November  9th,  at  the 
family  residence,  in  Delhi  Township,  was  the 
occasion  of  a  meeting  of  many  of  their  friends 
to  congratulate  them  and  to  participate  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  happy  afternoon,  amidst  the  nu- 
merous flowers  which,  fresh  from  the  greenhouse, 
ornamented  in  great  variety  the  dwelling."  Mr. 
Jackson  is  a  Horticulturist  ofwhomweare  all 
proud.  If  he  could  see  another  fifty  years  in  the 
same  way,  there  is  not  one  of  us  but  would 
rejoice. 


Wild  Flowers  of  America. — Illustrations  by 
I.  Sprague  ;  text  by  Prof.  Goodale,  Boston.  Pub- 
lished by  H.  0.  Houghton  &  Co.  Our  botanical 
friends  at  Cambridge  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
the  spirit  which  prompted  them  to  a  work  like 
this ;  and  in  undertaking  the  publication,  the 
firm  of  the  Hough  tons  deserves  every  encourage- 
ment from  the  press  and  the  public. 

It  is  the  design  to  illustrate  and  describe  all 
the  more  attractive  wild  plants  of  America,  in 
quarterly  parts,  of  four  plates  each,  at  $5  per 
part.  The  form  is  quarto,  which  gives  the  op- 
portunity to  have  the  figures  life  size. 

The  present  part  has  for  subjects,  Aquilegia 
canadensis,  Geranium  maculatum,  Aster  undu- 
latus,  and  on  the  fourth  plate  two  Gerardias,  G. 
flava  and  G.  tenuifolia. 

The  text  embraces  all  the  popular  history  of 
the  plants,  including  the  scientific  descriptions 
in  popular  language.  Considering  the  admirable 
manner  in  which  the  whole  work  of  the  artist, 
the  author,  and  the  publisher  is  executed,  the 
price  is  very  low. 

Vice's  Floral  Guide  for  the  present  month 
has  a  chapter  illustrative  of  the  terms  used  in 
botany  to  describe  the  leaves  and  parts  of  flow- 
ers. 

Chicago  Botanic  Garden. — Prof.  Babcock,  the 
director,  has  issued  a  catalogue  of  all  the  seeds 
they  have  on  hand  to  exchange  for  others.  It  is 
a  very  large  list. 

Ayer  &  Son's  Manual. — This  well  known  firm 
of  advertising  agents,  has  removed  into  the  beau- 
tiful new  building  of  the  Philadelphia  Times,  and 
have  issued  a  large  pamphlet  with  instructions 
to  their  patrons,  and  which  gives  many  useful 
hints  to  those  who  may  probably  become  so. 

C.  C.  Bragdon. — The  weekly  papers  have 
made  most  of  our  readers  acquainted  with  the 
death  of  this  gentleman,  well  known  of  late  years 
as  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Rural  New  Yorker. 
Though  his  public  labors  were  more  of  an  agri- 
cultural than  a  horticultural  character,  his  in- 
fluence in  horticultural  matters  was  considerable. 
From  the  first  foundation  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  he  took  a  warm  interest  in  its  success, 
and  to  the  last  was  one  of  its  best  friends. 

Dr.  John  Skillen  Houghton. — Among  the 
deaths  of  the  month  we  regret  to  note  that  of 
Dr.  J.  S.  Houghton,  who  died  of  an  apoplectic 
stroke,  on  the  11th  of  December  in  his  60th  year. 


30 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_January, 


Though  a  graduate  of  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Houghton 
was  a  native  of  New  England,  and  in  early  life 
was  connected  with  journalism,  which  he  subse- 
quently abandoned  for  the  medical  profession. 
He  wras  always  fond  of  Horticulture,  especially 
fruit  growing,  and  his  farm  at  Olney,  near  Phila- 
delphia, gave  abundant  evidence  of  his  taste  in 
this  direction.  He  was  a  philosophic  thinker, 
and  was  fond  of  experimenting  on  new  ideas  and 
scientific  discoveries  in  connection  with  horticul- 
ture, with  the  result  very  common  in  such  cases, 
of  benefiting  others  by  his  experience,  much 
more  than  himself.  The  early  volumes  of  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  are  full  of  his  generous  wri- 
tings, freely  offering  his  experience  to  all,  as  are 
the  trasactions  of  the  Pennsylvania  Fruit-grow- 
ers Society,  and  of  the  American  Pomological 
Society.  The  Pennsylvania  Horticultural  So- 
ciety especially  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for 
years  of  unselfish  work  in  connection  with  its 
annual  exhibitions.  His  early  experience  as  a 
journalist  enabled  him  to  address  himself  suc- 
cessfully to  the  popular  heart,  and  he  was  gener- 
ally successful  in  filling  the  hall  with  visitors. 
His  genial  good  nature  never  deserted  him,  and 
in  this  feature  alone,  his  presence  among  his 
horticultural  associates  will  be  missed. 


QUERIES. 


Carnation  Pinks.—  M.  N.  Faribault,  Minn., 
asks: — "I  see  often  advertised  'Carnation  Pinks.' 
What  are  they?  I  know  Carnations,  I  think, 
and   I   know   Pinks,   but   what    are    Carnation 


Pinks?"  [We  hardly  know  what  the  growers 
mean.  In  old  times  there  was  a  distinction 
between  Carnation,  Piccotee,  and  Pink.  This 
was  in  the  days  when  they  were  what  is  known 
as  "  Florists'  flowers."  The  names  are  all  so  mixed 
now  by  the  cut-flower  cultivators  that  one  hardly 
knows  which  is  which,  and  perhaps  "  Carnation 
Pinks  "  means  that  you  can  take  your  choice  of 
a  name.  Carnation  is  however  the  best  name. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Foreign  and  American  Tuberoses. — A  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.,  correspondent  writes  : — "  In  the  No- 
vember number,  page  348,  you  allude  to  Mr.  E.  S. 
Rand,  in  connection  with  a  gross  misstatement 
from  the  pen  of"  one  of  Boston's  leading  horti- 
culturists "  without  apparently  suspecting  that 
it  was  made  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Rand  him- 
self. The  statement  is  "that  the  bulbs  (tube- 
roses) are  imported  from  Italy  and  France,  as 
our  seasons  are  not  long  enough  to  ripen  them." 
Now,  in  E.  S.  Rand's  "  Flowers  for  the  Parlor 
and  Garden,"  it  is  said  of  the  Tuberose  (which  he 
prints  Tube  Rose)  that  "  Our  dried  roots  are 
annually  imported  from  Italy,  where  they  ripen 
their  bulbs  in  the  open  air."  (p.  199),  and  again 
(p.  202),  "  Our  climate  is  too  uncertain  to  insure 
a  proper  ripening  of  the  bulb." 

[It  may  be  that  when  Mr.  Rand  was  preparing 
the  MSS.  for  his  work,  it  was  not  as  well  known 
as  now  that  American  tuberoses  were  exported 
to  Europe  in  immense  quantity  as  well  as  used 
so  largely  at  home  as  to  be  almost  the  only  ones 
in  use.  At  any  rate  allowing  that  the  mistake 
was  originally  Mr.  Rand's,  those  who  have  so 
recently  used  the  statement  in  Boston,  ought 
to  have  known  better  than  their  teacher  by  this 
time.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


gLORTICULTURAL  f§0CIETIESo 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Pennsylvania  Fruit  Growers'  Society.— The 
annual  meeting  of  this  Society  will  be  held 
this  season  at  Lancaster,  commencing  the  third 
Wednesday  in  January. 


The  Western  New  York  Horticultural. 
Society.— Most  of  the  winter  meetings  of  the 
State  societies  were  held  in  December,  but  we 
received  no  notice  of  them  till  after  that  number 
went  to  press.  We  are  glad  of  having  an  op- 
portunity of  saying  that  the  W.  N.  Y.  Hort.  So- 
ciety  will  be  held  at  Rochester,  beginning  with 
the  27th  of  January. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


31 


Awards  at  the  Centennial. — We  have  not 
been  favored  with  a  list  of  the  awards  in  the 
Horticultural  Department,  but  the  following  of 
the  Pomological  Department  has  been  kindly 
handed  to  us  for  publication.  We  have  omitted 
most  names  which  are  in  countries  where  the 
English  language  is  not  spoken,  or  our  maga- 
zine has  no  circulation. 

We  may  observe  that  the  fact  that  a  person 
has  an  award  for  any  particular  object,  is,  by  the 
Centennial  plan,  only  a  part  of  the  honor.  For 
instance,  we  note  now  that  an  award  is  made 
for  "  Apples,"  but  it  is  what  the  judges  say  of  the 
apples,  their  peculiar  merit  or  points  of  excel- 
lence— that  is  the  real  honor — and  these  points 
are  named  in  the  certificate  which  accompanies 
the  medal.  It  is  the  certificate,  not  the  medal 
that  tells  the  story. 

It  must  be  gratifying  to  the  members  of  the 
Pomological  group  of  jurors  to  know  that  their 
recommendation  for  awards  were  adopted  by 
the  Centennial  Commission,  without  a  single  ex- 
ception, nor  do  we  know  that  any  have  been 
added  by  the  supplementary  group,  appointed 
to  revise  the  work  of  the  other  groups. 

In  addition  to  the  awards,  a  very  large  number 
of  exhibits,  though  not  possessing  special  excel- 
lencies, have  yet  had  complimentary  notices  in 
the  regular  weekly  reports,  some  of  which  have, 
and  probably  all  of  which  will  or  should  be  pub- 
lished by  the  Centennial  Commission. 

J.  H.  Ricketts,  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  Wine  Grapes. 
State  of  Oregon,  Collection  of  Fruit. 
Hampton  Kelley,  Portland,  Oregon,  Fruit  Butter. 
J.  M.  Humphrey,  Plymouth,  Mich.,  Apples. 
N.  and  C.  Chilson,  Battle  Creek,  Mich.,  Apples. 
W.  J.  Weeks,  Suffolk  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Cranberries. 
E.  Bradfield,  Ada,  Mich.,  Grapes. 
A.  H.  Richards,  Pleasant  Mills,  N.  J.,  Cranberries. 

A.  A.  Olds,  Hamilton,  Mich.,  Apples. 

B.  Hathaway,  Mich.,  Apples. 

H.  D.  Adams,  Salesbury,  Mich.,  Apples  and  Pears. 
Lancaster  Co.  Horticultural  and  Agricultural  So- 
ciety, Lancaster,  Pa  .  Apples. 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  Collection  of  Fruit. 

E.  B.  Clark,  Medford,  Ct..  Vegetables  and  Grains. 
S.  B.  Wakeman,  Saugatuck,  Conn.,  Onions. 

B.  K.  Bliss  &  Son,  New  York  City,  Collection 
of  Winter  Roots  and  Vegetables. 

B.  K.  Bliss  &  Son,  New  York  City,  Potatoes. 

F.  M.  Hexamer,  Ivy  Hill  Nurs.,  N.  Y.,  Potatoes. 
L.  J.  Clute,  Fairfield,  Iowa,  Potatoes. 

State  of  Iowa,  Potatoes  and  Farm  Products. 

W.  M.  Winterbotham,  Fort  Madison,  Iowa,  Tim- 
othy Grass  Seed. 

Wm.  Jordan,  Eldnn,  Davis  Co.,  Iowa,  Corn. 

D.  Landreth  &  Son,  Phila.,  Pa.,  Cereals  of  the 
Harvest  of  1876. 

Baron  Aneelo  Pocari,  Sicily,  Palermo,  Peas, 
Beans  and  Legumes. 

Sooieta  d'Acelimatazione  di  Sicilia,  thirty-nine 
kinds  of  Oranges  and  Citrons. 

Hort.Dept. State  A.<r.  Col.,  Lansing,  Mich.,  Potat's. 

Dutch  Ag  So.,  Netherlands,  Leguminous  Seeds. 

C.  R.  Van  Der  Pool,  Neth.,  Brielle,  Green  Peas. 
August  Boileau,  New  York,  Trained  Fruit  Trees. 


P.  Van-Nes-Azn,  Netherlands,  Boskoop,  Trained 

Fruit  Trees. 
Charles  Pohl,  Austria,  per  Albert  Kuhn,  Wehaw- 

ken,  N.  Y.,  Currants  and  Gooseberries  grafted 

on  Missouri  Currant. 

C.  P.  K.  Galesloot,  Netherlands,  Amsterdam, 
Fruit  Trees. 

Dr.  John  A.  Warder,  President  of  the  Ohio  State 
Horticultural  Society,  Early  Apples. 

Iowa  State  Horticultural  Society,  Early  Apples. 

Gibson  <fc  Bennett,  Woodbury,  N.J.,  Early  Apples. 

Abm.  Barker,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Pears. 

Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta,  Pa.,  Seedling  Peaches. 

Dr.  N.  H.  Morange,  Florida,  Tropical  Fruits  and 
Wine. 

Fruit  Growers'  Society  of  Ontario,  Canada,  Gen- 
eral Collection  of  Early  Berries  and  Fruits. 

Seth  Luelling,  Milwaukee,  Oregon,  Cherries. 

Kuhn  &  Co.,  New  York,  American  Gooseberries. 

Joab  Teague,  Bourbon  Co.,  Kansas,  Apples. 

Miss  Hettie  Trimble,  West  Chester,  Pa.,  Exotic 
Grapes,  under  glass. 

John  S.  Collins,  Moorestown,  N.  J.,  Blackberries 
and  Raspberries. 

E.  W.  Durand,  Irvington,  N.  J.,  Seedling  Straw- 
berries. 

Jas.  S.  Jones,  Germantown,  Pa.,  Strawberries. 

Edw.  J.  Steele,  Germantown,  Pa.  Strawberries. 

J.  H.  Withington,  S.  Amboy,  N.  J.,  Strawberries. 

J.  H.  Parneli,  West  Point,  Ga.,  Early  Peaches. 

D.  Landreth  &  Sons,  Phila.,  Pa.,  Roots  for  Cattle- 
Feeding. 

Iowa  State  Horticultural  Society,  Apples. 

N.  Hellings  &  Bro.,  Battle  Creek,  Mich.,  Apples. 

Michigan  State  Horticultural  Society,  Apples. 

Mich.  State  Pom.  Society,  Peaches  and  Prunes. 

Mrs.  G.  W.  Carpenter,  Germantown,  Pa.,  Peaches- 
Daniel  Smeych,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Peaches. 

Thos.  J.  Beans,  Moorestown,  N.  J.,  Peaches. 

Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Plums. 

State  of  Connecticut,  Plums. 

Fred.  Seitz,  Sr.,  Easton,  Pa.,  Nectarines. 

Mass.  Hort.  Sociefy,  Boston  Mass.,  Large  Collec- 
tion of  Apples. 

J.  W.  Manning,  Reading,  Mass.,  Apples. 

Jos.  H.  Fenno,  Revere,  Mass..  Apples. 

S.  S.  West,  Columbia,  Conn.,  Apples. 

Z.  Hollingsworth,  Sandusky,  Lee  Co.,  Iowa, 
Apples. 

T.  C.  Austin,  Middletown,  Conn.,  Apples. 

Fruit  Growers'  Asso'n,  Ontario,  D.  W.  Beadle, 
Sec,  St.  Catherines,  additional  Apples. 

Ohio  Horticultural  Society,  M.  B.  Bateham,  Sec- 
retary, Pninesville,  Ohio,  Apples. 

Worcester  County  Horticultural  Society,  Mass., 
Apples. 

Indiana  Horticultural  Society,  Wm.  H.  Ragan, 
Sec'y,  Claymont,  Indiana,  Apples. 

Alfred  S.  Sheller,  Lewisburg,  Union  Co.,  Pa., 
Apples. 

Samuel  Hartwell,  Lincoln,  Mass.,  Apples. 

Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Rochester,  N,  Y.,  Apples. 

H.  M.  Engle  &  Son,  Marietta,  Lancaster  Co.,  Pa.r 
Apples. 

Chas.  Arnold,  Ontario,  Paris,  Apples. 

R.  S.  Willett,  Malcom,  Iowa,  Apples. 

E.  H.  Elkins,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Apples. 


32 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[January, 


Leavenworth  Co.,  Horticultural  Society,  Apples. 
T.  S.  Gold,  West  Cornwall,  Conn.,  Apples. 
P.  M.  Augur,  Mickllefield,  Conn.,  Apples. 
James  Dougall,  Ontario,  Windsor,  Apples. 
Polk   Co.,   Iowa   (collected  by  Jas.  Smith),  Des 
Moines,  Iowa,  Apples. 
John  Cummings,  Woburn,  Mass.,  Apples. 
Benj.  G.  Smith,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Apples. 
Nebraska    State    Horticultural    Society,   D.   H. 

Wheeler,  Sec'y,  Plattsmouth,  Neb.,  Apples. 
David  Williams,  East  Hartford,  Conn.,  Apples. 
B.  H.  Atwater,  Berlin,  Conn.,  Apples. 
J.  W.  Humphrey,  Plymouth,  Wayne  Co.,  Mich., 

Apples. 
State  of  Iowa,  Apples. 
Kansas   State   Board   of   Centennial   Managers, 

Topeka,  Kansas,  Apples. 
Wisconsin  State  Horticultural  Society,Wisconsin, 

Apples. 
W.  W.  Gearheart,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Apples. 
Minnesota  Hort.  Society,  Minnesota,  Apples. 
David  Leonard,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Apples. 
State  of  Connecticut,  Apples. 
Thos.  J.  Beans,  Moorestown,  N.  J.,  Cantaloupe 

Melons. 
Robert    S.   Thompson,    Jamaica,    through    the 

British  Commission,  Tropical  Fruits. 
Seth  Luelling,  Milwaukee,  Oregon,  Pears. 
H.  Lambert,  Portland,  Oregon,  Apples. 
Joseph  E.  Ledlock,  Portland,  Oregon,  Collection 

of  Prunes. 
State  of  Iowa,  per  Col.  G.  Brackett,  Wax  Models 

of  Fruit. 
P.  Kieffer,  Angora,  Phila.,  Pa.,  Hybrid  Pears. 
Wm.  Gourney,  Hamilton,  Out.,  Salem  Grapes. 
W.  F.  Taylor,  Hamilton,  Ont.,  Clinton  Grapes. 
Mayor  Pafford,  Niagara,  Out.,  Exotic  Grapes. 
Thomas   H.  Parker,   Woodstock,    Ont.,   Grapes 

under  Glass. 
Chas.  Arnold,  Ontario,  Seedling  Grapes. 
Donald  Smith,  per  Fruit  Growers'  Society,  Ont., 

Apples. 
Hugh  Scott,  Jr.,  London,  Ontario,  Apples. 
James   M.   Stacy,  Masonville,  Ontario,  London 

Pippin  Apples. 
J.  Morgan,  Jr.  Quebec,  Collection  of  Grapes. 
J.  W.  Newman,  Lachine,  Seedling  Apples. 
Daniel  Smeych,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Apples. 
Dr.  J.  Stayman,  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  Pennsylvania 

Apples. 
Natt  Atkinson,  Asheville,  North  Carolina,  Apples. 
Maine  Pomological  Society,  Apples. 
The  Worcester  Co.  Ag.  Society,  Worcester,  Mass., 

Pears. 
Charles  F.  Curtis,  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Wm.  H.  Earle,  Worcester,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Alex.  Dickinson,  Cambridgeport,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Mrs.   Geo.    A.  Chamberlain,  Worcester,   Mass., 

Pears. 
Amos.  Bates,  Hingham,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Hovey  &  Co.,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Benj.  G.  Smith,  Cambridge,  Mass  ,  Pears. 
D.  Smeych,  Lancaster   Pa.,  Pears. 
Jos.  H.  Fenno,  Revere,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Griffin  <k  Dolan,  Cambridgeport,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Nebraska  Hort.  Society,  D.  H.  Wheeler,  Sec'y, 

Plattsmouth,  Neb.,  Pears. 


John  Given,  Keokuk,  Iowa,  Pears. 

L.  T.  Barney,  Keokuk,  Iowa.,  Pears. 

G.  0.  Hilton,  Keokuk,  Iowa,  Pears. 

W.  T.  Smith,  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  Pears. 

The  Indiana  Hort.  Society,  W.  H.  Ragan,  Sec'y, 

Clayton.  Ind.,  Pears. 
Massachusetts  Hort.  So.,  Boston,  Mass.,  Pears. 
T.  S.  Gold,  West  Cornwall,  Conn.,  Pears. 
John  Saul,  Washington,  D.  C,  Pears. 
Iowa  Hort.  Society,  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  Pears. 
Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Boston,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Fruit  Growers'  Association  of  Ontario,  Pears. 
P.  D.  Stillman,  Hartford,  Conn.,  Pears. 
Seth  Luelling  &  Son,  Milwaukee,  Oregon,  Pears. 
John  Turner,  Norwich,  Conn.,  Pears. 

0.  B.  Hadwen,  Worcester,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Pears. 

F.  and  L.  Clapp,  Dorchester,  Mass.,  Pears. 
E.  Anderson,  Felton,  Del.,  Pears. 

The  State  of  Connecticut,  Pears. 

G.  B.  Brackett,  Denmark,  Iowa,  Pears. 
Newell  Wood,  Millbury,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Edward  W.  Lincoln,  Worcester,  Mass.,  Pears. 
John  C.  Newton,  Worcester,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Robert  Manning,  Salem,  Mass.,  Pears. 
Daniel  Smeych,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Grapes. 
Agricultural  Society  of  Egg  Harbor  City,  N.  J., 

Grapes. 
Ellwanger  &  Barry,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Grapes. 
Fruit  Growers'  Association  of  Canada  (Province 

of  Ontario),  Grapes. 

1.  B.  Seely,  Vine  Valley,  N.  Y.,  Grapes. 
George  W.  Campbell,  Delaware,  Ohio,  Grapes. 
James  H.  Ricketts,  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  Grapes. 
Commissioner  of  Victoria,  Fruit  and  Fruit  Models. 
Inspector  of   Woods    and    Forests,    Philippine 

Islands,  Pomological  Products  of  the  Island. 
New  Jersey  State  Hort  Society,  Fruits. 
Samuel  Streeper,  Broad  Axe,  Pa.,  Apples. 
Samuel  W.  Noble,  Jenkintown,  Pa.,  Apples. 
E.  N.  Wright   (Alexander   Cox  Gardener),  Ger- 

mantown,  Pa.,  Hot-House  Grapes. 
James  Wardrop,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Seckel  Pears. 
Fruit  Growers'  Society  of  Ontario,  Collection  of 

Fruit. 

E.  Anderson,  Felton,  Del.,  Duchesse  d'Angou- 
leme  Pears. 

Berks  County  Ag.  Society,  Pennsylvania,  Apples. 

Washington  Brookman,  Reading  (Berks  Co. 
Agricultural  Society  Pa.),  White  Doyenne 
or  "Butter"  Pears. 

A.  L.  Felten,  Phila.,  Collection  of  Vegetables. 

Henry  Avery,  Burlington,  Iowa,  Apples. 

Morgan  Brown,  Toutogany,  Ohio,  Collection  of 
Vegetables. 

J.  M.  Nelson,  Indian  Run,  Pa.,  Apples. 

Redmond  &  Co.,  Pensacola,  Florida,  Figs. 

D.  L.  Hoadley,  Lawrence,  Kansas,  Apples. 

H.  Acosta  Kreskorn,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Paper 
Fruit  and  Flower  Models. 

D.  Landreth  &  Sons,  Philadelphia,  Winter  Veg- 
etable Roots. 

Dominion  of  Canada  (from  the  Province  of 
Manitoba),  Esculents. 

F.  S.  Cary,  Hamilton,  Ohio,  Apples. 
Michigan  State  l'omological  Society,  Continuous 

exhibits  of  Fruit. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


FEBRUARY,  1877. 


Number  218. 


LOWER  GARDEN  AND  W LEASURE  GROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


The  Spring  season  is  the  road  season,  and  how 
to  make  good  roads  is  a  matter  of  first-rate  im- 
portance. On  most  places  of  any  size  there  are 
too  many  roads,  and  then  none  are  well-cared 
for;  good  roads  are  expensive  to  make  and  costly 
to  keep  in  good  order,  and  therefore  good  judg- 


stone  will  combine  by  its  own  angles  into  a 
smooth,  solid  surface,  that  cannot  be  affected  by 
vicissitudes  of  weather,  or  displaced  by  the  ac- 
tion of  wheels,  which  will  pass  over  it  without  a 
jolt,  and  consequently  without  injury. 

"  The  size  of  stones  for  a  road  should  be  that 
of  a  hen's  egg,  or  a  half  a  pound  weight.  It 
must  be  in  due  proportion  to  the  space  occupied 


g^mwk 


Iv/sT 


;-#v 


~7/,r  "J*  W  •%- 


No.  1. — MacAdam  Road. 


ment  should  be  used  in  laying  out  and  form- 
ing them.  If  well-made  there  is  not  much 
trouble  in  keeping  them  up  afterwards. 

For  good,  solid  roads,  there  is  nothing  yet 
known  that  beats  the  genuine  MacAdam.  But 
the  specimens  of  work  usually  called  Macadamiz- 
ing would  not  be  owned  by  MacAdam  himself.  It 
will  serve  a  useful  purpose  to  give  MacAdam 's 
own  explanation  of  his  work  : 

"  Every  road  is  to  be  made  of  broken  stone 
without  mixture  of  earth,  clay,  chalk,  or  any 
other  matter  that  will  imbibe  water  and  be  af- 
fected with  frost;  nothing  is  to  be  laid  on  the 
clean   stone   on   pretence    of  binding;    broken 


by  a  wheel  of  ordinary  dimensions  on  a  smooth 
level  surface  :  this  point  of  contact  will  be  found 
to  be  longitudinally,  about  an  inch  ;  and  every 
piece  of  stone  put  into  a  road  which  exceeds  an 
inch  in  any  of  its  dimensions,  is  mischievous." 

A  properly  made  MacAdam  road  is,  however, 
the  most  expensive  in  its  first  cost,  and  a  sort  of 
compromise  is  effected  by  the  Telford  road,  in 
which  large  blocks  are  laid  at  the  bottom,  and 
only  broken  stone  at  the  surface.  This  has  be- 
come very  common,  and  answers  pretty  well. 
The  MacAdam  road  is  made  plain  by  the  pre- 
ceding illustration. — No.  1. 

The  Telford  road  is  illustrated  by  our  figure 


34 


THE  GARDENER'S  HON  TEL  Y 


[February, 


No.  2.  It  is  formed  by  heavy  blocks  at  the  bot- 
tom with  broken  stones  at  the  top.  It  is  often 
used  simply  for  the  centres  of  roads,  the  outsides 
being  gravel,  as  seen  in  the  cut. 

Rubble  pavement,  as  we  understand  it  in  Phil- 
adelphia, consists  of  heavy  stones  set  a  little 
edgewise,  as  in  the  Telford  plan,  but  coming 
quite  to  the  surface.  It  soon  wears  into  ruts, 
and  is  extremely  difficult  to  repair  when  it  gets 
bad,  when  made  of  rather  soft  stone,  such  as 
the  general  gneiss  rock  of  this  district;  and 
when  of  harder  stone  is  extremely  rough  and  un- 
pleasant to  travel  over.  Indeed,  the  Rubble 
pavement  is  merely  the  Telford  in  a  very  ineom- 


roots  at  planting.  If  they  appear  dry,  dip  them 
in  a  tub  of  water  if  small,  or  sprinkle  with  a 
water  pot  if  large,  before  setting.  The  soil  im- 
mediately about  the  fibres  will  then  adhere  to 
them,  and  while  the  water  thus  benefits,  the  soil 
is  not  rendered  a  mass  of  mud.  If  the  trees  ap- 
pear very  dry,  prune  accordingly  to  the  degree 
of  probable  injury.  If  a  tree  has  a  large  mass 
of  fibrous  roots,  and  these  not  dry,  and  the  top 
not  very  large,  no  pruning  will  be  necessary.  If 
the  roots  are  injured,  prune  them  too  a  little.  If 
the  injury  to  the  root  or  top  be  very  great,  prune 
the  top  severely.  No  tree  or  shrub  need  die  of 
transplanting,  no  matter  how  great  the  injury, 


O'X-S 


ill     JS 


No.  2. — Telford  Road. 


plete  condition.  For  the  cuts  with  which  we 
have  illustrated  this  sketch  we  are  indebted  to 
the  Philadelphia  Polytechnic  Review. 

For  small  walks  around  houses  and  buildings 
there  is  nothing  much  better  than  slats.  These 
may  be  made  of  shingle  laths,  set  crosswise  on 
3x4  sills.  They  should  be  set  rather  close,  so 
that  they  do  not  quite  touch  one  another.  Well- 
made  they  look  very  neat,  and  are  cool  in  sum- 
mer and  dry  in  winter — good  points  which 
roads  of  stone,  gravel,  ashes,  sand  or  grass  never 
entirely  possess.  Of  course  this  is  rather  ex- 
pensive where  lumber  is  scarce  and  dear,  but  it 
is  the  best  even  in  many  of  these  cases. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  remind  our  readers  that 
the  time  is  approaching  when  all  pruning  opera- 
tions be  ended  as  soon  as  possible,  lawns  rolled 
as  soon  as  they  can  be  after  the  frost  leaves  them, 
and  while  still  wet,  in  order  to  fill  up  the  ine- 
qualities; apply  a  top-dressing  of  bone-dust, 
guano,  wood  ashes,  or  whatever  other  "  seedless  " 
manure  may  be  adopted,  before  the  rolling. 
Arrangements  should  be  made  also  for  Spring 
planting,  by  getting  good  soil  hauled  near  where 
it  may  be  wanted,  for  it  is  a  sad  loss  of  time  to 
plant  in  poor  ground,  and  the  holes  may  even 
now  be  dug  and  the  new  soil  put  in.  Planting, 
however,  should  not  be  done  until  the  soil  is 
quite  dry,  so  that  the  earth  can  be  crushed  finely 
in  about  the  roots  by  the  feet,  instead  of  being 
pressed   closer  together.      Avoid   watering    the 


unless  entirely  dead.  If  there  be  any  life  at  all 
a  severe  pruning  will  save  it.  It  is  often  recom- 
mended to  bury  up  entirely  in  soil  for  a  few  days, 
plants  that  become  dried  somewhat  during  re- 
moval, which  usually  does  pretty  well;  but  we 
would  prefer  to  prune  away  a  portion  of  the 
branches. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 

ZELKOVA  CRENSTA. 

BY    HON.    ELI    K.    PRICE,    OF  FAIRMOUNT  PARK  COM- 
MISSION, philad'a. 

Countless  are  the  ideas  exchanged  at  our  In- 
ternational Centennial  Exhibition  :  I  give  you  a 
small  but  pleasing  instance.  Mr.  Clarence  H. 
Clark  wrote  me  several  weeks  since,  "A  friend  of 
mine  of  Boston  was  spending  a  few  days  with 
me,  and  being  much  interested  in  trees,  I  took 
him  to  Bartram's  Garden,  and  to  the  Wood- 
lands ;"  and  proceeds  to  say  that  in  the  latter  he 
saw  trees,  which  stand  north-eastward  and  north- 
westward of  the  Mansion,  which  were  a  puzzle 
to  him.  That  friend  was  C.  S.  Sargent,  a  profes- 
sor in  the  Botanical  School  attached  to  Harvard 
College.  After  his  return  home,  *Mr.  Sargent 
solved  the  puzzle  and  writes  thus  to  Mr.  Clark 
on  the  27th  October,  187(5 :  "  Perhaps  you  don't 
care  to  know,  but  I  have  cleared  up  the  myste- 


1871] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


35 


ries  of  that  strange  tree  in  the  Woodlands  Ceme- 
tery ;  it  is  a  Zelkova  Crensta.  The  Zelkova  is  a 
native  of  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  It  seems 
that  William  Hamilton,  who  lived  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century,  was  a  great  lover  and  culti- 
vator of  trees.  Between  1802  and  1805  he  had 
for  gardener,  Frederick  Pursh,  one  of  the  fathers 
of  American  Botany  ;  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  Pursh  got  these  trees  from  Europe,  as  he 
was  a  German,  and  planted  them.  This  would 
make  them  all  the  more  interesting,  and  I  hope, 
if  occasion  offers  that  you  will  mention  to  the 
authorities  that  these  trees  are  of  great  value  and 
interest,  and  must  be  protected  and  looked  after. 
I  don't  know  of  any  other  specimens  anywhere 
in  the  United  States — certainly  there  are  none  in 
this  part  of  the  country." 

These  trees  will  be  cared  for  and  preserved  in 
the  Woodlands.  What  is  more  important  is,  that 
they  should  be  secured  to  our  country  by  propa- 
gation. If  seed  should  appear  next  Fall, they  will 
be  gathered.  In  the  meantime  grafting  should 
be  attempted.  Mr.  Sargent  is  trying  it  at  Cam- 
bridge, on  English  elms.  I  invite  gardeners  to 
get  cuttings  and  try  their  success.  The  Wood- 
lands Company  are  attempting  nothing  in  that 
way,  the  lot  holders  supplying  all  trees,  etc., 
needed ;  but  in  the  Fairmount  Park  I  shall  ask 
Chas.  H.  Miller  and  Russell  Thayer,offieers  of  the 
Commission,  to  endeavor  to  grow  them  in  the 
Park  Gardens,  where  we  shall  aim  to  make  grow 
every  tree  that  will  endure  our  climate,  and  will 
plant  with  a  view  both  to  artistic  effect  and  the 
study  of  botany. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  your  readers  to  be  re- 
minded that  after  Bartram's  on  the  Schuylkill, 
and  Marshall's  Garden,  at  Marshallton,  four 
miles  west  of  West  Chester,the  Woodlands  ranked 
third  in  time  of  the  important  gardens  of  Penn- 
sylvania. There  are  now  in  it  many  self-sown 
forest  trees,  and  many  exotic  and  American 
trees  planted  by  Hamilton.  Thirty-five  years 
ago  I  bought  the  remains  of  Duke's  Garden,  on 
Township  Line,  consisting  of  a  fine  variety  of 
oaks,  besides  other  trees,  and  these  now  afford 
me  a  varied  supply  of  fruit  for  the  Park.  These 
and  the  Park,  are  intended  to  be  a  supply  of 
tree-seeds  to  nurserymen  and  others.  The  Park, 
in  this  way,  will  fulfil  its  obligations  to  the  spirit 
of  the  legacies  of  Michaux  and  Cresson,  as  well 
as  by  supplying  trees  within  the  terms  of  their 
wills. 

[This  remarkable  discovery  is,   as  Mr.  Price 
says,  one  of  the  events  of  the  Centennial  year. 


It  is  many  years  since  the  writer  of  this  saw  the 
tree.  It  was  then  very  large,  and,  the  leaves  out 
of  reach,  was  taken  for  some  garden  variety  of 
the  English  elm.  In  regard  to  its  name,  which 
was  given  to  it  by  Spach,  we  believe  the  best 
European  botanists  regard  it  as  not  distinct 
enough  from  Abelicea  which  is  perhaps  the  name 
to  be  adopted. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


MAGNOLIAS. 

BY   PHILADELPHIA. 

I  have   from   time   to  time    noticed    in    the 
Monthly  and  in  other  magazines,  that  there  seems 
a  difficulty  in  successfully  transplanting  magno- 
lias.    This  arises  in  many  cases  from  its  being 
done  at  the  wrong  time,  which  is  the  Fall  months. 
Many  trees  with  fleshy  roots,  the  magnolias  es- 
pecially,  should   only   be   transplanted  in    the 
Spring,  or  there  is  risk  of  losing  them.     At   this 
time  they  succeed  just  as  well  as  any  other  tree, 
and  as  they  have  generally  a  good   lot  of  small 
roots,  large  planters  are  as  successful  with  them 
then  as  desired.  The  most  common  kinds  planted 
around  Philadelphia  are  the  M.   tripetala,    M. 
acuminata,  and  M.  macrophylla,  of  the  larger  or 
tree  kinds.     Of  the  shrub  ones   we   meet  the  of- 
tenest  M.  purpurea,   M.  Soulangeana,   M.  con- 
spicua,     M.    glauca,    and    M.    gracilis.     Many 
grand    old    specimens,  of  M.   tripetala   can  be 
found  on  old  residences  at  West  Philadelphia 
and  at  Germantown  in  Philadelphia.     It  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  kind  to  be  largely  planted, 
and  the  fine  specimens  of  younger  trees  in  more 
recently  laid  out  places,  show  it  to  be  as  popular 
to-day    as    ever.     A  few  years  ago  there   were 
some  beautiful  specimens  at  Laurel  Hill  Ceme- 
tery, and  no  doubt  they  are  there  to-day,  in  com- 
pany with  the  other  choice  trees  to  be  found  in 
that  favored  spot.    The  M.  acuminata  seems  to 
have  been  overlooked  by  the  early  planters,  or  it 
was  not  so  accessible.     It  grows  to  a  large  tree 
and  is  unsuited  for  many  places  where  the  M. 
tripetala  may  be  planted.     Yet  it  makes  a  most 
shapely  tree,  and  for  shade  or  ornament,  where 
there  is  room  for  it,  it  should  be  planted.     The 
M.  macrophylla  is  still  more  rare,  though  here 
and  there  a  large  tree  of  it  is  met  with.     It,  like 
the  last  named,  grows  to  a  good  size,  and  with  its 
very  large  leaves  is  very  ornamental.    There  are 
a  few  other  large  growing  Magnolias,  but  I  am 
writing  only  of  those  most  common  here  as  old 
specimens.    The  M.  conspicua  and  M.  Soulange- 
ana take  a  place  between  the  tree  and  the  shrub 


36 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[February, 


sorts,  growing  to  twelve  feet  or  more.  The  spe- 
cimens observed  seem  mostly  grown  in  shrub 
form,  and  when  thus  grown  are  more  attractive. 
It  gladdens  one  in  Spring  to  see  them  clothed 
with  their  white  flowers,  before  even  their  bright 
green  leaves  have  fairly  budded  out.  The  M. 
purpurea  is  quite  common  to  Philadelphia  gar- 
dens; the  M.  gracilis  and  M.  glaucanotsomuch 
so,  but  the  last  named  is  rapidly  becoming  bet- 
ter known.  This  one  when  to  its  full  size  is  really 
a  small  tree,  but  as  it  commences  to  flower  when 
but  three  feet  high,  it  is  usually  spoken  of  as  a 
shrub.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  flowers 
of  the  magnolias  are  succeeded  by  cones  of  fruit 
which  turn  in  the  Fall  to  a  beautiful  rosy  pink 
color,  making  them  conspicuous  and  pleasing 
objects  on  a  lawn  ;  and  indeed  this  is  thought  by 
some  to  be  a  greater  attraction  than  the  flowers. 


RHODODENDRONS. 


BY   E.   MANNING,    HARRISBURGH,    FRANKLIN   CO.,   O. 

In  the  September  number  of  your  valuable 
paper  I  see  three  Rhododendron  articles,  one 
from  C.  M.  Hovey,  one  from  J.  A.  Nelson 
and  one  from  our  good  friend  S.  B.  Parsons.  In 
Mr.  Hovey's  article,  speaking  of  a  writer  in  Ap~ 
pleton's  Journal  who  had  stated  that  in  the  North- 
ern United  States  the  R.  maximum  would  alone 
endure  the  winter,  he  says,  "  If  the  writer  had 
seen  or  heard  of  Mr.  Hunnewell's  fine  collection 
at  Wellesley  he  must  have  known  the  Cataw- 
biense  endures  our  winters  as  well  as  the  maxi- 
mum. Such  authority  is  of  course  not  of  any 
importance  to  intelligent  cultivators,  but  to  those 
unacquainted  with  the  plants,  it  helps  to  retard 
their  introduction  into  our  grounds." 

Here  Mr.  Hovey  intimates  that  by  intelligence 
it  is  practicable  to  grow  the  Rhododendron  any- 
where. 

Mr.  Editor,  we  hear  you  in  the  same  say, 
ignorant  Rhododendron  culture  is  a  costly  thing 
in  America,  but  intelligently  pursued  nothing  is 
more  delightful. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  shall  certainly  take  excep- 
tions to  your  remarks  and  to  Mr.  Hovey's.  I 
have  tried  twice  to  grow  them  and  have  as  often 
failed.  My  first  attempt  was  with  a  moderate 
preparation  of  the  soil.  I  got  my  plants  from 
the  old  firm  of  Parsons  &  Co.  They  had  good 
balls  of  roots  and  were  in  fine  order.  They 
bloomed  well  the  first  year,  and  made  good 
growth.     The  second  season,  same  bloom,  but 


less  growth.  The  third  season  no  growth  or 
bloom,  and  the  fourth  season  all  gave  up  the 
ghost.  All  were  heavily  mulched  with  leaves  all 
the  year  round.  At  this  stage  of  affairs  I  saw 
several  articles  on  Rhododendron  culture  in  the 
Monthly  and  in  the  Horticulturist.  I  sent  again  to 
the  Parsons'  and  got  eight  more  splendid  plants ; 
I  planted  some  in  one  bed  after  preparing  for 
them  by  digging  holes  three  feet  deep,  and  as 
many  wide,  filling  up  with  the  best  leaf  mould 
mixed  with  decayed  sod,  with  some  sand  and 
pine  brush  cut  up  short.  I  went  by  the  direc- 
tions of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  and  the  Messrs. 
Parsons.  I  mulched  heavily  with  leaves.  One 
plant  I  planted  on  the  east  side  of  my  house, 
where  it  had  the  full  sun  till  one  o'clock.  All 
grew  and  bloomed,  and  were  satisfactory  the 
first  season,  growing  one  foot  in  length.  The 
second  season  less  growth  and  less  bloom.  Some 
died  at  the  end  of  four  years.  Lee's  dark  pur- 
ple lived  the  longest,  lasting  seven  years.  When 
all  were  dead  I  found  on  pulling  them  up  that 
the  plants  had  not  made  any  roots,  or  scarcely 
any,  having  only  the  balls  that  came  with  them. 
I  now  distinctly  recollect  that  Mr.  Sargent,  of 
Wodenethe,  once  said  that  if  lime  or  chalk  en- 
tered into  the  composition  of  the  soil,  it  was  most 
repulsive  to  the  Rhododendron  which  my  expe- 
rience fully  demonstrates.  Here  let  me  sajr  my 
soil  is  a  strong  limestone;  dig  where  you  will, 
you  will  find  it  at  one  foot  down,  or  less,  and 
down  to  six  feet.  As  my  bed  was  on  the  side  of  a 
hill,  some  fifteen  feet  below  the  top,  on  the  north 
side,  I  could  easily  see  how  failure  came.  In 
wet  times  the  bed  Avould  become  saturated  with 
lime  water  from  the  hill  above. 

Nor  does  Kalmia  latifolia  or  Belgian  Azalea, 
thrive  any  better  here.  If  you  or  Mr.  Hovey  can 
show  me  abed  of  Rhododendrons  growing  thrift- 
ily for  two  years  on  a  limestone  soil,  you  can 
then  talk  about  intelligent  culture.  In  all  laurel 
thickets  that  I  have  seen,  the  soil  is  mostly  sand- 
stone. The  only  way  to  grow  these  plants  here, 
is  to  bring  the  soil  from  where  they  grow,  and 
elevate  the  beds. 

Reluctantly  I  must  part  with  the  Rhododen- 
dron here.  I  shall  have  to  be  content  to  substi- 
tute for  them  the  different  varieties  of  Tree  Box, 
which  does  well  here  if  not  planted  on  too  low 
ground.  The  Mahonia  japoniea  and  M.  Bealii, 
Retinosporas,  Cephalotaxus  Fortunii,  and  Mag- 
nolia glauca  and  its  variety  longifolia  do  well 
here.  Mahonia  aquifolia  is  a  wretched-looking 
thing  with  me,  worse  than  any  deciduous  shrub 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


37 


in  the  Winter  or  Spring.  I  have  long  since  dis- 
carded it  from  these  grounds. 

In  conclusion,  I  hope  Mr.  Editor,  neither  you 
nor  Mr.  Hovey  will  think  I  wish  to  discourage 
the  general  culture  of  the  Rhododendron.  I  only 
wish  to  guard  others  similarly  situated  against 
the  expense,  and  particularly  the  mortification 
of  disappointment. 

P.  S. — I  have  here  an  Abies  Morinda  that  is 
hardy,  but  is  always  a  wretched-looking  thing. 
It  is  on  high  dry  ground.  Would  it  do  better  on 
a  lower  site?  Does  it  do  well  anywhere  ? 

[Yes.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


CALIFORNIA  AQUILEGIAS. 

BY   W.   C.    L.    DREW,  EL  DORADO,   CAL. 

Of  this  popular  family  of  plants  there  are  seve- 
ral varieties,  natives  of  California.  They  grow 
high  up  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains.  Aqui- 
legia  Californica — this  is  the  finest  of  our  native 
varieties,  and  being  the  only  one  that  is  found 
exclusively  in  California,  it  well  deserves  the  ap- 
pellation of  Californica,  and  although  this  name 
is  quite  appropriate,  it  has  two  others,  eximia 
and  truncata,  so  that  it  is  well  named.  It  grows 
from  two  to  three  feet  high,  very  vigorous 
and  strong,  and  makes  a  noble  plant.  The 
flowers  are  in  shape  something  similar  to  A. 
Canadensis,  though  the  spurs  are  longer  and 
curve  in  more  like  those  of  A.  Skinneri,  the 
stamens  also  are  longer.  The  flowers  are  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  inches  in  diam- 
eter; they  are  of  a  bright  orange  scarlet  color 
throughout ;  they  bloom  late  in  Summer,  the 
last  of  August  being  extremely  fine.  Like  all  of 
the  family  it  is  a  perennial.  Aquilegia  Cana- 
densis is  also  found  in  California,  but  as  it  is  so 
well  known  now,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  de- 
scribe it.  Both  of  these  varieties  are  of  easy  cul- 
ture, growing  readily  from  seed  and  blooming 
the  second  year  after  sowing.  A.  Californica  has 
not  been  introduced  yet,  but  when  it  is,  it  will 
find  favor  with  all  flower  lovers. 

[A.  truncata  is  its  proper  name. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Lily  Culture. — The  Lily  has  become  so  popu- 
lar in  Europe,  that  some  firms  have  gone  wholly 
into  the  business  of  Lily  growing.  A  Lily  nursery, 
a  catalogue  of  which  from  Belgium  is  now  before 
us,  grows  75  kinds,  by  the  piece,  dozen,  hundred, 
or  thousand.     We  note,  however,  that  only  three 


have  a  place  in  the  thousand  column — Colchi- 
cum,  tigrinum  and  umbellatum — kinds  not  hard 
to  increase. 

Acer  colchicum  rubrum. — The  beautiful  ma- 
ple described  under  this  name  in  Loudon's  Gar- 
dener's Magazine,  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  say6  is 
identical  with  Acer  laetum  of  Meyer,  and  this 
again,  though  from  the  Caucasus,  proves  to  be 
the  same  as  Acer  pictum  of  Thunberg,  described 
in  1776,  and  which  by  prior  right  will  therefore 
be  its  true  name.  This  species,  therefore,  grows 
from  the  Caucasus  through  Persia  and  Cashmere 
to  China  and  Japan.  This,  about  7,000  miles,  is 
a  very  good  range  for  one  species. 

The  Shade  Trees  op  Washington. — We  have 
before  us  an  admirable  report  on  the  shade  trees 
of  Washington,  signed  by  Wm.  R.  Smith,  Chair- 
man, and  Wm.  Saunders,  Secretary  of  the  Park- 
ing Commission. 

Among  the  valuable  suggestions  is  this,  that 
where  pavements  are  made  of  concrete  or  broad 
flags,  there  should  be  a  fooc  or  so  of  space  left 
along  between  them  and  the  curb-stone.  We 
have  known  'cases  where  the  pavement  com- 
pletely covers  the  sidewalk,  and  the  trees  become 
very  sickly  for  want  of  air  to  the  roots. 

In  relation  to  the  loss  of  street  trees  by  coal 
gas  at  the  roots,  the  subject  is  so  important  that 
we  extract  the  whole  paragraph  : 

"There  is  an  annual  loss  of  trees,  more  or  less 
extensive,  from  leakage  in  the  gas  pipes ;  the 
escaping  gas  permeates  the  soil  and  destroys  the 
roots.  Perfect  immunity  from  this  evil  is  prob- 
ably impracticable,  and  when  detected  it  may  be, 
as  in  most  instances  in  this  city  it  has  been, 
promptly  remedied.  The  worst  feature,  how- 
ever, is  that  the  evil  is  not  discovered  until  after 
the  roots  have  been  destroyed  or  fatally  injured  ; 
the  soil  is  well  saturated  before  the  presence  of 
escaping  gas  is  detected,  and  it  is  then  too  late 
for  the  application  of  any  effectual  remedy.  The 
best  that  can  be  done  is  to  remove  the  injured 
tree  and  plant  a  healthy  one  in  its  stead,  and 
even  this  will  not  always  prove  a  success,  as  it  is 
difficult  to  remove  all  the  poisoned  earth,  and  it 
usually  requires  several  renewals  before  a  healthy 
growth  is  secured.  Gas  poisoning  is  the  unsus- 
pected cause  of  many  deaths  among  city  trees." 

In  Philadelphia  the  loss  of  street  trees  by  this 
cause  has  bee*n  enormous.  Why  should  not  the 
gas  companies  be  made  amenable  for  these 
losses?  It  ought  to  be,  and  it  is  just  as  practica- 
ble to  make  a  gas  pipe,  gas-proof  underground 


38 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


as  above.  And  then  look  at  the  enormous  loss 
to  the  tax-payers  by  leakage  of  gas  in  this  way. 
The  whole  report  shows  the  advantage  of  hav- 
ing practical  men  of  known  character  at  the  head 
of  a  public  work  of  this  character.  Notwith- 
standing the  idea  that  everything  done  by  public 
bodies,  and  especially  the  Government  of  Wash- 
ington,costs  much  more  than  it  costs  individuals, 
the  shade  trees  of  Washington  under  the  direc- 
tion of  these  gentlemen,  have  costalmost  nothing 
in  comparison  to  some  others ;  and  in  any  com- 
parison, we  think  is  the  cheapest  and  best  city 
planting  in  the  Union. 

The  Periwinkles. — The  hardy  Periwinkles 
are  invaluable  in  American  gardening,  on  ac- 
count of  their  growing  in  deep  shady  places, 
where  few  other  things  will.  We  have  three 
species  under  culture.  Vinca  herbacea,  which 
flowers  very  prettily  every  Spring — but  as  the 
long  trailing  branches  do  not  root,  they  all  die 
back  in  the  Fall,  and  the  plant  is  really  a  peren- 
nial. Vinca  minor,  the  "  Myrtle  "  of  the  ceme- 
tery people.  It  is  a  popular  plant  for  covering 
graves,  and  is  invaluable  for  growing  under  the 
shade  of  Pine  trees,  or  in  other  shady  places.  It 
makes  a  thick  evergreen  mass.  Scarcely  a  "  car- 
pet," but  the  next  best  thing  to  it.  Then  we 
have  Vinca  major — the  greater  Periwinkle.  It  is 
h  irdly  as  hardy  with  us  as  the  other  two— is 
more  rampant,  and  makes  less  show  in  out-door 
gardening.  It  is  best  known  by  its  variegated 
and  golden  veined  varieties,  which  are  so  useful 
in  various  forms  of  greenhouse  and  parlor  gar- 
dening. There  is  a  fourth  species  that  we  ought 
to  introduce,  if  not  already.  The  Garden  thus 
refers  to  it : 

"  The  Mauve  Periwinkle  (Vinca  acutiloba). — 
This  distinct  and  elegant  Periwinkle  is  now  in 
flower  in  the  herbaceous  border  in  Messrs.  Back- 
house's Nurseries  at  York.  It  is  valuable  from 
flowering  late  in  the  autumn  and  in  winter,  and 
also  from  the  delicate  mauve  color  of  the  blos- 
soms. It  is  not  a  variety  of  either  of  the  old  and 
long-cultivated  Vincas,  but  a  newly-introduced 
species  from  the  South  of  Europe.  It  is  particu- 
larly suitable  for  the  embellishment  of  sunny 
banks  and  slopes,  and  for  warm  borders." 


NEW  PLANTS. 


Polemonium  confertum.— This  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  Alpine  flowers  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a  col- 


ored plate  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Garden.  It 
grows  about  six  inches  high,  and  has  rather  large 
blue  flowers. 

Spiraea  palmata. — A  beautiful  colored  plate 
of  this  appears  in  the  Belgian  Horticultural  Review. 
It  is  a  native  of  Japan,  and  very  nearly  ap- 
proaches our  Spiraea  lobata,  which  is  also  worth 
more  notice  than  it  receives  from  cultivators. 
S.  lobata  is  of  a  pale  rose — by  the  plate  this  is  a 
deep  rich  rose — and  the  heads  seem  larger  and 
more  dense. 

Purple-leaved  Grape  Vine. — The  Gardener's 
Chronicle  says  : — "  We  may  here  mention  another 
very  beautiful  vine,  seldom  seen  in  gardens,  but 
one  deserving  our  strongest  recommendation. 
It  is  the  form  known  in  gardens  as  the  Purple 
Vine,  which  has  the  advantage  that  its  leaves  are 
throughout  the  whole  summer  (and  not  in  late 
autumn  merely)  of  a  rich  claret  color.  The  plant 
is  admirably  adapted  for  walls,  rockwork,  or 
ro6keries." 

Is  this  a  grape  vine,  and  does  any  reader  know 
whether  it  is  in  America?  By  the  way,if  any  one 
has  a  cutting  of*the  old  sweet  scented  (male) 
grape  we  should  be  obliged.  We  fancy  it  has 
gone  out  of  cultivation. 

The  Californian  Chestnut. — This  beautiful 
tree — the  Castanopsis  chrysophylla — will  need  a 
little  protection  north  of  the  Potomac.  A  cor- 
respondent of  the  Rural  Press  thus  speaks  of  its 
appearance  in  its  native  haunts  : — 

"  The  title  of  golden-leaved  chestnut — as  the 
suggestive  name  implies— is  derived  from  the  ob- 
servation that  wdien  stirred  by  the  breeze,  the 
otherwise  dark,  glossy  -green,  laurel-like  leaves 
turn  their  under  surface  to  the  sun,  reflecting 
a  softened  sheen  of  gold,  lighting  up  its  face  with 
a  cheerful  smile  against  the  somewhat  somber 
background  of  ^reen  ;  also  the  young  and  tender 
twdgs,  with  their  vernal  foliage  clad  in  yellow 
velvet,  hold  the  attention  effectually  and  steadily 
to  its  true  ideal  characteristic  feature.  This  latter 
quality,  seen  from  a  distance  in  the  Spring  sea- 
son of  the  year,  awakens  a  charming  illusion  as 
if  the  beholder  were  viewing  a  magnificent  ever- 
green tree  clad  in  golden  bloom. 

Aconitum  japonicum. — Most  of  our  Monks- 
hoods flower  in  early  Spring  or  Summer.  A  Ja- 
pan species  has  been  recently  introduced  into 
English  gardens,  of  which  the  Gardener  gives  the 
following  account: — "This  Monkshood  ranks  as 
one  of  our  very  best  late-blooming,  herbaceous 
plants,  and  it  should  be  extensively  grown  in  all 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


39 


gardens  where  autumn  flowers  are  wanted,  for 
it  comes  into  bloom  about  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber in  Scotland— it  may  be  earlier,  of  course,  in 
the  South — and  continues  to  blossom  till  near  the 
end  of  October.  As  a  Monkshood,  it  is  most 
distinct  from  others.  When  well  cultivated  it 
grows  to  the  height  of  4  ft.  Its  habit  is  stiff  and 
erect,  so  much  so  that  it  scarcely  requires  stak- 
ing. It  throws  up  bold  stiff  spikes  of  large,  very 
deep  blue  flowers  of  great  substance,  which  with- 
stand autumn  damp  and  rains  well,  and  last  in 
perfection  a  long  time.  Its  leaves  are  thick  and 
palmate,  of  a  dark  shining  green.  For  alternat- 
ing in  rows  with  Tritoma  uvaria,  to  wThich  in 
color  and  style  it  forms  a  complete  contrast,  it 
will  be  most  effective." 


QUERIES. 


Names  of  Plants.— C.  E.  P.,  Queens,  Long 
Island,  N.  Y.  Both  ferns  though  so  different  in 
appearance,  are  varieties  of  Aspidium  spinulo- 
sum.  It  is  possible  the  proliferous  one  has  a 
garden  name;  but  if  so,  wre  have  not  met  with  it. 
It  is  worthy  of  one. 

Injury  to  a  Linden  Tree. — Mystic  says : — '■  In 
the  Spring  of  1875,  I  tied  two  thicknesses  of 
heavy  cotton  cloth  closely  around  two  lindens, 
(set  out  the  Spring  before  for  shade  trees  in  the 
street),  to  protect  them  against  the  bites  of 
horses.  In  the  Fall  of  1876,  I  took  off  the  cloths 
and  found  three  spots  of  dead  bark  on  one  tree, 
and  one  on  the  other.  The  spots  were  from  three 
to  six  inches  long,  about  two  inches  wide,  and 
all  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  trees.  Three 
spots  had  evidently  died  the  first  season.  Trees 
from  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter  and  not 
thrifty;  soil  and  seasons  dry,  and  hose  applied 
several  evenings  during  the  Summer,  soaking 
the  cloths  as  well  as  the  ground  with  water. 
Would  the  dry  cloth  kill  the  bark,  or  the  cloth 
wet  by  the  hose  or  rain,  followed  by  a  hot  sun  ? 

[The  cloths  had  probably  nothing  to  do  with 
the  death  of  the  bark,  but  exactly  what  caused 
the  death,  could  not  be  given  without  seeing  the 
trees,  as  there  are  many  causes  at  such  work.  It 
may  be  remembered  that  the  cells  in  trees  are 
the  individuals,  and  that  often  whole  masses  of 
them  will  be  weakened  by  various  causes.  Some 
cells  and  masses  of  cells  get  stronger,  and  some 
become  weaker  just  as  in  ordinary  communities. 
When  the  time  of  trial  comes — as  in  transplant- 


ing— and  there  is  a  "struggle  for  life"  the 
weaker  ones  die  first.  It  is  some  such  law  as 
this  which  most  likely  operated  to  produce  the 
dead  spots,  and  the  cloth  had  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  The  cloth  more  likely  would  be  an  advan- 
tage.—Ed.  G.  M.] 

Antigonon  leptopus.— C.  E.  P.,  Queens,  L.  I., 
N.  Y.,  says  :— "  Can  you  or  any  of  your  corres- 
pondents tell  me  to  what  natural  order  Antigonon 
leptopus  belongs  ?    Is  it  a  free  flowering  plant  ?  " 

[It  is  one  of  the  Buckwheat  family,  (Polygon- 
acese).  Properly  grown  it  must  be  free  flowering, 
as  plants  with  a  profusion  of  bloom  have  fre- 
quently been  exhibited  before  the  Pennsylvania 
Horticultural  Society.— Ed.  G  M.] 

The  best  Sciadopitys  verticillata.— A  cor- 
respondent writes  that  in  Mr.  Sargent's  grounds, 
at  Brookline,  near  Boston,  there  are  several  spe- 
cimens of  the  umbrella  pine,  Sciadopitys  verti- 
cillata, the  largest  of  which  is  three  feet  nine 
inches  high,  the  growth  of  the  past  season  having 
been  over  seven  inches.  The  same  correspon- 
dent confirms  our  opinion  of  the  hardiness  of 
this  tree  in  our  northern  Atlantic  States,  in  com- 
mon with  nearly  all  the  other  conifers  of  the 
Eastern  Asiatic  seaboard.  Now,  that  it  is  pretty 
well  settled  that  the  California  and  Oregon  coni- 
fers will  not  stand  the  climate  of  those  States, 
planters  there  will  do  well  to  bear  this  fact  in 
mind  ?    If  any  have  a  better,  let  us  know. 

Variegated  Elder.— A  New  York  correspon- 
dent asks:— "Can  you  inform  me  whether  Sam- 
bucus  nigra  foliis  luteiis,  is  the  golden  blotched 
variety  or  Sambucus  racemosa  variegata." 

[We  believe  this  to  be  a  variety  of  the  com- 
mon English  Elder— Sambucus  nigra.  At  least 
we  know  that  there  is  one  variety  variegated  of 
this  under  culture.  There  may  be  one  of  the  S. 
racemosa  also  under  culture. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Grafting  Magnolias.— G.  W.  T.,  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J.,  asks :— "  What  would  be  the  eftect  of 
grafting  M.  glauca  on  the  M.  acuminata?  Is 
there  sufficient  specific  affinity  to  render  success 
probable?  Would  not  the  free  growing  stock 
affect  the  graft  so  as  to  give  to  the  glauca,  pur- 
purea and  other  slow  growing  subjects  a  more 
stately  habit." 

[We  know  of  no  cases  of  M.  glauca,  being 
grafted  on  the  acuminata,  but  think  it  would  do 
well.  The  purpurea,  no  doubt  would,  as  that  is 
closely  allied  to  the  conspieua,  which  does  so  well 
on  it.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


40 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


REEN  MOUSE  AND  MOUSE  GARDENING 


i^i^y 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


This  is  the  season  when  many  things  will  re- 
quire re-potting.  Many  have  a  set  time  and 
season  to  do  this ;  but  some  things  require  re- 
potting at  various  seasons.  The  best  time  is  just 
before  they  are  about  to  make  a  new  growth. 
Camellias,  Azaleas,  and  many  plants,  for  in- 
stance, start  at  this  season.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  re-pot  so  often  as  some  think,  especially  if 
bloom,  and  not  very  large  specimens,  is  chiefly 
wanted.  If  the  pot  is  very  full  of  roots,  and  the 
plant  growing  weak,  it  may  need  re-potting. 

In  potting,  see  that  some  provision  is  made 
for  allowing  the  water  readily  to  escape,  by  put- 
ting broken  crocks  over  the  hole.  Use  soil 
rather  dry,  and  ram  it  firmly  about  the  old  ball. 
Prefer  pots  only  a  little  larger,  to  very  large 
shifts,  as  less  liable  to  accidents.  Trim  the 
plants  in  a  little,  if  unshapely,  to  encourage  the 
new  growth  where  wanted. 

Many  who  have  but  small  houses  and  wish  to 
have  a  variety,  are  troubled  with  valued  plants 
becoming  too  large.  To  keep  them  low,  as  soon 
as  the  plant  has  matured  its  growth,  cut  it  down 
as  low  as  may  be  desired.  As  soon  as  it  shows 
signs  of  breaking  forth  into  a  new  growth,  turn 
it  out  of  the  pot;  shake  or  tear  away  the  old 
ball  of  roots,  and  put  it  into  as  small  a  pot  as  it 
can  be  got  into;  and  when  it  grows  again, 
and  fills  the  pot  with  roots,  re-pot  again  as 
before. 

Sometimes  the  plants  get  "sick,"  which  is 
known  by  unhealthy,  yellow  leaves.  This  is 
usually  by  over-watering,  generating  a  gas,  or, 
as  gardeners  term  it,  a  "sourness,"  destructive 
to  the  roots.  The  remedy  is  to  cut  the  plant 
back  a  little,  shake  out  the  soil,  and  put  the 
plant  in  a  small  pot  with  new  soil,  and  place  the 
plant  in  a  house  only  moderately  warm,  and 
which  is  naturally  moist — so  that  the  plant  can 
live  for  a  while  without  requiring  much  water. 
It  will  generally  recover. 

Every  one  interested  in  plant  growing  must 
be  continually  on  the  watch  for  small  insects, 
which  destroy  more  plants  than  many  are  aware 
of.    The  little  Black  Thrip  is  very  troublesome  to 


Azaleas;  the  green  fly  to  all  soft-wooded  plants; 
the  scale  to  Camellias,  Oleanders,  Cactuses  ;  and 
the  mealy  bug  to  almost  all  hot  house  plants. 
Continual  syringings  with  warm,  greasy  water,  in 
which  sulphur  has  been  mixed,  is  the  best  rem- 
edy. Tobacco  smoke  is  still  the  most  approved 
mode  of  destroying  green  fly  and  thrip. 

In  window  culture  tobacco  smoke  cannot  very 
well  be  used  in  rooms,  but  plants  may  be  put  under 
a  tub  few  at  a  time,  and  by  the  help  of  fumigators, 
now  common  in  most  florists'  stores,  the  smoke 
may  be  injected.  Some  plants  are  injured  by 
too  heavy  doses  of  smoke.  It  is  better  to  give  a 
light  dose  on  two  successive  nights.  Whenever 
fine,  warm  days  occur,  the  plants,  if  insect-cov- 
ered, may  be  taken  out  of  the  windows,  laid  on 
their  sides  on  the  grass,  and  thoroughly 
syringed. 

Plants  in  hanging  baskets   often   suffer  from 
too  much  water  if  in  glazed  or  earthen  ware,  or 
from  too  little,  if  the  basket  be  of  wire,  or  some 
other   open   material.    There   is   nothing  more 
difficult  than  to  tell  to  another  how  or   when  to 
water  plants.     It  is  a  matter  that  can  only  be 
well  learned  by  experience.     We  are  often  asked 
for  a  list  of  good  basket  plants.     In  this  part  of 
the  world  almost  anything  that  wrill  grow  in  a 
greenhouse  is  made   to   do  service   in   baskets. 
Those  we  most  commonly  meet  with  now-a-days 
are  Othonna  crassifolia,  Ivy-leaf  Geranium,  vari- 
ous varieties  of  evergreen  Ivy,  Begonias  in  nu- 
merous varieties ;   Ice-plants,  especially  Mesem- 
bryanfhemum    crystallinum,     M.    cordifolium, 
and  M.  spectabile,  Abutilon  vexillarium  pictum, 
Acorus     gramineus,     Duranta     Baumgartneri, 
Cuphea  platy centra,   Cineraria  maritima,   Cen- 
taurea  gymnocarpa  and  ragusina;  various  dwarf 
Palms,  such  as  Palmettos,  Cereus  speciosissimus, 
C.  flagelliformis  and  C.  Jenkinsonii,  Ficus  stipu- 
lata,    Gelsemium    nitidum    (advertised    in    our 
last  by  Mr.  Barker),  Muhlenbeckia  complanata 
and  platyphylla,  Mahernia  odorata,  Kenilworth 
Ivy,   Money-wort,  Wandering  saxifrage,   Sweet 
Alyssum,  Mignonette,  Petunias,  Lobelia,  Helio- 
trope, Reineckia  carnea,  Rondoletia  anomale, 
Peristrophe  angustifolia,  Pilea  muscosa,  Pepero- 
mia    maculosa,    Nierembergia    gracilis,    Oxalis 


1871.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


41 


floribunda  and  multiflora,  Chinese  Primrose, 
Tradescantias,  Santolina  incana,  Artemisia 
stellaris,  Torenia  Asiatic;!,  Lophospermum  scan- 
dens.     This  last  is  one  of  the  oldest  plants  we 


have  under  culture,  remarkably  easy  to  take 
care  of,  usually  very  free  from  insects,  and  is  in 
flower  almost  at  any  time,  when  growing, 
throughout  the  year.  Yet  it  is*  very  seldom 
seen.  In  the  hope  of  making  it  more  popular, 
we  give  a  representation  of  it. 


POT  DRAINAGE. 


BY   J.    M. 


Probably  experience  has  long  since  satisfied 
most  of  your  readers  in  regard  to  this  question 
which  has  again  been  raised  in  the  Monthly.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  all  pots  must  be  drained, 
though  the  rule  to  do  so  is  correct.  In  many 
florists'  establishments  where  such  plants  as 
Verbenas  and  Geraniums  are  grown  largely,  the 
pots  are  not  drained,  as  the  growth  is  rapid  from 
from  cuttings  to  plants,  and  the  pots  will  often 
fill  with  roots  in  a  few  weeks.  If  such  pots  were 
drained,  the  benefits  though  still  attained,  would 
perhaps  be  unperceived  in  such  a  short  time. 
But  what  plants  like,  is  to  have  the  water 
drain  off  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  this  is  what 
the  crocks  in  pots  are  for.  Quick  drainage  is  an 
essential  in  plant  culture.  In  the  Spring  or 
Summer  time  when  the  sun  is  hot,  plants  in 
small  pots  will  take  up  the  water  in  the  soil  very 
quickly,  and  at  such  times  the  crocking  may  be 
omitted.  But  in  regard  to  collections  of  plants, 
no  worse  system  could  be  adopted.  So  liable 
are  such  plants  as  Camellias  and  Oranges  to  be 
injured  by  under  drainage,  that  at  all  times  they 
require  care  to  keep  them  healthy.  There  ,is 
positive  injury  to  plants  whenever  water  cannot 


freely  pass  away.  Drainage  enables  us  to  water 
with  less  discrimination,  which  is  quite  an  object 
where  many  thousands  have  to  be  done.  With 
pot-drainage  our  plants  are  healthier  and  safer, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  just  as  the  farmer's 
crops  are  when  he  drains  his  land  on  which  water 
is  apt  to  lie. 

[Sound  doctrine. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


"FORCING  TENDER  ROSES." 

BY   BENJAMIN   GREY,    DEDHAM,    MAPS. 

Under  the  above  heading  your  corres- 
pondent, "W.  J.,"  in  the  December  number 
of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  criticises  an  article 
which  I  had  in  the  August  number  of  that 
magazine ;  and  without  wishing  to  occupy  too 
much  space,  I  should  like  to  take  exception  to 
some  of  his  remarks. 

He  seems  to  think  that  Roses  would  be  grown 
not  forced,  by  the  method  given  ;  but  well-grown 
Roses  may  be  forced  at  pleasure ;  and  the  method, 
which  he  is  pleased  to  call  my  method,  is  also 
that  of  several  of  the  best  growers  of  first-class 
Roses  around  Boston  and  New  York— this  I 
know  from  personal  observation. 

The  days  being  short  in  December,  it  requires 
double  the  time  to  make  a  given  amount  of 
growth  that  it  does  in  Spring,  and  the  "commer- 
cial men  "  who  wait  until  a  week  before  Christ- 
mas, to  produce  .their  Christmas  Roses,  will 
surely  have  "  troubled  faces,"  and  I  find  that 
their  facial  contortions  usually  result  from  a 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  they  will  have  to  burn 
more  coal.  The  wood  intended  to  produce  the 
Christmas  crop  should  be  grown  in  October  and 
November,  when  a  house  placed  in  almost  any 
position  would  get  sun  enough,  and  the  buds 
should  be  set  on  the  bushes  by  the  fore  part  of 
December;  the  application  of  a  little  extra  fuel 
would  then  make  success  reasonably  certain,  and 
give  a  fine  crop  of  well  colored  buds. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Safrano,  which  is  the 
variety  most  extensively  grown  for  market, 
delights  in  a  temperature  of  50  to  55°,  rather 
than  one  much  higher;  and  that  the  Bon  Silene, 
which  comes  next,  loses  much  of  its  deep  color 
under  the  hot  sun  of  the  advancing  season,  and 
it  then  becomes  questionable  whether  a  house 
built  at  "  an  angle  of  55°  or  more,"  to  catch  the 
sun  rays  when  there  are  no  sun  rays  to  catch, 
and  which,  construct  it  as  you  will  must  be  high 
and  contain  much  space  difficult  to  heat,  is  an 
advantage  after  all.     I  would  recommend  40  or 


42 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


45°,  not  more,  and  this  would  be  as  great  an 
angle  as  that  at  which  most  houses  are  built. 

"  W.  J."  says,  "  a  forcing-house  for  Roses  should 
always  face  south."  It  would  be  better  to  have 
it  face  a  little  east  of  south  ;  getting  the  morning 
sun,  which  is  generally  conceded  to  be  most 
beneficial.  And  this  is  why  I  consider  a  house 
facing  east  and  west  better;  prefering  to  have 
the  sun  early  and  moderate  for  eight  hours ; 
avoiding  airing,  and  dispensing  the  delightful 
growing  temperature  which  such  a  situation 
would  give,  rather  than  four  or  five  hours  strong, 
and  necessitating  the  use  of  the  ventilators. 

"  W.  J."  must  not  suppose  that  the  writer  allows 
his  bushes  to  get  into  bad  condition,  merely  for 
the  pleasure  of  tying  them  down  ;  but  as  a  prac- 
ticing gardener  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  take 
one  or  two  situations  where  through  neglect  the 
bushes  had  got  into  a  bad  state ;  and,  at  a  season, 
November,  when  to  cut  them  to  break  the  lower 
buds,  would  have  been  a  ruinous  proceeding; 
and  by  pegging  them  down  I  secured  a  fine  crop 
for  the  Winter,  which  my  employers  informed 
me  excelled  any  crop  the  houses  had  ever  given. 
It  is  for  such  cases,  or  where  bushes  get  too  high 
for  the  low  houses  in  which  they  are  sometimes 
planted,  that  the  practice  becomes  particularly 
useful,  and  for  such  cases  the  idea  was  given. 
After  the  buds  break,  the  old  parts  may  be  cut 
out  and  the  pegs  removed.  To  cut  the  head  of 
a  rose  bush— divest  it  of  all  its  leaves,  and  expect 
it  to  break  strons:  shoots  from  half  ripened 
stumps  of  canes,  is  a  species  of  vandalism  that 
would  never  be  practiced,  and  an  expectation 
that  would  never  be  entertained'  by  any  sound 
practical  gardener.  Plants  grown  in  pots  may 
have  well-ripened  wood,  and  will  stand  more 
severe  pruning  than  those  in  the  border. 

The  varieties  recommended  in  the  former  article 
"  may  "  and  should  "  be  kept  in  shape  by  skillful 
pruning."  As  I  did  not  intend  giving  any  full 
"  method  "  for  "  Forcing  Roses,"  but  only  to  offer 
a  few  suggestions,  vide  opening  paragraph  of 
article  in  question,  I  did  not  particularize  on 
the  treatment  suited  to  the  different  sorts  named. 
Marechal  Niel  is  a  strong  growing  climber,  and 
does  well,  trained  near  the  glass,  on  a  back  wall, 
or  to  stakes  or  trellises  across  the  border,  if  not 
placed  so  as  to  give  much  shade.  Safrano,  Bon 
Silene  and  Isabella  Sprunt  may  be  grown  in  the 
same  house  ;  but  as  Bon  Silene  likes  more  heat, 
it  should  be  placed  at  the  warm  end.  Yellow 
Tea  and  Niphitos  require  more  heat  than  the 
above  named  sorts ;  and  as  they  do  not  grow  so 


strong,  may  be  grown  on  the  shelf  over  the  pipes. 
Souvenir  de  la  Malmaison,  I  think  gives  better 
colored  buds  in  Winter  when  grown  in  pots, 
although  it  does  well  when  planted  as  the  others. 
The  buds  are  impatient  of  excessive  moisture, 
which  spoils  the  outer  petals  in  dull  weather. 

I  have  drawn  my  conclusions  after  years  of 
close  observation  and  practice  as  a  Rose  Grower 
for  the  Boston  and  New  York  markets,  where  I 
have  disposed  of  thousands  of  buds  grown  on 
my  own  account,  and  also  as  manager  for  other 
commercial  establishments. 

All  due  deference  for  the  opinions  of  "  W.  J.," 
which  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  hold  and  advo- 
cate ;  and  I  believe  that  equally  desirable  results 
may  be  obtained  by  different  methods,  under 
proper  management. 


CULTIVATION  OF  THE  ZONALE  GERANIUM 
FOR    EXHIBITION. 

BY   H.    CORBETT. 

The  few  remarks  I  have  to  set  before  your 
readers  concerning  the  cultivation  of  this  old 
favorite  plant,  may  seem  simple  to  some,  but 
may  be  of  interest  to  younger  readers.  Having 
grown  plants  for  exhibition  in  England,  and  set 
the  ball  rolling  on  the  same  style  in  this  country 
in  the  far  west  of  Kansas,  I  will  do  my  best  in 
giving  my  system. 

The  Geranium  is  one  of  our  finest  bedding 
plants,  and  makes  as  good  a  show  for  Fall  in- 
door decoration  ;  so  I  think  a  few  plants  (grown 
as  plants)  some  four  feet  in  diameter,  are  well 
worth  having.  A  cutting  struck  in  Fall,  can  by 
the  next  Fall  be  grown  into  a  plant,  three  to 
four  feet  through.  Some  people  may  say  it  is  an 
easy  matter  to  grow  a  Geranium ;  but  to  grow 
even  a  Geranium  for  exhibition,  and  bring  it 
to  perfection,  needs  skill  and  practice.  I  prefer 
one  year  old,  strong,  bushy  plants.  Take  them 
in  February  or  beginning  of  March,  and  shake 
off  all  the  old  soil,  removing  a  part  of  the  roots; 
then  pot  in  good  soil,  and  into  as  small  a  pot  as 
possible,  giving  no  water  until  all  the  soil  becomes 
dry.  Then  cut  your  plants  close  in,  so  as  to 
leave  about  two  buds  on  a  shoot.  Give  them 
a  good  soaking  of  water,  and  they  will  all 
break  regularly.  Keep  them  now  in  a  small 
greenhouse,  as  close  to  the  glass  and  as  cool  as 
possible,  so  as  not  to  let  them  suffer,  and  by 
Spring  you  may  re-pot  them  to  a  seven-inch  pot, 
using  equal  parts  of  loam,  leaf  mould  and  cow 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


43 


manure,  with  a  small  portipn  of  sand  worked 
through.  The  seven -inch  pots  will  be  large 
enough  to  grow  a  fine  specimen  some  four  feet 
through.  Then  you  can  commence  to  arrange 
a  trellis  by  placing  a  piece  of  wire  around  under 
the  rim  of  the  pots.    Then   take  three  sticks, 


keeping  them  trained  around.  Do  not  let  the 
shoots  run  straight  out,  as  they  break  so  much 
better  by  training  them  around.  Shut  up  early 
of  an  afternoon,  throwing  liquid  manure  water 
between  the  plants,  to  give  the  foliage  a  healthy 
appearance.     After  the  pots  get  full  of  roots, 


o 
o 
o 

H 
O 

a 
F 

o 

to 
CO 

a 

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s> 

F 

o 

Cfi 


placing  them  at  equal  distances,  laying  them  flat 
across  the  top  of  the  pot,  and  then  fasten  them 
to  the  wire  around  under  the  rim  to  hold  them 
into  position.  You  may  now  place  them  out  in 
a  cold  frame  on  the  north  side  of  the  building, 


give  them  liquid  manure  water  every  other 
watering,  and  your  plants  will  break  regularly 
at  every  eye.  Do  not  stop  them  while  there  is 
room  on  the  trellis,  as  I  find  stopping  a  bad 
practice.     Bring  them  out  gradually  to  the  sun 


44 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[February, 


about  six  weeks  before  they  are  needed,  and 
then  allow  the  flowers  to  come  on,  and  you  will 
by  six  weeks  have  a  fine  show  of  Geranium 
flowers  and  plants  some  three  feet  through. 
Should  you  think  this  worthy  of  a  place  in  your 
Monthly,  I  may  give  you  more  of  my  experience 
in  stove  and  greenhouse  plants,  graperies,  &c. 

[We  value  this  article  very  highly,  and  should 
be  much  pleased  with  more  of  such.  Skill  in 
plant  growing,  at  least  the  evidences  of  it  has 
been  very  rare  of  late,  and  yet  there  is  nothing 
which  gives  so  much  pleasure  as  well  grown 
plants.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Orchid  Culture. — In  our  country  the  culture 
of  these  plants  has  not  extended  very  much  be- 
cause of  an  idea  that  they  require  costly  houses 
and  great  care.  In  our  experience  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  we  have  noted  that  the 
most  expensive  arrangements  have  generally 
been  the  greatest  failures,  and  in  many  places  a 
large  number  of  kinds  seem  to  do  with  less  care 
than  ordinary  greenhouse  plants.  The  flowers 
are  not  merely  odd,  but  generally  beautiful,  and 
mostly  emit  a  delightful  fragrance.  In  a  good 
collection  there  are  always  more  or  less  in 
flower,  so  that  an  orchid  house  is  always  a  source 
of  great  delight.  Another  interesting  point  is  that 
in  many  parts  of  Europe  when  an  orchid  grower 
dies  his  plants  always  bring  more  than  he  paid 
for  them.  They  grow  in  value  with  age.  We 
suppose  it  is  not  so  here  yet,  because  orchid 
growers  hardly  know  where  to  find  one  another ; 
but  it  will  be  so  one  of  these  days.  In  the  hope 
of  encouraging  their  growth  we  give  an  engrav- 
ing of  a  beautiful  one,  for  which  we  are  indebted 
to  Mr.  Wm.  Bull.    See  cut  p.  43. 

Maiden  Hair  Ferns.— Notwithstanding  their 
seemingly  delicate  structure,  we  have  noted  lately 
that  they  seem  among  the  most  successful  of 
ferns  as  window  plants.  There  is  a  vast  variety 
among  the  genus  (Adiantum)  to  choose  from. 

Gas  and  Oil  Light.— The  papers  tell  us  that 
some  towns  have  rebelled  against  heavy  gas  bills 
and  other  gas  annoyances,  and  have  taken  to 
using  coal  oil.  Those  who  think  this  a  misfortune 
have  at  least  this  consolation,  that  they  can  have 
flowers  of  all  kinds  in  oil-lit  rooms,  when  they 
can  have  none,  except  by  special  contrivances, 
in  rooms  where  coal  gas  is  burned.     And  then  it 


is  healthier,  for  if  a  plant  die  in  a  certain  atmos- 
phere it  cannot  be  good  for  mankind  either. 


NEW  PLANTS. 


Double  Poinsetta. — We  have  from  H.  A. 
Dreer,  Philadelphia,  a  head  of  the  Double  Poin- 
setta, showing  how  very  great  is  the  improve- 
ment over  the  old  kind.  The  "  doubleness  "  con- 
sists in  a  greatly  increased  number  of  the  scar- 
let bracts  which,  as  most  of  our  readers  know, 
are  not  the  real  flowers. 

Golden  Maiden  Hair  Fern. —  Everybody 
knows  the  beautiful  Gymnogrammas,  or  Golden 
Ferns.  It  is  said  that  a  Golden  Maiden  Hair 
Fern  has  appeared  in  England,  but  we  suppose 
it  is  with  yellowish  leaves,  and  not  colored  scales, 
as  in  ordinary  Golden  Ferns. 

Winter  Flowering  Carnations.— It  ought 
not  be  forgotten  by  those  who  want  these  for 
flowering  next  winter,  that  the  cuttings  ought  to 
be  put  in  now.  The  plants  are  grown  in  the 
ground  all  summer,  and  have  to  be  lifted  in  the 
Fall  carefully  to  be  put  into  pots. 

Fuchsia  procumbens. — We  were  pleased  to 
note  this  plant  offered  by  one  of  our  advertisers 
last  month.  We  did  not  know  it  was  in  the 
country.  It  is  said  to  be  remarkable  in  having 
the  flowers  erect,  which  is  peculiar  in  a  Fuchsia. 

Azalea  Indica,Empereur  du  Bresil. — A  splen- 
did novelty,  flowers  very  large,  very  double, 
quite  a  perfection  of  form.  The  color  of  the 
finest  pure  rose,  each  petal  bordered  with  a 
broad  pure  white  band,  whilst  the  whole  of  the 
petals  are  striped  lavishly  with  bright  rose  and 
white.  The  upper  lobe  is  elegantly  blotched 
with  brownish  red,  adding  a  good  deal  to  the 
distinction  of  this  really  fine  new  flower.  It  is 
no  doubt  the  finest  and  most  distinct  variety 
ever  sent  out  since  the  introduction  of  the 
Azalea  Souvenir  du  Prince  Albert,  and  like  that 
variety  it  will  be  duly  appreciated  by  all  lovers 
of  this  splendid  tribe  of  plants.  Azalea  Empe- 
reur  du  Bresil  is  a  sport  of  the  fine  double  white 
Azalea  Reine  du  Portugal,  so  favorably  known 
now  as  a  first-rate  variety. —  Verschqffelt. 

Triomphe  des  Doubles  Blancs  Azalea. — 
This  is  undoubtedly  the  finest  and  best  double 
white  Azalea  ever  sent  out.  The  flowers  are 
much  larger,  much  finer,  more  double,  and  of  a 
purer  white  than  even  in  the  fine  variety  Reine 


1817.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


45 


du  Portugal.  The  petals  are  large,  round  to 
perfection,  slightly  undulated,  crisped ;  the  cen- 
tre is  occupied  by  a  tuft  of  pseudo-petals  of  the 
purest  white.  A  very  free  flowering  double 
white  variety,  which  will  be  grown  by  thousands 
for  the  trade,  and  become  a  general  favorite. — 
Verschaffelt. 


QUERIES. 

Starting  Cyclamens.  —  C.  S.  W.,  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  writes  : — "  I  should  be  glad  if  Mr. 
Meehan,  or  some  one  equally  competent, 
would  contribute  to  the  Monthly  a  short  ar- 
ticle setting  forth  the  best  way  of  starting 
Cyclamens  outside  of  a  greenhouse.  It  is  a  plant 
that  I  am  quite  attached  to,  but  I  have  always 
had  to  give  my  bulbs  to  a  florist  to  start  for  me, 
never  having  been  able  to  do  it  myself,  and  this 
I  should  be  very  glad  to  avoid  if  possible." 

[We  are  always  glad  to  get  inquiries  like  these, 
as  we  can  help  many  others  who  may  be  under 
similar  difficulties.  There  is  no  more  beautiful 
window  plant  than  the  Cyclamen,  and  it  is  well 
worthy  of  any  trouble  one  may  take  to  have  it 
in  perfection.  The  annexed  illustration  shows 
one  fairly  grown,  and  window  cultivators  may 
expect  to  reach  this  excellence. 


As  to  starting  it,  the  trouble  comes  from  dry- 
ing off  too  much.  There  is  no  reason  why  they 
should  be  dried  at  all  in  window  culture.  Keep 
watering  a  little  all  through  the  season,  and  they 
will  start  at  the  proper  time.  They  require  some 
little  warmth,  and  this  can  be  helped  by  placing 
the  bulbs  with  the  pots  in  a  warm  part  of  the 
room.  It  does  not  make  much  difference  if  the 
part  is  not  very  light,  so  that  it  is  warm  ;  but  as 
soon  as  the  young  leaves  are  visible,  it  must 
then  be  removed  to  alight  place. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


Trees  for  Protecting  Greenhouses. — G.  G.  S., 
Boston,  Mass.,  writes: — "Please  oblige  by  letting 
me  know  which  kind  of  fruit  trees  would  be 
best  to  plant  to  protect  my  greenhouses  from 
the  cold  northwest  wind,  as  I  would  like  them 
better  than  pine,  spruce,  larch,  &c." 

[You  cannot  have  the  trees  too  near  the  green- 
houses, or  icicles  will  blow  from  them  in  winter 
and  break  the  glass.  The  cherry  is  one  of  the 
most  rapid  growing  fruit  trees,  and  would  soon 
make  a  screen  ;  but  the  pear  does  so  well  about 
Boston  that  we  would  be  disposed  to  try  them. 
The  Bartlett  would,  on  the  whole,  be  the  best 
variety,  as  it  grows  moderately  fast  in  compari- 
son with  some  others.  The  Clapp's  Favorite 
and  Flemish  Beauty  are  also  rapid  growers. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Red  Spider. — "  Florist,"  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
says: — "In  the  December  Gardener's  Monthly, 
speaking  of  when  the  red  spider  becomes  an 
army  with  banners,  more  scientific  approaches 
must  be  made  to  give  any  show  of  success."  Now, 
would  you  please  state  some  of  those  'scientific 
approaches?'  It  is  a  subject  in  which  I  am 
somewhat  interested,  and  probably  others  are, 
for  in  early  Spring,  when  the  sun  gets  hot,  and 
the  greenhouse  very  warm,  it  is  impossible  to 
subdue  the  little  insect  by  any  means  of  ventila- 
tion, or  sprinkling,  showering  or  squirting  of 
water  through  the  hose.  By  all  means  give  us 
a  chapter  on  the  red  spider  and  how  to  destroy 
him." 

[Sulphur  used  freely  is  one  of  the  best  reme- 
dies against  red  spider.  Many  good  gardeners 
wash  their  flues  with  sulphur,  and  the  vapor  is 
quite  sufficient  to  keep  the  red  spider  down. 
This  vapor  does  not  injure  the  plants.  If,  how- 
ever, the  sulphur  take  fire,  sulphuric  acid  is 
formed,  which  will  destroy  both  animal  and  veg- 
etable life.  In  some  houses  it  is  customary  to 
have  sulphur  strewn  on  «heet  iron  or  tin  plates, 
exposing  it  to  the  full  sun,  and  this  makes  vapor 
enough  to  keep  the  red  spider  down.  In  the 
early  stages  of  their  appearance  sulphur  in  the 
water  used  in  syringing  does  good.  For,  although 
.the  sulphur  is  not  of  course  dissolved  in  the 
'water,  yet  some  of  the  particles  of  sulphur  get 
distributed  with  the  water.  Linseed  oil  may  be 
dissolved  in  chalk  or  dry  clay  and  then  dissolved 
in  water.  After  it  has  settled  it  will  be  found 
that  oil  mixes  with  water  enough  to  be  disa- 
greeable, and  this  water  used  in  syringing  proves 
very  disgusting  to  the  red  spider. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


46 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


® 


RUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  one  of  the 
worst  foes  to  grape  culture  in  this  country  has 
been  the  Phylloxera,  a  minute  insect  which 
feeds  on  the  roots,  and  thus  seriously  impairs 
the  nutritive  power  of  the  plant.  With  its  vital 
resources  obstructed,  it  falls  an  easy  prey  to 
fungi  and  other  destructive  agencies,  which  are 
ever  on  the  look-out  for  something  to  prey  on 
that  is  weaker  than  themselves.  It  is  well 
known  that  some  seasons  are  not  so  favorable 
for  insect  life  as  others.  Either  the  natural  ene- 
mies of  the  insect  abound,  and  keep  them  down, 
or  some  climatic  interference  is  against  them, 
and  in  those  seasons  the  plants  get  along  better. 
This  seems  to  have  been  the  case  with  the  grape 
the  past  few  years.  In  spite  of  the  Phylloxera, 
and  all  other  enemies,  the  grape  has  done  re- 
markably well  the  past  few  years,  and  we  are 
coming  to  look  on  it  as,  ascertain  a  crop,  on  the 
whole,  as  the  average  of  fruits.  A  few  years 
since,  we  had  to  say  to  our  readers  that  it  was 
useless  to  rely  on  many  other  kinds  but  Concord 
and  Clinton.  These  grapes  have  very  branching, 
fibrous  roots,  and  there  are  generally  enough  es- 
cape the  Phylloxera  to  keep  up  a  tolerable  healthi- 
ness. But  we  can  now  rely  on  others  tolerably  well, 
and  such  well-proved  kinds  as  Delaware,  Diana, 
Salem,  Martha,  and  others  of  about  the  same 
historic  age,  find  frequent  planters.  The  new 
kinds,  such  as  Brighton,  Lady,  Elmira,  and  other 
candidates  for  popular  favor,  find  purchasers  in 
goodly  numbers,  and  the  whole  prospect  of 
grape  improvement  and  progress  is  encouraging. 
It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  grape  likes  a 
dryish  soil,  rich  earth,  and  likes  to  send  its  roots 
out  into  cool  places  when  the  summer  is  warm. 

The  rule,  in  pruning  grapevines,  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  par- 
ticular system,  will,  of  course,  prune  according 
to  the  rules  comprising  such  system.  As  a  gen- 
eral 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  desired,  or  to 
increase,  with  the  increased  vigor  of  the  shoot, 
which  pruning  supposes  will  follow  the  act,  in- 
creased size  in  the  fruit  it  bears. 

Of  the  Fruit  Garden  for  February  we  may  say 
in  a  general  way — 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.  In  planting  these  have  a  care 
of  deep  planting.  Even  two  inches  lower  than 
the  roots  are,  is  often  fatal.  Plant  on  a  dry  day, 
barely  cover  the  roots ;  but  beat  or  press  the 
soil  very  hard  and  firm. 

As  to  the  best  varieties  of  fruits  to  plant,  that 
is  a  question  which  a  work,  intended  as  ours  is 
for  the  whole  United  States,  cannot  answer. 
We  are  continually  publishing  fruit  lists  adapted 
to  the  different  sections  in  the  body  of  our  work, 
and  to  them  we  refer. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  a  vege- 
table garden  is  a  hot-bed  for  starting  seeds  early. 
The  end  of  the  month  will  be  time  enough  for 
those  who  have  not  command  of  a  large  supply 
of  stable  mamire,  as  the  very  low  temperature 
we  often  get  at  the  end  of  the  month,  soon  ab- 
sorbs all  the  heat  the  hot-bed  possessed.  It  is 
in  any  event  best  to  put  up  the  beds  in  the 
warmest  and  most  sheltered  spots  we  can  find, 
and  to  keep  cold  winds  from  the  manure,  by 
covering  it  with  branches  of  trees,  or  mats;  and 
the  glass  should  always  be  covered  with  mats  at 
night.  Tomatoes,  egg-plants,  peppers  and  cu- 
cumbers, are  the  first  seeds  to  be  sown  this  way. 
Cooler  frames  can  be  got  ready  for  cauliflower, 
lettuce,  beets,  celery  and  Early  York  cabbage,  a 
little  of  which  may  be  sown  about  the  end  of  the 
month  for  the  earliest  crops.  The  Cauliflower  is 
a  particularly  valued  vegetable,  and  no  expense 
spared  to  get  them  in  perfection  will  be  regretted 
when  one's  efforts  are  successful. 

Those  who  have  hot-beds  will  now  sow  toma- 
toes, egg-plants,  peppers,  and  other  vegetables 
that  can  be  forwarded  by  this  means;  and  those 
who  have  not,  will  sow  them  in  boxes  or  pans, 
and   forward   them  in  windows.     Every  garden 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


47 


ought  to  have  at  least  a  few  hot-bed  sashes  to 
forward  early  vegetables ;  for  if  they  have  no 
means  of  applying  artificial  heat  to  them,  the 
sash  will  of  itself  forward  some  things  consider- 
ably. 

About  the  middle  or  end  of  the  month,  or  still 
later  at  the  North— say  the  middle  of  March- 
celery  and  late  cabbage  may  be  sown.  Here  we 
usually  sow  the  second  week  in  March. 

In  the  anxiety  to  have  early  crops,  people 
often  work  the  ground  while  it  is  wet.  But 
nothing  is  gained,  not  until  it  will  powder  when 
it  is  dug,  is  it  fit  for  turning  up. 


C0M3WNIGA  TIONS. 


PLAN  FOR  A  SMALL  VEGETABLE  HOUSE. 

BY  W.   T.   BELL,    FRANKLIN,   PA. 

Thinking  that  my  reply  to  the  following  letter, 
might  be  of  interest  to  some  of  your  readers,  I 
send  you  a  copy  for  publication  : 

"Dear  Sir: — Seeing  your  article  on  Green- 
house Furnaces,  in  August  number  of  Recorder, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  ask  you  a  few  questions  on 
the  subject. 

"I  have  grown  plants  for  sale,  for  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  under  glass,  with  good  success.  I 
started  tomato  plants  in  the  house  last  season, 
and  had  them  quite  early  for  market;  but  the 
little  hands  are  growing,  and  I  am  afraid  to  risk 
them  there  again. 

"  I  purpose  to  put  up  a  small  greenhouse,  and 
am  ignorant  of  the  best  plan  to  build  one;  and 
would  like  to  ask  you  if  the  following  plan  is  a 
good  one. 

"I  think  about  21  feet  by  10  feet,  would  be 
large  enough.  I  purpose  to  dig  it  out  the 
above  size,  and  wall  up  with  boards,  about  two 
feet  above  the  ground;  and  have  the  middle  of 
the  roof  about  two  feet  higher  than  the  sides ; 
with  a  cistern  for  water,  about  eight  feet  square, 
and  three  feet  deep. 

"  Now,  should  the  cellar  for  the  furnace  be  five 
or  six  feet  below  the  floor  of  the  house,  or  that 
depth  from  the  top  of  the  ground?  What  size 
glass  is  best  for  the  sash  ?  Is  one  foot  fall  enough 
for  the  roof,  or  would  more  be  better?  Would  it 
do  to  have  a  coal-stove  in  the  house,  instead  of  a 
furnace?  As  I  wish  to  grow  only  vegetables  for 
early  marketing;  commencing  to  fire  about 
February  1st.  Will  you  give  me  your  idea  on  the 


above,  or  give  me  your  plan  for  the  purpose? 

Yours,  etc., , 

— ,  Md." 

If  I  wished  to  build  a  vegetable  house  of  the 
size  you  mention,  I  would  make  it  on  the  surface 
of  the  ground;  boarding  up  the  sides  with  rough, 
cheap  lumber,  nailed  to  posts  set  into  the  ground, 
and  bank  up  with  earth  nearly  to  the  eaves. 

This  would  make  a  warm  house,  and  it  would 
be  drier  than  if  excavated.  If  you  have  no  shed 
at  the  end  of  your  building,  and  do  not  need  a 
cellar  in  connection  with  your  greenhouse,  dig  a 
pit  at  one  corner  of  the  house,  outside,  large 
enough  to  give  room  to  work  your  fire,  put  a 
roof  over  the  pit,  and  proceed  to  make  your  fur- 
nace and  flue,  as  mentioned  in  the  article  you 
refer  to. 

If  you  expect  to  use  a  fuel  that  will  not  choke 
the  flue,  build  the  flue  along  one  side  of  the 
house,  across  the  end,  and  return  along  the  other 
side,  to  the  chimney.  Have  door  to  greenhouse, 
in  end,  directly  under  the  comb  of  roof;  and 
benches  along  each  side,  with  a  narrow  space  at 
back  of  bench,  to  allow  the  warm  air  to  pass  up 
behind  the  bench.  The  sash  should  be  made, not 
less  than  lh  inches  thick,  without  cross  bars,  ex- 
cept at  top  and  bottom,  and  should  be  painted 
before  being  glazed. 

Double-strength  glass  is  the  cheapest  to  use; 
which  should  be  bedded  in  putty,  and  securely 
fastened  with  large  glazier's  tacks.  Glass  8x10 
inches,  is  a  good  size  to  use,  placing  the  long  way 
of  the  glass  with  the  long  way  of  the  sash.  The 
slope  of  the  roof,  should  be  not  less  than  what 
carpenters  call  a  quarter  pitch,  to  carry  off  the 
water  properly. 

If  you  are  well  supplied  with  water,  on  your 
premises,  I  would  not  make  a  cistern  in  green- 
house, as  a  barrel  of  water  standing  under  one 
of  your  benches  would  last  you  two  or  three 
days.  A  coal-stove  in  your  greenhouse  would 
not  prove  satisfactory. 

I  hope  the  hints  I  have  given  above,  may  be  of 
service  to  you,  for  the  sake  of  the  little  hands  you 
mention,  if  for.  nothing  else. 


DECAYING  PEAR  AND  APPLE  TREES. 

BY  GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE,  BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 

Let  no  one  cut  down  such,  as  "  cumberers  of 
the  ground  ;"  there  is  yet  wonderful  vigor  in  their 
bark  and  limbs.  But  they  want  your  "help  to 
their  infirmities."   Thereby  good  kinds  will  yield 


48 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


us  luscious  crops  for  years,  before  the  young  tree 
in  its  stead,  matures  into  bearing.  If  the  fruit  of 
the  old  tree  is  not  choice,  graft  good  kinds  into 
its  sound  shoots  and  limbs.  They  give  return 
on  such,  much  sooner  than  on  young  trees.  The 
pear  and  apple,  especially,  reward  our  kindly 
help  to  their  waning  powers. 

But  do  your  work  with  thoughtful  care.  A  good 
deal  of  chisel  and  mallet  surgery  must  be  used. 
The  horse-shoers  foot-knife  is  therefore  in  parts  a 
very  useful  tool.  But  all  your  cutting  and  saw- 
ing and  cleansing  must  be  followed  by  the  very 
choicest  culture  and  tree  food,  top  dressed.  The 
right  method  and  scope  of  the  work  can  best  be 
shown  by  examples. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  I  came  to  live  on  an 
ancient  homestead,  full  of  old  fruit  trees.  Among 
them  was  a  venerable  Harvest  Pear,  Annie  Jo- 
hannot,  going  to  the  bad.  Its  limbs  were  de- 
cayed and  tumbling.  One  side  of  its  trunk  was 
gone.  The  whole  heart  wood  worm-eaten  and 
rotten.  The  half  shell  left  of  its  body  had  only 
about  three  inches  of  bark  and  sound  wood.  Yet 
it  was  still  making  vigorous  growth  of  stout 
young  shoots.  With  gouge-chisel  and  mallet,  I 
dug  out  all  the  worm-eaten  and  deca}'ed  wood, 
covered  the  sound  wood  beneath  with  thick  paint, 
and  stopped  all  the  holes  of  ants  or  borers.  All 
unthrifty  and  rotten  limbs  I  lopped  off.  Then 
wide  around  the  tree,  with  lavish  hand,  I  spread 
on  the  top  surface  rich  manure.  The  sound 
limbs  I  grafted  with  choice  pears. 

Under  this  thorough  surgery,  food  and  nur- 
ture, the  old  thing  about  to  be  turned  into  the 
wood  pile,  has  grown  and  flourished  with  abun- 
dant return  for  my  care.  Thus  for  twenty-five 
years,  it  has  been  a  comfort  and  most  useful  test- 
place  to  get  quick  returns  for  good  fruits,  old 
or  new. 

The  same  regimen  will  win  for  the  apple 
trees  like  rewards.  I  never  had  one  quite  as  bad 
off  as  that  old  Harvest  Pear.  But  lots  of  them 
with  hollow  trunks,  and  great  rotted  and  worm- 
eaten  limb-holes.  The  way  to  serve  such,  is  to 
dig  and  scoup  out  all  the  decay.  Somehow,  get 
down  to  the  solid  wood  ;  then  fill  the  holes  with 
good  hydraulic  cement,  and  where  very  large, 
mix  and  pack  into  the  cement,  with  an  iron  rod, 
a  lot  of  sharp  small  st«nes.  Fill  plump  to  the 
surface.  Let  the  edges  of  the  cavity  be  brought 
close  to  the  bark.  It  will  then  gradually  curl  in 
and  heal  over  the  edge,  and  sometimes  the  whole 
wound.  Yon  thus  shut  out  moisture,  air,  and 
all  the  nameless  things  that    live  and  fatten  on 


decay.  An  old  tree  so  saved,  is  worth  a  half 
dozen  young  fellows,  for  whose  show  of  fruit  you 
must  wait  for  years.  You  will  find  the  process 
of  waste  and  rot  to  stop,  and  your  tree  start 
ahead  with  the  vigor  almost  of  a  renewed 
youth.  Still  "ilfaut  la  jeunesse — a  little  of  that 
youth  you  recall  by  your  care. 


DISEASE  IN  PEARS. 


BY    BEURRE,    LOUISIANA,   MO. 

The  writer  has  been  much  interested  in  the 
perusal  of  Prof.  Brainard's  views  on  Pear  blight, 
but  more  so  in  examining  your  comments  upon 
his  theory.  If  not  out  of  place,  you  will  please 
answer  the  following  questions,  viz. :  Is  the 
disease  called  blight,  in  your  section  the  same 
that  proves  so  destructive  to  our  trees  in  the 
West?  Does  not  starvation  have  something  to 
do  with  the  disease  in  the  East,  as  well  as  in  the 
West?  Every  season  shows  us  here  that  sound 
trees  of  hardy  sorts,  planted  in  well-drained  soil, 
properly  cultivated  for  three  years  and  the  sur- 
face supplied  with  proper  plant  food,  do  not 
blight,  or  more  properly  starve.  Pear  trees  die 
here,  and  they  usually  commence  dying  at  the 
extremities,  turning  black,  as  death  proceeds 
downwards.  An  occasional  spot  is  discovered 
on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  which  seems  to  be  other- 
wise sound.  This  spot  if  examined  with  a  lens 
when  not  more  than  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  will  be  found  to  have  a  puncture  in  the 
centre,  probably  made  by  some  misguided  insect 
which  oviposits  in  a  tree  that  does  not  furnish 
proper  food  for  its  young,  as  no  larvae  have  been 
discovered  in  the  affected  part  in  this  section. 
The  poisonous  egg  dissolves  very  soon,  and  ex- 
tends rapidly  until  it  becomes  too  much  diluted 
to  decompose  more  sap.  The  dead  bark  remains 
stationary,  while  the  living  bark  around  the  poi- 
soned spot  swells  out,  leaving  a  depression.  If  the 
dead  portion  extends  half  around  the  limb  or 
trunk,  it  usually  kills,  with  us.  It  will  probably 
be  objected,  that  the  instinct  of  injurious  insects 
is  perfect,  and  that  the  provident  mother  never 
oviposits  in  the  bark  of  trees  that  do  not  furnish 
food  for  the  young  larva;.  To  this  objection  it  may 
be  safely  said  that  instinct  in  insects,  in  many  in- 
stances, proves  to  be  imperfect.  The  snout  beetle 
called  curculio,  will  not  climb  a  plum  tree,  the 
limbs  of  which  rub  against  the  side  of  a  build- 
ing, or  where  vibratory  sounds  are  produced  by 
wires  stretched  from  tree  to  tree.  The  sounds 
will  not  injure  him,   but  his  imperfect  instinct 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


49 


admonishes  him  to  keep  a  safe  distance  from 
such  trees.  By  scarring  the  sound  edges  of  the 
bark  ar  jund  the  sunken  portion  in  the  month  of 
June,  the  diseased  spot  will  soon  grow  over  and 
the  tree  is  not  apparently  injured.  When  the 
limbs  of  recent  growth  commence  to  turn  black 
with  us,  and  we  remove  portions  of  bark,  th» 
whole  shoot  is  found  to  be  drying  up,  and  no 
slimy,  decomposed  sap  can  be  found,  while  all 
eastern  writers  claim  that  by  breaking  the  bark 
a  slime  or  mucilaginous  substance  will  at  once 
ooze  out,  and  string  down  to  the  ground. 

These  two  opposite  symptoms  would  seem  to 
indicate  a  different  cause  of  death.  Out  of  several 
thousand  Pear  trees  in  my  own  bearing  orchard 
but  one  has  been  killed  by  spot  blight  within 
the  last  five  years,  while  seven  have  starved  to 
death.  Those  trees  that  were  sound  when 
planted,  and  supplied  with  plant  food  in  abun- 
dance are  sound,  and  even  the  intense  freezing 
of  1872,  which  congealed  the  mercury  here,  did 
not  break  down  the  tissues  of  the  sap  vessels  of 
certain  hardy  sorts.  Forest  trees  were  worse 
crippled  that  winter  than  Pear  trees,  so  that  in 
this  section  the  "  frozen  sap  blight  "  theory  won't 
do;  particularly  when  it  is  remembered  that 
the  Autumn  was  warm  till  quite  late,  and  the 
freeze  came  upon  us  suddenly.  It  seems  to  the 
writer  not  difficult  to  prove  that  the  main  cause 
of  the  destruction  of  this  noble  tree  in  the  West 
is  starvation.  The  same  cause  may  operate  to 
some  extent  in  the  East.  But  to  handle  this 
much  vexed  question  with  comfort  to  the  reader, 
the  earthy  matter  contained  in  the  wood,  hark 
and  fruit,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  appetite  of  the 
tree  must  he  placed  before  him. 

[The  Fire  Blight  in  the  East,  is  just  the  same  as 
that  in  the  West.  Situation  makes  no  difference 
— soil  makes  no  difference — system  of  culture 
makes  no  difference.  It  comes  to  any  and  all 
trees,  once  in  a  while  wholly  unexpected,  and 
leaves  the  locality  often  as  suddenly  as  it  came. 
Trees  which  die  gradually  from  the  tips  down- 
wards, are  not  suffering  from  "  Fire  blight,"  but 
from  some  other  disease.  There  are  many  sources 
of  disease — many  symptoms.  Under  some  cir- 
cumstances the  sap  does  freeze,  and  then  "frozen 
sap  blight  "  is  a  reality. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


TWO  GOOD  PEARS. 

BY   J     M.   H.,   DOVER,   NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

It  is  often  with  fruit  growers  as  with  those  of 
other  occupations,  the  things  that  have  proved 


good,  and  are  really  valuable  are  often  overlooked 
or  crowded  aside  to  make  room  for  some  new 
claimant  for  public  attention.     Often    the   new 
article  or  fruit  takes  the  lead  for  a  while,  but 
soon   disappears    and   is   wholly  lost    sight   of. 
Pear  cultivators  in  this  vicinity  are  apt  to  set 
too   many   new  varieties  for  profit — those  that 
have  not  been  fully  proved.    And  I  wish  to  com- 
mend to  the  cultivators  of  the  northern  portions 
of  our  country,  through  the  Gardener's  Monthly, 
.two  Pears  which  have  been  tested  and  are  suited 
to  the  North.     These  are  the  Buffum  and  the 
Sheldon,  both  of  them  pears  of  American  origin, 
and  two  as  good  varieties  as  have  been  produced 
in   America.     The   Buffum,   if  it   were   a  little 
larger,  would    certainly  rank  with  the   best   of 
pears.    The  tree  is  a  fine  grower,  forms  a  regular 
head,  and  is  highly  ornamental  in  any  orchard. 
The  Sheldon  is  a  fruit  that  cannot  be  surpassed 
amongst  pears.   The  tree  does  not  make  so  regular 
and  symmetrical  a  head,  yet  it  is  as  hardy  as  the 
Buffum.     These  two  Pears  are  worthy  the  atten- 
tion of  fruit  growers,  and  if  more  attention  were 
paid  to  these,  we  should  not  hear  so  much  of 
the  failure  of  pears  on  account  of  the    severe 
winter. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Fruit  Synonyms. — It  is  time  Europe  had  an 


association  similar  to  our  American  Pomological 
Society.  For  want  of  such,  Europe  is  bothered 
with  synonyms.  A  recent  writer  tells  us  that 
there  the  May  Duke  Cherry  has]  sixty-two 
different  appellations,  and  Queen  Hortense  has 
thirty-two;  Peaches,  Grosse  Mignonne,  fifty- 
one;  of  the  Pears,  Doyenne  d'Hiver,  fifty-six, 
and  Catillac,  sixty-eight.  The  two  familiar  va- 
rieties of  Grapes,  Frankenthal  (Black  Ham- 
burgh), and  Chasselas  de  Fontainebleau  (Boyal 
Muscadine),  have  fifty-five  and  forty-one  syn- 
onyms respectively. 

Thinning  Fruit. — We  have  always  contended 
that  a  man  who  makes  fruit  growing  a  business, 
and  allows  his  trees  to  be  injured  by  overbearing 
ought  to  suffer.  It  has  been  objected  against  us 
that  thinning  does  not  pay,— but  A.  £v  Dyck- 
man,  who  has  extensive  Peach  orchards  at  South 
Haven,  Mich.,  gives  the  Horticultural  Society  of 
that  place  the  following  account,  in  substance,  of 
his  mede  of  thinning  the  crop :  A  part  of  the 
thinning  is  effected  by  pruning,  when  this  is 
needed.    The  cost  is  about  five  cents  per  bushel, 


50 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONT  ELY 


[February, 


and  the  market  price  is  often  doubled  by  the 
operation.  The  rule  is  to  leave  one  peach  on  a 
shoot  six  inches  long,  and  two  on  a  limb  a  foot 
long.  Make  the  spaces  between  them  as  even  as 
practicable.  For  this  purpose  it  is  often  neces- 
sary to  remove  nine-tenths.  Finish  one  branch 
at  a  time  ;  work  from  the  centre  of  the  tree.  It 
saves  labor  at  the  regular  picking,  assorting  and 
packing.  Another  important  advantage  is,  in 
preventing  the  exhaustion  of  the  trees.  The 
work  is  done  soon  after  the  fruit  sets. 

Vegetable  Eatixg. — We  often  fancy  foreign- 
ers misrepresent  us,  but  if  so,  it  is  no  more  than 
the  fate  of  all  nations.  We  have  been  reading 
recently  a  report  on  English  Gardening,  by  Dr. 
Mertens  to  the  Belgian  Government,  in  whichhe 
says  the  English  grow  "hardly  any  vegetables 
but  Rhubarb  and  Seakale,  and  these  they  greedily 
devour." 

Peach  Disease  ix  Califorxia. — The  yellows 
do  not  appear  to  be  troublesome  to  a  Californian 
Peach  orchard,  but  the  curl  is  a  fearful  pest. 

Peach  Disease  ix  the  South. — A  correspon- 
dent of  Our  Home  Journal,  writes  of  a  mysterious 
disease  which  attacks  the  Peach  trees  down  there. 
As  the  lowest  temperature  is  seldom  more  than 
5°  below  freezing  point,  it  cannot  be  from  cold. 
Tie  says  : — "  Many  of  the  trees  are  dead,  root  and 
branch.  Some  are  dead  down  to  the  roots,  from 
which  a  few  suckers  are  springing  up,  from  each 
of  which  I  mean  to  train  up  one  to  see  what  it 
will  do.  The  trees  that  are  not  dead  have  a 
sickljr  and  wilted  look — scarcely  any  leaves,  and 
perhaps  half  a  dozen  peaches  to  the  tree. 

My  orchard  is  on  the  warm,  southern  slope  of 
a  sandy  ridge  or  tongue  of  high  land,  projecting 
into  the  salt  marsh,  with  water  on  both  sides, 
and  sheltered  on  the  north  by  a  heavy  growth  of 
live  oak  and  magnolia.  The  sap  flows  early,  but 
I  have  never  known  the  fruit  germs  killed  by 
frost.  And  this  season,  as  I  have  said,  two-thirds 
of  my  trees  have  exhibited  no  signs  of  life  at  any 
time,  and  now  stand  leafless  and  sapless." 

Amkrh  an"  Blackberries  ix  England. — With 
their  knowledge  limited  to  the  wild  fruit  of 
the  hedges,  it  is  no  surprise  that  the  English, 
wonder  at  tin;  popularity  here  of  our  improved 
sorts.  But  one  who  has  tried  the  Lawton  in 
England,  writes  to  the  London  Journal  of  Horti- 
culture, thai  it  is  really  "delicious." 

TheCornish  Gilliflower.  -Early  in  December 

we  saw  a  barrel  of  this  variety  on  sale  in  Phila- 


delphia, the  first  time  we  had  seen  it  in  many 
years,  and  were  really  surprised  to  find  how 
superior  was  its  excellence.  The  vendor  could 
give  no  guess  as  to  the  locality  it  originally 
started  from. 

We  are  reminded  of  this  sort  now  by  a  beauti- 
ful engraving  in  the  Garden,  which  gives  the 
following  account  of  its  history  : —  "As  far  as  I  can 
remember  (says  Mr.  Boscawen),  a  certificate  was 
given  to  Sir  C.  Hawkins,  of  Trewithan,  Cornwall, 
in  the  year  1822  or  1823  by  the  Horticultural 
Society  of  London  for  fruits  of  this  apple.  Sir 
C.  Hawkins  found  it  in  a  cottage  garden  near 
Truro.  It  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  a  seedling 
from  a  very  old  Cornish  variety  called  the  Spice 
Apple.  There  are  two,  if  not  three  seedlings 
from  it  in  Cornwall — one  at  Mr  Richard  Boli- 
tho's,  in  Penzance,  which  is  earlier  than  the  one 
I  sent  you,  but  not  so  good.  I  have  heard  of  an- 
other, but  can't  say  anything  about  it.  The 
apples  I  sent  were  from  a  graft  of  the  original 
apple  at  Trewithan,  and  therefore  is  the  true 
Gilliflower,  or  July  Flower,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called.  The  name,  I  believe,  was  given  in  conse- 
quence of  its  scent  being  like  that  of  a  Gilli- 
flower Carnation.  I  have  found  the  apple  easily 
cultivated,  not  only  in  Cornwall,  but  in  the  Mid- 
land Counties.  One  year  when  the  crop  failed 
in  Cornwall,  apples  were  sent  down  here  from 
Berkshire  quite  as  fine,  if  not  finer  than  those 
usually  grown  in  Cornwall.  This  apple  likes  an 
eastern  aspect,  and  must  be  pruned  carefully,  as 
the  blossom  buds  are  at  the  ends  of  the  shoots. 
It  keeps  well,  and  is  ripe  about  the  end  of 
November. 

The  Baldwix  Apple. — The  American  Cultiva- 
tor, says  :  "  The  original  tree  found  in  a  wood,  is 
still  standing  on  the  Baldwin  farm,  at  Woburn, 
Mass.     Loammi  Baldwin  was  then  the  proprietor. 

Cultivated  Pixe  Apples.—  People  accustomed 
to  the  miserable  stuff  sold  in  the  markets  for 
Pine  Apples,  have  no  idea  of  the  delicious  char- 
acter of  cultivated  fruit,  as  grown  by  gardeners. 
And  yet  because  "  Pines  "  can  be  bought  cheaply, 
t  hey  are  seldom  grown.  At  a  recent  meeting  of 
the  London  Horticultural  Society  there  was  an 
award  to  Mr.  Ross,  Welford  Park,  Newbury,  for 
four  smooth-leaved  Cayenne  Tine  Apples,  weigh- 
ing respectively  7  His.  -\\  ozs.,  8  Bbs.  5  ozs.,  9  tt>s. 
2?  o/.s  ,  and  lo  ll>s.  nl  ozs.  The  suckers  which 
produced  these  fruits  were  potted  in  6-inch  pots 
in  June,  1875,  and  shifted  into  11-inch  pots  in 
April,  1876. 


1877."' 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


51 


Exquisite  Peach. — Mr.  Tillery  in  the  Florist 
and  Pomohgist,  says  : — "  This  A merican  Peach  is  a 
very  noble  one."  Do  any  of  our  readers  know 
anything  about  it  ?  It  is  described  as  yellow 
fleshed. 

Fall  Fruiting  Strawberries.  —  How  the 
forced  Strawberries  to  which  we  recently  re- 
ferred, were  made  to  produce  in  the  Fall  so 
freely,  is  thus  told  by  the  London  Journal  of 
Horticulture  :—"  We  have  to-day, (November  14th) 
seen  a  further  supply  of  Strawberries  from 
Rabley.  The  fruit  was  perfectly  ripe,  medium- 
sized,  and  well  colored.  The  plants  producing 
this  fruit  were  forced  last  year,  and  afterwards 
planted  in  the  open  ground  :  on  showing  trusses 
in  the  autumn  the  plants  were  again  potted,  and 
two  hundred  of  tiaem  are  now  in  full  bearing, 
and  very  valuable." 

Hardiness  of  Wilson's  Early  Blackberry. 
— The  Country  Gentleman  says  that  this  variety  is 
not  hardy  much  farther  north  than  Philadelphia. 
We  had  no  suspicion  of  this  fact  before,  and 
would  like  to  know  if  it  is  the  universal  experi- 
ence. Had  we  been  asked,  we  should  have 
said  it  was  as  hardy  as  Lawton  or  any  other 
kind. 

The  Maine  Grape. — This,  which  some  years 
ago  correspondents  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly 
showed  was  not  different  from  Concord,  is  being 
pushed  again. 

The  English  Walnut. — It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  how  far  north  the  English  Walnut 
matures.  A  correspondent  of  the  Country  Gen- 
tleman, speaks  of  its  doing  very  well  in  Essex 
County,  New  Jersey,  ten  miles  west  of  New  York 
City.   " 

Jerusalem  Artichokes. — A  correspondent  of 
a  London  paper  wonders  that  "  a  plant  so  pro- 
lific as  the  Jerusalem  Artichoke,  should  receive 
so  little  attention."  We  fancy  the  reason  is, 
that  they  who  try  th-em  find  they  can  do  very 
well  without  them.  With  port  wine,  drawn 
butter,  or  some  addition  they  make  passable 
eating,  but  are  but  poor  at  best. 


NEW  PLANTS. 


The  Japan  Persimmon. — The  Diospyros  Kaki 
has  fruited  the  two  past  seasons  in  California. 

Thb  James  Veitch  Stawberry. — A  Yorkshire 
correspondent  of  the  Garden,  Mr.  Lovel,  Weaver- 


thorpe,  says,'  "  that  among  forty  varieties  of 
strawberries  which  he  grew  last  year,  the  largest 
was  James  Veitch,  eight  fruits  of  which  weighed 
one  pound.  This  season  it  took  from  seventeen 
to 'eighteen  to  weigh  one  pound,  a  result  partly 
owing  to  the  cold,  frosty  weather  which  we  had 
in  May  and  June;  so  severe,  indeed,  was  the 
frost  in  June,  that  all  the  earliest  bloom  was  de- 
stroyed. The  large  fruits  gathered  in  1875  were 
Cockscomb-shaped,  not  those  of  a  globular  or 
conical  form,  which  is  the  normal  shape  of  this 
variety.  He  noticed  also  in  these  large  straw- 
berries a  great  tendency  to  decay,  if  in  contact 
with  the  damp  soil.  He  has  gathered  during 
the  past  season  very  fine  and  large  fruit  from 
Dr.  Hogg,  President,  and  Sir  Joseph  Paxton,  all 
first  season  plants.  Many  of  the  finest  fruit  of 
these  kinds  weighed  nearly  one  ounce  each. 
He  considers  these  three  varieties  superior  in 
many  respects  to  James  Veitch,  especially  as 
regards  quantity  and  quality  of  fruit." 

Captain  Jack  Strawberry. — This  variety,  in- 
troduced by  Mr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Bluffton,  Mo., 
proves  of  value  East.  Mr.  Parry  says  it  com- 
pares favorably  with  Wilson's  Albany  in  most 
respects,  and  is  of  better  quality. 

French  Pippin  Apple — Under  the  name  of 
French   Pippin,  Mr.  Youngken   sends   us   fruit 
remarkable  for  the  great  weight  in  proportion  to 
its  size.     It  is  but  ten  inches  round,  yet  weighs 
half  a  pound.     With  the  exception  of  its  stem, 
which  is  rather  longer  than  the  apple  and  some- 
what slender,  it  has  very  much  the  character  of 
the  Fallowater,  and  Mr.  Y.  says  that  it  has  very 
much   of  the   wood   and  growth  of  that  apple. 
He   thinks  it  in   every  way  a  superior  kind  to 
Fallowater.      An    orchardist    obtained   a  large 
number  of  Fallowaters from  a  nurseryman  named 
Lukenbach,  and  this  one  appeared  among  the 
number  and  is  supposed  to  have  "  come   from 
France,"  "whence  its  name,"  and  to  have   got 
with  the  others  by  accident.     It  is  too  much  like 
Fallowater  to  sustain  this  view.     It  is  most  likely 
one  of  these  curious  instances   with   which    or- 
chardists  are  now  becoming  familiar,  of  sudden 
departures  from  the  original  type,  independent 
of  seed  agency ;  but  whether  in  consequence  of 
some  hybrid  influence  between  graft,  and  stock, 
or  some  other  law  of  change,  is  not  well  deter- 
mined. We  should  like  to  know  whether  any  body 
has  a  ten  inch  apple  that  will  weigh  this  much. 
It  seems  to  us  that  if  such  an  apple  as  this  had 


52 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


fallen   on   old  Newton's  head,  he   would  never 
have  been  able  to  tell  us  of  gravitation. 

The  Swenker  Apple. — We  have  from  Mr.  J. 
G.  Younken,  of  Quakertown,  Pa.,  specimens  .of 
this  apple.  He  represents  that  it  is  a  seedling 
of  some  forty  years  ago,  which  appeared  naturally 
on  the  farm  of  Geo.  Swenker,  of  Fdchlandtown. 
As  a  rule  we  are  opposed  to  any  more  new  ap- 
ples, unless  they  seem  to  have  especial  points  of 
merit,which  this  one  appears  to  have.  It  is  a  hand- 
somer looking  apple  than  Bald\vin,and  has  a  more 
crisp  and  pleasant  flavor.  Mr.  Y.  reports  that  it 
will  bear  bad  usage  well,  and  this  is  one  of  the 
points  supposed  to  belong  to  Baldwin  especially. 
The  specimen  before  us  is  ten  inches  round,  a 
little  depressed  (9£  inches),  tapering  sharply  to- 
wards the  apex,  medium  slender  stem,  small 
closed  calyx  in  a  rather  wide,  shallow  basin,  and 
of  a  deep  red  color,  with  splashes  and  stripes. 
This  is  December  12,  and  it  appears  as  if  it 
would  keep  for  months  yet. 


QUERIES. 

Grease  for  Pear  Trees.  —  Mystic  asks : — 
"  Some  say  fat  will  injure  pear  trees.  Will  fat, 
or  grease  or  dish-water  from  the  sink,  incorpor- 
ated with  the  soil,  injure  trees  or  vines?  If 
beneficial  in  moderate  quantities,  is  there  dan- 
ger in  large  quantities?  " 

[It  is  no  doubt  only  the  salt  in  the  dish-water 
that  injures  the  trees. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Sicilian  Hazelnut. — J.  C,  Chelsea,  Mass., 
writes : — "  In  the  December  number  of  the 
monthly  I  find  a  communication  from  E.  S.  Ma- 
son, Detroit,  Mich.,  stating  his   experience  with 


the  Sicilian  nut.  Having  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  them  growing  for  some  years  past,  in  a 
garden  in  this  city,  I  may  state  that  I  have  had 
the  general  charge  of  the  grounds  for  many 
years  past.  The  gentleman  purchased  one  dozen 
plants,  it  may  be  eight  years  ago;  every  one 
lived,  have  grown  vigorously,  and  for  several 
years  back  have  borne  a  quantity  of  fruit,  and 
we  think  here  that  it  is  a  superior  nut,  many  of 
them  of  extra  size  and  quality ;  many  of  the 
trees  are  also  now  of  good  size.  We  have  pro- 
pagated many  by  suckers,  some  of  them  make 
wood  five  feet  long  in  one  season." 

Strawberries  for  Market. — J.  S.,  Allegheny 
City,  Pa.: — "  I  am  desirous  of  planting  three 
acres  of  strawberries  this  Spring  for  market  pur- 
poses. I  have  plants  of  Wilson's  Albany,  Mon- 
arch of  the  West  and  Kentucky.  Can  I  get  any 
better  sorts  ?  I  propose  to  plant  three  feet  by 
one.  How  much  bone  dust  per  acre,  putting  a 
little  to  each  plant?  Your  advice  will  be  prized 
by  many  readers  of  your  valuable  magazine." 

[You  would  do  better  with  the  rows  two  feet 
apart  than  three.  The  best  varieties  for  market 
depends  very  much  on  the  method  of  culture. 
Your  old-time  neighbor,  Knox,  found  Jucunda 
and  Triomphe  de  Gand  more  profitable  than 
Wilson's  by  his  system  of  culture.  You 
might  add  Chas.  Downing  to  your  good  list.  It  is 
a  good  "standby."— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Name  of  Apples. — W.  J.  E.,  Indianapolis, 
sends  some  very  fine  apples  for  name,  the  tree 
supposed  to  have  been  brought  from  Ireland 
originally.  Some  good  judges,  to  whom  we  sub- 
mitted them,  pron  it  ounce  "Ortley,"  but  there 
seems  to  us  some  points  of  difference.  It  is  a 
better  apple  than  Ortley,  as  we  generally  see  it. 


lORESTRY. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Beech  in  Indiana. — S.  M.  Coulter  says  in 
the  Botanical  Gazette  that  over  one-third  of  all 
the  forest  vegetation  of  Jefferson  County,  Ind., 
is  of  Fagus  ferruginea. 

Walndt  fob  Timber. — Californians  seem  in- 
terested  in    timber  culture,  like  the  rest   of  the 


world.  The  Pacific  Rural  Press  says:— -"  It  has 
been  discovered  by  the  farmers  on  the  plains  in 
Solano  and  Yolo  counties,  says  the  Colusa  Sun, 
that  the  black  walnut,  although  a  native  in  this 
State  of  the  low  lands,  is  better  adapted  to  the 
plains  than  any  other  tree.  All  residents  of  the 
districts  of  country  at  the  East  where  the  walnut 
grows,  will  remember  that  a  walnut  stump  is  the 
very   hardest   to   get   rid    of.     It  sends   down  a 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


53 


longer  tap  root  than  any  other  tree,  and  hence 
its  perfect  adaptability  to  our  dry  plains.  The 
walnut  should  be  planted  first  where  it  is  in- 
tended to  grow,  as  any  transplanting  is  apt  to 
interfere  with  the  proper  growth  of  the  tap  root. 
A  large  number  of  these  trees  have  been  planted 
around  Dixon,  and  from  a  conversation  about  it 
with  a  gentleman  fully  posted,  we  concluded 
that  it  was  the  very  best  thing  our  farmers  could 
do.     The  cost  of  the  trees  is  almost  nothing." 

Foreign  Trees.— Mr.  Sargent  writes  to  the 
Massachusetts  Ploughman,  that  after  an  experi- 
ence in  the  foreign  larches  and  American  raised, 
he  finds  that  the  home  nurseries  can  supply 
them  60  per  cent,  cheaper.  If  only  our  people 
would  show  a  disposition  to  encourage  home 
nurseries,  this  experience  would  be  much  more 
common. 

Premiums  for  Forests. — A  correspondent  of 
the  Massachusetts  Ploughman  recommends  that 
premiums  should  be  given  for  the  "  best  forests 
on  the  poorest  lands,  within  a  specified  time  from 
planting,"  as  a  means  of  finding  out  the  best 
trees  for  such  situations. 

Wild  Cherry  Timber. — A  Massachusetts  cor- 
respondent of  the  Ploughman,  referring  to  Cera- 
sus  serotina,  says:—"  You  cannot  have  for  many 
purposes  a  better  tree  than  the  wild  cherry,  and 
it  is  a  rapid  grower.  It  is  found  in  all  our  for- 
ests. And  what  is  better  or  handsomer  for  the 
interior  work  of  houses  and  for  cabinet  work 
than  the  wood  of  the  butternut  tree,  and  this,  a 
rapid  grower  on  rocky  soil  as  well  as  good,  in 
any  part  of  our  State  ?  " 

Native  Trees  for  Timber. — A  correspondent 
of  the  Massachusetts  Ploughman,  writing  from 
Wood's  Hole,  Mass.,  says  : — "Now  while  there  is 
a  great  value  in  the  Scotch  larch,  and  it  is  a  very 
desirable  tree  to  introduce,  yet  we  have  many 
native  trees  that  for  all  or  most  purposes,  are 
quite  as  valuable,  and  some  more  so.  I  have 
planted  some  chestnuts  (seedlings)  and  have 
been  astonished  at  their  rapid  growth.  Yet  this 
tree  is  probably  as  good  for  railway  cross-ties  as 
the  larch,  and  for  cabinet  and  some  other  pur- 
poses better.  Why  not  then  encourage  its  re- 
production ?  " 

Sweet  Gum  as  Tan  Bark.— One  of  the  most 
useless  trees  of  the  South,  and  yet  one  of  the 
most  abundant,  is  the  beautiful  Sweet  Gum, 
Liquidambar  styraciflua.  In  the  last  number  of 
the  Monthly,  reports  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 


culture, Mr.  McMurtrie,  the  chemist  of  the  de- 
partment, says  that  the  bark  contains  8.36  per 
cent,  of  tannic  acid,  which  is  more  than  any  of 
the  oaks  give,  as  per  the  same  table  which  we 
give  below.  The  "  Quercitron "  we  suppose  is 
Quercus  tinctoria,  and  not  "  nigra,"  as  therein 
stated : 

Per  cent. 

Ground  sumac,  (mix.  d,)  Winchester,  Va 24.18 

Sumac,  (Rhus  cotinus,)  Hallsborough,  Va 24.08 

^umac,  (Rhus  glabra,)  Georgetown,  D.  C 26.1 

Leaves  of  sweet  fern,  (Comptonia  aspleni folia,)  near  Boston, 

Mass 9.42 

Leaves  of  Polygonum  amphibium,  Nebraska 11.6 

Ephedra  antisyphilitica,  table-lands  of  Arizona  and  Utah....  11.9 
Bark  of  sweet  gum,  (Liquidambar  styraciflua,)  District  of 

Columbia 8.36 

Bark  of  red  oak,  (Quercus  rubra.)  Canton,  111 5.55 

Bark  of  white  oak,  (Quercus  alba,)  Canton,  III 7  85 

Crushed  quercitron  bark,  (Quercus  nigra,)  Winchester,  Va.     6.47 

Bark  of  Quercus  coccinea,  Canton,  III 7.78 

Bark  of  Quercus  marcrocarpa.  Canton,  111 ...     7.85 

Bark  of  hemlock,  (Abies  canadensis,)  Van  Ettenville,  N.  Y.     9.5 


QUERIES. 


Range  of  the  Tulip  Tree. — An  Ohio  corres- 
pondent inquires  how  far  north  this  tree  is  found. 
We  believe  that  both  it  and  its  neighbor,  the 
Magnolia  acuminata  cross  the  lakes,  and  are 
found  sparingly  in  Southern  Canada. 

Eucalyptus  in  Ohio. — We  have  now  an  in- 
quiry from  a  correspondent  about  making  a 
plantation  of  this  in  Ohio.  Is  it  possible  that 
after  all  we  have  said  about  this  in  the  Garden- 
er's Monthly,  there  should  be  any  reader  of  our 
magazine  who  does  not  know  that  this  tree  will 
endure  no  frost  ? 

Forests  and  Rain-fall.  —  "  Bois,"  Woburn, 
Mass.,  writes  : — "  I  do  not  want  to  meddle  much 
with  the  controversy  on  this  subject,  but  every 
feather  has  its  weight,  and  I  will  throw  mine  in. 
I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  there  are  many 
instances  where  streams  have  become  dry  of  late 
years — and  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
the  seasons  are  drier — that  the  rain  is  not  so  well 
distributed,  and  that  there  is  less  snow.  But  I 
regard  it  as  due  to  an  increase  of  forests  instead 
of  a  clearing  off  of  land.  In  our  State  large 
tracts  have  been  left  to  grow  up  to  timber  that 
was  under  culture  50  years  ago.  I  am  sure  from 
my  own  observations  that  while  the  forest  area 
of  the  State  has  increased  at  least  twenty  per 
cent,  in  a  half  century,  the  rain-fall  has  gradually 
diminished — or  at  least  the  rain  does  not  fall  as 
regularly  through  the  season  as  it  used  to  do." 

[Is  this  a  fact  that  the  forest  area  of  Massachu- 
setts is  greater  than  it  was?  What  says  Prof. 
Sargent?— Ed.  G.  M.} 


54 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


*^3^}~-> 


ISTORY  AND  SCIENCE 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


FACTS  RELATIVE  TO  "RAINFALL  AND  THE 
LAKES." 

BY   MR.    E.    HUPTELEN,    LE  ROY,   GENESEE   CO.,    N.  Y. 

In  the  November  number  of  the  Gardener  § 
Monthly,  three  copies  of  which  have  been  sent 
to  me,  in  two  of  the  same,  I  find  the  article 
"  Rain-fall  and  the  Lakes,"  marked.  It  calls  for 
facts,  of  which  I  present  a  few  that  are  quite 
prominent.  Western  New  York  is  watered  by 
several  large  streams,  but  they  are  gradually 
drying  away.  Many  small  streams  that  once 
helped  to  swell  them,  are  not  now  to  be  found. 
A  dry  stream-bed  which  crosses  this  farm,  once 
furnished  power  for  a  grist-mill.  That  was 
about  sixty  years  ago,  when  this  section  of  coun- 
try was  nearly  covered  with  timber.  Now  the 
mill  is  in  ruins  and  the  stream  is  dry.  For 
thirty  years  I  have  lived  by  the  side  of  it,  and 
have  seen  it  diminish  in  exact  proportion  as  the 
timber  was  cut  away  around  its  source.  A  few 
miles  west  of  us  is  another  dry  mill,  on  what 
used  to  be  another  stream.  From  a  weather 
journal  I  find  that  the  summer  showers  from 
June  1st  to  September  1st,  have  fallen  off  in 
number  1\\  per  cent,  in  thirty  years. 

"The  Falls  of  Niagara  have  not  decreased  in 
volume,  neither  have  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi diminished  in  any  material  degree,"  though 
many  of  the  smaller  streams  that  once  fell  into 
it  near  its  mouth,  have  disappeared;  and  al- 
though the  waters  of  the  upper  lakes  have  not 
gone  down  to  a  perceptible  extent,  Ontario, 
which  receives  them  all,  has  in  fifty-six  years 
uncovered  18  7-12  feet  of  beach,  and  is  still  going 
down,  showing  that  its  own  tributaries  are  con- 
stantly diminishing.  When  the  country  by 
which  the  upper  lakes  are  surrounded,  becomes 
as  destitute  of  timber  as  that  by  which  Ontario 
is  surrounded,  their  waters  will  diminish  and 
also  those  of  the  Mississippi. 

Six  thousand  miles  in  the  saddle,  demoxstra- 
ted  to  me  thai  the  timber  belts  were  the  facti  »ries 
wherein  were  made  the  summer  showers.  The 
Indians  understand  it,  tor  I  said  to  one  of  them 
that  1  would  not,  like  to  live  in  that  country, 
because   it    was    so  dry;  and    his    response    was, 


"  Much  dry,  no  big  bush,  no  rain  big."  This  was 
in  the  "far  West  and  South-west,"  and  the  same 
rule  is  being  developed  here. 

[We  hope  people  will  plant  trees.  There  is 
profit  in  tree  planting,  and  will  be  more.  So  far 
as  these  meteorological  matters  are  concerned, 
it  is  well  to  remember  that  not  one  man  in  a 
million  is  competent  to  decide  where  the  "  source" 
of  a  stream  is.  We  can  tell  where  the  water 
issues  from  the  ground — but  it  often  runs  hun- 
dreds of  miles  beneath  the  surface  before  we  see  it. 
Cutting  away  the  trees  along  the  banks  of  a 
stream,  can  therefore  have  no  possible  influence 
on  the  water  at  the  "  source."  Geological  rea- 
sons have  often  much  to  do  with  a  diminished 
water  supply. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 

Fertilization  of  Flowers  through  Insect 
Agency. — There  are  signs  that  what  we  have  re- 
garded as  extreme  views  about  this  matter,  are 
weakening.  Some  two  j'ears  ago,  the  general 
one  was,  substantially  that  of  Sprengel,  who 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  declared 
that  nature  does  not  intend  any  plant  to  be  fer- 
tilized by  its  own  pollen.  This  view  has  been 
held  by  many  of  our  distinguished  botanists. 

In  the  Fall  of  1S75,  Prof.  Asa  Gray  spoke  on 
the  subject  at  the  sixth  semi-annual  meeting  of 
the  Holyoke  Seminary,  and  is  reported  by  the 
Scientific  Farmer  to  have  said  : — "All  plants  with 
showy,  fragrant,  honey-bearing  flowers,  are 
arranged  for  cross  fertilization.  Nature  abhors 
in-and-in  breeding,  and  like  a  wise  teacher 
shuns  the  practice." 

So  widely  had  the  idea  taken  root,  that  in  cdl 
plants,  nature  shunned  the  practice  <>f  in-and- 
in  breeding,  that  failure  to  produce  seed  became 
generally  attributed  to  a  lack  of  certain  insects; 
and,  because  the  first  crop  of  clover  in  this  coun- 
try, and  all  crops  of  clover  in  New  Zealand  were 
thought  not  to  produce  seed,  it  was  supposed  the 
lack  of  insects  was  to  blame,  bast  year  humble- 
bees  were  shipped  to  New  Zealand,  because  the 
tongues  of  the  honey-bees  were  thought  not  long 
enough  to  penetrate  to  the  bottom  of  the 
clover  corolla  tubes.     The  writer  of  this,  so  far  as 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


55 


he  knows,  stood  alone  in  pointing  out  that  many 
of  the  supposed  facts  were  erroneous,  and  that 
the  interpretation  of  the  others  was  doubtful. 

In  the  January  number  of  the  American  Agri- 
culturist, Prof.  Asa  Gray  has  another  paper  on 
this  topic,  from  which  we  take  the  following : — 
"  Cross  fertilization  we  may  well  believe,  is  the 
best  thing,  but  it  is  risky.  Cross  fertilization, 
tempered  with  self  fertilization  —  which  is  the 
commoner  case — is  practically  the  best  under 
ordinary  cases ;  is  the  compromise  between  the 
two  risks,  via.  :  failure  of  vigorous  and  fertile 
posterity  on  one  hand,  and  failure  of  immediate 
offspring  on  the  other.  Get  fertilized,  cross-fer- 
tilized if  you  can,  close  fertilized  if  you  must — is 
nature's  golden  rule  for  flowers."  We  see  that 
Dr.  Gray  no  longer  believes  that  nature  "shuns 
the  practice  of  self-fertilization,"  but  practices  it 
(and  practices  it  extensively),  when  cross- 
fertilization  fails. 

Evolution  in  Plants. —  Evolution,  in  some 
form,  is  generally  accepted  by  scientific  men. 
Dr.  Hubert  Airy,  in  Proc.  Royal  Society  for 
January,  1873,  believes  that  in  phyllotaxis,  or  the 
leaf  arrangement  of  plants,  the  one-two  ar- 
rangement (the  second  leaf  being  opposite  to  the 
first),  is  the  earliest  in  point  of  time,  and  that  all  the 
other  forms  are  subsequent  to  this.  Roots,  he 
says  are  always  two  ranked,  and  monocoty- 
ledons have  the  first  leaves  one-two.  In  dicoty- 
ledons the  first  leaves  have  the  simplest  order  of 
the  whorl ed  type. 

Vegetation  of  Bermuda. — Five  hundred  spe- 
cies of  plants  have  been  found  on  the  island. 
The  Burmuda  Red  Cedar  is  the  principal  tree. 
The  seeds  are  supposed  to  have  been  originally 
brought  from  America  by  the  Cedar  Wax-wine, 
a  bird  which  makes  the  trip  in  twenty-four 
hours.  The  island  is  twenty-five  miles  long,  and 
six  hundred  miles  from  Cape  Hattaras.  There 
is  no  brook  or  stream  on  the  island,  and  no  part 
is  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea.  The  temperature  is  about  75°  from 
May  to  November.  Ihe  cool  season  is  in  Febru- 
ary and  March,  when  the  temperature  is  about 
50°,  when  the  flowers  are  mostly  found.  There 
are  no  clouds,  no  rain,  from  July  to  September. 
and  all  is  parched  and  bare.  Part  of  the  island 
has  subsided  far  below  the  level  of  the  sea. 
The  trunks  of  old  cedars  are  found  in  the  marsh 
lands.  It  is  during  the  cool  season  that  the  fine 
Potatoes  are  raised  that  find  their  way  to  Phila- 
delphia markets  in  April. 


Our  Native  Lilies. — In  another  place  we 
give  a  note  from  a  correspondent  from  Califor- 
nia in  regard  to  the  varieties  of  the  Lilies  in  that 
section.  Our  own  eastern  kinds  vary  also,  and 
the  varieties  are  well  worth  looking  after.  We 
have  not  had  the  chance  of  observing  how  much 


jgisiS  SsSS;!'-.*  ■" ' '*""' 


the  Lilium  Philadelphicum,  or  L.  Catesbaei 
vary,  but  L.  superbum  and  L.  Canadense  have 
numbers  of  beautiful  forms.  We  give  an  illus- 
tration of  the  Canadian  Lily. 

Fertilization  in  Beans. — At  the  October  3d 
meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natu- 
ral Sciences  last  Summer,  Mr.  Meehan  observed 
that  in  all  the  discussions  on  the  injurious  effects 
of  close  breeding  in  flowers,  and  the  consequent 
theories  of  cross-fertilization,  nearly  all  the  ar- 
guments were  drawn  from  structure.  We  are 
asked  to  note  certain  arrangements,  and  then  to 
believe  that  certain  results  must  follow.  He 
preferred  to  watch  the  plants  in  their  actions, 
and  in  the  result  of  their  actions,  when  excluded 
from  external  agencies,  believing  it  the  more  prac- 
tical way  preferable  to  the  theoretical  one.  One 
of  his  friends  who  thought  he  was  wrong  in  lim- 
iting insect  agency  to  a  few  plants,  and  in  ques- 
tioning the  injury  from  vegetable  close  breeding, 
had  been  giving  for  some  months  past  a  series 
of  articles  in  proof  of  his  side — -the  more  uni- 
versal view.  Of  course  the  position  of  his  friend 
was  entitled  to  all  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from 
structural  arrangement,  but  when  he  referred  to 
actual  behavior  in  plants,  it  came  within  the 
province  he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  In  the 
last  paper  there  was  an  instance  of  this  kind. 
After  noting  how  the  flowers  of  Phaseolus— the 
common  bean — were  formed,  and  the  supposed 
impossibility  of  fertilization  by  its  own  pollen, 
the  paragraph  concludes  as  follows: — ''The 
machinery  tells  its  own  story  plainly.     The  con- 


56 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


firmation  is  familiar  to  all  who  know  beans  and 
their  facility  of  mixing,  when  different  varieties 
are  grown  together."  Mr.  M.  said  he  claimed  to 
"  know  beans  "  for  thirty  years  past;  had  grown 
large  numbers  of  varieties  side  by  side,  saving  seed 
from  them  and  re  sowing,  and  had  never  known 
a  single  case  of  admixture  from  this  close  prox- 
imity. The  various  kinds  of  both  Beans  and 
Peas  in  cultivation  were  in  all  cases  evolutions 
or  as  would  be  commonly  said,  "sports  or  acci- 
dents," or  were  the  results  of  actual  manipula- 
tions by  skillful  seed  raisers.  He  had  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  his  friend  was  utterly 
wrong  in  his  impression  of  the  fact — that  he 
did  not  "  know  beans,"— and  the  fact  that  Beans 
would  not  intermix  though  so  close  together  and 
so  freely  visited  by  bees,  was  an  excellent  argu- 
ment against,  instead  of  for,  the  universal  insect 
cross-fertilization  theory. 

Evolution.— Now  that  it  is  generally  accepted 
that  plants  (and  animals)  have  been  not  all 
formed  at  once,  but  that  new  forms  appear  in 
successive  periods  according  to  law,  there  is  the 
usual  search  for  the  author  of  the  theory.  Some 
go  back  to  the  time  of  Adam  and  show  that 
even  he  was  not  made  directly  from  nothing,  but 
was  evolved  from  clay— dust  of  the  earth.  But 
the  more  moderate  do  not  go  so  far.  The  Scien 
tific  American  thinks  Goethe  should  have  the 
credit : 

"Goethe  also  proved  that  certain  differences 
between  the  osseous  systems  of  man  and  the 
lower  mammalia,  which  had  been  insisted  on 
before  his  time,  did  not  exist  in  the  embryos, 
and  only  appeared  during  and  after  growth. 

"  It  is  evident  that  what  Goethe  called  mata- 
morphosis,  is  identical  with  what  we  call  evolu- 
tion. Witness  the  following  expression  :—' The 
triumph  of  metamorphosis  is  shown  when  this 
theory  teaches  how  simple  organization  begets 
families,  how  families  split  into  races,  and  races 
into  various  types,  with  an  infinity  of  individu- 
alities. Nature  cannot  rest,  nor  preserve  what 
she  produces,  but  her  actions  go  on  ad  infinitum.' " 

The  Arnold  Arboretum,  of  which  Prof.  Sar- 
gent is  director,  makes  its  annual  report  on  the 
condition  of  the  garden  : 

"One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  species  of 
hardy  trees  and  shrubs  and  many  thousand 
specimens  have  been  added  to  the  Arnold 
Arboretum  during  the  year.  To  relieve  the 
overcrowded  nurseries,  3,181  young  forest  trees 
have  been  planted  out  on  various  portions  of  the 


Bussey  Estate.  The  cost  of  planting  these  trees, 
including  digging  them  from  the  nursery  rows, 
and  transporting  them  on  an  average  half  a  mile, 
was  $35.19,  or  one  cent  and  one  tenth  for  each 
tree. 

"  The  unprecedented  heat  and  drougth  of  the 
past  Summer,  have  been  most  unfavorable  to 
these  plantations,  and  barely  fifty  per  cent,  of 
all  the  trees  planted  survive.  As  an  experiment 
in  sylviculture,  the  one  and  two  year-old  seed- 
ling trees,  or  about  two-thirds  of  the  whole  were 
planted  by  what  is  known  in  Europe  as  the 
'notch'  system,  that  is,  they  were  inserted  in 
the  intersection  of  two  cuts  made  at  right  angles 
in  the  sod  with  a  common  garden  spade,  the 
ground  having  received  no  previous  preparation. 
However  successful  and  economical  such  a  sys- 
tem may  be  in  a  humid  climate  like  that  of 
Scotland,  it  cannot  be  recommended  for  the 
United  States,  where  a  more  careful  preparation 
of  the  soil  seems  essential,  that  the  young  plants 
may  resist  the  severe  ordeal  of  our  usually  dry 
summers.  For  the  larger  specimens  of  these 
plantations,  small  holes  requiring  but  a  few 
moments'  labor  were  made;  and,  as  far  as  I 
have  observed,  not  a  single  one  of  the  trees  so 
planted  has  yet  suffered.  Various  experiments 
in  forest  culture  will  be  continued  on  a  small 
scale  in  the  future,  as  plants  accumulate,  with  a 
view  of  arriving  at  the  best  method  for  New 
England  planters  to  adopt. 

"The  Trustees  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for 
Promoting  Agriculture  (the  original  founders  of 
the  Botanic  Garden)  have  made  me  for  the  third 
time  a  generous  annual  grant  of  $1,500,  for  the 
improvement  and  development  of  the  Garden  ; 
and  it  is  my  duty  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
their  sustained  liberality  has  alone  made  possible 
the  increased  activity  and  usefulness  of  this 
department  of  the  University." 

Potatoe  Moth. — This  insect  continues  to  be 
fearfully  destructive  in  Algeria.  The  larva?  bore 
into  the  tubers,  and  the  excrements  are  so  nause 
ous  that  no  animal  will  touch  a  tuber  containing 
them.     Boisduval  calls  it  Bryotropha  solanella- 


QUERIES. 


Singular  Analogy  in  Darlixgtonia  and  Sar- 
racenia: — At  p.  293,  Vol.  16  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly.  Mr.  Canity  gives  an  interesting  account 
of  Darlingtonia   in    connection    with    its    insect 


1877. J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


57 


catching  habits.     We   have   now  the   following 
additional  note  on  the  subject: 

"  Since  this  article  was  written  I  have  had  an 
opportunity  to  examine  some  leaves  of  Sarra- 
cenia  Psittacina,  Michx.  In  their  structure  we 
may  notice  a  near  approach  to  Darlingtonia,  the 
upper  part  of  the  pitcher  being  almost  as  in  that 
plant.  There  is  the  same  ventricose  expanded 
summit,  which,  if  the  leaves  were  erect,  would 
bring  the  orifice  underneath,  and  the  fold  within 
the  orifice  is  not  only  present,  but  proportionally 
many  times  larger.  To  be  sure,  the  "  fishtail " 
appendage  of  Darlingtonia  is  not  found  here. 
But  that  admirable  arrangement  for  attracting 
flying  insects  is  not  necessary  in  this  plant, 
which  has  its  leaves  reclining  in  a  rosulate  clus- 
ter in  such  fashion  that  the  orifices  are  in  a  ver- 
tical instead  of  a  horizontal  position  ;  thus  pre- 
senting an  open  door  for  ambulatory  insects,  easy 
of  entrance,  but  extremely  difficult  of  exit.  As 
a  consequence,  the  prey  corresponds  to  the 
structure,  being  composed  principally  of  ants, 
with  a  proportion  of  the  smaller  spiders,  beetles, 
&c.  The  hunter  or  fisher  has  often  occasion  to 
construct  and  use  traps  made  on  modifications 
of  the  same  principle  ;  but  the  arrangements  of 
their  mechanisms  are  poor  and  inefficient  com- 
pared with  those  of  these  humble  plants. 

W.  M.  C." 

The  Purpose  of  Honeyed  Secretions. — We 
have  the  following  from  a  botanical  friend: 
" '  Honeyed  secretions  appear  to  be  given  to  plants 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  a  nourishing  liquid 
to  pollen.'  p.  27.  May  a  correspondent  ask 
what  kind  of  proof  there  is  for  this?  Also,  how 
the  pollen  gets  at  this  secretion  in  the  spurs  of 
Aquilegia,  or  of  an  Orchis,  or  in  a  Crown  Impe- 
rial, or,  indeed,  in  any  other  flower? 

"Also,  why  should  the  moisture  of  the  stigma 
be  called  'a  honeyed  secretion,'  and  so  be 
likened  to  the  nectar  of  flowers?  And  bow  does 
the  remark  that  the  pollen-tube  is  emitted  only 
when  there  is  a  honeyed  secretion  in  the  stigma, 
apply  in  Asclepias,  and  in  those  cleistogamous 
flowers  in  which  the  pollen  emits  its  tube  before 
touching  the  stigma?" 

[The  quotation  from  our  last  number  given 
above,  is  in  answer  to  a  question  of  a  correspon- 
dent who  wants  to  experiment  on  horticultural 
topics  in  matters  not  fully  proved.  When  we 
suggested  this  subject  as  one  of  them,  therefore, 
we  regarded  it  as  a  matter  not  fully  proved,  but 
only  "  appears  "  to  be  so. 

Our  ground  for  this  suggestion  is  the  experi- 
ments of  Dr.  Hooibreuk,  of  the  Imperial  Botan- 
ical Garden  of  Vienna,  published  in  1873.  He 
shows  that  flowers  which  could  not  be  fertilized 
by  their  own  pollen,  or  foreign  pollen,  were  suc- 


cessfully impregnated  when  nectar  was  applied 
to  the  stigma  before  the  application  of  the 
pollen. 

Our  correspondent  is  one  of  those  who  endorse 
Sir  John  Lubbock's  statement,  tha*  "  the  honey 
of  flowers  has  been  developed  by  the  uncon- 
scious agency  of  insects,"  in  other  words,  that 
sweet  secretions  were  made  expressly  to  entice 
insects,  which,  while  visiting,  should  bring  pol- 
len at  the  same  time  to  cross-fertilize,  and  he 
will  naturally  feel  a  reluctance  to  accept  the  sug- 
gestion that  possibly  the  nectar  may  in  some 
way  directly  minister  to  the  plant's  own  good ; 
but  those  who  differ  with  him  may  be  pardoned 
for  seeking  another  use  for  these  secretions. 

As  to  the  objections  made,  we  can  only  say 
they  are  no  greater  than  surround  every  similar 
question  ;  no  greater  in  this  than  is  the  fact  of 
the  existence  of  cleistogamous  flowers  from  his 
own  point  of  view;  for  if  nature  abhors  self-fer- 
tilization, why  should  she  make  such  flowers 
which,  "blooming  in  secret,"  must  fertilize 
themselves!  The  sweet  liquid  in  the  spurs  of 
Aquilegia  may  be  waste,  as  millions  on  millions 
of  pollen  grains  themselves  are  waste.  Again, 
the  honeyed  matter  is  generally  formed  in  close 
vicinity  to  the  gynceicum,  and  there  may  be  cases 
where  the  pollen-tubes  can  get  along  for  awhile 
without  it ;  but  all  this  is  speculation,  and  we  can 
only  say  that  there  seems  enough  in  Hooibreuk's 
observations  to  warrant  further  experiments  in 
that  direction.— Ed.  G.  M.J 

Climate  of  California. — A  San  Francisco  cor- 
respondent, under  date  of  December  28th,  says  :— 
"  I  see  by  the  papers  that  you  have  had  very 
cold  weather  in  the  Eastern  States.  Here  it 
has  been  very  delightful.  Yesterday,  for  in- 
stance, the  thermometer  at  r.oon  stood  at  72°, 
and  for  many  weeks  it  has  ranged  between  65° 
an(j  74°— occasionally  with  a  light  frost  at  night, 
but  not  strong  enough  to  '  nip '  tomato  vines, 
or  interfere  with  the  out-door  growth  of  flowers. 
The  day  but  one  before  Christmas  I  took  my 
children  down  to  see  the  sights,  and  the  display 
of  flowers  and  fruits  in  the  markets  was  very 
fi-e_all  of  out-door  growth.  Strawberries, 
grapes,  oranges  and  lemons  lay  side  by  side  with 
apples,  pears,  &c,  &c.  in  great  variety. 

On  Christmas  day  the  floral,  as  well  as  the 
evergreen  display  in  the  churches,  was  a  pleas- 
ing sight  for  such  a  season  of  the  year.  We  are 
all  longing,  however,  for  rain ;  and  that  is  the 
commencement  of  winter  here.     Two   months 


58 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


ago  we  had  a  good  general  rain  throughout  the 
State,  and  that  gave  vegetation  an  excellent 
start,  so  that  all  the  hills  around  our  city  have  a 
look  like  Spring.  Indeed,  we  have  two  Spring 
seasons  in  San  Francisco — that  which  comes 
after  the  first  good  rain,  and  that  which  follows 
the  close  of  the  rainy  season. 

Looking  upon  the  brown  hills  around  us  be- 
fore the  rain,  and  then  after  it,  the  change  is 
like  magic.  Sometimes  the  range  of  hills  on  the 
eastern  side  of  our  beautiful  bay  becomes  swept 
by  flame,  and  as  the  lurid  glare  leaps  and  climbs, 
one  would  think  that  desolation,  utter  and  irre- 
deemable, would  be  the  result.  But  no  !  These 
hills  have  a  fine  growth  of  wild  oats,  which  arc 
perpetuated  most  singularly,  in  this  way  :  The 
surface  of  the  earth,  after  the  summer's  drouth, 
becomes  cracked  by  the  sun  (being  of  a  clayey 
loam),  and  as  the  wild  oat  has  two  'legs,'  the 
moisture  of  the  night  contracts,  or  raises,  rather, 
these  legs,  and  the  warmth  of  the  day  straightens 
them;  the  sharp  point  to  each  sticks  into  the 
ground,  and  the  straightening  process  naturally, 
then,  forces  the  body  of  the  oat  forward.  This  is 
repeated  night  by  night,  and  day  by  day,  until  it 
creeps  to  one  of  the  sun-cracks,  and  falls  into  it. 
These,  after  the  first  rain,  'stool'  out,  and  a 
beautifully  patterned  carpet,  the  shape  of  the 
cracks,  becomes  at  once  visible.  As  the  growth 
continues,  the  hills  become  covered  with  green. 
This  is  our  first  Spring. 

Mushrooms  will  soon  be  come  abundant  on  the 
grassy  slopes  west  of  the  bay." 

Arundo  conspicua.— H.  M.  N.,  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  asks:— "What  is  the  Arundo  conspicua, 
referred  to  in  the  February  number  of  the  Gar- 
dener's Monthly,  1874?  Is  it  known  by  any  other 
name?" 

[The  extract  was  credited  to  the  Gardener's 
<'hr<>nirU>:  and  the  plant  said  to  have  merits  su- 
perior to  Pampas  Grass.  It  ought  to  be  in  this 
country  by  this  time,  but  we   see   it  in  no  lists. 


All  we  can  say  in  addition  to  what  the  Chronicle 
said,  is  that  it  is  more  correctly  Calamagrostis 
conspicua,  and  is  a  native  of  New  Zealand.— Ed. 
G.  M.] 

California  Lilies. — A  correspondent  justly 
complains  of  "the  outrage  being  deliberately 
committed  by  the  collectors  of  our  native  lilies; 
they  are  sending  them  all  over  the  East  and 
Europe,  with  half  a  dozen  different  names  for 
one  lily.  There  are  only  half  a  dozen  varieties 
of  lilies  on  this  coast,  but  there  are  lilies  sent  out 
with  over  twenty  names.  A  collector  will  write 
a  wonderful  description  to  a  dealer  about  a  new 
lily,  and  to  another  about  another,  giving  any 
name  he  may  chance  to  come  across,  and  sup- 
ply both  out  of  the  same  case.  If  asked  why 
they  do  this,  they  will  answer  you,  '  That  it  is 
no  difference;  the  lilies  are  new,  and  people - 
would  as  soon  have  them  under  one  name  as 
another.' " 

Name  of  Plant.— L.  H.  C,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
The  thorny  plant  is  Pereskia  aculeata,  a  plant  of 
the  cactus  family,  though  apparently  so  differ- 
ent— and  the  kind  used  by  English  florists  to 
graft  Epiphyllum  truncatum  on.  Another  spe- 
cies, with  much  more  fleshy  stems,  in  cultiva- 
tion, is  Pereskia  Bleo. 

Like  Producing  Like. — M.  B.  S.,  Bloomfield, 
Iowa,  writes  : — "  In  the  pictures  of  beautiful  Pan- 
sies  in  Mr.  Henderson's  advertisement,  I  see  he 
speaks  of  varieties  by  numbers.  I  always  sup- 
posed that  when  you  sowed  a  package  of  seeds, 
you  had  all  sorts  of  colors.  Is  it  customary  for 
these  varieties  to  reproduce  in  this  way'/" 

[Careful  selection  and  care  will  enable  a  vari- 
ety to  reproduce  with  tolerable  certainty.  The 
old  idea  that  a  species  would  reproduce  itself 
with  tolerable  accuracy,  and  a  variety  would 
not,  is  proved  now  to  be  erroneous.  Any  gar- 
den variety  reproduces  nearly  as  well  as  a 
species.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


LITERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  PERSONAL  |M  OTES 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


HORTICULTURAL  PROTECTION. 

BY    W.   II.   W.,   BEADING,  MASS. 

[n  th"  editorial  comments  appended  to   the   grapisl  was  infringing  on  the  rights  of  the  Sec 
article  on  " Grapes  al  Boston,"  in  the  Gardener's  retary."     [  am  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  this 


Monthly  for  December  last.  I  am  asked  to 
"give  the  points  of  novelty  claimed  for  the  Sec- 
retary grape  in  such  language  that  a  Patent- 
office  clerk  could  tell  at  once  whether  any  other 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


59 


grape  to  attempt  to  comply.  I  have  seen,  eaten 
and  greatly  admired  it,  but  I  have  never  studied 
it.  I  have  not  even  fruited  it,  though  I  hope  to 
do  so  the  coming  season.  I  have  no  interest  in 
it  whatever,  save  as  I  am  interested  in  every  new 
fruit  that  promises  to  be  an  improvement  upon 
what  we  have  hitherto  had,  and  so  a  promoter 
of  the  public  welfare  and  enjoyment. 

Dropping,  therefore,  all  farther  reference  to 
this  or  any  other  particular  variety,  I  will,  with 
your  permission,  give  some  reasons  for  the  view 
expressed  in  the  article  referred  to,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  "Horticultural  Protection."  By  this 
phrase  I  mean  the  protection  by  law  of  the 
originator's  right  to  a  new  fruit,  as  our  patent 
laws  now  protect  an  inventor's  right  to  a  new 
implement. 

What  is  the  design  of  the  ivhole  system  of  patent 
laws? — It  is  to  secure  to  inventors  such  a  com- 
pensation for  their  time,  labor  and  expense  in 
making  valuable  improvements  in  machinery, 
<fec,  as  will  encourage  others  to  use  their  abili- 
ties and  energies  in  the  same  direction.  Thus 
the  public  welfare  and  happiness  (at  the  main- 
tenance or  promotion  of  which  all  legislation 
ought  to  aim)  are  advanced  by  constant  im- 
provements in  the  arts. 

Why  should  the  same  principle  apply  to  horticul- 
tural improvements  as  to  mechanical,  or  rather  we 
may   ask,    Why  should  it  not? — The   burden    of 
proof  does  not  rest  upon  the  advocates,  but  upon 
the     opponents    of     "horticultural    protection." 
If  (as  is  generally  admitted)  the  principle  upon 
which   all  patent  laws  are  based  is  sound,  then 
why  should  that  principle  be  restricted  in  its  ap- 
lication  to  mechanical  improvements?    That  is 
a  question  which  the  opponents  of  horticultural 
protection   are  hound  satisfactorily  to   answer. 
If  the  public  good  is  as  truly  promoted  by   the 
production  of  such  a  grape  as  the  Concord,  or 
of  such  a  potato  as  the  Early  Rose,  as  it  is   by 
the  invention  of  a  new  toy ;    then  why  should 
our  laws  give  to  the  inventor  of  the  toy  such   a 
a  patent  as  secures  him  an  abundant  compensa- 
tion,  and   at  the   same  time  refuse  to  give  Mr. 
Bull  or  Mr.  Bresee  any  protection  at  all  ?    There 
is  the  pivot  on  which  this  whole  question  turns. 
It  is  a  question  of  justice  and  right.     The  origin- 
ator of  a  new  and  valuable  fruit  has   a  right  to 
the  same  treatment  from  the  government  which 
it  gives  to  the  inventor  of  a  new  machine.      If 
he  has,  then  the  principle  of  horticultural protec- 
tection  is  right.     If  he  has  not,  then  it  is  incum- 
bent upon  those  who  say  so  to  show  why  he  has 


not.  I  am  aware  of  the  answer  that  will  be 
made  to  this,  that  "  if  the  principle  is  right,  yet 
the  appliation  of  it  is  impracticable.  The  at- 
tempt, it  is  claimed,  would  be  met  at  once  with 
so  many  and  so  serious  difficulties  that  it  would 
be  unwise  to  make  it." 

The  length  of  this  article  forbids  my  attempt- 
ing to  state  and  answer  the  objections  that  are 
urged  by  the  opponents  of  horticultural  protec- 
tion .  But  if  the  Editor  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly 
will  state  them  as  clearly  and  briefly  as  possible, 
I  will  consider  them  in  another  article,  and  en- 
deavor to  show  that  they  furnish  no  adequate 
reason  for  refusing  to  apply  to  horticultural  im- 
provements the  same  patent-law  principle  which 
\i  now  applied  to  mechanical. 

[We  doubt  that  our  meaning  has  been  made 
plain  to  our  correspondent.  We  do  not  want 
any  articles  on  the  justice  of  protection.  All  that 
is  granted.  Of  course  if  anybody  denied  that 
the  principle  of  protection  should  be  applied  to 
horticultural  improvement,  the  "burden  of 
proof,"  would  be  on  them.  But  it  is  not  denied. 
The  reason  given  by  our  correspondent  for  not 
attempting  a  patent-office  description  of  the 
Secretary  is,  that  he  is  not  sufficiently  familiar 
with  it.  Then  let  him  try  the  Concord.  It  will 
serve  our  purpose  just  as  well. 

What  are  the  especial  points  in  the  Concord 
not  possessed  by  any  other  grape,  for  which  Mr. 
Bull  is  to  claim  a  patent  right?  and  so  expressed 
as  to  satisfy  the  Patent  Office  clerk,  who  knows 
nothing  of  fruits,  but  something  of  language, 
that  some  one  was  infringing  on  Mr.  Bull's  rights  ? 
Mr.  Main  might,  for  instance,  claim  a  patent  for 
the  "  Main  Grape,"  and  the  clerk  would  have  to 
refer  to  his  books  to  decide.  The  exact  wording 
might  not  be  quite  the  same.  The  clerk  might 
give  Mr.  Main  a  "  patent,"  and  what  is  the  result? 
"Briefly,"  and  we  hope  "  clearly,"  we  say  that 
language  nor  drawings  can  clearly  convey  to  a 
Patent  Office  clerk  the  special  points  of  novelty 
in  any  new  fruit. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


By 


LAND  AND  GAME  BIRDS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

H.   D.   Minot.     Published   by   the  Naturalists' 
Agency,  Salem,  Mass. 

BY   T.    G.    G. 

A  careful  examination  of  Mr.  Minot's  book  on 
birds,  convinces  me  that  the  author  has  spared 
no  pains  to  bring  before  the  public  a  highly  use- 
ful, as  well   as  entertaining  and  instructive  vol- 


60 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


time.  In  view  of  the  many  expensive  works 
which  have  been  published  on  ornithology,  not 
even  excepting  the  latest  additions  to  the  sci- 
ence, a  book  so  cheap,  and  so  replete  with  de- 
tails, both  of  structure  and  habit,  ca.nnot  fail  to 
awaken  attention,  and  receive  a  cordial  wel- 
come. 

That  a  work  of  this  character  was  badly  needed, 
particularly  in  New  England,  cannot  be  denied, 
since  Samuel's  work,  which  has  already  passed 
through  several  editions  unimproved,  has  out- 
grown its  usefulness.  To  write  the  bird-history 
of  New  England  anew,  has  been  left  to  the  ready 
pen  of  our  author.  In  this  task  he  has  succeeded 
nobly.  With  a  mind  well-stored  with  the  most 
interesting  particulars  of  bird-life — the  results  of 
patient  and  persevering  study — he  undertook 
this  labor,  which  is  certainly  much  in  advance 
of  anything  that  has  come  from  that  quarter. 
His  language  is  simple  and  precise,  with  enough 
of  imagery  to  make  it  pleasing. 

In  many  places  he  bears  indubitable  testi- 
mony to  the  accuracy  of  former  observations. 
Where  he  differs  from  earlier  writers,  which  he 
sometimes  does,  it  is  with  no  intention  of  under- 
valuing their  labors,  but  with  a  noble  purpose  of 
placing  upon  record  the  few  truths  which  he  has 
been  able  to  glean  from  nature,  as  seen  from  his 
standpoint  of  observation. 

The  study  of  systematic  ornithology  certainly 
owes  to  Mr.  Minot  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude,  for 
the  valuable  keys  which  he  has  appended  J;o  the 
work.  The  ornithological  key  will  be  found  an 
indispensable  aid  to  the  tyro  in  this  department 
of  science,  who  will  be  able  to  identify  by  its 
help,  particular  species  of  aves,  with  considerable 
ease,  and  at  a  great  saving  of  time.  The  oologi- 
cal  key  will  be  best  appreciated  by  those  who  are 
not  so  scientific,  and  whose  tastes  are  more  con- 
centred upon  the  beautiful  in  nature. 

The  chapter  devoted  to  the  history  of  our 
"Game  Birds,"  will  be  especially  valuable  to  the 
sportsman,  who  will  find  in  the  small  space  de- 
voted to  their  history,  all  that  is  necessary  to  be 
known. 

I  could  not  suffer  this  opportunity  to  pass 
without  saying  a  few  words  commendatory  of 
the  general  appearance  of  the  book.  For  neat- 
ness of  arrangement  and  excellence  of  typo- 
graphy, it  cannot  be  surpassed.  Its  enterprising 
publishers  are  deserving  of  unstinted  praise  for 
their  part  of  the  work.  I  hope  it  will  meet  with 
a  sale  commensurate  with  the  wishes  of  both 
author  and  publisher. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

BY   WM.   T.    HARDING,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

How  frequently  circumstantial  incidents  oc- 
cur, which  remind  us  of  events,  happy  or  other- 
wise, gone  by.  As  an  instance,  the  following  re- 
marks will  suffice  to  verify  the  assertion.  While 
"  in  meditative  mood,"  the  rustling  leaves  above, 
reminded  me  of  an  episode  in  the  life  of  Matthew 
Flinders.  I  had  passed  the  night  beneath  the 
boughs  of  a  noble  specimen  of  Flindersia  Austra- 
lis;  so  named  in  compliment  to  that  brave  old 
navigator.  The  tree  is  better  known  among  the 
colonial  carpenters  and  cabinet-makers  as  Aus- 
tralian mahogany.  The  wood  takes  a  high  pol- 
ish, and  is  useful  for  many  purposes.  But  the 
special  interest  then  connected  with  the  tree, 
was  from  the  recollections  it  awoke  in  memory 
of  the  sad  history  of  the  intrepid  Flinders,  who, 
accompanied  by  the  famous  botanist  and  natu- 
ralist, Robert  Brown,  circumnavigated  New  Hol- 
land in  the  year  1810. 

Although  we  resumed  our  journey  at  an  early 
hour,  we  appeared  to  make  but  little  progress. 
My  fellow-traveler  was  less  cheerful  than  usual, 
and  from  some  cause  or  other,  lingered  behind. 
He  seemed  a  sadder  man,  if  not  a  wiser  one, 
than  he  was  the  day  before.  Our  way  through 
the  forest.lay  beyond  a  lofty  ridge  which  stretched 
widely  before  us.  The  ascent  was  very  fatiguing, 
and  difficult,  but,  when  we  reached  the  top,  I  at 
least,  felt  well  rewarded  for  my  pains.  One  of 
the  wildest,  most  rugged,  and  ultra-romantic 
scenes  I  ever  saw  was  before  me. 

Looking  down  the  precipice,  I  beheld  such  a 
rockery  as  few  mortals  have  seen.  The  rugged 
summit  was  fringed  with  Flindersias  and  the 
singular  Hakea  trifureata,  Araucaria  Cunning- 
hamia,  Agnostus  sinuatus,  and  the  plume-like 
Acacia  lophantha,  A.  spectabilis,  and  A.  pul- 
chella.  The  wierd-like  Melaleucas  of  several 
kinds,  the  strangely  formed  Spermaxyron  stric- 
ta,  Ficus  aspera,  Eriocaulon  Australis,  Cycus  an- 
gustata,  Zanthoxylum  Australis;  and  the  orna- 
mental Elaeodendron  Australe,  Angophora  cor- 
difolia,  Croton  rosmarinifolia,  and  Buxus  Aus- 
trale. Winding  round  the  trunks  and  embracing 
the  branches,  hung  wreaths  and  garlands  of  the 
beautiful  evergreen  Billardiera  parvifolia  and  B. 
mutabilis;  the  one  spangled  with  blue,  and  the 
other  with  crimson  florets.  Wildly  festooning  in 
heavy  drooping  masses,  were  Hardenbergia 
Coraptoniana — a  pretty  purple  flower;  Zichya 
sericia,  scarlet ;  and  Sollya  heterophylla,  blue. 


1871] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


61 


We  had  left  Mount  Alexandria,  some  miles 
behind,  and  turning  towards  Lake  Alexandria, 
intending  to  reach  the  coast,  and  from  Rivoli 
Bay,  embark  for  Port  Adelaide,  South  Australia. 
We  needed  rest,  my  companion  especially,  who 
complained  of  indisposition.  After  a  short  nap, 
leaving  him  to  sleep  and  recuperate,  I  started 
off  to  explore  the  valley.  It  seemed  appalling 
to  look  down  from  the  dizzy  height  to  the  yawn- 
ing abyss  below.  It  was  deep  enough  to  make 
a  samphire  gatherer  giddy ;  and  was  as  fearful 
to  peer  over  as  Shakespear's  Cliff.  Thinking  of 
it  now,  I  am  reminded  of  the  immense  mountain 
rifts,  or  canyons,  Mr.  Meehan  so  graphically  de- 
scribes in  former  "Traveling Recollections."  The 
declivity,  as  seen  from  the  highest  point,  ap- 
peared to  be  of  immeasurable  depth — awful  in 
its  unfathomed  profundity.  Making  a  consider- 
able detour  through  the  bush,  and  following  a 
kangaroo  track,  closely  hedged  on  each  side  with 
the  beautiful  Epacris  splendens,  Correa  speciosa, 
Boronia  crenulata,  Polygala  grandis,  Dillwynia 
clavica,  and  Eriostemon  pulchellum,  made  an 
easy  descent  to  the  bottom  of  the  chasm. 

A  herd  of  sleek  kangaroos  were  quietly  graz- 
ing among  the  rich  and  luxuriant  herbage  which 
covered  the  deep  alluvial  valley.  As  I  watched 
the  pranks  and  laughed  at  the  gambols  of  the 
young  ones  romping  and  frisking  about  like  play- 
ful kittens,  I  was  startled  with  an  immense  dia- 
mond snake.  The  devilish  stare  of  its  evil  eyes 
met  mine,  vis-a-vis.  As  if  meditating  mischief, 
the  satanic  fire  of  its  terribly  glaring  orbs  com- 
pletely unnerved  me  for  the  moment.  The  ma- 
lignant monster,  partly  uncoiling  its  loathsome 
carcass,and  elevating  its  head  some  six  feet  high, 
stood  at  bay  before  me.  Taking  aim,  as  deliber- 
ately as  my  shaky  condition  would  allow,  I  fired 
a  heavy  charge  of  swan-shot  at  "the  enemy  of 
mankind,"  and  destroyed  "  the  evil  one."  The 
unusual  sound  of  my  gun  alarmed  the  timid 
creatures,  who  bounded  off  at  a  tremendous  pace, 
along  the  valley.  In  their  first  moments  of  fright 
the  older  animals  stampeded  away,  forgetting 
the  little  ones,  who  pitifully  bleating,  did  their 
best  to  keep  up  with  them.  Immediately  after, 
crushing  through  the  bushes  with  true  maternal 
affection,  the  does  returned  to  protect  their 
young,  who  then  scampered  off  together.  The 
flying  leap  of  a  full  grown  kangaroo  when  pur- 
sued, will  often  measure  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
six  feet.  Perched  among  the  fronds  of  a  Seafor- 
thia  elegans,  in  singular  contrast  to  the  serpent 
beneath,  was  a  flock  of  the  lovely  Wonga-Wonga 


Pigeons,  (Leucosarica  picata.)  and  the  graceful 
Crested  Dove,  (Ocephaps  lophotes.)  There  are 
upwards  of  twenty  species  of  the  pigeon  tribe, 
indigenous  to  Australia,  all  of  which  are  exceed- 
ingly beautiful.  The  Avifauna  of  the  antipodes 
are  truly  magnificent,  and  like  the  Flora,  are 
marvels  of  beauty,  as  they  flit  among  the 
flowers  and  disport  their  gay  plumage  in  the. 
trees,  and  while  thus  pleasantly  engaging  our  at- 
tention, greatly  excite  our  admiration.  As  I  am 
unable  to  do  justice  to  them  in  my  sketches,  I 
will  confine  my  remarks  chiefly  to  vegetable  life  ,- 
with  which  I  am  more  familiar.  Not  that  I  love 
them  any  the  less,  but  my  forte,  as  I  previously 
stated,  is  horticulture. 

It  is  not  unusual  for  the  observant  traveler 
when  forcing  his  war  through  the  fastnesses  of 
the  primeval  forest,  to  meet  with  remarkable  in- 
stances of  plant  growth.  Many  are  exceedingly 
beautiful,  both  in  form, foliage  and  flower;  while 
others  are  singular  oddities,  if  not  marvels  ;  they 
are  curious  and  interesting.  So  anomalous,  or 
paradoxical  are  some  species,  as  to  excite  sur- 
prise when  we  see  them,  while  we  pause  and 
ponder.  The  writer  has  frequently  alluded  to 
their  peculiarities  when  describing  Antipodean 
scenes.  Vegetative  types,  much  resembling  their 
congeners  of  the  fossil  flora,  are  comparatively 
common  to  Australia,  and  afford  subjects  of  com- 
ment to  speculative  minds. 

When  meditating  on  the  long-ago,  or  pre-his- 
toric  times,  a  simple  looker-on,  often  feels  con- 
fused when  he  sees  the  relics  or  remains  of  that 
remote  period  before  him.  Thus  perplexed,  he 
naturally  asks  the  geologist  for  information, 
whose  comprehensive  mind  and  searching  eye, 
reads  in  the  fossilized  book  of  nature,  "Sermons 
in  stones,"  and  in  the  earth's  foundations  re- 
views the  chronicles  of  the  past.  While  referring 
to  the  unnumbered  cycles  which  have  gone  by 
in  the  rounds  of  time,  and  which  probably  exceed 
millions  of  years,  he  points  to  the  ancient  petri- 
fied forms  of  a  past  flora,  and  compares  the  kin- 
dred species  of  that  era  with  existing  alliances  of 
this.  The  erudite  paleontologist,  familiar  with 
the  science  of  botany,  readily  deciphers  the  fossil 
paleograph,  so  indelibly  engraved  and  beautifully 
embossed  on  the  carboniferous  tablets,  and  re- 
cognizes in  their  structural  impressions,  similar 
ligneous  and  herbaceous  characteristics  of  the 
present  flora.  To  wit :  the  Araucaria,  Dammara, 
Cunninghamia,  Casuarin<a,  Phyllocladus,  Xan- 
thorrhoea,  Cycas,  Zamia,  Maerozamia,  Bambusa, 
Palm,  Dractena,  Pandanus,  Cordyline,  &c,   with 


62 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[Eebruary, 


many  species  of  ferns,   lofty  and  lowly,  which 
flourished  then  as  now. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Horticulture  at  the  Centennial. — In  sum- 
ming up  the  events  of  the  year,  the  Gardener's 
Chronicle  has  the  following  appreciative  notice 
of  the  horticulture  at  the  Centennial : 

"  America  has  scored  a  veritable  triumph  in 
■  the  Philadelphia  Exhibition,  though  horticulture 
was,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  not  so  well 
represented  as  it  is  generally  in  older  countries. 
Fairmount  Park,  the  locality  in  which  the  Exhi- 
bition was  held,  is,  like  most  American  things, 
large,  and  though  it  owes  comparatively  little  to 
art,  yet  in  its  glades  and  dells  many  a  wild 
flower,  such  as  the  pretty  Houstonia  coerulea, 
was  destined  not  to  blush  unseen  or  waste  its 
sweetness  on  the  desert  air,  for  nearly  10,000,000 
of  visitors  attended  the  Exhibition. 

"  The  Horticultural  Hall,  of  which   we  gave 
illustrations,  was,  like  most  other  structures  for 
plants  designed  by   architects,   ill-suited   to   its 
purpose.      But  it  is  intended  as  a  permanent 
structure,  and  by  a  little  remodelling,  as  we  are 
informed,   it   can   be   converted    from    a   place 
wherein  to  kill  plants  to  one  wherein  they  will 
grow,     provided    the     remodelling      be      done 
by  some  one  who   knows   and   appreciates  the 
fact  that  plants  need  light  and  air.     Some  of  the 
leading   American    nurserymen,   among  whom 
we   may   mention    Henderson,   Such,   Meehan, 
Hoopes,  Parsons,  and  Miller  of  San   Francisco, 
made  displays  which  would  have  done  credit   to 
any  exhibition  ;  while  the  pomological  exhibition 
was  on  a  scale  not  yet  attempted  here,  and  car- 
ried out  in  a  more  instructive  manner  than  we 
have   yet  attained  to.      The  pluck  and   enter- 
prise of  our  own  nurserymen  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.      Mr.    Waterer   did    not  shrink    from 
shipping  'American  plants'  to  America,  to  show 
the  good  use  which  Britons   have   made    of  the 
talents   entrusted    to   their  care.     Mr.  Williams 
heeded    not   the   risks  of  the  long  journey  and 
the  trying  climate,  but  boldly  sent  a  large    and 
select     set     of   stove    and    greenhouse    plants. 
Messrs.  Veitch  likewise  contributed  their  quota, 
so  that  Great  Britain  was  as  well  represented  as 
the  distance  would  allow.     Among  Continental 


nurserymen,  Verdier,  of  Paris,  showed  Gladioli 
and  roses ;  Sisley,  of  Lyons,  double  Pelargoni- 
ums ;  Leroy,  fruit  trees ;  Krelage,  of  Haarlem, 
bulbous  plants.  On  all  sides  we  hear  acknowl- 
edgements of  the  courtesy  and  hospitality 
shown  to  '  Britishers '  by  their  American  cou- 
sins, and  if  the  Exhibition  has  the  result  of  mak- 
ing the  peoples  of  two  of  the  great  Anglo-Saxon 
nations  more  appreciative  of  one  another's  good 
qualities,  and  less  disposed  to  pick  holes  in  what 
is  amiss,  great  good  will  have  been  done.  To  the 
Americans  themselves  great  benefits  will,  we  be- 
lieve, accrue,  as  tens  of  thousands  saw,  says  an 
American  friend,  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives 
anything  like  effective  gardening." 

Loss  op  a  Subscriber. — A  lady  from  South 
Carolina  sends  the  publisher  a  letter,  asking 
to  have  her  subscription  to  the  magazine  discon- 
tinued. She  speaks  kindly  of  the  work,  and 
expresses  regret  at  parting  with  it,  but  feels 
"  that  as  politics  are  now,  they  will  soon  want 
all  their  money  for  other  purposes  than  horti- 
cultural magazines."  We  were  sorry  to  see  such 
a  letter,  especially  from  a  lady,  as  we  look  on 
gardening  as  the  best  possible  relief  from  politi- 
cal excitement,  whether  at  the  North  or  South. 

During  the  rebellion  the  writer  of  this  was  on 
one  of  the  heaviest  battle  fields  of  the  war,  not 
many  days  after  the  action.     In  one  part  of  the 
field   retreat  had  been  hasty,  and  the  dead  but 
imperfectly  buried.     A   hastily  written   line  on 
a  small  stick  indicated  the  resting  place  of  "  Ser- 
geant  Pagan,   3rd  South  Carolina  Volunteers." 
In  the  haste  the  soldier's  body  from  the  breast 
downwards  only  had  been  covered.    The  eyeless 
skull,  the    flesh    under   the  great  heat  almost 
disappearing,  looked  up  as  if  for  pity  ;  but  even 
in  the  short  time  that  had   elapsed,   nature   in 
mercy  had  made  a  flower  to  grow  from  out  of  the 
newly  filled-in  earth,  and  had  nearly  hidden  the 
skull  from  sight.      The   little  incident   made   a 
deep  impression  at  the  time.      We  gathered   a 
few  of  the  specimens— they  were  of  Aeerates  viri- 
diflora — to  keep  us  in  mind  that  there  was  noth- 
ing like  flowers  to  cover  up  and  to  hide  the  hor- 
rors of  war.     As  for  politics  we  would  not  give 
up  our  love  for  flowers  for  a  bushel  of  them. 

The  Woks  of  an  Editor. —  Nothing  worries 
an  editor  more  than  to  have  errors  appear  in 
his  work;  but  it  is  the  lot  of  all.  Even  after  the 
most  careful  "  book  "  reading  there  is  often  a 
whole  page  of"  errata  "  at  the  end.  Still,  it  is  to 
I  In-  credit  of  magazine  and  newspaper  work  that 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST, 


63 


though  necessarily  hurried,  errors  are  compara- 
tively so  few.  We  left  a  note  with  the  printer  about 
Pritchardia  in  our  last,  with  no  time  for  even 
the  regular  proof-reader  to  see  it,  supposing  that 
one  little  paragraph  might  go  unwatched,  and  it 
appears  with  "peteoles"  and  "spring  teeth." 
Of  course  the  reader  knows  what  was  really 
written  and  it  is  not  worth  while  to  make 
correction.  But  it  was  "maddening"  for  all. 
Then  we  took  up  the  American  Naturalist,  and 
was  told  by  the  "  printer "  that  Thomasia  is  a 
"  Buttuereaceous  plant;  the  Bulletin  of  the  Tor- 
rey  Botanical  Club,  where  we  read  about  "  cam- 
brinum,"  and  a  locality  for  "Asplenium  pinnati- 
fidim ; "  then  there  was  the  Botanical  Gazette, 
with  its  reference  to  "  Tritelia,"  and  finally  tak- 
ing up  Silliman's  Journal,  we  found  Prof.  Gray 
made  to  say  that  Aster  undulatus  meant  "  many  " 
leaved  aster.  We  never  felt  before  the  sound- 
ness of  the  assertion,  that  "  misery  loves  com- 
pany." 

Rambling  Widow. — A  correspondent  of  one 
of  our  English  contemporaries  pokes  this  conun- 
drum at  the  Editor:  "What  is  the  Rambling 
Widow  ?  "  It  is  hard  to  solve  these  deep  botani- 
cal problems,  but  as  evolution  is  now  a  recog- 
nized law,  and  as  a  rambling  widow  has  a 
good  chance  of  turning  up  as  a  "  Mourning 
Bride,"  we  will  venture  to  guess  it  is  the  gar- 
den Scabious. 

Tea  in  Georgia. — The  "Chinese  Tea,"  said  to 
be  so  successfully  raised  in  Georgia,  proves  to  be 
dried  leaves  of  Sida  spinosa,  a  sort  of  mallow. 
The  way  in  which  new  "teas  "  are  discovered,  is 
to  fish  out  a  perfect  leaf  from  the  teapot  of  gen- 
uine Chinese  tea,  and  then  look  about  you  for 
some  wild  leaf  of  the  same  size  and  shape,  and 
you  have  American  "Chinese  *'  Tea ! 

A  Large  Plane  Tree. — Perhaps  the  largest 
tree  in  Europe  is  a  Plane  tree  near  Cannosa,  in 
Dalmatia.  It  is  over  thirty  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence, three  feet  from  the  ground,  and  covers  an 
area  of  250  square  feet. 

Jonah's  Gourd. — Mr.  Leo  Grindon  is  contrib- 
uting a  series  of  articles  to  the  London  Garden- 
er's Chronicle  on  the  classical  history  of  certain 
plants.  In  a  recent  one  of  the  series  he  shows 
that  the  Hebrew  writer  of  the  account  of  Jonah 
intended  the  castor  oil  plant — Ricinus  communis 
— and  not  a  gourd,  as  the  plant  that  shaded  Jonah. 

Origin  op  the  Leek. — Mr.  J.  G.  Baker  and 
Mr.    Bentham,  two  distinguished    English   bot- 


anists, regard  the  Leek — Allium  Porrum — as  a 
cultivated  form  of  Allium  Ampeloprasum,  a 
native  of  Switzerland  and  Eastern  Europe. 

The  Eucalyptus  in  Mexico. — From  the  city 
of  Mexico  to  Chapultepec,  a  distance  of  three 
miles,  is  a  beautiful  drive,  lined  on  each  side 
with  old  Eucalyptus  trees.  It  is  no  new  idea 
that  the  odor  of  the  Eucalyptus  is  a  febrifuge. 
The  Latin  races  have  always  thought  this  of  all 
odoriferous  plants.  The  ancient  Romans  used 
to  make  plantations  of  the  Sweet  Bay — Laurus 
nobilis — for  the  same  purpose.  And  indeed 
trees  of  any  kind  in  swampy  places  have  al- 
ways been  found  advantageous  to  human  health. 
The  Dismal  Swamp  in  Virginia  is  said  to  be  free 
from  the  fevers  which  abound  in  open  places. 

The  Woods'  Vineyard  at  Camden.— This 
tract  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  acres,  perhaps 
the  largest  vineyard  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
and  planted  in  the  "best "  manner  by  Mr.  Thos. 
Woods  a  few  years  ago,  at  the  enormous  cost  of 
$55,000,  has  recently  been  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and 
brought  $17,000. 

The  Horse  Chestnut. — The  native  country 
of  the  Horse  Chestnut  (iEsculus  Hippocasta- 
num)  has  long  been  an  enigma  to  botanists.  The 
enigma  has,  however,  been  solved  by  Professor 
Orphanides,  of  Athens,  who,  according  to  a 
note  in  the  French  translation  of  Grisebach's 
Vegetation  du  Globe,  made  by  M.  de  Tchihatchef, 
has  discovered  the  tree  in  a  wild  state  in  the 
mainland  of  Greece,  thus  confirming  an  opinion 
long  ago  expressed  by  Decaisne. — Gardener's 
Chronicle. 

Memorial  Trees. — The  practice  of  planting 
memorial  trees,  is  very  common  in  England. 
A  writer  in  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  refers  to 
trees  planted  at  Inverary  Castle  to  signalize  vis- 
its of  the  owner's  friends.  Here  are  trees 
planted  by  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Earls 
Russell,  Livingstone,  Gladstone,  Guthrie,  Mr. 
John  Bright,  Dean  Stanley,  and  others.  Last 
year  Queen  Victoria  planted  a  tree  on  the  Lane 
estate,  on  the  occasion  of  her  visit  there. 

Building  up  Attractive  Country  Places. — 
The  Boston,  Lowell  and  Nashua  R.  R.  has  given 
free  passes  to  seven  rich  citizens  of  Wilmington, 
Mass.,  because  they  built  expensive  houses. 
Those  who  built  houses  from  $1,000  to  $2,000 
get  a  two-year  pass,  and  those  of  over  $2,500, 
a  three-jear  pass,  and  will  give  similar  passes  to 
all  who  do  likewise.     Would  it  not  be  as  well  to 


64 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[February, 


do  a  little  in  the  same  way  for  those  who  beau- 
tify grounds  as  well  as  build  houses  ?  Nothing 
is  more  an  indicator  of  a  man's  prosperity  than 
his  exhibition  of  his  love  of  art  and  taste. 
People  do  not  want  to  live  where  other  people 
are  merely,  but  near  prosperous  people.  Beauti- 
ful, well-kept  gardens  and  grounds  show  that 
people  are  all  right  in  this  respect. 

Hon.  Marshall  P.  Wilder. —  By  a  Boston 
paper  we  note  that  this  good  friend  of  every 
American  horticulturist,  for  whose  health  we 
have  all  been  so  anxious,  presided  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  New  England  Genealogical  So- 
ciety on  the  3rd  of  January,  and  there  made 
one  of  his  usual  eloquent  addresses.  This  indi- 
cates that  he  is  much  more  fully  restored  to 
health  than  his  friends  hoped  for  a  little  while 
ago. 

Mr.  Parker  Earle. — We  see  it  stated  in  the 
papers  that  this  gentleman  is  engaged  in  straw- 
berry planting  in  Southern  Mississippi,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  orcharding  at  Cobden,  111.  Missifv 
sippi  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  so  intelli- 
gent and  experienced  a  gentleman  as  Mr.  Earle 
taking  an  active  interest  in  her  industries. 

Report  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agri- 
culture for  1875.—  This  strikes  us  as  one  of  the 
best  issues  of  the  Department.  It  is  one  of 
great  value,  and  if  Mr.  Watts  had  never  done 
anything  since  his  term  of  office  than  issue  this 
volume,  it  would  be  worth  all  his  Department 
has  cost.  The  "  Forest  aspects  "  of  the  United 
States  is  particularly  exhaustive,  and  proves 
what  we  have  always  contended,  that  the  De- 
partment is  quite  competent  to  take  care  of 
this  subject,  without  a  "  Department  of  Forest- 
ry "  being  independently  created. 

The  Illustrated  Annual  Register  of  Rural 
Affairs  for  1877.  Albany  :  Luther  Tucker  & 
Son  ;  price  30  cents. — For  some  years  past  "  an- 
nuals "  by  newspapers  have  not  been  a  success; 
but  Tucker's  is  now  in  its  twenty-third  year,  and 
prospers.  It  success  is  no  wonder,  for  it  is  a 
marvel  of  interest  for  the  price.  The  chapter 
on  ventilation,  alone,  is  worth  more  than  the 
cost.  It  is  the  most  complete  and  easily  under- 
standible  paper  on  the  subject  that  we  ever  read. 
The  Country  Gentleman  is  a  good  paper,  and  this 
"  tender  "  to  it  does  it  credit. 

Vice's  Flower  and  Vegetable  Garden. — This 
is  primarily,  of  course,  an  assistant  to  the  firm 
of  "J.  Vick,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,"  but  it  is,  in  addi- 


tion to  this,  an  extremely  useful  and  beauti- 
ful volume,  very  much  more  so,  indeed,  than 
many  "regular"  books  on  flowers  issued  by 
regular  publishing  houses. 

The  American  Naturalist.-Now  in  its  eleventh 
year,  has  always  done  much  for  science,  and 
in  the  hands  of  the  Houghtons,  of  Boston,  is  as 
actively  useful  as  ever.  The  January  number  is 
now  before  us. 

The  Canada  Farmer. — One  of  the  very  best 
members  of  the  agricultural  press,  has 
been  merged  with  the  Toronto  Globe.  It  has 
taken  all  its  editors  with  it,  and  this  is  a  guaran- 
tee that  agriculture  in  Canada  will  not  lose  by 
the  act. 

The  Raisers  of  the  best  Roses. — Mr.  H.  B. 
Elhvanger  contributes  to  the  Journal  of  Horti- 
culture a  list,  with  the  names  of  raisers  and  dates 
of  the  introduction  of  some  of  the  most  popu- 
lar. All  but  three  English  are  French  growers. 
No  American  seems  distinguished  in  Roses. 
The  list  is  as  follows: 


Rose. 


Age. 


Alfred  Colomb,  h.  P 1865 

Catherine  Mermet,  t. 1869 

Charles  Lefebvre,  H   P 1861 

Comtesse  de  Chabrillant,  H.  P...  1859 

Countess  of  Oxford,  h.p 1869 

Ferdinand  de  Lesseps,  h.  p 1S69 

Francois  Michelon,  h.  P 1S71 

Gloirede  Dijon,  t 1S53 

John  Hopper,  H  p 1862 

La  France,  h.  p 1S68 

Louis  Van  Houtte.  H.  P 1869 

Madame  Victor  Verdier,  h.  p 1863 

Mdlle.  Marie  Rady,  H.  P 1S65 

Mdlle.  Eugenie  Verdier,  H.  P 1869 

Marechal  NM,  t 1864 

Marie  BaumanD, h.  p 1863 

Marie  Ducher.T 1868 

Marie  Van  Houtte.  T 1871 

Marquise  de  Castellane,  h.  p 1869 

Rut-ens,  t 

Abel  Grand,  h   p 1865 

Anna  de  Diesbach,  h.  p 1S59 

Baron  de  Bonstetten,  H.  p 1871 

Baronne  de  Rothschild,  h.  p 1867 

Belle  Lyonnaise,  t 1869 

Caroline  de  Sansal,  H.  p 1S49 

Cloth  of  Gold,  N 1843 

Duke  of  Edinburgh,  H.  p 1868 

Edouard  Morren,  h.  p 1869 

General  Jacqueminot,  H.  P 1853 

■  eneral  Washington,  h.  p 1861 

Lamarque,  n 

Madame  Bravy,  t 

Madame  Camille,  1 1871 

Madame  Levet,  t 1869 

Madame  Lacharme,,  h.  p 1873 

Madame  Marie  Finger,  H  P 1873 

Madame  Noman,  H.  P 1867 

Madame  Trifle,  T 1869 

Marguerite  do  St.  Amand,  h.  p  ..  1864 

Marechal  Vaillant,  h  p 1861 

Maurice  Bernardin,  a.  p 1861 

Paul  Neron,  h.p 1869 

President  Thiers,  H.  P 1878 

Prince  Camiile  de  Rohan,  H.  P...  1861  . 

S.  Reyno  da  Hole,  n.  p 1878  . 

Senateur  Vaisse,  H."» 1S59 

Sombreuil,  T 

Si 'iivi'uir  de  la  Malmaisou,  b 1S43  . 

Victor  Verdier,  H.  P 1859 


Raiser. 
Lacharme 
Guillot,  fils 
Lacharme 
Marest 
Guillot,  pere 
E.  Verdier 
Lcvet 
Jacotot 
Ward 

Guillot,  fils 
Lacharme 
E.  Verdier 
Fontaine 
Guillot,  fils 
.  Pradel 
Bau  man 
D.icher 
Ducher 
Pernet 

Damaizin 

Lacharme 

Liabaud 

Pernet 

Levet 

Hippolyte  Jamain  7 

Paul  A  Son 
Granger 
Rousselet 
Granger 

Guillot,  pere 

Guillot,  flla 

Levet 

Lacharme 

Rain  baud 

i  iuillot  pere 

Levet 

Sansal 

Lecomte 

Granger 

Levet 

L  u'harme 

E.  Verdier 

Paul i  Son 

Guillot,  fils 

Robert  it  Moreau 

Beluge 

Lacharme 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited   by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


MARCH,  1877. 


Number  219. 


LOWER  GARDEN  AND  If  LEASURE  GROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


There  is  nothing  of  more  importance  to  be 
continually  remembered  than  that  lavish  ex- 
penditure on  one's  grounds  or  gardens  by  no 
means  signifies  beauty  and  taste.  There  may  be 
true  art  in  the  gardening  on  a  lot  of  but  a  hun- 
dred feet,  and  none  on  a  pretentious  place  of  as 
many  acres.  We  would  particularly  recommend 
at  this  season  of  the  year  a  consultation  of  works 
on  taste  in  landscape  gardening  with  a  view  to 
improvement  in  this  respect.  Of  these  there  are 
Downing,  Kemp,  and  Scott,  within  the  reach  of 
every  one.  A  study  of  these  works  will  not 
necessarily  lead  to  expense;  indeed,  rather  the 
reverse,  for  most  likely  the  result  will  be  to  show 
how  expensive  has  been  bad  taste,  and  the  good 
economy  of  true  beauty. 

As  for  expenditure,  and  the  idea  that  garden- 
ing as  an  art  induces  waste,  nothing  is  further 
from  the  fact.  True  art  consists  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  harmonies,  and  this  knowledge  leads  us 
to  do  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time.  Out-door 
gardening  especially  is  cheap, — nature  does  so 
much  for  us,  and  asks  only  the  means  to  do  it 
with,  that  costly  gardening  is  rather  a  burlesque 
on  her  abilities. 

There  is  scarcely  a  garden  of  any  pretension 
that  we  know  of,  that  could  not  be  cut  down 
in  size,  one-half,  to  great  advantage.  We  know 
of  some  quite  large  gardens  where  several  men 
are  kept,  as  well  as  many  where  the  owner  does' 
all  his  own  garden  work,  in  which  everything  is 
a  drag.    There  is  too  much  to  do.  No  excellence 


can  be  achieved  in  anything.  Everything  is 
done  out  of  season  and  hurriedly.  No  one  can 
take  any  pride  in  anything.  The  owner  worries 
at  the  cost,  and  instead  of  cutting  down  the  work 
cuts  down  the  hands,  and  the  remaining  worry 
and  chafe,  and  things  are  still  more  cheerless 
than  before.  There  is  nothing  in  gardening  like 
this,  and  the  Baconian  quotation  that  a  "Garden 
is  the  purest  of  all  human  pleasures,"  never 
was  intended  to  apply  to  such  gardens.  How 
cheap  beauty  is  we  have  before  referred  to  in 
connection  with  the  grounds  around  the  Centen- 
nial last  year,  to  be  repeated  though  with  some 
diversity,  on  the  same  grounds,  by  the  same 
hands  this  year ;  and  we  hope  the  good  lesson 
will  not  be  lost. 

So  far  as  the  general  hints  applicable  to  the 
every  year  management  of  the  flower  garden 
department  is  concerned,  the  annual  pruning 
must  be  got  through  with  as  soon  as  possible. 

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  Wiegelia ;  while  such  as  flower  from 
the  Spring  growth,  as  the  Althaea,  Mock  Orange, 
&c,  are  benefitted  by  cutting  back  vigorously. 

Do  not  transplant  extensively  till  the  ground 
is  warm  and  the  buds  are  about  to  push.  Many 
things  die  by  exposure  to  winds  for  a  few  weeks 
before  they  have  warmth  to  push  roots  and 
leaves  into  growth. 

The  rule  for  pruning  at  transplanting  is  to  cut 


66 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


in  proportion  to  apparent  injury  to  roots.  If  not 
much  the  worse  for  removal,  cut  but  little  o 
the  top  away.  Properly  pruned,  a  good  garden- 
er will  not  have  the  worst  case  of  a  badly  dug 
tree  to  die  under  his  hands.  In  a  nursery,  where 
these  matters  are  well  understood,  trees  "never 
die."       , 

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

If  flowers  have  been  growing  in  the  ground 
many  years,  new  soil  does  wonders.  Rich  ma- 
nure makes  flowers  grow,  but  they  do  not  always 
flower  well  with  vigorous  growth.  If  new  soil 
cannot  be  had,  a  wheelbarrow  of  manure  to 
about  every  fifty  square  feet  will  be  enough.  If 
the  garden  earth  looks  gray  or  yellow,  rotten 
leaves — quite  rotten  leaves— will  improve  it. 
If  heavy,  add  sand.  If  very  sandy,  add  salt — 
about  half  a  pint  to  fifty  square  feet.  If  very 
black  or  rich  from  previous  years'  manurings 
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. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


MOSAICULTURE. 

BY   G.,   XEW  YORK. 

In  a  recent  number,  you  published  some  notes 
made  lately  by  Monsieur  Nardy  on  his  route 
through  France.  They  were  very  interesting  in 
more  senses  than  one.  They  show,  the  translation 
being  evidently  rather  literal,  with  what  native 
delicacy  and  also  precision  the  French  handle 
their  language  in  talking  about  flowers ;  and 
they  show  how  universal  this  style  of  gardening 
has  become  in  France. 

In  the  regular  course  of  things  we  may  now 
expect  Mosaiculture  to  grow  epidemic,  in  this 
country.  It  is  the  case  with  all  fashions  and  dis 
eases,  they  must  have  their  run.  Take  Eastlake 
furniture,  take  Japan  and  Chinese  ware.  What 
if  the  former  looks  as  though  hewn  with  a 
hatchet  by  a  clever  hatchetist,  angular,  and  clum- 
sy, and  void  of  embellishment ;  what  if  the  latter  is 
positively  ugly,  according  to  all  rules  of  ugliness, 
and  an  utter  perversion  of  the  teachings  of  Mo- 
ther Nature;  they  are  "the  go'-  and  the  style, 


and  the  grumbling  minority  may  grumble  on 
until  the  fever  has  died  out. 

Here  Mosaiculture  has  the  advantage  over 
Eastlake  and  Satsuma.  It  does  not  cost  anything 
near  as  much,  and  the  platebandes  and  arabes- 
ques will  one  day  have  disappeared,  and  the 
place  where  they  stood  will  not  know  them  any 
more,  and  no  great  damage  done  to  the  purse  of 
the  garden  owners  either. 

Meantime  let  them  come  on,  these  alhambric 
designs,  these  architectonic  figures,  ribbons, 
scrolls,  devices  ;  let  art  teach  nature  how  to  bring 
about  stupendous  effects  until  she  own  herself 
beaten  in  her  principles  of  simplicity,  graceful- 
ness, sparing  contrasts,  gentleness,  delicacy  and 
fitness  which  have  heretofore  distinguished  her. 

To  the  lovers  of  these  effects  I  would  suggest 
that  there  yet  remains  one  great  feature,  which 
tickles  mankind  and  has  not  yet  been  used — it 
is  surprise.  For  instance,  Mr.  Nardy  found  be- 
for  the  City  Hall  of  Havre  on  the  lawn,  the 
words  "  City  of  Havre"  in  mosaics.  Now  why 
not  improve  u p on  it?  Why  not  before  the  door 
of  your  country  place  have  a  live  green  mat  with 
the  name  of  the  owner  in  mosaics?  say,  "Mon- 
tague B.  Smith."  After  all,  even  that  is  not  new, 
as  we  have  wool  mats  with  "  cave  canem  "  or 
"  welcome  "  on  them.  But  it  would  be  a  sur- 
prise, nevertheless,  such  a  rustic  doorplate. 

It  may,  however,  take  several  years  to  bring  out 
the  highest  degree  of  mosaiculture,  viz.,  vege- 
table portraits.  Human  vanity  though,  may  ac- 
celerate this  otherwise  slow  and  difficult  evolu- 
tion. To  explain  this  art,  let  me  state  that  from 
the  massing  of  mosaics  we  may  step  down  to 
mere  lines,  and  from  these  violent  contrasts  to 
delicate  shading.  Take  green — rather  an  appro- 
priate color,  this  we  possess  in  innumerable 
shades,  from  the  glaucescent  willow  to  the  atres- 
cent  yew.  The  reader  will  excuse  Latin,  as  there 
really  would  be  no  spice  in  our  teachings  with- 
out it;  using  common  names  would  really  not  do ; 
tne  reader  would  know  the  thing  just  as  well  as 
I  do.  Not  only  have  we  the  green  in  its  various 
shades,  but  we  have  every  shade  in  its  gradations 
from  light  to  dark.  And  when  we  look  close, 
we  shall  find  we  possess  them  all  even  in  low 
growing  plants.  There,  take  the  Ivies  and  just 
nothing  else.  I  would  undertake  to  find  all  the 
kinds  of  ivies  necessary  for  a  vegetable  photo- 
graph. These  found,  find  your  subject.  As  I 
don't  want  to  be  personal,  say  the  lately  success- 
ful candidate  for  the  Presidency.  First  we  want 
an  oval  frame1,  spaded  out  of  the  lawn.     Next  we 


1877] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


67 


sketch  his  profile,  for  we  are  not  yet  bold  enough 
to  attempt  full  faces.  Little  pegs  we  want  to 
stake  it  out.  Then  we  plant  the  dark  kinds  for 
the  hair;  the  less  dark  for  the  skin  ;  the  lightest 
for  the  spots  where  we  want  the  light  to  strike. 
Now  we  let  them  grow,  thickly  too.  And  now, 
in  the  charming  month  of  May  we  come,  carry- 
ing the  shears  like  unto  the  pencil,  and  begin  to 
cut  the  sketch.  There !  the  worthy  face  gradually 
appears  from  under  the  biting  shears,  as  the  por- 
trait does  under  the  artist's  brush.  Our  nice  eye 
(or  two  of  them)  calculates  growth  and  waits  a 
week,  and  lo  !  and  behold — it  has  grown  into  the 
very  similitude  of  His  Excellency,  the  head  of 
our  Government,  and  will  please  republicans 
and  democrats  alike,  if  it  were  done  at  the  time 
I  write. 

Here,  the  inferior  specimens  of  readers 
would  think,  ends  our  art,  whilst  the  better  ones 
know  at  once  that  here  it  but  commences,  for 
it  is  comparatively  easy  to  make  any  figure  out 
of  vegetable  material,  but  difficult  to  prevent 
growth  to  obliterate  it.  Hence  the  daily  process 
of  shaving,  in  this  instance  the  President,  every 
other  morning  and  keeping  up  the  likeness.  If 
the  portrait  Is  that  of  the  proprietor,  the  intelli- 
gent gardener  has  an  easier  task  because  he  has 
the  original  and  can  pinch  and  shave  to  a  nicety, 
— I  mean  not  the  original,  but  the  counterfeit 
presentment  in  ivy — on  daily  comparisons. 

For  shirt  collars  we  suggest  Centaurea  candi- 
dissima ;  for  stiff  whiskers,  Pinus  pumilio ;  for 
curly  hair,  Maidenhair  ferns,  or  perhaps  curled 
Parsley ;  for  ladies'  diamond  broach,  a  head  of 
dwarf  Chicory  salad ;  for  why,  as  we  go  it,  ex- 
clude from  our  vegetable  workshops  the  salads, 
the  cabbages  and  the  vegetables,  one  and  all, 
some  of  them  more  picturesque  in  their  forms 
and  shadings  than  their  more  aristocratic- 
brethren  in  the  shrub  and  flower  line. 

The  reader  will  from  these  materials  justly 
conclude  that  we  work  on  a  large  scale;  larger 
than  life,  say  twice  as  large,  and  consequently 
twice  as  natural.  The  larger  the  scale,  in  fact, 
the  easier  the  work.  It  may  take  a  century  be- 
fore a  gardening  Meissonnier  may  appear. 

But  we  must  not  stumble  on  this  work  of  art, 
or  perchance  tread,  though  with  unwilling  foot, 
on  the  cherished  face.  How  to  avoid  it?  Why, 
let  it  be  at  the  bottom  of  a  hill,  so  that  we  can 
look  down  on  it,  and  fenced  in  by  a  frame  of 
Mosaics.  Or,  if  your  place  is  flat  and  offers  nb 
elevated  point  whatever,  sink  this  picture  a 
couple  of  feet  or  more,  and  look  down  upon  it  in 


that  way.  The  larger  it  is,  in  the  same  ratio 
must  it  be  sunk  deeper,  so  that  you  stand  higher 
above  it,  high  enough  to  take  it  in. 

And  now  let  us  from  the  unsteady  waves  of 
nonsense  step  once  more  on  the  firm  shore  of 
sense.  The  mosaics  came  to  us  from  the  land  of 
Mr.  Nardy,  whose  artists,  in  every  branch  of  art, 
excel  by  their  talent  to  invention  and  novelties, 
and  consequently,  also  excel  by  running  into  ex- 
tremes. The  grotesque,  the  sensational,  the  in- 
decent in  French  literature  and  art  are  but 
weeds  in  their  fair  garden  of  general  good  taste. 
So  with  floriculture.  They  have  along  with  their 
fine  inventions  in  the  gardening  line,  invented 
mosaics.  Now  good  taste  abhors  massing,  ab- 
hors violent  contrasts.  No  lady  wants  to  dress 
loudly;  to  be  loud  is  to  be  brassy,  impudent, 
vulgar.  Our  mosaic  gardens  will  reflect  the 
souls  of  their  conceited  owners,  male  or  female. 

So  let  fashion  progress,  give  her  a  lift  as  she 
passes,  that  she  pass  all  the  quicker,  that  the  fol- 
ly may  fly  faster  and  that  we  may  all  the  sooner 
return  to  gardens  of — American  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen. 


NOTES  ON  RHODODENDRONS  AND  SOME 
EVERGREENS. 

BY  REV.  HENRY   WARD   BEECHER,   BROOKLYN,    N.  Y. 


RHODODENDRONS. 

It  would  be  good  news  if  we  could  confirm  Mr. 
Parsons'  statements,  that  the  Rhododendron  can 
be  cultivated  successfully  in  any  good  loamy 
soil.  My  experience  has  not  confirmed  his  state- 
ments. For  ten  years  past  I  have  bought  of  the 
Messrs.  Parsons  fine  plants  of  rhododendrons  and 
planted  them  out  at  Peekskill.  For  a  year  or 
two  they  did  well,  then  languished  and  died  off. 
Several  years  ago  I  brought  out  from  England 
several  hundred,  and  set  them  in  nursery  rows 
without  peat.  They  bloomed  for  two  summers, 
but  were  fast  failing.  Two  years  ago,  I  prepared 
ground  for  them  with  abundant  peat.  They 
soon  revived,  and  this  summer  they  stood  forth 
in  perfect  health  and  luxuriance.  I  now  treat 
all  my  azaleas,  rhododendrons,  andromedas, 
&c,  to  a  full  soil  of  peat.  Mr.  Waterer  last  sum- 
mer, on  inspecting  them,  declared  that  nothing 
better  could  be  done  in  England.  I  am  satisfied 
that  a  full  peat  soil  and  mulching,  both  in  Winter 
and  Summer,  but  especially  in  Summer,  is  the 
true  plan  for  satisfactory  results  in  rearing  rho- 
dodendrons.    It  is  better  to  have  a  few  fine  and 


68 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


flourishing,  by  taking  necessary  trouble  and  ex- 
pense for  peat,  than  to  have  cheaper  culture  and 
poorer  plants. 

RETIN0SP0RA. 

I  have  proved  all  the  kinds  of  retinosporas 
contained  in  the  catalogues,  in  exposed  position 
and  without  special  protection,  I  have  never  lost 
one.  With  me  they  are  as  hardy  as  any  plant 
out  of  doors,  and  are  of  all  evergreens  the  finest 
for  planting  near  the  dwelling,  and  in  small 
grounds.  The  filifera  and  the  obtusa  seem  des- 
tined to  rapid  and  large  growth.  The  obtusa 
when  well  grown  resembles  Lawson's  cypress 
and  excels  it,  with  the  advantage  of  being  per- 
fectly hardy,  which  Lawson's  is  not. 

THE   PINUS  EXCELSA. 

Very  beautiful,  shrinks  before  our  fierce  sum- 
mer sun,  and  after  a  few  years,  becomes  dilapi- 
dated. But  a  comparatively  new  kind,  P.  aya- 
cahuite,  seems  likely  to  equal  it  in  its  own  line 
of  beauty,  and  to  be  perfectly  hardy,  as  well. 
It  deserves  to  be  extensively  tried. 


LILIUM  PARVUM. 


BY   W.   C.   L.    DREW,   EL   DORADO,   CAL. 

Lilium  parvum  was  discovered  by  Kellogg 
some  years  ago,  and  has  been  offered  to  the 
flower  loving  public  for  several  years. 

It  is  a  small  lily,  of  upright  growth,  the  stem 
growing  from  two  to  three  feet  high,  and  bearing 
from  two  to  eight  flowers. 

The  flowers  are  of  a  clear  yellow  color,  spotted 
with  dark  red  spots,  the  leaves  are  borne  in 
whorls  around  the  stem  like  those  of  Humboltii. 

The  parvum  is  of  very  easy  culture,  any  good 
garden  soil  suiting  it ;  the  bulbs,  though  small 
should  not  be  planted  less  than  six  inches  deep; 
fresh  manure  should  not  be  placed  in  contact 
with  the  bulb. 


.THE  LARGEST  UMBRELLA  PINE. 

BY   F.  W.    KELSEY,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

Regarding  the  urging  of  the  Editor  of  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  in  December  number  as  to 
the  largest  specimen  of  the  rare  evergreen  Scia- 
dopytis  verticil  lata,  would  say  that  having  made 
some  inquiries  for  the  plant  in  different  sections 
of  the  country,  the  largest  I  have  been  able  to 
find  are  two  specimens  formerly  owned  by  Mr. 
C.   M.   Hovey,   of  Boston.     One   of  them    hav- 


ing been  sold  to  Mr.  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  New 
York,  quite  recently.  The  other  I  believe  is  still 
retained  by  Mr.  Hovey,  who  can  give  you  a 
more  complete  description  of  the  plant.  I  be- 
lieve the  one  sold  to  Mr.  Dana  was  about  3  feet. 
The  price  was  $25,  which  was  not  considered 
unreasonable. 

I  am  in  correspondence  now  with  more  par- 
ties, in  Europe,  in  regard  to  specimen  plants  of 
this  fine  tree,  and  in  the  event  of  my  getting  any 
information  of  general  interest  will  advise. 

[We  give  thanks  to  our  correspondent,  and 
should  be  glad  to  know  where  the  largest  speci- 
mens of  any  rare  trees  are  to  be  found. — Ed.  G. 
M.l 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


Frost  and  Hardiness. — We  have  all  in  Amer- 
ica learned  the  lesson  that  it  is  not  the  degree  of 
temperature  merely  that  kills  plants.  Conditions 
alter  the  figures.  Some  of  these  are  given  in  the 
following  paragraph  which  we  find  in  the  Gar- 
dener's Chronicle  : 

"A  writer  in  the  Wiener  Gartenfreund,  on  '  The 
Importance  of  Gardens  for  Acclimatization,' 
gives  some  interesting  particulars  respecting  the 
hardiness  of  certain  plants  in  Austria,  especially 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Vienna.  Pinus  Cembra, 
which  thrives  in  the  botanic  garden  at  Vienna. 
is  killed  by  frost  at  the  Imperial  villa  at  Ischl, 
unless  grafted  upon  P.  Laricio,  when  it  with- 
stands the  winter  without  injury.  In  the  same 
place,  on  the  other  hand,  such  subjects  as  P. 
Nordmanniana,  P.  cilicica,  P.  cephalonica,  Bam- 
busa  nigra  and  B.  argenteo-striata  are  quite 
hardy.  Quercus  rubra  and  coccinea  are  very 
fine  in  the  celebrated  gardens  of  Duke  Francis, 
of  Anhalt-Dessau,  at  Worlitz.  Some  of  them 
have  trunks  from  5  to  6  feet  in  diameter,  and 
rise  to  a  height  of  60  to  70  feet.  Wellingtonia  gi- 
gantea  is  said  to  flourish  in  the  vicinity  of  War- 
saw, where  there  is  often  45°  of  frost.  Acer  stri- 
atum will  not  succeed  in  Vienna  on  its  own 
roots,  but  if  grafted  on  A.  Pseudo-Platanus  it 
does  very  well.  Cupressus  Lawsoniana,  Pinus 
Khutrow,  and  P.  Pinsapo  ripen  seed  in  Bohemia. 
At  Erlacstein,  in  Syria,  in  a  loamy  soil  800  feet 
above  the  sea,  Paulownia  imperialis,  Aralia  spi- 
nosa,  Lagerstrcemia  indica,  Wistaria  sinensis,  Li- 
quidambar  styraciflua,  and  many  others  flourish 
under  30° — 34°  of  frost,  whereas  Koelreuteria  and 
Cercis  siliquastrum  perish.'' 


18*77-] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


69 


The  Gold- veined  Honeysuckle. — This,  known 
to  the  English  catalogues  under  the  terrible 
name  of  Lonicera  (caprifolium)  brachybotrya 
aurea  reticulata!  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
plants  we  have.  It  is  well-known  now,  and  is 
common  in  nurseries.  It  is  not  only  a  beautiful 
climber  for  delicate  lattice  work,  but  good  use 
can  be  made  of  its  color  for  bedding  combina- 
tions. It  makes  a  capital  bordering  for  bed 
work.  For  vases  and  trellis  work  it  is  also  ad- 
mirable. 

General  Washington  Rose  —  Mr.  H.  B.  Ell- 
wanger,  of  Rochester,  regards  this  as  one  of  the 
best  Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses  for  that  region. 

An  Early  Flowering  Catalpa. — Mr.  Suel  Fos- 
ter says  there  is  a  catalpa  from  Richmond,  Indi- 
ana, perhaps  the  Teas'  variety  alluded  to  in  our 
columns  heretofore,  which  is  much  hardier  in 
Iowa  than  the  common  variety,  and  blooms  ten 
to  fourteen  days  before  the  other  one. 

Gaillardia  Amblyodon — Nat.  Ord  Composite 
— Linn.,  Syngenesia  Frustranea. — Flowers  crim- 
son. "A  very  handsome  October-flowering  an- 
nual, a  native  of  sandy  plains  in  Texas  and  New 
Mexico,  where  it  blossoms  from  the  beginning  of 
Summer  until  the  Winter's  frost  cuts  it  off.  The 
genus  to  which  it  belongs  inhabits  both  temper- 
ate North  America  and  extra-tropical  South 
America,  and  consists  of  about  eight  species. 
The  present  species  was  discovered  by  Berlan- 
dier  in  1827,  and  collected  subsequently  by  Lind- 
heimer  in  1844,  and  by  Drummond  in  1845." 

La  France  Rose — Last  year  we  noted  the  fact, 
that  the  leading  English  Rose-growers  regarded 
La  France  as  their  best  Hybrid  Perpetual  Rose. 
Another  year  has  passed,  and  new  ones  have  made 
their  assault  on  the  old  favorite  which,  however, 
still  "  holds  the  fort." 

Tritomas. — These  beautiful  half-hardy  herba- 
ceous plants — botanically  perhaps  more  correct 
as  Kniphofias — have  had  many  new  species 
added  to  the  cultivated  list,  the  past  few  years, 
but  the  oldest,  T.  uvaria,  is  still  one  of  the  most 
useful.  It  is  planted  in  the  Spring,  but  flowers 
from  early  Summer  till  frost. 

The  Common  Silk  Weed— Asclepias  Cornuti. 
— In  old  times  we  used  to  know  this  as  Asclepias 
syriaca,  but  we  believe  they  are  regarded  now  as 
distinct.  They  are  alike  enough  however  to 
make  what  is  said  of  one  concern  the  other,  and 
this  is  what  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  says  : 

"Asclepias  syriaca  appears  to  have  been  im- 
ported in  1629,  but  has  not  found  much  favor 


amongst  us.  In  its  native  home  it  is  said  to  be 
very  odoriferous,  charming  the  traveler  when 
passing  through  the  woods  at  eventide;  it  is  also 
said  that  it  is  eaten  as  a  vegetable  by  the  inhabi- 
tants. The  pods  afford  cotton,  which  the  na- 
tives collect  to  fill  their  beds  with.  Parkinson 
says,  on  account  of  the  silkiness  of  this  cotton  it 
bears  the  name  of  Virginian  silk.  Asclepias 
tuberosa  is  the  most  frequently  met  with  in  cul- 
tivation, but  it  is  by  no  means  a  common  plant. 
There  are  other  kinds  enumerated,  and  which 
are  worthy  of  being  added  to  collections  of  '  old 
and  rare '  plants." 

We  all  recognize  our  old  friend  of  our  fields 
and  fences  by  the  above,  but  there  is  one  p>oint 
to  Americans  not  noted  in  the  above.  To  them 
the  creeping  roots  in  the  Middle  and  Southern 
States  are  a  worse  nuisance  than  the  Canada 
thistle  in  the  North. 

Ivy. — In  the  garden,  Ivy  is  more  extensively 
used  than  formerly — the  green  free-growing  kinds 
as  edgings  to  walks ;  the  closer  growing  kinds  as 
coverings  for  banks,  rockeries,  and  rooteries; 
and  the  choicer  sorts  for  staircase,  hall,  corridor, 
and  even  conservatory  decoration.  For  all  these 
purposes  Ivy  is  particularly  worthy  of  being  em- 
ployed, while  for  covering  low  walls  in  almost 
all  sorts  of  positions  and  with  all  aspects,  a  col- 
lection of  the  choice  variegated  kinds  are  ex- 
tremely ornamental. 

As  pot  plants  for  associating  with  groups  of 
flowering  plants,  well-trained  specimens  of  Ivy 
are  not  only  amongst  the  finest,  but  are  the  most 
easily  preserved  and  permanent  of  plants.  How 
effective  are  pyramids  of  Ivy  was  strikingly  ex- 
emplified at  the  great  Show  at  South  Kensing- 
ton last  year,  when  the  nurserymen  made  the 
grand  and  spontaneous  offering  of  the  best  of 
their  collections,  producing  an  exhibition  which 
has  not  been  equalled  in  London  for  many  years. 
Fine  as  were  all  the  collections  then  exhibited — 
rich,  valuable,  and  rare  as  were  many  of  the 
plants  composing  the  groups — yet  no  bank  was 
more  strikingly  ornamental  and  won  higher  en- 
comiums of  praise  than  the  group  of  specimen 
Ivies  associated  witli  Lilinm  auratum  from  Mr. 
Turner  of  Slough. 

Ivies  in  a  small  state  are  also  admirable  for  the 
furnishing  of  window  boxes,  balconies,  hanging 
baskets  for  indoors  and  out,  and  the  variegated 
ki.ids  for  lively  edgings  of  flower  beds  in  Winter. 
The  uses  of  this  plant  in  its  several  varieties  are 
so  manifold  that  there  is  no  wonder  that  the  de- 
mand for  plants  is  increasing  year  by  year,  and 


70 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


iMarch, 


very  large  supplies  have  to  be  provided  to  meet 
the  ever-growing  requirements  for  this  now  pop- 
ular plant.  I  was  so  struck  with  the  effect  of  the 
fine  plants  noted  above  that  I  obtained  a  few, 
and  nothing  in  my  garden  has  afforded  me  more 
pleasure  than  my  collection  of  Ivies,  and  few 
plants  are  more  admired  by  my  friends  and  visit- 
ors. I  have  the  satisfaction,  too,  of  feeling  that 
they  are  so  safely  established  that  no  weather 
will  injure  them,  but  that  they  will  improve  year 
by  year  with  a  minimum  share  of  attention  being 
bestowed  on  them.  Some  sorts  are  slow  grow- 
ers, but  that  is  an  advantage  for  many  purposes 
of  decoration,  admitting  the  plants  to  places 
where  luxuriant  growers  would  be  quite  unsuit- 
able.— Journal  of  Horticulture. 

Laurentia  carnosula. — Under  this  name  the 
Botanical  Magazine  figures  a  pretty  Californian 
annual,  and  gives  the  following  account  of  it :  "A 
very  elegant  little  annual,  native  of  muddy  places 
in  Sierra  and  Indian  valleys  in  California,  and 
thence,  north-eastward,  to  Wyoming  Territory 
(A.  Gray).  It  is  remarkable  as  being  the  only 
American  example  of  the  genus  Laurentia,  of 
which  ten  species  are  known,  the  rest  being  na- 
tives of  South  Africa  and  the  Mediterranean  re- 
gion. The  cultivated  specimens  differ  widely 
from  the  native  in  habit  and  appearance,  the 
native  ones  being  shorter,  with  very  succulent 
and  indeed  thickened  stems,  and  having  flowers 
not  one-quarter  the  size  of  the  cultivated  ones. 
L.  carnosula  was  raised  from  Californian  seed  by 
Mr.  Thompson  of  Ipswich,  who  flowered  the  spe- 
cimen here  figured  in  July,  1875." 


QUERIES. 


Planting  Pyracantha.— M.  N.,  Asheville,  N. 
C.     We    suppose    the    Dwarf    Pyracantha,    or 


"  White  berried "  Pyracantha,  would  live  in 
your  district,  though  we  have  no  direct  knowl- 
edge of  that  fact.  It  is  hard  to  transplant  unless 
set  deeper  than  before.     Then  it  is  very  easy. 

Origin  of  the  Weeping  Yellow,  or  "  Slip- 
pery" Elm. — F.  N.,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  writes: — Is 
this  an  English  variety?  Where  did  it  originate? 
This  is  a  variety  of  the  American  Ulmus  fulva. 
Our  impression  is  that  the  grafts  were  first  dis- 
tributed by  Captain  E.  Beebe,  formerly  of  Ga- 
lena, 111.  We  are  not  quite  sure,  but  think  we 
are  indebted  to  that  gentleman  for  our  first 
knowledge  of  it. 

Exochorda  grandiflora. — W.  F  ,  Newark, 
N.  Y.,  says  : — "  I  would  like  to  ascertain  what  is 
Exochorda  grandiflora,  but  I  can  find  no  descrip- 
tion of  it  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  nor  Loudon, 
nor  any  work  I  have." 

[It  is  described  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Gar- 
dener's Monthly,  page  55.  It  was  introduced  by 
Fortune,  from  China,  and  was  first  thought  to  be 
a  Spiraea  and  went  sometimes  as  S.  Fortuni  and 
S.  grandiflora.  But  Hooker  saw  distinctions  in 
the  fruit,  and  made  a  new  genus — Exochorda — of 
it.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  white  flowered 
shrubs  of  early  Spring.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

A  Beautiful  Specimen  of  Euonymus. — A  cor- 
respondent from  Amherst,  Va.,  says : — "  In  the 
last  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  is  a  note 
from  the  Gardener's  Chronicle,  where  is  men- 
tioned the  Euonymus  bearing  fruit.  I  have  a 
large  one,  9  or  10  feet  high,  that  has  borne  seed 
profusely,  and  from  which  I  have  succeeded  in 
raising  some  new  varieties,  one  especially  with  a 
holly  shaped  leaf,  which  is  very  attractive." 

[This  is  evidently  Euonymus  Japonica,  the 
common  evergreen  Japan  Burning  Bush — but 
still  a  very  good  specimen  and  one  of  the  choice 
little  items  that  we  like  to  read. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


Ireen  Mouse  and 


ouse  Hardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 

We  must  remember  that  gardening  is  not 
merely  the  growing  of  a  pretty  flower.  We 
cannot  have  gardening  without  flowers,  true,  but 


the  taste  displayed  in  the  arrangements  and  sur- 
roundings is  what  constitutes  the  fine  art.  A 
room  or  window  full  of  flowers  is  a  beautiful 
sight ;  but  the  pleasure  is  heightened  tenfold 
when  some  taste  is  displayed  in  the  arrangement. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


71 


Of  late  years  this  has  been  more  fully  recognized 
than  it  once  was,  and  therefore  plants  with  noth- 
ing but  leaves  to  recommend  them,  are  often  as 
popular  as  those  which  bear  flowers.  We 
refer  to  this,  here,  because  when  any  lists  are 


sunlight  than  other  plants;  and  for  mak- 
ing tasteful  masses  they  are  almost  indispensa- 
ble. The  usually  graceful  forms  set  off  other 
heavier  things  to  great  advantage.  Let  any 
one  take,  for  instance, the  heavier  leaved  Begonias 


U^W 


BEGONIA   REX. 


given  of  plants  for  window  culture,  leaf  plants 
merely  are  seldom  seen   therein.      Palms  and 
'  ferns   deserve  recognition    as   particularly  use- 
ful for  room  work,   as    they   will   thrive    in  less 


of  the  old  "Rex"  type  as  in  the  above  illustra- 
tion, and  no  matter  how  they  may  be  massed  or 
arranged, they  will  not  look  well  unless  some  very 
artificial   pieces   of   furniture   are  arranged   or 


72 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


grouped  around  them.  But  if  a  few  palms  or 
ferns  be  introduced  into  the  company,  the  re- 
sult is  very  different,  as  the  beauty  of  the  Be- 
gonias is  heightened,  and  the  foliage  plants  are 


from  Mr.  William  Bull's  excellent  catalogue,  and 
which  will  make  our  meaning  plain. 

There  was  a  time  when  these  plants  were'very 
expensive,   especially    to    Americans,   and   few 


< '  1 1  A  M JKDOREA    FORMOSA. 


still  more  brightened.  For  the  purpose  of  com- 
parison, as  the  reader  goes  along,  we  give  an 
illustration  of  one  of  the  pinnated  South  Ameri 


would  think  of  them  for  window  or  room  deco- 
ration ;  but  thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  many  ex- 
cellent florists   of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 


can  Palms,  Chamsedorea  formosa,  which  we  take    phia  and  Baltimore  principally,  and  of  Mr.  Geo 


1877.~> 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


73 


Such,  of  South  Amboy,  particularly,  many  kinds 
have  been  brought  within  the  reach  of  almost  all. 

Setting  mere  taste  aside  for  the  present,  how- 
ever, and  returning  to  practical  matters  of  de- 
tail, we  may  note  the  following  as  among  some 
of  the  most  pressing  duties  of  the  season  among 
flowers. 

Geraniums,  Pelargoniums,  Cinerarias  and  Chi- 
nese Primroses  must  be  kept  as  near  the  glass  and 
light  as  possible ;  they  do  little  good  in  shady 
places.  Keep  off  the  green  Aphis — for  this  on 
a  small  scale  there  is  nothing  like  hot  water;  on 
a  large  scale,  tobacco  smoke  in  several  succes- 
sive light  doses  is  still  the  best  remedy. 

Fuchsias  may  now  be  readily  struck  from  the 
young  growth  from  the  old  plants,  which  will 
make  excellent  blooming  plants  for  the  next 
summer  season. 

Chrysanthemums  should  now  be  raised  from 
cuttings  for  Fall  flowering.  They  make  better 
blooming  plants  than  off-sets. 

Auriculas,  Carnations,  Pinks  and  Polyanthus — 
the  prettiest  of  florists'  flowers — must  be  kept 
cool,  just  free  from  frost,  with  plenty  of  air  if  the 
best  results  are  desired. 

Pansies  are  coming  now  into  flower.  They 
like  an  airy  frame,  where  they  will  not  be  roasted 
at  mid-day,  nor  exposed  to  drying  wSnds,  and  yet 
have  a  free  circulation  of  air  and  plenty  of  light. 
Planted  out  in  such  a  frame,  and  the  old  shoots 
cut  away  as  soon  as  the  plant  has  done  flowering, 
the  plants  will  keep  healthy  over  till  the  next 
season.  Superior  varieties  can  be  raised  from 
seed.  Choose  those  with  the  roundest  petals, 
best  colors,  and  the  first  flowers  that  open,  to 
raise  seed  from. 

New  Holland  and  Cape  plants,  such  as  Epacris, 
Acacia,  Heaths,  etc.,  are  now  the  glory  of  the 
greenhouse ;  hot  bursts  of  sun  on  them  should 
be  avoided,  as  it  lays  in  them  the  seeds  of  "  con- 
sumption," which  frequently  carries  them  oft* 
the  following  summer. 

Azaleas  succeed  well  by  grafting  with  the  half 
ripe  shoots  of  the  present  season's  growth  on 
plants  raised  either  by  seeds  or  cuttings.  Old 
wood  does  not  take  readily. 

Camellias  will  require  rather  more  water  while 
growing  than  at  other  times.  Just  before  they 
grow,  is  a  good  season  to  graft.  Cut  down  the 
stock,  cleft  graft  in  the  crown,  wax,  and  plunge 
in  a  bottom  heat  of  70°.  A  great  many  kinds 
may  be  had  on  one  plant  by  the  bottle  sys- 
tem, practiced  by  the  writer's  father,  thirty 
years  ago.      A  shoot    about    to    grow    is    ob- 


tained and  attached  to  the  stock  as  in  inarching, 
the  end  of  the  shoot  being  put  in  a  small  phial 
of  water  suspended  beneath  it.  This  plan  does 
best,  however,  with  the  young  wood  in  July. 

Look  out  for  a  good  stock  of  bedding  plants 
in  time  ;  by  striking  cuttings  of  such  things  as 
grow  rapidly  and  speedily,  and  sowing  seeds  of 
such  annuals  as  may  be  advanced  to  advantage. 

Dahlias  should  now  be  brought  forward.  A 
good  plan  is  to  shorten  the  extremity  of  the 
roots,  put  them  in  six  inch  pots  and  place  in  a 
warm  greenhouse.  In  a  few  weeks  they  will 
sprout,  when  they  should  be  shaken  out,  divided 
with  a  piece  of  root  to  each  sprout  and  sepa- 
rately potted  in  4-inch  pots. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


LA   BELLE  CARNATION. 

BY    E.  LOXDSDALE,  GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

When  looking  over  an  old  Monthly  (January  r 
1875,)  recently,  I  fell  across  the  following,  which 
is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Chitty,  of  the  Bellevue 
Nursery  Company  : — "  I  am  delighted  with  La 
Belle;  it  produces  more  than  twice  as  many 
flowers  as  Degraw  in  a  given  space.  I  am  try- 
ing to  get  up  a  stock  of  about  20,000  for  my  own 
planting  indoors  for  next  Wintej's  flowering.  It 
requires  more  head  room  than  Degraw,  but  I 
intend  building  a  house  specially  for  it.  I  am 
perfectly  satisfied  it  is  the  best  thing  in  the  way 
of  a  white  winter  flowering  Carnation  in  the 
market." 

As  a  difference  of  opinion  exists  about  La 
Belle  for  the  purpose  claimed  for  it  by  Mr.  C, 
it  would  doubtless  interest  numerous  readers 
of  the  Monthly — myself  among  the  number— to 
know  what  special  treatment  it  requires  to  pro- 
duce such  results.  Most  of  the  florists  I  come 
in  contact  with  are  dissatisfied  with  it,  the  com- 
plaint being  that  it  fails  to  flower  freely.  The 
flower  itself  is  the  best  white  we  have;  large  and 
well  filled  up  in  the  centre.  For  this  reason  it 
will  never  be  entirely  discarded  ;  but  to  grow  it 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  whites,  I  fear  will 
never  be,  unless  Mr.  Chitty  will  favor  us  with 
the  experience  on  which  he  based  his  judgment. 

My  own  experience  is  that  it  requires  to  be 
rooted  earlier,  and  not  stopped  or  pinched  back 
so  late  as  is  recommended  for  other  varieties; 
but  even  then,  when  growing  side  by  side  with 


74 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


Degraw,  Edwardsii,  La  Purite,  and  Peerless,  it 
fails  to  produce  so  many  flowers  as  any  of  them. 
Does  it  require  more  heat?  A  prominent  Car- 
nation grower  declares  there  is  no  difference  be- 
tween it  and  Degraw,  but  no  two  Carnations 
could  be  more  distinct. 


THE  VERBENA. 


BY   J.  W.,  TOLEDO,  OHIO. 

In  the  last  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly 
I  noticed  several  articles  on  Verbena  culture, 
and  the  rust  that  affects  it.  Now,  I  think  "the 
rust "  is  not  a  rust  at  all,  but  is  the  work  of  an  in- 
sect, which  can  be  seen  with  a  good  pocket  lens ; 
but  in  order  to  make  it  out  clearly  it  needs  a 
compound  microscope  of  considerable  power. 

The  said  insect  is  of  an  oval  shape,  a  little 
more  tapering  towards  the  head  end.  It  is  of  a 
uniform  glossy  brown  color,  and  about  a  hundred 
and  fiftieth  of  an  inch  long.  It  has  four  pairs 
of  legs,  the  two  front  pairs  stand  forward  on  the 
body  close  on  each  side  of  the  snout  or  sucker,  the 
snout  being  a  little  shorter  than  the  front  pair. 
The  front  legs  are  three  or  four  jointed,  with 
bristles  at  the  joints,  and  terminate  in  four  sharp 
claws,  with  a  sucking  disk,  which  enables  the 
insect  to  run  quite  easily  on  the  under  side  of  a 
piece  of  clean  glass.  The  two  pairs  behind,  are 
inserted  a  little  under  the  end  of  the  body  and 
pretty  close  together.  They  are  longer  and 
more  slender  than  the  fore  legs ;  the  last  pair 
are  quite  slender  and  bristle-like,  though  they 
are  jointed  and  terminate  in  a  long  bristle,  in- 
stead of  the  claws  and  sucking  disk. 

The  eggs  can  be  seen  glued  to  the  leaf;  they 
open  like  a  clam  to  let  the  young  escape, 
and  remain  adhering,  looking  very  clear  and 
silvery.  The  young  insect  is  light  colored  at 
first,  and  appears  to  undergo  some  slight  change 
in  form.  It  has  no  eyes  that  I  can  discover,  and 
I  think  is  a  true  mite;  and  may  add,  mighty 
also  in  its  numbers.  It  seems  there  is  hardly 
any  plant  exempt  from  its  attack.  I  believe  it 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  dropping  of  Camellia 
flower  buds;  it  ean  always  be  found  in  the  loose 
petals  and  scales  of  that  flower,  when  it  drops. 
Then,  when  the  flower  buds  are  all  gone,  the  in- 
sect falls  back  on  the  leaf  buds,  till  they  are  all 
destroyed,  and  the  plant  dies.  What  florist  is 
there  who  has  not  watched  his  handsome  plants  of 
Camellia  or  Azalias  commence  in  that  way, 
and  gradually  die,  in  spite  of  all  his  care,  from 


no  apparent  cause  but  the  blackening,  harden- 
ing process  going  on  in  the  buds? 

As  long  as  a  plant  is  growing  rapidly  we  do  not 
see  much  effect;  but  let  anything  occur  to  check 
the  growth  of  the  plant  (pot  bound  or  drouth) 
and  we  soon  see  how  quickly  the  disease  gains 
upon  it.  No,  I  do  not  think  the  insect  waits 
for  sickly  plants ;  on  the  contrary,  the  healthiest 
afford  it  the  most  nourishment,  but  the  less  vig- 
orous soon  become  sickly  when  the  insect  once 
gains  a  footing. 

There  is  in  my  greenhouse  a  large  plant  of 
Begonia  Weltoniensis  that  has  lost  all  its  leaves 
except  at  the  ends  of  the  main  branches,  the 
strongest  growing  points.  There  it  continues  to 
produce  leaves,  and  even  flowers,  but  the  lateral 
leaves  all  fall  off,  and  the 'buds  in  the  axils  turn 
black.  The  plant  is  just  able  to  sustain  its  life 
and  growth  at  the  strongest  points.  It  illus- 
trates well  the  struggle  for  life  between  the 
plants  and  its  foes.  This  insect  has  dif- 
ferent effects  on  different  plants ;  those  with 
leaves  of  a  thin  texture  soon  lose  all  their  juices 
and  become  black  and  shrivelled,  as  in  the  He- 
liotrope and  Verbena.  Leaves  of  a  thick,  fleshy 
substance,  as  the  Cyclamen,  become  twisted, 
distorted,  and  partially  developed,  perhaps  only 
one  lobe.  The  floAvers,  too,  suffer  in  the  same 
way,  and  show  any  form  but  the  right  one.  A 
year  ago  my  Cyclamens  were  so  badly  infested 
with  this  pest  that  there  was  not  a  perfect  leaf 
on  them.  The  plants  were  large,  some  of  the 
roots  three  inches  across ;  but  I  was  in  a  mind 
once  to  throw  the  whole  lot  away.  Towards 
Spring,  however,  I  trimmed  off  every  leaf  and 
gave  the  roots  a  good  washing  with  strong  to- 
bacco water.  After  a  while  the  young  leaves 
began  to  appear,  when  I  frequently  applied  the 
same  wash.  Now,  at  the  present  time,  they  are 
looking  pretty  well  and  sending  up  plenty  of 
bloom ;  but  still  there  are  traces  of  the  insect  in 
the  deformity  of  some  leaves.  This  insect  seems 
to  get  so  deep  within  the  young  buds,  or  buries 
itself  in  the  soft  pulp,  and  is  further  protected 
by  the  fine  hairs  to  beset  many  kinds  of 
leaves,  that  it  is  difficult  to  reach  it  with  any 
kind  of  liquid  intended  to  kill  it.  It  is  a 
low  type  of  insect,  perhaps  with  no  regular 
breathing  apparatus,  or  a  very  rudimentary 
one.  It  is  not  near  so  highly  developed 
a  creature  as  the  green  fly,  or  perhaps  tobacco 
smoke  would  check  it  some.  Red  spider  being 
some  such  thing  as  a  mite,  is  able  to  resist  any 
fumigation  that  it  is  safe  to  apply.      The  best 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


75 


instrument  for  applying  any  kind  of  wash  is  the 
Bellows  Syringe,  sold  by  B.  K.  Bliss  &  Sons.  It 
drives  the  liquid  in  such  fine  spray,  and  with 
force  enough  to  penetrate  the  fine  hairs  and 
thoroughly  wet  the  plant.  I  guess  the  best  way 
to  get  rid  of  the  insect  is  to  discard  every  plant 
that  shows  signs  of  it.  It  is  worth  some  sacri- 
fice to  be  rid  of  this  scourge. 


IMPROVED  SASH  FOR  THE  HOT-BED. 

BY    B.  F.  LEEDS,  PHILADA. 

The  improvement  consists  not  in  the  sash  it- 
self, but  in  the  attachments  to  it  and  the  case 
below,  the  intention  of  which  is  to  hold  the  sash 
tightly  over  the  case,  or  in  an  oblique  position 
at  its  back.  The  illustrations  accompanying 
this  article  will  help  to  show  the  manner  in 
which  this  is  accomplished. 


Fig.  1.  is  a  complete  view  of  case  or  hot-bed, 
with  grooved  bars  at  either  end  and  sliding 
boards,  the  angular  tongue  of  latter  fitting  into 
the  grooves  mentioned,  and  to  back  of  boards  is 
attached  the  sash. 


These  details  are  shown  more  clearly  in  Fig. 
2,  which  is  an  upper  corner  of  the  case  broken 
away.  An  outer  view  of  the  side  of  the  case  is 
seen  at  a,  and  an  inner  view  of  its  back  at  b  ; 
c,  c,  grooved  bars  crossing  said  end  of  case  from 
front  to  back,  and  d  is  the  sliding  board  tongued 
into,  and  moving  freely  between  the  bars  c,  c. 


The  sash  e  (glass  seen  at/)  is  attached  to  this 
board  by  hinge  shown,  and  can  be  kept  at  any 
angle  desired  by  a  block  at  back  of  the  case. 

The  distance  it  would  be  necessary  to  move 
the  sash  back  from  the  front  before  it  tipped  up 
to  an  oblique  position  would  depend  upon  the 
extent  to  which  it  was  weighted.  A  heavy 
weight  on  the  rear  or  upper  cross  bar  of  the  sash 
would  raise  it  when  projected  back  a  distance  of 
six  or  nine  inches,  or  it  could  be  left  to  tip  up  of 
its  own  weight. 

The  reader  will  easily  see  how  the  sliding 
board  will  act  as  a  fastening  to  the  sash  in  pre- 
venting it  being  blown  off  by  the  wind. 


Fig.  3  shows  the  application  of  the  idea  to  two 
adjoining  cases.  The  ends  of  the  two  cases 
with  glazing  are  seen,  and  two  sets  of  grooves 
and  sliding  boards.  In  this  instance  I  have 
placed  the  bars  over  a  board,   running  in  the 


same  direction,  and  have  made  them  fast  to  it. 
This  would  stiffen  the  bars  and  would  lessen  the 
necessary  thickness  of  the  outer  ones. 


76 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


Fig.  4l  shows  a  protector  from  direct  sun's  rays 
and  extreme  cold,  in  the  shape  of  a  double 
frame  covered  with  muslin  or  matting  and  at- 
tached to  the  sash.  This  frame  is  furnished  with 
a  spring  hinge  (cost  20  cents  per  pair,  of  brass,) 
which  would  cause  it,  when  the  pressure  of  the 
thumb   screw,  shown  enlarged  in  Fig.  5,  was  re- 


moved, to  assume  the  position  seen  in  draw- 
ing, or  a  still  more  acute-angular  one.  Of 
course,  when  the  sash  is  tipped  up  it  would 
be  requisite  to  fasten  the  frame  down  upon 
the  sash  with  the  thumb  screw,  the  slit  for  the 
passage  of  which  is  seen  at  a,  Fig.  4. 

There  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  sash  being 
moved  frontwards  as  well  as  backwards,  so  as  to 
admit  of  ventilation  at  the  extreme  back  and 
upper  part  of  the  case.  An  opening  could  be 
made  at  that  point  equal  to  a  third  of  the  width 
of  the  sash. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Double  Zonale  "  Wonderful." — Mr.  Chitty, 
Bellevue  Nursery,  writes  :— "  I  send  by  this  mail 
a  truss  of  double  Zonale  Pelargonium  'Wonder- 
ful' (Geo.  Sniith).  The  truss  was  cut  from  a 
plant  in  a  five-inch  pot,  which  has  now  nine 
other  trusses  remaining,  equally  as  large  and 
fine.    The  color  is  magnificent." 

[We  were  glad  to  see  specimens  of  this  beau- 
tiful variety.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Double  Cineraries. — The  old  Cineraria,  al- 
ways a  favorite,  has  been  produced  in  a  double 
condition  by  European  florists,  and  of  this  we 
are  reminded  now  by  beautiful  colored  plates 
from  Haage  &  Schmidt,  of  Erfurt. 

Waban  Conservatories,  Boston,  Mass. — En- 
terprising florists  at  this  time  particularly, 
deserve    all    the    encouragement    the    public 


can  give  them.  We  are  pleased  to  learn  that 
the  firm  whose  name  heads  this  paragraph  is 
prospering.  They  deserve  all  the  success  they 
are  achieving. 

The  Victoria  Regia.— We  do  not  know  of 
any  plant  of  this  in  the  Union  now,  unless  the 
one  at  Nashville  is  still  alive ;  but  by  the  follow- 
ing from  the  California  Horticulturist,  it  may  yet 
soon  be  seen  in  the  "  Golden  State : " — "  The  pub- 
lic are  commencing  to  show  a  lively  taste  for 
ponds  and  aquariums,  and  there  are  now  found 
among  our  chief  florists  no  less  than  twenty-five 
aquatic  plants  suitable  as  accessories  to  the  or- 
namentation of  grounds  and  rooms.  We  hope 
in  a  short  time  to  see  the  Victoria  Regia — the 
largest  Water  Lily  in  the  world — a  native  of  the 
river  Amazon,  grown  here  successfully  in  a  suit- 
able tank.  One  floral  firm  has  already  made  the 
attempt,  but  the  seeds  were  found  defective. 
More,  however,  have  been  ordered." 


QUERIES. 


Ferneries.— F.  M.,  Peterboro,  Ontario,  says: 
— "  Aside  from  ferns,  what  other  plants  can  be 
successfully  grown  in  ferneries?" 

[Begonias  usually  do  well  in  ferneries,  if  there 
is  some  light.  Indeed,  the  whole  is  a  question 
of  light.  If  there  be  little  light  we  can  have 
nothing  but  palms  and  ferns ;  but  in  proportion 
as  there  is  light  we  can  grow  almost  any  of  the 
soft  wooded  stove  plants  in  them. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Roses. —  Mr.  Ottaway,  Middleburg,  Summit 
County,  Ohio,  says  : — "  I  am  pleased  to  see  the 
rose  question  again.  Our  friend  last  month 
don't  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Grey.  After  twenty 
years  experience,  I  find  the  common  span  roof 
the  best  for  amateur  and  novice.  As  for  a  practi- 
cal man,  he  will  adjust  himself  to  either  span 
roof  or  lean-to.  The  lean-to  requires  more  at- 
tention than  a  span  roof." 

Sulphur  for  Red  Spider. — G.  M.  R.,  Auburn, 
Maine,  writes : — "  Will  you  please  state  in  the 
February  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  the 
safest  and  most  effectual  way  to  use  sulphur  for 
the  red  spider,  and  also  turpentine  for  scale  in 
greenhouses,  where  a  general  collection  of  flow 
ering  plants  are  grown  ?" 

|  Put  sulphur  on  tin  or  iron  plates  and  set  it  in 
the  sun  under  the  plants.  Turpentine  is  not  as 
popular  for  scale  as  whale  oil  soap,  or  indeed, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


77 


any  oily  substance.  This  can  be  syringed.  Tur- 
pentine has  to  be  applied  with  a  brush.  Ed. 
G.M.] 

Name  of  Plant.— J.  S.,  Wilmington,  Del. — 
This  is  Iris  Chinensis,  or  as  recently  stated  in 
the  Gardener's  Monthly,  now  Moraea  fimbriata. 

Names  of  Plants. — H.  L.,  Danville,  Va. — No.  1. 
Not  an  orchid,  but  Bryophyllum  calycinum. 
No.  2.  Heterocentron  roseum.  No.  3.  Probably 
a  Cistus,  but  should  have  a  flower  to  decide. 

Flowering  of  Chinese  Primrose. —  H.  L., 
Danville,  Va.,  says: — "  I  should  be  glad  to  know 
if  it  is  usual  for  the  Chinese  Primrose  to  flower 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Japan  Primrose,  that 
is  in  whorls,  one  truss  of  flowers  above  another. 


I  have  a  lot  of  the  above  raised  from  seed  sown 
last  Spring  now  in  full  bloom,  pyramidally  ar- 
ranged, from  deep  rose  to  pure  white.  Foliage 
from  natural  green  to  very  dark  color,  with 
flower  stems  nearly  black.  Not  having  seen  the 
like  before,  hence  my  troubling  you." 

[It  is  not  common,  but  they  sometimes  do. 
The  double  Chinese  Primrose  always  does. 
There  is  a  tendency  in  the  whole  family  in  this 
direction.  The  common  yellow  English  Prim- 
rose generally  has  but  single  flowers  on  stems 
springing  from  the  root;  but  occasional  ones 
are  seen  with  flowers  from  one  common  stem 
as  the  common  form  of  Chinese  Primrose,  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  under  some  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances even  another  whorl  might  not  be 
produced.— Ed.  G.  M. 


Sruit  and  Vegetable  MtArdening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


This  is  a  busy  season  south  of  Pennsylvania 
in  this  department ;  here,  we  must  wait  till  the 
end  of  the  month,  and  northward,  still  later. 
The  crops  noted  will,  of  course,  be  dependent 
on  the  arrival  of  the  season,  which  is  rather  indi- 
cated by  the  ground  becoming  warm  and  dry, 
than  by  the  almanac.  It  is  very  important  to 
have  crops  early ;  as  soon  as  the  ground  is  there- 
fore in  good  condition  put  in  the  seed.  Possibly 
a  cold  rain  might  come  and  injure  them,  and 
you  may  lose  and  have  to  make  a  new  sowing. 
Even  so,  it  is  but  the  loss  of  the  seed  and  labor, 
while,  if  the  seed  do  not  die,  the  early  crop  will 
more  than  repay  that  risk. 

In  the  hot-bed,  Pepper,  Egg  plant,  Tomato  and 
Cucumbers  may  be  sown,  and  in  a  cooler  hot-bed 
frame  Early  York  Cabbage,  Cauliflowers  and 
Celery.  Those  who  have  not  got  a  hot-bed  can 
sow  a  few  pots  or  boxes,  and  keep  them  near  the 
light  in  a  warm  room. 

In  the  open  air,  peas  and  potatoes  are  about 
the  first  crop  to  be  attended  to ;  of  the  former, 
the  varieties  have  now  become  so  numerous  that 
even  "new  grapes"  will  soon  have  to  give  way 
in  that  respect.  Of  new  early  Potatoes,  we  think 
Goodrich's  Seedling  is  the  best ;   the  best  older 


variety  is  perhaps,  the  Early  White  Sprout. 
Beets,  the  Early  Six  Week  Turnip-rooted,  is  per- 
haps the  earliest.  Carrot,  the  Early  Horn.  Cu- 
cumber, the  Early  White  Spine  or  Early  Cluster. 
Lettuce,  the  Silesian,  or  Early  Curled — to  cut 
before  heading;  and  the  Early  Butter  left  to 
head,  are  the  first  in  season.  Among  the  Ra- 
dishes, the  Old  Short-top,  and  the  Bed  and 
White  Turnip  are  still  ahead.  Spinach,  the  Old 
Round-leaved ;  so  that  on  the  whole  there  has 
been  little  advance  made  on  all  early  kinds  of 
vegetables. 

In  addition  to  sowing  of  the  above,  Onions 
Leeks,  Parsnips  and  Parsley  must  be  sown  at 
this  season — not  for  the  main  crop,  but  to  have 
a  few  in  advance  of  the  rest.  To  keep  over  the 
Winter  almost  all  kinds  of  root  crops  become 
tough  or  coarse  if  sown  too  soon. 

In  the  open  ground  Peas  and  Potatoes  receive 
the  first  attention.  Then  Beets  and  Carrots. 
Then  Lettuce,  Radish,  Spinach,  Onions,  Leeks 
and  Parsley.  Beyond  this,  unless  in  more  fav- 
ored latitudes  than  Pennsylvania,  little  can  be 
done  until  the  first  week  in  April.  There  is  noth- 
ing gained  in  working  soil  until  it  has  become 
warm  and  dry. 

In  regard  to  fruits,  our  remarks  last  month 
will  be  generally  in  order. 


78 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


COMMUNTCA  TIONS. 


NATURAL  PEACH  STONES. 

BY   E.    S.    NIXON,  CHATTANOOGA,  TENN. 

I  feel  disposed  to  reply  to  B.  F.  Transou's  arti- 
cle in  November  number,  on  the  Wild  Goose 
Plum  ;  but  as  you  bave  so  frequently  requested 
your  correspondents  to  let  the  subject  drop,  I 
feel  that  it  would  be  out  of  place;  consequently  I 
will  pass  it  over  unnoticed.  He  calls  your  at- 
tention to  my  answer  to  your  inquiry  for  informa- 
tion as  to  the  uniformity  of  size  of  the  seeds  of 
seedling  peaches,  as  follows: — "We  would  also 
call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  al- 
ways the  case  that  the  largest  peaches  have  the 
largest  seed;  for  instance,  the  Heath  Cling  is  a 
very  large  peach  and  has  a  very  small  seed — less 
than  many  peaches  of  not  half  the  size."  That 
is  all  very  true  and  undisputed;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  all  large  peaches  have  small  seed,  or 
that  seeds  of  all  seedling  peaches  are  of  a  uni- 
form size.  And  I  repeat  the  statement,  that 
the  seeds  of  some  seedlings  are  large  and  some 
small.  In  fact,  I  have  seen  seeds  of  some  seed- 
lings that  were  larger  than  the  entire  fruit  of 
some  others.     But  enough  on  that  subject. 

[The  reason  we  were  not  disposed  to  continue 
the  controversy  about  the  "  Wild  Goose  "  Plum 
was,  that  there  is  no  true  Wild  Goose  Plum. 
There  are  many  good  wild  plums  under  culture 
and  many  poor  ones.  We  want  to  see  a  selection 
made  over  again  of  the  best,  with  new  names 
and  new  descriptions.  Some  of  those  under 
culture  are  about  as  fit  to  associate  with  Wild 
Goose  as  cranberry  sauce ;  while  kinds  such  as 
are  grown  by  Hoopes,  Bro.  &  Thomas ;  Hance 
&Son;  and  others,  can  well  stand  without  any 
goose  at  all.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


ON  SOME  OLD  FRUITS. 

BY  T.  T.  LYON,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MICHIGAN   STATE 
POMOLOGICAL   SOCIETY. 

In  your  remarks,  on  page  17  of  the  January 
number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  you  speak  of 
an  impression  that  the  Ribston  Pippin  is  not 
adapted  to  America;  and  seem  surprised  at  its 
appearance  in  fine  condition  at  the  Centennial. 
I  take  occasion  from  this  to  say  that  I  have 
grown  it  in  Michigan  since  1850,  and  have  found 
it  uniformly  fine  and  the  tree  highly  satisfactory. 


It  cannot,  however,  be  set  down  as  a  heavy 
bearer ;  and  it  is  my  conviction  that  it  is  more 
at  home  at  the  extreme  North.  Its  high, 
brisk  flavor,  also,  is  against  its  general  popular- 
ity among  Americans. 

On  the  same  page  you  also  speak  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Alexander,  in  many  collections, 
at  the  Centennial ;  and  characterize  it  as  a  "  com- 
paratively poor  apple,"  planted  rather  for  show. 
Please  allow  me  to  suggest  that,  while  there  may 
well  be  a  doubt  as  to  its  relative  profitableness, 
I  know  of  no  equal  to  it  as  a  culinary  sort,  es- 
pecially for  pies  or  other  similar  purposes,  for 
which  it  suffices  without  preliminary  cooking, 
as  its  flesh  will  become  sufficiently  cooked  in  the 
process  of  baking  the  pies;  while  it  is  so  acid 
that  the  requisite  proportion  of  sugar  will  ren- 
der it  abundantly  rich  and  sprightly.  At  a  ses- 
sion of  the  American  Pomological  Society,  held 
in  your  city,  I  think  in  1862,  I  proposed  that  it 
be  placed  upon  the  rejected  list;  but  I  have 
since  seen  occasion  to  amend  my  views  respect- 
ing it. 

I  may  also  indulge  the  statement  respecting 
Hale's  Early  Peach,  that  it  stands  second  to  but 
few  varieties  here  at  the  lake  shore,  where  it  is 
seldom  seriously  affected  by  "  rot,"  and  every- 
thing considered,  is  esteemed  one  of  our  most 
profitable  sorts.  The  new  early  sorts — Amsden, 
Alexander,  Louise,  Rivers,  &c,  have  not  yet 
fruited   here,   although   expected   to   do  so  the 


PRUNING  FULL  GROWN  FRUIT  TREES. 

BY   GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE,  BRIDGEPORT,   CONN. 

The  portraits  of  such,  both  well  and  ill  pruned, 
are  found  in  our  fruit  books.  Yet  I  do  not  re- 
member any  which  details  the  right  way  and 
starting  place  in  doing  such  work.  You  may 
fix  in  your  eye  the  ideal  picture  laid  down  of  a 
well  pruned  tree.  But  without  sound  sense  and 
practice,  you  will  find  it  no  easy  job  to  fashion  a 
neglected,  scraggy,  tangled-up  tree  into  that 
clean  cut,  shapely  comeliness,  fit  for  companion- 
ship in  a  perfect  orchard.  Yet  that  right  method 
follows  logically  the  need  of  sunlight,  showers 
and  air,  to  the  best  estate  of  both  fruit  and  foli- 
age. 

The  French  say  "  c' est  le  premier  pas  qui  coate," 
which  means  in  pruning,  that  to  have  such  work 
well  done,  you  must  begin  right.  First,  then, 
never  start  your  job  from  the  ground,  or  cut 


1877  J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


79 


first  the  lower  limbs.  Do  not  puzzle  or  torment 
your  wits  by  gazing  up  into  that  maze  of  smoth- 
ering, cross-riding,  gnarled  and  tangled  growths, 
but  climb  up  through  the  centre  of  the  tree  to 
its  top,  stopping  to  cut  out  only  those  inward 
tending  branches  that  block  your  way.  As  you 
go  up,  look  studiously  out  on  the  work  to  follow. 
When  you  have  reached  the  top,  overlook  its 
very  scalp  locks.  Begin  and  cut  away  around 
the  circuit  of  the  head  every  limb  that  chafes  and 
smothers  its  better  neighbor  beside  or  below. 
To  give  pathway  to  the  sun  and  air,  take  out  any 
under  limb  that  crowding  upward  or  starting 
from  the  same  foothold,  worries  its  fellow  with 
the  clutter  of  dense  shade  or  rubbing  in  the 
wind.  As  you  thus,  step  by  step,  make  the  cir- 
cuit of  its  crown,  a  keener  and  larger  sense  will 
come  to  you  of  just  what  is  to  be  done  on  your 
tree  to  leaf  and  bough,  to  insure  you  healthy  and 
useful  growth,  and  perfect  fruit. 

Next,  go  down  to  the  second  plot  of  limbs  from 
top — not  that  they  grow  like  pines  in  regular 
tiers,  but  for  the  purpose  of  your  work  you  may 
so  regard  them.  Thus  you  will  finish  as  you  go 
downward  the  whole  circuit  of  each  grade.  In 
each  you  will  perhaps  find  limbs  which  your 
work  above  has  opened  to  the  sunshine  and  the 
breeze,  or  which  you  found  so  placed  and  des- 
tined to  remain.  Don't  worry  over  such,  more 
than  to  rid  them  of  anything  molesting  their  inde- 
pendent growth  ;  but  everywhere  cut  away  tan- 
gles, cross-riders,  and  all  such  limbs  as  disturb 
the  vigorous  outward  stretch  of  others,  or  shut 
out  light,  or  smother  with  heavy  shade.  Strive 
to  leave  each  branch  chosen  to  stay,  in  some 
sense,  like  a  miniature  tree,  bending  toward  the 
open  space  by  itself,  and  independently.  Thus 
treated,  your  fruit  trees  will  become  a  pride  and 
pleasure,  and  most  richly  repay  a  work  ofttimes 
seemingly  harsh  and  puzzling.  But  if  we  began 
right  pruning  in  the  youth  of  our  trees,  and  fol- 
lowed it  up  year  by  year,  striving  for  a  clean 
limbed,  open  head,  we  should  never  need  to  face 
the  job  which  a  long  neglected  tree  presents. 
Pruning  is  needed,  because  a  fruit  tree  is  not 
grown  for  fuel  or  timber,  but  simply  for  the 
healthful  luscious  product  of  its  fruit. 


THE  TOMATO  SEASON  PROLONGED. 

BY   H.  W.  RAVENEL,  AIKEN,    S.   C. 

I  see  an  article  in  your  January  number  from 
Gen.  W.  H.  Noble,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  giving 
his  method  of  keeping  tomatoes  after   frost.     I 


have  been  practicing  the  same  method  almost 
identically  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years  past,  and 
always  successfully,  keeping  them  sometimes  as 
late  as  February.  Our  tomatoes  begin  to  ripen 
here  about  the  beginning  of  July;  so  we  have  a 
six  months  season,  by  laying  in  a  good  supply 
in  November. 

In  order  to  insure  a  good  Fall  crop,  I  always 
sow  a  second  crop  of  seed  about  the  end  of  June. 
These  will  come  into  bearing  (ripening)  about 
the  end  of  September  or  early  in  October.  By 
frost  (say  first  of  November)  the  vines  are  full 
of  fruit  in  all  stages  of  growth.  When  a  killing 
frost  is  expected,  I  pick  in  all  the  fruit,  even 
those  that  are  half  grown,  spread  them  out  care- 
fully in  some  dry  place,  where  they  can  be  used 
as  they  ripen.  In  our  latitude  almost  any  room 
in  the  house  will  answer  the  purpose.  It  is  only 
necessary  that  the  fruit  should  not  freeze.  I 
kept  them  many  years  on  the  floor  of  a  base- 
ment room,  where  the  temperature  was  always 
above  the  freezing  point.  Last  year  I  had  them 
in  a  cold  pit  covered  with  glass,  but  found  that 
was  too  warm,  as  the  fruit  ripened  too  rapidly, 
and  was  all  done  before  Christmas. 

The  full  grown  fruit  will  ripen  perfectly,  of 
fine  color  and  good  flavor;  those  only  half- 
grown  will  also  ripen,  but  of  course  are  not  as 
well  flavored,  nor  as  richly  colored. 

Whilst  on  the  subject,  I  will  state  that  the  po- 
tato fungus  (Peronospora  infestans)  almost  in- 
variably attacks  the  leaves  of  the  second  crop 
of  tomatoes,  not,  however,  to  injure  materially 
the  production ;  but  I  have  never  seen  any 
trace  of  the  fungus  on  the  first  crop  of  tomatoes 
or  on  the  potato  leaves  in  this  region. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Fruit  of  the  Black  Hills. — A  correspondent 
of  the  Louisville  Courier-Journal,  says,  The  wild 
Strawberries,  Raspberries,  Gooseberries  and  Cur- 
rants, are  very  fine  there.  The  Choke  cherry  is 
the  only  wild  cherry,  and  though  the  grape-vine 
grows  very  large,  nothing  is  said  of  their  excel- 
lence. 

Rossignold — A  Good  French  Apple. — M.Paul 
Belleste  of  Rouen,  France,  while  writing  to  the 
publisher  in  reference  to  his  subscription  to  the 
Gardener's  Monthly,  speaks  in  high  praise  of  the 
"Rossignold"  apple.     He  says,  "It  is  magnifi- 


80 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


cent,  excellent,  large,  brilliant  yellow,  ripens  in 
February." 

Apples  for  North-eastern  New  Jersey. — In 
answer  to  a  correspondent  for  a  selection  of  six 
best  apples  for  tbis  part  of  the  country,  he  may 
take  Red  Astrachan,  Gravenstein,  Baldwin,  King 
of  Tompkins  County,  Rhode  Island  Greening 
and  Golden  Russet. 

New  Peaches. — A  number  of  peaches  that 
have  been  on  probation  the  past  year  or  two, 
ought  to  be  able  to  give  a  good  account  of  them- 
selves this  year  or  never.  Among  these  may  be 
named  Alexander,  Brandywine,  Leatherbury's 
late,  Bilyeu's  late,  Jarrell,  Tuckahoe,  Amsden, 
Wilkins',  Steadley,  and  Nanticoke. 

Apricots  in  Boston. — Among  otber  fruits 
named  by  Mr.  Rand,  in  a  letter  to  the  Editor  of 
the  Garden,  as  being  abundant  on  "  our  street 
stands,"  Apricots  and  Nectarines  are  included. 
In  Philadelphia  last  Spring  a  few  apricots  ap- 
peared from  California  in  one  fruiterer's  win- 
dow ;  but  the  quality  was  poor  through  the 
fruit  having  of  necessity  to  be  gathered  before 
ripening.  But  the  experiment  is  not  likely  to 
be  repeated.  The  nectarine  has  not  been  seen 
on  a  Philadelphia  stand  for  many  years,  and  we 
congratulate  our  Boston  friends  on  their  good 
fortune  in  securing  so  full  a  supply  of  these  de- 
licious fruits. 

The  Secretary  Grape. — This  seedling  of  Mr. 
Ricketts,  and  an  excellent  kind,  has  been  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Underhill.  It  is  a  hybrid  between 
the  Clinton  and  some  foreign  variety,  a  large 
bunch,  black,  and  is  a  very  promising  variety  in 
every  way.  Messrs.  Hance  &  Son  have,  also, 
some  under  propagation,  but  we  do  not  know 
which  ones. 

The  Japan  Persimmon. — This  is  said  to  make 
an  excellent  orchard-house  fruit.  We  ate  some 
recently,  preserved  in  Japan  like  figs  and 
sent  here,  and  they  were  far  superior,  in  our  esti- 
mation, to  the  best  figs. 


QUERIES. 


Mulched  Peach  Trees. — Medford,  Mass., 
writes: — "Late  this  Fall,  I  mulched  my  peach 
trees  with  straw,  in  order  to  retard  the  growth, 
and  prevent  injury   by  early   frost  next  Spring. 


What  will  be  the  proper  time  to  remove  the 
mulching?  Not  the  time  with  reference  to  the 
calendar,  but  to  the  budding  or  blossoming." 

[It  is  generally  atmospheric  heat  and  not  the 
warmth  of  the  soil,  that  starts  peach  trees  into 
bloom.  No  rule,  therefore,  can  be  drawn  from 
their  flowering.  We  should  be  disposed  to  leave 
the  mulch  on  till  all  probability  of  another  freeze 
was  over — but  taking  it  off  as  early  as  possible 
consistent  with  this  chance. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Borers  in  Peach  Trees.  —  M.  says: — "The 
borers  trouble  my  peach  trees.  I  cut  them  out 
with  a  pointed  knife  ;  but  that  produces  wounds 
and  bleeding.  What  prevention  can  I  apply? 
Will  a  coat  of  whitewash  (lime)  prove  effica- 
cious ?  One  writer  recommends  making  a  mound 
of  wood  ashes  several  inches  high  around  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  in  the  Spring,  and  spreading 
them  under  the  tree  in  June,  if  my  memory 
serves  me.  But  my  experience  shows  that  the 
borers  will  enter  two  feet  high,  and  apparently 
late  in  the  Summer  and  in  the  Fall.  Many  per- 
sons, intelligent  in  other  respects,  do  not  know 
that  the  escape  of  sap  and  unsightly  bunches  of 
gum  are  caused  by  borers.  One  of  my  neigh- 
bors bandaged  his  bleeding  tree  with  cloth  as  a 
remedy ;  I  recommended  the  knife  instead." 

[A  thick  coat  of  whitewash  is  a  capital  thing, 
and  where  the  whole  stem  is  so  done,  right  down 
to  the  roots,  we  doubt  whether  anything  else 
would  be  required.  If  there  be,  grease  the  stem 
well  down  where  the  grubs  work.  None  of  these 
insects  like  oily  matters. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Layered  Grape  Vines. — Mystic,  Mass.,  asks : 
— "  I  layered  some  Concord  grape  vines  last 
Spring,  three  or  four  inches  deep,  where  I  wish 
for  new  vines.  Would  it  be  better  to  let  them  > 
remain,  or  to  lift  and  set  them  deeper  next 
Spring?  The  soil  and  sub-soil  are  dry.  In  that 
soil,  I  have  dug  large  holes  a  foot  deep,  planted 
vines  in  the  holes  in  the  Spring,  covering  the 
roots  about  five  inches,  the  next  Spring  filling 
the  holes,  thereby  obtaining  another  tier  of  roots 
above ;  and  the  vines  have  done  well." 

[If  the  vines  are  well  rooted  they  need  not  be 
removed,  but  if  they  have  not  made  many  fibres, 
it  would  be  as  well  to  leave  them  another  year 
without  separating  from  the  parent. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Pruning  Grape  Roots. — Mystic  writes  : — "  In 
setting  out  grape  vines  having  long  roots,  is  it 
best  to  shorten  the  roots — the  vines,   of  course, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


81 


being  cut  down  to  within  one  bud  of  the  ground? 
Is  root  pruning  of  old  grape  vines  beneficial?" 

[We  should  not  prune  the  roots,  but  leave 
them  lie  along  a  few  inches  under  the  surface,  as 
far  as  they  will  go.  There  is  no  good  from 
pruning  roots  directly,  but  some  vines  may  have 
diseased  roots,  and  the  cutting  these  away,  and 
the  new  soil  which  the  operation  involves,  is 
often  the  occasion  for  a  new  and  advantageous 
start.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Rotting  of  Grapes  in  a  Grapery. — J.  H. 
McH.  asks  : — "  Can  the  premature  rotting  of  the 
fruit  in  a  cold  grapery  be  properly  attributed  to 
dampness  from  leakage  of  rain-water  through  an 
imperfect  roof? 

[This  is  one  of  a  class  of  questions  difficult  to 
answer  so  as  to  apply  to  your  special  case.  From 
that  point  of  view  it  may  or  may  not.  A  close, 
moist  atmosphere,  brought  about  by  drip,  when 
at  the  temperature  of  the  dew  point,  will  often 


favor  fungoid  growths  that  will  end  in  rot.  The 
Western  grape-growers  in  the  open  air,  know 
how  often  dew  or  fog  under  some  circumstances 
produces  mildews  and  moulds.  But  this  again 
depends  for  its  virulence  on  the  vital  powers  of 
the  subject.  A  cutting  of  any  soft  wooded  plant 
often  moulds  at  the  dew  point,  when  a  similar 
shoot  on  a  growing  plant  escapes,  and  from  this 
we  can  see  that  if  the  vital  powers  of  a  grape 
vine  be  already  low,  the  rot  producing  fungus,  in 
a  dewy  atmosphere,  would  be  more  active  than 
if  the  plant  were  in  a  high  condition.  Then  there 
are  many  causes  which  will  produce  rot  in 
grapes  besides  those  arising  from  the  state  of  the 
atmosphere,  so  that  though  the  dampness  you 
refer  to  may  have  caused  rot,  only  an  examina- 
tion of  the  vines  themselves  by  one  accustomed 
to  note  these  things  closely,  could  say  whether 
it  had  much  to  do  with  your  case  or  not. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


FORESTRY. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


THE  EUCALYPTUS  GLOBULUS  A  FAILURE. 

BY  E.  S.  NIXON,  CHATTANOOGA,  TENN. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  last  few 
years  considerable  interest  has  been  manifested 
by  a  number  of  people  to  grow  the  "  Fever  Tree  " 
in  this  country,  and  that  articles  innumerable 
have  been  written  by  various  parties,  in  which 
they  thought  it  would  be  hardy  in  the  Carolinas, 
&c.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Wash- 
ington sent  out  the  seed.  Enthusiastic  gentle- 
men sent  to  California  and  Australia  for  it,  and 
the  result  is  that  a  great  many  specimens  of  from 
ten  to  twenty  feet  high,  and  from  two  to  four 
inches  in  diameter,  have  sprung  up  in  various 
places  in  the  South.  In  the  month  of  December, 
before  the  coldest  weather  of  the  season  had  set 
in,  I  was  traveling  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 
I  took  particular  pains  to  notice  the  effect  of  the 
cold  weather  on  them  and  found  that  in  every 
instance,  with  one  exception,  they  were  killed 
outright. 

The  one  referred  to  was  at  Port  Hudson,  La., 


it  being  planted  in  the  shelter  of  a  high  stable.. 
It  was  a  fine  specimen,  about  twenty  feet  high 
and  four  inches  in  diameter,  had  braved  one 
Winter  with  the  loss  of  a  few  feet  of  its  top.  (It 
will  be  remembered  that  last  Winter  was  the 
mildest  for  years.)  The  time  I  saw  it,  was  two 
or  three  days  after  the  cold  snap  of  the  1st  and 
2d  of  December.  I  have  no  idea  that  it  is  living 
now.  Judging  from  my  observations  I  do  not 
think  it  will  prove  hardy  in  any  part  of  Louisi- 
ana, much  less  the  Carolinas. 

[Mr.  Berckmans  has  already  reported  that  it 
will  not  live  in  Georgia,  much  less  in  the  Caro- 
linas. It  is  barely  possible  that  a  few  Australian 
trees  may  live  in  Florida,  but  every  intelligent 
gardener  could  tell  any  newspaper  reporter  if  he 
wanted  to  know,  that  no  Australian  tree  will  do 
in  the  other  Atlantic  States. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Cork  Trees  in  California. — The  cork  tree  in- 
terest seems  gaining  ground  in  California.  We 
learn  from  the  Santa  Barbara  Press: — "A  tree  is 
now  standing  on  the  lot  at  the  corner  of  Monte- 


82 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


cito  and  Castillo  streets.  It  is  an  evergreen  oak 
about  20  feet  high  and  covers  about  as  much 
area.  At  the  foot  it  is  40  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence, and  at  6  feet  from  the  ground,  where  it 
begins  to  branch,  it  is  30  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence. The  leaf  is  very  similar  to  the  California 
live-oak,  except  that  the  underside  is  whitish. 
The  tree,  though  carefully  watched,  has  never 
been  known  to  fruit.  As  Capt.  Trussel  does  not 
permit  specimens  to  be  cut,  we  had  to  be  satis- 
fied with  sticking  a  knife  into  the  bark ;  it  pen- 
etrated readily  through  a  smooth,  good  quality 
of  cork  bark  to  a  depth  of  an  inch  and  a  half." 

A  Large  White  Oak. — A  newspaper  para- 
graph tells  us  that,  "a  white  oak  tree  recently 
felled  in  Michigan,  measured  twenty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, and  revealed  three  hundred  and 
eighty  rings  in  the  grain  ;  so  it  must  have  started 
about  the  time  America  was  discovered." 

Tree  Planting  in  Minnesota. — A  Western 
paper  tells  us  that  over  a  quarter  of  a  million 
timber  trees  were  planted  out  in  the  prairie  dis- 
tricts of  Minnesota  last  year. 

The  Profit  of  Timber  Planting. — We  like  to 
give  both  sides  of  every  question.  Here  is  the 
black  side  of  timber  planting  from  the  Chicago 
Journal  : 

"Now  it  is  very  likely  that  the  supply  of  lum- 
ber will  be  much  diminished  during  the  next 
twenty-five  years,  though  it  is  not  true  that  for- 
ests are  diminishing  as  rapidly  as  many  state. 
In  some  sections  of  the  country,  forests  are  in- 
creasing very  rapidly.  To  show  that  it  is  not 
ordinarily  profitable  to  set  out  and  tend  trees  for 
half  a  life  time  in  order  to  have  some  lumber 
and  wood,  we  have  only  to  point  to  the  portions 
of  land  in  this  and  other  Western  States  that  are 
covered  with  trees,  where  land  can  be  bought  at 
a  less  price  than  on  an  open  prairie  in  the  vicin- 
ity. If  there  was  a  prospective  speculative 
value  in  forest  timber,  aside  from  pine  and  a  few 
other  varieties,  we  should  see  capitalists  compe- 
ting to  buy  up  all  the  forests  in  the  country. 
The  fact  is,  however,  that  investments  are  rarely 
ever  made  in  this  kind  of  property.  At  present, 
wood  is  little  used  for  fuel  in  the  West,  and  as 
improvements  are  made  in  the  manner  of  con- 
suming soft  coal,  it  will  be  used  less  than  now. 
As  the  country  increases  in  age  and  wealth,more 
durable  material  than  wood  will  be  used  in  the 
construction  of  buildings." 

Without  wishing  to  prejudice  the  argument 


we  might  say  to  this,  that  if  one  carries  coals  to 
Newcastle,  he  would  not  expect  to  make  much 
profit.  To  plant  trees  where  they  are  now  an 
incumbrance,  and  likely  to  be  for  some  years, 
would  be  folly  ;  but  to  plant  them  where  their 
products  would  certainly  be  in  demand,  is  an- 
other thing. 

Preserving  Oak  Timber. — It  is  said  that  oak 
ties  for  railroads  are  made  very  durable  by  being 
steeped  in  chloride  of  zinc  or  creosote  oil. 

The  Value  of  Catalpa  Timber. — Positive  facts 
in  regard  to  the  durability  of  Catalpa  timber  are 
scarce.    The  following  is  from  the  Railway  Age: 

"In  the  Spring  of  1871,  in  conversation  with 
Wm.  E.  Arthur,  formerly  superintendent  of  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad,  he  stated  that  Catalpa 
ties  would  last  forever ;  that  it  was  easily  culti- 
vated, was  of  rapid  growth,  and  when  planted  in 
groves  grew  straight  and  tall  as  any  forest  tree  ; 
that  he  had  several  groves  then  growing  on  his 
farm  that  had  been  planted  but  four  years  and 
were  20  to  30  feet  high ;  that  he  had  planted 
them  for  fence  posts,  but  had  subsequently 
learned  that  they  would  hold  a  spike  as  well  as 
oak  and  would  not  split.  Hence  their  value  for 
cross-ties. 

"  Three  years  ago  I  cut  from  a  Catalpa  tree,  that 
had  been  cut  down  after  growing  30  years  as  a 
shade  tree,  two  railroad  cross-ties,  and  placed 
them  in  a  track  over  which  trains  pass  every 
hour,  one  under  a  rail  joint.  The  spikes  show 
no  signs  of  loosening.  The  Catalpa  does  not  hold 
a  spike  as  well  as  oak,  but  sufficiently  well  for 
all  practical  purposes.  It  does  not  split  easily- 
While  not  as  tough  as  some  woods,  it  should  not 
be  termed  brittle,  as  stated  in  Millikin's  essay. 
I  subjected  pieces  of  Catalpa,  oak  and  ash,  one 
inch  square,  to  a  breaking  pressure  twelve  inches 
between  supports.  The  Catalpa  broke  under  a 
pressure  of  703  pounds ;  ash  890  pounds ;  one 
piece  of  oak  at  577,  one  at  709,  and  one  at  1,141 
pounds.  The  Catalpa  deflected  three  times  as 
much  as  the  oak  or  ash  before  breaking." 

Commercial  Classes  of  Forest  Trees. — At  a 
recent  meeting  of  a  Farmer's  association  in  Con- 
necticut, Prof.  Brewer  of  Yale  College,  gave  a 
lecture  in  the  evening  on  "  Woods  and  Wood- 
lands" of  Connecticut.  Great  Britain,  he  said, 
has  twenty-nine  species  of  indigenous  trees, 
growing  over  fifty  feet  in  height;  France  thirty- 
three,  and  Europe  only  fifty  species.  Connecti- 
cut has  sixty  species  indigenous  to  the  soil,  grow- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


83 


ing  to  the  height  of  fifty  feet  and  upwards. 
Humboldt  called  America  the  "  leafy  continent." 
Our  government  collected  and  exhibited  four 
hundred  and  nineteen  species  of  wood  at  the 
Centennial.  He  arranged  woods  in  five  classes, 
as  follows  :  first,  woods  for  fuel  and  charcoal ; 
second,  for  buildings  and  ships ;  third,  for  furni- 
ture and  joiners'  work ;  fourth,  for  various  man- 
ufacturers, such  as  spools,  lasts,  etc.;  fifth,  forest 
products,  such  as  maple  sugar  and  tan-bark. 
The  lecture  was  full  of  instruction  and  was  at- 
tentively listened  to. 

Sweet  Fern  for  Tanning. — The  paragraph  in 
our  magazine  some  months  ago  in  regard  to  this 
article,  attracted  considerable  attention.  Here 
is  an  additional  item  about  it :  — 

"  The  Ellsworth  American  says  that  Capt.  Eaton 
made  another  shipment  of  two  hundred  barrels 
of  sweet  fern  extract  to  the  Boston  leather  mar- 
ket and  with  it  his  first  consignment   of  extract 


of  alder.  This  alder  extract,  like  sweet  fern  ex- 
tract, is  new  to  the  leather  trade  of  this  country. 
The  tanning  properties  of  these  new  agents  have 
been  thoroughly  tested  by  practical  tanners  of 
Ellsworth,  and  found  to  be  equal  to,  if  not  supe- 
rior to  the  best  tannin  material  in  use  in  this 
country.  Calfskins  tanned  with  both  the  fern 
and  the  alder  are  as  mellow  and  firm  as  the  best 
tanned  French  calfskins,  and  much  more  beau- 
tiful in  color." 

Wood  Pavements. — These  have  proved  less 
durable  than  their  friends  imagined.  It  was 
thought  at  one  time  that  a  demand  for  blocks 
would  have  an  influence  on  forestry,  but  the 
signs  of  the  times,  both  in  this  country  and  Eu- 
rope are,  that  this  system  of  paving  will  never 
come  into  general  use.  With  all  the  objection  to 
stone,  its  comparative  durability  gives  it  an  ad- 
vantage which  will  always  outweigh  numbers  of 
good  points  in  the  wood. 


<£t>« 


Natural  History  and  Science. 


C03IMUNICA  TIONS. 


BRODI/EA   CALIFORNIA. 

W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL  DORADO,  CAL. 

Of  the  many  strange  and  wonderful  growths 
found  in  California,  the  botanist  finds  few  of  a 
more  peculiar  habit,  and  none  that  I  know  of 
deserves  more  attention.  No  other  plant  in  the 
vegetable  world  acts  as  does  this  one. 

The  Brodiaea  Californica  belongs  to  the  na- 
tural order  Liliacese,  and  is  known  among  the 
mass  of  floral  people  as  the  Twining  Hyacinth,  a 
name  which  it  well  deserves,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  description  given  below.  It  has  two  near 
relations,  both  natives  of  California,  but  of  a  dif- 
ferent habit;  they  are—  B.  coccinea,  bearing- 
crimson  flowers,  and  B.  grandiflora,  bearing 
blue  flowers,  both  of  which  I  shall  describe  at 
another  time. 

The  B.  Californica  starts  to  grow  early  in  the 
Spring,  it  sends  up  from  two  to  four  leaves,  the 
latter  very  seldom,  these  are  of  various  shades  of 
green,  being  very  dark  where  exposed  to  the 
sunlight,  and  light  in  the  shade;  they  vary  from 


one-half  to  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  from  one 
to  three  feet  in  length.  I  have  often  gathered 
them  of  over  a  yard  in  length,  but  they  were  al- 
ways of  plants  in  the  shade,  they  have  a  deep 
channel  running  the  entire  length,  and  nearly 
always  lie  prostrate  on  the  ground. 

The  flower- stem  starts  to  grow  about  the  mid- 
dle of  May ;  as  soon  as  it  gets  to  be  five  or  six 
inches  long,  it  commences  to  twine,  and  twines 
itself  over  any  shrub  or  plant  in  its  vicinity, 
whether  five  or  ten  feet  high,  it  keeps  on  twining 
until  it  reaches  the  top  of  its  support. 

It  takes  it  from  two  to  four  weeks  to  reach  the 
top  of  its  support,  and  all  this  time  the  flower-bud 
remains  dormant.  After  reaching  the  greatest 
height  it  can  get,  it  stops  to  take  a  rest  for  a  week 
or  two.  Then  occurs  the  most  singular  phenom- 
enon of  all.  The  stem  breaks  off  close  to  the 
ground,  and  keeps  no  connection  whatever  with 
mother  earth,  which  until  this  time  has  given  it 
nourishment;  now  the  flower-bud  begins  to  ex- 
pand, and  grows  for  about  two  weeks,  when  lo! 
■the  bud  opens  and  exposes  to  view  from  six  to 
sixty  other  flower-buds,  which  up  to  this  time 
have  been  safely  hidden  from  view.     In  about  a 


84 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


week,  or  the  first  to  the  middle  of  July,  the  flow- 
ers open,  and  remain  from  two  to  six  weeks,  and 
this  without  any  connection  with  the  earth  what- 
ever. Whether  it  derives  nourishment  from  the 
shrub  supporting  it,  or  the  air,  I  am  not  prepared 
to  say. 

The  flowers  are  of  various  shades  of  pink  and 
pinkish  purple;  as  before  stated  they  are  borne 
in  clusters  of  from  twelve  to  sixty;  they  are  from 
one-half  to  one  inch  inch  in  diameter,  and  the 
clusters  from  one  to  six  inches  in  diameter. 

The  bulbs  are  of  a  medium  size,  and  very  deep 
in  the  ground,  and  so  entangled  with  roots  of 
underbrush  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get 
them. 

CULTURE. 

To  any  one  who  can  get  them,  I  would  say  get 
them.  Plant  about  four  inches  deep,  in  rather  good 
rich  soil,  near  some  bush  or  shrub,  so  as  to  afford 
some  support.  It  will  not  injure  it  any  way. 
Cover  in  cold  climate  with  suitable  covering. 
Give  no  water  except  what  it  gets  naturally.  By 
following  the  above  directions,  I  think  you  will 
have  success. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Interpretation  of  Varying  Forms. — At  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  Mr.  Thos.  Meehan  said  that 
William  Bartram,  in  the  last  century,  had  found 
forms  of  Liriodendron  tulipifera  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill River,  as  he  had  been  informed  by  his  son- 
in-law,  with  entire  leaves;  but  only  this  year  had 
he  succeeded  in  re-discovering  them.  Some  of 
these  leaves  he  exhibited.  He  observed  that 
years  ago  such  discoveries  had  an  interest  in 
themselves.  Now  the  botanist  expected  to  find 
entire  leaved  forms  among  kinds  usually  lobed, 
or  lobed  ones  among  the  entire  class.  The  out- 
value now  in  these  discoveries  was  in  any  lesson 
they  might  teach.  As  a  rule  he  hesitated  to  re- 
fer to  the  unpublished  observations  of  others, 
preferring  that  the  discoverers  should  in  their 
own  good  time  and  way,  report  what  they  had 
found,  but  hoped  to  be  pardoned  on  this  occa- 
sion, for  saying  that  on  a  recent  visit  to  the 
Academy,  the  distinguished  botanist,  Dr.  Engel- 
mann,had  pointed  out  that  some  oaks  had  lobed 
leaves  oven  in  early  infancy,  while  others  bad 
entire  leaves ;  but  that  those  which  had  early  lobed 
leaves  assumed  more  entire  leaves  when  mature, 


and  those  which  had  entire  leaves  when  young, 
had  lobed  leaves  when  fully  grown.  In  many 
oaks  which  he  had  examined,  he  found  Dr.  En- 
gelmann's  observations  correct,  and  that  it  ex- 
tended to  many  other  plants.  The  mulberries 
generally,  had  lobed  leaves  in  their  younger 
years,  but  when  mature,  the  leaves  were  uni- 
formly entire,  and  this  was  especially  well  known 
in  the  case  of  the  Broussonettia.  In  young  Ja- 
pan honeysuckles,  the  leaves  were  querciform 
or  variously  lobed,  while  at  maturity  the  ten- 
dency to  union  was  often  remarkable.  In  the 
common  ivy,  the  halbert  shaped  leaves  of  youth, 
always  gave  place  tolobeless  forms  when  of  fruit- 
ing age.  But  it  was  in  cruciferous  plants  that 
the  differences  were  best  seen.  Here  lyrate  or 
pinnatitied  leaves  in  infancy,  often  gave  place  to 
entire  ones  as  the  plant  grew  ;  while  there  were 
numberless  instances  in  which  entire  juvenes- 
cent leaves  gave  place  to  pinnatified  ones. 

However,  the  point  for  the  present  even- 
ing was,  that  there  was  often  a  vast  difference 
between  the  leaves  of  a  plant's  early  life, 
and  their  form  in  advanced  age.  In  Conif- 
erae,  he  said,  this  was  well  known.  During  the 
first  few  months  from  seed,  many  different  species 
in  their  several  sub-divisions,  were  so  nearly 
alike  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  tell  any 
one  apart  till  a  little  age  had  brought  divergence 
from  the  original  type.  He  exhibited  some 
young  Thujas  to  illustrate  this.  The  early  Thujas 
all  had  ericoid  leaves.  In  the  forms  which  we 
knew  as  arborvitses,  the  conditions  with  which 
we  were  familiar  was  the  secondary  form.  In 
these  the  leaves  which  in  juvenescense  were  free 
and  heath-like,  had  become  almost  wholly  uni- 
ted with  the  branches.  But  there  were  cases 
where  the  young  arborvitses  had  never  had  pow- 
er to  leave  their  early  condition.  They  were  the 
analogoues  of  what  we  know  in  human  nature  as 
imbeciles  or  feeble-minded ;  and  of  this  class 
were  many  so  called  "  Retinosporas,"  Biota 
Meldensis,  and  many  Junipers  and  Thujas.  He 
had  known  the  Thuja  ericoides  of  gardens  to  re- 
main fifteen  years  in  this  infantile  state,  and 
then  only  one  of  thousands  to  regain  the  pure 
adolescent  or  fan-like   arborvitas  form. 

In  all  these  cases  it  is  important  to  notice  that 
a  comparative  feebleness  of  growth,  and  an  ab- 
sence, more  or  less  total,  of  all  disposition  to  pro- 
duce flowers,  go  with  these  continuously 
juvenescent  characters.  With  the  appearance 
of  sexual  characters,  there  is  change  of  form ; 
and,  in  proportion  as  this  change  is  the  more 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


85 


marked,  is  the  relative  productiveness.  The 
white  oak  (Quercus  alba)  which,  during  its  first 
year  has  entire  leaves,  has  them  lobed  at  matur- 
ity; and  those  which  have  them  the  most  deeply 
lobed  are  the  most  productive  in  acorns. 

He  found  these  observations  to  hold  good  in 
the  entire  leaved  Liriodendron.  During  the 
first  year  all  tulip  trees  had  entire  leaves,  or  at 
at  least  more  or  less  so  in  comparison  with  those 
which  they  afterwards  assume.  These  large  trees 
with  entire  leaves  had  merely  retained  their  ju- 
venescent form.  The  other  attendant  characters 
of  juvenescence  were  also  present.  The  tree  from 
which  the  large,  entire  leaf  exhibited  was  taken, 
had  no  signs  of  ever  having  borne  seeds.  In  one 
place  he  found  two  trees  which,  from  surround- 
ing circumstances  he  should  judge,  were  prob- 
ably about  the  same  age,  and  in  every  circum- 
stance relating  to  nutrition,  equally  favored;  one 
with  very  deeply  cut  leaves,  even  to  the  most 
feeble  branch,  was  covered  with  seed  cones,  and 
was  thirteen  feet  in  circumference.  The  other 
had  leaves  almost  entire,  with  but  few  fruit,  and 
a  trunk  of  only  eight  feet  round. 

The  danger  was,  that  in  discussing  laws  of 
variation  in  connection  with  the  origin  of  species, 
we  may  overlook  these  sexual  and  physical 
changes.  If  one  never  having  seen  a  Baltimore 
oriole,  should  notice  particularly  the  brilliant 
plumage  of  the  male  bird,  and  without  noticing 
the  sex,  compare  it  with  the  very  different  look- 
ing female  bird,  he  would  be  very  apt  to  think 
he  had  found  a  "  missing  link  "  in  a  grand  evolu- 
tionary chain.  There  were  many  differences  in 
animals  which  were  recognized  as  having  their 
origin  in  obscure  sexual  laws,  as  well  as  many 
more  unrecognized,  but  probable.  And  he  be- 
lieved these  cases  were  far  more  numerous  in 
vegetation,  and  which  would  have  to  be  carefully 
eliminated  from  consideration  in  any  study  on 
the  origin  of  species  or  the  evolution  of  form  in 
relation  thereto. 

Botanical  Garden  in  Fairmount  Park. — For 
many  years  past  there  has  been  a  desire  in 
Philadelphia  to  establish  a  botanic  garden,  but 
the  exact  way  to  bring  this  about  has  never 
been  clear.  In  a  general  way  the  most  endur- 
ing establishments  of  this  kind  grow,  and  are 
not  made.  As  a  rule,  the  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple who  pay  taxes  prefer  horticulture  to  mere 
botanical  science,  and  therefore,  the  one  should 
grow  out  of  the  other,  if  at  all.  The  Kew  Gar- 
den plan  is   the  best  yet  worked  out,  and  the 


Horticultural  Department  of  the  Centennial 
may  lead  to  such  a  garden  as  Kew.  The  gardening 
about  the  Hall  was  so  very  beautiful,  that  there 
was  a  general  desire  by  the  people  to  "have  it 
over  again."  The  City  Councils  have  made  an 
appropriation  for  the  purpose,  and  some  intelli- 
gent citizens,  in  order  to  get  a  good  start  for  an 
arboretum,  moved  in  the  purchase  of  the  exhi- 
itors'  collections  as  a  nucleus  to  start  from. 
Mr.  Eli  K.  Price  has  recently  made  a  report  to 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,  from  which 
we  extract  as  follows  : 

"Some  planting  out  of  the  various  trees  in  the 
nursery  had  been  made  in  the  Park  along  the 
few  avenues  opened,  and  1639  trees  have  been 
planted  over  the  space  occupied  for  the  Centen- 
nial International  Exhibition.  The  formation 
of  the  grounds  within  that  space  by  the  Board 
of  Finance  of  the  Exhibition  and  the  planting 
therein,  are  an  invaluable  acquisition  to  Fair- 
mount  Park,  as  open  waste  fields  have  thereby 
been  converted  into  beautiful  gardens,  with  ave- 
nues, walks  and  fountains.  It  is  true,  that  the 
garden  of  the  Horticultural  Hall  was,  to  a  large 
extent,  planted  with  trees  and  flowers  by  For- 
eign and  American  exhibitors.  James  Veitch 
&  Sons,  of  Kiag's  Road,  Chelsea,  S.  W.,  near 
London,  presented  to  the  Park  Commissioners 
their  valuable  collection  of  trees  and  plants, 
consisting  chiefly  of  Rhododendrons. 

The  American  exhibitors  who  had  collected 
and  planted  in  the  garden  of  Horticultural  Hall 
a  rare  variety  of  trees  and  ligneous  plants  were 
Thomes  Meehan,  of  Germantown;  Hoopes, 
Brother  &  Thomas,  of  West  Chester,  Pa.;  S.  B. 
Parsons  &  Sons,  and  R.  B.  Parsons  &  Co.,  of  Flush- 
ing, N.  Y.;  Miller  &  Hayes,  of  Mount  Airy, 
Philadelphia;  Mahlon  Moon,  of  Morrisville,  Pa.; 
and  Robert  Buist,  of  Philadelphia.  They  were 
actuated  by  a  liberal  desire  that  their  collections 
should  remain  in  the  Park,  and  offered  them  at 
prices  which  they  esteemed  little  over  half  the 
cost  to  them.  It  was  an  object  to  the  Commis- 
sioners to  secure  these  permanently  for  our 
Park,  to  be  transplanted  as  thinning  out  shall  be 
required  for  their  healthy  growth,  and  they  have 
been  secured  by  purchase. 

The  resources  for  this  purchase  should  be  here 
stated.    They  were  as  follows  : 

The  cHy's  appropriation,  by  the  Park  Commission  ap- 
plied for  Nurseries  in  1876 81,500  00 

Accumulated  Interest  on  Elliott  Cresson's  Legacy 3,000  00 

"  "  Andre  F.  Michaux's  Legacy...     414  60 

"Contributions  by  the  following  persons  of 
$100  each,  to-wit: 

Wm.  L.  Schaffer,  George  C.  Thomas,  Chas.  H.  Rogers, 
Samuel  Jeanes,  Joseph  Jeanes,  Joshua  T.  Jeanes, 
Isaac  F.Baker,  Eli  K.  Price 800  00 

Moses  Brown  and  J.  C.  Strawbridge,  each  $50 100  00 

Total 85,814  60 

"As  the  legacies  of  Elliott  Cresson  and  Andr6 
F.  Michaux  are  enduring  funds  for  planting  in 
the  Fairmouut  Park  and  elsewhere,  it  is  proper 
here  to  show  what  are  the  trusts  of  those  wills, 


86 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[31arch, 


and  what  are  the  obligations  to  the  public  in- 
curred by  the  Park  Commission  in  executing  the 
agency  committed  to  them." 

After  showing  the  tree  planting  resources  of 
the  city  as  derived  from  the  legacy  of  Elliott 
Cresson,  who  left  $5,000,  the  interest  annually  to 
go  to  planting  shade  trees  for  the  citizens,  and 
of  Andre  F.  Michaux,  who  left  $12,000  to  the 
Philosophical  Society,  for  "especially  the  en- 
couragement of  sylvaculture,"  Mr.  Price  says  : 

"Within  the  Park  the  landscape  gardener  will 
exert  his  skill  to  blend  in  beauty  the  self-sown 
forests  there  growing,  with  artistic  planting,  as 
the  formation  of  new  avenues  and  fresh  grading 
will  demand;  where  the  new  trees  will  be  of 
kinds  not  native  to  our  environs,  and  show  in 
contrast  the  hand  of  Art ;  but  at  the  same  time 
greatly  add  to  the  variety  and  novelty  of  trees 
and  plants;  so  that  the  trees  of  the  Park  shall 
become  a  great  Arboretum,  and  its  flower  beds 
become  Botanic  Gardens.  Thus  the  landscape 
formed  to  please  the  taste,  and  the  gardens  to 
delight  the  eye,  will  become  schools  of  science 
for  all  scholars  and  citizens.  For  this  end,  each 
section  of  the  Park  will  be  planted  with  the 
largest  practicable  variety  of  trees  and  plants. 

"That  the  variety  of  these  may  be  greatly  in- 
creased, we  have  purchased  the  trees  exhibited 
in  Horticultural  Garden,  and  the  gathering  and 
planting  of  acorns  and  tree  seeds  have  had  in 
view  mainly  to  increase  the  number  of  species, 
while  providing  the  necessary  stock  whence  to 
transplant  trees  over  our  Park  of  nearly  three 
thousand  acres  in  extent." 

The  Eucalyptus  in  our  Climate. — American 
nurserymen  are  "  pestered  to  death  "  with  in- 
quiries about  Eucalyptus  plants  for  forest  grow- 
ing, from  all  sorts  of  places,  from  Labrador  to 
the  Potomac.  Any  man  of  common  sense 
knows  that  one  might  nearly  as  well  plant  the 
pine  apple  or  banana  as  the  Eucalyptus ;  but 
the  common  newspapers  that  know  little  about 
these  things,  or  anything  but  "Democrat"  or 
"  Republican,"  keep  the  people  in  such  a  state 
of  excitement  over  it,  that  the  agricultural  press 
is  a  poor  offset  to  this  great  power. 

It  is  bad  enough  to  have  to  be  continually  on 
the  strain  to  counteract  the  mischief  these  regu- 
lar papers  do ;  but  what  shall  we  say  when  men 
of  science  join  with  the  newspapers  in  promul- 
gating this  nonsense.  In  the  proceedings  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  now  before  us, 
a  Mr.  Davenport  is  reported  as  saying  at  one 
of  the  meetings  that  "some  of  the  Eucalyptus 
of  Australia  will  probably  grow  in  Philadelphia, 
and  he  will  be  happy  to  assist  in  their  introduc- 
tion." 

No  doubt  they  will  "grow  in   Philadelphia" 


during  the  Summer,  but  what  is  to  become  of 
them  in  the  Winter,  when  they  don't  grow?  It 
is  too  bad  to  have  such  stuff  go  out  under  the 
stamp  of  this  time-honored  Society. 

Ripening  of  the  Persimmon. — A  correspondent 
of  the  London  Journal  of  Horticulture  says  : — "  In 
your  journal  of  November  30th  in  an  article  on 
Diospyros  Kaki  you  repeat  the  popular  opinion 
that  the  Diospyros  virginiana's  fruit  '  is  not 
palatable  until  frozen.'  Allow  me  to  say  that 
this  is  a  fallacy.  The  Persimmon,  as  it  is  known 
through  the  southern  half  of  the  United  States, 
is  quite  variable  in  the  size,  season  and  quality 
of  its  fruit,  and  I  have  no  doubt  will  be  ulti- 
mately developed  by  selection  into  a  valuable 
species  of  fruit.  I  have  seen  ripe  specimens  in 
this  latitude  (39°  N.,  about  St.  Louis)  as  early  as 
the  end  of  August,  whilst  the  fruit  of  some  trees 
hardly  ripens  at  all,  or  if  so,  imperfectly,  by  the 
time  cold  weather  begins.  But  the  ripening  and 
sweetness  seem  to  depend  entirely  on  the  length 
and  heat  of  the  Summer,  and  not  at  all  on  the 
subduing  powers  of  early  frosts.  Hot  Summers 
produce  early-ripened  delicious  fruit,  cold  sea- 
sons and  high  latitudes  produce  poor  fruit. 
Arthur  Bryant  (a  brother  of  the  poet  Bryant), 
living  at  Princeton,  Illinois,  about  latitude  41  ^ 
N.,  tells  me  that  in  some  seasons  the  Persimmon 
with  him  does  not  ripen,  and  he  thinks  the  frost 
has  nothing  to  do  with  its  maturing.  He  has 
trees  nearly  forty  years  old  of  his  own  planting, 
and  has  observed  them  closely." 

We  refer  to  this  in  order  to  say  that  we  thought 
intelligent  persons  everywhere  now  knew  that  it 
was  not  frost  that  gave  sweetness  to  the  Persim- 
mon, though  it  often  helps  the  cause  which  does. 

The  ripening  of  fruits  is  a  chemical  process. 
After  growth  ceases,  decay  or  chemical  action 
commences,  and  wrhat  we  call  "ripening"  is 
really  the  first  stage  of  decomposition.  Early 
ripening  kinds  will  commence  this  decay  with- 
out frost ;  a  late  kind  will  decay  if  there  is  no 
frost.  Frost  simply  hastens  decay.  Of  course 
nature  must  have  done  her  part  before  this  par- 
ticular ripening  begins.  Frost  nor  any  agent 
would  give  sweetness  to  a  half-ripe  Persimmon. 

The  ripening  of  a  Persimmon  is  just  the  same 
process  as  the  ripening  of  a  medlar,  about  which, 
all  our  foreign  friends  know. 

New  United  States  Plants. — As  Western  ex- 
plorations are  pushed,  new  plants  are  discovered. 
In  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Arts   and  Sciences,  just  issued,  Prof.  Gray  de- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


87 


scribes  fifty-three  new  species— a  very  large  num- 
ber for  one  year.  Most  of  these  are  due  to  the 
indefatigable  labors  of  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry.  Many 
of  these  will  as  usual  be  of  little  horticultural 
interest ;  but  we  think  from  the  descriptions, 
there  will  be  many  more  useful  or  ornamental 
plants  than  common  with  new  discoveries. 

Canbya  Candida. — Under  this  name  Prof.  Asa 
Gray  describes  a  new  plant  from  Southeast  Cali- 
fornia, in  the  proceedings  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  It  was  discov- 
ered by  Dr.  Parry,  and  is  dedicated  to  Mr.  W. 
M.  Canby  of  Wilmington,  Del.  The  plant  is  of 
the  poppy  family,  but  very  minute,  and  will  not 
perhaps  be  of  much  value  to  florists,  but  as  com- 
memorating one  of  the  most  worthy  of  American 
botanists,  the  adoption  of  the  name  by  Dr.  Gray 
will  be  received  with  pleasure  by  Mr.  Canby's 
many  friends. 

Graft  Hybrids. — A  newspaper  paragraph  says 
that  Dr.  Hooibreuk  has  succeeded  in  producing 
new  varieties  by  "  crossing  the  sap,"  which  we 
suppose  is  a  form  of  expressing  graft  hybrids. 

The  Drop  or  Bag  Worm. — We  have  but  one 
very  bad  pest  of  this  family  in  the  Eastern  States, 
but  they  appear  to  have  others  in  California. 
Dr.  Edwards,  in  a  communication  to  the  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences  recently,  says  : 

"  The  species  at  present  described  as  natives 
of  the  United  States  are  verjr  few,  not  more  than 
five,  belonging  to  perhaps  as  many  genera, 
being  distinctly  known  to  entomologists.  The 
most  common  of  these  is  a  species  called  Thyri- 
dopteryx  ephemeriformis,  which,  according  to 
Dr.  Harris,  is  occasionally  abundant  in  Phila- 
delphia and  its  vicinity,  and  there  popularly 
known  in  its  larval  state  as  the  drop-worm,  or 
basket-worm.  It  is  at  times  very  destructive  to 
the  arbor-vitse,  larch  and  hemlock  trees.  In 
California,  though  none  as  yet  have  been  de- 
scribed, three  species  are  known  to  me,  two  of 
which  belong  to  the  typical  genus,  Psyche ;  the 
third,  and  by  far  the  most  interesting,  which 
has  just  been  discovered  by  our  President,  Prof. 
Davidson,  representing  the  genus  GCceticus.  It 
is,  however,  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  cater- 
pillar cases  of  these  three  species  are  alone 
known,  the  perfect  insects  as  yet  evading  our 
discovery." 

Gilia  Parry m. — Mr.  Lemmon,  the  enthusias- 
tic California  botanical  discoverer  thus  tells  the 
Rural  Press  how  Mrs.  Parry  received  the  honor 
of  having  this  beautiful  new  plant  named  after 
•her : 

"  Besides  making  a  large  collection  of  the 
known  flora  of  the  South,  Dr.  Parry  and  I  picked 


up,  it  appears,  several  plants  new  to  science  ;  the 
Doctor  a  dozen  and  I  half  as  many.  Among 
the  latter  a  beautiful  little  Gilia  from  the  Mo- 
have river,  with  large  pink  and  white  blossoms, 
very  desirable  for  cultivation.  Upon  its  discov- 
ery I  studied  it  and  found  it  different  from  any 
species  yet  published,  so  sent  the  specimens  to 
Dr.  Gray,  with  the  request  that  he  would  name 
it  Gilia  Parryae,  to  honor  the  noble  wife  of  Dr. 
Parry,  whose  many  years  of  botanical  service 
entitle  her  to  recognition. 

A  month  or  so  after,  Dr.  Palmer,  an  indefati- 
gable collector  of  that  region,  also  picked  up 
the  plant  and  forwarded  with  his  collection. 
When  Dr.  Gray  came  to  examine  the  accumu- 
lations of  the  season,  he  described  the  new 
plant  and  named  it  Gilia  Palmeri.  As  soon  as 
I  learned  the  fact  I  stoutly  protested,  arguing  at 
length  my  priority  of  discovery,  also  my  deter- 
mination, citing  Dr.  Parry  for  witness,  where- 
upon Dr.  Gray  has  just  revoked  his  former  ac- 
tion and  now  the  beautiful  little  gem  is  named 
for  all  time  Gilia  Parryse,  'dedicated  to  Mrs. 
Dr.  Parry,'  Dr.  Gray  adds,  '  whose  services  to 
botany  well  merit  this  recognition." 

Music  and  Plants. — Some  fancyist  has  written 
about  the  benefits  of  music  on  the  health  of 
plants.  Of  course  it  is  but  a  seasonable  joke, 
but  many  of  "  the  papers  "  are  passing  it  around 
as  the  best  of  sense. 

The  use  of  Honeyed  Secretions. — An  es- 
teemed correspondent  says:— "Your  botanical 
friend  has  still  an  inquiry  or  two  to  make  on 
honeyed  secretions.  This  appears,  you  now  tell 
us,  because  Dr.  H.,  of  Vienna,  'shows  that  flow- 
ers which  could  not  be  fertilized  by  their  own 
pollen,  or  foreign  pollen,  were  successfully 
impregnated  when  nectar  was  applied  to  the 
stigma  before  the  application  of  the  pollen.' 

"  First,  will  you  give  a  reference  so  that  one 
may  see  what  Dr.  H.  was  driving  at,  and  what 
he  made  out?  As  he  appears  to  have  been 
working  on  some  stigma  that  would  not  act  on 
the  pollen,  either  of  its  own  or  any  other  flower, 
we  suspect  that  he  was  trying  pollen  on  imma- 
ture stigmas,  and  then  finding  that  if  he  put  on 
nectar  the  pollen  tubes  would  start.  So  they 
might ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  they  will  pro- 
trude a  little  way  (and  that  is  all)  in  any  sugary 
solution,  of  a  certain  density,  without  any  stig- 
ma in  the  case.  What  your  proposition  needs 
is  to  bring  forward  at  least  one  case  in  which 
the  secretion  of  the  nectary  of  a  flower  gets  ap- 
plied to  a  stigma.  Can  you  refer  to  such  a 
case?" 

[We  are  sorry  not  to  have  at  hand  the  details 
of  Dr.  H.'s  experiments.     All  we  know  is  given 


88 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  March, 


in  our  last.  We  had  no  idea  of  suggesting 
that  the  "  secretion  of  the  nectary  of  a  flower 
gets  applied  to  a  stigma."  What  is  secreted  by 
the  nectaries  Ave  regard  as  waste,  and  so  expressed 
it.  But  Boussingault  shows  that  sweet  matter  per- 
vades the  whole  tissue — of  the  pistil,  as  well  as  of 
other  parts — and  it  occurred  to  us  in  view  of  this 
possibility  that  the  sweet  matter  might  be  of 
some  direct  use  to  the  plant  in  the  performance 
of  its  functions,  and  not  merely  nothing  but  a  bait 
to  allure  insects.  Granting  that  it  may  be  of  some 
use  directly  to  the  plant,  it  may  be  in  relation  to 
pollenization  ;  and,  when  deficient  in  the  pistil, 
an  application  to  the  stigma  may  supply  it.  All 
this  is  of  course  hypothetical,  but  it  is  a  hypo- 
thesis suggested  by  Dr.  Hooibreuk's  experiments, 
quite  independently  of  any  thing  which  he  may 
have  been  trying  to  prove. 

Honey  was  no  doubt  made  for  insects,  but  in 
the  same  sense  as  cane  sugar  and  molasses  were 
made  for  man.  The  cane  sugar  plant  has  "an 
advantage"  by  man's  use  of  the  sweet  secretion  ; 
for  it  has  been  petted  and  fostered  so  that  it  has 
gained  immensely  in  "the  struggle  for  life." 
Thousands  of  sugar  plants  exist  that  never 
would,  but  for  the  saccharine  element.  As  far 
as  it  goes  it  is  a  fair  argument,  but  who  would  in- 
sist that  the  sugar  was  developed  for  this  purpose 
and  is  of  no  direct  use  to  the  plant  itself?  It 
is  these  considerations  which  make  us  hesitate 
to  believe  that  before  insects  were  created,  sweet 
secretions  did  not  exist ;  and  notwithstanding 
the  doubts  of  our  correspondent,  we  think  no 
harm  will  result  from  the  investigations  we  pro- 
posed.—Ed.  G.  M .] 


QUERIES. 


Fertilization  by  Insect  Agency. — Prof.  Asa 
Gray  writes: — "We  are  not  all  of  us  as  careful 
and  exact  in  our  statements  as  Mr.  Darwin  is, 
and  so  our  language  is  sometimes  misappre- 
hended and  sometimes  needs  correction.  Dar- 
win's summing  up  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Or- 
chid-book, is  :  '  Nature  thus  tells  us  in  the  most 
emphatic  manner,  that  she  abhors  perpetual 
self-fertilization.'  In  the  new  edition,  issued  this 
year,  we  read  :  '  It  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to 
say  that  Nature  tells  us  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner,  that  she  abhors  perpetual  self-fertiliza- 
tion.    This  manifests  carefulness  to  be   within 


bounds,  but  does  not  look  like  giving  up  the 
principle.  Some  of  us  have  been  less  careful  to 
keep  the  word  '  perpetual '  perpetually  in  view ; 
but  it  has  generally  been  implied  in  the  whole 
course  of  statement,  which  has  recognized  the 
fact  that  most  flowers  have  a  chance,  and  many 
a  predominant  chance,  for  self-fertilization.  But 
this  does  not  at  all  falsify  the  declaration  that 
'showy,  fragrant,  honey-bearing  flowers  are  ar- 
ranged for  cross-fertilization.'  If  anybody  wants 
to  see  a  good  demonstration  of  that,  let  him  read 
the  second  chapter  of  Darwin's  new  book  on  the 
effects  of  close  and  cross-fertilization  in  plants, 
or  a  summary  of  it  in  the  March  number  of  the 
American  Agriculturist.  Here  is  a  plant  abun- 
dantly capable  of  self-fertilization,  which  close- 
fertilizes  when  covered,  but  is,  in  fact,  freely 
cross-fertilized  in  nature.  Mr.  Darwin  proves, 
by  a  course  of  experiments,  that  the  crossing  is 
a  benefit,  and  a  great  benefit ;  and  the  inference 
is  almost  unavoidable  that  these  plants  could  not 
go  on  indefinitely  without  it. 

"  It  is  now  clear,  however,  that  there  is  more 
self-fertilization  than  was  at  first  supposed.  H. 
Miller  has  largely  shown  this,  while  at  the  same 
time  contending  for  the  absolute  need  of  cross- 
fertilization ;  just  as  you  yourself,  Mr.  Editor, 
have  largely  shown  it,  while  contending  that 
cross-fertilization  is  of  no  account.  But  I  think 
you  will  soon  agree  that  cross-fertilization  is  of 
account,  and  that  showy,  odorous,  nectariferous 
flowers  are  adapted  for  it,  notwithstanding  ever 
so  much  self-fertilization." 

[In  the  "  Detroit "  paper  the  text  taken  was 
this,  "All  plants  with  conspicuously  colored 
flowers,  or  powerful  odors,  or  honeyed  secretions 
are  fertilized  by  insects;  therefore,  before  honey- 
feeding  insects  existed,  the  vegetation  of  our 
globe  could  not  have  been  ornamented  with 
bright  colored  flowers."  This  is  the  point  we 
ventured  to  differ  from.  If  the  proposition  now 
made  that  these  flowers  are  so  arranged  that 
cross-fertilization  is  possible,  and  that  it  occa- 
sionally does  occur,  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
point  we  ventured  to  question  in  the  above  quo- 
tation, we  have  of  course  nothing  further  to  say. 
We  have  never  said  cross-fertilization  was  of  no 
account,  but  that  we  do  not  regard  it  as  proved. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Verbena  Rust. — We  have  always  felt 
that  the  Verbena  Rust  must  be  of  fungoid  origin, 
because  all  the  attendant  phenomena  are  fun- 
goidal,  and  there  is  no  character  whatever  that 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


89 


classes  it  with  insect  work.  Still  we  know  how 
easy  it  is  to  be  mistaken,  and  have  therefore 
suggested  to  those  who  have  faith  in  the  insect 
origin  of  the  disease,  to  send  the  specimens  to 
competent  Entomologists  for  the  insect's  identi- 
fication. Mr.  Chas.  Henderson  has  generously 
undertaken  this  good  work,  and  from  two  of  the 
recipients  of  specimens — Prof.  Riley  and  Mr.  J. 
Stauffer — we  have,  replies.  Mr.  Stauffer's  views 
were  directly  opposite  to  Prof.  Riley's,  so  we 
thought  best  to  send  it  to  Prof.  Riley,  that  he 
might  review  his  own  if  necessary.  As  thus  far, 
Mr.  Stauffer  is  the  only  naturalist  that  we  know 
of  who  takes  the  insect  view,  we  have  thought  it 
but  fair  to  give  him  the  first  hearing,  and  below 
appears  Prof.  Riley's  comment: 

"  After  a  close  inspection  of  the  diseased  leaves 
left  with  me,  I  obtained  fresh  ones  from  my  neigh- 
bor, Mr.  Hensel,  as  in  getting  rid  of  the  frag- 
ments of  moss  in  which  the  leaves  were  packed, 
I  had  to  disturb  the  surface  more  or  less  of  the 
leaves.  I  have  also  made  a  close  inspection  of 
the  fly — an  Aphidian,  belonging  to  Mr.  Walsh's 
genus,  Callipterus.  Honey  tubes  short,  subulate, 
Antennae  long,  seven-jointed,  discoidals  of  the 
front  wings  equally  thick,  carries  the  wings  hori- 
zontally folded ;  in  this  latter  respect  it  agrees 
with  the  winged  of  the  Phylloxera  (vastatrix, 
vitifolise).  These  in  their  larvaal  state  infest  the 
root  in  Winter,  and  it  seems  it  is  proved  that 
they  also  infest  the  leaves  in  the  Summer  season. 
The  Callipterus  is  certainly  the  small  black- 
fly  noticed  around  the  Verbenas,  and  deposits 
its  eggs,  as  I  captured  them  from  the  leaf,  Janu- 
ary 15,  1877. 

"Now,  as  to  the  rust.  Their  larvae  when 
hatched,  (the  minute  mites  mentioned,)  deplete 
the  leaf  and  empoverish  the  juices,  and  cause 
the  leaf  to  blight,  unless  the  plants  are  in  such 
good  soil  and  healthy  vigor,  as  to  be  able  to  bear 
this  depletion,  and  then  no  fungus  will  follow, 
and  the  plant  may  escape.  But  when  the  sto- 
mata  or  breathing  pores  of  the  leaf  are  inter- 
fered with  and  the  juices  abstracted,  the  leaf  be- 
comes depauperated  and  forms  a  fit  nidus  for 
the  fungus.  So  Mr.  Henderson  is  wrong  to  say 
that,  '  the  insect  is  the  consequence,  and  not  the 
cause,  of  the  disease.'  Mr.  Brinton's  views  are 
more  accurate.  I  have  found  well  defined  fun- 
gus and  made  accurate  drawings  of  them  from 
the  mildew  in  its  white  powdery  form,  or  first 
stage,  when  the  leaf  is  yet  green.  By  compari- 
son with  quite  a  number  of  forms  illustrated,  it 
approaches  the  mycelium  and  sporadic  branches 


of  the  Cistopus  candidus.  Figured  by  Smee,  in 
his  Garden,  p.  366,  he  says  many  plants  are  at- 
tacked with  spots  of  white  rust,  on  the  leaves, 
arranged  in  a  circular  manner.  The  mycelium 
creeps  through  the  cellular  tissue  of  the  plants, 
and  after  a  time  gives  rise  to  zoospores  or  moving 
bodies  to  perpetuate  the  species,  adding,  '  I  be- 
lieve that  in  all  these  cases  the  plant  is  previously 
pierced  by  an  Aphis.'  One  word  as  to  zoospores  : 
so  long  as  they  are  free  they  have  indeed  a  great 
likeness  to  infusoria,  but  as  soon  as  they  have  > 
found  a  fit  resting  place  all  trace  of  motion 
ceases,  and  their  offspring  comforts  itself  as  a 
vegetable;  this  is  scientifically  demonstrated, 
but  zoospores  never  turn  to  Aphids  or  the  like. 
The  disease  on  the  Heliotrope  differs  ;  here  the 
root  of  the  hair  becomes  enlarged,  and  a  yel- 
lowish matter  is  secreted;  this  turns  dark,  and 
then  the  bulb-like  base  cracks  open  and  dis- 
charges sporules.  I  first  considered  the  whole  as 
a  fungus,  but  if  mycelium  is  formed  under  the 
epidermis  and  enters  into  the  base  of  the  tubu- 
lar hairs,  and  produces  its  sporules,  then,  this  is 
a  fungus  of  a  totally  new  kind  to  me,  but  its 
cause  may  arise  from  the  same  source — poverty 
or  depletion." 

Prof.  Riley  says :— "  I  have  not  time  now  to 
further  investigate  the  Verbena  rust,  but  feel 
morally  sure  that  it  is  a  fungus  disease.  The 
"black-fly"  referred  to  in  my  answer  to  Mr. 
Henderson  is  a  Diplosis.  There  are  several 
Aphids  affecting  both  leaves  and  roots  of  Verbe- 
nas, but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  rust." 

Since  the  above  was  in  type,  a  note  from  Prof. 
Farlow  tells  us  that  the  Verbena  rust  is  a  fungus, 
and  that  its  name  is  Erysiphe  Verbena?  of 
Schweinitz.  It  will  therefore  be  an  old  acquaint- 
ance to  mycologists. 

Zelkova  "  Crensta."— Prof.  Sargent  writes  :— 
"  My  authority  for  Zelkova  crenata  is  Planchon, 
in  Decandolles  Prodromus,  the  last  botanist  who 
has  worked  Ulmaceae  comprehensively.  He  does 
not  even  allow  Abelicea  as  a  genus,  so  I  suppose 
we  must  retain  Zelkova  at  least  until  another 
volume  of  the  Genera  Plantarum  appears. 

"But  what  a  pity  we  cannot  retain  Michaux's 
Planera  Richardi ;  a  much  pleasanter  and  more 
easily  remembered  name ;  but  this  does  not  make 
much  difference  so  long  as  the  tree  is  planted,  so 
I  hope  you  will  get  some  of  the  grafts  Mr.  Price 
so  kindly  offers,  and  see  what  can  be  done  with 
them. 

"  Typographical  errors  are  not  very  pleasant 
for  the  editor,  I  will   allow,  but  how  about  his 


90 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


unfortunate  contributors?  Notice  Crensta  twice 
in  Mr.  Price's  communication,  for  crenata,  and 
one  of  these  in  large  letters  as  a  heading  at  that." 
[Having  been  told  that  the  subject  had  been 
"  worked  up  at  Cambridge,"  no  pains  were  taken 
to  look  up  the  matter  beyond  noticing  the  rela- 
tion of  the  genus  to  Abelicea.  "  Crensta  "  was 
our  correspondent's  orthography,  and  not  the 
typographer's,  and  what  with  the  capital  and  pe- 
culiar spelling,  we  took  it  for  an  aboriginal  pro- 
per name.  We  did  not  know  we  had  our  old 
friend  Planera  Richardi,  to  deal  with.  The  Ger- 
mantown  Nurseries  in  time  past  have  distributed 
this  tree  pretty  freely,  and  so  we  suppose  have 
those  of  Flushing  and  elsewhere,  and  we  suspect 
that  though  the  Woodland's  tree  may  be  the 
finest,  it  is  not  by  a  long  way  the  only  specimen 
in  the  country.  All  this  trouble  comes  from  so 
many  synonyms. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Chemical  Hygroscope. — F.  M.,  Ontario,  Can- 
ada, asks  : — "  What  shade  of  color  or  number 
should  the  Hygroscope  represent  in  a  green- 
house or  conservatory  to  keep  the  plants  in 
best  health,  say  when  thermometer  runs  from 
60°  to  65°." 

[The  Hygroscope  is  such  a  recent  invention 
in  its  cheaper  forms,  that  we  can  say  little  of  its 
application  to  plant  culture,  especially  as  expe- 
rienced gardeners  do  not  find  much  difficulty  in 
regard  to  the  atmospheric  moisture.  In  the  use 
of  the  Hygroscope,  however,  all  we  can  say  is 
that  the  bluer  the  tint  the  drier  the  air,  while 
the  deeper  the  pink  the  more  moisture. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


Name  of  Plant.— N.  says  : — "  In  June  last 
year,  near  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa.,  by  the  rail  side, 
and  peeping  out  of  the  woods,  I  came  upon  a 
very  pretty  shrub.  It  was  not  flowers  that 
pleased,  for  it  was  out  of  bloom  ;  but  its  berries, 
of  every  shade,  from  deep  red  to  crimson,  seemed 
to  speak  for  it  a  place  in  the  shrubbery.  I  am 
puzzled  to  identify  the  plant  in  nursery  cata- 
logues or  books.  It  was  a  favorite  with  all  the 
pleasure  parties  which  I  met.  All  bore  it  com- 
panion to  the  other  woodland  flowers  of  the  sea- 
son. If  I  have  recalled  the  plant  by  the  above 
traits,  you  will  oblige  many  readers  by  giving  us 
its  name." 

[Not  much  to  identify  a  plant  by ;  but  proba- 
bly the  Canadian  Holly,  Nemopanthes  canaden- 
sis, and  well  worthy  of  cultivation. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Insect  on  the  Grape. — Some  time  since,  a 
Wilmington,  Del.,  correspondent  wrote  about  a 
peculiar  trouble  with  his  grape  vines,  and  which 
we  suspected  was  caused  by  an  insect  unknown 
to  us,  and  advised  the  sending  to  Prof.  Riley, 
which  it  appears  he  has  done,  and  Prof.  R.  kindly 
sends  us  the  following  response  : — 

"From  specimens  just  sent  me,  the  insect  in 
grapery  (G.  M.,  Nov.)  at  Wilmington,  Del ,  is  the 
grape  leaf-folder  (Desmia  maculalis).  See  my 
Third  Rep.,  p.  61.  Since  that  was  written,  I  have 
found  it  worst  on  Catawba,  Goethe,  Iona,  Isa- 
bella, Croton, Diana  and  Creveling — least  on  Con- 
cord, Cynthiana,  Louisiana  and  Martha.  Bring 
hands  quick  together  and  crush  worm  in  fold. 
Destroy  chrysalides  in  Fall." 


Literature,  ^Gravels  &  Personal  If  otes. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


HORTENSIA  OR  HORTENSIS. 

BY  T. 

In  the  Monthly  for  January  last,  I  endeavored 
to  show  that  the  correct  name  for  the  common 
Hydrangea  is  H.  Hortensia,  and  in  support  of 
my  view,  cited  autborities  and  gave  reasons  that 
would  convince  most  persons  of  its  accuracy. 
The  Rural  New  Yorker,  however,  still  maintains 
that  the  plant  should  be  called  H.  hortensis,  and 


on  February  17th  reproduces  my  note — which  is 
very  fair — that  it  may  reply  to  it  in  a  manner 
which  can  hardly  be  characterized  as  fair.  I 
cannot  ask  you  to  reprint  the  Rural's  remarks, 
as  it  occupies  over  one  and  a  half  of  its  ample 
columns  in  its  attempt  to  show  that  others,  be- 
sides itself,  have  used  an  incorrect  name ;  in- 
deed, that  journal  finds  such  evident  satisfaction 
in  re-asserting  its  own  way  to  be  the  right  one, 
that  I  would  not  disturb  it,  did  it  not  singularly 
misrepresent  one  of  the  authorities  I  cited,  and 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


91 


go  quite  out  of  its  way  to  ascribe  unworthy  mo- 
tives to  an  eminent  botanist  not  cited,  or  in  any 
manner  alluded  to  in  my  article.  As  silence 
with  regard  to  these  may  be  construed  as  an 
admission  on  my  part  of  the  truth  of  the  Rural s 
representations,  I  ask  space  for  a  brief  reply, 
with  which  I  drop  the  subject. 

In  my  former  note  I  quoted  what  Loudon 
says  (in  his  "  Trees  and  Shrubs  of  Britain,"  Vol. 
2,  p,  9S6),  in  reference  to  the  name  Hortensia. 
Respecting  this  the  Rural  says:  "Now  for  what 
Loudon  says  in  the  work  quoted.  He  gives 
seven  names  or  synonyms  of  this  plant,  and 
then  tells  the  story  which  '  T  '  repeats,  about  how 
the  name  Hortensia  came  to  be  one  of  the  num- 
ber, and  its  becoming  common  in  France ;  but 
he  is  very  careful  not  to  decide  which  is  the  correct 
one." 

The  italics  are  mine ;  for  so  remarkable  a 
statement  deserves  the  distinction.  The  asser- 
tion is  here  distinctly  made,  that  in  giving  seven 
different  names  for  the  plant,  Loudon  does  not 
indicate  which  of  the  seven  he  prefers,  and 
adopts  as  the  correct  name,  but  is  very  careful 
not  to  do  so.  Those  familiar  with  botanical  de- 
scriptions know  that  the  author,  when  there  are 
several  names,  places  the  one  he  approves  and 
adopts  first,  and  the  others  follow  as  synonyms  ; 
and  that  it  is  further  the  custom  to  make  the 
approved  name  more  conspicuous  by  putting  it  in 
a  different  type  from  the  others.  Loudon  was  a 
"very  careful  "  man,  and  in  this  case  he  was  not 
only  "  very  careful  "  to  "  decide  "  which  among 
several  names  is  the  "  correct  one  "  by  placing  it 
first,  but  he  further  emphasises  this  decision  by 
placing  H.  Hortensia  in  italics,  while  all  the  dis- 
carded names  are  in  Roman,  or  in  ordinary 
type.  The  Rural  refers  me  to  another  work  by 
Loudon,  his  "Encyclopaedia  of  Plants,"  where  it 
says  "  he  gives  the  correct  name  as  hortensis."  I 
admit  that  in  the  "  Encyclopaedia,"  published  in 
1829,  he  does  give  the  name  as  "  hortensis,"  but 
Loudon's  labors  extended  over  many  years,  and 
as  he  was  a  man  who  grew  wiser  as  he  grew 
older,  he  did  not  continue  the  errors  of  his  ear- 
lier works  in  his  later  ones.  The  fact  that  he 
did,  in  his  "  Trees  and  Shrubs,"  in  1838,  discard 
"  hortensis  "  and  adopt  Hortensia,  at  the  same 
time  giving  his  reasons  for  accepting  the  latter, 
indicates  a  desire  to  be  right,  which  may  be 
commended  as  an  example  worthy  of  imitation. 
The  Rural  cites  Donn,  who,  it  tells  us, 
"strangely  enough,  quotes  for  his  authority  in 
retaining  the  name  hortenBis,  Augustin  Pyramus 


De  Candolle,  who  was  a  celebrated  Swiss  botan- 
ist, and  the  father  of  the  present  Alphonse  De 
Candolle,  referred  to  above  as  the  man  who 
tickles  French  vanity  by  restoring  the  name  of 
Hortensia."  This  reference  "  above "  to  Al- 
phonse De  Candolle,  is  perhaps  the  most  re- 
markable thing  in  the  Rural s  remarkable  arti- 
cle. It  says:  "  Prof.  De  Candolle,  the  younger, 
doubtless  in  consideration  of  this  universal  sen- 
timent [admiration  for  Hortense]  of  his  country- 
men, retains  this  name  [Hortensia]  in  his  work, 
and  Dr.  Gray,  from  a  similar  consideration  for 
his  friend,  De  C,  folloAvs  this  great  botanical  au- 
thority: thus  an  error  is  perpetuated  by  these 
two  authorities,  and  backed  up  by  'T'  in  the  Gar- 
dener's Monthly."  Our  wonder  that  Alphonse  De 
Candolle  should  be  charged  with  being  influ- 
enced by  unworthy  motives  in  adopting  a  scien- 
tific name,  is  only  equalled  by  that  at  seeing 
Prof.  Gray  charged  with  following  any  one — his 
position  being  usually  that  of  a  leader. 

This  is  probably  the  first  time  that  the  scientific 
integrity  of  Alph.  De.  Candolle  or  Asa  Gray  was 
ever  called  in  question,  and  the  Rural,  in  making 
these  charges,  assumes  a  position  more  conspic- 
uous than  enviable.  If  any  one  thing  relating 
to  this  charge  can  be  more  strange  than  another, 
it  is  the  perfectly  gratuitous  character  of  the 
attack,  for  I  am  quite  unable  to  see  why  Alph. 
De  Candolle  is  cited  at  all,  as  I  made  no  refer- 
ence to  him  whatever  in  my  article.  It  is  true 
that  I  did,  in  support  of  my  position,  refer  the 
Rural  to  "  any  botanical  work  of  acknowledged 
authority,  as  De  Candolle's  for  Europe,  and 
Gray's  for  America ;"  had  I  intended  Alph.  De 
Candolle,  I  should  have  said  so.  The  Rural  does 
not  seem  to  be  aware  that  it  is  the  custom  among 
botanists  to  speak  of  the  father  simply  as  De 
Candolle,  and  to  abbreviate  it  as  DC;  while 
they  call  the  son  A.  or  Alph.  De  Candolle,  and 
abbreviate  his  name  as  A.  DC.  The  work  of 
De  Candolle's  I  referred  to  was  the  "  Prodromus," 
which  consists  of  21  vols.,  running  through  half 
a  century,  and  which  the  Rural  assumes  is  all 
by  the  younger  De  Candolle.  If  it  will  turn  to 
the  fourth  volume,  it  will  find  on  the  title  page, 
"Anctore  Aug.  Pyramo  De  Candolle,"  and  that 
the  date  is  1830.  By  turning  to  p.  15,  it  will 
find  H.  Hortensia,  which,  being  the  work  of  the 
father,  leaves  the  charges  against  the  son  with- 
out any  foundation  worth  speaking  of,  and  the 
Rurals  indignation  at  the  desire  of  the  son  to 
"  tickle  French  vanity,"  seems  like  a  waste  of 
powder.    If  Donn  quoted  De  Candolle  as  author- 


92 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[March, 


ity  for  "hortensis,"  he  evidently  did  not  quote 
correctly.  In  such  cases  the  character  and 
weight  of  the  authorities  are  of  quite  as  much 
importance  as  their  number,  and  with  most  per- 
sons the  authority  of  De  Candolle  and  Asa  Gray 
will  outweigh  that  of  Donn,  Curtis,  and — if  I 
may  be  allowed  to  say  it — even  that  of  the  Rural 
itself. 

— *♦. 

EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Plant  Life  of  Norway. — This  is  the  title 
of  a  beautiful  work  just  issued  in  German  by  the 
distinguished  Danish  Botanist,  Dr.  F.  C.  Schu- 
beler,  of  Christiana.  The  many  odd  shapes  which 
trees  take  in  that  peculiar  climate,  are  beauti- 
fully illustrated.  For  instance,  the  Norway  spruce 
in  heavy  snow  will  have  its  branches  pressed  to  the 
ground  by  the  weight  and  then  earth  will  wash 
down  with  some  thaw  and  cover  the  lowermost, 
In  such  cases,  the  point  of  the  branch  will  grow 
up,  and  roots  push  down,  just  as  in  layering,  and 
in  after  years  a  very  pretty  clump  come  into 
existence  as  if  it  were  a  mother  with  all  her  young 
children  about  her.  The  peculiar  climate  and 
conditions  of  Norway  make  these  curious  ap- 
pearances in  trees  not  uncommon.  Norway 
spruces  blow  down,  and  get  covered  by  snow, 
and  moisture  hangs  about  the  prostrate  trunk 
long  enough  to  encourage  sprouts  which  become 
in  time  trees,  and  there  will  often  be  a  half  a 
dozen  good  sized  trees  which  have  grown  out  of  a 
prostrate  trunk  in  this  way.  The  whole  book  is 
full  of  such  interesting  information.  How  slow 
trees  sometimes  grow  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case 
of  a  common  Juniper.  When  sawed  off  it  was 
found  to  have  made  297  annual  layers  of  wood, 
and  yet  was  but  twelve  and  a  half  inches  in 
diameter. 

In  regard  to  the  varied  character  of  the  growths 
of  trees  in  differing  circumstances,  there  is,  for  in- 
stance, a  sketch  of  the  Juniper  (Juniperus  com- 
munis). As  we  generally  see  it,  it  is  at  best  but 
a  conical,  usually  a  rather  cylindrical  growing 
tree.  He  figures  one  which  has  a  head  like  an 
old  oak  or  a  chestnut,  and  describes  it  as  being 
twenty-five  feet  high,  with  a  straight  trunk  for 
six  feet  up  to  the  branches.  This  trunk  is  seven 
feet  one  inch  in  circumference,  and  the  great 
round  head  of  branches,  about  twenty-five  feet 
wide — completely  round.  Americans  would  give 
a  good  deal  to  have  a  specimen  of  a  Juniper 
like  that. 

Dr.  Schubeler  does  not  forget  the  points  of  in- 


terest attractive  to  the  scientific  as  well  as  the 
mere  intelligent  reader.  He  gives  a  plate  of  the 
variations  in  the  scales  of  Norway  spruce  cones, 
all  taken  from  the  vicinity  of  Christiana,  which 
those  who  are  making  so  many  new  species  out 
of  our  Californian  Coniferoe  may  well  profit  by. 
D.  Schubeler  pleasantly  remarks,  that  there 
seems  to  be  some  principles  in  human  nature  of 
love  for  beauty  and  nice  things,  in  spite  of  some 
other  principles  which  would  seem  to  oppose 
them.  He  instances  the  use  made  by  the  Lap- 
landers of  the  sweet  vernal  grass,  Anthoxan- 
thum  odoratum.  He  describes  them  as  an  in- 
describably dirty  race;  seeming  to  rejoice  and 
take  pride  in  filthiness,  and  yet  they  make  a 
sort  of  plaited  collar  of  this  grass,  so  as  to  enjoy 
its  delicately  delicious  perfume. 

All  who  have  a  knowledge  of  the  German  lan- 
guage will  enjoy  a  rich  treat  in  the  perusal  of 
Dr.  Schubeler's  book. 

Burning  of  Lee's  Greenhouses. — We  are 
sorry  to  have  to  write  the  burning  of  Lee's  Green- 
houses at  Lake  View,  near  Chicago,  on  the  first 
of  February. 

Proceedings  of  the  Georgia  State  Hort. 
Society. — This  is  the  first  issue  and  contains  the 
address  of  the  first  President,  P.  J.  Berckmans, 
and  a  full  list  of  fruits  best'adapted  to  the  State. 

The  Early  Nurserymen  of  Illinois. — Mr.  W. 
C.  Flagg  says — Joseph  Curtis,  John  Smith  and 
W.  B.  Archer  established  nurseries  about  1818 
in  Illinois.  "  Before  1830,  nurseries  of  more  or 
less  importance  had  been  begun  in  Adams  county 
by  John  Wood  (1820);  in  Edwards,  by  Sidney 
Spring  (1825);  in  Jersey,  by  Robert  Avery  (1825); 

in  Madison,  by Masson  (1820?);  in  Perry,  by 

Joseph  Bradshaw  (1825?);   in  St.  Clair,  by ■ 

Wood  (1820?),  and  in  Vermillion,  by  John  Canady 
(1820).    This  list  is,  no  doubt,  quite  incomplete. 

Hand-Book  of  Practical  Landscape  Garden- 
ing, by  F.  R.  Elliott.  Published  by  D.  M.  Dewey, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  the 
tendency  to  an  appreciation  of  beauty  and  taste 
among  the  farmers  and  fruit  growers  of  the  coun- 
try. Those  we  mean  that  are  outside  of  the 
regular  horticultural  literature  properly  so  called. 
Anything  that  will  help  this  good  tendency  is  a 
great  public  blessing.  For  this  class  this  little 
book  of  Mr.  Elliott's  is  just  the  thing.  The  more 
elaborate  works  of  Downing  and  Kemp  can 
never  be  brought  to  them.  They  take  too  many 
bushels  of  corn  to  buy,  and  when  bought  cannot 
be  understood.     Cheap,  and  yet  attractive  volu- 


187T] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


93 


mes,  like  this  little  book,  are  capable  of  doing 
much  better  work.  The  critical  reader  might 
wish  that  the  names  of  the  plants  had  been  more 
correctly  given  by  the  author  in  many  cases,  and 
that  the  proof-reader  had  been  more  closely 
looked  after  in  others.  But  these  defects  will 
not  in  the  least  detract  from  the  book's  practical 
value  to  those  for  whom  it  is  intended,  and  we 
heartily  commend  it. 

The  Bulletin  No.  1  of  the  Illinois  Museum 
of  Natural  History  among  other  interesting 
matter  has  a  paper  on  the  Botanical  features  of 
"Trees  in  Winter,"  by  Dr.  Brendel;  "Parasatic 
Fungi,"  by  Prof.  Burrill;  and  a  list  of  Illinois  Or- 
thoptera,  by  Dr.  Cyrus  Thomas. 

Catalogue  of  A.  M.  C.  Jongkindt  Coninck, 
Dedemsvaart,  Netherlands. — Mr.  C,  who  has 
taken  so  excellent  a  part  in  introducing  the  Gar- 
dener's Monthly  in  the  countries  in  the  north  of 
Europe,  sends  us  his  Catalogue  of  hardy  her- 
baceous plants  and  other  things,  which  we  find 
very  full. 

Mr.  W.  T.  Harding. — We  are  pleased  to  be 
able  to  say  that  this  gentleman,  who  is  so  well- 
known  to  our  readers  as  an  agreeable  and  highly 
intelligent  correspondent,  and  whom  we  know 
as  one  of  the  best  of  the  many  practical  gar- 
deners in  this  country,  has  been  elected  Super- 
intendent of  the  new  Cemetery  at  Upper  San- 
dusky, which  the  citizens  were  so  fortunate  as 
to  engage  him  to  lay  out  last  year. 

The  Gardener's  Monthly. — The  publisher 
asks  us  to  make  a  note,  thanking  the  many 
friends  who  have  passed  good  words  to  him 
with  their  subscriptions,  and  he  hands  us  the 
following  as  a  sample  of  many.  It  is  from  J.  C.  A. 
of  Henderson,  Kentucky:  "Enclosed  is  renewal 
for  1877.  Your  magazine  is  indispensable  to  me, 
and  supplies  valuable  information  which  I  could 
obtain  from  no  other  source.  It  frequently 
occurs  that  a  single  number  contains  hints  worth 
more  to  me  than  a  year's  subscription." 

The  Editor  appreciates  these  kind  notices  as 
well  as  the  publisher.  He  thinks  he  is  doing  a 
useful  as  well  as  an  agreeable  work  in  editing 
such  a  magazine.  If  every  subscriber  were  to 
send  a  new  one  to  the  publisher,  it  would  of 
course  be  of  no  particular  interest  to  the  Editor, 
except  to  feel  that  all  were  working  with  him  in 
the  extension  of  horticultural  knowledge. 

Waterer's  Rhododendrons. — We  were  as- 
tounded to  read  the  following  in  Mr.  Waterer's 


Catalogue,  just  issued :  "  Since  my  return  I  have 
noticed  that  the  Rhododendrons  exhibited  by 
me  at  Philadelphia  have  been  the  subject  of 
several  articles  in  the  American  Gardening  pub- 
lications, the  object  of  the  writers  being  to  throw 
doubt  on  the  hardiness  and  fitness  for  the  Ameri- 
can climate  of  the  plants  grown  at  this  nursery."  • 

We  venture  to  say  that  Mr.  Waterer  can 
point  to  no  "American  Gardening  publications  or 
any  leading  agricultural  paper,  if  indeed,  any 
paper  at  all,  in  which  the  writers  exhibited  any 
such  "object." 

American  Gardening  publications  have  made 
known  that  Mr.  Waterer's  Rhododendrons,  ex- 
hibited at  the  Centennial,  were  hybrids  of  Rhod. 
maximum,  R.  Catawbiense,  R.  ponticum  and 
R.  arboreum,  that  the  two  last  were  not  hardy 
in  the  Northern  States,  while  the  two  former 
were;  and  that  the  varieties  which  had  a  pre- 
ponderence  of  these  two  characters,  and  of  which 
Mr.  Waterer  had  many,  were  not  hardy.  There 
has  never  been  anything  said  about  the  "hardi- 
ness and  fitness  of  the  plants  grown  in  this  nur- 
sery," but  only  of  some  of  the  varieties.  And 
this,  which  was  the  thing  said,  is  true. 

Mr.  Waterer  was  received  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  with  generous  honor.  A  large  house 
was  built  for  his  Rhododendrons,  while  no  such 
privilege  was  accorded  to  American  growers, 
who  had  collections  equal  in  value  to  his  own,  but 
which  were  left  to  broil  in  the  open,  and  terribly 
hot  sun,  even  for  America.  No  one  objected, 
but  all  rejoiced,  feeling  that  the  excellent 
show  the  Waterer  Rhododendrons  made,  were 
really  increasing  a  taste,  and  helping  themselves. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  effort  of  Mr. 
Waterer  to  make  the  English  public  believe  that 
he  is  badly  persecuted  by  American  jealousy,  is 
unworthy  of  the  proverbial  fairness  of  "John 
Bull." 

We  should  hardly  have  thought  Mr.  Waterer 
capable  of  such  a  contemptible  trade  trick,  had 
not  the  writer  of  this  heard  him  boasting  to  a 
little  circle  in  his  tent  that  he  had  assisted  some 
Americans  in  getting  Rhododendrons  into  this 
country  free  of  duty,  when  the  United  States 
Government  expects  to  get  a  duty  of  twenty  per 
cent,  on  imported  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs. 
If  Mr.  Waterer  is  not  so  finely  moulded  as  to 
see  nothing  discreditable  in  transactions  of  this 
kind  that  may  help  his  trade,  we  do  not  expect 
him  to  be  very  particular  in  his  references  to  the 
statements  of  "American  Gardening  publica- 
tions "  if  he  is  likely  to  be  the  gainer  by  it. 


94 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  March, 


QUERIES. 


Bees  and  Clover. — "Busy  Bee,"  Baltimore, 
Md.,  writes  :  "  I  send  you  a  slip  from  the  Lon- 
don Agricultural  Gazette,  which  contradicts  the 
position  you  assume,  that  clover  can  be  fertilized 
without  the  aid  of  bees.  With  two  such  dis- 
tinguished scientists  as  Mr.  Darwin,  in  England, 
and  Prof.  Gray  against  you  in  this  country,  are 
you  sure  your  position  is  correct  ?  Here  is  the 
extract : 

"  '  Why  has  there  been  so  little  holly  berry  and 
red  clover  in  England  the  past  year?  Mr.  Dar- 
win explains  that  bees  were  extraordinarily  rare 
in  the  early  Spring,  and  that  without  bees  to 
carry  pollen  from  the  male  to  the  female  plant, 
neither  holly  nor  clover  can  be  fertilized.  The 
Spectator  goes  further.  It  attributes  the  inactiv- 
ity of  thebees  to  conservative  reaction,  and  sug- 
gests that  they  were  exchanging  their  queen  for 
an  empress,  or  altering  the  labor  laws  to  suit 
the  drones,  or  honeycombing  the  hives  under 
some  impulse  of  sanitary  panic,  and  so  the  clover 
and  the  holly  flowers  were  sadly  neglected.'  " 

[In  one  way  we  thank  our  correspondent  for 


sending  us  this  slip,  as  an  impression  is  being 
created  in  some  quarters  that  the  writer  of  this, 
in  his  opposition  to  extreme  views  of  insect 
fertilization,  was  doing  unnecessary  work,  as 
no  such  extreme  views  prevailed.  It  is  now 
said  that  the  only  point  contended  for  was, 
that  insects  may  "sometimes"  cross  fertilize 
flowers,  and  that  when  insects  do  not  come 
about,  the  flowers  can  and  do  in  moet  cases  fer- 
tilize themselves.  We  see,  however,  by  the  ex- 
tract, that  this  is  not  the  view  held  by  the 
Gazette,  nor  was  it  the  view  extensively  held  in 
this  country  prior  to  Mr.  Meehan's  work.  What- 
ever may  be  Mr.  Darwin's  views,  our  correspon- 
dent does  not  do  Dr.  Gray  justice,  for  he  has 
recently  explained  his  view  to  be  that  when  the 
plants  are  not  visited  by  insects,  they  are  gener- 
ally able,  as  a  secondary  resort,  to  fertilize  them- 
selves. In  regard  to  the  clover  question,  its  not 
seeding  at  times  is  evidently  due  to  impaired 
nutrition  in  the  direction  of  reproduction,  as 
explained  in  Mr.  Meehan's  Detroit  paper. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


Horticultural  Societies. 


COMMUNIGA  TIONS. 


PEAR  TREE  BLIGHT  IN  OHIO. 

BY   M.   B.   BATEHAM,   PAINESVTLLE,   O. 

No  question  relating  to  Horticulture  or  Pom- 
ology is  of  so  much  practical  importance  in 
Ohio,  and  the  Western  States  generally,  as  that 
of  the  cause  and  prevention  of  pear  tree  blight. 
Many  thousands  of  dollars  are  annually  expend- 
ed in  the  purchase  and  planting  of  pear  trees, 
only  to  see  them  flourish  for  a  few  seasons,  and 
then  blacken  and  die,  when  they  begin  to  give 
promise  of  fruit. 

At  the  recent  annual  meeting  of  the  Ohio 
State  Horticultural  Society,  it  was  hoped  that 
some  progress  would  be  made  towards  solving 
this  vexed  problem.  As  Secretary  of  the  Society, 
and  in  order  to  save  time  in  discussion,  I  gave  a 
brief  survey  of  what  had  been  developed  during 
the  past  year  or  two ;  first,  reverting  to  the  meet- 


ing of  last  year,  when  a  gentleman  named  McCall 
was  present,  from  Southern  Ohio,  who  claimed 
to  have  discovered  the  real  cause  of  what  is 
known  as  fire  blight.  He  had  recently  attended 
the  meeting  of  the  American  Pomological  So- 
ciety at  Chicago,  and  at  his  request  a  committee 
of  that  Society  had  been  appointed  to  investigate 
his  discovery  during  the  next  season,  and  in  due 
time  make  report.  He  also  wished  that  a  com- 
mittee of  our  State  Society  should  be  appointed 
for  the  same  purpose — then  if  the  discovery  was 
found  to  be  real,  and  of  value  to  the  public,  the 
two  Societies  might  devise  some  way  by  which 
he  should  be  compensated.  This  was  regarded 
as  fair  and  just,  and  the  committee  was  accord- 
ingly appointed.  As  Secretary  of  that  commit- 
tee, after  making  observations  during  the  Sum- 
mer, and  consulting  several  of  the  other  mem- 
bers. I  was  intending  to  make  report  at  this 
meeting,  but  on  writing  to  Mr.   McO,  inviting 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


95 


him  to  be  present,  he  informed  me  that  he  could 
not  attend  the  meeting,  and  that  he  would  pre- 
fer the  report  should  be  delayed  for  another 
year,  as  some  gentlemen  in  his  section  of  the 
State  had  promised  to  investigate  the  matter 
next  season,  and  it  was  presumed  that  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Am.  Society  would  also  report  at 
that  time.  I  therefore  consented  to  defer  mak- 
ing a  report,  especially  as  I  did  not  believe  that 
the  public  would  lose  much  by  the  delay.  In 
saying  this,  however,  I  did  not  wish  to  be  under- 
stood as  intimating  that  there  was  nothing  in  the 
supposed  discovery  of  Mr.  McCall — for  in  my 
opinion  the  commencement  of  the  blight  may 
be  often  traced  to  the  injury  or  cause  assigned  by 
him  ;  but  in  a  majority  of  cases  no  such  cause 
can  be  discovered,  at  least  in  Northern  Ohio* 
where  my  observations  have  been  made. 

I  next  called  attention  to  the  remarks  of  Mr. 
Meehan,  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Am.  Pom.  Soc,  (see  report  of 
proceedings,)  "on  Fungi  and  Fruit  Diseases,"  in 
which  he  says,  "  That  fire  blight  is  of  fungoid 
origin,  is  now  clear,  from  the  researches  of  Dr.  J. 
Gibbons  Hunt  of  Philadelphia.  He  finds  that  a 
very  minute  fungus  germinates  on  the  outer 
bark,  enters  the  structure,  destroying  the  cells  as 
it  goes,  till  it  reaches  the  alburnum,  and  then  it 
penetrates  clear  to  the  pith,  by  way  of  the  me- 
dullary rays,  totally  destroying  the  branch,  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference.  .  .  There  is 
no  other  conclusion  here  than  that  reached  by 
Dr.  H.,  that,  in  the  true  fire  blight,  fungi  are  the 
cause  of  the  disease." 

I  remarked  that,  accepting  this  conclusion  as 
we  must,  the  honor  of  first  demonstrating  its  cor- 
rectness belongs  to  a  skilled  mycologist  of  our 
own  state,  Dr.  J.  H.  Salisbury,  now  of  Cleve- 
land, whose  researches  on  this  subject,  made  in 
1862,  are  published,  with  numerous  illustrations, 
in  the  Ohio  Agricultural  Report  for  1863.  Un- 
fortunately the  wood-cuts  illustrating  the  essay 
of  Dr.  H,  were  accidentally  burned  some  years 
since,  or  our  Society  would  have  the  substance 
of  it  republished.  In  examining  the  blighted 
branches  with  a  powerful  microscope,  Dr.  S. 
found  them  filled  through  and  through  with  the 
mycelium  of  a  peculiar  fungus ;  the  threads 
wound  around  in  every  direction  among  the 
woody  cells.  For  several  inches  beyond  the 
outward  appearance  of  disease,  dead  lines,  the 
size  of  a  knitting  needle,  extended  in  the  soft 
cambium,  and  in  these  the  moniliform  threads 
could  be  traced  making  their  way  among  the 


cells.  This  plant,  Dr.  S.  says,  is  strictly  a  para- 
sitic fungus  that  affects  organic  tissues.  It  pro- 
duces blight  in  twig  of  apple  and  quince,  as 
well  as  pear,  and  often  attacks  the  young  fruit 
when  about  the  size  of  a  hazel-nut.  This  fungus 
belongs  to  the  group  Ascomycetes,  to  the  order 
Perenosporiacese,  and  the  genus  Sphaerotheca. 
The  method  of  development  of  the  fungus  is  fully 
illustrated  by  Dr.  S.  The  fertile  threads  grow 
by  pullulation  (like  bud-forming) ;  the  spores 
are  produced  on  threads  that  rise  above  the  sur- 
face. Sporidia  and  fertile  threads  were  placed 
in  a  solution  of  sugar,  and  the  next  day  numer- 
ous zoosporoid  cells  were  moving  about  actively, 
and  in  a  little  time  some  of  them  voided  other 
cells,  all  the  while  continuing  a  pulsating  or 
vibratory  motion. 

Another  and  distinct  form  of  fungus  was  ob- 
served and  described  by  Dr.  S.,  as  found  in  the 
blighted  branches  after  they  had  been  dead  some 
time,  and  along  with  the  one  causing  the  dis- 
ease ;  but  this  second  kind  does  not  prey  upon 
living  tissue,  and  is  a  result,  not  a  cause  of  dis- 
ease.    Dr.  S.  supposes  that  the   sporidia  of  the 
blight  fungus  are  in  the  circulating  juices  or  sap 
of  the  tree,  and. under  favoring  influences  of  the 
weather,  and  a  suitable  condition    of  the  cam- 
bium, are  started  into  growth.     He  suggests,  in 
the  line  of  preventives,  the  use  of  sulphur  in 
some  of  its  soluble  forms  applied  to  the  soil 
about  the  roots.     But  as  some   experiments  of 
this  kind  have  not  been  wholly  satisfactory,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  spores  enter  by  the  sto- 
mata  of  the  leaves,  or  else  vegetate  on  the  out- 
side of  the  bark,  and  then  pass  inward,  it  is  sug- 
gested that  washes  containing  sulphur,  carbolic 
acid,  or  copperas  be  applied  to  the   trees  by 
syringing,     early    in    Summer.       Let    us    hear 
Mr.  Saunders,  of  Washington,  and   others  who 
have  tried  such  washes,  as  to   the   extent  and 
manner  of  their  doing  it,  and  the  results.     It  is 
my  belief  that  a  reliable  and  cheap  preventive 
will  be  found  only  in  this  direction. 

PROF.  BRAINERD   ON   SOLAR  HEAT  THEORY. 

We  also  had,  at  our  meeting,  the  somewhat 
remarkable  essay  on  pear  blight,  read  before  the 
Potomac  Fruit  Growers'  Association  last  Sep- 
tember, by  Prof.  J.  Brainerd,  formerly  of  Cleve- 
land, and  now  of  the  Patent  Office  at  Washing- 
ton, published,  with  illustrations,  in  the  Ohio 
Agricultural  Report  for  1875-6.  The  Committee 
of  our  Society  were  of  the  same  opinion  respect- 


96 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  March, 


ing  this  essay  as  was  expressed  by  Mr.  Meehan 
in  the  December  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  and  that  it  was  not  worth  while  to  oc- 
cupy the  time  of  the  meeting  by  reading  or  dis- 
cussing it — for  it  was  evident  to  us  that  Prof.  B. 
had  not  specimens  of  real  blight  under  exami- 
nation at  all.  He  says  that  upon  the  closest 
scrutiny  he  could  find  no  evidence  that  the  dis- 
ease was  caused  by  fungus,  or  was  of  a  fungoid 
nature ;  but  he  goes  on  to  show  that  blight  is  a 
ruptured  condition  of  the  cells  of  the  alburnum, 
which  he  believes  is  caused  by  the  extremes  of 
heat  or  cold ;  and  farther  on  he  says,  what  is 
known  as  fire  blight  is  "  caused  wholly  by  ex- 
cessive solar  heat."  Some  of  the  alleged  facts 
given  in  support  of  his  theory -by  Prof.  B.  are 
remarkably  wide  of  the  truth.  He  says :  "  In 
the  Spring  of  1875,  in  Ohio,  and  along  the  lake 
shore  fruit  region,  after  the  trees  had  put  forth 
their  leaves,  a  sudden  fall  of  temperature  from 
summer  heat  to  12  or  15  degrees  below  freezing, 
killed  outright  nearly  every  pear  tree  in  that 
extensive  district.  (?)  I  examined  many  trees 
soon  thereafter,  and  found  the  external  appear- 
ances exactly  similar  to  what  is  called  fire 
blight." 

As  a  fruit  grower  in  the  lake  shore  district  in 
Ohio,  I  feel  called  upon  to  state  that  no  such 
general  destruction  of  pear  trees  occurred  in  this 
region,  in  that  season  or  any  other.  It  is  well 
known  that  the  Winter  of  1874-5  caused  exten- 
sive destruction  of  peach  trees  and  grape  vines, 
also  of  some  pear  trees,  by  killing  of  the  roots, 
supposed  to  have  been  in  consequence  of  severe 
drouth  after  a  full  crop  of  fruit,  more  than  by 
the  severity  of  the  Winter.  Many  of  the  trees 
thus  root-killed  in  the  Winter,  leaved  out  in  the 
Spring,  and  of  course  the  tops  died  soon  after- 
wards. But  I  did  not  see  a  single  pear  tree  that 
died,  or  had  its  top  killed  by  the  late  freeze  in 
the  Spring,  and  the  number  that  were  killed  in 
the  manner  before  stated  did  not  amount  to 
more  than  5  to  10  per  cent,  in  any  of  the  orch- 
ards within  my  knowledge.  This  is  true  of  my 
own  orchard  of  several  hundred  trees,  also  the 
larger  orchard  of  S.  B.  Marshall,  near  West 
Cleveland,  and  the  still  larger  one  of  Mr.  Fahne- 
stock,  on  the  lake  shore,  near  Toledo.  In  no 
one  season  has  there  been  a  loss  of  more  than 
5  to  10  per  cent,  of  trees  by  blight,  though  a 
larger  proportion  have  sometimes  died  from 
overbearing  and  winter-killing.  Again,  Prof.  B. 
says  in  support  of  his  solar  heat  theory,  that 
pear  trees  standing  on  a  southern  exposure  are 
much  more  liable  to  blight  than  those  on  a 
northern  slope.  This  is  also  contrary  to  my  ex- 
perience and  observation,  and  my  orchard  slopes 
to  the  south,  while  several  that  I  know  of  slope 
to  the  north ;  but  I  do  not  believe  this  has  any- 
thing to  do  with  causing  or  preventing  blight. 
Then,  if  hot  weather  is  the  cause,  why  is  there 
not  more  blight  in  Kentucky  and  Southern  Ohio 
than  here  in  the  North ;  and  why  was  there  not 
a  general  visitation  of  blight  last  June,  when  we 
had  the  hottest  weather  ever  known  in  all  this 
region  ? 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  American  Pomological  Society. — The 
biennial  meeting  of  this  body,  which  is  always 
looked  forward  to  with  so  much  interest  by  hor- 
ticulturists generally,  will  be  held  this  year  in 
Baltimore,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Maryland 
Horticultural  Society.  This  will  have  its  an- 
nual exhibition  on  the  11th,  12th,  13th  and  14th 
of  September,  and  the  Pomological  Society  will 
take  the  last  three  days.  Col.  Wilder  has  re- 
covered his  health  to  a  great  extent,  and  will 
probably  preside  in  person.  We  know  the 
warmth  of  Maryland  hospitality,  and  the  intelli- 
gence of  its  horticulturists,  and  feel  safe  in  pre- 
dicting the  event  will  be  one  "  long  to  be  re- 
membered." Mr.  Sands,  of  the  Farmer,  is  a  host 
in  himself. 

State  Horticultural  and  Pomological  Soci- 
eties.— The  Winter  meetings  of  the  various  State 
Societies  have  been  more  than  usually  attract- 
ive, as  we  judge  from  a  large  number  of  reports 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  various  sections  that 
have  been  sent  to  us,  and  which  we  hope  to  use 
as  occasion  'offers.  The  meetings  of  the  Western 
New  York  Horticultural  Society,  and  Fruit 
Growers'  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  are  particu- 
larly well  spoken  of  by  the  papers,  while  those 
of  the  Western  Societies  are  very  fully  reported 
in  the  excellent  agricultural  papers  of  that  re- 
gion. In  our  present  number  Mr.  Bateham 
gives  an  abstract  of  some  points  of  particular 
interest  to  our  readers,  that  grew  out  of  the  Ohio 
meeting.  The  Germantown  (Philadelphia)  Hor- 
ticultural Society  holds  monthly  meetings,  at 
which  premiums  are  awarded  for  good  plants ; 
remarks  on  the  plants  present  are  made;  an 
essay  is  read,  and  discussions  follow.  At  the 
February  meeting,  Mr.  John  Savage  spoke  on 
the  effects  of  various  temperatures  on  plants,  in 
a  pleasing  and  instructive  manner,  and  consid- 
erable discussion  ensued.  Among  the  plants  on 
exhibition  were  several  pretty  specimens  of 
Chorozema  varium.  Australian  plants,  as  a  rule, 
are  the  best  of  Winter  flowerers,  but  do  not  get 
through  our  Summers  well.  This  seems  an  ex- 
ception, and  should  be  in  every  greenhouse. 
There  were  hundreds  of  orange  and  crimson 
"butterfly"  flowers  on  these  plants.  One  of  the 
best  grown  Callas  we  ever  saw  was  on  exhibition ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  leaves  were  not  drawn  up,  but 
though  strong,  were  as  healthy  as  possible,  and 
the  numerous  flowers  were  of  a  like  character. 
There  was  also  on  exhibition  a  double  variety  of 
the  "seed  strain  "  of  Chinese  Primrose,  almost 
as  good  as  the  old-fashioned  Double  white,  which 
does  not  seed,  and  which  no  modern  kind  has 
exactly  equalled,  and  the  edges  were  beautifully 
fringed.  The  plants  at  these  monthly  exhibi- 
tions have  no  marks  on  them  by  which  any  one 
may  know  who  they  belong  to.  Tins  is  not  any 
advantage.  Instead  of  preventing  dishonest 
judgingi  it  favors  it  by  making  a  cover  for  the 
unfair  one. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


APRIL,  1877. 


Number  220. 


<2>v? 


LOWER  fgARDEN  AND 


ROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


April  is  a  good  planting  month.  There  is  not 
much  art  in  planting  trees,  though  it  is  often 
made  a  mystery.  Not  to  let  the  roots  dry  for 
an  instant  between  taking  up  and  planting,  every- 
body knows,  but  everybody  does  not  do  it;  in 
fact  Everybody  deceives  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  noth- 
ing, because  he  forgets  that  the  branches  evapo- 
rate 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  contact  with  the  soil.  They  can 
draw  in  no  moisture  to  supply  the  waste  of 
evaporation,  and  thus  they  stay  day  after  day, — 
Everybody  satisfied  because  he  sees  the  roots 
covered,  really  worse  than  if  they  had  been  ex- 
posed. We  have  no  doubt  that  more  trees  are 
lost  from  imperfect  heeling  in  than  from  any  other 
cause  whatever.  Of  course,  if  the  tops  be  cov- 
ered as  well  as  the  roots,  there  is  less  waste  of 
moisture  and  more  chance  of  success. 


This  hint  will  help  us  in  planting.  That  is, 
pound  the  soil  in  well  about  the  fibres,  so  that 
they  may  be  in  close  contact  with  it ;  or  they  can- 
not draw  in  the  necessary  moisture.  Should  the 
trees  appear  a  little  dry,  or  the  roots  badly  muti- 
lated in  digging,  or  have  few  fibres,  cut  away  the 
plant  according  to  the  severity  of  the  injury.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  repeat  that  for  this 
evaporation  reason,  it  is  best  to  plant  trees  when 
the  ground  is  rather  dry,  because  it  then  pow- 
ders best  in  pounding,  and  gets  well  in  about  the 
roots.  Wet  ground  plasters,  and  leaves  large 
hollows  in  which  roots  cannot  work. 

We  approve  of  thick  planting.  Trees  grow 
faster  for  one  another's  company,  and  a  place 
well  filled  at  once,  saves  many  years  of  time  to 
see  them  grow.  Those  not  wanted  after  the 
place  has  grown  some,  can  be  transplanted  to 
other  parts  of  the  ground.  How  to  remove  large 
trees  successfully,  we  have  often  explained. 
Where  thick  planting  is  to  be  adopted,  of  course 
care  must  be  taken  in  locating  those  perma- 
nently to  remain. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


DECORATION  OF  GROUNDS.  ETC. 

BY  WM.  FLITT0N,  GARD.  TO  JN0.  LEE  CARROLL,  ESQ., 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 

The  Salvia  spoken  of  on  page  373,  December 
number  of  the  Monthly,  is  Salvia  splendens,  pure 
and  simple.  It  would  seem  hardly  possible  to 
intensify  the  scarlet  of  Salvia  splendens  when  in 


98 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


good  condition.  Why  should  those  particular 
beds  grow  so  dwarf?  To  be  honest,  it  is  necessary 
in  this  connection  to  record  a  failure. 

The  beds  in  question  were  not  intended  for 
Salvia,  and  were  filled  in  May  with  plants  of  a 
widely  different  genus,  which  however  grew  so 
slowly  and  became  such  bald-headed  looking  spe- 
cimens that  their  presence  amongst  health  and 
beauty  could  not  be  tolerated.  Anticipating  this 
failure,  I  propagated  sufficient  Salvia  in  April  to 
replace  them.  The  cuttings  were  taken  from 
some  large  old  plants  wintered  over,  and  were 
planted  in  the  beds  early  in  July.  It  was  a 
struggle  for  life  with  them,  but  they  held  their 
own,  however,  and  commenced  flowering  at  the 
same  time  as  did  those  which  were  well  grown 
plants  when  put  out.  In  this  instance,  that 
which  was  intended  merely  as  a  make-shift,  hap- 
pened to  prove  a  success.  I  have  no  desire  to 
repeat  the  experiment,  however,  but  "  necessity 
knows  no  law,"  and  one  never  knows  how  soon 
it  may  be  necessary  to  devise  some  means  of 
hiding  that  which  would  otherwise  prove  a 
failure. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  grow  bedding 
plants.  A  tastefully  arranged,  well-kept  garden, 
on  what  is  generally  understood  as  the  bedding 
system,  is  most  beautiful.  We  also  need  flowers 
to  cut,  and  bedding  plants  generally  produce 
bloom  adapted  for  the  purpose.  But  what  valid 
reason  can  be  given  why  this  particular  mode  of 
decoration  should  be  adopted  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others  !  Is  there  no  beauty  except  in  masses 
of  brilliant  color  ?  True,  we  may  arrange  them 
with  artistic  taste,  may  tone  down  glaring  colors, 
with  neutral  tints,  so  as  not  to  offend  the  most 
iastidious  ;  but  congruity,  ".  the  eternal  fitness  of 
things  "  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Few  indeed 
would  place  a  grand  piano-forte  in  a  room  with 
bare  walls  and  floor,  nor  a  carpet  of  velvet  pile 
in  a  kitchen.  Yet  it  is  a  fact  well  known  to  most 
readers  of  this  periodical,  that  inconsistencies 
almost  as  glaring,  are  often  perpetrated  in  what 
is  considered  to  be  the  embellishment  of  grounds. 

I  would  be  understood  here,  not  as  seeking  to 
depreciate  the  efforts  of  the  owners  of  small 
country  places  to  make  their  surroundings  more 
home-like  by  planting  a  few  flowers,  flowering 
and  evergreen  shrubs,  &c.  This  is  as  it  should 
be,  only  more  of  it  is  needed  by  our  rural  popu- 
lation, and  much  more  might  be  done  in  that 
line  at  trifling  expense. 

A  short  time  since,  the  writer  was  called  to 
visit   a  place   where  considerable   expense  had 


been  incurred  in  improving  the  landscape. 
There  was,  previous  to  the  improvement,  a  fine  lot 
of  old  cedars,  every  vestige  of  which  had  been 
removed.  The  grove  had  been  cleaned  up  "spic 
and  span,"  not  an  Azalea  nor  a  Kalmia  dared 
show  a  spray.  The  lawn  was  sharply  defined, 
the  flower-beds  far  too  numerous  and  too  nar- 
row. The  herbaceous  border  was  entirely  ig- 
nored, of  course,  as  being  too  antiquated  for  the 
"  modern  style  of  gardening,  you  know."  Some 
Abies  excelsa  had  been  planted  singly  within 
six  feet  of  the  drive;  and  a  few  other  shrubs,  &c-, 
were  dotted  about  here  and  there,  looking  very 
much  out  of  place.  A  great  deal  had  been  done, 
much  of  which,  however,  would  have  been  far 
better  let  alone.  In  fact,  we  shall  be  making 
rapid  progress  towards  our  next  Centennial,  be- 
fore some  of  the  grand  natural  objects  thus  ruth- 
lessly torn  away  can  be  re-placed  in  as  noble  a 
form.  Yet  this  estate  contains  within  itself  all 
the  diversity  of  hill  and  dale,  were  it  availed  of, 
to  make  the  scene  most  beautiful.  At  the  proper 
distance  from  the  front  piazza,  where  the  drive 
could  have  been  carried  in  a  bold  sweep  around 
the  brow  of  a  hill,  could  have  been  placed  some 
grand  clumps  of  Geranium  argenteum,  Erian- 
thus  Ravennaa,  Yucca  filamentosa  and  Y.  glori- 
osa,  Canna,  Caladium  esoulentum,  Hollyhock, 
&c,  &c.  In  connection  with  the  above,  could  be 
used  with  charming  effect  Juniperus,  Retino- 
spora,  Cupressus,  Biota,  Thuiopsis,  &c.  Away 
beyond  these  again  should  have  been  planted 
specimens  of  fine  foliaged,  weeping  trees,  &c, 
carrying  the  eye  over  a  fine  undulating  surface 
to  a  higher  hill  beyond,  skirted  by  a  wood  on 
the  northern  side,  where  might  have  been 
planted  some  fine  clumps  of  Abies,  Pinus,  &c, 
perhaps  fringed  by  European  Larch;  and  all 
this  beauty  might  have  been  had  for  very  little 
more  than  it  cost  to  destroy  that  which  pre- 
viously existed.  As  a  country,  we  have  some- 
thing yet  to  learn  in  Landscaping  and  in  For- 
estry. Could  not  the  Granges  do  something  to 
induce  farmers  and  others  to  plant  a  few  trees 
annually,  both  for  ornament  and  utility  ? 

Suppose  the  members  of  a  Grange  club  unite  to- 
gether and  buy  a  few  thousands  of — say  Norway 
Spruce,  of  smallish  size,  and  divide  them  pro- 
portionately. Being  of  somewhat  rapid  growth, 
if  properly  planted  anil  attended  to,  the  present 
generation  would  reap  the  benefit,  while  those 
to  come  would  bless  the  memory  of  those  who 
had  beautified  their  surroundings,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  country. 


181*70 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


99 


THE  WHITE  WATER  LILY.  (Nymphaea  Odorata.) 

BY   B.   MANN,    RANDOLPH,    MASS. 

If  lovers  of  flowers  only  knew  how  easily  the 
fragrant  White  Water  Lily  could  be  cultivated, 
we  are  quite  sure  these  Lilies  would  be  grown 
far  more  than  many  other  less  fragrant  and 
beautiful  flowers  that  take  more  time  and 
trouble  to  cultivate.  These  Lilies  once  planted 
in  a  pond  or  small  stream  (they  will  bloom  more 
profusely  in  shallow  water)  that  does  not  entirely 
dry  up  in  Summer,  will  need  no  further  care, 
and  will  increase  from  year  to  year.  People  that 
have  not  the  facilities  for  growing  them  in  ponds 
and  streams,  can  have  their  Lily  gardens  in  tubs 
and  aquariums  where  they  can  admire  and 
gather  the  most  fragrant  and  beautiful  flower 
that  grows  on  land  or  water. 

CULTIVATION. 

In  Tubs. — For  a  tub,  take  a  strong  barrel,  free 
from  tar  oil  or  salt,  saw  it  in  two,  fill  this  one- 
third  full  with  fine  black  garden  soil,  or  meadow 
mud  if  handy,  plant  the  roots  in  this  mixture, 
covering  them  two  inches  deep,  add  water  gently 
so  as  not  to  disturb  the  roots  until  the  tub  is 
full.  This  is  all  the  care  needed^always  keep  the 
tub  full  of  water.  Set  this  on  a  brick  or  board 
platform  in  any  place  you  desire.  The  tubs  with 
their  contents  should  be  placed  in  a  cellar  dur- 
ing the  Winter,  kept  from  frost,  and  not  allowed 
to  entirely  dry  up. 

For  Ponds  and  Streams — Tie  a  stone  close  to 
the  roots,  large  enough  to  sink  it,  drop  this  into 
the  pond  or  stream  where  you  wish  them  to 
grow. 

For  Aquariums. — Put  in  five  inches  of  fine 
black  loam,  cover  the  roots  one  inch  deep  in 
this,  and  sift  on  fine  sand  enough  to  entirely 
cover  the  loam. 


For  years,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  see 
M.  glauca  grafted  successfully  on  both  acumin- 
ata and  tripetela,  to  the  great  advantage  of 
stateliness  and  general  symmetry.  Nor  is  it  un- 
natural that  an  alliance  should  be  made  with 
facility  in  the  case  of  two  American  species,  when 
Japanese  and  Chinese  Magnolias  do  so  well  on 
the  same  stock.  Allow  me  to  enter  a  plea  for  a 
wider  appreciation  of  this  sweetest,  and  in  some 
senses  best,  of  American  Magnolias.  No  planta- 
tion of  shrubs  can  afford  to  be  without  its  fresh 
and  charming  attractions. 


MAGNOLIA  GLAUCA. 


MAGNOLIA  GLAUCA. 


BY    SAMUEL    PARSONS,     KISSENA    NURSERIES, 
FLUSHING,    N.    Y. 

In  the  February  issue  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  I  notice  a  very  clear  and  definite  an- 
swer, in  the  affirmative,  to  a  query  concerning 
the  possibility  of  grafting  Magnolia  glauca  on 
M.  acuminata  stock.  Your  statement  is  un- 
questionably correct,  but  since  you  do  not  seem 
to  rest  your  position  on  positive  experience,  I 
should  like  to  add  a  testimony  that  comes  from 
actual  observation. 


BY  T.   C.   MAXWELL,   GENEVA,   N.    Y. 

In  the  February  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  G.  W.  T.  asks  in  regard  to  the  M.  glauca 
worked  on  M.  acuminata,  and  you  answer  that 
you  "  know  of  no  cases,"  "  but  think  it  would  do 
well."  Remembering  an  article  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Horticulture  by  Dr.  J.  P.  Kirtland,  I 
immediately  turned  to  it,  volume  first,  page  177, 
and  found  it  so  very  interesting,  I  can  but  think 
you  will  be  glad  to  give  it  to  your  readers.  Dr.  K. 
says: — "A  glauca  standing  in  my  grounds, 
started  from  a  seed  in  1842,  is  now  (1867)  seven 
feet  high.  The  trunk  eighteen  inches  above  the 
ground,  measures  six  inches  in  circumference ; 
and  its  top  extends  into  several  lateral  branches. 
A  dozen  or  two  of  inferior  flowers  are  annually 
produced.  Its  aspect  is  that  of  an  old  and  de- 
crepit shrub,  unworthy  of  attention. 

"  In  beautiful  contrast  and  contiguous  to  it, 
may  be  seen  another  glauca,  with  a  large  and 
spreading  top,  more  than  twenty-one  feet  high, 
with  a  body  thirty-seven  inches  in  circumfer- 
ence at  its  largest  expansion.  Its  leaves  and 
flowers  surpass  the  others  in  size,  numbers  and 
perfection.  During  a  period  of  about  six  weeks, 
in  the  months  of  June  and  July,  it  puts  forth 
daily  a  profusion  of  pure  white  blossoms,  the 
neat  and  chaste  appearance  of  which  by  day, 
and  the  agreeable  odor  at  evening,  excite  ad- 
miration. At  the  approach  of  night,  the  per- 
fume mingling  with  the  falling  dews,  is  dissemin- 
ated a  great  distance  along  a  thronged  public 
thoroughfare,  and  elicits  many  exclamations  of 
wonder  and  surprise,  uttered  in  as  many  varied 
accents  as  were  heard  from  the  readers  of  the 
epitaph  of  '  Poor  Yorick.'  This  tree  is  probably 
the  largest  specimen  of  the  glauca  in  the  Union, 
certainly  in  the  more  northern  States;    and  it 


100 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


illustrates  both  the  feasibility  and  the  advan- 
tages of  employing  the  acuminata  for  the  stock 
in  propagating  this  species.  It  originated  from 
a  bud,  cut  from  the  seedling  glauca  just  de- 
scribed, when  that  was  four  years  old.  The  bud 
was  inserted  into  a  young  cucumber  tree  of  a 
similar  age,  in  the  Summer  of  1846,  similar  soil 
and  cultivation  have  been  afforded  to  each.  The 
one  is  a  mere  shrub  that  has  already  passed  its 
maturity;  the  other  a  good-sized  tree,  vigorous 
and  healthy,  annually  extending  as  large  a 
growth  as  in  its  early  years." 


VARIOUS  TOPICS. 


BY   JOSIAH   HOOPES,  WEST   CHESTER,  PA. 

I  am  pleased  to  hear  the  Sciadopitys  verticil- 
lata  is  succeeding  so  well  in  the  vicinity  of 
Boston,  thus  giving  us  incontrovertible  evidence 
of  its  hardiness  at  the  North.  A  specimen  in 
my  own  collection,  some  ten  years  planted,  has 
never  been  injured  in  the  least. 

The  Thuja  Standishi,  formerly  Thuiopsis,  is 
also  equally  hardy,  and  I  think  will  form  a  very 
beautiful  tree  when  well  grown. 

Whilst  on  the  subject  of  conifers,  allow  me 
to  call  the  attention  of  planters  to  three  of  the 
newer  species  of  Abies  or  Spruce : — A.  Alco- 
quiana,  A.  polita,  and  A.  microsperma,  all  of 
which  are  from  Japan,  and  appear  perfectly 
adapted  to  our  climate.  In  addition  to  their 
hardiness,  they  are  all  unexceptionally  beautiful 
and  distinct. 

Please  say  to  G.  W.  T.,  who  inquires  about 
grafting  Magnolia  glauca,  that  it  succeeds  well 
upon  the  M.  acuminata,  but  is  somewhat  more 
difficult  to  work  than  most  other  species.  The 
growth  is  greatly  accelerated,  and  the  foliage 
increased  in  size,  at  least  for  a  few  years  after 
grafting  or  budding. 

The  Castanopsis  chrysophylla,  like  almost  every 
Californian  tree  or  shrub  that  I  have  tested,  posi- 
tively refuses  to  live  here  for  any  length  of  time. 
It  literally  burns  up  beneath  our  hot  suns.  Even 
in  the  shade,  some  fungus  spreads  over  the  foli- 
age, and  the  shrubs  rapidly  shrivel  up.  The 
Winter,  however,  puts  a  quietus  on  all;  so  it  does 
not  much  matter  about  the  Summer  ills.  I  re- 
gret that  it  is  so,  for  a  more  beautiful  foliage  I 
scarcely  know  among  our  American  shrubs. 

We  have  hud  Fuchsia  procumbens  lor  eight- 
een months  past,  but  have  so  far  been  unable  to 
bloom  it.  Perhaps  now  we  may  succeed  with 
the  older  plants. 


NOTES  BY  CHARLES  DOWNING. 

AQUTLEGIA   CALIFORNICA. 

Your  correspondent,  W.  C.  L.  Drew,  says  this 
variety  has  not  yet  been  introduced,  but  Wm. 
Thompson,  seedsman,  of  Ipswich,  England,  sent 
me  seeds  of  it  some  twelve  years  since,  which 
grew  and  flowered  freely,  and  is  the  same  as 
described  by  Mr.  Drew. 

SPIRAEA   PALM  ATA. 

I  received  this  of  Thomas  Hogg,  Sr.,  of  New 
York,  over  twent)'  years  since  as  Spirgea  Ameri- 
cana, but  soon  after  when  in  bloom  a  botanical 
friend,  in  looking  over  my  collection,  pro- 
nounced it  S.  palmata;  it  grows  afoot  higher 
than  S.  lobata,  the  spikes  of  flowers  larger,  of  a 
brighter  color,  easily  cultivated,  and  worthy  of 
a  place  in  any  collection. 

ACONITUM   JAPONICUM. 

This  is  not  very  new.  I  grew  it  many  years 
since ;  it  grows  to  the  height  of  four  feet,  stiff 
and  erect;  has  palmated  shining  foliage;  blooms 
late,  and  although  desirable  in  a  large  collection, 
is  not  as  showy  as  some  of  the  earlier  varieties. 

MAGNOLIA   GLAUCA. 

G.  W.  T.  asks  what  would  be  the  effect  of 
grafting  M  glauca  on  M.  acuminata.  I  believe 
Dr.  Kirtland,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  successful 
in  grafting  and  budding  this  and  other  kinds  on 
the  acuminata  stock,  and  gave  an  account  of 
his  mode  of  performing  it  in  the  Journal  of  Hor- 
ticulture a  few  years  since.  I  would  recommend 
G.  W.  T.,  and  other  planters  to  obtain  M.  glauca 
longifolia,  a  seedling  of  the  glauca,  but  more 
vigorous  in  growth,  larger  and  more  glossy  foli- 
age, and  more  desirable  every  way,  and  should 
be  more  extensively  planted  as  an  ornamental 
tree. 


A  LITTLE  ALPINE  GARDEN. 

BY   MRS.  C.  S.  JOXES,  MONROE,  MO. 

For  many  years  past  "rock-work  "  and  "rock- 
eries "  have  become  so  popular  as  a  means  of 
embellishing  pleasure-grounds,  that  persons  de- 
ciding to  improve  their  surroundings,  invariably 
attempt  some  arrangement  of  this  kind  as 
an  aid  thereto.  "Rock- work!" — "Save  the 
mark!"  Why,  almost  every  absurd  conglom- 
eration of  stones,  shells,  rocks,  burrs,  roots,  and 
(shall  we  admit  it?),  masses  of  crockery,  glass. 
and  china,  that  we  see  exposing  their  dry, 
parched  sides  to  view,  is  dignified  by  the  term; 


1877.J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


101 


whereas  nine  attempts  out  of  ten  are  mere  abor- 
tions, as  may  be  clearly  proven,  if  we  will  only 
examine  the  subject  and  ascertain  what  we 
really  mean  by  attempting  this  class  of  work. 

The  object  of  rock-work  certainly  is,  or  should 
be,  an  imitation  of  nature;  by  obtaining  with 
proper  soil  and  situation,  such  growth  and 
exhibition  of  certain  interesting  plants,  whicb  in 
their  wild,  natural  state  resort  to  extremely  rocky 
and  stony  places,  seeking  a  subsistence ;  where 
strong,  rampant  vegetation  would  stand  no 
chance;  by  cultivating  those  lovely  mountain- 
eers, which  grow  in  all  their  delicate  green- 
ness and  brightness  far  above  the  limit  of  shrub- 
by and  herbaceous  vegetation,  in  regions  where 
blasts  of  cutting  wind  and  intense  cold  prevent 
their  tiny  heads  from  rising  more  than  an  inch 
or  two  above  the  earth. 

Now,  such  are  the  Alpines ;  and  though  the 
situations  in  which  the  Alpine  flora  luxuriates 
can  only  be  copied  on  a  very  lilliputian  scale  in 
our  American  gardens,  still  the  conditions  in 
which  they  delight  may  be  imitated  to  perfec- 
tion here,  and  it  is  from  the  fact  of  succeeding 
with  a  number  of  this  class  of  plants  that  I  feel 
anxious  to  urge  their  culture  upon  our  flower 
lovers;  for  never  will  they  find  a  specialty  better 
worthy  a  trial,  nor  a  pet  that  will  repay  them 
with  such  constant  returns  of  beauty. 

The  beds  I  am  about  to  describe  are  appropri- 
ate alike  for  the  wide  area  of  the  country  lawn 
or  the  contracted  court-yard  of  the  city  or 
suburban  home;  in  the  one  case  being  extended 
into  wide  planes  and  sheltered  nooks,  high  peaks 
and  sunny  knolls,  with  here  a  little  bit  of  water, 
and  there  a  rocky  pathway,  winding  in  and  out 
at  "the  foot  of  the  mountain."  Alpine  shrubs 
and  bushes  grouped  here  and  there  on  the 
mountain-tops,  the  sides  and  peaks  of  which 
may  be  " snoiv-capped"  with  "Spar.,"  while 
tiny  Swiss  chalets  dotted  about  on  the  sides,  or 
grouped  together  as  a  hamlet  in  the  valley,  may 
serve  as  bee-hives  or  bird-houses.  Here  by  mak- 
ing wide  slabs  of  stone,  to  overhang  some  min- 
iature lakelet,  with  sunny  banks  and  shaded, 
little  valleys,  every  sort  of  aspect  or  nook  that 
could  be  desired  for  a  particular  plant  is  at  hand, 
and  thus  vegetation  of  the  most  diverse  charac- 
ter is  accommodated  within  a  very  narrow  space 
by  merely  preparing  soil  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  special  plants.  In  the  other  case,  a  little  bed  j 
is  dug  out  to  the  depth  of  two  feet,  with  an  out- 
let from  the  lowest  point  to  insure  perfect 
drainage  in  this  cavity.     Coarse  stones,  lime  or 


rubbish  must  be  placed  to  a  depth  of  from  six 
inches  to  one  foot;  upon  this  arrange  large 
stones,  old  stumps  and  trunks  of  trees,  planted 
firmly  on  beds  of  garden  soil  or  stiff  loam. 
Leave  many  hollow  spaces  for  the  plants,  into 
which  pack  a  mixture  of  leaf-mould,  clean  sand, 
coarse  gravel  (or  crushed  stones)  and  peat  (or  if 
this  is  not  obtainable,  cocoa-nut  fibre  or  refuse 
will  answer),  and  a  little  good  garden  loam,  or 
soil  from  an  old  hot-bed,  making  a  coarse,  gritty 
mixture,  in  which  Alpines  delight  to  grow.  The 
requisites  of  health  to  these  plants  are  pure  air, 
bright  sun-shine  (during  a  portion  of  the  day  at 
least),  thorough  drainage,  loose  gritty  soil  and 
constant  moisture.  With  these,  your  plants 
will  grow  luxuriantly,  excepting  during  cold 
Spring  or  open  Winter  weather,  when,  being  de- 
prived of  their  natural  covering  of  snow,  with 
our  thaws  and  severe  frosts,  they  are  greatly 
injured;  but  this  evil  maybe  remedied  by  fas- 
tening a  sort  of  open  frame  across  the  bed  and 
covering  with  canvas  tacked  to  the  top,  forming 
an  artificial  snow. 

Around  the  edge  of  the  bed  arrange  rustic 
stones  and  roots  of  various  sizes,  making  as 
much  pleasing  diversity  as  possible,  so  as  to 
raise  the  bed  about  two  feet  above  the  surround- 
ing turf.  The  large  stones,  slabs,  trunks,  &c,  in 
the  centre  should  crop  out  from  the  soil  in  true 
rustic  fashion  ;  of  course  any  regular  arrange- 
ment would  tend  to  ugliness,  as  no  one  spot 
should  resemble  another,  and  the  dip  and  con- 
nection of  the  stones  with  the  soil  should  be  so 
arranged  that  the  soil  will  not  become  washed 
out  with  rain  or  watering.  Here  Sedums  and 
Sempervivums,  such  Saxifragas  as  ccesia  Ro- 
chelliana,  such  Dianthuses  as  alpinus  and  pe- 
trseus,  mountain  Forget-me-nots,  Gentians,  little 
Spring  bulbs,  Hepatica  triloba  and  a  good,  wide 
clump  of  the  Iberis.  Pinks  will  thrive  here 
and  do  wonderfully  well,  while  the  blue  tint  of 
the  foliage  will  form  charming  contrasts  with 
the  deep  green  of  the  "  mossy  Saxifrage."  The 
Aubrietias  will  run  up  and  down  the  chinks  and 
form  lovely  mantles  for  the  jutting  rocks  over 
which  they  will  climb  and  ramble;  Alyssum 
saxatile  will  round  into  a  dense,  impenetrable 
clump,  while  Arabis  lucida,  A.  procurrens  var., 
and  Festuca  glauca,  with  all  the  Oxalis,  silvery 
Artemisias,  dwarf  Gnaphalium,  Silene  alpestris, 
Dianthus  petrseus,  Achillea  tomentosa,  Campan- 
ulas (dwarf),  Erica  carnea,  Linaria  alpina,  Phlox 
verna,  frondosa  and  stolonifera,  Alyssum  spino- 
sum,  Veronica  Candida  and  saxatilis.     Cerastium 


102 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  April, 


tomentosum,  Primula  veris  (cowslip);  Bellis  per- 
ennis  (English  Daisy);  double  white  daisy,  and 
B.  Victoria.  On  dry  spots  use  the  Echeverias, 
which,  being  natives  of  arid  countries,  will 
thrive  best  if  planted  in  some  hot,  parched 
places,  where  anything  else  would  fail.  E.  re- 
tusa  fioribunda,  metallica,  glauca,  rosacea,  se- 
cunda  splendens,  secunda  glauca,  splendens  and 
atropurpurea ;  Koniga  (var.)  (variegated  sweet 
Alyssum),  in  shaded  spots  Lysimachia  nummu- 
laria,  Linaria  cymbilaria;  Myosotis  palustris, 
p.  alba,  M.  semperflorens,  M.  dissitofolia ; 
Nertera  depressa,  one  of  the  most  charming  of 
Alpine  plants.  The  creeping,  thread-like  stems 
are  thrown  out  in  great  profusion  until  a  tangled 
mat  is  formed,  which  is  covered  with  tiny  dark 
green  leaves,  forming  a  dense  tuft,  on  which  the 
brilliant  orange-scarlet  berries  rest,  the  rich  fruit 
forming  a  striking  contrast  to  the  foliage.  Nier- 
embergia  rivularis,  another  creeping  beauty 
with  lovely  white  flowers;  N.  gracilis;  Othon- 
na  crassifolia,  of  Sedum-like  appearance,  has 
small,  yellow,  tassel-like  flowers  borne  in  great 
profusion.  Mikania  violacea  has  striking  foli- 
age of  a  purplish-green  color  and  velvet-like 
appearance,  with  lining  like  crimson  satin;  a 
charming  plant,  which  roots  freely.  Micromeria 
Douglasii,  mule  pinks  of  various  kinds.  Mes- 
embryanthemums,  which  will  endure  the  hottest 
sunshine,  and  grow  in  very  shallow  soil.  M.  cor- 
difolium,  M.  cordifolium  variegatum,  M.  glau- 
cuni,  M.  blandum,  M.  deltoidum,  M.  niti- 
dum,  are  all  valuable  for  such  beds,  and  once 
obtained,  may  be  easily  preserved  during  the 
Winter  for  use  the  ensuing  season.  The  Ana- 
gallis  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  Alpine 
plants,  and  both  grandiflora,  ccerulea  and  san- 
guinea  will  form  lovely  clumps.  Calandrina 
grandiflora  and  umbel  lata  will  cover  hot  places 
with  brilliant  pink  and  crimson  carpets,  while 
the  Cerastiums  and  other  silver-leaved  plants 
will  form  charming  contrasts  with  Scypanthus 
elegans,  Tagetes  signata  pumila,  Veronica  Sy- 
riaca  and  Euphorbia  variegata.  Fenzlia,  Gram- 
manthus  gentianoides,  Gysophila  muralis  and 
paniculata. 

Of  the  Sedums  and  Sempervivums,  our  lead- 
ing florists  have  good  selections,  and  the  best 
way  is  to  procure  the  entire  set  for  a  specified 
price.  The  plants  I  have  named  are  many  of 
them  not  strictly  Alpines,  but  of  such  character 
as  to  mingle  beautifully  together,  and  by  exam- 
ining such  catalogues  as  are  published  by  out- 
most  reliable   florist*  and  seedsmen,  it  will  be 


discovered   which  may  be  raised   readily  from 
seed  and  of  which  it  is  best  to  obtain  plants. 

With  these  points  carefully  considered,  the 
most  charming  results  will  ensue  from  such 
beds  as  I  have  here  described ;  and  there  are 
hundreds  and  hundreds  of  dwellings  in  and 
around  our  cities,  from  the  windows  of  which 
such  little  Alpine  Gardens  would  appear  attract- 
ive'and  refreshing  to  an  eminent  degree. 


NOTES  ON  LITTLE  KNOWN  PLANTS. 

BY  WM.  S.  CARPENTER,  RYE,  N.  Y. 

I  noticed  in  the  December  number  of  your 
valuable  magazine  an  inquiry  in  regard  to  that 
beautiful  conifera,  Sciadopitys  verticillata.  I 
imported  a  specimen  of  it  fifteen  years  ago,  and 
regret  to  say,  after  a  struggle  of  some  three  or 
four  years  with  our  uncongenial  winters,  it 
died,  notwithstanding  I  had  given  it  some  pro- 
tection. I  have  not  hrd  the  courage  to  try  it 
again.  (You  might  venture  again. — Ed.)  I  do 
not  think  it  should  be  recommended  as  hardy, 
although  it  may  succeed  in  some  favored  locali- 
ties ;  like  many  other  beautiful  evergreens  that 
I  have  planted,  which  have  been  and  are  still 
recommended  as  hardy.  I  regret  that  I  could 
not  have  saved  some  of  the  following,  which 
were  well  cared  for,  giving  the  most  of  them 
some  protection,  but  nearly  all  have  dis- 
appeared ;  some  did  not  survive  the  first  winter, 
others  struggled  on  for  a  few  years  ;  but  all  must 
be  rejected  for  the  locality  of  Eastern  New  York. 
Abies  grandis,  quite  distinct  from  lasiocarpa, 
Parsonsiana,  or  Lowi — the  latter  proves  hardy, 
Abies  bracteata,  Abies  canadensis  compacta, 
Abies  Douglasii,  Abies  Morinda,  Abies  Pinsapo. 
This  last  beautiful  evergreen  I  have  tried  several 
times,  but  shall  have  to  give  it  up.  Cedrus  At- 
lantica,  Deodara,  Africana  and  Libani,  all  tender. 
Cephalotaxus  drupracea,  Fortuni  and  robusta — 
all  dead.  Cryptomereaa  japonica,  elegans,  For- 
tunii  and  nana — all  beautiful,  but  not  hardy.  I 
imported  twelve  varieties  of  Cupressus,  not  one 
of  them  now  alive.  I  found  that  by  screening  this 
variety  from  the  sun,  through  March,  I  could 
preserve  them.  It  is  to  be  regretted  this  elegant 
variety  of  conifera  is  not  more  reliable.  C.  McNa- 
biana  is  perhaps  the  most  hardy  of  the  Cu- 
pressus. Most  of  the  pines  that  I  have  tried 
prove  hardy — the  exceptions  are,  Australis,  Tor- 
ryana,  maritima,  insignis,  and  perhaps  tubercu- 
lata.     Pinus  Fremontiana,  I  regard  as  the  hand- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


103 


somest  hardy  pine  of  North  America.  Next  I 
would  place  muricata  and  Coulteri.  We  have 
now  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  some  dozen 
varieties  of  the  beautiful  Retinospora  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  it  is  most  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  say,  that  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  they  are 
as  hardy  as  an  oak  ;  ericoides  needs  some  pro- 
tection when  young.  Two  varieties  lately  intro- 
troduced,  Retinospora  pisifera  lutescens  and 
R.  squarrosa  glauca,  are  the  most  beautiful  I 
have  yet  seen.  Another  beautiful  class  of  small 
evergreens  should  be  planted  with  caution — the 
Taxus.  But  two,  out  of  some  twenty  varieties, 
which  I  have  tried,  can  be  relied  on,  Taxus  can- 
adensis and  Washingtoni — the  last  named  is 
tipped  with  gold,  and  with  me  as  hardy  as  an 
oak.  Several  others  that  are  very  beautiful, 
Taxus  baceata  aurea,  Taxus  elegantissima  and 
Taxus  japonica,  and  we  may  add  cuspidata,  with 
slight  protection ;  may  be  preserved.  The  Biotas 
are  so  handsome  that  it  pays  to  give  some  of 
them  a  slight  protection,  otherwise  most  of  them 
will  suffer  when  young.  Elegantissimum,  I  think 
the  handsomest  of  all,  and  perhaps  the  most 
tender.  Biota  semper  aurescens  and  Zuccarin- 
iana  are  of  recent  introduction,  and  with  me 
nearly  hardy,  both  beautiful  and  worth  try- 
ing. Nearly  all  the  Thuya  occidentalis,  I  think 
are  hardy,  if  we  except  the  gigantea,  which  needs 
protection  when  young. 

Thuiopsis  borealis,  variegata  and  dolabrata 
passed  through  several  Winters,  and  I  had  great 
hopes  of  these  beautiful  trees,  but  had  to  give 
them  up.  Not  one  is  now  left ;  the  same  state- 
ment will  apply  to  Libocedrus  decurrens.  This 
would  seem  to  be  the  dark  side  in  experimenting 
with  evergreens  ;  but  I  wish  to  say  that  there  are 
two  sides  to  this  question,  and  I  propose  at  a 
suitable  time  to  give  the  other  side,  which  is  a 
bright  side,  and  fully  compensates  for  all  that 
would  appear  to  be  disappointment  in  experi- 
menting with  the  beautiful  Conifera,  now  obtain- 
able. One  word  in  regard  to  Sequoia  gigantea  : 
it  does  not  give  satisfaction  ;  a  beautiful  tree 
where  it  does  well,  but  will  not  flourish  here.  I 
am  speaking  for  Eastern  New  York,  latitude 
about  41°. 

I  notice  an  enquiry  in  your  last  issue  in  regard 
to  the  Arundo  conspicua.  I  imported  this  last 
year,  and  think  it  promises  to  be  valuable — 
quite  as  handsome  as  the  Gynerium  argenteum, 
and  I  think  much  hardier.  I  hope  to  flower  the 
new  Gynerium  carmineum  Rendatleri,  the  com- 
ing season.    This  was  sent  out  by  Van  Houtte 


two  years  ago,  with  a  fine  description.  The  pani- 
cles measure  more  than  two  feet  in  length,  are 
of  a  bright  carmine  rose  color.  The  flower  stems 
attain  the  height  often  feet,  and  are  described  as 
making  a  magnificent  show,  quite  as  hardy  as 
Gynerium  argenteum.  There  is  another  variety 
which  I  have  ordered,  described  with  foliage 
completely  bordered  with  gold  color.  I  hope  to 
report  favorably  at  some  future  time  on  this  new 
Gynerium.  Erianthus  Ravenna?  is  a  very  orna- 
mental grass,  and  when  well  established  will,  I 
think,  prove  quite  hardy. 

[Mr.  Carpenter's  notes  of  his  experience  are 
valuable  and  welcome.  It  shows  that  people 
cannot  plant  these  things  under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, and  yet  feel  sure  of  their  living.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  a  state  of  nature, 
evergreens  are  gregarious;  growing  together, 
they  shelter  one  another.  In  the  highest  north- 
ern regions  the  young  of  pines  spring  up  under 
the  protection  of  other  things.  If  put  out  in  the 
open,  exposed  on  all  sides  to  the  wind,  the  sun, 
and  the  weather  in  general,  the  hardiest  of  even 
these  hardy  things  have  a  hard  time  of  it.  When 
large  they  can  take  care  of  themselves — when 
young  they  cannot.  There  are  scarcely  any  of 
the  kinds  which  failed  with  Mr.  Carpenter,  but 
which  we  have  seen  doing  well,  not  only  in  his 
latitude,  but  in  latitudes  much  further  north.  It 
is  a  question  not  of  latitude,  nor  of  temperature, 
but  of  protection  from  wind  when  small.  By 
protection  we  mean  not  merely  the  placing  of  a 
few  branches  around  a  weak  plant,  but  the  pro- 
tection of  dense  masses  of  trees  and  shrubs. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Pruning  Conifer^.— A  discussion  is  going  on 
in  the  Belgian  journals,  as  to  whether  or  not  itwill 
do  to  prune  coniferae.  An  affirmative  answer 
would  have  been  given  by  any  American  gar- 
dener since  the  establishment  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly.  We  remember  that  an  article  in  regard 
to  pruning  evergreens,  in  our  first  number  created 
marked  attention.  There  is  no  evergreen  but  is 
freely  pruned  now. 

The  Japan  Maples. — Mr.  S.  Parsons  speaks 
well  of  the  Acer  Jap.  sanguineum  and  A  Jap. 
atropurpureum.  Of  the  last  we  can  say  of  our 
own  experience,  that  it  is  an  excellent  addition 
to  our  list  of  ornamental  trees. 


104 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[April, 


New  Rose,  Beauty  of  Glazenwood. — Mr. 
Saul  has  a  beautiful  chromo  in  his  Catalogue. 
It  is  a  yellow  bud  striped  with  crimson. 

The  Hepatica. — A  remarkably  beautiful  blue 
variety  of  our  native  Hepatica  or  Liverwort,  is 
figured  in  the  Belgian  Horticultural  Review.  Our 
lovers  of  herbaceous  plants  should  examine  our 
woods  for  new  forms, — for  there  are  generally  as 
good  varieties  from  seeds  sown  by  nature,  as  by 
the  gardener,  but  they  get  crowded  out.  There 
are  under  culture,  rose  colored  and  white  varie- 
ties, and  double  ones  of  all,  though  the  double 
white  seem  very  scarce. 


QUERIES. 


Magnolias. — W.  F.  B.  says  : — "  I  notice  in  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  for  February,  an  inquiry 
about  grafting  the  Magnolia  glauca  on  the  M.  acu- 
minata. If  you  refer  to  the  Horticulturist  for 
1857,  p.  218,  you  will  find  a  very  interesting  arti- 
cle from  J.  P.  Kirtland,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on 
the  acuminata  as  a  stock.  I  believe  the  article 
promised  to  follow  on  the  methods  of  grafting, 
never  appeared." 


Lily  Culture. — We  have  the  following  letter 
from  Messrs.  Krelage  &  Sons,  of  Haarlem,  Hol- 
land. As  we  could  not  lay  our  hands  on  the 
lists  they  refer  to,  we  publish  with  pleasure  their 
letter  instead. 

"  In  the  February  number  of  your  Monthly,  at 
page  37,  you  give  a  note  on  a  Belgium  Lily  cata- 
logue (we  suppose  it  is  Mr.  Fraelmen's)  which 
contains  75  sorts  and  three  of  them  offered  by  the 
1000.  Allow  us  to  observe  that  we  have  sent 
you  this  Autumn  our  special  list  of  Lilies,  con- 
taining about  250  species  and  varieties,  also 
quoted  per  piece,  per  dozen,  per  100  and  per 
1000,  and  among  which  there  are  about  40  quoted 
by  the  1000.  Our  collection  of  Lilies  is  cer- 
tainly the  largest  and  best  assorted  nursery  col- 
lection in  Europe  if  not  in  the  world.  We 
edited  this  Autumn  in  English  (with  special 
American  edition),  French  and  German,  a  pro- 
visional descriptive  list,  and  we  find  that  our 
notes  have  already  been  copied  in  several  other 
lists.  We  sent  you  a  copy  of  this  set  of  cata- 
logues (  320  a,  321  a,  322  a,  323  a  );  perhaps  you 
will  find  it  useful  to  give  a  note  of  them  in  your 
paper.  To  the  trade  we  publish  separate  cata- 
logue. Trade  prices  of  Lilies  for  America  are 
to  be  found  in  318  a." 


REEN 


ouse  and  Souse  Gardening. 


^>^>j 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


RHODODENDRON  HOUSE. 

BY   S.   B.   PARSONS,   FLUSHING,   LONG  ISLAND. 

Some  months  since  I  expressed  in  your  columns 
my  opinion  based  upon  an  experience  of  some 
thirty  years,  that  scarcely  a  dozen  sorts  of  Rho- 
dodendrons could  be  pronounced  absolutely 
hardy  under  all  circumstances,  and  that  many 
of  the  high  colors  exhibited  at  Philadelphia  were 
not  among  those  sorts. 

To  that  opinion  I  still  adhere,  notwithstanding 
an  occasional  success  with  highly  colored  sorts 
in  ravines  and  sheltered  places.  Exceptions  do 
not  prove  the  rule,  and  the  rule  is  that  those 


sorts  are  not  in  this  country  reliable  under  all 
circumstances.  My  assertion  is  strengthened  by 
the  utterances  and  correspondence  of  friends 
in  different  sections  who  coincide  with  me  in 
this  position,  and  whose  history  of  Rhododen- 
dron importations  is  a  history  of  disappointments. 
The  few  sorts  which  are  perfectly  hardy  give  us 
a  variety  of  color  and  many  charms,  but  we  can- 
not afford  to  lose  the  exquisite  tints  which 
belong  to  a  class  formed  by  Concessum,  Album, 
Lady  Cathcart  and  others. 

I  am  frequently  asked,  how  then  can  these  be 
enjoyed?  Simply  by  protection  in  some  shape, 
and  this  can  be  given  most  satisfactorily  by  a 
cheap  house.  No  artificial  heat  is  required,  and 
only  a  protection  from  exciting  sun  and  cold 
wind.   I  will  describe  the  cheapest  form  I  know; 


isn.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


105 


those  who  are  willing  to  erect  a  more  costly 
structure  can  readily  do  so.  I  would  give  such 
a  house  a  span  roof  with  a  pitch  of  30°  and 
rafters  twelve  feet  long.  The  sides  of  the  house 
should  be  six  feet  high  and  the  centre  twelve 
feet.  The  ground  surface  should  be  twenty  feet 
wide,  outside  measurement,  and  in  length  fifty 
feet  or  more  as  desired.  The  sides  can  be  formed 
of  locust  or  cedar  posts,  set  not  less  than  four 
feet  in  the  ground  and  four  feet  apart.  The 
centre  can  be  sustained  by  a  ridge  pole  of  planks 
or  wall  strip  resting  upon  posts  six  feet  apart. 
The  rafters  can  be  simple  joists  four  feet  apart, 
nailed  on  the  ridge  pole  and  on  a  plate 
which  is  itself  spiked  into  the  tops  of  the  side 
posts.  We  thus  have  the  finished  skeleton  of  a 
house.  It  must  now  be  covered  in  some  way 
which  will  enable  it  to  be  conveniently  stripped. 
Tongued  and  grooved  shutters,  six  by  twelve  feet, 
with  battens,  can  be  laid  upon  the  rafters  and 
kept  in  place  by  common  hooks  and  staples.  It 
would  be  better  i  the  tops  of  the  rafters  could 
be  ploughed  out  a  little  to  carr}r  off  the  water 
which  would  fall  between  the  shutters.  The 
roof  being  thus  formed,  the  ends  can  be  covered 
in  after  the  same  manner  in  sections.  On  the 
sides,  every  third  space  can  be  covered  in  with 
a  glass  sash  and  the  remainder  with  wooden 
shutters,  it  being  borne  in  mind  that  protection 
from  the  excitement  of  light  is  a  great  aid  to 
protection  from  cold.  A  little  salt  hay  or  other 
litter  could  cover  the  small  space  between  the 
shutters  and  the  ground.  Every  fine,  still  day 
ventilation  will  be  needed,  and  this  can  be  given 
by  a  door  in  each  end,  guarding  however 
against  sudden  changes.  Through  the  coldest 
Winter  a  house  of  this  kind  will  be  found 
a  sufficient  protection  for  all  those  Rhododen- 
drons which  so  charmed  every  one  by  their 
colors.  In  April,  when  danger  from  late  frosts 
is  not  to  be  apprehended,  the  house  should  be 
completely  stripped  of  all  shutters  and  sash  and 
left  a  simple  skeleton.  The  plants  will  thus  be 
fully  exposed  to  the  pleasant  sun,  and  air, 
and  influences  of  Spring,  and  will  acquire 
strength  for  their  subsequent  blooming.  About 
a  month  later,  when  the  flower  buds  are  fully 
developed  and  show  signs  of  bursting,  the  roof 
should  be  covered  with  shades  of  lattice  work. 
The  cheapest  mode  of  making  these  shades  is 
with  furring  strips  or  shingling  lathe  joining  a 
frame  four  by  six  feet  and  plastering  lath  nailed 
across  an  inch  apart.  Those  who  wish  some- 
thing nicer  which  can  be  painted,  can  have  simi- 


lar strips  sawed  out  at  the  mill  and  planed. 
This  partial  shading  prolongs  the  season  of 
bloom,  allows  the  air  and  sifted  sunlight  to  enter 
freely,  and  protects  equally  against  the  burning 
rays  of  a  Summer  sun,  or  the  dashing  torrents 
of  a  Summer  rain,  either  of  which  in  the  open  air 
will  destroy  the  finest  bloom  in  a  single  day.  It  is 
better  than  a  tent  because  it  is  not  so  close  for 
the  observer,  while  it  affords  that  subdued  light 
which  in  a  tent  develops  flower  tints  so  charm- 
ingly. A  covering  of  this  kind  during  bloom 
would  greatly  prolong  the  season  of  even  those 
sorts  which  are  entirely  proof  against  the  se- 
verest cold.  A  day  of  intense  heat  or  a  pouring 
rain  cannot  then  destroy  the  pleasure  for  which 
a  whole  year  has  been  waiting.  When  the  bloom 
has  passed,  this  shading  should  be  removed  and 
the  plant  thrown  open  to  the  sun,wind  and  rain. 
Without  the  sun,  flower  buds  wrould  not  form 
readily,  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  plant  Rho- 
dodendrons in  the  shade.  If  ivy  or  other  fine 
climbers  have  been  planted  inside  the  posts  at 
the  side,  they  can  now  be  twined  around  them, 
and  if  sufficiently  luxuriant  can  be  carried 
around  the  rafters  or  festooned  from  them.  The 
rich,  glossy  dark  green  foliage  of  the  Rhododen- 
drons will  give  pleasure  during  the  Summer  by 
its  contrast  with  other  shrubs,  and  the  covering 
can  be  renewed  again  late  in  November,  after  a  few 
good  frosts  have  matured  the  wood  and  hardened 
the  plants  for  their  Winter's  rest. 

This  house  maybe  varied  to  suit  the  taste  of 
the  builder,  bearing  in  mind  the  three  essential 
elements : — darkness,  and  protection  for  the 
dormancy  in  Winter ;  shade  for  the  bloom  in 
Summer  ;  and  open  air  and  sun  for  the  growth. 
A  house  of  this  kind  can  be  made  available  for 
other  plants. 

There  are  many  who  are  fond  of  the  Lau- 
rustinus  Portugal  Laurel,  Araucaria,  Evergreen 
Magnolias,  Holly,  and  many  other  broad-leaved 
evergreens,  which  are  hardy  in  England  but 
tender  here,  ai.d  who  keep  such  in  a  greenhouse 
or  cellar,  planting  them  out  on  the  lawn  every 
year.  The  subterranean  dampness  of  a  cellar  is 
unnatural  and  the  influence  of  a  greenhouse 
exciting.  These  evils  and  the  frequent  trans- 
planting are  adverse  to  the  production  of  good 
specimens.  In  a  house  of  this  character  they 
could  be  allowed  to  remain,  could  develop  into 
luxuriant  and  beautiful  forms,  would  make  a 
delightful  promenade  for  all  the  members  of  a 
family,  and  charm  all  beholders  by  the  beauty 
of  its  bloom  and  the  richness  of  its  foliage. 


106 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  EDINBURG  ROSE. 

BY   SAMUEL  SMITH,  NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

That  there  is  a  false  Duchess  of  Edinburg 
Rose  in  the  market  I  have  proof,  and  to  show 
you  the  difference  in  the  buds,  I  enclose  you 
the  true  rose,  also  the  false  one.  These  plants 
were  imported  by  me  from  England.  I 
got  twenty-three  of  these  in  one  hundred 
plants. 

I  believe  that  the  false  rose  is  a  sport,  as  I  do 
not  know  it,  nor  can  I  find  any  one  who  does 
know  it.  However  this  may  be,  I  would  advise 
all  who  have  the  wrong  variety,  if  like  mine,  to 
preserve  it ;  for  when  well  grown  it  is  a  beautiful 
rose,  as  you  will  see  by  the  bud  sent.  The 
habit  and  foliage  of  the  plants  are  very  like 
the  true  Duchess.     It  differs  only  in  color. 

[Mr.  Smith  is  right,  evidently.  The  one  is  a 
sport  of  the  other,  and  propagators  will  have  to 
watch  it  just  as  they  have  to  watch  Coleus  Cha- 
meleon and  other  things.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


a  ball  of  earth  without  a  free  circulation  of  air. 
I  have  reflected  a  great  deal  on  this  subject  of 
late,  and  have  come  to  this  conclusion,  that  our 
dry  atmosphere  is  "  argument  enough  "  in  favor 
of  drainage.  Plants  can  be  watered  freely ;  the 
water  percolates  freely  through  the  soil,  the  air 
follows  and  keeps  the  moisture  suspended  in  the 
mass. 

The  above,  Mr.  Editor,  are  my  views,  but  if  I 
have  made  any  misstatements,  I  shall  be  glad 
and  thankful  to  be  set  right ;  neither  am  I  too 
prejudiced,  or  adhere  too  zealously  to  an  old 
principle  or  custom  to  be  convinced  when  a 
better  one  is  offered.  I  have  neither  taste  nor 
talent  for  recriminating  controversies,  being  con- 
vinced that  those  who  resort  to  such  quibbles, 
manifest  a  disposition  for  a  controversial  tri- 
umph more  than  for  the  elucidation  of  truth. 


DRAINAGE. 


BY  RAMBLER. 


There  has  been  of  late  some  writing,  and  a 
great  deal  of  talking  in  regard  to  drainage,  and 
without  attempting  to  condemn  or  uphold  the 
same,  permit  me  to  ask— does  nature  justify 
drainage?  We  are  all  aware  that  it  is  most 
essential  in  artificial  culture  to  follow  the  exam- 
ples of  nature,  and  we  are  also  aware  that  no 
farmer  would  for  a  moment  think  of  putting 
drainage  under  the  top  soil  of  his  fields  before 
planting  grain,  though  perhaps  many  a  grain- 
field  would  be  benefited  by  judicious  drainage. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  in  what  conditions  do 
we  find  the  most  luxurious  tropical  vegetation  ? 
Is  it  on  hard,  parched  and  half  baked  earth  under 
the  full  rays  of  the  meridian  sun  of  Summer? 
No !  In  situations  moist  and  shaded,  where  the 
plants  spring  up  annually  among  the  decayed 
herbage  of  the  previous  season,  when  the  de- 
composed mass  is  free  and  porous,  allowing  the 
accumulated  moisture  to  pass  off  in  season  of 
growth.  How  is  it  possible  for  the  air  to  circu- 
late if  the  pores  are  blocked  with  water,  or 
where  the  ball  is  as  hard  as  a  lump  of  clay ;  be- 
sides, the  water  itself  will   not  circulate  through 


HEATING    SMALL     VEGETABLE     OR     GREEN- 
HOUSES. 

BY   AN   OHIO   LADY. 

In  the  January  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  I  saw  a  communication  in  reply  to  some 
one  having  asked  the  expediency  of  warming  a 
small  vegetable-house  with  a  coal  stove,  in  an- 
swer to  which  it  was  stated,  "that  it  would  not 
be  satisfactory." 

I  will  give  a  little  experience  of  my  own.  Like 
many  others,  I  long  wanted  a  greenhouse,  or  more 
properly,  a  conservatory;  but  the  first  obstacle 
which  always  arises  is,  the  difficulty  of  heating  a 
small  house.  With  a  conservatory  attached  to 
the  dwelling  there  is  always  more  or  less  dan- 
ger from  heating  by  flues,  and  besides,  they  are 
extremely  unsightly  things.  Heating  by  steam 
is  too  expensive.  More  than  three  years  ago 
I  determined  to  try  one  heated  by  a  coal 
stove. 

My  conservatory  opens  by  a  glass  door  directly 
from  the  sitting-room.  It  is  a  lean-to,  12x20  ft., 
looking  toward  the  south  and  protected  by  the 
house  on  the  north  and  most  of  the  west  side. 
I  have  wooden  shutters  made  of  flooring-boards 
to  use  in  extreme  weather,  and  it  is  heated  by  a 
base-burning  soft  coal  stove.  With  care,  there 
is  but  little  dust.  I  have  a  cistern  in  the  house, 
with  a  force-pump,  hose,  and  sprinkler,  which 
is  very  convenient,  and  it  can  all  be  watered  in 
two  minutes.  This  has  been  almost  indispensa- 
ble hitherto,  as  I  was  obliged  to   depend   upon 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


107 


sprinkling  the  floors,  &c,  for  moisture,  for  of 
course  the  heat  would  naturally  be  dry. 

Last  Fall  I  tried  an  experiment  of  having  a 
galvanized  iron  circular  tank  of  about  twelve 
gallons  capacity,  placed  back  of  the  stove,  with 
f-inch  gas  pipe  attached  to  the  tank  and  run- 
ning through  one  of  the  doors  into  the  fire-pot 
of  the  stove,  and  with  an  elbow  returning 
through  the  same  door  and  passing  under  my 
little  propagating  bench  six  feet,  and  then  com- 
ing back  and  entering  the  tank  above  the  first 
pipe  about  eight  inches.  I  thus  have  a  body  of 
water  always  hot — many  times,  with  a  large  fire, 
nearly  reaching  the  boiling  point — which  gives 
out  moisture  sufficient  to  keep  the  plants  in 
good  health,  entirely  free  from  red  spider ;  and 
the  circulation  in  the  pipes  gives  additional  heat. 
It  has  given  entire  satisfaction  throughout  these 
unusually  extreme  winter  nights.  At  night  when 
the  mercury  goes  to  zero,  our  man  awakens  and 
stirs  out  the  ashes  and  re-fills  with  coal  about 
one  o'clock,  but  ordinarily  it  needs  only  to  be  at- 
tended to  late  at  night  and  early  in  the  morning, 
and  it  has  kept  my  tenderest  plants  safely. 
The  mercury  perhaps  twice  only  has  gone  below 
40°,  and  usually  ranges  from  40°  to  60°.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  keep  "stove"  plants,  but,  for  miscel- 
laneous plants,  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  recom- 
mending my  plan. 

I  have  now  blooming  "Passiflora  princeps," 
"Thunbergia  Harrisi,"  "Clerodendron  Balfouri," 
and  others,  and  I  should  like  a  white  winter- 
blooming  vine.  Would  I  succeed  with  "  Stepha- 
notis  floribunda?"  Dreer  does  not  give  it  as  a 
"stove,"  but  he  does  Clerodendron  B.  Another 
experiment  I  have  tried  successfully.  I  take 
my  little  machine  oil  can  and  treat  the  "  mealy- 
bug" to  a  drop  of  coal  oil,  which  is  sure,  and 
so  far,  harmless  ;  even  the  Rex  Begonias  are 
uninjured  by  it. 

[We  have  great  pleasure  in  giving  this  letter  to 
our  readers.  It  is  just  the  sort  of  practical  experi- 
ence hundreds  want  to  know  about.  The  success 
with  the  coal  stove  is  particularly  encouraging, 
as  so  many  can  have  flowers  this  way  to  whom 
expensive  heating  arrangements  are  out  of  the 
question.  Our  correspondent,  in  sending  the 
article,  modestly  asks  us  not  to  "  put  her  in  the 
paper,"  whatever  we  do  with  her  experience, 
and  we  have  respected  her  wishes  accordingly. 
Stephanotis  floribunda  would  hardly  flower  in 
Winter  in  such  a  house.  Bhyncospermum  jas- 
minoides,  as  a  white  climber,  would  be  better. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


LA  BELLE  CARNATION. 

BY   H.   E.   CHITTY,   BELLEVUE  NURSERIES, 

PATERSON,   N.   J. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Lonsdale's  reference  to  my 
remarks  on  this  plant,  which  appeared  in  the 
Gardener's  Monthly,  January,  1875,  I  believe  I 
can  truly  say  that  I  have  no  cause  to  change 
or  reverse  my  opinion  as  then  expressed.  But 
all  depends  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  plant 
is  grown — if  stopped  and  pinched  back  and 
otherwise  treated  as  the  ordinary  American 
varieties  are  managed  for  Fall  and  Winter 
flowering,  it  will  not  flower,  but  if  allowed  to 
grow  its  own  way  with  simple  training,  or  pro- 
vided with  necessary  support  and  ordinary 
liberal  treatment  in  regard  to  soil  and  pot  room, 
it  will  flower  early  in  the  season  and  abundantly, 
and  when  so  grown  and  flowered,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  it  is  the  most  perfect, 
largest  and  purest  white  Carnation  that  we  have, 
and  I  believe  all  these  good  qualities  are  freely 
conceded  it  in  England  where  it  originated,  and 
where  it  has  prominently  figured  at  exhibitions 
during  the  last  two  or  three  years. 

During  1875  we  grew  large  numbers  of  this 
plant  in  3,  4,  5,  and  6-inch  pots,  and  the  plants 
of  sizes  to  suit  all  kinds  of  trade.  The  smaller 
sizes  were  freely  stopped  to  keep  them  within 
bounds  for  shipping  purposes,  as  were  also  many 
of  the  plants  in  6-inch  pots.  These  last  named 
that  were  left  over  with  us,  flowered  sparsely  dur- 
ing the  following  Spring,  but  plants  in  6-inch 
pots  that  were  not  stopped  at  all,  nor  had  their 
growth  interfered  with  in  any  way,  but  were  sup- 
plied with  sticks  and  tied  up,  commenced  to 
flower  early  in  September,  and  flowered  through- 
out the  Fall,Winter  and  Spring ;  they  were  in  fact 
in  flower  long  before  Degraw  as  ordinarily  treated 
commences  to  flower,  and  continued  to  flower 
through  a  period   quite    as    extended. 

There  exists  quite  a  diversity  of  opinion 
regarding  this  plant,  and  as  is  usual  in  such  cases 
those  are  best  pleased  who  have  been  most  success- 
ful with  it.  Of  course  a  carnation  that  will  not 
flower  is  utterly  worthless,  but  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced that  if  florists  will  take  cuttings  of  this 
variety  any  time  during  the  Winter  and  grow 
the  plants  through  Spring  and  Summer  in  pots, 
giving  good  soil  and  pots  not  less  than  six  inches 
in  diameter  and  not  stop  the  plants,  and  during 
the  Winter  keep  them  in  a  low  temperature,  say 
40°  or  45°  as  a  maximum,  they  will  have  but 
little  cause   for   complaint.     In  a  high  tempera- 


108 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_April, 


ture  this  Carnation  makes  a  small,  weak,  wiry 
growth,  and  produces  small  flowers,  and  of 
those  quite  few ;  but  in  a  low  temperature  as 
stated  above,  the  growth  is  exceedingly  robust 
and  short  jointed,  the  foliage  large,  of  a  rich 
glaucous  blue,  and  the  flowers  large,  perfect,  and 
of  the  richest  clove  fragrance.  I  have  gathered 
hundreds  of  flowers  of  this  variety,  each  one  a 
perfect  rosette  two  and  a  half  or  three  inches  in 
diameter,  and  this,  notwithstanding  its  having 
been  described  in  some  catalogues  as  "a  variety 
having  rather  small  flowers."  As  far  as  my  expe- 
rience goes  I  find  a  high  temperature  injurious 
to  the  Carnations  generally,  but  more  particu- 
larly is  this  the  case  with  the  true,  or  perpetual 
flowering  varieties,  to  which  class  the  La  Belle 
belongs,  and  I  find  the  old  variety  called  "  La 
Purite,"  produces  flowers  of  a  much  richer 
color,  double  the  size  and  double  the  quantity  in 
a  temperature  during  Winter  of  45°  or  50°  than 
they  do  in  a  temperature  of  65°  or  70°.  Carna- 
tion growers  cannot  have  failed  to  observe  the 
great  change  which  takes  place  in  their  planted 
out  Carnations  as  soon  as  the  cool  dewy  nights 
of  August  and  September  occur;  they  seem  all  at 
once  to  assume  new  life,  making  vigorous  shoots 
and  in  flowering  plants  the  brilliancy  and  size  of 
the  flowers  are  greatly  increased;  after  a  while 
the  plants  are  lifted  and  either  potted  or  planted 
out  in  the  houses,  and  subjected  to  a  high  tem- 
perature during  the  coldest  part  of  the  year,  and 
if  we  find  a  variety  that  will  not  flower  freely  and 
give  the  very  best  results  under  this  unnatural 
treatment,  how  ready  we  are  to  pronounce  it 
worthless. 


OBSCURED  GLASS  IN  GREENHOUSES. 

BY   GORDON   LEVER,   IRVINGTON-ON-HUDSON,  N.  Y. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  say  a  word  or  two 
about  obscured  or  semi-opaque  glass  in  green- 
houses, though  there  is  hardly  any  wish  to  stir 
up  such  a  controversy  among  writers  as  was 
raised  by  the  "  Wild  Goose  Plum." — (This  in 
capital  letters,  Mr.  Printer,  as  it  is  going  to  be  a 
good  year  for  wild  geese,  perhaps  !  hardy  Rho- 
dodendrons, and  kindred  subjects.)  It  is  hard  to 
tell  at  present  what  is  hardy  among  this  princely 
class  of  plants,  and  the  man  who  has  capital, 
would  do  a  real  benefit  to  horticulture  by  careful 
experiments  for  a  couple  years  up  in  this  lati- 
tude with  so-called  hardy  Rhododendrons,  and 
give  us  some  day  the  result  of  the   trial — situa- 


tion and  everything  else  considered.  But  I  am 
wandering  from  the  subject,  and  scribbling  over 
space  may  cause  the  Editor's  hair  to  stand  on 
end,  like  plants  that  don't  know  what  to  do  with 
head-room  in  a  dark  corner  except  to  straggle 
up  to  the  light.  Speaking  about  obscurity,  I 
dont  know  of  anything  that  takes  the  gloss  and 
greenness  out  of  bedding  stuff  in  such  an  insidi- 
ous way  as  ground  glass.  Roses  suffer  a  little  too, 
and  their  leaves  look  as  if  the  gardener's  unwel- 
come pet,  the  lively  red  spider,  was  around  and 
on  the  rampage,  though  the  prevailing  moisture 
forbids  his  mischievous  inroads.  It  does  very 
well  over  Camellias  and  hard-leaved  stuff,  where 
they  have  plenty  of  air-space  and  bench-room, 
though  the  rosy  tints  of  some  Azalias  are 
affected  in  an  unexplainable  way  by  the  hazy 
light  admitted.  They  grow  and  flourish  cer- 
tainly, are  seldom  drawn,  but  there  is  an  absence 
of  that  pure,  healthy  coloring  to  be  found  in 
pure  sun-light  and  more  favorable  circumstan- 
ces. Callas  and  most  white  flowering  stuff  are 
not  visibly  discolored  by  the  light  through  ground 
glass ;  on  the  contrary,  their  whiteness  seems  to 
be  improved;  but  fine  foliage  plants,  Crotons, 
&c,  get  somewhat  seedy  in  appearance  and 
the  streaks  and  markings  are  not  so  distinct 
and  vigorous  as  under  clear  glass.  Ferns,  Palms, 
Begonias,  &c,  grow  very  well  under  obscured 
glass,  but  there  is  something  unmistakable  in 
their  general  appearance  which  is  not  favorable 
to  the  use  of  this  kind  of  glass  overhead.  If  it 
could  be  replaced  by  transparent  glass  on  dark 
days  and  during  the  Winter  months,  the  greatest 
objection  to  its  use  might  be  overlooked,  but  as 
this  is  out  of  the  question,  I  would  suggest  that 
only  a  couple  feet  each  side  of  the  ridge  pole  be 
glazed  with  ground  glass,  the  rest  to  the  edges  of 
the  benches  clear.  This  will  tone  down  the 
violent  mid-day  heat  of  the  sun  in  Summer,  and 
admit  nearly  all  the  sunlight  in  Winter  and 
Spring,  when  it  is  most  needed. 


CALLA  ytTHIOPICA. 


BY   J.  M. 

This  plant  is  probably  as  well  known  as  any 
thing  that  could  be  mentioned.  Though  not 
belonging  to  the  Lily  family  proper,  it  is  yet  al- 
most universally  known  as  the  Calla  Lily.  It  is 
found  in  almost  every  one's  house,  and  is  one 
of  the  main  things  grown  by  florists  for  Winter 
blooming;  its  spotless  white  spatha, or  flower  as 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


109 


commonly  called,  making  it  most  desirable  for 
much  of  the  cut  flower  work.  In  many  parts 
of  England  the  Callas  are  grown  in  the  basins 
of  fountains,  remaining  there  Winter  and  Sum- 
mer, the  water  not  freezing  to  the  roots.  Under 
this  "  take  care  of  themselves  "  plan  the  flowers 
are  unusually  fine,  and  their  great  beauty  and 
attractiveness  when  in  flower  can  readily  be 
imagined.  It  is  customary  here,  so  far  as  ob- 
served, to  force  a  rest  on  the  plants,  by  drying 
them  off  after  flowering.  For  those  who  want 
fine  large  flowers,  we  tbink  this  is  wrong,  as 
larger  ones  could  be  had  by  keeping  up  a  con- 
tinuous growth.  Florists  argue,  and  correctly, 
that  they  do  not  want  large  flowers  of  it,  but 
smaller  ones  rather,  as  being  suited  to  a  greater 
variety  of  work;  and  so,  in  their  case,  the  dry- 
ing off  is  reasonable.  But  to  those  who  wish  to 
grow  it  to  perfection,  I  would  advise  that  they 
keep  it  continually  growing. 


VERBENA  RUST. 


BY  MR.  CHAS.  HENDERSON,  JERSEY  CITY  HEIGHTS,  N.  J. 

I  send  you  to-day  specimens  of  Fuchsia  leaves 
affected  by  "  Verbena  rust."  I  would  have  sent 
you  Verbenas  also,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  that  I 
can't  find  a  single  plant  so  affected.  If  you  will 
place  the  leaves  under  a  microscope  of  any 
average  power, — say  200  or  300  diameters,  you 
will  see  the  "  mite  "  or  insect.  We  have  exam- 
ined scores  of  different  kinds  of  plants,  with  the 
leaves  having  this  rusty  appearance,  and  have 
rarely  failed  to  find  the  insect.  It  requires  but 
little  experience  to  determine  at  a  glance  the 
difference  in  the  ravages  of  the  "Aphis,"  or  the 
"  red  spider "  on  plants  and  the  "  Verbena 
rust,"  for  neither  of  the  former  are  nearly  so 
fatal  to  healthy  growth,  and  are  both  more  under 
control ;  tobacco  in  almost  any  form  being  fatal 
to  the  "Aphis,"  while  a  moist  atmosphere  charged 
with  sulphur  from  the  pipes  will  subdue  the 
"spider";  but  neither  of  these,  or  any  other 
remedy  we  have  yet  tried,  seems  to  check  the 
"rust,"  if  it  once  gets  a  foothold.  The  only 
salvation,  as  far  as  we  know,  is  prevention  by 
the  means  stated  in  my  communication  in  the 
January  number  of  the  Monthly.  We  observed 
also  in  the  case  of  Fuchsias,  Penstemons, 
Phlox,  and  plants  of  a  more  hardy  nature, 
that  they  are  more  subject  to  rust  when  grown 
in  a  high  temperature  than  in  a  low  one.  For  ex- 
ample, in  endeavoring  to  propagate  rapidly  the 


new  Fuchsia  "Racemosa,"  it  was  placed  in  a 
temperature  of  65°  at  night,  when  it  began  to 
assume  the  rusted  appearance,  and  an  examina- 
tion by  the  microscope  showed  it  to  be  covered 
as  was  to  be  expected,  by  the  "  mite,"  similar  to 
that  to  be  found  on  Verbenas  when  rusted ; 
but  on  removal  to  a  cooler  house,  where  the 
temperature  was  45°  at  night,  in  two  weeks  they 
became  comparatively  free  from  the  disease. 
Thus  it  would  seem  (though  in  no  way  resem- 
bling the  red  spider,  either  in  appearance  or  in 
its  ravages,)  its  ravages  like  that  of  the  red 
spider  is  lessened  when  at  a  low  temperature- 
This  assuming  that  the  mite  or  insect  is  the 
primary  cause  of  the  rust.  But  this  matter 
seems  not  yet  finally  settled. 

[Examining  Mr.  Henderson's  specimens,  we 
fail  to  see  any  connection  between  the  "  mite  " 
and  the  disease.  The  parenchymatous  masses 
are  in  many  cases  blackened,  apparently  by 
fungoid  action,  without  any  puncture  of  the 
epiderm,  which  would  have  been  the  case  if  an 
insect  had  operated  just  there.  The  appearance 
in  this  Fuchsia  case  is  scarcely  the  same  as  in 
the  Verbena,  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  if 
it  was  caused  by  another  fungus.  Only  those 
skilled  in  these  matters  can  decide  on  this 
matter,  however.  Prof.  Farlow,  of  Boston,  is  the 
best  investigator  we  have  in  this  country  and  it 
would  be  well  to  send  fresh  specimens  to  him. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


STREPTOCARPUS  RHEXII. 

BY   BENJ.  GREY,  DEDHAM,  MASS. 

A  beautiful  little  Gesneraceous  plant  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  although  not  of  late 
introduction,  well  deserves  general  cultivation. 
The  leaves  are  radical,  a  few  inches  in  length, 
rough,  and  of  a  fresh  green  color.  The  flowers, 
which  are  produced  singly  on  stems  four  or  five 
inches  high,  are  of  a  light  blue,  with  stripes  of 
a  deeper  shade;  each  flower  forms  a  twisted 
seed  vessel,  from  whence  the  name,  streptos, 
twisted,  and  karpos,  fruit.  The  seed  pods  are 
four  or  five  inches  in  length,  of  a  brownish 
green  color,  and  with  the  flowers  and  leaves  the 
contrast  is  pretty,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
whole  decidedly  neat.  The  plant  is  herbaceous, 
and  therefore  requires  to  be  grown,  and  will 
flower  all  the  year.  It  likes  heat  and  moisture, 
and  should  be  potted  in  a  rich,  sandy  compost. 
Propagated  from  seed,  which  it  produces  in 
abundance.  • 


110 


THE  GARDE NEB'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


American  and  Italian  Tuberoses. — A  corres- 
pondent of  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  says  he  wil- 
lingly pays  double  the  price  for  American  tube- 
roses that  he  can  get  Italian  roots  for. 


greenhouse.  We  suppose  no  one  has  seen  it 
seed  in  America.  It  is  a  very  good  late  winter- 
blooming  greenhouse  climber.  We  have  few 
good  winter  white-flowered  climbers;  Stephan- 
otis  floribunda,  seldom  flowering  before  May. 


CAMPSIDIDM  Fii.iciFOLiUM.    See  page  111. 


Trachelospermu.m  jasminoides. — Tbe  Ehyn- 
cospermum  jasminoides  of  our  conservatories, 
has  signified  its  appreciation  of  its  new  name, 
as  given  above,  by  producing  fruit  in  an  English 


Chlorophytum  Sternbergianum. — It  may  be 
as  well  to  let  our  readers  know  that  this  very 
beautiful  basket  plant  is  known  in  English  col- 
lections as  Cordyline  vivipara. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


Ill 


NEW  OR  BARE  PLANTS. 


New  Eose — Thomas  Meehan. — We  take  great 
pleasure  in  introducing  this  fine  novelty,  having 
tested  it  for  five  years,  and  now  feel  assured  it 
will  prove  to  be  all  we  claim  for  it.  It  is  a  seed- 
ling from  the  beautiful  rose,  Prince  Camille  de 
Rohan,  but  of  a  more  compact  and  dwarf  habit 
of  growth  than  its  parent. 

It  is  an  exceedingly  free  bloomer,  the  flowers 
of  fine  size,  beautifully  imbricated,  rich  deep 
crimson  color,  with  a  charming  velvety  appear- 
ance, and  remarkably  fragrant. — Hoopes  Bro.  & 
Thomas. 

Zonale  Pelargonium — New  Life. — This  new 
appearance  in  English  gardens  is  striped  "  like 
a  carnation,"  and  will  begin  a  new  era  among 
geraniums. 

Campsidium  filicifolium. — See  cut  p.  110. — An 
elegant  climber  of  rapid  growth,  for  greenhouse 
culture,  the  leaves  of  which  much  resemble  the 
fronds  of  a  fern,  in  miniature,  giving  it  an  un- 
usually graceful  appearance.  It  may  be  grown 
as  a  pot  plant,  or  trained  to  the  rafters ;  very  de- 
sirable.—  Wm.  Bull. 

New  Double  Geraniums. — Mr.  Kirchner  of 
Philadelphia  sends  us  a  sample  of  two  seedlings. 
One  is  a  semi-double  scarlet  which  will  probably 
seed  well,  and  be  of  interest  to  those  who  would 
like  to  try  to  raise  varieties  for  themselves.  This 
is  "  Conrad  Kirchner."  The  other  is  a  very 
double  and  brilliant  scarlet,  which  he  calls 
John  Baumann.  We  think  we  have  not  seen 
quite  so  brilliant  a  scarlet  among  the  double 
kinds  as  this. 


QUERIES. 


Heating  a  Small  Conservatory. — W.,  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  writes : — "  I  have  for  some  time  past 
contemplated  building  ^a  small  conservatory  in 
which  to  grow  the  less  common  greenhouse 
plants.  Among  other  things,  I  wish  to  try  a  few 
cool  Orchids ;  but  the  only  place  I  have  that  is 
available  for  such  a  thing  is  on  the  east  side  of 
my  house,  where  there  is  room  to  build  a  lean-to 
ten  feet  long  and  nearly  as  many  wide.  I  have 
hesitated  about  using  this  place  from  fear  that  it 
does  not  receive  sun  enough  to  insure  a  healthy 


growth  of  the  plants.  On  the  shortest  days  in  Win- 
ter the  sun  would  not  strike  this  place  earlier 
than  8:30  a.  m.,  and  at  this  season  not  earlier 
than  seven  o'clock.  There  would,  however,  be 
nothing  to  shade  the  conservatory  on  its  south 
side.  Now  would  this  be  sun  enough  to  make 
the  growing  of  the  class  of  plants  I  have  desig- 
nated in  every  way  successful  ?  Where  there  is  a 
strong  vigorous  condition  of  the  plants,  the  time 
given  to  their  culture  is  production  of  great  en- 
joyment, but  where,  in  spite  of  all  one's  efforts, 
they  remain  feeble  and  sickly,  the  result  is  the 
most  unsatisfactory  of  anything  one  can  do. 
And  so  I  do  not  care  to  be  at  the  trouble  and 
expense  of  a  conservatory,  if  by  reason  of  its  lo- 
cation the  experiment  should  be  a  doubtful  one 
at  the  outset. 

"  I  would  like  to  inquire  the  best  method  of 
heating  a  house  of  this  size.  It  would  seem  as 
if  even  the  smallest  boiler  would  be  too  power- 
ful. Is  a  flue  any  better  ?  I  could  heat  it  from  my 
furnace,  and  that  without  any  danger  of  coal 
gas,  but  would  not  the  air  then  be  too  dry  for  a 
healthy  condition  of  the  plants  ? 

"  Any  assistance  on  these  points  you  can  ren- 
der me  through  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  will  be 
thankfully  received." 

[If  the  house  could  be  heated  from  the  fur- 
nace without  any  danger  of  gas  escaping  to  the 
house,  it  would  be  quite  sufficient  for  the  work. 
There  is  no  other  objection  whatever  to  the 
heat  from  cellar  heaters.  As  an  additional  pro- 
tection, shutters  of  glass  may  be  used  on  the  out- 
side— double  glass  really ;  this  keeps  in  a  deal 
of  heat. 

The  aspect  is  quite  good  enough ;  it  is  usual 
when  we  need  all  the  light  and  sun  warmth  in 
Winter  that  we  can  get,  to  make  the  pitch  of 
the  roof  steeper  than  when  the  full  light  is  easy 
of  command.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Pelargoniums  and  Geraniums.  —  A  "  Sub- 
scriber," Mobile,  Ala.,  asks  : — "  Will  you  kindly 
publish  in  your  next  issue  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  the  best  mode  of  treating  ivy -leaved 
and  apple-scented  Geraniums;  also  what  is 
the  distinction  between  Pelargoniums  and 
Zonale  Geraniums?" 

[Ivy-leaved  Geraniums  are  always  and  easily 
raised  from  cuttings.  Apple-scented  Geraniums 
seed  very  freely,  and  are  best  raised  in  that  way. 
There  is  botanically  no  difference  between  Gera- 
nium and  Pelargonium,  and  yet  in  a  popular 
way  it  is  a  pity  there  is  not,  for  there  is  a  great 


112 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_April, 


difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  division  for- 
merly known  as  Pelargoniums,  and  the  Gera- 
niums. Our  people  have  got  to  calling  the  old 
Pelargonium  "  Washington  Geraniums,"  deter- 
mined to  have  some  distinction  between  these 


Pelargoniums  really  are,  will  perhaps  be  bet- 
ter explained  by  an  illustration  which  we 
give  with  this.  It  is  of  a  variety  sent  out 
by  Mr.  Bull,  and  known  as  "  Beauty  of 
Oxton."       The    "  Zonales "    have    less    twisted 


PELARGONIUM   "BEAUTY  or  OXTOX." 


and  the  Zonales.  which  are  those  which  have  a 
sort  of  horse-shoe  band  on  the  leaves — the  old 
tribe  of  scarlet  Geraniums — though  sonic  have 
leaves  that  arc  not  so  marked,  and  there  arc 
many   shades   besiih  -    scarlet.     What    the    old 


petals.— Ed.  (i.  M.] 

Fumigating  Gkkkxiiousks. — "Smoky  "  asks : 
— "There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
st:ito  plants  should  ho  in,  at  the  time  of  fumiga- 
tion.    When  that  plan  is  resorted  to  for  the  pur- 


1877. J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


113 


pose  of  killing  green-fly,   some  say   the   plants '  tempted   when   the    foliage    is    perfectly    dry." 
liable  to  be  scorched  should  be  sprinkled  with   Which  plan  is  right  ? 

water  before  it  is  done,  while  others  equally  as       [We  have  never  observed  any  difference,   and 
confident,  assert  "  Fumigation  must  only  be  at-  think  there  is  none. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


P.RUIT  AND  |x 


ABLE  GARDENING. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


SEEDLINGS  OF  HYBRID  GRAPES. 

BY   REV.  J.  H.  CREIGHTON,  LANCASTER,  OHIO. 

I  tried  an  experiment  with  Rogers'  Hybrid 
Grape  seed  that  may  be  interesting  to  some  of 
the  readers  of  the  Gardener 's  Monthly .  I  planted 
a  long  row  of  the  seed  No.  9,  and  they  grew  vig- 
orously, but  before  they  were  four  months  old, 
I  could  see  that  they  all  went  back  to  the  two 
parents  from  which  they  came.  The  native 
and  foreign  were  as  plainly  distinguishable  as  if 
they  were  a  year  old.  So  marked  was  this  back- 
ward step  that  I  took  no  pains  to  grow  them  any 
further.  The  foreigners  were  badly  mildewed, 
and  the  natives  looked  strong  and  healthy,  and 
made  one  almost  feel  that  his  teeth  were  on 
edge. 

[This  is  a  very  interesting  note.  The  experi- 
ment is  worth  repeating.  Natural  varieties,  as 
distinct  from  hybrids,  reproduce  themselves 
very  well  from  seed.  Our  florists'  catalogues 
are  full  of  such  illustrations.  If  hybrids  will 
thus  go  back,  and  divide  in  one  generation,  in 
other  cases  as  in  this,  it  might  be  the  means  of 
distinguishing  between  natural  varieties  and 
hybrids,  which  it  is  now  often  difficult  to  do. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


THE  SENER  APPLE. 


BY   MR.  J.  STAYMAN,  LAVENWORTH,  KAN. 

Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  September  20th,  was 
received  yesterday  on  my  return  here,  also  the 
apple,  although  it  was  entirely  rotten,  but  in 
fair  shape,  so  that  I  could  take  a  cut  and  inside 
outline  of  the  fruit.  I  am  sorry  I  did  not  get  it 
in  time  to  give  a  more  satisfactory  outline  and, 
description.  The  scions  were  entirely  dried  up, 
past  recovery,  which   I   very  much   regret,  as  I 


wished  to  graft  them  at  my  home  place,  Leaven- 
worth, Kan.  The  business  at  the  Centennial  con- 
tinued to  increase  in  number  of  varieties  so  that 
I  found  it  impossible  to  leave  until  it  was  over, 
and  with  what  I  had  on  hand  and  some  other 
business,  detained  me  until  the  5th  of  this  month 
before  I  left  the  city.  I  send  with  this  the  out- 
line and  description.  The  color  and  quality  I 
had  to  judge  from  memory  and  what  you  wrote, 
which  may  be  both  incorrect.  If  so,  please 
state  in  what  respect  and  also  add  about  the 
vigor  and  any  other  part  omitted.  I  am  very 
thankful  for  your  kindness  in  sending  the  speci- 
men and  your  interesting  letter,  and  am  very 
sorry  that  I  have  been  unable  to  answer  sooner. 

I  took,  while  at  the  Centennial,  seven  hun- 
dred and  eighty  (780)  cuts  and  descriptions  of 
fruit  I  had  not  taken  before,  making  my  entire 
collection  over  1,700.  In  every  respect  complete, 
and  taken  by  myself,  embracing  many  new  and 
valuable  varieties. 

I  would  be  much  obliged  if  it  is  not  too  much 
trouble  to  send  me  a  few  more  scions  fit  to  graft 
and  direct  them  to  Leavenworth,  Kan.  Two  or 
three  grafts  will  be  sufficient  to  test  the  variety, 
as  I  expect  to  be  there  in  about  ten  days  and 
remain  there,  from  where  I  should  like  to  hear 
from  you  when  convenient. 

I  think  the  Sener  apple  a  valuable  variety  and 
worth  being  more  generally  cultivated. 

Fruit  large;  form  oblate,  slightly  conic;  color 
light  yellow ;  dots  small,  scattered,  distinct, 
grey;  stem  medium,  rather  thick;  cavity 
wide,  deep,  green  or  russeted  ;  calyx  very  large, 
open ;  segments  large,  reflexed ;  basin  rather 
wide,  deep,  abrupt,  slightly  furrowed ;  core  large, 
wide,  closed;  carpels  medium,  hollow;  seeds 
rather  large,  ovate,  angular,  light  chestnut 
brown ;  flesh  white,  tender,  juicy,  sprightly, 
pleasant  sub-acid;  quality  good,  excellent  for 
kitchen ;  tree,  rather  drooping,  a  regular  and 
bearer.     Brought  from   Germantown 


generous 


114 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


some  fifty  years  ago.  Grown  by  Mr.  Sener, 
Lancaster,  Pa. ;  specimen  received  from  Mr.  S. 
S.  Rath  von,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

[This  apple  having  originated  about  German- 
town,  Mr.  Stayman's  paper  has  been  very 
kindly  placed  at  our  disposal  by  Prof.  Eathvon, 
instead  of  using  it  in  his  own  Lancaster  Farmer — 
a  courtesy  we  highly  appreciate.  We  may  take 
occasion  to  say  that  the  Lancaster  Farmer,  though 
unfortunately  with  the  local  name  of  "  Lancas- 
ter"  appended  to  it,  is  not  merely  a  local  paper, 
but  is  at  least  equal  in  general  value  to  any  agri- 
cultural paper  that  comes  to  our  table. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


THE  SICILIAN  NUT. 


BY  MR.  T.  G.   YEOMAKS,  WALWORTH,   N.   Y. 

Several  years  since,  we  imported  plants  of  the 
Barcelona  or  Sicily  Filbert,  which  have  fruited 
for  several  years,  producing  nuts  of  large  size 
and  good  quality.  (We  have  no  plants  of  it  to 
sell.)  Our  experience  with  the  Early  Wilson 
Blackberry  is,  that  in  severe  Winters  it  kills  to 
the  snow,  and  the  crop  is  a  failure  for  that  sea- 
son ;  while  the  Kittatinny,  in  eame  field,  and 
under  same  circumstances,  produces  abundant 
crops. 


EXQUISITE  PEACH. 


BY  P.  J.  BERCKMANS,  AUGUSTA,  GA. 

This  variety  which  has  lately  been  highly  men- 
tioned in  England,  was  produced  by  Mr.  A. 
De  Caradcue,  of  Montmorenci,  S.  C,  to  whom 
we  are  also  indebted  for  that  very  valuable  plum 
which  bearshis  name.  About  1858or  1S59,  Isent 
trees  of  many  of  our  best  Southern  peaches  to 
Mr.  Rivers,  and  among  the  number  was  the  Ex- 
quisite, which  I  am  pleased  to  see  so  much  ap- 
preciated in  England.  This  peach  was  doubtless 
a  seedling  of  Early  Crawford,  which  it  surpasses 
in  quality.  On  page  012  of  "  Downing's  Fruits 
and  Fruit  Trees  of  America,"  it  is  fully  de- 
scribed. In  Georgia  its  period  of  maturity  is 
middle  of  July,  a  season  when  we  havp  the 
greatest  profusion  of  our  best  varieties  of  mid- 
season,  and  as  the  Exquisite  Peach  did  not  pos- 
sess extraordinary  merits  above  those  of  scores 
of  other  varieties  maturing  with  it,  it  has  never 
been  grown  to  any  extent. 

While  upon  the  subject  of  peaches,  I  will  men- 


tion that  the  mysterious  disease  which  troubled 
the  trees  of  the  correspondent  of  Our  Home 
Journal,  was  quite  general  throughout  the  South, 
and  was  purely  owing  to  climatic  influences. 
The  Winter  of  1875-6  was  unusually  mild,  there 
being  scarcely  sufficient  frost  to  keep  the  sap 
dormant.  Peach  trees  were  making  continual 
efforts  to  expand  their  blossoms  from  December 
1st,  and  their  economy  was  upset.  The  severe 
frost  of  end  of  March  caught  our  trees  in  full 
vegetation,  and  injured  many  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  cause  the  effect  described.  We  had  the 
most  extraordinary  occurrence  here  of  a  num- 
ber of  trees  of  Hale's  Early,  covered  with  peaches 
the  size  of  a  walnut,  but  without  a  single  leaf,  this 
as  late  as  10th  of  May,  and  most  singular,  per- 
fectly matured  specimens  of  94  inches  were 
gathered  from  these  trees  on  June  10th. 

At  this  date,  February  12th,  my  trees  of  the 
Peen  To,  or  flat  peach  of  China,  are  in  full  bloom, 
and  with  half-grown  leaves.  Some  of  the  semi- 
double  crimson  sub-varieties  are  very  beautiful. 
Of  this  strain  there  are  some  fourteen  sub-varie- 
ties, some  of  very  dwarf  habit  of  growth  quite 
similar  to  the  Italian  dwarf,  but  with  double 
crimson  flowers  ;  others  attain  a  growth  similar 
to  our  ordinary  kinds,  some  with  double,  others 
with  large  single  flowers.  The  habit  of  blooming 
in  January  has  so  far  prevented  the  maturing  of 
any  of  their  fruit ;  it  usually  drops  when  half 
grown.  As  described  by  Downing,  the  fruit  is 
perfectly  flat.  Our  friends  in  Australia,  when 
sending  the  pits  some  years  ago,  stated  that  this 
strain  contained  both  free  stone  and  cling-stone 
varieties,  and  in  the  colony  of  Queensland  is 
almost  an  evergreen.  In  this  section  it  is  un- 
suited  for  open  ground  culture,  but  well  worthy 
a  trial  in  orchard  houses. 


EXQUISITE  PEACH. 


BY  CHARLES   DOWNING,   NEWBURGH,   N.   Y. 

I  have  not  seen  the  fruit,  nor  any  notice  of  its 
having  fruited  in  this  country  j  but  Dr.  Robert 
Hogg,  of  England,  in  the  new  edition  of  his 
"Fruit  Manual,"  1875,  gives  a  full  description  of 
it,  and  concludes  by  saying,  "This  is  a  noble 
peach,  and  one  of  delicious  flavor  ;  it  was  raised 
in  Georgia,  U.  S.  A.,  and  introduced  to  this 
country  by  Mr.  Rivers.  It  ripens  in  the  middle 
of  September."  This  variety  was  probably  6cnt 
to  Mr.  Rivers  by  P.  J.  Bcrckmans,  of  Georgia, 
and  if  so,  he  can  give  an  account  of  the  origin. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


115 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


McAfee's  Aeration  Apparatus. —  Processes 
for  keeping  fruits  and  vegetables  on  a  very  expen- 
sive scale,  are  not  uncommon.  Something  to  be 
within  reach  of  every  household  has  been  a  de- 
sideratum. This,  Professor  McAfee  believes  he 
has  accomplished.  The  few  dollars  he  asks  for 
his  apparatus,  is  a  low  enough  price,  if  the  arti- 
cle is  effectual. 

Grasshopper  Machine. — The  suggestion  we 
made  some  years  ago  that  grasshoppers  might 
be  caught  by  machinery,  was  ridiculed  at  the 
time,  but  the  following  from  the  Greeley  Tribune 
describes  exactly  the  thing  we  suggested  : 

"  Mr.  J.  S.  Flory  has  invented  a  grasshopper 
catcher,  which,  it  may  be  presumed,  is  an  im- 
provement over  all  the  others  yet  made.  Two 
devices  are  provided,  one  with  rollers  to  crush 
and  one  to  gather  the  insects  into  a  box  or  vat, 
the  enemy  being  brought  in  by  revolving  arms 
or  fans.  The  machine  can  be  worked  by  hand 
or  horse-power,  and  it  may  be  large  or  small,  so 
as  to  work  in  a  field  or  garden.  When  it  gets 
to  work  we  can  tell  better  as  to  its  merit." 

A  Hand  Plough.— S.  L.  Allen  &  Co.,  whom  we 
have  noted  occasionally  as  the  inventors  of  useful 
agricultural  and  horticultural  implements,  send 
an  account  of  Batcman's  Hand  Garden  Plough. 
It  seems  about  as  good  as  such  a  machine 
can  be  made  when  one  has  to  walk  backwards. 
When  hand  ploughs  can  be  made  to  be  pushed, 
they  will  come  into  more  general  use. 


NEW  OR  BARE  FRUITS. 


The  Late  Peach  or  Walling  Plum. —  Mr. 
Walling,  of  Oswego,  Oregon,  writes  : — "If  you 
look  carefully  at  the  wording  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Du- 
fur's  letter  in  our  circular  regarding  the  Peach 
Plum  exhibit  at  the  Centennial,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  January  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  on  page  17,  you  will  observe  late  at- 
tached to  the  name,  which  will  make  quite  a 
difference  as  it  was  not  the  Peach  Plum  at  all, 
but  a  seedling  of  my  own  raising  from  the  seed 
of  the  Peach  Plum  ;  and  as  it  resembles  the 
former  plum  and  ripens  ten  days  later,  I  called 
it  the  Late  Peach  Plum.  Please  correct  the  over- 
eight  in  your  next  issue. 


[As  we  now  understand,  there  is  no  objection 
to  the  name  "Walling,"  which  will  be  better 
than  "Late  Peach."— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Fox's  Seedling  Pears. — At  the  Spring  meet- 
ing of  the  Western  New  York  Horticultural 
Society,  these  seedlings  heretofore  noticed  in  our 
columns  were  highly  praised  by  many  of  the 
members.  The  Barry  and  the  Wilder  were  par- 
ticularly spoken  well  of. 

Rogers'  Peach. — Origin,  Newbury,  Mass.  Evi- 
dently a  seedling  of  early  Crawford,  which  it 
very  much  resembles.  As  it  appears  on  the 
original  tree  (which  is  the  only  one  to  my  know- 
ledge that  has  fruited)  it  is  a  little  earlier  and 
sweeter  than  its  parent.  It  was  exhibited  at  our 
county  fair  in  1874,  and  there  pronounced  by 
connoisseurs  "A,  No.  1."  Ripe  September  15th. 
T.  C.  Thurlow. 

Downer  Peach. — Origin,  Newburyport.  Pro- 
bably a  seedling  of  the  "  Old  Red  Rareripe."  The 
tree  has  for  the  last  three  seasons  borne  heavy 
crops  of  large  red  peaches,  of  good  quality. 
September  15th.  I  do  not  recommend  this  or 
the  Rogers — only  as  they  appear  upon  the  origi- 
nal trees.  Peaches  as  well  as  other  fruits,  are 
very  apt  to  be  local  in  their  character,  and  should 
never  be  planted  extensively  until  tried  in  sev- 
eral localities. — T.  C.  Thurlow. 


QUERIES. 


Oil  for  Fruit  Trees.- G.  A.  F.,  Mass.,  writes  : 
— "Will  you  kindly  inform  me  through  the 
columns  of  your  Magazine  —  which  I  have 
taken  for  many  years  and  find  it  almost  indis- 
pensable,— if  linseed  oil  is  good  as  a  wash  for 
fruit  trees,  to  destroy  insects,  lichens,  &c  ?  Is  it 
preferable  to  lye-water?  There  seems  to  be  a 
difference  of  opinion  about  linseed  oil;  some 
think  its  use  iujurious." 

[The  writer  of  this  washed  some  hundreds  of 
trees  with  linseed  oil  a  year  ago.  It  destroyed 
all  insects,  and  the  trees  were  all  the  season  and 
still  are,  models  of  health.  It  is  far  preferable 
to  anything  that  we  know  of. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  New  Rochelle  Raspberry.— This  is  the 
name  given  to  the  seedling,  the  extraordinary 
growth  and  productiveness  of  which  we  noted 
in  our  volume  for  1875.  It  is  said  to  be  a  seed- 
ling of  the  Catawissa. 


116 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[April, 


French  Pippin  Apple. — Mr.  Bassett,  Ham- 
monton,  N.J  ,  says  : — "I  notice  an  item  about 
the  French  Pippin  Apple.  We  had  a  French 
Pippin  in  Massachusetts,  ripening  nearly  with 
the  Porter  and  similar  in  shape,  but  tapering 
less  toward  the  blossom.  It  was  an  enormous 
bearer  and  a  very  good  apple.  I  have  a  tree  of 
it  here  just  commencing  to  bear,  and  it  promises 
well. 

Thrips  in  a  Cold  Vinery. — T.  S.  G.,West  Corn- 
wall, writes  : — "  For  the  past  two  years  my  vines 


have  suffered  much  from  the  ravages  of  a  little 
lively  insect  which  I  suppose  to  be  Thrips.  They 
have  not  shown  themselves  much  until  the  latter 
part  of  the  season,  when  the  presence  of  the 
fruit  forbids  the  use  of  any  poisonous  or  offen- 
sive application.  How  shall  I  destroy  them  ? 
Will  a  safe  fumigation  with  tobacco  or  sulphur 
do  it? 

[Tobacco  smoke  is  generally  effectual.  If  one 
dose  is  not  sufficient  repeat  it.  Sulphur  in 
".fumigation,"  is  fatal  to  plants  and  insects 
alike.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


IfATURAL 


*^^>- 


ISTORY  AND  fSCIENCE. 


CO  31 MU NIC  A  TIONS. 

THE  EFFECT  OF   FROST   ON   THE    FRUIT    OF 
THE  PERSIMMON. 

BY   W.  C.  FLAGG,  MORO,  ILL. 

In  your  ever  welcome  magazine  for  March  I 
find  a  quotation  from  a  correspondent  of  the 
London  Journal  of  Horticulture,  in  reference  to 
the  popular  belief  that  the  Persimmon  is  rip- 
ened by  frost,  which  you  quote,  to  say  that  you 
thought  "intelligent  persons  everywhere  now 
knew  that  it  was  not  frost  that  gave  sweetness  to 
the  Persimmon,  though  it  often  helps  the  cause 
that  does." 

In  that  event  I  have  not  so  high  an  opinion 
of  the  knowledge  of  intelligent  persons  on  the 
Persimmon  question,  as  yourself.  Looking  over 
our  botanists,  they  seem  to  all  repeat  the  error. 

Darlington,  in  his  "  Weeds  and  Plants,"  says 
of  it :  "Soft  and  pulpy,  after  frost;  sweet  and 
luscious  after  being  subjected  to  the  action  of 
frost."  Wood,  in  his  "  Class  Book  of  Botany," 
says:  "They  are  rendered  sweet  and  palatable 
by  the  frost."  Gray,  in  his  "Field,  Garden  and 
Forest  Botany,"  says  :  "  Very  acerb,  but  yellow, 
sweet  and  eatable  after  frost."  Fuller,  in  his 
"  Forest  Trees,"  comes  nearer  the  facts  when  he 
says :  "  In  its  more  northern  limits  it  does  not 
ripen  until  frost  (?) ;  farther  south  it  matures 
before,  consequently,  it  does  not  always  require 
cold  weather  to  make  it  eatable,  as  is  sometimes 
asserted."  These  arc  all  intelligent  men,  but 
most  of  them  believe  frost  a  necessary  agent  in 
ripening,  and  Mr.  Fuller  makes  only  a  partial 


denial.  Bryant,  in  his  "  Forest  Trees,"  says : 
"  The  fruit  is  best  if  ripened  before  severe  frosts 
occur.  Freezing  removes  the  astringency,  but 
is  not,  as  some  suppose,  necessary  for  complete 
ripening.  If  the  fruit  has  not  reached  a  certain 
stage  of  maturity  before  freezing,  it  is  rendered 
worthless." 

This  fruit  appears  to  be  a  "huckleberry  above 
the  Persimmon  "  of  our  standard  botanists  at 
least,  and  Mr.  Bryant  alone  to  hold  the  "longest 
pole  that  knocks  down  the  Persimmons."  I 
think  there  is  no  present  danger  of  excess  of 
information. 

I  wish  to  raise  the  farther  question — does  frost 
have  any  ameliorating  effect,  even  on  nearly 
ripened  fruit?  I  am  inclined  to  think  not,  but 
have  made  no  experiments  since  I  was  a  young- 
ster, seeking  practical  results  in  eatable  Persim- 
mons. Judging  from  my  remembrance  of  them, 
frost  simply  hastened  the  dessication  of  the 
fruit,  but  did  not  have  any  other  effect.  Per- 
haps the  ripening  process  went  on  to  some  ex- 
tent, but  this  I  should  attribute  to  the  heat  of 
the  day,  rather  than  the  cold  of  the  night. 

Can  yourself,  or  any  of  your  correspondents, 
give  any  new,  or  old,  facts  as  to  the  outdoor  or 
under-glass  culture  of  the  Japanese  Persim- 
mons? Can  you  inform  me,  also,  what  is  the 
edible  value  of  the  Diospyrus  Texana,  or  Black 
Persimmon  of  the  Southwest  ? 

[There  seems  to  be  no  difference  between  our 
views  and  those  of  the  botanists  quoted,  except 
in  degree.     If  they  were  as  good  chemists  as 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


17 


botanists,  they  might  have  seen  further.  To 
make  our  meaning  plain,  we  may  say,  "  a  knife 
prunes  the  tree,"  but  it  is  no  more  true  than 
that  frost  ripens  Persimmons.  There  is  a  hand, 
if  not  always  a  mind,  behind  the  knife,  and 
other  things  may  be  made  to  do  the  work  as 
well  as  the  knife.  And  so,  frost  is  the  instrument 
in  some  cases.  The  real  power  is  chemical 
change,  and  this  can  be  brought  about  by  other 
instruments,  as  well  as  by  frost. 

We  know  so  little  from  our  own  experience  of 
the  Japan  Persimmon,  or  the  Texan  Persimmon, 
that  we  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  correspond- 
ents who  may  have  had  more.  It  has  fruited, 
we  think,  in  California.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


ON  SELF-FERTILIZATION  AND  CROSS-FER- 
TILIZATION OF  FLOWERS.* 

BY  THOMAS   MEEHAN,   GERMANTOWN,    PHILA. 

The  following  paper  was  read  at  the  Buffalo 
meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  in  August  1876.  Other  pa- 
pers by  the  author  on  the  same  subject,  have 
appeared  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Association. 
This  will  not  appear  with  the  others.  Being  on 
a  popular  subject,  it  was  sought  for  by  some  of 
the  papers,  and  appeared  in  one;  but  after  such 
appearance,  the  Publication  Committee  is  not  ex- 
pected by  the  association  to  issue  it  in  their 
volume.  Believing,  however,  that  scarcely  any 
of  the  members  of  the  association  for  whom  the 
Proceedings  are  issued,  will  have  seen  it  where 
printed,  and  that  it  may  possibly  interest  some 
of  them,  particularly  at  this  time,  the  author 
gives  it  in  this  form  : — 

"  At  our  last  meeting  I  enquired  whether  in- 
sects are  any  material  aid  to  plants  in  fertiliza- 
tion. After  another  year  of  observation  I  desire 
to  answer  my  own  question  in  the  negative.  In- 
sects, sometimes  fertilize  flowers,  and  cross-fer- 
tilize them ;  but  I  believe  these  cases  are  less 
frequent  than  they  are  supposed  to  be ;  and  that 
when  they  do  occur,  they  have  no  bearing  on 
the  general  welfare  of  the  race.  In  other  wrords, 
such  fertilization  is  of  no  material  aid  to  plants 
in  the  progress  of  the  species.  I  may  repeat  the 
argument  of  those  who  differ  from  me :  All 
plants  with  brilliant  colors,  with  fragrance,  or 
with  honeyed  secretions,  have  these  attractions 
for  the  purpose  of  enticing  insects,  which  un- 

*  Prof.  C,  V.  Riley,  after  the  reading,  expressed  doubts  as  to 
whether  Yucca  would  fertilize  by  its  own  pollen  in  this  way  and 
without  insect  aid,  and  a-ked  leave  to  cut  open  the  capsules, 
confident,  he  said,  of  finding  iarvse.  He  cut  them  open  in  the 
presence  jf  the  audience,  but  found  none. 


consciously  bring  pollen  at  the  same  time,  and 
thus  cross-fertilize  the  flower.  The  proof  of  this 
is  thought  to  be  chiefly  in  the  fact  that  many 
plants  do  not  perfect  their  stamens  and  pistils 
at  the  same  time ;  are  placed  in  relative  posi- 
tions which  seem  difficult  or  even  impossible 
that  they  should  have  any  influence  on  each 
other;  or  in  some  other  way  present  apparent 
obstacles  to  sexual  union.  From  this  it  is  as- 
sumed, and  not  from  any  actual  experiment  that 
I  am  aware  of,  that  plants  abhor  close  breeding. 
That  plants  abhor  close  breeding,  is  an  idea  bor- 
rowed from  a  supposed  experience  in  the  higher 
animals.  But  the  comparison  is  not  fair.  In 
the  higher  animals  the  idea  of  sex  is  essential  to 
the  perpetuity  of  existence;  but  it  is  not  so  in 
plants.  They  reproduce  themselves  by  bulbs, 
tubers,  suckers,  offsets,  buds,  and  in  the  lowest 
organisms  by  simple  cell  division.  Propagation, 
as  an  idea,  is  entirely  independent  of  sex  in 
plants.  True,  many  of  our  forest  trees  have  none 
of  these  accessories;  even  the  skilful  horticultu- 
rist can- scarcely  graft  some  of  them  ;  and  then 
there  are  annuals  which  depend  wholly  on 
seeds — a  product  of  the  sexes— for  perpetual 
existence.  But  there  is  not  one  that  I  know  of 
that  a  horticulturist  would  say,  could  not  be  re- 
produced indefinitely  without  the  aid  of  seeds. 
The  Red  Dutch  Currant  is  an  individual  plant 
which  has  been  reproduced-  by  cuttings  from 
long  anterior  to  modern  history  ;  and  I  believe 
the  Canada  Thistle,  Couch  Grass,  Horse  Radish, 
and  numerous  other  plants  could  be  continued 
for  countless  ages  by  their  running  roots  alone. 
Now  this  is  a  closer  kind  of  breeding  than  any- 
thing that  could  come  through  the  operation  of 
separate  sexes,  and  with  which  no  analogy  can 
be  drawn  from  any  experience  in  the  higher 
forms  of  animal  life.  We  can  see  that  seeds  in 
plants  favor  the  distribution  of  species,  and  en- 
able them  to  maintain  existence  for  a  longer 
period  than  mere  plants  could.  Sex  in  plants 
may  be  a  factor  in  the  evolution  of  form;  but 
those  who  have  kept  pace  with  botanical  know- 
ledge, and  are  familiar  with  what  is  known  as 
bud  variation,  will  not  lay  much  stress  on  the 
absolute  necessity  of  sex  to  this  end,  in  vegetable 
nature.  I  believe  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  there 
is  nothing  whatever  known  to  prove  that  there 
is  any  physiological  benefit  to  plant  races  by  the 
establishment  of  the  sexes.  Some  have  thought 
that  the  varieties  of  apples  wear  out  in  time ; 
but  even  this  is  being  argued  on  both  sides  by 
the  most  distinguished  horticulturists;    and   I 


118 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


I  April, 


may  say  that  I  have  seen  at  the  recent  Centen- 
nial Exhibition,  as  fine  Golden  Pippin  apples, 
the  kind  used  to  illustrate  the  theory,  as  ever 
Mr.  T.  A.  Knight  thought  were  only  seen  in  his 
younger  days. 

We  must  then  lay  aside  all  considerations  of 
the  benefits  of  cross-breeding  from  analogy  or 
inference,  even  though  we  should  find  that  all 
plants  discarded  their  own  pollen.  There  may 
be  some  other  reason,  quite  independent  of  any 
sexual  consideration ;  and  it  is  because  I  believe 
there  are  other  reasons  in  dioecious,  monoecious, 
and  other  cases,  that  I  take  the  stand  I  do  to-day. 

We  may  note,  in  the  first  place,  that  insects 
visit  some  anemophilous  plants  as  freely  as  they 
do  others.  They,  for  instance,  abound  on  the 
male  flowers  of  the  willow,  especially  Salix  cap- 
rea,  which  have  abundant  honeyed  secretions. 
But  they  avoid  the  female  plants.  If  honeyed 
secretions  are  for  the  purpose  of  enticing  insects 
for  cross-fertilizing  purposes,  how  is  the  object 
attained  here?  Later  in  the  season  we  see  the 
same  thing  in  Rhus.  R.  glabra  and  R.  copallina 
as  I  have  shown  in  a  former  paper  before  this 
association,  are  in  effect  dioecious.  The  male 
flowers  have  a  honeyed  secretion  peculiarly  at- 
tractive to  innumerable  insects.  A  panicle  of 
these  flowers  is  a  wonderful  entomological  cabi- 
net. I  know  of  nothing  like  their  visits  here  in 
the  whole  floral  world.  I  have  six  plants  of  Rhus 
copallina  within  twelve  paces  of  each  other. 
Five  are  males  and  one  is  a  female.  I  have  never 
seen  one  insect  on  the  female  plant,  neither  does 
it  seed,  neither  wind  nor  insect  serves  it.  Here 
are  two  species  with  color  and  honeyed  secre- 
tions on  which  insects  abound  inordinately;  and 
yet  the  insects  aid  in  no  degree  whatever,  in  fer- 
tilization. I  ask  you  whether  I  may  not  say 
most  decisively  that  whatever  may  be  the  pur- 
poses of  color,  fragrance  or  honeyed  secretions, 
they  are  not  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  insects 
in  the  interests  of  cross-fertilization.  Then  there 
is  Yucca,  about  which  so  much  has  been  made. 
In  my  grounds,  Yucca  filamentosa  abounds.  It 
opens  its  flowers  about  the  25th  of  June.  In 
1875  a  plant  of  Yucca  angustifolia  blossomed  on 
the  5th  of  June.  Though  closely  watched  I  found 
no  Pronubas  about  them.  They  produced  no 
§eed.  The  Y.  filamentosa  had  numbers,  and  seed 
abounded.  About  the  5th  of  June  this  year,  the 
Y.  angustifolia  again  opened  its  flowers.  On  the 
12th,  I  noticed  the  Pronuba  to  abound,  and  I 
hoped  for  seed.  There  were  from  one  to  five  in 
each  flower.     On   the  19th,   I   noticed   that  the 


flowers  had  almost  all  fallen  fruitless.  I  then 
placed  some  pollen  on  four  of  the  flowers,  each 
pollen  from  its  own  flower,  and  these  four  cap- 
sules which  I  exhibit,  are  the  results.  The  only 
seeds  the  plant  produced.  Even  when  fertilized 
at  all  by  insects,  I  am  sure  the  fertilization  is 
from  the  pollen  of  the  same  flower.  My  experi- 
ment shows  its  own  pollen  is  acceptable  to 
it.  It  is  true  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  the 
plant  seems  unable  to  fertilize  its  own  self  with- 
out extraneous  aid  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  it  is  not 
from  any  abhorrence  of  own  pollen,  or  an  espe- 
cial desire  for  insect  aid  ;  especially  the  aid  of  an 
insect  whose  chief  mission  seems  to  be  to  prey 
on  the  fertilized  seed ! 

(To  be  continued.) 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Time  in  Evidence. — Prof.  Goodale  has  been 
giving  a  lecture  in  Boston  on  cross-fertilization 
in  flowers.  He  is  reported  in  the  Massachusetts 
Ploughman  as  saying,  in  effect  (for  we  have  not 
the  paper  just  now  before  us),  that  the  observa- 
tions of  a  single  season  ought  not  to  weigh 
against  the  many  years  of  study  given  the  sub- 
ject by  Mr.  Darwin. 

It  is  true  that  our  observation,  that  clover  will 
seed  without  insect  agency,  extends  only  over 
two  seasons;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  Mr. 
Darwin  tried  the  protection  of  clover  from  in- 
sects but  once.  This  is  the  fair  contrast — the 
clover  experiment  against  the  clover  experi- 
ment, and  not  the  clover  experiment,  or  any 
other  special  point,  against  the  "whole  subject  " 
in  that  general  sweep.  It  is  an  ingenious  way 
of  putting  down  an  opponent,  but  not  satisfac- 
tory, we  think.  Even  though  Mr.  Darwin  had 
tried  the  clover  under  "  protection  "  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  it  gave  no  seed,  while  another 
in  but  one  season  under  protection  found  every 
flower  seed,  why  is  not  that  one  season  enough 
to  establish  the  fact  that  clover  will  seed  without 
the  Humble  Bee  ?  If  Prof.  Goodale  is  correctly 
reported,  he  must  surely  see  the  weakness  of 
such  an  argument. 

Exochorda. — Trusting  to  the  memory  of  the 
plate  in  Hooker's  Botanical  Magazine,  we  gave 
Hooker  the  authorship  of  the  name.  But  it 
was  Lindley,  and  not  Hooker,  who  separated  it 
from  Spinea,  and  established  the  name. 

Asclepias  cornuti. —  Referring  to  our  com- 
mon silk  weed,  we  wrote  as  if  it  was  different 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


119 


from  A/Syriaca.  We  forgot,  in  the  haste  of 
paragraph  writing,  that  Asclepias  is  confined  to 
the  New  World,  and  that  the  name  was  changed 
because  this  plant  is  not  a  native  of  Syria, 
though  growing  wild,  abundantly,  there.  We  are 
indebted  to  a  friend  for  suggesting  this  error 
and  that  of  Exochorda  to  us,  such  suggestions 
being  always  valued  by  us. 

After  all,  the  error  arose  from  the  change  of 
name,  hardly  with  cause.  We  have  Marilandicas 
Carolinianas,  Canadensis,  and  so  on,  attached 
to  plants,  with  little  more  reason  than  in  this 
case.  It  is  probable  that  Gymnocladus  Canaden- 
sis is  a  wanderer  from  more  southern  latitudes 
into  Canada,  perhaps  by  Indians  or  by  some 
agency  as  much  artificial  as  the  introduction  of 
our  silk  weed  near  "  Jerusalem."  No  one  ex- 
pects names  to  mean  just  what  the  words  would 
mean  in  general  application.  Caesar  Snowball, 
does  not  apply  to  the  Legislature  for  a  change 
of  name  because  he  is  not  white;  nor  John 
Black,  because  he  is  white.  The  result  of  the 
change^of  name  in  the  Asclepias  is,  that  many 
Europeans,  as  seen  by  our  quotation,  seem  to 
keep  to  A.  Syriaca;  while  others,  and  all  Ameri- 
cans, probably  use  A.  cornuti.  But  we,  who 
are  horticulturists,  must  follow  the  botanists  in 
these  thing3. 

Number  of  Species  of  Fuchsia. — Mr.  Hemsly, 
in  the  Garden,  gives  a  description  of  all  the 
known  species  of  Fuchsia ;  the  list  foots  up  fifty- 
three. 

Fungus  on  Californian  Pines. — Dr.  W.  H. 
Harkness  says  that  a  fungus,  Peridermium  Pini, 
grows  on  the  steins  of  Pinus  insignis  and  P. 
ponderosa.  It  germinates  beneath  the  cuticle, 
and  results  in  "  swellings "  or  knots  on  the 
branches. 

AlGjE  in  drinking  Water. — Vast  numbers  of 
effects  of  great  importance  to  mankind  are 
brought  about  by  minute  animal  and  vegetable 
organisms,  of  which  until  a  few  years  ago,  we 
were  comparatively  ignorant.  Prof.  W.  G.  Far- 
low,  of  the  Bussey  Institute,  at  Boston,  is  mak- 
ing these  a  special  stud}',  and  no  more  useful 
work  could  be  pursued.  Last  year  the  drinking 
water  of  the  city  of  Boston  had  a  peculiar  "  cu- 
cumbery "  taste.  It  was  supposed  that  some 
algsean  water  plant  occasioned  this,  but  Prof. 
Farlow  could  find  no  evidence  of  it.  The 
examination  of  the  subject,  however  (reporfed 
in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Bussey  Institute  for  1877), 


led  to  other  discoveries.  There  are  minute 
water  plants  which  produce  nauseous  odors 
when  decaying.  As  a  general  thing  they  are 
harmless,  but  when  decaying  in  large  quantities 
— and  there  are  at  times  epidemics  among  plants 
as  among  animals — they  may  injure  water. 
Birds  or  fish  are  good  to  keep  this  matter  down. 


QUERIES. 


Blue  Glass. — H.  L.,  Oak  Park,  111.,  asks: — 
"Did  you  ever  have  the  blue  glass  disease  in 
Philadelphia?  It  has  become  epidemic  in  Chi- 
cago. Should  like  to  see  an  article  in  the  Gar- 
dener's Monthly  on  the  subject,  from  some  one 
that  has  tried  its  effects  on  vegetation.  Is  it 
all  humbug?" 

[Experiments  with  colored  glass  on  vegetation 
were  very  carefully  made  by  Prof.  Hunt,  of  the 
Royal  Institution,  over  thirty  years  ago.  The 
writer  of  this  went  over  Dr.  Hunt's  experiments. 
Common  mustard  seed  was  sown  in  different 
pots,  leaving  an  inch  or  more  of  space  for  the 
plants  to  grow.  Flat  panes  on  the  pots,  and  in 
some  cases  colored  bell  glasses  were  used.  Some 
colors  certainly  seemed  to  make  the  seeds  sprout 
sooner  and  the  plants  to  grow  stronger  for  a 
time,  but  they  became  weaker  in  the  end,  and 
generally  died  first ;  some  of  them  died  when 
very  young.  It  is  so  easy  for  any  one  to  try 
these  things  for  himself,  that  we  regard  a  mere 
"  opinion "  by  an  Editor  of  a  magazine  as  of 
little  account.  All  we  can  say  is,  that  what- 
ever may  be  the  cause,  General  Pleasanton's 
grapery  did  at  one  time  and  we  suppose  does 
still,  for  we  have  heard  nothing  to  the  contrary, 
do  him  infinite  credit.— Editor  G.  M.] 

Climate  of  Coalville,  Utah.— A  correspond- 
ent from  this  place  writes  :— "I  am  living  in  an 
altitude  of  about  5600  feet  above  the  altitude  of 
New  York  City,  and  here  the  mercury  runs  down 
to  25°  and  30°  below  zero,  as  it  did  last  month. 
Nothing  in  the  shape  of  fruit  has  been  grown 
here.  I  have  planted  apricots,  peaches,  apples, 
blackberries,  currants  and  raspberries,  but  all 
have  been  killed  in  previous  Winters." 

Poisoning  by  Rhus.— A.  R.,  N.  Y.  City,  writes: 
— "For  public  benefit  add,  when  your  space 
admits  of  it,  a  remedy  against  poisoning  by 
'Rhus  toxicodendron : '—Fluid  extract  of  Grin- 
delia  robusta,   30  to  40  drops  in  half  a  tumbler 


120 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


of  water  and  apply  it  to  the  affected  parts,  keep- 
ing them   well   wet  with  it  until  cured.      The 


above  has  helped  wonderfully,  where  other  reme- 
dies worked  but  slowly." 


____,  ^ravels  &  Personal  |f  otes. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


GARDENING  GOSSIP  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 

BY   A.    W.   WILSON. 

Your  useful  and  interesting  Monthly  is,  I  be- 
lieve, well  known  in  Britain,  but  I,  being  "off 
the  track," — having  shunted  on  a  siding  many 
years  since — it  had  not  come  much  under  my 
notice  previous  to  this,  my  second  visit  to  Amer- 
ica. Being  of  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  sup- 
ported, I  would  like  to  contribute  something  to 
its  pages,  but  my  acquaintance  with  professional 
gardening  is  so  antiquated,  so  far  behind  the  age, 
that  it  would  be  presumptuous  in  me  to  pretend 
to  enlighten  your  practical  readers,  and  almost 
to  hope  to  interest  the  amateurs  of  the  present 
day.  I  have,  however,  a  lingering  love  for  the 
fine  old  art,  and  cannot  help  recalling  and  cher- 
ishing the  studies,  the  labors,  and  even  the 
drudgery  of  forty  odd  years  ago  with  delight. 

The  Horticultural  Society  of  London  was  then 
young,  vigorous  and  in  full  bloom,  notwithstand- 
ing that  its  first  Secretary,  Mr.  Joseph  Sabine, 
with  the  Council  as  accessories,  allowing  their 
zeal  to  outran  their  discretion,  had  involved  it 
in  debt  to  the  tune  of  $85,000,  it  was  doing  good 
service,  examining  and  practically  testing  every 
appliance  or  feasible  idea  connected  with  Gar- 
dening; collecting  the  hardy  fruits  and  culinary 
and  esculent  vegetables  of  the  world,  cultivating 
them  in  the  Gardens  at  Chiswick,  under  the  skil- 
ful superintendence  of  Mr.  Robert  Thompson, 
and  with  the  aid  of  his  keen  critical  judgment, 
comparing,  proving  and  rectifying  the  nomen- 
clature ;  for  many,  especially  of  the  older  and 
more  popular  sorts  of  fruits,  were  received  under 
a  great  variety  of  names.  The  results  were  pub- 
lished periodically  in  the  Horticultural  Trans- 
actions, and  the  best  sorts  of  fruits  were  beauti- 
fully figured  and  recommended  in  the  Pomohgi- 
cal  Magazine.  The  adventurous  David  Douglas, 
who  ended  his  days  so  tragically  in  what  was 
then  known  as  Owyhee,  had   sent  home  chiefly 


from  your  Western  Territories  the  beautiful 
Clarkias,  OEnotheras,  Lupines,  Nemophilas,  Clin- 
tonias,  Gilias,  Pentstemons,  Mimulus,  Bartonia, 
Eschscholtzia,  Ribes,  &c,  which  are  now  the 
pride  and  glory  of  every  cottage  garden  in 
Britain,  also  numerous  species  of  the  stately 
Pines  and  other  forest  trees  which  clothe  your 
Rocky  Mountains  and  Pacific  Slopes.  Plants, 
seeds,  grafts,  cuttings,  or  other  forms  of  all  of 
these  were  as  far  as  practicable  distributed 
throughout  the  country  and  abroad  to  all  eligi- 
ble applicants.  George  Gordon,  than  whom  no 
man  was  more  at  home  amongst  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  who,  about  twenty  years  since,  wrote  an 
exhaustive  book  on  Coniferse,  was  Superintendent 
of  the  Arboretum.  Robert  Fortune  was  in  train- 
ing at  the  Edinburgh  Botanic  Garden  and  Uni- 
versity, to  take  charge  of  the  Hot-house  Depart- 
ment, and  from  thence  to  proceed  on  his  "  wan- 
derings in  the  Northern  Provinces  of  China," 
and  in  other  Eastern  countries.  He  visited  Assam 
at  the  instance  of  the  United  States  Government 
with  reference  to  the  proposed  cultivation  of  the 
Assam  tea-plant  in  the  Southern  States  of  the 
Union  ;  and  on  his  first  visit  to  Japan,  he  pene- 
trated the  country  from  on  board  of  an  American 
ship,  access  being  then  denied  to  the  British.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  remind  those  acquainted 
with  hardy  ornamental  plants  of  recent  intro- 
duction, for  how  many  of  them  we  are  indebted 
to  my  old  friend,  Robert  Fortune.  Joseph  Pax- 
ton  had  been  selected  from  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  garden  hands,  by  the  Duke  of  Devonshire, 
and  placed  over  his  princely  gardens  at  Chats- 
worth,  where  the  successful  erection  of  a  very 
large  conservatory  of  iron  and  glass  led  to  his 
undertaking  the  construction,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, of  the  London  Exhibition  Building  of  1851, 
and  the  re-erection  of  it  as  the  Crystal  Palace, 
with  its  beautiful  grounds  laid  out  by  him,  at 
Sydenham.  The  President  of  the  Horticultural 
Society  was  Thos.  Andrew  Knight,  of  Downton 
Castle,  Hereford,  a  very  successful  originator 
of  new  fruits  ;  he  also  proved  the  carnivorous 
character  of  the  Venus'  fly-trap,  long  before  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


121 


experiments     of    Darwin.      George     Bentham, 
nephew  of  the  well-known  philosopher,  Jeremy 
Bentham,   and  an   eminent  botanist,   was    the 
secretary  de  jure,  but  Dr.  Lindley,  a  still  more 
eminent  botanist,  as  assistant  secretary,  was  the 
main-spring    and    prime  mover    in    everything 
practical  relating  to  the  Society  and  the  gardens, 
and  he  was  ably  aided,  especially  in  the  work  of 
production  and  distribution  by  the  gardener-in- 
chief,   Mr.  Donald  Munro.    John  Lindley,  pro- 
fessor of  botany  in  University  College  and  other 
institutions  in  London,  was  the  son  of  a  nursery- 
man near  Norwich,  and  father— though  he  did  not 
live  to  see  his  son's  elevation  to  the   "  Bench  " — 
of  the  present  Sir  Nathaniel  Lindley,  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  English  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  at 
$30,000  a  year.     Before  quitting  this  subject,  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  notice  at  least  four 
highly  respectable  men   who  graduated  in  the 
H.  S.  gardens,  and   have  made  their  mark  pro- 
fessionally in  the  United  States,  viz. :  John  Cad- 
ness,  at  Flushing,  L.    I.;    John   Lumsden   and 
John  Ford  at  Detroit,  Mich.;    and  Robert  Car- 
michael  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  where  he  was  much 
honored,  and  died  about  eighteen  years  ago.  The 
two  first-named  attended  Dr.  Lindley's  lectures, 
so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  are   well 
"  posted  "  in  Botany.     "  The  Royal  Botanic  Gar- 
dens "at  Kew  were  at  that  time,  and  had  for 
many  years  previously  been,  "under  a   cloud," 
or  if  the  sun  shone  on  the  collected  treasures 
and  the  privileged  few  who  had  access  to  them, 
he  shed  no  ray  of  scientific  light  or  intellectual 
enjoyment  on  the  many  curious  souls  outside. 
Kew  House  and  Park  were   an  appanage  of  roy- 
alty, having  been  taken  on  a  long  lease  by  the 
Prince   of  Wales,   father    of  George    III.     His 
widow  took  great  interest  in  forming  the  Botanic 
Garden,  consisting  at  first  of  11  acres  and  laying 
out  the  pleasure  grounds  extending  to  about  260 
acres  more,    and    her    daughter-in-law,    Queen 
Charlotte,  who  was  a  tolerably  proficient  botanist, 
as  times  went,  did   much  to  increase  the  collec- 
tion of  exotics;   hence  Sir  Joseph  Banks  named 
the  genus  Strelitzia,    in    her    honor.     In    1759 
Wm.  Aiton,  a  pupil  of  Philip  Miller,  of  dictionary 
celebrity,  was  placed  in  charge,  and  in  17S9  pro- 
duced the    "Hortus   Kewensis,"  containing  an 
account  of  5,600  species   of  exotics    found    in 
British  gardens,   with  many  admirable  plates. 
Mr.  Aiton  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  W.  T.  Aiton. 
and  conjointly  and  in  succession  they  had  charge 
of  the  gardens  and  grounds  for  eighty-two  years, 
but  after  the  death   of  Queen  Charlotte  and  Sir 


Joseph  Banks,  and  during  the  reign  of  George 
IV.  and  William  IV.,  they  were  much  neglected, 
and  suffered   from  want  of  royal  and  scientific 
encouragement.     At  length,  the  popular  demand 
that  they  should  be  thrown  open  and  made  use- 
ful to  the  nation,  or  abolished,  reached  and  was 
listened  to  by  Parliament.     Queen  Victoria  ever 
disposed  to  gratify  and  benefit  her  subjects,  gra- 
ciously relinquished  her  quasi  claim   to  all  ex- 
cept a   very  small   and   private   portion  of  the 
domain.   The  Botanic  Garden  proper  comprising 
25  acres,  the  Pleasure  Grounds  or  Arboretum  of 
270  acres,  and  the  Old  Deer  Park  of  400  acres, 
were  declared   open,  under   certain  slight   and 
necessary    restrictions,    every  day  (Sunday  in- 
cluded) from  1  p.  m.  till  sunset.     Sir  William  G. 
Hooker,  the  distinguished  botanist,  was  called 
from  his  "'good  fruits  "  and  professional  chair  at 
Glasgow,  and  "  promoted  over  the  trees."     Sel- 
dom has  the   change  from  unprofitable  appro- 
priation and  exclusivencss,   to  light   and  liberty, 
usefulness   and   popular  enjoyment  been  more 
marked  and  satisfactory  in  its  results.   The  num- 
ber of  visitors  which  in  1841  (the  year  of  reform) 
was  9,174,  rose  in  1869  to  630,594!  The  collection 
of  plants  has  been  immensely  increased,  numer- 
ous houses,  some  of  them  very  large,  have  been 
erected,  a  Pinetum  as  well  as  a  general  Arbore- 
tum formed,  and  the    planted   portion  greatly 
extended  ;  special  prominence  is  given  to  medi- 
cinal, economic  and  curious  plants.     A  former 
residence  has  been  devoted  to  a  museum  well- 
stored  with  specimens  of  woods,  textile  materials 
and  everything  connected  with  or  belonging  to 
the    vegetable    world,  and  in  another  building 
are  to  be  found  the  herbaria  of  Bentham,  Cun- 
ningham, Carey,  (American,)  Burchell,  Lindley's 
Orchids,  and  the  largest  collection  in  the  world, 
that  of  the  late  Sir  W.G.  Hooker  with   those  of 
other  botanists  which   have  been  acquired  from 
time   to   time.    The  whole   is    under   the  able 
directorship  of  the  eminently  liberal  and   scien- 
tific Dr.  J.  D.  Hooker,  and  no  more  pleasurable 
out  or  intellectual  treat  for  the  lover  of  nature  or 
votary  of  science  can  well  be  imagined  than  a 
visit  to  Kew  Gardens  as  they  are  now  on  a  fine 
day. 

(To  be  concluded.) 


NOTES  FROM  CALIFORNIA. 

BY   E.  LOXSDALE,   GERMANTOWN,    PHILA. 

As  much  interest  is  manifested  in  California 
by  horticulturists  in  general,  a  few  extracts  from 


122 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


a  letter  just  received  from  my  friend,  Chas.  J. 
Hachtel,  San  Jose,  Cal.,  may  not  be  out  of  place 
in  the  columns  of  the  Monthly.  He  says :  "  If 
you  had  been  out  here  this  season,  you  would 
have  seen  something  to  astonish  you.  On  Octo- 
ber 28th,  1876,  we  had  three-fourths  of  an  inch 
of  rain ;  from  that  date  until  about  the  20th  of 
January,  1877,  not  one  drop  of  rain  fell.  For 
nearly  two  months  we  had  steady  north  winds, 
with  a  sharp  frost  every  night.  (During  a  part 
of  the  day — from  10  a.  m.  until  3  p.  M.— it  was 
calm  and  warm.)  The  last  frost  we  had  was 
very  severe,  the  temperature  at  7  o'clock  being 
down  to  20°.  Many  things  hitherto  hardy  here 
were  killed,  but  I  think  the  dry  weather  had  the 
most  to  do  with  it.  Altogether,  we  have  had 
about  three  inches  of  rain  this  season.  We  will 
need  much  more  than  this  to  insure  good  crops. 
In  the  southern  counties  the  sheep  and  cattle 
are  dying  by  thousands  for  want  of  food. 

"  In  the  nurseries,  nearly  all  business  was  at  a 
stand-still.  All  the  florists  in  San  Francisco  dis- 
pensed with  their  help,  retaining  only  one  man. 
In  San  Jose,  in  the  nurseries,  all  the  Chinamen 
were  discharged,  the  white  men  only  were 
kept  on. 

"  It  is  now  February.  If  the  past  is  an  indica- 
tion of  what  will  be  sold  in  the  future— to  the 
end  of  this  season — I  am  very  much  afraid  nur- 
serymen and  florists  will  not  make  expenses. 

"  The  cut  flower  trade,  you  say,  has  been  dull 
in  the  East.  It  must  have  been  worse  in  San 
Francisco  ;  many  choice  flowers  even  at  Christ- 
mas had  to  be  thrown  away.  The  prices  of 
plants  have  changed  since  you  were  here.  The 
very  best  Geranium  that  can  be  grown  in  a  four- 
inch  pot,  will  not  bring  more  than  25  cents,  and 
often  is  sold  for  less.  And  here  in  this  valley 
(Santa  Clara),  the  Verbena  never  gets  killed,  but 
grows  to  be  a  bush,  and  not  a  sign  of  rust  is  ever 
seen.  If  we  sell  50  or  100  plants  during  a  sea- 
son, that  is  all,  for  a  whole  neighborhood  will 
soon  be  supplied  from  them. 

"Blue  Gums  (Eucalyptus  globulus),  which 
used  to  readily  sell  for  25  cents  each,  can  now 
be  bought  for  10  cents.  Acacias  sell  at  the  same 
price.  Indeed,  all  kinds  of  trees,  shrubs  and 
plants  are  down  in  proportion.  The  trouble  is 
out  here,  California  is  the  only  market,  and,  as 
yet,  is  but  sparsely  settled,  and  the  climate  gen- 
erally is  too  favorable,  and  when  there  happens 
a  dry  season  like  the  present,  nothing  can  be 
sold. 

"  I  have  succeeded  in  flowering  many  of  the 


popular  species  of  Orchids,  some  of  which  are 
now  in  bloom.  Two  plants  of  Oncidium 
Cavendishii,  one  has  thirty  flowers  open,  the 
other  thirty-six  ;  the  first  flowers  opened  three 
weeks  ago,  and  are  yet  as  fresh  as  they  were  the 
day  they  first  opened.  Two  varieties  of  Laelia 
are  just  over,  L.  acuminata  and  L.  autumnalis, 
both  of  which  are  very  fine.  A  variety  of 
Odontoglossum  pulchellum  majus  is  in  flower 
now,  which  would  be  a  grand  thing  for  cut 
flowers.  The  color  is  pure  white,  with  a  little 
yellow  crest  in  the  centre;  its  texture  is  waxy, 
and  with  a  fragrance  as  strong  as  the  Hyacinth, 
besides,  the  flowers  last  for  weeks  in  perfection. 
There  are  quite  a  number  of  Lycaste  Skinneri 
coming  on  to  flower.  I  think  these  would  prove 
valuable  for  the  florist,  as  they  need  but  a  small 
amount  of  heat  to  flower  them  well. 

"  Two  plants  of  Thunbergia  Harisii  flowered 
with  me  well  last  Christmas.  They  were  grown 
in  eight-inch  pots,  and  had  over  one  hundred 
flowers  on  each.  One  plant  sold  for  six  dollars. 
The  flowers  of  the  other  went  to  waste,  as  there 
was  no  demand  for  them.  This  comes  in  at  a 
good  time  for  florists,  and  if  plenty  of  heat  is 
at  command,  there  is  no  trouble  about  flower- 
ing it." 

This  Thunbergia  being  a  climber  or  trailer,  is 
well  adapted  to  train  along  the  rafters  of  a  warm 
greenhouse.  The  flowers  are  porcelain  blue  in 
color,  with  yellow  throat;  in  shape  somewhat 
resembling  the  Gloxinea. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

BY    WM.   T.    HARDING,   UPPER   SANDUSKY,   OHIO. 
(Continued  from  page  62.) 

The  living  plant  links  which  apparently  con- 
nect the  present  with  the  past,  were  warmed  and 
nurtured  with  the  same  radiant,  life-giving  sun, 
whose  refulgent  beams  quickened  the  germs  of 
embryo  vegetation,  myriads  of  ages  gone  by, 
and  still  gloriously  shines  on  our  planet  to-day. 

If  the  illustrious  Captain  Cook  had  proceeded 
thus  far,  after  naming  that  remarkably  beautiful 
inlet  on  the  coast,  Botany  Bay,  which  so  capti- 
vated him  with  its  bosky  parterres  of  charming 
flowers,  he  probably  might  have  considered 
Botany  Vale,  or  Floral  Chasm,  proper  names  for 
the  spot,  which  my  feeble  pen  attempts  to  de- 
scribe. 

The  rugged  and  stupendous  rocks  before  me 
were  grandly  mantled  with  green  ferns — draped 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


123 


with  creepers,  covered  with  climbers,  and  mot- 
tled with  flowers.  A  mountain  stream  tumbled 
down  the  rocky  scarp  with  considerable  force 
and  noise : 

"  Its  bounding  crystal  frolicked  in  the  ray, 
And  gushed  from  cliff  to  crag,  the  pearly  spray." 

No  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon  surpassed 
these.  Neither  Nebuchadnezzar,  nor  his  Medean 
queen;  Solomon  nor  Cyrus,  ever  looked  upon  a 
lovelier  picture.  Notwithstanding  the  halo,  real 
or  imaginary,  which  has  hovered  round  the  Ori- 
ent for  ages,  no  ancient  Assyrian,  Jewish,  Per- 
sian, Grecian,  or  Roman  potentate,  when  revel- 
ing in  the  full  meridian  pomp  and  splendor  of 
Eastern  magnificence,  ever  saw  so  fair  a  scene. 
No  one  for  a  moment  doubts  that  the  natu- 
ral hanging  gardens  of  Australia,  antedate  those 
of  Babylonian  fame.  Although  apparently  "as 
old  as  the  hills" — yet,  no  historian's  pen  has  re- 
corded their  wonders,  or  cast  an  antediluvian 
glamor  around  them.  We  may  reasonably  sup- 
pose, that  the  eyes  of  pre-historic  man  have 
often  scanned  the  scene  many  thousands  of 
years  before  it  met  the  gaze  of  the  Caucasian. 

Those  Avretched  specimens  of  humanity,  the 
nomadic  savages,  who  wander  through  their  na- 
tive forests  in  a  beastial  state  of  nudity,  know 
nothing  of  the  past.  As  with  them,  so  of  their 
country — there  is  no  written  history.  Whatever 
consequences  Adam's  fall  may  have  brought 
upon  the  white,  it  is  evident  the  aboriginal  Aus- 
tralian did  not,  as  a  consequence,  fall  into  the  fig 
leaf  fashion.  A  couple  passed  me,  (a  sight  com- 
mon enough,)  who  in  one  sense,  somewhat  re- 
sembled the  condition  of  Adam  and  Eve,  as  de- 
scribed in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis,  "  they 
were  both  naked,  the  man  and  his  wife,  and  were 
not  ashamed."  If  some  of  the  doubting  Thomas', 
who  laugh  at  the  idea  of  having  a  monkey  for 
an  ancestor,  were  to  see  one  of  the  abject  crea- 
tures, who  seem  only  to  lack  a  caudal  appendage 
to  make  him  positively  a  handsome  monkey, 
instead  of  being  as  he  is,  absolutely  the  worst 
looking  man,  I  feel  convinced  they  would  easily 
be  converted  to  Darwinism. 

Beast-like  as  they  are,  they  nevertheless  seem 
to  love  or  like  one  another,  as  the  practice  of 
anthrophophagy  proves.  Whether  their  cuisine 
is  as  recherche  as  the  Fejee  Islanders  celebrated 
roasted  missionary,  or  not,  I  am  unable  to  say.  I 
am  not  so  positive  in  my  opinion  about  flesh  as 
was  Paul,  who,  with  his  usual  acumen,  seems  to 
have  had  the  faculty  of  a  nice  discrimination. 
Bee  1  Cor.  xv.  30.     Eupepsia,  as  an  art,  or  gas- 


|  tronomy,  as  a  science,  formed  no  part  of  my  edu- 
cation. No,  gentle  reader,  I  am  only  a  very 
common  man,  and  am  easily  satisfied  with  plain 
beef  and  mutton.  I  never  gave  much  heed  to  the 
flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  or  felt  a  hankering  after  tit- 
bits, or  craving  for  toothsome  dishes,  or  taste  for 
game  of  any  kind — mankind  especially.  So  I  will 
leave  the  fact  for  more  experienced  epicures  to 
decide. 


TO  THE  FAR  WEST. 


BY   MRS.    F.   E.    B. 


So  many  have  described  the  great  "  Overland 
Route,"  that  it  may  be  superfluous  for  me  to  add 
anything  to  their  delineations,  but  I  must  give 
you  some  of  my  impressions.   Through  Nebraska 
and  the  first  part  of  Wyoming  there  is  little  to 
interest  the  eye.     The  land,  no  doubt,  is  fertile, 
but  so  flat,  mile  after  mile,  hour  after  hour,  a 
mere  flat,  treeless,  waterless,  desolate  waste.  The 
Platte  is  the  most     uninteresting    river  I  ever 
saw.     It  is  a  wonder  it  runs  at  all  in  that  appa- 
rently dead  level,  and   though  the  few  trees  on 
its  banks  were   all  we  saw  in  the  State  of  Ne- 
braska, one  could  hardly  wish  for  more  of  them, 
for  more  knarled,  twisted,  desolate  looking  spe- 
cimens I  never  saw.     We  hardly  get  a  glimpse 
of  mountains  until  we  cross  the  Rockies  at  Sher- 
man.    After  that  we  never  lose  sight  of  them. 
Hour  after  hour  we  are  in  their  solemn  shadow. 
Sometimes  they  retire  for  a  little  space,  but  only 
to  close  around  us  again  in  more  awful  grandeur. 
No  graceful  crown  of  trees  is  theirs',  no  verdant 
robe,  no  gay  garniture  of  flowers,  only  the  gray 
sage  bush,  and  a  few  stunted  pines,  and  rocks — 
everywhere  rocks.     Yet  the  eye  never  tires,  and 
the  thought  crossed  my  mind  that  even  infinite 
ingenuity  must  have  been  tasked  in  devising  the 
ever  varying  forms  of  those  rocks.     Forts  and 
castles,  and  domes  and  towers,  walls,  and  monu- 
ments,  graceful   peaks    and    bold   overhanging 
masses,  and  strange  fanciful  animal  and   human 
shapes,  all   are   there.     I  felt  that  it  would  be 
good  for  me  to  dwell  in  sight  of  these  mountains, 
that  nothing  low  and  groveling  could  live  in  their 
shadow,   that  they,  so  steadfast  and    unmoved, 
could  ever  beckon  upward  toward  a   higher  and 
better  life. 

On  the  eighth  night  out,  we  crossed  the  Sierra 
Nevadas,  and  the  morning  sun  showed  us  a  new 
land.  The  mountains  were  about  us  still,  but 
lofty  trees  and  graceful  shrubs  adorned  their 
sides,  and  green  valleys  found  place  among  them, 


124 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


and  we  saw  fertile  fields,  and  fruitful  vineyards 
and  orchards,  and  gay  gardens,  and  the  tokens 
of  new  industries.  We  landed  at  Marysville, 
December  7th.  Geraniums  and  Oleanders  were 
common  inhabitants  of  the  gardens,  roses  were 
in  bloom,  oranges  on  the  trees,  and  huge  Cacti 
looked  over  the  fences.  In  the  vegetable  gar- 
dens young  peas  and  lettuce  and  radishes  were 
growing  side  by  side  with  mature  vegetables, 
cabbages  and  beets,  &c.  One  would  be  puzzled 
to  decide  the  season  by  the  eye  alone.  The  dis- 
tant hills  bore  the  tints  of  Autumn,  and  the  frosty 
nights  seemed  like  September  or  October ;  the 
early  vegetables  and  springing  grass  looked  like 
Spring,  while  the  hot  mid-day  and  the  gay  gar- 
dens are  like  mid-summer.  Everything  seems 
to  be  done  differently  here.  Instead  of  the  mixed 
farming  of  the  East,  each  farm  or  "  ranch " 
seems  to  be  devoted  to  some  specialty.  I  saw  a 
lady  at  Marysville  whose  husband  owns  a  wheat 
ranch  of  1,500  acres.  We  saw  stock  farms  of 
equal  and  of  greater  extent,  with  thousands  of 
cattle,  one  "  almond  ranch,"  near  Marysville,  of 
about  20,000  trees.  The  "  dairy  ranches  "  are 
chiefly  among  the  mountains,  for  the  advantages 
of  cheap  land,  and  cooler  temperature.  "  Vir- 
ginia Ranch,"  Avhere  we  stayed  four  weeks,  is  a 
fruit  ranch,  an  elevated  plain  among  the  "  foot 
hills,"  as  they  call  the  lower  tiers  of  mountains. 
These  grow  nearly  all  of  the  fruits  that  flourish 
in  this  favored  land. 


HORTICULTURAL  PROTECTION. 

BY   W.    H.    W.,    READING,    iMASS. 

In  the  February  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  the  Editor  says  : — "  We  do  not  want  any 
articles  on  the  justice  of  (horticultural)  protec- 
tion. All  that  is  granted.  Of  course,  if  anybody 
denied  that  the  principle  of  protection  should  be 
applied  to  horticultural  improvement,the  burden 
of  proof  would  be  on  him.  But  it  is  not  de- 
nied." 

I  am  as  much  surprised  as  gratified  at  this 
statement.  I  had  supposed  that  many  did  deny 
"  that  the  principle  ot  protection  should  be  ap- 
plied to  horticultural  improvements."  Mr.  P. 
Barry  says  in  tre  Rural  New  Yorker  for  Jan.  9, 
1869: — "As  a  horticulturist  I  protest  against 
this  movement,  (to  secure  legislation  in  favor  of 
horticultural  protection,)  and  hope  that  Congress 
will  pay  no  attention  to  it.  The  originators  of 
valuable  varieties  of  fruits,  grains  or   vegetables, 


have  it  in  their  power,  now,  to  secure  ample  com- 
pensation." 

That  sounds  to  me  as  if  Mr.  Barry,  at  least, 
was  then,  if  he  is  not  now,  opposed  to  horticul- 
tural protection,  not  merely  on  the  ground  of  its 
impracticability,  but  on  the  ground  of  right.  He 
seems  to  me  to  claim  that  originators  of  new 
fruits  have  no  right  to  any  additional  legislation 
in  their  behalf,  for  they  can  already  secure  with- 
out it  all  the  compensation  for  their  improve- 
ments to  which  they  are  fairly  entitled.  But  if 
I  have  misunderstood  him  and  those  whom  I 
had  supposed  to  agree  with  him,  I  am  glad  to 
know  it.  Certainly  the  Editor  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  has  had  far  better  opportunities  than  I, 
to  learn  the  opinions  of  horticulturists  upon  this 
subject,  and  the  grounds  on  which  those  opin- 
ions rest.  And  I  gladly  accept  his  testimony  as 
conclusive  that  "no  one  denies  the  justice  of 
horticultural  protection."  "  No  one  denies  that 
the  principle  of  protection  should  be  applied  to 
horticultural  improvements  "  if  it  can  be. 

Thus  far  then  we  all  stand  together  upon  the 
same  ground.  We  are  all  agreed  that  the  ■prin- 
ciple of  horticultural  protection  is  just  and  right; 
that  equity  requires  the  application  of  this  prin- 
ciple to  new  fruits  as  much  as  to  new  inventions. 

Then  we  should  all  unite  in  an  earnest  end<  avor 
to  put  the  principle  into  law.  If  it  is  an  equitable 
one,  one  that  "should  be  applied  to  horticultural 
improvements,"  then  every  one  should  favor  an 
honest  attempt  to  embody  the  principle  in  suita- 
ble legislation.  True,  difficulties  may  appear 
and  objections  may  be  urged.  But  is  that  an 
adequate  reason  for  opposing  what  is  acknow- 
ledged to  be  just  and  right,  or  even  for  declining 
to  make  any  effort  to  attain  what  we  acknow- 
ledge ought  to  be  attained?  There  are  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  every  reform.  Objections  may 
be  urged,  and  commonly  are,  against  every  at- 
tempt to  bring  our  laws  into  more  complete  har- 
mony with  the  principles  of  equity.  But  surely 
these  facts  do  not  justify  opposition,  or  even  in- 
difference to  equitable  and  desirable  progress ; 
for  if  so,  what  progress  would  ever  be  made  ?  If 
the  principle  of  horticultural  protection  is  right, 
then  let  us  all  stand  together  on  the  side  of  the 
right.  Let  us  exert  our  united  influence  in  favor 
of  an  honest  and  earnest  attempt  to  make  the 
right  effective  ;  to  surmount  the  practical  diffi- 
culties, a  id  embody  the  equitable  principle  in 
appropriate  legislation. 

But  to  this  it  is  replied  that  while  in  theory  the 
principle  is  sound,  yet  the  difficulties  in  the  way 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


125 


of  its  practical  working  are  so  many  and  so 
serious  as  to  forbid  any  attempt  at  legislation  on 
the  subject.  There  is  no  reasonable  ground  for 
hope  that  the  good  sought  could  be  attained. 
In  reply  I  have  several  things  to  suggest. 

1st.  This  is  the  standard  objection  of  conserv- 
atism to  all  attempts  at  progress.  Almost  every 
proposed  reform  is  met  by  the  same  criticism  : 
"  The  principle  is  good,  but  it  cannot  be  carried 
out.  The  movement  is  impracticable."  Some- 
times, doubtless,  the  objection  is  just.  But  we  can 
all  of  us  remember  more  instances  than  one  in 
which  actual  experiment  has  shown  it  to  have 
been  groundless.  Perhaps,  if  a  fair  test  should 
be  made  of  the  practicability  of  protection,  the 
objections  now  so  confidently  urged  against  it, 
might  soon  be  consigned  to  the  Limbo  of  Vanity, 
as  were  the  arguments  that  a  few  years  ago  used 
to  prove  so  conclusively  to  those  who  used  them, 
the  impracticability  of  freeing  the  Southern 
slaves.  It  is  usually  safer  and  more  desirable 
than  we  are  apt  to  think,  to  test  the  practicability 
of  what  is  clearly  right  in  principle. 

2nd.  If  some  of  the  objections  to  protection 
are  now  unanswerable,  that  does  not  make  its 
practical  test  unwise.  And  for  two  reasons  :  In 
the  first  place,  actual  experiment  might  nullify  these 
objections,  as  the  experiment  of  freeing  the  slaves 
has  nullified  the  objections  that  used  to  be  urged 
(and  some  of  them  with  great  apparent  weight) 
against  sudden  manumission.  And  in  the  second 
place,  protection  may  fail  in  some  respects,  and  yet 
be  wise  and  desirable.  It  is  objected  to  any  legis- 
lation on  this  subject  that  no  such  description 
can  be  given  of  a  patented  fruit  as  would  enable 
a  "  patent  office  clerk  "  to  decide  whether  or  not 
the  patent  was  infringed.  I  do  not  see  the  ne- 
cessity of  leaving  such  a  question  to  a  patent 
office  clerk.  A  committee  of  three  intelligent 
horticulturists  could  easily  be  had  in  Washing- 
ton, and  they  could  generally  decide  such  a 
question  with  ease.  But  grant  that  they  could 
not,  that  this  objection  is  unanswerable,  still, 
sufficient  good  could  be  attained  by  such  legisla- 
tion to  make  it  wise.  Suppose  a  patent  had  been 
issued  to  Mr.  Bull  for  his  Concord  grape.  No  one 
could  have  sold  vines  as  Concords  without  his 
permission.  And  the  name  and  the  grape  would 
have  been  so  connected  that  the  public  demand 
would  have  been  for  Concords;  not  for  some- 
thing else,  said  to  be  as  good,  or  even  for  the 
same  grape  if  called  by  another  name.  In  other 
words  the  patent  would  cover  not  merely  the 
fruit,  but  the  name;    and  the   reputation   of  the 


grape  would  make  the  name  a  sort,  of  trade-mark. 
And  that  trade-mark  would  have  a  pecuniary 
value  to  Mr.  Bull,  proportionate  to  the  reputa- 
tion of  his  grape.  He  would  virtually  have  a 
monopoly  of  the  market  for  the  sale  of  Concord 
vines.  Honorable  nurserymen  would  not  sell 
them  without  paying  him  for  the  right;  and  dis- 
honorable ones  (if  there  are  such)  would  be  de- 
barred from  selling  them  by  their  inability  to' 
offer  them  under  their  appropriate  and  popular 
name.  And  so  Mr.  B.  could  reasonably  hope  to 
secure  an  ample  compensation  for  the  good  he 
has  done  the  nation  in  originating  this  valuable 
fruit. 

But  my  article  is  already  so  long  that  I  must 
close  with  only  a  brief  allusion  to  some  of  the 
benefits  which  it  seems  to  me  might  be  secured 
by  horticultural  protection  : 

1st.  It  would  make  our  patent  law  legislation 
uniform  and  self  consistent. 

2nd.  It  would  be  doing  what  all  acknowledge 
to  be  just  and  right;  or,  in  other  words,  what  the 
originators  of  new  fruits  have  an  equitable  right 
to  demand. 

3rd.  It  would  save  the  community  from  the 
imposition  of  worthless  varieties  that  could  not 
secure  a  patent,  and  of  old  varieties  sought  to  be 
disseminated  under  new  names. 

4th.  It  would  secure  to  originators  of  new 
fruits  a  more  adequate  compensation  for  the 
time,  labor  and  expense  involved  in  their  pro- 
duction.    And  in  so  doing 

5th.  It  would  give  a  new  stimulus  to  the  wrork 
of  horticultural  improvement,  and  thus  bless  the 
nation  with  the  more  valuable  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles which  would  thus  be  produced.  As  our 
present  patent  laws  stimulate  invention,  and 
confer  upon  us  improved  machinery  ;  so,  similar 
legislation,  applied  to  horticulture,  would  tend 
to  stimulate  the  production  of  new  and  improved 
fruits,  and  so  enrich  the  nation  with  more  de- 
sirable ones  than  those  they  now  possess. 

[We  must  class  ourselves  with  the  unlucky 
ones.  We  asked  W.  H.  W.  to  point  out  the 
novel  points  in  the  Secretary  Grape,  for  which 
the  "  protection  "  is  claimed,  but  he  was  not 
sufficiently  familiar  with  it.  We  asked  him  then 
to  take  the  Concord,  which  he  must  knoAV  well, 
but,  instead  of  responding  to  this  simple  request, 
he  gives  us  a  lecture  on  "rights,"  the  substance 
of  which  has  appeared  in  our  pages  over  and 
o.ver  again.  We  make  room  for  the  paper,  how- 
ever, because  it  is  written  in  fair  and  dispassion- 
ate style,  unlike  two  other  papers  we  have  on 


126 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[April, 


hand,  from  other  parties,  and  which  would  sully 
our  pages  did  they  appear.  Besides,  there  is  the 
apparently  novel  suggestion  of  a  "  committee 
of  horticulturists  at  Washington."  But  where  is 
the  real  difference  ?  If  the  "  three  "  are  appointed 
by  the  patent  office,  they  may  as  well  be  called 
"  clerks,"  as  a  "  committee."  It  is  hardly  worth 
disputing  about  a  name.  A  lively  time  these 
"  clerks  "  —  beg  pardon,  this  "  committee  "  — 
would  have  in  deciding  on  the  "novelty"  of 
beans,  peas,  cabbages,  tomatoes,  grapes,  rasp- 
berries, strawberries,  onions,  peaches,  pears, 
apples,  wheat,  rye,  potatoes,  blackberries,  plums, 
cherries,  and  what-nots,  pouring  in  from  Oregon 
and  Maine,  and  from  Florida  and  California — 
and  many  arriving  a  mass  of  rottenness  !  No, 
friend  W. !  we  do  not  think  this  plan  of  having 
horticultural  clerks  decide  the  question  of 
novelty,  with  fresh  specimens  before  them,  near 
as  satisfactory  as  the  plan  of  having  the  points 
of  novelty  expressed  in  language.  We  are  in 
favor  of  "  protection."  Nothing  would  please  us 
better  than  to  see  the  raiser  of  good  fruits,  flow- 
ers, and  vegetables,  get  well  rewarded.  We  should 
be  glad  to  know  that  every  one  realized  $50,000 
by  his  good  luck  or  good  work.  We  are  willing 
to  give  these  fortunate  raisers  the  right  to  make 
this,  before  anybody  else  gets  a  penny,  if  such 
right  can  be  secured ;  but  we  cannot  stultify  our- 
selves by  asking  Congress  to  let  us  try  "some- 
thing," when  nothing  is  proposed. 

As  for  Mr.  Barr}7,  we  are  quite  sure  he  is  as 
anxious  to  see  the  raisers  of  good  things  secured 
in  their  "right"  to  make  something  handsome, 
as  we  are ;  we  see  nothing  in  his  quoted  language 
to  warrant  any  other  construction,  and  we  agree 
with  him  in  doubting  whether  any  "  law  "  would 
do  better  for  these  raisers,  than  good  business 
tact  will  do  now. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Hortensia. — A  correspondent  writes  in  refer- 
ence to  the  recent  discussion: — "De  Candolle 
says,  Commerson  named  our  plants,  first,  Pe- 
autia,  in  honor  of  Madame  Hortense  Lcpe- 
autc,  <fec.  If  my  souvenirs  are  right,  the  correct 
name  was  Lepaute,  for  I  think  I  saw  the  name 
on  public  clocks  in  Paris,  some  fifty  years  ago. 
and  I  naturally  suppose  the  man  knew  how  to 
spell  his  own  name.  Now,  why  that  difference 
in  spelling  a  name,  and  a   popular   one,   too? 


The  fun  of  it  is,  that  those  differences  in  spelling 
that  name,  Lepeaute,  Lepaute,  Peautia,  &c,  all 
come  from  French  authorities,  botanists  or 
others.  That  reminds  me  of  the  name  of  a 
well  known  plant  dedicated  to  a  French  cele- 
brity, '  Capt.  Bougainville,'  which  in  several 
works  is  spelled  in  seven  different  ways,  by  seven 
eminent  botanists,  and  not  one  of  them  correct, 
and  yet  they  were  not  Frenchy,  but  of  all  na- 
tions, English,  German,  &c.  Now,  if  doctors 
disagree,  what  will  students  do?  gardeners  espe- 
cially, who  generally  have  not  the  means  to 
identify  the  etymology,  either  for  want  of  edu- 
cation or  books  to  consult?  Perhaps  you  will 
think  I  carry  this  digression  too  far;  but  if  I 
insist  on  this  erroneous  spelling  of  authorities, 
it  is  because  oftentimes  we  gardeners  are  laughed 
at  for  mispelling  Latin  and  Greek  names,  with 
which  we  are  unacquainted.  For  instance,  we 
see  in  the  catalogue  of  plants  of  leading  estab- 
lishments in  Europe,  such  names  as  Imrmto- 
phyllum,  Imatophyllum  ;  Rhaphis,  Rhapis,  Ra- 
pids, a  species  of  palm.  How  are  we  to  tell 
which  is  which  ?  Your  correspondent  is  mighty 
correct  when  he  says  :  'We  cannot  all  be  per- 
fect, yet  I  should  think  that  school  teachers 
ought  to  know  how  to  read.'  " 

Plant  Patents. — Two  articles  on  this  subject 
cannot  appear  in  our  paper,  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  they  are  abusive.  W.  H.  W.'s  letter  is 
in  striking  contrast,  and  we  have  pleasure  in  find- 
ing a  place  for  it.  Whether  our  contributors 
agree  with  us  or  not,  we  cheerfully  make  room 
for  what  they  have  to  say,  but  not  if  they  forget 
they  are  gentlemen. 

History  of  the  Jerusalem  Artichoke. — It 
has  puzzled  historians  to  trace  the  artichoke  to 
its  native  home.  Palfrey,  in  his  history  of  New 
England,  says:  "The  Indians  raised  a  species  of 
sunflower  whose  esculent  tuberous  root  resem- 
bled the  artichoke  in  taste."  In  reply  to  a  note 
from  Prof.  Gray,  Mr.  Palfrey  says  he  cannot  give 
just  now  the  authority  for  this  statement.  It  is 
probably  of  little  moment,  for  a  sunflower  with 
a  root  "tasting  like  artichoke"  could  be  nothing 
having  reference  to  the  true  Jerusalem  "  arti- 
choke," the  root  of  which  does  not  taste  at  all 
like  the  artichoke. 

An  Account  of  Experiments  for  the  Produc- 
tion of  Hybrid  Grapes.  By  Mr.  Geo.  Haskell, 
Ipswich,  Mass. — Mr.  Haskell  is  one  of  the  most 
persevering  of  cxperimentors   in  the  improve- 


1877. 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


127 


ment  of  the  grape.  In  this  pamphlet  of  eight- 
een pages  he  gives  a  detail  of  his  forty  years  of 
work.  He  is  now  offering  a  large  number  of 
the  best  kind  for  sale  in  order  that  they  may  be 
tested  in  other  locations  He  is  sending  them 
out  by  numbers,  which  has  been  found  by  ex- 
perience to  be  a  great  mistake.  There  is,  how- 
ever, no  mistake  in  the  good  quality  of  some  of 
his  varieties,  as  we  can  testify  to  from  personal 
experience. 

The  English  Winter.— This  seems  to  have 
been  a  rather  open  one.  The  Isle  of  Wight 
Observer  gives  lists  of  plants  blooming  all  winter, 
as  among  the  curiosities  of  the  day. 

On  Parasitic  Fungi.  By  Prof.  T.  J.  Burrill. — 
There  is  no  more  valuable  study  than  that  which 
relates  to  microscopic  fungi.  It  is  gratifying  to 
find  so  many  Americans  engaged  in  it.  This 
little  tract  is  from  the  Bulletin  of  the  Illinois 
Museum  of  Natural  History.  It  describes  and 
figures  many  species  found  on  well  known  plants. 
We  congratulate  cultivators  that  so  good  a  sci- 
entist as  Prof.  Burrill  is  working  so  well  in  this 
direction. 

An  Essay  on  New  South  Wales,  by  G.  H.  Reid ; 
Railways  of  New  South  Wales,  by  John  Poe. — 
From  Wiley,  Publisher,  New  York. —  The 
Australian  colonies  did  good  work  for  them- 
selves by  the  excellent  part  they  took  in  our 
Centennial.  No  one  in  America  knew  their  re- 
sources were  half  so  great  as  they  are.  The 
colonies  are  following  up  their  advantage  by 
issuing  a  series  of  works  on  their  industrial  de- 
velopments, of  which  these  are  two.  Those 
who  desire  to  know  how  much  New  South  Wales, 
the  "  mother  colony,"  has  prospered,  will  do  well 
to  get  and  study  them. 

The  Nurseryman's  Directory  and  Refer- 
ence Book  por  1877.  By  D.  Wilmott  Scott,  Ga- 
lena, 111. — This,  started  by  Mr.  Scott  as  an  experi- 
ment, has  become  a  necessity  to  every  one  in 
the  nursery  business.  It  contains  a  list  of  the 
leading  nurserymen,  florists  and  seedsmen  of 
the  world,  with  notes  of  their  specialties.  The 
price  is  $10,  and  may  be  had  of  the  publisher  of 
the  Gardener's  Monthly,  at  this  office. 

The  Industries  of  Philadelphia.  By  Lorin 
Blodget.-The  intimate  connection  r.f  Mr.  B.  with 
the  industries  of  Philadelphia  is  well  known.  Few 
men  have  done  more  for  their  development,  or 
to  make  their  prosperous  condition  known.  His 
position  as  Appraiser  General  of  the  Custom 


House  has  given  him  particular  opportunities 
of  knowing  whereof  he  writes.  In  this  all  the 
different  industries  of  the  great  city  are  detailed ; 
the- number  of  hands  employed,  value  of  pro- 
ducts, and  similar  matters  of  interest  being 
given.  This  is  the  second  edition  of  the  work, 
which  was  issued  last  year. 

Catalogue  of  S.  B.  Parsons  &  Co.,  Flushing, 
L.  I ,  N.  Y. — An  interesting  peculiarity  of  this 
catalogue  is  the  large  list  of  Japan  Maples,  and 
indeed  of  other  rare  Jap  m  plants. 

Ellwanger  &  Barry's  new  descriptive  cata- 
logue of  roses  gives  full  cultural  directions. 
Though  so  old  a  flower,  there  is  always  some- 
thing new  in  rose  management,  and  Ellwanger 
&  Barry  have  endeavored  to  bring  the  subject 
down  to  the  present  time. 

Catalogue  of  Hoopes,  Bro.  &  Thomas,  West 
Chester,  Pa. — The  number  of  catalogues  that 
come  to  us  is  so  enormous,  that  reluctantly  we 
had  to  abandon  "notices"  for  want  of  space — 
unless  there  were  some  remarkable  peculiarity 
in  it.  In  this  admirable  one  the  interesting 
point  is  the  strict  accuracy  of  the  names.  In 
this  regard  it  may  be  taken  for  "authority "  to 
decide  disputed  points. 

The  Meeting  of  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of-  Science.— This  will 
be  held  this  year  at  Nashville,  commencing  on 

the of  August.     There  are  no  classes  in  the 

community  that  take  so  much  interest  in  sci- 
ence as  the  horticultural  class.  The  meetings 
of  the  Association  are  always  pleasant  as  well 
as  intellectually  profitable  ;  and  we  are  glad  to 
find  an  increased  number  of  horticulturists 
among  these  pleasant  people  with  each  recur- 
ring year. 

Mr.  Wm.  Saunders. — We  were  very  much 
surprised  to  note  by  the  public  papers  last  Sum- 
mer that  the  salary  of  this  gentleman  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  had 
been  cut  down  considerably.  The  particular 
section  with  which  he  is  connected  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  to  horticulturists  in  the  whole 
Department,  and  Mr.  Saunders  himself  one  of 
the  hardest  of  enthusiastic  workers.  No  man 
in  the  whole  series  is  better  known  through  the 
whole  country,  or  his  knowledge  and  services  bet- 
ter appreciated.  During  the  Centennial  he  rep- 
resented the  government  admirably.  Never 
having  so  much  work  to  do  but  that  he  was 


128 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


I  April, 


found  willing  to  try   to  do  a  little  more,  if   it 
were  possible  for  him  to  be  so  useful. 

The  papers  are  just  now  nominating  this  and 
that  one  for  Commissioner  of  the  Department. 
We  have  not  heard  that  Mr.  Watts  will  resign, 
and  Mr.  Saunders  would  be  sensitive  about  his 
honor  in  seeking  for  a  higher  position  unless  his 
superior  were  to  retire,  or  there  was  to  be  a  va- 
cancy in  some  way.  We  do  not  know  that  he 
would  accept  the  position  even  if  it  were  offered 
to  him ;  but  if  there  is  to  be  a  civil  service  re- 
form—a progression  of  the  deserving  upwards, 
the  President  could  not  do  better  than  give  Mr. 
Saunders  a  chance.  His  salary  should  be  re- 
stored, at  least. 

Death  of  Lady  Smith. — This  lady,  distin- 
tinguished  herself  as  a  botanist  as  well  as  being 
the  wife  of  the  great  botanist  and  founder  of  the 
Linncen  Society,  Sir  James  Smith,  died  recently 
at  the  age  of  104,  having  been  a  widow  for  nearly 
fifty  years. 

Ages  of  Distinguished  Men. — The  London 
Gardeners'  Chronicle  gives  the  dates  of  the  death 
of  eminent  Botanists  and  Gardeners,  from  which 
we  select  the  following  as  more  or  less  known 
by  their  works  or  through  their  associations  to 
Americans:  — 


Charles  Darwin, 

Born  February 

12,  1800. 

H.  B.  Sausure, 

i.         *  * 

17,  1740. 

Decaisne, 

"     March 

12,  1809. 

Achille  Richard, 

"    April 

27,  1791. 

Fahrenheit,     . 

"     May 

14,  168G. 

Linnaeus, 

(i       * 

23,  1707. 

A.  d«  Fourcroy, 

"    June 

15,  1755. 

Sir  W.  J.  Hooker, 

"    July 

6,  1785. 

Nees  Von  Esenbeck, 

ft                it 

26,  1787. 

B.  de  Jussieu, 

"    August 

17,  1699. 

D.  C.  M.  Richard,      . 

"    Septembei 

4,  1761. 

Dutrochet, 

*'    Nuvembei 

14,  1776. 

Von  Sehlechtendal,  . 

11    November 

27,  1794. 

John  Kay, 

(t             c* 

29,  1628. 

J.  Curtis, 

"     December 

3,  1791. 

Hedwig, 

K             tt 

8,  17J0. 

G.  W.  Skinner, 

Died  January 

9,  1867. 

Linnaeus,         .           .           .           . 

i«           (t 

10,  1778. 

J.  A.  Henderson, 

.(           t< 

13,  1872. 

R.  Sweet,         . 

u           ft 

20,  1835. 

Saussure, 

(i                 u 

22,  1799. 

Miquil,            .            .            .            . 

(i                 tt 

23,  1871. 

Dr.  Falconer, 

"                 t( 

31,  1865. 

Theo.  Hartweg, 

"     February 

3,1871. 

Dr.  Bchott, 

tt 

5, 1865. 

W.  Griffith,     . 

t»          tt 

9,  1845. 

John  Evelyn, 

tt          tt 

27,  17M5. 

Conrad  Loddiges, 

"     March 

13,  1826 

Sir  J.  E.  Smith, 

tt        i< 

17,1828. 

Endlieher, 

tt            it 

28,  1849. 

Le  Notre, 

"     April 

12,  1700 

Wallich, 

tt               tt 

20,  1854- 

B  Maund, 

14              tt 

21,  186s. 

Dr.  Dirlington, 

it              tt 

23,  1863. 

Louis  Van  Houtte,    . 

"     May 

9,  1876. 

T.  A.  Knight, 

it      tt 

11,  183.8. 

Dean  Herbert, 

> .       tt 

28,  1847. 

N.  B.  Ward,    . 

"    June 

4,  1868. 

W.  G.  Mclvor, 

ft      ii 

8,  1876. 

Eil ward  Newman,     . 

tt      t  f 

12,  1876. 

William  Rollison,     . 

if      ft 

18,  1875. 

Sir  J.  Banks, 

n      ii 

19,  1820 

Allan  'unningham, 

f  i      if 

27,  1839. 

A  de  Jussieu, 

it      it 

29,  1853. 

W.  Curtis,        .           .            .            . 

*'    July 

7, 1799 

Wilde  now,      . 

II             ii 

10,  1812. 

David  Douglas, 

it            tt 

12,  1834, 

W.  Forsyth,    . 

•  (            II 

25,  1804. 

Wrn.  Penn,      .            .            .            . 

•  t            ft 

30,  1718. 

E  Meyer, 

Thunberg, 

J.  G.Vcitch,    . 

Duhani'l.         , 

A.  H.  Haworth, 

Van  Mons, 

Robt.  Thompson, 

Jam»8  Veitch, 

Lady  Paxton, 

Mirbel, 

A.  Von  Humboldt,    . 

A.  L  de  Jussieu, 

W.  Donn, 

O.  Swartz, 

Dr.  Withering, 

Dr.  Seeman,    • 

D  V.  Sehlechtendal, 

Dr.  Welwitsch, 

Robt  Fish,      . 

Ketnfer, 

E  G.  Henderson, 

B:de  Jussieu, 

Is  Geoff.  St.  Hilaire, 

Charles  Morren, 

Ph.  Miller,      . 

Warscewicz,    . 


Died  August 


7,  1858. 

8,  1828. 
13, 1870. 

23,  1782. 

24,  1833. 
September    6,  1842. 

7,  1869. 

10, 1869. 

11,1871. 

13,  1735. 

14,1769 

15,  1836. 

17,  1827. 

18  1871. 
October         5,  1799. 

10.  1871. 

12,1866. 

20,  1872. 

23,  1873. 

November    2,  1716. 

"  4, 1876. 

H,  1777. 

10, 1861. 
December  17, 1858. 

18,1771. 

29,  1867. 


QUERIES. 


Hybrid  Grapes.— Mr.  D.  S.  Marvin,  Grape- 
vine Nursery,  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  sends  us  an 
article,  and  a  private  note  telling  us  he  sends 
it  to  see  if  we  have  "  backbone  "  enough  to  pub- 
lish it.  He  will  see  by  this  that  we  have  not, 
and  the  reason  is  that  we  do  not  think  he  is  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  with  the  subject  about  which 
he  writes.  He  thinks  it  time  we  "ceased  de- 
ceiving the  public  "  about  hybrid  grapes — he 
knows  that  the  "  sap  of  our  native  grape  is 
more  or  less  distasteful  to  the  Phylloxera,  and 
therefore  the  French  are  using  them  for  stocks." 
By  the  time  he  is  able  to  write  well,  this  young 
man  will  perhaps  have  learned  that  the  Clinton, 
an  American  grape,  is  a  greater  favorite  with 
the  Phylloxera  than  any  other  variety,  native  or 
foreign,  and  that  is  for  other  reasons  that  it 
makes  so  good  a  stock.  When  he  has  learned 
this  and  a  little  more,  nobody  will  have  cause  to 
make  any  reflections  on  either  backbone  or 
brains. 

Tumble  Weed. — An  Illinois  correspondent 
asks  us  the  best  way  to  destroy  tumble  weed, 
which  he  says  is  quite  a  serious  pest  in  that  part 
of  the  world,  but  we  really  do  not  know  what 
tumble  weed  is.  Perhaps  the  introduction  of 
the  tumble  bug  might  destroy  it.  It  is  bad 
enough  to  be  forced  to  learn  a  hard  botanical 
name,  but  these  local  names  can  never  be 
learned  outside  of  the  little  circle  that  are  about 
at  the  christening. 

Contributions  to  the  Magazine. — A  corres- 
pondent speaks  approvingly  of  the  notes  of 
General  Noble  and  Mr.  Ravenel  on  keeping 
tomatoes,  and  justly  says,  "if  we  all  told  the 
little  we  know,  we  should  all  know  together  a 
good  deal  in  the  end."  Apropos  of  contribu- 
tions, we  feel  proud  of  our  last  few  numbers. 
They  contain  the  thoughts  and  experiences  of 
many  of  the  best  horticulturists  in  the  country. 
We  hardly  know  how  the  literary  matter  they 
give  us  could  be  horticulturally  excelled. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 


DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


MAY,  1877. 


Number  221. 


C^sO 


LOWER  irARDEN  AND  If  LEASURE  fcoUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Of  all  the  Spring  months  May  is  the  best  for 
transplanting  evergreens ;  it  is  the  time  when 
the  young  shoots  are  about  starting  into  their 
season's  growth,  and  the  roots  pushing  at  the 
same  time,  nothing  or  very  little  is  lost  by  evap- 
oration while  waiting  for  the  new  fibers  to  grow. 

Eversrreen  shrubs  are  not  considered generallv 
successful  in  our  climate ;  but  this  is  rather 
owing  to  our  perversity  in  exposing  them  to  the 
Winter's  sun,  or  planting  them  in  too  dry  a  soil, 
than  to  any  insuperable  difficulty  of  climate. 

This  is  especially  the  case  with  the  Rhododen- 
dron, the  culture  of  which  has  occupied  consid- 
erable attention  in  our  pages  during  the  past 
year.  These  may  be  planted  much  later  than 
other  evergreens,  as  the  numerous  hair-like  roots 
so  bind  the  soil  together  that  they  come  up  with 
a  better  ball  than  other  plants.  When  intelli- 
gently pursued,  the  culture  of  no  plant  is  so  easy 
as  that  of  the  Rhododendron.  The  intelligence 
required  in  the  first  place  is  to  avoid  lime.  They 
will  not  do  in  limestone  soil — no  plants  hate 
lime  so  intensely.  We  know  of  people  who  are 
well  aware  of  this  fact,  and  because  they  have 
no  lime  in  their  soil,  thoughtlessly  put  them 
near  lime  cast  walls  where  the  rain  and  the 
weather  bring  lime  into  the  soil.  Those  who 
would  cultivate  the  Rhododendron  in  limestone 
soil  should  bring  a  little  soil  from  a  distance, 
and  then  the  Rhododendron  bed  should  be' 
elevated  a  little,  so  that  the  drainage  of  the 


limestone  ground  shall  not  drain  into  it.  Then 
a  place  must  be  selected  where  there  will  be 
no  cutting  winds.  Independently  of  the  lime 
objection,  the  side  of  a  house  is  generally  a 
poor  place,  as  the  cutting  winds  of  Winter,  gen- 
erally "  whistle  "  around  the  walls  more  keenly 
than  in  the  full  open  ground.  And  lastly,  the 
plants  must  not  be  set  deep.  It  is  better  to  set 
on  the  surface,  bring  the  soil  up  around  the  ball, 
and  hammer  in  firmly,  than  to  put  the  roots  much 
below  the  surface. 

About  the  first  week  in  May,  residents  of  the 
Middle  States  commence  to  set  out  their  bed- 
ding plants.  The  modern  style  of  planting  in 
masses  affords  great  scope  for  a  tasteful  arrange- 
ment of  colors,  either  in  the  same  bed  or  by 
arrangement  amongst  a  set  of  flower-beds.  The 
ribbon  style  of  flower-gardening  beds  in  long, 
narrow,  and  winding  strips  and  coils,  is  also 
popular  for  the  same  purpose.  It  requires, 
besides,  good  taste  in  arranging  colors  harmo- 
niously, judgment  to  select  those  kinds  that  will 
continue  in  bloom  the  whole  season,  withstand- 
ing well  the  Summer  drouth,  and  that  will 
harmonize  in  habit  and  growth  with  one  an- 
other. 

As  the  plants  in  the  borders  grow,  those  in 
masses  may  be  much  improved  by  being  pegged 
down  over  the  surface.  We  can  then  train 
shoots  where  we  wish,  and  thus  cover  the  beds 
much  sooner.  Pegs  for  this  purpose  are  best 
made  by  getting  any  straight  shoots  of  trees, 
about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  thick  and  cut  into 
four-inch  lengths,  then  splitting  them  down  the 


130 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[May, 


middle  into  two.     These  pieces  are  then  bent  in 
the  middle  like  hair-pins.  Pieces  so  split  seldom 
break  in  doubling. 
The  first  week  in  May  is  usually  the  time  to 


No.  i. 

set  out  Dahlias.  They  do  best  in  a  trenched 
soil,  say  eighteen  inches  deep  at  least,  and  pre- 
fer cow  manure  to  any  other,  when  it  can  be 
obtained.      If  planted  on  thin  or  dry  soils,  they 


No.   2. 


will  not  bloom  till  near  the  approach  of  frost, 
when  the  chief  enjoyment  of  the  Dahlia  is 
lost.    It  is  best,  where  possible,  to  plant  a  dupli- 


cate of  each  kind.  The  Dahlia  has  not  been  as 
popular  of  late  years  as  it  used  to  be,  but  there 
are  signs  that  its  value  in  making  a  very  gay 
scene  in  the  flower-garden  in  Fall  will  be  again 
recognized  as  it  used  to  be. 

Tuberoses  should  also  be  planted  this  month, 
but  they  like  a  warm,  rich,  sandy  soil ;  though, 
like  the  Dahlia,  they  do  not  like  dry  soil.  As  a 
rule,  Tuberoses  that  flowered  last  Fall  will  not 
do  so  this,  but  the  offsets  will  the  year 
after.  Even  apparently  good  bulbs  will  not 
flower  unless  the  "  hearts  "  have  been  well 
ripened.  Many  years  ago,  Mr.  Bridgeman 
pointed  out  how  good  flowering  bulbs  might  be 
detected  from  those  that  would  not  flower.  As 
the  secret  is  still  unknown  to  man}',  we  give 
illustrations  here.  No.  1,  is  the  bulb  that  will 
not  flower;  No.  2,  the  one  that  will. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


NOTES  ON  TREES,  &C. 


BY  WALTER  ELDER. 


The  Paper  Mulberry,  or  paper-bearing  Mul- 
berry tree,  botanically  called  Broussonetia  pa- 
pyrifera,  is  a  native  of  Japan,  and  was  introduced 
into  British  arboretums  in  1751.  Like  all  other 
plants  with  white  milky  sap,  it  is  said  to  be 
deleterious  to  animal  life,  hence,  itshould  never 
be  planted  as  a  shade  tree,  near  dwelling  houses 
or  stables.  Insects  seem  to  avoid  this  tree,  and 
do  not  eat  its  leaves  as  they  do  that  of  others. 
Many  know  of  the  evil  effects  of  the  Paper  Mul- 
berry near  dwelling  houses.  And  in  cities  it  has 
been  generally  cut  down,  and  other  trees  set  out 
in  its  stead.  Ailanthus  is  also  undesirable  as  a 
shade  tree,  as  an  offensive  odor  ai-ises  from  its 
blooms. 

Trees  with  large  leaves  and  of  rapid  growth 
are  the  best  to  set  near  dwellings;  such  as 
Maples,  Lindens,  Sycamores,  Horse  Chestnuts, 
Oaks,  etc.,  also  fruit  trees.  The  Eucalyptus 
globulus,  (Australian  blue  gum  tree,)  is  now 
highly  applauded  as  a  health  imparting  tree; 
and  it  is  a  valuable  timber  tree.  Being  an  Aus- 
tralian tree  it  can  only  be  grown  in  our  green- 
houses, except  in  a  small  portion  of  the  Southern 
States  where  it  does  not  freeze. 

Evergreen  trees  are  as  beneficial  in  Winter  as 
deciduous  ones  arc  in  Summer,  on  account  of 
their  beauty  and  shelter.    The  odor  of  coniferous 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


131 


trees  is  very  agreeable.  When  one  goes  into 
a  forest  of  Pine  Fir,  he  perceives  a  sweet 
smell,  and  a  feeling  of  gladness  comes  over  him. 
It  was  the  aim  of  the  all-wise  Creator,  in  making 
the  herb  and  tree,  to  spring  out  of  the  ground, 
to  purify  the  atmosphere  for  man,  by  the  ab- 
sorption of  carbon  and  emission  of  ozone. 

All  garden  plants  with  sweet-scented  blossoms 
are  health-giving;  so  are  highly  flavored  pot- 
herbs. Celery  grows  naturally  on  marsh y  sea- 
coasts,  and  keeps  off  fevers  from  the  inhabitants 
living  there.  A  well  stocked  garden  is  a  panacea 
for  many  human  maladies. 


English  gardeners  in  the  cool,  moist  climate  of 
England,  any  have  been  induced  to  make  a  peat- 
bed  in  a  light  friable  soil,  their  only  remedy  is 
mulching.  Nothing  else  will  save  them  from 
the  inevitable  result  of  their  error.  Our  opinions 
are  based  upon  an  experience  of  thirty  years, 
during  Avhich  we  have  grrwn  many  acres  of 
Rhododendrons  without  a  particle  of  peat  and 
in  the  open  sun.  We  have  always  considered 
the  peat  and  shade  fallacies  a  great  bar  to  suc- 
cessful Rhododendron  culture.  For  his  own  soil 
Mr.  Beecher's  treatment  is  right ;  for  many  others 
it  may  be  very  wrong. 


PEAT  AND  RHODODENDRONS. 

BY  MR.   S.    B.   PARSONS,   FLUSHING,   N.    Y. 

The  experience  of  Mr.  Beecher  as  related  in 
your  March  issue,  is  entirely  consistent  with  my 
assertion  that  the  Rhododendron  will  succeed 
best  in  good  garden  soil.  That  which  we  con- 
sider a  good  garden  soil  on  Long  Island  is  a 
light,  rich,  alluvial  loam.  The  soil  of  Mr. 
Beecher's  country  place  we  understand  to  be 
heavy  clay. 

The  Rhododendron  has  a  large  number  of 
small  fibrous  roots  which  eagerly  enter  into  open 
and  friable  soil  and  are  repelled  by  a  stiff  hard 
clay.  To  make  the  latter  resemble  the  former, 
there  must  be  a  mixture  with  it  of  some  light 
material.  For  this  purpose  peat  is  good  because 
it  contains  some  vegetable  matter.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  plants  taken  from  the  friable 
soil  of  Long  Island,  or  the  peat-beds  of  England, 
should  languish  in  clay.  Rhododendrons  im- 
ported from  England  and  sent  out  with  balls  of 
peat,  will  not  grow  even  in  our  Long  Island  soil 
until  they  have  had  time  to  send  out  roots  into 
the  good  garden  soil  around  them.  The  treat- 
ment which  Mr.  Beecher  gave  his  plants,  was  the 
best  under  his  circumstances.  The  mulching 
was,  however,  an  important  element  in  his  suc- 
cess. The  drought  of  last  Summer  would  have 
told  severely  upon  the  peat-bed,  except  for  the 
mulching,  the  benefit  of  which  is  well-known. 

The  sum  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  for  a  stiff' 
clay  soil  any  lightening  material  is  good,  but  for 
a  light  friable  soil  any  lightening  material  is  in- 
jurious. The  sun  will  pierce  and  burn  it,-  will 
excite  the  roots  as  fever  excites  a  sick  man,  and 
will  leave  the  plant  to  the  rigors  of  a  cold  Win* 
ter  in  a  half  sick  state,  in  which  it  may  either 
languish  or  die.     If  misled  by  the  experience  of 


RHODODENDRONS. 

t 

BY    DR.  G.  CHESTON,   BALTIMORE,   MI). 

I  have  just  read  an  article  in  your  March  num- 
ber on  the  cultivation  of  Rhododendrons.  The 
experience  of  its  writer  would  seem  to  be  con- 
clusive, and  he  evidently  so  regards  it,  of  peat 
soil  being  an  essential  requisite  of  success.  My 
experience  is  not  confirmatory  of  this  position, 
and  lest  any  of  your  readers,  who  desire  to  grow 
Rhododendrons,  and  cannot  command  peat, 
should  be  discouraged  by  this  adverse  testimony 
from  so  intelligent  a  source,  I  venture  to  send 
you  this  communication.  About  ten  years  ago, 
I  consulted  some  professional  gardeners,  whose 
answers  were  :  "however  beautiful  Rhododen- 
drons may  be,  it  is  a  vain  effort  to  attempt  their 
cultivation  here,  as  they  will  neither  stand  our 
Winters  nor  Summers."  I  then  consulted  with 
Messrs.  Parsons,  and  accepting  their  views  as 
my  guide,  I  at  once  ordered  plants  of  them.  I 
had  no  peat,  and  following  Parsons'  assurance 
that  they  could  be  grown  without  it,  I  put  them 
in  beds  of  good  garden  soil.  They  not  only 
lived,  but  have  grown  vigorously,  bloomed  pro- 
fusely, and  are  of  course  now  large  plants.  I 
have  since  made  repeated  additional  plantings 
with  like  good  success,  sometimes  obtaining  my 
plants  from  Parsons,  and  sometimes  importing 
them  from  Anthony  Waterer,  England. 

The  first  bed  that  I  prepared  was  dug  out  two 
feet  deep,  and  filled  in  with  light  loam.  Since,  it 
has  been  my  practice  to  dig  them  three  feet,  but 
both  have  succeeded  well.  The  soil  used  has 
been  varied  more  than  once,  showing  that  suc- 
cess was  not  attributable  to  any  peculiarity  of 
the  soil.  My  observation  has  led  to  this  conclu- 
sion, that  peat  is  not  at  all  necessary,  but  that 
good   drainage  and  location  are  essential  condi- 


132 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


I  May, 


tions  to  success.  They  must,  in  my  opinion,  be 
screened  from  the  severe  north  wind  in  Winter, 
and  should  hare  at  least  partial  shelter  from  the 
mid-day  sun  in  Summer.  Years  ago  I  made 
trial  of  one  bed,  without  either  of  these  condi- 
tions, and  I  lost  all  the  plants  in  it.  Most  of  my 
beds  have  this  protection  in  both  seasons, 
afforded  by  clumps  of  Evergreens.  Those  that 
have  not,  1  shelter  by  simply  encircling  the  beds 
through  the  Winter  with  corn  stalks  set  on  end. 
I  mulch  them  heavily  with  leaves  through  that 
season,  and  have  used  on  them  satisfactorily  a 
lighter  covering  of  spent  tan  in  Summer.  I 
have  a  few  large  standard  plants  that  are  valua- 
ble and  growing  singly  in  conspicuous  positions. 
Lest  the  foliage  of  these  should  be  at  all  singed 
by  severe  frost,  I  usually  put  over  each  of  them  a 
large  box  made  of  light  boards,  partially  open 
on  one  side  ;  though  this  house-covering  is  not 
essential  to  their  security,  if  the  plants  are  of 
the  more  hardy  varieties,  as  I  have  proved  by 
its  omission.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  top-dress  with 
well-rotted  cow  manure,  when  it  seems  to  be 
needed.  The  varieties  I  am  growing,  embrace 
most  of  the  shades  of  colors,  from  the  Candi- 
dissimum  to  the  Atrosanguineum. 

The  situation  of  my  grounds  is  elevated  and 
cold.  Two  winters  since,  the  thermometer 
reached  15°  below  zero,  though  such  extreme 
cold  here  is  unusual. 

Excuse  the  length  of  this  communication,  and 
of  course  you  will  decline  publishing  it,  if  you 
do  not  think  further  testimony  useful  on  Rho- 
dodendron culture. 


THE  CHINESE  AILANTHUS. 

BY   GEN.    W.    H.    NOBLE,    BRIDGEPORT,   CONN. 

A  new  use  found  for  an  old  thing,  equals  an 
invention.  Mr.  Veitch,  of  New  Haven,  does  just 
this,  when  he  ornaments  the  border  and  the 
lawn  with  massed  tropical  foliage  of  the  Ailan- 
thus,  and  close  pruned  shoots.  It  seems  a  very 
simple  thing  to  do.  But  through  just  such 
shrewd  simplicities,  mankind  gain  their  best  ad- 
vance. Right  outside  the  moments  of  thought 
and  daily  life,  we  come  on  new  paths,  and  find 
new  uses  for  things  condemned  to  the  rubbish 
heap  and  the  dump.  To  such  simple  doers  as 
Mr.  Veitch,  more  than  to  heroic  arms,  we  owe 
our  homage,  and  should  lift  the  histories  of  our 
race. 

This  use  of  the   Allan  thus    hints  a  like  treat- 


ment and  duty  for  the  Black  Walnut,  the  But- 
ternut, the  Kentucky  Coffee  tree,  and  others  of 
their  fern-like  foliage.  We  may  gain  another 
style  in  wealth  and  breadth  of  vegetation,  on 
closely  cut  back  shoots  of  the  Catalpa,  Paulonia, 
and  other  rankly  growing,  large  leaved  trees. 
So  in  herbaceous  plants  ;  the  rich  rank  spread 
of  foliage  which  we  now  owe  to  tender  broad 
leaved  growers  from  the  hot-house  or  the  nur- 
sery, we  may  have  from  the  outcasts  along  the 
wayside  and  the  hedge.  There  are  lots  of  com- 
mon things,  like  the  Mullein,  Elecampane,  yea, 
even  the  Burdock,  the  Thistle, which  in  our  rich 
borders,  will  surprise  us  by  their  stature  and  ex- 
panse of  leaf. 

A  doubting  smile,  if  not  a  sneer,  may  greet 
this  mention.  But  if  the  Burdock  or  Elecam- 
pane had  come  from  China,  the  doubters  would 
buy  them  at  a  dollar  a  root!  Now,  let  no 
one  with  money,  neglect  the  broad  and  lovely 
foliaged  plants  that  multiply  so  fast,  but  have 
kindly  thought  for  that  thrift,  which  makes 
graceful  use  of  common  things. 

And  now  that  Mr.  Veitch's  new  use  for  the 
Ailanthus  bespeaks  a  respite  from  its  threatened 
banishment,  let's  wait  a  bit.  If  we  possess  our 
souls  in  patience  over  it's  bitter  breath  and  nau- 
seous flowers,  we  may  by  and  by  find  out  for  it, 
as  we  slowly  do  for  almost  all  that  grows,  new 
fitness  for  human  use.  The  hue  and  cry  of  pre- 
judice is  a  blind  leader  of  the  blind.  If  there  is 
a  real  Upas  tree,  well  stored  with  death,  and 
breathing  it  on  the  air,  I  have  no  thought  that 
it  was  made  to  poison  or  to  taint,  any  more  than 
the  Ailanthus.  Behind  such  powerful  odors, 
back  in  the  sources  of  such  sickening  breath, 
stores  of  secret  virtues  await  the  chemist  to  be 
set  apart  and  revealed  to  kill  when  needed,  and 
to  cure  with  care. 

Now  the  Ailanthus  is  said,  in  China,  to  feed  a 
silk-worm,  only  rivalled  by  that  which  lives  upon 
the  Mulberry.  To  be  sure,  no  Yankee  worm  or 
bug  was  ever  known  to  take  the  first  bite  of  its 
leaf.  But  doubtless,  some  one  may  be  evolved, 
or  immigrate  to  us  from  the  Heathen  Chinee. 
Such  as  relish  the  leaves  of  the  tobacco,  or  to- 
mato, ought  not  to  go  back  much  on  Ailanthus 
fodder.  Besides,  it  would  not  be  wonderful,  if  a 
bark  or  wood  so  bitter  should  yet  prove  a  beau- 
tiful source  of  tannin,  or  of  some  febrifuge  as 
astringent  and  curative  as  quinine.  Have  pa- 
tience with  this  almost  discarded  favorite,  and 
its  seeming  faults  may  yet  yield  large  usefulness 
to  mankind. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


133 


Its  wood  is  said  to  have  a  fine  satin  tinge,  and 
to  make  in  veneering  or  inlaid,  graceful  cabinet- 
work. For  chests  to  preserve  furs  and  woolens, 
it  must  rival  Cedar  or  the  Camphor  wood.  I 
doubt  not  it  may  equal  the  Palmetto,  in  resist- 
ance to  the  remorseless  worm  which  honey- 
combs timber  wherever  reached  by  the  ocean's 
salty  tide.  Let  the  Ailanthus  be  well  tried  in  all 
these  directions,  before  you  take  up  a  howling 
Hoodlum's  cry  over  this  other  Heathen  Chinee. 

But  beyond  this,  there  is  some  mystery  de- 
serving our  notice,  about  the  Ailanthus.  John- 
son says  there  are  two  species.  The  glandulosa 
whose  flowers  are  so  nauseate  to  most  people,  and 
whose  suckers  are  so  annoying.  The  other  va- 
riety is  not  named  or  described,  and  I  think  it 
must  be  in  this  country,  and  bear  the  character 
I  am  about  to  give.  The  glandulosa  I  have  never 
known  to  vary  in  its  tinge  of  leaf  or  seed  pod 
till  stricken  off  by  frost.  But  the  other  kind  is 
therein  most  marked  and  lovely.  There  are 
trees  of  this  latter  Ailanthus  hereabouts,  bearing 
the  same  style  and  growth  with  the  glandulosa, 
but  which,  from  along  in  August,  and  stretching 
into  frost,  gradually  take  on  leaf  and  seed  pod,  a 
rich  tint  of  gold  running  into  scarlet.  Some- 
times the  shades  are  richer  and  more  brilliant 
than  at  others;  perhaps  owing  to  the  season, 
or  the  feelings  of  the  tree.  The  dryness  of  the 
period  has  possibly  something  to  do  with  this. 
At  any  rate,  in  Autumn,  they  are  very  marked 
ornaments  of  the  landscape,  and  tower  into 
grand  bouquets.  Now,  are  these  two  varieties  in 
this  country,  and  is  this  one  I  admire,  that 
other?  Will  the  Monthly,  or  some  one  answer, 
and  tell  us  its  name? 


PANSIES. 

BY   WM,   C.   L.    DREW,   EL   DORADO,   CAL. 

The  Pansy,  though  an  old  favorite,  is  very  sel- 
dom met  with  in  flower-gardens  as  well  grown 
specimens ;  and  although  you  will  find  what  is 
styled  "  pansy  plants  "  in  nearly  all  collections, 
they  very  seldom  deserve  the  name,  being  long 
straggly  careless-looking  plants  with  perhaps 
half  a  dozen  flowers,  whereas,  they  should  be 
nice  close  plants  with  twenty  or  thirty  fine  large 
blossoms. 

With  the  Pansy  I  have  had  the  best  of  suc- 
cess, and  as  it  may  interest  many  of  the  read- 
ers of  the  Monthly,  I  shall  give  my  mode  of  treat1 
ment,  by  following  which,  any  one  can  have 
success,  provided  they  have  good  seed. 


The  first  of  May,  or  thereabout,  I  plant  my 
seed.  I  always  get  the  best  of  seed  to  be  had ; 
good  seed  will  always  cost  more  than  poor  seed, 
but  it  is  the  cheapest  in  the  end.  I  plant  in  very 
light  rich  soil,  in  a  warm  sheltered  place.  After 
planting  I  cover  with  a  paper  until  the  seed 
comes  up,  when  it  must  be  removed ;  when  they 
have  four  or  five  leaves,  transplant  to  the  bed 
where  wanted  ;  have  the  soil  of  this  bed  rich  and 
light;  in  transplanting,  disturb  the  roots  as  little 
as  possible;  if  a  little  well  decayed  manure  is  put 
in  each  hole  it  will  help  wonderfully. 

The  plants  should  be  kept  clean,  the  bed  free 
from  weeds,  and  the  soil  should  always  be  moist, 
never  dry  or  very  wet ;  if  green  lice  get  on  the 
plants,  and  they  sometimes  do,  make  a  wash  of 
stro.ig  soap  suds,  and  wash  the  plants  with  it, 
using  it  when  hike  warm ;  one  application 
will  be  sufficient;  wash  both  sides  of  the  leaves, 
and  in  a  day  or  two  wash  off  with  clear  cold 
water. 

The  plants  will  usually  make  a  good  growth 
by  September,  and  many  will  blossom  during 
the  Summer.  In  September  trim  the  plants 
back  close  to  the  root,  leaving  the  branches  about 
an  inch  or  so  long,  when  in  a  few  weeks  they 
will  all  come  out  nice  and  close.  By  this  treat- 
ment you  will  have  close  compact  plants,  that 
will  bear  the  Winter;  for  while  six  plants  out  of 
ten  will  die  if  left  untrimmed,  you  will  not  lose 
one  in  twenty  if  trimmed,  because  they  are  young 
and  strong,  while  those  not  trimmed  are  weak 
from  flowering.  Trim  them  every  September, 
and  you  will  have  nice  plants  next  year. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Zanthoceras  sorbifolia. — We  have  given  full 
accounts  of  this  new  small  tree  from  English 
sources,  and  the  promising  accounts  of  its 
beauty  from  English  periodicals.  It  will  be  of 
additional  interest  to  our  readers  to  know  that 
Mr.  John  Saul  finds  it  quite  hardy  at  Wash- 
ington. 

Effect  of  Wind  on  Evergreens. — There  was 
never  a  better  illustration  of  a  point  we  are  con- 
tinually urging — that  it  is  wind  much  more  than 
frost  that  is  so  destructive  to  evergreens,  and 
gives  a  tender  character  to  many  beautiful  va- 
rieties— than  the  equinoctial  storm  of  this  season 
afforded.      The  thermometer  was  onlv  ten  de- 


134 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


I  May, 


grees  below  the  freezing  point,  but  the  injury  to 
evergreens  was  greater  than  at  any  time  through 
the  Winter,  when  the  thermometer  was  at  zero. 
Rose  Magna  Charta. — A  beautiful  colored 
plate  of  this  rose  in  the  London  Florist  and 
Pomologid,  represents  it  of  a  crimson  rose  color, 
and  measuring  five  and  a  half  inches  across.  It 
was  raised  by  W.  Paul  &  Son. 

Lonicera  fragrantissima. —  There  are  few 
things  more  beautiful  than  the  upright  honey- 
suckles, especially  the  Tartarian.  There  are 
many  varieties,  with  various  shades  of  color  in 
the  flowers  and  in  the  pretty  berries  which  fol- 
low. A  species  allied  to  these  well  known  kinds 
is  Lonicera  fragrantissima  It  is  not  only  as 
beautiful  as  any  of  the  others  as  a  bush,  but  the 
flowers  are  as  sweet  as  jasmine.  We  saw  a  fine 
plant  on  the  grounds  of  the  late  Alfred  Cope,  a 
few  years  ago,  and  one  in  Baltimore,  but  it 
must  be  scarce  in  the  trade. 

Early  Flowering  Plants. — With  the  return- 
ing love  for  hardy  herbaceous  plants,  it  is  well 
to  make  notes  of  those  which  are  the  first  to 
flower.  We  noted  this  season  that  the  rare 
Fritillaria  pudica  is  only  a  few  days  after  the 
common  snowdrop.  The  Moss  Pink,  Phlox  sub- 
ulata,  comes  out  a  few  days  afterwards.  Ceras- 
tium  arvense  is  but  a  short  time  after  this,  and 
then  comes  Cerastium  Biebersteinii.  The  Gar- 
den has  the  following  about  Anemone  fulgens : 

"This  early  and  brilliant  flower  has  been  in 
bloom  in  quantity  in  M.  Henri  Vilmorin's  gar- 


den at  Verrieres,  near  Paris,  for  the  past  five 
weeks.  It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  the 
value  of  this  plant  as  an  early  Spring,  and  even 
a  Winter  flower  in  mild  seasons.  I  have  lately 
had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  in  Paris  some 
vases  solely  filled  with  the  cut  flowers  of  this 
Anemone,  and  the  effect  of  the  flowers  by  artifi- 
cial light  was  almost  as  fine  as  it  is  in  the  open 
ground  in  the  sunlight." 

Large  Sequoia  gigantea. — It  is  provoking  to 
read  of  the  fine  trees  of  these  they  have  in  Eng- 
land, when  we  cannot  grow  it  here  in  its  native 
country.  The  Journal  of  Horticulture  gives  the 
following  account  of  some  in  that  country  : — 

"  We  are  informed  that  the  height  of  Wel- 
lingtons at  Cotlands,  Sidmouth,  is  42  feet,  the 
circumference  of  its  stem  at  its  junction  with 
the  ground  being  10  feet  4  inches,  circumference 
of  lowest  branches  80  feet.  The  sizes  of  other 
trees  which  have  been  forwarded  to  us  are  as 
follows  : — A  tree  at  Killerton  44  feet  high,  cir- 
cumference of  stem  10  feet ;  at  Poltimore  a  tree 
is  60  feet  high ;  a  tree  in  the  cemetery  at  Bath 
is  40  feet,  and  one  at  Beauport  near  Battle  40 
to  50  feet." 

The  only  place  we  ever  knew  it  to  do  well 
was  at  Ellwanger  &  Barry's,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
We  shall  be  glad  to  know  whether  it  still  re- 
mains satisfactory  with  them,  and  whether  of 
the  hundreds  that  have  been  planted  in  the  East 
during  the  past  twenty  years,  any  one  else  has  a 
good  specimen. 


reen  House  and  House  pardening. 


^2 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


"  L."  of  Cazenovia,  New  York,  asks  how  she 
shall  treat  palms  that  have  been  growing  as 
room  plants  all  Winter,  and  for  a  list  of  palms 
suited  to  window  culture.  As  the  question  is  a 
seasonable  one,  we  bring  it  in  here.  These  palms 
and  indeed  all  leafy  plants  of  a  tropical  leafy 
character,  do  remakably  well  turned  out  of  the 
pots  or  tubs,  and  planted  in  the  open  ground 
during  Summer.  A  place  exposed  to  the  full 
sun  is  the  best,  as  they  rather  like  our   Summer 


heats,  and  if  a  rather  damp  soil — one  that  is  not 
swampy  however — can  be  selected  for  them,  so 
much  the  better.  They  "  lift,"  as  gardeners  say, 
very  well  in  the  Fall,  and  go  on  growing  almost 
as  well,  as  if  not  taken  out  of  the  pots  at  all. 
There  is  scarcely  a  hot-house  plant  of  any  kind, 
that  does  not  enjoy  this  planting  out  in  the 
ground  in  Summer  time,  and  then  they  add  so 
much  to  the  charm  of  the  pleasure  ground  dur- 
ing that  season.  It  is  no  uncommon  sight  to  see 
half  a  dozen  men  tugging  at  a  big  aloe  or  some 
other  thing  in  a  huge  tub,  and  a  ton  of  dirt,  when 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


135 


the  plant  itself  might  be  taken  out  without  much 
trouble,  planted  in  the  ground  for  the  Summer, 
and  set  in  a  tub  again  with  new  earth  in  the 
Fall. 

In  regard  to  a  list  of  palms  that  thrive  well  in 
rooms,  there  are  indeed  but  few  which  will  not 
do  well.     We  know  a  lady  who  has  had  for  eight 
years  a  Date-Palm   which  has  done  duty   every 
Winter  in  her   parlor.     In  the  room  where  we 
are  now  writing,  in   a  tub  eighteen  inches  over, 
is  a  Banana  which  was  taken  up  out  of  the  open 
ground,  and  put  into  the  tub  last  Fall.     It  has 
been  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  room  ever 
since,  and   though   far   from   the   windows   has 
made  three  large  new  leaves.     In  a  little  while 
now,  it  will  go  out  into  the  open  ground  again. 
Last  year  it  sent  out  a  bunch  of  flowers,  but  not 
early  enough  to  mature  fruit  before  frost.     The 
various  kinds  of  bananas  we  regard  as  among 
the  best  of  window  palms,  and  are  admirable  for 
Summer  decoration.     All   the  species   of  Cha- 
mserops,   to   which   our   Palmetto  belongs— the 
Sabals,  Latania,  Seaforthia,  the  various  kinds  of 
Areca,   Livistonia,    several    kinds    of   Thrinax, 
the  Zamias  and  Sago  Palms,  we  feel  safe  in  re- 
commending.   But  we  are  sure  there  must  be 
more  that   would   do   well  as  Winter   window- 
plants,  and  grow  out  in   the   open   air  in  Sum- 
mer,and  of  which  our  palm-growing  friends  could 
give  us  a  list.     Palms,   of  course,  are   more  ex- 
pensive than  ordinary  plants,  but  then  when  one 
once  has  a  plant,  it   never   decreases   in    value, 
and  will  always  bring  its  cost. 

While  taking  this  care  of  the  tropical  plants, 
we  must  look  up  different  quarters  for  those 
from  cool  countries.  There  are  the  Primulas, 
Auriculas,  Pansies  (if  we  wish  to  keep  some 
kinds  over),  Cinerarias,  Calceolarias,  and  numer- 
ous things  which  do  not  like  much  heat.  Many 
Australian  plants  are  of  this  character,  as  well 
as  those  from  Alpine  and  high  northern  regions. 
It  is  not  so  much  the  heat  that  worries  these 
plants  in  our  Summers,  as  it  is  the  dryness  of 
the  atmosphere.  We  may  have  some  day  Al- 
pine houses  for  these  plants  during  Summer;  at 
present  the  best  quarters  for  them  is  a  cool 
frame. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


NASTY  GREENHOUSES. 

BY  REV.   E.   P.    POWELL,   CHICAGO,    ILL. 

There  is  no  milder  word  for  it.     They  are  su- 
perlatively and   emphatically  nasty.     It   is  im- 


possible to  remain    in    them   for  half  an  hour 
without  being  poisoned.     The   air  you  can  de- 
termine to  be  charged  with  spores   that  attack 
the   human   as  they   do   the   vegetable    tissue. 
Green  mould  is  thriving   on   pots  and   on  brick 
walls   and   on  partly   decayed  boards.     Pumps 
work  in  sloppy  corners  and  rotten  troughs.  The 
plants  are  covered  with  fungi   as  well  as  innu- 
merable insects.     These  latter  do  what  they  can 
to  transform   vegetable  decay  into  animal  life. 
The  plants  strive  to  use  up  the  surplus  of  car- 
bonic acid.     But  both   work  in   vain.     There  is 
but  one  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  owner,  to 
force  the  growth  of  as  many  plants  as  possible, 
and  then  send  the  withered  diseased  things  out 
into  the  pot  windows  and  cases,  or  conservato- 
ries of  our  homes.     The   amount  of  disappoint- 
ment that  follows  is  great  and  shameful.  A  single 
plant  from  such  a  carnival  of  filth,  diseases  all 
one's  choice  specimens,  and  the  labor  of  years. 
I   have   no   words   to   condemn   the  loathsome 
stuff  that  is  shipped  about  every  Spring,  without 
regard  to  our  pleasure  or  health.     It  has  been  a 
sore  pecuniary  loss  to  me;    and  a   vexation   of 
soul  that  nothing  could  compensate.     There  are 
thousands  who  give  over  the  culture  of  plants 
"because  they  cannot  make  them  grow."    The 
secret  of  failure  lies   in  thrips,   and  red  spider 
and  lice  of  every  species.     Out  on  nasty  green- 
houses. 


CHAM/EDOREA. 

BY    MANSFIELD   MILTON,   CLEVELAND,   O. 

A  genus  of  beautiful  slender  growing  palms  ; 
natives   of  tropical   America,  forming  in  their 
native  country  masses  of  underwood.     Male  and 
female  flowers  are  produced  on  distinct  plants. 
The  undeveloped  flower  spikes  being  used  by 
the  natives  as  a  culinary  vegetable.    Some  of  the 
many  species  make  excellent  subjects  for  dinner- 
table  decoration,  and  in  Europe  are  greatly  in 
demand  for  this  purpose.     They    are   most   at 
home  growing  in   a   well   shaded   house,  their 
leaves  being  very  easily  injured  when  exposed 
much  to  the  direct  rays   of  the  sun.     For  soil, 
they  succeed  best  in  peat  having  a  good  mixture 
of  clean  river  sand;    and  as  they  require  abun- 
dance of  water,  thorough  drainage  is  indispensa- 
ble. During  the  hot  Summer  months  they  thrive 
best,  standing  in  a  flat  filled  with  water.     A  few 
of  the  best  for  general  cultivation  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

C.  Ernesti  Augusti. — The  leaves  of  this  species 


136 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


are  entire,  about  a  foot  broad,  and  nearly  two 
long,  of  a  bright  dark  green  color.  The  flower 
spikes  of  this  species  greatly  enhance  the  beauty 
of  the  plant,  they  being  of  a  bright  yellow  color. 

C.  elegans. — A  most  desirable  species,  elegant 
in  form,  and  of  a  hardy,  vigorous  constitution. 
The  pinnate  leaves  grow  about  four  feet  long, 
the  leaflets  about  eight  inches  long  and  one 
broad,  and  are  of  a  dark  green  color.  The  gene- 
ral habit  of  the  plant  is  beautifully  pendent,  and 
altogether  a  very  beautiful  plant ;  native  of 
Mexico. 

C.  Arenbergii.— One  of  the  most  common  spe- 
cies in  cultivation  and  a  very  attractive  plant. 
The  stem  is  slender,  the  leaves  pinnate,  about 
three  feet  long,  the  pinnae  about  twelve  inches 
long  and  four  wide,  of  a  bright  green  color.  This 
species  is  very  easily  injured  in  a  house  where 
the  bright  rays  of  the  sun  are  allowed  to  enter 
unobstructed ;  it,  therefore,  should  be  grown  in  a 
well  shaded  house. 

C.  scandens.— -This  is  one  of  the  most  slender 
growing  palms,  being  of  a  climbing  habit,  after 
it  attains  the  height  of  six  feet.  Leaves  are  pin- 
nate, about  two  feet  long,  the  leaflets  about  one 
foot  long  and  one  inch  broad,  and  dark  green 
in  color;  the  leafstalks  are  of  a  glaucous  green 
which  greatly  increases  its  attractiveness  ;  native 
of  Mexico. 

C.  Sartorii. — A  beautiful  plant,  having  pinnate 
leaves  about  three  feet  long,  the  pinna?  being 
about  ten  inches  long  and  two  wide,  the  color  is 
bright  dark  green.  It  makes  a  fine  plant  for 
table  decoration. 

C.  Warscewiczii.—A  slender  growing,  beautiful 
palm,  having  long  pinnate  leaves  of  a  light 
green  color ;  native  of  Guatemala. 

C.  graminifolia  — This  graceful  species  deserves 
a  place  in  every  collection,  and  whether  used  as 
a  decorative  plant  for  the  greenhouse,  or  for  the 
dinner-table,  it  is  alike  beautiful.  The  leaves  are 
pinnate,  about  four  feet  long,  the  pinnas  about 
a  foot  in  length  and  very  narrow ;  they  are  of 
glaucous  green.  Its  hardy  constitution  and 
adaptability  for  bearing  with  impunity  most  any 
position,  make  it  a  very  valuable  acquisition; 
native  of  Costa  Rica. 


NOTES  ON  A  SUMMER  TOUR, 

BY   WM.  SUTHERLAND.  PHILADELPHIA. 

The  seed  store  of  H.  A.  Dreer,  on  Chestnut  St., 
Phila.,  is  complete  in  all  the  regular  departments 
of  the  seed  trade,  and  has  in  addition  a  green- 


house 60x15  feet  wide  on  the  top ;  the  whole  es- 
tablishment being  heated  by  one  furnace,  in  the 
interior  of  which  a  dense  coil  of  two-inch  pipe 
is  placed,  from  which  hot  water  is  conveyed  by 
four-inch  pipes  through  the  different  stories  up 
to  the  greenhouse  on  the  roof  and  returned  in 
the  same  manner.  Here  every  precaution  is 
taken  to  guard  against  fire.  A  large  vat  on  the 
roof  is  kept  constantly  filled  with  water,  from 
which  pipes  with  hose  attached  are  introduced 
to  every  floor,  so  that  at  almost  any  moment  a 
supply  of  water  can  be  obtained  sufficient  al- 
most to  deluge  the  building.  An  improved  ele- 
vator carries  you  up  or  down  to  any  department 
of  the  establishment  you  may  wish  to  visit,  with- 
out the  exertion  of  climbing  the  stairs. 

The  seed  farm  and  trial  grounds,  known  as  the 
Spring  Grove  Nurseries,  are  situated  at  Riverton, 
N.  J.,  about  eight  miles  from  the  seed  store  al- 
ready mentioned,  but  so  pleasant  is  the  trip  by 
rail  or  steamboat,  that  it  does  not  seem  half  the 
distance,  and  it  will  amply  repay  any  one  inter- 
ested in  horticulture,  to  inspect  them.  Here,  at 
the  time  of  my  visit,  we  saw  a  very  healthy 
stock  of  fruit,  shade  and  ornamental  trees, 
shrubs,  evergreens,  roses,  small  fruits  and  escu- 
lent roots  scattered  over  some  ten  acres,  while 
ten  acres  more  were  devoted  to  raising  vegetable 
seeds.  Nearly  eight  acres  were  in  Gladiola,  Lilies, 
Tuberoses  and  other  bulbs,  while  six  acres  more 
were  in  flower  seeds,  of  which  the  verbena  beds 
occupied  nearly  one  third,  embracing  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  collections  of  that  useful  bed- 
ding genus  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  behold. 
The  glass  structures  consisted  of  fifteen  green- 
houses, with  25,000  square  feet  of  glass,  heated 
by  Myers'  new  patent  boilers,  while  at  least  two 
acres  were  covered  by  frames  and  sashes,  one- 
half  of  which  were  occupied  with  planted  out 
Crotons,  Dracaenas  and  Marantas,  many  of  which 
were  of  the  newest  kinds.  This  system  of  grow- 
ing stove-plants  may  be  new  to  many  of  your 
readers,  and  therefore  I  will  describe  it  in  detail. 
After  the  frames  are  no  longer  wanted  for  bed- 
ding plants,  the  soil  inside  is  dug  out  to  the  depth 
of  a  foot  below  the  bottom  of  the  frame,  and 
filled  in  with  a  compost  of  peat  soil,  sand  and 
decayed  cow  manure;  the  sashes  are  white- 
washed on  the  inside,  and  the  young  Crotons, 
&c,  are  planted  out  one  foot  apart,  and  kept 
well  watered.  Very  little  air  is  given,  except  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  and  healthier,  better  col- 
ored plants  I  never  saw.  These,  of  course,  at 
the    approach    of  cold    weather,    are    carefully 


187*70 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


13? 


lifted,  potted  and  removed  to  the  greenhouses, 
for  sale.  Among  the  Dracaenas,  I  noticed  some 
fine  plants  of  Imperialis,  Hendersoni,  Cooperi, 
Baptisti,  Gilfoylii,  Veitchi,Dennisoni,  Nigrescens, 
and  Elegans  Rubra — the  last  named  appearing 
to  be  of  a  very  dwarf  habit ;  of  the  Marantas 
were  Barquinii,  Fasciata,  Vandenheckel,  Regalis, 
Makoyana,  &c. ;  the  latter  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
finest  and  mostdistinct  of  the  genus.  While  to  de- 
scribe the  numerous  varieties  of  Crotons,  would 
occupy  too  much  of  your  valuable  space,  suffice 
it  to  say  that  the  leaf  markings  and  shades 
embr»ced  everything  peculiar  to  the  family. 
My  attention  was  next  called  to  the  Pelargonium 
beds,  which  were  very  fine ;  prominent  among 
the  sorts,  being  Marshal  MaoMahon  and 
Black  Douglas,  two  bronzes  which  to  my  mind 
stand  strong  sunshine  better  than  any  other  vari- 
egated varieties.  Kcenig  Albert,  an  ivy-leaved 
double,  George  Sand  and  the  Ghost,  the  best 
double  whites  yet  introduced,  and  Guillon  Man- 
gilli,  with  very  large,  double  violet-crimson  flow- 
ers, a  first-rate  sort ;  also  Peter  Grieve,  the  most 
vigorous  in  growth,  and  the  finest  habit  amongst 
the  golden  tricolors.  I  observed  a  large  circu- 
lar bed  of  tropical  appearance,  planted  with 
Musaensete  in  the  middle,  surrounded  by  Can- 
nas  lessening  in  height  towards  the  sides,  and 
alternated  with  Wigandia  caracasana.  Promi- 
nent among  the  ornamental  grasses  were  numer- 
ous specimens  of  the  new  rose-colored  Pampas 
grass,  (Gynerium  carmineum  Rendatleri,)  the 
flower  stalks  of  which  attained  the  height  of 
twelve  feet  or  more.  Another  striking  object 
which  came  under  my  notice  was  a  beautifully 
variegated  Tobacco. 

I  found  one  greenhouse,  about  100x25,  fully 
devoted  to  Camellias,  those  in  the  centre  part 
planted  out  with  a  surrounding  table,  covered 
with  smaller  ones  in  pots.  Another  house  was 
devoted  to  the  production  of  rose-buds  for  bou- 
quets, by  far  the  most  numerous  sort  being  Jean 
Pernet,  considered  for  the  purpose  superior  to 
Marechal  Niel.  There  was  a  house  filled  with 
Begonias  in  very  great  variety  of  species  and 
coloring,  and  another  of  Caladiums,  of  which  the 
various  and  richly-colored  foliage  was  absolutely 
gorgeous.  In  the  Palm  house  were  some  fine 
specimens  of  Areca  aurea,  Lutescens,  Rubra  and 
Verschafelti,  Chamserops  excelsa,  Giesbrechti 
and  humilis,  Livistonia,  Hogendorfi  and  Olivse- 
formis.  Mr.  Dreer,  we  understand,  makes  {he 
production  of  these  a  specialty  for  window  and 
table  ornamentation,  and   nothing  could  be  bet- 


ter. Lygodium  scandens,  a  climbing  fern,  was 
grown  in  great  quantities,  intended  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  "Smilax,"  (Myrsiphyllum,)  which 
Ave  think  it  is  likely  to  supersede.  Adjoining  the 
Palmery,  was  a  fine  lot  of  other  ferns,  notably 
Pteris  argyraaa,  tricolor,  nemoralis  variegata  and 
rubro-vena — in  this  connection  I  may  men- 
tion a  great  variety  of  very  healthy  Selaginellas. 
An  objection  is  often  urged  against  the  interest- 
ing and  useful  Tradescantea  repens  vittata,  that 
it  so  often  throws  off  its  stripes  and  reverts  to  its 
normal  plain  green  coat.  Mr.  Dreer  has  suc- 
ceeded to  a  great  extent  in  obviating  this  by 
growing  it  in  sifted  coal  ashes,  pure  and  simple. 
Many  other  objects  and  matters  of  interest  might 
be  mentioned  here,  but  I  fear  I  have  men- 
tioned too  much  already  for  the  pages  of  the 
Monthly,  and  the  patience  of  its  readers.  I 
cannot,  however,  conclude  without  tendering 
thanks  to  Mr.  George  Gross,  the  intelligent  fore- 
man at  the  Spring  Grove  Nurseries,  for  his  kind- 
ness and  attention. 


PLANTS  WHICH  ENDURE  DRYNESS. 

BY   A.   G. 

Having  spent  some  Winter  months  in  Nice, 
France,  the  plants  in  the  vicinity  of  which  are 
subject  to  long  spells  of  drought,  I  thought,  we, 
who  cultivate  plants,  might  take  a  hint  from  the 
mode,  and  kind  of  plants  cultivated  there.  Ex- 
cepting the  moisture  from  the  sea,  there  was  no- 
thing to  refresh  them,  but  a  brief  rain-storm,  at 
long  intervals.  The  sandy  soil,  however,  soon 
absorbed  all  the  water  that  fell  in  these.  The 
regular  rains  come  in  Fall  and  Spring,  and  it  is 
not  unusual  for  these  to  vary  considerably  as  to 
duration. 

At  the  head  of  the  list  of  plants  flourishing 
under  such  circumstances,  of  course,  stood  the 
Cacti  and  Aloes,  which  near  Nice  remain  out 
during  the  entire  Winter,  as  the  frosts  are  rare, 
and  slight.  These  make  surprising  growths  to 
eyes  accustomed  to  the  small  oval  of  the  Opun- 
tias  of  the  greenhouse,  or  the  Aloes  kept  in 
vases.  They  are  often  of  magnificent  propor- 
tions, the  Aloes  very  stately,  with  leaves  stand- 
ing up  five  or  six  feet  in  height,  and  the  large 
Opuntias,  (with  ovals  twelve  inches  in  length,) 
still  higher.  Next  to  these  were  the  Zonale  Ge- 
raniums, which  reached  above  the  highest  fences, 
or  grew  here  and  there,  as  hedges,  their  Winter 
appearance  not  being  at  all  attractive,  as  their 


138 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


limbs  were  long,  and  the  leaves  far  apart,  and 
flowers  none.  Long  lines,  many  feet  in  length, 
of  a  strong-growing  Mesembryanthemum,  hung 
over  high  walls,  and  down  the  sides  of  vases  ;  the 
stem  that  issued  from  the  earth  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  dry  whip-cord.  Iris  grew  in  all 
the  terraced  gardens,  the  large  blue,  and  the 
large  white,  serving  for  borders  on  the  edges  of 
the  terrace,  while  the  small  varieties  were  set 
everywhere.  On  the  high  dry  hills,  Mignonette 
and  Sweet  Alyssum  blossomed  the  Winter 
through,  but  both  scentless. 

Towards  Spring,  we  found  on  banks  by  the  sea- 
shore, single  red  stock  Jillies,  also  the  young 
leaves  of  a  wild  Gladiolus,  and  on  the  hills  Wild 
Thyme,  Rosemary,  &c,  which  were  so  beautiful 
in  the  size  and  wealth  of  their  flowers,  as  to  be 
almost  unrecognized.  Mallows,  a  sort  of  single 
Chrysanthemum,  resembling  an  Ox-eye  Daisy, 
(on  a  large  scale,)  and  an  Echeveria  bearing  a 
plume  of  yellow  starry  flowers,  grew  wild  among 
the  rocks.  Beside  these  grew  single  Anemones, 
of  various  tints  of  a  purple  blue,  or  scarlet, 
shading  into  rose,  or  pinkish-white.  Most  of  the 
Anemones  grew  on  the  tops  of  the  highest  hills ; 
but  occasionally  they  were  seen  among  the  grass 
of  the  terraces,  which  fronted  the  Mediterranean. 
In  the  valleys,  sweet  scented  blue  Violets,  Eng- 
lish Primroses  and  Daisies  "  held  sweet  riot." 
The  meadows  also  were  white  with  Daisies,  or 
golden  with  great  disks  of  Dandelions. 

Very  large-flowered  Pansies  and  Chinese  Prim- 
roses bloomed  beautifully  in  the  gardens ;  in 
March,  Acacias,  too,  in  several  varieties,  hung 
out  their  long  drooping  clusters  of  yellow  tassels, 
which  set  on  the  background  of  their  exquisitely 
fine  and  graceful  leaves,  made  them  a  joy  to  see, 
The  Pepper-tree,  too,  with  its  fern-like  leaves, 
six  or  seven  inches  long,  and  its  flowers  like  a 
bunch  of  current-blossoms,  made  a  pretty  sight, 
but  not  a  pleasant  companion  for  the  sunshine, 
which  caused  it  to  emit  a  powerful  odor  of  black 
pepper.  Even  the  leaves  could  not  be  placed  in 
a  warm  room  without  producing  a  sense  of  dis- 
comfort or  suffocation.  Heliotrope  bloomed  all 
Winter,  and  was  injured  but  temporarily  by  the 
few  frosts  of  the  season.  Veronicas  sent  up  long 
plumes,  and  took  on  a  grace  unknown  with  us. 
Laurustinus  also  bloomed  well.  Tbe  roses  of  the 
gardens  kept  dormant  till  early  Spring,  when 
they  were  closely  trimmed.  They  soon  grew 
with  great  rapidity  and  sent  up  long  shoots  and 
a  profusion  of  leaves.  They  were  said  to  bloom 
with  great  luxuriance,  but  we  were   not  at  Nice 


late  enough  to  see  it  become  the  "  bower  of 
r^ses."  The  German  Ivy  also  flourishes  so  freely 
as  to  cover  arbors  with  its  golden  flowers,  and 
present  to  the  new-comer  quite  a  novel  appear- 
ance. 

On  the  top  of  a  high  hill  in  the  vicinity  of  Nice, 
stands  a  singular  old  Chateau, approached  at  one 
end  by  a  double  flight  of  steps.  These  descended 
into  a  garden,  so  old  that  the  plants  seemed 
veterans  of  a  by-gone  day,  and  the  statuary  so 
grimy  with  dust  and  age,  and  so  buffeted  by 
storms,  and  the  lapse  of  years,  that  here  and 
there  an  open  wound  disclosed  the  hollowness 
of  their  classic  forms,  and  rendered  the  heroic 
air  and  attitude  into  a  burlesque  on  their  ancient 
world  of  pretension,  or  as  ornaments  to  even 
modern  eyes.  In  the  rear  of  the  Chateau  stood 
an  out-building,  over  the  plain  surface  of  which 
grew  a  large  Bougainvillia,  which  in  the  latter 
part  of  December  was  covered  with  rosy-lilac 
bracts.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight,  and  drew 
many  visitors.  It  was  slightly  injured  by  the 
two  or  three  frosts  of  the  severe  Winter  in  1874. 
In  front  of  this  Chateau  stood  the  finest  Palm  of 
Nice,  laden  with  long  clusters  of  fruit,  resembling 
in  size  and  appearance,  a  large  Damson  Plum, 
the  color  a  purple  red.  The  Date-Palm  does  not 
perfect  its  fruit  at  Nice,  the  heat  not  being  suffi- 
cient, nor  do  the  leaves  grow  with  much  luxuri- 
ance, and  these  palms  seem,  indeed,  what  they 
are,  exiles.  Still  in  all  gardens  of  much  preten- 
sion appear  Palms  of  this  and  other  varieties. 
The  gardens  of  Nice  are  quite  elaborate  in  plan, 
this  being  as  true  of  small  gardens,  as  of  the 
large;  and  give  the  effect  of  enlarging  the 
grounds,  instead  of  diminishing  them.  They 
generally  contain  a  covered  arbor,  a  shaded  walk 
and  curious  cozy  nooks.  The  walls,  which  are 
high,  are  covered  with  trained  vines  or  roses,  so 
as  to  be  completely  hidden.  In  the  garden  at- 
tached to  the  chapel  erected  in  memory  of  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  are  a  series  of 
green  wire  arches  many  feet  in  height  dividing 
the  grounds  from  those  adjacent.  These  are  cov- 
ered with  vines,  each  arch  forming  a  framed  pic- 
ture of  the  mountains  and  hills  opposite. 

Cacti  were  used  with  much  effect  in  the  gar- 
dens, and  were  often  placed  in  the  point  of  a  bed, 
the  smallest  in  the  front,  and  the  others  accord- 
ing to  size,  till  four  or  five  feet  in  height  were 
reached.  The  Agave  arbre  was  frequently 
planted  in  rows,  in  bods  approaching  the  house, 
and  when  its  offsets  were  allowed  to  increase 
about  it,  ami  towards  Spring  its    line    plume  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


139 


brilliant  scarlet  flowers,  shot  up  like  a  flame, giv- 
ing it  a  gay  and  unique  effect.  Chinese  Prim- 
roses, Auriculas,  Pansies,  &c,  were  plunged  in 
the  garden  in  pots,  and  removed  when  the  bloom 
was  over. 

We  saw  but  one  garden  in  all  Nice  which 
showed  by  its  shining  verdure,  that  it  was  regu- 
larly watered  ;  the  rest  were  covered  by  the  con- 
stant and  daily  repeated  showers  of  dust,  which 
lay  ankle  deep  on  all  the  roads,  and  seemed 
sprinkled  on  every  tree,  shrub  and  flower,  and 
even  to  lie  inches  deep  on  the  landscape,  till 
"dust  we  are,  and  unto  dust  we  shall  return," 
became  a  solid  conviction.  This  state  of  things 
is  not  wonderful  however,  when  the  scarcity  of 
water  is  known,  and  that  the  washer-women  of 
Nice  are  compelled  to  do  the  most  of  their  wash- 
ing in  the  waters  of  the  sewers,  where  they  dis- 
charge into  the  sea. 

The  gardens,  as  far  as  we  could  learn,  were 
attended  by  contract,  at  a  certain  sum  per  month. 
Blooming  plants  were  supplied  and  others  sub- 
stituted when  the  bloom  was  over,  and  the  gar- 
den cleansed  and  weeded.  The  paths  were 
covered  with  coarse  sand  which  was  raked  over 
at  every  period  for  cleaning.  We  could  never 
find  a  reason  for  this  constant  disturbance  of  the 
paths  which  are  much  pleasanter  to  use  when 
firm. 

The  stock  jillies  and  wall-flowers  of  Nice  were 
very  fine  ;  the  blossoms  being  large,  and  of  unu- 
sual colors.  We  saw  stock  Jillies  so  dark  as  to 
be  a  blackish  purple,  and  white  ones  so  large  and 
so  full  of  blossoms  as  to  excite  admiration  and 
surprise.  In  the  Jardin  d' Acclimation,  near  Nice, 
we  saw  fine  scarlet  wall-flowers.  Afterwards,  in 
Paris  in  the  grounds  attached  to  the  Government 
Greenhouses,  we  saw  blue  ones.  Polyanthus 
Narcissus  were  cultivated  in  great  variety,  and 
also  grew  wild. 

Among  the  plants  flourishing  in  this  dry  and 
peculiar  climate,  I  append  some  not  mentioned 
above,  which  are  taken  from  a  list  in  the  work 
of  J.  Henry  Bennel,  M.  D.,  called  "Shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  as  Winter  Climates"  : — 

Maratime  Squill,  Ranunculus,  Lantana. 

Cineraria  maratima,  Ixia,  Abutilon. 

Carnations,  Sparaxis,  Datura. 

Q.  Marguerite,  Salvias,  Linum  trigynum. 

Pelargonium,  Lavender,  Petunia. 

Marigold,  Valerian,  Cyclamen. 

Arabis,  Daphne,  Camellias. 

Silene  pendula,  Spiraea,  Azaleas. 

Nemophila,  Achillea,  Begonias.  * 

Crocus,  Erica,  Bignonias. 

Snow-drops,  Nasturtium,  Verbena. 

Hyacinths,  Habrothamnus,  Ciestus,  &c. 


GLADIOLUS  AND  CANNA- 

BY  W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL  DORADO,  CAL. 

In  the  above-named  plants  we  have  two  of  the 
finest  decorative  plants  for  the  flower-garden, 
or  for  a  bed  cut  out  in  the  lawn.  As  every  one 
knows  that  has  cultivated  the  Gladiolus,  the 
only  thing  lacking  to  make  it  a  perfect  orna- 
ment when  grown  alone,  is  a  handsome  foliage  ; 
the  foliage  of  the  Gladiolus  is  very  meagre  and 
not  at  all  beautiful ;  consequently,  to  have  a  fine 
bed  of  these  plants  is,  and  always  will  be, 
necessary  to  grow  them  among  foliage  plants. 
I  have  found  none  better  than  the  Canna. 

Among  Gladiolus'  we  have  flowers  of  nearly 
every  hue,  from  the  pure  white  to  the  bright, 
dazzling  scarlet ;  and  as  there  are  between  two 
and  three  thousand  named  sorts,  varying  in 
price  from  ten  cents  to  ten  and  twenty  dollars, 
it  will  be  no  trouble  for  all  to  select  kinds 
suitable  to  their  circumstances.  A  few  of  the 
very  best  are  Lord  Byron,  El  Dorado,  Reine  Vic- 
toria, Le  Poussin,  Imperatrice,  La  Fiance,  John 
Bull,  Ophir,  Berencie  and  Felicien  David. 

Gladiolus  bulbs  should  be  planted  in  light,  rich 
soil,  but  not  in  contact  with  fresh  manure;  plant 
them  three  inches  deep  and  six  inches  apart. 
They  must  have  full  sunshine  and  plenty  of 
water  when  coming  into  bloom. 

Cannas  are  strictly  foliage  plants ;  the  blos- 
som is  neat,  but  secondary  to  the  foliage. 
We  have  some  two  hundred  varieties  now,  the 
foliage  varying  from  pure  light  green  to  deep 
bronze,  some  varieties  having  pure  and  some 
variegated  foliage ;  they  can  be  raised  from  seed, 
or  roots  can  be  saved  and  planted.  Seed 
should  be  soaked  for  an  hour  in  warm  water  be- 
fore planting.  Roots  are  the  quickest  way  of 
growing  them  ;  these  should  be  planted  as  soon 
as  frost  is  over,  in  light,  rich  soil. 

To  have  a  good  effect,  plant  in  a  circular 
bed;  plant  in  the  center  four  Gladiolus  bulbs, 
high  growing  varieties  ;  then  a  circle  of  Cannas, 
another  circle  Gladiolus,  and'  so  on;  edge 
the  beds  with  Coleus  and  daisies.  Plant  high 
kinds  in  the  centre  and  dwarf  at  the  outside. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Pandanus  utilis. — Not  only  are  Aloes  (Ag- 
aves) often  slow  in  blooming — many  of  the  rare 
inhabitants  of  the  greenhouse  have  a  similar 


140 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_May, 


character.  We  do  not  remember  seeing  Pan- 
danus  utilis  in  flower ;  but  one,  in  Mr.  Henry 
Shaw's  Missouri  Bot.  Garden  at  St.  Louis  is 
now  throwing  up  a  flower  spike.  It  is  twenty- 
five  years  old. 

Trachelospermum  (Rhyncospermum,)  Jasmin- 
oides. — We  recently  noted  that  this  was  one 
of  the  best  of  white  flowering  late  Winter 
climbers.  Confirming  our  opinion,  we  find  a 
magnificent  specimen  trained  along  the  apex  of 
the  roof  of  one  of  Mr.  Conrad  Kirckner's  green- 
houses, which  was  profusely  blooming  along  a 
length  of  fifty  feet.  As  it  flowers  before  Easter, 
when  sweet  white  flowers  are  in  so  much  de- 
mand, Mr.  K.  who  is  a  florist,  finds  profit  as 
well  as  pleasure  in  the  flowers. 

Improved  Cinerarias. — On  a  recent  visit  to 
the  nurseries  of.  Miller  and  Hayes,  we  were  im- 
pressed with  the  great  change  which  has  been 
made  in  the  Cineraria  of  late  years.  Some  of 
these  changes  are  simply  changes — others  are 
beautiful  improvements.  There  are  kinds  with 
a  dwarf  habit,  and  with  heads  so  large  and  flat, 
with  each  flower  packed  so  closely  together  as 
to  look  like  the  tremendous  "  bouquets,"  one 
can  buy  at  a  street  corner  for  a  "  quarter."  But 
the  broad,  round,  ray  florets,  and  the  decisive 
and  boldly-marked  colors  of  many  of  the  forms 
can  truly  be  termed  beauties.  Instead  of 
these  compact  bunches  of  flowers,  if  improvers 
would  aim  at  a  little  gracefulness  of  form  in  the 
plant  growth,  as  well  as  good  firm  petals  and 
harmonious  coloring,  we  think  this  good  old 
plant  would  be  more  popular  with  tasteful 
people. 

Flowering  of  Agave  Shawii.  —  This  new 
species,  named  after  Mr.  Shaw,  the  well-known 
and  generous  proprietor  of  the  Botanic  Gar- 
dens of  St.  Louis,  is  about  to  flower  there.  It  is 
but  floral  justice  that  a  plant  so  named,  should 
honor  the  choice  by  first  flowering  in  these 
grounds. 

Hyacinth  Leaves.— A  newspaper  paragraph 
says,  that  the  leaves  of  the  Hyacinth,  cut  off 
near  the  bulb,  will  make  new  bulbs  as  Gerani- 
um leaves  do. 


QUERIES. 


Propagating  Hyacinths  from  Leaves. —  A.  S., 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  writes  : — "  I  notice  in  a  Cleve- 
land paper,  that  a  gardener  of  Berlin  has  made 
the  discovery  that  Hyacinths  may  be  propagated 
by  their  leaves;  in  cutting  them  close  to  the 
bulb,  places  them  in  a  saucer  and  covers  with 
a  thin  layer  of  sandy  leaf  mould.  The  saucer 
having  been  placed  in  a  greenhouse,  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  leaves  will  begin  to  turn  dry  in  about 
eight  weeks,  a  sure  sign  that  bulbs  are  growing 
out  of  them.  Will  you  give  us,  Mr.  Editor, 
your  opinion  about  it  through  the  Gardener's 
Monthly?" 

[We  know  of  no  reason  why  the  statement 
may  not  be  entirely  correct.  But  it  will  be  of 
little  practical  use  to  Americans  who  do  not 
raise  the  bulbs  for  propagation.  They  increase 
by  offsets,  as  fast  as  any  one  in  this  country  needs 
to  raise  them. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Monstrous  Abutilon.  —  H.  H.  D.,  Wilkee 
Barre,  Pa.,  writes  : — "  I  enclose  you  a  flower 
taken  from  an  Abutilon.  Will  you  please  give 
me  the  variety  and  state  whether  it  is  usual  for 
them  to  flower  double  ?  " 

[Two  perfect  flowers  from  one  calyx  of  Abu- 
tilon vexillarium.  It  would  be  of  great  interest 
did  it  always  come  so.  But  they  are  of  much 
the  same  character  as  double-yolked  eggs. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Flowering  of  Primula. —  S.  0.  K.,  Jackson, 
Mich.,  with  an  interesting  specimen,  says: — "In 
noticing  your  reply  to  inquiries  of  H.  L.,  Dan- 
ville,Va.,  about  Chinese  Primroses,  I  conclude  to 
send  you  a  flower-stem  of  a  seedling  I  have, which 
has  been  in  bloom  about  seven  months,  and  the 
trusses  average  from  three  to  five  whorls.  It  is 
a  very  pretty  single  variety,  and  I  thought  per- 
haps a  curiosity.  " 

Salvia  marmorata. — G.  A.,  West  Chester,  Pa., 
writes  : — "  I  send  you  a  little  box  with  flowers  of 
the  Salvia  marmorata  nana,  it  grows  only  to 
about  fourteen  inches  high  and  is  of  very  free 
flowering  habit.  It  has  bloomed  for  me  the 
whole  Winter;  comes  true  from  cuttings.  I 
think  it  will  prove  one  of  our  best  bedding  and 
market  plants. 

[This  marbled  variety  of  the  Scarlet  Sage,  is 
not  uncommon  in  greenhouses,  and  makes  a 
very  good  variety.  It  is  a  sport  from  the  white 
variety,  which  sometimes  comes  entirely  scarlet, 
as  well  as  marbled;  the  dwarf  character  may  be 
new.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


1871] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


141 


Beauty  of  Glazenwood. —  Mr.  Edwin  Lons- 
dale, Thorps  Lane.  Germantown,  says: — "  With 
your  permission,  I  would  like  to  ask  through  the 
columns  of  the  Monthly,  if  the  (said-to-be-new) 
Japan  Rose,  Beauty  of  Glazenwood,  has  flowered 
in  this  country  ? 

It  will  be  remembered  by  those  who  have 
seen  colored  plates  and  descriptions  of  it  that 
it  is  said  to  be  'a  rose  of  golden  yellow,  striped 
and  flaked  with  scarlet  or  vermilion.'  What 
I  am  interested  in  is,  whether  it  is  really  what 
is  claimed  for  it,  or  is  it  all  '  a  fairy  tale? '  as  re- 
ports are  here  from  England  to  the  effect  that 
Fortune's  Yellow  Rose  and  the  '  Beauty '  are 
identical." 

[The  Royal  Hort.  Society's  Committee  says 
they  are  identical.— Ed.  G.  M.| 

Glass  for  Horticultural  Purposes. — S.  0. 
Knapp,  Jackson,  Mich.,  writes  : — "  In  reading 
the  account  of  the  late  Convention  of  Window- 
glass  Manufacturers,  held  at  Pittsburg,  it  has 
occured  to  me  that  there  should  be  some  effort 
made  by  the  leading  horticulturists  of  the  coun- 
try to  induce  that  Association  to  manufacture  a 
suitable  glass  for  horticultural  purposes.  You 
are  aware  that  the  great  drawback  to  horticul- 
ture under  glass,  is  the  tendency  to  burn,  from 
the  use  of  defective  or  improper  glass.  And 
could  this  be  obviated  without  materially  en- 
hancing the  price  of  the  same,  I  think  the  in- 
crease of  its  use  would  be  very  considerable. 
The  necessity  for  such  an  article  at  the  Kew 
Gardens,  in  England,  a  number  of  years  since, 
led  to  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  subject  by 
scientific  men,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  solar  spec- 
trum in  connection  with  chemical  and  hoticul- 
tural  experiments,  I  think  the  desired  end  was 
attained,  and  by  the  use  of  a  little  oxide  of  cop- 
per in  its  manufacture,  a  glass  has  been  produced 
preventing  the  permeation  of  a  portion  of  that 
class  of  heat-rays  so  objectionable  at  the  maxi- 
mum point  of  calorific  action.  It  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult at  the  present  day  to  ascertain  just  what 
was  needed,  and  if  all  did  not  wish  to  manufac- 
ture the  article,  they  by  a  system  of  exchanges 
could  each  supply  their  own  customers.  Their 
first  Vice-President,  Mr.  F.  L.  Bocline,  I  notice 
resides  in  your  vicinity.  I  have  only  hinted  at 
this  subject,  hoping  to  attract  to  it  the  attention 
of  those  capable  of  treating  it  more  in   detail." 

The  "Ohio  Lady's  Experience." — L.,  Cazeno- 
via,  New  York, writes  that  she  has  derived  much 


encouragement  in  her  efforts  at  window  garden- 
ing from  the  experience  of  our  excellent  Ohio 
contributor,  as  have  no  doubt  many  of  our 
readers. 

Hot  Water  Boilers.— One  of  our  most  intelli- 
gent Maryland  contributors,  says  :  "  You  submit 
to  the  readers  of  the  Monthly,  the  question 
whether  as  much  heat  is  obtained  from  a  given 
weight  of  fuel,  by  hot  water  heating  as  by  the 
flue.  I  have  had  considerable  experience 
with  hot  water  heating,  fitting  up,  &c,  and 
thought  I  would  give  the  result  of  it,  but  find 
that  no  sort  of  justice  can  be  done  the  subject  as 
I  think,  except  by  small  pamphlet  with  draw- 
ings, and  not  being  apt  at  writing  and  worse 
at  drawing,  have  concluded  to  leave  it  alone.  I 
may,  however,  tell  you  of  an  instance  in  my  ex- 
perience in  which  I  was  easily  deceived. 

In  addition  to  the  glass-house  heated,  we  had 
two  immense  warehouses  heated  by  the  saddle- 
back boilers.  One  of  them  started  a  leak,  and 
the  manufacturer  of  the  apparatus  suggested 
putting  in  a  new  one,  with  tubes,  in  the  place  of 
fire  bars,  to  be  filled  with  water,  of  course,  and 
connected  at  each  end  with  the  boiler.  I  thought 
the  idea  a  good  one,  and  assented  readily,  think- 
ing thereby  to  save  fuel  and  also  to  get  up  heat 
more  quickly  —  or,  perhaps,  more  correctly, 
thought  to  economize  the  heat  as  given  out  by 
the  fuel.  It  was  a  conclusion  easily  reached  but 
proved  erroneous.  I  know  from  repeated  per- 
sonal experiments,  it  was  of  no  advantage.  If 
there  was  any  difference  the  old  fire-bars  had 
the  best  of  it.  The  way  I  account  for  it  is  this, 
the  fire-bars  became  red  hot,  and  reflected  the 
heat  to  the  boiler,  very  little  of  it  escaping  from 
the  ash-pit  door.  With  the  tubular  water-bars, 
the  heat  at  the  bars  was  never  so  intense,  and, 
except  in  continuous  firing— which  by  the  way 
was  seldom  needed — combustion  was  not  as  per- 
fect. I  am  aware  how  difficult  it  is  to  persuade 
the  casual  observer  of  the  truth  of  such  things, 
but  having  satisfied  myself  by  repeated  careful 
experiments,  I  must  give  the  result  as  I  find  it. 

Mere  opinion  is  a  small  affair  in  asserting  fact. 
Having  wrought  many  kinds  of  boilers,  have 
found  good  points  in  most.  A  great  deal  de- 
pends on  the  common  sense,  care  and  conscien- 
tiousness of  the  fireman,  as  to  economy,  capa- 
bility, &c,  of  boilers  generally. 

[The  cold  bars  would  .no  doubt  deaden  the  fi  re, 
and  just  at  a  time  when  the  most  heat  would  be 
wanted.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


142 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


If  ruit  and  Vegetable  hardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Among  the  gains  of  the  few  past  years  is  the 
definite  knowledge  that  the  knot  on  the  plum 
and  cherry  is  caused  by  a  fungus.  It  is  no  longer 
feared.  If  cut  out  as  soon  as  seen,  it  is  easily 
kept  down.  Years  before  this  was  demonstrated, 
the  Gardener's  Monthly  showed  from  various 
analogies  that  it  could  be  from  no  other  cause — 
and,  in  the  same  way  we  urge  that  the  terrible 
fire-blight  in  the  pear,  and  other  "blights" 
in  the  pear  and  apple,  the  yellows  in  the  peach, 
and  similar  troubles,  can  only  be  caused  by 
fungoid  attacks.  For  these  disorders,  washing 
the  trees  in  Winter  with  linseed  oil  or  white- 
wash will  no  doubt  be  very  serviceable.  Most  ol 
these  orchard  pests  are  getting  under  control — 
the  curculio  being  alone  triumphant  so  far. 
Mr.  Lawrence  Kauffman  believes  the  fumes  of 
coal-tar  will  keep  them  away  from  the  plum 
orchard.  If  this  were  some  mere  "  paragraph  " 
information  it  might  not  be  worth  much  atten- 
tion, but  Mr.  Kauffman  is  a  man  whose  experi- 
ence is  worth  listening  to.  It  may  be  too  much 
labor  where  there  are  but  a  few  trees.  If  smok- 
ing once  or  twice  in  a  season  would  do,  it  would  be 
a  good  discovery,  but  many  would  go  without 
plums  than  have  to  do  this  very  often.  Of 
course,  in  large  orchards,  it  is  another  matter. 
The  jarring  practice  is  still  often  in  use,  and  this 
must  be  continuous  the  whole  season  to  be  very 
effective. 

For  a  few  trees,  the  best  plan  perhaps  is  to  cover 
them.  Last  season  we  saw  some  heavy  crops  of 
plums  under  trees  that  had  been  wrapped  around 
with  mosquito  netting,  thus  fully  protecting  the 
fruit  from  curculios.  If  such  gauze  were  steeped 
in  tan-bark  before  using,  it  would  probably  last  a 
great  many  years  in  good  order  for  use.  Trees 
might  be  trained  en  espalier,  on  purpose  to  be  the 
more  readily  protected  in  this  way.  It  is  a  nice 
plan  in  many  respects,  as  should  mildew  or  in- 
sects attack  the  fruit  tree,  or  a  shade  or  shelter 
be  required  for  any  purpose,  the  tree  is  the  most 
perfect  shape  for  operating  on  to  the  best  advan- 


tage. This  is  the  season  to  commence  with 
young  trees  to  put  them  in  shape  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

Watch  all  young  fruit  trees  against  bearing  too 
abundantly  while  young,  or  the  first  season  after 
planting.  There  can  be  no  objection  to  the 
ripening  of  one  or  two  fruits  on  a  tree  the  first 
season  of  setting  out,  in  order  to  test  the  kind,  or 
to  administer  to  curiosity,  if  the  tree  be  other- 
wise growing  freely.  If  little  growth  is  making, 
no  fruit  at  all  should  be  permitted.  It  is  a  better 
practice  to  disbud  or  take  out  soon  after  shoot- 
ing, all  shoots  that  are  needless  to  the  perfect 
shape  of  the  tree,  than  to  wait  till  Fall  or  Win- 
ter. The  pruning  knife  need  then  only  be  used 
to  shorten  a  branch  into  where  several  branches 
are  desired  to  push,  or  to  induce  a  more  vigor- 
ous growth  from  the  pruned  parts.  In  the 
Goosebeny,  Raspberry  and  Strawberry  also,  no 
more  shoots  should  be  suffered  to  grow  than  will 
be  required  to  bear  the  next  season. 

Cabbage,  Cauliflower,  and  Broccoli,  are  now 
set  out  for  Fall  crops,  and  Endive  sown  for  Win- 
ter salad.  Lettuce  also  for  Summer  and  Fall 
use.  This  however,  must  be  sown  in  very  rich 
soil,  and  in  a  partially  shaded  situation,  or  it  will 
go  to  seed.  Peas,  Beans,  and  other  crops,  should 
be  sown  every  two  weeks.  They  do  much  bet- 
ter than  when  a  large  crop  is  sown  at  one  time, 
and  then  have  too  many  on  at  one  time  to 
waste. 

Melons,  Cucumbers,  Corn,  Okras,  Squash, 
Beans,  Sweet  Potatoes,  Lima  Beans,  Peppers, 
Egg  Plants,  Tomatoes,  and  other  tender  vegeta- 
bles that  do  not  do  well  till  the  sun  gets  high, 
and  the  ground  warm,  should  go  into  the  soil 
without  delay. 

Bean  poles  should  be  set  before  the  beans  are 
planted ;  and  near  cities  where  they  are  com- 
paratively high  priced,  their  ends  should  be 
charred.      This  will  make  them  last  some  years. 

Keep  weeds  of  all  kinds  down  from  the  time 
they  first  show  their  seed  leaves.  It  not  only 
saves  labor  "  in  the  end,"  but  the  frequent  stir- 
ring of  the  Boil  vastly  serves  the  crop.  Sow  a 
succession  of  vegetables  every  few  weeks, — some- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


143 


times  insects,  sometimes  frost,  or  occasionally 
other  accidents  will  cut  off  a  crop,  and  then 
there  is  some  chance  for  its  successor  not 
wholly  to  disappoint. 


COMMUNICA  770  NS. 


THE   STRAWBERRY  LEAF-ROLLER. 

[Anchylopera  fragariee.) 

BY  C.  V.  RILEY,  STATE  ENTOMOLOGIST,  ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

I  have  just  received  the  following  from  Mr.  J. 
R.  Gaston,  of  Normal,  111. : 

"  I  send  you  by  same  mail  with  this  a  small 
box  containing  chrysalis  and  larva  of  a  leaf- 
roller  that  was  very  destructive  on  our  straw- 
berry plants  last  season,  and  I  find  the  larva? 
bright  and  happy  now,  ready  to  commence 
business  as  soon  as  warm  weather  comes.  Do 
you  know  of  any  remedy  ?  If  there  is  no  prac- 
tical way  of  heading  them  off,  we  will  have  to 
give  up  strawberry  culture  here  until  they  leave. 
Would  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  when  you  have 
leisure  to  do  so.     Very  truly  yours." 

The  worm  sent  is  that  named  in  the  heading, 
and  I  send  you  herewith  what  I  wrote  about  it 
nine  years  ago  in  my  first  Report.  The  fact  of 
hibernation  as  larva  is  new  and  interesting,  but 
does  not  affect  the  practical  recommendations. 


OL  i  c 

Strawberry  Leaf-roller. — a,  larva,  nat.  size;  6,  head  and 
thoracic  joints  of  same,  d,  anal  joint;  c,  moth,  enlarged. 

The  above  figure  represents  an  insect  which 
devours  the  leaves  of  our  strawberries.  A  more 
perfect  picture  of  the  moth  is  given  enlarged  at 
Plate  2,  Figure  26,  and  of  the  natural  size  at 
Figure  27.  It  was  first  described  in  the  January 
number  of  the  American  Entomologist,  from 
which  I  take  the  following  account  of  it. 

For  nearly  two  years,  we  have  been  acquainted 
with  a  little  greenish  leaf-roller,  measuring  about 
one-third  of  an  inch  (Fig.  80,  a),  which  in  cer. 
tain  parts  of  North  Illinois  and  Indiana  has 
been  ruining  the  strawberry  fields  in  a  most 
wholesale  manner;  and  which  also  occurs  in 
Canada,  judging  from  an  account  in  the  Canada 
Farmer  of  August  1,  1867.    It  crumples  and  folds 


the  leaves,  feeding  on  their  pulpy  substance,  and 
causing  them  to  appear  dry  and  seared,  and 
most  usually  lines  the  inside  of  the  fold  with 
silk.  There  are  two  broods  of  this  leaf-roller 
during  the  year,  and  the  worms  of  the  first 
brood,  which  appear  during  the  month  of  June, 
change  to  the  pupa  state  within  the  rolled-up 
leaf,  and  become  minute  reddish-brown  moths 
(Fig.  80,  c),  during  the  fore  part  of  July.  After 
pairing  in  the  usual  manner,  the  females  deposit 
their  eggs  on  the  plants,  from  which  eggs,  in 
due  time,  hatches  a  second  brood  of  worms. 
These  last  come  to  their  growth  towards  the  end 
of  September,  and  changing  to  pupa?,  pass  the 
Winter  in  that  state. 

We  first  heard  of  this  leaf-roller  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1866,  when  it  did  considerable  damage  at 
Valparaiso,  Indiana,  and  we  were  informed  by 
Mr.  N.  R.  Strong,  of  that  place,  that  in  1867  they 
continued  their  depredations  with  him,  and  de- 
stroyed ten  acres  so  completely  as  not  to  leave 
plants  enough  to  set  half  an  acre,  and  that  in 
consequence  of  this  little  pest,  in  conjunction 
with  the  White-grub,  he  has  had  to  abandon 
strawberry  culture. 

When  we  met  the  ad  interim  committee  of  the 
Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society  at  Lacon,  in 
the  beginning  of  July,  1868,  we  received  from 
these  gentlemen  a  quantity  of  infested  straw- 
berry leaves,  from  which  in  the  course  of  the 
next  two  or  three  weeks  we  bred  many  of  the 
moths.  These  specimens  had  been  collected  at 
Mr.  Bubaugh's  place,  near  Princeton,  Illinois, 
where  they  were  said  to  be  very  abundant,  and 
to  have  completely  destroyed  one  strawberry 
patch  containing  several  acres. 

Subsequently,  we  received  another  lot.  of  speci- 
mens from  Mr.  W.  E.  Lukens,  of  Sterling, 
Whiteside  County,  Illinois,  with  the  following 
remarks  upon  this  very  important  subject: 

"  Where  these  insects  are  thick  I  would  never 
think  of  raising  strawberries.  It  is  strange  that 
I  have  not  noticed  any  of  their  work  upon  this 
side  the  river;  while  on  the  south  side  for  a  mile 
up  and  down  they  are  ruining  the  crops  of  ber- 
ries. Removing  the  plants  does  not  take  with 
them  the  moth  nor  the  eggs,  so  far  as  has  been 
observed.  A  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Kimball, 
at  Prophetstown,  had  his  crop  a  few  years 
ago  entirely  destroyed  by  this  insect,  though  it 
amounted  in  all  to  two  or  three  acres.  I  hear 
of  a  great  many  men  in  other  places  having 
their  crops  burnt  up  with  the  sun,  and  have  no 
doubt   that   it  was  this  leaf-roller,  and  not  the 


144 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


sun,  that  was  the  real  author  of  the  damage.  As 
for  myself,  I  have  on  this  account  entirely  quit 
the  business  of  growing  strawberries." 

The  only  modes  of  fighting  this  new  and  very 
destructive  foe  of  the  strawberry — which,  how- 
ever, seems  to  be  confined  to  northerly  regions 
— are,  first,  to  plough  up  either  in  the  Spring  or 
in  the  Fall,  such  patches  as  are  badly  infested  by 
it,  by  which  means  the  pupa?  will  probably  be 
buried  and  destroyed ;  and  second,  not  to  pro- 
cure any  plants  from  an  infested  region,  so  as  to 
run  the  risk  of  introducing  the  plague  upon 
your  own  farm. 

We  annex  brief  descriptions  of  this  insect, 
both  in  the  perfect  and  larval  states.  We  are 
indebted  to  the  distinguished  English  Micro- 
lepidopterist,  H.  T.  Stainton,  for  the  generic 
determination  of  the  species,  and  for  the  further 
remark  that  "  it  is  closely  allied  to  the  European 
Anchylopera  comptana  (Manual,  Vol.  II,  p.  225), 
which  feeds  on  various  Rosacea?,  such  as  Pote- 
rium  sanguisorba,  Potentllla  verna,  and  Dyra* 
octopetala"  [I  have  since  ascertained  that  it 
is  identical  with  comptana,  and  therefore  proba- 
bly an  importation.] 

Anchylopera  fragari^e,  new  species — head 
and  thorax  reddish-brown.  Palpi  and  legs  paler. 
Antennae  dusky.  Tarsal  joints  tipped  with 
dusky.  Front  wings  reddish-brown,  streaked 
and  spotted  with  black  and  white,  as  in  the 
figure.  Hind  wings  and  abdomen  dusky.  Alar 
expanse,  0.40-0.45  inch.  Described  from  nine 
specimens. 

The  larva  measures,  when  full  grown,  0.35  of 
an  inch.  Largest  on  the  first  segment,  tapering 
thence  very  slightly  to  the  last.  Color  varying 
from  very  light  yellowish-brown  to  dark  olive- 
green  or  brown.  Body  soft,  somewhat  translu- 
cent, without  polish  ;  the  piliferous  spots  quite 
large,  shining,  always  light  in  color,  contrasting 
strongly  in  the  dark  specimens  with  the  ground 
color.  Hairs,  especially  lateral  ones,  quite  stout 
and  stiff.  Spots  arranged  in  the  normal  form, 
segments  two  and  three  having  none,  however, 
on  their  posterior  half,  as  have  the  rest  (see  Fig. 
80,  b).  Head  horizontal,  of  a  shining  fulvous 
color,  with  a  more  or  less  distinct  dark  eye-spot 
and  tawny  upper  lip.  Cervical  shield  of  the 
same  shiny  appearance.  Anal  segment  with 
two  black  spots  (see  Fig.  80,  d),  at  posterior 
edge,  being  confluent,  and  forming  an  entire 
black  edge  in  some  specimens.  Legs  prolegs, 
and  venter  of  the  same  color  as  the  body 
above. 


CARBOLIC  ACID  FOR  INSECTS. 

BY  T.   T.   SOUTHWICK,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

The  time  has  almost  come  again  when  "  the 
little  busy  bugs "  will  open  up  their  Summer 
campaign,  and  dispute  with  the  "  lords  of  crea- 
tion" for  possession  of  the  "fruits  of  the  earth." 
:  Allow  me  thus  early  to  call  attention  to  an  arti- 
cle, the  merits  of  which  everybody  knows,  but 
which  many  dare  not  use — I  refer  to  carbolic 
acid.  Prepared  as  indicated,  it  cannot,  I  think, 
hurt  the  most  delicate  house  plants,  and  it  is 
sure  to  kill  insect  life. 

My  plan  of  preparing  is  as  follows  : — I  obtain 
crude  carbolic  acid ;  I  use  it  in  this  form  because 
it  is  stronger  and'  better  for  the  purpose,  and 
costs  but  very  little  (about  25  cts.  per  gallon,  I 
think).  I  pour  a  quantity  of  this  dark  crude 
acid  into  a  quantity  of  good  strong  domestic 
soft  soap;  stir  well  together,  and  allow  to  stand 
for  a  few  hours.  I  then  test  the  compound  by 
mixing  a  little  of  it  with  soft  water.  If  too 
much  acid  has  been  added,  oily  particles  of  car- 
bolic acid  will  be  observed  floating  on  the  sur- 
face. This  shows  that  more  acid  has  been  put 
in  than  the  soap  will  incorporate  or  "cut,"  and 
more  soap  should  be  added  to  balance  the  ex- 
cess of  acid.  No  more  definite  rule  can  be  given, 
as  so  much  depends  on  the  strength  of  the  soaj). 
Two  or  three  tablespoons  full  of  the  acid  to  a 
quart  of  soap  may  be  first  tried.  I  prefer  to 
make  as  strong  with  acid  as  the  soap  will  per- 
fectly cut.  A  very  little  practice  will  enable 
any  one  to  compound  it  correctly.  The  refined 
acid  may  be  used  when  the  crude  is  not  at  hand. 
When  prepared  as  above,  make  a  moderately 
strong  suds,  and  apply  with  syringe  or  sponge. 
In  using  on  very  delicate  plants,  should  any  fear 
be  felt  for  the  plants,  they  can  be  rinsed  off  after 
a  few  minutes.  My  first  and  eminently  success- 
ful use  of  this  compound  was  some  years  since, 
on  a  block  of  young  cherry  trees,  some  fifty 
thousand  in  number.  The  black  aphis  ''  came 
down  like  the  wolf  on  the  fold,"  only  "they 
came  not  as  single  spies,  but  in  whole  battal- 
ions." It  soon  became  an  interesting  question 
as  to  who  was  the  proprietor  of  this  particular 
block  of  trees — myself  or  the  "bug  Ethiopian." 
A.  disinterested  observer  of  judicial  turn  of 
mind,  judging  from  the  general  appearance  of 
things  and  the  very  "at  home  "  air  assumed  by 
the  bugs,  would  have  said  they  had  the  best  case. 
He  would,  at  least,  have  been  compelled  to  admit 
they  had   "nine  points  of  the  law"  (possession) 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


145 


in  their  favor.  I  never  saw  the  like  before. 
The  trees  were  alive  with  aphis.  The  only 
scarce  things  on  the  trees  were  leaves,  there 
being  hardly  enough  to  afford  "  standing  room  " 
for  all  the  dusky  guests.  However,not  beinga  con- 
vert to  the  doctrine  of  "  squatter  sovereignty,"  I 
declared  war,  and  failing  to  decrease  the  num- 
bers by  ordinary  means,  I  compounded  soft  soap 
and  carbolic  acid,  and  with  a  single  application 
exterminated  the  enemy. 

[It  has  always  been  a  matter  of  surprise  with 
us  that  those  who  suffer  from  the  ravages  of  in- 
sects do  not  make  more  use  of  carbolic  acid. 
Though  so  destructive  to  the  lower  forms  of  in- 
sect and  plant  life,  it  is  innocuous  as  against  the 
higher.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


KEEPING  TOMATOES. 

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

The*  best  success  I  ever  had  in  keeping  toma- 
toes was  by  cutting  the  vines  off  at  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  or  pulling  up  by  the  roots  and 
trimming  off  all  the  foliage  and  hanging  them 
up  in  a  light  cellar.  More  of  them  ripened 
than  in  any  other  way,  and  the  quality  was  bet- 
ter. This  was  in  Massachusetts,  and  my  cellar 
was  not  near  so  dry  as  here.  I  see  no  reason, 
however,  why  they  should  not  do  equally  well 
here,  but  we  have  had  such  an  abundance  and 
variety  of  fruit  that  we  care  less  for  tomatoes. 


no  perceptible  difference,  while  the  only  argu- 
ment he  could  bring  to  bear  to  prove  a  differ- 
ence was,  that  the  Main  had  smaller  seeds. 
Such  a  slight  claim  as  that  would  indeed  puzzle 
the  Patent-Office  clerk  who  attempted  to  dis- 
tinguish between  Mr.  Bull's  and  Mr.  Main's 
"patent,"  should  they  attempt  to  "throw 
around"  their  grapes  "horticultural  protection." 
[The  exposure  of  this  matter  was  long  ago 
made  by  one  of  the_  correspondents  of  the 
Gardener's  Monthly.  Only  that  so  many  new 
readers  have  been  added  of  late  years,  it  would 
be  unnecessary  to  say  anything  more. — Ed.G.  M.] 


THE  MAIN  GRAPE. 

BY   J.    M.   H.,   DOVER,  NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

I  notice  by  the  Monthly  that  this  grape  is 
"  being  pushed  again."  I  have  been  acquainted 
with  it  from  its  first  introduction  to  the  present 
time ;  have  seen  it  at  fairs,  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Main  himself;  have  fruited  it  on  the  same  trellis 
with  the  Concord  ;  have  watched  the  growth  of 
the  vine  from  the  starting  of  the  leaves  in 
Spring  until  it  ripened  its  purple  bunches  in 
Autumn  ;  have  exhibited  it  side  by  side  with 
Concord,  and  I  have  tasted  and  tested  it  with  fruit- 
growers, and  fruit  committees,  and  the  general 
opinion  was — that  it  was  a  Concord — "  only  this 
and  nothing  more."  I  once  attended  a  fair  and 
exhibited  a  plate  of  Main  grapes,  and  beside  it  a 
plate  of  Concords.  I  had  some  conversation 
with  a  gentleman  interested  in  the  sale  and  prop- 
agation of  the  Main  grape,  in  relation  to  the 
identity  of  the  two.     I  claimed  that  there  was 


PEAR  TREE  BLIGHT. 

BY  W.  FOSTER,  LOUISIANA,  MO. 

Reading  with  much  interest  the  communica- 
tion  of  Mr.  M.  B.  Bateham,  in  the  Monthly  for 
March,  and  admitting  fungi  to  be  present  when- 
ever blight  appears,  it  would  seem  that  a  prima 
facie  case  is  made  out,  viz.:— that  fungi  are  the 
cause  of  this  deadly  disease.     The  expression  of 
Mr.   Meehan,   made    before   the   United   States 
Pomological  Society,  that  "  fire-blight  is  of  fun- 
goid origin,"  is  certainly  high  authority,  but  it 
leaves  the  pear-grower  to  ask — what  causes   the 
plant    growth    called    fungus?      Dr.    Salisbury 
strikes   the  key  note  when  he  says,  that  "  the 
spores  of  the  blight  fungus  are  in  the   sap    of 
the   tree,  and  under  favorable   influence,   start 
into  growth."    Now,  are  these  sporidic  cells  or 
germs  found  in  healthy  sap  ?     The  microscope 
answers,  with  an  unqualified — no !      It    is    ad- 
mitted that  two  opposing  forces  exist  in  all  liv- 
ing things,  chemical  and  vital.     Whenever  the 
chemical  force  obtains  the    mastery    over  the 
vital,  the  plant  or  animal  dies,  and  each  has  its 
mode   of  dying.      The  circulating  fluid    deter- 
mines the  health  or  disease  of  plants,  as  well  as 
animals.     The  food  furnished  the  plant  deter- 
mines the  character  of  its  circulation,  as  well  as 
its  appetite.   That  the  pear  tree  has  an  appetite 
which  the  spongioles  are  extremely  sensitive  to,  is 
no  longer  matter  of  speculation,  but  is  as  fixed  a 
fact  as  any   other  in  horticulture,  e.  g.,  remove 
the  earth  under  a  healthly  pear  tree  in  bearing 
till   fibrous    roots  are  reached ;    fill   in   a   little 
moist  earth  to  protect  them  ;  then  pour  in  a  so- 
lution  of  sulphate  of  copper,  and  fill  up  with 
earth.      Ten  days  thereafter  test  for  copper  in 
the  sap,  and  none  will  be  found.    If  the  tree  has 
had   its   true  appetite  previously  destroyed  by 


146 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


starvation,  the  spongioles  will  absorb  almost  any 
foreign  matter  presented  to  them  in  solution. 
Absolute  experiments  have  shown  this.  Again, 
try  the  experiment  with  a  solution  of  common 
salt,  covering  the  hole  with  a  sheet  of  tin  tightly. 
Twenty-four  hours  thereafter,  suddenly  remove 
the  cover,  and  the  distinct  smell  of  chlorine  will 
be  found.  This  shows  that  the  spongioles  not  only 
have  power  to  select  the  earthy  compounds  the 
tree  and  fruit  require,  but  by  their  "  presence  ac- 
tion "  absolutely  decompose  compounds,  and  re- 
compose  them  with  unerring  certainty,  so  long 
as  they  are  in  a  state  of  health. 

All  these  experiments  upon  the  fibrous  roots 
are  to  be  made  in  the  night  by  the  aid  of  artifi- 
cial light,  as  they  do  not  bear  sunlight  or  dry 
air  without  injury.  Apply  a  solution  of  com- 
mon salt  to  a  non-bearing  pear  tree,  and  it  will 
not  be  affected  by  the  roots,  because  there  is  no 
soda  either  in  the  wood,  bark  or  leaf.  The  fruit, 
however,  contains  about  8£  per  cent,  of  soda  in 
its  ash.  The  writer  is  of  opinion  that  fungus  is 
not  the  cause  of  blight,  but  one  of  its  effects. 
The  germ  of  fungi  not  being  found  in  healthy 
sap,  it  would  not  be  unreasonable  to  conclude 
that  the  vital  fluid  itself  is  in  a  partial  state  of 
decomposition  before  the  sporidia  can  exist. 
And  then  pear  trees  that  have  been  supplied 
with  the  plant  food  the  tree  requires,  remain 
sound,  while  those  near  by,  left  to  exhaust  the 
soil  of  necessary  earthy  matter,  exhibit  fungoid 
blight.*  It  has  been  a  great  misfortune  to  those 
actively  engaged  in  growing  the  pear,  tha£ 
so  many  theories  of  the  diseases  incident  to  the 
tree  have  been  advanced,  and  so  few  absolute 
experiments  made  to  substantiate  them.  The 
pear  tree  and  fruit  contain  eight  compounds, 
which  are  received  through  the  roots.  Now, 
suppose  one  or  more  of  these  substances  are 
not  in  the  soil,  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  circulation  of  the  tree  can  long  remain 
healthy  ?  The  cambium  is  but  wood  and  fruit 
in  solution,  and  if  it  has  not  all  the  elements  of 
wood  and  fruit,  neither  can  be  true  wood  and 
fruit  of  its  kind.  Earnest  men  have  often  sup- 
posed they  had  placed  within  reach  of  the  roots 
all  these  substances,  and  still  their  trees  blighted. 
They  have  planted  metallic  iron  under  the  tree, 
thinking  to  supply  the  soluble  phosphate  of 
this  metal  found  in  the  ash  of  the  fruit.  As 
well  might  the  physician  administer  a  dose  of 
lath  nails  to  his  patient,  with  a  view  of  enrich- 
ing the  blood.  They  have  dosed  the  tree  with 
guano  and  all  sorts  of  famous  fertilizers,  but  it 


has  starved,  nevertheless.  Its  appetite  has  be- 
come morbid,  and  disintegration  has  followed. 

It  is  not  the  aim  of  this  communication  to 
give  the  practice  of  the  writer  upon  his  own 
pear  trees,  several  thousand  of  which  are  in 
bearing,  and  do  not  blight.  It  would  require 
too  much  space.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  pears 
can  be  grown  with  great  success  in  any  ordinary, 
well-drained  soil,  between  the  34th°  and  42d°  of 
N.  latitude,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
that  the  materials  necessary  to  the  successful 
fruiting  of  the  tree  merely  cost  the  hauling,  ex- 
cept a  little  common  salt,  twenty-five  cents 
worth  of  which  will  last  a  bearing  tree  for  eight 
or  ten  years,  though  a  whole  barrel  has  been 
emptied  under  a  single  healthy  bearing  tree 
without  injury. 

[We  know  of  no  experiments  which  show 
that  the  spores  of  the  fungus  which  causes  the 
fire-blight  exist  in  the  sap  of  the  tree,  as  drawn 
up  through  the  roots. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


A  Good  Dwarf  Celery.— We  think  this  is 
still  to  be  desired.  We  have  some  fair  varieties, 
but  they  are  often  disposed  to  be  branchy,  and 
to  have  more  leaves  and  stalks. 

Monstrous  Asparagus. — Under  this  caption 
we  read  the  following  in  a  German  paper :  "Take 
the  strongest,  just  as  they  show  above  the  ground, 
and  put  dark  green  bottles  over  them.  They 
must  be  put  vertically,  not  be  more  than  half  an 
inch  in  the  ground,  and  therefore  must  be  sup- 
ported by  sticks.  Deprived  of  sun  and  air,  the 
asparagus  now  quickly  grows  to  the  top  of  the 
bottle,  and  unable  to  grow  higher,  grows  now 
along  the  walls  of  the  bottle  until  the  whole 
bottle  is  filled  by  it,  and  gets  lifted  from  the 
ground.  Now  is  the  time  to  cut  your  asparagus 
and  to  break  the  bottle."  Asparagus  has  thus 
been  grown,  weighing  twelve  ounces,  of  delightful 
flavor  and  very  tender.  May  we  add  to  this  Ger- 
man precept  the  German  proverb  "  Wer's  glaubt 
zahlt  einen  thaler,"  "  Whoever  believes  it,  pays 
one  dollar ;  "  or  translated  into  American,  "  You 
pays  you  money,  etc.,  etc." 

The  Mother  Apple. — There  were  few  apples 
of  more  beauty  and  average  merit  on  exhibition 
at  the  Centennial  than  the  Mother  Apple, 
but    we    do  not  find   it  in    many   collections. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


147 


It  it  a  native  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  is  there  a  late 
Fall  apple.  After  all  it  is  the  late  season,  good 
keeping  Winter  apples  that  are  the  most  profit- 
able. 

The  Alexander  Peach. — As  many  persons  are 
anxious  to  know  how  this*  early  peach  is  doing 
in  various  sections,  we  append  the  following, 
taken  from  letters  handed  to  us : 

Mr.  Chas.  Downing  says :  "  The  Amsden's  June, 
Honeywell,  and  Alexander  were  all  worked  on 
the  same  tree,  and  though  we  could  see  by  the 
leaves  they  are  distinct  kinds,  ripened  together, 
and  if  the  fruits  were  all  placed  on  a  dish,  no 
one  could  select  one  from  the  other.  Early 
Beatrice  is  too  small.  These  are  the  best  early 
peaches  of  fair  size." 

Dr.  Watt,  of  Niagara,  Ontario,  reports  that  in 
that  high  northern  region  the  Alexander  ripened 
on  the  8th  of  August. 

W.  P.  Bobinson,  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  went  to 
Palmetto,  50  miles,  to  see  it  in  fruit,  and  does 
not  regret  the  journey. 

Peach  Culture  in  the  North. — A  correspon- 
dent of  the  Country  Gentleman  has  been  giving 
some  interesting  information  about  fruit  culture 
along  the  Niagara  Biver,  and  thus  speaks  of  the 
Peach :  *'  Most  of  the  peach  orchards  in  this 
region  are  young  and  in  full  vigor.  They  bore 
good  crops  for  the  past  five  years  in  succession. 
This  year,  from  some  unknown  cause,  there  are 
very  few.  It  is  estimated  that  the  peach  or- 
chards of  the  township  of  Niagara  contain 
40,000  trees,  and  it  is  likely  to  become  noted  as 
one  of  the  best  peach  regions  of  the  State.  The 
best  peach  region  appears  to  be  confined  to  a 
breadth  of  a  mile  or  two  along  the  river.  Far- 
ther inland  this  crop  has  not  been  so  successful, 
until  we  reach  the  neighborhood  of  Lockport. 
A  carriage  drive  from  the  Falls  to  Lewiston 
showed  an  improvement  in  the  peach  orchards 
as  we  thus  neared  Lake  Ontario. 


QUERIES. 

The  Fruit  Crops  in  Ohio. — J.  P.,  Dayton, 
Ohio,  writes  : — "  The  Winter  has  been  very  de- 
structive in  this  locality,  killing  peaches,  and 
very  materially  injuring  blossom-buds  of  Pears." 

Black  Fungus  in  a  Grapery. — T.  E.,  Bridge- 
ton,  N.  J.,  writes  ; — "  I  wish  to  ask  for  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  a  black  fungus  or  mildew  that 


attacked  the  leaves  in  a  cold  grapery.  Last  Sum- 
mer, after  the  grapes  were  a  good  size,  a  black 
fungus  appeared  on  the  leaves,  sash  and  some 
of  the  grapes.  The  sash  was  painted  white,  and 
the  fungus  made  them  in  some  places  com- 
pletely black.  You  will  oblige  me  very  much 
by  letting  me  know  what  is  the  cause  of  it,  and 
what  will  prevent  or  remedy  it." 

[No  one  knows  what  are  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances which  favor  the  growth  of  this  fungus,  but 
if  the  stems  of  the  vines  are  painted  with  sul- 
phur and  soot  before  the  leaves  come,  the  fun- 
gus never  appears.  It  is  also  good  against  other 
fungi,  and  destroys  the  eggs  of  many  insects. — 
Ed.  G.  M.l 

The  Blenheim  Pippin  Apple. — S.  M.,  Paines- 
ville,  Lake  Co.,  O.,  writes  : — "  I  feel  quite  inter- 
ested in  the  Blenheim  Pippin,  described  in  the 
January  number,  but  do  not  know  where  to  find 
it ;  I  do  not  see  it  advertised  in  any  catalogue. 
A  brief  note  might  direct  others  who  feel  as  I  do 
about  it." 

[The  Blenheim  Pippin  is  but  little  grown  in 
this  part  of  the  world.  Any  one  who  can  send 
us  information  that  will  help  our  correspondent 
will  receive  our  thanks. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Pear  Blight. — A  Watertown,  N.  Y.,  cor- 
respondent asks,  "  If  fungi  are  the  cause  of  pear 
blight,  why  did  they  not  act  as  potently  when 
the  country  was  first  settled  as  now?  or  must  we 
say  it  is  a  new  creation — and  who  will  believe 
that?  "  It  must  be  remembered  that  a  fungus  is 
a  plant,  and  must  have  seed,  or  as  we  say  spores, 
to  start  it,  quite  as  much  as  the  Canada  thistle. 
The  Canada  thistle  was  not  in  Canada  when 
Canada  was  first  settled.  But  we  are  not  on  that 
account  forced  to  believe  that  the  thistle  in  Can- 
ada is  a  new  creation.  We  do  not  know  where 
the  pear  fungus  is,  when  "  at  home,"  but  it  is  not 
at  all  likely  that  it  is  a  new  creation. 

The  True  Wilson's  Albany  Seedling  Straw- 
berry.— B.  P.  H.,  Erie,  Pa.,  says,  that  "  For 
several  years  he  had  the  Albany  Seedling  true 
on  his  place,  but  it  does  not  bear  any  more." 
This  is  not  unusual  experience.  Sometimes  all 
the  pistils  abort,  and  then  there  is  no  fruit — why, 
we  do  not  know. 

Inarching  Grapevines.— A.  C.  L.,  Madison, 
Ind.,  writes  : — "  For  the  past  fifteen  years  I  have 
been  a  careful  reader  of  the  '  Horticulturist,'  and 
never  asked  a  question.  I  now  ask  for  some  in- 
formation, that  I  have  in  vain  sought  for  else- 


148 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


where.  Last  Spring  I  built  a  new  grapery,  twenty 
vines  (each  two  years  old)  were  planted.  Along- 
side of  each  vine  is  planted  a  one-year-old,  of  a 
different  variety,  intending  to  inarch  the  two  this 
Summer,  and  so  give  the  main  vines  two  roots 
instead  of  one.  This  will  give  rapid  growth  at 
any  rate.  The  main  vines  have  been  cut  down 
to  four  feet ;  but  the  one-year-olds  to  the  ground. 
The  one-year-olds  will  come  out  with  new  wood, 
but  the  two-year-olds  will  have  the  wood  of  last 
year.  The  question  is,  can  the  two  be  inarched 
under  the  circumstances  ?  The  process  of  this 
inarching  has  one  great  advantage— you  can  get 
clear  of  new  and,  as  the  case  may  be,  a  worthless 
variety,  simply  by  the  aid  of  a  knife  and  a  gouge, 
without  replanting.  Whoever  trusts  to  your 
'  fowl '  remedy  against  the  ravages  of  curculio, 
in  the  plum  orchard,  will  meet  with  disappoint- 
ment." 

[Our  correspondent  is  much  to  blame  that  he 
has  not  asked  a  question  before.  It  is  not  objec- 
tionable to  us,  indeed  it  is  a  favor  to  have  the 
questions,  when  they  are  of  a  character  to  give 
information  to  many,  as  well  as  to  the  one.  The 
young  wood  will  inarch  readily  with  the  older 
wood,  but  it  may  take  longer  to  unite. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 

Stirring  the  Surface  Soil  of  Orchards.— E., 
Vineland,  N.  J.,  says  : — "  Some  years  ago,  you 
delivered  a  lecture  before  our  Vineland  Agricul- 
tural Society  on  your  '  New  Method  of  Orchard 
(&c.)  Culture,'  which  created  quite  an  agitation 
here.  In  the  light  of  recent  studies  of  mulch  vs. 
drouth,  and  various  other  matters,  I  cannot  rest 
without  taking  the  liberty  of  requesting  you  to 
put  me  in  a  way  to  get  a  full  view — general  and 
special,  theoretical  and  practical — of  your  sys- 
tem. I  should  like  to  study  all  the  literature  ex- 
tant of  the  system,  in  books,  periodicals,  &c,  'from 
the  earliest  period  to  the  present  time.'  Will  you 
kindly  assist  me  all  you  can  in  this  matter?  I 
want  to  know  all  about  it — its  rise,  its  growth, 
and  its  success ;  and  particularly  whether  it  has 
been  applied  to  general  farm  culture,  as 
well  as  to  orchards  and  vineyards.  I  had  not 
the  pleasure  of  listening  to  you  while  lecturing 
here,  and  only  saw  partial  reports,  and,  I  fear, 
one-sided  critiques  of  your  lecture  in  our  local 
papers,  and  occasionally  heard  mere  common- 
sense  discussions  of  your  system  at  our  Farmers' 
Club,  &c.  And  besides,  my  mind  was  not  then 
ripe  for  the  full  and  exhaustive  consideration  of 
your  new  departure  in  agriculture.    I  am  fully 


ready  to  study  it  now,  and  experiment  on  it  in  a 
small  way. 

"  Please  give  me  a  list  of  its  bibliography. 
Among  other  things  where  can  I  see  a  copy  of 
the  revolutionary  lecture  which  you  delivered 
here." 

[The  Editor  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  has  no 
time  to  write  lectures,  hence,  when  he  gives  ad- 
dresses before  associations  or  elsewhere,  they  are 
always  extemporized  for  the  occasion,  and  as  the 
reporters,  therefore,  have  not  the  help  of  notes 
even  to  make  up  reports  from,  people  who  read 
the  papers  do  not  always  get  the  right  ideas  of 
the  discourse.  This  is  true  of  the  Vineland  lec- 
ture given  there  many  years  ago. 

As  regards  the  matter  in  question,  there  is  no 
particular  system  about  it,  for  the  practice  must 
vary  with  the  occasion.  What  the  Editor  has 
taught  in  this  matter  he  lays  no  claim  to,  the 
practice  was  in  existence  long  before  he  was 
born — all  he  has  done  is  to  make  the  practice 
popular  by  showing  its  good  points. 

In  the  olden  times,  when  people  spoke  of 
"  cultivating  "  an  orchard,  they  meant  treating 
it  according  to  those  rules  of  garden  art,  which 
resulted  in  the  healthiest  trees  and  full  crops  of 
the  best  fruits.  But  in  our  day  the  hoe-harrow 
was  invented,  and  the  makers  called  them  "  cul- 
tivators," and  thus  when  any  one  reads  that  our 
fathers  well-cultivated  their  orchards,  they  im- 
agine it  means  that  they  kept  these  machines 
running  up  and  down  among  the  trees  all  Sum- 
mer. And  so  firmly  was  this  erroneous  notion 
imbedded  in  people's  minds,  that  the  Editor  of 
the  Monthly,  was  charged  with  advocating  ne- 
glected "  culture  "  because  he  contended  that  this 
working  of  the  soil  was  not  "good  cultivation." 
Most  of  the  misconception  of  his  views  arose 
from  thie  misunderstanding,  and  even  now,  those 
who  fail  with  grass  culture,  are  generally  those 
who  let  the  grass  starve  the  trees. 

As  a  general  rule  a  good  grass  crop  is  a  good 
paying  crop  in  any  part  of  the  country.  It  will 
grow  under  trees  better  than  cabbage,  potatoes, 
or  any  other  farm  crop.  When  people  grow  po- 
tatoes, wheat,  or  any  grain  or  vegetables  under 
orchard  trees,  they  have  to  manure  them,  and 
we  ask  manure  for  the  grass  as  well ;  then  you 
will  have  a  grass  crop  that  will  pay  to  cut  for 
hay,  and  in  the  most  parts  of  this  country  hay 
always  pays  for  cutting.  There  is  no  crop  that 
you  can  grow  that  takes  less  labor  than  hay,  and 
this  is  important  in  orchard  culture.  Then 
there  is  this  additional  advantage  to  the  trees — 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


149 


the  feeding  roots  are  near  the  surface,  and 
when  this  is  the  case  the  wood-growth  is  always 
healthy,  ripening  thoroughly.  Even  those  who 
"scarify"  the  orchard  surface,  always  contend 
that  they  must  leave  off  early  in  Summer,  or  the 
wood  "does  not  ripen  well,"  and  injury  follows. 
Then  you  can  never  injure  such  trees  by  over 
manuring  ;  you  may  make  a  manure  pile  around 
a  tree  whose  roots  are  on  the  surface,  and  it  will 
rather  rejoice  than  pout  at  your  treatment.  The 
trees  do  not  suffer  from  heated  soil  in  Summer, 
as  under  grass  the  earth  temperature  seldom 
rises  to  more  than  85°  in  the  hottest  weather. 

Now  you  see  these  reasons  will  vary  in  differ- 
ent places.  In  sandy  soils  the  feeding  roots  run 
deeper,  and  hence  "  cultivating,"  as  our  friends 
of  the  hoe-harrow  call  it,  is  not  so  injurious.  In 
the  North  the  hottest  Summer  sun  would  not 
raise  the  earth  temperature  over  85°,  and  there 


would  not  be  the  same  need  of  screen  from  the 
sun,  but  then  grass  keeps  the  frost  from  entering 
the  ground  deeply,  and  in  the  North  that  will  be 
a  blessing.  Then  some  people  settle  in  poor, 
very  poor  places,  where  manure  is  not  to  be  had 
for  love  nor  money,  and  then  it  is  far  better  to 
keep  down  grass  with  all  its  advantages,  than  to 
have  grass  and  trees  both  starving  together. 

So  you  see  there  is  no  "  grass  system."  We 
cannot  tell  anybody  whether  he  ought  to  have 
grass  in  his  orchard  or  clean  culture,  unless  we  saw 
it.  All  we  say  is  that  in  regular  farming  regions, 
where  people  have  the  ordinary  farming  conve- 
niences, and  where  the  ordinary  farming  routine 
can  cover  the  orchard  as  well  as  any  other  part 
of  the  farm,  more  money  can  be  made  from  a 
well-managed  orchard  in  grass,  than  from  an  or- 
chard managed  in  any  other  way.  It  is  the  cheap- 
est and  best  of  all  orchard  practices. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


IJatural  History  and  Science. 


ON  SELF-FERTILIZATION  AND  CROSS-FER- 
TILIZATION OF  FLOWERS. 

BY  THOMAS  MEEHAN,   GERMANTOWN,   PHILA. 
(Continued  from  page  118.) 

The  chief  arguments  for  the  necessity  for  in- 
sect fertilization  are  drawn  from  structure,  and 
not  from  fact.  For  instance,  we  are  told  that 
Iris,  Campanula,  Dandelion,  Ox-eye  Daisy,  the 
Garden  Pea,  Lobelia,  Clover,  and  many  others, 
are  so  arranged  that  they  cannot  fertilize  them- 
selves without  insect  aid.  I  have  enclosed  flow- 
ers of  all  these  named,  in  fine  gauze  bags,  and 
they  produced  seeds  just  as  well  as  those  ex- 
posed. I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  the  two 
first,  Iris  Virginica  and  Campanula,  producing 
seeds  under  these  circumstances,  as  they  are 
common  illustrations  of  the  necessity  of  insect 
fertilization.  In  short,  in  all  the  cases  I  have 
tested  in  this  way,  seeds  were  produced  as  well 
under  the  gauze  as  without,  except  in  one  in- 
stance— Baptisia  australis.  In  most  Papiliona- 
ceous plants  that  I  examined,  in  spite  of  the 
suggestions  of  my  friends,  I  thought  the  arrange- 
ments favored  self-fertilization  ;  not  only  by  the 
position  of  the  organs,  but  from  the  fact  that  the 
moment  anything  touched  the  flower  so  as  to 


liberate  the  pistil  or  stamens,  a  cloud  of  pollen 
floated  all  around  like  a  little  cloud;  a  disper- 
sion of  pollen,  which,  by  the  way,  in  view  of  pre- 
vailing theories,  the  class  of  flowers  with  "  fra- 
grance, color,  or  honeyed  secretions,"  ought  not 
to  make.  Genista  scoparia  will  give  an  excellent 
illustration  of  this.  But  in  Baptisia  I  did  not 
notice  this  little  cloud ;  and  it  did  seem  in  the 
actual  act  of  collecting  honey,  the  humble  bee's 
pollen  covered  abdomen  pressed  itself  closely 
down  on  the  stigma.  I  covered  a  spike  of  a 
dozen  unopened  flowers  with  a  gauze  bag,  and 
had  only  one  seed  vessel,  though  in  the  exposed 
spikes  nearly  every  one  perfected.  This  fact  may 
go  for  what  it  is  worth ;  for  be  it  remembered,  I  am 
far  from  denying  that  flowers  are  sometimes  ferti- 
lized by  the  aid  of  insects.  It  is  the  extent  of  these 
facts,  and  the  theories  to  be  deduced  from  them, 
that  I  have  to  deal.  Independently  of  trials  by 
gauze  bags  I  have  experimented  with  single 
flowers  of  some  species.  I  take  plants  of  which 
there  are  no  others  in  the  vicinity,  and  pick  off 
all  but  a  solitary  flower,  not  permitting  another 
to  open  until  the  other  has  faded,  and  if  they 
seed,  it  must  be  only  by  own  pollen.  I  was  led 
to  try  this  from  noting  a  few  first  flowers  of  GCno- 


150 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


thera  serrata,  which  open  about  noon  and  die  in 
a  few  hours,  seed  when  I  was  almost  sure  no  in- 
sects had  visited  them.  In  watching  for  this 
purpose  Talinum  teretifolium,  I  found  that  it 
opened  always  a  few  minutes  before  1  p.  m.,  be- 
gan closing  at  three,  and  by  half-past  three  had 
wholly  closed.  No  insect  visited  them  in  that 
time,  but  every  flower  seeded,  as  did  subsequent 
experiments  with  single  flowers.  An  ally,  the 
common  Purslane,  remains  expanded  only 
from  8  to  9  A.  m.,  and  is,  I  think,  an  un- 
doubted self- fertilizer,  and  yet  on  what  theory  of 
the  advantages  of  cross-fertilization  could  a  plant 
make  better  headway  through  the  world  ? 

It  is  of  course  well-known  that  some  flowers 
are  opening  and  closing  at  almost  all  houx*s  of 
the  day  and  night,  many  remaining  open  but  a 
very  short  time.  Can  this  varying  and  limited 
time  have  anything  to  do  with  insect  fertiliza- 
tion ?  Would  not  fertilization  by  insect  aid  be 
more  certain  if  at  least  a  whole  day  were  given 
for  the  chance  ?  In  my  district  the  little  florets 
of  the  Chicory  are  all  fertilized  before  8  o'clock, 
and  by  nine  have  faded  away.  This  species  is  an 
excellent  one  for  noting  how  self-fertilization  is 
effected  in  composite  plants,  as  the  pistils  are 
blue  and  the  pure  white  pollen  is  easily  seen. 
Soon  after  daylight,  the  corolla  lengthens.  After 
a  little  while  it  rests,  but  the  stamens  and  pistil 
go  on.  Then  the  stamens  cease  to  grow; 
but  the  pistil  continues  to  lengthen,  carrying 
an  immense  quantity  of  pollen  with  it.  Here 
is  the  difficulty  which  those  who  differ  from 
me  experience.  The  pistil  has  to  cleave,  and 
only  on  the  interior  of  the  clefts  seems  to  be  the 
stigmatic  surface ;  the  pollen  then  must — it  is  said, 
— rest  of  necessity  only  on  the  exterior,  where 
it  cannot  operate.  But  if  any  one  will  get  up 
early  and  spend  a  couple  of  hours  in  watching 
the  development  of  the  flower,  driving  away  an 
occasional  sand  wasp  that  would  like  to  gather 
the  pollen,  he  will  find  there  is  not  a  cloven  pis- 
til that  has  not  some  pollen  on  the  interior  stig- 
matic surfaces.  Of  what  avail  are  "mustbe's" 
against  positive  facts  like  these  ?  But  if  he  watch 
closely  he  will  see  that  this  pollen  falls  into  the 
chasm  made  by  the  opening  stigmas.  In  the 
language  of  my  friends,  it  is  a  "beautiful  ar- 
rangement" for  ensuring  self-fertilization.  If 
further,  we  allow  the  sand  wasps  to  work  at  pol- 
len gathering,  we  find  that  while  clearing  the 
pistils  of  pollen,  they  push  quantities  into  the 
clefts,  and  arc,  therefore,  agents  in  self-fertiliza- 
tion, instead  of  the  reverse.    I  have  observed  the 


same  in  Dandelion  and  the  Ox-eye  Daisy,  Chrys- 
anthemum leucanthemum,  as  well  as  I  am  s*ure 
that  thousands  flower  and  perfect  seeds  that  no 
insect  visits.  There  seems  to  be  something  yet 
inexplicable  as  to  how  some  flowers  become  fer- 
tilized. In  Cirsium  (C.  Pitcheri)  and  many  others 
of  that  section,  what  in  others  is  a  bifid  stigma, 
is  nearly  entire,  the  stigmatic  surfaces  being 
almost,  or  perhaps  in  some  case3  wholly  united 
together.  Cirsium  Pitcheri  has  very  long  pistils. 
The  honey  bee  seems  very  fond  of  the  flowers. 
It  works  between  the  pistils.  I  have  never  de- 
tected a  grain  of  pollen  on  the  almost  entire 
apex,  though  the  sides  are  covered  as  in  other 
composites.     But  it  seeds  abundantly. 

I  think  the  peculiar  closings  of  flowers  are  as 
much  designs  for  effecting  self-fertilization,  as 
for  anything  else.  It  does  effect  it  in  Ranuncu- 
lus, Claytonia,  and  most  likely  in  the  Iris  en- 
closed in  the  gauze  bag,  and  perhaps  in  many 
plants  with  flowers  that  close  and  twist  up  in 
fading.  In  Ranunculus,  on  the  first  day's  open- 
ing of  the  flower,  the  outer  of  the  numerous  rows 
of  pistils  throw  their  pollen  on  the  glazed  petals. 
These  close  at  night,  and  the  pollen  is  dropped 
in  over  the  hollow  in  which  are  the  mass  of  per- 
fect pistils.  I  refer  to  R.  bulbosus.  In  Claytonia 
(C.  Virginica)  the  same  thing  occurs  with  the 
early  flowers,  so  far  as  drawing  the  stamens  up 
to  the  pistils  is  concerned.  In  the  later  flowers 
the  anthers  recurve  more,  and  in  the  closing  at 
night  are  drawn  under  the  pistils,  and  hence  we 
find  seed  here  only  from  the  earliest  flowers. 
These  illustrations  are  not  uncommon.  Even  in 
wind  fertilizing  flowers  the  times  of  opening  and 
closing  of  certain  parts  of  the  flowers,  maybe 
worth  a  study.  I  find  Luzula  campestris — the 
wood  form — bursts  its  anthers  about  9  o'clock 
A.  m.  By  ten,  the  pollen  is  committed  to  the 
atmosphere.  As  its  own  pistil  has  dried  up  by 
this  time,  having  expanded  two  days  before,  it 
cannot  fertilize  its  own  pistil.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  it  would  not  be  just  as  well  if  it  could. 
This  precision  and  uniformity  as  to  time,  shows 
that  there  are  other  considerations  involved  in 
the  acts  connected  with  fertilization,  besides 
those  usually  suspected. 

(To  be  continued.) 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Nymph. ica  LUTEA. — The  yellow  water  lily  that 
figured  in  Audubon,  has  been  re-discovered  in 
Florida,  by  Mrs.  Mary  Treat. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


151 


Hollyberries. — In  reference  to  the  suggestion 
made  to  us  by  a  correspondent  lately  in  regard 
to  Mr.  Darwin's  views  on  the  relation  of  insects 
to  the  scarcity  of  Hollyberries,  it  is  but  right  to 
note  that  Mr.  Darwin  himself,  has  since  written 
a  letter  to  say,  that  on  further  reflection,  he 
thinks  he  was  wrong. 

Seeding  of  the  Horse  Radish. — If  any  one 
finds  seed  on  the  Horse  Radish,  some  specimens 
would  be  thankfully  received  by  the  Editor. 

Poisoning  by  Ampelopsis  Virginica. — The  fol- 
lowing paragraph  is  going  the  rounds  of  the 
papers,  and  we  give  it  here  in  order  to  express 
an  opinion  that  it  is  a  case  of  mistaken  identity. 
In  our  own  country  the  Rhus  radicans — poi- 
son vine — is  often  taken  for  the  Ampelopsis — 
Virginia  creeper, — and  it  may  be  so  abroad.  The 
Ampelopsis  belongs  to  the  grape  vine  family, 
and  closely  allied  to  the  grape,  and  it  is  scarcely 
probable  it  should  be  poisonous  : — 

"  The  details  of  two  cases  of  poisoning  by  the 
well  known  Virginian  creeper  or  American  ivy 
(Ampelopsis  hederacea)  have  been  communi- 
cated to  the  medical  papers  by  Mr.  Bernays,  of 
Chatham,  England.  The  sufferers  were  two 
children,  aged  respectively  two  and  a  half  and 
five  years,  who  had  chewed  som«  leaves  of  the 
plant,  swallowing  only  the  juice.  They  were 
quickly  seized  with  violent  vomiting  and  purg- 
ing, with  considerable  tenesmus,  then  collapse, 
sweating,  and  faint  pulse,  followed  by  deep  sleep 
for  two  hours,  from  which  they  were  aroused  by 
a  return  of  the  vomiting  and  purging.  Milk, 
with  some  rum  mixed  in  it,  was  freely  adminis- 
tered, under  which  treatment  the  children  soon 
recovered ;  but  four  hours  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  attack  there  wyas  considerable  dila- 
tion of  the  pupil." 

Double-headed  Calla. — Mr.  Flitton  sends  us 
a  very  pretty  Calla,  with  two  spathes.  We  have 
occasionally  seen  these  double-headed  forms,  but 
never  so  perfect  as  this.  The  first  or  lowest 
"  flower  "  is  very  fine,  6  inches  long  by  5  wide. 
Then  instead  of  the  ordinary  spadix  (the  orange- 
colored  column)  there  is  a  stem  of  two  inches 
and  then  a  perfect,  but  smaller  flower. 

Such  specimens  are  very  interesting  to  the 
students  of  morphology,  as  illustrating  by  exam- 
ple what  is  usually  taught  by  theory.  The  solid 
stem  or  flower  stalk  of  a  Calla,  is  formed  of  a 


mass  of  leaves  rolled  up,  and  united  together 
into  a  round  stalk,  and  the  usual  white  spathe  is 
merely  the  leaf  blade  very  much  reduced.     The 


spadix  is  formed  of  other  leaf  blades,  but  so  com- 
pletely united  together  and  transformed  that  no 
mere  observer  would  suspect  it.  In  the  case  before 
us,  the  apex  of  a  leaf  got  free  from  the  consoli- 
dating power  before  the  proper  time,  as  the  two 
inches  of  flower  stalk  above  shows ;  and  the  same 
power  that  thus  favored  the  leafy  character  of 
the  plant  in  this  way  enabled  it  to  form  another 
spathe.  How  near  the  lower  spathe  came  to  be- 
ing a  perfect  leaf  blade  is  shown  by  the  green  tip. 
Since  the  above  was  written  we  have  a  photo- 
graph of  one,  exactly  the  same,  from  Mr.  Valen- 
tine Burgeoin,  Kingston,  N.  Y. 

Gilia  Parry^e. — A  correspondent  of  the  Rural 
Press,  taking  this  plant  as  a  text,  is  exasperated 
that  botanists  should  name  plants  after  individ- 
uals.    He  says : — 

"  The  point  I  wish  to  set  forth  is  this  :  That 
the  interest  of  the  people,  and  full  as  much  of 
science,  would  be  better  served  by  bestowing 
upon  new  plants  (and  upon  many  old  ones), 
names  derived  from  some  peculiarity  in  form, 
color  or  habit  of  the  plant.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  Diiliscus  coerulea;  one  who  has  had  any  ac- 
quaintance with  Latin  at  once  imagines  a  blue 
flower." 

But    why    should  ecerulea  mean    blue  flower, 
anymore  than  Virgilia  lutea  which  means  yellow 
wood.    But  supposing  a  botanist  should  follow 
this  gentleman's  advice,  and  give  the  name  of 
ecerulea  to  the  first  blue  flower  of  a  genus  that 
he  finds,  what  is  he  to  do  when   he  finds  more 
blue  species?     People  often  complain  of  bot- 
anists and  botanicaj.  language,  as  if  the  object  of 
a  botanist  were  to  make  the  study  as  difficult  as 
possible,  when  it  is  just  the  reverse.     Only  for 
their  care  it  would  be  impossible  to  study  the 
science.       People   who    complain    about    these 
things  know  nothing  about  the  subject.     If  their 
correspondence  wrere  in  the  shape  of  inquiries, 
instead  of  complaints,  there  would  be  more  rea- 
son in  it.     In  this  very  instance,  the  correspon- 
dent would  be  surprised  to  learn,  that  a  specific 
name  which  means  nothing,  is  less  likely  to  mis- 
lead than  one  which  means  something;  and  it  is 
no  doubt  the  perception  of  this  that  leads  to  the 
growing  practice  of  naming  plants  after  persons 
associated  with  their  discovery.      Such   names 
have  the  advantage  of  historic  value  at  least. — 
[Ed.  G.  M.] 

Echinocactus  Simpsoni. — Magazine  work  is 
not  like  book-making,  and  in  the  necessary  haste 
involved,  mistakes  are  more  likely  to  occur  ;  and 
when  thev  do  occur,  are  more  excusable.     We 


152 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


offer  this  apology  in  advance  for  the  London  Gar- 
den, which  has  recently  given  amongst  its  col- 
ored plates  a  sort  of  rock-loving  plant  with 
pentamerous  floral  parts,  and  gives  it  as  Echi- 
nocactus  Simpsoni !  It  is  seldom  that  we 
notice  the  errors  of  our  contemporaries,  hav- 
ing enough  to  do  to  look  after  our  own,  but 
as  this  one  will  cause  much  confusion,  we  hope 
our  gOod  neighbor  will  pardon  us  for  noting  it. 


QUERIES. 


Eucalyptus  in  Philadelphia. — Letter  from 
Mr.  Price. — Only  this  morning  your  short  ar- 
ticle, "Eucalyptus  in  our  climate,"  caught  my 
eye.  It  strikes  me  as  in  a  slight  degree  un- 
charitable towards  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  and  Mr.  Davenport.  The  latter  in 
speaking  of  the  Eucalyptus  of  Australia  that 
might  grow  here,  was  not  speaking  of  the  tropi- 
cal kind  that  has  been  transplanted  into  South 
California  and  the  North  of  Africa,  but  of  a 
mountain  Eucalyptus  that  grows  in  South  Aus- 
tralia, outside  the  tropics,  and  several  thou- 
sand feet  in  height.  Mr.  Davenport  was  the 
very  intelligent  Commissioner  at  the  Centennial 
from  South  Australia,  and  only  referred  to  the 
Eucalyptus  that  grew  on  "Australian  Alps  and 
Pyrenees,"  as  worthy  of  trial  in  our  climate. 
The  Society  expressed  no  opinion  on  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  there  can  be  found  a  species 
that  will  grow  here.  If  the  Society  should 
commit  an  error  in  botany  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  blame  should  fall  upon  you  and  several 
other  botanists  who  are  members,  but  seldom 
attend  its  meetings,  rather  than  upon  the  geolo- 
gists, zoologists,  chemists,  doctors  and  lawyers, 
&c,  who  do  attend.  Of  this  I  assure  you,  that  if 
Mr.  Davenport  shall  send  to  me,  as  he  promised 
to  do,  the  Mountain  Eucalyptus  seeds,  I  will 
give  them  a  trial  in  the  Park.  It  will  cost  the 
city  nothing;  and  if  they  fail,  you  are  welcome 
to  say,  "I  told  you  so,"  but  if  they  succeed,  I 
expect  you  to  be  the  first  to  commend  the  at- 
tempt. 

Mummy  Wheat. — A  correspondent  sends  us 
a  specimen  which  proves  to  be  a  species  of 
Sorghum,  which  he  raised  from  seed  "un- 
doubtedly "  obtained  from  an  "Egyptian  mum- 
my," and  kindly  offers  to  give  friends  who  send 
a  stamp,  some  of  the  precious  seeds.  Under  the 
names  of  Egyptian   corn,  Dourra  corn,  and  Up- 


land Rice,  bushels  and  bushels  of  it  already 
exist  in  this  country.  It  is  sometimes  grown  as 
chicken  feed,  and  is  of  little  value  for  anything 
else.  We  think  our  readers  may  save  their 
stamps.  We  are  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  say  to 
our  correspondent  that  though  to  him  "un- 
doubted," if  he  will  examine  closer  he  will 
find  he  has  been  cheated  by  an  Egyptian.  These 
people  are  at  least  no  better  than  Christians, 
and  we  know  even  these  will  impose  on  any 
traveler  who  has  a  tendency  to  the  marvelous. 
No  grain  has  been  proved  to  keep  vital  any- 
where near  two  thousand  years — nor  any  vege- 
table matter.  It  is  surprising  that  people  can 
be  so  easily  deceived.  The  good  Lord  Lind- 
say tells  us  that,  in  the  course  of  his  wan- 
derings amid  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  he  stumbled 
on  a  mummy,  proved,  by  its  hieroglyphics,  to  be 
at  least  two  thousand  years  of  age.  On  examin- 
ing the  mummy  after  it  was  unwrapped,  he  found 
in  one  of  its  closed  hands  a  bulb,  which,  when 
planted  in  a  suitable  situation,  grew  and  bloomed 
a  beautiful  Dahlia.  The  Turk  who  unwrapt 
that  mummy  must  have  felt  that  he  had  an 
extra  specimen  in  the  case  of  his  lordship;  and 
evidently  made  an  extra  effort  to  please. 

Rotting  of  SSeds  in  Spring. — S.  S.  S.,  Roches- 
ter, writes : — Knowing  you  to  be  one  of  those  who 
see  "sermons  in  stones"  and  "good  in  everything" 
(save  the  U.  S.  postal  laws),  I  send  you  an  Apple 
seed  of  peculiar  formation  —  think  it  may 
interest  you  in  some  way.  In  eating  a  Swaar 
just  now  I  found  this  double  seed.  I  think  I 
never  saw  seeds  grown  together  before.  And  I 
seldom  eat  fruit  of  pear  or  apple  without  ex- 
amining the  seeds  in  an  idle  sort  of  way.  I  could 
almost  tell  the  sort  by  the  seed,  so  distinct  are 
the  seeds  of  different  varieties. 

By-the-way,  speaking  of  seeds,  will  you  in  a 
note  in  the  Monthly  tell  your  readers  why  it  is 
that  if  they  plant  the  Squash,  Cucumber  or  Mel- 
lon seed  a  day  too  early  in  the  Spring,  while  the 
ground  is  too  cold  and  wet,  the  seed  will  rot; 
and  if  this  same  seed  becomes  accidentally 
covered  in  the  Fall  by  some  earth — as  often 
happens  when  a  neglected  Squash  is  buried  in 
the  Fall — this  seed  comes  up  promptly  in  the 
Spring.  How  does  it  come  that  a  little  lack  of 
warmth  in  Spring  will  rot  the  seed;  and  yet  it 
will  lay  in  the  water,  frost,  &c,  for  months,  and 
grow.  There  must  be  some  principle  governing; 
what  is  it?  Is  the  vitality  of  seed  weakened  by 
drying?     Shed  the  "light  of  knowledge." 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


153 


[The  double  seed  is  interesting,  as  is  the  in- 
quiry about  the  rotting  of  seeds.  We  know  that 
Pumpkin  and  Squash  will  remain  out  in  the 
ground  and  grow  in  Spring.  We  have  not  seen 
cases  of  Melons  and  Cucumbers,  but  have  no 


doubt  that  they  will;  and  yet,  as  S.  says,  they 
rot  easily  in  the  ground  if  planted  in  Spring 
before  their  time.  Guessing  at  the  cause  of 
this  difference  would  do  little  good.  It  is  worthy 
of  a  patient  investigation.     Ed.  G.  M.] 


ITERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  PERSONAL  If  OTES. 


GOMMUNIGA  TIONS. 


GARDENING  GOSSIP  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 

BY   A.    H.   WILSON. 
(Concluded  from  page  121.) 

To  turn,  however,  from   these  establishments 
where  we  have  perhaps  lingered  too  long.  There 
were  in  that  day  many  men   of  mark  outside, 
who  were  more  or  less   connected   with   them, 
and  intimately  with  the  profession.     John  Clau- 
dius Loudon  having  with  his  characteristic  skill 
and   unwearied   industry    compiled    his    bulky 
Encyclopaedias  of  Gardening,  Agriculture,  Plants, 
and  Cottage,  Farm,  and  Villa  Architecture,  was 
busily  engaged  on  his  last  great*  work,   the  En- 
cyclopaedia  of  Trees    and    Shrubs   (Arboretum 
et  Fruticetum   Britannicum).     Having,  when  a 
young  man,  been  seriously  injured  by  machinery 
he  labored  under  great  physical  disadvantages, 
but  was  ably  assisted  by  Messrs.  Rauch,  Masters, 
(now  Dr.  Masters,  the  well-known  savant,)  and 
others ;   but   especially  by  his  talented  and  de- 
voted wife,  herself  an    authoress  on  her  own  ac- 
count,  of  several  novels  and  gardening  books, 
with    which   lady   amateurs,   in    particular    are 
familiar,  as  well  as  editress  of  some  of  her  late 
husband's  works.     All  who  are   acquainted  with 
Loudon's  writings — and  what  professional  son  of 
Adam  is  not? — will  admit  that  without   absolute 
prolixity,  he  is  most  prolific  in  ideas  and  profuse 
in  illustrations;  his  subject  grows  upon  him  and 
he  treats  it  in  every  possible   aspect.    The  story 
goes  that  his  publishers,  Longman  &  Co.,  wish- 
ing to  have  an   abridgement  of  "  Abercrombie's 
Gardener's  Manual " — a  book  which,  (if  I  rightly 
remember  the  title  and  price,)  was  sold  at  about 
$2  or  $2.50 — placed  it  in  Loudon's  hands  for  that 
purpose.     In  an  incredibly  short  time  he  pro- 
duced the  sheets  of  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Garden- 
ing, containing  at  least  ten  times  the  amount  of 
matter,  he  was  commissioned  to  abridge.     Long- 


man, of  course,  rejected  them  as  an  abridgement 
but  Loudon  found  the  means  to  publish  the  book, 
and  as  it  was  selling  freely  at  $12.50,  Longman 
was  glad  to  secure  the  copyright  after  all. 
Robert  Sweet  had  then  finished  his  Flower  Gar- 
den; .the  Botanical  Cabinet  was  then  being  con- 
ducted by  Loddiges,  the  Botanical  Magazine  by 
Hooker,  Botanist  by  Maund,  the  Magazine  of 
Botany  by  Pax  ton,  the  Gardener's  Magazine  by 
Loudon,  the  Botanical  Register  by  Lindley,  who 
in  addition  to  his  numerous  other  botanical 
works,  started  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  a  few 
years  afterwards,  and  edited  it  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death. 

Of  nurserymen,  Loddiges  of  Hackney,  had  the 
finest  collection  and  largest  specimens  of  Palms, 
Screw  Pines,  Tree  Ferns  and  similar  plants  in 
England ;  in  after  years,  when  the  lease  of  the 
grounds  had  expired,  and  the  stock  was  to  be 
sold,  a  glorious  opportunity  was  offered  to  Sir 
Joseph  Paxton,  who  purchased  and  transferred 
most  of  the  best  to  the  Crystal  Palace  then  just 
erected,  where  after  flourishing  for  a  few  years, 
they  were  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
could  not  be  replaced.  Joseph  Knight  was 
almost  as  celebrated  for  new  and  good  things  in 
his  place  at  Chelsea,  as  his  successors,  Veitch  & 
Son,  (formerly  of  Exeter,)  are  in  the  present  day  ; 
Chandler,  at  Vauxhall,  was  noted  for  his  vast  and 
varied  collection  of  Camellias;  Rollissons,  of 
Tooting,  were  coming  to  the  front  with  Orchids. 
There  were  the  Lees,  of  long  standing,  at  Ham- 
mersmith ;  Ronalds  at  Brentford  ;  Wheatly  at 
Fulham ;  Lowe  at  Clapton ;  and  others  of  familiar 
name  and  high  standing  in  and  about  London, 
beside  provincial  celebrities,  Lucombe,  Exeter  ; 
Pontey,  Plymouth ;  Skirving,  Liverpool ;  Cree, 
Addlestone ;  and  Dicksons,  of  note  in  almost 
every  large  town  in  Britain.  Wilmot  was  grow- 
ing his  strawberries  and  raising  new  sorts  at 
Islewort;  Chapman,  grapes  at  Vauxhall;  Myatt, 
rhubarb  at   Deptford  ;   Grayson,  cultivating  bis 


154 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


twenty-three   acres  of  asparagus    at    Mortlake. 
The  Practical  Gardener,  Charles  Mcintosh,  reigned 
at  Claremont,   as  locum  ten  ens  for  Prince  Leo- 
pold, (promoted  in  1832  to  the  throne   of  Bel- 
gium,) himself  to  be  soon   after   transferred  to 
the  Duke  of  Buccleuch's  gardens   at    Dalkeith 
Park.     Mearns  was  coiling  his  vines   in  pots  at 
Welbeck,  and  stirring  the  hearts  of  the  garden- 
ing world  by  the  results  which  he  professed  to 
have  achieved ;  Ferguson  ruled  over  the  Ducal 
gardens  at  Stowe,    once  the  finest  place  in  Eng- 
land; Forrest  held  rule  under  another  Duke  (of 
the  Smithson  family)   at  Syon ;    Paxtun  was  the 
little  duke  and  adviser  in  all  things  at   Chats- 
worth ;    Sinclair  had   quitted   the  Bedford  con- 
nection  with    his    Gramineum,    Salictum    and 
Ericetum,(Woburnense  respectively,)  to  become 
partner  in  the  New  Cross  Nurseries,   and  been 
succeeded  by  James  Forbes,   of  whom  little  can 
be  said,  excepting  that  he  was  a  good  practical 
gardener,  and  "  boss  "  for  a  time,   over  your  re- 
spected townsman,  the  late  Chas.  E.  Sutherland. 
It  is   time,  however,  that  my  discursive  gossip 
ended.     Allow  me,  in  closing,  to   make   one  re- 
mark.    Forty  years  is  only  a  short  step  in  the 
world's  history,   and  a  short   time  to  look  back 
upon,  but  the  last  forty  years  have  brought  won- 
derful changes,   especially  in  the  advancement 
of  science  and  its  application  to  the  useful  arts. 
Gardening  was  the  first  of  these  in  point  of  time, 
and   having  been   closely   associated    with    the 
wants,  the  habits  and  the  tastes   of  mankind  in 
all   generations,    has    perhaps    advanced    more 
steadily  than  any  other,  but  it  does  not  appear  to 
me  (and  those  aside  can  best  mark  the  speed  of 
what  is  passing)  that  she  has  not  of  late  years 
progressed  so  rapidly  as  some  others,  especially 
as  her  sister,  Agriculture,  and  that  gardeners  are 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  better  acquainted  with  botany, 
physiology,  chemistry,  and  other  matters  of  sci- 
ence   connected  with   their   calling,  than    they 
were  half  a  century  ago.     How  oiten  do  we  meet 
with  men  fairly  schooled  in  "  the  three  R's,"  in- 
telligent as  regards  every-day  matters  and  cur- 
rent events,  by  dint  of  training,  observation  and 
experience,  passing  muster  as  good  gardeners, 
and  often  achieving  wonderful  results;    familiar 
with   the  name   of  almost  every   plant    which 
passes  under  their  eyes  or  through  therr  hands, 
yet  spelling  and  pronouncing  the  names  of  those 
plants  most  barbarously,  and  are  utterly   unac- 
quainted with  the  first  principles  of  growth  and 
development,   the  structure,   terminology,    and 
affinities  or  classification  of  plants  or  any  of  the 


scientific  aids  to  intelligent  and  successful  culti- 
vation. Lindley  used  to  say,  "As  well  call  the 
man  a  carpenter  who  knows  the  names  of  the 
tools  in  a  carpenter's  chest,  as  the  man  who 
knows  the  names  only  of  plants,  a  botanist.  Gar- 
deners to  be  successful  must  be  thoughtful,  stu- 
dious, observant  men,  and  as  a  class,  are  much 
respected;  but  even  a  small  amount  of  culture 
and  scientific  knowledge  would  increase  their 
interest  in,  and  simplify  the  operations  they  too 
often  perform  mechanically,  while  it  tended 
to  their  social  elevation  and  their  being  recog- 
nized as  men  of  education  and  refinement. 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


The  Centennial  Pomological  Judges.— We 
find  the  following  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Wor- 
cester Co.  (Mass.)  Horticultural  Society:— 

"  Upon  one  feature  of  this  Pomological  Exhi- 
bition, however,  it  would  be  impossible  to  en- 
large in  too  strong  terms  of  censure.  Massachu- 
setts, Ohio  and  New  York  were  wholly 
unrepresented  upon  the  Committee  of  Judges. 
The  exclusion  of  their  statues  from  funeral 
processions  in  the  decadence  of  ancient  Rome, 
but  served  to  recall  to  mind  even  more  vividly 
the  patriots  Brutus  and  Cassius.  And  who  of  us,  in 
looking  through  the  roll  of  those  who  had  been 
selected  to  adjudicate  upon  "  Northern  Pomo- 
logical Products,"  could  fail  to  note  with  amaze- 
ment the  absence  of  such  names  as  John  A. 
Warder,  Patrick  Barry,  Charles  Downing,  John 
J.  Thomas,  and, — clarm  et  venerabile  nomen! — 
Marshall  P.  Wilder.  Honesty  is  an  indispen- 
sable qualification  for  a  just  judge,  butshould  not 
capacity  also  be  deemed  essential?" 

It  is  a  remarkable  commentary  on  this  para- 
graph that  the  utter  ignoring  of  horticulture  and 
agriculture  in  the  programme  of  judges,  and 
through  which  no  judges  for  these  departments 
were  appointed,  was  the  work  of  a  New  England 
man.  The  judges  who  did  serve,  did  so  without 
any  recognition  from  the  Centennial  Commis- 
sion, and  without  any  arrangement  for  pay, 
while  the  regular  judges  had  both.  They  worked 
steadily  at  this  for  from  two  to  four  days  a  week 
for  six  months,  and  then  were  told  that  as  there 
was  no  provision  made  for  Pomological  judges, 
their  services  were  expected  to  be  gratuitous. 
If  Downing,  Warder,  Thomas,  Barry,  Wilder,  or 
that  other  gentleman  Clarm  E.  V.  Nomen,  of 
whom  we  never  heard  before,  were  willing  to 
undertake  this  long  and  weary  service   out  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


155 


pure  desire,  as  pomologists,  to  see  some  justice 
done  to  the  great  pomological  interests,  such 
knowledge  of  their  disposition  never  came  to 
Philadelphia :— nor  we  do  not  know  that  either 
Brutus  or  Cassius  ever  did  work  like  this ;  but 
if  Massachusetts  have  any  of  these  noble  Ro- 
mans in  these  days,  she  is  quite  welcome  to  send 
some  of  them  along  next  time. 

While  on  this  unpleasant  subject,  we  may  take 
the  occasion  to  do  justice  to  three  of  these  judges 
— Hoopes,  Satterthwaite  and  Parry.  These  gen- 
tlemen would  have  been  extensive  exhibitors 
had  they  not  been  judges.  They  would  undoubt- 
edly have  received  honors  as  such,  the  record  of 
which  they  would  have  been  proud  to  have 
handed  down  to  those  who  would  follow  them 
as  memorials  of  their  work  in  the  first  one  hun- 
dred years  of  American  progress;  but  all  of  this 
was  sacrificed,  because  they  could  not  as  judges 
honorably  report  on  their  own  productions.  It 
is  also  but  fair  to  state  that  while  the  pomologi- 
cal judges  from  other  parts  of  the  country,  who 
were  called  in  during  the  heavy  week  to  assist, 
by  the  Commission,  were  paid  $100  for  the  week's 
work,  and  which  they  earned  much  better  than 
some  of  the  regular  judges  in  other  departments, 
even  this  trifle  was  refused  to  the  Philadelphia 
judges  for  six  months  work,  and  it  was  not  until 
long  after  the  Exhibition  closed,  that  the  more 
honorable  members  of  the  Commission  shamed 
their  associates  into  giving  them  at  least  enough 
to  reimburse  them  for  the  food  they  had  eaten  on 
the  grounds  during  the  time  they  were  engaged 
in  the  Commission's  work. 

We  make  these  remarks  without  the  gentle- 
men forming  that  jury  knowing  anything  of 
what  we  Avrite.  But  it  is  but  simple  justice  to 
them.  The  Commission  would  not  go  behind 
the  work  of  the  New  England  gentleman,  who 
arranged  the  programme  and  left  out  Pomology; 
the  gentlemen  forming  the  jury  knew  there  was 
little  chance  of  their  being  recognized,  yet  at 
the  request  of  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Agri- 
culture, threw  themselves  into  a  great  task, 
where  there  was  no  prospective  honor  or  profit, 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  great  Pomo- 
logical interests  of  the  country  from  utter  dis- 
grace. They  did  at  least  expect  to  get  the  thanks 
of  the  pomological  community  for  this  work ; 
but  so  far,  nothing  whatever  has  appeared  of  this 
character,  but  very  much  of  which  this  extract 
is  a  choice  specimen  has,  and  this  is  their  re- 
ward ! 

The  Tumble  Weed. — Quoting  our  recent  re- 


marks, the  Prairie  Farmer  says  : — "Oh  no!  The 
tumble  bug — which  by  the  way  is  not  a  bug — 
could  only  make  use  of  the  weed  as  a  means  of 
transportation  for  itself.  The  difficulty  among 
the  masses  is,  they  have  no  time  to  learn  scien- 
tific names.  They  leave  that  for  the  little  circle 
of  savants  who  do  the  christening.  The  plant 
is  the  white  Amaranth,  Amaranthus  albus,  of 
the  botanists.  We  think,  however,  it  is  not  the 
introduced  variety,  but  a  cousin  indigenous  to 
the  West,  growing  in  clearings,  in  newly-culti- 
vated prairie  land,  and  intended,  perhaps,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  scaring  farmers'  teams  in 
the  Autumn  when  the  tumblers  are  flying  about 
the  roads  and  fields." 

This  confirms  what  Mr.  Wier  says  in  regard 
to  the  identity  of  the  weed  with  its  popular 
name,  though  Amaranthus  albus  does  not  blow 
about  in  that  way,  and  Mr.  Wier  is  most  proba- 
bly correct  in  his  name,  Cycloloma.  Our  good 
cotemporary  evidently  thinks  botanical  names 
a  humbug — which  by  the  way  is  not  a  bug — and 
it  is  pleasant  to  note  that  it  took  the  time  even 
to  guess  at  Amaranthus  albus.  It  is  a  new  idea 
that  it  takes  more  time  to  learn  an  intelligible 
name,  than  one  which  requires  numberless  par- 
agraphs to  find  the  meaning  of.  Our  friend  does 
not  surely  mean  that  intelligence  is  only  fit  for 
"big  bugs" — which  by  the  way  are  not  bugs, 
but  "  the  biggest  kind  "  of  beetles  ! 

[Mr.  Weir's  article  on  this  subject,  to  which 
the  Editor  refers  in  this  note,  has  been  crowded 
out. — Proof  reader.] 

Conservatory  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Gibson. — A 
few  days  ago  we  enjoyed  the  favor  of  inspecting 
the  beautiful  conservatory  attached  to  the  city 
residence  of  Mr.  Henry  C.  Gibson,  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  structure  is  but  about  50  feet  long, 
but  is  so  arranged  by  paths  taken  round  cir- 
cular stands,  as  to  seem  double  the  size.  The 
chief  object  of  our  visit  was  to  see  a  plant  of  the 
exceedingly  rare  Vriezia  Glazouiana,  which  is 
probably  the  largest  of  all  the  Browaliaceous,  or 
to  speak  popularly,pine-apple  like  plants  known. 
It  was  throwing  up  a  flower  spike,  already  three 
feet  in  height,  and  would  probably  be  in  full 
bloom  in  a  few  weeks.  The  plant  was  placed  in 
a  huge  vase,  with  which  it  was  admirably  in  ac- 
cord. We  were  never  so  impressed  with  the 
tasteful  adaptation  of  these  ordinary  stiff  look- 
ing plants  to  high  architectural  beauty  as  on  this 
occasion.  The  greater  part  of  the  collection  is 
comprised  of  very  rare  plants,  difficult  to  pro- 
cure.    The  small   size   of  the   structure   makes 


156 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_May, 


these  choicer  articles  particularly  desirable,  as  when  throwing  up  their  new  fronds.  We  give 
there  is  no  room  for  all.  Tt  is  especially  among  an  illustration  of  Macrozamia  plumosa.  This  is 
Palms,  Cycads,  Bromeliads,  Tree-ferns,  and  |  a  very  rare  kind,  and  still  new.  What  it  will  be 
things'like  them  difficult  of  propagation  or  of  when  it  lias  a  stem  several  feet 'in  height,  as 
very°slow  growth,  that  we  have  to  look  for  just '  many  of  the  same  order  have  in  this  collection, 


MACROZAMIA   PLUMOSA. 


such  articles,  and  thus  they  constitute  the  pre- 
vailing features  of  this  beautiful  conservatory. 
Just  now  the  various  Cycads  were  particularly 
interesting  though  being  about  making  their 
new  growth.     They  are  never  so   beautiful    as 


.•an  be  imagined,  and  will  give  an  idea  "ofjTthe 
prevailing  character  of  the  vegetation  in  Mr. 
Gibson's  house. 

In  fact,  there  is  as  much  interest  in  the  sterna 
of  these  plants  as  in   the  leaves  and   (lowers  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


157 


many  others.  Here  is  a  Thrinax  elegans,  and 
all  round  the  bases  of  the  fronds,  around  the 
stem  is  a  fold  of  naturally  woven  cloth,  as  if  it 
were  being  tenderly  wrapped  by  nature  for  fear 
of  its  taking  cold ! 

Perhaps  the  most  singular  plant  in  the  whole 
house  is  a  specimen  of  the  celebrated  Thief-palm 
— Phcenicophorium  Seychellanum.  The  leaves 
on  it  being  about  six  feet  long,  by  four  wide.  It 
strikes  one  at  once  by  the  frond  being  entire, 
while  most  palms  have  more  or  less  divided 
leaves.  The  fronds  are  ^.t  the  same  time  finely 
plaited  quite  through  to  the  mid-rib,  and  would 
make  a  complete  umbrella  in  a  rain-storm,  under 
which  one  could  sit  in  luxury,  while  it  raged 
outside.  t 

The  Native  Country  of  the  Jerusalem  Ar- 
tichoke.— With  the  best  of  opportunities  for 
judging,  Prof.  Asa  Gray  believes  this  to  be  an 
improved  or  selected  variety  of  the  Helianthus 
doronocoides,  a  wild  sunflower  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  In  relation  to  its  history,  he  con- 
tributes the  following  to  the  American  Agricul- 
turist, which  is  tracing  it  pretty  closely : — 

"  The  reference  to  a  statement  in  '  Palfrey's 
History  of  New  England,' made  it  apparent  that 
there  was  evidence  upon  this  point  somewhere 
in  existence  ;  and  an  enquiry  made  of  our  most 
learned  scholar  in  Indian  lore,  Mr.  J.  H.  Trum- 
bull, of  Hartford,  Conn.,  now  brings  the  facts  to 
light. 

"It  appears  that  Sagard,  in  his  '  History  of 
Canada,'  (1636,)  and  in  his  'Grand  Voyage,' 
mentions,  as  among  the  provisions  of  the  Hu- 
rons,  '  roots  that  we  call  Canadiennes  or  Pom- 
mes  de  Canada,  and  that  they  call  Orasquienta, 
which  are  not  very  common  in  their  country. 
They  eat  them  raw  as  well  as  cooked,'  etc.  He 
mentions  potatoes  ('potates')  which  he  had 
seen  on  board  an  English  vessel,  and  which, 
'  they  say,  if  cut  in  pieces  and  planted  in  the 
earth,  in  short  time  grow  and  multiply,  like  the 
Pommes  de  Canada.'  Ibis  seems  to  show  that 
the  Huron  Indians  had  artichokes  in  cultiva- 
tion. Still  earlier,  viz.,  in  1612,  Lescarbot,  in  his 
history,  mentions  roots  found  in  the  country  of 
the  Armonchiquois  (Canada  and  Northern  New 
England),  as  big  as  turnips,  which  were  excellent 
eating,  of  a  flavor  reminding  one  of  Cardoons, 
and  which,  when  planted,  multiply  in  a  marvel- 
lous fashion.  Possibly  these  may  be  the  tubers 
of  Apios  tuberosa,  or  Ground-nut,  but  the  ac- 
count agrees  much  better  with  Artichokes.  Now 


the  evidence  which  the  old  herbalists  furnish, 
and  which  Mr.  Trumbull  has  looked  up,  make 
it  clear  that  Jerusalem  Artichokes  went  from 
Canada  to  Europe  within  a  dozen  years  after  the 
first  settlement  of  Canada,  viz.,  at  Quehec.  I 
cannot  here  enter  into  particulars ;  but  suffice 
it  to  say,  that  the  plant  was  received  in  England, 
'  Anno  1617,'  and  Italy,  early  enough  to  have  got 
the  name  'Jerusalem  Artichoke'  established  at 
the  date  of  Johnson's  edition  of  '  Gerald's  Herb- 
all,'  1633;  for  this  Jerusalem  is  doubtless  an  Eng- 
lish corruption  of  Girasol,  sunflower ;  and  the 
plant  was  at  a  very  early  date  cultivated  in  the 
Farnese  Garden." 

Irrigation  for  the  Farm,  Garden,  or  Or- 
chard :  by  Henry  Stewart,  New  York,  Orange, 
Judd  &  Co.  It  has  long  been  our  impression 
that  systems  of  irrigation  need  not  necessarily 
be  confined  to  those  parts  of  the  country  where 
there  is  little  rain.  Farming,  and  especially 
fruit  and  vegetable  gardening,  could  often  be 
made  very  profitable  by  the  adjunct  of  cheap 
watering  facilities.  We  boast  of  our  natural  ad- 
vantages in  the  shape  of  rain,  and  indeed  there 
are  many  natural  beauties  in  those  countries 
where  the  watering,  though  irregular,  comes 
from  the  clouds.  But  as  a  mere  matter  of  profit 
we  have  always  held  that  larger  and  better  crops 
ought  to  be  had  where  water  was  wholly  under 
human  control,  than  when  liable  to  have  too 
much  or  too  little  at  times  from  nature's  hand. 
We  can  give  water  just  when  the  crops  need  it, 
and  stop  when  they  have  had  enough.  We  can- 
not regulate  in  nature  watered  countries  the  too 
much  part  of  these  conditions  ;  but,  by  some  sys- 
tem of  irrigation,  we  might  be  able  to  make  up 
for  nature's  short  comings.  Generally  there  is 
nothing  cheap  enough  in  our  Eastern  cases  to 
make  it  worth  while  to  alopt. 

But  we  think,  after  reading  this  book  of  Mr. 
Stewart's,  some  people  at  least  will  think  differ- 
ently. He  explains  all  the  ways,  big  and  little, 
that  are  in  general  use  for  accomplishing  irriga- 
tion ;  and  the  person  who  in  the  East  dreads  a 
drouth  on  his  crop  of  strawberries  will  perhaps 
find  as  much  here  to  comfort  him  as  the  inhabi- 
tant of  Greeley,  Col.,  would,  who  depends  on  the 
Cache  le  Poudre  for  his  year's  supply ;  or  the 
Californian,  who  looks  to  his  windmill  to  bring 
up  from  the  depths  of  the  earth  his  daily  needs. 

Transactions  of  the  Massachusetts  Horti- 
cultural Society — Part  II.,  1876.    From  Mr. 


158 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


Eobt.  Manning,  Secretary. — These  transactions 
are  full  of  interesting  facts.  Mr.  Wilder  finds 
that  seedling  Camellias,  by  grafting  on  mature 
plants,  can  be  made  to  flower  two  years  and 
eight  months  from  the  germination  of  the  seed. 
The  Society  lost  a  valuable  member  in  October 
last,  in  the  death  of  John  Fisk  Allen,  whose 
name  is  well-known  in  connection  with  the 
growth  of  the  Victoria  regia,  after  its  first  intro- 
duction by  Mr.  Caleb  Cope.  A  large  number  of 
new  orchids  have  been  exhibited  from  time  to 
time  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Rand,  Jr.  Hovey  &  Co.  have 
succeeded  in  raising  a  dwarf  Hybrid  Azalea 
between  A.  amoena  and  A.  Indica. 

Polyanthus,  Amaryllis,  and  many  of  the  good 
old-time  flowers  seem  to  have  zealous  cultiva- 
tors about  Boston.  Rhododendrons  are  exhibited 
freely  at  the  meetings,  and  a  useful  guide  to  the 
cultivator  is  the  indication  by  marks  of  those 
which  are  hardy  there,  and  those  which  are  too 
tender  for  general  open  air  growth.  Indeed  the 
lists  of  the  best  things  exhibited  and  their  adap- 
tation to  general  wants,  are  full  in  all  the  de- 
partments, and  very  valuable.  The  premiums 
given  to  exhibitors  are  heavy.  The  six  heaviest 
recipients  in  the  flower  departments  have  been 
as  follows  : — Hovey  &  Co.,  $513 ;  James  Comley, 
$302;  E.  S.  Rand,  Jr.,  $300;  N.  Gray,  Jr.,  $200 
C.  M.  Atkinson  and  J.  B.  Moore,  $179  each.  The 
names  of  the  gardeners  to  these  gentlemen,  and 
with  whom  the  credit  is  generally  and  properly 
divided,  are  not  given.  The  fruit  premiums  are 
more  distributed;  the  highest  amount,  $151, 
being  taken  by  J.  H.  Fenno.  The  library  de- 
partment shows  a  strong  vitality — a  large  num- 
ber of  valuable  additions  being  made  during  the 
year. 

Kinsey's  Catalogue,  Dayton,  O. — The  pub- 
lisher desires  to  return  thanks  to  Mr.  Kinsey  for 
a  kind  reference  to  the  magazine  in  his  cata- 
logue. These  courtesies  work  to  mutual  advan- 
tage. The  mere  horticulture  is  assisted,  the 
better  for  nurserymen,  and  every  effort  to  help 
along  a  horticultural  magazine,  helps  horticul- 
ture. 

Messrs.  T.  T.  Southwick  &  Co.,  formerly  of 
Dansville,  N.  Y.,  are  now  permanently  located  at 
Rochester,  making  another  excellent  addition  to 
the  already  long  list  of  intelligent  nurserymen 
for  which  that  city  is  famous. 

Music— From  F.  W.  Helmick,  Publisher,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio.  "  He  holds  the  Fort  of  Heaven," 
a  "tribute  to  the  memory  of  P.   P.  Bliss."    The 


bust  of  Mr.  Bliss  is  the  central  figure  in  the  title 
page,  and  as  the  writer  of  this  once  traveled  sev- 
eral days  in  his  company,  he  can  testify  to  the 
accuracy  of  the  likeness.  Before  the  burning  at 
Ashtabula,  Mr.  Bliss  had  just  set  to  music  some 
beautiful  verses,  the  words  adopted  with  but  few 
alterations,  from  a  piece  entitled  "Not  Know- 
ing," written  by  Mrs.  Christian  K.  Ross,  some 
eight  or  nine  years  ago ;  and  it  is  among  the  most 
remarkable  of  coincidences  that  the  authors  of 
lines  so  full  of  perfect  trust  in  Providence  and 
resignation  to  the  Divine  will,  should  both  be 
called  on  so  soon  afterward  to  put  the  bitter 
chalice  to  their  lips. 


QUERIES. 


The  Thirtieth  Verse. — Mr.  Harding  writes 
to  correct  30th  verse  for  "39th"  at  p.  123,  in  last 
Monthly;  but  we  suppose  most  readers  of  the  New 
Testament  will  have  readily  detected  the  error 
of  Mr.  H.'s  copy,  which  a  too  confiding  composi- 
tor accepted  without  reference  to  the  Book  for 
confirmation. 

The  Jerusalem  Artichoke. — In  our  last,  page 
126,  we  happened  to  say  that  the  roots  of  the 
Jerusalem  Artichoke  do  not  taste  at  all  like 
Artichoke.  A  correspondent  sends  us  a  brief 
note,  referring  to  this  and  says,  "  does  it  not?  it 
is  at  least  certain  that  the  old  French  settlers 
thought  so," — referring  of  course  to  the  settlers 
in  Canada.  But  as  we  read,  it  was  the  Indians 
who  expressed  the  opinion  that  they  "  tasted  like 
Artichokes,"  and  this  would  require  them  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  taste  of  the  Artichoke,  or 
they  could  not  know  that  there  was  any  corres- 
pondence between  the  two  tastes.  The  French- 
men could  not  have  communicated  orally  to 
the  Indians  an  idea  of  what  the  Artichoke  tasted 
like,  nor  could  the  Indians  in  the  same  way  let 
the  Frenchmen  know  what  their  "species  of 
Sunflower  roots "  tasted  like.  This  sort  of 
knowledge  cannot  be  taught  in  this  way,— it  can 
only  come  from  personal  experience.  As  for  the 
Artichoke  itself,  it  is  not  as  hardy  as  the  Jerusa- 
lem Artichoke.  We  doubt  whether  the  French 
ever  raised  it  in  Canada.  Their  knowledge  of 
the  taste  must  therefore  be  confined  to  their 
recollection  of  it  as  eaten  in  their  native  land. 
The  paragraph,  to  make  any  sense  at  all,  must 
mean  that  when  the  Indians  told  the  Frenchmen 
men  had  Sunflowers  with  edible  roots,the  French- 
they  replied  that  they  must  taste  like  the  Arti- 


1877.] 


AMD  HORTICULTURIST. 


159 


chokes  they  had  known  in  France.  The  para- 
graph cannot  positively  mean  that  the  French- 
men saiv  these  roots  under  culture  by  the  Indians, 
because  if  they  had  they  would  have  known  at 
once  that  it  was  the  Jerusalem  Artichoke,  as 
both  kinds  were  well  known  in  Europe  at  that 
time.  Any  Frenchman  who  knew  enough  about 
vegetables  to  carry  the  taste  of  the  common 
Artichoke  to  this  country  with  him,  would 
surely  have  some  acquaintance  with  the  Jerusa- 
lem Artichoke.  This  is  why  we  thought  the 
paragraph  "  of  little  moment,"  and  it  is  so  plain 
that  we  did  not  expect  it  would  be  necessary  for 
us  to  enter  into  any  reason  why. 

But  having  been  thus  led  to  put  our  feet  into 
it,  we  may  as  well  go  right  on  and  give  expres- 
sion to  a  long  pent  up  doubt  that  the  Jerusalem 
Artichoke  ever  derived  the  name  from  any  fan- 
cied resemblance  to  the  common  Artichoke.  In 
his  younger  days  it  was  the  writer's  privilege  to 
be  where  both  were  often  served  up  at  table,  and 
he  could  never  detect  any  resemblance,  nor 
could  he  ever  find  any  one  who  could.  Old 
Parkinson  even  could  see  no  reason  for  such  a 
name,  and  urged  that  they  be  called,  instead, 
"  Potatoes  of  Canada."  It  is  more  likely  that 
the  whole  name  is  a  corruption  of  some  other, 
as  we  all  admit  "  Jerusalem  "  is.  The  roots  were 
sent  to  England  from  Italy  in  1617,  but  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  in   the   possession   of  Mr. 


Goodyer  before  this.  However,  it  came  to  Eng- 
land with  an  Italian  name,  Girasole  articiocco. 
From  Girasole  we  have  "  Jerusalem,"  and  no 
doubt  articiocco  gave  artichoke.  But  what  is 
articiocco?  The  mme  of  the  old  Artichoke  in 
Italy  is  Carciofo,  so  plainly,  the  Italians  did  not 
associate  the  plant  with  the  common  Artichoke. 
The  Greek  word  artutikos  signifies  "  fit  for  use 
as  a  seasoner,"  and  it  is  just  as  likely  that  the 
roots  were  at  first  used  as  an  ingredient  in  soups, 
which  is  about  all  they  ever  were  fit  for.  Even 
in  1629,  we  read  that  it  was  thought  so  poorly  of 
in  England,  that  even  the  poor  despised  it.  It 
seems  never  to  have  been  popular  as  an  article 
of  food.  There  appears  to  be  no  Italian  root 
from  whence  to  derive  the  word,  Articiocco  and 
why  may  it  not  have  been  made  up  from  the 
Greek,  just  as  such  names  are  made  up  now? 
Any  word  in  a  long  series  of  years  may  become 
corrupted.  The  French  artichaut  might  in  time 
be  made  articiocco  by  a  neighboring  people. 
But  this  will  not  do,  because  the  name  is  too 
old  for  such  an  explanation. 

Now  philology  is  not  one  of  the  special 
studies  the  Gardener's  Monthly  is  established  to 
promote.  We  venture  on  it  here  with  some 
hesitation,  but  as  the  matter  has  been  a  puzzle 
to  us  for  some  thirty  years,  we  thought  best  to 
"  out  with  the  whole  thing  "  under  our  good 
correspondent's  temptation. 


MORTICULTURAL  f&OCIETIES. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


American  Pomological  Society. — The  Ameri- 
can Pomological  Society  having  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Maryland  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, the  undersigned  give  notice  that  the  Six- 
teenth Session  of  this  National  Association  will 
be  held  in  Baltimore,  commencing  Wednesday, 
September  12th,  1877,  at  10  o'clock  a.  m.,  and 
continuing  for  three  days. 

All  Horticultural,  Pomological,  Agricultural 
and  other  kindred  Associations  in  the  United 
States  and  British  Provinces,  are  invited  to  send 
delegations  as  large  as  they  may  deem  expedi- 
ent ;  and  all  persons  interested  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  fruits  are  invited  to  be  present,  and  take 
seats  in  the  Convention. 

It  is  confidently  anticipated  that  there  will  be 
a  full  attendance  of  delegates  from  all  quarters 
of  our  country,  thereby  stimulating  more  exten- 
sive cultivation  by  the  concentrated  information 
and  experience  of  cultivators,  and  aiding  the 
society  in  perfecting  its  catalogue  of  fruits.  This 
catalogue  includes  fifty  States  and  Territories, 
most  of  which  have  their  columns  filled  with 
a  great  amount  of  information  as  to  the  fruit 
adapted  for  culture  in  the  respective  locations. 
Many  of  these  are  yet  incomplete ;  and  it  is  the 
object  of  the  society,  from  year  to  year,  to  fill 


the  blanks,  and  bring  its  catalogue  nearer  to  per- 
fection. To  accomplish  this  object  as  fully  as 
possible,  the  Chairman  of  the  General  Fruit 
Committee,  P.  Barry,  Esq.,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  will 
send  out  the  usual  circulars  of  inquiry;  and  it 
is  desirable  that  these  inquiries  should  be  an- 
swered at  an  early  day.  The  various  State  and 
local  committees  are  urged  to  respond  to  the 
circulars  as  soon  as  practicable. 

The  coming  session  will  derive  a  special  inter- 
est from  its  location  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
fruit-growing  region  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
also  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  first  meeting  held 
since  the  expiration  of  the  first  century  of  our 
national  history.  It  is  desired,  in  this  connec- 
tion, that  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  several 
States,  Territories,  and  Provinces,  should  fur- 
nish or  procure,  as  far  as  possible,  short  histori- 
cal sketches  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  fruit- 
culture  in  their  respective  districts,  from  their 
settlement  up  to  the  year  1876,  to  the  end  that 
the  forthcoming  report  may  give  a  complete 
view  of  the  pomological  history  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  country.  State  and  local  Horticul- 
tural Societies  are  respectfully  requested  4o  co- 
operate and  aid  in  this  work. 

Arrangements  will  be  made  with  hotels,  and, 
as  far  as  possible,  with  the  various  railroad  lines 
terminating  in   Baltimore,   for  a    reduction  of 


160 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[May, 


fare.  Wherever  possible,  it  would  be  best  that 
such  arrangements  should  be  made  by  the  va- 
rious delegations  with  roads  in  their  localities, 
as  rates  made  by  Baltimore  roads  will  apply 
only  to  their  lines. 

Members,  delegates,  and  societies  are  re- 
quested to  contribute  collections  of  the  fruits  of 
their  respective  districts,  and  to  communicate 
in  regard  to  them  whatever  may  aid  in  promo- 
ting the  objects  of  the  society  and  the  science  of 
American  pomology.  Each  contributor  is  re- 
quested to  prepare  a  complete  list  of  his  collec- 
tion, and  to  present  the  same  with  his  fruits, 
that  a  report  of  all  the  varieties  entered  may  be 
submitted  *••*>  the  meeting  as  early  as  practicable. 
By  vote  01  the  society,  no  money  premiums 
will  be  offered  ;  but  a  limited  number  of  Wilder 
Medals  will  be  awarded  to  meritorious  objects. 

At  the  same  time,  from  September  11  to  14 
inclusive,  the  Maryland  Horticultural  Society 
will  hold  a  grand  exhibition  of  fruits,  plants, 
flowers,  and  other  products  of  horticulture,  by 
which  an  increased  interest  will  be  given  to  the 
occasion.  % 

Packages  of  fruits,  with  the  names  of  the  con- 
tributors, may  be  addressed  as  follows  :  "Ameri- 
can Pomological  Society,  care  of  William  B. 
Sands,  Baltimore." 

All  persons  desirous  of  becoming  members 
can  remit  the  fee  to  Thomas  P.  James,  Esq., 
Treasurer,  Cambridge,  Mass.  Life-membership, 
twenty  dollars;  biennial,  four  dollars.  Life- 
members  will  be  supplied  with  back  numbers  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  society  as  far  as  possible. 
Marshall  P.  Wilder,  President, 

Boston,  Mass. 
W.  C.  Flagg,  Secretary,  Moro,  111. 

The  Secretary,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a 
more  complete  statement  of  facts,  solicits  copies 
of  all  publications  relating  to  fruit  and  fruit- 
growing, in  all  the  States,  Territories  and  Pro- 
vinces in  North  America. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 

CENTENNIAL  EXPOSITION— POMOLOGICAL 
SECTION. 

FROM  REPORT  OF  BURNET  LAVDRETH,  BUREAU  OF 
AGRICULTURE. 

The  display  of  fruit  commenced  upon  the  16th 
of  May  and  continued  without  intermission  un- 
til the  close  of  the  Exhibition.  Among  the  first 
displays  were  one  hundred  varieties  of  apples 
exhibited  by  the  Commissioners  from  Australia; 
fifty  varieties  exhibited  by  the  Michigan  State 
Centennial  Board ;  tropical  fruits  in  large  va- 
riety from  Bermuda  and  Jamaica,  and  vegetables 
also  from  Bermuda  and  of  home  growth.  Dur- 
ing the  heat  of  the  Summer,  the  display  was 
small,  but  in  August  it  rapidly  increased,  and 
by  September  1st  had  reached  proportions  so 
large  as  to  demand  more  room  than  was  afforded 
by  the  tables  in  nave  and  transept  in  Agricul- 
tural Hall.  The  Pomological  Hall  was  then  oc- 
cupied, and  for  six  weeks  consecutively.    During 


the  week  commencing  September  11th  the  Na- 
tional Pomological  Society  held  is  annual  ses- 
sion in  Philadelphia,  and  witnessed  a  display  of 
fruits  never  before  approached  in  quality,  va- 
riety and  quantity.  The  various  Pomological 
and  Horticultural  Societies  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  vied  with  each  other  on  this  occa- 
sion in  the  excellence  of  their  displays,  which 
in  the  aggregate  required  12,500  dishes  in  their 
presentation. 

The  first  of  the  following  tables  gives  the 
sources  of  supply  during  the  week  commencing 
September  10th,  and  the  second  the  result  of  the 
entire  season's  exhibitions: 


Connecticut 

Delaware 

District  Columbia 

Illinois 

Kansas 

Minnesota 

Massachusetts. . . . 

Maine 

Nebraska 

New  York 

N(w  Jersey 

North  Carolina.. . 

Nova  Scotia 

Ontario 

Oregon 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania  .... 

Wisconsin 

Michigan 

Iowa 

California 

Miscellaneous. . . . 


SO 

m 

_  o 

4,.-. 

« 

m 

0> 

3.Q 

5.S 

>  K 

•-  y. 

33 

s 

'u 

£W 

£S 

> 

p 

o 

1— t 

1 

1 

903 

393 

1 

S 

8 

1 

66 

66 

1 

1 

1 

1 

315 

200 

1 

195 

121 

16 

1 

824 

821 

1 

133 

133 

1 

1 

499 

227 

10 

1135 

1,116 

9 

72 

56 

1 

100 

58 

1 

247 

247 

13S 

1449 

408 

1 

135 

117 

1 

1 

1,008 

258 

20 

927 

539 

1 

1 

480 

381 

1 

1,000 

320 

1 

1,600 

342 

1 

1 

200 

40 

11 
213 

14 

1,000 
12,357 

215 

6,16*7 

a 
« 

S 
'3 

— 


3,520 
24 

407 

6 

1,475 

964 
3,847 

645 
3,744 
7,481 

377 

993 
1,988 
8,831 

971 
5,168 
7,653 
2,055 
7,000 
4,900 
1.400 
7,000 

70,429 


FRUITS  SHOWN    DURING   THE   EXHIBITION. 


Apples 

Crabs  

Pears 

Grapes 

Plums 

Peaches 

Nuts 

Melons 

Tropical  fruits. 

Potatoes 

Veg»tabl«s 


m 

A 

u 

m 

^o 

o 

o 

fc 

fc 

875 

40,000 

24 

1,440 

457 

11,425 

157 

3,040 

98 

1,960 

14 

96 

25 

210 

5 

20 

20 

200 

610 

1,500 

200 

1,500 

2,4(5 

61,391 

5   Q, 


280,000 

8,000 

79,975 

12,160 

13,720 

951 

1,680 

50 

1.000 

9.150 

8,000 


The  Pomological  Judges  examined  patiently 
and  critically  over  2000  distinct  dishes  of  fruits. 
No  reference  is  made  in  the  above  tables  to  the 
fruits  shown  in  State  Buildings. 

[It  is  but  justice  to  Mr.  Landreth  to  say  that, 
while  he  had  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  all 
bureaus  to  manage,  he  alone  of  all  the  superin- 
tendents of  departments,  gave  his  services  to 
the  Commission  entirely  gratuitously;  and  yet 
no  department  was  more  efficiently  served. — Ed. 
G.  M.J 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


JUNE,  1877. 


Number  222. 


<2Jv? 


LOWER  ItARDEN  AND  If  LEASURE  GROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Since  our  first  volume,  wherein  we  described 
how  to  prune  evergreens,  it  has  become  a  sort 
of  mania,  and,  where  the  principles  are  not  well 
understood,  we  notice  the  tree  is  frequently 
spoiled.  It  should  be  remembered  lhat  when 
the  sides  of  an  evergreen  is  pruned  to  make  it 
bushy,  the  leading  shoot  has  to  be  shortened  at 
the  same  time.  Shorten  this  leader  to  within  a 
foot  of  where  the  shoot  pushes,  which  you  would 
adopt  as  the  new  leader — this  will  serve  as  a 
stake  to  tie  the  new  leader  to,  which  should  be 
drawn  as  closely  to  this  "  stake,"  at  its  junction 
with  it  as  possible,  so  as  to  leave  as  little  of  a 
"  link  "  in  the  main  trunk  as  we  can  ;  next  year 
this  "  stake  "  can  be  cut  out  altogether.  It  is 
always  of  more  benefit  to  the  compact  beauty  of 
an  evergreen  to  cut  out  the  leader,  than  to 
shorten  in  the  side  shoots ;  and  in  many  cases, 
it  is  all  that  is  required  by  the  new  art.  No 
trees,  evergreens  especially,  should  have  grass 
permitted  to  grow  around  the  roots  for  a  year  or 
so  after  planting.  Grass  absorbs  moisture,  and 
the  tree  will  probably  want  all  about  it  for  itself. 
When  well  established  the  luxuriant  growth 
shades  the  ground,  and  grass  cannot  grow  then 
very  strong,  and  does  little  injury. 

Evergreen  hedges  will  require  attention  as 
they  grow.  Where  the  height  desired  has  been 
attained,  the  top  and  strong  growth  should  be  cut 
back  while  they  are  still  watery.  The  side  shoots 
need  not  be  touched  till  past  midsummer.  All 
wise  people  now  employ  the  conical  shape  for 


hedges.     In  cutting  back  the  top  growth  at  this 
season,  the  conical  form  can  still  be  preserved. 

The  care  of  the  lawn  is  always  a  leading  ob- 
ject in  a  well-kept  American  garden.  Mowing 
machines  are  often  set  too  low.  It  is  an  injury 
to  cut  grass  too  close.  Better  cut  often  and  leave 
the  grass  on  the  plants  near  half  an  inch  high. 

Next  to  the  lawn,  the  walks  are  the  most 
striking  feature  of  a  well-kept  garden.  Weeds 
should  be  taken  in  time,  and  the  labor  of  keep- 
ing them  down  will  be  very  slight.  The  edges 
or  "verges  "  should  be  trimmed  at  every  mowing 
of  the  grass-bordering;  for  which  purpose  a 
common  sheep-shears,  or  grass-edging  shears, 
made  specially  for  the  purpose  and  sold  at  most 
horticultural  stores,  should  be  kept  on  hand. 
Washing  by  heavy  rains  should  be  guarded 
against;  or  when  so  injured,   speedily  repaired. 

After  the  walks  and  lawns,  the  flower-beds 
should  be  a  constant  source  of  attention.  If  the 
plants  appear  to  suffer  by  drouth,  there  is  no 
better  remedy  than  to  place  a  fork  around  the 
plant  and  loosen  up  the  soil  deeply,  without  dis- 
turbing the  plant  more  than  can  be  avoided. 
After  being  thus  loosened,  it  will  not  dry  out 
near  as  much  as  before.  Above  all,  keep  the 
surface  continually  broken  by  hoeing  and  raking 
fine.  Nothing  is  so  sure  a  preventive  of  soil 
drying  as  a  loose,  porous  texture. 

Another  plan  with  trailing  plants,  such  as  ver- 
benas and  those  usually  employed  in  masses,  is 
to  peg  them  over  the  surface  as  fast  as  they 
grow.  They  thus  shade  the  soil,  and  so  far  check 
evaporation.    The  best  pegs  for    this    purpose 


162 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[Jujie, 


are  made  of  any  straight  twigs  about  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  or  less  in  diameter,  and  split  in  two, 
lengthwise.  These  will  not  break  when  bent  in 
the  middle,  as  unsplit  pieces  will.  There  is  a 
little  art  required  even  in  splitting  these  twigs 
properly,  so  as  to  get  them  of  equal  thickness 
throughout.  The  edge  of  the  knife  should  be 
watched,  and  when  either  half  is  splitting  thin- 
ner than  the  other  half,  the  back  of  the  blade 
must  be  pressed  against  the  thin  section,  which 
will  cause  the  grain  of  the  wood  to  run  in  again 
toward  the  pith.  And  so  on,  as  the  splitting 
progresses,  the  alternate  action  of  the  back  and 
edge  of  the  blade  will  keep  the  slit  straight 
through  the  middle  at  the  pith. 

Herbaceous  plants,  now  so  popular,  should 
not  be  allowed  to  seed,  unless  some  be  desired 
for  propagation.  In  that  case  leave  enough  for 
your  wants.  It  does  not  hurt  some  kinds,  but 
many  are  much  weakened,  and  die  in  the  Win- 
ter, especially  some  Pentstemons.  Cut  to  the 
ground  as  soon  as  the  flowers  fade.  This  is  true 
of  other  plants  not  herbaceous.  The  best  rose- 
growers  cut  off  the  blossoms  as  they  fade. 

Spring  planted  trees  often  show  signs  of  suffer- 
ing as  the  season  rolls  on.  A  little  pruning  is 
often  the  best  remedy.  If  that  is  not  a  full  suc- 
cess, hammer  the  soil  about  the  roots  so  as  to 
pulverize,  and  press  firm,  and  if  this  does  not  do, 
give  one  good  thorough  watering.  Watering 
newly  planted  trees  requires  much  judgment. 
There  is  always  danger  in  it.  The  roots,  already 
weak,  are  liable  to  rot.  If  a  tree  is  not  growing, 
that  is  in  growth,  water  is  of  little  use  to  it. 


C03I31UNICA  TIONS. 


OLD  THINGS  BECOME  NEW— MAGNOLIAS. 

BY   F.  R.  ELLIOTT. 

I  have  just  received  the  April  number  of  the 
leading  monthly  horticultural  magazine  of  the 
the  United  States,  if  not  of  the  world,  but  like 
all  of  past  time,  now  and  then  an  old  thing  be- 
comes new.  To-day  I  read  communications 
from  several  parties  touching  the  Magnolia 
acuminata,  as  a  valuable  stock  on  which  to  en- 
graft or  bud  other  varieties.  I  make  no  claim 
to  knowledge,  but  thirty  years  since  I  propagated 
Magnolia  glauca,  tripetala,  macrophylla,  con- 
spicua,  Soulangea  and  purpurea  by  both  budding 
and  grafting  on  acuminata  seedlings  that  I  had  | 


grown  from  seed.  At  that  time  there  were  many 
varieties  of  to-day  unknown.  The  cordata,  glauca 
longifolia,  Thompsoniana  and  acuminata  varie- 
gata  were  unknown.  I  do  not  count  the  "  tripe- 
tala" as  a  hardy  root  stock  on  which  to  work.  It 
is  a  variety  that  does  well,  say  in  the  climate  of 
Philadelphia,  but  rarely  at  the  north,  or  above 
42°  of  latitude. 

It  rejoices  me  to  note  that  Prof.  Jared  Potter 
Kirtland  is  credited  as  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject; a  man  who  has  grown  trees  from  the 
coming  of  seeds  to  a  perfection  of  bloom  une- 
qualled ;  and  in  cherries  stands  the  head  light,  both 
in  this  country  and  abroad,  as  having  produced 
varieties  that  here  stand  first;  and  Thos.  Rivers, 
well  known  as  a  fruit  man  of  England,  says 
there  is  no  equal  to  "  Kirtland's  "  Early  Prolific. 
Prof.  Kirtland  has  grown  many  Magnolias  from 
seed,  and  experimented  in  the  art  of  budding 
and  grafting  one  upon  another.  The  comments, 
by  Maxwell,  when  he  tells  of  a  tree  of  glauca  in 
Kirtland's  grounds,  twenty-one  feet  high,  propa- 
gated from  a  seedling  of  glauca  imbedded  in  the 
acuminata  stock,  are  true  and  reliable. 

Josiah  Hoopes,  whose  word  is  generally  relia- 
ble, says,  on  p.  100  of  the  April  Monthly,  that 
"  the  glauca  is  difficult  to  work."  Has  he  ever 
tried  side  grafting?  Magnolia  glauca  longifolia 
is  just  as  easily  put  upon  acuminata  as  any 
other  variety,  and  to  me  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  form  of  growth  and  foliage. 

Not  that  you  do  not  all  know  just  how  to  en- 
graft one  Magnolia  upon  another,  let  me  ask 
you  to  try  side  grafting,  making  your  cutting  or 
graft  two  weeks  before  inserting,  thus  giving 
the  stock  a  full  circulation  of  sap;  set  the  graft 
upon  stock  or  limb  that  can  be  easily  bent  over, 
just  as  soon  as  you  note  the  graft  to  receive  from 
its  association  vitality ;  then  bend  the  branch  or 
stem  backwards  until  the  graft  is  fully  united, 
when  it  should  be  cut  away. 


VERBENAS  AND  ROSES  IN  IOWA. 

BY   MRS.  S.  E.  N.,  CORNING,  IOWA. 

"  The  Verbena"  number  of  the  Monthly  must 
have  been  welcomed  by  those  who  are  troubled 
with  the  inst,  but  in  southwestern  Iowa  our 
trouble  is  of  a  different  nature.  The  Verbe  as 
commence  blooming  early,  and  are  the  finest  I 
ever  saw  while  they  do  bloom,  or  until  about  the 
middle  of  July,  when  they  grow  so  very  luxu- 
riantly  and   take   root  at  every  joint;    indeed, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


163 


they  cling  so  close  to  the  ground  that  the  leaves 
appear  almost  as  though  they  were  glued  down. 
After  July  they  scarcely  bloom  at  all.  One  year 
I  tried  keeping  them  raised  up  a  little  from  the 
ground ;  they  bloomed  no  better.  The  next 
year  the  bed  was  prepared  a  foot  in  depth, 
with  half  sand,  with  no  better  result ;  and  last 
year  we  tied  them  all  up  to  sticks  as  they  grew  ; 
they  did  only  a  very  little  better.  But  this  is  an 
unsatisfactory  way,  as  they  grow  so  very 
rapidly.  Can  you  give  any  light  on  the  subject? 
But  if  our  Verbenas  annoy  us.  our  Roses  are 
charming.  I  never  saw  anything  to  compare 
with  them  in  the  Eastern  States.  The  foliage  is 
remarkably  fine ;  there  are  no  ugly  slugs  or 
worms,  and  to  those  of  us  who  for  many  years 
have  fought  these  pests  in  the  East,  the  Roses 
here  are  specially  enjoyable. 


CALIFORNIA  PLANTS  EAST. 

BY   W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL   DORADO,  CAL. 

Your  correspondent,  Mr.  Josiah  Hoopes,  in 
the  April  number,  in  speaking  of  a  California 
plant,  says  :  "  Like  almost  every  Californhn  tree 
or  shrub  that  I  have  tested,  positively  refuses  to 
live  here  for  any  length  of  time.  It  literally 
burns  up  beneath  our  hot  suns."  No  wonder 
this  proves  10  be  the  case,  for  they  are  generally 
treated  as  differently  from  what  they  grow  in 
their  native  haunts,  as  it  is  possible  to  treat 
them. 

As  a  general  rule,  there  are  a  few  plants  set 
out,  either  free  from  all  surrounding  vegetation 
or  in  tue  shade  of  trees  ;  this  is  wrong,  entirely 
wrong.  In  California  everything  grows  in  vast 
tracts  or  masses ;  in  these  masses  the  plants  are  all 
of  similar  growth,  size  and  height;  here  and  there 
a  tab  pine  or  oak  may  tower  above  them,  but 
never  shades  them  much ;  the  result  of  this  mass- 
ing is  that  the  roots  and  lower  branches  are  al- 
ways protected  from  the  fierce  rays  of  our  broil- 
ing hot  suns,  than  which  Eastern  suns  can  be  no 
hotter,  and  from  the  cold  blasts  of  Winter,  while 
the  leaves,  the  flowers  and  upper  parts  receive  the 
full  benefit  of  the  sui's  heat  and  light.  This  is 
the  way  all  our  plants  grow,  and  excite  the  won- 
der of  the  world. 

Treat  them  in  California  as  in  the  East,  and 
they  die  as  surely.  Take  our  Manzanita,  which 
is  one  of  our  hardiest  plants,  cut  all  the  sur- 
rounding shrubs  from  around  it,  and  leave  it 
alone,   as  a  specimen  plant,  as  planted  in  the 


East,  and  though  the  roots  have  not  been  dis- 
turbed, it  will  in  the  first  season  begin  to  wither, 
and  in  two  years  die  entirely.  Again,  trim 
away  all  the  surrounding  shrubs  from  a  plant 
growing  under  a  tree  wThere  it  is  shaded,  it  will 
become  a  prey  to  insects,  and  be  covered  with 
fungus,  as  in  the  East. 

These  are  both  true  cases,  and  I  have  noticed 
it  time  and  again.  I  have  never  seen  a  healthy 
specimen  of  any  of  our  plants  where  it  stands 
alone,  with  two  exceptions;  they  are  the  oak  and 
pine,  both  of  which  do  best  as  single  specimens. 

Californian  plants  receive  no  water  from  May 
to  October,  everything  being  dry  and  hard  as  ro  ^k, 
while  from  October  to  May  the  ground  is  as  full 
of  water  as  a  sponge  just  out  of  a  dish  of  water. 
This  fact  of  their  being  so  dry  over  Summer,  lets 
the  wood  get  solid  (in  nearly  all  our  shrubs  and 
plants,  except  annuals,  the  wood  is  very  solid 
and  hard) ;  whereas,  if  they  had  been  watered, 
the  wood  would  have  been  more  or  less  spongy 
and  wet,  and  liable  to  effects  of  frost.  Treat  all 
plants  nearly  like  they  grow,  and  you  will  have 
success.  In  case  you  have  not  enough  to  plant  a 
large  clump,  plant  among  s:milar  growing  shrubs 
or  plants,  but  never  under  trees. 


THE  WEIGELAS. 

BY  GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE,  BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 

These  lovely  natives  of  China,  now  classed  as 
Dierv'lla,  are  the  most  charming  of  modern 
shrubs.  It  is  only  about  thirty  years  since  Mr. 
Fortune  brought  them,  in  joyous  company  with 
the  Forsythias,  to  gladden  us  "  outside  barbar- 
ians." They  have  since,  principally,  I  suppose, 
through  crosses  of  the  rosea  and  amabilis,  bred 
a  wonderful  family,  of  varied  growths,  and  tints 
of  leaf  and  bloom.  Yet  one  rarely  sees  any  but 
the  old  Rosea  outside  the  grounds  of  the  rich, 
the  nursery,  or  the  public  park.  This  comes  a 
good  deal  from  their  tame  and  stingy  treatment 
in  our  catalogues,  and  dearth  of  effort  in  our  sales- 
men. The  growing  taste  of  our  people  for  flow- 
ers, above  all,  for  rich,  blooming,  hardy  shrubs, 
is  as  fat  a  placer  as  rose  culture  for  somebody  to 
strike  into.  A  little  more  of  just  and  generous 
rhetoric  would  hasten  every  flower  lover  in  the 
land  to  invite  their  smile.  They  are  almost  all 
so  hardy,  all  so  quickly  root  from  slips  and  cut- 
tings, and  have  such  rich  variety  of  flower  and 
leaf  tint,  and  of  style,  that  the  routine,  which  in- 
vites and  posts  tiny  rootings  of  the  rose  to  our 


164 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


doorsteps,    would    soon    people    every   tasteful 
homestead  with  these  tasteful  Weigelas. 

Their  need  of  some  brighter  tinted  word-paint- 
ing takes  form,  when  a  leading  catalogue  sets 
down  the  Weigela  nana  variegata,  the  dwarf 
striped  Weigela,  curtly  as  "a  variety  with  varie- 
gated leaves  and  pink  flowers,"  and  the  larger  old 
variegated  with  still  tamer  and  more  stingy  note. 
These  tintless  words  but  faintly  present  the  maid- 
enly grace  and  purity  which  robe  this  Weigela 
nana  at  the  season  of  its  bloom.  Then  its  leaf- 
lets daintily  changed  in  white  and  bronze  aid 
green,  from  out  whose  bosom  lift  gently  blushing 
florets  of  an  airy,  evanescent  pink,  gives  it  sem- 
blance to  such  a  divinely  chaste  bouquet  as  might 
have  fallen  from  out  the  garden  of  the  sky.  On 
leaf,  in  gentle  tint  of  green,  and  in  its  dainty, 
rosy  bloom,  it  rivals  those  limpid,  lingering  lines 
that  faintly  tinge  the  far  off  floating  clouds  of 
morn  or  eve.  It  is  cruel  to  slight  such  a  plant 
with  word-tinting,  either  terse  or  tame. 

Again,  the  Weigela  Desboisi,  one  of  our  fore- 
most catalogues  merely  notes,  as  a  "deep  rose 
colored  variety."  Another  of  high  standing 
only  tells  us  of  its  "  immense  numbers  of  very 
dark  rose  colored  flowers."  Such  dim  portraiture 
brings  out  but  faint  likeness  of  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  of  flowering  things.  In  lavish,  lasting, 
radiant  bloom,  it  rivals  every  hardy  shrub. 
Deep  reddish,  rosy  bells  robe  its  whole  spray  and 
load  it  into  graceful  droop.  It  is  a  glory  in  the 
noontide  radiance.  In  the  rich  hues  of  parting 
day,  it  seems  ablaze  with  absorbed  brilliancy. 

For  many  years  a  plant  posted  well  to  the  front 
°f  my  grounds,  has  won  more  lingering  gaze  and 
question  from  flower  lovers  than  any  other 
bloom.  And  in  those  grounds  there  stands 
pretty  much  every  hardy  blossoming  thing.  Yet 
this  Weigela  Desboisi  carries  off  the  palm.  It 
counts  as  warm  admirers  not  only  those  who 
cherish  a  few  choice  plants,  but  those  whose 
conservatories  store  the  wealth  of  the  floral 
world.  Such  eager  look  and  quest  following 
this  lovely  variety,  more  than  hints  that  a 
brighter  word-pencilling  of  the  plant  might 
have  made  many  purchasers  of  those  who  thus 
admiringly  inquire  its  name  and  nature. 

I  shall  note  only  one  other  of  the  slighted  and 
rare  visitors  of  this  tribe— the  Weigela  versicolor. 
I  find  no  description  of  this  plant  anywhere, 
nor  its  name  in  any  but  the  Flushing  catalogues. 
Doubtless,  our  leading  nurserymen  know  it  well, 
but  that  they  give  no  more  note  or  place  to  a 
plant  so  wonderfully  endowed,  "  passeth  all  un- 


derstanding." This  Latin  name,  "  Weigela  ver- 
sicolor," bespeaks  almost  to  the  eye  of  any,  as 
in  translation,  a  plant  "  of  changeful  hue." 

A  cluster  of  its  flowers  is  of  itself  a  bouquet  of 
divers  tinted  blossoms.  A  branch  glories  in 
blooms  of  every  varying  shade,  from  white  to 
deep  red,  and  crimson  darkening  to  maroon.  Till 
the  flower  drops,  its  tint  is  ever  changing ;  a 
white  to-day,  to-morrow  shows  a  pink,  or  salmon. 
A  flower  blooming  out  a  pink,  day  by  day,  deep- 
ens into  dark  crimson.  Thus,  onward  through 
an  endless  maze  and  interchange  of  color,  cov- 
ering pretty  much  the  whole  spectrum.  A  plant 
so  robed  in  a  coat  "  of  many  colors,"  wearing 
flowers  of  such  changeful  hue,  surely  deserves 
wide  and  special  note,  as  one  of  the  wonders  of 
vegetation. 

The  aptness  of  the  Weigela  to  take  up  on  its 
seedlings  a  new  and  better  style  of  growth  and 
bloom,  promises  most  happy  results  from  judi- 
cious crosses,  that  varieties  of  such  rich  tints  on 
leaf  and  flower,  so  diverse  therein,  and  in  their 
style  of  growth,  have  descended  from  parents 
without  such  traits,  marks  a  wonderful  floral 
evolution.  It  is  only  rivalled  by  that  tireless 
flow  of  rich  and  lovely  blooms,  which  owe  their 
parentage  to  only  a  few  species  of  the  Gladioli. 
The  Weigelas  have  already  shown  floral  possi- 
bilities, promising  a  rich  future.  Some  bloom 
but  once,  some  twice,  some  thrice,  and  some, 
like  varieties  of  the  rose,  are  hardly  ever  without 
a  show  of  blossoms.  A  plant,  holding  on  its 
roll  such  wide-apart  colors  as  the  deep,  dark 
crimson  of  the  floribunda,  the  white  of  the 
alba,  the  clear,  full  belled  pink  of  the  amabilis, 
the  change  from  white  to  many  shades  of  pink 
as  the  isoline,  and  with  a  quiver  full  of  assorted 
tints,  like  the  versicolor,  added  to  the  clear  yel- 
low of  the  old  Diervilla,  betokens  the  likely  ad- 
vent of  still  more  notable  excellence,  to  come 
out  of  judicious  crosses. 

I  look  upon  these  commingled  hues  of  bloom, 
before  long  to  glow  in  endless  interchange  of 
complexion,  from  the  big,  bell-shaped  flowers  of 
their  descendants.  Fiery  scarlet  throats  sweep- 
ing into  golden  rims  ;  borders  of  maroon  looking 
down  into  throats  of  yellow  and  crimson  chenay  ; 
then,  as  to  the  promise  of  their  foliage  out  of  the 
nana  and  others  of  such  divers  tinted  leaves, 
shall  come  zonales  and  all  the  ceaseless  round 
of  variety  which  skilful  florists  learn  so  surely  to 
evolve.  I  look  to  see  this  journal  yet  record 
double  flowered  Weigelas  of  every  shade  and 
commixture  of  colors;  to  send  out  cromoliths  of 


18770 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


165 


new  Weigelas,  zonaled  and  chenayed  on  big  leaves 
through  every  shade  of  green  and  bronze,  of 
white  or  golden  tinge.  Why  not?  If  not  in  our 
time,  still  it  is  coming  soon.  That  taste  for  flow- 
ers, that  .thirst,  so  readily  supplied  but  never 
quenched,  by  the  facilities  of  the  mail ;  that  joy 
in  floral  home  adornment  and  the  gardenesque, 
so  indexed  by  our  rich  and  well  thumbed  cata- 
logues, by  paths  richly  stored  with  floral  wealth 
— a  joy  becoming  every  day  so  spoken  in  a 
thousand  ways,  over  the  advent  of  new  blooms 
and  plants  of  mark — tells  me  that  sure  welcome 
will  beget  the  coveted  advance. 

One  thing  let  every  lover  of  the  Weigela  note. 
The  bloom  of  this  plant  is  so  profuse,  that  it 
thirsts  when  in  flower  for  abundant  water.  Not 
only  the  richness,  but  the  lasting  of  its  bloom, 
is  wonderfully  aided  by  a  perfect  deluge.  Not  a 
pail  or  two  dashed  around,  but  if  possible,  where 
you  cannot  call  on  the  public  water,  a  barrel  full 
on  end,  slowly  yielding  its  supply,  and  again  and 
again  renewed,  will  well  repay  all  your  trouble. 
Around  that  Desboisi,  when  in  bloom,  I  soak  the 
ground  wide  out  from  the  spread  of  its  limbs. 
This  is  partly  the  cause  of  its  lasting  and  brilli- 
ant show.  Most  flowers  love  abundant  moisture, 
but  the  Weigela  is  a  perfect  glutton  in  drink. 


AMPELOPSIS  VEITCHII. 

BY.   J.   M. 

It  is  only  a  few  days  ago  that  a  friend  said  to 
me,  that  he  did  not  think  this  Ampelopsis  was 
hardy,  as  his  plants  appeared  to  have  been 
injured  by  the  Winter.  I  have  found  it  to 
be  perfectly  hardy.  I  have  one  planted  in  the 
worst  possible  place  for  a  tender  vine  —  the 
Southern  side  of  my  house.  It  has  been  out 
two  Winters  now.  Examining  it  to-day,  I  find 
it  uninjured  by  the  late  severe  Winter,  and  it  is 
pushing  from  the  extreme  end  of  its  branches; 
and  this,  too,  although  the  sun  has  been  shining 
on  it  every  clear  day  during  the  Winter.  This 
seems  to  prove  its  hardiness.  I  am  glad  this  is 
so,  for  it  is  certainly  one  of  the  best  vines  we 
have.  It  clings  to  the  wall  so  closely  and  so 
tenaciously  that  the  fiercest  winds  do  not  dis- 
lodge it,  nor  can  it  be  pulled  down  without 
breaking  it. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Evergreens  at  St.  Louis. — The  various  kinds 
of  arborvittes  had  much  of  their  foliage  injured 


by  the  severity  of  the  last  Winter.     Retinospora 
obtusa  and  pisifera  stood  remarkably  well. 

Lilium  catesb^i. — This  pretty  little  Southern 
lily,  Messrs.  Krelage  say,  does  not  endure  out- 
door culture  in  Holland,  but  is  a  choice  bit  for 
greenhouse  culture.  This  hint  may  serve  North- 
ern gardeners  who  have  mostly  failed  with  it  in 
the  open  air. 

German  Asters. — Queen  Margarets,  the  French 
and  Germans  call  them,  still  undergo  improve- 
ments. One  of  the  latest  is  a  race  which,  under 
each  flower,  has  the  leaves  arranged  as  if  they 
were  the  edgings  to  a  bouquet.  The  whole  plant 
in  blossom  looks  like  an  artificially  arranged  bou- 
quet of  asters,  with  the  green  leaves  arranged 
through  the  head.  They  are  called  "Bouquet 
Asters." 

Abies  Engelmanni. — We  have  recently  exam- 
ined growing  plants  of  Abies  Menziesii,  from 
Colorado,  and  plants  from  seed  from  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  there  seems  to  be  a  difference.  We 
have  also  compared  a  plant  of  Abies  Engelmanni 
from  a  graft  cut  and  worked  on  the  Norway 
Spruce,  with  the  "  Rocky  Mountain  Abies  Men- 
ziesii "  of  our  gardens,  and  see  no  difference, 
though  the  one  is  a  small  plant  and  the  other 
large,  and  that  may  be  something  to  be  con- 
sidered. The  Abies  Engelmanni  we  thought 
we  saw  in  Boston  has  been  pronounced  "  to  be 
Colorado  Menziesii  "  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  we  un- 
derstand— and  no  one  should  know  better  than  the 
one  who  first  discovered  the  Engelmann  Spruce 
— but  from  the  facts  we  have  given,  we  fear  there 
must  be  a  mistake  somewhere.  We  will  not 
say  there  is,  but  as  there  is  already  so  much  con- 
fusion in  coniferous  nomenclature,  we  may  at 
least  invite  a  "  suspension  of  opinion "  for  a 
little  while  yet. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Lilium  Humboldtii.  —  This  beautiful  Califor- 
nian  Lily  has  already  produced  numerous  varie- 
ties in  the  hands  of  the  Dutch  culturists.  Messrs. 
Krelage  already  announce  seven  named  and  dis- 
tinct varieties. 

Leucophyta  Brownii. — A  New  Silver  Bedding 
Plant. — Mr.  W.  C.  Barry  gives  the  following  to  the 
American  Agriculturist : — 

"  Ribbon  gardening  and  carpet  bedding  have 


166 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


of  late  become  so  popular,  that  the  advent  of  a 
new  plant  specially  adapted  to  these  purposes, 
will  no  doubt  be  hailed  with  delight.  But 
whether,  strictly  speaking,  this  may  be  called  a 
new  plant,  is  a  question  I  wish  some  other  than 
myself  would  decide.  It  certainly  is  but  little 
known  in  this  country,  and  has  as  yet  found  its 
way  into  only  one  or  two  florists'  catalogues.  It 
would  be  a  satisfaction  to  learn  its  history,  and 
the  writer,  as  well  as  others  no  doubt,  would  ap- 
preciate any  information  which  can  be  given 
about  it.  A  year  ago,  we  received  a  plant  from 
a  friend,  who  could  do  no  more  than  give  the 
name  and  recommend  it.  It  is  of  neat,  compact 
habit,  grows  about  12  inches  high,  and  has  wiry 
stems  and  foliage  of  a  whitish  or  grayish  color. 
It  will  bear  clipping  or  trimming  to  any  extent, 
and  when  used  for  edgings  of  beds,  produces  a 
fine  effect.  Being  a  slow  grower,  large  plants 
should  be  secured  for  bedding  out.  There  is  only 
one  thing  which  may  prevent  its  becoming  very 
popular,  and  that  is,  the  liking  which  birds  have 
for  its  foliage  for  nest-making.  At  least  such 
was  our  experience  last  Summer,  when  we 
had  a  number  of  fine  plants  destroyed,  and 
their  loss  could  be  accounted  for  only  in  this 
way.  I  trust  we  may  hear  and  learn  more 
about  this  Leucophyta. — W.  C.  B.,  Mount  Hope 
Nurseries  " 

Nuttallia  cerasiformis  —  It  is  provoking  that 
we  in  the  East  cannot  grow  well  our  Californian 
plants.  Perhaps,  as  Mr.  Drew  says,  we  must 
study  their  special  requirements,  and  then  we 
may.  Every  now  and  then  we  note  that  the 
rarer  ones  are  blooming  in  England.  The  follow- 
ing from  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  is  about  one  of 
them  : — 

"  Several  Spring  flowering  shrubs  are  coming 
into  beauty  at  Kew.  Nuttallia  cerasiformis  is 
one  worth  individual  mention.  It  is  of  small 
size,  and  bears  on  erect  branches  a  multitude  of 
depressed  racemes  of  white  flowers  in  company 
with  young  leaves  of  the  freshest  green.  It  is  a 
native  of  California,  and  though  introduced  long 
ago,  does  not  seem  common.  A. nice  specimen 
may  be  seen  near  (he  Fern-house;  and  another 
near  the  Temperate-house.  The  fine  example 
of  Prunus  divaricata  near  the  new  range  is  now 
in  its  finest  condition." 

Golden-leaved  Poplak.  —  Of  this  already 
noticed  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  the  Gardener's 
Magazine  says:—  The   Golden    Poplar   {Populus 


canadensis  aurea  van  Geerti)  has  fully  borne  out 
the  description  given  of  it  by  Mr.  C.  van  Geert, 
of  Antwerp,  who  introduced  it  to  commerce  in 
the  early  part  of  last  year.  Messrs.  C.  Lee  &  Son, 
state  that  in  their  nurseries  the  rich  golden  col- 
oring of  its  ample  leafage  was  retained  much 
better  during  the  tropical  heat  of  last  Summer 
than  the  color  of  the  foliage  of  the  Golden  Oak 
and  Golden  Catalpa.  This  poplar  is  of  large  and 
rapid  growth,  and  is  of  much  value  for  producing 
distinct  effects  in  park  and  woodland  scenery. 
As  a  general  rule  golden-leaved  varieties  do  well 
in  our  climate — silver  do  not. 

A  New  Double  White  Violet. —  This  cornea 
from  Ghent,  and  is  appearing  in  English  adver- 
tisements. If  you  order  it,  you  must  ask  for 
Viola  odorata  alba  fragrantissima  plena,  says  the 
Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Styrax  Japoxica. — A  new  hardy  shrub  from 
Japan,  the  flowers  of  which  when  the  plant  is  in 
full  bloom  resemble  a  shower  of  falling  snow 
flakes — a  valuable  acquisition  for  cemetery  pur- 
poses.— P.  Henderson. 

Browallia  Roezli. — The  Browallias  are  now 
among  tne  best  plants  we  have  for  bedding  pur- 
poses, giving,  as  they  do,  a  constant  succession  of 
bloom  throughout  the  Summer ;  and  this  new 
variety  will  no  doubt  prove  a  great  acquisition, 
as  the  same  range  of  color,  blue  or  pure  white, 
is  here  to  be  found  as  in  the  old  sorts,  while  the 
flowers  are  nearly  double  the  size  of  any  of  the 
other  varieties.  It  makes  a  compact  plant  of 
about  18  inches  in  height. — B.  K.  Bliss. 

New  Japanese  Hollyhock. — Entirely  distinct, 
which  was  offered  last  year  for  the  first  time  we 
believe.  It  differs  from  the  ordinary  Holyhock 
in  its  pyramidal  form  and  dwarf  growth,  growing 
only  about  two  feet  in  height.  The  flowers  are 
semi-double,  of  a  bright  scarlet  crimson  ;  bloom* 
during  the  Summer  months. — P.  Henderson. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Sternbkrgia  lutea. — A  correspondent  from 
Virginia  tell  us  that  this  pretty  Autumn  flower- 
ing bulb  is  hardy  there.  How  is  it  in  more 
northern  parts? 

Treatment  of  Hardy  Azaleas. —  B.  F.  L., 
Cincinnati,  0.,  inquires  "whether  the  hardy 
Azalea  requires  the  same  care  to  guard  agairut 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


167 


lime  in  the  soil  that  the  Rhododendron  does  ?  " 
We  cannot  say  from  personal  experience,  but 
from  analogy  we  should  say  yes.  They  require 
very  much  the  same  treatment  in.  every  respect 
that  the  Rhododendron  does,  except  that  we  may 
plant  them  in  places  more  exposed  to  wind  than 
we  do  Rhododendrons — they  are  a  little  "  hard- 
ier"— the  word  meaning  that  they  will  stand  a 
little  more  rough  usage. 


Planting  Lilies. —  B.  F.  L.,  Cincinnati,  0., 
says  : — "  I  planted  several  species  of  Lilies  last 
Spring,  but  they  have  not  done  as  well  as  I 
wished.  Our  soil  is  limestone,  would  that  effect 
them?"  [We  do  not  know  that  Lilies  object  to 
limestone,  though  they  are  not  often  found  wild 
in  limestone  districts.  They  love  rich  sand,  or 
as  one  might  say  alluvial  soil.  Your  trouble  is 
probably  from  Spring  planting.  Lilies  should 
be  always  set  out  in  Fall. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


REEN  fMOUSE  AND  MOUSE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


There  is  not  much  to  be  done  in  the  green- 
house, most  plants  having  been  set  out  under 
the  shade  of  trees  or  arbors  last  month.  Our 
Summers  are  too  hot  to  make  greenhouses  at 
that  season  enjoyable,  but  there  are  generally 
some  plants  under  cover  that  it  is  not  practica- 
ble or  desirable  to  put  into  the  open  air.  The 
red  spider  and  other  insects  are  apt  to  be  very 
troublesome,  and  it  is  best  to  keep  sulphur  on 
plates  set  around. 

Many  plants  get  too  large  for  small  houses, 
and  it  is  well  to  keep  young  ones  propagated  and 
coming  on.  But  often  the  old  plant  is  best  cut 
down  and  made  new.     This  is  particularly  the 


case  with  the  Geranium,  or,  as  we  used  to  say  in 
old  times,  the  Cape  Pelargonium.  These  sho\ild 
be  cut  back  to  a  few  inches  of  the  main  stem. 
Then  leave  the  plants  to  grow  a  little.  After 
the  buds  have  started  into  growth  a  little,  shake 


out  the  plant  and  reduce  the  roots  somewhat 
and  start  again  in  a  smaller  pot.  The  annexed 
cut  illustrates  what  we  mean 

Oranges,  Oleanders,  and  other  large  plants  in 
pots  or  tubs,  that  are  now  commencing  to  grow, 
should  be  shifted  into  larger  or  fresh  soil  if  they 
require  it.  This  is  generally  known  by  the 
growth  being  weak,  and  the  leaves  small.  Some- 
times the  plants  are  sickly  through  the  soil 
having  become  sour,  and  the  roots,  in  that  case, 
are  rotten.  This  is  usually  known  by  the  leaves 
of  the  plant  being  yellow,  and  of  a  very  sickly 
appearance.  The  best  way  is  to  take  out  and 
wash  the  roots,  just  before  or  as  growth  is  com- 
mencing, and  repot  anew  in  fresh  soil,  employing 
the  smallest  pot  or  tub  that  the  roots  can  be 
well  got  into.  Cuttings  of  Geraniums  or  similar 
plants,  required  for  flowering  in  houses  next 
Winter,  should  be  put  in  at  this  season.  Ca- 
mellias and  Azaleas,  and  other  things  that  it  is 
desirable  to  inarch,  may  be  operated  on  as  soon 
as  the  wood  is  firm  enough;  that  is,  as  soon  as 
it  has  progressed  from  the  watery  to  the  woody 
state. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


NOTES     ON     THE     ADIANTUM     FARLEYENSE 
AND  DOUBLE  PRIMULAS. 

BY  HENRY  C0RBETT,  COLLEGE  HILL,  OHIO. 

A.  Farleyense  I  think  the  most  magnificent 
Fern  in  cultivation.  It  was  introduced  into 
England  from  Barbadoes  in  1865. 


168 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  it;  and  a 
few  words  on  its  cultivation  may  be  of  interest 
to  your  readers. 

At  the  Cincinnati  Exposition  in  1875,  a  plant 
was  exhibited  some  three  feet  in  diameter.  This 
plant,  some  fifteen  months  previous,  was  grow- 
ing in  a  two  and  a  half  inch  pot.  This  will 
show  how  quickly  fine  specimens  can  be  grown, 
under  proper  treatment.  This  Fern,  unlike 
most  others,  makes  a  rapid  growth  through  the 
Winter.  A  temperature  of  60°  must  be  kept  up, 
and  the  plants  not  allowed  to  become  dry  at  the 
roots  or  syringed  overhead.  It  requires  a  com- 
post consisting  of  turfy  loam  and  fibry  peat, 
broken  up  roughly,  with  a  little  sand  and  broken 
charcoal.  It  is  essential  that  good  drainage  be 
secured,  filling  the  pots  about  one-third  of  their 
depth  with  crocks,  with  a  layer  of  rough  peat 
over  them.  Keep  a  liberal  supply  of  tepid  water 
at  the  roots.  Shade  is  necessary,  and  a  moist 
atmosphere. 

The  double  white  Primula  at  this  season  of 
the  year  needs  special  attention.  Where  propa- 
gation is  desired,  the  general  plan  is  to  root  and 
divide  them  in  September,  but  plants  so  propa- 
gated are  too  small  to  produce  many  flowers  the 
coming  Winter,  so  I  will  give  my  plan  of  rooting 
them  in  early  Spring: 

In  February  the  bare  stems  of  the  plants  are 
carefully  cleaned,  the  stem  of  all  side  shoots  cut 
half  way  through,  down  as  near  the  soil  as  pos- 
sible, a  layer  of  moss  placed  around  the  edge  of 
the  pots  and  the  centre  filled  in  with  sifted  leaf 
soil  and  sand,  so  as  to  cover  the  bare  stems. 
Young  roots  are  soon  produced,  and  by  March 
16th  all  the  side  shoots  will  be  well  rooted  and 
ready  for  dividing.  Through  the  Summer  the 
plants  are  grown  in  frames  facing  the  north  and 
placed  on  ashes,  as  a  security  against  worms. 
The  plants  are  potted*  in  sifted  soil,  composed 
of  friable  loam  and  leaf  mould  in  equal  pro- 
portions, with  a  liberal  allowance  of  sand.  A 
porous  soil  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  the 
delicate,  silky  roots  being  unable  to  penetrate 
a  clammy  compound,  let  its  richness  be  ever  so 
inviting. 


HOT  WATER  ON  INSECTS. 

BY  X. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  of  some  value  to  say  to 
your  readers,  that  for  a  number  of  years  I  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  trying  various  means  to  kill 


insects  that  I  collect  for  cahinet  specimens,  and 
that  the  best  remedy  I  have  yet  tried  is  hot  water, 
or  even  heated  air. 

Having  the  .insects  confined  in  a  stout  glass 
collecting  bottle,  I  gradually  immerse  this  in 
hot  water,  or  stand  it  in  the  oven  of  a  hot  stove 
on  a  brick,  and  I  find  that  life  is  destroyed 
quicker  and  more  effectually  in  this  manner 
than  by  any  other  means  I  have  yet  employed. 
True,  strychnia  or  prussic  acid  might  be  more 
sudden  in  its  effects,  but  these  things  are  too 
dangerous  to  handle  for  common  or  frequent 
usage.  The  water  need  not  even  be  hot  enough 
to  scald;  and  doubtless  there  are  many  plants, 
shrubs,  trees  and  vines,  hardy  enough  to  bear 
water  hot  enough  to  kill  insects,  without  being 
in  anywise  injured  by  it  themselves. 


THE    NEW    SO-CALLED    HYBRID    TEA    ROSE, 
"BEAUTY  OF  GLAZENWOOD." 

BY  G.  G. 

Who  would  have  suspected  that  the  above 
great  novelty  in  the  Rose  line,  which  has  been 
advertised  in  English  catalogues  and  horticul- 
tural publications  in  such  glowing  terms,  would 
turn  out  now  to  be  nothing  less  than  our  old 
acquaintance,  "Fortune's  double  yellow,"  but  so, 
I  see,  have  the  Judges  of  the  Royal  Horticul- 
tural Society  in  London  just  decided.  Indeed, 
it  has  been  somewhat  foreshadowed;  Eugene 
Verdier  in  his  last  Fall  Trade  Circular  of  new 
Roses,  expresses  his  opinion,  already,  that  it  was 
a  deception.  Having  grown  the  Fortune's  dou- 
ble yellow  Rose  now  for  about  eighteen  years,  I 
append  below  a  description  for  the  benefit  of 
your  readers,  who  are  unacquainted  with  it. 

Introduced  by  Robert  Fortune  from  China 
twenty  or  more  years  ago,  it  attracted  at  first 
considerable  attention  by  its  rich  yellow  color, 
tinged  with  carmine  (but  not  striped  scarlet). 
Flowers  large,  semi-double,  of  strong  climbing 
proclivities,  but  only  an  annual  bloomer,  and 
not  very  hardy  in  the  Middle  or  Northern  States. 
It  is  now  but  rarely  demanded. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Clematis  calycina. — One  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite plants  for  wreaths  or  for  adorning  dresses 
is,  undoubtedly,  Clematis  calycina.     Its  tufts  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


169 


bronzy,  deeply  divided  leaves,  from  the  centre 
of  which  hangs   the   whitish   bell-like   flowers, 
render  it  one   of  the  most   elegant  plants  we 
know  of.     It  is  not  often  that  we  see  it  "in  full 
bloom,"  but  this  Winter  with  us  it  has  been  ex- 
ceptionally full  of  bloom.     Talking  of  wreaths 
reminds  us  of  the  grotesque  abominations  which 
one  sees  now  and  then  on  the  heads  of  ladies  or 
in   the  shop-windows   of  fashionable  milliners 
and   artificial   flower-makers.     In   a  window  of 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  these  establish- 
ments at  the  West-end  we  lately  saw  wreaths  of 
Daffodils  and  of  Polyanthus  Narcissus,  not  mixed 
in  with,  but  bearing  pinnate  leaves  like  those  of 
Mahonia.     After  this  we  were  not  surprised  to 
see  large  yellow  Calceolarias  treated  as  climbing 
plants;  while  Hops  of  bright  gamboge  and  of 
clear  magenta,  excited  no  particular  astonish- 
ment.     In    these   days,   when    knowledge   and 
taste  are  supposed  to  be  so  much  more  widely 
diffused   than  heretofore,  it  seems  a   pity  that 
artificial  florists  either  do  not  copy  Nature  more 
accurately,  or  ceasing  to  copy  servilely,  profit  by 
her  teachings,  and  adapt  in  a  suitable  and  be- 
coming manner  the  means  to  the  end  required. 
Pure  conventionalism  is  far  better  than  hideous 
or  grotesque  caricatures. — Gar.  Chron. 

Improving  old  Favorites. — In  the  anxiety 
to  get  new  flowers,  some  florists  do  not  forget 
the  improvement  of  old  ones.  Mr.  Cannell,  of 
London,  has  taken  the  old  French  Marigold, 
Sweet  William  and  the  Polyanthus,  and  has 
made  real  beauties  out  of  very  common  things. 

Roof  Gardens. — We  have  a  pleasant  recol- 
lection of  roof  gardens  in  Louisville  of  some 
years  standing,  and  have  often  wondered  why 
there  was  not  more  effort  by  city  people  in  that 
direction.  They  are  not  only  a  source  of  pleas- 
ure, but  would  be  a  source  of  health. 

Dr.  Richardson  in  a  health  lecture  in  London 

last  Summer  puts  this  last  point  strongly.     He 

says:     At  the  top  of  the  house  I  would  have,  on 

a  firm,  almost  level  asphalted  roof,  a  brick  and 

glass-covered  garden,  equal  in  extent  to  the  area 

of  the  house.     Into  this  the  stair-shaft  would 

finally   enter,   and    any   emanations    from    the 

lower    part  of  the   house  would  be   eaten   up 

wholesomely  by  the  living  vegetation.     Heated 

readily  from  the  kitchen,  which  should  be  on 

the  third  floor,  this  garden  might  have  at  all 

times  a  Summer  temperature,  in  which  children 

could  engage  in  luxurious  and  healthful  play; 

ladies  would  find  occupation  in  it,  in  the  culti- 


vation of  flowers  and  evergreens,  and  in  it  the 
sterner  sex  might  spend  those  hours  which  are 
now  found  so  unspeakably  dull,  owing  to  the 
monotony  of  one  or  two  rooms.  In  this  garden, 
with  the  pleasant,  the  natural,  and  the  beautiful, 
health  would  be  trained,  and  happiness,  her  de- 
pendent sister,  nourished. 


NEW  OB  BABE  PLANTS. 


Cuphea  Rillfieldiana. — This  resembles  in 
general  style  and  habit  of  growth  C.  platycen- 
tra,  with  small  bright  glossy  green  leaves,  and 
a  profusion  of  trumpet-shaped  flowers  an  inch 
in  length,  the  upper  half  of  the  tube  of  which 
is  bright  crimson,  the  under  half  white,  and  the 
end  violet  purple.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
pot  plants  for  house  culture,  being  almost 
always  in  bloom,  and  very  bright  and  attractive, 
but  the  peculiar  markings  of  the  flower  in  this 
variety  attract  special  attention. — Henderson. 

Lygodium  scandens.— Japanese  ClimbingFern. 
A  Climbing  Fern  from  the  East  Indies.  A  most 
graceful  plant,  growing  from  one  to  fifty  feet,  as 
desired.  Quite  as' easy  of  culture  as  the  Smilax, 
and  will  no  doubt  be  used  as  extensively  for 
similar  uses  in  decorating;  although  climbing, 
when  supported  by  strings  or  wires,  it  can  be 
used,  with  equal  advantage,  as  a  drooping  plant, 
for  baskets  or  vases;  as  a  house  plant  for  parlor 
culture  nothing  is  more  easy. — Henderson. 

Sarracenia  Mooreana.— A  hybrid  plant  of 
no  ordinary  interest,  and  exhibited  for  the  first 
time  at  the  International  Exhibition  held  at 
Florence  in  May,  1874,  by  Dr.  Moore,  the  Direc- 
tor of  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Glasnevin,  by  whom 
it  was  raised. 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  Congress  held 
during  the  Exhibition,  Dr.  Moore  thus  referred 
to  this  hybrid  :  "  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  hy- 
brid Sarracenia  which  has  ever  yet  flowered.  It 
is  the  offspring  of  S.  flava  fertilized  with  pollen 
of  S.  Drummondi.  The  plant  is  as  nearly  inter- 
mediate with  these  two  noble  species  of  this 
curious  genus  as  it  well  can  be;  and  no  hybrid 
which  has  hitherto  come  under  my  notice  proves 
more  decidedly  the  marked  influence  of  the 
pollen  of  one  plant  applied  to  the  stigma  of 
another  than  this  does.  It  makes  its  winter 
growth  of  pitchers  similarly  as  S.  Drummondi, 


no 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


and  they  are  nearly  as  well  marked  with  purple 
and  white  colors,  but  they  decay  much  sooner 
in  Spring,  and  in  this  way  they  resemble  those 
of  the  female  parent,  S.  flava." — Veitch. 

A  Purple-leaved  Ivy.— During  the  last  few 
years  I  have  been  cultivating  and  increasing  a 
beautiful  purple-leaved  Ivy,  which  I  discovered 
a  few  years  ago,  and  which  is  considered  by  those 
who  have  seen  it,  to  be  the  best  of  all  the  Ivies. 
Imagine  a  wall  all  through  the  dreary  Winter 
covered  with  large  leathery  leaves  of  a  deep 
bronze  or  dark  purple  color,  and  you  will  be 
able  to  form  some  idea  of  the  appearance  of 
this  Ivy.  I  should  be  pleased  to  show  it  to  any 
one  who  may  feel  interested  in  such  matters ; 
all  I  wish  is  that  the  plant  was  somewhere  where 
it  would  be  more  appreciated,  for  it  is  growing 
on  an  old  brick  wall  ill  adapted  for  showing  off 
its  rich  color  to  advantage;  but  if  grown  on  a 
light  stone  terrace  wall  or  a  similar  position,  or 
in  light-colored  vases,  or  even  as  an  edging 
near  white  or  light  gravel,  it  would  form  one  of 
the  most  attractive  creepers  known. —T.  Williams, 
Ormskirk,  in  Garden. 

Scented  Geranium,  "Mrs.  Taylor."— Scarlet 
flowered  Rose.  A  distinct  variety  of  the  scented 
Geranium,  with  a  strong  rose  fragrance,  and 
large,  deep  scarlet  flowers  of  the  Hybrid  Perpet- 
ual class.  Combining,  as  it  does,  free  flowering 
qualities  with  fragrant  foliage,  it  is  very  useful 
for  Summer  cut  flowers,  and  as  a  pot  plant  for 
Winter  cannot  be  surpassed.— Henderson. 

Antigonon  leptopus.— A  beautiful  plant,  of 
climbing  habit,  with  numerous  racemes  of  rose- 
colored  flowers,  showing  a  still  richer  tint  in  the 
centre.  The  profusion  of  its  bloom  is  such  as 
to  give  the  resemblance  of  Roses  at  a  distance  ; 
hence  one  of  the  Mexican  name  is  "Rosa  de 
Montana,"  or  Mountain  Rose.  Described  by  its 
discoverer  as  the  most  beautiful  climber  he  had 
ever  beheld. — John  Saul. 

Tabernamontana  Camassa  —  Growers  of  flow- 
ers for  market  should  cultivate  a  house  of  this 
plant  alone.  A  very  desirable  and  newly  intro- 
duced evergreen  stove  shrub  of  a  neat  compact 
dwarf  habit,  with  medium  small  glossy  bright 
green  laurel-like  leaves,  and  terminal  axillary 
cymose  racemes  of  double  white  flowers  of  Gar- 
denia-like outline  and  fragrance  which  are  pro- 
duced on  the  point  of  every  shoot.  From 
Gardenia  it  differs  in  its  easier  growth,  and  in 
requiring  a  much   less  stimulating  atmosphere 


to  produce  its  bloom ;  the  usual  temperature  of 
a  hot-house  with  less  humidity,  will  produce 
blooms  more  freely  and  longer  in  succession. 
The  petals  of  the  flowers  are  lighter  and  more 
elegantly  arranged  than  the  Gardenia,  and  not 
quite  so  large;  small  plants  in  60  pots  will  pro- 
duce flowers  freely. — John  Said. 


SCB APS  AND  QUERIES. 


Culture  of  the  Calla  Lily. — Miss  H.  R.  B. 
(somewhere  in  Penna.,  but  post-mark  indistinct), 
asks  whether  the  suckers  or  side  plants  on  a 
Calla  will  injure  the  main  plant,  if  plenty  of  pot 
room  be  allowed?  It  is  best  not  to  allow  too 
many  to  grow.  Sometimes  this  plant  shows  a 
disposition  to  throw  up  a  great  number  of  little 
sprouts.  These  are  best  taken  off,  leaving  from 
four  to  six  strong  ones,  according  to  the  size  of 
the  pot;  six  would  be  enough  for  an  eight-inch 
pot. 

Job's  Tears. — Miss  B.  writes:  "I  once  had 
a  very  pretty  little  grass  called  "Job's  Tears," 
but  lost  it,  and  have  been  anxious  to  get  it  again 
as  it  grew  very  well  in  my  garden.  But  I  can- 
not find  it  under  this  name  in  any  garden  book 


I  have.  Can  you  recognize  it  by  the  enclosed 
sketch  and  give  me  its  proper  name?"  [This  is 
the  Coix  lachryma.  It  is  often  in  catalogues 
under  the  name  of  Job's  Tears.  The  seeds  have 
an  ovoid,  long  drawn  out,  tear-like  form.  It  is 
hardly  a  "little  "  grass,  however.  It  generally 
grows  about  two  feet  high,  and  is  rather  coarse 
in  expression. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Heating  Greenhouses  by  a  Coal  Stove. — We 
have  an  excellent  paper  by  G.  A.  H.,  on  hand  on 
this   very  interesting  topic,  which   will  appear 

shortly. 


1877. J 


AND  HOB  TIG  UL  TUHIS  T. 


171 


Flowering  of  Ficus  elastica. — A  correspon- 
dent writes  that  he  has  a  plant  of  Ficus  elastica, 
which  is  making  "abortive  attempts  to  fruit." 
We  believe  this  to  be  very  rare. 

Culture  of  the  Antholyza. — Miss  H.  R.  B. 
asks,  what  is  the  best  way  to  manage  this  plant? 


It  is  one  of  the  Cape  bulbs,  and  they  generally 
grow  in  what  is  our  Winter.  They  do  not  like 
much  heat,  however ;  a  cool  greenhouse,  or  even 
a  room  window  would  bring  them  on  very  well. 
They  are  kept  a  little  dry  during  Summer, 
giving  them  water  when  there  are  appearances 
of  sprouting  in  Fall. 


USruit  and  vegetable  gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Grapes  coming  into  bearing  should  not  be  per- 
mitted to  perfect  large  crops  of  fruit  while 
young.  It  is  excusable  to  fruit  a  bunch  or  so  on 
a  young  vine,  "just  to  test  the  kind,"  but  no 
more  should  be  permitted  till  the  vine  has  age 
and  strength.  Vigorous  growth,  and  great  pro- 
ductiveness, are  the  antipodes  of  the  vegetable 
world.  Encourage  as  much  foliage  as  possible 
on  the  vines,  and  aim  to  have  as  strong  shoots 
at  the  base  as  at  the  top  of  the  cane  ;  this  can 
be  done  by  pinching  out  the  points  of  the  strong 
shoots  after  they  have  made  a  growth  of  five  or 
six  leaves.  This  will  make  the  weak  ones  grow 
stronger.  Young  vines  grow  much  faster  over  a 
twiggy  branch,  stuck  in  for  support,  than  over  a 
straight  stick  as  a  trellis,  and  generally  do  better 
every  way.  When  extra  fine  bunches  of  grapes 
are  desired,  pinch  back  the  shoots  bearing  it  to 
about  four  or  five  leaves  above  the  bunch.  This 
should  not  be  done  indiscriminately  with  all  the 
bunches.  Too  much  pinching  and  stopping  in- 
jures the  production  of  good  wood  for  next  sea- 
son. These  hints  are  for  amateurs,  who  have  a 
few  vines  on  trellises ;  for  large  vineyard  cul- 
ture, though  the  same  principles  hold  good  so 
far  as  they  go,  they  will  vary  in  their  applica- 
tion. 

Gooseberries  should  have  the  soil,  and  even 
the  plants,  if  it  were  practicable,  shaded  a  little. 
Dry  air  about  them  is  one  great  cause  of  mildew, 
and  hot  ground  is  greater  than  all. 

Currants  are  so  easily  grown  as  to  require  few 
hints  for  their  management.  If  they  throw  up 
many  suckers,  take  out  a  portion  now,  instead  of 
waiting  till  Winter  to  cut  them  away.  The  Cur- 
rant borer  is  a  great  pest,  eating  out  the  pith  of 
the   young  shoots,   and   causing  them  to  grow 


poorly,  and  bear  but  small  fruit  next  year. 
Gummy  "  fly  paper  "  is,  we  think,  the  best  thing 
to  catch  them. 

Blackberries  are  not  ripe  when  they  are  black. 
Leave  them  on  till  they  part  readily  from  their 
stalks. 

The  directions  and  hints  we  gave  last  month 
are  still  applicable,  especially  those  relating  to 
disbudding  and  pinching  back  of  strong  shoots, 
checking  the  flow  of  sap  through  excessively 
luxuriant  channels,  and  directing  the  flow 
through  weaker  ones,  equalizing  and  striking  a 
balance  between  all  parts  of  the  tree.  As  the 
weather  becomes  dryer,  and  the  growth  still  con- 
tinues, young  and  free-growing  trees  of  choice 
varieties  would  be  much  benefited  by  occa- 
sional syringings  from  a  powerful  garden  engine, 
which  should  be  found  in  all  gardens  with  any 
pretension  to  completeness  and  excellence.  Be- 
sides the  cleanliness  so  conducive  to  health  this 
ablutory  process  achieves,  the  moist  atmosphere 
and  check  to  excessive  evaporation  that  result 
from  this  practice,  is  one  of  the  greatest  safe- 
guards against  many  bad  diseases. 

Grapes  in  cold  vineries  will  now  be  of  a  size  fit 
for  thinning,  In  those  cases  where  the  bunches 
are  intended  to  hang  long  on  the  vines,  they 
should  be  thinned  out  more  severely  than  those 
expected  to  be  cut  early.  A  close,  compact 
bunch  favors  mildew  and  early  decay. 

Fine,  rich  color  is  always  esteemed  as  one  of 
the  criterions  whereby  to  judge  of  the  excellence 
of  a  fruit.  Sun-light  is  of  first  importance  ;  but 
it  is  not  generally  known  that  this  is  injurious 
when  in  excess.  In  a  dry  atmosphere,  with 
great  sun-heat,  where  the  evaporating  process 
goes  on  faster  than  the  secretive  principle,  what 
should  become  a  rich  rosy  blush  in  a  fruit  is 
changed  to  a  sickly  yellow,  and  the  rich  jet  black 


172 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  June, 


of  a  grape  becomes  a  foxy  red.  Some  grape- 
growers  of  eminence,  in  view  of  these  facts, 
shade  their  vineries  during  the  coloring  process  ; 
but  others,  instead,  keep  the  atmosphere  as  close 
and  moist  as  possible.  The  latter  course  de- 
tracts from  the  flavor  of  the  fruit.  The  best  pi  an 
is  that  which  combines  both  practices. 

In  summer-pruning  grapes,  care  must  be 
taken  that  the  leaves  from  the  stopped  laterals 
do  not  over-crowd  or  smother  the  larger  leaves  of 
the  original  cane,  on  which  all  your  hopes  of 
good  sound  wood  for  next  season  depend.  All 
the  use  for  the  leaves  on  the  laterals  is  to  afford 
outlets  for  superabundant  sap,  which  otherwise 
would  cause  the  next  season's  fruiting  buds  to 
burst  now.  Always  carefully  guard  the  first 
leaves. 

At  the  end  of  June  some  celery  may  be  set  out 
for  early  crops,  though  for  the  main  crop  a 
month  later  will  be  quite  time  enough.  It  was 
once  customary  to  plant  in  trenches  dug  six  or 
more  inches  below  the  surface  ;  but  the  poverty 
of  the  soil  usually  at  this  depth  more  than  de- 
creases the  balance  of  good  points  in  its  favor. 
Some  of  our  best  growers  now  plant  entirely  on 
the  surface,  and  depend  on  drawing  up  the  soil, 
or  the  employment  of  boards  or  other  artificial 
methods  of  blanching. 

Cabbage  and  Brocoli  may  still  be  set  out  for 
Fall  crops,  also  requiring  an  abundance  of  man- 
ure to  insure  much  success.  Lettuce,  where 
salads  are  in  much  request,  may  yet  be  sown. 
The  Curled  Indian  is  a  favorite  Summer  kind  : 
but  the  varieties  of  Cos,  or  Plain-leaved  kinds, 
are  good.  They  take  more  trouble,  having  to  be 
tied  up  to  blanch  well.  Many  should  not  be 
sown  at  a  time,  as  they  soon  run  to  seed  in  hot 
weather. 

Beans  produce  enormous  crops  in  deeply 
trenched  soils,  and  are  improved  as  much  as 
any  crop  by  surface  manuring.  We  hope  this 
method  of  fertilizing  the  soil  will  be  extensively 
adopted  for  garden  crops  this  season.  Those 
who  have  not  yet  tried  it  will  be  surprised  at 
the  economy  and  beneficial  results  of  the  prac- 
tice. 

Peas  for  a  Fall  crop  may  be  sown.  It  is,  how- 
ever, useless  to  try  them,  unless  in  a  deeply- 
trenched  soil,  and  one  that  is  comparatively  cool 
in  the  hottest  weather  overhead,  or  they  will  cer- 
tainly mildew  and  prove  worthless.  In  England, 
where  the  atmosphere  is  much  more  humid  than 
ours,  they  nevertheless,  have  great  difficulty  in 
getting  Fall  peas  to  get  through   free   from  mil- 


dew; and  to  obviate  these  drying  and  mildewing 
producing  influences,  they  often  plant  them  in 
deep  trenches,  made  as  for  celery,  and  are  then 
much  more  successful  with  them. 

Cucumbers  for  pickling  may  be  sown  this 
month,  and  endive  for  Fall  salad  set  out.  Par- 
sley for  Winter  use  may  be  sown  now  in  boxes 
of  rich  soil,  and  set  in  a  cool,  shady  place  till  it 
germinates. 

Asparagus-beds  should  not  be  cut  off  after  the 
stalks  seem  to  come  up  weak,  or  there  will  be 
but  a  poor  crop  the  next  season,  and  the  beds 
will  "  run  out  "  in  a  few  years. 

CO  MM  UNICA  TIONS. 


FRUIT  AT  THE  NORTH. 

BY   JAS.    M.    HAYES,   DOVER,   N.    H. 

The  season  of  1875  can  be  classed  as  one  of 
the  poorest  in  many  respects  for  fruit  north  of 
the  43d  parallel  of  latitude.  Frost  continued 
late  in  Spring,  until  May  18th,  and  in  Autumn 
the  first  was  September  11th  ;  so  with  only  115 
days  without  frost,  much  fruit  failed  to  mature. 
The  temperature  during  the  whole  Summer  was 
low,  only  one  day  during  the  Summer  (June  24) 
did  the  thermometer  get  above  90°.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  season  in  New  Hampshire  was 
unusually  cold,  and  yet  roots  of  all  kinds  were 
good.  Corn  ripened  well,  but  alas  for  our 
grapes,  the  biting  frosts  ruined  them.  The  whole 
season,  from  the  first,  the  vines  gave  abundant 
promise  of  a  rich  harvest  in  Autumn,  and  we 
New  Hampshire  fruit  growers  felt  encouraged, 
thinking  that  for  one  year  at  least,  our  grapes 
would  be  a  paying  crop,  but  an  "Arctic  wave  " 
swept  over  us,  and  Jack  Frost  in  a  single  night 
upset  our  calculations.  Not  even  those  early  va- 
rieties which  come  to  us  with  such  glowing  rec- 
ommendations of  earliness  "  combined  with  har- 
diness and  productiveness,  as  just  the  grape  any- 
where south  of  Canada  for  the  vineyardist," 
ripened  a  single  grape.  None  of  those  far- 
famed  varieties  from  Iowa  Island  seemed  to  do 
much  better  than  the  old  and  tried  kinds,  Hart- 
ford, Delaware  and  Concord.  Neither  did  the 
"American  raisin  grape," — the  Walter — mature. 
Thus  far,  after  ten  years'  experience,  I  have 
found  nothing  better  than  the  Concord,  and  if 
called  to  vote  upon  the  best  variety  for  general 
cultivation,  I  should  unhesitatingly  vote  with 
the  "  Tribune  philosopher,"  for  the  Concord,  as  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


173 


grape  for  the  million.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
this  grape  is  not  so  early  as  some  others,  but  its 
hardiness  and  vigorous  habit,  its  large  bunch  and 
berry  have  rendered  it  a  general  favorite.  What 
we  need  at  the  North,  is  a  grape  as  early  as  the 
Hartford,  as  good  as  the  Delaware,  and  as  vigor- 
ous and  productive  as  the  Concord.  When  such 
a  grape  appears,  then  will  northern  fruit-growers 
be  ready  to  invest  largely  in  it  for  profit,  and 
then  our  tables  and  the  market  will  be  supplied 
with  better  fruit.  We  are  anxiously  waiting  for 
the  appearance  of  such  a  grape,  and  we  expect  it 
will  some  day  make  its  advent,  for  great  has  been 
the  improvement  from  the  native  grape  to  the 
delicious  Delaware  ;  and  why  may  we  not  expect 
still  greater  improvement,  and  that  in  time  a 
grape  will  be  produced  that  will  ripen  at  the 
North  even  in  such  frosty  and  unfavorableseasons 
as  1875. 


APRICOTS  IN  BOSTON. 

BY   J.   C,   CHELSEA,   MASS. 

In  an  Editorial  in  a  late  number  of  the 
Monthly,  it  was  stated  on  the  authority  of  E.  S. 
Rand,  Esq.,  that  among  other  fruits  in  our  mar- 
kets, there  were  Apricots  in  abundance  last  sea- 
son. I  am  safe  in  saying  that  few  of  New  Eng- 
land growth  has  been  shown  on  the  tables  of  the 
Mass.  Hort.  Society,  except  by  myself  two  years 
ago — the  mistake  being  that  the  great  abundance 
was  from  California,  and  good  for  little  when  they 
arrived  here.  We  cannot  brag  of  large  quanti- 
ties of  that  fine  fruit  here. 


THE  BIRKETT  PEAR. 


BY  W. 

This  variety  comes  from  a  little  scion  produced 
from  an  unknown  source  by  the  late  John  Bir- 
kett,  and  grafted  in  an  apple  root  the  Spring  of 
1826,  in  Peoria,  111.  The  original  tree  still  lives 
at  the  old  Birkett  homestead,  and  has  borne  im- 
mense quantities  of  pears  during  the  last  forty 
years,  never  missing  a  season. 

It  has  never  shown  the  least  indication  of 
blights  of  any  kind,  and  has  withstood  all  the 
severe  Winters  since  the  country  was  settled. 
Young  trees  of  it,  one  to  three  years  old,  with- 
stood the  severe  Winter  of  1872  and  1873  per- 
fectly, or  as  well  as  the  hardiest  of  the  Siberian 
Crabs,  and  all  the  old  trees  bore  a  fine  crop  of 
fruit  the  succeeding  Summer.  There  are  two 
trees,  propagated  from  the  old  tree,  growing  near 


Washington,  Tazewell  Co.,  111.,  now  forty  years 
old.  The  largest  of  these  two  trees,  belonging  to 
Wm.  Birkett,  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of 
tree  growth  in  the  West.  Mr.  Birkett  says 
of  it  :— 

"  My  tree  of  the  Birkett  Pear  has  always  been 
free  from  blight,  and  has  never  been  injured  by 
cold.  It  is  six  feet  and  three  inches  in  circum- 
ference two  feet  from  the  ground,  thirty-nine  feet 
in  height,  with  forty  feet  spread  of  branches. 
The  fruit  is  of  medium  size,  of  fair  quality,  and 
excellent  for  baking,  canning,  and  preserving. 
My  books  show  that  I  have  sold  from  this  one 
tree,  in  Peoria  market,  along  with  my  dairy 
products,  at  wholesale  during  the  last  eight 
years,  an  average  of  $45  per  year,  besides  what 
was  used  at  home.  I  have  no  Birkett  trees  for 
sale,  and  have  sold  all  my  scions  to  the  Lacon 
Nursery  for  the  next  five  years. 

"  William  Birkett." 

Mr.  Birkett  has  a  thorough  personal  know- 
ledge of  the  three  original  trees,  and  so  have  we, 
and  we  have  no  hesitancy  in  recommending  it 
to  the  people  of  the  Northwest  as  a  pear  that 
will  grow  in  every  reasonable  situation,  remain 
healthy,  and  bear  pears.  It  will  prove  of  the 
very  greatest  value  for  top-grafting  some  of  our 
hardiest,  healthiest  and  choicest  pears  upon. 
Give  the  pear  one  more  trial  by  planting  this 
"  iron-clad  "  variety.  It  will  also  be  found  of 
great  value  to  plant  for  purposes  that  shade  and 
ornamental  trees  are  planted  for.  Its  great  vigor 
and  complete  health,  even  without  taking  into 
consideration  its  fruit,  makes  it  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  trees,  and  at  the  end  we  have  a  tim- 
ber of  the  most  valuable  qualities  for  many  pur- 
poses 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


Trained  fruit  trees. — In  small  gardens  the 
training  of  fruit  trees  after  the  fashion  so  com- 
mon in  Europe,  might  surely  be  adopted  with 
advantage.  The  espalier  system,  especially,  is  a 
good  one  for  this  purpose.  The  trees  are  kept 
about  as  high  as  an  average  man,  and  the 
branches  led  out  horizontally  on  each  side.  The 
trees  make  capital  "  fences"  to  keep  people  from 
running  across  lawns  or  grass-plats,  and,  besides, 
protect  the  flower,  borders  that  may  be  in  front 
of  them. 

The  fruit  from  these  trees  is  generally  much 


174 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


I  June, 


superior  to  the  average  of  fruit  from  other  trees. 
Mr.  Boileau,  of  New  York,  had  nice  specimens 
of  training  on  the  Centennial  grounds. 

Illustrations  of  Fruit.  — A  few  years  ago 
there  was  quite  a  rage  for  illustrating  fruits  by 
outline  drawings,  or  other  forms  of  wood-cuts, 
but  these  "  new  fruits"  became  so  numerous  that 
when  one  wanted  to  illustrate  a  new  grape, 
apple,  strawberry  or  some  other  thing,  a  search 
among  the  old  cuts  would  be  sure  to  find  just 
the  old  fellow  required  to  fill  the  new  place. 

To  such  an  extent  has  this  been  carried  that 
few  intelligent  editors  care  to  waste  space  by 
these  sort  of  illustrations — at  least  we  do  not. 

Sometimes  the  editors  do  not  always  hit  the 
right  cut  in  the  "adaptations"  of  the  old  to  the 
new ;  of  this  we  saw  a  laughable  instance  in  a 
cotemporary  recently.  We  were  struck  with  the 
appearance  of  our  old  friend  the  cut  of  the 
"  Brown's  Wonder"  strawberry,  which  we  gave 
to  show  how  fearfully  exaggerated  a  thing 
could  be  made.  "  It  is  not  possible,"  thought 
we,  "  that  this  fraud  is  being  pushed  again."  But 
under  the  plate  we  read  "  Wilson's  Albany  seed- 
ling strawberry !  " 

Packing  Pears. — The  pear  is  difficult  of  trans- 
portation. It  rots  easily  by  the  slightest  bruise. 
This  has  been  against  its  success  as  a  market 
fruit.  But  there  are,  no  doubt,  some  pears  as  well 
as  some  apples,  that  will  transport  better  than 
others,  and  it  is  worth  while  to  look  them  up. 

It  was  at  one  time  thought  that  apples  would 
not  travel  well,  but  it  was  found  that  by  tightly 
pressing  them  in  barrels  they  did  well.  It  is  not 
so  much  a  bruise  that  hurts  an  apple,  but  the 
air  that  operates  on  the  bruised  parts.  If  the 
parts  pressed  continue  pressed  no  damage  is  done. 
Perhaps  when  this  is  generally  understood,  there 
will  be  no  more  difficulty  in  transporting  pears 
than  there  now  is  with  apples  or  grapes. 

Long^Continuous  Bearing. — The  Country  Gen- 
tleman tells  us  that  near  Niagara,  Mr.  Burdett  has 
an  orchard  (apple  we  suppose)  of  2,000  trees  that 
has  been  in  continuous  bearing  for  twenty  years, 
and  that  the  sales  have  been  as  much  a.s  $6,000 
in  a  single  season. 

A  White  Dewberry  is  among  the  horticultu- 
rists of  Texas  ;  white  Blackberries  of  the  upright 
or  "  high  bush  "  kind,  have  frequently  appeared 
and  have  been  named  and  distributed,  but  have 
generally  soon  disappeared.    The  flavor  is  gener- 


ally more  agreeable  in  these  whites  than  in  the 
dark  kinds,  but  the  faults  have  been  that  the 
whites  were  smaller  fruited,  shy  bearers  and 
more  liable  to  winter  kill.  The  Dewberry 
has  not  been  yet  brought  under  culture,  unless 
we  guess  that  the  Wilson's  Early  is  from  this 
species,  but  it  is  a  good  one  to  look  after. 

Gary's  "  Hold  on  "  Peach. —  This  very  late 
variety  seems  to  be  gaining  in  popularity  in 
Maryland. 

A  Horse-power  Vineyard. — Mr.  Smythe  of 
Burlington  N.  J.,  has  a  vineyard  of  two  thousand 
vines  of  the  Concord  grape.  He  buys  old 
horses,  cuts  them  up,  and  gives  a  chunk  to  each 
vine ;  and  it  is  said  the  product  is  both  prodig- 
ous  and  profitable. 

Japan  Persimmon. — Mr.  Henry  Loomis  of  San 
Francisco,  tells  us  that  this  is  found  to  thrive  re- 
markably well  in  California  and  is  destined  to 
become  one  of  their  standard  fruits.  It  has  al- 
ready grown  large  enough  to  fruit  in  some  few 
places  in  the  State. 

Fertilizing  Figs  in  Smyrna. —  A  correspon- 
dent writes  to  the  Pacific  Rural  Press: — "  About 
the  end  of  July  the  first  figs  come  to  maturity. 
The  fig  harvest  lasts  about  six  weeks.  When  the 
fig  is  ripe,  it  will  of  its  own  accord  fall  from  the 
tree,  only  partly  cured.  Women  and  children 
are  employed  to  pick  up  the  fruit  into  small 
baskets,  to  be  conveyed  to  a  place  in  the  garden 
well  exposed  to  the  sun,  where  they  are  spread 
on  a  bed  of  dry  grass  or  matting,  singly —  that  is 
to  say,  not  one  on  top  of  another — and  are 
turned  every  day,  so  as  to  get  every  side  of  the 
tig  exposed  to  the  sun.  After  a  few  days  expos- 
ure to  the  sun,  those  figs  which  are  considered 
sufficiently  dry  are  selected  from  the  mass  and 
divided  into  first,  second  and  third  quality.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  dry  them  too  much.  When 
properly  cured,  the  skin  ought  to  feel  dry,  but 
the  inside  soft.  Practice  alone  can  teach  to 
what  extent  the  drying  ought  to  take  place.  The 
grower  then  sends  the  figs  to  Smyrna,  where 
they  are  re-sorted  and  packed  for  shipment. 

"  The  male  fruit  about  the  middle  of  June  con- 
tains a  large  number  of  small  flies,  and  is  thrown 
on  the  female  trees  ;  these  flies  then  get  distrib- 
uted over  the  fruit  and  convey  the  necessary 
amount  of  pollen.      The  system  is  as  follows  : 

"  When  the  female  fig  (first  crop)  is  about  the 
size  of  a  hazel    nut,  five  or  six  of  the  male  figs 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


175 


are  strung  on  to  a  piece  of  string,  and  one  or 
two  of  these  bunches  are  thrown  upon  the 
female  tree,  according  to  its  size  and  amount  of 
fruit.  Repeat  this  operation  when  the  second 
crop  is  about  the  same  size.  As  the  tree  grows 
larger  year  by  year,increase  the  number  of  strings ; 
but  never  put  more  than  six  strings  (say  about 
30  male  figs)  over  the  largest  tree  at  one  time. 
These  strings  are  put  on  the  tree  about  one  hour 
before  sunrise,  and  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
weather  is  fine  and  no  wind  blowing.  I  may 
mention  that  if  the  male  fig  is  not  applied  the 
crop  will  not  set,  but  the  fruit  will  fall  off;  and  if 
too  many  are  applied  the  fruit  will  likewise  fall, 
or  become  very  small  or  inferior." 

Conover's  Colossal  Asparagus. — The  London 
Gardener's  Magazine  complains  that  in  England 
they  have  found  this  the  same  as  ordinary  As- 
paragus, and  would  like  to  know  what  any  one 
has  found  "  to  justify  the  character  Americans 
have  given  it."  We  do  not  know  why  "Ameri- 
cans" should  be  thus  boldly  challenged.  Certainly 
the  Gardener's  Monthly  long  ago  showed  our  "  Eng- 
lish "  friends  that  there  could  be  no  separate  va- 
riety of  Asparagus  capable  of  reproducing  itself, 
because  the  plant  is  dioecious,  or  with  separate 
sexes  on  distinct  plants.  Mr.  Conover's  growth 
was,  however,  so  superior  that  it  was  quite  par- 
donable in  those  who  saw  it  to  suppose  it  was  a 
distinct  kind,  for  at  that  time  the  discovery  of  the 
dioecious  character  of  the  Asparagus  in  this 
countrj'  had  not  been  made. 

Tomatoes. — Much  as  our  readers  know  of  the 
general  use  of  Tomatoes,  we  doubt  whether  they 
have  any  idea  of  how  immense  the  culture  is. 
Every  one  who  has  a  garden,  no  matter  how 
small,  has  tomatoes,  though  he  may  have  noth- 
ing else,  and  yet  thousands  of  acres  are  covered 
for  market  purposes.  A  Southern  paper  tells  us 
of  a  Tomato  Growing  Company,  in  King 
William's  Co.,  Virginia,  that  will  plant  this 
Spring  seven  hundred  acres.  The  seeds  at  the 
time  of  writing  were  sprouting  under  six  hun- 
dred hot-bed  sashes.  The  yield  is  about  a  peck 
to  the  hill.  Droves  of  turkeys  keep  the  plants 
clear  of  the  tobacco  worm,  which  in  Virginia  is 
a  great  pest  to  the  Tomato. 

To  Cook  Jerusalem  Artichokes. —  So  much 
has  appeared  of  late  about  the  native  country 
and  general  history  of  the  Jerusalem  Artichoke, 
that  it  will  be  timely  to  supplement  this  by  more 
substantial  remarks  about  them.      Unless  nicely 


cooked  the  Artichoke  is  poor  stuff.  By  high 
culinary  art  they  are  not  altogether  despicable. 
The  Gardener's  Magazine  says  that  they  can  be 
rendered  fair  eating  by  attention  to  the  following 
details  : — "  The  waste  occasioned  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  Jerusalem  Artichokes  for  cooking 
ought  not  to  trouble  anybody,  for  the  poultry 
will  eat  up  every  scrap,  and  it  is  really  a  treat 
for  the  poultry  yard  when  we  send  out  our  pan- 
full  of  parings.  This  point  seems  to  be  worth 
mentioning,  because  many  a  one  experiences  a 
pang  at  the  immense  waste  of  the  roots  that  in- 
evitably result  from  their  ungainly  forms.  But 
as  the  poultry  will  eat  up  every  scrap,  the  waste 
is  kept  in  the  family,  and  there  is  nothing  lost. 
Amongst  the  various  modes  of  cooking  these 
wholesome  and  nutritious  roots,  I  much  prefer 
the  one  I  shall  describe  first,  for  it  is  extremely 
simple,  decidedly  elegant,  and  the  result  is  a 
delicious  dish  that  everybody  can  eat,  and  that 
agrees  perfectly  with  the  most  delicate  stomach. 

"Artichokes  Fried. — Prepare  by  washing  and 
paring  in  the  usual  way,  taking  care  not  to  make 
them  ready  until  they  are  to  be  cooked,  as  they 
should  not,  for  frying,  be  put  into  water.  Cut 
into  very  thin  slices,  and  put  them  in  a  pan  with 
plenty  of  boiling  fat  or  butter,  and  shake  and 
turn  them  about  frequently.  When  fried  a  nice 
brown,  heap  them  on  a  hot  dish,  with  a  very 
slight  sprinkling  of  salt. 

"Artichokes  Stewed. — Prepare  by  washing  and 
paring  in  the  usual  way,  and  shape  the  roots  like 
a  peg  top  or  pear,  with  the  broad  end  cut  fiat  off, 
and  as  each  is  made  ready  put  it  into  cold  milk 
in  a  porcelain-lined  saucepan.  There  should  be 
just  enough  milk  to  cover  them,  and  a  dozen 
roots  will  make  a  nice  dish.  Stew  them  in  the 
milk  slowly,  adding  a  little  water  if  needful  as 
the  milk  evaporates,  but  taking  care  to  cook 
them  in  a  small  quantity  of  liquid.  When 
nearly  tender  draw  them  from  the  fire,  and  add 
a  teaspoonful  of  minced  shallots,  a  little  nutmeg 
and  an  ounce  of  butter ;  and  let  them  simmer 
again  for  about  five  minutes.  Then  take  them 
out,  put  them  in  a  hot  dish,  and  cover  with  a 
cloth.  To  a  little  cold  milk  add  a  dessert  spoon- 
ful of  flour,  and  beat  it  smooth.  Strain  the 
liquor  in  which  the  roots  were  cooked  and  add 
to  it  the  milk  and  flour,  and  an  ounce  of  butter. 
Boil  it  up.  carefully  straining  the  while,  and  pour 
over  the  Artichokes.  Put  round  the  dish  a  bor- 
der of  mashed  potatoes,  or  a  few  nicely  cooked 
Brussles  sprouts  of  a  bright  green  color." 


17fi 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


FORESTRY. 


GOMMUNICA  TIONS. 

THE  EUCALYPTUS  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

BY   D. 

In  several  numbers  of  the  Monthly  I  have  no- 
ticed articles  relating  to  the  Eucalyptus.  In 
some  parts  of  California  this  tree  grows  well ; 
there  are  some  within  twenty  miles  of  here 
thirty  to  forty  feet  high.  I  have  some  from  seed 
planted  last  May,  about  four  feet  high.  I  do 
not  like  them.  There  are  many  finer  trees  na- 
tives of  our  State.  The  railroad  intends  to  set 
out  800,000  of  them  along  the  road,  from  Sacra- 
mento down.  They  have  procured  40,000,  and 
intend  to  get  others  as  soon  as  possible. 

I  think  it  a  poor  investment.  Our  native 
walnut  makes  a  magnificent  shade  tree.  We 
have  six  in  /ront  of  our  dwelling  that  are  as  fine 
as  any  one  could  desire.  They  are  hardier  than 
the  English  walnut,  and  are  vex*y  seldom  injured. 
They  grow  readily  from  seed.  The  leaves  are 
not  much  over  one-quarter  as  large  as  the  Eng- 
lish ;  are  of  a  darker  green  color,  and  more 
'  thickly  set  on  the  tree ;  in  fact,  they  are  so  thick 
the  sun  can  hardly  stray  through  them.  Would 
you  like  a  few  seeds  of  them  ? 


TIMBER  NOTES  FROM  CALIFORNIA. 

BY   J.   M.   HUTCHINGS. 

The  Pinus  Lambertiana,  or  sugar  pine,  is  the 
best  pine  we  have  for  finishing  purposes,  and 
frequently  attains  a  diameter  of  from  8  to  10 
feet,  and  an  altitude  of  250  feet.  It  is  often  120 
feet  to  the  first  limb,  and  "  straight  as  an  arrow." 
The  Pinus  ponderosa  is  more  durable  exposed, 
and  has  a  much  greater  strength  for  heavy  tim- 
bers, floors,  joists,  &c.  The  wood  of  Red  Wood 
(Sequoia sempervirens)  is  in  every  respect  like  the 
wood  of  the  Big  Tree  (Sequoia  gigantea),  and  is 
second  only  in  size  to  the  latter.  Both  are  in- 
valuable for  lumber,  and  exceedingly  durable. 
As  an  instance  of  the  latter  quality,  I  will  men- 
tion one  example  I  found  in  the  Frezno  Grove. 
A  tree  about  twenty-six  feet  in  diameter  lay  pros- 


trate ;  another  of  the  same  species  had  grown 
up  beside  it,  but  as  it  was  unable  to  push  the 
prostrate  monarch  out  of  its  way,  it  had  grown 
over  it  six  feet  and  eight  inches;  and  although  it 
had  probably  been  there  hundreds  of  years,  was 
quite  sound  when  I  saw  its  thrifty  young  scion 
growing  over  it.  The  timber  in  the  "  mission  " 
buildings  of  California  is  mostly  Red  Wood ; 
yet,  although  nearly  one  hundred  years  have 
rolled  away  since  they  were  built,  the  timber  is 
perfectly  sound.  Then,  in  specific  gravity,  it  is 
lightest  of  all.  Its  value,  however,  would  be 
mainly  for  finishing  purposes,  as  the  yellow 
pine  would  bear  a  tension  of  three  to  one  where 
strength  was  needed.  It  splits  easily  either  way 
of  the  grain.  Owing  to  this  latter,  and  other 
qualities,  it  has  become  almost  indispensable  for 
fence  posts  and  railroad  ties,  &c.  The  sugar 
pine  is  easily  riven,  and  it  forms  the  staple  tim- 
ber for  "  stakes "  and  "shingles."  These  trees 
do  not  command  the  attention  their  invaluable 
qualities  would  invite  and  justify. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Tar,  Rosin  and  Turpentine. — These  still  con- 
tinue among  the  leading  exports  from  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina.  Of  pine  tar,  no  less  than 
18,201  barrels  more  were  shipped  than  the  year 
before.  The  price  there  is  about  $1.60  per  bar- 
rel. Of  turpentine  there  was  the  enormous  in- 
crease of  56,793  barrels — 33  per  cent,  over  the 
previous  year;  price  $2.25  per  barrel.  In  rosin 
there  has  been  a  decrease  of  17,829  barrels.  The 
ruling  price  is  $1.75  per  barrel.  The  Wilmington 
Review,  from  which  we  take  these  figures,  adds  : 

"  There  are  vast  forests  of  virgin  pine  in  this 
section  of  the  State,  untouched.  They  are  far 
from  a  market  and  hence  are  not  worked,  having 
never  been  touched,  either  for  turpentine  or 
timber.  These  forests  are  to  be  found  at  the  in- 
tersection of  the  three  counties  of  Pender,  Dup- 
lin and  Onslow,  and  this  is  the  country  that  the 
people  of  Wilmington  are  interested  in  opening 
up  now  to  a  market." 


1877.] 


AND  HOB  TIG  UL  T  URIS  T. 


177 


Forests  of  Massachusetts. — New  forests  are 
eaid  to  be  growing  up  in  the  western  part  of 
Massachusetts  faster  than  the  old  ones  are  cut 
off.  Especially  in  the  hill  towns  is  this  the  case. 
Many  a  locality  that  was  impoverished  as  farm 
land  some  twenty  and  thirty  years  ago,  is  now 
covered  with  a  vigorous  growth  of  young  forests, 
the  rapid  increase  in  the  population  of  the  out- 
lying agricultural  districts  having  rendered  such 
a  thing  inevitable. — Cultivator. 

Trees  for  Colorado. — The  Greeley  Tribune, 
after  recounting  a  long  list  of  trees  that  have 
been  tried,  and  so  far  failed  in  the  Colony,  says 
the  Cottonwood,  Box  Elder,  and  Silver  Maple  do 
admirably  there.  Evergreens  have  so  far  proved 
failures. 

Large  Chestnut  Trees.— These  often  grow  to 
an  immense  size,  and  we  should  like  to  know 
just  how  large  the  largest  are.  Mr.  D.  Wyatt 
Aiken  tells  us  of  some  fine  ones  in  North  Caz*o- 
lina,  but  we  think  there  may  be  larger  ones  than 
even  these.  He  says  of  his: — "There  have  re- 
cently been  discovered  some  trees  in  North  Caro- 
lina that  are  '  no  sardines.'  In  surveying  the 
route  of  the  Spartanburg  and  Asheville  Railroad, 
the  engineers  encountered  'some  chestnuts  that 
seemed  to  nestle  their  burs  in  the  upper  firma- 
ment. A  contractor  had  to  eradicate  one  of 
these,  as  it  stood  directly  in  the  way  of  the  track 
of  the  Road,  and  it  measured  ten  feet  three  inches 
across  the  stump,  and  was  solid  to  the  centre." 

The  Ash  as  A  Timber  Tree. — Prof.  Sargent, 
who  more  than  any  other  man  deserves  well  of 
his  country  for  the  interest  he  is  exciting  in 
timber  culture,  contributes  a  paper  on  the  Ash, 
to  the  April  Agriculturist,  showing  how  the  tree 
may  be  made  profitable  within  ten  years  from 
planting.  The  rows  need  not  be  more  than  four 
feet  apart,  with  a  view  to  thinning  out  the  young 
plants,  until  only  the  right  number  are  left  to 
develope  into  large  trees.  The  thinnings  from 
an  acre  of  White  Ash,  planted  in  this  way,  would, 
at  present  prices,  sell  for  at  least  four  hundred 
dollars  for  hoop-poles,  while  subsequent  thin- 
nings would  be  of  still  greater  value  ;  and  these 
thinnings,  it  must  be  remembered,  are  made, 
not  at  the  expense  of  the  future  plantation,  but 
to  benefit  and  improve  it.  The  White  Ash 
should  be  more  generally  employed  as  a  road- 
side or  avenue  tree.  Indeed,  in  view  of  its  many 
qualifications,  the  Sugar  Maple  alone,  among 
our  native  trees,  surpasses  it  for  this  purpose. 
It  is  many  years  since  the  White  Ash  was  first 


introduced  into  Europe,  and  the  fine  specimens 
which  are  occasionally  met  with,  both  in  Great 
Britain  and  on  the  Continent,  sufficiently  prove 
that  its  general  cultivation  in  Northern  and 
Central  Europe  would  make  a  valuable  addition 
to  the  forest  products  of  those  countries. 

The  Eucalyptus  in  South  Carolina.  —  Mr. 
Chisholm,  of  Beaufort,  tells  the  American  Far- 
mer : — "  I  had  one  Eucalyptus  globulus  about  15 
feet  high,  and  quite  a  number  of  small  ones 
in  a  box,  all  of  which  were  killed  by  the  late 
cold  spell,  while  small  orange  trees  in  another 
box  alongside  were  not  at  all  hurt,  which  proves 
that  the  Eucalyptus  globulus  is  more  tender  than 
the  sweet  orange.  I  have  one  tree  of  another 
variety  of  Eucalyptus,  name  unknown,  which 
does  not  appear  to  be  injured  any  more  than  to 
have  all  its  leaves  killed." 

The  Yellow  or  Short-leaved  Pine. — Prof. 
Sargent  says,  in  a  recent  paper,  that  this  is  the 
Pinus  mitis,  and  this  we  believe  is  the  accepted 
belief  of  the  authorities.  We  have  an  idea, 
however,  that  all  the  Yellow  Pine  that  comes  to 
the  Philadelphia  market  is  from  Pinus  palustris . 
We  are  not  sure  of  this,  and  should  be  glad  of 
correct  information  from  any  botanist  who  may 
have  personal  experience  in  the  "  Yellow  "  Pine 
region.  Pinus  mitis  was  at  one  time  very  abund- 
ant in  places  where  it  is  now  nearly  extermi- 
nated. We  know  of  but  one  old  tree,  and  the 
top  of  it  is  so  flat  and  thick  one  can  almost  walk 
over  it. 

Wood  Preservatives. — According  to  observa- 
tions made  on  a  railroad  in  Germany,  the  pro- 
portion of  renewals  was,  with  oak  sleepers  (not 
treated)  after  12  years  of  service,  74-48  per  cent. ; 
with  oak  sleepers,  treated  with  chloride  of  zinc, 
after  7  years,  3'29  per  cent.;  with  oak  sleepers, 
impregnated  with  creosote  oil,  after  6  years,  0-09 
per  cent. ;  with  pine  sleepers,  impregnated  with 
chloride  of  zinc,  after  7  years  of  service,  4'46  per 
cent.  The  practice  of  this  railroad,  since  the 
year  1870,  has  been  to  employ  only  oak  for 
sleepers,  which  are  impregnated  either  with 
chloride  of  zinc  or  with  creosote  oil.— Scientific 
American. 

The  Lumber  Resources  of  Tulare,  Califor- 
nia.— There  are  in  Tulare  County  some  fifty  or 
sixty  townships  of  our  unsurveyed  public  lands 
that  lay  within  the  pine  belt.  Not  less  than  400 
square  miles  of  these  lands  are  covered  by  a 
heavy  pine  forest.  It  is  a  mountainous  region, 
and   abounds   in   unappropriated  water  power. 


178 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


We  know  of  one  place  where  a  mill  could  be  lo- 
cated within  eight  miles  of  the  valley,  and  be  in 
the  heart  of  a  forest  of  a  hundred  square  miles. 
A  road  on  a  grade  of  one  foot  to  the  rod  would 
reach  it  within  the  distance  named.  Another 
large  forest  stands  withm  five  miles  of  a  traveled 
road.  At  Dillon's  mill,  lumber  has  been  delivered, 
during  the  last  year,  over  a  wooden  railroad  which 
has  a  grade  of  1000  feet  to  the  mile.  The  cars 
run  down  loaded,  by  their  own  weight,  and  are 
drawn  back  by  a  mule.  Mr.  Dillon  has  found 
that  his  system  of  brake  will  stop  a  car  on  a 
grade  of  five  feet  to  the  rod.  A  singular  fact  in 
his  experience  is,  that  a  loaded  car  will  mind  the 
brakes  when  an  empty  one  will  slide  with  all 
wheels  locked.  This  seems  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  face  of  the  wooden  rail  gives  under  a 
load.  As  to  whether  this  plan  of  delivering  lum- 
ber will  prove  as  satisfactory  as  the  V  flume, 
time  will  determine;  but,  doubtless,  either  will 
prove  greatly  superior  to  the  teaming  system, 
and  probably  would  suffice  to  stop  the  carriage 
of  lumber  through  our  valley. —  Visalia  Iron  Age. 

The  Preservation  of  Timber. — Buried  in  the 
earth  or  exposed  to  the  air,  timber  rapidly  dete- 
riorates, and  undergoes  the  species  of  decompo- 
sition known  as  dry  rot.  This  decomposition 
may  be  retarded  by  the  application  of  a  coat  of 
paint  to  the  timber  exposed  to  the  air,  or  by  car- 
bonizing the  surface  of  that  which  is  intended  to 
be  sunk  in  the  ground. 

During  the  last  twenty  years,  several  methods 
have  been  tried  for  making  timber  more  durable, 
the  principle  of  which  consists  in  expelling  the 
sap  remaining  in  the  ligneous  fibres,  in  order  to 
replace  it  by  chemical  solutions,  such  as  sulphate 
of  copper  and  creosote ;  but  these  processes, 
comparatively  costly,  and  only  partially  success- 
ful, do  not  entirely  accomplish  their  object. 
Starting  from  the  fact  that  oak,  chestnut,  and 
certain  American  trees  resist  the  action  of  air 
and  damp,  better  than  others,  and  that  they  owe 
this  property  to  the  tannin  which  they  contain, 
a  chemist  proposes  to  tan  the  timber  by  substitu- 
ting for  the  sulphate  of  copper  and  creosote  a 
compound  of  tannic  acid  and  iron.  The  object 
of  injecting  various  substances  into  wood  is  to 
poison  them,  so  that  germs  and  microscopic 
growths  may  no  longer  live  and  propagate  either 
on  the  surface  or  in  the  interior.  Now  tannin  is 
one  of  the  most  active  and  certain  destroyers  of 
germs  both  vegetable  and  animal,  which  fact  ac- 
counts for  its  preservative  agency.     Besides,  it  is 


to  tannin  that  is  due  the  almost  indefinite  pres- 
ervation of  leather.  One  peculiarity  to  be  noticed 
in  this  process  is,  that  timber  treated  with  this 
compound  of  tannin  and  iron,  that  is  to  say  a  com- 
position similar  to  ordinary  writing  ink,  is  turned 
black. 

The  process  of  injecting  timber  with  tannate 
of  protoxide  of  iron  is  due  to  M  Hatzfeld  ;  the 
Eastern  Railway  Company  of  France  has  ex- 
perimented with  it  on  some  sleepers,  and  the 
Telegraphic  Department  on  some  posts. 

M.  Boucherie  has  denied  in  a  note  to  the 
"Academie,"  the  efficacy  of  this  process,  con- 
tending that  the  attempts  already  made  to  pre- 
serve timber  from  dry-rot  by  injecting  it  with 
iron  salts  have  yielded  only  partially  successful 
results,  while  sleepers  treated  by  sulphate  of  cop- 
per have  lasted  twenty  five  years  and  more. 
Reply  is  made  to  these  objections  by  quoting — 
not  the  experiments  of  the  laboratory  or  the 
workshop,  but  those  made  by  time  itself.  It  is 
not  a  rare  circumstance  to  encounter  in  earth  of 
a  ferruginous  natui'e  the  trunks  of  very  old  oaks, 
blackened  and  very  perfectly  preserved ;  at 
Rouen,  in  1830,  some  old  oak  paling  was  discov- 
ered as  black  as  ebony,  and  dating  back  to  the 
Middle  Ages.  Not  very  long  ago,  too,  a  Norman 
vessel  built  of  oak  was  discovered  in  an  almost 
perfect  state  of  preservation  in  the  neighborhood 
of  an  iron  mine  in  Norway.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  the  preservation  of  the  oak  under 
these  circumstances  is  due  to  the  tannin  con- 
tained in  the  wood ;  it  follows,  therefore,  that  by 
introducing  a  substance  rich  in  tannin  into  tim- 
ber that  does  not  naturally  possess  it,  its  resist- 
ance to  decay  is  increased. — Journal  of  the  Society 
of  Arts. 

Selecting  Timber. — In  selecting  timber,  the 
surveyor's  attention  will  naturally  be  given  to  an 
examination  of  the  butt  or  root  end,  which  should 
be  close,  solid,  and  sound  ;  and  if  satisfied  in  this 
respect,  the  top  should  next  be  inspected,  to  see 
that  it  corresponds  with  the  butt-end.  Afterwards 
he  will  glance  over  the  exposed  sides  in  search  of 
defects,  carefully  examining  the  knots,  if  any,  to 
see  that  they  are  solid.  He  will,  of  course,  avoid 
any  piece  that  has  either  heart,  cup,  or  star-shake, 
or  sponginess  near  the  pith  at  the  butt,  discolored 
wood  at  the  top,  splits  along  the  sides,  rind-gall, 
worm  holes,  or  hollow  or  decayed  knots.  In 
dealing  with  spar-timber,  he  will  select  the 
straightest  pieces  ;  they  should  be  free  from  all 
the  defects  before  mentioned,  upsets,  i.  e.,  fibres 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


179 


crippled  by  compression,  large  knots,  and  even 
those  of  moderate  size  if  they  are  numerous  or 
6ituate  ring-like  round  the  stick.  Spar-timber 
should  be  straight-grained.  As  planks,  deals, 
&c,  depend  for  their  usefulness  upon  both  quali- 
ty and  manufacture,  the  surveyor  will  not  only 
see  that  they  are  free  from  excess  of  sap,  knots, 
shakes,  and  shel lines?  upon  their  sides,  but  also 
that  they  are  evenly  cut  and  fit  for  use  of  their 
thickness.  Bright  looking  timber  is  better  in 
quality  than  dull,  and  that  which  is  smooth  in 
the  working,  better  than  the  rough  or  woolly-sur- 
faced. The  heart  of  trees  having  the  most  sap- 
wood  is  generally  stronger  and  better  in  quality 
than  the  heart  of  trees  of  the  same  species  that 
has  little  sap-wood. — Laslett's  Timber  and  Timber 
Trees. 

A  Tree  Planting  Law  in  California. — By  a 
law  of  California,  approved  March  30,  186S,  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  in  each  county  are  em- 
powered to  authorize  owners  of  lands  to  plant 
and  cultivate,  along  the  public  highways,  shade 
and  fruit  trees,specifying  thespecies  to  be  planted, 
at  what  age,  at  what  distance  from  each  other 
and  from  the  road-bed,  and  making  the  necessary 
rules  for  their  protection,  &c.  Four  years  after 
the  planting,  upon  receiving  a  duly  certified 
statement  of  the  number  then  in  a  thrifty  con- 
dition, the  Board  is  directed  to  pay  to  the  cul- 
tivator $1  for  each  such  tree.  In  October,  1872, 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  called  attention 
of  County  Supervisors  to  this  Act,  and  urged 
them  to  do  what  is  in  their  power  to  encourage 
a  compliance  with  its  provisions.  They  advised 
that  the  age  be  fixed  from  three  to  eight  years 
from  the  seed,  and  the  minimum  distance  be. 
tween   tree  and  tree  at  twelve  feet,  and  recom- 


mended the  planting  of  the  following  varieties  : 
Black  and  honey  Locusts  ;  black,  white  and  fruit- 
ing Mulberries  ;  Osage  Orange,  native  and  east- 
ern black  Walnut;  American  Chestnut ;  Amer- 
ican, European,  and  Cork-bark  Elm ;  the  differ- 
ent varieties  of  Maple;  Tulip  tree;  Carolina, 
Lombardy,  and  silver-leaf  Poplars;  the  different 
varieties  of  Ash  ;  Apple,  Pear,  Plum,  Cherry,  Al- 
mond, and  Fig  trees  ;  the  Eucalyptus  or  Aus- 
tralian Blue  and  Red  Gum  tree  ;  Monterey,  Su- 
gar, Yellow,  Spruce,  and  Scotch  Pines;  Norway 
Spruce,  Balsam  fir,  European  Larch,  Monterey 
and  Italian  Cypress,  and  California  Laurel ;  and 
Redwood. 

Japan  Paper. — The  Scientific  American  says  : — 
"Japanese  paper  is  usually  made  from  the  inner 
bark  of  the  paper  mulberry  (Broussonetia  papy- 
rifera),  which  is  grown  and  cultivated  for  the 
purpose.  The  bark  of  the  Passerina  Gampi,  and 
of  the  Edgeworthia  papyrifera,  are  also  said  to 
be  used. 

"Japanese  paper  is  always  made  by  hand,  and 
is  therefore  of  a  necessity  made  in  small  sheets; 
the  more  common  size  known  as  kanshi,  being 
about  nine  and  a  half  by  twelve  and  a  half 
inches,  though  both  larger  and  smaller  sizes  are 
used  to  a  limited  extent." 

The  Timber  Line  in  the  various  Mountains. 
— In  the  Himalayas,  trees  grow  up  to  a  height  of 
11,800  feet,  and  there  are  often  forests  just  below 
this  line.  In  the  Andes  the  growth  of  trees  ends 
at  12,130  feet;  in  the  Alps  it  ends  on  an  average 
at  6,400  feet,  but  it  is  stated  that  specimens  of 
trees  are  found  above  7,000  feet,  but  the  pasture 
grounds  in  Thibet  are  known  to  extend  over  an 
elevation  of  from  15,000  to  16,350  feet. 


ATURAL  IflSTORY  AND  &ENCE. 


<C^3A>J 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


TUMBLE  WEED. 

BY   D.  B.  WIER,  LACON,  MARSHALL  CO.,  ILL. 

I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  only  real  good 
hearty  laugh  I  have  had  in  a  long  time.  Hav- 
ing read  the  Gardener's  Monthly  from  beginning 


to  end  this  evening  (I  devour  in  one  evening 
what  it  takes  you  a  long,  weary  month  to  get 
up),  the  next  to  the  last  paragraph  unset  me 
completely.  Being  a  native  of  Illinois,  I  can 
appreciate  both  Tumble  Bugs  and  Tumble 
Weeds,  and  we  certainly  would  not  have  to  in- 
troduce the  former  to  destroy  the  latter,  as  we 
have  both  bad  already,  though  the  "  tumble  weed ' ' 
is  not  near  so  common  in  this  neighborhood  as 


180 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


formerly.  It— the  weed — appears  to  be  from 
its  general  characteristics  (I  have  not  studied  it) 
one  of  the  Chenopodiacese,  probably  Cycloloma 
platyphyllum.  It  affects  rich,  clean  soil,  especi- 
ally early  broken  prairie  sod.  In  growth  it  is  very 
branching,  and  in  Autumn  it  becomes  the  whole 
plant,  completely  globular,  when  its  root  rots 
off,  and  the  Autumn  wind  sets  it  to  "  tumbling  " 
and  away  it  goes  across  the  prairie,  scattering- 
its  seeds  as  it  goes.  It  travels  onward,  literally, 
with  the  speed  of  the  wind,  until  it  lodges 
against  some  obstruction,  where  it  frettingly  re- 
mains until  the  wind  changes,  when  away  it 
goes  where  the  winds  listeth.  It  is  a  very  curi- 
ous sight  to  see  a  high  fence  on  the  prairies  with 
tens  of  thousands  of  these  weeds  banked  up  on 
the  south  side  of  it,  struck  by  a  sudden  gust  of 
wind  from  the  north,  when  away  they  go  over 
the  level  field  like  a  drove  of  deer  or  wolves,  as 
they  are  often  two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter, 
they  can  be  seen  a  long  distance.  As  a  weed, 
we  never  considered  them  troublesome,  but  they 
are  exceedingly  objectionable  to  skittish  horses, 
when  they  are  in  motion,  and  many  a  bad  run- 
away has  been  caused  by  the  industrious  "  tum- 
ble weed." 

But  here,  I  have  been  writing  about  what  I 
know  as  the  tumble  weed  ;  how  do  I  know  that 
your  other  Illinois  correspondent  means  the 
same  thing  or  not?  He  may  have  tumbled  to 
this  name  for  an  entirely  different  weed.  Some 
years  ago,  while  riding  with  five  intelligent  gen- 
tlemen from  different  parts  of  this  State,  we 
were  talking  of  this  common  name  business. 
Some  of  them  thought  that  there  was  no  need  of 
technical  names.  We  halted,  and  each  was  re- 
quested to  give  the  name  of  one  of  our  most 
common  weeds,  as  known  in  his  neighborhood, 
and  every  one  gave  different  names,  while  it  is 
known  here  under  three  different  names. 

Another  thing  in  this  connection.  Not  one  in 
fifty,  and  probably  not  one  in  a  hundred,  of 
our  plants  in  the  West  have  any  common  Eng- 
lish name  at  all ;  but  the  few  that  have  been 
loosely  named  have  been,  as  a  rule,  given  very 
good  descriptive  names.  With  many  thanks  for 
the  good,  old-fashioned  laugh,  I  am  yours  truly. 
[We  are  very  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Wier  for 
the  information,  all  new  to  us.  We  did  not 
know  the  Cycloloma  was  so  abundant  in  Illinois, 
or  that  it  had  such  rolling  habits.  The  name  is 
characteristic,  and  whether  there  are  others 
with  the  name  or  not,  it  will  be  well  to  retain  it 
for  this.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


FERTILIZATION  OF  CLOVER   BLOSSOMS. 

BY   ROBERT   DOUGLAS,    WAUKEGAN,   ILL. 

"  In  the  Monthly  for  March,  page  94,  is  an 
article  entitled  'Bees  and  Clover,' which  is  likely 
to  give  a  wrong  impi-ession.  The  writer  quotes 
Mr.  Darwin  as  saying,  that  the  failure  of  red 
clover  in  England  the  past  season  is  owing  to  the 
scarcity  of  bees.  Had  the  writer  signed  the  arti- 
cle '  Bumble  Bee  '  instead  of  '  Busy  Bee,'  it  would 
explain  itself.  Mr.  Darwin  must  have  meant  the 
humble  bee,  for  the  honey  bee  does  not  feed 
on  red  clover,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
fox  in  the  fable  did  not  feed  on  the  grapes — he 
could  not  reach  them — neither  can  the  honey 
bee  reach  the  sweets  in  the  red  clover ;  while  the 
bumble  bee  feeds  freely  on  that  plant.  There 
are  so  few  of  them  either  in  England  or  in 
this  country,  that  it  does  not  seem  probable  that 
they  would  have  much  effect  on  large  fields  of 
red  clover.  The  partial  failure  of  the  seed  crop 
is  no  doubt  very  often  caused  by  cold  drenching 
rains  at  the  time  the  plants  are  in  blossom." 

[Mr.  Douglas  is  no  doubt  correct  that  when 
failure  to  produce  seed  in  the  red  clover  occurs, 
it  is  from  some  defect  in  the  plant's  nutritive 
powers,  as  influenced  by  climatal  or  other  cir- 
cumstances. The  first  crop  of  clover  rarely  seeds 
in  these  parts,  but  last  year  being  warmer  and 
dryer  than  usual,  the  first  crop  had  seeds  in  as 
great  abundance  as  any  second  crop  ever  had. 

The  trouble  in  all  these  questions  is  that  peo- 
ple do  not  always  stop  to  weigh  the  value  of  lan- 
guage.   For  instance,  there  is  some  discussion 
just  now,  in  regard  to  the  value  of  blue  glass. 
General  Pleasanton  believes  that  blue  glass  gives 
great  vital  power,  and  to  prove,  gives  in  the  lan- 
guage of  a  contemporary,  the  following   experi- 
ment :— "  On   the  3d  of  November,  A.  D.,  1869, 
he  imprisoned  three  sows  and  a.  barrow  pig,  all 
weighing  203  lbs.,  in  a  common  sty ;  and  on  the 
same  day,  three  other  sows  and  a  barrow  pig,  all 
weighing  1671  lbs.,  in  a  blue  glass  sty.    On   the 
4th  day   of    March,    1870,    the    animals    were 
weighed,  and  it  was  found  that  the  common  sty 
pigs  weighed  537  lbs.,  the  blue  glass  pigs  522£  lbs. 
Allowing  for   the  original  difference  in  weight, 
thisshowed  a  gain  for  the  blue  glass  pigs  of  21  lbs., 
or  .">.}  lbs.  each  pig,  in  four  months'  time.     From 
these  and  other  comparisons,  the  General  infers 
that  '  it  seems  obvious  that  the  influence  of  the 
violet-colored  glass    was   much    marked.'     He, 
however,  states  that  the  barrow  pig  in  the  com- 
mon pen  increased  151  lbs.,  while  the  barrow  pig 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


181 


in  the  blue  glass  pen  only  increased  124£  lbs.  Here 
is  a  gain  of  26£  lbs.  in  a  single  animal  in  a  common 
sty  over  a  single  animal  confined  in  a  blue  glass 
sty.  The  General  explains  this  hy  saying  that 
the  common  sty  pig  was  a  strong  fellow  who 
stole  more  food  from  his  companions,  than  well- 
behaved  swine  are  expected  to  take." 

Now  if  we  substitute  Petunias  and  Morning 
Glories  for  pigs,  and  cross-fertilization  for  blue 
glass,  and  turn  to  Mr.  Darwin's  recent  work,  the 
two  read  very  much  alike.  The  cross-fertilized 
grew  a  few  inches  more  and  weighed  heavier 
in  the  same  time.  But  the  critics  just  now  are 
asking  General  Pleasanton  what  fatness  and 
weight  have  to  do  with  vital  power.  The  fat  man 
and  the  fat  pigs  will  get  sick  and  die  as  easily  as 
the  lean  one  ;  and  the  medium  sized  plant  will 
work  its  way  through  the  world  as  well  as  the 
over-grown  one. 

The  facts  which  our  friends  bring  up  are  all 
interesting  enough,  and  whether  they  be  Mr. 
Darwin's  on  fertilization,  or  General  Pleasan- 
ton's  on  blue-glassed  pigs,  they  are  all  worth  a 
good  deal.  It  is  only  that  we  should  be  careful 
how  we  apply  the  facts,  for  we  are  so  liable  to  be 
deceived  by  the  imperfect  use  of  language. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


SCIENTIFIC  THEORIES. 


BY   N.    F.    F. 


It  is  with  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction  one  notes 
the  growing  disposition  of  our  scientists  to  inves- 
tigate things  closely,  and  to  trace  out  the  why 
they  are  thus  and  so,  and  in  this  pursuit  go  over 
again  and  again  the  ground  of  theories,  though 
advanced  by  very  distinguished  men. 

"  Nature  abhors  self-fertilization,"  as  advanced 
by  some,  is  opposed  to  the  experience  of  every 
plant  grower  who  takes  delight  in  observation  ; 
but  on  the  other  side,  to  say  that  fertilizing 
plants  with  their  own  pollen  which  do  not  natu- 
rally fertilize  themselves,  is  equal  for  re-production 
to  cross-fertilization,would  be  an  error  also.  As  to 
"natural  selection,"  is  it  not  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  preservation  of  a  species,  that  the 
strongest  should  survive  ?  But  can  a  higher  order 
of  life  result  from  natural  selection  ?  Could  it  be 
so,  it  would  be  subversive  of  order,  the  essence 
of  confusion.  Does  nature  propagate  and  pre- 
serve sports,  bud  variations,  &c?  Is  there  any 
well  established  instance  of  a  true  vegetable  hy- 
brid?   Is  it  not  extremelv  doubtful  whether  a 


true  hybrid  exists  in  the  whole  vegetable  world, 
except  as  the  result  of  man's  interference?  Apart 
from  the  controlling  power  of  man,  how  long 
would  any  hybrid  continue  in  existence?  It 
would  of  course  be  absurd  to  seek  proof  that  the 
great  First  Cause  could  not  evolve  man  from 
an  atom,  just  as  readily  as  create  man  as 
we  know  him .  Admitting  evolution  to  have  been 
the  way  in  which  man  came  into  existence,what 
cause,  good  or  otherwise,  can  be  served  by  mak- 
ing the  offspring  of  the  most  exalted  creature  on 
earth,  so  utterly  helpless  for  so  long  a  time  after 
birth,  over  and  above  that  of  every  other 
species  of  animal ;  and  this  too,  no  matter 
whether  savage  or  civil,  crude  or  refined,  all  of 
the  genus  homo  must  pass  this  state  of  utter 
helplessness. 

The  writer  has  no  wish  to  cavil  at  the  result  o  f 
scientific  research,  but  unless  scientists  can  give 
us — the  great  unlearned — something  more  solid 
than  they  have  yet  done  in  this  connection,  they 
must  pardon  us  for  adhering  to  the  plain  asser- 
tion of  Holy  Writ,"  male  and  female  created  He 
them." 

'•Has  science  in  her  lofty  pride, 
Some  better,  holier  truth  supplied?" 


ON   SELF-FERTILIZATION   AND   CROSS-FERTI- 
LIZATION  OF    FLOWERS. 

BY  THOMAS  MEEHAN,  GERMANTOWN,  PHILA. 
(Concluded  from  page  150  ) 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  dichogamy 
as  an  agent  in  this  question.  Much  stress  is 
laid  on  the  fact  that  in  many  flowers  the  pistil 
is  mature  before  or  after  the  stamens ;  and 
this  is  interpreted  as  an  especial  arrangement 
for  cross-fertilization.  I  pointed  out,  last  year, 
that  this  difference  in  time  varied  with  the 
season  in  many  species.  But  the  difference  is 
striking  in  some  closely  allied  species.  Bar- 
barea  prsecox  and  B.  vulgaris,  two  cruciferous 
plants,  are  so  nearly  related  that  the  difference 
can  scarcely  be  defined.  The  former,  however, 
has  its  pistil  of  about  equal  length  with  the  sta- 
mens ;  all  included  in  the  petals.  The  stigma 
certainly  receives  own  pollen  simultaneously 
with  the  expansion  of  the  petals.  But  in  B.  vul- 
garis the  pistil  protrudes  beyond  the  closed 
petals,  and  is  in  perfect  condition  to  be  fertilized 
by  extraneous  pollen  before  it  can  be  served  by 
its  own.  But  both  species  make  their  way 
equally  well  through  the  world.  I  think  no  bet- 
ter illustration  could  be  offered  of  the  fact  that  a 


182 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


dichogamous  plant  has  no  advantage  in  the 
struggle  for  life.  This  fact  may,  however,  he  il- 
lustrated in  various  ways.  Supposing  the  Iris 
could  not  self-fertilize,  its  next  of  kin  Sisyrin- 
chium  is  certainly  a  self-fertilizer,  and  who  will 
say  that  it  has  not  made  its  way  proudly  !  Iris 
Virginica  is  comparatively  local ;  but  any  stu- 
dent can  get  a  specimen  of  Sisyrinchium  Bei1- 
mudianum  on  a  few  hours  notice.  You  can  find 
flowers  which  seem  to  forbid  self-fertilization,  it 
is  true  ;  but  let  us  not  close  our  eyes  to  those  so 
constructed  as  to  render  insect  aid  impossible. 
There  are  some  scrophulariaceous  plants  which 
have  the  pistil  arranged  above  the  stamens,  so 
as  to  seem  placed  there  in  order  that  a  visiting 
insect  may  rub  its  pollen  covered  back  against 
the  pistil  on  entering  ;  but  many  Pentstemons 
(P.  grandiflorus,  P.  coba^a),  incline  the  pistil 
downwards,  impossible  for  any  such  insect-fer- 
tilization, yet  every  flower  perfects  seeds.  Bro- 
wallia  (B.  elata)  has  a  hairy  cap  over  the  sta- 
mens, and  an  insect  would  only  aid  in  self-fer- 
tilization. But  when  Browallia  is  not  visited  by 
insects  it  yet  seeds  abundantly ;  and,  it  might 
be  argued,  because  it  has  no  fragrance.  But 
there  are  some  Garden  Verbenas  which  have 
fragrance  as  well  as  color.  No  insect  visits  them 
on  my  grounds,  as  far  as  I  can  find,  but  both 
kinds  seed  equally  well. 

In  fact,  this  idea  that  color  and  fragrance  are 
necessary  to  attract  insects,  and  are  given  to 
plants  for  that  purpose,  does  not  accord  with  the 
fact  that  flowers  with  neither,  are  thronged  with 
insect  patrons.  But  I  have  taken  especial  pains 
to  note  Rubus  occidentalis,  our  native  Black 
Cap  Raspberry.  It  has  not  the  faintest  trace  of 
odor.  Its  small,  greenish  white  petals  are  so  in- 
conspicuous that  it  might  as  well  be  apetalous. 
But  nothing  can  exceed  the  fondness  of  the 
honey  bee  for  it.  They  abound  in  my  vicinity  ; 
and  from  sun-rise  till  far  into  the  twilight  of 
evening,  the  honey  bee  crowds  on  them.  They 
neglect  every  flower,  even  white  clover,  for  them 
as  long  as  they  last.  Surely,  there  should  be  a 
necessity  for  insect-fertilization  in  cases  where 
insects  are  so  assiduous  !  I  have  had  this  point 
suggested  to  me.  Will  it  not  surprise  you,  my 
friends,  when  I  tell  you  that  a  gauze  bag  thrown 
over  a  cluster  of  flowers,  yet  resulted  in  a  perfect 
fruit  to  every  blossom,  as  also  had  all  the  ne- 
glected clover  flowers  as  well. 

As  to  clover  flowers,  I  will  refer  you  to  what  1 
said  of  it  last  year.  Since  then,  so  great  is  the 
faith  in  the  necessity  for  insect-fertilization  that 


humble  bees  have  been  sent  from  England  to 
New  Zealand,  to  help  the  clover  along.  Since 
last  season,  I  have  discovered  that  our  humble 
bees  do  not  enter  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Clover, 
care  nothing  for  the  elaborate  arrangements  for 
cross-fertilization,  but  slit  the  tube  and  get  at  the 
honey  from  the  outside !  And  yet  the  clover 
seeds  abundantly.  So  far  as  I  could  see,  every 
flower  in  the  field  where  I  saw  the  bees  behaving 
so  outrageously,  bore  its  seed.  Many  flowers  are 
served  in  this  way,  and  unless  one  looks  closely 
he  may  be  deceived.  In  the  Persian  Lilac,  if 
we  follow  the  course  of  our  friends  of  the  insect- 
fertilization  school,  we  see  the  stamens  arranged 
above  the  pistil,  and  as  the  pollen  bursts  simul- 
taneously with  the  opening  of  the  corolla,  it 
ought  to  fall  on  the  pistil,  and  the  entrance  of 
an  insect  would  only  aid  this  self-fertilization. 
But,  with  us,  it  never  yields  a  solitary  seed,  and 
we  may  be  asked  to  "  behold  the  results  of  self- 
pollenization  !  "  But  we  see  exactly  the  same  ar- 
rangement in  the  common  Lilac;  and  that  seeds 
abundantly.  In  both  cases  the  humble  bee  slits 
the  tube,  and  the  honey  bee  follows  in  the  slits 
made  by  its  stronger  friends,  or  else  makes  slits 
for  itself — a  point  I  was  unable,  positively,  to 
determine.  Indeed  one  of  the  points  I  wish  to 
insist  on  most  strongly  is,  that  the  facts  in  the 
question  have  been  hut  imperfectly  observed, 
and  then  erroneously  construed,  and  of  this  I 
will  offer  but  one  more  illustration.  It  relates  to 
dimorphous  flowers,  those  with  the  pistils  long 
in  some  flowers,  and  short  in  others,  as  in  Epi- 
ga?a,  Mitchella,  Houstonia  and  others.  When 
we  look  at  the  allies  of  these  plants,  we  notice 
that  this  behaviour  is  exceptional.  It  may  be 
assumed  that  they  have  wandered  from  a  condi- 
tion, when  the  separate  sexual  organs  were 
nearer  to  a  perfectly  hermaphrodite  condition, 
and  it  is  assumed  that  this  wandering  is  in  order 
to  derive  some  benefit  from  cross-fertilization, 
through  insect  agency.  I  have  endeavoured  to 
test  this  assumption  in  Houstonia  ccerulea.  I 
selected  a  number  of  plants  of  both  forms,  and 
marked  them  when  in  flower.  In  some  clusters 
aggregating  about  fifty  flowers  of  the  short  styled 
plants,  and  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  were  self- 
fertilized,  forty-two  perfected  seed.  Of  fifty  with 
long  styles,  and  which  would  necessarily  have 
more  difficulty  of  availing  themselves  of  own 
pollen,  only  live  matured  seed.  Thus  we  *oe  that 
the  sell"  fertilizer  lias  at  least  the  advantage  of 
numbers,  and  in  a  battle  for  life,  or  for  any  pur- 
pose, that  id  surely  an  advantage  of  no  mean  im 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


183 


portance.  I  believe  I  have  shown  that  the  facts  are 
not  wholly  as  represented,  and  that  the  facts,  even 
when  they  may  exist  as  represented,  do  not  pro- 
duce results  according  to  the  deductions  drawn 
from  them. 

Let  me  now  show  the  danger  of  attempts 
to  read  the  purposes  of  nature  from  her  direct 
acts.  If  we  examine  swamp  vegetation,  we  find 
Magnolias,  Willows,  White  Cedars,  Eed  Maples, 
Cypresses  and  numerous  others  growing  therein. 
We  at  once  conclude  that  they  grow  there  be- 
cause these  trees  prefer  the  wet  to  the  dryer  land. 
But  a  wider  acquaintance  with  trees  will  show 
that  all  of  them  do  better  when,  as  we  often  find 
them,  growing  in  dryer  places.  A  suspicion  then 
arises  that  there  is  something  wrong  with  our 
reasoning,  and  we  find  at  last  that  nature  has  a 
deeper  purpose  than  merely  an  individual  regard 
for  these  trees.  Their  seeds  will  only  grow  in 
wet  soil  ;  and  of  necessity,  and  not  for  individual 
benefit  have  these  trees  to  remain  there.  Again 
I  think  there  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that 
effects  will  continue  long  after  the  causes  which 
produced  thorn  have  ceased  to  exist;  so  that  ac- 
tions'which  yon  see,  may  be  associated  with  de- 
gradation, instead  of  evolution  ;  may  be  the  last 
flickering  of  a  dying  light,  and  not  an  Aurora 
indicating  the  birth  of  a  new  day.  In  the  pres- 
ent question,  our  reason  will  tell  us  that  the  phe- 
nomena we  see  may  bear  this  interpretation  as 
well  as  those  given  to  them  by  our  friends. 

In  Europe,  for  instance,  the  common  Straw- 
berry is  almost  universally  hermaphrodite  ;  but 
in  this  country  the  tendency  to  dicecism  is  well- 
known.  We  know  also  that  those  parts  of  the 
world  in  which  dicecism  prevails  is  not  as  favor- 
able to  the  existence  of  the  Strawberry  as  the 
other,  and  we  may  safely  conclude  that  dicecism 
— a  form  of  dimorphism — has  no  relation  to  any 
advantage  to  be  derived  through  the  sexes  ;  but 
is  an  actual  result  of  degrading  conditions. 

Then,  physiologically,  what  good  can  result? 
It  is  asserted  by  those  who  differ  from  me  that 
probably  most  of  the  large  order  of  composites 
are  cross-fertilized  ;  the  flower  in  one  head  re- 
ceiving the  pollen  of  another  flower  in  the  same 
head,  by  the  aid  of  insects.  This  they  contend 
after  an  examination  of  the  structure.  After 
noting  the  behavior  of  the  parts,  and  in  the 
absence  of  insects,  I  contend  they  are  self- 
fertilizers.  But  supposing  they  were  all  tha't  is 
asked  for  them  !  Compare  one  with  an  ordinary 
polypetalous  flower — say  Ranunculus  —  and 
where  is  the  gain  ?  The  floral  parts  are  all  on  the 


same  common  peduncle  in  both  cases,  and  the 
stamens  and  pistils  are  as  widely — nay  wider 
separated  in  a  Ranunculus  than  in  a  Dandelion. 
Practically,  there  is  a  wider  separation  of  the 
sexes  in  the  Ranunculus  than  the  Dandelion, 
granting  even  all  or  more  than  is  asked  for  as 
cross-fertilization  in  composites.  Physiological 
disturbances  that  aid  the  vital  principle  in  the 
pistils,  and  interfere  with  that  of  the  stamens, 
of  course  weaken  the  vital  power  of  the  pollen. 
In  such  cases  foreign  pollen — pollen  from  flowers 
free  from  these  disturbances,  or  where  the  dis- 
turbances favor  the  stamens  instead  of  the  pis- 
tils, would  have  more  potency.  It  is  therefore 
not  surprising  that  some  cases  should  offer  prov- 
ing foreign  pollen  better  than  own  pollen.  It 
would  be  more  surprising  if  there  were  none ;  for 
in  every  direction  we  find  nature  with  overflowing 
abundance,  pushing  beyond  what  we  regard  as  the 
necessary  mark.  As  the  boy,  who  to  jump  across 
the  stream  first  goes  back,  and  when  he  lands  on 
the  other  side  goes  further  than  he  wants  to;  so 
does  nature  in  all  things,  or  I  have  not  read  her 
story  right.  I  can  refer  in  a  brief  paper  like 
this,  to  but  a  few  observations  I  have  made,  nor 
do  I  think  it  necessary.  I  will  now  submit  these 
propositions  : — 

1st.  That  cross-fertilization  by  insect  agency 
does  not  exist  to  near  the  extent  claimed  for  it. 

2nd.  Where  it  does  exist  there  is  no  evidence 
that  it  is  of  any  material  benefit  to  the  race — on 
the  contrary. 

3rd.  Difficulties  in  self-fertilization  result  from 
physiological  disturbances  that  have  no  relation 
to  the  general  welfare  of  plants  as  species. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Botanical  Against  Common  Names.— The  Gar- 
dener's Chronicle  has  the  following*:—"  The  report 
of  the  United  States  Commissioner  for  Agricul- 
ture for  1875,  contains  a  catalogue  of  upwards  of 
400  species  of  forest  trees,  including,  however, 
such  plants  as  Yuccas.  The  same  volume  con- 
tains an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  account  of  the 
forests  of  the  several  States.  For  the  benefit  of 
those  who  rail  at  Latin  names  of  plants  we  give 
the  popular  names  of  Abies  Douglasii,  which  it 
appears  is  known  as  '  Douglas  Fir,  Red  Fir,  Black 
Fir,  Douglas  Spruce,  Red  Spruce,  Black  Spruce, 
Hemlock,  Oregon  Pine,  Western  Pitch,  Bear 
River  Pine,  Swamp  Pine,  and  perhaps  others. 
Moreover,  nearly  all  of  the  names  are  also  ap- 


184 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MO  NT  ELY 


[June, 


plied  to  other  species.'  "  Like  the  Chronicle  we 
do  not  see  how  we  could  get  along  without  bo- 
tanical names,  hard  as  some  of  them  are.  We 
do  all  we  can  to  show  this,  but  we  must  make  it 
as  easy  as  wc  can  ;  and  we  can  at  least  do  with- 
out the  long  Latin  names  for  garden  varieties. 

Very  Late  Blackberries. — The  Placer  Herald 
says,  "  that  high  up  in  the  mountains,  near  the 
settlement  of '  Yankee  Pines,'  there  is  a  species 
of  blackberry  that  ripens  very  late.  We  had  good 
fruit  gathered  in  these  hills  on  Christmas  day. 
The  elevation  is  3000  feet." 

Lemmonia  Californica  is  the  name  of  a  new 
genus  of  plants,  discovered  by  that  excellent 
working  botanist,  J.  G.  Lemmon.  Dr.  Gray  will 
soon  publish  the  description. 

Fibre  Plants. — The  San  Francisco  Hei-ald 
says: — "The  manufacture  of  two  new  kinds  of 
elastic  fibrous  materials  for  upholsterers'  use  has 
latety  been  commenced  in  California — one  at  An- 
tioch  from  Tule,  and  the  other  at  Los  Angeles 
from  Cactus — the  former  the  product  of  the 
swamp  and  the  latter  of  the  desert.  Mean- 
time, the  dried  and  twisted  fibre  of  the  Amole  or 
Soap  root  keeps  its  place  in  the  market  as  one 
of  the  best  substitutes  for  hair,  which  continues 
to  be  preferred  as  the  best  stuffing  for  mat- 
tresses." The  Soap  root  is  perhaps  the  Chloro- 
galum. 

The  Use  of  Feathered  Awns  to  Some  Seeds. 
— One  of  Mr.  Darwin's  sons  has,  during  the  past 
two   years,   contributed    some   very   interesting 


..•■- 


articles  to  scientific  serials  on  the  uses  of  feath- 
ered and  twisted  awns  to  some  seeds.  He  thinks 
that  the  feathered  portion  helps  to  keep  the 
points  of  the  seeds  downwards,  and  that  the 
twisting  helps  to  screw  them  into  the  soil,  as  it 
wore.     Tbe  late  Charles  J.  Wister,  of  German- 


town,  told  the  writer  of  this  that  he  had  experi- 
mented carefully  with  the  Stipa  pennata  or  fea- 
ther grass,  (see  cut,)  and  that  unless  the  point  in 
some  way  got  pressed  perpendicularly  into  the 
earth,  they  would  not  germinate.  Seeds  laid 
horizontally,  and  covered  with  earth  as  in  ordi- 
nary seed  sowing,  would  not  grow.  The  subject 
will  be  interesting  to  plant  lovers,  and  we  call 
attention  to  it  now  that  seeds  of  this  character 
may  be  saved  to  experiment  with. 

Fleshy  Fruits. — The  flesh  of  the  fruit  of  most 
of  our  cultivated  fruit  trees  is  analogous  to  the 
enlarged  roots  of  the  Turnip  and  Beet,  and  sim- 
ilar plants,  and  is  simply  the  product  of  cultiva- 
tion, which  is  much  sooner  lost  again  under 
neglected  circumstances  than  it  was  originally 
artificially  produced.  One  of  the  most  able 
French  botanists,  Professor  Lecoq,  of  Clermont- 
Ferrand,  who  died  onty  some  few  years  ago,  in- 
stituted numerous  experiments  with  various 
wild  plants  to  induce  them  to  form  fleshy  roots, 
and  he  was  almost  invariably  successful.  Just 
as  it  is  the  task  of  the  agriculturist  to  increase 
the  volume  of  his  roots,  so  it  should  be  the  aim 
of  the  fruit  gardener  to  increase  the  flesh  of  pome, 
stone,  and  berry  fruits,  and  the  substance  stored 
up  in  the  cotyledons  of  nut  fruit. — Karl  Koch. 

Descending  Sap. — It  is  not  affirmed  by  any 
one  that  we  know  of,  that  the  elaborated  sap 
does  not  descend.  The  modern  notion  is  simply 
that  it  may,  and  does  ascend — go  horizontally, 
or  in  any  other  direction,  as  well  as  descend,  ac- 
cording to  time,  circumstances,  and  the  need  of 
the  plant.  Suppose,  for  instance,  starch  is  to  be 
stored  in  a  potato  tuber,  or  wood  to  be  formed 
in  a  vine  rod ;  the  matter  out  of  which  that 
starch  or  that  wood  is  formed  must  in  great 
measure  pass  through  the  leaves,  and,  therefore, 
it  must  descend  to  reach  its  destination.  But 
starch  is  likewise  stored  up  in  the  grain  of 
wheat.  In  this  case,  then,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  nutrient  and  store-containing  or  store-form- 
ing sap  must  ascend  from  the  leaves;  and  the 
same  holds  true  of  fruits  and  stones  (seeds) 
placed  above  the  leaves. — Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Light  and  Vegetation. — In  observing  the  in- 
fluence upon  vegetation  of  the  long  duration  of 
light  during  the  Summer  months  in  high  lati- 
tudes, Dr.  Muller  found  that  at  seventy  degrees 
north  latitude,  pears  grew  at  the  rate  of  three 
and  a  half  inches  in  twenty-four  hours  for  many 
days  during  the  season,  and  that  certain  cereal* 


1871.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


185 


grew  at  the  rate  of  two  and  a  half  inches  in  the 
same  specified  time.  He  also  noted  that  the 
constant  presence  of  light  increased  those  secre- 
tions in  plants  which  are  due  to  the  influence  of 
actinic  force  on  the  leaves.  The  coloring  matter 
and  pigment  cells  were  in  much  greater  amount, 
and  the  tints  of  the  colored  parts  were  conse- 
quently deeper.  The  same  effect  was  produced 
upon  the  secretions  which  give  flavor  and  odor, 
so  that  the  fruits  of  Northern  Norway,  though 
less  sweet,  are  more  savory  than  those  grown  in 
the  South. 

New  Classification  of  Monocotyledons.- — At 
the  recent  meeting  of  the  Linmean  Society, 
Mr.  Bentham,  F.  R.  S.,  presented  a  long  paper  on 
the  classification  and  nomenclature  of  monoco- 
tyledons. In  the  brief  account  he  gave  of  the 
contents  of  his  paper  he  urged  that,  in  describing 
plants,  care  should  be  taken  to  employ  terms 
that  state  facts  and  do  not  involve  a  theory  as  to 
what  the  parts  described  represent  in  other 
plants.  He  complained  of  the  carelessness  with 
which  man}'  writers  indiscriminately  employ 
terms.  His  new  classification  involves  great 
changes.  It  was  especially  pointed  out  that  ex- 
ternal appearance  is  often  misleading,  and,  for 
example,  the  Iris  and  the  Lily  in  the  new  scheme 
are  widely  separated,  the  Liliacse  being  brought 
into  close  proximity  with  the  Smilacse.  Enough 
was  said  of  the  paper  to  show  that  when  pub- 
lished it  will  arouse  an  unusual  amount  of  inter- 
est among  botan'sts. — Gardener  s  Magazine. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Double-headed  Callas  —  We  have  had 
numerous  specimens  sent  to  us  since  our  last  ap- 
peared, and  have  seen  many  growing.  They 
must  have  been  unusually  numerous  the  past 
season.  No  doubt  the  peculiar  arrestation  of 
bud  growth  necessary  to  form  the  embryonic 
flower  last  Fall,  was  imperfect.  It  grew  a  little 
after  having  started  to  form  the  flower-bud,  and 
then  was  again  speedily  arrested.  It  is  like  the 
rebounding  of  a  stone  on  the  water  when  thrown 
at  an  angle.  It  does  not  immediately  sink  as 
when  it  falls  more  in  right  line.  The  peculiar 
season  was  no  doubt  connected  with  this  pecu- 
liar disturbance. 

Variations  in  Pecan  Nuts. — G.  F.  N.  writes: 


"  Please  find  herewith  two  nuts.  No.  1  (the 
smaller),  is  sold  in  our  fruit  stores  as  the  'Texas 
Pecan.'  In  appearance  it  differs  from  the  ordi- 
nary pecan.  On  cracking  it  you  will  find  less  of 
the  bitter  lining  of  that  nut,  and  the  meat 
plumper  and  sweeter. 

"  The  other  is  said  to  be  a  cross  between  the 
Hickory  and  Pecan.  A  few  were  given  to  me ; 
I  think  they  come  from  Tennessee.  My  family 
cracked  one  of  them,  and  found  it  had  a  thicker 
shell  and  a  smaller  meat  than  the  Pecan.  I  wish 
you  would  plant  this,  and  should  extra  assort- 
ment be  necessarv,  please  inform  me." 

[We  have  little  faith  in  what  "  is  said  to  be  " 
about  hybrids  in  nature.  They  probably  rarely 
occur,  and  we  know  of  no  direct  proof  in  any 
one  case  instanced.  It  is  forgotten  how  great  is 
a  plant's  own  innate  power  of  variation.  At  the 
late  Centennial  Exhibition,  the  Spanish  collec- 
tion contained  a  wonderful  variety  of  the  com- 
mon European  walnut — Madeira  nuts— many 
of  them  more  distinct  in  appearance  from  one 
another  than  these  Pecan  nuts  appear  ;  but  they 
are  not  hybrids,  for  there  is  no  other  species  but 
the  one— Juglans  regia— nothing  to  hybridize 
with . 

The  whole  race  of  Shellbarks  and  Pecans  are 
worth  looking  after  in  the  wild  woods;  and  when 
any  are  found  first-rate  select  them,  and  graft 
them.  It  is  a  slow  and  uncertain  method  to  go 
on  by  seed.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Freezing  of  Sap.— A  Galena  friend  says  :— 
"  The  opinion  that  sap  freezes  is  a  very  common, 
though  it  may  be  a  very  erroneous  one.  Not 
long  since  we  were  talking  with  one  of  our  fore- 
most nurserymen,  a  man  of  ripe  experience  and 
enviable  success,  who  stated  incidentally  that  trees 
frozen  solid  in  transportation  may  be  thawed  out 
by  immersion  in  water  or  by  being  buried  in 
damp  earth  (the  whole  tree,  roots  and  branches 
being  covered),  and  the  tree  will  sustain  no  in- 
jury by  the  frost.  Now  query  if  the  sap  may  be 
thus  frozen  out  of  the  ground  and  thawed  again 
without  injuring  the  vitality  of  the  trees,  why  not 
in  the  ground  as  well  ?" 

[This  is  a  correct  observation.  A  tree  which 
may  have  its  roots  wholly  encased  in  frost  under 
ground,  escapes ;  the  same  tree,  its  roots  exposed 
to  the  atmosphere,  dies.  If  it  has  not  been  long 
or  severely  frozen,  it  may  be  recovered  by  im- 
mersing in  cold  water. 

In  like  manner  tender  roses  or  similar  half- 
hardy  plants,  kept  in  a  close  greenhouse  where 


186 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[Jurhe, 


the  air  is  moist,  will  endure  a  temperature  of  j 
zero  all  Winter  without  injury  ;  but  if  exposed  to 
the  open  air,  are  killed  by  half  that  amount 
of  frost.  The  general  impression,  and  we  think 
the  correct  one  is,  that  the  juices  are  dried  out 
by  evaporation,  frost  as  well  as  heat  being  an 
evaporator. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Phellodendron. — F.,  Baltimore,  Md.,  writes  : 
— "I  have  had  thePhilodendron  growing  in  past 
times,  and  know  it  as  a  very  tender  hot-house 
plant,  with  leaves  having  holes  as  if  torn  through 
them,  and  it  bears  a  fruit  that  is  tolerably  good 
to  eat.  I  see  that  you  report  a  new  one  that  is  a 
tree,  and  hardy.  Will  it  bear  fruit  like  the  other 
one,  and  is  it  not  uncommon  to  have  such  hardy 
plants  and  stove-plantsin  the  same  family?" 

[Our  correspondent  misapprehends.  It  is  Phel- 
lodendron ,  not  Philodendron.  It  is  the  difference 
between  a  " friend  "  or  "  lover,"  and  " cork."  Bo- 
tanists seldom  tell  why  they  name  trees.  They 
take  it  for  granted  that  those  who  are  interested 
enough  in  the  meanings  know  Latin  or  Greek, 
and  can  find  out  for  themselves.  Mr.  Sargent 
Bays  the  bark  of  this  tree  is  very  corky,  and  we 
suppose  on  this  account  it  must  have  suggested 
the  name  Phellodendron.  The  Philodendron 
merely  "loves  trees."  It  is  an  arum  that  roams 
and  rambles  over  trees.  By  the  way,  why  the 
willow  oak  was  named  Quercus  phelloswe  never 


knew,  unless  from  some  distant  resemblance  of 
the  leaves  to  those  of  the  cork  oak.     Perhaps 


some  of  our  botanical  linguists  can  tell.    Of  Phi- 
lodendron we  give  an  illustration  herewith. 


^  JTERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  §?ERSQNAL  ffOTES. 


CO  MM  UNICA  TIONS. 


"PATENTED"  FRUITS. 

BY  T.  B.  MINER,  LINDEN,  X.  J. 

There  is  but  one  feature  of  this  proposed  pro- 
tection to  originators  of  new  varieties  of  fruits, 
in  my  opinion,  that  is  practical — patenting  the 
name — and  this  would  ho  a  great  advance  in  the 
case  as  it  now  stands.  For  instance,  I  have 
spent  twenty  years  in  growing  seedling  grapes, 
and  have  expended  a  groat  deal  of  money  in  my 
experiments,  and  at  last  I  claim  to  have  origina- 


ted the  best  varieties  of  white  grapes,  of  purely 
native  origin,  in  the  United  States.  But  to  ask 
a  patent  on  the  fruit  itself  I  consider  of  no  use 
or  benefit,  because  it  would  be  impossible,  in 
case  of  infringement  on  such  patent,  to  prove  that 
it  existed.  My  grapes  may  be  grown  by  others 
under  a  new  name,  and  it  would  be  out  of  my 
power  to  prevent  it,  because  no  description  of 
the  vines,  fruits,  quality,  &c,  can  be  embraced  in 
a  claim  for  a  patent,  that  would  enable  any  per- 
son or  poisons  to  select  my  vines  from  others 
when  not  in  bearing;  and  when  the  fruit  id 
mature  the  quality  would  be  so  various  in  differ- 
ent places,  owing  to  a  difference  in  soil,  climate, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


187 


&c,  that  it  would  then  be  impossible  to  indentify 
the  vines.  So  it  would  be  with  every Jiew  variety 
of  fruit;  all  one  would  have  to  do  would  be  to 
change  the  name,  and  then  sell  all  he  desired. 

Take  strawberries;  for  instance,  the  "Great 
American,"  the  foliage  being  identical  with  a 
score  of  other  varieties,  and  the  fruit  changeable 
in  size  and  flavor  in  different  localities,  how 
could  it  be  patented?  I  consider  such  a  thing 
so  preposterously  absurd  that  it  is  a  waste  of 
time  to  argue  the  question.  But  if  the  name 
were  secured  to  the  originator,  so  that  no  one 
could  sell  "Great  American"  strawberries  with- 
out purchasing  a  "right,"  the  originator  would 
be  partially  protected.  It  is  true,  that  they 
could  be  sold  under  another  name,  but  it  takes 
several  years  to  establish  the  character  of  a  new 
variety  of  fruit,  by  advertising  it,  and  having  it 
tested  in  different  parts  of  the  country;  and 
those  persons  who  sell  it  under  a  new  name 
would  have  to  do  their  own  advertising  and 
build  up  a  reputation  for  it  at  their  own  expense, 
which  is  something  worth  trying  to  secure. 

Suppose,  as  the  case  now  stands,  that  I  adver- 
tise my  new  grapes  extensively,  and  pay  out 
thousands  of  dollars,  and  establish  their  character 
all  over  the  United  States  ;  well, various  enterpri- 
sing nurserymen  buy  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
vines  each,  and  in  three  or  four  years  they  are 
able  to  supply  the  entire  demand  for  these  vines, 
and  will  do  it  on  the  strength  of  my  previous 
advertising!  That  is  wrong,  and  it  tends  to 
discourage  producers  of  new  varieties  of  fruits. 
Let  us,  then,  try  to  secure  our  right  to  the  name- 
vie  give  our  fruit,  and  not  to  ask  anything  more, 
as  we  shall  not  obtain  more  if  we  ask  it  till 
doomsday.  I  offer  no  grape  vines  for  sale  at 
present. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  AUSTRALIA. 

BY   WM.   T.   HARDING,   UPPER   SANDUSKY,   OHIO. 
(Concluded  from  page  123.) 

The  wild  romance  of  nature  was  as  perfect 
and  as  charming  as  could  possibly  be  found  in 
the  sublunary  world.  In  the  small  lagoons,  or 
pools,  through  which  the  water  flowed,  grew 
Nelumbium  Leichardtianum,  a  most  magnifi- 
cent crimson  water  lily,  with  immense  leaves, 
rising  four  or  five  feet  above  the  water;  among 
which  floated  the  beautiful  blue  Nymphea  gi- 
gantea.  Among  masses  of  water  plants  and 
large  tussocks  of  Xyrus,  especially,  several  pairs 


of  the  odd-looking  mained  geese  had  formed 
their  nests.  Quietly  swimming  about,  were 
several  sleeply-looking  pied  geese,  and  so 
stupidly  goosy  as  to  allow  me  to  catch  them, 
Nothing  surprised  me  more  than  the  discovery 
of  a  bed  of  water  cress,  the  true  Nasturtium  offi- 
cinalis, with  which  both  the  London  and  New 
York  markets  are  supplied.  What  memories 
seemed  to  cluster  round  the  little  herb  of  other 
lands,  the  sight  of  which  awakened  happy  recol- 
lections of  friends,  in  "the  fast  anchored  isle." 

The  rhizomes  of  Davallia  pyxidata,  and  D. 
flaccida  hung  in  lengthened  masses,  like  twisted 
and  tangled  ropes,  from  the  projecting  crags, 
some  forty  feet  long.  The  Stag's  Horn  Fern, 
Platycerum  alcieorne,  was  indeed  a  curious  sight 
to  behold.  Like  a  pai'isite,  it  seemed  to  live  upon 
anything,  moist  or  dry,  and  grew  equally  as  well 
on  the  tops  of  the  trees  as  on  the  soil  beneath. 
A  Loranthus,  or  mistletoe,  a  true  parasite,  was 
growing  upon  an  Acacia  platyphylla,  near  by. 
A  splendid  specimen  of  what  I  supposed  to  be 
a  Macrozamea  cylindrica,  was  perched  high  up 
on  the  edge  of  a  projecting  rock.  On  such  an 
elevated  vantage-ground,  its  peculiarity  seemed 
more  strange  and  conspicuous. 

Many  were  the  species  of  beautiful  ferns,  of 
which  the  anne?  ed  are  but  a  few  : — Polypodium 
Billardieri,  Niphobolus  ruprstris,  Zyphopteris 
hetrophylla,  Blechnum  lsevigatum,  Adiantum 
formosum,A.deltoideum,  A.concinnum,  Asplen- 
ium  flabellifolium,  A.  obtusatum,  Botrychium 
australe,  Aspidium  munitum,  A.  decompositum, 
Pteris  falcata,  P.  esculenta,  Dictyopteris  pteroi- 
des,  D.  macrodonta,  Microlepis  rhomboidea, 
Ophioglossum  gramineum,  Lindsoea  linearis,  Ne- 
ottopteris  Australasica,  Cyathea  medularis,  Also- 
phila  Australis,  and  Cybotium  Billiardieri— 
splendid  specimens,  averaging  from  twenty  to 
sixty  feet  high.  A  tall  and  slender  stemmed 
Alsophila  Liechardtiana  was  one  of  the  grandest 
of  tree  ferns  I  ever  saw. 

Hibiscus  multifidus,  a  comely  blue  flowering 
shrub,  was  abundant,  As  a  tree  of  mark,  the 
very  singular  evergreen,  Carpodonta  lucida, 
had  a  striking  appearance;  its  glossy  foliage 
seemed  to  be  dripping  wet,  as  it  glistened  and 
waved  in  the  sun. 

Among  a  mass  of  detached  rocks  sprung  the 
corrugated  shaft  of  fine  Xanthorrhcea,  or  grass 
tree.  From  the  apex  of  its  grass-like  crown 
waved  a  beautiful  flossy  wand,  or  floral  plume, 
several  feet  above.  Pretty  bushes  of  Prostan- 
thera     violacea,      mingled      with     Chorozema 


188 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


varium,  Grevillea  Manglesii,  Cassinea  den- 
ticulata,  Zeria  revoluta,  Trichilia  glandulosa, 
Ruellia  Australis,  and  Pimelia  linifolia. 

Not  more  than  a  bow  shot  from  where  I  stood 
I  observed  a  circle  of  long  lances,  standing 
above  the  low  shrubs  and  ferns.  Every  moment 
I  expected  to  see  the  savage  owners  start  up  or 
make  some  movement;  but  not  a  sound  or  mo- 
tion broke  the  silence.  Imitating  their  usual 
call,  with  a  loud  co-oe-ee, 

"  I  listened  for  a  footfall,  and  waited  for  a  word, 

But  the  beating  of  my  own  heart,  wag  (he  only  sound  I  heard." 

I  cautiously  advanced  among  the  bushes,  to  re- 
connoitre, when,  lo  and  behold !  was  a  sight,  at 
which  I  stood  aghast.  Before  me  lay  the  skele- 
ton forms  of  nine  human  beings.  In  grim 
ghastliness,  the  bony  structures  lay  bleaching  in 
the  wind  and  sun.  No  anatomical  operation 
could  have  been  more  skillfull}'  performed  by 
the  professional  anatomist,  than  had  been  done 
by  a  fierce  army  of  ants.  Their  sharp  and  ac- 
tive mandibles  soon  dissect  a  carcass.  Springing 
from  between  the  ulna  and  radius  bones  of  the 
fore  arm  of  a  skeleton,  was  a  thrifty  looking 
plant  of  Trichomanes  venosa,  a  very  graceful  lit- 
tle fern.  Its  clinging  rhizomes  were  gradually 
creeping  round  the  bones,  and  had  firmly  at- 
tached its  clasping  roots  thereto.  Its  beautiful 
pinnules  so  extremely  slender,  and  resting  on 
such  fragile  stipes,  seemed  to  be  more  airy  and 
gauze-like  in  their  delicate  green,  which  much 
resembled  hair-lined  etchings  on  ivory.  The 
poor  wretches  had  evidently  come  to  an  un- 
timely end.  Scattered  around  lay  the  worn- 
meras,  waddies,  boomerangs,  spears  and  shields 
— all  wooden  weapons,  of  the  most  primitive 
kind. 

In  the  centre  of  an  exceedingly  fine  specimen 
of  Neottopteris  Australasica,  or  Bird's  Nest  Fern, 
rested  a  fleshless  skull,  around  which  the  long, 
undivided  fronds  radiated,  after  the  manner  of  an 
Elizabethan  frill  or  ruffled  collar,  and  much  like 
the  stiff  muslin  chevaux  defrise,  with  which  the 
artist  usually  surrounds  the  face  of  "good  Queen 
Bess."  The  forbidding  grimace  of  death's  head 
shocked  me,  as  its  eyeless  sockets  seemed  to  fix 
me  with  a  horrid  stare.  With  a  shudder,  I 
turned  from  "  those  holes  where  eyes  did  once 
inhabit,"  and  leaving  the  sickening  scene,  re- 
traced my  steps  along  the  solitary  wild,  and  was 
soon  again  by  the  side  of  Patrick,  my  invalid 
companion.  To  my  inquiries  regarding  his 
health,  be  astonished  me  by  saying,  "be  never 


felt  better  in  all  his  born  days  whenever  he 
faced  Mt.  Alexandria,  but  whenever  his  face  was 
towards  it,  he  felt  as  if  he  was  kilt,  intirely." 

Abernethy,  in  his  ever  prompt  and  peculiar 
way,  would  have  treated  such  a  case  heroically, 
no  doubt.  But  as  he  had  gone  to  the  shades  long 
ago,  it  remained  for  the  writer  to  assume  the 
role  of  Esculapius  for  once,  and  from  his  own 
vade  mecum  prescribe  for  his  suffering  compan- 
ion. The  diagnostic  symptoms,  evidently,  indi- 
cated a  very  severe  attack  of  gold  fever.  As  our 
stock  of  drugs  was  small,  and  my  allopathio 
knowledge  still  smaller,  I  concluded  a  la  Hahne- 
mann, to  prescribe  similia  similibus  curantur. 
Reluctantly,  I,  with  my  fever-stricken  friend, 
turned  again  towards  the  gold  fields.  When  in 
sight  of  a  miner's  hut,  we  halted  beneath  a 
Mimusops  cyanocarpus,  a  very  curious  tree. 
The  wonderful  "  cow  tree,"  M.  eliator,  of  the 
Amazons,  so  frequently  described  by  travelers, 
is  a  congener,  which,  with  M.  dissecta,  when 
once  seen,  are  trees  ever  to  be  remembered. 
The  flowers  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  a 
monkey's  face.  Feeling  more  sick  and  sorrow- 
ful than  my  friend  Patrick  after  a  long  parley, 
I  clasped  his  honest  hand  for  the  last  time,  and 
bidding  him  God-speed,  separated  forever. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


IlUINED    BY    HIS     GREENHOUSES. — The     Boston 

folks  should  look  after  the  agent  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press  of  their  city.  While  sending  an 
account  to  every  leading  paper  in  the  country  of 
the  failure  of  one  of  their  citizens,  he  coupled  it 
with  his  "opinion"  that  the  trouble  was  caused 
by  "inordinate  expenditures  on  greenhouses." 
The  Associated  Press  pays  for  news  and  not  for 
opinions,  especially  opinions  that  are  founded 
on  mere  guesses.  We  venture  to  say  that  no 
amateur's  greenhouses  in  the  United  States  cost 
as  much  as  the  horses  and  carriages,  or  as 
much  as  the  Winter  parties  and  other  extrava- 
gances; and  though  it  might  be  contended 
that  horses  save  car  fare  and  railroad  rides,  the 
fruits,  vegetables  and  flowers  used  in  a  family 
surely  save  as  much  as  horse-keeping  does.  In 
this  particular  case  we  feel  especially  sure  that 
"inordinate  expenses  on  greenhouses"  would 
not  have  amounted  to  anything  like  $3000  a  year, 
which  would  hardly  involve  a  man  to  the  extent 
of  perhaps  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


189 


Those  Rascally  Seedsmen. — We  find  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  a  sufferer  in  the  Gander- 
twamp  (O.)  Statesman.  We  understand  that  the 
gentleman,  who  was  so  fearfully  swindled,  en- 
couraged by  recent  legal  decisions  in  New 
Jersey  and  elsewhere,  does  not  intend  to  suffer 
the  matter  to  rest  here,  but  has  engaged  our 
horticultural  friend  Judge  Frank  of  Dayton, 
to  see  him  righted  in  the  matter.  We  may  look 
for  lively  times. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  bought    from    Mr. 


the 


finest  and  rarest  varieties  of  flower  seeds  I  found 
described  in  his  catalogue. 

I  made  a  hot-bed  four  feet  thick  of  fresh,  loose 
manure,  placed  fine  earth  over  it,  composed 
mostly  of  decayed  cowdung  and  chicken  manure. 
It  was  black  and  rich,  and  seed  having  any  vi- 
tality at  all  would  surely  germinate  in  such  soil. 
I  sowed  my  seed  in  this  bed  and  covered  it  about 
four  inches  deep  with  a  composition  made  of 
one-third  of  the  fine  earth  aforesaid,  one-third  of 
bone-dust  and  one-third  of  Peruvian  guano. 
The  heat  of  my  hot-bed  was  splendid — hot 
enough  to  boil  water. 

I  saturated  thoroughly  three  times  each  day  to 
encourage  the  seeds  to  do  well.  You  say  seeds 
should  never  be  allowed  to  become  dry  after 
they  are  sown.  I  watched  my  hot-beds  very 
attentively  daily,  anxiously  looking  for  the  seeds 
to  come  up  in  luxuriant  growth.  I  was  already 
seeing  them  in  imagination  at  my  dooryard, 
blooming  in  a  sea  of  glory  next  Summer. 

I  really  thought  my  heart  would  break  when, 
after  long  days  and  weary  weeks  of  watching, 
not  a  flower  seed  came  up.  At  the  same  time 
when  I  sowed  my  flower  seed  I  also  sowed  some 
cabbage  seed  into  my  hot-bed.  The  cabbage 
seed  sprouted  a  few  days  after  it  was  sowed,  but 
it- grew  up  at  the  rate  of  two-forty,  spindling  like 
a  darning  needle.  The  plants  could  not  stand  up 
straight.  They  gracefully  hung  their  heads  down 
to  the  ground  like  stalks  of  Indian  corn  in  Sum- 
mer after  a  severe  storm,  showing  that  the  cab- 
bage seed  must  have  been  sickly  when  I  got  it, 
and  that  the  flower  seed  was  as  dead  as  a  door- 
nail before  it  was  sent  to  me. 

Oh,  for  a  modern  Attila,  who  would  be  a 
scourge  of  nurserymen  and  seedsmen,  who  would 
kill  all  the  swindling  nurserymen  and  seedsmen, 
together  with  their  families,  and  their  relatives 
to  the  fifteenth  degree. 

I  do  not  believe  that  a  drop  of  honest  blood 
would   be  harmed  if  ali   the   nurserymen   and 


seedsmen  and  all  their  friends  and  relations  were 
indiscriminately  slaughtered,  and  their  heads 
used  to  build  pyramids  in  Tamerlane's  fashion 
of  old,  as  a  terrible  and  lasting  warning  to  all 
rascals. 

You  may  say  that  I  am  excited;  that  I  am 
mad.  I  say,  yes;  I  am  excited;  I  am  mad;  and 
I  have  every  reason  to  be  so.  It  is  well  for 
these  villians  that  I  am  not  in  possession  of  witch- 
craft, for  woe  be  unto  them  if  I  were.  I  do  think 
it  is  too  provoking  to  be  swindled  and  victimized 
year  after  year  by  a  set  of  thieves  and  plunder- 
ers. But  enough  of  this  sad  chapter.  I  do 
neither  ask  nor  expect  any  advice  from  you  in 
this  matter,  because  there  is  none  to  give;  but  it 
relieves  my  bleeding  heart,  and  throbbing,  aching 
temples  to  know  that  you  share  my  grief  by 
knowing  of  it.  This  world  would  be  a  paradise 
to  us  if  we  were  spared  the  agonies  given  us  by 
dishonest  nurserymen  and  seedsmen.  As  it  is,  it 
is  "a  vale  of  tears — dead." 

Tornilla. — In  the  published  reports  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Linnsen  Society  of  London  it  is 
said  the  Strombocarpus  pubescens  of  New 
Mexico  is  called,  by  the  natives,  Retorquilla,  it 
should  be  Tornilla,  we  think. 

A  Dahlia  Catalogue. — It  puts  us  in  mind  of 
some  thirty  years  ago,  to  see  a  beautifully  gotten 
up  catalogue  wholly  on  Dahlias!  It  is  from  Mr. 
Max  Deegan  Junior  the  second,  and  from  Kos- 
tritz  in  Thuringia,  and  we  really  think  the 
Dahlia  deserves  more  than  the  cool  treatment  it 
has  had  of  late  yeara.  Mr.  Deegan  grows  only 
Dahlias,  having  given  up  all  other  branches  of 
the  floral  business  for  them.  Such  devotion 
deserves  reward. 

How  to  Raise  Fruit. — A  hand-book  of  fruit 
culture,  by  Thomas  Gregg,  New  York,  S.  R. 
Wells  &  Co.,  from  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  Phila- 
delphia. Every  year  there  are  large  numbers  of 
little  books  issued  from  the  press  on  this  and 
kindred  subjects,  which' are  evidently  not  intend- 
ed for  those  who  have  made  much  advance  in 
horticultural  knowledge,  and  which  are  aimed  at, 
and  really  do  reach  many  who  rarely  or  never 
see  more  advanced  publications.  It  would 
hardly  be  fair  to  apply  the  same  rules  of  criti- 
cism to  these  as  to  more  pretentious  works.'  They 
do  a  great  deal  of  good  in  their  way,  and  we 
were  glad  to  see  that  there  is  a  demand  and  a 
good  use  for  them.    Mr.  Greeg's  book  is  quite  as 


190 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


\_June, 


good  as  a  large  number  of  this  class,  and  far 
superior  to  many  that  have  had  higher  aims. 
We  are  not  sure  but  we  might  take  exceptions 
to  some  of  the  statements  of  facts.  For  instance, 
we  read  that  "Thomas  Meehan,  the  intelligent 
Editor  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  of  Philadelphia, 
recommends  the  growing  of  pears  in  a  grass  sod, 
as  a  preventative  of  blight."  The  part  we  have 
italicized  is  incorrect.  We  have  never  had  any 
evidence  that  pears  in  sod  are  exempt  from  the 
fire  blight,  nor  ever  have  so  stated. 

The  Onion  Smut.  By  Prof.  W.  G.  Farlow. — 
To  the  obligations  practical  horticulturists  all 
over  the  country  are  under  to  the  Botanists  of 
Cambridge  we  have  now  added  this  labor  of 
Prof.  Farlow  on  the  Onion  Smut,  which  is  a  fear- 
ful pest  to  the  onion  crops  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut.  Prof.  Farlow  does  not  know  that 
it  has  been  noticed  elsewhere.  It  is  caused  by  a 
fungus  nearly  allied  to  the  rye  smut.  It  is  named 
by  Prof.  Farlow,  Urocystis  Cepulse;  the  spores 
enter  the  plant  with  the  sap,  from  the  ground. 
It  is  not  safe  to  plant  onions  in  infested  ground 
for  three  or  four  years. 

Hatching  Eggs  and  Raising  Poultry  by 
Means  of  Horse  Manure.  By  A.  Corbett,  New 
York,  Orange,  Judd  &  Co. — For  many,  many 
years  there  have  been  numerous  promising  in- 
ventions for  raising  chicks  without  a  mother, 
but  all  have  been  abandoned  after  a  year  or  so 
of  trial.  We  do  not  think  the  author  knows 
why  all  these  have  failed.  Whether  his  own 
plan  will  share  a  similar  fate  when  it  gets  into 
other  hands  or  not  remains  to  be  seen.  Whether 
or  not,  there  is  quite  enough  of  information 
about  chickens  in  health  and  chickens  sick  to 
make  the  cheap  little  book  well  worth  the  money, 
though  the  buyer  never  sees  an  "  artificial " 
chick. 


Melbourne,  Australia,  Botanic  Garden  An- 
nual Report  for  1876.  By  W.  R.  Guilfoyle, 
Esq.,  Director. — This  is  very  pleasant  reading, 
showing  how  a  garden  can  be  made  a  place  of 
pleasure  to  the  whole  people  who  support  it,  and 
yet  not  neglect  the  higher  aims  of  science,  which 
indirectly  serve  the  whole  people's  good.  These 
gardens  are  among  the  few  very  successful  enter- 
prises of  the  kind. 

Western  New  York  Horticultural  Society, 
Proceedings  of  22d  Annual  Meeting  at  Roch- 
ester, 1877.  From  P.  C.  Reynolds,  Rochester, 
Secretary. — This  excellent  Society  exists  wholly 
by  membership  and  contributions,  yet  publishes 
a  good  volume,  and  does  good  work.  In  this 
volume  are  excellent  essays  by  J.  J.  Thomas 
on  Native  Fruits;  Hugh  T.  Brooks,  on  Insect 
Enemies;  Geo.  Ellwanger,  on  Ornamental  Trees; 
W.  C.  Barry,  on  Botany;  Mr.  Hooker,  on  the 
Apple  Q-op;  M.  B.  Bateham,  on  Storing  Winter 
Fruits;  Prof.  Comstock,  on  Entomology ;  Eugene 
Glen,  on  Copyrights  to  Originators  of  Horticultural 
Novelties;  Dr.  G.  Ware  Sylvester,  on  Phylloxera; 
besides  full  reports  of  the  discussions.  The  ar- 
ticle on  "copyrights,"  by  Mr.  Glen,  is  especially 
interesting  in  view  of  the  recent  discussions  in 
this  respect,  and  is  one  of  the  most  ably  reasoned 
arguments  in  favor  of  a  '  'copyrighted  name  " 
to  a  fruit,  that  we  have  seen,  and  deserves  to  be 
studied  by  all  interested  in  the  production  of 
new  fruits,  seeds  or  flowers,  and  who  really  de- 
sire to  see  discoveries  well  rewarded,  according 
to  their  worth.  Mr.  Glen  has,  by  no  means,  per- 
ceived all  the  objections  to  copyrighted  names. 
Some  of  the  worst  objections  are  among  these 
that  are  overlooked,  but  this  we  leave  to  others 
to  look  after.  We  can  only  say  that,  at  this 
meeting,  Mr.  Glen's  well-reasoned  remarks  do 
not  appear  to  have  met  with  opposition  at  the 
meeting. 


HORTICULTURAL^ 


f~ 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  International  Exhibition  Company. — 
The  immense  structure  known  as  the  "  Main 
Building,"   of   the   Centennial    Exposition,   the 


largest  single  hall,  perhaps,  ever  built  in  the  world, 
has  Leon  purchased,  most  of  our  readers  know, 
by  a  private  company  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
a  perpetual  exhibition  of  the  products  of  science 
and  art.      Horticulture  and  agriculture  in  any 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


191 


of  the  features  that  will  admit  of  permanent  ex- 
hibition have  not  been  overlooked  by  the  man- 
agement, and  any  one  interested  in  these  depart- 
ments will  find  a  day  spent  in  this  wonderful 
building  very  far  from  being  lost. 

New  York  Horticultural  Society. — Schedule 
of  Premi  urns  for  1877. — This  new  society  appears 
to  be  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Mr.  John  Hen- 
derson is  President,  and  Mr.W.  J.  Davidson,  box 
191,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Recording  Secretary,  from 
whom  the  schedules  can  he  obtained.  The  Fall 
exhibition  will  be  held  on  the  22d,  23d,  and  24th 
of  September.  From  New  York  papers  we  learn 
that  there  is  a  gratifying  increase  in  the  number 
of  amateur  visitors  to  the  meetings  of  the  So- 
ciety, which  are  regarded  as  in  every  way  a 
great  success. 

Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society. — 
Schedule  of  premiums  for  1877. — Competition 
open  to  all.  $6,100  are  offered  for  premiums. 
Among  the  matters  of  general  interest  are  the 
following  offers  for  essays :  For  the  best  Essay 
upon  the  Culture  and  Varieties  of  Roses,  $25; 
Culture  of  Flowers  and  Foliage  for  Winter  Dec- 
oration and  the  Market,  with  a  list  of  the  most 
desirable  varieties,  $25  ;  Ripening  and  Market- 
ing of  Pears,  $25 ;  Garden  Irrigation — its  Advan- 
tages and  Limits,  $25;  Bottom  Heat — its  Bene- 
fits and  Methods,  $25;  Chickweed— its  Effects 
and  how  to  Eradicate  it,  $25. 

The  Essays  to  be  directed  to  "Robert  Manning, 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural 
Society,  Horticultural  Hall,  Boston;  for  the 
Committee  on  Publication  and  Discussion,"  so 
as  to  be  received  by  the  first  of  November,  in 
sealed  envelopes,  unsigned,  but  accompanied  by 
the  name  of  the  writer  in  a  separate  sealed  en- 
velope. Notice  will  be  given  to  successful  com- 
petitors of  the  time  for  reading  their  Essays. 
All  the  Society's  prizes  are  open  to  general  com- 
petition. William  C.  Strong  is  the  Chairman  of 
Com.  on  Publication  and  Discussion. 

Germantown  (Pa.)  Horticultural  Society.— 
In  looking  through  the  pretty  little  exhibition 
during  its  April  show,  we  noted  a  few  items 
which  may  interest  the  general  reader. 

In  the  collection  of  Thomas  Hendricks,  gar- 
dener to  Mr.  John  Jay  Smith,  there  was  a  speci- 
men of  the  new  Hydrangea,  Thomas  Hogg.  It 
is  more  distinct  than  one  would  suppose  from 
the  description,  for  the  flowers  are  not  only  larger 
and  of  a  pure  white,  but  have  an  angular  out- 


line which  strikes  the  reader  at  once  as  novel. 
Mr.  Hendricks  had  also  a  stand  of  remarkably 
fine  Marshal]  Niel  roses,  the  result  of  a  graft  on 
the  Banksian  stock.  We  have  before  noted  how 
very  well  roses  under  glass  culture  do  when  grafted 
on  the  Banksian,  and  was  glad  to  be  again  re- 
minded of  it  in  this  pleasant  way.  It  is  a  pleas- 
ure to  see  people  trying  to  make  handsome  things 
of  old  fashioned  plants,  as  occurred  to  us  as  we 
saw  Mr.  David  Hunter's  specimen  of  the  cut- 
leaved  variety  of  the  rose  geranium.  It  was 
about  four  feet  over.  It  might  have  been  im- 
proved by  a  little  guidance  in  growing  it,  but 
still  it  was  impressive  from  its  size.  Mr.  H.had 
also  a  plant  of  Abutilon  vexillarium,  grafted  on 
a  straight  stem  about  three  feet  high,  which 
mode  of  growth  suits  the  drooping  flowers  very 
well.  He  had  also  some  well-grown  pansies,  the 
flowers  of  which  were  two  and  a  half  inches 
across.  Mr.  James  Ritchie  of  Philadelphia,  had 
a  remarkable  collection  of  imported  azaleas,  re- 
markable not  only  for  the  beauty  of  the  flowers, 
but  for  the  skill  in  training,  as  in  form  they  were 
all  made  to  appear  as  bouquets,  each  of  the  ex- 
act size  of  the  other.  As  to  varieties  the  Coun- 
tess of  Kerchove  was  particularly  beautiful.  It 
was  of  a  semi-double  white  with  bright  carmine 
stripes.  Alex.  Newett,  gardener  to  Mr.  H.  Pratt 
McKean,  always  attracts  close  attention  to  his 
plants  from  the  orchids  which  he  generally  has 
in  bloom.  Here  was  a  hanging  basket  with  nu- 
merous pendent  clusters  of  iErides  odoratum  ; 
the  deliciously  scented  but  not  showy  Maxilla- 
ria  Deppei,  and  a  few  others.  A  very  delicate 
and  beautiful  palm  in  the  same  collection,  is 
Sabal  tomentosa.  It  was  as  graceful  as  some 
ferns.  The  old  fashioned  flowers  were  worthily 
represented  by  Matthew  McCleary,  gardener  to 
Miss  Dorsey  who  had  a  plant  of  Epiphyllum  speci- 
osum — an  old  cactus  but  seldom  seen — with  sev- 
enty-eight blossoms  on  it!  And  by  Mrs.  Dunton 
with  her  wall-flowers,  which  for  richness  of  per- 
fume by  those  who  do  not  get  intoxicated  by  full 
draughts  of  sweet  odors,  is  particularly  welcome. 
Mr.  R.  J.  Siddall  had  a  large  quantity  of  the  new 
"calla"Richardia  maculata.  For  flowers  it  is  not  of 
course  as  desirable  as  the  old  Richardia  ethio- 
pica,  but  the  spotted  leaves  are  of  such  a  healthy 
appearance,  that  its  position  as  a  good  window- 
plant  is  near  the  top  of  the  list.  We  mean  that 
it  harmonizes  well  with  wTorks  of  art.  Mr.  E. 
Lonsdale  had  a  very  fine  plant  of  a  Mule  Pink. 
These  are  hybrids  between  the  common  "Carna- 
tion "  Pink  and  the  Chinese  Pink,  and  we  are 


192 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[June, 


moved  to  say  not  only  that  this  particular  vari- 
ety was  good,  but  that  the  whole  race  deserves 
more  extended  culture.  The  President,  Mr.  Gal- 
loway C.  Morris,  had  a  large  number  of  beautiful 
plants — among  others  an  Azalea  mollis,  very 
striking  by  its  orange  oblique  flowers,  and  an 
Indian  Azalea,  "  Beauty  of  Surry,"  also  attractive 
by  reason  of  the  pure  velvety  texture  of  the 
petals. 

American  Pomological  Society. — In  addition 
to  the  programme  as  noted  in  our  last,  in- 
vitations have  been  accepted  by  the  follow- 
ing-named gentlemen  to  prepare  papers  :  — 
Prof.  W.  J.  Beal,  of  the  Agricultural  College, 
Lansing,  Michigan,  will  prepare  a  paper  on 
"  The  Classification  of  Apples ;  "  Prof.  A.  N. 
Prentiss,  of  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
will  prepare  a  paper  on  "  The  Pathology  of  Cul- 
tivated Plants."  It  is  expected  that  other  gen- 
tlemen of  experience  and  skill  will  present  pa- 
pers on  practical  or  historical  subjects  con- 
nected with  fruit-culture,  such  as  "  The  Species 
of  the  Apple,"  "  The  Bitter  Rot  of  the  Apple," 
etc. 

Horticultural  Pioneers  in  the  West. — The 
Cliicago  Tribune  names  as  among  the  early  hor- 
ticultural pioneers  of  Illinois,  Samuel  Edwards, 
Mr.  Harkness,  Mr.  Overman,  John  B.  Tull,  Mr. 
Shepherd,  Tyler  McWhorter,  Mr.  Hunt,  Mr. 
Kinney,  Mr.  Mann  and  S.  G.  Winkler — of  the 
good  works  of  the  most  of  which  we  also  can 
attest  as  being  well  merited. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Centennial  Exhibition — A  Letter  from 
President  Wilder. — Mr.  Editor: — In  running 
through  your  last  Monthly,  I  am  pleased  to  see 
that  the  same  nerve  guides  the  editorial  pen 
with  usual  vigor.  Your  article  on  "  Self  and 
Cross-Fertilization  "  pleases  me.  You  are  we  11 
posted — go  on,  and  you  will  be  able  to  make 
clear  many  mysteries  in  that  science.  This  "  lit- 
tle cloud  of  pollen  "  floats  in  the  air  as  the  fra- 
grance of  flowers  permeates  it.  and  although 
invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  impregnates  every 
pistil  within  its  reach.  These  fertilizing  grains, 
by  the  aid  of  the  microscope,  may  be  seen  on 
shaking  the  flower,  to  rise  like  dust  in  the  air, 
eager  to  light  upon  their  companions  for  tbe 
procreation  of  their  species.    Your  experiments 


are  very  ingenious  and  instructive,  and  agree 
with  my  own  experience  in  regard  to  the  diffu- 
sion of  pollen  and  its  subtle  effect.  One  in- 
stance in  proof — the  Wilder  strawberry  is  a  pis- 
tillate plant,  and  its  foliage  is  so  tall  that  it  cov- 
ers almost  completely  its  blossoms,  and  yet  they 
are  fully  impregnated  by  a  bed  of  Staminate,  if 
in  the  vicinity,  and  produce  large  crops  of  fruit. 
I  have  been  much  interested  in  your  article  on 
"  The  Centennial  Pomological  Judges,"  and  the 
frank  and  honest  explanations  you  have  made 
on  the  subject.  As  one  of  the  Advisory  Com- 
mittee of  the  Bureau  of  Agriculture,  I  did  what 
I  could  to  impress  on  the  Commissioners  the 
great  importance  of  American  Pomology,  which 
should  have  astonished  the  world  by  its  exhibi- 
tion. Considering  the  disposition  to  almost  ignore 
it,  the  wonder  is  that  during  the  week  in  Sep- 
tember there  should  have  been  more  than 
twelve  thousand  dishes  of  fruits  on  the  tables. 
And  let  it  not  be  forgotten  how  much  the  pub- 
lic owes  to  you  and  other  judges  who,  without 
compensation,  served  for  months  in  the  Horticul- 
tural and  Pomological  Department.  I  thank 
Mr.  Lincoln  for  his  recognition  of  those  worthy 
compeers  to  which  he  alludes  by  name,  all  of 
which  are  better  entitled  to  the  "  Clarem  et  ven- 
erabile  nomen"  than  the  other  person  designated. 

Notes  on  the  Centennial  Pomological  Ex- 
hibit— Letter  from  Mr.  Burnet  Landreth. — 
Mr.  Editor : — Permit  me  to  correct  a  typographi- 
cal error  in  the  extract  from  my  official  report 
upon  Pomology,  at  the  International  Exhibition. 
The  last  passage,  as  printed  in  your  May  num- 
ber, reads,  "The  Pomological  Judges  examined 
patiently  and  critically  two  thousand  distinct 
dishes  of  fruit."  The  reference  to  two  thousand 
applies,  not  to  dishes,  but  to  distinct  exhibits,  many 
of  them  comprising  three  or  four  bundred  dishes 
each,  as  in  the  aggregate  the  judges  passed  upon 
61,391  dishes. 

Exactly  four-fifths  of  the  examinations  were 
made  solely  by  the  resident  Pomological  Judges, 
who  did  half  the  work  in  the  remaining  fifth. 
For  six  months  they  twice  and  thrice  a  week  de- 
voted both  mornings  and  afternoons  to  patient 
investigation,  and  developed  high  technical 
qualifications,  the  range  of  species  and  varieties 
exhibited,  exceeding  anything  in  the  history  of 
pomology.  For  this  labor,  our  pomological 
friends  received  the  munificent  (!)  compensation, 
grudgingly  awarded,  referred  to  in  your  last 
edition. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 


DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


JULY,  1877. 


Number  223. 


lower  Garden  and  Pleasure  Ground. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


The  many  who  admired  the  massing  of  the 
leaf  plants  in  the  bedding  at  the  Centennial 
grounds  last  year,  and  have  endeavored  to  imi- 
tate it  this,  will  do  well  to  remember,  that  just 
now  much  pinching  in  of  the  young  shoots 
has  to  be  done.  It  is  the  new  growth  made  this 
month  that  gives  the  best  colors  in  August 
and  September,  and  this  reminds  us  the  Salvias 
were  also  pinched  in  ;  but  where  a  fine  early 
bloom  of  scarlet  sage  is  desired,  they  should 
have  no  pinching  back. 

All  who  have  given  attention  to  hardy  shrubs 
know  how  unsightly  the  prevailing  fashion  of 
winter  shearing  —  for  we  cannot  dignify  the 
practice  by  calling  it  pruning  —  renders  the 
bushes ;  and  yet  all  feel  the  want  of  some  meth- 
od of  keeping  them  within  bounds,  and  in  a 
somewhat  cultivated  form.  If  the  strong  shoots 
are  thinned  out  now,  all  this  trouble  is  obviated. 
The  same  remarks  apply  to  street  trees,  and  all 
others  that  it  is  desired  to  keep  low  and  bushy 
to  the  base. 

Hedges  must  be  served  in  the  same  way.  Trim 
off — regarding  a  due  conical  shape — all  strong 
top  shoots,  and  suffer  the  weaker  and  lower  ones 
to  grow  as  widely  and  freely  as  they  will. 

In  many  gardens  there  will  be  roses  of  poor 
and  inferior  kinds,  or  of  good  ones  that  the 
owner  may  desire  superseded  by  better  ones. 
This  may  readily  be  accomplished  by  budding  or 


inoculating,  and  now  and  next  month  is  the  sea- 
son to  operate. 

In  almost  all  works  on  budding  it  is  recom- 
mended to  take  the  wood  out  of  the  bud  to  be 
inserted.  This  is  necessary  in  the  English  cli- 
mate, but  unnecessary  here,  and  never  followed 
by  practiced  hands. 

Amateurs  may  have  some  rare  or  choice  shrub 
they  may  desire  to  increase.  They  may  now  be 
propagated  by  layers.  This  is  done  by  taking  a 
strong  and  vigorous  shoot  of  the  present  season's 
growth,  slitting  the  shoot  a  few  inches  from  its 
base,  and  burying  it  a  few  inches  under  the  soil, 
or  into  a  pot  of  soil  provided  for  the  purpose. 
Anything  can  be  propagated  by  layers  ;  and  it 
is  an  excellent  mode  of  raising  rare  things  that 
can  be  but  with  difficulty  increased  by  any  other. 

The  raising  of  new  varieties  of  florists'  flowers 
is  an  interesting  occupation  to  the  amateur.  The 
process  of  hybridization,  applies  to  all  plants  as 
well  as  to  grapes ;  but  good  improved  kinds  of 
some  things  may  be  obtained  from  chance 
seedlings.  The  finest  and  doublest  of  Roses, 
Petunias,  Dahlias,  Carnations,  etc.,  should  be  se- 
lected, and  as  soon  as  the  petals  fade,  they  shoiild 
be  carefully  removed,  or  they  will  cause  the  deli- 
cate organs  of  reproduction  to  decay  before 
maturity.  A  flower  may  be  so  very  double  as 
not  to  bear  seed  at  all,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Gillyflower  or  Stock ;  but  if  the  pistil  remains 
perfect,  as  it  usually  does,  seed  will  ensue. 

Dahlia  seed  may  be  preserved  till  the  Spring. 
Antirrhinum,  Rose,  Carnation,  and  such  hardy 
perennials,  should  be  sown  soon  after  ripening. 


194 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


C031MUNICA  TIONS. 


THE  AILAIMTHUS. 

BY   MR.  A.  VEITCH,  NEW   HAVEN,   CONN. 

I  notice  in  May  number  of  Monthly  that  Gen. 
W.  H.  Noble,  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  in  speaking  of 
the  Ailanthus,  is  inclined  to  believe  there  are 
more  than  one  species  in  cultivation,  which  be- 
lief seems  to  rest  upon  the  fact  that  there  is 
great  diversity  of  color  in  the  ripening  foliage 
of  different  trees.  This  difference  we  have  of- 
ten noticed,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to  constitute 
a  species  in  this  case,  any  more  than  in  the  Ma- 
ple or  the  Beech.  In  the  Beech,  or  Fagus  syl- 
vatica,  there  are  several  well  marked  varieties 
in  cultivation,  chiefly  distinguishable  by  the 
color  of  their  leaves,  and  are  known  by  such 
names  as  F.  sylvatica  atrorubens,  cuprea,  fol. 
variegata,  fol.  aureus,  &c.  And  we  may  yet 
hope,  when  the  Ailanthus  receives  the  attention 
it  deserves,  such  varieties  as  Gen.  Noble  speaks 
of  will  be  sought  after  with  as  much  avidity  as 
some  novelties  now  are,  and  their  fitness  for  or- 
namental purposes  fully  appreciated. 

It  seems  more  than  likely  A.  glandulosa  is  the 
only  one  grown  in  the  Northern  United  States. 
The  other  species,  A.  excelsa,  according  to  Lou- 
don, is  an  evergreen  tree,  fifty  feet  in  height ;  a 
native  of  the  East  Indies,  and  requires  greenhouse 
protection  ;  was  introduced  into  Britain  in  1800; 
leaves  abruptly  pinnated ;  leaflets  serrated.  The 
leaves  of  glandulosa  are  pinnated  with  an  odd 
one;  leaflets  toothed  at  the  base;  teeth  glandular. 


CULTURE  OF  HARDY  RHODODENDRONS. 

BY    WALTER   ELDER,   PHILADELPHIA. 

The  conflicting  statements  of  your  corres- 
pondents in  regard  to  Rhododendron  culture  are, 
I  think,  calculated  to  deter  others  from  making 
the  attempt.  But,  that  hereabouts,  at  least, 
they  can  be  grown  with  very  little  extra  care, 
there  are  many  cases  to  prove.  At  the  home  of 
David  Landreth,  at  Bloomsdale,  they  have  been 
successfully  cultivated  for  over  a  quarter  of  a 
century.  The  first  lot  set  out  was  alongside  of 
a  building  with  eastern  exposure.  Others  were 
set  out  in  different  exposures  as  time  went  on, 
and  now  all  flourish  and  bloom  profusely  every 
May.  No  other  preparations  were  made  for 
them  than  digging  holes,  pulverizing  the  soil, 


and  putting  the  surface  turf  in  the  bottom  of 
the  holes,  grassy  side  undermost.  They  were  at 
first  mulched  with  saw  dust.  The  soil  is  light 
loam,  the  land  nearly  flat.  I  have  observed  that 
the  plants  set  near  to  tree-stems  and  those 
exposed  to  sunshine  from  4  p.  m.  to  sunset,  are 
of  lean  growth;  yet  they  bloom  well.  Those 
set  well  off  from  the  trees,  but  yet  partially 
shaded  by  their  branches  after  mid-afternoon, 
are  very  hemispherical  bushes,  their  foliage 
wholly  hiding  their  wood-,  and  they  blossom 
profusely,  annually.  I  advise  all  who  can,  to 
visit  Bloomsdale  in  May  and  see  the  plants  in 
bloom. 

Twelve  years  ago  I  purchased  in  Robt.  Buist's 
nursery  some  Rhododendrons  which  were  grow- 
ing in  a  heavy  loam,  and  were  fully  exposed  to 
Summer  sunshine  and  Winter  storm.  I  plant- 
ed them  upon  a  bed  of  garden  soil,  enriched  for 
previous  crops.  They  all  flourished  and  bloomed 
profusely.  Seven  years  afterwards  when  I  vis- 
ited the  place,  they  were  still  doing  finely.  I 
have  planted  for  many  others  around  Philadel- 
phia, and  they  universally  do  well.  There  may 
be  latitudes,  altitudes,  localities  and  exposures, 
that  may  not  suit  the  culture  of  hardy  Rhodo- 
dendrons, but  I  think  the  extravagant  prepara- 
tions of  rich  composts,  three  feet  deep,  prevent 
success.  The  extraordinary  protection  some- 
times given  in  Winter  may  also  injure  them. 
Mr.  Robert  Buist  once  stated  in  your  columns 
that  the  Ponticum  and  its  sub-varieties  were 
tender.  I  have  found  them  as  hardy  as  others 
here.  Their  leaves  are  long  and  narrow,  much 
reflected,  and  of  a  dull  green  color,  and  are 
very  smooth.  Most  of  their  blooms  are  tinged 
with  lilac. 


BEAUTY  OF  GLAZENWOOD  ROSE. 

BY   J. 

Allow  me,  please,  to  say  a  word  about  this 
rose,  about  which  so  much  has  been  recently 
said  in  regard  to  its  being  the  same  as  Fortune's 
Yellow  Rose,  and  the  cry  that  has  been  made 
about  "fraud"  and  "humbug"  in  connection 
therewith.  There  are  so  many  people  in  the 
world  who  love  to  believe  that  every  thing  in- 
troduced is  a  fraud  and  a  sham,  that  nothing 
gives  them  so  much  pleasure  as  to  believe  they 
have  "found  a  skunk  "  which  they  can  prove  to 
the  world  is  really  and  truly  one.  These  people 
never  allow  that  there  is  any  room  for  an  hon- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


195 


est  mistake,  or  that  there  is  full  value  given, 
though  it  may  not  be  just  as  was  intended.  It 
is  "a  fraud"  and  nothing  less,  and  " they  told 
you  so." 

Now,  here  is  a  rose  which  has  been  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Bull,  Mr.  Saul,  and  many  other 
men  whose  honor  stands  as  high  as  any  one's  in 
any  walk  of  life,  and  who  have  issued  colored 
plates,  showing  that  a  rose  like  "Madam  Falcot" 
in  golden  color,  had  also  the  addition  of  crim- 
son flakes.  It  is  now  said  this  rose  is  nothing 
but  the  old  Fortune's  Yellow.  It  is  some  years 
since  I  saw  Fortune's  Yellow.  I  never  saw  it 
with  crimson  flakes,  but  it  would  often  have  a 
coppery  sort  of  tint  not  usual  in  its  general 
style  of  flowering.  This  Beauty  of  Glazenwood 
is  striped.  I  do  not  know  the  origin  of  the  rose, 
but  I  strongly  suspect  that  a  branch  of  Fortune's 
Yellow  produced  striped  flowers,  and  that  this 
branch  was  cut  off,  propagated,  and  the  plant 
named  accordingly.  In  such  cases,  it  is  not  im- 
possible that  it  would  run  back  to  the  original, 
and  thus  it  would  be  perfectly  right  to  say  it 
"  was  nothing  but  Fortune's  Yellow  Kose ;  "  but 
this  would  not  make  it  less  just  to  name  as  dis- 
tinct the  striped  form,  so  long  as  it  proved  dis- 
tinct and  permanent.  The  climbing  Devonien- 
sis  was  raised  in  just  this  same  way.  The  origi- 
nal Devoniensis  is  a  low-growing  rose.  A  shoot 
pushed  out  of  immense  length,  and  propagated, 
it  has  retained  its  character,  and  is  kept  as  dis- 
tinct. If  it  had  run  back  it  would  have  been  a 
misfortune — but  would  it  have  proved  fraud  in 
the  original  raiser?  Our  Isabella  Sprunt  is  a 
sport  from  Saffrano  in  just  the  same  way.  It 
has  proved  constant,  but  there  is  nothing  im- 
possible in  a  variety  so  raised  running  back. 
If  it  did,  would  the  good  Methodist  preacher 
who  raised  this  good  rose  be  a  fraud  ?  Varie- 
gated leaved  plants  and  striped  flowers  of  all 
kinds  have  a  regular  habit  of  running  back — as 
every  cultivator  knows  who  buys  them — and  he 
buys  knowing  he  will  have  to  watch  for  the  green 
sprouts  and  take  them  off. 

Fortune's  Yellow  is  a  good  rose,  and  ought  to 
be  more  grown.  Though  so  many  years  intro- 
duced, few  have  it.  If  one  buy  a  Beauty  of  Gla- 
zenwood, and  it  turns  out  to  be  Fortune's  Yel- 
low, the  purchaser  will  not  be  badly  hurt. 

Mr.  Editor,  I  am  a  lover  of  roses,  and  I  sell 
roses.  It  so  happens  that  I  am  not  yet  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  Beauty  of  Glazenwood.  But  I  love 
justice,  and  the  management  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  shows  you  do  ;  and  I  have  thought  that 


these  pickings  from  rose  history  would  not  be 
inopportune  at  this  time. 


GAS  LIME. 

BY   GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE,   BRIDGEPORT,   CONN. 

One  of  your  correspondents  recently  noted 
and  queried  about  some  uses  of  gas  lime.  The 
material  certainly  gives  promise  of  many ;  but 
no  one  has  yet  devised  enough  to  save  the  most 
of  it  from  the  dump.  If  any  one  knows  just 
how  and  what  to  do  with  the  thing,  he  ought  to 
tell  us.  By-and-by,  I  doubt  not,  somebody  will 
find  the  way  to  rescue  from  waste  a  product  so 
stored  with  elements  valuable  to  the  arts  and 
common  life. 

The  lime  used  to  cleanse  our  public  gas,  from 
things  hurtful  to  its  light,  comes  out  of  the 
vats  loaded  with  a  host  of  those  wonderful  pro- 
ducts, which  distilled  coal  and  coal  oil  have 
yielded  to  the  skill  of  modern  chemistry.  Let's 
see — there  is  in  gasoline  carbolic  acid;  some 
free  and  some  gone  with  the  lime  into  carbolate 
of  lime.  Then  there  is  some  free  sulphur  and 
sulphur  acids,  and  sulphate  of  lime ;  some  phos- 
phate of  lime,  I  believe,  lurks  in  the  mass.  Some 
coal  oil  hangs  around,  and  some  ammonia,  too, 
is  under  bondage  in  the  heap.  Doubtless  many 
others  of  that  "  innumerable  caravan,"  which 
chemical  witchery  has  summoned  out  of  the 
products  of  coal,  slumber  in  the  dull  green  pile. 

Now,  one  would  think  that  such  a  team  of 
elements  would  ere  this  have  been  harnessed 
and  broke  to  useful  work.  Why !  what  power- 
ful disinfectants  are  those  compounds  of  carbon 
and  sulphur — how  destructive  to  insect  life  their 
odor  or  touch.  How  nutritive,  or  absorbent  of 
vegetable  stimulants,  are  ammonia  or  the  sul- 
phuric combinations.  The  trouble  is,  the  dose 
of  each  is  too  big.  There  is  altogether  too  much 
cure.  It  is  allopathic  with  a  vengeance.  So  far 
as  help  in  horticulture  is  concerned,  we  need  a 
new  Hahneman,  to  give  us  a  homeopathic  regi- 
men for  gas  lime  virtues. 

For  instance,  when  coal  tar  paint  burns  our 
plants,  who  is  ready  to  say  that  a  little  in  the 
mixture  which  wTe  use  would  not  help,  while  a 
good  deal  hurts  ?  Who  has  tried  a  sprinkling  of 
gas  lime  in  the  greenhouse,  to  squelch  the  fungi 
or  drive  off  the  insect  pests  ?     . 

Now,  take  note,  I  am  not  instructing  or  saying 
this  or  that  about  gas  lime,  for  sure.  I  only  sug- 
gest the  likelihood  of  good  to  come  from  trial.  It 
is  by  trial,  when  there  is  a  likely  lead,  that  pre- 


196 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


I  July, 


cious  mines  are  reached.  Just  so  it  is  in  matters 
and  places— horticultural.  So, I  suggest  trial  of  gas 
lime.  How  about  gas  lime  for  the  Phylloxera, 
or  the  root  fungus  on  the  peach  ?  I  tried  it  on 
a  peach  stricken  with  the  yellows,  laying  near 
the  roots,  sprinkling  over  the  gas  lime,  and  then 
covering  with  earth.  The  jaundice  changed  to 
a  rich  green,  and  the  spindling  shoots  gave  place 


praise  of  all  its  members  would  require  several 
numbers  of  the  Monthly.  I  wish  only  to  speak 
of  Dianthus  lacinatus  and  Heddwigii,  two  of 
the  handsomest  flowering  members,  and  which 
are  far  too  scarce.  Both  of  these  are  natives  of 
Japan,  from  where  they  were  introduced  several 
years  ago.  The  flowers  of  lacinatus  have  the 
edges   cut  and  laced  in    the  most  picturesque 


to  those  of  stouter  and  healthy  growth. 

After  lying  a  year  or  two  in  a  heap,  as  exposed 
to  the  air,  the  strong  smell  and  acrid,  caustic 
touch  of  the  gas  lime  is  gone.  I  know  not 
whether  its  virtues  go,  too.  Doubtless,  however, 
much  goodness  still  lingers  in  the  pile.  Now, 
let  some  one  else  tell  us  "  what  he  knows,  or  has 
done,  about  "  gas  lime. 


DIANTHUS. 

BY   W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL   DORADO,  CAL. 

This   is   one   of   the  handsomest   families   of 
plants  known  to  gardeners,  and  to^tell   of  the 


manner,  resembling  the  finest  lace.  (See  cut.) 
Those  of  Heddwigii  have  very  full  petals,  only 
very  slightly  notched. 

Of  both  varieties  there  are  single  and  double 
flowering  kinds,  and  both  single  and  double  are 
fine.     Both  varieties  bear  very  large  flowers,  of- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


197 


ten  measuring  three  inches  in  diameter.  In 
color  they  vary  from  pure  white  to  deep  blood- 
red  ;  many  have  flowers  marbled  in  most 
curious  and  striking  manners,  some  resembling 
mosaic  work  in  their  marblings.  They  are  very 
easy  of  culture ;  seed  sown  in  a  hot-bed  in  Feb- 
ruary will  flower  in  June,  and  remain  in  flower, 
if  seed  pods  are  removed,  until  frost. 

I  And  them  unrivalled  for  bouquet  work,  and 
it  was  to  recommend  them  for  this  work  I 
undertook  to  write  this  article.  If  every  gar- 
dener would  buy  a  package  of  seed  and  try 
them,  they  would  never  do  without  them  again. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Sweet  William. —  This  old  fashioned 
flower  seems  to  be  again  attracting  the  notice  of 
the  florists ;  and  some  remarkably  pretty  kmds 
are  announced  among  the  latest  English  novel- 
ties. 

"Fragaria  arborea." — A  correspondent  sends 
a  leaf  of  a  tree  for  name.  The  tree  was  bought 
by  a  neighbor  for  ?J,  "at  the  French  store  on 
Chestnut  street,"  as  "  Fragaria  arborea."  The 
leaf  is  of  some  species  of  Euonymus,  we  do  not 
recognize  which. 

To  Moisten  Dusty  Roads. —  It  is  said  that 
"  trials  have  been  made  in  Rome  of  a  solution 
of  chloride  of  calcium  as  a  substitute  for  water 
in  laying  dust  in  streets,  and  the  results  are 
said  to  have  been  highly  satisfactory.  The 
dampness  communicated  to  the  road  remains 
for  a  whole  week.  The  road  remains  damp 
without  being  muddy,  presenting  a  hard  sur- 
face, on  which  neither  the  wind  nor  the  passing 
of  pedestrians  or  horses  has  any  effect." 

Deterioration  of  Grasses  on  a  Lawn. — 
W.  N.,  Boston,  says,  that  his  "  lawn  has  got  an- 
nually worse  and  worse,  until  now  there  is  little 
grass,  and  nearly  all  weeds.  What  shall  I  do  to 
restore  my  lawn?  I  have  no  very  large  tract, 
but  take  much  pride  in  it." 

[This  is,  no  doubt,  a  case  of  "  lawn  mower," 
about  which  we  have  often  written.  Grass  can- 
not grow  without  leaves  any  more  than  other 
plants,  and  if  kept  cropped  too  close  it  will 
surely  die.  Then,  creeping  weeds  which  escape 
the  mower  blades,  take  its  place.  There' is 
nothing  to  be  done  but  to  cut  higher  in  future. 
Under  no  circumstances  go  lower  than  half  an 
inch  from  the  ground. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


The  Erythronium,  or  Dog's-tooth  Violet. — 
There  are  few  of  our  people  who  have  gathered 
wild  flowers,  but  who  know  the  Yellow  Dog's- 
tooth  Violet.  Why  it  has  received  the  name  of 
Dog's-tooth  Violet  may  not  be  well  known  to 
our  readers,  and  the  following:  little  bit  of  his- 
tory from  the  Garden  will  be  of  service.  The 
botanical  name,  Erythronium,  is  said  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  Greek  word,  "  signifying  red,"  "  the 
color  of  some  of  the  species,"  but  this  seems  to 
be  a  very  poor  reason  : — "  This  obtains  the  name 
of  Dog's-tooth  Violet  because  of  the  long  fang- 
like tuberous  roots  that  are  white  in  color  like 
a  tooth.  Apart  from  the  lovely  flowers  the  plant 
produces,  the  leaves  of  the  red  variety  especially, 
are  very  handsomely  marked.  As  soon  as  the 
ice  and  snow  which  hold  the  earth  in  bondage 
in  February  are  dispersed  by  the  warm  breath  of 
Spring,  it  issues  forth,  first  unfolding  its  hand- 
somely marked  leaves,  and  then  its  charming 
flowers,  borne  singly  on  stems  four  inches  to  six 
inches  high,  and  drooping  gracefully.  Ihe 
flower  is  surpassingly  lovely,  and  it  comes  into 
bloom  with  the  Snowdrop,  Hepatica,  and  Spring 
flowers.  A  moist  peaty  soil,  with  which  has 
been  mingled  a  good  deal  of  sand,  appears  to 
to  suit  the  Dog's-tooth  Violet  as  well  as  any. 
Shady  spots  are  generally  recommended  for  its 
culture,  but  it  is  frequently  met  with  in  positions 
fully  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  doing  well.  In 
some  localities  it  appears  difficult  of  cultivation, 
mainly  from  the  unsuitability  of  the  soil ;  in 
others  just  the  opposite  results  —  it  flourishes 
with  all  the  vigor  of  a  native  plant.  In  the  mid- 
land districts,  where  there  is  more  humidity  per- 
vading the  atmosphere  than  in  the  South,  it 
scarcely  fails  to  do  well.  In  addition  to  the  im- 
ported species,  which  bears  rosy  purple  or  lilac 
flowers,  there  are  also  varieties  of  it,  such  as  Al- 
bum, white;  Purpureum,  purple;  and  Roseum, 
rosy.  These  have  been  selected,  because  show- 
ing a  certain  distinctness  of  color,  and  have 
been  found  to  retain  it  when  ih  cultivation. 
There  is  a  distinct  large-flowering  type  of  the 
original  species,  known  as  Major,  in  which  the 
leaves  and  flowers  are  both  larger  than  is  usu- 
ally seen.  The  purple-flowering  varieties  have 
the  green  leaves  handsomely  marked  with  red- 
dish-brown, and  when  at  their  best  are  more  at- 
tractive than  those  of  some  handsome-foliaged 
plants  that  are  sold  at  a  high  price.  The  white- 
flowering  variety  has  the  leaves  blotched  with  a 
kind  of  whitey-brown  color.  There  is  also  an 
American  species,  E.  Americanum,  which  bears 


198 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


yellow  flowers,  and  blooms  a  little  later  in  the 
season.  A  variety  of  this  is  also  obtainable, 
having  brown  spots  at  the  base  of  the  flowers. 
It  is  recommended  that  every  third  or  fourth 
year  the  bulbs  be  lifted,  separated,  and  re- 
planted." 

The  Tulip  Tree. — A  Vineland  correspondent 
of  the  Country  Gentleman  has  the  following  good 
words  for  this  very  beautiful  ornamental  tree. 
The  practical  experience  detailed  will  be  of  great 
value  to  those  who  have  not  succeeded  with  it. 
We  may  add  that  no  tree  relishes  more  being 
pruned  at  transplanting : — "  In  1870  I  bought 
twenty,  about  four  feet  high,  of  a  dealer  here, 
and  gave  them  good  clean  culture  two  years, 
when  I  had  them  transplanted  and  set  on  my 
roadside  as  shade  trees  —  to  comply  with  the 
Vineland  shade  tree  law.  They  had  a  perfect 
mass  of  fibrous  roots,  several  times  more,  in- 
deed, than  seemed  necessary.  Not  one  of  them 
died;  all  are  alive  now,  growing  finely,  and  are 
about  fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  give  every 
promise  of  making  a  magnificent  row  of  trees. 
But  I  keep  them  cultivated  and  intend  to  do  so 
several  years  yet,  as  I  have  not  much  faith  in 
growing  trees  in  grass. 

"  I  say  then,  to  those  who  desire  this  splendid 
flowering  tree,  and  must  buy  them,  to  buy  them 
small  and  cultivate  for  a  few  years.  Some  may 
die  in  transit,  but  the  loss  in  cost  will  be  insig- 
nificant compared  with  the  loss  in  trees  from 
six  to  eight  feet  high.  In  a  wholesale  price  list 
before  me,  I  see  that  plants  one  foot  high  are 
furnished  at  $3  per  100,  while  those  from  six  to 
eight  feet  high  cost  $60  per  hundred  ;  or  ten  of 
the  first  will  be  sent  for  fifty  cents,  and  ten  of 
the  latter  for  $7.50.  The  '  immediate  effect '  of 
ordering  the  last  size  for  long  distances  will'  af- 
fect the  purse  more  than  the  lawn  or  the  road- 
side. Buy  small ;  cultivate  ;  transplant  at  your 
leisure,  and  then  you  can  plant  trees  of  uniform 
height,  and  can  count  on  their  living.  In  plant- 
ing, pare  the  mangled  ends  of  the  roots,  and 
from  all  those  of  any  size,  a  half  dozen  or  more 
new  branches  will  put  out.  A  few  shovelfulls  of 
pulverized  muck,  worked  in  among  the  roots, 
will  aid  to  retain  moisture,  and  do  something  to 
insure  growth. 

"  All  that  Mr.  Bacon  says  in  praise  of  this  tree 
is  just;  only  he  has  not  said  all  lie  might.  Its 
foliage,  its  flowers,  its  shape  and  its  wood,  are  all 
unsurpassed,  while  a  crowning  negative  merit  is, 
that    it    has,   as   yet,    no   insect  enemies.      Most 


shade  trees  have  these  in  certain  seasons,  but  the 
tulip,  so  far  as  I  ever  observed,  or  read  of,  or 
heard  of,  is  exempt.  It  is,  too,  a  rapid  grower ; 
nothing  desirable  equals  it  here  in  growth  except 
the  soft  maple,  and  it  is  becoming  par  excellence, 
the  standard  tree  of  Vineland.  More  trees  of 
this  variety  have  been  planted  during  the  last 
three  or  four  years  than  all  other  kinds  put  to- 
gether. At  seven  or  eight  years  after  permanent 
transplanting  the  blossoms  appear,  and  they  are 
almost  as  beautiful  and  fragrant  as  a  water  lily. 
A  few  of  the  '  pioneers '  are'  beginning  to  blos- 
som here,  and  every  year  will  increase  the 
number." 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Pyrus  Maulei. — This  desirable  new  fruit  has 
been  introduced  into  England  from  Japan ;  it  is  al- 
lied to  the  Japan  Quince.  The  fruit  is  the  size  of  a 
moderate  Quince,  of  a  bright  apricot-color,  and 
makes  a  rich  conserve.  The  flowers,  which  are 
produced  in  great  profusion,  are  of  a  most  bril- 
liant orange  scarlet  color.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  flowering  trees  of  recent  introduction, 
as  well  as  a  valuable  fruit. — John  Saul. 

Phellodendron  amurense.  —  A  very  hardy 
ornamental  tree,  flowered  last  season  at  the 
Cambridge  Bot.  Garden.  It  has  been  there 
fifteen  years,  so  is  quite  hardy.  The  plant  is 
dioecious  and  a  native  of  Maudchuria.  It  grows 
in  its  native  places  fifty  feet  high,  and  has  a 
trunk  one  foot  thick,  with  a  corky  bark.  It  is 
allied  to  Ptelea  and  Xanthoxylum,  Prof.  Sar- 
gent contributes  a  fuller  note  on  the  subject  to 
the  April  American  Naturalist. 

New  Magnolias. — We  have  from  Mr.  R.  B.  Par- 
sons &  Son,  flowers  of  Magnolia  Lenne,  M.Thur- 
beri  and  M.  Halleana.  These  are  varieties — the 
first  of  purpurea,  and  the  other  two  of  the  Chi- 
nese. The  Lenne  differs  from  the  M.  purpurea 
in  having  very  broad  petals.  Halleana  has  nu- 
merous narrow,  white  petals — is  in  fact  semi- 
double,  and  Thurberi  is  a  fine  petaled  variety, 
more  on  the  cream.  In  reference  to  these  we 
have  the  following  note  : — "  I  sent  you  yester- 
day by  mail,  a  box  containing  flowers  of  Mag- 
nolia Thurberi,  as  we  named  it  long  ago.  Since 
sending  it,  Mr.  T.  Hogg  tells  me  he  is  under 
the  impression  that  he  bloomed  it  some  time  ago 
under  the  name,  of  M.  stellata.     We  have  grown 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


199 


it  about  twelve  years,  and  these  are  the  first 
flowers  we  have  had.  It  is  good  as  a  variety,  but 
not  equal  to  Magnolia  Halleana,  which  with  its 
dwarf  haibit,  small  flowers  and  fragrance  is  a 
great  acquisition.  This,  M.  Halleana,  we  have 
bloomed  a  number  of  years.  These  Magnolias, 
with  Retinosporas  and  other  things,  we  received 
from  Dr.  Hall,  who  was  then  in  business  in 
Japan,  and  very  fond  of  plants.  I  hope  you  will 
be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  the  character  of  the 
flower." 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Fine  Sciadopitys. —  Mr.  John  Mugford,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  kindly  furnishes  the  following 
note  : — "  Seeing  an  article  in  the  Monthly  about 
the  Sciadopitys  verticillata,  I  wish  to  say  that 
in  Prof.  Salisbury's  garden  there  is  one  that  has 
stood  two  Winters  with  but  slight  protection  and 
now  stands  four  feet  high." 

Weeds  in  Lawns. — E.  W.  G.,  North  Easton, 
Mass.,  writes  : — "  I  send  you  by  this  mail  a  box 
containing  samples  of  two  different  plants  or 
weeds  that  have  come  up  over  my  lawn.  Sam- 
ple No.  1,  which  I  have  noticed  for  the  last  two 
years,  has  not  been  very  plenty  until  this 
year ;  it  is  all  over  my  lawn  in  spots,  all  sizes  up 
to  one  foot  square  or  more  ;  grows  so  thick  that  it 
kills  all  the  grass  where  it  grows.      I  am  afraid 


that  it  will  spoil  my  lawn  in  a  year  or  two.  Can 
you  tell  me  what  it  is,  or  in  what  way  I  can  get 
clear  of  it  ?  I  never  saw  any  of  it  until  about 
two  years  ago.  I  also  find  that  one  of  my 
friends  has  the  same  in  his  lawn,  spots  ten  feet 
square.  Is  it  a  plant  that  grows  the  whole 
season  or  only  in  the  Spring  of  the  year  ?  Can 
you  tell  me  if  it  is  likely  to  continue  to  increase 
and  spoil  my  lawn  ?  Sample  No.  2,  seems  to  be 
an  equally  fast  grower,  but  does  not  injure  the 
looks  of  my  lawn  so  much  ;  never  noticed  this 
until  this  year.  Can  you  tell  me  anything 
about  it?" 

[The  weeds  were  a  small  Veronica,  and  the 
Mouse-ear  chick  weed.  This  is  another  case  of 
injury  from  close  mowing  whereby  the  grass  is 
enfeebled  and  these  little  weeds  are  able  to  thrive. 
The  grass  must  be  left  longer  at  mowing  and  it 
will  keep  down  these  little  pests  without  much 
trouble.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

— Dividing  Herbaceous  Plants. —  E.  D.  C, 
Providence,  R.  I.,  asks  : —  "  Would  you  inform 
me  through  your  paper  the  best  way  to  divide 
such  roots  as  Aquilegia  chrysantha  and  Aquile- 
gia  ccerula.  I  have  not  been  successful  in 
dividing  them." 

[These  and  all  similar  herbaceous  plants  are 
best  divided  in  very  early  Spring,  before  the 
leaves  have  fairly  pushed.  Some  woody-rooted 
things  like  Aquilegia  are  best  divided  with  a 
piece  of  the  old  root,  split  down  through  its 
length  for  the  purpose. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


REEN  tfloUSE  AND  MOUSE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


House  gardening  is  nearly  at  rest  just  now. 
The  flowers  for  Winter  use  are  mostly  in  pots 
out  of  doors. 

Most  of  the  plants  are  set  out  for  the  Sum- 
mer, as  formerly  recommended — little  care  will 
be  required  beyond  seeing  that  they  are  not 
over  or  under  watered.  Some  will  be  yet  grow- 
ing, and  may  be  full  of  roots.  If  growth  will 
probably  continue  for  a  while  longer,  pots  a  size 
larger  may   be   furnished  such.      Whenever  a 


shoot  appears  to  grow  stronger  than  the  rest,  so 
as  to  endanger  compactness  or  any  desired 
shape,  pinch  it  back,  and  any  climbing  vines 
should  receive  due  regulation  as  they  grow  over 
the  trellis,  or  they  will  speedily  become  naked 
below.  A  good  stiff  trellis  is  a  desideratum  hard 
to  be  obtained  by  the  uninitiated. 

An  important  point  just  now  is  to  prepare 
Winter-flowering  plants.  Cinerarias,  Chinese 
Primrose,  and  Calceolarias  should  be  sown  about 
the  end  of  the  month;  and  cuttings  made  of 
most  kinds  of  plants  that  are  desirable.  It  is  a 
great  mistake,  often  made,  to  store  up  and 
treasure  year  after  year,  old   and  even  grown 


200 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


specimens,  when  younger  ones  would  bloom 
more  vigorously,  and  give  better  satisfaction. 
Propagation  of  plants  will  go  on.  It  is  one  of 
the  pleasures  of  the  gardening  art ;  and  where 
old  treasures  are  prized,  the  greenhouse  soon 
becomes  a  crowded  mass  of  ugliness,  with  credit 
to  neither  gardener  nor  owner. 


COMMUNICA  7  JONS. 


ABOUT  GREENHOUSES. 

BY   W.  T.  BELL,   FRANKLIN,    PA. 

Rev.  Mr.  Powell,  in  May  number,  makes  an 
intemperate  charge  against  "  Nasty  Green- 
houses," and,  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  article 
implying  otherwise,  the  charge  seems  to  be  a 
general  one.  This  is  as  unfair  as  to  denounce 
all  clergymen  as  hypocritical  scoundrels,  be- 
cause a  few  among  the  number  prove  to  be  so. 

There  are  too  many  nasty  greenhouses ;  but 
there  are  others,  and  I  hope  a  large  majority  of 
them,  in  which  there  is  nothing  to  offend  the 
sight,  or  sense  of  smell,  of  the  most  fastidious. 
There  are  filthy,  ignorant  and  boorish  men  en- 
gaged in  the  business,  as  well  as  men  who  are 
cultivated,  intelligent  and  gentlemanly. 

Forcing  plants  into  a  sickly  growth,  of  which 
the  writer  complains,  is  to  a  great  extent  the 
fault  of  the  plant  buyers.  Florists  endeavor  to 
grow  what  will  sell  best ;  and,  if  buyers  foolishly 
require  that  every  plant  they  get  shall  have 
flowers  on  it  at  the  time,  no  matter  what  its 
size,  or  what  the  season  may  be,  they  should  not 
complain  if  its  vitality  is  impaired,  by  crowding 
it  into  such  a  condition. 

But  all  florists  do  not  grow  plants  thus.  Many 
of  them  in  all  parts  of  the  country  are  content 
to  keep  their  plants  under  conditions  suited  to 
their  healthy  growth,  and  would  scorn  to  send 
away,  even  if  they  had  them,  such  plants  as 
caused  the  writer  "  vexation  of  soul."  Let  Mr.  P. 
find  such  a  man — and  I  have  no  doubt  he  can  do 
so  in  his  own  neighborhood — and  trust  him  to 
select  such  plants  as  will  answer  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  wanted.  Then,  if  he  have  any 
skill  or  judgment  in  the  management  of  plants, 
qualities  which  florists  do  not  claim  to  furnish 
with  their  stock,  the  result  will  be  such  as  to 
convince  him  how  unkind  and  uncalled  for,  was 
the  article  which  provoked  this  reply. 


HEATING  SMALL  GREENHOUSES  BY  A  COAL 
STOVE. 

BY  G.  A.  H. 

Perhaps  my  experience  of  the  past  Winter  in 
heating  a  greenhouse  by  means  of  an  ordinary 
coal  stove,  may  not  be  valueless  when  added  to 
that  of  your  Ohio  correspondent  in  the  April 
number.  The  greenhouse  in  question  is  about 
12x24,  and  is  built  against  the  west  side  of  the 
kitchen.  A  bench  runs  along  the  whole  front 
except  at  the  end  where  the  stove  stands,  the 
rest  of  the  house  being  given  up  mainly  to  large 
plants  standing  on  the  floor  or  ground. 

Not  wishing  to  be  at  the  expense  of  a  boiler, 
and  having  a  stove  and  plenty  of  pipe,  I  set  the 
stove  (a  small  base  burner),  in  the  northwest 
corner,  at  the  end  of  the  bench,  digging  down 
about  eighteen  inches  to  bring  the  flue  at  a 
proper  height.  The  stove  has  four  doors,  with 
mica  panels  just  above  the  fire  pot.  I  took  off 
the  rear  door  and  had  one  of  sheet  iron  put  in 
its  place,  with  a  hole  and  collar  for  smoke  pipe. 
The  stove  then  had  two  flue  holes,  with  a  piece 
of  pipe  about  ten  inches  long  projecting  from 
each,  the  upper  one  having  a  damper.  I  then 
carried  the  smoke  pipe  from  the  lower  flue  hole 
along  under  the  bench,  and  returned  it  to  the 
stove,  connecting  it  with  the  upper  flue  hole, 
and  thence  carrying  it  straight  outside  to  the 
galvanized  iron  chimney  pipe.  The  damper  in 
the  upper  flue  is  left  open  till  the  fire  is  well 
kindled,  when  it  is  closed,  so  that  the  draught  is 
then  through  the  whole  length  of  pipe.  I  have 
had  no  smoke  or  gas  but  once,  when  the  outside 
pipe  became  choked  by  soot.  This  could  have 
been  prevented  had  I  supposed  it  ever  likely  to 
occur.  Last  year  (1875-6)  the  greenhouse  was 
about  half  its  present  size,  and  I  used  the  same 
stove,  with  a  single  line  of  pipe  running  the 
length  of  the  bench,  and  out  at  the  other  end. 
In  either  case  it  is  satisfactory,  though  of  course 
the  heat  is  not  so  steady  as  with  a  boiler. 

This  greenhouse  faces  west,  and  has  no  pro- 
tection on  the  north  (about  as  bad  a  position  as 
can  be,  except  due  north),  and  a  part  of  the 
main  house  projects  on  the  south,  keeping  off 
the  sun  in  the  shortest  days  till  after  one  o'clock. 
With  no  care  between  10  P.  M.  and  6  A.  M.,  the 
temperature  at  night  has  ranged  from  42°  to  48° 
at  the  coldest  end.  On  two  or  three  occasions  it 
fell  to  38°.  The  greenhouse  was  built  mainly 
for  ferns  and  palms  used  out  of  doors  in  Sum- 
mer,  and   requiring  cool    treatment.     Of  these 


1877.] 


AND  HOB  TIG  UL  TUB  IS  T. 


201 


one  can  make  an  admirable  selection,  and  I  have 
been  very  successful  in  growing  them.  Of 
course  the  selection  of  blooming  plants  is  quite 
restricted,  but  the  lack  of  bloom  may  in  some 
measure  be  made  up  by  Dracaenas  and  other 
ornamental-leaved  plants.  I  have  as  fine  Prim- 
roses and  Cinerarias  as  any  one,  while  Carna- 
tions, Chorozema,  Begonia  incarnata  and  Yellow 
Oxalis  are  unfailing;  and  among  the  less  com- 
mon plants  are  Cypripedium  insigne  and  the  Fall 
blooming  Epiphyllums.  The  list  might  be  ex- 
tended, but  these,  with  Winter  blooming  bulbs, 
are  the  chief  dependence  till  April  brings  the 
Cactuses  and  Azaleas. 


FLOWERING  OF  FUCHSIA  PROCUMBENS. 

BY   W.  T.  BELT,,   FRANKLIN,    PA. 

Josiah  Hoopes,  in  April  number,  states  that 
they  have  been  unable  to  flower  this  plant. 

I  have  a  plant  of  it  in  a  four-inch  pot,  that  is 
now  in  bloom,  and  I  must  say  that  I  am  disap- 
pointed in  the  flower,  which  is  quite  inconspicu- 
ous. The  tube  is  light  greenish  yellow.  Sepals 
green,  shaded  with  brown.  Corolla  none.  Sta- 
mens, eight  in  number,  with  red  filaments,  and 
violet-colored  anthers.  The  calyx  has  a  ringent 
appearance,  one  limb  turning  back  flat  on  the 
tube.  The  flower  is  curious,  at  all  events  ;  and 
the  plant  has  a  very  pretty  habit  of  growth,  pro- 
pagates readily,  and  is  easily  grown. 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


Panicum  plicatum  variegatum. — It  is  sur- 
prising that  this,  the  most  beautiful  of  all 
variegated  grasses,  does  not  enter  oftener  into 
ornamental  garden  work.  It  does  well  in  partial 
shade,  where  few  things  will,  and  is  excellent 
for  vases  or  baskets  under  trees,  or  in  piazzas  for 
Summer  adornment.  It  bears  room  culture 
very  well  also,  and  comes  in  well  for  Winter 
window  work. 

Button-hole  Roses. — The  Journal  of  Horticul- 
ture tells  us  that  in  England  "the  most  favorite 
of  flowers  for  button-holes  are  tea-scented  Roses, 
and  one  of  the  best  of  them  for  this  purpose  is 
Isabella  Sprunt.  We  observed  some  charming 
buds  of  this  the  other  day  in  the  gardens  atf 
Wimbledon  House,  and  we  were  informed  by 
Mr.  Ollerhead  that  it  is  regarded  as  the  best  of 
all  roses  for  button-hole  bouquets.     The  flowers 


are  small  and  perfectly  formed,  the  colors 
merging  from  white  to  creamy  buff.  As  grown 
in  pots  at  Wimbledon,  this  rose  blooms  pro- 
fusely. Another  favorite  variety  in  the  rose 
house  at  Wimbledon  is  Madame  Trifle.  It  is 
trained  up  one  of  the  rafters.  It  has  the  free- 
growing  and  flowering  properties  of  Gloire  de 
Dijon,  and  is  considered  an  improvement  on 
that  good  old  rose;  no  small  recommendation." 

Flowering  Cyclamens. — We  like  to  make  note 
of  good  specimens  of  culture.  It  would  be 
pleasant  to  know  that  some  of  our  readers  could 
beat  the  following,  from  the  London  Journal  of 
Horticulture:  '"Mr.  Richard  Maries,  nurseryman, 
Lytham,  has  sent  us  a  photograph  of  a  plant  of 
Cyclamen  persicum.  The  plant,  which  is  in  a 
7-inch  pot,  has  more  than  a  hundred  flowers, 
and  is  similar  to  the  plants  usually  exhibited  at 
the  London  shows.  The  plant  has  never  been 
allowed  to  become  too  dry  when  at  rest.  Mr. 
Maries  considers  over-drying  the  cause  of  much 
injury  in  Cyclamen  culture.  The  variety  sub- 
mitted is  pure  white,  and  evidently  belongs  to  a 
good  strain.'' 

Permanent  Ivy  for  Bouquet  Vases. — A  pretty 
fashion  is  coming  into  existence  of  having  orna- 
mental flower  pots  made  like  bouquet  stands, 
and  planting  ivy  therein.  In  an  ordinary 
bouquet  stand  ivy  would  not  grow,  as  there  must 
be  a  hole  somewhere  to  let  the -water  out,  or  the 
ivy  or  any  other  plant  will  not  grow;  but  a 
smaller  inside  glass  is  used  to  hold  the  water  for 
the  cut  flowers,  and  around  this  is  the  earth  for 
the  ivy  to  grow  in.  The  effect  of  the  growing 
border  of  ivy  round  the  cut  flowers  is  very  pretty 
indeed. 

Plumbago  rosea. — This  old-fashioned  warm 
greenhouse  plant  is  one  of  that  kind  which  is 
very  hard  to  kill.  We  have  noticed  it  to  hold 
its  own  for  years,  when  men  have  been  em- 
ployed who  should  know  their  business,  but 
under  whose  hands  half  one's  stock  would  dis- 
appear in  half  a  dozen  years.  Not  only  for  this, 
but  for  a  persevering,  free-blooming  character  is 
it  desirable.  As  fast  as  one  spike  is  out,  another 
bud  pushes  to  take  its  place.  A  Garden  corres- 
pondent finds  the  following  successful  culture : 
"Though  much  has  been  written  against  the  use 
of  this  plant  for  furnishing  cut  flowers,  there  can 
be  but  one  opinion  amongst  those  who  know  it 
well  as  to  its  general  decorative  properties  at 
this  season  of  the  year — whether  associated  with 
fine-foliaged   or  with  flowering  plants — its  light 


202 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


and  graceful  habit  making  it  specially  suitable 
for  that  purpose.  We  have  some  plants  of  it 
here  in  32-sized  pots  raised  from  cuttings  put  in 
last  spring,  and  each  plant  is  now  a  mass  of 
bright  pinkish-salmon-colored  inflorescence, 
borne  on  five  or  six  main  stems  which  branch 
and  ramify  in  all  directions.  These  plants  were 
potted  in  a  mixture  of  loam  and  leaf-mould,  to 
which  was  added  a  sprinkling  of  silver  sand,  and 
they  were  kept  in  the  stove  for  a  short  time  after 
they  were  potted.  As  the  season  advanced  they 
were  moved  to  the  front  shelf  of  a  late  vinery, 
and  after  being  there  for  a  time  they  were  again 
moved  to  a  small  span-roofed  house,  in  which 
no  fire-heat  was  used.  Here  they  received  all 
the  light  and  air  possible,  and  remained  till  cold 
weather  set  in,  when  they  were  removed  to  the 
top  shelf  in  the  stove,  and  at  once  commenced 
to  throw  up  their  flower  stems.  The  shoots  were 
stopped  several  times  during  the  Summer.  After 
they  were  taken  out  of  the  stove,  they  would 
have  done  equally  well  in  an  ordinary  frame, 
provided  they  had  been  gradually  hardened  by 
exposure  to  the  air.  It  is,  of  course,  easy  to 
grow  much  larger  specimens  if  required,  but  I 
find  these  young  plants  much  more  handy  and 
compact  for  general  purposes  than  older  plants 
cut  back  and  grown  on  again  in  Spring.  I  may 
add  that  if  the  old  flower-spikes  be  left  undis- 
turbed after  blooming,  their  points  will  continue 
to  lengthen  and  produce  a  second  crop  of  flow- 
ers early  in  the  Spring;  but,  of  course,  these  will 
not  be  so  fine  as  on  the  first  occasion.  A  little 
weak  manure-water  given  occasionally  will  assist 
them." 

The  Beauty  of  the  Eucalyptus.— Some  of  the 
Eucalyptus  have  beauty  as  well  as  fragrance. 
The  annual  report  of  the  Director  of  .the  Mel- 
bourne Botanic  Garden,  in  referring  to  improve- 
ments in  portions  of  the  grounds,  says  that  sev- 
eral specimens  of  the  gorgeous  scarlet-flowering 
Eucalyptus  ficifolia  are  there  planted,  and  then 
adds:  "This  magnificent  plant,  from  Broken 
Inlet,  Western  Australia,  produces  its  flowers  at 
a  much  earlier  stage  of  growth  than  any  other 
species  of  the  genus  with  which  I  am  acquainted. 
Its  bloom  resembles  a  ball  of  fire  more  than 
anything  else  to  which  I  could  compare  it.  I 
have  seen  the  Flame  Tree  of  Illawarra,  and  the 
brilliant  scarlet  masses  of  Erythrina  laurifolia 
on  the  banks  of  Rewa  in  Fiji,  but  neither  sur- 
passes the  effect  produced  by  the  floral  display 
of  this  Eucalyptus." 


Burlingtonia  fragrans. — Not  only  are  orchids 
valued  for  their  rare  and  singular  beauty,  but 
many  of  them  have  a  delightful  fragrance.  As 
the  London  Journal  of  Horticulture  says :  "  One 
of  the  sweetest  of  orchids  is  Burlingtonia  fragrans  ; 
its  perfume  may  be  described  as  that  of  May 
blossom  intensified.  This  plant  was  recently 
flowering — indeed,  it  appears  to  be  almost  always 
in  flower — in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Bull  at 
Chelsea.  The  plant  is  growing  on  a  block,  and 
its  pendulous  racemes  of  delicate  blush-tinted 
flowers  are  very  attractive.  It  is  a  most  enjoy- 
able orchid,  and  worthy  of  a  place  in  all  collec- 
tions of  stove  plants." 

A  Fine  Head  of  Thomas  Hogg  Hydrangea. — 
The  following  letter  has  been  addressed  to  Mr. 
Robert  Buist  on  account  of  a  very  remarkable 
specimen  of  "  Thomas  Hogg  "  : 

Philadelphia,  May  17th,  1877. 

Robert  Buist,  Esq. : — At  the  stated  meeting  of 
this  Society,  held  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  it 
was,  on  motion  of  the  undersigned, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be 
presented  to  Mr.  Robert  Buist  for  the  truly 
superb  specimen  of  Hydrangea,  "Thomas 
Hogg,"  presented  this  evening,  containing  six 
trusses  of  snow  white  blossoms,  the  largest  of 
which  measured  16  inches  in  diameter. 

Very  respectfully, 
A.  W.  Harrison,  Recording  Secretary. 

Maiden  Hair  Fern  for  Bouquets.  —  The 
Garden  says  :  "  Some  idea  of  the  extent  to  which 
Maiden  Hair  Fern  is  used  in  Covent  Garden  for 
bouquet  making  may  be  gleaned  from  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Rochford,  of  Tottenham,  has  several 
large,  span-roofed  houses  entirely  devoted  to  its 
culture  for  furnishing  fronds  in  a  cut  state.  The 
plants  are  grown  in  12-inch  pots,  and  in  order 
to  keep  up  a  regular  succession,  only  a  portion 
of  them  is  cut  at  a  time,  those  which  furnish 
such  fronds  being  subjected  to  a  lower  tempera- 
ture than  the  rest,  by  which  means  the  fronds 
assume  a  deeper  green  color,  and  last  longer 
after  being  cut  than  they  otherwise  would  do." 

The  kind  employed  is  not  specified.  In  this 
part  of  the  world  the  common  Maiden  Hair, 
Adiantum  capillis  veneris,  is  used  to  some  de- 
gree, though  not  to  the  extent  indicated  in  the 
above  extinct,  as  in  England.  But  it  might  be 
more  generally  employed  than  it  is.  By  the 
way,  this  is  one  of  the  best  of  ferns  to  use  as  a 
window  plant. 

Falling  of  Floweh  Buds  in  the  Camellia. — 
Among  the  peculiar  experiences!  of  the  year  in 
English  gardens,  is    a    remarkable  dropping  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


203 


the  flower  buds  of  Camellias,  and  the  papers  are 
busy  in  discussing  the  cause.  Amongst  other 
papers  is  an  interesting  one  in  the  Gardener's 
Magazine.  After  showing  that  neglect  the  Sum- 
mer before  will  operate  injuriously  the  Winter 
following,  it  says  :  "  It  does  not  follow,  however, 
that  the  case  now  before  us  is  to  be  explained  in 
this  way,  and  we  incline  to  the  belief  that  very 
many  of  the  collections  that  have  of  late  disap- 
pointed their  owners  had  the  best  possible  atten- 
tion in  the  Summer  of  last  year.  Why,  then, 
should  they  behave  so  differently  to  their  wont? 
Can  it  be  that  defect  of  solar  light  is  the  cause 
of  the  disaster?  We  incline  to  the  belief  that 
herein  is  a  sufficient  explanation.  The  later 
days  of  the  Autumn  and  the  whole  of  tbe  Win- 
ter, thus  far,  have  been  characterized  by  the 
prevalence  of  rain  clouds;  and  it  is  scarcely  ex- 
aggerating the  case  to  say  that  in  London  we 
have  had  but  three  bright  days  daring  the  past 
three  months.  Light  is  the  life  of  flowers, 
although  all  flowers  do  not  require  equal  de- 
grees of  light  for  their  full  development.  The 
Camellia  indeed  is  a  shade-loving  tree,  and  we 
occasionally  meet  with  surprisingly  large, 
healthy  and  productive  Camellias  in  old  houses 
that  have  by  long  neglect  become  grass  green 
above,  and  muddy  below,  and  rickety  every- 
where. •  The  coating  of  moss  and  conferva?  on 
the  glass,  and  even  the  black  bars  formed  by 
the  absorption  of  dirt  in  the  laps,  may  be  bene- 
ficial to  the  trees  in  Summer,  as  affording  a  little 
shade,  and  giving  the  light  the  greenish  tinge  it 
has  in  the  shade  of  large  trees,  where  Camellias 
grow  naturally.  We  should  like  to  know  how 
Camellias  have  flowered  in  dirty  old  houses  in 
the  past  season,  and  probably  some  of  our  cor- 
respondents can  inform  us.  If  deficiency  of 
light  is  the  cause  of  the  failure  we  now  deplore, 
the  old  houses  should  be  in  the  worst  plight,  and 
the  newer  houses  should  present  a  marked  con- 
trast in  favor  of  large  glass  and  good  carpentry. 
To  know  the  cause  of  a  disease  is  said  to  be  half 
a  cure;  we  cannot  dispel  the  rain  cloud,  we 
cannot  produce  artificial  sunshine  ;  but  we  may 
reasonably  inquire  if,  in  the  case  of  Camellias, 
there  is  this  season  any  difference  in  the  flower- 
ing of  those  that  are  in  light  and  airy  houses, 
and  those  that  are  "  boxed  up  "  in  tumble-down 
houses  where  the  woodwork  is  heavy,  the  squares 
small,  and  the  glass  more  or  less  coated  with 
black  soot  or  green  vegetation.  While  we  in- 
cline to  the  belief  that  lack  of  light  is  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  falling  of  Camellia  buds,  we 


do  not  claim  that  we  have  disposed  of  the  ques- 
tion. We  prefer  to  place  it  before  our  readers, 
asking  them  to  assist  in  its  solution.  It  is  more 
than  a  horticultural  question ;  it  is  one  of  con- 
siderable commercial  importance." 

Bouvardia  jasiMINIflora. — This  white  Winter 
flowering  Bouvardia  has  not  yet  displaced  the 
Vreelandi,  or  Davidsoni  in  our  Winter  gardens, 
but  judging  by  the  following  from  the  Garden, 
it  must  be  growing  in  estimation  in  England : 
"A  house  in  Messrs.  Low's  nursery,  containing 
many  thousands  of  plants  of  Bouvardia  jasmini- 
flora,  will  soon  be  a  sight  worth  seeing.  Many 
of  the  blossoms  have  already  expanded,  and 
multitudes  more  are  fast  opening.  These  plants 
were  struck  from  cuttings  obtained  when  the 
last  of  the  Autumn  flowering  plants  were  stopped ; 
they  were  inserted  in  three-inch  pots,  and  when 
well  rooted  were  shifted  into  five-inch  and  six- 
inch  ones,  in  which  they  are  allowed  to  flower. 
Their  shoots  were  stopped  four  times  during  the 
Autumn  and  Winter,  and  plants  treated  in  this 
manner  become  dwarf  and  bushy,  and  bear 
abundance  of  healthy  bright  green  leaves  and  a 
profusion  of  fragrant  blossoms  that  forcibly  re- 
mind one  of  those  of  the  white  Jasmine. — C. 

Portable  Hot  Water  Boiler. — Good,  porta- 
ble hot  water  boilers,  ones  that  can  be  easily 
shifted  about  from  place  to  place,  have  not 
been  common.  We  note  that  one  exhibited  at 
the  Centennial  by  Smith  &  Lynch,  of  Boston, 
received  from  the  judges  the  following  award, 
which  is  highly  creditable  : 

1.  Saddle  shaped  boiler  with  good  sized  fire 
box,  the  interior  surface  of  which  is  furnished 
with  a  series  of  deep,  narrow  water  cells,  project- 
ing towards  the  fire,  giving  large  amount  of  fire 
surface,  insuring  prompt  and  efficient  action  and 
consequent  rapid  circulation  of  water.  Con- 
struction simple,  strong  and  portable ;  amply 
supplied  with  fittings  which  are  readily  adjusted; 
an  excellent  heater.  2.  Adaptability  to  secure  a 
combination  of  hot  water,  and  flue  heating, 
thereby  economizing  the  products  of  combustion. 

W.  D.  Brackenridge,  Signature  of  the  Judge. 

Approval  of  Group  Judges. — George  Thurber, 
William  Saunders,  F.  Pentland. 

Francis  A.  Walker,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of 
Awards. 

Given  by  authority  of  the  United  States  Cen- 
tennial Commission.  A.  T.  Goshorn,  Director 
General.  J.  R.  Hawley,  President.  J.  L.  Camp- 
bell, Secretary. 


204 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


We  give  in  this  instance  a  copy  of  the  award, 
with  the  manner  of  making  it,  as  an  illustration 
of  the  vast  superiority  of  the  American  system 
of  judging,  as  inaugurated  at  the  Centennial, 
over  all  plans  in  previous  existence.  Under  the 
old  style  all  we  should  have  known  would  be 
that  Smith  &  Lynch  "took  the  gold  medal,"  or 
"  the  $100  premium."  But  here  we  know  just 
why  it  was  given,  and  we  fancy  S.  &  L.  would 
not  sell  that  award  for  a  hundred  gold  medals. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


New  Rose,  Queen  of  Bedders. — A  good  bed- 
ding rose  should,  above  all  other  good  charac- 
ters, bloom  freely.  Mr.  Noble,  of  England,  in 
die  above  variety,  thinks  he  has  just  the  thing. 
He  says :  "  Its  inflorescence  may  be  imagined 
when  it  is  stated  that  a  plant  18  inches  high  had 
84  buds  and  expanded  roses  upon  it  on  the  6th  of 
September,  1876,  and  flowered  continuously  from 
June  until  November,  on  the  20th  of  which 
month  (1876)  it  was  still  in  bloom." 

Hydrangea  Thomas  Hogg. — We  have  from 
Mr.  John  Cadness,  Flushing,  a  specimen  of  this 
new  variety  of  the  Chinese  Hydrangea,  which 
was  a  foot  across.  It  is  not  only  a  white  var- 
iety, but  is  every  way  superior  to  the  old  one. 

Platycerium  Willinckii. — We  reproduce,  in 
an  abbreviated  form,  from  the  Gardener's  Chron- 
icle of  March  6th,  1875,  Mr.  Moore's  description 
of  this  new  Fern:  "This  fine  and  very  distinct 
species  of  Stag's-horn  Fern  is  a  native  of  Java, 
whence  it  was  introduced  by  M.  Willinck,  of 
Amsterdam.  Like  its  cogeners  it  is  epiphytal, 
and  protects  its  rootstalk  by  the  broad,  roundish 
imbricating  bases  of  its  sterile  fronds,  which   in 


good  specimens  are  six  inches  across.  The 
sterile  fronds  are  erect  and  slightly  spreading, 
the  fertile  ones,  which  are  produced  in  threes, 
fall  straight  down  to  a  length  of  two  and  a  half 
feet,  are  quite  narrow  in  all  their  parts,  and 
forked.  The  fronds  appear  to  be  less  coriaceous 
than  those  of  the  other  species  known  in  gar- 
dens. As  a  species  this  plant  is  thoroughly  dis- 
tinct from  any  of  those  at  present  known.  With 
regard  to  its  general  habit,  it  groups  with 
P.  grande,  P.  Wallichii,  P.  biforme,  in  having 
long,  pendent  fertile  fronds  cut  into  many  nar- 
row furcate  divisions,  and  very  broad,  erect, 
sessile  barren  fronds,  with  a  lobate  margin  ;  but 
it  differs  entirely  in  its  fructification.  This  nov- 
elty will  prove  a  welcome  addition  to  the  few 
well-marked  and  very  ornamental  species  of 
Stag's-horn  Fern  already  familial-  in  our  hot- 
houses." It  received  a  Certificate  of  Merit  from 
the  Royal  Botanic  Society,  June  16th,  1875,  and 
a  First-class  Certificate  from  the  Royal  Horti- 
cultural Society  on  August  4th  following. — 
Veitch. 

A  Double  White  Bedding  Lobelia  has  origin- 
ated in  Prussia,  and  is  now  being  offered  under 
the  designation  of  Lobelia  erinus  erecta  fl.  albo 
plena.  It  is  said  to  range  from  three  to  four 
inches  in  height,  to  be  dense  in  habit,  and  to 
flower  abundantly  in  the  open  ground;  but  as 
yet  no  opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  deter- 
mining its  value  for  bedding  purposes  in  English 
gardens.  As  all  the  white  flowered  lobelias  that 
have  been  introduced  up  to  the  present  moment 
have  proved  worthless,  some  amount  of  caution 
should  be  exercised  in  planting  this  new  comer, 
until  it  has  been  subjected  to  a  careful  trial  ; 
more  especially  as  the  double  form  with  blue 
flowers  is  of  no  value  whatever  in  the  flower 
garden. 


RUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Raspberries  and  blackberries  should  have 
their  suckers  thinned  out,  as  weeds,  as  they 
grow,  permitting  only  those  to  remain  that  will 
be  wanted  next  year. 

Strawberries  should  be  assisted  to  make  strong- 


rooted  runners— good  and  loose  soil  placed  near 
where  the  runners  are,  and  if  these  are  slightly 
covered,  all  the  better. 

Where  new  strawberry  beds  are  required  to 
be  made  that  will  bear  well  the  next  season,  the 
very  first  runners  of  the  season  should  be  se- 
lected, and  layered  into  small  pots.  In  about 
three  weeks  they  should  be  cut  from  the  parent 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


205 


stem,  and  left  to  a  separate  and  independent  ex- 
istence for  a  few  days.  After  preparing  the 
ground  properly  for  their  reception,  the  pots 
should  be  well  watered  and  the  plants  turned 
out  into  the  spots  designed  for  them.  They  will 
then  grow  finely  the  present  season,  and  bear 
surprising  crops  of  fine  fruit  the  next  Spring. 

A  warm  sandy  loam  is  the  best  for  a  straw- 
berry bed.  A  low  and  damp  one  is  of  all  the 
most  objectionable.  Though  warm  and  dry  in 
one  sense,  it  should  be  rendered  capable  of  re- 
taining moisture  in  the  dryest  weather,  and  this 
can  only  be  perfectly  accomplished  by  draining 
and  subsoiling.  If  the  latter  is  done  three  feet 
deep,  all  the  better. 

Unless  in  very  sandy  soil,  a  very  heavy  dress- 
ing of  stable  manure  is  objectionable.  Wood 
ashes,  ground  bones,  and  matters  of  a  mineral 
nature  are  more  advantageous. 

Of  late  years  there  does  not  seem  the  same  at- 
tention to  fruit  there  once  was.  The  "  canning 
system  "  has  had  much  to  do  with  this.  But  no 
system  of  preserving  strawberries  is  equal  to  the 
natural  fruit.  We  are  pleased  to  find  that  many 
who  can  afford  it  are  again  raising  them  under 
glass. 

Strawberries  for  forcing  are  treated  in  pots,  as 
we  have  already  described ;  but  instead  of  being 
transferred  to  the  open  ground,  when  well  rooted 
in  the  small  pots,  are  re-potted  into  five  or  six- 
inch  pots,  and  these  latter  plunged  in  the  ground 
to  their  rims  in  a  spot  the  most  favorable  to 
strawberry  growth. 

After  having  grown  well,  and  when  they  show 
signs  of  having  formed  a  good  strong  crown, 
they  are  to  be  taken  out  of  the  open  ground  and 
gradually  ripened  by  withholding  water, — taking 
care  that  it  is  not  done  so  suddenly  as  to  make 
the  plants  wither,  or  they  will  suffer  much.  To- 
wards the  Winter  they  can  be  set  ia  a  cold 
frame  and  covered  with  dry  leaves  for  a  slight 
protection  from  the  frost  till  wanted.  Many 
commence  to  force  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
year,  when  they  are  brought  into  the  greenhouse 
and  must  be  set .  near  the  glass.  A  high  tem- 
perature is  fatal.  45°  to  50°  is  sufficient  for  a 
few  weeks,  and  55°  to  60°  when  the  fruit  is  fairly 
set.  They  love  to  be  frequently  syringed,  and 
guarded  against  Bed  Spider,  which  is  their 
greatest  pest.  Where  there  is  not  the  conveni- 
ence of  a  greenhouse  to  force  strawberries,  they 
may  be  had  a  few  weeks  earlier  than  usual  by 
making  a  piece  of  ground  slope  to  the  south-east, 
planting  out  as  already  described  for  garden  cul- 


ture, and  then  setting  a  glass  frame  over  them. 
The  nearer  the  frame  and  glass  can  be  brought  to 
the  soil,  the  better  and  earlier  will  the  crop  be. 
Protecting  from  frost  in  Winter  also  adds  to  the 
earliness  of  the  crop.  The  earliest  variety  to  be 
had  in  the  locality  should  be  employed. 

Our  hints  for  the  last  month  will,  in  a  great 
measure,  bear  a  re-perusal  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this. 

Sow  Endive,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  month 
transplant  in  rows.  They  should  be  set  out  in 
rows  eighteen  inches  apart,  and  one  foot  from 
each  other.  The  soil  can  scarcely  be  too  rich 
for  them.  Seed  may  yet  be  sown  for  a  later 
crop. 

If  Brocoli  is  a  desirable  vegetable,  it  may  be 
had  all  through  the  Winter  by  being  sown  now. 
In  about  four  weeks  plant  out  into  rich  garden 
soil.  On  the  approach  of  frost,  take  up  the 
plants,  with  a  portion  of  soil  adhering,  and  pack 
them  closely  in  a  warm  and  somewhat  damp 
cellar.  They  will  continue  to  grow,  and  pro- 
duce nice  heads. 

Beans  may  be  sown  up  to  the  end  of  the 
month.  For  winter  use,  the  White  Kidney  is 
very  popular,  although  other  kinds  are  very  ex- 
tensively grown  for  the  same  purpose. 

In  some  families  large,  full-grown  Carrots  are 
objectionable.  Seeds  of  the  Long  Orange  sown 
now  on  rich  sandy  soils,  form  neat  and  desirable 
roots  before  Winter.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
beets. 

Cucumbers  for  pickles  are  also  sown  about 
this  time.  They  usually  produce  a  greater 
number,  and  consequently  smaller  fruit,  than 
when  sown  earlier.  The  Short  Prickly  is  the  kind 
to  employ. 

The  main  crop  of  winter  Cabbage  is  often 
planted  the  first  or  second  week  in  July.  In 
planting,  if  the  weather  be  dry,  it  is  a  good  plan 
to  make  the  holes  before  planting  and  fill  up 
with  water ;  after  soaking  away,  the  plants  may 
be  set  in,  and  they  seldom  wither  afterwards, 
though  without  rain  for  a  month.  Another  and 
more  expeditious  plan  is  to  have  the  plants 
ready  with  their  roots  in  a  pan  of  water.  They 
are  then  set  into  the  hole  at  the  time  it  is  made. 
The  water  adhering  to  the  roots  then  gives  to 
the  set  out  plants  the  advantages  of  puddling. 

Celery  we  have  spoken  of  last  month.  The 
remarks  are  yet  applicable.  See  Communica- 
tions on  Celery,  page  70,  Vol.  II.,  and  page  356, 
Vol.  III.  They  will  be  found  of  much  value  to 
the  amateur. 


206 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


THE  BLENHEIM  PIPPIN  APPLE. 

BY   CHARLES   DOWNING. 

The  Blenheim  Pippin  enquired  about  in  the 
May  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  by  S.  M., 
is  a  well-known  English  apple,  and  valuable 
where  it  succeeds,  which  it  does  in  this  latitude 
and  farther  North  ;  the  tree  is  a  vigorous  grower, 
and  forms  a  very  lai'ge  spreading  head  ;  it  is  not 
an  early  bearer,  but  when  established,  bears 
abundantly  alternate  years,  and  often  a  mode- 
rate crop  the  intervening  years;  the  fruit  is 
large  to  very  large,  roundish  oblate  in  form  ; 
color  deep  orange,  covered  over  half  or  more  of 
the  surface  with  rich  brownish  red,  often  mixed 
with  russet ;  flesh  whitish,  a  little  coarse,  tender, 
juicy,  rather  acid  at  first,  but  when  in  perfection 
has  a  rich  vinous  flavor  slightly  aromatic  ;  it  is 
an  excellent  cooking  apple,  and  a  good  market 
variety;  it  ripens  from  November  to   February. 

There  was  a  mistake  as  to  this  variety  and  the 
Blooming  Orange  being  distinct,  in  Downing's 
second  revised  edition  of  1869,  which  was  cor- 
rected in  the  first  appendix  to  that  edition  in 
1872.  It  can  be  had  of  most  of  the  leading  fruit 
nurseries. 


THE  BLENHEIM  PIPPIN. 

BY  T.   T.   LYON,   SOUTH   HAVEN,   MICH. 

In  reply  to  the  query  of  S.  M.,  of  Painesville, 
O.,  in  the  May  number,  respecting  this  apple,  I 
will  state  that  what  is  now  known  as  Blenheim 
Pippin,  and  described  as  such,  in  the  appendix 
to  the  latest  revision  of  Downing's  work  on 
fruits,  is  identical  with  that  described  in  his  ear- 
lier editions  as  Dutch  Mignonne.  I  received 
cions  of  it  from  Mr.  Downing  about  1850,  which 
have  now  been  many  years  in  fruit.  I  esteem  it 
highly  as  a  large  and  beautiful  culinary  fruit  for 
late  Autumn  and  early  Winter;  but  rather 
coarse  and  acid  for  the  dessert.  The  tree  is  very 
vigorous  and  reasonably  productive ;  but  bears 
rather  lightly  while  young.  It  cannot  be  said  to 
be  an  early  bearer,  but  the  fruit  is  uniformly 
large  and  perfect,  never  becoming  small  from 
over-productiveness. 

The  article  in  the  January  number  is  not  now 
accessible,  and  I  am  not  sure,  from  recollection, 
as  to  the  tenor  of  the  description  referred  to. 


THE  BLENHEIM  PIPPIN  APPLE. 

BY   G.   W.   THOMPSON,   STILTON   NURSERIES,    N.   J. 

It  gives  me  pleasure — present  and  prospective 
— to  reply  to  S.  M.,  Painesville,  Lake  Co.,  O., — 
present,  because  a  recent  inquiry  of  mine  found 
such  prompt  replies ;  also,  the  pleasure  of  help- 
ing to  sustain  the  usefulness  of  our  good  Gar- 
dener's Monthly,  and  the  prospect  of  receiving  the 
thanks  of  the  Ed.  G.  M.— why  that  fills  the  bill. 
I  have  had  the  Blenheim  Pippin  some  time, 
chiefly  in  nursery  row,  and  have  put  it  upon 
trial  in  specimen  ground  and  hope  to  be  able  to 
report  its  behaviour. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Preserving  Fruit  Trees  from  Grasshoppers. 
— We  note  that  a  correspondent  of  a  Western 
paper  says  that  if  turpentine  be  mixed  with 
whitewash  and  put  on  the  stems  of  trees  in  the 
Fall,  there  will  be  odor  enough  to  last  all  Sum- 
mer, and  that  this  odor  will  drive  off  the  grass- 
hopper. There  are  so  many  poor  recipes  for  all 
sorts  of  insectifuges,  going  round  the  papers,  that 
one  is  never  sure  how  much  there  may  be  of 
value  in  any  of  them,  but  in  this  case  the  white- 
wash will  certainly  do  some  good  to  the  tree 
whether  the  turpentine  disgusts  the  grasshopper 
or  not. 

Apricots  in  California. — Apricots  have  been 
the  special  pride  of  the  Golden  State,  but  for 
some  reason  are  said  to  be  very  scarce  there  this 
year.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether 
the  curculio  has  found  its  way  there  yet.  We 
suppose  it  will  get  there  one  of  these  days. 

Strawberries  from  Seed.— As  showing  how 
easy  it  is  to  raise  good  seedling  strawberries,  we 
may  say  that  Mr.  Durand,  whose  name  is  con- 
nected with  good  varieties,  has  now  in  bearing 
three  thousand  varieties,  which  he  regards  as  dis- 
tinct— but  which  we  should  think  the  "  protec- 
tive committee  "  at  Washington  would  be  hard 
put  to  describe  explicitly  so  that  any  one  might 
know  whether  he  was  infringing  on  a  patent 
right  or  not — and  any  one  of  which  would  be 
good  enough  for  ordinary  mortals.  Such  facts 
as  these,  make  the  propriety  of  going  into  ecsta- 
cies  over  a  new  and  promising  variety,  very 
doubtful.  If  good  kinds  can  be  produced  in  such 
numbers,  we  shall  soon   be   in  the  condition  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


207 


the  new  potato  men.  They  raised  new  kinds  for 
us  by  the  hundred — all  of  them  so  good — that 
there  was  no  great  use  in  selecting  any  one,  and 
then  they  took  to  advertising  the  seed,  so  that 
every  one  could  raise  his  own  best  variety.  Will 
it  soon  be  thus  with  the  strawberry  ? 

By  the  way,  we  notice  that  Mr.  Durand  adver- 
tises that  he  received  the  "  First  Premium  "  at 
the  Centennial  Exhibition,  but  he  has  been  led 
into  error.  There  were  no  premiums  awarded 
at  the  Centennial  for  strawberries.  Mr.  Durand's 
fruit  received  very  high  credit,  more  so,  indeed, 
than  any  "  premium  "  would  give  him,  but  then 
other  strawberry  exhibitors  received  quite  as 
high  awards  as  his — say  for  instance,  his  fellow- 
citizen,  J.  H.  Withington,  of  South  Amboy. 
There  was  honor — high  honor  to  many — but 
"  first "  to  none. 

Apples  for  England. — So  late  as  the  4th  of 
May,  the  "  Indiana,"  of  the  American  Line  of 
Steamers,  from  Philadelphia  to  Liverpool,  took 
out  1,500  barrels  of  apples.  Some  of  these  were 
of  the  celebrated  Pennsylvania  variety,  "Smoke 
House,"  which  is  said  to  be  highly  appreciated 
in  England.  In  past  times  they  seem  to  have 
known  nothing  of  American  apples  except "  New- 
town Pippin,"  and  seem  to  be  astonished  at  the 
superiority  of  other  kinds. 

The  Northern  Spy  Apple  in  the  West. — It 
is  said  that  the  Northern  Spy  is  fast  outrunning 
all  other  kinds  in  popularity  in  Iowa  and  Michi- 
gan. It  is  longer  in  coming  into  bearing  than 
most  kinds,  but  generally  brings  more  in  market 
than  the  others,  and  this  perhaps,  may  help 
balance  accounts. 

Best  Stock  for  the  Early  Richmond  Cherry. 
— The  Western  Farmer  says  the  Early  Richmond 
in  Iowa  bears  most  heavily  and  earlier  on  its 
own  or  Morello  stock,  but  ultimately  most  fruit 
on  the  Mahaleb.  This  is  good  rule  for  Iowa, 
where  the  Mazzard  does  not  do  well.  Wherever 
the  Mazzard  thrives,  it  is  by  far  the  best  stock 
for  the  Early  Richmond. 

The  Gros  Colman  Grape.— This  variety  has 
never  achieved  great  popularity  with  American 
hot-house  grape-growers,  but  we  note  that  in  the 
December  reports  of  Covent  Garden  (London) 
Market,  it  seems  to  be  the  general  favorite,  and 
to  bring  higher  prices  than  all  the  varieties  of 
that  season.  What  say  Mr.  Huidekoper  and  our 
other  friends  who  are  interested  in  experimental 
vinery  culture  ? 


Size  of  Pot-raised  Pears. — In  England  the 
Dwarf  Pear  is  not  uncommon  as  an  orchard- 
house  fruit.  Of  some  remarkable  fruit  the  Lon- 
don Journal  of  Horticulture  has  this  to  say: — 
"  Mr.  Hawkins,  gardener,  Ewenny  Abbey,  Bridg- 
end, Glamorganshire,  tells  us  that  he  grew  last 
year  in  pots  Pitmaston  Duchesse  Pears  weighing 
27  ozs.,  Durandeau  21  ozs.,  and  Doyenne  du 
Cornice  17  and  18  ozs.,  that  fruit  being  of  excel- 
lent flavor.  He  wishes  to  know  if  other  garden- 
ers have  obtained  fruits  as  fine  or  finer." 

Sending  Peaches  to  Ireland.  —  Mr.  J.  H. 
Parnell,  of  Alabama,  who  did  himself  so  much 
credit  in  the  exhibition  of  the  very  large  peaches 
of  the  Early  Beatrice  variety,  at  the  Centennial 
last  year,  has  astonished  the  residents  in  "  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  "  by  sending  peaches  from 
Alabama  to  Ireland  in  first-rate  condition.  The 
Irish  Farmer's  Gazette  says  they  were  in  just  as 
good  condition  as  if  pulled  fresh  from  the  tree. 
Mr.  Parnell  brought  them  in  a  box,  which  is 
thus  described  : — "  The  contrivance  consisted  of 
a  large,  square  bin  or  deep  wooden  chest,  strongly 
put  together,  and  lined  with  zinc;  within  this 
was  another  large  chest  similarly  lined,  a  space 
of  some  8  or  9  inches  intervening  between  the 
inner  and  outer  chest,  which  was  filled  with  ice. 
In  the  inner  chest  the  peaches  were  stored,  not 
in  separate  trays,  layers,  or  anything  of  the  kind, 
but  heaped  as  you  would  stow  potatoes  in  a  pit ; 
and  there  they  lay,  a  rosy  and  happy  looking 
mass,  in  the  best  possible  condition." 

Importing  Early  Vegetables. — We  have  our 
"  South  "  to  keep  us  in  early  vegetables.  Eng- 
land is  finding  one  in  Algiers.  The  Garden 
says  : — "  Large  quantities  of  Green  Peas  are  now 
being  received  in  Covent  Garden  from  the  warm 
and  sheltered  parts  of  France,  and  also  from 
Algeria,  whence  they  are  consigned  by  way  of 
Paris ;  and  during  the  past  week  we  have  noted 
gangs  of  Pea-shellers  almost  as  busily  engaged 
in  that  work  as  in  the  Summer  time,  when  Eng- 
lish-grown Peas  are  abundant.  It  is,  too,  a  no- 
ticeable fact  that  the  French  Peas  are  far  supe- 
rior to  those  that  come  from  the  warmer  climate 
of  Algeria.  The  succulent  Long  White  Turnip 
of  the  Paris  market  gardens,  together  with  salad 
vegetables,  is  also  now  being  sold  by  auction, 
daily,  in  large  quantities.  French  and  Channel 
Islands  Asparagus  is  abundant,  and  comes  packed 
in  fiat  lath  boxes  2  ft.  wide,  15  in.  deep,  and 
about  3  ft.  in  length.  A  few  Globe  Artichokes 
and  Cardoons  come  from  Marseilles,   and  now 


208 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


and  then  a  batch   of  fresh,  though  as  yet  pale- 
colored,  Tomatoes."  • 

The  Oyster  Plant.  —  Mr.  Worthington  G. 
Smith  is  not  satisfied  that  our  Salsify  should  rob 
one  of  his  dearly  beloved  funguses  of  the  name 
"  Oyster  Plant,"  and  this  is  what  he  says  to  the 
Gardener's  Magazine  about  it : — "  In  your  article 
on  'Tap-rooted  Vegetables'  (p.  155),  you  de- 
scribe two  '  vegetable  oysters,'  one  the  Salsify, 
'  sometimes '  termed  the  oyster ;  the  other  the 
Scolymus,  which  you  term  the  '  true  vegetable 
oyster.'  You  have  therefore  'two  Richards  in 
the  field,'  and  allow  me  to  say  both  counterfeit. 
The  only  old,  original,  and  true  'buttery  bi- 
valve,' or  '  vegetable  oyster,'  is  the  ancient  and 
time-honored  mushroom,  Agaricns  ostreatus,  a 
melting  and  delicious  edible  fungus  found  on 
rotten  elm  stumps  in  November.  Whatever  the 
flavor  of  your  two  plants  may  be,  the  tap-root  in 
Salsify  and  Scolymus  would  suggest  the  more 
appropriate  names,  at  present  unoccupied,  of  the 
'  vegetable  periwinkle '  and  the  '  vegetable 
whelk.'  The  true  '  vegetable  oyster,'  Agaricus 
ostreatus,  has  no  tap-root  or  stem  ;  it  is  all  flat, 
as  it  should  be."  After  all,  there  are  a  good 
many  kinds  of  animal  oysters,  and  why  may 
there  not  be  of  vegetable  as  well.  Epicureans 
say  the  English  oyster  is  a- coppery  sort  of  thing, 
and  pronounce  the  American  the  oyster.  So  it 
comes  down  to  but  one  oyster  after  all,  and  so 
may  our  oyster  plant  follow  the  same  verdict.- 

Forcing  Asparagus. — The  poor  stuff  called 
canned  vegetables,  will  never  compete  with  nice 
fresh  ones,  just  cut  fresh  from  the  plant,  and 
particularly  is  this  so  with  Asparagus ;  and  then 
it  forces  so  easily.  A  correspondent  of  the  Gar- 
den gives  his  experience,  which  we  give  on  the 
principle  that  what  a  man  says  he  has  done,  is 
worth  a  whole  chapter  of  "  how  you  may  do  it :" 
— "  Asparagus  may  be  obtained  a  month  before 
it  is  ready  out-of-doors  as  follows  : — About  the 
middle  of  February  place  some  movable  wooden 
frames  over  a  permanent  bed  of  it,  and  with  a 
few  barrow-loads  of  warm  manure  and  leaves, 
make  up  a  lining  all  round  the  bed,  and  cover 
its  surface  with  dry  hay.  Then  put  on  the  lights 
and  keep  them  closed  for  three  weeks,  when  the 
heads  will  begin  to  appear.  The  hay  should 
then  be  cleared  off,  and  a  little  air  given  on 
every  favorable  opportunity.  Under  this  treat- 
ment I  cut  my  first  Asparagus  on  March  20,  and 
since  that  date  I  have  cut  several  hundreds  of 
beautiful  beads,  and  still  they  promise  to  be  suf- 


ficiently abundant  to  keep  up  a  good  supply 
until  the  outdoor  crop  is  ready.  By  this  plan  the 
bed,  which  does  not  experience  any  disturbance, 
will  last  a  great  number  of  years,  provided  its 
produce  is  not  cut  too  late.  Cutting  should  cease 
and  the  glass  be  removed  directly  the  out-door 
crop  is  ready." 

Forced  Fruits  and  Vegetables. — On  the  20th 
of  May  we  received  a  pair  of  cucumbers  twenty- 
one  inches  long,  and  a  few  tomatoes  eleven  inches 
round;  the  former  so  tender  and  crisp  that  we 
were  tempted  to  send  one  to  the  venerable 
author  of  "  Buist's  Kitchen  Garden  Directory," 
to  test  the  sincerity  of  his  receipt  for  cucumbers, 
"  Slice,  pepper,  salt  and  throw  out  of  the  win- 
dow !  "  but  our  appetite  saved  us  from  this  great 
sin.  The  tomatoes  were  so  solid  and  delicious 
that  we  do  not  wonder  the  London  papers  say, 
"  the  skill  of  our  best  gardeners  in  forcing  fruits 
and  vegetables  has  beaten  the  canned  articles 
which  are  falling  into  disrepute." 

Mr.  Paget,  the  excellent  gardener  to  Hon.  J. 
D.  Cameron,  of  Harrisburg,  who  sends  these, 
also  writes  : — "  I  have  not  cut  less  than  two  per 
day,  since  the  20th  of  November.  I  picked 
twenty-five  ripe  peaches  on  the  17th  inst. ;  more 
ready  now.  There  is  no  peach  like  Hale's  Early 
in  my  estimation  ;  but  I  must  include  Old  Mixon, 
Mountain  Rose  and  several  others,  for  good 
forcing  habits.  I  have  picked  one  basket  of 
strawberries  every  two  or  three  days  since  March 
18th.  Downing's  and  Triomphe  de  Gand  are  the 
kinds." 


SCMAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Stock  for  the  Cherry. — S.  says : — "  What  is 
the  hardiest  stock  to  work  the  cherry  on  ?  Can 
I  work  the  cherry  on  stocks  that  will  make  them 
dwarf,  and  still  have  them  hardy  ?  " 

[The  hardiest  stock  is  believed  to  be  the  Mor- 
ello,  and  it  dwarfs  somewhat.  The  Mahaleb  is 
also  considered  hardier  than  the  Morello,  but  it 
grows  the  grafted  plant  nearly  as  strong  as  the 
Mazzard  for  all  practical  purposes.  When  grown 
in  clover,  we  have  seen  the  Mazzard  stock  pretty 
successful,  even  in  the  cold  Northwestern  States. 
It  is  quite  likely  some  of  our  native  cherries 
would  make  good  hardy  dwarf  stocks,  but  we 
know  of  no  reliable  experiments. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Gooseberry  Worm. — J.  W.  M.  Exeter,  N.  H., 
writes  : — "  I  have  some  nice  plants  of  the  Down- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


209 


ing  Gooseberry,  which  have  promised  fruit  two 
or  three  years,  but  the  worms  have  spoiled  every 
berry.  Can  you  give  me  a  remedy  through  the 
June  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  and 
oblige  a  subscriber?" 

[We  know  of  no  insect  that  injures  the  fruit  of 
the  gooseberry  hereabouts,  to  any  material  ex- 
tent— though  occasionally  a  "  stui.g  "  fruit  may 
be  noticed.  If  any  have  had  this  unfortunate 
experience,  and  will  give  us  something  definite,  it 
would  be  very  acceptable.  We  should  suppose 
gathering  the  berries  infested  with  the  egg,  and 
destroying  them  would  keep  the  insect  down.— 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Trees  Injured  by  Oil. — We  have  the  follow- 
ing very  important  communication  from  Mr.  G. 
R.  Dykeman,  Shippensburg,  Pa. : — "  Last  Fall  I 
painted  with  linseed  oil,  all  my  tree-bodies  in  one 
field— say  600  peach,  200  apple,  some  pear, 
cherry,  plum,  and  100  quince.  To  my  surprise, 
I  find  I  have  killed  all  the  large  peach  trees, 
five  years  planted  ;  as  far  as  I  have  examined, 
not  one  escaping  that  was  painted  ;  the  other 
trees  look  all  O  K.  Some  peach  trees  in  other 
places,  were  painted  with  refuse  lard  and  linseed 
oil ;  they  are  all  dead,  as  far  as  examined — say 
about  two  hundred  more.  I  set  out  this  Spring, 
300  peach,  100  plum  on  peach,  and  painted  from 
root  to  above  bud  with  lard  and  linseed  oil ; 
have  gone  over  them  with  soap,  and  scoured  it 
off;  will  pass  over  them  again  to-morrow.  Can 
I  do  any  better?  I  notice  on  the  apple,  where  a 
side  limb  was  taken  off,  the  bark  is  killed  back 
from  the  cut,  about  half  an  inch  all  around.  Had 
I  better  take  the  oil  off  the  apple,  cherry,  plum 
and  quince  ?  I  enclose  directed  envelope ;  please 
reply  and  inform,  and  if  possible,  afford  some  re- 
lief to  me. 

"  P.  S. — I  suppose  I  did  not  state  the  reasons 
for  greasing  the  trees.  It  was  to  keep  the  rab- 
bits off,  as  well  as  to  kill  any  bugs  that  happen 
to  be  around.  Will  you  please  make  enquiry  in 
the  next  Monthly  for  similar  cases.  I  will  write 
again,  later  in  the  season." 

[We  know  of  no  experiments  with  peach  trees, 
or  stone  fruits,  as  it  is  rare  that  the  white  scale 
infests  them,  which  is  the  enemy  sought  to  be 
destroyed  by  the  experiments  with  linseed  oil, 
we  have  noted  in  our  magazine.  In  those  cases, 
hundreds  of  apple  and  pear  trees  were  painted 
in  March,  now  over  two  Summers  ago,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  find  healthier  trees  than  they  are 
to-day.     The    precise    reason,    therefore,    why 


Mr.  Dykeman 's  trees  were  injured,  requires  very 
close  examination. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

May  Beetles  on  the  Raspberry. — F.  P.  W., 
Passaic,  N.  J.,  writes : — "  I  send  you  herewith 
some  specimens  of  a  beetle  which  has  appeared 
in  this  locality  in  large  numbers,  and  is  making 
sad  havoc  with  the  raspberries  of  all  kinds.  Some 
of  my  Doolittle's  are  under  bare-poles,  they  hav- 
ing stripped  them  of  leaves  and  fruit  just  formed, 
thus  destroying  the  crop  for  this  year.  As  they 
have  only  just  appeared,  we  may  be  able  to 
check  their  ravages  in  some  measure,  before  they 
have  destroyed  everything.  They  stick  so  tightly 
that  they  cannot  be  shaken  off,  and  they  fly  and 
make  a  noise  similar  to  a  June  bug.  We  have 
put  sulphur  upon  the  bushes,  with  apparent  suc- 
cess, but  do  not  know  how  it  will  be  in  the  end. 
I  thought  best  to  inform  you,  as  you  will  proba- 
bly know  what  the  pest  is,  and  be  able  to  pub- 
lish the  best  method  for  its  prevention  and 
destruction,  and  thus  give  a  timely  warning  to 
those  whom  it  has  not  yet  troubled.  Any  in- 
formation on  the  subject  would  be  thankfully 
received  by  myself." 

[These  are  Lachnosterna  tristis,  a  near  relative 
of  the  L.  quercina,  or  common  May  Beetle.  A 
drove  of  turkeys  let  through  the  raspberry 
plantation,  would  help  to  keep  them  down,  and 
the  next  best  thing  is  hand-picking  by  children. 
With  all  this,  they  will  no  doubt  ravage  faster 
than  the  remedy  will  follow,  but  it  is  the  best  we 
know.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Prickly  Comfrey. — E.,  South  Lexington, 
Mass.,  writes  : — "  I  have  purchased  a  thousand 
sets  of  the  Prickly  Comfrey  roots,  and  as  I  see 
your  name  connected  with  it  in  the  public  pa- 
pers, I  should  be  very  much  favored  if  you  will 
tell  me  whether  it  has  any  great  value?" 

[As  a  matter  of  opinion,  it  would  perhaps 
have  been  wise  to  have  been  satisfied  of  its 
value  before  purchasing ;  but  perhaps  it  is  best 
to  first  secure  the  hare,  as  the  famous  cook-wo- 
man says,  before  you  cook  him.  In  regard  to 
our  experience  with  it,  it  is  correct  as  stated  in 
public  papers,  that  the  writer  of  this  has  had  it 
growing  in  his  flower  border  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  though  we  can  say  that  it  is  pretty, 
we  think  there  are  other  things  more  beautiful ; 
and  if  our  correspondent  had  bought  a  thousand 
Geraniums— say  of  the  General  Grant — or  even 
a  thousand  Petunias,  we  think  he  would  have 
had  a  better  show  for  his  money  than  the  Prick- 
ly Comfrey  will  make.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


210 


?EE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


lORESTRY. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


EXPERIMENTS  IN  TIMBER  RAISING  IN  KANSAS. 

BY   REV.   L.   J.   TEMPLIN,    HUTCHINSON,   KAN. 

The  region  of  country  lying  between  the  Mis- 
souri River  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  gene- 
rally a  vast,  treeless  plain.  It  was  formerly 
known  as  "The  Great  American  Desert,"  but  is 
now  more  properly  called  "  The  Plains."  So  far 
from  being  a  "  desert,"  it  is  one  of  the  most  fer- 
tile portions  of  the  continent,  and  it  is  rapidly 
filling  up  with  an  intelligent  and  industrious 
population,  who  are  literally  making  it  "rejoice 
and  blossom  as  the  rose."  One  of  the  great 
drawbacks  to  the  settlement  of  this  country  is 
the  great  scarcity  of  timber.  While,  so  far  as 
subduing  the  country  and  bringing  it  into  culti- 
vation is  concerned,  it  is  far  preferable  to  have  no 
timber,  than  to  have  the  land  encumbered  with 
it,  as  much  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  United 
States  was.  Still  every  man  who  comes  here  to 
live,  feels  the  need  of  more  timber.  The  ques- 
tions that  face  the  immigrant  at  the  outset  are, 
can  timber  be  raised,  and  if  so,  have  the  people 
the  enterprise  and  patience  to  plant  and  culti- 
vate? These  questions  are  being  rapidly  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative.  Most  kinds  of  timber 
adapted  to  this  climate  grow  with  a  rapidity  that 
is  astonishing  to  an  Eastern  man.  But  in  the 
beginning  all  was  in  doubt  as  to  what  would  suc- 
ceed and  what  fail.  All  planting  was,  therefore, 
largely  an  experiment.  But  such  experiments 
are  often  costly  and  tedious,  and  if  every  man 
has  to  make  them  for  himself,  the  tendency  is  to 
discourage  and  hinder  the  work  to  a  consider- 
able degree.  In  order  to  aid  in  this  matter,  some 
of  the  railroad  companies  that  had  large  land 
grants  to  dispose  of,  have  undertaken  the  work 
of  testing  the  various  kinds  of  timber  as  to  its 
adaptation  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  this  region. 
For  this  purpose,  experimental  nurseries  have 
been  planted  at  various  points  along  the  routes 
and  in  the  different  kinds  of  soil.  The  A.  T.  & 
S.  F.  R.  R.  Co.  established  four  of  these  experi- 
mental stations,  as  follows  :     at  Hutchinson,  180 


miles  west  of  the  State  line  and  1,500  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea;  second,  at  Ellen  wood,  215 
miles  west  of  the  State  line  and  1,760  feet  alti- 
tude ;  third,  at  Larned,  246  miles  west  and  2,035 
feet  elevation  ;  and  fourth  at  Spearville,  on  "  Dry, 
Ridge,"  283  miles  west  and  2,478  feet  altitude. 
This  enterprise  was  begun  four  years  ago,  this 
Spring,  on  freshly  broken  sod.  I  am  not  able  to 
give  any  report  of  results  at  any  of  the  stations, 
except  the  one  at  this  place — Hutchinson. 

The  experiments  at  this  place  have  produced 
important  results.  There  have  been  failures  and 
partial  failures,  as  well  as  successes;  but  the 
failures  are  as  important  in  the  information 
elicited,  as  the  successes.  The  past  year  has 
been  the  most  trying  on  arboreous  vegetation 
that  has  ever  been  experienced  since  settlements 
began.  The  locusts  came  down  on  us  about  the 
first  of  September,  destroying  a  large  portion  of 
the  foliage  of  young  trees.  This  was  followed 
by  a  very  warm,  pleasant  Fall ;  a  new  growth  of 
leaves  was  the  result.  These  were  caught  by  a 
freeze  of  unusual  severity  for  the  season,  about 
the  first  of  November,  and  as  might  be  expected 
a  great  many  trees  were  killed  and  others  in- 
jured. The  amount  of  injury  or  exemption  from 
it  was  not  in  every  case  an  indication  of  the 
hardiness  or  otherwise  of  the  tree,  but  rather  of 
the  amount  of  damage  they  had  sustained  from 
the  insect  depredators.  Looking  through  the 
experimental  grounds,  a  few  days  ago,  I  made 
the  following  estimates  of  losses: — Cottonwood, 
Black  Walnut,  Negundo  and  Soft  Maple,  unin- 
jured;  Osage  Orange,  one-quarter  killed  to  the 
ground;  Honey  Locust,  one-half  killed  to  the 
ground  ;  Catalpa,  Ailanthus  and  Peach,  three- 
quarters  killed  back  ;  Elm  and  Ash  uninjured. 
These  are  the  principal  kinds  under  cultivation. 
The  Chestnut  and  China  tree  have  been  dis- 
carded, as  also  the  Black  Locust,  as  unworthy 
of  further  trial.  Many  fruit  trees  and  small  fruits 
were  killed  or  seriously  injured  by  the  unfavor- 
able circumstances. 

Thanks  to  whom  thanks  arc  due,  for  the  privi- 
lege of  reading  the  Monthly — I  feel  like  saying 
the  "Prince  of  Monthlies" — this  year.  Will 
try  to   make   return   in  s  nne  "  notes  "   during 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


211 


the  busy  season.  We  have  had  a  backward 
Spring,  but  rye  has  been  in  head  for  two  weeks, 
and  wheat  is  now  heading  out.  The  locusts, 
which  hatched  out  in  vast  numbers  have  nearly 
all  disappeared.  Prospects  are  flattering  for  a 
splendid  crop. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Yellow  Pines. — The  investigations  of 
Prof.  Sargent  show  that  in  all  the  large  lumber 
centres — Wilmington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
New  York  and  Boston — "Yellow  Pine"  is  exclu- 
sively applied  to  the  timber  of  Pinus  australis 
(Pinus  palustris  of  Lambert).  Much  of  the  con- 
fusion in  "Yellow,"  perhaps,  arises  from  the 
fact,  that  the  prevailing  "  Yellow  Pine  "  of  old 
lumbermen,  was  P.  mitis,  which  is  now  rarely 
(if  ever)  in  market. 

Forestry  in  Massachusetts. —  Some  of  the 
Western  States  encourage  planting  by  legisla- 
tion. Nebraska  has  its  "  Arbor  Day,"  when  pre- 
miums are  given  to  those  who  plant  out  the  most 
trees.  But  Massachusetts  is  planting  by  indi- 
vidual exertion,  and  among  these  public  spirited 
individuals,  few  have  done  more  to  encourage 
the  practice  successfully,  than  Prof.  Sargent  and 
Mr.  C.  S.  Hopkins. 

The  great  difficulty  has  been  in  getting  native 
trees  for  planting.  The  habit  of  running  to 
Europe  for  everything,  gave  American  nursery- 
men no  chance.  If  a  nurseryman  raised  a  hun- 
dred thousand  trees,  the  chances  were  that  he 
would  sell  but  five  or  ten  thousand.  The  rest 
having  to  be  thrown  away,  the  prices  had  to  rule 
high;  with  anything  like  a  certainty  of  selling 
regularly,  the  prices  would  rule  considerably 
lower.  American  planters  are  beginning  to  feel 
the  force  of  this,  and  by  ordering  beforehand, 
inquiring,  and  other  symptoms  of  encourage- 
ment, find  that  they  can  be  well  served  by  their 
neighbors  around  them. 

Mr.  Hopkins,  in  a  recent  letter  in  the  Register, 
on  New  England  Forest  Planting,  has  this  en- 
couraging sentence:— "We  count  our  acres  in 
these  young  trees  by  thousands.  The  few  plan- 
tations on  the  Cape  containing  a  good  variety  of 
young  trees,  depended  mainly  upon  importa1 
tions  from  England  for  seed  and  seedlings.  For- 
tunately at  the  present  time,  by  the  foresight 
and  energy  of  our  native  nurseries  during  the 
past  few  years,  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  cross 


the  Atlantic  to  secure  at  low  prices  the  basis  of 
our  future  forests,  and  as  a  consequence,  it  is 
hardly  possible  for  the  most  sanguine  to  overes- 
timate the  great  improvement  by  tree  planting, 
that  is  sure  to  occur  on  the  Cape  within  the  next 
ten  years.  Our  people  generally,  are  alive  to  the 
fact  that  whether  they  own  one,  or  one  hundred 
acres  of  land,  a  few  years  will  double  its  value 
by  planting  half  in  trees." 

Paper  from  Cactus. — The  Greeley  Tribune  tells 
us  that  the  manufacture  of  paper  of  excellent 
quality  from  the  species  of  Cactus  growing  in 
great  abundance  in  the  Mojave  Desert,  has  re- 
cently been  tested  at  the  Lick  paper  mill,  at  San 
Jose,  by  parties  interested,  who  propose,  if  pos- 
sible, to  obtain  control  of  all  the  paper-mills  on 
the  coast,  and  set  them  in  operation  on  this  ma- 
terial exclusively.  The  Cactus  paper  is  said  to 
be  very  strong,  and  the  supply  of  material  un- 
limited. 

Pear  Timber. — We  learn  from  the  Derby  Mer- 
cury that  during  the  late  storm,  a  large  Pear  tree 
in  the  orchard  of  Mr.  Robert  Hay,  Chase  Farm, 
Ambergate,  was  blown  down.  Mr.  Hay  says 
that  when  his  great-grandfather  took  possession 
of  the  place  in  1750,  or  127  years  ago,  it  was  a 
much  larger  tree  than  when  he  (Mr.  Hay)  was 
born,  in  1800 ;  and  since  then  it  has  lost  several 
large  limbs  in  exceptionally  high  winds.  Mr. 
Hay  believes  it  to  be  considerably  over  300  years 
old,  and  the  dimensions  taken  to-day,  as  below, 
will  to  some  extent  bear  out  his  assertions.  The 
tree  has  been  a  great  favorite  with  the  old  gen- 
tleman, and  last  year  it  bore  a  large  crop  of  very 
good  fruit.  It  had  two  trunks,  dividing  about 
3  ft.  from  the  ground  line.  The  measurements  are 
— Circumference  at  ground,  9  ft.  6  in.;  at  3  ft. 
above  ground,  11  ft.;  of  largest  trunk,  6  ft.  above 
ground,  6  ft.  6  in.;  of  smaller  trunk,  6  ft.  above 
ground,  5  ft.  6  in.;  of  largest  bough,  4  ft.  6  in. ; 
next  largest  bough,  4  ft.;  height  from  ground  to 
top,  45  ft. 

[The  above  is  from  the  Gardener's  Record.  In 
the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  Pear  timber  is  in 
great  request  by  mill-wrights. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Timber  Conifers  in  Massachusetts.— We  give 
below,  the  following  letter  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Manning, 
to  the  Ploughman,  because  of  the  implied  value 
of  the  Scotch  Pine  as  a  timber  tree  in  Massachu- 
setts. We  suppose  there  must  have  been  suffi- 
cient observation  of  its  growth  in  Massachusetts 
to  warrant  what  is  said  of  it  there,  but  it  is  pro- 
per to  say  that  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Union 


212 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


where  it  has  been  tried,  it  is  by  no  means  popu- 
lar. But  we  can  endorse  all  that  is  said  of  the 
White  Pine.  We  are  not  sure,  but  the  Larch  is 
nearly  as  uncertain  as  the  Scotch  Pine.  In  many 
places  the  wood  seems  to  be  excellent,  but  there 
are  others  where  it  is  nearly  worthless  :  — 

"  The  premium  offered  by  the  Massachusetts 
Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,  for  forest 
planting,  seems  to  stimulate  the  inquiry  where 
the  Scotch  Larch  and  Scotch  Pine  can  be  pro- 
cured. Abundant  information  is  offered  in  the 
advertising  columns  of  the  press,  so  that  none 
need  be  at  a  loss  where  to  procure  it. 

"  No  more  evidence  is  required  as  to  the  adapt- 
ability of  the  Scotch  Larch  as  a  forest  tree.  Spe- 
cimens of  this  tree  are  to  be  seen  in  nearly  every 
town  in  the  State.  We  fully  believe  that  50 
cords  or  more  of  fuel  may  be  grown  in  25  years 
from  the  seed  of  this  tree,  per  acre,  on  good  land; 
as  it  is  easy  to  prove  that  that  rate  of  growth  has 
been  made  on  poor  land.  It  is  literally  a  tree 
adapted  to  poor  soils. 

"  A  similar  remark  applies  also  to  the  Scotch 
Pine,  for  specimens  in  full  vigor  are  not  rare 
even  on  very  barren  soils.  We  would  also  urge 
the  claims  of  the  White  Pine,  for  it  is  growing 
in  luxuriance  on  so  many  dry  and  barren  places. 
It  grows  freely  in  gravel  pits,  where  nothing 
called  soil  remains. 

"These  three  Conifers  make  a  complete  list  of 
all  that  are  desirable  to  be  used  for  planting  in 
the  forest  soils  of  Massachusetts.  Other  varieties 
may  be  good,  but  none  are  better.  Let  these  be 
planted  by  the  million,  for  twenty  years  will  pass 
just  as  quickly  as  though  they  were  not  planted, 
and  if  planted,  there  will  be  a  handsome  return 
to  show  for  the  expenditure  in  our  advancing 
years,  when  we  seek  some  memorial  of  early 
labors. 

"  Growing  specimens  may  be  seen  from  the 
railways  and  highways  of  the  country,  and  the 
success  of  transplanted  evergreen  and  deciduous 
trees,  can  readily  be  ascertained,  and  thereby 
each  for  himself  can,  from  the  growth  of  the 
past,  calculate  upon  the  growth  of  the  future. 

"  We  trust  that  our  few  remarks  may  serve  to 
stimulate  some  to  attempt  tree  planting,  and  we 
hope  that  the  planting  of  trees  on  lands  adapted 
for  their  growth,  will  pass  through  the  land  as 
one  form  of  a  revival  from  the  past  season  of 
depression." 

Forest  Seedlings. — The  causes  that  have  con- 
tributed to  the  Iobs  of  evergreens  directly  from 


the  forest  are  the  lack  of  root  fibers,  which  are 
naturally  few  in  many  species  of  coniferous 
seedlings,  especially  appertaining  to  those  that 
are  forest  grown.  These  roots  are  more  or  less 
mutilated  or  left  in  the  soil  when  the  plants  are 
pulled,  as  they  usually  are,  instead  of  being  dug, 
and  with  more  or  less  exposure  to  the  sun  or 
drying  winds,  after  being  taken  out  of  the 
ground,  and  before  packing. 

These  forest-grown  seedlings,  as  stated  in  the 
article  referred  to,  require  shade,  and  with  this 
and  other  necessary  precautions,  the  loss  of 
plants  is  generally  so  great  as  to  deter  profes- 
sional nurserymen  from  planting  this  class  of 
evergreen  very  largely  for  a  series  of  years. 

Nursery -grown  evergreens  should  not  be 
classed  in  the  same  category  as  forest-grown 
seedlings,  from  the  fact  that  the  care  and  culti- 
vation given  to  nursery-grown  seedlings,  induce 
a  better  root  growth,  and  these  roots  are  mostly 
preserved  by  being  dug,  instead  of  being  pulled 
out  of  the  ground.  Hence,  these  nursery- 
grown  seedlings,  after  an  exposure  of  one  or 
two  years  to  the  sun,  before  being  taken  out  of 
the  seed-beds,  may  be  safely  transplanted  into 
beds  or  nursery  rows  ivithovi  shade. — Prairie 
Farmer. 

The  Value  of  Timber  in  the  Scotch  High- 
lands.— A  recent  English  journal  says: — "An 
illustration  of  the  value  of  timber  on  waste 
lands  in  the  Highlands  is  afforded  by  a  sale  of 
wood  which  took  place  on  the  estate  of  the  Earl 
of  Cawdor,  in  Nairnshire,  the  other  day.  In 
1820,  two  hills  on  the  Cawdor  property,  of  about 
800  acres  in  extent,  and  of  almost  no  agricul- 
tural value,  were  planted  with  fir  and  other 
trees,  and  after  successive  thinnings,  the  sale  of 
which  realized  large  sums,  the  remainder  of  the 
wood  has  just  been  sold  off  for  the  sum  of  £16,- 
000  ($80,000).  The  sums  realized  for  the  wood 
on  this  waste  land  during  the  fifty  years  is  stated 
to  be  equal  per  acre  to  the  return  for  the  best 
arable  land  in  the  country." 

The  Nettle  Tree,  Celtis  australis,  although 
of  moderate  dimensions,  furnishes  a  timber  of 
great  commercial  value,  and  the  slender,  flexi- 
ble branches  are  in  great  request  in  many  parts 
of  Europe  for  whip  stocks.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Udine,  according  to  the  German  papers, 
large  plantations  are  now  cultivated,  actually 
tilled,  and  manured.  The  trees  are  planted 
about  six  feet  apart,  the  lower  branches  being 
trained  off,  and  in  ten  years  the  trunks  attain  a 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


213 


diameter  of  six  to  eight  inches.  The  wood  from 
these  plantations  is  fine-grained,  is  easily  cleft, 
and,  being  of  a  beautiful  yellow  color,  fetches  a 
higher  price  than  the  ordinary  quality.  In  Is- 
tria  this  tree  is  commonly  planted  in  the  squares 
and  near  churches.  In  Moschenizza  there  is  a 
tree  with  a  trunk  five  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
base;  and  in  Gemino  there  is  one  six  feet  in 
diameter,  supposed  to  be  a  thousand  years  old. — 
Gard.  Chronicle. 

Forests  of  Sweden. — The  principal  part  of 
the  timber  of  the  Swedish  forests,  according  to 
the  Chronique  de  la  Societe  d'  Acclimatation ,  is  fur- 
nished by  the  Scotch  Pine  and  Norway  Spruce 
Fir.  The  White  Birch  is  also  widely  diffused 
and  abundant  in  that  kingdom.  The  Aspen  and 
the  Alder,  the  Elm  and  the  Lime  are  also  com- 
mon, and  attain  large  dimensions  in  some  dis- 
tricts. The  timber  of  the  Spruce  and  Silver 
Fir  is  used  in  the  construction  of  houses,  ships, 
&c;  moreover,  they  furnish  tar,  and  the  wood 
reduced  to  a  pulp  is  employed  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  paper.  Balks  and  planks  of  these  two 
kinds  of  timber  are  largely  exported.  Birch- 
wood  is  chiefly  consumed  as  fuel,  supplying 
nearly  all  the  coasting  vessels  in  the  Baltic.     As 


an  example  of  the  extent  of  trade  in  this  arti- 
cle, we  may  mention  that  no  less  than  25,488,678 
cubic  feet  of  Birch-wood  for  fuel,  were  shipped 
from  a  single  port  in  1872.  The  wood  of  the 
Aspen  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  matches, 
one  of  the  most  flourishing  industries  of  Sweden. 

The  European  Walnut. — It  is  wpII  known 
that  Walnut  trees  sometimes  attain  prodigious 
size  and  great  age.  An  Italian  architect  men- 
tions having  seen  at  St.  Nicholas,  in  Lorraine,  a 
single  plank  of  the  wood  of  the  Walnut,  25  feet 
wide,  upon  which  the  Emperor  Frederick  III. 
had  given  a  sumptuous  banquet.  In  the  Baidar 
Valley,  near  Balaclava,  in  the  Crimea,  stands  a 
Walnut  tree  at  least  1000  years  old.  It  yields 
annually  from  80,000  to  100,000  nuts,  and  belongs 
to  five  Tartar  families,  who  share  its  produce 
equally. — Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Growing  Wood  for  Fuel.— A  Canadian  farm- 
er, about  twelve  years  ago,  planted  six  American 
Cottonwood  trees,  and  one  silver  Abele  poplar, 
on  seven  square  rods.  Lately  cutting  them 
down  and  preparing  them  for  fuel,  he  realized 
four  cords  of  nice  wood.  An  acre  at  the  same 
rate  would  have  yielded  eighty  cords. 


ATURAL  SflSTORY  AND  fSCIENCE. 


GO  MM  UNIGA  TIONS. 


NOTES  FROM  YUBA  COUNTY,  CAL. 

BY   MRS.   F.    E.    B. 

Since  my  last  letter,  the  season  has  advanced 
very  much.  At  the  present  writing,  May  7th, 
the  Honey  Locusts  are  shedding  their  fragrant 
snow,  and  the  figs  are  swelling  on  the  trees  under 
my  window.  Where  there  is  irrigation,  every- 
thing is  very  promising,  but  the  rains  were  so 
scanty  that  the  hills  are  already  becoming  brown 
and    parched.     Haying  and  harvesting   are  al- 


ready in  progress,  but  the  crop  is  short.  People 
are  predicting  an  unusually  hot  Summer  on  ac- 
count of  the  early  ceasing  of  the  rains,  and  the 
small  snow-fall  in  the  mountains.  I  took  a  little 
ride  in  the  hills  last  week.  The  scenery,  after 
crossing  the  little  plain,  was  wild  and  grand,  the 
way  rough  and  steep.  Flowers,  many  of  them 
new,  all  the  way.  Those  pretty  little  yellow  tu- 
lips were  as  plenty  as  dandelions  in  the  Eastern 
States,  and  I  discovered,  high  up  among  the 
hills,  the  beautiful  white  tulip.  There  are  innu- 
merable small  delicate  flowers,  in  patches  by  the 
way,  as  well  as  some  showy  species.  We  came 
on  a  little  brown  house  high  among  the  hilla. 
Beautiful  roses  and  passion-flowers  were  bloom- 


214 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


ing  all  over  it,  and  its  little  flower-garden  was 
arranged  to  be  easily  watered.  Geraniums  and 
roses  bloomed  in  profusion  on  the  wide  cool 
porch.  Afterwards  we  climbed  the  little  ridge 
that  shielded  ther  house  on  the  north-east,  and 
saw  the  long  range  of  the  Nevadas —  "  whiter 
than  snow."  I  saw  that  day  Vick's  "  Climbing 
Hyacinth,"  and  two  small  species,  blue  and 
white ;  his  "  Ithuriel's  Spear,"  in  the  shades  of 
blue  he  describes,  and  also  white  and  straw 
color.  Lilies  in  abundance,  not  yet  in  bloom  ; 
the  white  and  yellow  tulips;  Crassulas,  with 
orange  and  scarlet  flowers,  and  some  beautiful 
blue  and  purple  of  the  Labiatae  and  Boragin- 
acee. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Magnificent  Collection  of  Fungi  and  the 
Lower  Cryptogams. — Mr.  H.  W.  Ravenel,  of 
Aiken,  South  Carolina,  who  ranks  among  the 
first  cryptogamic  botanists  of  the  world,  is  natu- 
rally anxious  that  the  labors  of  a  long  life  should 
be  placed  where  they  will  do  good  long  after  he 
passes  away.  The  collection  could  not  be  made 
for  some  thousands  of  dollars,  but  we  learn  that 
if  they  could  be  purchased  and  placed  in  some 
public  institution,  where  the  world  may  get  the 
worth  of  them,  Mr.  R.  would  let  them  go  on  very 
liberal  terms.  It  is  because  of  this  public  spir- 
ited offer  that  we  refer  to  the  matter  here.  The 
following  abstract  shows  how  rich  the  collection 
is: — 

Fungi. — In  Herbarium  proper,  about  3,000 
species.  Of  these,  upwards  of  700  new  American 
species  of  Berkley  and  Curtis,  and  Berkley  and 
Ravenel.  The  balance  made  up  of  American 
species,  collected  by  myself  and  furnished  by 
correspondents,  and  of  European  species  sent  by 
Berkley,  Broome,  Desmaziers  and  others.  All  in 
43  vols.,  6x9Jnches;  also  in  separate  volumes: 
"  Fendler's  Venezuelan  Fungi,"  2  vols.,  120  spe- 
cies; "  Frogg's  Swiss  Fungi,"  2  vols.,  137  species. 
In  addition  to  above,  a  large  box,  9  duplicates, 
useful  for  exchanges. 

Hepatiae.— One  vol.,  12x9,  containing  80  spe- 
cies, consisting  of  American  and  European  spe- 
cies. 


Musci. — Three  vols.,  12x9;  containing,  of 
American  and  European,  about  500  species; 
California  Mosses,  64  species ;  Hampe's  Grenada 
Mosses,  78  species.  Among  these  are  many  new 
American  species  of  Sullivant,  Lesquereaux,  Aus- 
tin, &c. 

Lichens. — Seven  vols.,  12x9;  containing,  of 
American  and  European  species,  about  600.  All 
the  new  Southern  species  of  Tachenen  are  here 
represented. 

Algx. — Two  vols.,  12x9 ;  containing,  of  Ameri- 
can and  foreign,  about  300  species.  The  new 
Southern  species  of  Wood  and  of  Wolle  are  here 
represented. 

Blue  Glass.  —  A  wealthy  gentlemen,  Mr. 
Spence,  of  Dundee,  was  a  "  disbeliever  in  blue 
glass,"  but  noticing  that  it  seemed  to  have  the 
sanction  of  Mr.  Buist,  of  Philadelphia,  ho  de- 
cided to  try  it.  He  happened  to  have  two  houses 
just  alike  in  every  respect,  and  in  one  he  took 
out  the  alternate  strips,  putting  blue  glass  in  the 
place.  His  gardener,  Mr.  Lawrie,  thus  writes 
about  the  results,  on  application  of  the  Editor  of 
the  Garden : — "  It  is  as  yet  premature  to  speak 
definitely  as  to  the  results  likely  to  be  arrived  at 
as  regards  this  experiment,  for  these  reasons : 
first,  because  the  Vines  were  only  struck  from 
eyes  about  a  year  ago ;  and  secondly,  out  of  the 
eight  weeks  since  I  commenced  to  force,  we  have 
only  had  a  fortnight  of  sunshine,  and  from  ob- 
servations made,  it  is  evident  that  the  whole  of 
the  success  lies  in  having  an  abundant  supply  of 
the  blue  sunray.  In  the  first  place,  I  shall  say  a 
word  or  two  about  the  Vines.  We  took  two 
Vineries  of  equal  size  in  every  respect,  filled 
them  with  the  proper  soil  for  vine-growing,  got 
good,  healthy  plants  from  Mr.  Thomson,  of  Clo- 
venfords, planted  both  houses  the  same  day 
(January  13),  pruned  them  and  allowed  them  to 
settle  in  the  soil  till  February  8,  on  which  date 
they  were  watered  and  a  gentle  heat  of  45°  ap- 
plied. As  I  have  just  stated,  the  two  houses  are 
of  equal  size,  and  both  have  the  same  advan- 
tage as  regards  sunlight,  and  the  temperature 
of  both  strictly  the  same,  the  only  difference  be- 
tween the  two  being  that  the  one  is  furnished 
with  strips  of  blue  glass  and  the  other  is  glazed 
with  ordinary  white  glass,  only.  Now  for  the  re- 
sults, so  far  as  the  experiment  has  gone.  At  the 
end  of  the  first  four  weeks,  that  is  on  March  8, 
the  Vines  had  made  16  in.  of  growth  under  the 
blue,  and  only  4  in.  under  the  white  glass.     On 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


215 


the  9th  of  April,  the  Vines  under  the  blue  glass 
measured  3  ft.  4  in.,  and  under  the  white  2  ft.  4 
in.,  the  two  being  equal  in  strength,  but  showing 
that  the  absence  of  the  sun  had  retarded  the 
progress  of  those  under  the  blue  glass  to  a  greater 
extent  than  it  had  done  those  under  the  white 
glass.  All  the  plants,  such  as  Camellias  and 
Fuchsias,  are  vigorous  and  healthy,  although 
some  of  them  were  rather  sickly  when  the  ex- 
periment was  commenced.  Wishing  also  to  test 
the  effect  of  blue  light  upon  vegetables,  we 
planted  a  few  early  Potatoes  in  each  house. 
They  were  planted  on  the  same  date  as  the 
Vines,  and  without  any  other  heat  than  the  at- 
mospheric heat  of  the  houses,  the  result  to-day 
(April  10)  is  six  of  the  Potatoes  from  under  the 
blue  glass  weighed  11  oz.,  and  six  from  under  the 
white  weighed  only  5  oz." 

This  somewhat  accords  with  the  experience 
with  Mustard,  of  thirty  years  ago,  which  we  re- 
cently referred  to  in  our  pages — the  early  growth 
was  accelerated  by  blue  glass.  Ultimately,  how- 
ever, the  white  glass  beat.  So  far  as  Mr.  Spence's 
experiment  has  gone,  we  see  the  same  result. 
Though  there  was  a  gain  of  three-fourths  at  the 
first  measurement,  it  was  reduced  to  less  than 
one-half  in  time. 

We  are  glad  to  see  practical  gardeners  taking 
in  hand  to  try  this  matter  in  this  way.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  "  science  "  brought  to  bear  against 
General  Pleasanton,  which  is  all  very  well  from 
the  scientific  stand-point.  The  ridicule  and 
pleasantry,  of  course,  General  Pleasanton  can 
stand.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  good 
things  claimed  for  the  blue  glass,  it  is  more  than 
likely,  are  to  be  referred  to  other  influences  than 
the  mere  blue  glass,  but,  if  under  any  circum- 
stances, blue  glass  will  favor  the  growth  of  any 
particular  part,  even  though  it  be  at  the  expense 
of  some  other  part,  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  gar- 
dening that  we  know  it.  The  gourmand,  who 
feasts  on  pate  defoie  gras  is  quite  satisfied  to  get 
that  glout  morceau,  without  caring  much  for  the 
health  of  goose  that  produced  it.  It  is  thus 
in  many  of  our  gardening  operations. 

The  Sleep  of  Plants.  — Keferring  to  the  pe- 
culiar times  of  opening  and  closing  of  various 
flowers,  a  writer,  quoting  from  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  says : 
— "  Mr.  Meehan  says  the  popular  impression  of 
light  and  moisture  as  agents  in  their  behavior, 
had  seemed  to  receive  a  tacit  scientific  assent. 
It  was   clear,    he  thought,  there  was   a    more 


powerful  agency  underlying  them,  and  it  was 
perhaps  a  gain  to  science  to  be  able  to  see  this, 
though  in  so  dim  a  light." 

In  regard  to  this,  a  valued  correspondent 
writes  to  us  : — "Who  are  the  scientific  men  de- 
serving of  the  name,  who  hold  any  such  belief?" 
Recently  the  Scientific  Farmer  has  had  an  inter- 
esting chapter  on  "  Light  and  Vegetation,"  in 
which  occurs  the  following,  from  which  it  would 
appear  that  Mr.  Meehan  is  not  alone  in  suppo- 
sing that  the  presence  or  absence  of  light  was 
closely  connected  by  intelligent  persons  with 
these  diurnal  openings  : — "The  so-called  'Sleep 
of  Plants,'  i.  e.,  the  change  in  position  which 
plants  make  from  day  to  night  is  due  to  the 
presence  and  absence  of  light.  The  questions 
which  naturally  arise  concerning  the  time  of  day 
or  night,  when  certain  species  of  plants  open 
their  flowers,  giving  rise. to  what  are  styled  floral 
clocks,  are  interesting,  but  at  the  same  time  dif- 
ficult to  explain.  That  the  modest  Night-bloom- 
ing Cereus  prefers  the  night  to  the  day  for  the 
unfolding  of  its  large  and  showy  flowers  is  curi- 
ous. Why  should  the  Mirabilis  consider  that 
time  in  the  afternoon,  from  which  it  gets  its 
name  of  '  Four  o'clock'  as  the  best  hour  to 
bloom  ?  But  we  must  not  ask  hard  questions. 
Doubtlesst,  he  sunlight  plays  an  important  part 
in  all  these  individual  peculiarities. 

"The  sensitive  plant  is  fast  gaining  the  repu- 
tation of  being  an  organization  endowed  with 
sensation  and  voluntary  motion.  If  an  active 
plant  of  this  nature  be  placed  in  darkness  for  a 
length  of  time  it  loses  this  sensibility,  or  at  least 
its  susceptibility  to  shocks,  and  remains  rigid 
until  it  has  been  again  exposed  for  a  considera- 
ble time  to  the  action  of  the  sunlight." 

Northern  Limits  of  Animal  and  Vegetable 
Life. — The  memoirs  of  the  Nare's  Arctic  Expe- 
dition are  full  of  interest  to  the  lovers  of  nature. 
"As  they  made  their  way  further  north  than 
any  of  their  predecessors,  so  they  experienced 
intenser  cold  and  more  protracted  darkness. 
The  lowest  temperature  registered  was  104°  be- 
low freezing  point,  Fahrenheit ;  the  mean  tem- 
perature of  13  consecutive  days  was  59°  below 
zero,  and  the  mercury  was  frozen  47  days  during 
the  Winter.  Although  we  hear  much  of  snow- 
storms and  fogs  in  those  remote  regions,  it  is  re- 
corded that  a  chronometer  found  in  one  of  the 
Cairns  that  remain  as  records  of  the  Expedition 
of  the  Polaris  proved  to  be  in  perfect  working 
order  after  an   exposure  of  four    Winters.     A 


216 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


quantity  of  wheat  similarly  exposed  for  the  same 
length  of  time  was  found  to  be  still  unimpaired 
as  regards  its  vitality,  and  readily  germinated 
when  placed  under  favorable  conditions.  At  the 
latitude  where  the  Discovery  wintered,  81°  44v  N., 
animal  life  was  comparatively  plentiful ;  but 
this  may  be  reckoned  as  nearly  marking  its  ex- 
treme limit,  for  the  sledging  parties  found  no 
game  and  were  prostrated  by  scurvy  through  the 
want  of  fresh  meat.  The  musk  ox  was  the  main- 
stay of  the  crews  as  regards  fresh  meat,  but  hares 
and  many  kinds  of  birds  were  obtained,  a  bear 
was  seen,  and  in  Lieutenant  Parr's  desperate  ad- 
venture— walking  alone  over  th:rty-five  miles  of 
soft  snow  to  obtain  help  from  the  Alert — he  was 
guided  by  the  fresh  track  of  a  roaming  wolf. 
One  of  the  prevailing  birds  is  the  Knot,  Tringa 
canutus,  a  near  relation  of  our  sandpipers  and 
plovers ;  a  shore  haunting  bird,  the  nest  of  which 
is  rarely  seen  in  this  country,  even  in  districts 
where  the  birds  abound,  and  of  which  it  is  re- 
ported that  in  the  far  north  neither  nests  nor 
eggs  were  found,  although  the  young  in  all  stages 
of  growth  were  plentiful. 

"It  may  be  assumed  that  latitude  83°  N.  is 
about  the  limit  of  life  of  all  kinds — animal  and 
vegetable — at  all  events,  in  the  regions  reached 
by  way  of  the  west  coast  of  Greenland.  Remains 
of  Eskimo  were  found  on  the  west  side  of  Smith 
Sound  in  latitude  81°  52\  which  we  may  regard 
as  the  highest  point  reached  by  these  strange 
wanderers,  who,  being  largely  dependent  on  the 
chase  for  subsistence,  cannot  proceed  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  game,  even  had  they  such  motives 
of  curiosity  as  impel  Arctic  explorers.  In  due 
time  we  shall  hear  something  of  the  vegetation 
of  these  regions,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  there  is 
much  to  be  said  on  that  subject;  first,  because 
there  is  not  much  vegetation,  and  secondly,  be- 
cause there  were  not  many  opportunities  for 
botanical  explorations ;  larger  work  consuming 
the  time  and  strength  of  even  the  most  leisurely 
of  the  party. 

"Nevertheless,  about  fifty  species  of  plants 
were  discovered  on  the  hills,  prominent  among 
them  being  the  Arctic  willows  and  saxifrages  ; 
and  the  lakes  were  found  to  be  in  many  instances 
well  stocked  "with  salmon  and  trout,  and  their 
recesses  were  tenanted  by  vast  flocks  of  brent 
geese." 

The  Shape  of  the  Earth.— A  Kansas  cor- 
respondent of  the  Scientific  American  thinks  it 
no  proof  that  the  earth  was  once  an  impalpable 


mass,  that  it  is  round  now.  He  says : — "  I  hold 
that  its  shape  proves  nothing  as  to  its  origin,  or 
the  present  condition  of  its  interior.  I  think  the 
earth  could  not  retain  any  shape  very  different 
from  the  present  one,  even  if  it  were  composed 
of  solid  iron.  It  is  known  by  all  architects  and 
engineers  that  there  is  a  limit  to  the  size  of 
arches,  depending  on  the  strength  of  the  mate- 
rial used.  An  arch  spanning  several  inches  can 
be  made  of  soft  putty.  Many  feet  can  be  spanned 
by  an  arch  of  brick,  and  hundreds  of  feet  are 
spanned  by  steel  in  bridges.  But  no  one  believes 
that  an  arch  over  Lake  Erie,  or  over  the  Straits 
of  Dover,  would  sustain  itself,  no  matter  what 
material  was  used.  So  that  there  is  a  limit  to 
the  size  of  any  large  body,  beyond  which  gravi- 
tation exceeds  cohesion.  The  most  minute  par- 
ticle of  water  assumes  a  globular  form  when  not 
in  contact  with  other  matter.  Putty  or  jelly 
would  act  like  water,  but  would  require  a  larger 
quantity  to  overcome  the  cohesion  of  the  parti- 
cles. A  body  the  size  of  the  earth,  if  not  revolv- 
ing on  its  axis,  would  be  spherical,  or  very  nearly 
so,  even  if  composed  of  steel.  But  let  it  revolve 
on  its  axis,  and  it  will  be  an  oblate  spheroid.  A 
very  small  planet,  like  some  of  the  smaller  aster- 
oids, or  a  meteoric  rock,  might  retain  perma- 
nently any  given  shape." 

Herbarium  Specimens. — Mr.  A.  H.  Curtiss,  of 
Jacksonville,  Fla.,  (formerly  of  Virginia,)  has  for 
many  years  made  a  specialty  of  preparing  herb- 
aria of  United  States  plants ;  and  will  at  any 
time  supply  sets,  accurately  labeled  and  system- 
atized, at  the  rate  of  $8  per  100  species,  or  in  ex- 
change for  desirable  additions  to  his  museum, 
library  or  garden.  Packages  sent  pre-paid  by 
mail,  or  by  express,  as  far  as  New  York. 

Origin  of  the  Phylloxera.  —  The  London 
Journal  of  Horticulture  says :  —  "  The  President 
of  the  Vine-growing  Society  of  the  Pyrenees 
Orientales  has,  says  Nature,  sent  a  document  to 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences,  affirming  that  'it  ia 
the  American  plants  which  have  brought  the 
Phylloxera  into  France,  and  that  each  planta- 
tion of  them  is  the  signal  for  a  fresh  invasion.' 
This  statement  directly  controverts  the  theory 
which  has  been  more  than  once  propounded, 
that  American  Vines  are  phylloxera-proof.  Per- 
haps our  American  friends  will  embrace  the  op- 
portunity of '  commenting  on  '  the  bold  assertion 
of  the  Frenchman." 


187T.J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST, 


217 


Well,  we  say  that  no  one  ha8  denied  it.  There 
is  little  doubt,  but  the  Phylloxera  first  appeared 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bordeaux,  and  was  introduced 
by  American  Vines.  We  do  not  know  who  made 
the  statement  that  American  Vines  are  "  Phyl- 
loxera-proof," but  suppose  the  idea  originated 
with  a  class  of  writers  who  imagined  that  because 
American  Vines  were  recommended  for  stocks, 
therefore,  they  were  Phylloxera-proof.  No  Amer- 
ican grape  is  free  from  the  attack  of  Phylloxera 
— they  abound  in  any  kind  when  they  can  get 
the  chance.  The  writer  of  this  assisted  Prof. 
Planchon  in  digging  up  Clinton  Vines  which 
were  covered  with  the  insect,  and  the  fact  is  duly 
recorded  in  Prof.  Planchon's  Report  to  the 
French  Government ;  but  Prof.  P.  discovered  that 
some  American  grapes  had  a  sort  of  contempt 
for  the  Phylloxera.  While  some — and  all  Euro- 
pean grapes — had  their  fibres  injured  by  the  in- 
sect, they  gave  up  at  once,  as  if  asking,  what's 
the  use  of  resistance?  But  the  Concord,  Clinton, 
Norton's  Virginia,  and  one  or  two  others,  set  to 
work  and  made  more  young  roots  at  once,  beat- 
ing the  Phylloxera  by  sheer  perseverance,  and 
not  by  any  immunity  from  attack.  We  have 
stated  this  before  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  but 
it  will  do  no  harm  to  repeat  it  again. 

Paraffin  Oil. — Les  Mondes  informs  us  that 
M.  Jordery  renders  paraffin  oil  as  thick  as  honey, 
by  means  of  a  vegetable  powder  (Saponaria),  and 
thus  prevents  the  liability  of  its  causing  fire, 
without,  in  any  way,  interfering  with  its  proper- 
ties, as  it  can  be  rendered  fluid  by  the  addition 
of  a  few  drops  of  strong  acetic  acid.  This  is  good 
news  for  people  who  employ  it  inter  alia,  for 
keeping  frost  out  of  small  greenhouses. 

Exposure  of  Seeds  to  Cold. —  At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Linnaean  Society,  a  memento  of 
the  Polaris  Expedition  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  R.  I. 
Lynch.  This  consisted  of  a  pot  of  growing 
wheat,  which  had  been  sown  and  raised  from  the 
grain  left  in  Polaris  Bay,  81°  38s  N.,  by  the  Amer- 
ican Expedition.  Capt.  (Sir  G.)  Nares,  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Hooker,  states  that  the  grain  had  been 
exposed  to  the  Winter's  frost,  1872-6 ;  but,  not- 
withstanding the  intense  cold  it  had  been  sub- 
jected to,  the  above  sample,  grown  at  Kew,  gave 
sixty-four  per  cent,  as  capable  of  germination. 
A  grain  of  maize  among  the  wheat,  which  also 
sprouted,  possessed  even  greater  interest,  being 
a  truly  tropical  plant. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Freezing  of  the  Sap  in  Plants. — W.  C.  says ; 
— "  I  send  you  enclosed  an  extract  from  one  of 
our  papers,  and  should  be  glad  if  you  can  tell  us 
in  the  Gardener's  Monthly  how  this  can  be.  How 
can  sap  come  up  to  the  leaves  when  the  sap  in 
the  roots  and  in  the  stems  is  frozen  solid  ?  It 
seems  so  impossible  that  only  for  the  names  and 
circumstances  in  the  extract  being  given,  I 
should  have  thought  it  a  waste  of  time  to  trouble 
you:" — "At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Elmira 
Farmer's  Club,  at  the  close  of  the  discussion,  Mr. 
Compton  exhibited  a  pear  twig  with  luxuri- 
antly developed  leaves,  produced  by  a  singular 
process.  Early  last  February  a  letter  from  I.  P. 
Schenck,  of  Ohio,  was  read  to  the  Club  narrating 
an  experiment  made  by  one  of  his  neighbors, 
who  introduced  a  branch  of  climbing  rose  into 
his  conservatory,  while  the  root,  upon  which  it 
depended  for  support,  was  frozen  up  in  the 
ground  without.  Under  the  genial  influence  of 
the  heated  air  within,  the  branch  put  forth  blos- 
soms in  mid-winter.  Acting  upon  this  hint, 
Mr.  Compton,  last  February,  brought  the  limb 
of  an  adjacent  pear  tree  through  a  convenient 
aperture  into  his  conservatory — hence  the  fully 
developed  foliage.  It  would  seem  from  his  suc- 
cess, and  that  reported  by  Mr.  Schenck,  that 
abundant  bloom  may  be  had  in  the  dark  days  of 
Winter  without  the  trouble  of  nursing  plants  in 
pots,  for  in  the  case  of  roses,  at  least,  it  would  be 
necessary  only  to  pass  the  vine  into  the  living 
room  of  an  ordinary  dwelling  kept  at  a  temper- 
ature always  above  freezing." 

[Our  correspondent  can  scarcely  be  a  close 
reader  of  our  magazine,  or  he  would  know  by 
this  time  that  the  sap  does  not  freeze  in  plants  in 
the  Winter  time.  The  absurdity  is  rather  in 
supposing  that  it  can  and  does  freeze,  and  yet 
the  structure  retain  life.  As  for  the  fact  that 
leaves,  flowers  and  fruit  can  come  from  plants 
when  the  roots  and  stems  are  constantly  sub- 
jected to  frost  and  a  very  low  temperature,  it  is 
well-known  to  every  practical  gardener  who  has 
had  a  wide  range  of  experience.  The  writer  of 
this  referred  to  it,  and  explained  it  many  years 
ago  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Horti- 
cultural Society  at  Ottawa,Ul.,  as  Mr.  P.  Barry  will 
remember,  as  he  took  part  in  the  discussion  on 
the  same  subject. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


219 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


IJuly, 


llTERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  ipERSONAL  floTES. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


LETTER  FROM  CALIFORNIA. 

BY   G. 

San  Francisco,  May  13th,  1S77. 

I  know  you   will   be  interested  to  hear  that 

Mr. called  upon  me  at  the  hotel ;    invited 

me  to  breakfast ;  that  I  went  and  had  a  most 
courteous  reception,  and  a  charming  time.  The 
boat  was  crowded  going  over  to  Oakland ;  as 
San  Francisco  is  such  a  cosmopolitan  city  the 
the  people  turn  out  strong  to  excursions.  Besides 
regular  passengers,  9000  excursion  tickets  were 
Bold  up  to  two  o'clock.  A  short  horse-car  trip 
brought  me  to  a  fine  laying  piece  of  ground  on 
the  route — the  long  avenue  bordered  with  Aca- 
cia trees  in  full  bloom.  The  house,  like  all  in 
California,  is  built  of  red-wood,  but  in  elegant 
style.     I  was  ushered  into  the  library  where  Mr. 

and  Mrs. ,  Mrs. and  Mrs. ,  his 

nieces,  of  Philadelphia,  awaited  me. 

After  a  cheerful  half  hour  of  talk  we  went  to 
breakfast.  A  course  of  omelette  was  succeeded 
by  beefsteak  ;  that  by  birds,  and  that  again  by 
tomatoes  and  artichokes ;  then  hot  cakes  and 
some  genuine  molasses,  which  he  had  secured  in 
Honolulu. 

Mr.  and  Mrs. then  took  me  round  "her" 

splendidly  planted  grounds.  There  was  a  Deo- 
dar Cedar  20  feet  high ;  Norfolk  Island  Pine ; 
Cedar  of  Lebanon  ;  Pinus  Pinea,  a  Portugese  tree 
25  feet  high  ;  Eucalyptus,  2-]  feet  diameter ;  grass 
lawns  of  great  extent;  shrubs  and  plants  in  the 
greatest  profusion,  luxuriance,  bewildering  nov- 
elty and  variety.  All  this  had  grown  up  within 
twelve  years,  and  been  created  on  a  spot  as  un- 
tamed, when  they  came  in  possession,  as  any 
in  the  world.  As  there  was  no  railroad  then 
and  but  few  florists,  each  tree  has  a  personal 
history  which  added  to  its  interest :  this  one  hav- 
ing been  brought  by  such  a  friend  "  by  hand  all 


the  way."  Of  course  in  the  piece-meal  creation 
of  such  a  place  many  must  have  been  sacrificed, 
and  yet  it  is  a  superb  collection  for  any  place, 
and  is  the  largest  in  variety  and  extent  of  any 
on  the  coast.  At  great  expense  a  rockery  was 
hauled  by  ox  teams  to  the  grounds  after  being 

selected  by  Mrs.  ,  in  the  mountains,  and 

arranged  under  her  sxipervision.  An  artificial 
stream  playsover  therocksandapond  forgold  fish 
of  some  extent,  receives  the  water.  There  were 
glades  and  clumps  of  wild  shrubbery,  rural  walks 
and  rustic  bridges  and  seats  and  arbors  ;  fuschias 
climbing  (or  trained)  up  to  the  second-story; 
flower-beds  in  mathematical  shapes,  and  roses  by 
the  thousands.  Box  trees,  hollies,  cork  trees,  and 
an  infinite  variety  of  familiar  and  unfamiliar 
plants  that  would  fill  a  gardener's  catalogue  to 
enumerate.  We  then  went  to  the  Fernery;  and 
here  in  a  damp  atmosphere  and  under  shaded 
light,  with  water  trickling  down  a  rockery  over- 
grown with  ferns,  were  big  ferns  and  little  ferns 
— maiden  hair  and  club  ferns — green,  parti- 
colored, delicate  and  grass.  The  Elk-horn  fern 
was  hanging  up  over  the  entrance,  a  bunch 
about  as  big  as  a  large  hornet's  nest,  with  leaves 
just  in  shape  like  an  elk  horn  stretching  out. 
Then  we  went  in  the  parlor,  and  met  the  young 
ladies  who  with  their  children  are  occupying  a 
cottage  in  the  grounds. 

Then   Mr. and   I  got   into   the  buggy 

which  had  been  waiting  for  us,  and  behind  a 
$3,000  pair  of  magnificent  black  horses  we  trot- 
ted around  the  vicinity  and  through  Oakland. 
The  drive  was  perfectly  charming.     From  near 

Mr. 's,  we  look  right  out  over  San  Francisco 

Bay  through  the  Golden  Gate,  with  numerous 
islands  and  San  Rafael  and  San  Quentin  in  view. 
The  Coast  Range  are  but  a  short  distance  away 
and  add  a  charm  to  the  scenery.  Oakland  is  a 
large  city  of  elegant  residences  and  more  modest 
country  homes. 

[For  the  above  interesting  sketch  of  California 
home  life,  we  arc  indebted  to  a  Philadelphia 
friend  to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


219 


ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  THE    PRODUCTION 
OF   NOVELTIES. 

BY  EUGENE  GLEN,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

I  notice  in  your  last  issue,  that  although  you 
apeak  in  very  complimentary  terms  of  an  essay 
favoring  horticultural  copyrights,  read  by  me 
before  the  Western  New  York  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, at  its  meeting  held  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
last  Winter,  you  state  that  the  plan  is  open  to 
some  quite  serious  objections  which  I  have 
omitted  to  notice.  I  am  sorry  that  you  do  not 
particularize  these  objections.  Believing  that 
the  subject  is  worthy  of  an  intelligent  discussion 
I  hope  you  or  your  correspondents  will  not  fail 
to  give  to  the  public  through  your  columns, 
whatever  of  specific  objection  not  founded  in 
prejudice  there  may  be  to  the  positions  assumed 
by  me.  No  scheme  which  will  not  bear  up  under 
the  freest  adverse  criticism,  should  find  any  en- 
couragement in  the  legislation  of  the  country. 

The  title  of  the  essay  as  designated  by  me, 
was,  "  Encouragement  to  the  introduction  of 
new  varieties  in  horticulture,  and  prevention  of 
frauds  in  the  dissemination  of  the  same ;"  and  I 
foel  confident  that  that  feature  of  the  measure 
which  is  indicated  by  the  last  clause  of  this  title, 
will  prove  not  less  important  and  desirable  than 
the  other. 

It  is,  doubtless,  true  that  any  legislation  upon 
this  subject  will  be  attended  with  some  difficul- 
ties and  annoyances,  but  with  my  present  light 
I  feel  very  confident  that  the  good  resulting  from 
the  adoption  of  the  measure  I  have  favored, 
would  far  outweigh  the  evil.  Of  course  I  may  be 
mistaken  in  this  conclusion,  and  having  written 
the  essay  without  any  personal  interest  to  sub- 
serve, if  objections  can  be  presented  which  can- 
not be  fairly  met,  or  overborne  by  prospective 
good,  I  will  promptly  join  the  opposition. 

To  facilitate  discussion,  favorable  or  unfavora- 
ble to  the  proposed  measure,  I  will,  so  long  as  I 
have  copies  left,  send  a  copy  of  the  essay  as  pub- 
lished, to  any  gentleman  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject who  may  write  me  for  it. 

[We  have  no  disposition  to  take  this  matter 
out  of  the  hands  of  our  correspondents.  Our 
position  is,  that  the  raisers  or  introducers  of  new 
and  valuable  things  should  make  much  more 
than  they  generally  do.  Any  plan  trat  would' 
do  this,  and  not  bring  with  it  greater  evils  than 
those  it  attempts  to  cure, will  have  our  approval. 
We  have  no  room  for  very  long  essays,  and  have 


in 


n  the  past  had  to  decline  diffusive  papers  on  the 
subject, — but  concise,  well  reasoned  articles, such 
as  Mr.  Glen  could  write,  would  surely  find  place. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 


RHYMES,  AND  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  CACTU6 

MAN. 

BY  W.VI.  T.  HARDING,  SUPT.  OAK  HILL  CEMETERY, 
UPPER  SANDUSKY,    OHIO. 

Ye,  who  in  gardens  doth  take  delight, 
Read,  and  observe  these  rhymes  aright ; 
There's  divers  things  in  Dame  Nature's  range, 
Of  wondrous  growth,  surpassing  strange. 

Good  garden  folk,  right  well  I  ween, 
Cactuses,  doth  most  curious  seem  ; 
Some  goodly  grow,  bedeck'd  with  posies, 
Whilst  some  more  sweet  doth  smell  than  roses. 

Some  there  be  of  most  uncomely  mein, 
ArmV.  cap  a-pe,  with  drawn  weapons  keen  ; 
Yet  some  I  trow,  are  wondrous  fair, 
With  a  winsome  look,  right  pleasant  are. 

When  sights  like  these  arrests  men's  eyes, 
They  marvel  sore,  and  with  much  surprise, 
Exclaimeth  thus,  in  language  loude, 
Forsooth!  ye  are  a  motley  crowde! 

Indeed  they  are,  good  reader,  and  more  espe- 
cially so,  when  associated  with  their  alliances, 
are  "Of  wondrous  growth,  surpassing  strange." 
And  yet,  notwithstanding  their  multiform  and 
often  grotesque  features,  they  stand  unsurpassed 
in  the  front  line  of  loveliness,  and  floral  beauty. 
Nature,  has  to  a  large  extent,  made  ample 
amends  for  their  curious  and  bizarre  appear- 
ance, and  richly  compensated  them  for  any  lack 
of  vegetal  graces,  with  which  other  plants  may 
be  clothed. 

Of  cacti,  some  are  known  as  hedge-hog  kinds, 
while  the  term  porcupine,  would  be  equally 
expressive  of  others.  The  remainder,  might 
very  properly  be  designated  urbanes,  and  superbs. 
Euphorbias,  so  variformed,  would  come  under 
such  appellations  as  pachyderms,  chevaux-de-frise, 
blands  and  brilliants. 

The  writer's  desire,  is  to  create  an  interest  in 
their  behalf,  which  undoubtedly,  they  so  well 
deserve.  To  see  them  in  the  front  again,  would 
not  only  be  a  satisfaction  to  him,  but  would 
prove  a  source  of  wonder,  and  agreeable  sur- 
prise, to  the  intelligent  plant-loving  people. 
They  would,  he  feels  assured,  appreciate  them. 

In  Europe,  they  are  popular  favorites,  and 
will  he  trusts,  become  so  in  this  country  ere  long; 
and  receive  the  proper  recognition  and  admira- 
tion so  justly  their  due. 


220 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


The  celebrated  Kew  Gardens  of  Loudon,  pos- 
sess in  all  probability  the  best,  and  most  ex- 
tensive collection  of  any  public  or  private  place 
in  the  world.  While  Mr.  Peacock,  an  enthusias- 
tic cultivator  in  the  suburbs,  rejoices  in  having  the 
most  complete  private  collection,  under  the 
•charge  of  the  clever  Mr.  Croucher. 

A  well  filled  Succulent-house,  would  not  be 
costly  to  keep,  or  care  for.  Neither  would  such 
an  astounding  plant  melange,  have  any  resem- 
blance to  an  "old  curiosity  shop";  crammed 
with  inert  trash,  and  musty  rubbish.  Where 
there  is  life,  there  are  hopes  of  happiness,  pres- 
ent and  to  come.  Although  they  are  the  oddest 
of  all  odd  things,  and  the  most  "wonderful  won- 
ders "  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  they  are  as  in- 
tensely interesting,  as  extremely  curious.  To  us, 
it  really  seems  as  if  The  Author  of  all  good, 
had  some  strange  device  in  view,  when  fashion- 
ing their  fantastic  forms,  many  of  which  are 
ultra-grotesque,  while  others,  are  unrivalled  in 
beauty.  I  have  often  noticed,  both  with  ama- 
teurs and  professionals,  a  strong  desire  to  linger 
around  them,  longer  than  with  many  other 
things,  more  gaudy  and  gay,  bloomed  they 
never  so  grandly. 

The  miscellaneous  subjects  under  notice 
chiefly  belong  to  eight  remarkable  Families — or 
Natural  Orders;  to  wit: — Cactacese,  Ficoideae, 
Crassulaceas,  Hemerocallidese,  Portulacacese,  Eu- 
phorbiaoese,  Bromeliacess,  and  Liliaceae.  Queer 
things  with  queer  names ;  as  in  the  natural  fit- 
ness of  things,  they  should  be.  As  the  writer 
has  hitherto  said  but  little  about  Succulents,  he 
now  courteously  bows  to  all  "good  garden  folk," 
and  while  describing  them,  will  "  a  tale  unfold," 
which,  is  no  fiction. 

He  almost  fancies  there  is  still  the  fragrance  of 
a  night  blooming  cereus,  or  Cereus  grandiflorus ; 
pervading  the  room  in  which  this  is  penned. 
The  flower  is  visible  in  the  mind's  eye  now,  the 
first  one  he  saw  in  bloom.  Although  its  gran- 
deur was  so  evanescent  then,  it  has,  like  an  ever- 
lasting, retained  all  its  pristine  beauty,  and  in 
recollection,  is  still  freshly  blooming.  Well  do  I 
remember  the  time  and  place,  when,  and  where 
it  occurred;  of  which,  more  anon.  I  was  then, 
I  trust,  a  diligent  pupil  of  a  good  man,  and  an 
excellent  Gardener,  whom  I  shall  call  Mr.  Pot- 
marjoram  ;  simply,  because  that  was  not  his 
name.  The  estate,  on  which  he  lived,  was  old, 
extensive  and  entailed.  The  orchards,  kitchen 
gardens,  and  forcing  houses,  were  noted  for  the 
abundance  of  good  things  they  produced  ;  while 


the  park,  and  pleasure  grounds,  were  as  pictur- 
esque, and  gardenesque,  as  Nature  and  art  com- 
bined, could  make  them.  Taking  it  altogether, 
it  was  as  great  and  grand  a  place,  as  could  well 
be  found  in  the  United  Kingdom.  A  specialty, 
of  this  famous  place,  was  Succulents,  or  dry 
stove  plants,  as  they  were  then  generally  called. 

Mesembryanthemums,  at  that  time,  were 
much  admired;  and  let  me  add  —  they  are 
equally  admirable  now.  They  are  as  well  known 
for  their  beautiful  flowers,  many  of  which  are 
conspicuously  high  colored,  as  for  their  very  cu- 
rious habit.  The  genus,  to  which  they  belong, 
is  one  of  the  most  numerous  known.  For  pecu- 
liar effect,  they  are  indispensable,  either  in  pota 
or  beds.  They  are  excellent  plants  to  put  out 
on  warm  sunny  borders,  during  the  Summer 
months.  They  delight  to  bask  on  a  hot,  dry 
bank,  and  in  such  a  situation,  will  flourish  and 
flower,  where  many  other  things  would  fail. 
They  are  also  useful  as  vase,  or  rustic  basket 
plants,  the  sides  of  which  they  drape  charming- 
ly. There  is  a  variegated  kind,  doing  good  ser- 
vice, in  that  way.  M.  edule.  is  the  Hottentot  fig, 
and  is  edible,  as  its  name  indicates.  The  sable  epi- 
cures of  South  Africa,  seem  to  prize  it  highly. 
Probably,  the  most  generally  known  kind,  is  the 
popular  annual,  M.  crystallinum,  or  ice  plant,  a 
native  of  Greece.  M.  calamiforme,  and  multi- 
forme, are  remarkable  kinds. 

Little  did  the  writer  then  dream  that  he  would 
afterwards  see  them  in  myriad  masses,  creeping 
up  the  side  of  Table  Mountain,  or  spreading 
wildly  over  the  sandy  plains,  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  ;  with  other  plants  he  has  yet  to 
mention. 

Well,  let  the  supposition  with  the  reader  be, 
that  at  a  certain  time,  and  place,  before  al- 
luded to,  the  writer  is  pottering  among  them  and 
their  curious  congeners,  where  they  most  do 
congregate.  As  he  saw  them  at  that  time,  in 
the  Succulent-house,  so  will  he  speak  of  them 
now. 

There  stood  the  big  American  Aloes,  Agave 
Americana,  or  Century  plants,  so-called.  They 
were  quietly  biding  their  time,  as  ancient  aloea 
do.  The  stolid,  sturdy  centenarians,  were  prob- 
ably the  two  oldest  inhabitants  of  the  antiquated 
community,  of  which  they  had  long  been  hon- 
ored members.  While  slowly  accumulating 
years,  they  had  gathered  strength  and  stability. 
And  what  a  glorious  end  awaited  them.  To 
raise  a  lofty  floriferous  monument  before  passfng 
away,     and    then   to   repose    calmly    beneath, 


1877.] 


AND  HOR  TIG  UL  T ORIS  T. 


221 


wrapped  in  a  shroud  of  their  own  flowers.  Thus, 
terminates  such  agave  existence;  in  fructification 
and  death.  A.  vivipara,  A.  lurida,  A.  yucesefolia, 
and  A.  flaccida,  were  the  magnates,  grandees, 
and  distinguished  plant  nobles,  which  composed 
the  Agave  assembly.  Fourcroya  gigantea, 
was  a  real  Goliath  in  stature,  with  F.  rigida,  as 
armor-bearer,  in  front.  They  each  had  a  stern, 
time-defying  look,  as  if  good  for  a  thousand 
years.  Adjacent,  like  its  illustrious  namesake, 
Buonaparte,  stood  Buonapartea  juncea ;  as  firm 
and  inflexible,   as    becomes   one  with  such  a 


name. 


(To  be  continued.) 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Grape  Culture  in  England. — England  was 
at  one  time  famous  for  its  vineyards  and  its 
wines.  The  great  battle  of  Hastings,  which  de- 
termined the  conquest  by  the  Normans,  was 
fought  in  a  vineyard.  When  France  was  invaded 
by  England,  the  superior  article  of  Continental 
Europe,  put  down  English  made  wine,  and  not 
any  peculiar  change  of  climate.  The  Marquis 
of  Bute,  in  Glamorganshire,  is  now  growing 
grapes  as  formerly. 

A  poet,  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  tells  us — 

Every  man  eat.  in  safety, 
Und«r  his  own  Vine,  what  he  planted; 
And  sang  the  merry  songs  of  peace 
To  all  his  neighbours. 

Royal  Patronage  of  Horticulture. — Alluding 
to  the  fact  that  for  the  first  time  in  many  years 
the  exhibition  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  So- 
ciety was  a  great  success,  an  English  eotempo- 
rary,  (name  lost,)  says: — "The  Scientific  Com- 
mittee was  specially  honored — its  President, 
Dr.  Hooker,  who  is  also  the  President  of  the 
Royal  Society,  accompanying  the  Royal  party 
and  explaining  the  more  noteworthy  objects  ex- 
hibited. The  Queen  on  leaving,  expressed  her 
pleasure  at  her  visit,  and  we  do  not  think  these 
were  mere  words  of  courtesy,  for  Her  Majesty 
looked  pleased  ;  and  undoubtedly  the  horticul- 
turists, who  yield  to  no  class  of  Her  Majesty's 
subjects  in  their  loyalty,  were  delighted  to  see 
among  them  once  more  their  Queen,  and  to  feel 
that  their  efforts  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  the 
glories  and  wonders  of  creation,  and  to  con- 
tribute to  the  material  and  mental  welfare  of 
mankind,  are  still  sanctioned  and  appreciated 
as  they  were  in  the  days  when  the  broad-minded 


Prince  Consort  had  the  sagacity  to  include  Hor- 
ticulture among  those  arts  and  sciences  which, 
in  the  interests  of  the  nation  at  large,  he  did  so 
much  to  promote." 

We  copy  this  for  the  sentiments  it  expresses 
in  regard  to  social  leadership  in  good  enter- 
prises. We  are  apt  to  laugh  at  the  idea  that  the 
smile  or  the  frown  of  any  one  human  being 
should  make  all  the  difference  between  success 
or  failure  in  a  horticultural  or  any  other  exposi- 
tion ;  but  we  must  not  forget  that  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  average  human  mind  that  longs  for 
a  leader.  So  long  as  it  is  satisfied  that  the  lead- 
er ought  or  deserves  to  be  in  power,  it  loves  to 
follow.  The  average  of  human  beings  are  really 
too  languid  to  think  deeply  for  themselves  about 
everyday  affairs,  and  though  they  read  regularly 
the  news,  turn  with  relief  to  the  "editorial," 
for  the  comments  on  which  they  ought  to  be 
able  to  have  as  good  ideas  for  themselves. 

So,  in  all  these  good  works  some  one  must 
lead,  and  it  will  be  to  the  everlasting  honor  of 
Prince  Albert  that  he  set  this  good  example. 
We  have  no  social  aristocratic  classes  here,  but 
everybody  acknowledges  and  worships  the  aris- 
tocracy of  intelligence,  and  it  does  not  take  long 
for  this  to  be  acknowledged,  and  for  the  pos- 
sessor to  be  in  some  sort  made  to  know  that  he 
fills  this  elevated  seat  in  public  estimation. 
When  to  this  is  added  material  power,  no  false 
delicacy  should  prevent  its  possessor  from  "  lead- 
ing off." 

Horticulture  in  America  is  just  now,  especi- 
ally, suffering  from  the  want  of  leaders  among 
those  who  worthily  possess  influence,  if  they 
would  only  use  it. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Jacob  Moore. — 

"Wichita,  Kansas,  May  11,  1877. 

"Mr.  Editor: — So  you  don't  like  the  tone  of 
my  last  communication,  on  the  subject  of  patent- 
ing new  plants.  You  must  remember  that  there 
are  occasions  when  it  is  right  and  proper  to  give 
vent  to  a  righteous  indignation,  and  when  it  is 
wrong  to  gloss  over  evil-doing  with  euphemistic 
phrases.  Such  an  occasion  is  presented  by  the 
position  taken  by  the  editors  of  many  of  the 
principal  horticultural  and  agricultural  papers 
on  this  subject.  Pretending  to  desire  advance- 
ment in  horticulture,  they  oppose  the  very 
means  of  making  such  advancement — by  deny- 
ing the  plant  originator  the  right  to  the  legal 
protection  necessary  to  enable  him  to  secure 
compensation.  Therefore,  I  have  written  you 
and  other  editors,  and  I  hope  not  in  vain. 

"  With  regard  to  the  practicability  of  the  pro- 
tective measures  proposed,  you  will   remember 


222 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


that  I  once  sent  you  a  paper  showing  plainly 
their  practicability,  and  you  refused  to  publish 
it.  Also,  you  refused  to  publish  my  reply  to 
Jacob  Stauffer,  the  solicitor  of  patents,  who  op- 
posed the  proposed  protection  in  the  Monthly. 
Therefore,  I  am  led  to  doubt  that  you  desire 
to  show  fair  play  to  both  parties.  If,  by  the 
word  practicability,  you  mean  the  framing  of  a 
law  which  no  one  can  break,  of  course  the  case 
is  granted,  as  there  never  was  a  law  made  yet, 
which  was  not  transgressed  by  some  one.  But 
the  majority  of  people  abide  by  the  laws,  and 
there  is  just  as  much  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
majority  of  people  would  regard  the  proposed 
enactment  as  any  other  protection. 

"Jacob  Moore." 

[Mr.  Jacob  Moore  writes  occasionally  as  if  we 
had  some  special  ill-will  against  him,  but  he  is 
much  mistaken.  Some  time  since  he  wrote  that 
he  had  "  now  done  with  us  and  our  likes  for 
ever,"  and  we  were  therefore  surprised  at  receiv- 
ing this  letter  from  him.  As,  however,  it  is  a 
sign  of  returning  good  sense,  and  not  very  long, 
we  let  Mr.  Moore  be  heard,  merely  taking  out  a 
paragraph  referring  to  another  magazine,  with 
which  we  have  nothing  to  do.  In  future,  how- 
ever, we  shall  prefer  if  Mr.  Moore  will  choose 
other  channels  as  vent  holes  fur  his  righteous 
indignation.  The  Gardener's  Monthly  has  no 
taste  for  that  class  of  literature,  "righteous"  or 
otherwise.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Origin  of  the  Name  "  Walnut." — Walnut,  a 
name  that  occurs  with  little  variation  in  the 
German  and  Swedish  dialects,  is  from  the  "An- 
glo-Saxon "  wealh-knut'"  the  foreign  nut; 
"wealh "  was  a  term  our  rude  forefathers  ap- 
plied to  anything  foreign,  hence  "  wealh-men," 
(Welshmen)  the  Celtic  race  formerly  inhabiting 
this  country,  but  driven  by  them  into  the  fast- 
nesses of  the  Welsh  mountains.  The  etymology 
of  this  word  implies  that  the  same  people  were 
acquainted  with  this  fruit  long  before  the  tree 
was  introduced.  Like  many  other  fruit-bearing 
trees,  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  introduced  by 
the  Romans,  but  to  have  been  lost  through  the 
neglect  they  received  after  the  departure  of  these 
warlike  people,  and  to  have  been  re-introduced 
by  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages,  who  were 
great  gardeners  and  cultivators. —  Gardener's 
Chronicle. 

The  Age  of  Orange  Trees.— The  Paris  jour- 
nals announce  the  death  of  a  famous  orange 
tree  in  its  4f>5th  year,  known  under  the  name  of 
Grand  Bourbon  or  Grand  Connetable.  In  the 
year  1421  the  Queen  of  Navarro  gave  her  gar- 


dener the  seed  at  Pampeluna.  Thence  sprang 
the  plant,  which  was  subsequently  transported 
to  Chantilly.  In  1532,  however,  the  Constable 
of  Bourbon  (Lord  of  Chantilly)  having  sided 
with  Charles  V.  against  Francis  I.,  his  goods 
were  confiscated,  and  along  with  them  the  or- 
ange tree,  which  was  duly  sent  to  Fontainebleau, 
whence,  in  1684,  Louis  XIV.  transferred  it  to 
Versailles,  where  it  remained  the  largest,  finest, 
and  most  fertile  member  of  the  orangery,  its 
head  being  fifteen  metres  round,  and  the  trunk 
seven  metres  high. — Journal  of  Horticulture. 

Repton's  Tomb. —  Humphrey  Repton,  the 
writer  on  landscape  gardening,  was  buried  at 
Aylsham,  in  Norfolk,  and  the  following  is  hia 
epitaph,  inserted  in  the  wall  of  the  church  close 
to  the  chancel  door: — 

"Not,  like  Egyptian  tyrants,  consecrate, 
Unmixed  with  others,  shall  my  dust  remain; 
But  blending,  niould'ring,  sinking  into  earth, 
Mine  shall  give  form  and  colour  to  the  Rose  ; 
And  while  its  vivid  blossoms  cheer  mankind, 
Its  fragrant  odurs  shall  ascend  to  heaven  !" 

A  small  railed-in  garden  is  in  front  of  the  tab- 
let, and  this  garden  is  always  kept  bright  and 
orderly  by  cousins  of  Mr.  Repton,  who  live  in 
Aylsham. — Journal  of  Horticulture. 

Exglish  National  Emblematic  Plants. — 
Some  notes  on  these  were  in  this  Journal  a  few 
weeks  since,  and  I  hoped  to  see  others,  but  aa 
they  have  not  appeared,  I  copy  the  following 
from  a  MS.  volume.  Many  centuries  before  the 
wars  which 

"  Sent  between  the  red  Rose  and  the  white, 
A  thousand  souls  to  death  and  deadly  night,'1 

the  flower  had  been  famous  in  our  island,  and 
its  emblem  was  and  is  the  Rosa  anglia  alba,  the 
white  English  Rose.  Some  writers  have  thought 
that  the  name  Albion  was  applied  to  our  island 
on  account  of  the  white  roses  it  produced. 

The  Thistle  is  the  emblem  plant  of  Scotland, 
and  if  the  tradition  was  founded  on  fact  it  is  the 
Stemlcss  Thistle,  Cnicus  acaulis.  According  to 
that  tradition  the  Norsemen  would  have  sur- 
prised the  Scotch  clans  in  a  night  attack  if  one  of 
their  spies  had  not  uttered  a  loud  imprecation 
upon  treading  barefooted  upon  one  of  these  This- 
tles. The  clans  dubbed  the  plant  "The  Scotch 
Thistle,"  and  it  was  accepted  as  a  representative 
plant,  and  the  appropriate  complimentary  motto' 
attached,  Nemo  vie.  impune  lacexsel — No  one  in- 
jures me  with  impunity. 

It  is  doubtful  what  plant  was  first  adopted  for 


187?.] 


AND  HOB  TIC  UL  TV  BIS  T. 


223 


Ireland's  national  plant.  Shamrock  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  Irish  '"  Seamrog,"  which  is  applied  to 
many  plants,  as  the  Wood  Sorrel,  Purple  Clover, 
Speedwell  and  Pimpernel. 

The  Irish  are  said  to  have  adopted  the  Sham- 
rock as  a  badge  when  converted  to  Christianity 
in  the  year  433  by  St.  Patrick.  They  adopted 
it  because  he  used  the  three-leafleted  plant  as  an 
illustration  of  the  Trinity. 

St.  Patrick  probably  held  up  Oxalis  acetosella. 
Clover  was  not  introduced  into  Ireland  until  cen- 
turies after  him,  and  the  plant  he  held  up  was 
eaten  by  the  Irish,  which  points  to  the  Oxalis. 

Why  or  when  the  Welsh  adopted  the  Leek  as 
their  national  emblem  is  not  known.  None  of 
their  early  bards  mention  it. 

The  Tudor  colors  were  green  and  white,  and 
these  were  well  represented  by  the  Welshmen  of 
Henry  VII.  's  bodyguard  wearing  a  Leek  in  their 
caps  at  tne  battle  of  Bos  worth.  There  is  in  Wales  a 
tradition  that  the  Saxons  attacked  the  Britons  on 
St.  David's-day  and  put  Leeks  in  their  caps  as  a 
distinguishing  badge,  but  the  Britons  proving  vic- 
torious transferred  the  Leeks  into  their  own  caps 
from  the  caps  of  those  they  had  slain  and  taken 
prisoners.  Among  the  Harleian  MSS.  is  a  poem 
referring  to  this  event,  and  adding — 

"  Next  to  the  lion  and  the  unicorn 
The  Leek's  the  fairest  emblem  that  is  worn." 

Some  authorities  state  that  the  Leek  has  be- 
come the  national  plant  of  Wales  because  its 
farmers  from  time  immemorial,  when  they  aid 
each  other  in  plowing,  according  to  a  custom 
termed  Cymbortha,  bring  nothing  but  leeks  for 
their  sustenance,  all  other  requirements  being 
supplied  by  the  farmer  they  are  helping. — G.in 
Journal  of  Horticulture. 

The  Name  "Elm."  —  Elm,  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  "  elm  "  "  ellm,"  or  "  ulme,"  and  the  Dutch 
"  olm."  This  name  occurs  with  slight  variations 
in  all  the  Celtic  dialects.  From  the  fact  that  the 
Elm  rarely  ripens  its  fruit  in  this  country, 
coupled  with  the  resemblance  of  its  name  to  the 
classic  ulmus,  it  is  looked  upon  as  a  doubtful 
native.  The  term  "  Wych  Elm  "  is  supposed  to 
refer  to  its  ancient  use  for  water-pipes,  especially 
in  connection  with  salt-springs,  erroneously 
supposed  to  have  been  called  "  wyes  "  and  "  wics," 
as  in  Nantwich,  &c.  The  writer  is  of  opinion 
that  the  term  "  wych,"  also  referable  to  the  Hazel 
and  the  Mountain  Ash,  is  merely  a  varied  form 
of  "withe" — a  lithe  or  pliant  rod  or  twig. — Gar- 
dener's Chronicle. 


The  Evergreen.— This  is  the  title  of  a  new 
horticultural  magazine  just  started  in  Holland. 
We  commend  the  example  to  those  who  may 
want  to  try  their  luck  at  new  magazines  in  this 
country.  It  has  been  the  practice  in  past  times 
to  take  some  popular  English  magazine  and 
stick  "American"  on  to  the  title.  This  at  once 
stamped  the  experiment  as  lacking  in  original- 
ity, and  predicted  failure  from  the  onset.  We 
have  never  felt  free  to  say  this  on  the  appear- 
ance of  these  ventures,  as  it  might  expose  us  to 
the  charge  of  "  malice  aforethought."  As  there 
are  now  none  in  the  field,  we  may  rather  claim 
generosity  in  offering  this  advice  to  the  next 
comer. 

State  Entomologist  of  Missouri.— In  1868 
this  office  was  established,  and  Mr.  C.  V.  Riley 
appointed  as  Professor.  We  see  it  stated  that 
the  Legislature  has  discontinued  the  office.  It 
is  strange  that  the  Legislature  did  this  thing. 
The  labors  of  Prof.  Riley  have  not  only  been  of 
immense  value  to  the  agriculture  of  the  State 
in  itself,  but  they  have  tended  to  make  the  State 
better  known  than  anything  which  could  be 
done.  Even  as  an  advertisement  it  was  one  of 
the  best  investments  the  State  ever  made.  There 
must  be  a  great  dearth  of  intelligent  men  in  the 
Legislature  of  any  influence,  or  some  one  of 
them  would  surely  have  been  able  to  show  this 
fact  to  the  others.  Let  us  hope  that  the  next 
Legislature  will  see  their  error  and  retrieve  the 
blunder  they  have  no  doubt  unwittingly  made. 

Proceedings  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Hort. 
Society.  From  Mr.  E.  Williams  Montclair, 
Sec'y. — This  is  the  record  of  the  second  annual 
meeting,  and  shows  prosperity.  We  have  been 
anxious  to  know  what  has  been  the  experience 
of  people  with  whitewashed  trees  in  relation  to 
the  fire  blight  in  the  pear,  but  no  one  has  re- 
sponded. In  this  volume  we  note  that  "Mr. 
Collins  had  blight  on  whitewashed  trees  two 
years  in  succession."  It  would  be  very  interest- 
ing to  have  further  particulars.  We  do  not 
know  that  whitewash  is  any  good  in  such 
cases;  but  if  the  disease  comes  from  the  spores 
of  fungi,  working  from  outwards,  inwardly, 
whitewash  might  help  in  destroying  these  spores. 
-Details  of  these  observations  would  help  to  set- 
tle this  point.  What  kind  of  "  blight,"  had  Mr. 
Collins,  and  how  much  of  the  tree  was  white- 
washed? A  full  account  of  Mr.  C.'s  experience 
would  be  thankfully  received  by  us. 


224 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[July, 


The  essays  and  discussion  as  reported  took  a 
wide  range,  and  the  subjects  are,  in  fact,  as  well  as 
name,  truly  horticultural.  Prof.  Thurber  worthily 
fills  the  Presidential  chair. 

New  Professors. — J.  L.  Budd  has  been  select- 
ed as  professor  of  horticulture  in  the  place  va- 
cated by  Prof.  Macafee,  in  Iowa  Agricultural 
College.  Prof.  J.  T.  Rothrock,  well  known  as 
the  botanist  of  the  Wheeler  expedition,  has  been 
selected  for  the  chair  of  botany  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania University.  Prof.  Rothrock  is  doing  his 
best  to  make  botany  popular  among  the  masses 
of  the  people,  by  giving  free  lectures  on  bot- 
any in  the  Horticultural  Hall,  Fairmount  Park, 
which  are  highly  appreciated.  Dr.  J.  Gibbons 
Hunt,  eminent  as  a  botanist,  especially  in  con- 
nection with  microscopic  work,  has  been  elected 
to  the  newly  founded  chair  of  histology  and  mi- 
croscopic technology  in  the  Philadelphia  Acade- 
my of  Natural  Sciences.  In  the  newly  formed 
State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  Pennsylvania, 
Mr.  Thomas  Meehan  has  been  elected  professor 
of  botany,  and  Mr.  Josiah  Hoopes  professor  of 
Horticulture.  Mr.  Hoopes  has  been  one  of  the 
most  vigorous  Presidents  of  the  State  Pomologi- 
cal  Society,  which  practically  takes  under  its 
protection  all  the  more  solid  branches  of  Horti- 
culture, and  is  well  known  in  connection  with 
valuable  horticultural  services,  and  we  are  pleased 
to  record  this  tribute  to  his  good  work. 

History  of  the  United  States.  By  Josiah 
W.  Leeds.  Philadelphia :  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co. 
— Friend  Leeds  is  well  known  to  our  readers,  as 
a  contributor  to  the  pages  of  the  magazine. 
Like  Mr.  Parkman  and  other  of  our  friends  to 
whom  Horticulture  is  a  pleasant  pastime,  he 
loves  literary  work,  and  is  a  close  student  in 
all  intelligent  pursuits. 

In  regard  to  histories,  it  makes  little  differ- 
ence how  impartial  an  author  may  be  by  na- 
ture, it  is  almost  impossible  for  him  to  write 
except  from  a  particular  standpoint,  and  hence 
the  truths  of  history  can  only  be  evolved  when 
writers  of  different  dispositions  take  to  writing 
of  the  same  thing.  Almost  all  histories  show 
the  progress  which  nations  make  as  the  result 
of  the  wars  they  have  gone  through.  Josiah 
Leeds,  belonging  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  and 
a  "man  of  peace,"  rather  loves  to  show  what 
has  resulted  from  art  and  industry  as  applied  to 
peaceful  pursuits  ;  and,  perhaps,  what  has  been 
retarded  by  war.  This  is  not  a  line  conscious, 
perhaps,  to  his  own  mind,  but  it  is  not  difficult 


to  trace   through   these   pages  the  influence  of 
the  peace  principle. 

Well,  Horticulture  is  especially  a  child  of 
Peace,  and  we  may  welcome  all  that  helps  to  de- 
velope  and  strengthen  its  relations ;  and  we  hope 
Friend  Leeds'  book  will  have  a  wide  sale.  We 
usually  leave  prices  to  the  advertisers,  but  in 
view  of  our  obligations  to  the  author's  excellent 
communications  to  our  pages,  may  be  pardoned 
for  saying  that  this  volume  costs  $1.75. 

A  Dahlia  Catalogue. — Many  of  our  florists 
devote  themselves  to  specialties— here  is  a  very 
full  catalogue  wholly  devoted  to  Dahlias,  from 
Samuel  G.  Stone,  of  Charlestown,  Mass. 

A  Hardy,  Herbaceous  Catalogue. — Messrs. 
Woolson  &  Co.  will  devote  themselves  wholly  to 
hardy,  herbaceous  plants.  This  catalogue  is  one 
of  the  few  which  is  minute  in  its  accuracy.  Mr. 
G.  C.  Woolson  was  formerly  associate  editor  of 
the  American  Agriculturist,  and  is  a  botanist  of 
high  character. 

The  London  Garden. — It  has  been  said  in 
some  quarters  that  gardening  is  not  as  flourish- 
ing in  England  as  it  was  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  but  by  the  magnificent  success  of  the  Lon- 
don Garden,  now  in  its  tenth  year,  there  can  be 
no  falling  off  in  the  lovers  of  "  the  garden," 
whatever  there  may  be  of  gardening.  We  have 
before  us  a  bound  volume  from  the  publisher, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  Falconer,  of 
the  Cambridge  Botanical  Garden,  to  whom  we 
have  already  been  under  obligations  for  some  of 
the  best  contributions  to  our  magazine. 

Durand's  Strawberry  Culture. —  Mr.  Du- 
rand  is  one  of  the  most  successful  of  living 
strawberry  cultivators,  and  in  this  little  tract  he 
gives  the  full  details  of  his  successful  practice. 
The  pamphlet  has  no  price  or  place  of  publica- 
tion attached  to  it,  so  we  suppose  it  is  intended 
for  free  distribution  among  Mr.  Durand's  cus- 
tomers. 


SCB APS  AND  QUERIES. 


Tumble  Weed. — Mr.  Sereno  Watson,  the  dis- 
tinguished botanist  of  Clarence  King's  expedi- 
tion, kindly  furnishes  the  following  note : — 

"As  to  the  '  tumble  weed,'  your  correspondent, 
Mr.  Wier,  describes  the  habit  of  the  thing  very 
well;  but  it  is  the  common  Amarantus  albus,  L." 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST, 


DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


AUGUST,  1877. 


Number  224. 


LOWER  GARDEN  AND  PLEASURE  EfROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


It  is  no  wonder  the  Pampas  grass  increases  in 
popularity  —  there  is  scarcely  anything  more 
charming  in  an  American  garden  than  a  rich 
stock  of  Pampas  at  this  season.  Then  the  flowers 
come  in  so  well  for  parlor  decoration  in  Winter. 
For  this  purpose  they  should  be  cut  before  they 
are  quite  mature,  and  rolled  in  paper  till  wanted. 
The  Tritoma  and  the  Gladiolus  are  the  gems  of 
the  garden  at  this  season.  It  is  hard  to  tell 
what  we  should  do  without  them  —  nothing 
but  fall  back  on  the  leaf  plants.  But  those  who 
have  been  cultivating  herbaceous  plants  will 
soon  be  about  rewarded,  for  large  numbers  of 
Autumn  blooming  kinds  are  starting  to  flower 
now. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  month,  and  in  Sep- 
tember, evergreen  hedges  should  receive  their 
last  pruning  till  the  next  Summer.  Last  Spring, 
and  in  the  Summer  when  a  strong  growth  re- 
quired it,  the  hedge  has  been  severely  pruned 
towards  the  apex  of  the  cone-like  form  in  which 
it  has  been  trained,  and  the  base  has  been  suf- 
fered to  grow  any  way  it  pleases.  Now  that,  in 
turn,  has  come  under  the  shears  so  far  as  to  get 
it  into  regular  shape  and  form.  It  will  not  be 
forgotten  that,  to  be  very  successful  with  ever- 
green hedges,  they  ought  to  have  a  growth  at  the 
base  of  at  least  four  feet  in  diameter. 

Transplanting  evergreens  in  August  and  Sep- 
tember, cannot  well  be  done  in  any  case  where 
the  trees  have  to  be  packed  in  boxes  or  bales  to 


ceach  their  destination  ;  as  the  chances  of  dry- 
ing up  in  such  hot  weather  as  we  usually  get  in 
these  months  overbalances  the  advantages  of  the 
rapid  push  of  new  fibres  by  the  trees  at  this  sea- 
son; but  where  the  trees  are  at  hand,  and  can 
be  taken  from  one  place  at  once  and  put  into 
another,  all  in  the  same  day,  they  do  remark- 
ably well ;  but  very  much  of  the  success  will 
depend  on  how  the  trees  are  dug  and  re-planted. 

In  digging  up  trees  great  improvements  have 
been  made  over  former  -years.  The  great 
anxiety  to  save  a  "ball  of  earth  "  has  given  way 
to  great  care  to  save  all  the  roots.  All  the  use 
there  can  be  to  a  "  ball  of  earth  "  is  to  keep  the 
roots  moist  during  removal ;  but  in  most  cases — 
indeed  in  all  except  very  small  specimens — it  ia 
found  in  practice  that  the  preservation  of  young 
roots  in  the  ball,  is  at  the  expense  of  the  numer- 
ous fine  fibrous  roots  necessarily  left  outside. 
The  digging-fork  is  now  the  chief  tool  used  in 
digging  up  trees;  and  the  distance  from  the 
trunk  at  which  the  digging  up  is  commenced  is 
much  farther  off.  After  a  circle  two  feet  deep  i3 
dug  around  a  tree,  a  few  thrusts  of  the  digging- 
fork  under  the  ball  lifts  the  whole  mass  over,  and 
the  soil  can  then  be  entirely  shaken  away. 

In  re-planting,  it  is  desirable  to  use  soil  for 
filling  in  that  is  nearly  dry,  and  will  crush  to  a 
fine  powder;  it  will  then  fall  in  all  around  the 
root  spaces,  and  the  harder  it  is  tramped  or 
crushed  in,  the  finer  it  will  break  and  cover  up 
the  young  rootlets.  If  the  ground  or  weather  be 
very  dry,  water  may  be  poured  in  heavily,  to 
assist  in   packing  the  soil  well  about  the  roots, 


22fi 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


letting  it  soak  away  well  before  filling  in 
the  remaining  soil — and  putting  in  this  soil  very 
loosely,  and  without  pressure,  according  to 
directions  we  have  so  often  given  in  these  pages. 


COMMUNICA  7  JONS. 


THE  AILANTHUS. 

BY   J.  STAUFFER,    LANCASTER,   PA. 

I  always  admire  charity,  long-suffering  and 
kindness,  even  should  I,  like  many  others,  some- 
times come  short  in  the  observance.  Gen.  W.  H. 
Noble,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  in  the  last  (May) 
number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  on  page  132, 
speaks  a  kind  word  for  the  abused  Ailanthus. 
To  this  I  do  not  object;  but  to  answer  a  question 
regarding  the  two  species  of  Ailanthus,  about 
which  he  seems  mystified,  he  says :  "  Johnson 
says  there  are  two  species,  the  glandulosa,  the 
other  variety  is  not  named  or  described,"  adding, 
"And  I  think  it  must  be  in  this  country,  and 
bear  the  character  I  am  about  to  give."  Which 
see.  In  Johnson's  Gardener's  Dictionary  (Lon- 
don, 1870),  I  find  this  brief  statement:  "Ailan- 
thus from  ailanto,  tree  of  heaven ;  referring  to 
its  lofty  growth.  Nat.  Ord.  Xanthoxyls  (Xan- 
thoxylacete)  Linn.  23  Polygamia,  11  Dioecia.  De- 
ciduous trees,  cuttings  of  the  roots ;  sandy  loam 
and  peat.  Ailanthus  excelsa  (lofty,  50,  Green, 
E.  Indies,  1800.  Stove.  Ailanthus  glandulosa, 
(glandulous),20.  Green,  China,  1751.  Hardy."  I 
copy  the  record  as  I  find  it,  as  the  late  edition  is 
in  few  hands.  I  will  add  from  other  sources 
that  in  the  A.  excelsa,  or  E.  Indian,  the  leaves 
are  abruptly  pinnated,  leaflets  serrated ;  while 
in  the  glandulosa  the  leaves  are  pinnated,  with 
an  odd  one  terminal,  leaflets  toothed  at  base, 
teeth  glandular.  It  should  properly  be  called 
"Ailantus,"  derived  from  Ailanto,  the  name  of 
one  species  in  the  Moloccas ;  hence  it  would 
seem  writing  it  Ailanthus  is  not  correct.  The 
A.  glandulosa  is  very  common  in  Lancaster 
county,  and  looks  like  a  gigantic  Stag's-horn 
Sumach,  its  very  long  leaves,  from  one  to  two 
feet,  unequally  pinnated,  and  its  terminating 
pedicel  of  numerous  flowers,  which  exhale  a  dis- 
agreeable odor,  are  conspicuous.  Dr.  Darlington 
says  of  this  Oriental  stranger :  "  It  is  a  real 
nuisance,  and  was  appropriately  named  'Caco- 
dendron'  (evil  or  pernicious  tree),  by  an  eminent 
botanist,"  and  he,  Dr.  D.,  condemns  its  odor  and 


tendency  to  send  out  suckers  broad-cast,  and  ad- 
vises it  to  be  cut  down  near  dwellings.  He 
admits  its  rapid  growth  and  good  quality  in 
making  of  timber. 

The  tree  grows  fast  in  any  soil,  however  poor, 
especially  if  it  be  calcareous.  The  wood  is  hard, 
heavy,  glossy  like  satin,  and  susceptible  of  a 
very  fine  polish.  It  is  said  in  "  France  it  has 
produced  both  male  and  female  flowers,  and 
fruit  twice  in  ten  years."  It  strikes  me  that 
there  is  fruit  as  well  as  flowers  with  us,  on  ma- 
tured trees  every  year.     How  is  that  ? 

I  do  not  think  we  have  the  two  species.  The 
excelsa  is  too  tender  for  our  climate.  There 
ma}'' be  a  variety  of  the  glandulosa,  but  the  mere 
change  of  color  in  the  leaf  hardly  warrants  such 
a  supposition.  The  General  will  excuse  me  by 
quoting  his  concluding  remark,  as  an  apology 
for  this  article.  He  says :  "At  any  rate,  in 
Autumn  they  are  very  marked  ornaments  of  the 
landscape,  and  tower  into  grand  bouquets.  Now, 
are  these  two  varieties  in  this  country,  and  is 
this  one  I  admire,  that  other?  Will  the  Monthly, 
or  some  one  answer,  and  tell  us  its  name?"  As 
that  some  one— one  who  has  given  the  subject  of 
botany  some  attention — I  have  given  the  name 
and  distinction  of  the  two  species.  I  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  General  cannot  mistake  a  Stag- 
horn  Sumach  for  that  other  variety,  the  "Rhus 
typhina,"  L.,  the  fine  purple  cluster  of  fruit  on 
the  fertile  plant  of  which  renders  it  quite  orna- 
mental. The  tree  attains  20  feet,  and  has  20 
pairs  of  lance  oblong  leaflets  two  to  four  inches 
in  length,  common  petiole  one  to  two  feet  long, 
flowers  yellowish  green,  in  thyrsoid  panicles. 
Perhaps  a  closer  inspection  will  determine  the 
matter,  as  there  is  a  general  resemblance  to  a 
casual  observer. 


RHODODENDRON  CALIFORNICUM. 

BY  W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL  DORADO,  CAL. 

Among  the  many  plants  of  California,  there 
are  none  more  deserving  of  cultivation  than 
Rhododendron  Califomicum.  It  is  a  shrub, 
growing  from  three  to  eight  feet  high,  according 
to  situation  ;  in  general  outline  it  resembles  the 
well  known  Eastern  Rhododendron,  Cataw- 
biense.  The  leaves  are  about,  when  full  grown, 
five  inches  long,  in  shape  broadly  lanceolate,  or 
oblong;  in  color  they  are  a  bright,  shiny  green. 
The  flowers,  like  those  of  all  Rhododendrons, 
are  very  handsome.     They  are  borne  in  umbels. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


227 


The  florets  (or  separate  flowers),  are  about  two 
inches  in  diameter.  The  flowers  in  shape  are 
broadly  campanulate,  the  lobes  or  divisions 
being  undulate ;  in  color  they  are  of  a  rosy  pur- 
ple, to  a  clear,  almost  violet  purple;  they  vary 
with  age;  the  upper  lobes  are  yellowish,  or 
cream  color,  spotted  within.  The  stamens  are 
shorter  than  the  corolla,  the  filament  being  in- 
curved. 

Rhododendron  Californicum  is  only  found  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  State.  It  has  one  near 
relation  in  California,  R.  Occidentale,  which  I 
shall  describe  at  another  time.  How  it  will  do 
in  cultivation  I  cannot  say,  but  will  be  a  valu- 
able acquisition,  undoubtedly. 


CERCIS  JAPONICA.-JAPAN  JUDAS  TREE. 

BY  W.  H.  MOON,  MORRISVILLE,  BUCKS  CO.,  PA. 

The  Japan  Judas  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  attractive  of  the  early  flowering  shrubs,  and 
deserves  a  much  more  general  appreciation  and 
use  than  it  has  received.  It  is  a  bush  of  slow 
growth,  attaining  a  height  of  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  in  as  many  years ;  very  symmetrical  and 
compact  in  habit,  which  makes  it  valuable  as  a 
decorative  plant  for  small  yards,  and  does  lessen 
its  value  as  an  ornament  for  large  lawns  or 
parks.  It  differs  greatly  from  the  old  and  well 
known  American  Judas  Tree,  and  is  vastly  supe- 
rior to  it  in  being  dwarf  and  compact  in  habit  of 
growth.  The  flowers  are  larger,  more  thickly  set 
on  the  stem,  and  of  a  much  brighter  and  pret- 
tier color.  The  foliage  is  larger,  darker  green, 
and  much  more  abundant. 

The  flowers  open  about  the  first  of  the  Fifth 
month,  and  are  in  perfection  before  the  fifteenth. 
They  are  small,  with  stems  so  short  as  to  be 
scarcely  visible,  and  borne  in  clusters  or  knots 
all  along  the  branches,  looking  as  though  they 
had  burst  forth  from  the  hard,  apparently  lifeless 
wood.  Every  limb  and  twig  on  the  whole  plant, 
from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  tallest  branches, 
is  then  clothed  with  a  dense  mass  of  bloom  of 
the  brightest  shade  of  rosy  pink,  before  the  leaves 
appear.  When  planted  amidst  evergreens  or 
early  starting  shrubbery  to  supply  a  green  back- 
ground, when  in  full  bloom,  it  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  attractive  and  gorgeous  sights  to  be 
found  among  blooming  shrubs.  The  leaves' 
which  appear  soon  after  the  flowers  are  faded 
are  particularly  pretty,  being  nearly  round  in 
shape,  four  to  six  inches  in  diameter,  thick  and 


leathery,  of  a  rich,  dark  green  color,  and  pro- 
duced in  such  abundance  that  the  bush  appears 
to  be  a  solid  mass  of  verdure,  making  it  an  espe- 
cially attractive  shrub  during  the  Summer,  when 
not  in  bloom. 

It  appears  to  be  generally  hardy  in  the  lati- 
tude of  Philadelphia,  though  the  flower  buds  are 
occasionally  injured  by  very  severe  Winters. 
To  guard  against  this,  a  situation  protected 
from  cutting  winds,  and  where  water  will  not  lie 
around  the  tree,  is  desirable. 

It  has  been  in  this  country  at  least  twenty 
years,  but  the  difficulty  of  propagating  it  is  such 
that  the  market  has  never  yet  been  supplied. 


LAURUS  SASSAFRAS. 


BY   PHILADELPHIA. 


There  was  a  request  made  in  the  Monthly  a 
short  time  ago  for  information  in  regard  to  any 
fine  specimens  of  trees.  I  recently  met  with  a 
very  large  Laurus  sassafras.  It  is  growing  on  a 
farm  rented  by  John  Gaul,  on  Cox's  Lane,  near 
the  Island  Road,  in  the  lower  part  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  circumference  of  the  trunk  at  three 
feet  from  the  ground  is  over  twelve  feet.  The 
tree  itself  is  about  fifty  to  sixty  feet  in  height. 
The  first  branches  are  about  twelve  feet  from 
the  ground,  and  where  they  leave  the  trunk  are 
curiously  flattened,  being  about  nine  inches 
thick  to  two  feet  wide. 

There  are  a  great  many  fine  old  trees  in  that 
section  of  Philadelphia,  and  some  day  I  may 
give  you  particulars  of  more  of  them. 


NOTES  ON  RARE  PLANTS  OF  SOUTHERN 
UTAH. 

BY   A.  L.  SILER,   RANCH,   UTAH. 

You  were  pleased  to  publish  some  notes  in  the 
June  number  of  last  year  on  plants  of  Southern 
Utah,  from  my  pen.     I  will  try  again. 

Spirsea  aespitosa  is  a  low  growing  shrub, 
found  in  the  South-eastern  part  of  Nevada  on 
limestone  rocks,  in  Southern  Utah  and  Northern 
Arizona  on  sandstone,  and  about  Mt.  Nebo,  in 
the  northern  part  of  Utah,  on  limestone  ledges. 
It  is  perfectly  hardy,  evergreen,  growing  to  the 
height  of  two  inches,  hugging  the  face  of  the 
rock.  It  throws  up  flower  stems  four  to  five 
inches    high,   with    very  small    white    flowers. 


228 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


This  shrub  often  covers  seven  feet  square  from  a 
single  root. 

Chilianthus   Cali/ornicus.  —  I    found     a    single 
plant  of  this  growing  on  a  ledge  of  limestone  in 
the  Beaver  Dam  Mountains,  S.  E.  Nevada,  two 
years  ago  last  month.     It  was  then  in  full  leaf 
In  September  following  I  found  the  same  bush 
in  flower,  and  sent  you  flowers  off  it.     I   have 
since  found  it  growing  amongst  the  rocks  on  the 
Saven  river,  about  forty  miles  from  its  source. 
Its  fine  cut  foliage  and  hardiness  will  make  it  a 
desirable  shrub,  if  not  already  introduced.    As  it 
seeds    abundantly,    it  will  be    easily  dissemin- 
ated.   At  the  same  time  that  I  found  the  above 
shrub  in  flower,  September,  1875,  I   found  in   a 
wash  leading  north   from  the  Eio  Virgin,  Chil- 
opsis  linearis  in  full  bloom,  and  they  were  truly 
very  pretty.     On  the  same  day  I  found  a   Nail 
Keg   Cactus,    Cereus  Le  Contei,   about   two   feet 
high  and  16  inches  in  diameter,  in  full  flower. 
These  usually  grow  in  sheltered  situations,  where 
the  north  wind  does  not  strike  them  with  its  full 
force,  and  it  is  interesting  to  see  a  hundred   or 
more  of  them  ranged  along  in  regular  order  just 
under  a  ledge  where  they  can  have  the  warm 
sun,  as  they  face  to  the  south.     Ihey  are  found 
all  sizes,  from  the  size  of  a  tea  cup  to  four  feet 
high,  and  as  large  as  a  flour  barrel.    Owing   to 
the  spines  retaining  their  pinkish  red  color,  and 
being  so  firmly  attached  to  the  base,  they  make 
very  pretty  mantel  ornaments.     I  know  a  lady 
who  has  two  of  them   in  use,  and  has  had  for 
over  a  year,  and  she  tells   me   that  when   they 
begin   to  lose  their  color,  she  sprinkles  them 
with  water,  and  they  are  as  fresh  and  brilliant  as 
ever.  Since  I  have  wandered  off  from  the  shrubs 
to  the  Cactus  (well,  these  are  my  delight),  I  will 
speak  kindly  of  a  few  more  of  these  sharp  fel- 
lows.    Cereus    Engelmannii    is    almost    hardy, 
grows   to   the   height  of  12  to  20  inches,  often 
eight  or  ten  leaves  from  root.    Some  have  black, 
others  cream  colored  spines,  with  scarlet  flowers 
about  three  and  a  half  inches  in  length.     The 
petals  are  very  pretty,  looking  like  the  feathers 
of  a  Yellow-hammer's  tail.    They  have  edible 
fruit,    cool   and   refreshing,  with   a    strawberry 
flavor. 

Echinocaetus  Johnsonii  is  found  only  in  the 
Beaver  Dam  Mountains,  and  south-west  of  them 
they  grow  on  flat  limestone  rocks.  Wherever  a 
handful  of  dirt  can  lodge  you  find  one  of  these. 
They  grow  to  be  six  to  eight  inches  high,  with  a 
diameter  at  the  base  of  about  half  that;  spines 
red  or  yellow.    They  are  very  ornamental.    I 


have  never  found  one  of  them  in  flower.  It  is 
only  very  recently  that  these  have  been  sent 
out. 

Opuntia  rutila,  with  very  long,  hairy-like  white 
spines,  bearing  a  pinkish  purple  flower  as  large 
as  a  large  rose.  This  is  probably  the  only  Opun- 
tia of  any  value  in  this  locality,  and  it  is  a 
beauty  when  in  flower. 

We  have  a  Cactus  that  grows  in  masses  of  from 
three  to  five  hundred,  each  leaf  resembling  the 
cone  of  a  pine  tree;  hence  it  is  called  the  Thou- 
sand flowering  Cone  Cactus.  It  is  perfectly  har- 
dy, with  dark,  blood-red  flowers,  which  are  borne 
in  great  profusion.  I  have  not  been  able  to  get 
it  named  yet. 


SEDUM  GLAUCUM. 


BY   F. 


This  is  a  beautiful  little  carpeting  or  rock  gar- 
den plant,  some  two  inches  high,  of  very  dense 
and  rapid  growth,  and  almost  but  not  quite 
hardy.  It  may  be  wintered  like  Othonna,  under 
stages  or  out-of-the-way  places,  away  from  frost. 
Every  little  bit  grows,  and  as  it  withstands 
drouths  unflinchingly,  it  is  an  oversight  to  omit 
a  panel  of  this  stone  crop  in  the  succulent  beds 
that  are  now  becoming  so  fashionable.  As  a 
carpet  under  isolated  Agaves  in  little  beds,  it  is 
very. applicable,  as  it  covers  the  ground  quite 
neatly,  and  never  deigns  to  raise  its  head  intru- 
sively amongst  the  massive  leaves  of  its  fleshy 
companion. 


A  COUPLE  OF  CALIFORNIA  FRITILLARIAS 
OR  RICE  ROOTS. 

BY   H.,   SAN   JUAN,   CAL. 

F.  lanceolata  is  one  of  the  stateliest  of  its  class, 
and  I  think  the  most  beautiful.  Though  found 
frequently  on  dry  hill-tops,  it  luxuriates  in  warm 
slopes  of  rich,  well-drained  soil.  There  seems  to 
be  two  varieties  as  to  ground  color ;  one  a  yel- 
low, the  other  a  purple,  with  a  plum-like  bloom. 
In  other  respects  they  are  similar,  having  the 
orthodox,  dice-box  shaped  flower,  from  one  to 
one  and  a  half  inches  deep,  and  one  and  a  half  to 
two  inches  in  width.  The  mottling  is  various,  in 
some  appearing  perfectly  checkered,  and  the 
edges  of  the  leaves  of  the  perianth  are  crimped 
and  scalloped.  The  flower  stem  rises  frequently 
to  the  height  of  three  and  a  half  feet,  and  bears 
one  or  more  whorls  of  brightly  shining,  lanceo- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


229 


late  leaflets,  with  similar  leaflets  scattered  up  the 
stem  till  they  run  into  flower  bracts,  from  each 
of  which  hangs  a  blossom.  I  have  counted 
nineteen  blossoms  on  a  single  stem,  and  one 
remarkable  group  I  found,  consisted  of  more 
than  100  plants,  waving  and  glittering  in  the 
sunlight  most  beautifully. 

The  plant  of  F.  parviflora  is  similar  to 
F.  lanceolata,  but  not  so  tall,  and  prefers  moist, 
shady  hill-sides ;  its  flowers  are  saucer  shaped, 
or  rather  wheel  shaped,  sometimes  one  and  a 
half  inches  in  diameter.  The  stalks  seldom  bear 
more  than  ten  flowers.  The  bulbs  of  each  are  of 
a  waxy-white  appearance,  of  conical  shape,  with 
a  flange-like  base,  and  bear  on  their  sides  numer- 
ous balblets  from  the  size  of  a  grain  of  rice  to  a 
pea.  Those  of  F.  lanceolata  frequently  are  an- 
gled and  compressed  curiously  by  the  coarse 
gravel  found  where  they  grow.  The  bulbs  are 
sometimes  two  inches  in  diameter,  though  of- 
tener  one. 


THE  VIBURNUM  PLICATUM. 

BY   GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE. 

I  see  that  nurserymen  say  this  plant  (the  new 
Snowball),  is  very  difficult  to  propagate.  I  have 
not  found  it  so.  I  raised  three  fine  plants  from 
one  small  layer.  But  T  think  it  was  a  two  year 
old  shoot  which  I  laid  down,  and  my  impression 
is  that  no  shoots  came  up  till  the  second  year. 
I  think  if  two  year  old  shoots  are  laid  down,  or 
if  any  shoot  remains  layered  two  years,  well 
formed  roots  will  result.  A  nurseryman  here 
tells  me  he  has  had  like  experience. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Honey  Locust  in  Canada. — This  is  said 
by  the  Toronto  Globe  to  be  rather  too  tender  in 
their  severe  Winters  to  make  a  good  hedge  plant 
in  Canada. 

Abies  Engelmannii. — The  English  papers  con- 
tinue to  discuss  the  differences  between  Abies 
Engelmannii  and  Abies  Menziesii.  Some  say 
that  "  because  it  pushes  out  earlier  than  Abies 
Menziesii,  A.  Engelmanii  is  unfitted  anywhere 
for  the  north  of  Europe."  We  know  of  a  speci- 
men which  is  undoubtedly  A.  Engelmannii,  be- 
cause it  wras  taken  from  an  altitude  of  some  two 
miles    up    the   mountain,   where   A.   Menziesii 


does  not  grow,  and  which  we  examined  in  com- 
pany with  Dr.  Parry  himself  recently,  and  which 
we  are  satisfied  is  hardy  enough  for  any  part  of 
Europe. 

The  Daffodil.— The  old  folks  around  Phila- 
delphia call  this  "butter  and  eggs,"  chiefly  in 
connection  with  the  double  kinds.  There  is, 
after  all,  very  little  beauty  in  a  double  daffodil. 
In  some  flowers  the  florists  have  added  beauty 
by  "doubling"  them  up.  But  the  single  daffodil 
is  much  handsomer  than  its  progeny. 

A  Large  Collection  of  Gladiolus. — We  have 
a  beautiful  colored  plate  of  Gladiolus  from 
Messrs.  Vilmorin,  of  Paris.  This  firm  exhibited 
twelve  hundred  spikes,  ten  of  a  kind,  at  one  of 
the  London  shows  last  year. 

Double  Blossom  Peaches.— We  saw  a  group 
this  Spring  formed  of  four  ornamental  peaches, 
and  nothing  could  be  more  beautiful.  It  had 
the  blood-leaved  and  double  crimson  for  oppo- 
sites,  and  the  double  rose  and  double  white  to 
cross  hands.  These  beautiful  plants  deserve 
wider  encouragement. 

The  Japan  Judas  Tree.— This,  introduced  a 
few  years  ago,  is  becoming  common  in  our  gar- 
dens. It  does  not  grow  so  strong  as  the  Ameri- 
can or  European  species,  but  is  more  floriferous, 
and  is  much  brighter  in  color.  The  leaves  are 
more  "  artistic." 

Hardy  Ericas. — Amongst  hardy  ericaceous 
plants,  we  have  no  prettier  or  more  floriferous 
representative  than  this  European  Heath.  Its 
flowers  are  rosy,  most  profusely  borne,  and  ap- 
pearing in  April,  last  through  May.  It  loves 
partial  shade,  and  is  grateful  for  a  peaty  soil, 
but  neither  is  imperative,  particularly  the  latter, 
for  it  grows  well  in  friable  loam,  and  it  needs  no 
covering  in  Winter.  Its  beauty  and  hardihood 
should  increase  its  patronage.  E.  vagans  and 
E.  (Calluna)  vulgaris  also  stands  well,  but  a  box 
or  frame  around  it,  with  a  few  dry  leaves  thrown 
in,  helps  it  to  keep  a  good  appearance  till  the 
Spring  comes. 

Ehododendrons  at  Boston.— We  understand 
that  the  Ehododendrons  and  Azaleas  of  Mr. 
Hunnewell  were  particularly  fine  in  flower  this 
season.  Mr.  H.  has  done  more  than  any  one  in 
America  to  show  how  to  make  these  beautiful 
native  flowers  successful  in  cultivation. 

Ornamental  Hawtthorns. — Iowa  possesses  se- 
veral varieties  of  native  Hawthorns,  or  Thorn- 


230 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


apples,  all  of  which  are  handsome,  and  well 
worth  cultivating,  not  only  for  their  clusters  of 
sweet  flowers  in  Spring,  but  as  well  also  for  their 
bright  red  and  truly  ornamental  fruits.  The 
trees  themselves  may,  if  cared  for,  be  made  to 
take  on  highly  ornamental  forms,  fit  to  occupy  a 
place  in  any  man's  door-yard.  One  growing  on 
the  grounds  of  the  Agricultural  College,  planted 
five  or  six  years  ago,  is  now  an  object  of  admira- 
tion to  all.  Its  straight  trunk  rises  for  e:ght  feet 
without  a  branch,  and  then  a  beautiful  top 
spreads  suddenly  out  in  an  umbrella-like  form, 
reminding  one  of  some  of  the  trees  which  grow 
in  far-away  lands,  and  with  whose  forms  most  of 
us  are  familiar  only  in  pictures.  But  beauty  is 
not  the  only  value  of  these  trees.  Their  fruits 
are  valuable,  and  under  proper  treatment,  they 
might  be  made  much  more  so.  If  cultivated, 
these  little  apples  are  much  larger  than  in  the 
wild  state.  We  have  some  in  our  collection 
which  are  fully  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter. In  taste  they  are  variable,  and  some 
trees,  even  of  the  same  variety  are  variable  in 
this  respect.  In  general  they  are  considered  too 
small  and  too  seedy  for  use,  but  from  a  very  con- 
siderable personal  examination,  we  are  con- 
vinced, that  in  these  neglected  fruits  we  have  the 
wild  form  from  which,  eventually,  we  shall  de- 
rive something  of  value.  We  shall  have  some  of 
them  tested. — From  the  "Producer" — Horticulture 
conducted  by  Prof.  Bessey. 

Darlingtonia  Californica. — The  finest  speci- 
men of  this  singular  plant  in  Britain  is,  doubtless, 
that  'at  Glasnevin,  whose  flowering  for  the  first 
time  we  had  occasion  to  notice  somewhere  about 
this  time  last  year;  it  is  just  now  showing  flower 
again.  It  was  this  plant  which  furnished  the 
splendidly  developed  pitchers  with  which  the 
President  of  the  Royal  Society  illustrated  his  lec- 
ture, delivered  before  the  British  Association  last 
Autumn  at  Belfast.  Their  dimensions  will  be 
probably  considerably  increased  this  season,  as 
the  plant  has  been  transferred  from  the  pot  in 
which  it  was  growing  to  a  pan  of  large  dimen- 
sions, where  it  will  have  a  larger  feeding  ground 
for  its  roots. — Irish  Farmers'  Gazette. 

Hydrangea  paniculata. — This  Hydrangea, 
says  a  correspondent  of  the  Gardener's  Magazine, 
has  not  had  the  advantage  of  much  puffing,  and 
perhaps  is  none  the  better  for  that  reason;  but 
if  we  take  it  on  its  merits,  it  will  puff  itself,  for 
assuredly  it  is  one  of  the  finest  plants  of  its  class 


introduced  for  many  years  past.  In  growth  and 
readiness  to  flower  it  is  a  perfect  model;  it  is  an 
accommodating  plant  to  force,  and  it  may  be 
flowered  very  late  in  the  year  when  good  things 
are  rather  scarce — that  is  to  say,  at  a  time  when 
first-class  forced  flowers  are  not  up  to  the  mark. 
It  is  a  somewhat  curious  plant,  though  a  genuine 
Hydrangea.  The  leaves  are  like  those  of  a  de- 
ciduous Viburnum,  or  perhaps  still  morelike  those 
of  Deutzia  scabra.  The  flowers  come  in  great  pani- 
cles, green  at  first,  afterwards  white.  If  well 
grown,  the  panicles  are  of  enormous  size,  and 
last  a  long  time  pure  and  fresh,  and  look  as 
much  like  freshly  and  exquisitely  made  wax 
flowers  as  can  be  imagined.  I  have  been 
fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  good  stock  of  this 
fine  plant,  but  I  really  wish  I  had  ten  times  as 
many. 

Californian  Conifers. — We  were  at  the  height 
of  about  5000  feet  above  the  sea,  in  the  finest 
zone  of  the  grandest  Conifers  in  the  world. 
There  were  the  Pitch  Pine,  or  Pinus  ponderosa, 
the  Sugar  Pine  (P.  Lambertiana),  the  white 
Cedar  (Libocedrus  decurrens),  and  the  Abies 
Douglasii,  the  famous  Douglas  Fir.  The  Sugar 
Pine  is  remarkable  for  the  size  of  its  cones,  which 
I  have  picked  up  more  than  16  inches  in  length, 
and  which  may  be  well  described  as  hanging 
like  ornamental  tassels  from  the  ends  of  the 
branches.  The  timber  of  this  tree  is  said,  upon 
good  authority,  to  be  the  best  in  California,  and 
its  size  gigantic,  being  not  unfrequently  300  feet 
high,  and  from  7  to  10  feet  in  diameter. — "  Over 
the  Sea  and  Far  Away,"  by  T.  W.  Hinchliff,  M.  A., 
F.  R.  G.  S. 

Propagation  of  Exochorda  grandiflora. — It 
may  interest  some  of  your  readers  who  are  fond 
of  beautiful  flowering  shrubs  to  learn  that  the 
difficulty  hitherto  existing  in  the  propagation  of 
that  most  graceful  growing  and  ornamental 
flowering  shrub,  Exochorda  or  Spiraea  grandi- 
flora, has  at  last  been  almost  overcome  by  a 
French  horticulturist,  Monsieur  J.  Goujon,  who 
writes  to  one  of  the  French  horticultural  papers 
to  say  that  the  only  way  satisfactorily  to  propa- 
gate this  beautiful,  hardy  shrub,  which  is  not 
near  as  often  seen  in  collection  as  it  should  be,  is 
by  grafting  bits  of  it  on  pieces  of  its  own  roots  as 
in  the  case  of  Tecomas,  Glycines,  &c.  The  end  of 
winter  or  commencement  of  Spring  seems  to 
Monsieur  Goujon  the  most  suitable  time  for  put- 
ting in  the  grafts. — Gardener'a  Rrcord. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


231 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


CORNUS     MASCULA    AUREA    ELEGANTISSIMA.— We 

have  already  noted  a  beautiful  colored  plate  is 
given  in  the  Florist  and  Pomologist.  The  leaves 
are  scarlet,  gold  and  green,  and  if  it  will  always 
come  like  this,  will  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
things  grown. 

The  Yellow  Winter  Aconite.— Those  who 
can  get  a  few  roots  of  this  interesting  little  plant, 
will  find  it  a  treasure  if  kept  in  a  somewhat 
sheltered  place.  Long  before  the  snow-drop 
comes  they  are  in  flower.  We  have  seen  them 
in  gardens  in  bloom  in  February. 

Iris  Iberica. — Most  of  the  Iris  are  Summer 
flowers,  and  very  pretty  Summer  flowers  they 
are  ;  but  the  Spanish  Iris,  Iris  Iberica,  comes  in 
with  the  Lilac.  It  is  a  dwarf  kind,  and  though 
not  so  bright  in  color  as  some  others,  will  bear 
inspection. 

Ajuga  reptans.— It  is  not  many  plants  that 
will  thrive  well  under  the  deep  shade  of  trees. 
The  Vinca  minor  is  one  of  the  best.  This  is  the 
common  "  Myrtle  Periwinkle."  The  Lysimachia 
nummularia  does  very  well  if  the  ground  is  not 
too  dry.  This  is  known  as  "  Moneywort,"  a 
name  for  which  either  the  round  leaves  or 
golden  flowers  well  fit  it.  Another  good  thing 
not  so  well  known  is  the  Ajuga  reptans.  It 
thrives  admirably  in  our  American  climate 
under  the  shade  of  trees,  and  the  pretty  blue 
flowers  in  May  add  to  its  interest. 

Exochorda  grandiflora. — We  have  given  an 
occasional  notice  of  this  shrub,  and  as  some 
interest  has  been  excited  by  recent  inquiries,  we 
give  the  following  account,  which  recently  ap- 
peared in  the  Garden,  on  the  occasion  of  a  pretty 
colored  plate.  The  flowers  are  white,  and  though 
we  have  many  white  blooming  hardy  shrubs  in 
May,  this  has  a  character  peculiarly  its  own. 
It  seems  to  thrive  very  well  in  our  climate : 
"Although  this  hadsome  hardy  deciduous  shrub 
has  been  in  cultivation  in  this  country  for  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  it  has  not  received  the 
attention  it  deserves,  and  is  still  very  rarely  seen 
in  our  gardens.  It  is  one  of  the  numerous  or- 
namental shrubs  introduced  from  China  by 
Mr.  Fortune,  who  first  found  it  in  North  Chiria 
in  1845,  and  in  the  following  year  he  collected 
fruiting  specimens  of  it  in  the  Che-Kiang  hills 
Mr.  Fortune  took  it  to  be  a  species  of  Amelan- 


chier,  and  sent  seeds  of  it  to  Messrs.  Standish 
and  Noble,  of  the  Bagshot  Nurseries,  under  the 
name  of  A.  racemosa.  It  certainly  bears  a  gen- 
eral resemblance  to  the  genus  in  question,  espe- 
cially in  its  flowers,  but  it  differs  widely  in  the 
structure  of  the  latter.  The  exact  date  of  its 
introduction  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain, 
but  it  appears  to  have  been  first  exhibited  in 
1854,  and  the  same  year  it  was  figured  in  the 
Botanical  Magazine,  under  the  name  of  Spiraea 
grandiflora.  But  the  general  aspect  of  this 
shrub  is  so  different  from  most  of  the  Spiraeas, 
and  the  flowers  so  much  larger,  that,  indepen- 
dently of  less  obvious  characters,  it  possesses 
some  claims  to  generic  rank.  It  was  Dr.  Lind- 
ley  [Gardener's  Chronicle,  1858,  p.  925),  who  gave 
it  the  name  which  it  now  bears  ;  and  writing  at 
that  date,  he  speaks  highly  of  its  merits.  One 
character,  which  specially  recommends  this 
shrub,  is  its  early  and  long-flowering  season, 
from  early  in  April,  onwards.  It  is  a  very  dis- 
tinct shrub,  and  perfectly  hardy  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  London,  flowering  profusely  on  warm 
soils  with  gravelly  bottoms.  Like  some  of  the 
shrubby  Spiraeas  it  requires  a  little  pruning  and 
trimming  to  keep  it  neat.  It  is  of  bushy  habit, 
and  grows  to  a  height  of  8  or  9  feet,  and  proba- 
bly higher  under  favorable  conditions.  There  is 
a  plant  of  it  in  the  collection  of  shrubby  Bosa- 
cea?  in  the  pleasure  grounds  at  Kew,  the  main 
branches  of  which  are  from  2  in.  to  3  in.  in 
diameter  at  the  base.  Its  botanical  affinities  are 
with  the  genera  Stephanandra,  Kerria,  and  Bho- 
dotypus,  all  natives  of  the  same  region." 


Triteleia  uniflora. — Our  Californian  bulbs 
seem  to  be  entering  gaily  into  the  pleasures  of 
English  gardening.  This  is  what  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  says  of  one  of  them  :  "  Some  of  the 
most  striking  beds  of  Spring  flowers  in  Mr.  Barr's 
gardens  at  Tooting  are  those  planted  with  Trite- 
leia uniflora.  This  bulbous  plant  is  perfectly 
hardy,  and  for  several  weeks  during  the  Spring 
produces  a  mass  of  flowers  which  cannot  fail 
to  be  admired.  Where  the  bulbs  are  planted 
closely  together  after  the  manner  of  Crocuses,  a 
perfectly  level  and  dense  mass  of  flowers  is  pro- 
duced, which  resists  the  effects  of  inclement 
weather.  When  thus  grown,  -and  when  the 
beds  are  seen  from  a  distance,  their  appearance 
is  white — almost  like  a  covering  of  snow.  A 
distant  variety  of  this  plant  is  T.  uniflora  lila- 
cina,  which  is  highly  attractive  when  cultivated 
in  pots." 


232 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[August, 


Japanese  Birches. — Mr.  Maule  of  the  Bristol 
Nurseries,  has  been  good  enough  to  send  us  for  de- 
termination specimens  of  two  Japanese  Birches, 
which  from  their  large  (male)  catkins  and  hand- 
some appearance  are  worthy  attention.  One,  an 
upright  grower,  with  the  young  shoots  brownish 
and  dotted  with  resinous  dots,  with  glabrous 
ovate  leaves  gradually  tapering  to  a  long  point 
or  acumen,  with  rather  closely  set  prominent 
nerves,  and  irregularly  serrated  leaves,  and  with 
male  catkins  2h  inches  long,  is,  we  believe,  the 
B.  utilis  of  Don,  or  rather  that  form  of  it  Avhich 
Kegel  calls  B.  Bhajapaltra,  Wall.,var.subcordata. 
We  prefer  to  use  the  name  utilis  because  it  is  the 
earlier  name,  and  one  not  so  uncouth  to  English 
ears.  For  garden  purposes  the  varietal  name, 
B.  subcordata,  would  perhaps  be  the  most  con- 
venient. The  second  is  a  weeping  form, with  the 
young  shoots  brownish,  sprinkled  with  resinous 
dots.  The  young  leaves  are  obliquely  ovate  cor- 
date, rather  shortly  acuminate,  serrate,  thinly 
beset  with  pale  appressed  hairs,  especially  along 
the  nerves,  and  covered  on  the  lower  surface 
with  small  circular  glandular  scales.  The  male 
catkins  are  nearly  3  inches  long.  This  second 
form  we  refer  to  B.  ulmifolia,  var.  costata,which 
might  for  garden  purposes  be  called  simply 
B.  costata. — Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Oxalis  enneaphylla.  Nat  ord.,  Geraniacea?. 
—  In  the  "Flora  Antarc:ica"  Dr.  Hooker  des- 
cribes this  plant  as  the  pride  of  the  Falkland  Is- 
lands, where  it  grows  in  such  profusion  a.t  Berke- 
ley Sound,  on  banks  overhanging  the  sea,  as  to 
cover  them  with  a  mantle  of  snowy  white  in  the 
spring  month  of  November;  adding  that  it  is  an 
excellent  antiscorbutic  and  agreeable  pot  herb, 
though  too  acid  to  be  used  except  in  tarts  and 
puddings.  When  the  above  was  written,  this 
plant  was  supposed  to  be  confined  to  the  Falk- 
land Islands ;  it  was,  however,  found  in  the 
Straits  of  Magellan  by  D'Urville's  expedition,  and 
by  Lecher  at  Cape  Negro,  also  in  the  Straits." — 
Bot.  Mag. 

Pyrethrum  aureum  laciniatum.—  A  most  dis- 
tinct and  beautifully  cut-leaved  form  of  the 
"Golden  Feather."  Perfectly  hardy,  and  in 
color  perhaps  more  golden  than  the  old  "Golden 
Feather,"  and  ofadwarfer  and  more  spreading 
habit.— W.  Bull. 

• 

Blumenbaciiia  coronata.—  This  very  pretty 
plant  is  a  native  of  Peru.  It  is  a  dwarf,  shrubby- 
growing  annual,  forming  handsome  tufts  about  1'. 
feethigh  byl  foot  through.  The  flowers, which  are 


borne  in  great  profusion,  are  of  a  striking  orange 
red  color,  coronal-shaped,  and  are  about  |  of  an 
inch  deep  by  li  inches  in  diameter. — Garden. 

New  Hardy  Evergreen  Flowering  Shrub, 
Hypericum  patulum  (Thunb).—  This  magnificent 
shrub  is  a  grand  acquisition  to  our  scanty  list  of 
hardy  flowering  species.  Its  individual  flowers, 
which  are  produced  in  bunches,  are  pale  yellow 
in  color  and  of  great  substance,  resembling  much 
in  appearance  the  beautiful  Gardenia  javanica  of 
our  stoves.  It  continues  long  in  perfection,  com- 
mencing to  flower  in  June,  and  has  been  in  fine 
perfection  till  the  first  week  in  November.  We 
can  endorse  all  M.  Carriere  says  of  it  in  the  Re- 
vue Horticole  of  May  1st,  1875  (it  is  also  figured 
there):  "  This  is  a  species  we  feel  convinced  is 
destined  to  create  a  sensation  in  the  horticultu- 
ral world.  It  seems,  in  fact,  to  unite  all  the 
qualities  desirable  in  a  plant — hardiness,  vigor, 
fine  evergreen  foliage,  flowers  large  and  numer- 
ous, a  free-flowering  habit,  prolonged  from  June 
without  interruption  till  the  frost  comes." — 
Vietch. 


SCBAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Double  and  Single  Tuberoses. — V.  asks : 
"Will  double  tuberoses  turn  to  single  ones? 
Though  I  'weed'  mine  every  year,  there  are 
always  some  come.  I  thought  at  first  they  were 
mixed,  but  now  I  think  they  run  back." 

[Yes,  in  this  climate  there  is  a  great  tendency 
in  the  double  tuberose  to  return  to  its  original 
single  condition.  Some  seasons  this  is  much 
more  the  case  than  in  others.  The  season  of 
1876  was  very  favorable  to  single  flowers. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 

Xanthoceras  sorbifolia. — Mr.  Saul  writes  : 
"  I  forward  to  your  address  by  mail  a  few  blooms 
of  the  beautiful  Xanthoceras  sorbifolia.  My 
specimen  plant,  which  has  stood  out  uninjured  the 
past  three  Winters  without  the  slightest  protec- 
tion, is  covere  1  all  over  from  the  centre  stem  to 
tips  of  the  branches  with  racemes  of  its  lovely 
ilowers.  It  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  finest 
hardy  shrubs  which  have  been  introduced  for 
years." 

[We  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Saul  in  the  estima- 
tion he  places  on  it. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Propagation  of  Evergreens  by  Soft  Wood 
CUTTINGS.— -A  subscriber  from   Kentucky  writes: 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


233 


"  I  should  be  glad  to  see  a  practical  article  in 
your  excellent  journal  on  the  propagation  of 
such  evergreens  as  Arborvittes,  Junipers,  Retin- 
osporas,  &c,  by  soft  wood  cuttings,  time  the 
cuttings  should  be  made,  the  degree  of  heat  to 
be  used,  and  the  amount  of  air  and  sun's  rays, 
each  to  be  treated.  Also  treatment  for  the  first 
year." 

[Where  but  a  few  hundred  each  are  required, 
the  cuttings  may  be  put  into  shallow  boxes  of 
6and  in  September,  October,  or  November,  and 
kept  through  the  Winter  in  a  greenhouse,  or 
similar  place  where  a  temperature  of  about  65° 


is  maintained.  They  will  be  rooted  sufficiently 
to  plant  out  under  a  slight  shade  the  next  Spring. 
If  put  in  later,  or  kept  under  a  lower  tempera- 
ture, they  root  more  slowly,  and  the  boxes  of 
cuttings  are  best  left  undisturbed  for  a  year.  On 
a  larger  scale,  the  cuttings  are  put  directly  in 
sand  on  the  tables,  instead  of  in  boxes. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 

Plant  in  an  Ant  Hill. — A.  L.  S.,  Utah,  asks, 
but  we  cannot  tell,  "  Why  is  it  that  Oenothera 
cespitosa  will  grow  luxuriantly  around  and  on 
ant  hills,  while  every  other  kind  of  vegetation  is 
killed  out  for  many  feet  from  the  hill  ?" 


REEN  fMOUSE  AND 


V^>"3  J 


ouse  Gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


It  is  yet  too  soon  to  think  much  about  house- 
plants,  which  are  still  in  pots  in  the  open  air, 
or  growing  in  the  open  ground,  preparatory  to 
being  potted  next  month.  But  it  is  well,  if  the 
pots  are  standing  on  the  earth,  to  lift  the  pots 
once  in  awhile,  or  twist  them  round,  so  as  to 
check  the  roots  which  may  be  running  through 
the  bottoms  of  the  pots.  Early  flowering  things 
not  yet  potted,  such  as  Violets  and  Primroses, 
may  be  put  at  once  in  pots,  so  as  to  be  well  es- 
tablished before  housing  time,  comes. 

Seeds  of  many  things  may  also  be  sown  for 
winter  and  spring  blooming,particularly  Cinera- 
ria, Calceolaria,  Pansy,  Daisy,  Chinese  Primrose, 
and  some  of  the  annuals.  Great  care  is  neces- 
sary with  the  Calceolaria.  The  seed  is  so  small, 
that  it  rebels  at  the  smallest  covering  of  soil. 
The  best  way  is  to  sow  it  on  the  surface,  water 
well,  and  then  cover  with  a  pane  of  glass  until 
fairly  germinated  ;  this  will  prevent  evaporation 
and  consequent  drying  of  the  seed.  Almost  all 
kind  of  seeds  germinate  most  readily  in  partial 
shade:  but  as  soon  as  possible  after  germination, 
they  should  be  inured  to  as  much  light  as  they 
will  bear. 

Preparations  must  now  be  made  with  a  view 
to  stocking  the  houses  for  the  next  Winter  and 
Spring's  use.     Geraniums  of  all  kinds  may  now 


be  readily  struck.  A  frame  in  a  shady  place, 
set  on  some  light  sandy  soil  in  the  open  air, 
affords  one  of  the  best  places  possible  for  striking 
all  kinds  of  half-ripened  wood.  A  partial  shade 
is  at  all  times  best  for  cuttings  at  the  start,  though 
the  sooner  they  can  be  made  to  accustom  them- 
selves safely  to  the  full  light,  the  better  they 
usually  do. 


COMMUNTCA  TIONS. 


CAMELLIAS  IN  COLD   FRAMES. 

BY  W.  FALCONER. 

We  have  here  a  few  single-flowered  Camellias, 
which  on  account  of  our  crowd  of  tropical  plants 
are  denied  greenhouse  space  ;  hence  we  winter 
them  in  a  deeply  sunk  cold  frame,  which  has  no 
covering  in  Winter  beyond  single  sashes  and 
single  wooden  shutters.  These  plants  are  not  in 
pots  or  tubs,  but  each  one  has  amassed  a  ball  of 
roots.  Late  in  April,  or  early  in  May,  they  are 
planted  out,  and  on  the  approach  of  Winter  are 
lifted  and  heeled  in  the  frame.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, they  live  unscathed,  but  this  year  each 
Camellia  was  as  full  of  blooms  as  any  specimen 
in  Hovey's  Conservatory,  and  too,  these  blooms 
expanded  fully,  and  were  large  and  bright,  and 
at  their  best  in  early  May.     Not  a  bud  dropped. 


234 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  August, 


IMPROVED  CINERARIAS. 

BY   F.,   BOSTON,   MASS. 

At  p.  140  of  the  May  Monthly  you  refer  to  the 
recent  change  in  Cinerarias,  and  mention  the 
dwarf-habited  sorts  with  large  fiat  heads  of  bloom 
and  closely  packed  flowers.  Mr.  Paterson,  of 
Oakley,  Mass.,  surpasses  anything  in  the  way  of 
Cineraria  growing,  I  have  seen  in  this  country 
or  any  other,  and  although  for  years  I  attended 
every  London  flower-show,  I  never  saw  anything 
to  equal  Mr.  P.'s  plants  as  regards  size,  health 
and  multitude  of  flowers.  James  of  Isleworth 
and  a  few  others  who  reduce  Cineraria  excel- 
lence to  the  florist's  nicety  of  bloom,  might  not 
countenance  the  varieties,  but  as  a  batch  of 
seedlings,  the  majority  of  the  plants  had  a  size, 
purity,  brilliance  and  symmetry  of  bloom  that 
were  quite  remarkable,  and  plainly  showed  the 
result  of  carefully  selected  home-saved  seeds. 
The  flower-heads  of  Mr.  P.'s  plants  averaged 
from  18  inches  to  3  feet  in  diameter,  and  as  dense 
as  ever  blooms  were  on  an  Azalea. 

Incited  by  glowing  descriptions  of  the  im- 
proved dwarf  strain,  Mr.  P.  imported  seeds,  and 
raised  therefrom  a  set  of  plants  in  every  way 
treated  alike  with  his  own  strain.  The  result 
was  disappointment.  The  plants  were  stocky  with 
dense  flower-heads,  but  the  blooms  were  small, 
washy  and  of  great  sameness  in  coloring;  be- 
sides, for  conservatory  decoration  or  for  cut 
flowers,  they  were  inferior  to  his  own  old  kind. 


ADIANTUM  FARLEYENSE    AS  A  ROOM  PLANT. 

BY   MRS.    C.    E.    M. 

I  notice  that  one  of  your  contributors  writes 
of  this  as  not  doing  well  except  in  a  greenhouse 
atmosphere,  and  where  a  temperature  of  65°  is 
maintained.  This  may  be  so  where  very  fine 
specimens  are  desired,  such  as  we  see  now  and 
then  at  the  Horticultural  exhibits,  but  I  find 
that  it  does  quite  well  enough  to  satisfy  any  lady 
gardener  who  has  no  greenhouse,  as  a  common 
window  plant.  Last  winter  a  year,  a  kind  friend 
in  New  Orleans  gave  me  a  nice  plant  as  a  me- 
mento. It  was  in  a  five -inch  pot,  and  I  brought 
it  North  with  me  in  my  trunk.  Coming  from  a 
hot-house,  the  leaves  were  much  injured  by  a 
week's  confinement,  but  it  soon  put  out  new 
ones.  Several  florists  who  saw  the  plant  told  me 
that  as  I  had  no  greenhouse,  I  could  not  raise  it, 
and  begged  me  to  give  it  to  them.     But  it  is  now, 


after  eighteen  months,  better  than  when  I 
brought  it.  I  treat  it  just  as  the  other  window 
flowers.  It  is  set  out  under  the  shade  of  the 
shrubbery  in  Summer,  and  in  Winter  stands 
with  Fuchsias,  Geraniums,  and  such  like.  The 
room  is  often  below  45°  at  night.  I  am  quite 
delighted  with  my  success  with  it,  after  the  flor- 
ists predicting  failure. 


BOUGAINVILL/EA  SPECTABILIS. 

BY   W.    FALCONER. 

Although  a  native  of  tropical  South  America, 
this  gorgeous  climbing  shrub  feels  quite  at  home 
with  us  in  our  Acacia  house,  which  is  an  airy 
house  with  a  Winter  night  temperature  of  38°  to 
42°.  It  is  growing  in  a  shallow  tub,  in  a  compost 
of  turfy  loam  with  a  little  peat  and  leaf  soil,  and 
is  trained  up  a  pillar,  thence  along  the  top  of  the 
house.  In  Summer  we  give  it  lots  of  water,  but 
in  Winter  keep  it  as  dry  as  a  Cactus.  About  the 
10th  of  April  its  paniculate  inflorescence  and 
wealth  of  showy  rose-colored  bracts  become  con- 
spicuous and  last  all  through  May. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Physianthus  albens. — Prof.  Thurber  says  the 
prior  name,  and  therefore  the  one  to  be  adopted 
as  the  correct  name  of  this  pretty  greenhouse 
plant,  and  excellent  Summer  border  flower,  is 
Arauja.  This  makes  the  third  name  in  Horti- 
cultural history — Schubertia  and  Physianthus 
being  the  old  ones. 

The  Artillery  Plant  for  Window  Gardens. 
— A  lady  friend  of  ours  has  a  large  specimen  of 
this  curious  plant,  which  she  has  grown  since 
last  Fall,  in  her  kitchen  window,  and  it  has 
given  her  more  satisfaction  than  all  her  other 
window  inmates.  It  kept  constantly  green  and 
growing,  and  as  sunlight  increased,  its  mantle  of 
miniature  muskets  thickened,  till  now  it  repre- 
sents a  model  umbrageous  tree,  with  boughs  so 
succulent  and  heavy,  that  a  rough  shake  or 
breath  would  seem  to  shatter  them.  Associated 
with  Oxalises,  Mahernia  verticillata,  Petunias, 
and  a  few  others,  it  made  January  look  like  May. 
A  great  addition  to  this  kitchen  window  in  mid- 
winter was  the  festooned  drapery  of  the  Madeira 
vine. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


235 


Sericographis  Ghiesbreghtiana.  —  Where 
Winter  flowers  are  in  demand,  this  Acanthad 
should  not  be  omitted.  It  is  a  neglected,  but 
serviceable  species,  freely  producing  elegant 
racemes  of  pretty  bright  red  flowers  that  in  a 
cut  state  or  on  the  plant  keep  in  good  condition 
for  a  long  time.  It  is  a  stove  or  warm  green- 
house, soft-wooded  plant,  that  grows  freely  from 
cuttings.  To  have  good  plants  for  next  season's 
use  they  should  have  been  propagated  from  the 
young  shoots  that  immediately  succeed  the  flow- 
ers, but  we  are  not  too  late  yet. 

A  Conservatory  on  the  Roof  of  a  Hotel. — 
That  excellent  plan  which  we  have  so  often  ad- 
vocated, of  turning  the  tops  of  houses  in  cities 
into  gardens,  has  been  carried  out  by  the  Palmer 
House  in  Chicago;  and  a  portion  of  the  roof  of 
that  hotel  is  now  covered  with  a  magnificent 
conservatory.  The  structure  is  entirely  of  glass 
andiron;  and  as  it  is  built  on  an  extension,  its 
location  is  such  that  it  opens  directly  out  of  the 
fifth  floor  corridor  of  the  main  edifice,  which 
rises  some  two  stories  above.  A  fine  collection 
of  tropical  and  rare  plants  has  been  provided, 
and  the  regular  heating  apparatus  of  the  house 
supplies  ample  warmth.  The  conservatory  is 
open  to  guests  of  the  hotel,  and  furnishes  a  de- 
lightful resort. — Scientific  American. 

White  Bouquet  Flowers. — A  cheap  method 
of  obtaining  these  at  this  season  is  to  pot  up 
some  small  plants  of  Laurustinus,  or,  better 
still,  to  have  them  established  in  pots  ready  for 
introduction  to  the  forcing-house.  Some  grow 
Laurustinuses  as  standards  for  .purposes  of  in- 
door decoration  as  well  as  for  cut  flowers,  and 
under  glass  the  blossoms  come  pure  white,  and 
look  so  different  from  those  of  Laurustinus  not 
so  treated  that  when  arranged  in  bouquets,  the 
flowers  might  readily  be  mistaken  for  something 
less  common. —  W.  W.H.in  Garden. 

Kennedya  rubicunda.  —  As  a  greenhouse 
climber,  this  old  favorite  still  maintains  a  front 
position,  as  it  grows  so  thriftily,  blooms  so  pro- 
fusely and  persistently,  and  adapts  itself  to  the 
coolest  treatment;  that  is,  keeping  away  from 
frost.  Its  pea-flowers  are  of  a  dark  red  color 
and  produced  in  axillary  racemes.  It  is  a  good 
subject  for  amateurs,  requiring  but  little  care, 
and  blooming  from  Januarj'  onwards,  through1 
out  the  Summer,  providing  a  little  thinning  is 
observed  and  the  seed-pods  are  picked  off  as 
they  appear. 


Culture  of  Richardia  (Calla)  ^Ethiopica. — 
Visitors  to  Covent  Garden  Market  are  often 
struck  with  the  luxuriance  of  growth  and  the 
fine  flowers  seen  on  the  examples  of  Richardia 
^Ethiopica  (Arum  Lily)  brought  there  by  those 
who  grow  these  plants  for  market.  They  are 
grown  in  48  and  32  pots,  and  the  fine  develop- 
ment of  the  plants  seen  in  the  smaller  size  con- 
stitutes a  remarkable  example  of  successful  cul- 
ture. The  Richardia  is  propagated  by  means  of 
the  young  offshoots  thrown  up  from  the  root- 
stocks.  They  are  taken  off  at  any  time  when 
they  can  be  had,  and  put  into  pots  and  boxes, 
and  grown  on  into  size.  Those  strong  enough  to 
make  flowering  plants  in  Autumn  are  potted 
into  48  or  32  pots  according  to  their  size,  and 
they  are  then  stood  out-of-doors,  and  covered 
with  a  bed  of  rotten  dung  to  the  depth  of  4  inches 
above  the  pots.  The  plants  have  plenty  of  water 
in  Summer,  and  in  very  hot  weather  good  sup- 
plies are  given  as  often  as  three  times  a  day. 
Plants  treated  in  this'  way  are  taken  into  warm 
plant-houses  in  October  and  November,  where 
they  throw  up  their  flowers  at  Christmas.  The 
number  grown  varies  according  to  the  space  at 
service.  Mr.  John  Reeves,  of  Acton,  usually 
markets  from  2,000  to  3,000  plants  each  year. — 
Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Nierembergia  gracilis  as  a  Window-Plant. — 
A  lady  of  our  acquaintance  grows  this  plant  in 
her  window-garden  with  good  results.  Towards 
Winter  it  is  laid  aside  where  frost  cannot  reach 
it,  and  though  getting  occasional  dribblings,  it 
is  considerably  neglected.  Towards  Spring  it  is 
promoted  to  the  kitchen  window,  and  gets  more 
liberal  libations.  By  mid-April  blooms  appear, 
till  its  straggling  branches,  which  are  supported 
on  a  light  wooden  trellis,  become  mantled  with 
bluish  flowers  that  continue  coming,  more  or 
less,  according  to  treatment,  till  next  Winter. 

The  Ivy-Leaved  Geranium. — The  Ivy-leaved 
Geranium  (P.  peltatum),  "Geranium  Ivy,"  or 
"Flowering  Ivy"  as  it  is  often  called  by  cot- 
tagers, with  whom  it  is  a  special  favorite  as  a 
window  climber,  was  raised  in  the  Duchess  of 
Beaufort's  garden  in  1701  from  seeds  brought 
from  the  Cape.  It  spreads  very  rapidly  in  Eng- 
lish gardens.  Petiver,  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions for  17 13,  writes  of  it  as  follows: — "This 
is  a  spreading  low  plant,  with  shining,  thick, 
juicy,  tart,  round,  umbrella  leaves;  those  to- 
wards the  flowers  are  angular  and  pointed  :  its 
tassel  flowers  are  large,  of  a  blush*  color ;    the 


236 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


petals  are  of  the  same  size,  and  the  two  upper- 
most streak'd  with  red.  It  flourishes  most  part 
of  the  year  at  Chelsea,  Fulham,  Enfield,  &c.  It 
grows  wild  in  the  districts  of  Haycoon  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope." — Gardener 's  Magazine. 

To  Prepare  Vegetable  Mould  Quickly. — As 
early  in  November  as  the  leaves  of  trees  can  be 
collected,  let  them  be  brought  in  a  considerable 
quantity,  into  a  close  place,  and  dressed  up  there 
in  the  form  of  a  hot-bed.  Let  this  be  well  satu- 
rated with  the  drainings  from  the  dung-heap, 
with  suds  from  the  wash-house,  with  urine  from 
the  stable  and  cow-house, where  this  latter  article 
can  be  procured.  Let  this  bed  or  heap  be  cov- 
ered and  lined  with  fresh  stable  dung,  to  make  it 
heat.  When  the  heat  is  sufficiently  subsided,  let 
the  leaves  be  uncovered  and  turned  over,  to  mix 
the  dry  and  the  wet  well  together,  and  if  moisture 
be  required,  let  them  have  it  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion,repeating  the  process  till  all  be  reduced  to  fine 
mould.  This  will  be  ready. for  use  in  two  months 
from  the  time  of  collecting  the  leaves,  and  to  pre- 
vent any  waste  of  the  liquid  recommended,  a  layer 
of  maiden  earth,  of  two  feet  thick,  should  be  made 
the  substratum,  which  would  receive  any  of  the 
valuable  liquid  that  would  otherwise  run  to 
waste.  Leaves  of  slow  decomposition  should  be 
avoided,  as  those  of  the  oak,  &c,  which,  how- 
ever, are  the  best  for  retaining  heat  in  hot-beds 
and  pits.  The  leaves  of  Fir  should  also  be 
avoided,  but  those  of  the  Sycamore,  Elm,  Alder, 
Maple,  and  all  the  soft  kinds  are  better  suited  for 
the  purpose.  This  compost  should  be  kept  dry, 
in  an  airy  place,  and  ridged  up,  so  that  the  rain 
cannot  wash  out  the  salts  with  which  it  abounds. 
— Gardener's  Record. 

Solanums. — The  berry-bearing  Solanum  capsi- 
castrum  and  S.  Pseudo-capsicum  have  a  very 
much  better  appearance  when  grown  in  the  open 
ground  and  transferred  to  pots  in  the  Autumn 
than  when  grown  all  through  the  Summer  under 
glass,  as  outside  they  assume  a  much  closer 
habit,  and  the  foliage  becomes  more  dense  and 
better  in  color,  than  it  can  be  had  in  pots,  even 
with  the  best  attention.  Under  pot  culture  if 
ever  the  plants  be  allowed  to  suffer  from  want  of 
water  the  leaves  always  turn  to  a  yellow,  sickly 
color;  besides  there  is  invariably  a  difficulty  in 
keeping  down  red  spider ;  under  open  ground 
cultivation  it  is  essential  to  plant  them  out  early 
if  their  berries  be  required  in  a  ripe  state  early 
in  the  Autumn.  Solanums  are  much  hardier 
than  they  are  generally  supposed  to  be;    10°  or 


1 12°  of  frost  will  not  seriously  injure  them.  Plants 
'  that  have  been  used  through  the  Winter  should 
be  cut  back,  reducing  them  to  one-third  their 
size,  turned  out  of  the  pots  (removing  most  of 
the  soil  without  breaking  the  roots  more  than 
can  be  avoided),  and  at  once  planted  18  in.  apart 
in  a  sheltered  situation  fully  exposed  to  the  sun. 
If  the  soil  be  not  of  a  loose,  open  nature,  it  must 
be  made  so  by  the  addition  of  sand  or  vegetable 
mould  of  some  kind,  for  if  the  material  in  which 
they  are  grown  be  of  an  adhesive  character, 
when  they  are  taken  up  for  potting,  the  roots  will 
get  broken  to  an  extent  that  will  seriously  injure 
them.  Young  plants  of  these  Solanums  struck 
from  cuttings  and  raised  from  seeds  some  weeks 
back  may  be  planted  out  in  a  similar  manner, 
but  previously  they  must  be  sufficiently  hard- 
ened off. — Garden. 

Leaves  for  Garnishing  Fruit. —  Some  kinds 
of  leaves  are  more  suitable  than  others  for  this 
purpose.  Strawberries  for  instance,  look  best 
associated  with  their  own  foliage ;  Grapes  may  be 
laid  on  their  own  leaves,  but  there  are  others 
which  suit  them  quite  as  well.  One  of  the  best 
plants  for  furnishing  leaves  for  garnishing  all 
kinds  of  fruit  is  the  Curled  Mallow,  an  annual 
of  which  I  make  three  sowings  in  a  year  in  rich 
soil — the  first  early  in  April,  the  second  about 
the  beginning  of  May,  and  the  third  about  the 
same  time  in  June.  The  leaves  are  about  the 
size  of  small  vine  leaves,  and  beautifully  frilled. 
Wherever  fruit  has  to  be  garnished,  this  plant 
should  always  be  grown.  The  Ice-plant  also  fur- 
nishes good  leaves  for  Summer  garnishing,  its 
glistening,  icy  appearance  having  a  cool  and 
pretty  effect  on  the  table.  It  should  be  sown  in 
a  pan  or  box,  in  heat,  in  the  first  or  second  week 
in  April,  and  planted  out  in  the  open  border  in 
May.  These  are  the  only  plants  which  I  grow 
for  garnishing  fruit  in  Summer  and  Autumn.  In 
Winter  and  until  this  time  variegated  Kale  and 
Bay  leaves  answer  the  purpose.  Bay  leaves  are 
rather  stiff  for  Grapes,  but  for  Oranges,  Apples, 
&c..they  may  always  be  used  with  good  effect. — A 
Northern  Gardener,  in  Garden. 

To  Preserve  the  Natural  Colors  of  Dried 
Plants. — The  following  method  of  doing  this  is 
given  in  a  German  pharmaceutical  journal,  and 
will  interest  botanists  and  others:  Dissolve  one 
part  of  salicylic  acid  in  GOO  parts  of  alcohol,  heat 
the  solution  to  boiling  in  an  evaporating-dish, 
and  draw  the  whole  plant  slowly  through  it, — 
prolonged    exposure    discolors    violet    Sowers; 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


237 


shake  off  any  excess  of  liquid,  dry  between  blot- 
ting paper,  and  press  in  the  usual  manner.  A 
frequent  renewal  of  dry  blotting  pads,  particu- 
larly at  first,  is  desirable.  Thus  treated,  plants 
are  said  to  dry  rapidly,  furnishing  beautiful 
specimens,  which  retain  their  natural  colors  in 
greater  perfection  than  by  any  other  process. 

Bouquet  Flowers. — Amongst  other  blooms  at 
present  obtainable  for  bouquet  making  may  be 
enumerated  the  following,  viz.:  Azaleas,  Bouvar- 
dias,  Camellias,  Carnations,  Cinerarias,  Cycla- 
mens, Deutzias,  Ericas,  Eucharis,  Euphorbia0, 
Fuchsias,  Gardenias,  Heliotrope,  Hyacinths, 
Heaths,  Lily  of  the  Valley,  Mignonette,  Narcis- 
sus, Pelargoniums,  Primulas,  Roses,  Snowdrops, 
Spiraeas,  Stephanotis,  Violets,  and  white  Lilac. 
Button-hole  bouquets  consist  generally  of  a  Rose- 
bud, a  half-blown  Camellia  or  Gardenia,  and 
some  other  smaller  flowers.  A  pretty  flower  for 
these  miniature  bouquets  is  the  blue  Forget-me- 
not,  obtained  by  lifting  a  few  clumps  of  it  from 
the  open  ground,  potting  them,  and  placing  them 
in  a  warm  house,  where  they  speedily  open  their 
blooms  and  afford  a  stock  to  cut  from.  If  placed 
with  a  Gardenia,  the  blue  Forget-me-not  forms 
an  effective  contrast;  but,  with  such  a  selection 
as  I  have  enumerated  above,  both  hand  and  but- 
ton-hole bouquets  may  be  made  to  suit  all  tastes. 
— A.  Hassard,  Upper  Norwood. 

Best  Tea  Rose. — Probably  no  plants  are  more 
attractive  at  this  period  of  the  year  than  Tea- 
scented  Roses.  Amongst  a  large,  collection  now 
flowering  in  Mr.  Merryweather's  nurseries  at 
Southwell  the  following  varieties  are  particularly 
beautiful :  Aline  Sisley,  Catherine  Mermet,  Climb- 
ing Devoniensis,  Devoniensis,  Gloire  de  Dijon,  La 
Boule  d'Or,  Madame  Bravy,  Madame  Willermoz, 
Letty  Coles,  Louise  de  Savoie,  Marie  Van  Houtte 
(very  beautiful),  Marie  Guillot,  Niphetos,  Presi- 
dent, Souvenir  d'Elise,  Souvenir  d'un  Ami,  Sou- 
venir de  Paul  Neron,  and  Marechal  Niel.  The 
new  Hybrid  Perpetuals  Comtesse  de  Serenye  and 
Duchess  de  Vallombrosa  are  proving  valuable 
for  forcing. — Journal  of  Horticulture. 


NEW  OB  MARE  PLANTS. 


Improved  Petunias. — The  latest  novelty  in  Pe- 
tunias is  "fimbriated,"  or,  in  plain  English, 
fringed    double  ones.    We  have  not  yet  seen 


living  representatives,  but  by  pictures  they  seem 
a  decided  advance  in  beauty. 

New  Fuchsia — Earl  of  Beaconsfield.—As,  a  use- 
ful, early,  free  flowering  and  handsome  Fuchsia, 
we  can  strongly  recommend  Mr.  John  Laing's 
valuable  hybrid,  the  Earl  of  Beaconsfield.  We 
saw  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society's  gardens 
at  Chiswick,  the  other  day,  some  plants  which, 
after  being  cut  back,  broke  into  flower  almost  at 
once,  while  other  varieties  were,  comparatively 
speaking,  at  a  standstill.  This  is  a  valuable 
character,  and  should  increase  its  popularity. — 
Gardener's  Chronicle. 

Lygodium  scandens  {Japanese  Climbing  Fern). 
— A  most  graceful  climbing  plant,  growing  from 
one  to  fifty  feet  as  desired.  It  is  quite  as  easy  of 
culture  as  the  Smilax,  and  will  no  doubt  be 
largely  used  for  similar  purposes  in  decorating. 
Although  a  climbing  plant  when  supported  by 
strings  or  wire,  it  can  Joe  used  with  equal  advan- 
tage as  a  drooping  plant  for  baskets  or  vases. — 
P.  Henderson. 

The  Brisbane  Lily.— The  beautiful  amaryllid 
Eurycles  australasica,  which  has  recently  been 
exhibited  by  Messrs.  J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  is  of  un- 
questionable value  for  furnishing  cut  flowers  at 
this  season  of  the  year,  and  as  it  becomes  better 
known  it  will  doubtless  be  highly  appreciated. 
It  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  new,  for  it  was  known 
to  science  in  1821,  but  it  has  for  a  very  long  time 
been  so  rare  that  very  few  cultivators  of  the  pres- 
ent day  are  acquainted  with  it.  The  flowers, 
which  are  of  the  purest  white,  may,  when  neatly 
mounted,  be  employed  to  wonderful  advantage 
in  the  formation  of  hand  bouquets.  As  in  the 
case  of  many  other  bulbous  plants,  a  succession 
of  bloom  extending  over  a  considerable  period 
may  be  had  by  starting  the  bulbs  at  intervals  of 
a  fortnight  or  so.  This  species,  as  indicated  by 
its  name,  is  a  native  of  Australia,  and  is  some- 
times known  as  the  Brisbane  Lily. — Gardener's 
Magazine. 

Improved  Begonias.— In  the  early  history  of 
improved  flowers,  the  best  are  selected  and 
named.  This  was  once  the  case  with  Pansies, 
Cinerarias,  and  other  things,  long  lists  of  the 
names  of  which  appear  in  the  gardening  publi- 
cations of  thirty  years  ago.  After  awhile,  they 
become  so  numerous  that  any  one  can  raise 
good  kinds  from  seed,  without  the  trouble  of 


238 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


keeping  over  old  plants,  and  then  good  seed  only 
is  looked  for.  The  tuberous  Begonias  are  now 
going  through  this  ordeal.  The  varieties  are  so 
numerous,  growers  cannot  keep   up   with  them, 


Djemonokops  palembanicus.— One  of  the  most 
elegant  of  Palms,  and,  together  with  D.  periacan- 
thus,  exceedingly  appropriate  for  table  decora- 
tion and  other  ornamental  purposes.  The  leaves 


D/EMONOROPS   PALEMBANICUS. 


nor  newspapers  make  records  of  their  appear- 
ance. Cannell,  the  great  improver  of  florist's 
flowers,  is  now  advertising  "choice  seeds,"  and 
this  foreshadows  the  fate  of  named  varieties. 


are  broadly  ovate,  pinnate,  consisting  of  numer- 
ous narrow  elongated  segments,  and  they  are 
supported  by  leaf-stalks  bearing  numerous  de- 
flexed  spines,  which  latter  are  thickened  at  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


239 


base.  The  young  leaves  are  of  a  bright  cinna- 
mon brown,  and  the  contrast  between  this  warm 
color  and  the  deep  green  of  the  matured  leaves 
renders  the  plants  exceedingly  beautiful  at  the 
time  they  are  in  course  of  development.  It  is  a 
native  of  Java. —  William  Bull. 

Centaurea  rutjefolia. — This  new  and  distinct 
species  will  probably  find  a  home  in  our  flower 
gardens.  It  is  a  native  of  the  Balkan  region,  and 
is  said  to  form  a  handsome  silvery  pyramid  when 
in  flower.  It  will  probably  prove  hardy  in  dry 
soils  in  Winter.  It  has,  I  believe,  been  sent  out 
by  Messrs.  Froeble,'of  Zurich. — /.  G.,  in  Garden. 

New  Double  Ivy-leaved  Pelargonium— King 
Albert. — This  originated  as  a  chance  seedling  in 
the  garden  of  Herr  Oscar  Liebmann,  of  Dresden. 
It  has  the  semi-succulent  glossy  foliage  peculiar 
to  the  single  flowering  forms  of  this  class,  but  the 
clusters  of  flowers  are  much  larger,  and  the  indi- 
vidual flowers  being  very  large  and  double,  re- 
main perfect  a  long  time.  The  color  is  purplish 
lilac,  striped  and  feathered  with  crimson. 

Anthurium  Crystallinum.  —  This  beautiful 
species  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  introduc- 
tions of  late  years.  It  produces  large,  cordate, 
acute  leaves,  of  a  leathery  consistence.  The 
emerald  green  refulgent  leaves  are  spotted  all 
over  with  a  brighter  shade,  and  bordered  by  a 
broad  silvery  or  rather  crystal  band,  which 
surrounds  the  intramarginal  and  four  secondary 
nerves.  These  dazzling  white  zones  are  so  dis- 
tinct and  regular  that  they  resemble  a  border  of 
incrusted  silver  around  the  sections  of  the  blade 


of  the  leaf.  The  effect  of  this  highly  ornamental 
plant  is  most  striking.  The  young  leaves  are  of 
a  violet  purple,  forming  a  marked  contrast  with 
the  older,  deep  green  leaves,  divided  into  squares 
by  silvery  bands  as  we  have  just  described. — 
John  Saul. 


SCB APS  AND  QUERIES. 


Tabern.emontanas. — "  One  interested  "  writes : 
— "  What  is  meant  in  Mr.  Saul's  description  of 
Tabernsemontana  camassa  by  'small  plants  in 
60  pots  will  produce  flowers  freely  ? '  Is  sixty  a 
lucky  number?  Also,  would  Mr.  Saul  or  some 
other  practical  man,  describe  the  difference  be- 
tween T.  camassa  and  T.  coronaria  flore  plena; 
as  the  description  of  the  former  variety  depicts 
exactly  a  plant  I  had  under  the  latter  name, 
planted  in  my  front  yard  last  Summer,  which 
had  upon  it,  in  various  stages  of  development, 
upwards  of  1,000  buds  and  flowers,  but  owing  to 
some  cause,  not  more  than  twenty-five  flowers 
opened  perfectly— the  balance  dropped  prema- 
turely. The  hot  and  dry  weather,  no  doubt,  had 
something  to  do  with  it,  but  the  plant  showed 
no  other  signs  of  distress,  as  it  made  a  good 
growth,  and  wore  a  healthy  appearance,  gene- 
rally. A  few  hints  on  the  successful  culture  of 
Tabernsemontanas  in  general,  would,  I  think, 
interest  others.  My  plant  is  about  two  feet  high, 
and  eighteen  inches  through." 


Mruit  and  Megetable  gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


August  is  the  commencement  of  the  real 
American  fruit  season.  The  "small"  fruits, 
from  strawberries  to  currants,  have  kept  us  going 
pretty  well,  but  we  are  now  to  enter  on  apple3, 
pears,  plums,  peaches,  grapes,  and  others  all  in 
good  earnest. 

Still,  we  must  not  forget  our  old  friends  in  the 
small  fruit  line.  Strawberries  must  be  kept  clear 
of  weeds,  and  useless  runners  cutaway;  goose- 


berries must  have  the  soil  kept  cool  about  the 
roots  by  mulches  of  one  kind  or  another;  black- 
berries should  have  their  useless  suckers  kept 
down,  and  as  soon  as  the  raspberry  crop  is  over, 
the  shbots  that  bore  the  fruit  should  at  once  be 
cut  out,  and  all  the  suckers  not  wanted  for  fruit 
the  next  season  thinned  out  and  taken  away. 
These  two  points  are  very  important  in  rasp- 
berry culture.  When  rightly  managed  in  this 
respect,  very  few  crops  are  more  reliable  or  more 
satisfactory  to  the  grower  than  this.  Though 
useless  shoots  should  be  cut  out,  the  ground 


240 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[J  ugust, 


should  be  disturbed  between  raspberries  and 
blackberries  as  little  as  possible.  Their  little 
roots  are  all  on  the  surface.  They  have  no  deep 
roots,  and  so  are  very  liable  to  injury  by  the 
process  erroneously  termed  "  cultivating."  Every 
one  will  tell  you  that  the  raspberry  soon  "  runs 
out;"  nobody  knows  the  reason.  The  new  seed- 
ling comes  out,  and  it  is  hardy  enough.  But  in 
a  few  years  it  gets  leaf  blight,  and  then  Winter 
kills.  It  is  the  injury  to  the  roots  that  brings 
about  all  this. 

In  earlier  hints  for  this  department  we  have 
written  of  the  importance  of  pinching  off  any 
strong  shoots  that  may  appear  at  the  top  of 
young  fruit  trees,  and  which  if  left  would  render 
the  weaker  ones  at  the  base  still  weaker.  Since 
that  early  pinching,  in  very  vigorous  trees, 
a  new  crop  of  strong  young  shoots  may  have  ap- 
peared at  the  top  of  the  tree,  which  should  again 
be  taken  off,  and  the  lower  branches  will  be 
much  benefited  thereby. 

This  matter  of  pinching  out  strong  growing 
shoots  to  strengthen  those  which  we  wish  to  be- 
come strong,  is  an  essential  point  with  those 
who  require  handsome  shaped  trees,  and  is  of 
course  applied  in  the  infancy  of  the  trees,  when 
many  hundreds  may  be  gone  over  in  a  day.  It 
would  be  a  great  expense,  besides  unnecessary 
with  these  objects  in  view,  to  go  over  a  large 
orchard  and  pinch  out  the  shoots.  These  re- 
marks apply  to  the  grape  vine,  as  well  as  to  the 
pear,  and  indeed,  to  all  kinds  of  fruit  trees. 

In  the  vinery  many  parties  commence  to  force 
grapes  at  the  end  of  this  month,  but  those  who 
attempt  this  branch  of  the  gardening  art  are 
already  so  well  skilled  in  its  details  as  to  derive 
little  advantage  from  any  hints  we  could  offer 
here.  In  the  cold  vinery,  the  vines  will  now  be 
ripening  their  crops,  and  will  require  little  atten- 
tion beyond  stopping  laterals,  and  as  much  as 
possible  destroying  insects  that  may  endanger 
the  health  of  the  foliage. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Wearing  out  op  Varieties  of  Apples.— The 
Apple  does  not  seem  inclined  to  run  out,  not- 
withstanding the  prophecies  made  about  varie- 
ties fifty  years  ago.  An  English  clergyman  of 
Herefordshire  says  : — "One  of  the  earliest  his- 
toric Apples  is  the   Pomeroy   or   King's   Apple. 


This  Apple  is  of  extreme  antiquity,  very  little  be- 
ing known  of  its  early  history.  In  Hogg's  '  Fruit 
Manual  '(a  work  most  judiciously  added  by  Dr. 
Bull  to  the  Free  Library),  and  from  whose  de- 
scriptions I  have  largely  borrowed,  two  distinct 
varieties  are  mentioned  in  use  nearly  at  the 
same  time,  but  differing  altogether  in  shape,  fla- 
vor, quality,  and  color  of  flesh.  I  take  particu- 
lar interest  in  this  old  and  highly  valuable  va- 
riety, because  in  my  parish  we  have  three  or 
more  very  old  trees  still  flourishing,  and  I  was 
glad  to  see  this  Apple  shown  from  many  parts 
at  our  late  exhibition."  , 

Scion  and  Stock. — At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society,  Mr.  Worthington 
G.  Smith  exhibited  a  drawing  of  a  singular 
grafted  cherry  tree,  now  growing  near  Harpen- 
den.  The  point  of  attachment  between  the  stock 
and  scion  is  seven  feet  from  the  ground  line.  The 
smooth  stock  (wild  cherry)  is  upwards  of  three 
feet  in  circumference,  whilst  the  gnarled  and 
rugged  scion  is  more  than  six  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. The  sudden  disparity  in  size  of  the  stem 
gives  the  tree  an  extraordinary  appearance. 

War  on  the  Insects. — An  "  Insect  Society  "  is 
said  to  exist  at  Grand  Traverse,  to  encourage 
people  to  destroy  insects.  It  is  said  that  whereas 
not  five  per  cent,  of  the  fruit  matured, before  the 
Society  went  into  operation,  over  seventy-five 
per  cent,  is  now  the  crop. 

Bearing  Age  of  Pear  Trees. — There  is  an 
impression  that  it  is  an  "  endless  "  time  to  look 
for,  before  the  pear  tree,  set  out,  bears ;  but  a 
beginning  is  generally  made  with  fruit  in  three 
or  four  years  from  planting  a  grafted  tree. 
Even  a  seedling  tree  is  not  as  long  in  coming 
up  to  the  work,  as  people  often  think.  In  this 
connection  we  may  give  the  following  from  a 
Western  paper  : — "  Thirty-five  years  ago  M.  A. 
Wilkinson  planted  a  pear  seed,  which  is  a  tree 
now,  on  a  farm  owned  by  Dennis  Nelson,  near 
Dunlap,  Peoria  Co.,  111.  This  tree  is  of  course  a 
seedling,  and  bore  thirty  bushels  of  pears  in  1875, 
which  sold  at  the  rate  of  four  dollars  per  bushel. 
The  product  for  1876  was  forty  bushels  and  sold 
for  about  three  dollars  per  bushel.  Total  result 
in  two  years  $250.  Who  can  beat  this  ?  The 
tree  is  said  to  have  proven  as  hardy  as  an  oak. 
Mr.  Nelson  says  he  has  owned  the  farm  for  twelve 
years  and  has  not  failed  in  this  time  to  get  a  fair 
crop.  Its  keeping  qualities  are  good.  Will 
keep  until  Spring;  like  a  Winter  apple." 


187?.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


241 


Packing  American  Apples. — A  Dublin  corres- 
pondent of  an  English  Horticultural  journal  is 
astonished  that  American  apples  get  there  with- 
out any  packing  material,  "  nothing  but  the  ap- 
ples." Brother  Jonathan  has  learnt  that  an 
apple  tightly  packed  cannot  bruise,  and  packing 
material  is  only  of  use  to  avoid  bruising.  We 
must  apply  this  to  the  pear,  and  then,  perhaps, 
can  get  a  European  trade  in  them  also.  With 
some  air-tight  material  around  such  fruit,  pres- 
sure will  not  perhaps  rot  them. 

Origin  of  the  Los  Angeles  or  Mission  Grape. 
— As  our  readers  know,  our  people  found  the 
grape  quite  at  home  in  California  when  the 
country  became  a  State  in  our  Union.  The 
grape  is  of  the  European  species — Vitis  vinifera 
— and  to-day  all  kinds  of  foreign  grapes  do  just 
as  well  as  American  kinds  do  here.  There  need 
be  no  mystery  about  the  origin  of  the  grapes  at 
Los  Angeles,  for  a  "  missionary,"  or  any  other 
person,  had  only  to  sow  some  seeds  of  a  raisin  to 
get  them;  but,  as  the  following  is  getting  exten- 
sive circulation,  and  may  mislead  those  inter- 
ested in  grape  history  on  this  continent,  we  give 
it  in  order  to  say  that  the  Vitis  vinifera  is  not  a 
native  of  Mexico  : — "  Le  Roy  Gomez  writes  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands  to  the  Bulletin  concerning 
the  origin  of  the  Mission  grape  as  follows : — 
Universal  tradition  among  a  people,  if  not  his- 
tory itself,  must  be  accepted  as  the  basis  of  his- 
tory, and  a  residence  of  many  years  in  Mexico, 
and  a  thorough  inquiry  relative  to  the  origin  of 
the  grape  in  that  republic,  has  resulted  in  the 
conviction  that  the  Mission  grape  is  indigenous 
and  originated  in  the  wild  grape  of  northern 
Mexico. 

"  The  colonial  policy  of  Spain  prohibited  the 
cultivation  of  the  grape  and  the  manufacture  of 
wine  in  all  of  her  American  possessions.  The 
vine  was  never  introduced  into  Mexico  during 
the  colonial  dependency,  from  any  part  of  Eu- 
rope. Its  cultivation  was  contraband,  and  the 
little  that  was  carried  on  was  done  clandes- 
tinely by  the  priests  in  the  more  northern  mis- 
sions. 

"  After  the  expedition  of  Coronado  had  awak- 
ened the  spirit  of  adventure  toward  New  Mexi- 
co, various  military  expeditions  were  sent  out  in 
that  direction.  One  of  these  expeditions  in  tra- 
versing the  vast  region  known  as  the  Balson  de 
Mapemi,  discovered  among  the  hills  in  which 
arise  the  springs  that  form  the  stream  flowing 
into  the  Laguna  de  Los  Parras,  a  quantity  of  de- 


licious grapes  growing  wild.  From  the  trailing 
of  the  vines  over  the  rocks  and  trees,  they  called 
the  place  Parras.  On  their  march  northward 
they  came  to  the  source  of  the  Rio  Concha, 
which  flows  into  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte. 
There  they  also  found  grapes  of  the  same  vari- 
ety growing  wild, and  they  called  the  place  Parral, 
a  name  also  significant  of  the  trailing  of  the 
vines. 

"  From  these  two  sources  spring  all  the  grapes 
in  Mexico,  including  the  Mission  grapes,  which, 
according  to  tradition,  were  brought  overland 
from  El  Paso  del  Norte  to  California." 

Hardiness  of  the  Japan  Persimmon.  —  We 
shall  be  glad  to  have  any  information  about  the 
hardiness  of  the  Diospyros  kaki  in  the  Eastern 
States.  About  four  Winters  ago,  some  six  rather 
strong  plants  in  the  possession  of  a  friend  of  the 
writer's,  wrere  killed  ;  but  as  the  roots  of  young 
native  Persimmons,  Walnuts,  Liquidambars, 
Silver  Thorns,  and  many  kinds  of  plants  usually 
hardy,  were  also  killed,  it  was  thought  to  be  ex- 
ceptional. The  past  Winter  has  not  been  re- 
garded as  exceptionally  severe  on  deciduous 
trees,  but  a  plant  of  the  Japan  Persimmon  has 
been  killed  to  the  ground.  But  it  was  not  a 
strong  plant.     How  is  it  elsewhere  ? 

The  Apple  State.— The  celebrated  Thomas 
Andrew  Knight  once  said  of  England's  famous 
Apple  district,  "  Herefordshire  is  not  so  much 
indebted  to  its  soil  as  to  some  valuable  varie- 
ties." This  is  probably  true  of  many  of  our  own 
celebrated  spots.  New  York  has  had  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  great  American  apple  State, 
but  how  much  of  this  was  due  to  its  Newtown 
Pippins  (now  failing)  and  to  the  fine  Baldwins 
and  Greenings  which  it  produces?  When  other 
States  take  so  much  pains  to  find  out  just  what 
are  best  suited  to  themselves,  instead  of  follow- 
ing up  the  experiences  of  orchardists  elsewhere, 
we  may  have  a  great  many  great  Apple  States. 

The  Wilder  Pear. — The  California  Farmer 
speaks  in  high  praise  of  this  variety.  In  com- 
parison with  Glout  Morceau  and  other  well- 
known  very  late  kinds,  it  is  far  superior.  The 
Farmer,  by  the  way,  gives  an  excellent  portrait 
of  Col.  Wilder,  with  its  account  of  the  Wilder 
Pear,  thus  giving  those  of  its  readers  who  may 
not  be  able  to  attend  the  next  meeting  of  the  Am. 
Pomological  Society  at  Baltimore,  a  chance  at 
least  to  see  what  their  President  looks  like. 

Popular  English  Apples. — Fruit  shows    are 


242 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


much  more  popular  in  England  than  they  used 
to  be.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Ribston 
Pippin  and  Blenheim  Pippin  seem  to  be  in  every 
collection,  no  matter  what  other  kinds  may  be 
absent.     They  must  be  widely  grown  there. 

Billyeu's  Late  October  Peach,  {Syn.  Billyeu's 
Comet). — A  correspondent  of  the  American  Farmer 
says  this  promises  to  be  a  very  valuable  late 
free-stone  Peach.  We  have  given  its  history  in 
our  volume  for  1876. 

Early  Beatrice  and  Early  Rivers  Peaches. 
— A  correspondent  of  the  American  Farmer  from 
the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  says  these  varie- 
ties have  "  seen  their  best  days  with  him." 

The  Turner  Raspberry. — This  seems  to  be 
the  next  best  variety  when  the  Philadelphia 
fails.  Mr.  Galusha  tells  the  Western  Rural: — "  I 
have  between  three  and  four  acres  of  raspberries, 
consisting  of  Turner,  Philadelphia,  Mammoth 
Cluster,  Doolittle  and  Davison's  Thornless ;  all 
of  which,  except  Turner,  were  killed  to  the 
ground  by  the  extreme  and  sudden  cold  in  De- 
cember. The  Turner  is  all  right.  Last  year  my 
plantation  of  Turners  averaged  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  quarts  per  row,  of  twenty  rods  long, 
on  or  over  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  while 
neither  of  the  other  sorts  produced  more  than 
half  that  quantity.  The  Philadelphia,  will,  of 
course,  produce  more  than  the  Turner  when  not 
injured,  but  I  have  had  only  one  full  crop  from 
it  in  four  years.  The  suckers  are  numerous,  to 
be  sure,  but  they  are  as  easily  destroyed,  while 
young,  as  ordinary  weeds;  indeed,  if  the  plants 
are  cultivated  in  continuous  rows,  no  more 
work  is  requisite  to  produce  a  full  crop  than 
farmers  ordinarily  give  to  the  same  quantity  of 
ground  planted  to  corn." 

Grape  Forcing. — This  interesting  department 
of  the  art  of  gardening  is  not  often  met  with  in 
America — most  grape-growers  depending  on  the 
natural  results  of  the  cold  grapery.  They  are, 
however,  among  the  easiest  of  fruits  to  force  and 
it  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  those  who  can  af- 
ford it,  do  not  oftener  indulge  in  the  luxury. 

New  White  Grapes. — Well-grown  clusters  of 
the  late  Mr.  Pearson's  seedling  Grapes,  Golden 
Queen  and  Mrs.  Pearson,  were  exhibited  last 
Wednesday  at  South  Kensington,  where  they 
were  much  appreciated  for  their  handsome  ap- 
pearance and  good  flavor.  As  a  golden-skinned 
variety  for  market  purposes,Golden  Queen  is  like 
ly  to  be  valuable.     Mrs.  Pearson,  although  less 


showy,  is  delicious  in  flavor,  and  should   hence- 
forth find  a  place  in  every  Vinery. — Garden. 

Gros  Colman  Grape. — Of  this  fine  grapehouse 
variety,  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  says  : — "  In 
one  or  two  of  the  principal  fruiterers'  windows 
in  Covent  Garden  Market  may  now  be  seen 
some  magnificent  examples  of  Gros  Colman 
Grapes,  each  bunch  of  which  cannot  weigh  less 
than  from  2  lb.  to  3  ft».,  and  the  berries  are  the 
largest  and  the  finest  we  ever  saw.  These,  we 
are  informed,  have  been  grown  at  the  Tweedside 
Vineyard  by  Mr.  W.  Thomson,  and  most  cer- 
tainly they  are  wonderful  examples  of  skilful 
modern  grape  culture." 

The  Sabre  Pea. — The  Sabre— so  called  from 
the  form  of  its  pods,  Messrs.  Vilmorin,  Andrieux 
&   Co.  tell   us — is   the   most    highly   estimated 


for  its  earliness  and  productiveness,  of  all  grown 
by    the    market    gardeners    near    Paris.        We 


1877. J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


243 


have  not  seen  it  in  our  country,  but  here,  where 
earliness  is  so  much  prized,  it  would  be  well  to 
give  it  a  trial. 

Dandelion  Salad. — It  is  a  wonder  that  some 
attention  is  not  given  to  improving  this,  so  as  to 
make  it  a  standard  garden  vegetable.  In  this 
part  of  Pennsylvania  the  fields  and  fence  rows 
have  numerous  dandelion  gatherers  about  them 
in  early  Spring,  and  the  salad  bowl  they  prepare 
is  welcomed  by  the  whole  family.  We  have 
known  roots  to  be  dug  in  Fall,  and  to  be  set 
thick  under  a  hot-bed  sash,  with  a  mat  thrown 
over  as  they  grow,  to  blanche  them,  and  think 
the  product  much  superior  to  Lettuce  or  Endive. 

Celery  Fly. — The  larvae  of  the  Celery  Fly 
( Tephrites  onopordinis)  in  some  seasons  do  much 
mischief  to  the  Celery  crops,  and  as  yet  no  effec- 
tual remedy  has  been  discovered.  When  celery 
is  infested  with  the  larvae  the  leaves  become 
blistered  and  turn  yellow,  and  as  the  grubs  are 
underneath  the  blisters,  they  may  be  crushed 
between  the  finger  and  thumb.  The  grubs, 
when  full-grown,  descend  into  the  earth,  and  re- 
main in  the  chrysalis  state  until  the  following 
Spring,  whjen  they  give  birth  to  the  fly,  which  in 
due  course  deposits  the  eggs  on  the  leaves. 
Therefore,  to  prevent  the  attack  of  the  pest  the 
next  year,  leaves  badly  infested  should  be  re- 
moved and  burnt,  to  prevent  the  grubs  attaining 
their  full  development. — Gardener's  Magazine. 

Carrots. — One  of  the  most  delicious  of  vegeta- 
bles at  this  season  of  the  year  is  the  Early  French 
Short  Horn  Carrot,  sown  in  July.  The  French 
cooks  are  fond  of  these  little  Carrots  for  culinary 
purposes,  and  in  large  establishments  it  is  usual 
to  sow  a  good  breadth  of  them  in  Summer.  The 
ground  needs  to  be  deeply  dug,  and  be  light  and 
rich  on  the  surface.  The  best  plan  is  to  sow  in 
drills,  somewhat  thinly,  and  then  no  thinning- 
out  is  required,  as  it  is  the  practice  to  pull  the 
Carrots  when  about  the  size  of  a  man's  forefin- 
ger, and  the  strongest  plants  soon  reach  that 
stage.  In  France  the  custom  appears  to  be  to 
sow  in  September  to  get  an  early  crop  in  May, 
but  by  sowing  in  July  a  crop  is  had  in  October 
and  onwards  ;  and  by  giving  the  lines  of  plants 
some  shelter  during  frosty  weather,  after  a  little 
soil  has  been  thrown  upon  them,  a  supply  of  de- 
licious little  Carrots  is  had  all  the  Winter.  The 
French  Short  Horn  Carrot  is  distinguished  from 
the  ordinary  Early  Horn  by  its  shorter  but  equal- 
ly plump  handsome  root,  and  is  much  more  de- 


serving of  out-door  culture  during  Summer  than 
the  measure  of  approval  usually  accorded  to  it 
would  indicate.  It  is  an  early  and  most  profit- 
able crop,  making  but  a  spare  upward  growth, 
and  therefore  it  can  be  grown  more  closely  to- 
gether than  is  usual  with  Carrots.  The  fact  that 
it  is  beginning  to  be  found  on  the  exhibition  table 
in  the  case  of  early  shows,  may  be  accepted  as  a 
proof  that  its  good  qualities  are  being  more 
largely  recognized. — Gardener's  Chronicle. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


A  Water  Barrow. — F.  N.,  Asheville,  N.  O, 
writes:  "I  have  some  trouble  with  the  Black 
Aphis  on  young  cherry  trees,  and  have  kept 
them  down  somewhat  by  a  hand  syringe  and 
water-pot.  Can  you  tell  me  whether  there  is  any 
combined  syringe  and  water  barrow  that  would 


enable  us  to  get  over  such  work  more  rapidly? 
Every  garden  ought  to  have  something  of  the 
kind."  Most  of  our  dealers'  catalogues  contain 
descriptions  of  useful  wheel  engines.  One  of 
the  best  so  far  is  the  one  we  gave  in  an  early 
number  of  our  work,  and  which  we  here  repro- 
duce.—Ed.  G.  M. 

Cranberries  in  Southern  Utah. — A.  L.  S., 
Ranch,  Utah,  writes  :  "Lying  near  my  farm  is  a 
lake  or  pond  of  several  acres.    It  is  surrounded 


244 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


by  lime-stone  hills  and  clay  soil.  The  surround- 
ing growth  is  Pine  and  Abies.  The  water  of  the 
lake  dries  away  during  the  Summer,  as  it  is  fed 
by  snows.  The  growth  in  the  lake  is  grass  and 
cat  tail  flag.  When  it  is  dry  it  is  loose,  and  very 
porous,  like  ashes,  and  the  soil  is  filled  with 
minute  shells.  I  can  with  small  expense  cut  a 
ditch  and  put  in  a  gate,  so  as  to  draw  the  water 
off  of  the  pond  early  in  the  Spring,  and  leave 
it  dry.  During  the  Summer  it  gets  very  dry,  but 
not  dry  enough  to  kill  out  the  grass  and  flag 
roots.  There  is  no  chance  to  flood  the  land 
when  once  dry,  without  waiting  for  Winter  rains 
and  snows  to  do  it.  What  I  want  to  inquire  is, 
wTill  it  do  to  break  this  lake  up  in  the  Summer 
time,  so  as  to  kill  the  present  vegetation,  and 
then  plant  cranberries  on  it.  Can  I  be  certain 
of  a  crop  by  so  doing.  I  see  that  there  are  upland 
cranberries  advertised  (I  have  little  faith  in 
them),  will  you  tell  me  whether  that  variety 
would  succeed  any  better  than  the  swamp  vari- 


ety? Can  I  grow  apples,  pears,  cherries,  plums, 
and  small  fruits  on  level  clay  loam  that  is  not 
too  wet?  The  top  soil  for  eight  or  ten  inches  is 
loamy  clay,  below  that  is  a  kind  of  yellow  or 
raw  clay;  and  has  the  appearance  of  being 
washed  from  the  surrounding  mountains.  I 
have  just  received  some  very  fine  Geranium, 
Pelargonium  and  Fuchsia  plants  from  Mr.  John 
Saul  of  Washington.  How  shall  I  manage  them 
so  as  to  have  them  bloom  next  Winter?" 

[The  development  of  cranberry  culture  in 
this  part  of  our  country  is  an  important  matter. 
We  at  this  distance  hardly  feel  competent  to  ad- 
vise. The  impression  is,  that  they  could  be  made 
to  do  well  there ;  but  the  matter  is  one  wholly 
for  careful  observation  and  experiment.  We 
should  recommend  a  perusal  of  Orange  Judd  & 
Co.'s  publication  on  "Cranberry  Culture,"  and 
then  an  application  as  near  as  possible  of  what 
they  say  to  the  circumstances  and  situation. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 


ffoRESTRY. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Torreya  taxifolia.— We  learn  that  our  friend, 
P.  J.  Berckmans,  of  Augusta,  Ga.,  is  making  a  spe- 
cialty of  propagating  this  beautiful  tree,  and 
which,  besides,  will  always  be  interesting  as  com- 
memorating in  its  name  one  of  the  best  and 
most  beloved  of  American  botanists. 

Large  White  Oak  in  Michigan.— Mr.  Dow 
Lyon,  of  St.  Johns,  Mich.,  says  he  has  a  white 
oak  growing  Avhich  at  three  feet  from  the  ground 
measures  seventeen  and  a  half  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  he  judges  that  the  first  large  limb 
is  sixty-five  feet  from  the  ground.  It  is  very 
symmetrical  for  the  first  forty  feet  or  so. 

Growing  Chestnuts  from  Seed.  — Mr.  J.  S. 
Budd  thus  gives  his  experience  to  the  Western 
Rural:  "Jn  1871  I  grew  about  3,000  trees  from 
seed  procured  the  previous  Fall,  perfectly  fresh 
in  their  burr.  As  soon  as  received  I  hulled 
them  and  placed  them  in  a  common  dry-goods 
box  in  my  cellar,  with  alternate  layers  of  moss, 
such  as  is  used  for  packing  plants  for  shipment, 
scattering;  the,  chestnuts   on  the  moss  so  as  not 


to  come  in  contact  with  each  other.  The  moss 
should  be  but  slightly  damp,  and  if  the  surface 
becomes  very  dry  during  the  Winter,  it  may  be 
sprinkled,  but  the  moss  need  not  be  disturbed 
until  planting  time  in  the  Spring,  say  the  10th 
or  loth  of  April.  The  nuts  by  this  time  have 
nicely  sprouted.  Long  roots  will  be  attached  to 
the  moss  and  adhering  firmly  to  the  fibers. 
This  should  be  allowed  to  remain  and  be  planted 
with  them,  and  should  the  season  be  dry,  the 
moss  will  be  rather  a  benefit  than  otherwise,  by 
retaining  moisture  about  the  root.  From  nuts 
treated  in  this  way  I  grew  more  trees  than  I 
planted  nuts,  as  some  have  double  kernels,  and 
produce  two  trees. 

"  I  planted  in  drills,  four  inches  apart  in  the 
drills,  and  sufficient  space  between  the  drills  to 
use  a  small  garden  hoe,  the  whole  occupying 
less  than  one  square  rod,  affording  a  good  profit 
at  an  average  price  of  $3  per  hundred,  when 
sold  in  the  Fall.  I  have  trees  eight  years  old, 
grown  from  seed  in  the  above  manner,  that  bore 
nuts  at  the  age  of  five  years,  and  at  eight  years 
produced  a  peck  of  hulled  nuts. 

"The  soil  and  situation  in  which   to  grow   the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


245 


chestnut  is  all-important.  They  flourish  best  on 
high,  dry  situations,  or  on  rolling,  well-drained 
silicious  soils,  but  are  impatient  of  much  wet,  or 
low,  tenacious  localities." 

The  White  Ash  in  New  England. — In  a  note 
to  the  Massachusetts  Ploughman,  Prof.  Sargent 
says :  "An  intelligent  correspondent  much  in- 
terested in  the  subject  of  tree  planting,  writes  us 
from  the  central  portion  of  the  State  as  follows : 
'  I  am  fully  convinced  that  those  who  plant  and 
care  for  the  ash  are  sure  of  their  reward.  I  am 
informed  by  experts  that  the  ash  is  in  more  de- 
mand, and  commands  a  higher  price,  than  any 
other  wood  that  is  indigenous ;  that  the  fibre  of 
the  ash  grown  in  the  New  England  States  is 
tougher  and  has  more  substance  than  ash  grown 
elsewhere,  and  that  the  demand  is  constantly 
increasing.  During  the  Centennial  Exhibition 
our  woods  were  closely  examined  by  foreigners, 
and  now  foreign  orders  are  rapidly  coming  in, 
and  every  vessel  leaving  Boston  for  a  foreign  port 
is  taking  out  large  quantities  of  ash  and  walnut.' 
The  attention  of  New  England  land  owners 
should  certainly  be  directed  to  the  profits  which 
the  careful  and  general  cultivation  of  this  tree 
will  give,  and  to  the  fact,  that,  at  no  distant  day, 
the  money  value  of  White  Ash  will  be  greatly 
enhanced,  the  ever  increasing  demand  for  it 
having  already  rendered  this  tree  comparatively 
rare  in  the  Eastern  States." 

Forest-planting  in  France.— The  past  Spring 
has  been  very  favorable  to  the  large  areas  in 
France  lately  planted  in  forests.  It  is  stated  that 
5,000,000  hectares,  or  12,350,000  acres— about 
half  the  area  of  Ohio — have  become  unproduc- 
tive as  agricultural  lands.  Pine  trees,  without 
any  cultivation,  and  a  very  inexpensive  super- 
vision, can  be  made  to  grow  upon  these  barren 
acres,  netting  about  $2.50  per  acre  of  annual 
profit.  This  would  add  to  the  productive  capa- 
city of  these  lands  about  $30,000,000  per  annum. 
Other  trees  have  been  planted  with  similar 
economic  results,  and  now  landed  proprietors 
are  looking  to  tree-planting  as  a  means  of  util- 
izing their  unproductive  acres. — Department  of 
Agriculture. 

A  new  Product  from  the  Pixe. — Vanillin  ex- 
ists in  the  sap  of  the  Pine  (Pinus  sylvestris)  and 
of  the  Larch.  For  the  purpose  of  procuring  it 
the  trees  are  felled  during  the  period  when  vege- 
tation is  most  active,  and  are  stripjDed  of  their 
bark.  They  are  then  immediately  scraped,  and 
the  product  collected  in  vessels  of  tinned  iron,  is 


immediately  heated  on  the  spot  to  prevent  fer- 
mentation, filtered,  concentrated  and  allowed  to 
cool  and  settle.  A  substance  is  thus  obtained 
which  resembles  powdered  sugar,  and  which  is 
known  as  coniferin.  This  is  a  stable  compound, 
and  is  sent  in  barrels  to  Paris,  where  the  vanillin 
is  extracted.  The  process  of  extracting  the  van- 
illin is  an  expensive  one,  but  the  product  is  pro- 
cured at  a  less  cost  than  the  natural  vanilla  of 
commerce  can  be  purchased  at.  The  difficulties 
in  the  way  are  principally  in  procuring  the  sup- 
ply of  sap. — Scientific  American. 

Prizes  for  Arboriculture  offered  by  the 
Massachusetts  Society  for  Promoting  Agricul- 
ture.— The  following  prizes  which  are  open  to  all 
land-owners  in  Massachusetts,  will  be  awarded 
in  1888,  the  trustees  reserving  the  right  to  with- 
hold one  or  all  of  them,  if,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
judges,  none  of  the  competing  plantations  are 
considered  worthy  of  award  :  For  the  best  5000 
White  Ash  trees,  $250.00 ;  next  best  5000  White 
Ash  trees,  $100.00.  For  the  best  1000  White  Ash 
trees,  $100.00 ;  next  best  1000  White  Ash  trees, 
$75.00. 

Trees  intending  to  contend  for  these  prizes 
may  be  either  planted  in  groves  or  scattered,  as 
the  nature  of  the  soil  may  require;  provided, 
however,  that  the  plantation  does  not  extend  be- 
yond the  farm  or  estate  of  the  competitor : 
For  the  best  five  acres  of  White  Pine,  raised  from 
seed  planted  by  the  competitor,  $250.00 ;  next 
best  five  acres  of  White  Pine,  raised  from  seed 
planted  by  the  competitor,  $100.00.  For  the  best 
acre  of  White  Pine,  $100.00 ;  next  best  acre  of 
White  Pine,  $75,000.  For  the  best  acre  of  Scotch 
Pine  (P.  sylvestris),  raised  from  seed  planted  by 
the  competitor,  $100.00;  next  best  acre  of  Scotch 
Pine  (P.  sylvestris),  raised  from  seed  planted  by 
the  competitor,  $75.00.  For  the  best  acre  of 
European  Larch,  containing  not  less  than  2000 
trees,  $100.00  ;  next  best  acre  of  European  Larch, 
containing  not  less  than  2000  trees,  $75.00.  All 
entries  for  these  prizes  must  be  made  on  or  be- 
fore March  1, 1878,  to  Mr.  Francis  Skinner,  Brook- 
line,  Mass. 
Mr.  Skinner  has  consented  to  act  as  the  agent  for 
the  trustees  in  all  matters  relating  to  these 
prizes,  and  will  furnish  all  information  in  regard 
to  them.  Competitors  may  order  their  seeds 
and  trees  through  Mr.  Skinner,  who  will  arrange 
with  the  principal  tree  and  seed  dealers  and  nur- 
serymen in  the  United  States  and  Europe  for  the 
lowest  possible  rates,  but  as  his  services  are  en- 


246 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


tirely  gratuitous  he  can  in  no  way  be  held  re- 
sponsible. 

All  competitors  will  be  expected  to  keep  as  ac- 
curate accounts  as  possible  of  the  cost  of  forming 
and  maintaining  their  plantations,  and  to  furnish 
the  trustees,  from  time  to  time, with  such  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  them  as  they  may  require. 

Thomas  Motley,  Jamaica  Plain  ;  Leverett  Sal- 
tonstall,  Newton  ;  Ed.  N.  Perkins,  Jamaica  Plain  ; 
Theodore  Lyman,  Brookline  ;  Henry  Saltonstall, 
Boston  ;  William  R.  Robeson,  Lenox ;  John  G. 
Cushing,  Beverly  ;  Charles  S.Sargent,  Brookline  ; 
E.  F.  Bowditch,  Framingham  ;  Henry  S.  Russell, 
Milton ;  John  Lowell,  Newton ;  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Quincy. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Pecan  Nut.  —  M.,  Lincoln,  Nebraska, 
writes :  "  Can  I  hope  to  raise  Pecan  nuts  so  far 
north  as  this  ?" 

[There  is  no  doubt  the  nuts  "  can  be  raised" — 
that  is,  they  will  grow,  and  make  trees — but  we 
doubt  whether  the  trees  would  perfect  nuts  so 
far  north.  But  if  the  trees  are  wanted  for  tim- 
ber in  Nebraska,  we  believe  they  would  do ;  but 
we  have  no  actual  experience.  It  is  the  most 
rapid  growing  of  all  hickories.  We  shall  be  glad 
to  know  how  far  north  our  friends  know  of 
trees,  either  wild  or  cultivated.  About  Phila- 
delphia there  are  several  fine  trees.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Sowing  Walnuts  and  Hickories. — M.,  Lin- 
coln, Nebraska  :  "  I  sowed  a  quantity  of  walnuts 
and  hickories  last  May,  but  none  of  them  grew. 
Is  there  any  special  knowledge  required  to  raise 
these  nuts  ?" 

[None  that  we  know  of.  But  the  kernels  of 
these  nuts  soon  become  rancid,  and  they  rarely 
recover  from  a  good  drying.     They  will  grow  in 


Spring,  if  they  have  not  been  kept  too  warm  or 
too  dry  since  gathering  the  previous  Fall.  The 
best  success  follows  Fall  sowing. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Growing  the  Eucalyptus  in  the  North. — 
M.  B.,  Philadelphia,  says :  "  I  note  your  occa- 
sional remarks  on  this  tree,  and  .think  you  are 
scarcely  right  in  your  efforts  to  discourage  ex- 
periments with  it.  In  view  of  the  wonderful 
results  that  have  followed  its  growth  elsewhere, 
why  should  not  people  be  permitted  to  try  it  if 
so  disposed?  If  they  fail,  it  is  little  loss;  if 
they  succeed,  it  will  be  a  glorious  achievement. 
Do  you  know  from  actual  experiment  that  the 
Eucalyptus  will  not  do  in  the  Northern  States?" 

[Our  correspondent  surely  misunderstands  us. 
We  have  no  objection  whatever  to  any  one's 
trying  it.  As  Mr.  Price  said  recently,  the  cost  of 
the  experiments  are  not  ours,  and  so  far  as  this 
is  concerned,  it  is  none  of  our  business. 

But  when  people  ask  us  whether  the  Euca- 
lyptus, the  Cocoa  Nut,  the  Banana,  or  the  Pine 
Apple  will  grow  in  the  far  North,  we  have  to  say 
no  !  And  we  say  this,  though  we  have  made  no 
actual  experiment  with  them,  nor  do  we  know 
of  any. 

All  plants  and  families  of  plants  have  certain 
geographical  centres,  with  which  botanists  are 
tolerably  well  acquainted,  and  this  knowledge  is 
mostly  sufficient  to  decide  such  questions  as  these. 
The  Eucalyptus  belongs  to  the  order  Myrtacese.  and 
from  what  a  geographical  botanist  knows  of  the 
home  centre  (so  to  speak)  of  the  order,  he  feels 
quite  safe  in  saying  that  none  of  that  family  will 
endure  the  Winters  of  any  but  the  extreme 
south  of  the  United  States. 

But  we  only  give  this  opinion  to  those  who 
want  it.  We  have  no  wish  to  prevent  experi- 
ments— nay,  shall  be  glad  if  some  one  will  do  so, 
and  we  will  cheerfully  find  a  place  for  the  re- 
sult.—Ed.  G.  M.l 


ATURAL  MISTORY  AND  ^SCIENCE. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 

TUMBLE  WEED  AGAIN. 

BY   C   E.    BESSEY,    AMES,    IOWA. 

Mr.  Wier,  in  June  Monthly,  describes  most  ex- 
cellently the  Tumble  Weed,  but  I  am  sorry  he 


did  not  study  it  before  guessing  at  its  name.  It 
is  Amarantus  albus,  thoroughly  Westernized. 
With  you,  as  you  Mr.  Editor  well  know,  it  does 
not  roll  itself  up  and  then  get  itself  tumbled 
around,  so  as  to  scatter  its  seed.  It  couldn't  roll 
far,  even  if  it  wanted  to,  with  you ;  but  with  us 
it  may  roll  miles  upon  miles.     Some  people  even 


1877.1 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


24T 


to-day  say  that  we  cannot  lay  our  hands  upon  a 
species  which  has  spontaneously  changed  its 
structure  and  rabits.  The  Tumble  Weed,  how- 
ever, on  the  prairies,  is  a  very  different  looking 
and  acting  thing  from  what  it  is  in  the  East.  It 
is  a  Tumble  Weed  where  "  it  pays  "  it  to  be  one; 
but  where  it  cannot  tumble  far,  it  does  not  at- 
tempt to  do  so  at  all. 

This  is  how  it  probably  becomes  a  Tumble 
Weed  :  The  prairie  climate,  which  is  excessively 
dry,  and  again  excessively  wet,  with  a  most  de- 
cided preponderance  of  the  former  condition, 
produces  a  short,  spreading  growth,  instead  of 
the  taller  or  more  "  drawn  "  growth  of  the  moister 
regions;  the  stems  and  branches  are  harder  for 
the  same  reason.  Upon  the  approach  of  Winter 
the  plants  die,  and  the  hard  branches  dry  and 
curl  up.  The  heavy  winds  now  soon  break  off 
the  root,  and  the  plant  is  hurled  and  tumbled 
away.  Send  me  seeds  of  Amarantus  albus  from 
the  East,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  the  plants 
growing  from  them  will  be  veritable  Tumble 
Weeds,  although  they  may  be  the  offspring  of 
the  soberest  and  steadiest  of  Pigweeds.  If  you, 
Mr.  Editor,  want  to  try  the  converse,  I'll  send 
you  Tumble  Weed  seeds ;  but  you  need  not  hope 
to  see  any  lofty  tumbling  from  the  plants  you 
grow. 


ED  110 RIAL   NOTES. 


Fleshy  Fruits. — Before  concluding  this  lec- 
ture, I  feel  myself  called  upon  to  say  a  word  or 
two  respecting  the  importance  of  cultivated 
fruits,  because  gardeners  and  pomologists  still 
entertain  some  erroneous  views  relating  to  them. 
Thus,  for  instance,  it  is  very  generally  supposed 
that  the  flesh  of  the  fruit  provides  the  first  food 
for  the  germinating  plants  of  its  seeds.  Such, 
however,  is  not  the  case,  for  here,  as  in  other 
cases,  the  first  nourishment  is  drawn  from  the 
seed  alone.  The  flesh  of  the  fruit  bears  no  rela- 
tion to  the  embryo  ;  it  is  a  kind  of  outcast  sub- 
stance or  excretion  of  the  plant.  In  most  of  our 
cultivated  fruit  trees,  too,  the  great  mass  of  this 
flesh  is  the  result  of  cultivation.  Thus  the  wild 
Cherries  of  our  woods  possess  so  little  flesh  that 
they  do  not  repay  the  trouble  of  plucking.  In 
the  mountains  of  Pontus  I  found  Grapes  so  small 
that  they  were  not  worth  eating;  and  Pallas  in- 
forms us  that  the  wild  Apricot,  and  often  like- 
wise the  wild  or  escaped  Peach,  possess  no  flesh 


at  all,  the  former,  indeed,  being  like  a  leathery 
two-valved  capsule. — Karl  Koch. 

Fire-proof  Wood. — One  of  the  results  of  the 
Brooklyn  Theatre  fire  is  the  discovery  and  appli- 
cation of  what  is  called  "  Tungstate  of  Soda  "  to 
the  scenery  used  on  the  stage.  An  experiment 
was  made  lately  in  the  presence  of  the  promi- 
nent managers  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  the- 
atres, and  the  result  seems  to  indicate  perfect 
success.  A  tongue  of  jet  equal  to  150  ordinary 
gas  jets  was  applied  to  a  scene  for  two  minutes 
and  the  canvas  did  not  blaze  or  smoke.  A  coil 
of  rope  having  been  saturated  with  the  solution, 
was  submitted  to  the  fire  test  with  no  effect 
whatever. 

According  to  a  certain  Dr.  Beaupre  (cited  in 
the  Journal  de  la  Societe  Centrale  a' Horticulture  de 
France),  a  Lilac  after  flowering  profusely,  as  it 
does  every  year,  this  season  threw  up  afterwards 
two  or  three  suckers,  which  bore  enormous 
trusses  of  flowers,  although  they  only  appeared 
between  2  and  3  inches  above  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  The  editor  of  the  Revue  Horticole  re- 
cords a  similar  occurrence  in  Aralia  spinosa  and 
A.  hybrida,  and  we  have  seen  a  similar  case  in 
Ailantus  glandulosa. 

Soaking  Seeds  in  Boiling  Water.— Surprise 
is  often  expressed  that  hard  shelled  seeds  can  be 
made  to  grow  after  boiling  water  has  been  poured 
on  them,  but  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact.  Yet 
one  need  not  try  it,  for  in  practice  a  few  days' 
soaking  in  cold  water  answers  as  well. 

The  Blue  Glass  Controversy. — All  over  the 
world  General  Pleasanton  has  raised  a  talk.  In 
Europe  it  is  perhaps  louder  than  here.  As  our 
readers  know,  we  are  by  no  means  satisfied  that 
the  great  success  of  General  Pleasanton  is  due  to 
his  blue  glass.  But  if  we  were,  to  feel  sure  that 
General  Pleasanton's  arguments  were  weak,  we 
should  have  to  grant  that  many  of  the  argu- 
ments brought  against  him  were  weaker.  We 
quote  for  example  the  following,  from  a  leading 
English  magazine :» 

"The  effects  of  colored  light  on  plants  have 
been  carefully  inquired  into,  and  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject  will  find,  on  referring 
back,  that  we  have  reported  on  numerous  ex- 
periments, and  made  public  a  variety  of  fact* 
and  opinions.  All  inquiries  into  the  ways  of 
nature,  and  especially  as  to  the  relations  that 
subsist  between  the  inorganic  and  organic  crea- 
tions, are  to  be  treated  with  respect ;  for  knowl- 


248 


*EE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


edge  is,  for  the  most  part,  obtained  iw   driblets, 
and   is  the  reward  usually  of  inquiring  spirits 
that  enter  upon  the  agreeable  task  of  interroga- 
ting nature,  having  definite  ends  in  view.     It  is 
not  for  us,  therefore,  to  speak  slightingly  of  the 
many  experiments  that  have  been  made  on  the 
effects  of  variously-colored  light  on  the  growth 
of  plants.     It  is  proper,  however,  to  ask  what  is 
the  sum-total  of  results  ?    What  remains  to  be 
discovered  none  can  predict;  but  of  what  has 
been  done  the  sum  is  amusingly  small,  and  one 
general    result    is    peculiarly   interesting.    The 
general  result  is  that  the  common  daylight  suits 
plants  better  than  any  modification  of  it  that  we 
can  obtain  by  chemical  or  optical  agencies.     If 
the  philosophers  could  have  discovered  a  better 
sort  of  light  they  would  frankly  have   told  us; 
but  thus  far,  at  all  events,  it  appears  that   the 
arrangements  of  nature  are  not  susceptible  of 
improvement  by  the  aid  of  art.     Any  one  who 
will  take  the  pains  to  collect  and  read  the  many 
elaborate  essays  on  the  subject  tnat  have  been 
published,  will  at  least  earn  a  surprise  in  the  re- 
flection that  will  come  at  last  on  the   immense 
pains  taken  by  man  to  satisfy  his  mind  that  the 
Almighty  has  not  made  a  mistake  in  adapting 
the  imponderable  forces  of  the  universe  to  the 
necessities   of   the   organisms    with   which   the 
planet  is  beautified.     From  this  general  result 
we  turn  to  a  particular  result,  which  we   may 
speak  of  as  having  a  "  practical  "  value.     It  is 
quite  certain  that  many  plants  thrive  more  thor- 
oughly when  exposed  to  light,  in  which  there  is 
a  distinct  preponderance  of  green  color,  than  in 
the  full  blaze   of  common  daylight.     The   fern 
houses  at  Kew  are  all  roofed  with  green  glass, 
and  in  many  instances  it  has  been  found  that  a 
thin  coat  of  green  paint,  or  of  less  permanent 
green  coloring,  on  the  roof  of  an  ordinary  plant 
house,  affords  a  more  salutary  shade  than    the 
grey  canvas  or  stippling  of  lime  customarily  em- 
ployed.    The  green  light  thus  produced  does  not 
suit  all  plants  alike,  for  this   particular  conclu- 
sion is  but  a  part  of  the  general  conclusion,  that 
the  arrangements  of  nature  cannot  be  improved 
upon  by  art.     The  fact  is,  in  the  use  of  green 
glass  we  are  in  some  degree — perhaps  in  a  very 
feeble   degree — imitating  the  light  received   by 
plants  that  commonly  grow  under  the  shade  of 
trees.     Hitherto  we  have  seen  the  best  results  of 
the  employment  of  green  glass  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  Ferns  and  Camellias;  but  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  very  many  families  of  plants  would 
enjoy  a  tint  of  green  similar  to  that  produced  1>\ 


the  passage  of  white  light  through  a  screen  of 
green  leaves.  We  have  probably  much  to  learn 
in  adapting  the  circumstances  of  plants  under 
cultivation  to  the  kind  of  light  that  prevails  in 
their  native  habitats." 

The  American  gardener  knows  well  that  there 
are  large  numbers  of  plants  that  "  common  day- 
light" does  not  suit.  The  argument  that  "the 
Almighty  knows  what  is  best  for  us,"  is  all  very 
well.  He  knows  what  is  best  for  his  own  good 
and  wise  purposes,  but  we  have  a  suspicion  that 
he  leaves  a  good  deal  of  what  is  best  for  us  to 
be  found  out  by  the  industrious  human  brain. 
It  would  have  been  just  as  good  for  our  great- 
grandfathers as  for  us  to  have  found  out  how  to 
cross  the  great  ocean  in  ten  days,  as  we  do.  And 
they  could  have  found  out,  if  any  of  them  had 
had  the  sense  to  study  little  things,  as  Watt  and 
Fulton  did.  Any  one  who  knows  the  difference 
between  a  wild  Crab  and  a  Baldwin,  will  doubt 
whether  nature  always  knows  just  what  is  best 
for  us. 

It  is  just  so  with  blue  glass.  We  feel  sure  it  is 
not  all  that  is  claimed  for  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  sure  that  there  may  be  much  more  made 
of  blue  glass  in  our  horticultural  operations  than 
has  been  made. — Ed.  G.  M. 

Internal  Heat  of  Plants. — By  accounts  in 
the  English  papers,  we  note  that  an  observer 
has  been  experimenting  with  leaves  and  sterns, 
to  ascertain  the  difference,  in  their  temperatures 
at  different  times  of  the  day,  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  atmosphere.  He  found  they  were 
about  two  degrees  lower  before  noon,  but  several 
higher  from  that  til)  night.  He  seems  to  have  con- 
fined his  observations  to  beet  leaves  and  sun  flow- 
ers. We  should  like  to  see  other  plants  tried, 
especially  the  ice  plants.  They  take  their  name 
from  the  ice-like  crystals  on  the  leaves;  but, 
whether  it  is  imagination  or  not,  we  cannot  say, 
there  is  always  a  cold  feel  to  the  leaves  as  well. 

The  American  Association.  —  The  meeting 
this  year  is  to  be  held  at.  Nashville,  on  the  29th 
of  August.  It  is  expected  to  be  a  very  interest- 
ing one. 

Double  Flowers. — Almost,  perhaps  all  the 
double  forms  of  herbaceous  flowers  have  been 
found  wild,  and  taken  to  our  gardens.  Collect- 
ors frequently  find  them,  and  more  could  if  they 
would  look  sharp.  In  an  early  number  of  the 
American  Nat uralist,Mr. Thomas  Meehan  record- 
ed the  finding  of  Saxifraga  Virginiensis  with 
double  flowers  on  the  Wissahickon,  and  Dr.  Asa 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


249 


Gray,  in  a  recent  number,  reports  one  as  having 
been  recently  found  near  Boston.  Prof.  Porter 
sends  to  the  Bulletin  a  note  on  finding  a  double 
Rue  anemone. 

Varying  Results  of  Climate. — The  Neio  York 
Tribune  discontinued  its  exchange  with  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  last  Spring,  and  we  were  glad 
to  understand  by  this  that  it  stood  in  no  need  of 
any  further  horticultural  information.  By  an 
extract  which  we  have  recently  seen  in  another 
paper,  we  are  pleased  to  note  that  it  is  still  wise 
enough  to  retain  the  services  of  Mr.  Josiah 
Hoopes,  whose  intelligent  notes  we  were  always 
glad  to  read.  In  the  extract  referred  to  we  see 
that  Mr.  Hoopes  has  been  giving  his  experience 
with  the  Winter  and  Evergreens.  The  Lawson 
Cypress  suffered  more  than  the  Libocedrus,  though 
both  were  partially  protected  by  evergreen 
boughs.  It  is  singular  that  here — some  twenty 
miles  from  Mr.  Hoopes — the  experience  was  just 
the  opposite.  No  Lawson  Cypress  was  injured, 
though  numbers  of  Libocedrus  were.  In  other 
years,  however,  the  experience  was  the  reverse. 
One  singular  observation  was,  that  many  Libo- 
cedrus were  injured,  while  others,  though  within 
a  few  feet,  were  unhurt.  Wind  and  cold  have 
much  to  do  with  the  tenderness  of  evergreens, 
but  it  is  evident,  as  we  understand  by  the  extract, 
Mr.  Hoopes  suggests  in  his  original  paper,  that 
there  are  some  innate  constitutional  powers  of 
resisting  cold,  that  are  not  yet  made  quite  clear 
to  us. 

Insect  Fertilization. — It  is  a  well-known  fact 


that  insects  fertilize  flowers,  and,  therefore,  flor 
ists  do  all  they  can  to  keep  Pelargoniums  and 
other  choice  productions  free  from  their  depre- 
dations, for  by  assisting  fertilization  they  cause 
the  petals  to  drop  sooner  than  they  otherwise 
would  do.  Of  this  we  had  numerous  examples 
during  the  late  dry  season,  when  seed-bearing 
was  the  rule  with  almost  all  the  occupants  of  the 
flower  garden  rather  than  the  exception.  Among 
plants  requiring  artificial  fertilization,  Mr. 
Meehan  includes  Orchids,  and  certainly  that 
queen  of  Orchids,  Phalaenopsis  amabilis  will 
remain  in  good  condition  from  a  month  to  six 
weeks  if  not  fertilized  artificially;  but  if  operated 
upon  by  its  own  pollen,  or  that  of  another  vari- 
ety, the  flowers  fade  within  a  day  or  two,  and 
the  seed-pod  elongates  rapidly.  Therefore,  ex- 
cept in  cases ,  in  which  improved  varieties  are 
wanted,  and  hybridization  is  intentionally 
resorted  to,  it  is  desirable  that  fertilization 
should  not  take  place  at  least,  where  the  primary 
object  is  the  preservation  of  the  flowers.  As 
regards  Pelargoniums,  we  know  that  kinds  that 
are  sterile  retain  their  flowers  longer  than  such 
as  are  fertile.  Pink  Christine,  for  example, 
seeds  so  freely  that,  if  not  counteracted  by  means 
of  frequent  hand  picking,  it  becomes  entirely 
exhausted,  while  other  varieties,  under  exactly 
similar  circumstances,  scarcely  produce  a  seed- 
pod.  From  my  own  observation,  I  should  feel 
inclined  to  agree  in  all  respects  with  Mr.  Mee- 
han's  views,  as  I  believe  the  question  of  nutrition 
as  affecting  fertilization,  to  which  he  refers,  de- 
serves more  general  attention  than  it  receives. — 
James  Groom,  Henham  Hall,  Wang  ford,  in  Garden. 


1TERATURE, 


f 


TLS  & 


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ONAL  m  OTES 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


CYCAS  REVOLUTA  NOT  THE  SAGO  PALM. 

BY  ROBERT  J.  SIDDALL,  GERMANTOWN,   PHILA. 

Many  of  the  catalogues  ihention-this  plant  as 
the  Sago  Palm,  and  Louden  speaking  of  the  Cycas, 
says  it  produces  the  granulated  powder   called 


Sago,  "from  Sagu,  the  name  of  a  sort  of  bread 
made  from  the  pith  of  the  trunk."  and  that  the 
pith,  after  undergoing  certain  preparations  "con- 
stitutes Sago."  It  would  appear  from  this  that 
the  catalogues  may  be  correct,  but  under  the  head 
of  Sagus,  which  he  calls  the  Sago  Palm,  Louden 
says,  "  from  this  palm  is  produced  the  Sago  of 
the  shops."     And  again  he  says,  "the  trunk  of 


250 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


Cycas  contains  a  great  quantity  of  fecula,  which 
is  manufactured  into  a  kind  of  spurious  sago." 
From  this  mixture  by  one  author  it  seems  that 
"  the  granulated  powder  called  Sago  "  is  a  "  spu- 
rious "  article.  Dr.  Wood  says  that  "  the  farina- 
ceous product  of  the  different  species  of  Cycas, 
sometimes  called  Japan  Sago  does  not  enter  into 
general  commerce. 

As  the  Cycas  revoluta  is  not  a  true  palm  and 
does  not  furnish  the  Sago  of  commerce,  (which 
is  a  product  of  Sagus  Rumphii,  Sagus  lavis,  and 
Sagueris  Rumphii,)  it  is  rather  a  misnomer  to 
call  it  the  Sago  Palm,  a  name  rightfully  belong- 
ing to  Sagus  Rumphii,  though  Webster  gives  it 
Rhapis  flabelliformis. 


RHYMES  AND  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  CACTUS 

MAN. 

BY  WM.  T.  HARDING,  SUPT.  OAK  HILL  CEMETERY, 
UPPER  SANDUSKY,  OHIO. 

(Continued  from  page  221  ) 

Near  by,  the  venerable  and  hoary  headed  old 
man  cactus,  Pilocereus  senilis,  looked  serious 
and  sedate ;  the  very  picture  of  an  aged  cactus 
sire.  The  succulent  sage,  claimed  all  the  honor 
and  respect  due  to  a  long  and  well  spent  life. 
The  old  fellow  had  grown  gray  in  the  service, 
and  seemed,  as  he  leaned  on  his  staff,  to  have 
long  passed  the  allotted  period  of  three-score 
years  and  ten.  Like  a  weary  cactus  pilgrim,  he 
was  evidently  nearing  the  end  which  awaited 
him,  and  the  rest  of  his  ancient  race. 

''There  were  giants  in  those  days,"  among  the 
succulent  tribes.  Cereus  regalis— regal  indeed, 
in  portly  form,  stood  some  twelve  feet  above 
C.  gibbosus;  while  C.  hexagonus,  with  an  alti- 
tude of  thirty  feet,  towered  above  them  all.  The 
admirable  rat-tail  Cactus,  C.  flagelliformis,  worked 
at  intervals  up  the  stem  of  a  tall  Pereskia,  was 
really  a  superb  specimen,  and  one  of  the  won- 
ders of  the  house. 

There  were  several  plethoric  specimens  of  the 
Melon  Thistle  kinds,  or  Melocactuses.  M.  com- 
munis is  perhaps  the  most  common,  having 
been  in  cultivation  since  1688.  However  com- 
mon it  has  been  since  then,  it  nevertheless,  still 
remains  an  uncommonly  queer  looking  plant. 
Cactaceous  obesity,  is  one  of  the  characteristics 
of  this  curious  genus.  M.  pyramidalis,  is  an  old 
vegetal  pyramid,  and  if  not  so  massive  as  Cheops, 
is  more  ancient,  no  doubt.  M.  amcenus,  is  a 
beauty,   if  not  the  beUe  of  the  family.     M.  exca- 


vatus,  is  so  much  excavated,  as  to  look  as  if  "Old 
Time  "  had  been  diligently  digging  at  it  for  cen- 
turies; and  ere  this,  has  probably  caved  in,  as 
all  things  will.  M.  polyacanthus,  or  many 
spined,  is  something  like  M.  macrantha,  with 
longer  spines,  of  the  touch-me-not  order. 

Their  curious  compeers,  are  Cactuses.  C.  de- 
pressus,  is  much  depressed,  though  not  in  the 
least  distressed.  C.  foliosus,  is  more  leafy  than 
umbrageous.  C.  reductus,  C.  intortus,  andC.  cor- 
rugatus,  are  singular  examples  of  Cacti.  The  fea- 
tures of  the  last  named,  were  deeply  furrowed  ; 
looked  old,  and  stricken  in  years.  C.  intortus, 
was  as  twisted  and  contorted  as  a  cactus  could 
be,  and  would  puzzle  a  geometrician  to  describe 
its  form. 

Not  to  be  forgotten,  are  the  broad  and  burly 
Opuntias,  or  Indian  figs,  standing  defiantly — 
armed  to  the  teeth — among  the  little  cactus  kin, 
less  pretentious,  though  much  more  beautiful. 
O.  spinosissima,  is  well-named,  if  not  well-man- 
nered. The  merciless  character  of  the  phlebot- 
omizer  is  well-known ;  yet,  is  harmless  enough, 
if  let  alone.  A  lawyer,  would  undoubtedly  de- 
cide that  it  belonged  to  the  Lex  talionis  class. 
And  the  same  might  be  said  of  O.  ferox.  0.  mi- 
crodasys,  and  0.  polyantha,  both  belong  to  the 
queer  order  of  O's.  Their  lancets  are  not  so  long 
— but  are  short,  sharp,  and  decisive.  Perhaps, 
the  most  useful  kind,  is  0.  coccinellifera,  from 
which  the  cochineal  insects  are  gathered,  and 
which  give  the  red  tincture  used  for  dyeing  pur- 
poses. 

In  South  America,  the  writer  has  seen  Cereus 
repandus,  C.  triangularis,  Opuntia  maxima, 
0.  decumana,  and  0.  spinosissima,  used  as  hedge 
plants,  to  fence  the  Cocoa-nut  plantations,  Ban- 
ana groves,  and  Pine-apple  fields.  They  are  of 
such  a  formidable  and  repellent  nature,  as  to  de- 
ter any  living  thing  from  attempting  to  get 
through.  Neither  hog,  dog,  or  devil,  would  face 
them,  he  is  certain. 

Formed  in  various  groups,  were  the  more  com- 
pact little  curiosities  of  the  Genus  Mammillaria, 
Echinocactus,  Echinopsis,  &c,  &c. ;  which  with 
the  more  flexible  and  slender  growing  Rhipsa- 
lises,  made  the  curious  contrast  still  more  strange. 
The  above-named  little  pets,  are  both  elegant 
and  interesting,  and  may  be  classed  as  bijou 
cacti.  No  conch ological  collection,  however 
well  selected,  could  possibly  surpass,  either  in 
beauty  or  value,  an  equal  number  of  these  minor 
marvels. 

Connected    with     Mammillarias,    are    many 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


251 


happy  recollections.  They  always  remind  the 
writer  of  brighter  days  gone  by,  and  on  that  ac- 
count, will  ever  be  kindly  remembered.  They 
are  a  most  (if  not  the  most)  beautiful  and  curious 
genus  of  succulents  known.  Whatever  has  pre- 
viously been  said  of  a  pleasant  nature  concern- 
ing others,  or  which  may  follow,  in  the  way  of 
admiration  of  the  remainder,  specially  applies 
to  them.  If  they  are  a  diminutive  race,  their 
charms  are  by  no  means  curtailed,  or  their  beau- 
ties in  the  least  abridged,  in  consequence.  These 
pretty  cactacean  Liliputs  are  very  attractive,  and 
are  altogether  lovely.  There  is  a  long  list  of 
them,  too  long  to  give,  so  I  will  single  out  but  a 
few,  viz. :  M.  conica,  M.  simplex,  M.  lanifera, 
M.  longimamma,  M.  ambigua,  M.  quadrata, 
M.  caudata,  M.  erecta,  M.  grandis,  M.  pulcherri- 
ma,  M.  pyramidalis,  M.  coronata,  M.  columna- 
ris,  M.  magnimamma,  M.  nivosa,  M.  tenuis,  and 
M.  stellata,  "  the  star,  of  the  goodly  company." 

Of  the  flat  smooth-stemmed  Epiphylhims, 
were  such  favorites  as  E.  crenatum,  E.  spectabile, 
E.  elegans,  E.  speciosum,  E.  Akermanii,  and 
fulgens.  The  well-known  lobster's  claw  cactus, 
E.  truncatum,  is  one  of  them.  Worked  on  to  up- 
right stocks  of  Pereskia  aculeata,  or  Cereus  tri- 
queter,  they  form  exceedingly  handsome  speci- 
mens. They  are  very  profuse  bloomers  during 
the  winter  months.  One  very  remarkable  plant, 
especially,  seems  in  ideality,  to  be  within  reach 
of  the  writer;  and  its  very  odd  companion,  Tes- 
tudinaria  Elephantipes,  or  elephant's  foot.  The 
last  named,  was  an  enormous  sized  specimen, 
and  looked  much  like  a  huge  tortoise,  or  turtle, 
squatting  on  the  top  of  a  tub.  Although  not 
considered  a  succulent  proper,  as  it  belongs  to 
the  Dioscorea,  or  Yam  family,  it  was,  neverthe- 
less, appropriate  enough  for  the  company  it 
kept.  The  abnormal  appearance  of  the  yamy 
monstrosity  was  weird  in  the  extreme.  Its  age, 
might  be  dated  from  a  "  time  whereof  the  mem- 
ory of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary." 

Less  peculiar,  though  much  more  beautiful, 
were  the  Crassulas,  Rocheas,  and  Kalosanthuses, 
which  are  first-rate  flowering  plants,  and  were 
real  greenhouse  glories  of  the  olden  time. 

Echeveria  gibbiflora,  E.  coccinea,  E.  lurida, 
and  E.  coespitosa,  were  the  only  ones  I  remem- 
ber there.  The  more  modern  kinds,  such  as 
E.  agavoides,  E.  glauca,  E.  farinosa,  E.  metallica, 
E.  lucida,  E.  pulverulenta,  &c,  were  then  un- 
known. They  need  no  praising,  as  all  plant 
lovers  know  how  beautiful  they  are.  Their  effect 
is  very  striking  as  now  used  in  the  decoration  of 


the  flower  garden  ;  and  especially  is  their  beauty 
enhanced, when  judiciously  combined  with  Aloes, 
and  Sempervivums,  of  which  some  excellent 
kinds  are  offered. 

Sempervivum,  to  live  forever,  as  its  name  im- 
plies. What  a  train  of  reflections  seems  to  start 
up,  at  the  mention  of  the  name.  Under  the  un- 
assuming name  of  house-leek,  S.  tectorum  is  well- 
known.  It  is  often  seen  flourishing  on  the  cot- 
tage-roofs of  the  industrious, though  poor  people, 
of  Great  Britain.  The  simple-minded,  yet,  good 
housewife,  regards  it  as  a  plant  of  considerable 
importance  ;  and  well  she  may,  when  she  knows 
it  is  so  lucky,  to  have  one.  A  few  old  stagers 
I  will  mention,  for  instance,  S.  tabulseforme,  or 
table  formed,  is  very  much  like  a  round  table 
and  would  be,  I  should  think,  just  such  a  one  as 
any  little  fairy  would  select,  to  furnish  a  ferny 
bower.  S.  arachnoideum,  is  a  little  gray  colored 
curio,  and  will  bear  a  close  inspection,  as  it  ap- 
pears to  be  covered  with  cobwebs.  S.  tortuosum,  is 
of  the  grotesque  order;  while  S.  arboreum,and  its 
variegated  mate,  are  of  the  shrubby,  or  tree  type. 
S.  barbatum,  if  not  quite  as  hairy  as  Esau,  is 
stout  and  "  bearded  like  the  pard."  These  very 
pretty,  tidy,  rosette-like  plants,  were  as  much  ad- 
mired then  as  now. 

There  is  a  legion  of  such  varied  singularities  as 
Anacampseros,  Cotyledon,  Anhalonium,  Anigos- 
anthus,  Phyllocactus,  Apicra,  Lepismium,  Ma- 
lacocarpus,  Xananthos,  Stapelia,  Pelecephora, 
Pedilanthus,  Leuchtenbergia,  Haworthias,  Gas- 
terias,  &c,  to  which  I  can  but  briefly  allude. 
There  is  also  a  long  list  of  names  in  the  Euphor- 
bia family,  many  of  which  are  very  beautiful, 
and  decidedly  rank  among  the  chieftains  of  the 
succulent  house.  Some  of  them  are  of  most  ec- 
centric growth,  and  are  altogether  as  multiform 
and  abnormal,  as  any  others  previously  men- 
tioned. With  the  inspissated  juice  of  E.  hepta- 
gona,  the  ^Ethiopians  are  said  to  poison  their 
arrows.  While  E.  balsamifera  is  as  wholesome 
and  palatable  as  new  milk.  E.  squamosa,  E.  cere- 
iformis,  and  E.  trigona,  are  of  the  heavy  calibre, 
or  ponderous  types  of  the  genus.  E.  antiquorum, 
had  a  very  antiquated  look.  Its  appearance 
was  sober  and  solid  ;  one  of  the  oddities  of  a  very 
odd  order,  and  seemed  as  if  it  might  be  one  of 
the  survivors  of  Noachian  times.  It  produces 
the  drug  known  as  Euphorbia.  E.  Caput-Medu- 
sae,  or  Medusae's  head,  was  a  droll-looking  char- 
acter; having  far  more  heads  than  Janus  had 
faces.  It  was  well  it  had  no  poll-tax  to  pay.  It 
confronted  the   visitor   at  the   door,   and  never 


252 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


failed  "to  astonish  the  Browns."  It  was  a  very 
conspicuous  figure  among  its  fellows,  with  a 
somhre,  if  not  sinister,  cast  of  countenance.  And 
yet,  it  was  not  such  a  frightful  Gorgon,  as  to  pet- 
rify people  who  looked  at  it;  as  a  myth  of  that 
name  is  reported  to  have  done.  Their  flowers 
are  remarkably  vivid,  and  are  hisrhly  prized  for 
their  splendor,  and  general  usefulness.  E.  Poin- 
settia,  E.  fulgens,  E.  splendens,  and  E.  jacquiniae- 
flora,  are  universally  known  and  admired.  Ee- 
luctantly  I  leave  them,  to  discuss  the  virtues  of 
bitter  Aloes. 

In  contradistinction  to  Agaves,  or  American 
Aloes,  so-called,  are  the  African  Aloes,  proper. 
From  A.  soccotrina,  is  produced  the  nauseous 
drug,  of  nasty  notoriety.  The  thick  juicy  green 
leaves  are  equally  as  unpalatable,  as  are  the 
abominable  dry  pellets,  ycleped  pills.  A.  dicho- 
toma,  A.  Commelyni,  A.  echinata,  A.  aristata, 
A.  frutescens,  and  A.  lineata,  belong  to  the  sin- 
gular section.  A.  serrulata,  A.  albispina,  A.  ar- 
borescens,  A.  elatior,  A.  distans,  and  A.  purpu- 
rascens,  are  of  the  stout  and  sturdy  style;  and 
averaged  from  six  to  fifteen  feet  high.  The  slen- 
der, graceful,  variegated,  obscure,  big-toothed, 
noble,  reflexed,  and  proliferous,  had  each  a  rep- 
resentative. They,  are  embraced  in  what  may 
be  designated  a  "  motley  crowde." 

(To  be  concluded.) 


BURDETT'S    ISLAND  AND  ORCHARD  IN  THE 
NIAGARA  RIVER. 

BY   S.,   SYRACUSE,   N.  Y. 

A  paragraph  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly  tor 
June,  at  page  174,  in  reference  to  Mr.  Burdett's 
orchard,  on  the  Niagara  Eiver,  near  Niagara 
Falls,  though  of  no  great  intrinsic  importance, 
may  perhaps  bear  correction,  and  in  doing  so,  I 
wish  to  add  a  few  words  respecting  it.  It  is  not 
an  apple  orchard,  but  one  of  peaches.  The 
number  of  trees  stated  is  probably  correct.  This 
orchard  is  situated  on  an  island,  near  the  Ameri- 
can side  of  the  river,  and  is  a  curiosity  in  its 
way.  I  saw  it  several  times  a  few  years  since, 
and  suppose  it  to  be  flourishing  yet.  Many  of 
the  trees  are  large,  old  ones,  but  continue 
healthy  and  productive.  The  even  temperature 
produced  by  the  open  river  always  preserves  the 
fruit  buds  from  theWinter'scold,  and  Mr.  Burdett 
obtains  a  fine  crop  of  peaches  every  year.  His  con- 
veniences for  markcti  ig  thecropare  peculiar.  As 
the  fruit  ripens  it  is  not  gathered  until  perfectly 


mature,  and  in  the  best  possible  state  to  be  enjoyed 
in  eating.  The  ripe  peaches  are  taken  from  the 
trees  onty  as  they  become  fully  so ;  are  placed 
in  baskets  and  loaded  into  a  barge  which  lies  by 
a  dock  close  by  the  orchard,  the  work  being 
done  during  the  day.  In  the  evening  a  steam 
tug  arrives  from  Buffalo,  and  the  barge  is  towed 
to  that  city  which  it  reaches  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  The  fruit  is  then  distributed 
through  the  city,  and  only  those  who  know  what 
a  luscious  thing  a  ripe  peach  is,  right  from  the 
tree,  can  form  an  opinion  of  the  character  of  the 
fruit  thus  delivered.  The  estimate  put  upon  Mr. 
Burdett's  crop,  of  $6,000,  has  doubtless  been  re- 
alized, although  not  always  amounting  to  so 
large  a  sum.  Mr.  Burdett's  facilities  for  peach 
growing  and  for  marketing  can  hardly  be  ex- 
ceeded, although  a  narrow  strip  of  land  along 
the  river  is  well  adapted  to  apples,  pears,  quinces 
and  peaches  as  well  as  the  smaller  fruits.  Bur- 
dett's Island  furnishes  a  very  choice  and  favora- 
ble location  for  the  business  its  proprietor  is  in  ; 
but  his  example  might  be  imitated  in  a  few  simi- 
lar situations  in  that  vicinity,  though  I  believe 
not  to  the  same  extent. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 

The  Plural  of  Botanical  Names. — It  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  what  rule  our  English  cotem- 
poraries  have  in  their  plural  orthographies. 
Speaking  in  the  plural  of  Brodiaea,  it  has  no 
hesitation  in  saying  "  Brodiaeas."  Yet  in  the 
same  paper  it  does  not  say  Calochortuses,  but 
"  Calochorti."  For  our  part,  we  think,  and  have 
before  expressed  the  opinion,  that  when  we 
adopt  a  word  as  an  English  word,  and  in  the  con- 
struction of  an  English  sentence,  the  words 
should  follow  English  rules.  We  can  see  no 
more  reason  why  we  should  hesitate  to  say 
Calochortuses  than  Verbenas,  Fuchsias  or  Dah- 
lias. Botany  already  seems  to  the  masses  as 
loaded  with  unnecessary  terms,  and  we  see  no  use 
in  bringing  in  what  must  appear  a  mere  affec- 
tation of  correctness,  when  there  is  not  only  no 
occasion  for  it,  but  when  those  who  affect  it  con- 
tinually violate  their  own  ideal. 

Lemmoni.y  Californr'A. — This  new  genus  es- 
tablished recently  by  Dr.  Gray,  "to  commemo- 
rate the  services  of  a  most  ardent  and  successful 
explorer  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas,"  and  to  which 
we  recently  referred,  as  we  see  by  the  last  issue 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


253 


of  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  is  a  Hydrophyllaceous  plant 
of  which  the  well-known  Phacelia  is  an  example. 
The  new  genus  will  be  precious  to  botanists  from 
its  association,  but  so  far  as  we  can  gather  from 
Professor  Gray's  description,  it  will  have  few 
charms  for  the  lovers  of  gay  flowers. 

Grasshopper  Machines. — As  we  have  recently 
stated,  the  amusement  which  our  suggestion  of 
some  years  since,  that  machines  could  be  easily 
invented  to  work  successfully  against  grass- 
hoppers, afforded  some  of  our  Western  friends, 
leads  us  particularly  to  note  how  progress  in  that 
line  is  advancing.  We  give  this  from  the  Boul- 
der (Colorado)  News: — Benj.  Long  has  contrived 
the  simplest,  least  expensive  and  best  grasshop- 
per machine  we  have  yet  seen.  It  is  a  V  shaped 
pan  about  six  feet  apart  at  the  points,  the  pan 
being  two  inches  deep,  with  little  partitions  a 
foot  apart.  In  the  centre  where  the  pans  come 
together  is  the  axle,  upon  which  the  machine  is 
supported  by  two  wheels,  say  two  feet  in  diame- 
ter. To  keep  the  pan  from  fouling,  a  little  ele- 
vator skims  from  the  surface  of  the  oil  and 
water  the  dead  'hoppers  and  deposits  them  on 
the  ground  behind.  The  machine  is  pushed 
from  behind,  is  nicely  balanced  and  easily  run 
over  rocks  and  rough  ground.  At  the  back  of 
the  pans,  extending  upward,  is  a  wire  screen 
about  eighteen  inches  high,  to  prevent  the  'hop- 
pers from  hopping  over.  This  is  all  there  is  of 
it,  any  boy  can  run  it  and  its  cost  will  not  exceed 
$20.  Mr.  Long  has  applied  for  a  patent  for  the 
machine,  and  will  furnish  them  in  any  quantity 
at  $20  each.  Persons  interested  can  see  at  this 
office,  a  full  half-bushel  of  'hoppers  caught  in 
four  hours'  work,  on  about  a  half-acre  of  ground, 
at  Mr.  L's.  place,  north  of  town.  The  lot 
weighed  35  pounds,  or  about  70  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  If  the  celebrated  grasshopper  commis- 
sion would  spend  a  little  of  their  funds  as  bounty 
money,  many  ingenious  minds  would  be  at 
work,  devising  means  for  the  extermination  of 
the  pests. 

The  Satin  Flower. — Referring  to  the  pretty 
Californian  bulb,  Brodiaea  coccinea,  The  Garden 
uses  "  Satin  Flower  "  for  its  common  name. 

The  Cactus  in  Upholstery. —  The  writer  has 
a  distinctly  unpleasant  recollection  of  Cactuses 
as  "  pillows  "  in  past  times,  when  unsought,  they 
were  found  beneath  his  head.  But  by  the  fol- 
lowing from  a  California  paper,  it  would  seem  as 


if  they  were  now  to  find  a  legitimate  use,  if  in- 
deed Yuccas  are  not  intended: — "An  excellent 
article  of  upholstery  padding  has  been  manufac- 
tured by  Mr.  J.  W.  Findley  from  the  bayonet 
cactus.  It  is  designed  to  take  the  place  of  curled 
hair,  and  is  far  superior  to  the  Eureka  and  other 
fillmgs.  The  process  of  manufacture  is  very 
simple  and  easy.  Mr.  Findley  has  applied  for  a 
patent  on  his  discovery,  and  with  his  partner, 
Mr.  C.  F.  Holman,  will  soon  commence  to  make 
up  the  material  for  market.  Upholsterers  of  our 
city  who  have  examined  Mr.  Findley's  specimen 
pronounce  it  a  first-class  article,  and  have  offered 
from  10  to  15  cents  per  pound  for  it  in  quan- 
tities." 

A  New  Forage  Plant  —  Cynoglossum  Mor- 
risoni. — A  formidable  antagonist  has  been  found 
for  "  Prickly  Comfrey,"  in  the  common  Beggar 
Ticks.  Says  Mr.  S.W.  Brooks,  of  Brooks  county, 
South  Carolina : — "  The  yield  of  this  plant  is  very 
great.  It  may  be  cut  three  times  in  a  season, 
growing  up  repeatedly  from  the  old  stumps,  and 
yields  many  hundreds  of  pounds  to  the  acre  at 
each  cutting."  The  samples  which  Mr.  Brooks 
carried  to  Gainesville  were  of  the  second  cutting 
of  this  year,  and  he  will  certainly  get  one,  and, 
perhaps,  two  more  cuttings.  It  is  not  a  peren- 
nial, but  the  seed  must  be  planted  each  year.  It 
produces  well  on  poor  lands,  but,  of  course,  does 
better  on  rich  soils.  Horses,  mules  and  cattle 
will  eat  it  up  clean,  stalks  and  all,  and  thrive  on 
it.  It  is  botanically  allied  to  the  Symphytum, 
and  we  do  not  see  why  it  should  not  do  just  as 
well.  The  only  objection  we  see  likely  to  be 
made  by  those  who  have  money  to  spend  is  that 
it  is  not  a  "  furriner." 

Bothered  by  the  English  Name. — The  Gar- 
dener's Chronicle  gives  it  up.  It  says  : — "A  cor- 
respondent asks  us  to  tell  him  of  any  means  of 
destroying  the  Wild  Lily  on  a  gravel  path.  We 
know,  or  think  we  do,  a  Lily  when  we  see  one, 
and  are  not  altogether  ignorant  of  the  nature  of 
a  gravel  path,  but  a  wild  Lily  on  a  gravel  path  is 
indeed  a  puzzle  to  us.  We  may  say  at  once  that 
a  wild  Lily,  truly  so  called,  on  a  gravel  path,  is  a 
myth  of  the  Mrs.  'Arris  description ;  but,  still, 
what  is  meant  by  the  word  Lily?  This  is  only 
another  illustration  of  the  worthlessness  of  popu- 
lar names.  Speak  to  a  botanist  of  a  Lilium  or  a 
Lily  in  its  proper  signification,  and  he  knows 
what  you  mean,  but  in  popular  parlance  there 
are  African  Lilies,  Atamasco  Lilies,  Barbadoes 
Lilies,  Belladonna  Lilies,  Blackberry  Lilies,  Bris- 


254 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[August, 


bane  Lilies ;  other  "  Lilies,"  called  Cape  Coast, 
Corfu,  Cuban,  Day,  Fire,  Flax,  Lycoris,  Guernsey, 
Ixia,  Jacobean,  Knight's  Star,  Lent,  Mexican, 
Persian,  Pond,  Prairie,  Eock,  Rookwood,  St.  Bru- 
no's Scarborough,  Superb,  Swamp,  Trumpet, 
Whitsun,  to  say  nothing  of  Water  Lilies,  Lilies 
of  the  Valley,  and  Lily  of  the  Valley  Tree,  and 
perhaps  more.  Now  not  one  of  these  has  any 
claim  whatever  to  be  called  a  Lily ;  moreover, 
we  do  not  think  any  one  of  them  is  likely  to  be 
wild  on  a  gravel  path." 

[It  so  happens  that  we  can  help  our  friend 
though  three  thousand  miles  away  from  the  home 
of  the  inquiry.  The  "  Lily  "  in  the  gravel  path 
is  the  Convolvulus  arvensis,  or  field  Bindweed. 
We  know  of  a  "  Hampshire  Boy  "  who  never 
heard  this  plant  by  any  other  name, — and  of  peo- 
ple who  were  badly  bothered  with  them  in  gravel 
walks,  and  they  are  getting  troublesome  here 
too.     Acids  will  destroy  them. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

A  Prosperous  Illinois  Nursery.  —  Spalding 
&  Co.,  of  Springfield,  commenced  the  business 
there  in  1858  on  24  acres,  which  location  was 
given  up  in  1861  for  railroad  purposes,  when 
they  rented  three  other  tracts  amounting  to  62 
acres,  on  which  they  carried  on  their  business 
until  1866,  when  they  purchased  their  present 
site  of  80  acres  near  Biverton,  six  miles  east  of 
Springfield.  The  soil  was  from  timber  land,  a 
strong,  clayey  loam,  subsoil  reddish  clay.  They 
at  once  commenced  underdraining  with  tile,  and 
now  the  whole  is  thoroughly  underdrained  every 
30  feet  with  two,  three,  and  four  inch  tile,  laid 
3  to  4j  feet  deep.  In  1874  they  added  ninety 
acres  of  land  adjoining,  and  have  nearly  all 
well  filled  with  stock. 

History  of  the  Golden  Pippin  Apple. — says 
an  English  writer : — The  Golden  Pippin,  although 
of  the  greatest  antiquity,  has  very  little  early  his- 
tory. It  is  not  the  golden  Pippin  of  John  Park- 
inson, because  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  large  variety. 
Evelyn,  in  his  Pomona,  states  that  Lord  Claren- 
don had  in  his  time  at  his  estate  in  Berkshire  an 
orchard  of  a  thousand  Golden  and  other  cider 
Pippins,  but  no  allusion  is  made  to  it  as  a  dessert 
Apple. 

Origin  of  Some  Old  Apple  Names.  —The 
Rev.  C.  H.  Bulwer,  an  English  clergyman,  says: 
"  The  etymology  of  the  Joannetting  or  Jui.eat- 
ing  Apple  is  so  singular  and  decides  the  names 
of  so  many  other  Apples  and  Pears,  that  I  shall 
not  apologize  for  selecting  it.  It  is  one  of  the 
oldest  and  earliest  bearing  Apples,  hence  the 


mistake  about  its  name  being  Juneating,  in  allu- 
sion to  its  maturity  at  the  end  of  June  or  July. 
Dr.  Hogg  traces  its  name  to  Joannetting,  be- 
cause its  Apples  ripened  about  St.  John's  day ; 
and  for  a  similar  reason,  the  next  apple  I  men- 
tion, the  Margaret  Apple,  derives  its  name  from 
St.  Margaret's  day,  the  20th  of  July,  when  this 
Apple  would  be  in  season.  The  Costard  is  one 
of  the  oldest  of  our  English  Apples.  This  variety 
is  actually  mentioned  by  name  in  a  fruiterer's 
bill  in  Edward  I.'s  reign  in  1292,  as  previously 
alluded  to;  and  although  now  almost  extinct, 
still  used  to  be  so  common  that  retailers  of  it 
(even  the  very  price  mentioned  at  Is.  per  100) 
were  called  costard  mongers,  a  name  in  popular 
use  now  in  the  word  costermonger.  Some  ety- 
mologists, including  the  great  Dr.  Johnson,  con- 
sider the  name  Costard  to  be  derived  from  cost, 
a  head,  but  how  it  is  hard  to  say,  or  rather  to  see. 
Dr.  Hogg  traces  the  name  to  costatus,  anglice 
costate  or  ribbed,  on  account  of  the  prominent 
ribs  on  its  sides.  The  Quoining  or  Queening 
Apple  is  an  old  Apple,  of  which  we  have  many 
varieties  in  Herefordshire  (notably  the  Cowarne 
Quoining,  a  most  valuable  Apple)  which  were 
excellently  and  numerously  shown  at  our  pomo- 
logical  exhibition.  The  name  Quoining  may  be 
traced  by  the  angularity  of  the  shape  of  the 
Apple,  similarly  as  in  the  Costard,  from  the  word 
quoin  or  coin,  the  corner-stone  of  a  building.  The 
Catshead  is  another  very  old  Apple  still  grown 
amongst  us,  but  chiefly  I  have  noticed  in  cot- 
tagers' gardens,  where  it  is  gradually  giving  way 
to  the  Hawthornden  and  Lord  Suffield  especi- 
ally in  Hertfordshire.  Phillips  sings  its  praises 
thus — "  The  Catshead's  weighty  orb,  enormous 
in  its  growth."  The  Old  or  Winter  Pearmain 
must  by  no  means  be  omitted.  It  is  the  very 
oldest  historic  variety  we  have.  In  Bloom- 
field's  history  of  Norfolk,  as  quoted  by  Hogg, 
there  is  curious  mention  made  of  a  tenure  in  that 
county  by  petty  sergeantry  and  the  payment  of 
two  hundred  Pearmains  and  four  hogsheads  of 
cider  of  Permains  into  the  Exchequer  at  the  Feast 
of  St.  Michael.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  equally 
curious.  In  early  historical  works  of  the  same 
period  Charlemange  is  written  Charleinaine,  the 
last  syllable  as  Pearmaine;  and  as  Charlemange 
was  derived  from  Carolus  magnus,  so  Permaine 
is  derived  from  Pyrus  magnus,  the  Great  Pear 
Apple,  in  allusion  to  its  pyriform  shape. 

The    Tree    of   the    Blessed    Virgin    near 
Cairo. — There  is  an  old  Sycamore  tree  at  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


255 


village  of  Metarich,  a  few  miles  distant  from 
Cairo,  and  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
ancient  Heliopolis,  whose  site  is  now  occupied 
by  a  few  scattered  ruins  and  a  picturesque 
monolith  of  over  50  yards  high.  Near  this 
monolith  is  the  present  village  of  Metarich,  an 
old  heap  of  houses  in  a  state  of  ruin,  presenting 
a  most  wretched  appearance,  but  surrounded, 
however,  by  large  and  well-cultivated  gardens, 
in  the  center  of  which  rises, with  an  imposing  ap- 
pearance, the  large  tree  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
(Segar  el  Marium),  under  whose  shade  tradition 
has  it  that  the  Holy  Family  reposed  at  the  time 
of  their  flight  into  Egypt.  This  Sycamore  is  very 
large ;  seven  men  with  extended  arms  could 
hardly  encircle  it.  Its  age  is  unknown,  but  by 
the  concentric  circle  which  a  section  of  one  of 
its  largest  branches,  which  has  been  detached 
from  the  trunk  for  some  years  past,  presents,  we 
may  conclude  that  it  has  withstood  the  storms 
of  several  centuries.  The  present  Viceroy  of 
Egypt,  at  the  time  of  the  inauguration  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  presented  this  Sycamore  to  France, 
in  accordance  with  the  desire  expressed  by  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  who  went  to  see  it.  She  had 
it  surrounded  with  an  elegant  railing,  and  ap- 
pointed two  guardians  to  protect  it  and  take 
care  of  the  Lilies  and  Geraniums  which  she 
caused  to  be  planted  around  it;  these  guardians 
are  still  paid  by  France.  This  tree  is  held  in 
great  veneration  not  only  by  the  Christians,  but 
even  by  the  Arabs.  Natives  and  foreigners 
gather  its  leaves,  to  which  they  attribute  thera- 
peutic virtues. 

[This  is  a  kind  of  fig — the  Ficus  Sycamorus, 
which  is  the  Sycamore  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
English  Sycamore  (Acer  pseudo  platanus)  or 
Sycamore  Maple,  no  doubt  derives  its  name  from 
a  somewhat  similar  leaf,  and  the  American  Syca- 
more (Platanus  Occidentalls)  from  the  resem- 
blance of  the  leaf  to  the  Sycamore  Maple. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 

Dartmouth  College  has  conferred  the  degree 
of  Ph.  D.  on  Marshall  P.  Wilder  of  Boston  and 
John  Pv.  Eastman  of  Washington  ;  the  degree  of 
D.  D.  on  President  Buckham  of  Vermont  Uni- 
versity, and  LL.  D.  on  Edward  F.  Noyes,  U.  S. 
Minister  to  France. 

Kobert  B.  Parsons. — In  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  three  new  varieties  of  Magnolias  in  the 
July  number,  page  198,  an  error  made  us  say 
*'  R.  B.  Parsons  &  Son."  There  is  no  such  firm. 
We  owe  the  attention  to  the  personal  kindness 


of  the  above-named  gentleman,  who  is  the  head 
of  the  well-known  firm  of  R.  B.  Parsons  &  Co. 

Obituary. — R.  Robinson  Scott,  formerly  of 
Philadelphia,  died  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  on  the 
24th  day  of  June,  in  his  51st  year. 

American  Pomological  Society. — We  would 
again  strongly  urge  the  State  Societies  to  send  full 
and  representative  delegations  to  hospitable  Bal- 
timore, at  its  Sixteenth  session,  commencing 
Wednesday,  September  12,  1877,  at  10  o'clock 
A.  m.,  and  continuing  three  days.  See  previous 
announcement,  May  number,  page  159. 

All  Horticultural,  Pomological,  Agricultural 
and  other  kindred  Associations  in  the  United 
States  and  British  Provinces,  are  invited  to  send 
delegations  as  large  as  they  may  deem  expedient ; 
and  all  persons  interested  in  the  cultivation  of 
fruits  are  invited  to  be  present,  and  take  seats  in 
the  Convention. 

The  coming  Session  is  expected  to  be  unusu- 
ally interesting  from  its  location  in  the  great 
fruit-growing  region  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
from  the  experiences  of  the  century  embodied  in 
the  reports  of  the  State  and  local  Horticultural 
Societies. 

Arrangements  will  be  made  with  hotels,  and, 
as  far  as  possible  with  the  various  railroad  lines 
terminating  in  Baltimore  for  a  reduction  of  fare. 
Rates  made  by  Baltimore  roads  will  apply  only  to 
their  lines.  It  is  hoped  that  arrangements  have 
been,  or  will  be  made  by  the  various  delegations 
with  the  roads  in  their  own  localities. 

At  the  same  time,  from  September  11th  to  14th 
inclusive,  the  Maryland  Horticultural  Society 
will  hold  a  grand  exhibition  of  fruits,  plants, 
flowers  and  other  products  of  Horticulture,  by 
which  an  increased  interest  will  be  given  to  the 
occasion. 

Packages  of  fruits  with  names  of  contributors, 
may  be  addressed  as  follows: — "American  Po- 
mological Society,  care  of  Wm.  B.  Sands,  Balti- 
more, Md." 

Massachusetts  already  announces,  in  numbers 
and  statistics,  a  strong  delegation,  which,  headed 
by  the  honored  President  of  the  National  Society, 
will  make  her  a  host.  Will  not  the  other  States 
do  as  well,  or  possibly  better? 

Dick's  Garden  Hand-books.  —  The  Vegetable 
Garden,  by  James  Hogg.  NewYork,  Dick  &  Fitz- 
gerald. This  is  a  little  book,  but  is  rare  to  find 
one  so  well  condensed.  It  is  an  epitome  of  vege- 
table garden  work  for  the  whole  season  and  for 
every  kind  of  crop.     Mr.  Hogg  writes  from  ex- 


256 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[August, 


perience,  and  no  one  has  experience  of  a  better 
quality.  We  have  also  from  the  same  publishers 
a  hand-book  of  Recitations  and  Readings. 

First  Annual  Report  of  the  Ohio  Fish 
Commissioners,  from  J.  H.  Klippart,  Secretary,  is 
received. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Damages  for  Delay. — A.  L.  asks  : — "  When  a 
nurseryman  ships  plants  by  railroad  or  steam- 
boat and  they  are  delayed  an  unreasonable  time, 
so  as  to  spoil  on  the  way,  can  the  railroad  or 
steamboat  come  back  on  the  shipper  for  freight ; 
or  are  they  as  common  carriers  liable  for  damage 
to  the  plants  of  the  shipper?  " 

[Properly  speaking,  the  goods  belong  to  the 
consignee,  as  soon  as  they  are  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  company.  But  in  perishable  arti- 
cles the  consignee  often  says,  "  he  did  not  order 
goods,"  or  questions  the  reasonableness  of  what 
he  regards  as  "  delay,"  or  neglects  to  come  for 
them  till  they  are  spoiled,  and  the  railroad  peo- 
ple cannot  realize  their  expenses  by  the  sale  of 
spoiled  goods.  They  often  pay  connecting  roads 
large  sums  of  money  as  "  back  charges,"  all  of 
which  they  lose  under  these  refusals.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  leading  roads  refuse  to 
take  perishable  freight  unless  the  rates  are  paid 
in  advance  by  the  shipper,  or  the  shipper  guar- 
antees that  the  freight  shall  be  paid.  It  is  often 
a  great  annoyance  to  the  shipper  to  have  to  come 
under  these  rules,  but  we  can  see  that  while  peo- 
ple are  made  as  they  are,  the  railroad  people 
will  naturally  try  to  protect  themselves.  The 
shipper  must  protect  himself  by  being  sure  that 
the  person  he  sends  to  is  a  reasonable  person, 
before  he  undertakes  to  guarantee  for  him. 

But  there  will  be  times  when  there  really  is 
"  unreasonable "  delay  by  the  railroad  people. 
Most  railroad  people  that  we  have  had  dealings 
with,  promptly  settle  when  this  is  made  clear, 
but  there  are  some  like  some  people  who  act  on 
the  principle  that  when  there  is  a  loss  let  some 
one  else  bear  it.  There  is  no  remedy  then  but  a 
lawsuit,  and  this  as  a  general  thing,  besides 
being  expensive,  is  little  more  than  a  game  of 
"toss  penny."  The  wisest  thing  in  these  mat- 
ters is  so  to  pack  that  things  will  not  suffer  by  a 
little  delay.  If  a  shipment  will  probably  take  a 
week,  pack  so  that  even  a  month  on  the  road 
will  not  hurt  them.     The  customer   is  generally 


expected  to  pay  for  packing,  and  as  this  is  usu- 
ally expressed  and  understood,  he  has  the  right 
to  look  for  a  good  job.  If  men  in  business  un- 
derstand their  business  properly,  and  charge 
enough  for  good  packing,  and  the  customer  wil- 
lingly pays  it,  these  railroad  disputes  would  sel- 
dom occur. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Amateur  Marketing. — "A  Cabbage,"  Balti- 
more, Md.,  writes  : — "  I  engaged  in  this  place  as 
gardener,  and  it  suited  very  well  for  a  year,  but 
the  master  wishes  me  to  sell  the  surplus  fruits, 
flowers  and  vegetables  to  help  pay  the  garden 
expenses.  I  do  not  think  it  is  right  for  a  gentle- 
man to  engage  in  this  business,  and  wish  you. 
would  say  so  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly.  Doesn't 
it  hurt  the  trade?" 

[This  is  a  question  which  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  cannot  decide.  Every  gentleman  must 
decide  this  for  himself.  Amateur  gardeners,  of 
course,  follow  gardening  for  pleasure,  and  when 
you  engaged  with  him  it  was  to  administer  to 
this  gardening  pleasure,  and  it  may  not  be  quite 
fair  to  you  to  be  called  on  to  undertake  com- 
mercial affairs  without  your  entire  consent.  So 
far  we  think  you  are  right.  Perhaps  also  the 
"trade"  may  not  feel  kindly  toward  one  who 
sells  as  he  does.  He  sells  for  fifty  cents  what 
cost  him  a  dollar  to  raise,  simply  because  "  he 
has  to  keep  a  gardener  anyhow,"  and  he  "  may 
as  well  get  some  of  it  back  again,"  and  yet  when 
the  "  trade  "  offers  its  dollar's  worth,  he  is  told  it 
can  be  "  had  for  half  that,"  and  he  has  to  sell  at 
a  loss.  But  having  admitted  all  this,  we  still 
cannot  see  why  a  gentleman  has  not  a  perfect 
right  to  do  it.  Suppose  he  finds  it  costly  to  keep 
a  carriage  and  pair  of  horses,  why  not  hire  it  out 
to  carry  passengers  to  and  from  the  depot  at  odd 
times  ?  He  could  afford  to  do  it  for  half  the  price 
of  the  regular  "  cabby,"  as  profit  is  not  in  ques- 
tion, so  much  as  the  "  bringing  of  a  little  in."  Or 
if  he  choose  to  hire  out  his  piano  for  public  con- 
certs at  half  the  price  of  the  music  stores ;  his 
pictures  at  a  small  percentage,  to  help  a  show ; 
or  even  get  his  cook  to  bake  a  few  pies  and  cakes 
at  odd  times,  and  dispose  of  them  to  the  confec- 
tionery stores  for  what  they  will  bring,  in  order 
to  help  pay  the  servants'  wages.  We  know  of  no 
reason  at  all  beyond  what  every  one  can  decide 
for  himself  why  he  has  not  a  right  to  do  so.  It 
is  a  matter  of  taste. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Grapes  Under  Glass. — G.  E.  S.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Chorlton's  Grape-growers  Guide  will  suit  you. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


SEPTEMBER,  1877. 


Number  225, 


<25?v? 


Xower  §|arden  and  Pleasure  §|round. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


The  arrangement  of  colored  leaved  plants  into 
masses,  so  as  to  look  like  carpets  and  ribbands,  is 
still  popular,  and  is  likely  to  keep  its  hold  on  us 
for  several  years  yet,  especially  as  we  have  not 
near  reached  the  perfection  the  art  has  been 
raised  to  in  Europe.  It  is  best  to  get  the 
designs  colored  out  now,  so  that  we  can  tell 
exactly  what  plants  to  prepare  for  the  work 
another  season.  We  have  a  larger  number  of 
plants  to  work  with  than  Europeans  have,  and 
some  unique  designs  could  be  worked  out.  The 
commonest  plants,  even  weeds  can  often  be  used 
to  great  effect,  not  only  for  this  but  for  other 
work. 

At  this  season  of  the  year,  people  think  of 
making  cuttings  of  bedding  and  other  plants,  in 
order  for  another  year.  The  best  way  to  propa- 
gate all  the  common  kinds  of  bedding  plants  is 
to  take  a  frame  or  hand-glass  and  set  it  on  a  bed 
of  very  sandy  soil  made  in  a  shady  place  in  the 
open  air.  The  sand  should  be  fine  and  sharp, 
and  there  is,  perhaps,  nothing  better  than  river 
sand  for  this  purpose.  The  glass  may  be  white- 
washed on  the  inside,  so  as  to  afford  additional 
security  against  injury  from  the  sun's  rays. 
Into  this  bed  of  sand,  cuttings  of  half  ripened 
wood  of  the  desirable  plants  may  be  set,  and 
after  putting  in,  slightly  watered.  Even  very 
rare  plants  often  do  better  this  way  than  when 
under  treatment  in  a  regular  propagating  house. 
In  making  cuttings,  it  is  best  to  cut  the  shoots 


just  under  a  bud— they  root  better,  and  are  not 
so  likely  to  rot  off  and  decay.  A  cutting  of 
about  three  eyes  is  long  enough  for  most  strong 
growing  things,  such  as  Geraniums,  Fuchsias, 
&c. 

In  many  parts  of  the  Northern  States  the 
leaves  will  have  changed  color  previous  to  the 
incoming  of  Winter,  and  the  planting  of  trees 
and  shrubs  will  commence  as  soon  as  the  first 
Fall  showers  shall  have  cooled  the  atmosphere 
and  moistened  the  soil.  Further  south,  where 
the  season  will  still  remain  "Summer"  a  while 
longer,  the  soil  may,  at  any  rate,  be  prepared, 
that  all  may  be  in  readiness  when  the  right  sea- 
son does  come.  What  leaves  remain  on  should 
be  stripped  off,  and  the  main  shoots  shortened. 
They  will  then  do  better  than  if  planted  very 
late.  In  fact,  if  planting  cannot  be  finished 
before  the  beginning  of  November  in  the  North- 
ern and  Middle  States,  it  is  better,  as  a  rule, 
deferred  till  Spring.  In  those  States  where  little 
frost  occurs,  this  rule  will  not  apply.  The  roots 
of  plants  grow  all  Winter,  and  a  plant  set  out  in 
the  Fall  has  the  advantage  over  spring  set  trees; 
that  its  roots  in  Spring  are  in  a  position  to  sup- 
ply the  tree  at  once  with  food.  This  is,  indeed, 
the  theory  fall  planters  rely  on  ;  but  in  practice 
it  is  found  that  severe  cold  dries  up  the  wood, 
and  the  frost  draws  out  the  roots,  and  thus  more 
than  counterbalances  any  advantage  from  the 
pushing  of  new  roots.  Very  small  plants  are, 
therefore,  best  left  till  Spring  for  their  final 
planting.  It  is,  however,  an  excellent  plan  to 
get  young  things  on  hand  in  Fail,  and  bury  them 


258 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


entirely  with  earth,  until  wanted  in  Spring.  Such 
things  make  a  stronger  growth  the  next  season, 
than  if  just  dug  before  transplanting. 

As  soon  as  Dutch  bulbs  can  be  obtained,  they 
should  be  at  once  planted.  Of  all  fertilizers,  well- 
rotted  cow-manure  has  been  found  best  for  them, 
and  especially  if  mixed  with  a  portion  of  fine 
sand.  They  should  be  set  about  four  inches 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  a  little 
sand  put  about  the  root  when  being  planted. 
A  very  wet  soil  usually  rots  the  roots,  and  a  dry 
one  detracts  from  the  size  of  the  blooms.  A  soil 
in  which  the  generality  of  garden  vegetables  do 
well,  is  one  of  the  best  for  these  plants. 

Those  who  have  no  greenhouse,  and  yet  are 
desirous  of  preserving  many  half-hardy  plants 
through  the  Winter,  employ  cold  pits.  Choose 
the  dryest  situation  in  the  garden,  and  sink 
about  five  feet  in  depth.  It  is  important  that  no 
water  can  be  retained  at  the  bottom.  The  pit 
may  be  of  any  length  required,  and  about  five 
feet  wide,  so  as  to  accommodate  six  feet  sash. 
The  inside  of  the  pit  may  be  built  up  of  boards, 
or,  if  something  more  durable  and  substantial  is 
required,  brick  or  stone.  The  body  of  the  frame 
may  be  built  up  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
surrounding  soil,  and  the  earth  which  comes  from 
the  pit  be  employed  in  banking  up  to  the  upper 
level  of  the  frame.  Shelving  should  be  made  for 
the  inside  so  as  to  extend  from  thebase  of  the  front 
to  nearly  the  top  of  the  back,  on  which  to  place 
the  plants  in  pots.  In  the  space  which  will  then 
be  under  the  staging,  hard  wooded  and  decidu- 
ous plants,  as  lemon  verbena,  fuchsias,  etc.,  may 
be  safely  stored,  while  the  more  succulent  kinds 
are  shelved  overhead.  The  plants  to  be  pre- 
served in  such  a  pit  should  be  potted  early,  and 
be  well  established  and  healthly  before  being 
pitted  ;  much  of  success  depends  on  this.  The 
less  water  they  can  be  made  to  live  on  without 
withering  through  the  Winter  the  better  they  will 
keep.  Straw  mats  must  be  employed  to  cover 
the  glass  when  freezing  time  commences,  and 
when  the  thermometer  is  likely  to  fall  below  20°, 
straw  or  litter  should  be  thrown  over.  Board 
shutters  are  also  excellent,  as  it  keeps  the  snow 
out  from  the  straw  and  litter,  which  sometimes 
n Kikes  the  mats  very  awkward  to  uncover  when 
we  would  like  to  give  air.  Very  little  light  or 
air  will  be  required  through  the  Winter,  when 
the  plants  are  not  growing.  If  a  good  fall  of 
snow  cover  the  pit,  it  may  He  on  undisturbed  for 
two  weeks  or  more  without  injury.  When  a 
warm,  dry  day  offers,  the  sashes  may  be  raised  if 


convenient,  to  dry  up  the  damp.  Many  kinds 
of  border  plants  can  be  kept  over  Winter  this 
way  with  little  trouble. 


GOMMUNIGA  TIONS. 


DIPLACUS  GLUTINOSUS. 

BY  WILLIAM  FALCONER. 

This  is  a  remarkably  pretty  shrubby  Mimu- 
lus,  a  native  of  California,  not  hardy  here,  but 
an  excellent  subject  for  greenhouse  decoration 
in  Spring,  and  the  flower  garden  in  Summer.  Its 
blooms  are  comparatively  large,  orange  buff, 
axillary,  and  profusSly  borne  on  the  short- 
jointed  stems  and  branches.  It  roots  readily 
from  cuttings,  and  the  smallest  plants  bloom. 
Out  of  doors  it  is  said  to  prefer  a  moist  or 
swampy  soil,  but  judging  from  our  own  plants — 
some  growing  by  a  water  Spring  and  others  in 
common  garden  soil  and  location — I  cannot 
perceive  a  preference,  for  in  both  cases  the  plants 
are  thrifty  and  heavily  bloomed. 


LILIUM  HUMBOLTII. 

BY  W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL  DORADO,  CALIFORNIA. 

Lilium  Humboltii  is  a  native  of  California,  it 
is  found  along  the  foothills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains  and  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State. 

This  plant  was  first  discovered  by  Roezl,  who 
named  it  after  Baron  Humbolt,  Humboltii;  a 
short  time  afterwards  it  was  again  discovered  by 
another  eminent  botanist,  Dr.  Kellogg,  who 
named  it  Bloomeranium,  after  Bloomer,  a  noted 
Cal  fornia  botanist.  Which  name  is  the  proper 
one,  it  would  be  hard  to  say,  it  is  offered  in  the 
market  under  both  names,  some  dealers  not 
thinking  two  names  were  enough,  have  gave  it 
several  others,  such  as  Californicum,  and  I  see 
by  the  January  Gardener's  Monthly  it  is  sold  in 
Europe  under  the  name  Humboltianum,  not 
much  different  from  Humboltii,  but  enough  to 
cause  confusion,  and  disappoint  many  who  buy 
under  one  name  and  then  under  the  other. 

The  flowers  are  of  a  golden  yellow  color, 
spotted ;  the  spots  on  first  opening  of  the  flower 
are  of  a  purple  shade,  but  change  to  brown  in  a 
few  days. 

The  flowers  are  about  six  to  eight  inches  in 
diameter ;  the  petals  turning  backwards  almost 
touch  the  flower  stem,  forming  the  flower  into  a 


187T.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


259 


ball  which  gives  it  the  appearance  of  being  a 
golden  ball. 

CULTURE. 

In  its  native  places  it  grows  in  rather  dry, 
light  soil ;  the  bulbs  which  are  very  large,  often 
weighing  three  quarters  of  a  pound,  are  always 
found  deep  in  the  ground ;  never  less  than  nine 
inches,  and  oftener  a  foot  or  more. 


such  yards  and  lawns  where  large  trees  would 
be  unbecoming.  For  cemeteries  and  small  yards 
in  towns  and  cities  it  can  hardly  be  excelled. 
Its  growth  is  compact,  the  leaves  are  small  and 
glossy,  giving  it  a  refined  appearance,  and  in  the 
Spring  it  is  literally  covered  with  flowers.  It 
also  bears  a  light  crop  of  red  sour  cherries.  (The 
cut  below  represents  the  tree  in  bloom.) 


In  planting  them,  select  a  high,  dry  place,  in 
the  full  sunshine.  The  soil  should  be  light  and 
rich,  but  no  fresh  manure  must  be  allowed. 

Get  good  healthy  bulbs,  plant  them  not  less 
than  nine  inches,  and  give  them  no  water  except 
what  they  get  naturally,  and  you  must  succeed. 

I  had  one  last  Summer  that  bore  fifty  flowers, 
thirty  of  which  were  open  at  once. 


THE  WEEPING  CHERRY. 

BY  GEO.   ACHELIS,  WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

It  is  really  surprising  how  little  this  really 
beautiful  little  tree  is  known,  even  among  many 
nurserymen  and  tree  dealers.  It  deserves  to  be 
introduced  everywhere,  as  it  is  perfectly  hardy 
and  highly  ornamental,  besides  being  suitable  in 


[We  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Achelis  that  few 
trees  deserve  more  attention.  It  is  far  superior 
to  many  small  weepers  that  are  in  more  common 
use.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


THE  NORWAY  SPRUCE. 

BY  GEN.  W.  H.  NOBLE,  BRIDGEPORT,  CONN. 

A  while  since,  I  earnestly  plead  in  this  Journal 
the  cheap  deserts  of  our  native  trees  and  shrubs, 
for  rural  decoration.  With  taste  and  home-bred 
liking,  I  claimed,  even  neglected  New  England 
Cedars,  and  outcast  Jersey  Pines,  as  possible 
"  ministers  of  grace,"  in  the  hands  of  a  deft  and 
thrifty  taste.  But  for  this  rank  and  cheap  heresy 
against  the  canons  of  the  orthodox  and  costly 
gardenesque,  your  very  able  President,  J.  J.  S.t 


260 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


doomed  me  to  their  drear  and  hushed  compan- 
ionship. The  decree  welcomed  me  to  "ways  of 
pleasantness,  and  paths  of  peace."  Besides  the 
sandy  sameness  and  outcast  fellowship  of  those 
pitch  pines,  in  our  late  "  unpleasantness,"  I  had 
tramped  "  on  many  weary  marches,"  all  the  way 
down  to  flowery  Florida.  Ere  long,  "  in  the 
spirit"  or  in  the  flesh,  I  hope,  with  that  same 
Horticultural  judge  and  Daimio,  to  skirt  along 
those  dreamy  pine  wood  glades  till,  "away  down 
in  Dixie,"  we  look  on  sunny  pictures  framed 
therewith,  and  draped  with  the  silvery  sheen  of 
moss.  Oh  !  the  glory  of  those  pitch-pine  woods, 
their  stretching  glades,  their  palm-tuft  ham- 
mocks, with  orange  groves  atween. 

Awaiting,  in  pen  or  person,  a  glimpse  of  those 
quiet  "  scenes  to  memory  dear,"  I  offer  rescue 
from  a  worse  doom  than  mine,  to  one  of  those 
foreign  evergreens,  around  which  hang  the 
glamour  and  loveliness  of  cost.  Banishment 
awaits  the  Norway  Spruce,  unless  a  way  is  shown 
to  mend  its  failings.  In  its  youth,  and  some 
what  into  the  cone-bearing  age,  it  wears  thrift 
and  comeliness  and  shelter,  in  its  quick,  dense 
growth,  but  no  sooner  has  it  towered  up  to  the 
stature,  and  graceful'sweep  and  droop  of  limb,  so 
coveted  by  Downing,  than  our  tearing  wintry 
wind  takes  it  in  hand.  Year  by  year,  a  seared 
and  shrunken  foliage  gives  it  the  shrivel  of  "the 
lean  and  slippered  pantaloon."  It  loses  that 
well-filled-out  and  robust  look,  without  which, 
the  evergreens,  unlike  deciduous  trees,  hang 
gaunt  and  skeleton.  This  painful  aspect  of  pre- 
mature old  age'imore  than  rivals  even  the  bereft 
and  waning  form  of  a  venerable  New  England 
Cedar.  The  Cedar,  stark  and  partly  stripped 
of  foliage,  never  forgets  its  attitude  of  the  pic- 
turesque, but  an  old  worn  Spruce  has  a  distressed 
look  in  its  scant  and  shrunken  toggery.  The 
feeling  bids  us  almost  say  "why  cumbereth  it 
the  ground  ?  " 

Again,  the^young  Norway  Spruce  has  a  thick 
growth  and  bulky  spread,  whose  untutored  form 
soon  crowds  and  cramps  a  small  homestead. 
The  very'vigor  of  the  tree  stretches  too  much 
over  thejward.  It  clutters  the  space  due  to 
other  plants.  The  little,  comely  cone-shapes, 
which  the  nursery  sends  us,  in  such  varied  style, 
quickly  outstrip  the  purpose  of  their  planting, 
and  task  us  to  limit  both  their  tower  and  spread. 
Most  people  solve  the  puzzle  somewhat  as  did 
those  who  shortened  the  dog's  tail,  close  behind 
his  ears.  Some  waste  the  growth  of  years  and 
cut  clean  out  the  cluttering   torment,  whether 


young  or  old.  Others  lop  off  the  lower  limbs, 
till  the  tree  puts  on,  instead  of  grace,  the  ungain- 
liness  of  a  giant  toadstool,  or  an  upset  top.  I 
confess  rooting  clean  out  suits  me  better  than 
such  shaping  of  a  Norway  Spruce,  or  any  other 
evergreen,  into  a  clownish,  spooky  scarecrow. 

Now,  there  is  no  need  of  putting  this  ungainli- 
ness  on  nature's  forms.  Instead  of  such  brain- 
less, tasteless  makeshifts,  there  is  a  cheap  and 
easy  way  to  fashion  the  Norway  Spruce,  at 
almost  any  stage  of  its  natural  growth,  into 
graceful  fitness  for  our  need.  It  comes  out  of 
that  reaction  and  severed  vitality  of  the  tree, 
following  sharp  and  strong,  the  bold  surgery  of 
knife  and  saw  upon  its  limbs.  The  work  needs 
sense  and  the  skill  begot  of  brains  or  trial,  but 
it  suits  the  Spruce  at  every  age.  It  will  not 
rebel  at  any  lopping  which  does  not  come  pretty 
close  to  what  most  people  would  like  to  see  the 
Spitz  tails  get.  Until  the  tree  has  lost  its  robust 
form,  you  may  fashion  it  at  will.  Sheared  into 
a  cone,  either  stout  or  slim,  it  will  bristle  with 
verdure.  Cut  out  on  a  young  tree,  alternate 
whole  or  parts  of  limbs,  and  a  heavy  burst  of 
foliage  will  load  the  rest  into  the  graceful  droop 
of  vigorous  maturity.  When  one  full-grown  has 
shifted  its  dense  inner  drapery  and  sheltering 
verdure  to  its  outer  tassel  tips,  the  same  reactive 
surgery  will  robe  on  its  gaunt  unseemliness  the 
stout  garment  which  its  youth  wears  against  the 
searching  gird  of  the  wintry  wind. 

Now,  I  cannot  better  set  out  the  way  to  do 
such  work,  than  my  usual  one  of  an  example. 
Some  years  since,  in  my  ground,  a  Norway 
Spruce  towered  up  to  forty  feet  or  more  of  grace- 
ful vigor ;  the  earth,  dry  deep  down,  after  a  long 
drouth,  had  frozen  away  down  beneath  the  sur- 
face; then  came  along  that  tearing,  scathing, 
freezing  wind,  which  many  evergreens  will  never 
forget.  The  dry  breath  of  the  wintry  blast 
seared  and  tore  out  with  its  frosty  fingers,  worse 
than  the  scorch  of  Summer's  sun  or  drouth. 
Everywhere  death  and  blight  reached  our  ever, 
greens;  big  gashes  of  verdure  were  gouged  out 
of  kindly  protecting  hedges;  here  some  single 
gladdener  of  the  lawn,  there,  out  of  a  group, 
some  stout,  full-clad  favorite  felt  the  death 
shiver  of  this  blast  to  its  very  marrow. 

That  same  thirsty,  tearing  wind  struck  my 
big  Norway  Spruce.  It  did  not  show  many 
marks  of  the  shock  till  Spring,  then  its  full 
drape  and  droop  of  frond  and  foliage  took  on  a 
shrunken  feebleness.  From  a  most  robust  and 
stalwart  specimen,  the  icy  breeze  had  withered 


187.7.]. 


AND  HOB  TIC  UL  T  URIS  T. 


261 


it  to  a  shriveled,  lank-limbed  uncomeliness.  I 
endured  the  torment  of  its  stricken  form,  and 
struggled  for  recovery  for  a  year.  The  next 
Spring  made  trial  of  my  surgery.  I  stood  below 
and  engineered  the  work,  so  that  I  might  save 
the  just  proportions  of  the  tree.  Now  mark, 
the  exact  method,  graded  as  to  size  somewhat, 
will  suit  trees  of  any  stature. 

First,  about  eight  feet  of  the  spire  was  lopped 
down  to  some  dormant  buds  and  little  tassels, 
just  above  a  tier  of  smallish  limbs.  Then  those 
limbs  were  cut  back  to  the  last  stout  top  tassel, 
or  little  side  shoots  next  the  trunk.  Then  on 
the  next  plateau  beneath,  each  branch  was 
shortened  to  the  first  tassel  and  side  limbs,  out- 
s;de  the  ends  of  those  above.  Thus  adown  the 
tree  to  the  circuit  of  branches  that  swept  the 
ground,  leaving  each  curved  whorl  of  limbs  a 
little  longer  than  the  last  above,  the  same 
regimen  was  kept  up.  If,  by  chance,  some  limb 
could  be  taken,  with  benefit  to  those  around,  it 
was  cut  clean  out.  The  aim  was  to  give  the 
renewed  tree,  as  near  as  could  be,  the  likeness 
and  proportions  of  its  best  estate. 

The  hoped  for  result  was  reached.  The  very 
season  after  this  method  was  tried,  my  Spruce 
healed  well  over  and  hid  the  stumps  where  cut. 
The  little  tassels  swelled  out  and  stretched  over 
the  scars  in  vigorous  stoutness  and  graceful 
droop.  The  end  tassels  and  side  limbs,  and 
those  further  in,  all  took  up  the  same  strong 
growth,  and  a  little  outward  and  more  downward 
weeping.  Little  spires  shot  up  from  the  trunk 
top,  thence  onward,  all  over  the  tree,  graceful 
droop  of  verdure,  robust  vigor  and  dense  foliage 
have  prevailed.  The  color  holds  rich,  bright 
and  lasting.  Hardly  one  single  limb  was  lost. 
When  such  was  cut  out,  the  new  growth  hung 
down  and  spread  out  to  fill  the  space. 

Thirty  or  more  feet  beyond  mine,  a  neighbor's 
younger  Spruce,  sheltered  by  his  house  escaped 
the  scathe  of  mine.  Since,  no  such  frosty  wind 
and  dried  up  soil  have  joined  hands  to  ruin  them, 
yet  they  have  not  gained  in  comeliness  with  the 
years  since  passed.  Gradually  they  are  taking 
on  a  form  bereft  of  that  inside  trunk  and  limb- 
sheltering  verdure  which  my  big  tree  has  gained 
and  keeps.  It  has  no  rival  hereabouts  in  health 
and  vigor,  and  in  rich,  dark  verdure  held 
throughout  the  year.  Everywhere  around  us 
I  see  this  Spruce,  after  a  few  years,  abandoning 
the  style  and  bearing  of  its  earlier  life,  or  taking 
on  that  same  sparse  foliage,  lank,  uncomfortalle 
look.     It's  evident  to  me  there  is  no  way  given 


to  restore  and  keep  this  tree  in  its  best  estate 
and  form  but  just  that  method  which  has 
brought  mine  so  marked  success. 

It  seems  to  me  very  fortunate  that  this  Spruce 
is  so  endowed  with  reactive  force.  Few  places 
in  this  country  are  large  enough,  or  if  they  start 
so,  few  will  long  hold  breadth  enough  to  endure 
the  improving  stature  and  spread  of  our  biggest 
evergreens.  A  little  place  soon  looks  swallowed 
up  and  smothered,  by  stalwart  Pines  and  Spruces. 
Great  specimens  of  such  are  well  enough  for 
public  parks,  but  there  are  few  broad  acre  pri- 
vate grounds  to  which  a  generation  gone  does 
not  bring  "  subtraction  or  division,"  along  with 
the  "  silence  "  of  their  owners  graves.  Yet,  kept 
gracefully  within  bounds,  and  close-draped  with 
thick  foliage,  under  my  regimen,  the  Norway 
Spruce  will  snugly  shelter  all  by  its  screen,  and 
yield  its  comely  cheer  and  presence  in  Summer's 
sun  and  wintry  gloom. 


AN  EVERGREEN   PLANTATION. 

BY   W.  T.  BELL,  FRANKLIN,  PA. 

I  have  a  narrow,  good-for-nothing  strip  of 
ground,  about  ten  rods  from  my  house,  its 
nearest  boundary  being  a  small,  winding  stream, 
while  the  other  side  reaches  to  a  dividing  fence. 
It  is  so  rocky  that  it  is  almost  useless  for  tillage, 
and  I  concluded  that  the  best  use  I  could  make 
of  it  was  to  plant  it  with  evergreens.  It  was 
thinly  covered  with  small  chestnuts,  oaks, 
maples,  etc.,  and  any  that  were  likely  to  injure 
the  future  occupants  of  the  ground,  by  falling 
on  them,  were  cut  down ;  the  brush  was  gathered 
and  burned,  and  without  further  preparation 
my  site  was  ready  for  planting.  I  had  a  quantity 
of  shrubs  and  trees  on  hand,  consequently  there 
was  little  selection  of  kinds  to  be  made. 

The  front  of  the  strip,  next  the  stream  and 
the  house,  was  set  with  American  Arborvitae, 
varied  occasionally  with  Hemlock  Spruce 
(which,  by  the  way,  is  one  of  the  finest,  hardy 
evergreens  grown,  when  properly  treated),  and 
American  Rose  Bay  (Rhododendron  maxi- 
mum), while  at  suitable  places,  at  the  extreme 
margin,  a  few  plants  of  the  Dwarf  Yew,  or 
Ground  Hemlock  (Taxus  Canadensis),  were 
placed. 

The  background  was  filled  mainly  with  Nor- 
way Spruce,  sparingly  interspersed  with  Beech, 
to  be  still  further  relieved  by  a  few  White 
Stemmed  Birch  and  a  specimen  or  two  of  the 


262 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


Purple-leaved  Beech.  The  Arborvitse  were  set 
about  eight  feet  apart  and  the  larger-growing 
trees  at  proportionate  distances,  not  in  straight 
rows,  like  an  orchard,  but  imitating  the  irregu- 
larity of  nature.  The  planting  was  quickly  done 
in  this  way  : 

Small  holes  were  dug  with  a  mattock,  and  the 
trees  (already  trimmed,  and  which  had  been 
several  times  transplanted)  were  taken  up,  with 
nearly  all  their  roots  and  a  mass  of  soil  adhering 
to  them,  and  placed  in  the  holes ;  the  loose  sur- 
face soil  was  drawn  about  the  roots  and  well 
worked  in  with  a  sharp-pointed  stick.  As  soon 
as  the  roots  were  thus  covered,  the  soil  was 
stamped  down  all  around,  as  firmly  as  possible, 
by  the  feet;  more  soil  was  drawn  in,  stamped 
again,  the  tree  straightened  up,  the  surface 
finally  filled  in  and  covered  with  a  good  coat 
of  leaves  and  small  brush.  No  water  was  used, 
and,  although  some  of  the  trees  were  four  or 
five  feet  high,  I  would  not  give  any  one  four 
cents  to  warrant  the  whole  lot  to  grow.  My 
little  plantation,  or  copse,  is  already  quite  a 
noticeable  feature  in  our  landscape,  and  will 
become  more  so  every  year ;  its  never-failing 
green  forming  a  point  that  the  eye  is  glad  to 
rest  upon. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES 


Omphalodes  verna. — This  is  a  charming  pe- 
rennial, some  six  inches  high,  with  creeping 
shoots  and  azure  blue  Forget-me-not  like  flowers, 
and  is  as  hardy  as  a  Moneywort.  It  blooms  late 
in  April  and  through  May,  and  feels  at  home 
in  the  flower  border,  the  rockery,  or  naturalized 
in  half-wild  shady  places.  It  can  be  increased 
very  readily  by  dividing  the  plants  when  they 
have  done  blooming,  and,  if  need  be,  these 
divisions  may  be  again  divided  in  August,  if  a 
moist,  shady  frame,  or  nook,  be  granted  them, 
and  all  will  be  strong  plants  to  stand  the  Winter. 

The  Polyanthus.— What  can  give  us  more 
satisfaction,  in  the  way  of  flowers,  than  a  cold 
frame  full  of  these?  They  are  old-fashioned, 
pretty,  most  floriferous,  and  no  plants  are  easier 
managed.  A  good  strain  is  everything.  Large, 
brilliantly  colored  flowers,  with  symmetrically 
round  corollas  and  distinct  gold  lacings,  are 
what  we  want,  and  by  care  and  selection  can 
easily  have.     They  produce  and  grow  from  seeds 


very  readily,  and  by  dividing  the  finer  sorts  after 
blooming,  and  discarding  the  poorer,  we  can 
increase  and  improve  our  stock.  They  like  to 
be  planted  out  in  Summer  in  a  somewhat  moist, 
shady  nook,  and  thence  transposed  to  the  frame 
on  the  approach  of  Winter.  From  April  till 
June  they  are  aglow. 

ACALYPHA   TRICOLOR  IN   THE   FLOWER    GARDEN. 

— This  crimson-copper  leaved  Euphorbia  was 
used  last  year  as  a  bedding  plant  in  the  Botanic 
Gardens,  Washington,  with  striking  results.  In- 
termixed with  green-leaved  tropicals,  it  had 
almost  as  telling  an  effect  as  scarlet  flowers 
have  on  Zonal  Pelargoniums,  and  the  substan- 
tiality, size  and  brilliant  coloring  of  the  leaves 
far  exceeded  that  of  the  same  kind  of  plants 
grown  indoors.  This  Acalypha  propagates 
readily  from  cuttings  of  the  young  wood,  in  a 
brisk  heat,  with,  or  without  bottom  heat. 

Azalea  calendulacea. — This  is  the  chief 
parent  of  our  improved  hardy  Azalea,  and 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  of  Clarksville,  Ga.,  gives  the 
following  interesting  account  of  their  behavior 
in  their  native  woods  to  the  Country  Gentleman : 
"The  class  A.  calendulacea  grow  here  to  the 
height  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet,  and  are  of 
every  conceivable  shade  and  color,  from  the 
palest  yellow  up  through  golden  to  orange,  and 
thence  on  to  scarlet  and  crimson  and  variegated. 
They  frequently  cross  with  A.  nudiflora,  having 
some  of  the  petals  of  a  pink  or  rose  color,  and 
the  others  of  some  shade  of  orange,  yellow  or  red. 
We  have  one  growing  by  the  side  of  the  porch  of 
our  house,  some  fifteen  feet  high  and  ten  feet  or 
more  in  diameter,  which  annually  has  myriads 
of  flowers.  It  is  now  in  all  its  glory.  I  send 
you  one  of  the  flowers ;  one  petal  yellow,  and 
four  of  a  shade  of  scarlet.  The  scarlet  and 
crimson  varieties  are  probably  the  most  beauti- 
ful, as  the  colors  are  very  brilliant.  It  is  rather 
a  difficult  matter  to  transplant  them  success- 
fully, as  they  have  in  their  wild  state  very  large 
uncouth  roots,  caused  by  the  annual  burning 
of  the  woods,  which  kills  the  tops  down  to  the 
ground.  This  does  not  injure  the  roots,  which 
continue  to  grow  and  send  up  new  shoots  ;  but 
the  roots  have  very  few  fibres.  I  have  hunted 
a  great  deal  to  find  young  seedlings,  but  have 
never  succeeded  in  finding  one,  nor  have  I  ever 
known  any  one  else  to  find  any.  They  produce 
an  abundance  of  very  fine  dust-like  seeds,  but 
I  have  never  tried  sowing  the  seeds." 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


263 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Ipomcea  leptophylla.— This  is  a  hardy  her- 
baceous Morning  Glory— not  a  climber  or  trailer! 
It  is  a  native  of  the  plains  of  Nebraska  and 
Wyoming,  to  Texas  and  New  Mexico.  It  has 
massive  fleshy  roots,  that  work  deeply  into  the 
earth,  ascending  stems— sometimes  procumbent 
with  erect  laterals— two  to  five  feet  long,  small 
linear  leaves  three  to  four  inches  long,  by  one- 
fourth  inch  or  less  in  breadth,  and  rosy-purple, 
funnel-shaped  flowers  some  three  inches  long. 
Our  specimen  is  growing  in  the  sunny  face  of  a 
rockery,  and  is  very  thrifty  and  floriferous.  It 
is  June  before  its  stems  venture  above  ground, 
but  then  it  grows  rapidly,  and  is  in  bloom  by 
the  20th  of  July.  Mr  Hovey,  of  Cambridgeport, 
speaks  discouragingly  of  it,  in  so  far  as  all  his 
attempts  to  get  it  to  flower,  fail.  Our  specimen, 
being  well  established,  gets  no  care,  and,  so  far 
as  we  know,  needs  none. —  W.  Falconer. 

Solanum  Torreyi. — A  perfectly  hardy  and 
very  showy  perennial  species,  a  native  of  the 
prairies  of  Kansas  and  Texas.  From  mid-July 
till  Fall  it  bears,  quite  freely,  corymbs  of  pur- 
plish-violet flowers  that  are  from  one  to  one  and 
a  half  inches  across.  The  leaves  are  many, 
moderately  ample,  hispid,  five  to  seven  lobed, 
bright  green,  with  a  rusty  violet  suffusion  along 
the  edges  and  petioles  of  those  at  the  end  of  the 
branches,  also  on  the  growing  points.  There 
are  a  few  small  green  prickles  along  the  midrib, 
and  sparingly  on  the  larger  veins,  on  the  back 
of  the  leaf.  The  cord-like  underground  stems 
penetrate  deeply,  and  from  pieces  of  them 
young  plants  are  raised.  Last  year  we  had  but 
one  specimen,  which,  on  account  of  alterations 
being  made  where  it  grew,  we  were  obliged  to 
remove,  and  not  being  aware  of  its  life-tenacity, 
we  were  particular  to  lift  it  with  all  the  roots 
possible,  and  dug  three  feet  deep  to  effect  our 
purpose.  Some  broken  roots  were  scattered 
about  the  hole,  and  now,  where  we  had  but  one 
plant  last  year,  we  have  a  dozen  unlooked  for 
plants  to-day.  It  enjoys  the  sun,  and  seems  to 
bear  our  drouths  unflinchingly. —  W.  Falconer. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Variations  in  Junipers. — J.  G.  R.  R.  writes  as 
follows : — "  I  send  herewith  a  twig  of  what  I 
have  for  the  Irish  Juniper.     It  grows  branchy, 


and  the  leaves  fall  apart.  I  see  it  at  other  places 
growing  so  compact  and  smooth.  Can  it  be  that 
it  is  the  soil  I  have  it  growing  in  causes  this 
habit,  or  have  I  the  wrong  thing?  My  other 
evergreens  behave  somewhat  in  the  same  way, 
particularly  the  Arborvitses.  Now,  if  I  have  the 
true  variety,  will  the  trees,  when  transplanted 
into  other  soil,  assume  their  natural  or  ordinary 
shape?  If  an  answer  to  this  would  be  in  place 
in  the  columns  of  the  Monthly,  it  will  oblige  a 
constant  reader  and  subscriber." 

[The  Irish  Juniper  is  one  of  many  varieties 
of  the  common  Juniper  (Juniperus  communis), 
and  differs  only  from  it  in  growing  very  upright 
and  compact,  instead  of  bushy.  This  being  the 
only  difference,  a  twig  such  as  is  sent  is  not 
sufficient  to  determine  it.  It  looks  like  the  Irish 
Juniper.  We  have  never  heard  of  soil  making 
any  material  change  in  its  character.  The 
character  of  these  varieties,  such  as  the  stiff 
upright  growth  of  the  Irish  and  the  yellower 
tint  of  the  Swedish,  cannot  be  maintained  in 
seedlings;  but  has  to  be  kept  up  by  propagating 
the  plants  from  cuttings.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Dahlias  in  California. — A  correspondent  in 
Cal.  writes  as  follows  :  — "  Our  gardens  are  doing 
very  well ;  but  of  one  thing  I  have  to  complain, 
and  that  is  the  Dahlias.  I  planted  as  usual,  but 
they  were  in  too  big  a  hurry ;  they  are  now  in 
full  bloom,  some  of  them  six  feet  high  ;  they 
never  bore  such  large  flowers  since  I  had  them. 
With  a  little  water,  plants  in  California  grow 
monsters.  I  had  Digitalis  this  Spring  nine  feet 
high.    Is  it  any  wonder  we  have  large  trees  ? " 

Damage  by  a  Beetle. — Eastern-shore-man, 
Maryland,  writes: — "Having  noticed  in  July 
number  of  Monthly  the  complaint  of  a  New 
Jersey  correspondent,  in  regard  to  the  "  May 
Beetle"  in  Raspberry  plants,  I  am  induced 
thereby  to  appeal  to  you  for  information.  If  in 
your  possession,  how  to  prevent  the  ravages  of  a 
beetle  of  the  same  kind,which  through  the  months 
of  May  and  June,  and  during  the  night,  preys 
upon  the  foliage  of  certain  kinds  of  fruit  and 
shade  trees — Heart  Cherries,  more  particularly 
among  fruits,  and  Kilmarnock  Willow,  Mountain 
Ash,  Purple-leaved  Beech  and  Cut-leaved  Bicch, 
among  shade  trees.  Sometimes  the  Carolina 
Poplar  is  included  in  this  list,  but  Maples,  Alders, 
Magnolias  and  many  others,  are  never  troubled. 
I  have  been  trying,  for  the  past  three  years,  to 
hit  upon  something  that  would  drive  them,  but 
to  no  purpose  as  yet ;  and  as  I  am  not  yet  willing 


264 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[September, 


to  unconditionally  surrender  to  their  use  trees 
above  named,  my  hopes  centre  upon  the  assist- 
ance of  a  more  scientific  student. 

I  have  dusted  the  foliage  of  the  trees  with 
sulphur  (when  the  leaves  were  damp);  have 
sprinkled  with  water  strongly  impregnated  with 
gas-tar ;  also  water  with  coal  oil,  but  all  to  no 
purpose,  as  nightly  the  leaves  continue  to  dis- 
appear. Have  you  ever  been  similarly  pestered  ? 
If  so,  will  you  be  good  enough  to  enlighten  me 
as  to  how  I  can  preserve  the  foliage  of  my 
"pets,"  and  with  it  their  lives?  If  the  beetles 
were  day-workers  I  would  have  revenge,  but,  as 
it  is,  they  have  a  two-fold  advantage." 

[So  far  as  we  can  understand,  this  must  be  the 
common  "May  Beetle,"  or  one  of  its  allies. 
Thpy  are  never  very  destructive  where  crows 
abound;  they  afford  a  very  delicious  morsel  to 
these  much-abused  birds.  They  used  to  be  com- 
mon on  the  trees  of  the  public  squares  of  Philadel- 
phia, but  the  sparrows  keep  them  wholly  down. 
We  saw  half  a  dozen  birds  in  a  fight  over  an 
unlucky  one  that  had  strayed  into  Logan  Square, 
a  few  days  ago.  The  encouragment  of  insectivo- 
rous birds  is  the  best  antidote  to  these  beetles. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 

Our  Contributors. — K.  says :— "  I  hardly  like 
to  write  when  you  have  already  such  an  admir- 
able corps  of  contributors,  who  make  the  maga- 
zine, I  think,  the  best  in  the  world !  "  [But  we 
beg  to  say  that,  though  we  highly  appreciate  the 
compliment  to  the  many  good  writers  who  so 
kindly  help  us,  we  have  always  room  for  a  few 
more.  We  do  not  ask  for  long  articles,  which 
take  valuable  time  to  write,  but  prefer  the  brief 
notes  of  thought  or  experience,  dashed  off  on  the 
spur  of  the  occasion. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Garden  Flowers  in  California.— The  increas- 
ing taste  for  gardening  in  California  is  well 
attested  by  the  numerous  notes  we  receive  from 
correspondents,  as  to  what  they  are  doing  there, 
and  which  it  always  gives  us  pleasure  to  receive. 
Hero  is  what  one  writes  to  us  about  some  well- 
known  flowers: — "You  say  you  like  to  hear  of 
fine  plants,  shall  I  tell  you  of  some  of  mine? 
I  have  a  fine  Fuchsia,  'Brilliant'  by  name;  it 
was  in  the  mail  bag  in  May,  1S76;  it  commenced 
flowering  in  September,  and  from  that  day  to 
this  it  has  not  been  without  flowers.  It  had 
ninety  odd  flowers  on  it  at  one  time;  it  now  has 
three  pairs  of  twins,  that  is,  two  flowers  the  tubes 
of  which    are    united,   while    the    corollas    are 


distinct.  Again,  I  have  a  foliage  Begonia,  with 
leaves  over  a  foot  across,  and  twice  as  long. 
Another,  a  Perennial  Phlox,  with  a  head  on 
fifteen  inches  across.  Once  more,  a  Tiger  Lily, 
with  a  flower  eleven  and  a  half  inches  from  tip 
to  tip  of  opposite  petal.  I  don't  think  you  will 
believe  half  of  this,  but  it  is  all  true." 

Asplenium  Trichomanes.— A.  C.  Tuttle,  Bara- 
boo,  Wis.,  sends  us,  for  name,  the  above  very 
pretty  fern,  which  he  says  is  quite  abundant  at 
Devil's  Lake,  near  him. 

Chrysanthemum  fceniculatum. — G.,  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  sends  us,  for  name,  the  above,  which 
he  says  he  has  had  several  years,  and  always 
attracts  attention  in  his  garden  by  its  pretty 
foliage.  The  flower  itself  is  white,  like  the  com- 
mon Ox-eye  Daisy,  but  the  glaucous,  fennel-like 
leaves  are  beautiful. 

Convolvulus  arvensis  —  W. P.  P.,  Onargo, 111., 
writes : — "I  send  you  inclosed  a  vine  that  is  fast 
taking  possession  of  a  corner  of  my  grounds. 
The  tenacity  with  which  it  holds  on  to  life,  and 
its  wonderful  capacity  for  extending  itself  over, 
are  alarming  me.  It  sends  its  main  root  down 
perpendicularly,  I  do  not  know  how  far.  The 
one  I  send  you  is  nearly  three  feet  long,  and 
where  it  was  cut  off  it  is  about  as  large  as  it  is 
at  or  near  the  surface  of  the  ground.  It  has  a 
small  white  blossom,  probably  about  half  the 
size  of  the  common  Morning  Glory.  Can  you 
tell  me  what  it  is,  and  the  best  method  of  subdu- 
ing it?  Cultivation  seems  to  have  no  effect 
upon  it,  except  to  check  its  growth  for  the  time 
being.  I  have  covered  it  up,  several  feet  deep, 
with  mulch,  and  yet  it  forces  its  way  up  through. 
Please  respond,  and  greatlj'  oblige  one  of  your 
subscribers." 

[This  is  that  identical  "  Lily  "  about  which  we 
made  a  note  from  an  English  paper  recently. 
Its  "  proper"  common  name  is  the  "  Field  Bind- 
weed," and  its  botanical  name  Convolvulus 
arvensis.  Perseverance  in  digging  it  out  care- 
fully, every  time  you  see  a  green  leaf,  is  the 
only  remedy,  and  it  is  effectual.—  Ed.  G.  M.] 

Pruning  Evergreens. — Mary  S.,  writes :  "Can 
you  tell  me  how  I  can  make  a  Norway  Spruce 
get  back  again  the  beauty  of  its  early  years.  I 
suppose  you  will  say  'plant  another;'  but  if 
there  is  any  way   to  mend   it   I   would  prefer." 

["  Plant  another  !  "  No, — rather  we  say  read 
Gen.  Noble's  paper  in  this  number. — Ed.  G.  M.| 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


265 


ffREEN  MOUSE  AND 


^3-  o  j 


ouse  Gardening. 


SEASONABLE  BINTS. 


Those  who   wish    to   have    rooms    or  green- 
houses   gay  through    the    Winter,   must  soon 


gardeners  say,  about  the  end  of  the  month,  and 
put  into  pots  for  the  purpose.  In  lifting  these, 
it  is  best  to  choose  a  dull  day  for  it,  if  possible, 
and   when    potted   they  should   be  thoroughly 


< 

3 


a- 

> 

w 

en 

w 
O 


begin  to  think  of  it  now.  There  may  be  many 
things  growing  in  the  open  ground  that  would 
look  well  in  pots,  and  these  may  be  "lifted,"  as 


soaked  with  water  and  placed  in  a  shed,  or  some 
other  cool  shady  spot,  for  a  few  days,  or  the 
leaves  will  wither  and  fall,  and  of  course  mate- 


266 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


rially  detract  from  the  beauty  of  the  plant. 
Other  little  things  in  pots  may  also  be  potted 
into  a  trifle  larger  pots,  if  they  show  signs  of 
growing  freely,  though  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  have  the  pots  too  large.  Large  pots  are  objec- 
tionable in  window  gardening.  Hanging  baskets 
may  also  be  got  ready  now,  so  that  the  plants  in 
them  may  grow  and  get  well  established  before 
the  Winter  sets  in.  Many  pretty  ornamental 
designs,  out  of  very  common  things,  may  be 
applied  to  pot  culture  for  rooms,  and  often  with 
very  good  effect.  All  that  is  essential  to  be 
be  remembered  is,  that  whatever  is  done  or 
employed,  whether  shells,  old  crockery,  wood- 
work or  wire,  some  provision  must  always  be 
made  for  the  rapid  draining  away  of  water. 
This  is  what  the  holes  are  for  in  the  bottom  of 
flower  pots,  and  all  substitutes  must  have  some 
such  way  for  water  to  escape. 

In  our  gardens  we  have  now  many  hardy 
bulbs  which  are  well  looked  after,  but  we  have 
rather  neglected  bulb  culture  in  rooms,  and  yet 
there  is  nothing  easier,  and  few  things  more 
interesting.  Last  season  we  saw  in  several 
rooms  good  plants  of  the  Amaryllis  Johnsoni,  and 
the  whole  tribe  of  Amaryllis  is,  indeed,  among  the 
best  of  bulbs  for  this  purpose.  We  do  not  know 
any  American  nurseryman  who  makes  a 
specialty  of  them,  but  a  few  years  ago  Mr.  John 
Sherwood,  of  Bristol,  Pa.,  had  a  good  collection. 
The  number  of  varieties  (by  hybridization)  and 
species  (by  importations),  have  so  much  increased 
in  Europe,  that  now  they  have  some  kinds 
that  will  bloom —one  or  another — all  the  year 
through.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  not 
know  what  are  Amaryllises,  we  give  a  cut  on  the 
preceding  page  of  a  new  kind,  introduced  by  Mr. 
Wm.  Bull,  from  Lima,  in  Peru  (A.  VittataHarriso- 
nise),  and  which  he  thus  describes : — "A  remarka- 
bly distinct  and  effective  variety  of  Amaryllis.  It 
has  a  stout  glaucous  green  scape,  bearing  a  two- 
valved  spathe,  from  which  issue  several  (about 
five)  pedicellate  flowers,  which  are  remarkable 
for  their  long  narrow  tube,  fully  three  and  a  half 
inches  in  length,  the  segments  of  which  are 
slightly  spreading  at  the  tip,  opaque  waxy  white, 
and  marked  on  each  of  the  six  segments  with 
two  broad  deep  crimson  lines,  running  a  con- 
siderable distance  down  the  tube.  The  flowers 
are  sweet-scented,  with  a  faint  order  of  Daphne." 
They  are  so  easy  of  culture  that  we  have  known 
some  to  flower  year  after  year  in  the  same  pot, 
and  under  neglect  that  would  destroy  most 
ordinary  plants. 


Those  who  have  greenhouses,  pits  or  frames, 
will  now  see  to  having  any  necessary  repairs 
attended  to.  White-washing  annually  is  service- 
able, destroying  innumerable  eggs  of  insects,  in 
the  war  against  which  the  gardener  should  take 
the  initiative;  sulphur  mixed  with  the  white- 
wash is  also  serviceable.  Powerful  syringing  is 
a  great  help  to  keeping  plants  clean,  and  should 
be  frequently  resorted  to. 

It  is  a  very  good  time  to  look  around  for 
soil  for  potting  purposes.  The  surface  soil  of 
an  old  pasture  forms  the  best  basis,  which  can 
afterwards  be  lightened  with  sand,  or  manured 
with  any  special  ingredients  to  suit  special  cases, 
as  required.  The  turfy  or  peaty  surfaces  of  old 
wood  or  bogs  also  come  very  "  handy."  A  stock 
of  moss  should  also  be  on  hand  for  those  who 
crock  pots,  in  order  to  cover  the  potsherd ;  moss 
also  comes  in  useful  for  many  purposes  con- 
nected with  gardening,  and  should  be  always  on 
hand. 

Ornamental  annuals  for  winter-flowering 
should  be  at  once  sown,  not  forgetting  Mignon- 
ette, to  be  without  which  will  be  an  unpardon- 
able sin.  Chinese  Primroses,  Cinerarias,  Calceo- 
larias, Pansies,  Polyanthus,  etc.,  should  be  sown. 
Winter-blooming  Carnations  and  Violets  should 
not  be  forgotten.  They  are  now  essentials  in  all 
good  greenhouse  collections.  The  Calla  Ethio- 
pica,  old  as  it  is,  is  a  universal  favorite,  and 
should  now  be  repotted,  when  it  will  flower 
through  the  Winter  finely.  Oxalis,  Sparaxis, 
Cyclamens,  and  such  Cape  bulbs  that  flower 
through  the  Winter,  should  be  replotted  now. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


TABERN/EMONTANA    CORONARIA  FLORE- 
PLENO. 

BY  EDWIN  LONSDALE,  GERMANTOWN,  PA. 

Knowing  your  just  appreciation  of  the  good 
and  the  beautiful,  I  send  flowers  for  your  gratifi- 
cation that  were  taken  from  a  plant  I  have  here 
under  the  above  name.  No  flowering  plant  is 
worthy  of  more  praise  than  this  one.  In  color, 
elegance  in  the  arrangement  of  the  petals, 
delicacy  in  fragrance,  freedom  of  bloom,  it  has 
few  equals  and  no  superior.  The  color  is  pure 
white ;  the  petals  are  elegantly  crimped  at  the 
edges,  and  there  is  less  formality  in  the  make-up 
of  the  flower  than  any  other  with  which  I  am 
acquainted. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


26T 


The  plant  from  which  the  flowers  were  taken 
is  planted  out  in  a  prepared  bed  in  a  rose  house, 
where  it  is  a  mass  of  healthy  foliage,  flowers 
and  buds.  I  have  estimated  there  are  upwards 
of  two  thousand  flowers  and  buds,  in  various 
stages  of  development,  on  it  at  the  present  time. 
It  is  about  three  feet  high,  and  two  and  a  half 
feet  through ;  of  compact  growth,  making  a 
handsome  show. 

By  the  casual  observer  it  is  generally  taken 
for  a  Gardenia,  but  it  differs  from  that  well- 
known  genus  in  its  producing  its  flowers  in 
cymes.  As  a  flowering  shrub  it  is  more  useful 
than  strikingly  ornamental,  for  the  flowers  are 
generally  found  nestled  amongst  the  foliage ; 
this  is  owing  to  the  plant  throwing  out  two 
shoots — one  on  each  side  of  the  cyme — before 
any  of  the  flowers  have  expanded.  It  answers 
very  well  to  the  description  given  to  T.  camassa 
in  the  Monthly  for  June.  If  the  new  comer 
proves  superior,  in  any  one  particular,  to  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  there  is  no  doubt  about 
its  being  a  very  valuable  acquisition. 


A    NEW   USE   FOR   THE   LADY   BUG. 

BY   C.  J.  H.,  CHAMPAIGN,  ILL. 

While  we  have  been  looking  for  some  safe, 
sure  and  cheap  remedy  for  the  green  fly  as  it 
attacks  our  plants  in  the  dwelling  house  where 
tobacco  smoke  cannot  be  easily  used,  lo!  a 
panacea,  in  the  shape  of  our  lady  bugs,  is  at 
hand,  and  answers  the  purpose  precisely.  A 
gentleman  of  our  city,  having  a  vine  which  was 
covered  with  the  pests  (green  flies),  took  up  a 
handful  of  the  lady  bugs,  and  placed  them  on 
the  plant  one  evening.  The  next  morning  not 
a  green  fly  was  to  be  seen.  All  were  devoured, 
and  so  perfect  was  the  work  done  that  not  one 
has  been  seen  since.  Cannot  we  make  still  more 
use  of  them  ? 


WINTERING   EUCALYPTUS   GLOBULUS. 

BY   WM.  FALCONER,  CAMBRIDGE  BOT.  GARDEN. 

Last  year  we  planted  out  a  six-foot  high  plant 
of  the  Blue  Gum  tree,  and  lifted  it  an  eleven-foot 
specimen.  Having  been  previously  grown  in  a 
pot  it  lifted  with  a  ball,  and  we  tied  up  its 
branches  loosely,  and  planted,  or  rather  "heeled 
in,"  the  tree,  in  a  sloping  position,  in  a  six  feet 
deep  cold  frame,  which  was  ventilated  on  every 
favorable  occasion,  throughout  the  Winter.  It 
wintered  first-rate,  without  the  loss  of  a  leaf, 
and  now  again  it  is  out,  a  big  and  thrifty  tree. 


REMEDY  FOR  SLUGS. 

BY   MR.    J.  M.  JORDAN,  ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

Permit  me  to  say  to  florists,  who  are  troubled 
with  slugs  destroying  plants,  that  they  can  be 
easily  caught  by  spreading  leaves  of  lettuce  on 
the  benches,  or  among  the  plants.  They  eat 
it  in  preference  to  any  other  plant,  and  it  seems 
to  stupify  them  so  that  they  can  be  caught  in 
the  morning. 


NOTE  ON  THE  NIGHT-BLOOMING  CEREUS. 

BY  J.  J.  N. 

The  Night-blooming  Cereus  isn't  always  "night 
blooming,"  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the 
term.  A  variety  (most  probable  the  erectus) 
blossomed  this  year  on  June  5th,  and  at  nine 
o'clock  the  next  morning  they  were  fully  ex- 
panded, though  they  withered  soon  after.  It 
gave  a  second  course  of  blooms  June  30th,  and 
they  were  open  at  seven  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  re- 
mained till  eight  A.  m.  the  next  day.  Was  it  not 
due  to  the  low  temperature  of  the  house,  it  not 
being  more  than  00°  ? 


REINWARDTIA   TRIGYNA. 

BY   F. 

One  of  the  brightest  and  best  of  winter-bloom- 
ing plants,  a  native  of  the  mountains  of  India. 
It  will  thrive  in  our  coolest  greenhouses,  but  to 
enhance  its  merit  and  secure  its  worth,  warmer 
Winter  quarters  is  desirable.  Its  flowers  are 
bright  yellow,  fully  an  inch  and  a  half  acrossr 
and  are  profusely  borne  on  old  plants,  and  even 
three  months'  cuttings  bloom  freely.  Now  is 
the  time  to  prepare  for  Winter.  A  stubby 
growth  in  Summer,  and  a  50°  to  55°  in  Winter 
suits  them  admirably,  and,  as  they  finish  bloom- 
ing, they  may  be  transmitted  to  a  colder  place. 
A  succession  may  be  had  by  timely  introducing 
from  a  cooler  temperature  to  a  higher.  They 
are  not  particular  as  to  soil,  but  frequent  syring- 
ings  are  beneficial. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Plumbago  Larpent^e. — We  are  pleased  to  ob- 
serve that  this  herbaceous  perennial  is  receiving 
extended  attention.  The  intense  blueness  of  its 
flowers  can  hardly  be  surpassed,  and  then  it 
blooms  so  freely  in  late  Summer  and  Fall  after 


268 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


the  majority  of  hardy  plants  have  ceased  for  a 
season,  and  its  compact  habit,  surely  should 
command  respect.  It  is  a  native  of  Northern 
China,  but  not  quite  hardy  in  our  Northern 
States,  though  a  well-covered  cold  frame,  or  any 
odd  corner  in  a  cool  greenhouse,  is  good  enough 
Winter  quarters  for  it.  It  has  a  mass  of  "  roots," 
or  underground  stems,  which,  if  divided  in 
February,  or  before  active  growth  begins,  yield  a 
great  increase  of  stock. 

Fuchsia  procumbens  —  Mr.  Lonsdale  sends  us 
a  plant  of  this  with  a  few  open  flowers  on  it. 
They  are  small,  of  a  brownish  tint,  and  with  the 
recurved  sepals  purple.  It  is  not  a  showy  plant, 
by  any  means,  but  when  closely  examined,  is 
pretty.  It  is  so  very  distinct  from  Fuchsias  as 
generally  seen,  that  it  will  always  interest  one 
to  look  at  it,  and  perhaps  when  covered  with 
flowers  may  be  more  showy  than  in  this  condi- 
tion it  promises  to  be. 

Tropical  Pitcher  Plants.— Those  interested 
in  Nepenthes  generally,  should  make  a  point 
of  seeing  the  collection  of  Mr.  Such,  at  South 
Amboy,  N.  J.,  where  are  most  luxurious  plants, 
festooned  with  pitchers— large,  perfect,  and  in- 
tensely colored.  Almost  every  species  and 
variety  in  cultivation,  from  the  tiny  Cephalotus, 
of  Australia,  to  the  N.  phyllamphora  and  Raffle- 
siana,  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  are  there, 
growing  to  perfection.  Mr.  Taplin,  the  talented 
manager  of  Mr.  Such's  establishment,  has  suc- 
ceeded in  raising  a  number  of  seedlings,  many 
of  which  are  of  sterling  merit,  and  present  char- 
acters of  distinction  apart  from  anything  at 
present  in  our  gardens. 

Forcing  the  Lily  of  the  Valley.— A  writer 
in  the  Hamburger  Gartenzeitung  gives  some  par- 
ticulars of  the  raising  and  forcing  of  the  Lily 
of  the  Valley  in  the  establishment  of  E.  C. 
Harmsen,  of  Hamburg,  where  it  forms  one  of 
the  principal  objects  of  culture.  It  is  in  this 
and  other  nurseries  in  Holstein,  not  far  distant 
from  Hamburg,  that  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  is 
cultivated  in  vast  quantities  for  export.  Millions 
of  crowns,  it  is  stated,  are  annually  sent  out 
from  the  one  establishment  named.  The  soil  in 
which  it  is  grown  is  a  sandy  loam.  In  Autumn, 
the  ground  is  prepared  by  trenching  to  a  good 
depth,  and  liberal  manuring  with  rotten  stable 
dung.  It  is  then  laid  out  in  beds  about  four  feet 
wide,  with  intersecting  paths  a  foot  wide.  Six 
rows  of  plants  are  put  in  tlmsc  beds,  in  furrows 


three  to  four  inches  deep,  or  so  deep  that  the 
beds  are  covered  with  at  least  an  inch  of  soil. 
When  time  is  of  importance,  or  the  soil  is  of  a 
wetter  nature,  it  is  customary  to  take  out  the 
soil  from  the  first  bed  to  the  required  depth  and 
wheel  it  to  the  side  of  the  one  to  be  planted 
last.  The  plantlets  are  then  scattered  over  the 
surface  and  the  soil  from  the  next  bed  thrown 
over  them,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  After  the  first 
frost  has  set  in  sufficiently  hard  to  facilitate  the 
operation,  the  beds  are  thoroughly  mulched 
with  rotten  dung,  from  spent  hotbeds  by  prefer- 
ence. A  thick  layer  of  this  serves  not  only  to 
nourish  the  plants  when  growth  commences  in 
Spring,  but  it  also  acts  as  a  protector  from  frost 
during  the  Winter;  moreover,  during  the  suc- 
ceeding season  it  prevents  annual  weeds  from 
getting  the  upper-hand.  This  is  all  there  is  to 
be  done  the  first  season,  and  nothing  but  weed- 
ing the  second  and  third  year  is  necessary  till 
about  the  middle  of  October  of  the  third  season, 
when  the  plants  are  ready  to  lift.  The  labor 
of  lifting  and  sorting  the  flowering-roots  from 
the  others  is  quickly  performed.  The  former 
are  stored  away  in  a  cold  house  after  shortening 
the  roots,  and  the  latter  ranged  in  layers  and 
tan-pits.  For  early  forcing,,  the  strongest  and 
ripest  sets  are  selected.  The  bed  of  a  propaga- 
ting-house  with  bottom-heat  has  a  layer  four 
inches  thick  of  sand,  into  which  the  roots, 
wrapped  in  moss,  are  plunged.  With  a  bottom 
heat  of  65°  to  75°  at  the  beginning,  the  watering 
is  liberal,  and  after  three  days  the  heat  is  in- 
creased from  88°  to  100°,  and  maintained  at  this 
until  the  appearance  of  the  shoots  above  ground. 
It  is  better  to  cover  the  beds  with  sashes,  and 
shade  in  sunny  weather.  To  have  the  Lily  of 
the  Valley  in  flower  by  Christmas  it  is  only 
necessary  to  commence  about  November  23d  or 
24th,  and  carry  out  the  preceding  instructions. 
The  great  bottom -heat  is  especially  necessary 
for  very  early  forcing. — Gardener's  Chronicle. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 

Double  White  Oleander. —  E.  inquires 
whether  there  is  really  a  double  white  Oleander 
in  cultivation  here?  This  we  cannot  say,  but 
there  is  no  reason  why  there  may  not  be.  The 
writer  of  this  recently  saw  plenty  of  them  for 
sale,in  the  Paris  flower  markets.  So  far  all  that 
he  has  seen  in  this  country,  in  flower,  were  single 
white. 


1811.1 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


269 


Calla  .Ethiopica. — D.W., Denver, Col.,  writes: 
"Why  is  there  so  little  said  about  this  general 
favorite?  I  have  two  hundred  planted  out  in 
the  garden,  which  seem  to  be  doing  splendidly, 
but  what  to  do  with  them,  as  cold  weather 
approaches,  is  the  question.  Should  they  be 
taken  up,  potted,  and  kept  growing,  or  would  it 
do  to  take  them  up,  let  them  dry  off  in  a  cellar, 
and  then  pot  them  from  time  to  time,  as  they 
are  wanted  for  sale,  or  for  flowers  ?  " 

[Florists  who  grow  the  Calla,  or  Richardia 
iEthiopica,  for  its  flowers,  require  them  to  be  in 
bloom  between  Christmas  and  Easter,  and  even 
those  who  want  them  for  window  culture,  desire 
to  have  them  through  the  Winter.  For  these 
purposes  they  rest  them  somewhat  during  Sum- 
mer by  keeping  dry,  and  about  the  middle  of 
August,  or  September,  pot  and  water  them.  If 
they  are  kept  dry  till  later,  they  will,  of  course, 
bloom  later,  and  then  it  becomes  a  question 
whether  later  flowers  are  desirable. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Purple-leaved  Ivy. —  A  correspondent  in- 
quires whether  this  plant  referred  to  in  a  notice 
from  Garden  in  a  recent  paragraph,  is  yet  in  this 
country.  We  have  looked  through  several  cata- 
logues, but  do  not  see  it.  If  any  one  has  it, 
send  word  to  Mr.  T.  S.  Strickler,  West  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Culture  of  Hedychium  Gardnerianum. — 
Mrs.  Fv.  B.  E.,  writes: — "  Will  you  please  inform 
me  through  the  Monthly  what  treatment  is 
necessary  for  Hedychium  Gardnerianum.  I 
have  one  that  grows  luxuriantly,  but,  though 
three  years  old,  gives  no  hint  of  blooming. 
What  is  its  season  of  bloom  ?  And  does  it  re- 
quire rest  from  growth  ?  And,  finally,  is  it  worth 
growing  at  all  ? 

[It  is  decidedly  worth  growing.  The  yellow, 
sweet  flowers  open  in  Winter.     The  best  way  to 


grow  it,  is  to  plant  it  out  in  the  open  border 
in  Summer.  In  Fall  lift  it  carefully,  and  put  in 
a  pot  or  tub,  and  keep  it  growing  in  a  moder- 
ately warm  greenhouse,  and  flowers  will  come 
from  the  top  of  the  stems  before  Spring. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Culture  of  Cactus. — A  subscriber,  Mount 
Pleasant,  Iowa,  writes : — "  Sometime  at  your 
convenience,  if  you  will  have  the  kindness  to 
give  one  article  in  Gardener's  Monthly  to  cultiva- 
tion of  Cactus,  varieties,  soil,  and  any  treatment 
necessary  to  successful  growth,  it  will  gratify  a 
number  of  your  subscribers." 

[The  various  kinds  of  Cactuses  love  our  Sum- 
mer heat  so  well,  that  we  might  say  in  general, 
plant  them  out  in  the  full  sun  in  Summer,  and 
then  take  up,  and  re-pot  in  Fall.  This  is  the 
way  they  are  done  in  Mr.  Shaw's  Missouri 
Botanical  Gardens,  at  St.  Louis,  and  we  never 
saw  more  healthy  or  beautiful  plants.  When 
they  become  large  they  are  awkward  handling, 
on  account  of  their  spines,  and  then  they  are 
best  grown  in  tubs,  and  the  tubs  set  out  in  the 
full  sun  during  Summer. 

But  there  are  some  leafy  kinds  of  Cactuses 
which  we  believe  thrive  better  in  partial  shade  ; 
of  these  are  the  Epiphyllums,  though  these  like 
the  heat.  The  best  and  most  generally  known 
of  these  are  the  E.  Jenkinsoni,  E.  speciosus, 
E.  speciosissimus,  E.  Ackermanii,  and  E.  trun- 
catum  and  varieties.  There  is  E.  latifolius,  and 
E.  Crenatus,  often  grown,  which  thrive  in  full 
sun,  as  the  other  named  ones  do,  but  they  are 
not  so  showy  in  flower.  They  are  often  grafted 
on  more  woody  Cactuses,  and  in  this  way  do 
very  well.  The  E.  truncatum  is  grafted  on 
Pereskia  aculeata,  and  thrives  well  on  it.  Any 
kind  of  soil  suits  the  Cactus  family.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


RUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


So  far  as  fruit  growing  for  market  is  concerned, 
we  hear  on  all  sides  that  the  season  has  been 
unprofitable,  and  that  there  will  be  no  encour- 
agement to  plant  new  orchards.  The  talk  is  as 
if  fruit  growing  for  market  was  overdone.     But 


this  has  always  been  the  talk  ever  since  any  one 
can  recollect.  Everything  will  be  overdone 
sometimes.  No  one  knows  when  he  plants  just 
how  heavy  the  crop  will  be,  or  just  how  many 
persons  will  want  his  cr'op.  This  uncertainty 
must  result  sometimes  in  less  than  people  want, 
in  which  case  those  who  pay  the  most  get  it  j  or 
in   too   much,  when   the  grower  is  glad  to  get 


270 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


what  he  can,  which  often  means  growth  at  a 
loss.  These  laws  are  often  aggravated  by  sea- 
sons of  general  loss,  and  consequent  inability  to 
buy  by  those  who  are  usually  customers.  Still, 
in  these  cases,  it  is  the  weakest  which  are 
ruined.  The  strong  grower  stands  the  loss  and 
keeps  on  with  his  business,  keeping  it  up  to  the 
standard.  The  good  times  come,  and  he  fills  his 
pockets  rapidly.  These  laws  have  been  so  uni- 
versal, and  will  prevail  so  surely  to  the  end  of 
the  world,  that  we  would  not  be  surprised  to 
find  very  extensive  planting  going  on  by  the 
prudent  and  far  seeing,  instead  of  the  little  which 
some  people  anticipate. 

At  any  rate  the  planting  for  one's  own  use 
will  go  on  as  heretofore,  and  this,  perhaps,  to  an 
extent  hardly  ever  known  before,  for  with  little 
money  to  buy,  people  find  out  the  advantage  of 
growing  as  much  as  possible  for  themselves. 
September  is,  of  course,  rather  early  to  plant 
fruit  trees  of  any  kind,  but  it  is  a  capital  month 
to  send  for  catalogues  and  study  the  varieties 
offered,  and  then  to  look  around  and  find  out 
how  such  kinds  succeed  in  your  own  vicinity. 


bush  is  perfectly  hardy,  and  the  sprouts  kill  as 
easily  as  any  weeds  by  cultivation.  With  Black 
Caps  I  have  seen  nothing  to  surpass  the  Seneca 
in  hardiness,  size  or  flavor,  and  with  me  it  is 
more  prolific  than  Mammoth  Cluster.  The 
bush  is  more  like  a  blackberry,  rampant  and 
thorny,  and  the  berry  has  the  flavor  of  a  black- 
berry, sweet  and  luscious.  The  Davidson's 
Thornless  did  well  for  a  few  years,  but  a  kind  of 
aphis,  or  bark  louse,  attacked  it  last  year,  and 
now  there  is  scarcely  a  vine  in  this  vicinity.  It 
is  evident  that  for  advice  in  raising  fruit  one 
must  not  go  far  from  home,  for  if  I  should  fol- 
low the  advice  of  Coleman,  in  the  Christian 
Union,  and  plant  the  Davidson's  Thornless  for  a 
single  variety,  I  should  never  have  any  berries, 
and  very  likely  the  Elm  City  may  not  be  worth 
cultivation  in  the  East. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


WHICH  IS  THE  BEST  RASPBERRY? 

BY  MR.  G.  WRIGHT,  ROCK  FALLS,  ILL. 

Mr.  Galusha  lives  at  Normal,  in  the  centre  of 
this  State,  and  says  all  varieties  except  Turner 
were  killed  by  the  cold  of  last  Winter.  I  live  in 
the  northern  part  of  Illinois,  and  never  saw  the 
Philadelphia  winter-killed  when  planted  on 
poor  ground,  but  on  low  or  rich  ground  I  could 
never  get  but  one  crop,  whether  the  Winters 
were  mild  or  severe.  They  invariably  were 
killed  nearly  to  the  ground,  while  a  few  bushes 
on  a  dry,  sandy  knoll  have  borne  abundantly 
without  fail  for  nine  years.  So  I  planted  a  row 
near  a  row  of  Lombardy  Poplars,  which  have  ex- 
hausted the  soil  of  moisture  and  fertility  until 
nothing  else  will  grow,  and  the  Philadelphias 
have  borne  for  three  years  such  crops  as  I  never 
saw  in  any  other  berry,  and  this  season  they 
seemed  to  surpass  themselves.  But  for  all  that, 
I  can  make  more  money  from  the  Elm  City 
than  from  Philadelphia,  for  the  reason  that  Elm 
City  ripens  immediately  after  strawherries,  and 
is  gone  before  the  Philadelphia  is  ripe.  Besides, 
it  is  a  better  flavored  berry,  and  is  as  firm  as  any 
Black  Cap,  either  for  canning  or  shipping.    The 


FRUCTIFICATION  OF  THE  FIG. 

BY  EMMA  C.  BREWSTER,  KINGSTON,  MASS. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Monthly,  I  saw  an  ac- 
count of  the  "  Fructification  of  Figs  in  Smyrna," 
upon  which  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words.  The 
writer  stated  that  in  order  to  make  the  fruit  set, 
strings  of  figs  were  taken  from  a  pistillate  tree  and 
hung  across  a  staminate  tree,  that  the  flies  which 
are  within  pistillate  figs  might  carry  the  pollen 
from  them  to  the  staminate  ones.  Otherwise, 
the  fruit  would  drop  off.  Now,  in  my  Massa- 
chusetts home  we  have  raised  figs  in  the  open 
ground  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Father 
began  with  one  tree,  and  increased  his  stock  by 
off-sets  until  they  numbered  fifty  trees.  Then 
we  sold  $20  worth,  and  this  year  have  again  sold 
as  many.  We  have  no  more  to  sell  now — so 
this  is  not  an  advertisement.  I  make  this  state- 
ment only  to  show  that  I  have  had  considerable 
experience  in  raising  figs ;  and  although  we 
have  several  crops  of  the  delicious  fruit  every 
Summer,  we  have  never  hung  a  chain  of  figs 
across  the  branches.  Are  all  our  trees  pistillate? 
Nor  are  they  infested  by  any  fly  or  other  insect, 
and  I  hope  they  never  will  be.  The  fig  tree  does 
"  cast  her  untimely  figs  when  shaken  by  the 
east  wind,"  to  prevent  which  the  trees  are  set 
upon  the  west  side  of  the  house  in  dry  sea- 
sons ;  wherefore  the  figgery  is  near  the  kitchen, 
that  all  the  waste  water  may  be  bestowed  upon 
it— much  more  effectual  preventives  than  string- 
ing fruit  across  their  branches.  Had  the  writer 
stated  that  this  course  was  pursued  to  impreg- 
nate the  seed  when  it  was  desired  to  raise  new 


1817.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


211 


varieties,  it  would  have  sounded  more  plausible; 
yet  even  then  I  should  have  doubted,  and  I  can 
make  you  doubt.  Figs  come  out  all  over  the 
tree  in  clusters,  without  previous  flowers.  There 
are  always  three  crops  upon  a  tree  at  once.  The 
ripening  fruit,  the  blossoming  figs,  and  the  newly 
appearing  buds.  In  a  good  season,  with  proper 
care,  all  these  crops  may  be  ripened,  and  as  the 
first  one  begins  to  drop,  a  fourth  appears,  which 
keeps  on  the  trees  (without  any  aid  of  flies), 
while  they  are  packed  away  for  Winter,  and 
ripen  the  next  Spring.  When  a  fig  is  half 
grown  it  is  in  bloom,  then  if  you  pull  open  the 
hard,  green  case,  the  beautiful,  rose-colored  in- 
terior will  rival  any  flower  in  the  garden.  This 
is  the  only  time  when  the  flies — which  infest  the 
Smyrna  fig  crop  to  such  a  degree  as  to  fill  the 
hold  of  every  home-returning  Smyrnaite  with 
their  larvae  crawling  from  the  drums — can  fruc- 
tify the  figs.  Now  the  worm  within  the  ripened 
fruit  must  have  become  a  chrysalis,  which  has 
worked  its  way  clean  through  the  skin,  for  a  fly 
would  have  no  power  to  do  this.  Then  the  fly 
emerges  from  the  chrysalis,  flies  to  a  blossoming 
fig;  but  how  is  she  going  to  enter  it?  The  blos- 
som is  so  firmly  encased  in  tough,  leathery  en- 
velopes, as  to  defy  the  entrance  of  any  insect 
whatever.  The  fly  must  pierce  the  skin  and  lay 
her  egg  in  the  outer  green  envelope.  Now,  how 
can  the  larva  which  will  hatch  from  this  egg, 
laid  by  a  fly  which  emerged  from  a  chrysalis 
formed  in  another  fig,  have  any  effect  upon  the 
blossom  within  this  one,  when  he  finally  reaches 
it?  A  Professor  of  Natural  History  once  told  his 
class  that  the  pea  was  formed  by  the  weevil,  and 
that  if,  when  the  peas  were  planted,  the  farmers 
saw  a  goodly  number  of  weevils  running  in  the 
furrows,  they  rejoiced,  for  they  knew  the  crop 
would  set.  He  could  not  explain  how  the 
weevils  underground,  could  have  any  effect  upon 
the  fruit  in  the  blossom  which  was  yet  to  come. 
Nor  can  I.  Still,  peas  form  where  there  are  no 
weevils,  and  figs  where  there  are  no  flies. 


GAS  LIME. 

BY  J.  O.  RANSOM,  HAMMONTON,  N.  J. 

Gas  lime  has  been  extensively  used  in  this 
place,  and  generally  good  results  have  been  ob- 
tained by  spreading  25  to  50  bushels  per  acre 
broad-cast  on  the  surface  in  Fall  or  Winter,  that 
the  atmosphere  may  modify  its  acrid  character, 
and  ploughing  it  under  in  the  Spring  for  corn,  or 
in  the  Fall  for  wheat  and  rye.  It  is  especially  use- 


ful in  subduing  the  wild  grass  and  bushes  on  new 
land,  and  aids  materially  in  preparing  the  coarse 
vegetable  fibre  in  the  ground  for  a  good  crop,  if 
used  as  above.  It  will  often  destroy  a  crop  if 
spread  once  in  its  raw  state. 

It  is  also  useful  in  renovating  old  orchards  in 
grass  by  ploughing  it  under.  On  old  land  to  be 
seeded  with  grass,  indicating  the  want  of  lime, 
it  is  generally  believed  here  that  shell  or  stone 
lime  is  safest  and  best,  but  on  raw,  wild  soil,  gaa 
lime  is  best  and  cheapest  for  this  locality,  where 
it  has  been  used.  No  benefit  has  been  discovered 
from  the  use  of  any  kind  of  lime  on  small  fruit 
crops. 

OIL  FOR  FRUIT  TREES. 

BY  CHARLES  FREMD,  RYE,  N.  Y. 

In  the  early  part  of  March  I  painted,  with  lin- 
seed oil  about  a  dozen  of  apple,  cherry  and  other 
trees.  Some  were  vigorous  and  healthy,  others 
were  not.  One  of  the  apple  trees  was  covered 
with  the  white  scale.  The  trees  were  from  one 
and  a  half  to  two  inches  in  diameter,  but  it 
killed  three  out  of  six,  all  of  them  with  a  tender 
bark,  such  as  the  Sweet  Bough,  &c.  On  these  the 
oil  penetrated  the  bark  clean  through,  also  at 
fresh  cuts  from  pruning,  it  dyed  and  blackened 
both  bark  and  wood.  In  one  instance  it  encir- 
cled the  whole  tree.  Trees  with  a  thicker  bark, 
like  a  Greening,  are  doing  well.  I  killed  one 
cherry  tree  out  of  three,  and  I  nearly  killed  a 
Magnolia  Soulangeana  with  it. 

I  have  certainly  no  reason  to  complain  of  the 
trees  which  survived  the  treatment,  but  the  loss 
is  far  greater  than  the  benefit. 

A  neighbor  of  mine  told  me,  a  few  days  ago, 
that  he  greased  some  apple  trees  with  lard  oil 
over  fifteen  years  ago,  and  killed  and  injured 
many  very  fine  trees.  Ever  since  he  uses  a  solu- 
tion of  potash. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


A  Grapery  and  Sanatorium. — Some  time  since 
our  esteemed  correspondent,  Mr.  W.  T.  Hard- 
ing, gave  a  plan  whereby  chickens  and  grapes 
might  be  managed  together.  We  do  not  know 
why  the  idea  may  not  be  extended.  It  is  not 
likely  that  railroad  depots  with  glass  roofs  can 
be  turned  to  a  grape  growing  experience,  to  the 
disgust  of  thousands  of  passengers,  to  whom  the 
fruit  would  be  out  of  reach !  But  surely  there 
are  occasions  that  might  be  made  available  to 


272 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTELY 


[  September, 


grape  growing,  if  the  proper  intelligence  could 
be  found  to  direct  the  experiment.  The  great 
trouble  with  most  extensive  horticultural  experi- 
ments that  have  been  started  by  capitalists  in 
this  country,  is  that  they  have  made  the  selec- 
tion of  quacks  to  manage  them.  There  are 
plenty  of  excellent  gardeners  in  this  country, 
but  somehow  those  who  need  good  skill  seldom 
have  the  knack  of  finding  it  when  wanted. 

The  Devonport  (England)  Independent  gives 
the  following  account  of  a  monster  grapery  built 
in  connection  with  a  "  Health  Lift "  establish- 
lishment,  or  "  Sanatorium  "  : 

"  The  '  Sanatorium '  at  Saltash,  near  Ply- 
mouth, which  was  erected  about  seven  years 
since,  is  an  extensive  greenhouse,  built  at  great 
expense  and  labor,  for  the  production  of  grapes 
and  other  fruit.  It  is  situated  on  the  southern 
side  of  a  hill,  in  a  sheltered  valley,  at  the  west- 
ern end  of  the  Port  View  Estate,  and  its  immense 
area  of  glass  might  be  seen  from  various  points 
in  the  neighborhood.  The  vinery  is  450  feet 
long  by  80  feet  broad,  and  it  will  help  the  reader 
to  perceive  the  extent  of  it  when  we  state  that 
the  glass  covering  it  weighs  upward  of  20  tons. 
It  contains  more  than  500  vines,  the  majority 
being  in  bearing  condition,  though  not  yet  fully 
grown.  These  include  fifty  varieties  of  grapes, 
the  whole  of  them  having  been  personally  se- 
lected from  the  south  of  France  while  in  fruit. 
In  situation  and  arrangement,  the  place  is  well 
laid  out,  and  what  is  of  great  importance,  it  is 
abundantly  supplied  with  water,  which  is  carried 
over  the  entire  building  and  distributed  in  an 
efficient  manner.  The  vineyard — which  we  pre- 
fer to  call  it — is  pleasingly  arranged  in  tiers,  and 
divided  into  several  compartments,  with  walks 
passing  through  them.  In  every  respect  the 
capacity  of  the  place  to  produce  grapes  equal  to 
any  grown  on  the  Continent  has  been  proved. 
The  sight  of  the  vineyard  at  this  moment  is  re- 
markable. Above,  around,  in  every  part  of  it, 
immense  bunches  of  grapes  are  ripening  in 
countless  profusion.  The  vista  of  every  path- 
way in  each  of  the  compartments,  and  of  every 
line  of  sight,  turn  in  what  direction  one  may, 
shows  overhanging  canopies  of  grapes,  prodigal 
in  their  luxuriance.  Many  of  the  bunches  are 
large,  being  more  than  6  inches  by  15  inches. 
Even  yet,  however,  the  full  resources  of  the 
place  have  not  been  reached,  either  in  amount 
or  earlmess  of  fruit,  It  is  certainly  not  more 
than  three-fourths  covered  with  the  vines;  and, 
consequently,  every  year  the  produce  is  rapidly 


increasing.  Last  year  3,000  lbs.  of  grapes  were 
obtained;  nearly  double  that  amount  will  be 
gathered  this  year.  The  full  bearing  capacity, 
which  it  is  expected  will  be  reached  in  about 
three  years'  time,  has  been  estimated  at  10,000 
lbs.,  and  that  estimate  is  considered  within  the 
mark.  It  is  a  very  important  fact,  also  in  the 
value  and  success  of  the  undertaking,  that  the 
luxuriance  of  growth  and  the  abundance  of  fruit 
are  scarcely  less  striking  than  the  freedom  of  the 
vines  and  grapes  from  disease.  We  may  add 
that  peaches  are  also  grown  in  the  Sanatorium. 
A  crop  of  potatoes  of  a  highly  remunerative 
earliness  was  likewise  obtained  this  season  from 
the  ground  between  the  rows  of  vines.  In  testi- 
mony of  the  safety  and  security  of  the  structure 
itself,  and  in  falsification  of  any  forebodings  that 
might  have  been  made  of  the  precariousness  of 
the  erection,  it  should  be  stated  that  during  the 
whole  seven  years  of  its  existence,  scarcely  any 
damage  has  been  inflicted  either  by  wind  or 
water.  The  place  has  not  yet  been  heated,  but 
a  considerable  outlay  is  about  to  be  made  in  this 
direction  to  secure  early  ripening,  by  which  it  is 
hoped  to  gather  the  crops  in  July,  instead  of,  as 
at  present,  in  September.  There  are  some  acres 
of  surrounding  land  of  an  analogous  character 
to  which  the  vinery  may  be  extended,  the  site 
commanding  a  southern  view." 

Grape  Culture  under  Glass. — We  have  had 
of  late  few  contributions  from  our  own  cultiva- 
tors on  this  very  interesting  branch  of  gardening. 
Yet  it  is  one  on  which  there  is  a  great  deal  yet 
to  learn.  As  glass  culture  is  very  much  the 
same  all  over  the  world,  it  may  serve  a  useful 
purpose  to  give  the  following  practical  paper 
from  the  London  Journal  of  Horticulture : 

"  Knowing  that  your  space  is  valuable,  I  do 
not  propose  writing  a  long  history  of  where  the 
vine  comes  from,  under  what  conditions  it  thrives 
best  naturally,  how  it  has  been  treated  in  this 
country  in  past  ages,  or  the  position  it  is  likely 
to  occupy  in  time  to  come;  but  I  particularly 
wish  to  give  a  few  practical  suggestions  on  vine- 
growing  which  may  be  of  service  to  those  who 
are  desirous  of  securing  a  good  crop  of  grapes. 
To  make  what  I  have  to  say  as  easily  understood 
as  possible,  I  will  arrange  my  remarks  under 
separate  headings,  beginning  with — 

"Thinning  the  Shoots.— It  is  said  that  a  prevail- 
ing error  amongst  amateur  gardeners  is  an  aver- 
sion to  pruning  trees  and  plants  so  closely  as 
they  should  be  pruned,  and  if  this  be  true  in  cut- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


273 


ting-in  the  dormant  wood,  it  is  none  the  less  so 
in  thinning  growing  shoots.  In  pruning  vines 
it  is  a  common  practice  to  leave  two,  and  some- 
times three  eyes  to  each  spur.  Good  grape 
growers  do  this,  but  they  are  very  particular  in 
removing  all  the  buds,  when  they  do  start,  ex- 
cepting one — the  strongest  and  most  fruitful. 
Many,  however,  allow  every  bud  to  grow  into  a 
shoot  for  the  season,  as  may  often  be  seen  by  two 
or  three  shoots  clustering  together.  I  can  at- 
tribute this  to  nothing  else  but  fear  of  doing 
harm  by  removing  any  of  them,  whereas  the 
greatest  harm  occurs  in  allowing  them  to  re- 
main. It  is  a  simple  matter  to  prove  this,  and  I 
would  advise  those  who  think  differently  to  try 
it.  One  good  shoot  from  each  spur  will  produce 
more  and  better  fruit  than  three  or  four  shoots 
from  the  same  base.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
greatest  harm  that  can  be  done  to  any  fruit  tree 
is  crowding  the  wood,  and  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  grow  three  or  four  shoots  from  one  vine  bud 
without  injuriously  crowding  them.  Fine  crops 
can  only  be  secured  by  thoroughly  ripening  the 
wood ;  and  although  vine  wood  may  become 
brown  in  color,  it  will  not  ripen  thoroughly 
under  a  mass  of  leaves.  I  have  a  house  full  of  old 
Black  Hamburghs  which  I  intend  to  make  youth- 
fully vigorous  this  season.  They  are  showing 
from  two  to  six  buds  from  each  spur.  As  soon 
as  I  can  see  which  bud  has  the  finest  promise  of 
a  bunch,  all  the  others  will  be  removed,  and  if 
the  single  shoot  does  not  become  very  thick  this 
year,  it  will  be  sure  to  ripen  well,  and  that  will 
be  worth  a  great  deal  next  season. 

"  Stopping  the  Shoots. — This  is  another  matter 
which  should  never  be  neglected.  It  is  a  bad 
plan  even  when  the  shoots  are  well  thinned  to 
allow  many  of  them  to  run  many  feet  before 
they  are  stopped.  This  is  just  another  way  of 
overcrowding ;  but  it  is  worse  than  that,  because 
the  shoots  must  be  stopped  some  time,  and  when 
yards  in  length  are  removed  from  them  at  a 
time,  the  consequence  in  loss  of  sap  is  serious. 
My  plan — and  one  I  find  answers  well — is  to 
pinch  every  shoot  two  joints  beyond  the  bunch, 
and  this  is  done  as  soon  as  the  shoot  is  suffi- 
ciently long  to  admit  of  doing  this.  The  point 
thus  early  taken  away  is  no  thicker  than  a  small 
o  in  the  Journal,  and  it  is  impossible  for  this  to 
have  any  checking  tendency.  Those  shoots 
bearing  no  fruit  are  stopped  three  or  four  joints 
from  the  main  rod,  and  they  are  not  allowed  to 
grow  further  than  this  the  whole  season,  as  it 
serves  no  good  purpose  to  let  them  do  so. 


"  Tying  the  Shoots. — I  have  seen  many  shoots 
not  tied  until  they  were  breaking  their  points 
against  the  glass,  and  others  again  are  in  too 
great  haste  to  train  them  into  their  permanent 
places,  and  break  them  in  consequence.  There 
is  no  difficulty  in  tying  shoots  which  grow  in  a 
right  direction  from  the  first,  but  those  which  go 
the  opposite  way  from  the  wires  have  to  be  care- 
fully dealt  with,  such  shoots  must  be  tied  two  or 
three  times.  At  the  first  tying  only  incline 
them  out  of  the  direction  they  are  going,  next 
time  bring  them  half  way  to  the  wires,  and 
finally  at  the  third  time  fix  them  in  the  position 
they  are  to  occupy. 

"  Thinning  the  Bunches. — All  vines  in  a  healthy 
condition  always  produce  many  more  bunches 
than  are  sufficient  for  a  crop.  Many  shoots  pro- 
duce two  bunches;  the  larger  one  is  generally  next 
the  rod,  and  the  smaller  one  nearer  the  point. 
This  small  one  should  always  be  removed  first, 
and  this  must  be  done  all  over  the  house,  and  if 
there  are  still  too  many,  cut  away  the  poorest 
of  those  which  remain.  Vines  of  different 
strength  will  bear  different  crops  in  weight,  but 
in  the  generality  of  cases  it  is  safe  to  leave  a 
bunch  to  every  alternate  shoot.  Amateurs,  as  a 
rule,  err  in  allowing  too  many  bunches  to  remain 
on,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  this  is  the  sole 
cause  of  the  grapes  failing  to  come  to  perfection. 

"  Syringing. — This  is  an  operation  which  most 
amateurs  like  to  try  their  hand  at;  but  squirting 
morning,  noon  and  night  keeps  the  leaves  and 
surface  of  the  border  in  an  overdamp  state,  and 
nothing  will  produce  mildew  quicker  than  this. 
Syringe  thoroughly,  and  have  done  with  it  for 
days  or  weeks  together,  if  no  insects  appear. 

"Watering  the  Roots. — Without  abundance  of 
moisture  at  the  root,  no  good  will  ever  result 
from  any  amount  of  attention  to  every  other  par- 
ticular. Some  recommend  about  three  water- 
ings in  the  season  where  the  border  is  well 
drained,  but  this  is  not  nearly  sufficient.  Once 
a  fortnight  is  not  too  often  to  saturate  the  roots 
when  the  grapes  are  green,  and  watering  should 
not  be  discontinued  until  the  fruit  is  more  than 
half  ripe. 


NEW  OR  RARE  FRUITS. 


Hames'  Seedling  Apple. — We  have  received 
from  M.  Cole,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  specimens  of 
Hames'  Seedling  Apple.  The  specimens  were 
sent  us  June  25th,  and  in  the  letter  accompany- 


274 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


ing  them  Mr.  Cole  says  the  two  sent  are  fair 
specimens  of  a  lot  received  from  the  original 
tree.  They  were  very  large,  the  best  one  meas- 
uring 11  \  in.,  in  circumference  and  weighing 
10|  oz.  Considering  everything,  we  should  say 
it  is  superior  to  the  Red  Astrachan,  one  of  our 
earliest. 

The  Musser  Peach. — On  the  17th  July  we  re- 
ceived from  H.  M.  Engle,  Marietta,  Pa.,  some 
ripe  Musser  Peaches.  They  measured  6  inches 
in  circumference,  were  very  juicy,  sweet,  and  of 
a  good  color,  and  were  decidedly  the  best  of  any 
received  so  far  this  season. 

Bowers'  Early  Peaoh. — Messrs.  Marris  & 
Miller  Frederick,  Md.  writes : — "  We  send  you 
to-day  by  express  another  specimen  of  our 
new  seedling  peach  ( Bowers'  Early  as  we 
have  named  it)  the  same  as  was  sent  you 
last  year.  You  will  notice  that  it  is  not  as 
large  as  those  a  year  ago,  the  fruit  was 
not  thinned  out  and  the  tree  had  too  many 
on  it  to  bring  to  perfection.  It  is  also  seven  days 
later  than  last  year,  the  first  ripening  on  the  11th 
and  last  year  on  the  4th  of  July.  Our  Ams- 
den  fruited  for  us  this  season  and  will  be  ripe  in 
about  two  days;  Beatrice,  Louise  and  Alexan- 
der have  not  fruited  for  us  this  season.  Hales' 
Early  is  not  coloring  yet,  when  it  ripens,  the 
time  will  be  noted.  We  should  liked  to  have 
exhibited  Bowers'  Early  at  the  exhibition  of  the 
American  Pomological  Society  in  Baltimore  in 
September,  but  knowing  of  no  way  of  keeping 
it  until  that  time,  have  sent  specimens  of  it  to 
the  following  gentlemen,  M.  P.  Wilder,  P.  Barry, 
H.  M.  Engle,  Josiah  Hoopes,  John  Saul,  and 
Samuel  Sands  &  Son  of  the  American  Farmer 
and  would  esteem  it  a  favor  if  you  would  com- 
pare notes  with  them  (if  convenient)  as  to  its 
merits  <fcc." 

[It  is  not  possible  to  speak  of  the  full  merits  of 
a  peach  by  its  fruit  alone.  The  nature  of  a  vari- 
ety is  to  be  judged  in  the  orchard.  We  can  only 
say  that  this  measured  6£  inches  round,  was  of 
excellent  flavor,  and  we  consider  it  fairly  within 
the  field  of  competition  with  other  first-class 
early  varieties. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Forest  Rose — Is  the  rather  fanciful  name 
of  a  magnificent  new  Strawberry  that  originated 
on  the  sandstone  outlyers  which  constitute  the 
elevated  back -grounds  to  the  town  of  Lancaster, 
Fairfield  Co.,  Ohio.  Mr.  J.  A.  Fetters  the  proprie- 
tor has  been  rather  fortunate  as  a  fruit-grower, 
having  originated  a  superior  peach,  which  has 


been  favorably  reported  on  by  the  State  Horti- 
cultural Society.  When  walking  in  his  vineyard 
some  years  ago  he  observed  a  strawberry  plant, 
which  pleased  him  by  its  thriftiness  ;  in  due  time 
this  produced  fruit  which  was  so  attractive  that 
the  runners  were  set  out  in  a  bed  by  themselves. 
This  plantation  is  still  productive  after  having 
yielded  five  successive  crops  of  fruit,  and  run- 
ners enough  to  plant  a  large  space.  The  origin 
of  the  plant  is  unknown,  but  Mr.  Fetters  thinks 
it  an  accidental  seedling  from  one  of  the  three 
varieties  he  had  been  cultivating,  the  Wilson, 
Russell  and  Brooklyn  Scarlet. 

Description. — The  plant  is  vigorous  and  pro- 
ductive, foliage  good,  trusses  tall  and  having 
from  eight  to  ten  perfect  flowers  that  are  followed 
by  handsome  berries.  These  are  large  and 
heavy,  and  sufficiently  firm  to  bear  transporta- 
tion ;  form  obtuse — conical,  regular,  sometimes 
coxcombed,  often  two  inches  across ;  surface 
somewhat  pitted  and  having  a  bright  crimson 
hue,  similar  to  that  of  the  Jucunda;  flesh  solid, 
ripening  eventy,  reddish  to  near  the  centre  which 
is  paler;  flavor  agreeably  acid  but  not  sour,  and 
when  fully  exposed  and  well  ripened  it  is  quite 
rich.  A  committee  of  the  Ohio  Horticultural 
Society  when  visiting  the  plantation,  pronounced 
this  a  decided  acquisition,  and  declared  them- 
selves highly  pleased  with  the  variety.  The 
Forest  Rose  has  been  pronounced,  by  those  who 
have  seen  it  in  bearing,  "  one  of  the  best  straw- 
berries they  have  seen." 

Late  Cone  Strawberries. — Mr.  Chas.  Black, 
Hightstown,  N.  J.,  writes: — "I  send  you  to-day 
a  few  Late  Cone  Strawberries  for  you  to 
test  if  you  do  not  know  it.  It  was  sent  to 
me  from  Ohio,  and  recommended  as  the  best 
late  Strawberry  known  there ;  and  after  two 
years  trial  with  a  large  number  of  our  best 
varieties  I  have  concluded  that  I  never  saw 
its  equal  as  a  late  variety,  it  is  just  now  (June 
21st),  in  its  prime,  and  those  sent  are  about  an 
average  as  it  grows  in  field  culture.  In  good 
heavy  soil  it  is  a  good  grower  and  very  produc- 
tive, about  ten  days  later  than  Wilson,  has  a 
nice  bright  appearance  after  picking,  very  firm 
and  grows  to  a  good  size."  [This  proved  to  be 
a  fair  sized  conical  berry,  of  good  appearance 
and  flavor.— Ed.  G.M.I 

Roe's  Seedling  Gooseberry. — Mr.  E.  P.  Roe, 
Cornwall-on-the-Hudson  writes  : — "  I  send  you  a 
few  specimens  of  '•  Roe's  Seedling  "  Gooseberry. 
During  the  present  season   when  nearly  every- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


275 


thing  has  mildewed  in  our  locality,  this  variety- 
has  suffered  very  little,  and  the  only  bushes  that 
were  affected  stood  on  a  high  dry  knoll  where  by 
mismanagement  their  roots  were  disturbed  in 
cultivation  during  the  hot  period  of  drought  in 
May.  Hot  dry  ground  around  the  bushes  is  the 
chief  cause  of  mildew  (see  Gardener's  Monthly  for 
June),  and  where  these  unfavorable  conditions 
were  absent  there  was  no  rust  worth  naming. 
This  is  the  first  instance  for  seventeen  years  that 
it  has  shown  any  such  tendency,  but  in  accord- 
ance with  my  rule  to  state  the  truth  and  the 
whole  truth  about  my  fruits,  I  frankly  say  that 
two  or  three  quarts  out  of  a  large  yield  have 
been  touched  with  mildew.  At  the  same  time  I 
must  say  that  the  Downing  gooseberry  on  my 
place  has  suffered  more,  losing  in  some  instances 
its  foliage,  and  foreign  gooseberries  in  this  local- 
ity are  covered  with  mildew.  The  large  old 
bushes  in  its  original  home  at  Newburgh  were 
loaded  down  with  fruit  and  not  a  trace  of  mil- 
dew. I  do  not  think  there  is  an  American  variety 
that  will  suffer  less  except,  perhaps,  the  Hough- 
ton, but  that  is  too  small  to  be  of  much  value. 
In  regard  to  size  and  appearance  the  enclosed 
specimens  speak  for  themselves.  In  productive- 
ness it  is  unsurpassed.  Will  you  please  send  me 
your  opinion,  and  if  you  notice  it  in  your  paper 
I  will  esteem  it  a  favor  if  you  will  send  me  a 
marked  copy." 

[All  experience  has  shown  that  the  race  of 
European  gooseberries  is  much  more  liable  to 
mildew  than  the  native  kind ;  about  this  there  is 
no  question.  This  mildew  is  accelerated,  if  in- 
deed it  is  not  wholly  caused  by  over-heated 
ground — that  is  over-heated  as  far  as  the  goose- 
berry is  concerned — and  with  care  in  keeping 
roots  cool,  the  foreign  kinds  can  be  grown  with 
fair  success.  Within  a  hundred  yards  of  where 
we  write  is  an  English  gooseberry,  an  imported 
plant,  that  has  been  there  to  our  knowledge 
more  than  a  dozen  years.  It  is  in  the  full  sun,  and 
has  never  mildewed  in  all  that  time,  but  then 
the  original  owner,  in  picking  stones  from  his 
garden,  piled  them  under  his  gooseberry  bushes, 
and  in  this  way  the  roots  are  kept  cool.  It  is 
a  mystery  to  most  people  why  this  English 
gooseberry  plant  never  mildews,  but  it  is  no  mys- 
tery to  us.  It  is  these  and  similar  experiences 
which  make  us  hesitate  about  regarding  any 
English  gooseberry  as  wholly  mildew  proof.  At 
the  same  time  we  see  no  reason  why  such  care 
should  not  be  given  to  these  very  fine  kinds,  as 
to  keep  the  mildew  off  them.     For  these  reasons 


we  are  very  glad  that  Mr.  Roe  has  taken  up  their 
improvement.  Some  kinds  will  no  doubt  be 
better  able  to  resist  mildew  producing  influences 
than  others,  and  in  this  direction  Mr.  Roe's 
effort  ought  to  be  appreciated.  The  present  va- 
riety is  very  good,  though  we  think  not  equal  to 
the  best  English  kinds.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Late  Emerald  Gooseberry. — Mr.  E.  P.  Roe, 

writes  under  date  of  July  26th  :— "  Enclosed  please 
find  a  few  specimens  of  a  late  seedling  goose- 
berry which  I  have  named  the  Late  Emerald. 
It  keeps  its  bright  green  color  until  it  drops  off 
from  ripeness  and  does  not  turn  red  when  fully 
ripe  like  "  Roe's  Seedling."  In  the  size  and 
abundance  of  the  fruit,  in  its  comparative  free- 
dom from  mildew,  and  in  the  vigor  of  the  plants, 
I  think  it  is  quite  equal  to  the  early  seedling 
which  was  fully  ripe  some  three  weeks  since." 
[This  is  one  of  the  English  race  of  goose- 
berries. We  do  not  know  how  far  these  will  be 
able  to  come  into  competition  with  the  native 
kinds,  but  Mr.  Roe  deserves  great  credit  for 
these  promising  attempts. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


SCEAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Oil  on  Peach  Trees. — E.  W.  A.,  Montgomery 
County,  Pa.,  writes : — "  We  are  regretting  the 
condition  of  two  peach  trees,  now,  I  think,  in 
the  fourth  season  of  their  growth.  They  have 
been  thrifty,  and  last  year  gave  us  samples  of 
fruit  sufficient  to  show  the  excellence.  We  have 
prized  them  greatly.  Early  this  Spring  I  used 
your  plan  in  washing  all  the  fruit  trees  with 
linseed  oil,  and  I  am  curious  to  know  whether 
this  could  have  been  injurious  to  the  peach 
trees,  as  they  suddenly  became  sickly,  dropped 
fruit  buds  and  leaves.  One,  I  think,  will  die. 
I  heard  of  similar  complaints  through  the 
country,  but  do  not  feel  satisfied  without  inquir- 
ing of  you." 

[The  plan  of  using  linseed  oil  as  a  remedy 
against  scale,  is  really  not  ours.  As  already 
stated,  it  was  given  to  us  by  a  Southern  friend, 
whom  we  know  truthfully  told  us  of  its  perfect 
success  in  destroying  the  insects,  and  helping 
fhe  trees.  Knowing  this  to  be  a  fact,  and  suffer- 
ing terribly  from  scale,  we  washed  a  large 
number  of  Apple  and  Pear  trees  with  it,  as 
already  stated  in  our  columns,  and  the  trees 
themselves  are  living  witnesses  of  the  perfect 


276 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


success  of  the  oil  wash.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  others  have  now  used  linseed  oil  with 
injurious  results.  Why  it  should  be  harmless 
in  some  cases,  and  destructive  in  others,  is  past 
our  comprehension.  It  is  a  matter  which  de- 
serves further  investigation. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  best  Early  Peaches. — W.  P.  R.,  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  says:— "I  should  be  much  pleased  if  you 
would  revise  your  last  year's  list  of  early 
Peaches,  after  this  season's  experience  with 
them.  We,  in  Georgia,  are  much  interested  in 
early  Peaches,  and  want  to  know  which  of  the 
new  ones  are  the  best.  Where  can  trees  or  buds 
of  the  Musser  Peach  be  had.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  find  the  originator's  address.  Can  you 
tell  me?" 

[The  opportunities  afforded  by  the  Centennial 
Exhibition  were  unusual — we  do  not  expect  the 
same  chance  again.  All  the  knowledge  we  can 
gather,  so  far,  we  have  given  from  time  to  time 
in  our  pages,  We  have  not  had  the  chance  to 
see  all  together  from  about  the  same  places,  as 
we  had  last  year.  So  far  as  we  know,  the 
Musser  is  not  offered  for  sale.  We  have  no 
doubt  when  it  is,  it  will  be  found  in  our  adver- 
tising pages.  So  far  as  it  has  gone,  it  proves 
itself  to  be  a  first-class  variety. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Early  Peaches.— Mr.  G.  D.  Ledway,  writes 
from  Jackson,  Miss.,  that  the  Alexander  Peaches 
were  ripe  there  May  31st,  whilst  Beatrice  had 
not,  at  that  date,  commenced  to  ripen.  He 
thinks  the  Alexander  the  largest  early  Peach 
they  have  there. 

Mr.  D.  S.  Myer,  of  Bridgeville,  Del.,  also  sent 
us  samples  of  Amsden's  June,  Alexander,  and 
Beatrice.  He  says  the  Amsdens  and  Alexanders 
were  the  last  of  the  picking,  the  Beatrice  the 
first,  and  he  considers  the  two  former  fully  five 
days  earlier  than  the  Beatrice.  The  Amsden 
and  Alexander  were  very  much  alike,  in  every 
respect,  but  the  Beatrice  has  a  flattish  appear- 
ance. In  regard  to  the  quality,  we  thought  the 
Alexander  best,  Amsden  next,  then  Beatrice. 

Early  Peaches.— Mr.  C.  W.  Westbrook,  Wil- 
son, N.  C,  under  date  of  June  20th,  sends  us  the 
iollowing  : — "  I  mail  you  to-day  some  specimens 
of  Amsden's  June  and  Beatrice  Peaches  picked 
from  healthy  trees.  Both  picked  on  the  green 
order.  I  picked  ripe  Peaches  of  Amsdens  the 
12th  inst.,£from  healthy  trees,  and  also  imperfect 
ones  of  Beatrice  on  the  15th,  from  worm-eaten 
trees.     Beatrice   are   rotting   a  great  deal.     No 


sign  of  rot  on  the  Amsden,  although  we  have 
had  an  extreme  spell  of  wet  weather.  I  had  a 
few  Alexanders.  They  ripen  with  Amsden,  and 
are  very  fine." 

[The  fruit  arrived  in  good  condition ;  there 
were  five  of  each  kind.  The  largest  Amsden 
measured  nine  and  a  quarter  inches  in  circum- 
ference, the  smallest,  five  and  three-quarter 
inches.  The  largest  Beatrice  was  five  and  a  half, 
and  the  smallest,  four  and  a  half  inches.  The 
Amsden  is  a  rounder  fruit  than  the  Beatrice. 
In  flavor,  Amsden's  June  was  far  superior;  this 
may  have  been  partly  due  to  the  Beatrice 
having  been  gathered  before  being  fully  ripe, 
which  we  thought  its  appearance  seemed  to 
indicate,  though,  doubtless,  Amsden  is  the  better 
kind.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Early  Peaches  in  Georgia. — P.  J.  Berckmans, 
writing  from  Augusta,  Ga.,  thus  speaks  of  the 
new  Peaches: — On  May  25th  I  gathered  our  first 
ripe  Amsden  and  Alexander,  which  I  sent  to 
friends  in  New  York.  Am  much  pleased  with 
these  new  varieties,  of  which  I  had  quite  a 
quantity  of  fruit.  Amsden,  I  think  averages 
better  in  size,  and  may  be  a  shade  better  in 
quality,  than  Alexander.  Both  are,  however,  so 
much  alike  as  to  puzzle  me  to  tell  them  apart ; 
they  are  fully  two  weeks  ahead  of  Beatrice, 
and  this  year  three  weeks  ahead  of  Hale's. 
Brigg's  May  was  ripe  June  1st.,  a  nice-flavored 
Peach,  quite  similar  to  Amsden,  but  with  serrate 
leaves. 

Seedling  Peach. — Mr.  A.  Pullen,  Milford,  Del., 
July  19th,  writes  : — "  By  mail  of  to-day  I  send  you 
two  Peaches  as  samples.  Were  grown  in  a  garden 
here  from  a  natural  tree  four  years  from  the 
seed.  The  fruit  ripened  10th  of  this  month ; 
tree  had  on  it  about  half  a  bushel.  Those  I 
forward  were  remainder  taken  from  the  tree  this 
date.  The  flavor  of  the  ripened  fruit  seems 
excellent,  but  deficient  in  color.  It  does  not 
seem  to  resemble  anything  I  am  familiar  with 
of  early  Peaches.  The  owner  of  the  tree  (W.  P. 
Corsa,  of  this  place),  wished  me  to  send  it  to  you 
and  have  your  judgment  upon  it." 

[As  Mr.  Pullen  remarks,  it  appears  distinct 
from  any  other  early  Peach.  It  is  a  half  free- 
stone, six  inches  round,  of  good  flavor,  but  not 
attractive  in  appearance. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Fruit  of  Passiflora  edulis. — Goeth  &  Wern- 
hold,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  with  some  excellent 
fruit,  writes : — "  We  take  the  great  pleasure  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


277 


sending  you  two  fruits  of  Passifiora  edulis  by 
sample  post.  We  have  got  two  plants  in  the 
open  air  full  in  bloom  and  fruits,  the  first  time 
in  this  part  of  the  globe,  as   we   are  informed. 


The  taste  of  the  fruit  is  like  Gooseberry, 
perhaps  still  more  delicate.  As  soon  as  P.  Gran- 
adilla  is  ripe,  we  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
sending  you  a  sample." 


■»  ♦  * 


Forestry. 


OOMMUNICA  TIONS. 


YELLOW    PINE. 

BY  H.  W.  RAVENEL,  AIKEN,  S.  C. 

In  an  editorial  note  in  June  number,  p.  177, 
you  refer  to  the  "  Yellow  Pine"  so  called,  in  con- 
nection with  Prof.  Sargent's  reference  of  that 
name  to  Pinus  mitis;  and  express  a  belief  that 
the  Pine  lumber  which  comes  to  the  Philadelphia 
market  is  from  Pinus  australis.  If  your  lumber 
comes  from  a  Southern  market  you  are  probably 
right.  The  timber  of  Pinus  australis  (long-leaved 
Pine)  is  known  universally  through  the  timber 
region  as  "  Yellow  Pine."  Elliott,  in  his  Botany 
of  the  State,  says  the  same  name  was  known  in 
his  day. 

There  is,  however,  a  great  difference  in  the 
quality  of  the  timber,  though  all  derived-  from 
the  same  species,  dependent  mostly  on  the  soil, 
and  manner  and  growth  of  the  trees.  Along  the 
damp,  rich  soils  of  the  sea-board,  it  grows  more 
luxuriantly,  and  attains  greater  height.  As  you 
go  into  the  interior,  and  more  especially  towards 
the  lighter  and  dryer  soils,  the  growth  is  less 
luxuriant,  and  the  annual  increase  more  slow. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  grain  of  the  sea-board 
Pine  is  coarser  as  the  annual  deposits  are  thicker; 
whilst  the  best  lumber  trees  are  found  in  the 
upper  country,  and  especially  in  the  sandy  re- 
gion. This  I  know  to  be  the  case  in  this  State, 
and  I  presume  it  is  so  in  Georgia  and  other 
Southern  States. 

Along  the  sea-board,  an  axeman  will  go  into 
the  woods  and  select  his  trees,  calling  the  fine 
grain  trees  "  Yellow  Pine,"  and  the  coarse  grain 
"Pitch  Pine,"  though  both  taken  from  the  same 
grove.  He  examines  the  top  of  the  tree,  and  if 
he  finds  it  scraggy  and  deficient  in  foliage,  he 


knows  the  grain  is  close  and  compact;  on  the 
contrary,  if  the  top  is  full,  with  large  limbs  and 
plenty  of  leaves,  indicating  great  luxuriance,  he 
knows  the  grain  is  coarse.  The  best  "Yellow 
Pine  "  used  for  lumber  and  for  export  is  obtained 
in  this  State,  and  mostly  along  the  sandy  region 
of  the  middle  country,  about  the  head  waters  of 
the  Edisto  River.  Saw-mills  prepare  a  large 
quantity  for  local  use  and  for  shipment,  and 
rafts  of  logs  are  taken  down  the  stream  to 
Charleston  for  market  and  export. 

The  timber  of  our  other  Pines  is  inferior,  and 
is  never  used  when  the  long-leaved  Pine  can  be 
had. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Growth  of  Oak. — On  the  6th  of  August  the 
writer  measured  a  large  number  of  Oak  growths, 
which  were  over  four  feet,  and  still  growing. 
The  variety  was  Quercus  robur.  The  Oak  does 
not  grow  near  as  slow  as  many  suppose.  Mr. 
Hoopes,  of  West  Chester  has  one — a  variety  of 
Quercus  macrocarpa  that  is  only  twelve  years 
old,  and  is  now  17  feet  high  and  17  inches  in  cir- 
cumference. 

Forests  of  Europe. — At  the  recent  meeting  of 
the  American  Nurserymen's  Association  a  me- 
morial to  Congress,  praying  for  a  commission  to 
examine  the  forests  of  Europe,  was  adopted. 

Rapid  Growth  of  Hickory. — We  measured  a 
plant  of  a  Hickory— Carya  sulcata — this  Summer 
which  in  three  years  from  the  seed,  had  made  a 
growth  of  3}  feet.  On  the  grounds  of  Hoopes, 
Bro.,  &  Thomas,  at  West  Chester,  is  a  tree  of  the 
same  kind  of  hickory  12  years  old,  which  is  16 
feet  high  and  15  inches  in  circumference;  and 
yet  we  hear  sometimes  that  hickory  is  slow  tim- 
ber to  grow, 


278 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


RAL 


and  Science. 


COMMUNICA  7  JONS. 


PRAIRIE    FLOWERS. 

BY   L.  J.  TEMPLIN. 

Sensitive  rose  (Schrankia  tmcinata). 

Among  the  many  floral  treasures  that  bedeck 
the  plains  and  valleys  of  this  land  of  floral 
richness,  there  are  none  that  possess  more 
unique  beauty  and  delicacy  than  the  "  Sensitive 
Rose."  It  grows  in  profusion  in  this  valley ; 
being  so  thick  in  places  as  to  form  almost  a 
continuous  carpet  of  bloom,  of  considerable 
extent  during  the  blooming  season.  It  is  a 
perennial,  forming  a  cluster  of  long,  slender, 
and  very  tough  roots.  The  stems  start,  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  from  the  crown  of  the  root, 
and  radiate  in  all  directions,  lying  prostrate  on 
the  ground.  They  grow  to  the  length  of  three 
or  four  feet  at  times,  but  always  die  back  to  the 
roots  in  the  Fall.  The  stem  is  ridged  or  striate, 
with  numerous  short,  sharp,  recurved  prickles. 
The  leaves  are  compound ;  having  from  twelve 
to  twenty,  or  more,  leaflets.  They  are  sensitive 
to  the  touch,  folding  up  under  rough  handling, 
similar  to  the  real  Sensitive  plant  (Mimosa). 

The  flowers  are  borne  on  axillary  peduncles 
from  one  to  four  or  five  inches  in  length.  The 
flowers  are  quite  small,  growing  in  a  head  one- 
fourth  to  one-third  inch  in  diameter.  But  this 
is  not  what  is  seen  when  one  looks  at  one  of 
these  heads  of  bloom,  for  from  this  there  stand 
out,  in  every  direction,  a  thick  cluster  of  thread- 
like filaments  about  one-third  of  an  inch  long. 
These  form  a  ball,  almost  perfectly  globular  in 
form,  three-fourths  to  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  of 
a  rich  rose-color.  On  the  end  of  each  of  these 
filaments  is  a  minute,  gold-colored  anther,  that 
gives  it  a  very  unique,  but  delicately  beautiful 
appearance.  The  seeds  grow  in  a  striate  silicle, 
or  pod,  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  inches 
in  length.  I  have  not  tried  transplanting  this 
plant,  but  those  who  have  tried  it  about  here 
have,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
invariably  failed.  Why  this  should  be  the  case 
I  cannot  tell,  for  I  frequently  see  it  growing  in 
grounds  that  have  been  in   cultivation  for   two 


or  three  years.  It  can,  doubtless,  be  readily 
propagated  from  seed,  of  which  it  produces 
abundance,  and  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  gather. 
I  do  not  know  how  this  plant  would  succeed  at 
the  East,  but  if  furnished  with  a  rich,  moist, 
sandy  loam,  I  know  no  reason  why  it  may  not 
thrive  there  as  well  as  here;  and  if  it  did, 
there  is  nothing  more  attractive  to  the  lovers 
of  the  delicate  and  refined  among  floral  produc- 
tions, as  it  is  not  excelled  in  these  qualities  by 
any  of  the  hundreds  of  beautiful  flowers  that 
adorn  these  lovely  plains. 


ABIES  ENGELMANNI   AND  A.  MENZIESH. 

BY  R.  DOUGLAS,   WAUKEGAN,  ILL. 

I  infer  from  your  remarks  on  page  165  June 
number  of  Gardener's  Monthly,  that  you  are 
inclined  to  think  that  A.  Engelmanni,  and 
A  Menziesii  of  Colorado,  are  identical.  I  pro- 
cured the  seeds  collected  by  Dr.  Parry,  crop 
of  1874.  We  sowed  the  two  above-named,  side 
by  side;  the  A.  Menziesii  grew  well ;  a  few  seeds 
of  Engelmanni  germinated,  but  we  could  not 
carry  one  plant  of  the  latter  through  the  first 
Summer,  but  this  does  not  prove  anything,  for 
Dr.  Parry  wrote  us  that  he  gathered  them  at 
such  an  elevation  that,  although  early  in  the 
Fall,  there  was  a  severe  frost  at  the  time,  so  you 
see  that,  even  if  they  were  A.  Menziesii,  the 
seeds  would  not  be  matured  so  as  to  grow  as 
well  as  the  same  kind  gathered  at  a  lower 
elevation.  Now,  if  you  botanists  cannot  find 
any  distinctive  feature  in  which  they  differ, 
except  in  the  length  and  size  of  the  leaves  and 
cones,  I  think  they  will  turn  out  to  be  one  and 
the  same  thing.  The  difference  of  2000  or  3000 
feet  of  altitude  will  not  only  make  a  difference 
in  the  size  of  the  cones  and  leaves,  but  also  in 
the  general  appearance  of  the  tree. 

That  noble  group  of  Spruces  you  and  I'admired 
so  much  up  in  the  P.  flexilis  and  aristata  region, 
according  to  elevation,  must  have  been  Engel- 
manni, and  yet  they  hugged  the  water-course, 
just  like  Menziesii,  had  the  same  glaucous  hue, 
and  the  same  general  form  and  outline.  I  in- 
ferred, from  some  descriptions,  that  the  Engel- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST: 


279 


manni  was  not  glaucous,  but  you  wrote  that 
those  you  saw  on  Gray's  Peak  were  very  much 
so ;  therefore,  you  will  have  to  assure  me  that 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  construction  of  the 
cone,  or  that  you  have  climbed  a  sapling  twenty 
feet  high  without  gloves !  If  you  can  perform 
the  latter  feat,  I  will  be  ready  to  make  affadavit 
that  it  is  not  a  Menzies'  Spruce. 

[What  Mr.  Douglas  writes  about  the  confu- 
sion between  the  A.  Engelmanni  and  A.  Men- 
ziesii  applies  to  plants  in  cultivation.  The  English 
nurserymen,  with  their  usual  luck  when  they 
touch  an  American  conifer,  have  mixed  their 
seed  so  that  now  they  do  not  know  "  'tother  from 
which,"  and  it  is  about  their  confusion  that  we 
write. 

In  nature  there  is  no  confusion.  Abies  Engel- 
manni, in  Colorado,  is  wholly  another  thing 
from  A.  Menziesii  in  Colorado,  as  Mr.  Douglas, 
who  has  been  there  and  seen,  truly  says 
No  one  who  knows  the  trees  will  confuse  them 
for  an  instant.  The  smallest  twig  of  A.  Engel- 
manni is  sufficient  to  decide  it  at  once  if 
you  know  it  is  from  Colorado.  It  is  more 
nearly  allied  to  the  Norway  Spruce  than  to  the 
Abies  Menziesii.  The  letters  in  the  English 
papers  about  their  identity  cannot  come  from 
any  who  know  about  what  they  are  writing. 

All  of  this  discussion  arises  from  a  small 
error,  and  it  is  a  new  illustration  of  how  there 
may  be  a  great  war  about  little  things.  It  is  this  : 
There  were  some  fine  specimens  about  Boston 
from,  or  supposed  to  be  from,  Dr.  Parry's  early 
seed.  We  all  thought  they  were  A.  Engelmanni. 
There  was  some  mistake,  perhaps,  in  the  gar- 
dener's labelling  of  the  seed  as  the  plants  grew  ; 
such  mistakes  are  made.  Prof.  Sargent,  at  length, 
with  Dr.  Parry's  aid,  noticed  these  were  not 
A.  Engelmanni,  but  A.  Menziesii.  They  were 
however,  much  more  beautiful  than  the  A.  Men- 
ziesii, of  California,  and  this  beauty  deceived  us 
in  the  young  plants. 

Now  let  us  summarize  the  facts,  so  that  there 
shall  be  no  mistake  about  them : — There  are  two 
good  varieties  of  Abies  Menziesii ;  one  inhabiting 
the  Pacific  coast,  the  other,  and  the  best  for 
horticultural  purposes,  Colorado ;  but  these  are 
in  no  way  allied  to  Abies  Engelmanni. — Ed. 
G.M.] 

«-♦* 

SCB APS  AND  QUERIES. 


Triteleia  uniflora. — Some  of  this  genus  Is 
found  in   California,  but   not   this    species,  as 


stated  in  our  last.      It  is    a  native  of  South 
America. 

Seeds  of  the  Persian  Lilac. — An  old  sub- 
scriber, Beverly,  N.  J.,  writes  : — "I  see,  by  the  last 
number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  that  you  have 
never  known  the  Persian  Lilac  to  bear  seed. 
Enclosed  you  will  find  a  sprig  taken  from  a  bush 
of  mine,  which  has  borne  seed  for  several  years. 
The  branches  bearing  seed-pods,  this  season, 
are  chiefly  low  down,  but  last  year  they  were 
mostly  near  the  top,  and  some  of  them  still 
remain  on  the  bush,  although,  of  course,  they 
have  long  since  burst  and  shed  their  seed." 

[It  was  a  rare  treat  to  examine  these  seeds. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Echikocactus  Simpsoni. — Mr.  Robinson,  of  the 
Garden,  writes: — "Echinocactus  Simpsoni.  This 
colored  plate  (see  No.  281,  April  7th,  1877)  was 
drawn  for  us  by  Mr.  Noel  Humphreys  (an  old 
friend  of  Loudon's  and  a  long-experienced  and 
excellent  artist),  in  Messrs.  Backhouse's  nurse- 
ries, at  York.  We  had  no  opportunity  of  com- 
paring the  plate  with  the  living  plant,  but  all 
colored  drawings  of  many  other  rock  plants- 
made  for  us  in  the  same  garden,  have  been 
greatly  admired  for  their  artistic  beauty  and 
truth.  Mr.  Noel  Humphreys  being  now  abroad, 
we  cannot  refer  to  him  about  the  matter,  all  we 
know  is,  it  was  drawn  from  nature  for  us,  in  the 
only  place  where  we  knew7  it  to  grow  at  the 
time." 

[There  is  no  question  of  Mr.  Humphreys 
accuracy.  The  plant  he  so  faithfully  drew  is 
not  Echinocactus  Simpsoni,  and  the  real  ques- 
tion is,  what  is  the  plant?  Mr.  Backhouse  can,, 
perhaps,  tell.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Ailanthus. — E.  B.  H,  Wilmington,  Del.,  says  : 
— "  I  was  looking  over  the  last  Monthly  in  which 
the  Ailanthus  is  alluded  to,  and  some  doubt 
expressed  about  there  being  two  species  in  this 
country.  The  staminate  and  pistillate  trees  of 
the  Ailanthus  glandulos  are  growing  at  Forest 
Hill,  in  West  Chester.  The  pistillate  bearing 
profusely  every  year  huge  bunches  of  winged 
fruit,  that  are  quite  ornamental.  The  female 
tree  has  not  the  disagreeable  odor  of  the  stami- 
nate one,  and  it  does  not  grow  so  lofty,  being 
weighed  down  with  its  fruit.  Perhaps  Gen.  W.  H. 
Noble  alludes  to  the  pistillate  tree,  when  he 
says,  'that  in  Autumn  they  tower  into  grand 
bouquets.'" 

[Our  correspondent  mistakes  sexes  for  species. 


280 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


As  she  justly  says,  both  sexes  exist  in  this 
country  in  the  common  Ailanthus,  but  are 
there  two  species,  each  with  its  two  distinct 
sexes?— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Bees  and  Clover. — M.  N.  B.,  Chicago,  111., 
writes  : — "  I  have  been  very  much  interested  in 
your  paper  on  fertilization  by  insect  agency,  and 
yet  I  think  you  put  the  matter  too  strong,  for 
I  have  just  been  reading  Mr.  Darwin's  recent 
work,  and  I  see  he  does  not  regard  insects 
generally  as  essential,  but  that  cross  fertilization 
is  useful  in  the  long  run.  My  impression,  after 
reading  this  note  is,  that  you  have  misunder- 
stood Mr.  Darwin.  !His  position  seems  to  be 
that,  when  insects  do  not  visit  plants,  the  flowers 
fertilize  themselves." 

[We  will  briefly  say  to  this  that,  if  we  have 
misunderstood  Mr.  Darwin,  we  are  by  no  means 
alone  in  our  misapprehension.  We  give  below 
an  abstract  from  the  American  Agriculturist, 
whose  editor,  Prof.  Thurber,  is  not  one  to  mistake 
the  meaning  of  language.  The  only  remark 
we  would  make  is,  that  Mr.  Darwin  does  not 
say  "  bumble,"  but  humble  bees  : 

"  It  is  one  of  the  most  important  late  dis- 
coveries, that  the  yield  of  red  clover  seed 
depends  upon  the  bumble  bees.     These  insects 


fertilize  the  blossoms,  conveying  the  pollen  from 
one  blossom  to  .another  by  means  of  their  long 
proboscis,  and  no  other  is  known  to  do  this 
necessary  work.  Without  the  bumble  bees 
we  can  have  no  clover  seed.  The  natural  ene- 
my of  the  bumble  bee  is  the  farmer's  boy,  who, 
when  he  tumbles  over  a  nest,  and  gets  stung, 
never  forgives  or  forgets  it,  but  becomes  a  life- 
long enemy  to  this  busy  bee.  Give  these  in- 
sects a  wide  berth,  and  let  them  live  to  increase 
the  yield  and  to  reduce  the  price  of  clover  seed, 
which  is  getting  higher  every  year." 

We  are  not  sure  that  this  note  is  from  Prof. 
Thurber's  pen,  but  it  passes  without  comment, 
and  is  in  accordance  with  much  that  has 
appeared  under  distinguished  names  there,  and 
shows  a  popular  apprehension  of  Mr.  Darwin's 
meaning,  in  accordance  with  our  own.  See  also 
the  following  from  the  Scientific  Farmer :  '  In  New 
Zealand  and  Australia,  the  common  English  clo- 
ver, which  has  been  introduced,  has  not  produced 
seeds  in  proper  quantity,  due,  as  is  supposed, 
to  the  fact  that  there  were  no  insects  there 
which  performed  the  duty  of  fertilization.  In 
1875,  Mr.  Frank  Buckland  successfully  trans- 
mitted two  nests  of  bumble  bees,  the  insect 
supposed  to  perform  this  duty  for  the  English 
farmer.'— Ed.  G.  M.] 


1TERATURE,  §JRAVELS  &  pERSONAL  IJoTES. 


PROTECTION  FOR  NEW  VARIETIES. 

BY  EUGENE  GLEN,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

Responding  to  your  courteous  invitation  to 
write  more  on  the  subject  of  horticultural  copy- 
righted names,  I  will  at  this  time  trespass  upon 
your  columns  only  to  say,  that  when  writing  my 
recent  essay,  I  endeavored  to  have  it  appear 
plainly  that  an  extension  of  patents  to  horticul- 
ture (using  the  term  patents  in  its  commonly  re- 
ceived sense)  is  unpracticable;  that  it  would  be 
attended  with  evils  greater  than  any  benefits  that 
could  result  from  it,  and  that  I  am  opposed  to 
such  extension  under  whatever  name  or  form  it 
may  be  presented.  But  recent  correspondence 
satisfies  me  that  my  ideas  have  been  misappre- 
hended by  some,  and  that  by  such  I  am  believed 
to  be  advocating  patents  under  another  name. 
The  only  way  in  which  I  can  account  for  this 


mistake  is,  that  I  proposed  that  certificates  of 
protection  should  be  issued  through  the  Com- 
missioner of  Patents.  I  will  therefore  explain 
that  under  existing  laws,  in  addition  to  granting 
patents  for  inventions,  this  officer  is  charged  with 
the  registration  of  all  trade  marks,  and  copyrights 
other  than  those  relating  to  literature  and  the 
fine  arts.  To  protect  the  public  from  duplication 
of  names  from  different  varieties  of  the  same  spe- 
cies, and  from  merely  ad  captandum  or  otherwise 
improper  names,  it  would  be  important  that  ap- 
plication for  protection  should  be  passed  upon 
by  some  officer  before  they  are  granted.  Mani- 
festly an  examiner  of  the  Patent  Office  delegated 
for  the  work  would  be  a  proper  person  to  make 
these  examinations. 

A  patent  creates,  during  its  existence,  a  mo- 
nopoly in  the  production,  sale  and  use  of  any 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


281 


article  to  which  it  is  applied.  A  copyright  upon 
a  name  for  a  variety  in  horticulture  would  not 
secure  to  its  owner  even  for  one  day  a  monopoly 
In  the  production  or  sale  of  the  variety.  It  would 
simply  give  to  him  for  a  time,  as  the  best  meas- 
ure of  protection  the  nature  of  the  article  to  be 
protected  will  admit  of,  the  exclusive  control  of 
the  name  he  may  have  originally  adopted  to  in- 
dicate that  variety,  and  hence  the  benefit  of  the 
reputation  he  may  create  for  it  under  that  name. 
In  other  words,  it  would  prevent  the  public  from 
taking  from  him  the  benefit  of  his  own  advertising, 
and  exhibiting  of  his  own  production — nothing 
more.  Surely  this  could  not  work  injustice,  nor 
could  it  create  gigantic  monopolies  of  which 
many  stand  in  fear. 

Having  presented  through  the  essay  referred 
to  an  "  opening  "  argument  in  favor  of  horticul- 
tural copyrights,  and  having  offered  to  send  a 
copy  of  it  to  any  of  your  correspondents  who  feel 
sufficiently  interested  in  the  subject  to  engage  in 
its  discussion,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  simpler 
method,  and  I  would  much  prefer  that  those 
who  may  be  opposed  to  the  measure  should 
point  out  specifically  the  objections  to  which  it 
seems  open.  Then,  if  others  more  competent 
should  not  take  up  the  work,  or  the  opponents 
of  the  measure  should  not  present  overwhelming 
arguments,  I  will  be  happy  to  make  such  reply 
as  circumstances  will  permit,  or  to  admit  that 
my  ground  is  untenable  if  such  should  be  shown 
to  be  the  case;  or,  if  there  be  those  who  think 
the  plan  open  to  insuperable  objections,  and  yet 
have  not  sufficient  confidence  in  the  validity  of 
these  objections  to  state  them  publicly,  if  they 
will  communicate  with  me  I  will  endeavor  to 
answer  their  objections  through  your  columns. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


European  Notes  by  the  Editor. — Now  nearly 
forty  years  ago,  and  though  but  a  boy  entering  on 
his  teens,  the  writer  of  this  was  a  careful  experi- 
menter and  observer  in  horticulture,  and  was, 
moreover,  a  subscriber  to,  and  careful  reader  of 
Harrison's  Floral  Magazine  (now  Shirley  Hib- 
berd's  Gardener's  Magazine),  and  in  this  he  read 
with  deep  interest  of  the  labors  of  a  Mr.  Buist,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  introducing  the  Verbena.  Ver- 
bena Buistii  was  figured,  and  accounts  of  V.  Hen- 
dersoni,  and  some  others  by  the  same  grower, 
given.  How  far  this  may  in  after  years  have 
induced  the  young  lad  to  come  to  America,  we 


cannot  now  say,  but  it  was  the  primary  cause  of 
his  settling  in  Philadelphia.  Many  a  time 
during  the  thirty  years  that  have  elapsed,  he 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  visit  the  land  of  his  birth, 
but  the  desire  to  see  and  to  know  first  his  adop- 
ted country,  was  always  one  strong  reason  for 
deferring  that  pleasant  time.  Having  at  length 
had  the  chance  of  visiting  four-fifths  of  all  the 
States  in  the  American  Union,  and  obtained  a 
good  general  idea  of  its  wealth  and  condition,  he 
felt  that  he  might  venture  to  go  back  and  tell 
his  people  of  the  sights  and  experiences  of  his 
new  found  land. 

So,  one  Thursday  morning  in  June  he  packed 
up  his  little  trunk,  and  took  passage  on  the 
steamer  Pennsylvania,  from  Philadelphia  to  Liv- 
erpool, for  old  England.  These  steamers — the 
only  American  line  of  mail  steamers  in  this 
country — are  not  as  large  as  those  sailing»from 
some  other  ports;  but  for  the  sake  of  society 
this  was  found  to  be  perhaps  an  advantage,  for 
in  a  large  lot  of  saloon  passengers  they  break  up 
into  little  knots  or  circles,  each  as  exclusive  as 
we  often  find  them  in  ordinary  society  life.  Our 
lot  of  seventy-five  soon  became  acquainted  with 
each  other,  and  in  this  way  found  out  many 
whom  it  will  be  a  pleasure  long  to  remember, 
and  whom  we  should  have  never  known  in  the 
"  select  set "  system  of  larger  bodies.  As  Arch- 
bishop Wood,  one  of  our  return  passengers, 
sagely  says  :  "It  is  best  to  learn  who  our  neigh- 
bors are,  and  to  think  well  of  them  from  the 
first,  for  it  is  easier  to  think  bad  of  a  man  after 
believing  him  good,  than  to  correct  an  evil  im- 
pression when  once  unjustly  formed."  A  short 
run  of  nine  days  and  a  half  puts  us  on  shore 
again,  and  we  fall  to  at  once  and  go  on  with  our 
work. 

What  a  little  place  England  is,  and  yet  how 
powerful!  This  was  my  first  day's  reflection. 
We  were  all  on  the  Pennsylvania  in  the  Mersey 
early  on  one  morning — almost  in  the  north  of 
England— and  yet  I  took  tea  the  same  day  at 
Ryde— about  its  most  southern  point.  It  was 
not  as  far  as  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh, 
and  yet  we  had  already  divided  England  in  two! 
It  did  not  seem  much  to  be  even  the  Queen  of 
such  a  delicate  little  rnece  of  ground,  but  when 
I  remembered  how  the  wide  world  looked  when- 
ever the  British  lion  roared,  I  saw  that  it  was 
brain,  and  not  merely  muscle  that  sent  the  world 
rolling  solidly  along.  I  think  this  impression  of 
diminutiveness  prevailed  through  almost  all  my 
experience,   and  yet  there  was   an   amount  of 


282 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


strength  coupled  with  all  this  littleness  that  gave 
great  weight  to  everything.  First,  the  streets 
were  generally  narrower  than  I  thought  they 
were,  as  were  also  the  country  roads.  I  remem- 
bered how  good  the  roads  were,  and  I  had 
so  often  read  of  them  as  models  for  us  to 
imitate,  that  I  was  half  ashamed  of  what  I 
had  said  when  I  saw  them.  In  a  very  large 
number  of  cases  it  is  barely  possible  for  two 
carriages  to  pass.  But  the  road  surface  is 
always,  so  far  as  I  saw,  very  good.  But  sili- 
cious  stone  (Hint)  is  to  be  had  everywhere  cheap, 
and  they  have  no  severe  frosts  to  heave  up  the 
road-bed,  and  road  labor  is  comparatively  low- 
priced.  Why  should  they  not  have  good  roads? 
Our  roads  are  not,  as  a  rule,  as  good  as  those  of 
Europe,  and  yet  I  really  think  we  get  more  for 
our  money  than  they  do.  In  some  counties 
there  are  no  toll-gates.  I  thought  it  was  uni- 
versal,, and  remarked  on  that  blessing  to  a  friend 
while  driving  out  in  Wiltshire.  "  These  roads  are 
repaired  by  a  regular  parish  rate.  Wait,"  said 
he,  "  till  you  get  into  some  other  counties."  So, 
when  I  "  took  a  fly  "  from  Nottingham  to  go  to 
Newsted  Abbey,  some  nine  miles,  I  was  soon 
met  with  a  request  for  "  thrippence,  sir ;"  and 
before  the  portmonnaie  was  hardly  closed,  for 
"  thrippence  "  more.  I  thought  this  was  grow- 
ing interesting  enough  as  it  was,  but  when  I  was 
soon  after  asked  for  a  whole  "sixpence,"  I  had 
to  think  of  my  Wiltshire  friend.  Iwenty-five 
cents  for  a  nine  miles'  ride  is  almost  equal  to  my 
Rocky  Mountain  experiences,  and  on  which 
friend  A.  S.  Fuller  so  loves  to  dwell.  In  these 
thickly  settled  districts  it  would  be  a  disgrace  if 
Stfcif,pnsi',es  did  not  result  in  good  roads. 

Then   the   nat/lye   trees   are    smaller    than    I 

thought  they  were;  ai.nd  they  are  smaller,  on  the 

average,  than  our  own  forest,  trees.     They  spread 

out,     dividing     themselves     im,.+0     huge     main 

branches,  and  have  no  inclination  to ,  make  large, 

tall    trunks,   as    ours    have.     But  the-.,  distance 

round  of  some  of  these  short,  dumpty  ti..unks  is 

wonderful,  and  they  would  put  many  of  on  x  for. 

est  trees  to  shame.     Stems  fifteen  to  eigh^een 

feet  round  are  common,  and  I  measured  some,.  of 

twenty.    The  commonest  of  all  trees  in  Englan  i(1 

is  the  Elm,  though,  perhaps,  in  the  forests  tht. 

Oak  is  more  common,  and  then,  perhaps,  the 

Ash  is    more    commonly    seen.      Occasionally, 

only  come  Beech  and  Linden.     All  these  trees 

have    shorter    and    stouter    trunks,   and    more 

spreading    heads    than    ours.      Some    of   their 

smaller  trees  grow  larger  than  their  allies  with 


us.  For  instance,  while  our  common  Aspen 
Poplar  rarely  grows  more  than  forty  feet,  theirs 
would  be  often  sixty.  So  would  be  their  Alder, 
while  ours  is  a  mere  bush;  and  in  Richmond 
Park,  near  London,  I  saw  Hornbeams  that  must 
be  at  least  sixty  feet  high,  and  with  trunks  as 
large  as  our  ordinary  apple  trees.  Wagons  and 
coaches  were  solid  and  strong,  but  there  was  lit- 
tle room  in  them,  and  one-horse  carts  might  be 
seen  everywhere  hauling  in  hay.  Ploughs  were 
strong,  but  it  was  quite  common  to  see  them 
drawn  by  four  horses,  with  a  boy  driving  the 
beasts !  The  castles  and  mansions  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry  were  not  as  large  as  I  thought  they 
were,  nor  were  the  gardens  and  grounds  of  the 
extent  I  supposed.  There  are,  of  course,  some 
places  of  great  magnificence,  but  on  the  whole  I 
was  deceived,  and  I  make  this  honest  confession 
of  my  weakness  because  it  is  quite  common  for 
us  all  to  think  that  things  passed  are  better  than 
they  really  were,  or  something  different  from  the 
actual  fact.  I  did  once  think  we  do  not  have 
the  big  Baldwin  apples  we  had  when  we  were 
boys,  and  many  more  things  of  that  sort,  but  I 
am  cured  of  it  now.  I  can  now  understand  how 
it  was  that  Knight,  in  his  old  days,  came  to  be- 
lieve that  varieties  "ran  out;"  and  when  I  hear 
some  good  old  son  of  a  foreign  soil  declare  that 
there  is  nothing  in  America  like  the  grand  things 
he  left  behind  "  at  home,"  I  may  sympathize 
with  his  feelings,  though  I  may  not  believe  his 
tale. 

England  looks  beautiful  to  a  stranger,  and  yet  it 
is  surprising,  on  analysis,  to  find  how  few  are  the 
materials  that  go  to  make  up  its  beauty.  There 
are  few  forests,  but  most  of  the  hedge  rows  have 
timber  in  them.  The  trees  do  not  seem  to  rob  the 
ground  on  each  side,  as  ours  do,  and  the  hedge 
grows  good  and  perfect  quite  up  to  the  bole, 
which  ours  will  not  do.  We  cannot  have  such 
fence  row  timber.  Then  there  are  the  hedges 
themselves,  mostly  of  Hawthorn  when  cared  for; 
but  of  Elm,  Sloe,  Dog  Rose  and  Blackberries 
when  neglected.  There  is  the  Ivy  which  covers 
the  trees,  and  makes  even  the  saddest  ruins  look 
glad,  and  there  is  the  Holly,  that  prince  of  trees, 
which  justly  claims  a  regal  admiration.  There 
is  its  glorious  Golden  Furze  in  Spring,  and  a  little 
later  the  Golden  Broom,  and,  as  the  Summer  ad- 
vances, delicately  beautiful  Heaths;  gay  Fox 
-loves  and  gaudy  Poppies,  and  there  may  be  a 


w  other  simples  to  give  a  charm  to  field  and 

rest;  but  how  much  is  left  after  these?    The 

£reat  beauty  consists  in  its  art,     In  gardening  it 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


283 


is  the  Rhododendron  and  other  contributions 
from  America,  the  various  Laurels  and  Bays  of 
Southern  Europe,  the  Roses  of  Persia,  or  the 
Conifera  from  Japan  or  our  Western  shores,  that 
outline  the  pretty  picture;  and  the  tilling  in,  by 
the  way  of  beautiful  flowers,  has  been  gathered 
together  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  I  am 
anxious  to  impress  this  on  the  reader  because 
there  is  an  impression  here  that  England  owes 
much  of  its  just  supremacy  in  gardening  matters 
to  a  natural  fitness  of  things,  when  really  nature 
has  done  but  little.  It  is  the  genius  of  selection, 
the  art  to  collect  and  the  taste  to  arrange,  the 
tact  to  suit  foreign  matters  to  native  circum- 
stances, that  has  given  England  the  gardening 
fame  which  she  everywhere  enjoys.  I  see  clearly 
that  our  weakness  has  been  a  close  copying  of 
other  nations.  The  weakness  is  only  natural,  as 
our  literature  and  all  our  associations  are  founded 
on  theirs.  We  cannot  have  just  what  they  have, 
but  if  we  look  at  our  own  climate  and  condi- 
tions,, and  select  from  our  materials  at  home  and 
from  abroad  just  what  is  adapted  to  us,  I  am 
satisfied  that  we  may  have  gardening  in  as  great 
perfection  as  in  any  country  in  the  world. 

In  the  first  place  our  ideas  of  a  garden  are  too 
large.  The  best  gardens  here  are  not  the  large 
ones.  Places  of  ten  to  twenty  acres,  where  be- 
sides the  head  gardener  three  to  six  men  are 
kept,  are  very  abundant,  and  as  a  rule,  more 
artistically  beautiful  than  the  larger  ones.  Of 
course  I  am  speaking  of  the  rule,  as  I  saw  some 
large  places  of  very  great  beauty.  I  am  credibly 
informed  that  the  larger  places  are  by  no  means 
increasing,  and  any  one  looking  at  gardening  from 
the  grandiose  point  would  suppose  it  to  be  de- 
clining; but  I  am  told  that  these  smaller  places 
are  increasing  rapidly,  and  that  not  because 
there  is  an}'  decrease  in  wealth,  but  because  true 
gardening  is  more  beautiful  on  the  small  than  on 
the  large  scale.  There  were  three  places  of  this 
character  that  I  visited  on  the  Isle  of  Wight,  all 
less  than  twenty  acres,  probably,  and  yet  perfect 
pictures  of  beauty.  These  were  St.  Johns,  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Gasson;  Appley,  Mr.  Clayton's; 
and  St.  Clare,  the  marine  residence  of  Colonel 
Harcourt,  of  Buxted  Park,  Sussex.  I  visited  also 
Osborne  House,  the  marine  residence  of  Queen 
Victoria,  and  though  the  grounds  are  on  a  rather 
larger  scale  than  the  three  I  have  named,  they 
come  under  the  petite  class  I  refer  to. 

Mr.  Clayton's  garden  is  under  the  charge  of 
Mr.  Smith,  besides  whom  about  six  hands  are 
employed.     A  good  part  of  the  property  is   cut 


from  the  main  garden  by  a  neat  iron  fence,  and 
left  to  grow  for  hay,  and  yet  the  appearance  of  a 
park  is  given  to  it  by  trees,  singly  and  in  clumps, 
scattered  over  the  surface.  Thus  the  grass  not 
only  helps  to  keep  down  the  cost  of  the  garden, 
but  is  just  the  thing  to  give  a  country  idea  to  the 
place.  Only  just  immediately  about  the  house 
is  mowed,  the  unmowed  parts  being  kept  out  of 
sight  from  the  windows  so  far  as  the  ground  sur- 
face is  concerned,  but  the  view  not  in  the  least 
being  checked  by  the  design.  Near  the  house, 
in  its  front,  a  steep  bank  suddenly  descends,  and 
below  are  planted  numerous  Oak  trees,  but 
these,  when  they  reach  the  ground  level,  are  cut 
off  to  that  line,  and  in  this  way  there  is  a  long 
level  of  green  leaves,  adding  by  so  much  to  the 
apparent  extent  of  the  flat  surface  in  the  front  of 
the  house.  I  never  saw  so  pretty  an  effect  ob- 
tained in  this  way.  The  huge,  spreading  Elms 
give  of  themselves  a  charm  to  the  place,  and  a 
shady  retreat  in  the  hottest  day.  They  are  about 
seventy  feet  high,  and  are  from  twelve  to  thirteen 
feet  in  circumference.  Many  choice  trees  are 
scattered  about,  until  we  suddenly  find  ourselves 
in  the  garden  proper,  on  which  the  chief  art  has 
been  employed.  I  suggested  to  Mr.  Smith  that 
it  was  probably  not  over  two  acres,  and  was  sur- 
prised to  be  told  that  it  was  barely  over  half  an 
acre.  All  of  this  effect  is  obtained  by  throwing 
up  the  earth  in  some  places  and  lowering  it  in 
others,  and  by  judiciously  carrying  walks  and 
paths  around  the  well-planted  mounds,  banks 
and  depressions.  It  is  so  arranged  that  every 
fifty  feet  square  is  totally  different  from  the  rest, 
and  in  this  way  there  is  no  end  to  the  variety 
but  the  boundary  of  the  whole.  Of  course  no 
one  who  is  his  own  gardener  could  design  or 
execute  a  piece  of  work  like  this.  He  might  as 
well  attempt  to  make  his  own  Sunday  clothes. 
Even  the  best  practical  gardeners,  such  as  Mr. 
Smith  here  is,  would  think  it  beyond  their  prov- 
ince. Milnor,  one  of  the  best  landscape  garden- 
ers in  England,  was  employed  especially  for  the 
work. 

On  Mr.  Gasson's  place  is  just  such  another 
beautiful  piece  of  work,  but  of  a  totally  different 
kind.  It  was  said  to  be  designed  by  a  Mr.  Black, 
of  Fulham,  near  London,  and  took  a  long  time 
to  execute.  I  should  not  think  it  much  over  an 
acre ;  but  here  the  artist  had  the  advantage  of  a 
little  water  to  work  with,  and  he  planned  out  a 
sort  of  rock  garden.  There  are  jets,  cascades, 
ponds,  mounds,  gullies,  caves,  arches,  arbors 
above  ground,  and  cool  seats  below,  and  all  so 


284 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


interwoven  with  plants  and  flowers  adapted  to 
each  successional  scene,  as  to  appear  a  part  each 
of  the  other,  and  it  affords  no  end  of  enjoyment. 
It  seemed  almost  incredible  that  so  much  could 
be  crowded  into  so  small  a  space.  How  well 
this  little  place  illustrated  the  progress  of  Eng- 
lish gardening!  When  I  knew  it  forty  years 
ago,  it  was  famous  for  its  large  Silver  Firs,  going 
on  to  a  hundred  feet  high,  as  I  thought  then, 
but  their  nearly  dead  trunks  now  show  they 
could  have  been  barely  seventy,  (again  the  decep- 
tive past!)  and  there  were  its  fine  Horse  Chest- 
nuts, and  Portugal  Laurels,  Rhododendrons,  and 
nice,  shaded  walks  through  them.  There  were 
flower  beds,  with  box  edgings  and  gravel  walks 
about  them,  and  all  flowers  such  as  these  were  in 
those  days.  But  a  garden  like  this  !  Who  would 
have  dreamed  of  it! 

St.  Clare  is  one  of  those  lovely  little  gems 
which  once  seen,  is  never  forgotten,  and  this  I 
say  not  because  five  or  six  years  of  my  own  boy- 
ish life  was  spent  on  it,  or  because  my  own 
father,  a  hale,  hearty  man  of  eighty,  has  still 
charge  of  it,  but  because  I  know  that  any  one 
who  sees  it  will  say  'tis  true.  Of  course  the 
climate  helps  it.  The  Winter  is  seldom  worse 
than  at  New  Orleans  in  our  own  country,  while 
the  air  in  Summer  is  always  moist,  and  the  tem- 
perature generally  steady  at  about  70°.  What 
plant  would  not  enjoy  a  life  like  this?  Well, 
there  are  a  few  dissatisfied  even  here,  as  even 
Lucifer  tired  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  there 
were  Paulownias  and  others  like  them,  still 
doing  something,  but  evidently  wishing  for  the 
Summer  heats  of  the  United  States.  I  never  saw 
Roses  do  anywhere,  in  any  part  of  the  world, 
like  they  do  here,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  year  after  year,  in  spite  of  the  severest 
competition,  the  first  premium  was  taken  with 
them  at  the  Island  show.  The  proprietor  sec- 
onds the  generosity  of  the  soil  and  culture,  and 
every  year  new  roses  are  added  to  the  list.  The 
best  roses  always  come  from  the  plants  budded 
on  briar  stocks.  Most  of  them  are  budded  about 
on  a  level  with  the  eye,  giving  an  excellent 
chance  to  easily  examine  and  smell  them.  Some 
of  them  are  very  old — thirty  and  forty  years,  I 
know — and  yet  are  as  healthy  and  yield  as  fine 
roses  as  if  planted  but  half  a  dozen  years  ago.  I 
measured  one  of  these  old  plants.  It  was  the 
Duchesse  de  Berri.  The  stem  of  the  briar  stock 
was  six  inches  round.  The  plant  had  been  bud- 
ded about  four  feet  from  the  ground  about 
twenty-five  years  since.    The  head  was  four  feet 


in  diameter,  though  pruned  back  every  year, 
and  I  counted  six  hundred  flowers  on  it.  Of 
course  in  a  climate  like  this  there  are  Myrtles, 
Fuchsias,  New  Holland  Acacias,  Camellias,  and 
many  other  things,  generally  greenhouse  plants, 
here  in  the  open  air,  but  few  would  expect  to 
see  them  of  such  gigantic  size.  Fuchsia  longi- 
flora,  which,  with  F.  fulgens  for  the  other  parent, 
gave  the  birth  to  the  present  race  of  Hybrid 
Fuchsias  in  the  person  of  F.  St.  Clare, — the  original 
plant  of  F.  longiflora  of  this  hybrid,  is  still  in  the 
open  air  in  the  same  spot  it  was  thirty-five  years 
or  more  ago,  and  as  healthy  as  a  willow  tree. 

Though  in  a  climate  so  favorable  one  might 
expect  to  find  things  ranked  as  greenhouse  plants 
with  us  in  the  open  ground  here,  one  can  hardly 
avoid  surprise  at  the  grand  specimens  of  some 
things.  Imagine  a  Portugal  Laurel  with  branches 
spreading  over  a  surface  one  hundred  feet 
round,  and  covered  with  millions  of  spikes  of 
blossoms ;  a  bush  of  the  New  Zealand  Flax,  which 
has  been  here  nearly  forty  years,  and  is  now  a  stock 
six  feet  across ;  a  Rose  with  a  stem  eight  inches 
round;  a  Hawthorne  with  a  trunk  five  feet  in 
girth ;  the  rare  Ilex  latifolia  (grafted  on  some 
other  stock),  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  covered 
with  berries  just  turning  red;  a  New  Holland 
Acacia  four  feet  round,  and  especially  remark- 
able, a  Yucca  gloriosa  with  a  trunk  four  and  a 
half  feet  round,  and  with  twelve  huge  arms,  each 
branching  into  numerous  small  ones.  These  are 
of  immense  weight,  and  each  arm  has  to  be  sup- 
ported by  an  iron  buttress,  or  it  would  split  and 
fall  away  by  its  own  weight  alone.  Here  is,  per- 
haps, one  of  the  best  specimens  of  that  beautiful 
Californian  pine,  Pinus  insignis,  in  cultivation. 
I  had  no  means  just  then  of  getting  its  exact 
height,  but  it  is  certainly  fifty  feet,  while  it 
measured  eight  feet  round  the  trunk  a  foot  or  so 
from  the  ground.  It  is  a  good  illustration  of  the 
fact  often  mentioned  in  the  Gardener's  Monthly, 
that  trees  grow  much  more  rapidly  than  people 
generally  suppose.  As  a  boy  I  assisted  at  the 
planting  of  this  tree,  then  in  a  six-inch  flower 
pot,  just  thirty-four  years  ago  the  past  Spring. 
Here  are  also  other  evidences  that  plants  do  not 
take  long  to  grow.  There  is  a  Blood  Beech  over 
forty  feet,  Cedars  of  Lebanon  fifty  feet,  and  many 
other  things  about  these  heights,  and  all  planted 
within  thirty  years.  The  chief  attraction  in 
these  beautiful  grounds  is  the  continuously  vary- 
ing sets  of  flower  gardens,  all  so  differently  ar- 
ranged, and  each  among  such  differing  sur- 
roundings,    that     continuous     variety    is    well 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


285 


provided  for.  Over  thirty  thousand  plants  for 
bedding  purposes  have  to  be  propagated  each 
year,  yet  by  judiciously  employing  frames  as  the 
stocks  are  rooted,  it  is  not  so  hard  a  task  as  it 
seems. 

Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia. — A  hasty 
drive  through  this  park  in  the  middle  of  August 
showed  that  this  public  garden  was  improving 
rapidly  on  the  past.  Of  course  much  that  was 
done  in  the  building  of  Horticultural  Hall,  and 
in  the  arrangements  for  the  collections  of  ex- 
hibitors, could  not  be  done  in  accordance  with 
the  strictness  of  gardening.  The  building,  for 
instance,  had  to  be  very  ornate  in  order  to 
attract  for  the  special  occasion,  and  to  be  so 
arranged  as  to  accommodate  huge  crowds  of 
people  rather  than  to  make  room  for  crowds  of 
plants ;  so  with  beds  and  walks.  It  is  cheaper 
to  retain  these  and  to  build  up  from  what  has 
been  done,  than  to  start  wholly  anew,  and  those 
of  us  who  are  disposed  to  criticize  according  to 
standard  rules  of  taste,  must  remember  these 
things.  Then  we  must  not  forget  how  many 
masters  there  are  to  please  in  an  American  pub- 
lic park,  and  just  what  sort  of  masters  many  of 
these  are. 

Knowing  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
all  must  award  great  praise  to  Mr.  C.  H. 
Miller,  who  for  the  past  year  has  had  the  direc- 
tion of  the  ornamentation  of  the  park.  He  may 
in  time  be  able  to  satisfy  a  critical  taste ;  for  the 
present  he  has  undoubtedly  gained  the  good  will 
of  the  mass  of  the  people  who  have  in  thousands 
enjoyed  the  gorgeous  display  during  the  season, 
and  who  are  made  to  feel  that  in  these  public 
expenditures  they  are  getting  a  fair  return,  and 
which  they  have  rarely  had  before. 

The  Nursery  Business. — The  nursery  trade  is 
said  to  be  somewhat  depressed  over  the  United 
States,  but  judging  by  the  beautiful  set  of  des- 
criptive catalogues  now  before  us,  issued  by  Ell- 
wanger  &  Barry,  of  Rochester,  they  are  encour- 
aged to  push  business,  and  this  is  a  good  sign. 
We  have  little  doubt  but  the  worst  is  over  for 
the  nursery  trade,  and  that  good  times  will  soon 
come  again. 

Floral  Decorations  at  Parties  in  France. — 
While  in  Paris  recently,  the  wife  of  the  French 
President  gave  a  party,  in  which  the  floral  fea- 
tures were  literally  grand.  In  a  newspaper  para- 
graph the  next  day  we  noted  that  nearly  five 
thousand  pot  plants  had  been  used  by  the  dec- 
orator.    The  grounds  of  the  Palais  d'Elysee  form 


an  oblong  square,  surrounded  by  a  wall  so  high, 
and  with  an  iron  railing  on  top,  that  they  are 
strictly  private,  even  in  this  public  city ;  but  the 
rich  ivy  which  flows  over,  and  the  magnificent 
trees  which  will  not  stay  "  private,"  show  that 
there  is  some  garden  love  behind  the  walls. 

Swindles  in  Horticulture. — The  Prairie  Far- 
mer observes  :  "The  persons  generally  gulled  by 
swindling  advertisements,  however,  are  those 
who  seldom  read  newspapers  of  any  kind  ;  or,  if 
so,  only  those  of  the  trashy  sort.  This  class  is 
easily  fooled  by  the  special  circulars,  sent  out  by 
swindling  firms."  We  like  this,  because  it  has 
always  been  our  answer  to  correspondents  who 
urge  us  to  "go  for"  this  or  that.  When  a  man 
buys  a  "  strawberry  "  which  is  to  grow  as  big  as 
an  apple  tree,  and  to  require  ladders  to  pick  the 
fruit,  it  is  surely  a  waste  of  space  and  time  to  any 
of  our  readers  to  say  that  such  things  are  not  to  be. 
If  there  be  any  of  our  readers  who  for  themselves 
desire  such  information,  we  will  always  cheer  - 
fully  attend  to  such  queries  in  our  regular  de- 
partments. 

iEscuLUS  Californica. — Buillon,  in  his  admir- 
able Dictionare  de  Botanique,  of  which  parts  to 
the  letter  C  have  now  been  published,  says  that 
the  Californian  Horse  Chestnut  constitutes  the 
chief  part  of  the  approvisionnements  of  the  Sioux 
Indians.  It  may  be  of  some  tribes,  but  scarcely 
of  the  Sioux.  Can  any  of  our  readers  tell  us 
whether  this  species  extends  into  the  Sioux  ter- 
ritory. It  seems  to  be  too  tender  for  this  part  of 
the  United  States  (Philadelphia). 

The  Horse  Chestnut  for  Rheumatism. — Last 
year  we  met  an  American-born  fellow-citizen 
with  Horse  Chestnuts  in  his  pocket,  which  he  said 
he  carried  as  a  safeguard  against  rheumatism  ' 
We  had  not  known  of  such  a  reputation  before , 
and  supposed  the  idea  originated  on  this  conti- 
nent. But  Buillon  says  that  the  oil  from  the 
nuts  is  used  with  advantage  against  gout  and 
rheumatism,  which  shows  the  same  idea  preva- 
lent in  France.  We  further  find  that  in  China 
the  seeds  of  their  species  (JEscidus  turbinata),  is 
used  to  prevent  muscular  contraction  in  severe 
cases  of  rheumatism.  If  all  these  experiences 
come  from  distinct  observations,  and  each  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  what  the  other  has  found, 
it  may  be  that  there  may  be  more  than  mere 
imagination  in  the  chestnut  being  a  rheumatic 
cure.  Have  any  of  our  readers  had  any  reliable 
experience  with  it?  For  we  suppose  the  knowl- 
edge of  its  powers  must  be  wider  than  we  knew. 


286 


TEE  GARDE  NEB'S  MONTHLY 


[September, 


Marengo  (Ills.)  Nurserymen. — The  Commer- 
cial Advertiser  speaks  well  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
Marengo  nurserymen,  and  names  Messrs.  Peck, 
Woodard,  Rogers,  Gilkerson,  and  Prescott,  and 
Norris  &  Vasey  as  especially  entitled  to  praise. 

R.  R.  Scott. — The  death  of  R.  Robinson  Scott, 
briefly  referred  to  in  our  last,  deserves  more  than 
a  passing  notice.  He  was  a  native  of  Belfast,  in 
the  north  of  Ireland,  and  he  numbers  among  his 
relatives  and  kinsfolk  some  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  that  city.  He  received  a  first-class  edu- 
cation, and  in  the  knowledge  of  ancient  and 
modern  languages  he  particularly  excelled.  In- 
deed, in  every  branch  of  learning  he  had  few 
superiors.  He  was  in  very  early  life  fond  of 
flowers,  and  he  determined  to  devote  his  life  to 
botany  and  horticulture.  He  went  through  a 
course  of  studies  in  these  branches  at  the  Botanic 
•Garden  of  Glasneven,  near  Dublin,  from  whence, 
under  the  patronage  of  Dr.  Mitten,  a  celebrated 
Irish  botanist,  he  was  advanced  to  Kew,  in  Eng- 
land. Before  he  had  been  there  many  months, 
be  was  acquainted  with  every  plant  in  that  large 
collection,  and  the  botanical  relations  of  en- 
tirely unknown  plants  would  be  at  once  recog- 
nized by  him.  Those  who  knew  him  well, 
looked  forward  to  a  career  for  him  of  the  highest 
usefulness  to  his  fellows.  Unfortunately,  amidst 
all  this  brilliant  promise,  there  was  a  sort  of 
chivalric  recklessness,  which  indicated  an  un- 
balanced mind,  and  which  was  deemed  eccen- 
tric, and  interfered  with  the  efforts  of  his  friends 
for  his  advancement.  On  the  breaking  out  of 
Smith  O'Brien's  rebellion,  he  abandoned  *11  his 
botanical  studies,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the 
struggle.  An  oration  on  "  What  has  England 
done  for  Ireland,"  delivered  to  an  excited  throng 
of  some  thousands,  and  in  the  poetic  language 
of  which  he  was  so  complete  a  master,  was  pro- 
nounced one  of  the  most  wonderful  pieces  of 
oratory  of  the  time.  It  was  the  more  remark- 
able as  coming  from  one  hardly  out  of  his  teens, 
and  of  so  small  a  stature  and  juvenile  appear- 
ance as  to  appear  much  younger  than  he  really 
was.  On  the  conclusion  of  the  rebellion  he 
came  to  Philadelphia,  and  resumed  the  profes- 
sion of  horticulture,  and  in  spite  of  his  numerous 
eccentricities,  made  many  friends  by  his  won- 
derful knowledge,  his  industry  and  energy,  and 
indeed  by  his  many  virtues,  for  his  faults  were 
always  on  the  side  of  what  he  imagined  to  be 
duty  and  right.  He  discovered  and  described  a 
new  American  Fern,  Asplenivm  ebenoides,  which 


is  yet  a  source  of  great  interest  to  botanists.  In 
keeping  with  his  other  eccentricities,  to  the  sur- 
prise of  all  his  friends,  who  knew  he  had  not 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket,  and  no  prospects  of 
getting  one,  he  started  the  Florist,  a  monthly 
magazine  with  very  expensive  colored  plates, 
the  first  number  of  which  appeared  on  the  1st  of 
of  May,  1852.  It  was  a  greater  surprise  how 
near  that  venture  became  a  complete  success. 
Eventually  the  eccentricities  made  enemies 
faster  than  friends  ;  the  mind  which  guided  it,  in 
some  respects  naturally  weak,  gave  way  under 
its  labors ;  and  he  had  to  take  refuge  in  an  asy- 
lum. The  Philadelphia  Florist  lived  three  years, 
and  any  one  can  see  by  a  reference  to  its  pages, 
that  had  its  editor  been  as  gifted  physically  as 
he  was  mentally — had  intellect  and  body  been 
better  matched — there  would  never  have  been 
occasion  for  any  other  horticultural  paper  in 
America  to  this  day.  The  later  years  of  his  life 
fluctuated  between  his  malady  and  occasional 
periods  when  he  could  work  at  his  profession. 
His  death  at  Harrisburg  has  been  already  re- 
corded. It  is  often  said  there  is  but  a  hair 
between  life  and  death;  and  one  may  as  truly  say 
there  is  as  narrow  a  line  between  a  fame  almost 
undying,  and  an  utter  blank.  This  much  must 
be  said  for  our  friend,  that  if  he  failed  to  make 
his  mark  on  humanity's  illustrated  page,  it  was 
by  no  fault  of  his  own.  What  faculties  his 
Maker  gave  him,  he  used  to  the  fullest  extent 
that  he  knew  how,  and  in  very  many  instances 
to  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  his  fellow-men. 

He  leaves  a  wife  and  two  children — a  son  and 
daughter. 

Death  of  T.  T.  Mather. — A  Montgomery  Co., 
Pa.,  correspondent  sends  us  the  following  extract 
from  his  local  paper:  "On  Thursday  morning 
last,  Thomas  T.  Mather  died  at  his  residence  "in 
Cheltenham.  He  had  been  suffering  from  can- 
cer of  the  throat  for  several  months,  but  was 
well  enough  to  be  about  and  attend  to  his  busi- 
ness. The  immediate  cause  of  his  death  was 
hemorrhage.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Jenkin- 
town  National  Bank,  and  was  an  upright,  pub- 
lic-spirited man.  He  died  in  the  64th  year  of 
his  age," — and  very  justly  adds:  "Mr.  Mather 
was  well  known  for  his  endeavors  to  advance 
fruit  culture.  He  was  always  an  exhibitor  at  all 
shows  within  reach,  never  repining,  indeed  he 
probably  never  thought  that  he  may  not  some- 
times have  had  justice  done  him.  He  was  working 
for  the  public  good,  and  not  merely  in  justice  to 
self.    The  Mather  Pear  is  named  for  him." 


18H.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


28T 


Music. — From  S.  Brainerd  &  Sons,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  we  have  a  selection  of  sacred  songs  selected 
from  Bliss,  Murray  and  others,  arranged  in  one 
volume,  entitled  "  Heavenward." 

Mr.  Koderick  Campbell. — We  are  pleased  to 
notice  by  an  Utica  paper,  that  so  well  pleased 
were  the  trustees  of  Forest  Hill  Cemetery  with 
the  horticultural  services  of  Mr.  Roderick  Camp- 
bell, that  in  addition  to  his  salary,  they  pre- 
sented him  with  a  check  for  $200. 

Mr.  A.  M.  Engle  on  Early  Peaches— Mr. 
Engle  writes  us  that  he  is  overburdened  with 
correspondence  about  his  early  peaches.  To  save 
this  correspondence,  he  has  sent  us  "  all  _  he 
knows,"  and  we  shall  have  pleasure  in  publish- 
ing the  statement  next  month. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 

"60"  Sized  Pots. — Mr.  E.  Lonsdale,  German- 
town,  Pa.,  writes:  "'One  interested'  will  find 
the  answer  to  his  question  (see  page  239  August 
number),  relative  to  "  60  pots,"  in  the  Garden, 
page  52,  No.  295,  Vol.  XII,  by  Mr.  John  Saul 
himself,  where  he  has  written  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, as  noted  in  the  Monthly,  viz:  Tabernsemon- 
tana  camassa,  in  which  he  says,  '  Small  plants  in 
3-inch  pots  will  produce  flowers  freely.'  It  seems 
strange  he  should  be  so  explicit  where  it  is  less 
necessary,  for  in  England  pots  are  frequently 
called  60,  48  and  32  sized  pots,  and  so  on,  as  the 
case  may  be.  It  is  an  absurd  practice  in  any 
country,  for  it  seems  much  easier,  and  certainly 
more  proper,  to  designate  a  flower  pot  in  inches, 
when  it  is  readily  understood  by  whomsoever 
reads." 

Mr.  Darwin's  Family. — A  correspondent  sends 
us  the  following  piece  of  harmless  gossip,  which 
he  says  he  found  in  a  London  paper  :  "  Mr.  Dar- 


win has,  during  his  whole  life,  been  in  easy  cir- 
cumstances, above  the  toil  of  earning  an  income. 
Unlike  many  philosophers,  he  has  not  had  the 
mortification  of  spending  his  best  hours  in  the 
drudgery  of  official  routine,  or  the  hardly  less 
wearisome  task  of  teaching.  He  has  been  ena- 
bled to  devote  his  entire  time  to  his  favorite 
pursuits,  and  since  his  marriage  with  his  cousin, 
Miss  Emma  Wedgwood,  has  resided  at  Down, 
amid  the  rich  and  varied  scenery  of  one  of  the 
prettiest  parts  of  Kent.  As  his  numerous  family 
has  grown  up  around  him  he  has  been  relieved 
of  all  the  cares  which  distract  the  scientific 
worker  in  the  heat  and  turmoil  of  active  life.  He 
leads  a  truly  calm  and  philosophic  existence, 
unvexed  by  the  contemplation  of  weekly  bills 
and  the  signing  of  checks.  In  his  wife  and 
family  he  is  especially  happy,  being  spared  the 
pain  of  degenerate  offspring.  His  eldest  son, 
Mr.  William  Darwin,  is  a  banker  at  Southamp- 
ton ;  the  second,  George,  took  high  honors  at 
Cambridge,  and  is  now  a  Fellow  of  Trinity  ;  the 
third,  Frank,  who  has  inherited  his  father's  ill 
health,  acts  as  his  secretary ;  the  fourth,  Leonard, 
is  an  officer  in  the  artillery,  and  distinguished 
himself  as  one  of  the  scientific  corps  sent  to  ob- 
serve the  transit  of  Venus;  the  fifth,  Horace,  is 
an  excellent  mathematician.  One  married  and 
one  unmarried  daughter  complete  a  family 
whose  constant  care  is  to  relieve  its  head  of  all 
possible  trouble  or  anxiety." 

Prices  op  Nursery  Plants  and  Flowers. — A 
correspondent  calls  attention  to  a  paper  by  Mr. 
Henderson,  in  which  he  shows  that  except  in  a 
few  standard  stocks,  the  prices  of  trees  and 
plants  rule  lower  in  America  than  they  do  in 
Europe.  Mr.  H.'s  letter  has  been  republished  in 
so  many  places,  that  most  of  our  readers  have 
probably  seen  it,  and  we  need  not  quote ;  but  we 
may  say  that  we  endorse  all  he  says. 


Horticultural  ^societies. 


C03IMUNICA  TIONS. 


KANSAS  STATE  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 

BY  H.  E.  VAN  DEMAN,  GENEVA,  KAN. 

At  Abilene,  on  the  Smoky  Hill  Kiver,  on  the 
6th  and  7th  of  June,  1877,  this  Society  met  for 
the  pleasure  and  instruction  of  its  members,  and 
of  the  community.  This  is  a  live  institution.  It 
would  be  entirely  out  of  place  here  to  repeat 
much  of  what  was  said,  but  may  be  some  of  the 
readers  of  the  Monthly  would  like  to  hear  from 
us.  Verbal  reports  from  delegates  from  different 
parts  of  the  State  were  encouraging  as  to  the 
fruit  crop.  Hedges  and  stone  fences  are  fast 
superseding  the  rail  and  board  fence.  Thou- 
sands of  miles  of  Osage  Orange  hedge  are  set 
every  year,  and  on  the  increase.    Shelter  belts 


and  groves  or  forests  are  also  increasing.  The 
tree  act  of  Congress,  I  am  happy  to  say  in  con- 
tradiction of  what  I  reported  two  years  ago,  is 
proving  of  great  benefit  to  the  settler  and  the 
State.  Any  one  who  will  plant  40  acres  of 
forest  trees  12  feet  apart,  within  four  years  on  the 
vacant  Government  land,  can  have  160  acres. 
Many  are  availing  themselves  of  the  privilege. 
The  kinds  set  are  principally  elm,  ash,  box  elder, 
honey  locust,  soft  maple,  black  walnut,  cotton- 
wood  and  osage  orange.  This  last  named  tree,  who- 
ever has  control  does  not  permit  as  lawful  upon  a 
timber  claim.  It  is  one  of  the  most  durable  of 
woods,  and  the  restrictions  are  greatly  regretted  by 
the  settlers.  We  have  found  that  shelter  belts 
should  be  upon  the  south  of  the  orchards  to  ob- 
struct the  sweep  of  the  Summer  winds  instead  of 
north,  as  first  planted,  to  ward   off  the  Winter 


288 


TRE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  September, 


winds.  These  do  not  prove  damaging  as  sup- 
posed, except  to  live  stock.  The  wind  upon  the 
prairie  whips  and  bruises  the  foliage  of  tender 
shrubs,  trees  and  smaller  plants.  Any  fast  grow- 
ing annual  like  hemp  or  castor  bean,  or  even 
corn,  is  a  great  help  until  more  durable  protec- 
tion can  be  grown. 

The  whole  matter  of  a  recommended  fruit  list 
was  referred  to  the  Experimental  Committee  of 
the  Society,  of  which  I  may  some  time  tell  you. 
This  old  fashion  of  grinding  over  and  over  and 
out  a  fruit  list  in  the  meetings  we  have  aban- 
doned in  disgust.  It  takes  too  much  time,  and 
is  too  unreliable.     There  is  a  better  way. 

The  wild  trees,  shrubs,  and  flowers  of  Kansas 
were  talked  about.  We  have  a  rich  supply  of 
such  kinds  as  deserve  cultivation.  Among  the 
smaller  ones  are  the  Verbena,  several  species  of 
Violet,  Anemone,  Tradescantia,  and  Mimosa. 
The  wild  prairie  rose,  the  Cephalanthus  or  but- 
ton bush,  are  two  very  good  native  plants.  Our 
Elms  and  Box  Elder  or  Negundo  are  better  than 
the  far-fetched  exotics. 

The  ladies  attend  our  meetings  too.  We  were 
highly  entertained  by  an  essay  on  "Woman's 
Work  in  Horticulture,"  by  Miss  Mary  L.  Macy, 
of  Hannibal,  Mo.,  the  essence  of  which  is  "plain 
living  and  high  culture."  The  next  meeting  of 
the  Society  will  be  held  at  Parsons,  in  the  Neosho 
Valley,  in  December  next.  All  are  invited,  wel- 
comed, and  freely  entertained. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Nurseryman's  Protective  Association. — 
This  organization,  which  has  been  in  existence 
several  years,  has  increased  its  area  for  member- 
ships, now  embracing  the  whole  country.  Started 
at  first  as  a  Western  organization,  its  growth  has 
been  more  rapid  than  anticipated,  till  now  it 
throws  its  protecting  arms  over  all,  and  its  mem- 
berships embrace  the  leading  men  in  the  trade 
throughout  the  North,  besides  a  number  of  mem- 
berships in  the  South.  It  aims  to  do  no  man  an 
injury,  but  simply  to  point  out  the  rocks  and 
shoals  in  the  great  business  sea,  to  associate 
members,  that  they  may  steer  clear  and  profit  by 
the  experience  of  others.  Character  is  worth 
something  to  all  men,  in  whatever  business  call- 
ing, and  to  none  is  it  worth  more  than  to  the 
nurseryman  and  dealer;  but  many  there  are, 
all  over  the  land,  who,  regardless  of  the  injury 
done,  will  take  advantage  of  both  buyer  and  sel- 
ler for  pecuniary  gain  when  they  can,  and  from 
the  depredations  of  this  class,  all  in  the  trade 
must  more  or  less  share  their  blame.  To  protect 
one  another,  as  the  name  indicates,  is  the  object 
of  the  Association  ;  and  so  long  as  the  same  vigi- 
lance over  memberships  is  exercised  in  the 
future,  as  has  been  in  the  past,  so  long  will  mem- 
bers regard  the  Association  and  its  Reports,  as 
now,  a  most  valuable  assistance  in  their  trade. — 
Industrial  Gazette. 

The  American  Association  of  Nurserymen. — 
The  leading   object  of  this  Association,  to  wit : 


"  The  purchase  and  sale  of  surplus  stock,"  is  not 
shown  in  the  book  of  its  published  transactions. 
Unlike  other  associations  of  horticulturists,  the 
Annual  Meeting  is  especially  a  "  Trade  Sale " 
meeting,  where  buyer  and  seller  meet  to  com- 
pare views,  and  make  their  engagements  for  the 
demands  of  their  trade.  Started  only  two  years 
ago,  it  has  already  held  two  meetings  in  the 
West,  with  unabated  interest,  and  next  year  it 
will  hold  its  annual  meeting  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
when  it  is  hoped  its  memberships  will  be  largely 
increased.  All  in  the  trade,  whether  nursery- 
men, florists  or  dealers,  should  avail  themselves 
of  the  advantages  afforded  at  these  annual  gath- 
erings. In  addition  to  the  buying  and  selling  of 
stock,  there  are  the  questions  of  freight,  grading 
of  stock,  methods  of  packing,  &c,  &c,  to  be  dis- 
cussed, and  great  good  will  flow  to  all  in  the 
trade.  —Industrial  Gazette. 

The  Work  of  Group  xxxvi.  of  the  Centenni- 
al Jury. — This  group  embraced  fruits,  fruit  trees, 
fruit  models,  legumes,  vegetables,  and  allied 
matters.  As  already  stated,  the  work  of  this 
jury  was  continuous  from  May  to  November,  al- 
ways taking  two  and  generally  four  days  a  week. 
Many  thousands  of  exhibits  were  examined — the 
legumes  alone  being  over  a  thousand — and  reports 
on  the  actual  merits  of  each  in  most  cases,  made 
to  the  commissioners.  Wherever  special  merit 
was  found  awards  were  made,  and  the  particular 
points  of  special  merit  stated  in  the  award.  The 
Centennial  Commission  intends  to  publish  these 
awards,  and  as  the  reasons  will  thus  be  given  to 
the  world,  much  more  honor  will  accrue  to  the 
individuals  who  receive  them,  than  the  mere 
announcement  would  as  under  the  old  system, 
that  "so  and  so  "  was  "awarded  a  medal,"  with- 
out any  special  reason  being  given.  The  proof 
sheets  of  these  awards  have  recently  come  under 
the  eye  of  the  writer,  and  it  appears  that  216 
persons  received  awards  for  special  excellencies. 
As  this  is  perhaps  not  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
exhibits  made,  those  who  receive  the  awards 
may  w:ell  be  proud  of  their  honors. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Music  at  Horticultural  Exhibitions. — A 
correspondent  refers  to  the  annoyance  from 
music  at  some  shows — interfering  with  the  con- 
versation and  study  of  the  articles  on  exhibition. 
We  think  the  majority  of  people  like  the  music; 
and  we  are  sorry  to  say,  many  horticulturists  do 
not  take  as  much  interest  in  these  exhibits  as 
they  ought  to  do.  It  is  possible  to  so  have  an 
exhibition  that  the  public  shall  be  entirely  satis- 
fied with  the  horticultural  products  alone;  but 
when  not,  the  managers  must  be  excused  if  they 
look  to  other  arts  besides  that  of  gardening,  to 
give  the  public  the  full  worth  of  their  money. 
Nothing  would  gratify  us  more  than  to  see  horti- 
culture alone  command  entire  attention,  and  we 
hope  that  day  will  come. 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 


DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


OCTOBER,  1877. 


Number  226. 


LOWER  ||ARDEN  AND  PLEASURE  i^ROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Flower  Garden  and  Pleasure  Ground. — 
Again  we  may  call  attention  to  the  necessity  of 
having  colored  maps  for  the  bedding  plants  of 
next  year,  so  that  due  preparation  of  the  plants 
during  Winter  may  be  made.  In  our  country 
we  may  use  many  hardy  things  very  effectually 
which  will  not  make  so  much  demand  on  green- 
house and  greenhouse  care  during  Winter. 
Very  beautiful  effects  may  be  made  by  massing 
shrubs,  and  these  will  not  cost  much.  The 
defect  in  most  of  our  gardening  experiences  is 
that  the  cost  exceeds  anticipation.  Many  of  our 
gardens  are  too  large.  See  at  this  season  how 
the  garden  may  be  cut  down  so  as  to  make  the 
balance  more  beautiful. 

One  great  want  of  American  gardening  is 
good  roads  in  Winter.  It  is  next  to  impossible 
to  have  them  of  gravel  or  other  material  without 
great  expense.  In  many  surburban  places  it  is 
now  customary  not  to  spend  much  on  foot 
paths,  filling  up  with  sand  or  any  light  material 
which  will  make  good  walking  for  ordinary 
weather ;  and  to  depend  on  board  walks,  or 
permanent  paved  ways  for  wet  times. 

In  few  things  in  American  gardening  has 
there  been  so  much  improvement  as  in  lawn- 
making.  Sodding  or  laying  turf  is  now  only 
used  for  bordering  or  where  an  immediate  effect 
is  wanted.  Sowing  is  generally  practiced.  The' 
grass  seed  may  be  sown  in  October.  Green 
grass  (Blue  of  Kentucky)  is  the  best.  A  little 
rye   may  be  sown   with   it  in  Fall,  but  not  in 


Spring.  Its  use  is  to  make  a  little  shade  to  keep 
the  young  plants  from  thawing  out.  It  can  be 
mowed  at  once  next  year,  but  must  not  be 
mowed  close,  one  inch  the  first  year  is.  enough. 
Weeds  are  often  troublesome  in  a  newly  seeded 
lawn,  but  if  the  ereen  grass  is  not  cut  too  close, 
in  two  or  three  years  it  will  crowd  out  most  of 
the  weeds. 

There  is  probably  no  branch  of  gardening 
more  pleasing  than  that  which  embraces  hardy 
bulbs.  They  come  into  flower  so  early,  and 
grow  with  so  little  care,  that  every  one  may 
grow  them  at  a  small  cost.  Of  those  which 
may  be  planted  this  month  are  Hyacinths, 
Tulips,  Crocus,  Narcissus,  Japan  Lilies,  Ane- 
mones, Ranunculus,  Crown  Imperials,  Snowdrops 
— among  the  better  known  varieties.  All  of 
these  prefer  a  soil  that  is  rich  and  not  dry,  but 
by  no  means  a  wet  soil.  The  Tulip,  Anemone 
and  Ranunculus  will  do  better  in  a  dryer  soil 
than  the  others;  but  the  two  last  do  not  do  well 
where  the  sun  will  shine  directly  on  them  when 
in  flower.  In  planting  these  in  the  flower  beds, 
it  is  well  to  set  them  so  that  Spring  planted 
flowers  for  Summer  bedding  can  go  between 
them.  Where  some  loose  litter  can  be  had,  it 
may  be  used  to  cover  the  bulb-ground  with.  It 
prevents  thawing  of  the  soil  till  the  warm  Spring 
rain  comes;  and  we  presume  our  readers  know 
that  it  is  the  repeated  thawings  which  "  draw  " 
the  roots  of  things  out  in  the  late  Winter 
months,  and  leave  them  bare  to  the  sun,  and  to 
their  great  injury. 

Many  kinds  of  hardy   annuals   flowTer  much 


290 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[Octobe> 


better  next  Spring,  when  sown  at  this  season  of 
the  year.  A  warm,  rich  border  should  be  chosen, 
and  the  seed  put  in  at  once.  Early  in  Spring 
they  must  be  transplanted  to  the  desired  position 
in  the  flower  bed. 

Many  persons  complain  that  they  cannot  get 
the  Pansy  to  produce  flowers  as  handsome  as 
they  see  them  represented  in  seedmen's  plates; 
but  it  is  because  they  are  not  sown  early  enough. 
If  not  already  done,  sow  them  at  once, — if  they 
can  have  the  protection  of  a  cold  frame  all  the 
better.  These  cold  frames  are  very  useful  in 
small  flower  gardens.  There  are  many  little 
things  pretty  hardy,  but  which  are  much  better 
with  this  protection.  Many  people  have  much 
difficulty  in  keeping  over  choice  kinds  of  roses, 
such  as  Teas,  Chinas  and  Bourbons.  But  if 
these  are  lifted  from  the  ground  early  in  October 
and  set  thickly  in  a  cold  frame,  they  can 
generally  be  kept  very  well.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  degree  of  frost  which  injures  them,  as  it  is 
the  drying  influence  of  the  frost;  and  the  frame 
aids  in  the  prevention  of  evaporation.  We  know 
of  a  rose-grower  who  keeps  the  tenderest  of  roses 
in  pots  in  a  house  without  any  fire,  though  the 
temperature  outside  goes  below  zero,  and  the 
roses  are  frozen  solid  most  of  the  Winter.  But 
he  waters  as  regularly  as  through  the  Summer, 
as  the  frost  dries  so.  He  finds  even  the  tenderest 
to  get  through  the  Winter  in  this  house  as  well 
as  if  there  were  no  frost. 

Summer  flower  bulbs  must  be  taken  up  at 
once  for  Winter  protection.  A.  cellar,  secure 
from  frost,  is  the  best  place.  Here  Caladiums, 
Tuberoses,  Gladiolus,  Tritomas,  Dahlias,  Tigri- 
dias  and  similar  things,  which  do  not  like  frost, 
may  be  preserved.  The  Pampas  grass  may  also 
be  kept  in  a  cellar,  if  fitted  into  a  tub  or  large 
pot,  and  not  kept  too  warm  or  wet.  Usually 
they  will  keep  out  of  doors  if  dry  leaves  be  put 
thickly  over  them,  and  a  box  put  over  to  keep 
the  leaves  dry;  but  many  were  lost  in  this  way 
last  Winter. 

We  cannot  have  the  English  Ivy  to  any  great 
extent  in  the  Northern  States,  but  the  Japan 
creeping  Euonymus  is  a  good  substitute.  It 
creeps  over  walls,  trees  and  fences  just  as  ivy 
does,  and  seems  hardy  very  far  north.  We  give 
an  illustration  of  it  in  Science  Department  of 
this  number.  The  kind  in  culture  is  chiefly 
variegated  with  white;  but  for  those  who  prefer 
the  full  green,  it  very  often  kindly  throws  out 
the  original  green-leaved  condition. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


NEW  TUBEROUS   BEGONIAS. 

BY  DANIEL  BARKER,  NORFOLK,  VA. 

This  new  and  beautiful  race  of  Begonias  is 
destined  to  occupy  a  very  prominent  place  in 
ornamental  gardening  (by  what  we  may  judge 
of  the  plants  set  out  in  some  of  our  city 
gardens)  as  much  so  as  theZonale  Geraniums  at 
the  present  day.  We  find  some  of  them  eminently 
adapted  for  planting  out  in  a  partially  shaded 
place,  and  for  the  decoration  of  the  greenhouse, 
conservatory  or  parlor  windows,  as  when  cultiva- 
ted in  pots  they  make  superb  specimens,  it 
being  not  unusual  to  have  single  plants  from  two 
to  three  feet  through  and  three  feet  high  covered 
with  blossoms,  which  they  produce  in  extrava- 
gant profusion  throughout  the  Summer  and 
Autumn  months. 

The  following  new  and  beautiful  varieties, 
with  their  profuse  flowering  quality  and  magni- 
ficent foliage,  are  selected  from  a  large  collection 
raised  at  our  establishment  this  season: 

The  Bride. — A  magnificent  variety,  flowers 
opening  a  pure  white,  foliage  a  dark  velvety 
green,  very  effectual. 

No.  2.  Large  flowers  of  a  beautiful  bright 
canary -yellow  foliage,  finely  variegated,  a  charm- 
ing variety. 

No.  3.  Foliage  beautifully  mottled  with  dark 
green,  producing  flowers  of  a  rich  salmon  tint, 
which  are  produced  in  extravagant  profusion,  a 
beautiful  variety. 

No.  4.  A  superb  variety,  producing,  in  the 
greatest  profusion,  flowers  of  a  rich  deep  ma- 
genta, extremely  showy. 

No.  5.  Intense  orange-scarlet  flowers,  very 
elegant  and  distinct. 

No.  6.  A  very  attractive  variety,  flowers  large, 
of  a  beautiful  rosy  salmon  which  are  produced 
in  the  greatest  profusion,  a  charming  variety. 


A  NEW  LATE  FLOWERING   MAGNOLIA. 

BY  SAMUEL  PARSONS,  FLUSHING,  N.  Y. 

In  the  Gardener's  Monthly  for  July,  an  interest- 
ing notice  was  given  of  Magnolia  Halleana  and 
Thurberi,  comparatively  new  varieties  that  were 
brought  from  Japan  fifteen  years  since  by  Dr. 
Hall,  propagated  by  Parsons  &  Co.,  and  thus 
inherited  by  the  present  firms  of  kindred  names. 
The  hardiness  of  these  Magnolias  is  unquestion- 


1877.1 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


291 


able  and  unsurpassed,  having  been  tested  these 
many  years  by  the  various  nurseries  of  Flushing, 
and  by  hundreds  of  persons  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  to  whom  they  have  been  sold.  It  is 
gratifying  to  learn  that  so  valuable  a  variety  as 
Magnolia  Thurberi  can  bloom,  since  never 
before,  to  our  knowledge,  has  a  single  flower 
appeared  in  America.  In  all  probability,  ma- 
ture age  is  necessary,  in  this  case,  to  produce 
wood  suitable  for  flowering. 

My  main  object,  however,  is  to  call  attention 
to  another  variety,  or  perhaps,  species,  Magnolia 
Hypoleuca,  which  deserves  consideration,  not 
only  for  beauty,  but  extreme  rarity,  never 
having  been  offered  for  sale  in  America,  nor  as 
far  as  I  know,  in  Europe.  The  merit  of  this 
variety  lies  chiefly  in  the  great  beauty  of  its 
milk-white  flowers,  which  resemble  those  of 
Conspicua,  and  possess  a  delicious  banana-like 
odor,  surpassing  that  of  any  other  hardy 
Magnolia.  Bright  and  attractive  in  foliage,  the 
under  side  of  the  leaf  is  greenish-white,  whence 
the  name.  Hypoleuca  is  quite  hardy,  having 
been  grown  a  dozen  years  or  more  in  New  York 
City  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hogg.  The  bloom  appears 
about  the  middle  of  June.  Specimens  of  the 
flowers  were  exhibited  by  Mr.  Hogg  at  the  June 
exhibition  of  the  New  York  Horticultural 
Society.  The  firm  of  S.  B.  Parsons  &  Sons  are 
in  exclusive  possession  of  a  considerable  stock  of 
this  variety  and  will  soon  offer  it  for  sale.  They 
have  other  new  and  valuable  Magnolias  from 
Japan,  obtained  through  the  enterprise  of  Mr. 
Hogg,  which  they  propose,  as  soon  as  propaga- 
ted in  sufficient  quantities,  to  describe  and  offer 
to  the  trade.  All  Magnolias  are  so  beautiful  and 
valuable,  that  any  real  addition  to  the  list  of 
good  kinds  should  be  very  interesting  to  the 
horticultural  public. 


P/EONIA  BROWNII. 


BY  W.  C.  L.  DREW,  EL  DORADO,  CAL. 

One  of  the  most  strikingly  handsome  plants 
growing  in  California  in  a  wild  state,  is  the  one 
whose  name  heads  this  article. 

I  saw  it  for  the  first  time  this  Spring,  and  was 
immediately  taken  with  its  great  beauty,  and 
have  no  doubt  that  when  brought  into  market 
it  will  be  found  one  of  the  most  desirable  of 
novelties. 

Pseonia  Brownii  is,  like  all  other  Paeonies,  a 
perennial,  the  top  dying  down  in  Winter  and 


new    shoots    coming   up   from   the   root   every 
Spring.     It  grows  about  one  foot  high. 

The  one  to  two  ternately  compound  leaves  are 
of  a  very  thick,  leathery  nature,  the  leaflets  are 
ternately  and  pinnately  lobed  or  divided.  The 
leaves  are  glaucous  beneath,  and  either  glaucous 
or  glabrous  above. 

The  petals  of  the  flower  are  from  five  to  ten 
in  number,  they  vary  in  size,  in  color  they  are  a 
dark  red,  the  centre  of  each  petal  being  almost 
black,  the  edges  shading  clearer  red ;  they  are 
very  thick.  The  sepals  are  about  the  same  size 
as  the  petals  and  vary  from  a  pure  green  to  a 
bronze  green  in  color. 

The  "flowers  are  from  one  to  two  inches  in 
diameter,  and  are  always  found  drooping  down- 
wards. 

The  follicles  or  seed-pods  are  very  large,  often 
an  inch  and  over  long,  of  a  green  color 
and  from  two  to  five  hf  number;  these,  surround- 
ed as  they  are  by  the  numerous  yellow  stamens, 
give  an  additional  beauty  to  the  flower. 

Pseonia  Brownii,  though  enduring  a  great 
range  of  station  and  climate,  is  never  met  with 
in  large  numbers,  a  dozen,  perhaps,  will  be  found 
together,  and  then  you  might  go  for  fifty  miles 
and  not  find  another.  That  it  will  do  well  in 
any  locality  is  evident  from  how  it  grows  wild, 
being  found  on  the  hot  plains  of  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Diego,  and  also  near  the  limits  of  per- 
petual snow  on  the  Sierra  Nevadas.  It  shows 
no  preference  for  wet  or  dry  soil,  blooming 
equally  well  in  both. 

One  of  our  rarest  natives,  and  one  which 
cultivation  will  change  wonderfully. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


New  Cemetery  at  Toledo,  O. — One  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  near  this  beautiful  city  has  been 
secured  for  a  cemetery  on  the  "lawn  plan,"  that 
is,  no  fences  or  divisions  between  lots  but  survey- 
ors' marks.  The  plan  adopted  has  been  drawn 
by  Swagerl  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the 
members  of  which  is  Mr.  H.  J.  Svvartzman,  well- 
known  in  connection  with  Fairmount  Park  and 
the  Horticultural  Hall  of  the  Centennial  Ex- 
hibition. 

Roses  in  Winter. — The  Tea  and  China  roses 
are  too  tender  for  some  parts  of  the  Union  to 
leave   out  unprotected  in  the  Winter    season. 


292 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


Perhaps  the  best  way  to  preserve  them  is  to  lift 
them  out  before  the  Winter  sets  in,  cut  away  the 
unripe  parts,  set  them  all  in  thickly  on  the  side 
of  a  sloping  piece  of  ground,  where  the  water 
will  run  away,  and  cover  with  earth  all  the  plant, 
root  and  branch.  If  one  has  not  a  sloping  piece 
of  ground,  make  a  little  hillock  so  that  the  water 
will  drain  away.  This  refers  to  any  half  hardy 
plant  that  has  moderately  firm  wood,  pome- 
granates or  crape  myrtles  for  instance. 

The  Mocassin  Flower. — They  say  in  England 
that  we  shall  soon  have  none  of  this  beautiful 
flower  in  our  woods.  Some  vandal  has  been 
scouring  the  country  and  sen.ling  roots  there  by 
the  wagon  load,  selling  them  by  auction  for 
"what  they  will  fetch,"  which  was  about  a 
penny  apiece,  hardly  enough  to  pay  freight. 
Perhaps  such  vandalism  will  cure  itself. 

Mademoiselle  Marie  Finger  Rose. — This  was 
noticed  favorably  in  our  columns  last  year.  It 
has  been  thought  identical  with  Mademoiselle 
Eugenie  Verdier,  but  it  is  now  said  to  be  a 
darker  Rose,  and  may  be  distinguished  by  being 
more  spiny  than  Miss  Verdier. 

Hardy  Bulbs. — The  following  are  very  beau- 
tiful, yet  seldom  met  with  : 

Allium  molle,  Anthericum  Liliago,  Arum 
Dracunculus,  Bulbocodium  vernum,  Fritillaria 
Meleagris,  Leucojum  sestivum,  Scilla  amana, 
Scilla  campanulata,  Scilla  Frazeri,  Triteleia  uni- 
flora,  Tulipa  sylvestris. 

Distinct  Phloxes.— So  many  of  the  new  ones 
resemble  the  old,  that  it  is  difficult  to  name 
distinct  kinds.  But,  on  a  recent  visit  to  Miller  & 
Hayes,  August  Riviere  and  Eugene  Verdier 
were  really  novel  in  shade  and  beautiful,  and 
will  please  all  lovers  of  hardy  Phloxes  who  may 
not  already  have  them. 

The  Colorado  Menzies  Spruce.— It  has  been 
suggested  by  English  nurserymen  that  the  fine 
form  of  Abies  Menziesii  which  grows  in  Col 
orado,  should  be  called  Abies  Menziesii  Parry- 
ana.  We  do  not  see  the  necessity  of  these  long 
Latin  names  for  mere  varieties,  and  should 
think  that  Colorado  Menzies  Spruce  would  be 
quite  sufficient,  and  certainly  more  expressive. 
This  is  what  Mr.  Sargent  called  it,  who  was  the 
first  to  point  out  in  public  the  difference,  and 
should  by  all  horticultural  courtesy  be  allowed 
to  give  his  own  name,  without  having  it  burden- 
ed with  hosts  of  synonyms. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Improved  Fox  Glove.— The  Fox  Glove,  after 
having  bloomed  and  kept  itself  true  in  English 
woods  and  fence  corners  for  thousands  of  years, 
has  been  "broken"  by  the  florists  into  innu- 
merable varieties.  At  St.  Clare  the  writer  of  this 
saw  many  of  these  new  forms.  Mr.  Vietch  reports 
that  there  are  even  hybrids  said  to  be  raised 
between  it  and  the  Gloxinia,  but  this  report  may 
have  arisen  because  of  one  variety  having  been 
named  "  Gloxiniseflora." 

Callirrhoe  Macrorrhize. — The  Callirrhoes 
are  among  the  most  beautiful  of  our  hardy  wild 
flowers,  and  are  much  appreciated  in  English 
gardens.  They  belong  to  the  Mallow  family, 
and  have  flowers  of  various  vermilion  shades. 
A  white  variety  of  the  one  above  noted  has 
appeared  in  English  gardens,  of  which  Mr. 
Thompson  thus  speaks  in  the  London  Garden: 

No  white  form  of  any  species  of  this  favorite 
genus  of  Malvaceous  plants  has  hitherto  been 
discovered;  the  present  introduction  has,  there- 
fore, some  claim  to  notice  on  the  score  of  novelty, 
apart  from  its  intrinsic  merits,  which  are  con- 
siderable. It  is  of  very  neat  habit  of  growth, 
producing  from  a  tap  root,  which  ultimately 
attains  some  size,  an  erect  stem  from  1J  ft.  to 
2?  ft.  high,  which  bears  a  corymbose  raceme  of 
pure  white  flowers,  on  long,  naked  foot-stalks, 
articulated  near  the  summit,  the  corolla  being 
rather  more  than  an  inch  across,  and  the  calyx 
without  the  involucral  leaflets,  which  occur  in 
some  other  species  of  this  genus.  The  foliage, 
mostly  radical,  is  cordate  in  form,  with  crenate 
margins  and  long-stalked.  The  plant  appears 
to  occur  in  several  shades  of  color,  varying  from 
rosy-purple  to  pale  rose  and  white.  Sown  early, 
it  will  bloom  the  first  year.  It  is  a  native  of 
the  Southwestern  United  States. 

Hybrid  Aquilegia  Chrysantha. — When  the 
Yellow  Columbine  was  first  introduced,  we  ad- 
vised our  readers  to  take  it  in  hand  and  hybridize 
it  with  the  older  races,  and  thus  introduce  a  new 
breed.  We  have  not  heard  that  any  one  has 
adopted  this  suggestion,  but  an  English  gentle- 
man has,  and  raised  some  beautiful  things. 
He  will,  probably,  get  "lots  of  money."  It  is 
strange  that  the  proverbial  sharp  "  Yankee " 
lots  these  chances  slip. 

Idesia  polycarpa. — We  have  before  spoken 
of  this  new  Japan  tree.  A  plant  was  imported 
for  the  Centennial  collection  in  Fairmount  Park, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


293 


for  the  completion  of  which  no  expense  was 
spared,  but  it  arrived  dead.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
in  the  collections  of  other  enterprising  American 
tree  lovers,  but  we  have  not  heard  of  it.  To 
draw  attention  again  to  it,  we  give  the  following, 
which  has  recently  appeared  in  the  Garden: 

We  have  received  from  Mr.  John  Luscombe, 
of  Combe  Royal,  South  Devon,  a  very  beautiful 
specimen  of  a  tree  which  is  likely  to  prove  a 
very  desirable  addition  to  our  gardens.  This  is 
Idesia  polycarpa,  a  Japanese  tree,  which  was 
not  known  to  science  until  1866,  when  it  was 
described  by  the  Russian  botanist  Maximowicz, 
who  met  with  it  in  cultivation  at  Nipon  and 
Yedo,  in  Japan,  and  ascertained  that  it  was  a 
native  of  the  island  Kiusiu,  at  the  foot  of  a 
mountain  called  Hikosan.  Mr.  Luscombe  des- 
cribes it  as  a  handsome  treelike  spreading 
shrub,  with  fine  foliage;  but,  according  to  Pro- 
fessor Maximowicz,  it  attained  in  Japan  the 
dimensions  of  a  large  tree.  The  leaves  in  the 
specimen  before  us  are  irregularly  serrate,  acu- 
minate, very  slightly  cordate  at  the  base,  the 
larger  ones  about  6  in.  across,  bright  green 
above,  whitish  or  almost  glaucous  beneath, 
with  live  prominent  branching  nerves,  which 
are  reddish  towards  the  base;  the  leaves  are 
borne  on  red  petioles  about  their  own  length. 
The  flowers  are  dioecious;  the  males,  which  Mr. 
Luscombe  has  sent  us,  have  from  four  to  six 
yellowish-green  spreading  sepals,  and  an  indefi- 
nite number  of  pale  green  filaments  with 
orange  anthers.  Each  blossom  is  about  h  in. 
across;  they  form  long,  gracefully-drooping, 
branched  racemes,  springing  from  the  axils  of 
the  upper  leaves.  The  female  flowers  are 
similar  in  appearance,  but  are  succeeded  by 
very  numerous  orange  berries,  which  appear, 
from  dried  specimens  communicated  by  the 
discoverer  to  the  British  Museum  Herbarium, 
to  be  about  as  large  as  a  small  Cherry.  The 
flowers  are  deliriously  fragrant,  their  odor  re- 
sembling that  of  a  Vanda;  and  although  their 
coloring  is  not  brilliant,  their  effect,  combined 
with  the  red  leaf-stalks,  the  varying  green  of  the 
leaves,  and  their  elegant  drooping  habit  is  ex- 
tremely pleasing.  The  tree  belongs  to  the  Order 
Bixine?e  (or  Flacourtiacese),  to  which  our  gar- 
dens have  not  hitherto  been  largely  indebted. 
It  was  named  by  M.  Maximowicz  in  commem- 
oration of  a  Dutch  traveler  named  Ides,  who. 
was  sent  to  China  by  Peter  the  Great  at  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  who  subse- 
quently published  an  account  of  his  travels. 


PlNUS      OMORIKA— A       NEW      CONIFERS.  —  The 

discovery  of  a  new  Conifer  in  Europe  is  as 
interesting  as  unexpected.  It  inhabits  the 
mountains  of  those  "unhappy"  countries,  Ser- 
via,  Bosnia,  and  Montenegro,  and  Dr.  Paucie  is 
the  botanist  who,  after  much  consideration  and 
research,  and  after  taking  the  opinion  of  the 
late  A.  Braun,  K.  Koch,  and  others,  has  descri- 
bed it  as  a  new  species  under  the  name  of  Pinus 
Omorika.  It  belongs  to  the  Abies  section,  and 
is  most  nearly  allied  to  P.  orientalis.  Omorika 
is  the  Servian  name  of  this  tree,  which  Dr. 
Paucie  describes  as  being  of  gigantic  stature, 
equalling,  if  not  exceeding,  the  loftiest  of  its 
European  congeners.  It  is  of  slender  habit, 
with  relatively  short  branches  forming  a  pyra- 
midal crown;  bark  of  the  trunk  brown-red, 
peeling  off,  the  fragments  often  heaped  up  in 
great  quantity  around  the  base  of  the  trunk. 
The  lower  branches  pendent,  with  the  extremi- 
ties only  directed  upwards.  Needles  (leaves) 
of  a  silver-gray  hue,  small  and  short  (about  5 
lines  long),  usually  obtuse;  cones  oval-oblong,  2 
inches  long,  at  first  erect,  gradually  assuming  a 
horizontal  position,  and  finally  pendent;  when 
young  of  a  beautiful  violet  color,  when  mature 
reddish-brown,  with  an  intermixture  of  ash-gray. 
Scales  of  a  roundish  shape,  faintly  striated,  and 
equally  toothed  in  the  upper  part.  The  forego- 
ing particulars  are  from  a  lengthy  article  by 
Carl  Bolle,  in  the  Berlin  Horticultural  Society's 
Journal.  Dr.  Reichenbach  contributes  some 
notes  on  the  same  subject  to  the  Botanische  Zei- 
lung,  n.  s.,  1877,  from  which  it  appears  this  tree 
— "  whether  species,  variety,  or  climatic  form  " — 
is  known  by  the  name  Omorika  from  the  Adri- 
atic to  the  Danube;  audit  is  supposed  that  it 
was  formerly  more  widely  dispersed  than  ap- 
pears to  be  the  case  at  present.  This  is  founded 
on  the  assumption  that,  because  the  name  is  so 
widely  understood,  the  tree  yields  a  valuable 
timber.  Grisebach  regards  it  as  a  variety  of  P. 
orientalis,  but,  whether  distinct  or  not,  it  is  none 
the  less  interesting,  and  another  illustration  of 
the  distribution  of  Coniferaas  as  exemplified  by 
the  cedars,  &c. — Gar.  Chronicle. 

Ceanothus  integerrimus. — The  mountains 
about  the  Yosemite,abound  in  this  beautiful  lilac- 
looking  shrub.  Imagine,  if  possible,  dear  read- 
er, that  you  are  on  a  road  cut  in  the  mountain 
side,  with  a  thousand  feet  of  the  mountain 
below,  and  quite  as  much  above  you,  and  all 
this,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  almost  literally 


294 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


covered  with  white  lilac  bushes,  and  all  in  full 
bloom,  and  you  will  have  something  of  an  idea 
of  what  we  saw  and  enjoyed  one  day,  when  to 
relieve  the  tired  and  over-burdened  horses,  we 
climbed  four  miles  of  mountain  road.  Dr. 
Kellogg  writes  us  of  this  beautiful  plant:  "  The 
young  twigs  have  the  odor  and  flavor  of  the 
spicy  black  Birch  of  the  Eastern  States.  One 
acre  of  upland  well  stocked  with  the  Birch  is 
sought  after  by  shrewd  dairymen  as  equal  to 
three  of  common  lowland  for  the  cattle  to 
browse  on  when  the  low  pasture  dries  up. 
Though  it  does  not  increase  the  quantity  of 
milk,  it  adds  10  to  16  per  cent,  to  the  butter — 
most  invaluable  for  stock  when  a  very  dry  sea- 
son occurs,  or  during  severe  Winters.  The  bark 
of  the  root  is  becoming  celebrated  for  various 
diseases,  chronic  derangement  of  the  liver  from 
miasma,  obstinate  diarrhoea,  etc.  The  Mountain 
Birch  abounds  in  the  Yosemite  and  many  or  most 
parts  of  the  middle  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains." 
— James  Vick. 

Lilium  Thunbergianum  van  Houttei.— The 
most  brilliant  of  all  the  dark  colored  varieties  of 
Thunbergianum.  This  very  new  variety,  intro- 
duced from  Japan  last  Spring  for  the  first  time, 
belongs  to  the  finest  of  this  class  and  is  undoubt- 
edly the  pearl  of  the  dark  colored  sorts.  In 
every  respect  it  is  worthy  of  the  name  of  the 
celebrated  horticulturist,  whose  death  is  mourned 
by  the  whole  horticultural  world.  The  flowers 
are  very  large  and  of  good  form,  bright  dark 
brown,  the  veins  still  darker  shaded,  and  with 
blackish  dots.  It  is  fully  surpassing  the  much- 
esteemed  Atrosanguineum  grandiflorum  and 
Atrosanguineum  macula  turn,  by  its  better  shaped 
flowers  of  brighter  color  and  its  more  vigorous 


growth.  The  plant  reaches  0,3  meter  in  height 
and  bears  two  or  three  flowers.  Probably  it 
will  flower  more  abundantly  when  it  become* 
acclimated  in  these  regions.  Without  being 
injured  by  it  the  flowers  endure  the  strongest 
sunbeams.  We  may  with  full  confidence  recom- 
mend this  magnificent  Lily  to  every  amateur  of 
flowers. — Krelage. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Hardy  Yellow  Rose. — "  Hardy  Rose,"  De- 
troit, Mich.,  asks: — "Is  there  such  a  thing  as  a 
perfectly  hardy  Yellow  Rose?  I  am  told  that  in 
some  Eastern  gardens  there  is  such  a  plant. 
Would  it  be  hardy  here?  You  see  my  doubt  is 
as  to  a  Yellow  Rose  hardy  enough  for  our  cold 
Winters."  [This,  no  doubt,  refers  to  the  Yellow 
Briar.  It  is  a  golden  yellow,  with  leaves  some- 
what of  the  form  of  the  Sweet  Briar.  It  is  per- 
fectly hardy,  and  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  of 
flowering  shrubs-— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Propagating  Tree  P^onys. — A.  F.  B.,Tarboro, 
Mass.  These  are  grafted  on  the  roots  of  the 
herbaceous  ones.  Half  ripe  wood  of  the  tree 
PaBony  is  used,  and  after  grafting  on  the  roots, 
are  put  into  a  slight  bottom  heat.  If  the  wood 
is  not  too  mature,  they  unite  readily. 

Silver  Thorn. — This  (Elseagnus  parvifolius) 
has  been  tried  extensively  as  a  hedge  plant  by  a 
correspondent  who  dates  from  Hagerstown,  and 
who  writes  enthusiastically  of  the  results  of  his 
experiment. 


REEN  tgiOUSE  AND 


<C^3-'^-> 


ouse  Gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


We  hope  that  those  who  want  window  plants 
that  will  grow  easily,  will  not  forget  what  we 
recently  said  about  Amaryllis.  As  we  are 
writing  this,  a  lady  sends  us  a  plant  for  name 
that  "blooms  in  her  window,  without  any 
trouble,  every  year,"  and   it  proves   to  be  the 


Vallota  purpurea,  which  is  the  next  thing  to  an 
Amaryllis.  Then  for  Spring  there  is  the 
Amaryllis  formosissima,  which  can  be  had 
easily  at  any  bulb  store,  and  should  be  planted 
now.    See  cut  on  page  295. 

Lily  bulbs  are  general  1)'  planted  in  the  open 
ground,  but  bulbs  for  flowering  in  pots  should 
be  placed  at  once.  Four  or  five-inch  pots  are 
suitable.     One  Hyacinth  and  about  three  Tulips 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


295 


are  sufficient  for  each.  After  potting,  plunge 
the  pots  over  their  rims  in  sand  under  the 
greenhouse  stage,  letting  them  remain  there 
until  the  pots  have  become  well  filled  with  roots, 
before  bringing  them  on  to  the  shelves  to  force. 


AMARYLLIS    FORMOSISSIMA. 

The  taste  for  cut  flowers  is  considerably  in- 
creasing, and  one  of  the  greatest  demands  on  a 
greenhouse  in  Winter,  is  from  the  better  half  of 
the  head  of  the  household  for  room  and  table 
decorations.  Beautiful  specimen  plants  are  not 
so  highly  valued  as  those  which  will  afford 
plenty  of  bloom  for  cutting.  The  various  kinds 
of  Zonale  Geraniums  are  very  good  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  following  also  comprise  very  useful 
plants  for  this  purpose :  Bouvardia  leiantha, 
Calla  Ethiopica,  Cestrum  aurantiacum,  Habro- 
thamnus  elegans,  Chorozema  varium,  Chinese 
Primroses,  especially  the  double  white,  Daphne 
Indica,  Poinsetta  pulcherrima,  Euphorbia  splen- 
dens,  Heliotrope,  Mignonette,  Sweet  allyssum, 
Catalonian  Jasmine,  Yellow  Jasmine,  Mahernia 
odorata,  Stevia  serrata,  Violets,  Roses,  Cinerarias, 
and  Brompton  stocks.  Tuberoses  that  flower 
late  may  be  carefully  taken  up  and  potted,  and 
will  last  till  over  Christmas  ;  and  many  things 
may  be  taken  out  of  the  ground  and  slightly 
forced.  The  common  white  Lily  is  good  for  this 
purpose ;  also  Deutzias,  Philadelphuses,  and 
Tamarix.  The  common  green  Euonymus  ja- 
ponicus,  is  also  worth  potting  to  make  a  lively 
green  for  mixing  with  other  things. 

There  are  but  few  things  in  the  greenhouse 
that  will  require  special  treatment  at  this  time. 
Camellias  and  Azaleas,  as  they  cease  to  grow, 
will  require  less  water;  but  it  is  now  so  well 
known  that  moisture  is  favorable  to  growth,  and 
comparative  dryness  favorable  to  flowering,  that 
we  need  do  no  more  than  refer  to  the  fact. 


The  various  kinds  of  Begonias  have  either 
been  of  late  years  added  to  by  importations  of 
new  species,  or  improved  by  hybridization,  that 
they  make  excellent  winter-flowering  green- 
house plants.  The  new  tuberous  rooted  ones, 
however,  of  which  the  old  Evansiana  is  a  well- 
known  type,  are  Summer  flowerers,  and  will 
come  in   wonderfully  for  bedding,  we  believe. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


GYMNOSTACHYUM   VERSCHAFFELTI. 

BY   MANSFIELD   MILTON,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 

A  South  American  Acanthad  with  leaves  of 
great  beauty.  The  stems  and  leaf-stalks  are  of 
a  reddish  color;  the  leaves,  opposite,  about  four 
inches  long  and  two  in  breadth.  The  upper 
surface  of  the  leaves  is  smooth,  of  a  fine  soft 
green ;  the  midrib  and  veinlets  of  a  deep  crim- 
son, giving  it  a  beautiful  and  attract' ve  appear- 
ance. The  plant  is  of  a  dwarf  trailing  habit, 
of  easy  culture,  requiring  a  good  strong  heat 
to  produce  its  true  colorings.  A  light,  leafy  soil 
is  the  most  suitable,  and  is  best  shown  when 
grown  in  flat  pans  or  baskets ;  it  requires  abun- 
dance of  moisture  when  growing.  During 
Summer,  it  should  have  an  airy  place  to  grow 
where  a  high  temperature  cannot  be  afforded  it 
during  Winter,  by  making  it  hardier  and  better 
able  to  endure  the  cool  temperature.  It  is  well 
adapted  for  culture  in  fern  cases,  and  looks  well 
associated  with  such  plants  as  ferns.  It  is  often 
seen  under  the  name  of  Fittonia  Versohaffelti. 


MEDINILLA  MAGNIFICA. 

■BY   MR.  WM.  FALCONER,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

This  is  a  candidate  with  the  Bougainvillseas 
for  being  the  most  gorgeous  of  our  cultivated 
tropical  plants.  It  has  very  large  shining  deep 
green  opposite  leaves  that,  of  themselves,  are 
quite  ornamental,  and  a  wealth  of  pendulous 
racemes  of  showy  pink  inflorescence,  these 
racemes  often  being  thirty  inches  long.  It  likes 
heat,  moisture,  a  little  shade,  and  a  place  near 
the  glass.  It  blooms  from  the  previous  year's 
wood,  every  joint  and  end  of  shoot  yielding  a 
raceme.  We  have  a  plant  here  some  six  feet 
through,  that  had  forty-two  racemes  this  year, 
twenty-three  of  which  were  in  full  bloom  at 
once,  last  March.     It  commenced  blooming  in 


296 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


February,  and  continued  in  beauty  till  early  in 
May.  Last  year  this  same  plant  began  blooming 
in  March  and  continued,  more  or  less,  in  flower 
till  November,  which  prolongation  of  season  was 
caused  by  the  previous  year's  irregularly  ripened 
wood;  therefore  when  the  wood  is  thoroughly 
ripened  we  get  a  magnificent  show  concentrated, 
which  is  the  preferable  way.  We  grow  our 
Medinillas  in  turfy  loam  and  a  little  peat  leaf 
soil  and  rough  sand,  and  water  them  heavily  in 
Summer,  and  moderately  in  Winter.  Thrips 
are  fond  of  the  leaves,  and  mealy  bugs  are  per- 
sistently partial  to  the  flowers,  and  without  a 
rigid  riddance  of  these  pests  satisfaction  cannot 
be  had. 


MAIDEN  HAIR  FERN  FOR  BOUQUETS. 

BY   MR.  E.  LONSDALE,  GERMANTOWN,  PHILA. 

Eeferring  to  the  extract  from  the  Garden  on 
this  subject,  and  your  remarks  thereon  in  the 
July  number  of  the  Monthly,  I  would  say  that 
the  Adiantum  cuneatum  is  the  kind  mostly 
grown  forbouquets,and  not  the  A.  capillis  veneris. 
The  former  kind  has  an  arched  and  graceful 
frond,  and  is  a  much  better  kind  for  the  purpose 
than  the  latter,  besides  producing  fronds  in 
greater  profusion. 

The  reason  why  ferns  are  not  so  much  used 
here  as  in  Europe  is,  because  Smilax,  though 
perhaps  not  quite  so  pretty,  answers  the  purpose 
very  well,  and  is  much  more  easily  and  cheaply 
grown. 


A  SUMMER  GARDEN  BOUQUET. 

BY  W.  E.  M.,  GERMANTOWN,  PHILA. 

A  very  pretty  and  tasty  bouquet  for  Summer 
time  may  be  made  of  scarlet  Geranium,  Bego- 
nia Weltoniensis,  or  some  other  pink  flower 
Catalonian  Jasmine,  Browallia  elata,  blue,  and  a 
few  fern  leaves.  The  first  two  varieties  should 
be  used  for  "base  flowers,"  the  next  two  for 
"  projecting  "  and  the  ferns  for  "edging." 

In  making  the  bouquet,  alternate  the  scarlet 
Geranium  and  Begonia.  It  is  immaterial  that 
these  flowers  be  packed  together,  as  the  Browallia 
and  Catalonian  Jasmine  will  make  the  bouquet 
light  and  graceful.  These  two  should  be  cut 
from  the  plants  with  long  stems,  as  the  buds  are 
almost  as  pretty  as  the  Bowers.    They  should  bo 


projected  about  three  inches  above  the  other 
blossoms.  There  should  be  about  twice  as  much 
Jasmine  as  Browallia,  as  a  very  little  blue  will 
make  a  much  greater  effect  than  the  same 
quantity  of  white. 

Edge  the  bouquet  with  some  light  and  graceful 
fern  leaves,  and  a  gratifying  result  will  follow. 

A  round  top  nosegay  is  preferable  to  any 
other  style,  when  made  as  above  described, 
because  the  projecting  flowers  show  with  greater 
effect. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Roof  Gardening  in  Chicago.— Potter  Palmer's 
hotel,  in  Chicago,  is  said  to  have  a  beautiful 
roof  garden.  It  is  to  be  hoped  the  example  will 
prove  "  catching."  We  have  urged,  for  years, 
the  extension  of  this  excellent  practice. 

The  Old  Double  Chinese  Primrose. — In  spite 
of  the  double  kinds,  which  late  years  have 
brought  for  us  from  seed,  there  are  none  so 
double,  or  in  every  Avay  so  good,  as  the  old 
double  white  kind,  which  has  to  be  propagated 
by  a  division  of  the  stock.  The  florists  all  rejoice 
in  it.  It  requires  a  cool  place  to  be  kept  over 
the  Summer  in.  About  this  time  it  commences 
to  grow,  and  should  be  gently  re-potted.  It  is 
one  of  those  things  that  likes  to  be  kept  high  in 
the  pot,  and  then  frequently  watered.  When 
there  is  room  for  a  great  doal  of  water,  by  being 
set  deep  in  the  pot  there  is  great  danger  of  its 
getting  too  much ;  then  the  leaves  turn  yellow, 
or  the  plant  dies. 

The  Papyrus  as  a  Garden  Plant. — The  Egyp- 
tian Papyrus,  the  plant  from  which  the  ancients 
made  their  paper,  is  a  kind  of  sedge  grass,  and 
grows  naturally  in  the  Nile  regions.  In  our 
earlier  gardening  days  we  grew  it  in  tubs  of 
water  in  greenhouses;  and  it  grew  very  well. 
Recently,  in  a  visit  to  the  pretty  nurseries  of 
Miller  &  Ha}-es,  of  Germantown,  we  saw  it 
growing  beautifully  as  a  dry  border  plant— a  new 
illustration  of  a  fact  pointed  out  by  ourselves 
sonic  time  ago,  that  it  is  not  because  plants  love 
water,  that  nature  often  makes  them  grow 
therein. 

Artificial  Colored  Flowers. — These  are  now 
common  in  cemetery   and   parlor   work.     It   is 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


297 


said  in  English  papers  that  some  of  the  powders 
in  use  are  poisonous,  and  that  the  bunches 
should  be  delicately  handled. 

Preserve  Old  Geraniums.— The  old  plants  of 


moisture  enough  in  the  succulent  stems  to  keep 
them  alive,  unless  the  cellar  is  very  dry  indeed- 
No  doubt  many  of  the  hardier  half  succulent 
plants  might  be  kept  in  this  way.  Nor  must 
the  cellar  be  too  warm,  or  the  plants  will  sprout. 


IXORA   REGINA. 


Geraniums  growing  in  flower  beds  are  often  left 
out  to  die,  young  cuttings  being  taken  for  the 
beds  for  next  year.  But  old  plants  make  very 
fine  objects.  If  taken  up,  tied  in  bunches  with 
a  little  moss  in  about  the  roots,  and  hung  in  a 
cellar,  they  will  live  over  Winter.     There  is 


The  Ixora.— While  in  England,  recently,  the 
writer  was  struck  with  the  value  set  on  the  Ixora 
as  a  pot  plant.  They  formed  specimens  of  great 
beauty.  Williams,  of  Holloway,  depended  largely 
on  them  for    show    plants,  and  had   numerous 


298 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[October, 


beautiful  varieties.  So  at  Mr.  Bull's  were  many 
beautiful  ones,  some  of  them  quite  new.  We 
are  indebted  to  him  for  the  plate  on  the  pre- 
ceding page,  which  we  found  one  of  the  best  in 
his  collection ;  it  is  called  Ixora  Regina.  The 
color  is  a  violet  salmon.  Ixora  crocata  is  one 
of  the  oldest  and  best  known. 

Curious  Effects  of  Grafting  Coleuses. — Late 

last  Summer  I  grafted  certain  kinds  of  Coleus; 

the    most  remarkable   of  which   is   Duchess  of 

Edinburgh,  grafted  with  Brilliant  de  Vaise  and 

Golden  Gem.     I  kept  them  during  the  Winter 

partially  at  rest,  and  in  February  I  potted  them 

and  started  them  into  growth  on  a  gentle  bottom 

heat.     As  soon  as  they  had  made  fresh  leaves 

I  found  that  Brilliant  de  Vaise  had  inoculated 

the  stock,  the  leaves  on  one  shoot  above  and  one 

below    the    graft    having    become    spotted  and 

mottled  with    dull    yellow   and    reddish  brown, 

with  an  occasional  flake  or  two  of  the  magenta 

rose-color  of  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  while  Golden 

Gem,  on  the    same    plant,  remains  unaffected. 

Some  time  back  I  removed  the  top  of  the  stock 

which  grew  very  vigorously,  some  leaves  being 

wholly  green,  others  dark  velvety-crimson  edged 

with    green,    and    mottled   and    blotched    with 

yellow    and    dull    reddish-brown.      Up    to    the 

present  time  this  plant  has  not  altered.     Of  the 

next  two  breaks  which  I  took  off  and  struck  as 

one  would  cuttings,  one  is  almost   the  same  as 

Duchess    of   Edinburgh,   with    spots    of  yellow 

here  and  there,  and  some  of  the  leaves  are  very 

beautiful,   being    pink,   cream-color,   and    light 

green ;  this  is  the  prettiest  shoot,  but  the  slowest 

grower.     The  other  is  dark  crimson  edged  with 

green,  and  very  much  mottled  with  amber;  this 

is  now  becoming  very  attractive.     I  also  grafted 

C.  Brilliant  de  Vaise  on  C.  elegans,  which  has  a 

yellowish-green    ground     heavily    netted    and 

veined    with    bluish-crimson.      This     was    also 

inoculated,  the  leaves  of  the  stock  turning  quite 

green.     I  also  grafted  others,  on   one  of  which 

I  put  five  varieties,  using  C.  Emile  Chat6  for  the 

stock,  and  the  following  for  grafts,  viz. : — C  Mer- 

rimac,    Lady    Burrel,    Duchess    of   Edinburgh, 

ruber,  and  Beauty  of  Widmore,  but  as  yet  no 

change  has  taken   place;  they  all  exhibit  equal 

strength    except   the   last,    and    that   is   on    the 

centre  shoot  of  the  stock.     I  find  that  Duchess 

of  Edinburgh,  with   its   many  and  varied  hues 

of  color,  comes   much   brighter,  and  retains  its 

leaves  much  longer  if  grafted  upon  C.  Souvenir 

de  Lierval. — Ii.  H.  B.,  in  Gardener's  Magazine. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Double  Flowered  Cinerarias. — After  many 
attempts,  extending  over  almost  half  a  century, 
the  well-known  Cineraria  has  been  produced 
double.  They  were  not  very  fine,  however,  in 
the  estimation  of  some  cultivators,  but  we  hear 
that  improvements  have  been  made  which  an- 
other season  will  leave  little  to  be  desired  by  the 
most  fastidious. 

New  Violet — Belle  de  Chatenay. — This  is  the 
latest  novelty  in  Violets.  It  is  not  here  yet,  but 
was  raised  in  France,  and  has  been  advertised  in 
England.  It  is  said  to  be  sweet,  pure  white, 
double,  and  to  measure  one  inch  across. 

Torenia  Fourneri. — Mr.  Buist  sends  us  a 
plant  in  bloom  of  this  beautiful  new  Torenia. 
The  old  T.  Asiatica  has  been  popular  and  long 
will  continue  to  be,  but  this  will  divide  the  hon- 
ors. The  light  portion  is  pure  white  in  this,  and 
there  is  besides  an  orange  spot. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Propagating  the  Calla  Lily.  —  Miss  M., 
Brooklyn,  desires  "  to  know  whether  there  is  not 
some  more  rapid  way  of  increasing  Callas  than 
by  dividing  the  plant.  In  three  years  I  have 
only  been  able  to  divide  it  twice,  and  I  want 
more  to  give  to  some  friends."  [When  dried  in 
the  Summer,  as  nurserymen  dry  them,  in  order 
to  get  them  to  flower  in  the  Winter,  a  large  num- 
ber of  very  small  bulblets  are  produced,  and  in 
this  way  a  hundred  may  be  had  in  three  years. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Convolvulus  Mauritanicus. — Mrs.  J.,  Monroe, 
Mo.,  sends  this  for  name  with  the  following 
note  : — "  Can  the  Gardener's  Monthly  tell  me  the 
name  of  the  enclosed  ?  A  spray  from  a  trailer 
that  has  sprung  up  in  a  hanging-basket,  con- 
taining Lysimachia  nummularia  and  a  lilac 
Maurandia.  It  has  leaves  like  the  former,  in 
shape,  but  woolly  and  of  a  bluer  green ;  the 
flower  a  silvery  lavender  color,  and  like  a  minia- 
ture Convolvulus.     Grows  prolifieally." 

Tabern/EMontaxa. — Mrs.  R.  B.  E.  will  find  an 
article  on  its  culture  from  one  of  our  corres- 
pondents. If  any  further  information  is  desired, 
please  send  us  another  line. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


299 


ruit  and  Vegetable  gardening. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Lettuces  sown  last  month  will  now  be  large 
enough  to  set  out  for  permanent  growth.  A 
common  hot-bed  frame,  set  on  a  bed  of  leaves  or 
spent  stable  manure,  will  enable  one  to  enjoy 
delicious  salad  all  through  the  latter  part  of 
Winter,  where  sufficient  protection  against  se- 
vere frosts  can  be  secured.  In  this  division  of 
our  hints,  it  is  more  of  an  object  to  preserve 
them  through  the  Winter  for  the  purpose  of  set- 
ting out  in  the  open  air  in  Spring.  In  the  States 
this  can  be  readily  effected  by  their  being  set 
out  in  the  open  ground  in  a  sheltered  place.  Here 
in  Pennsylvania  they  often  do  very  well  by  hav- 
ing the  ground  thrown  into  ridges  about  six 
inches  deep,  running  east  and  west,  and  the 
plants  set  out  on  the  northern  sides.  They  have 
a  little  straw  thrown  over  them  in  severe 
weather,  and  get  through  the  Winter  admirably, 
heading  early  in  Spring.  The  Early  York  Cab- 
bage is  extensively  grown  the  same  way.  Where 
the  climate  is  too  severe  to  allow  of  this,  they 
must  be  put  under  cover  of  shutters,  as  before 
described  in  our  hints. 

Cabbages  can  be  preserved  in  such  a  cellar, 
though  most  prefer  them  in  the  open  air.  One 
way  is  to  pack  them  closely  together  with  their 
roots  uppermost,  and  then  cover  them  with  soil, 
on  which  straw  or  litter  is  thrown  to  keep  them 
from  freezing.  By  being  packed  this  way,  the 
water  cannot  get  into  the  hearts,  which  is  one  of 
the  chief  causes  of  their  rotting.  Where  plenty 
of  boards  can  be  had,  they  may  be  packed  with 
their  heads  uppermost,  and  the  rain  kept  off  by 
the  material. 

Brocoli  and  Endive  may  be  taken  up  with 
balls  of  earth,  and  set  in  cool  cellars  closely  to- 
gether, and  they  will  grow  sufficiently — the  for- 
mer to  produce  good  head,  and  the  latter  to 
blanch  beautifully  all  through  the  Winter. 

Asparagus  beds  should  be  cleaned,  by  having 
the  old  stems  cut  off  and  the  soils  from  the  alley- 
ways dug  out  and  thrown  over  beds.  It  keeps 
the  frost  from  the  roots,  and  thus  permits  them 
to  grow  and  lay  up  matter  all  Winter  for  next 


Spring's  growth.  Very  early  in  Spring  the  soil 
should  be  raked  back  into  the  alleys,  so  as  to  leave 
the  roots  but  a  few  inches  under  the  soil,  as  the 
nearer  they  are  then  to  the  sun's  rays  the  earlier 
will  the  crop  be. 

Celery  must  have  continued  attention  to  pre- 
vent the  soil  from  entering  the  heart.  Where 
very  fine  results  are  desired,  the  plants  should 
be  protected  from  early  severe  frosts,  so  as  to 
enable  the  plants  to  grow  without  injury  as  long 
as  possible. 

Roots  of  most  kinds,  such  as  Carrots,  Beets, 
etc.,  should  be  taken  up  before  the  frost  is  severe. 
They  all  keep  best  packed  in  sand  in  the  open 
air,  but  it  is  too  inconvenient  to  get  at  them  in 
Winter ;  hence  cellars  are  employed  to  preserve 
them  in.  Cellars  for  this  purpose  should  be  cool, 
say  with  a  temperature  of  about  45°,  and  not  all 
dry.  It  is  not  meant  that  it  should  be  damp, 
as  the  roots  will  become  rotten,  but  it  must  be 
moist  enough  to  prevent  shriveling. 

However,  if  any  protection  can  be  given  so  as 
to  enable  one  to  get  at  the  pit  in  frosty  weather, 
most  things  keep  better  so  than  in  any  other  way. 
Celery  keeps  very  well  packed  in  earth,  so  that 
the  frost  does  not  get  at  it;  but  it  must  be  laid 
with  the  tops  sloping,  so  that  the  water  may  be 
kept  out  of  the  heart. 

Apples  and  Pears  do  well  planted  in  Fall.  In 
our  colder  climates  the  stone  fruits  do  best  in 
Spring ;  but  if  the  young  twigs  are  cut  back  almost 
anything  may  be  set  out  now.  In  cutting  back 
shorten  the  weak  shoots,  not  the  strong  ones. 
Trees  will  do  very  well  in  any  good  garden  or 
field  ground,  without  very  expensive  subsoiling 
or  great  preparations,  provided  they  are  well  sur- 
face manured,  and  rank  weeds  are  kept  cut 
down  and  not  allowed  to  grow  among  or  near 
the  trees. 

In  gathering  fruits  they  must  of  course  not  be 
bruised,  or  they  will  rot ;  and  for  the  same  rea- 
son any  worm-injured  fruits  should  be  separated 
from  the  sound  ones. 

In  keeping  fruit  one  must  be  governed  by  his 
conveniences  as  to  how  best  to  do.  He  has  only 
to  remember  that  if  the  place  where  they  are 


300 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


placed  is  warm,  they  will  not  keep  well,  and  if  too 
cold  the  flavor  is  injured.  If  too  dry  the  fruit 
withers;  if  too  damp  they  rot.  With  this  in 
mind,  he  will  only  have  to  experiment  a  little  tc 
see  what  is  his  hest  place  to  keep  fruits. 


COMMUNTCA  TIONS. 


THE  NEW  EARLY  PEACHES. 

BY  H.  M.  ENGLE,  MARIETTA,  PA. 

It  is  not  a  great  while  since  the  Early  York 
was  the  principal  early  Peach.  From  the  advent 
of  Hale's  Early  dates  a  new  era  in  peach  culture. 
Ripening  two  weeks  in  advance  of  Early  York, 
equal  in  quality,  and  nearly  so  in  size,  it  was 
rapidly  disseminated,  and  for  a  time  was  one 
of  the  leading  market  peaches.  No  sooner  was 
it  fairly  introduced  than  it  showed  a  tendency 
almost  everywhere  to  rot  on  the  tree,  and  now  is 
almost  entirely  discarded. 

The  Early  Beatrice,  a  seedling  originated  by 
Thomas  Rivers,  of  England,  made  the  next  sen- 
sation among  peach  growers,  as  it  ripens  about 
two  weeks  in  advance  of  Hale's.  It  was  quite 
extensively  planted  in  Delaware,  and  in  the 
South.  New  varieties  of  more  recent  introduc- 
tion, however,  have  cast  it  into  the  shade,  as 
they  appear  to  be  fully  as  early,  of  larger  size 
and  better  quality.  These  embrace  Alexander, 
Amsden,  Downing,  Saunders,  Wilder,  Musser, 
Cumberland,  Honeywell,  and  one  from  Freder- 
ick, Md.,  and  another  from  Gettysburg,  Pa.,  both 
the  latter  being  not  yet  named.  These  are,  no 
doubt,  all  seedlings  of  Hale's,  and  except  Wilder, 
I  will  predict  will  not  vary  much  in  time  of 
ripening  when  fairly  tested.  We  may  also  rea- 
sonably expect  that  other  new  seedlings  of  the 
same  class  will  follow. 

With  all  this  array  of  new  candidates  for  first 
honors,  the  time  has  gone  by  for  five  dollar 
early  peach  trees,  or  even  three  dollars,  unless 
this  new  generation  of  early  kinds  will  produce 
seedlings  that  will  make  another  leap  of  two 
weeks  in  advance  of  their  parents.  Such  a  re- 
sult may  not  be  impossible,  but  there  must  be  a 
limit  somewhere.  All  these  new  kinds,  I  be- 
lieve, are  accidental  seedlings,  except  Wilder, 
Saunders,  and  Downing.  These  I  raised  from 
seeds,  the  peaches  of  which  I  fruited  under  glass, 
and  fertilized  them  with  pollen  of  Apricot,  with 
the  expectation  of  producing  hybrids  that  would 


be  earlier  than  any  peaches.  The  result  is, 
peaches  as  early,  if  not  earlier  than  any  now  in- 
troduced. 

Having  seen  or  tasted  the  new  kinds  all  but  a 
few,  I  am  satisfied  that  in  appearance  and  quali- 
ty they  will  prove  as  near  identical  as  in  time  of 
ripening,  and  that  none  are  superior  in  quality 
to  well-ripened  Hale's. 

I  am  well  aware  of  the  freaks  that  peaches 
ofttimes  make.  That  the  time  of  ripening  of 
different  kinds  in  different  sections,  soils  or  lati- 
tudes, is  sometimes  reversed.  Therefore,  in 
order  to  be  positive,  they  must  be  tested  in  dif- 
ferent sections  of  country. 

The  results  of  my  observations  may  help  to 
decide  this  apparently  knotty  question.  We 
have  now  all  the  above  kinds  growing  except 
the  unnamed  ones.  Downing,  Saunders,  Cum- 
berland, and  Musser,  have  not  fruited  except 
on  the  original  trees.  Wilder  fruited  last  sea- 
son under  glass  side  by  side  with  Alexander,  and 
ripened  two  to  three  days  later.  This  season 
they  fruited  side  by  side  in  open  ground,  and 
Wilder  ripened  a  few  days  earlier.  These  were 
on  young  trees  planted  at  the  same  time,  and 
was  their  first  fruiting.  Downing,  on  the  original 
tree,  ripened  a  week  earlier.  Musser  bore  its 
first  fruit  last  season,  was  shown  at  the  Centen- 
nial, and  received  the  credit  as  best  of  eight 
early  kinds.  This  season  it  ripened  its  fruit 
within  a  few  days  of  Downing.  Cumberland 
ripened  its  first  fruit  two  years  ago,  and  one 
specimen  measured  1\  inches  in  circumference. 
Last  season  it  bore  a  full  crop,  but  in  size  rang- 
ing with  Alexander  and  Saunders,  but  ripened 
its  first  specimens  about  three  days  before 
Downing.  It  was  not  reported  at  the  Centennial 
in  consequence  of  delay.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Cumberland  will  prove  one  of  the  very 
earliest  of  the  new  early  kinds.  This  season  it 
had  no  fruit,  the  buds  being  winter-killed.  I 
have  my  apprehensions  that  some,  at  least,  of 
these  new  early  peaches,  may  incline  to  rot  like 
Hale's,  although  mine  have  thus  far  shown  no 
unusual  rot.  Alexander,  Amsden,  Musser,  Cum- 
berland, and  Honeywell  show  in  foliage  and 
habit  of  growth  a  similarity  to  Hale's.  Wilder 
is  one  of  the  strongest  growers  on  our  grounds, 
and  resembles  Hale's  less  than  those  just  named. 
Downing  and  Saunders  show  some  mildew  on 
the  foliage  in  nursery  rows,  but  as  they  get  age 
they  show  very  little— some  seasons  none.  I 
expect,  in  a  year  or  two,  to  report  fully  how  all 
these  varieties  behave  side  bv  side  on  our  own 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


301 


grounds,  which  I  hope  will  be  of  interest  to 
peach  growers  generally.  What  is  now  wanted 
is  a  reliable  peach  to  fill  the  gap  which  Hale's 
leaves  open.  The  Wilder,  I  expect,  to  fill  it  par- 
tially, being  a  week  earlier  th*n  Hale's. 


NOTES  ON  EARLY  AND  OTHER  FRUITS. 

BY  J.  1.  BLACKWELL,  TITUSVILLE,  N.  J. 

The  Alexander  Peach,  &c.  We  have  an  Alex- 
ander peach  tree  third  Summer  from  the  bud, 
two  years  transplanted  next  Spring,  that  has 
ripened  five  pe  iches  fully  ripe  the  twentieth  of 
July;  fruit  medium-sized,  well  colored,  and  ad- 
heres to  the  stone.  This  is  a  promising  variety  here 
for  the  amateur,  and  possibly  for  the  orchardist, 
if  it  will  ripen  before  the  Mountain  Rose  gets  in 
market  from  Delaware.  It  is  useless  to  grow  any 
other  variety  here  to  go  in  market  with  the 
Mountain  Rose.  Last  year  this  peach  sold  in 
Trenton  market  for  one  dollar  and  a  half  per 
basket,  while  Troth's  Early  were  a  drug  at  fifty 
cents. 

Early  Louise  I  think  a  very  fine  peach  for  the 
amateur ;  good  bearer  and  extra  quality,  but  too 
small  to  compete  in  the  market.  Early  Rivers 
is  a  poor  bearer,  and  rots  badly.  We  have  one 
tree  in  very  rich  ground,  and  think  it  not  worth 
growing  here  unless  there  is  much  improvement 
in  it.  Early  Beatrice  ripened  earlier  than  Alex- 
ander, but  may  not  on  trees  of  the  same  age. 

The  Primate  Apple  is  now  the  most  promising 
variety  of  early  apples  that  we  have.  I  saw 
specimens  of  the  Hoover  Apple  at  the  Centenni- 
al Exhibition,  and  should  be  pleased  to  know  if 
it  is  worthy  of  cultivation,  and  if  so,  where  it  can 
be  obtained. 


PEEN-TO,  OR  FLAT  PEACH  OF  CHINA. 

BY   MR.  P.  J.  BERKMANS,  AUGUSTA,  GA. 

In  the  April  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly 
I  referred  to  this  peculiar  variety,  wh!ch,  although 
in  my  collection  for  a  number  of  years,  had 
heretofore  failed  to  produce  fruit.  Some  two 
years  ago  I  gave  a  friend  residing  in  Pensacola, 
Florida,  trees  of  the  most  promising  of  my  varie- 
ties, and  to-day,  June  23d,  he  sends  me  a  box  of 
the  fruit  with  the  following  note: 

"  At  the  time  we  received  the  trees  you  stated 
that  they  would  not  answer  for  Georgia.  I  can 
assure  you  that  here  they  are  a  perfect  success, 
and  just  the  Peach  for  this  climate.    The  sam- 


ples I  send  you  were  taken  from  one  tree,  from 
which  we  have  plucked  twelve  hundred  peaches." 
As  this  is  the  first  instance  of  the  Peach  hav- 
ing fruited  in  the  United  States,  it  may  be  inter- ' 
esting  to  California  and  Florida  fruit  growers  to 
know  more  about  it.  I  add  the  description  of 
the  fruit.  Size,  from  2  to  2\  inches  in  diameter  ; 
shape,  irregularly  round,  and  very  much  flat- 
tened; 1\  inches  thick  on  one  side  and  1  inch  on 
the  other;  a  deep  furrow  starts  on  the  thin- 
nest side  from  the  stem  and  ends  on  the  apex, 
where  a  deep  hollow  is  formed,  having  in  the 
centre  a  deep,  narrow  calycinal  cavity;  skin  green- 
ish yellow  washed  with  carmine,  and  a  deeper 
cheek  on  one  side;  flesh  white,  exceedingly  fine 
in  texture,  juicy  and  melting,  and  with  a  delicate 
almond  flavor;  clingstone;  quality  very  good; 
pit  quite  flat ;  tree  a  very  rapid  grower,  of  open 
habit;  holds  its  leaves  later  than  any  other 
variety. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Best  Apple  in  the  World.— A  writer  in 
the  London  Gardener's  Magazine  thus  boldly  ad- 
vances to  battle  :— "  Cox's  Orange  Pippin  is  the 
finest  Apple  in  the  world.  This  declaration  is 
made  in  full  conviction  both  of  the  responsibility 
it  carries,  and  of  its  value  to  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  of  apple  culture.  Fortu- 
nately the  variety  is  neither  scarce  nor  dear. 
Its  merits  are  well-known,  and  indeed  they  are 
so  conspicuous  that,  in  common  with  other  good 
things,  it  is  always  speaking  for  itself,  and  hence 
it  is  everywhere  largely  propagated  and  exten- 
sively planted,  and  is  on  the  way  to  take  the 
lead  in  the  apple  garden,  and  prove  to  all  that 
our  declaration  in  its  favor  is  warranted  by  the 
facts.  It  is  one  of  the  best  paying  Apples  in 
Kent,  and  it  is  one  of  the  few  that  may  be  trusted 
for  a  crop  in  those  damp  alluvial  valleys  or  '  bot- 
toms,' where  Spring  frosts  make  the  most  havoc, 
and  fruit  growing  is  a  precarious  business." 

Now  we  have  no  sort  of  objection  to  this  if  the 
"world"  intended  is  the  little  English  world ; 
but  if  he  intends  to  challenge  the  great  Ameri- 
can continent  he  had  better  beware.  Have  we 
no  friends  in  Israel  to  come  out  and  fight  this 
Philistine  ? 

The  Reliance  Raspberry.-  During  the  Cen- 
tennial Exhibition,  Mr.  A.  L.  Felten  exhibited  a 


302 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[October, 


THE   RELIANCE    RASPBERRY. 


1877.] 


A  ND  EOR  TIG  UL  T  URIS  T. 


303 


Seedling  Raspberry  which  seemed  to  have  some 
good  points,  and  received  therefor,  commenda- 
tion in  the  Centennial  weekly  reports.  It  is  some- 
what like  the  Philadelphia.  There  have  been 
many  raised  of  this  character,  but  none  so  far 
have  equalled  their  parent.  The  full  value  of 
this  variety  can  only  be  known  by  seeing  it  as  it 
grows  in  the  field  or  garden,  and  what  it  is  really 
worth  will  have  to  be  spoken  of  in  that  connect- 
ion. But  so  far  as  any  one  can  judge  from  the 
fruit,  it  will  probably  be  a  good  competi- 
tor with  that  well-known  variety.  For  the 
illustration  we  are  indebted  to  Messrs.  Gibson  & 
Bennett,  of  Woodbury,  N.  J. 

Tea  in  California. — The  newspapers  are  try- 
ing to  induce  attempts  at  Tea  culture  in  Califor- 
nia. It  is  found  by  experience  that  Asiatic  trees 
do  not  do  so  well  on  the  Pacific  as  on  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  of  our  country.  It  does  very  well  in  the 
older  Southern  States,  but  they  cannot  compete 
with  low  Chinese  labor.  We  fear  that  until  the 
wages  of  the  Chinese  tea  laborer  in  China  is 
nearly  equal  to  the  wages  of  the  American  farm 
laborer,  we  shall  have  little  success  in  American 
tea  raising. 

Smith's  Improved  Gooseberry. — This  variety 
of  the  native  race,  which  we  noted  several  years 
ago  in  our  pages,  is  not  yet  much  known,  but  is 
growing  in  favor  with  Western  growers.  • 

The  Liberian  Coffee. — This,  so  superior  in 
size  and  quality  to  the  kinds  now  grown,  and 
thought  to  be  free  from  disease,  has  given  up  the 
last  claim,  according  to  recent  English  papers. 

Killing  Grasshoppers. — A.  G.  Chandler,  of 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  says  that  grasshoppers 
can  be  kept  under  pretty  well  by  driving  them 
into  ditches  and  destroying  them,  but  that  it  is 
too  expensive.  It  takes  twenty-five  men  for 
every  five  acres,  to  do  it  effectually. 

Alexander,Honeywell  and  Amsden  Peaches. 
— Mr.  Charles  Downing  in  Colman's  Rural  World, 
corrects  a  misapprehension  that  he  said  these 
were  the  same.  He  says  they  are  all  different, 
but  that  they  are  for  practical  purposes  very 
nearly  alike.  It  is  an  important  distinction,  as 
they  may  not  always  come  so  nearly  alike  as 
they  did  on  his  grounds;  different  circumstances 
of  soil,  seasons  or  climate,  often  operate  on  one 
variety  in  one  place,  when  another  will  be  still 
constant. 

The  Concord  Grape. — Concord  grapes  weigh- 
ing two  pounds,  are  not  to  be  despised.     Mr.   N. 


Blanchard  of  Stoughton,  New  Hampshire,  has 
no  difficulty  in  producing  them.  There  has  been 
some  curiosity  to  get  his  manner  of  treatment, 
and,  according  to  the  Massachusetts  Ploughman, 
this  is  it : — "  On  a  favorable  soil,  but  in  an  ex- 
posed locality,  he  has  ripened,  year  after  year, 
on  each  of  his  well  grown  vines,  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  pounds  uf  grapes,  in  clusters  weigh- 
ing from  sixteen  to  thirty  ounces  each.  He 
grows  no  small  clusters,  and  using  only  ground 
bone,  ashes,  and  plaster  of  Paris,  as  fertilizers, 
spread  broadcast  on  his  land,  his  vines  continue 
perfectly  healthy.  His  success  depends  upon  no 
local  advantages  which  may  not  be  found  in 
almost  every  garden  or  farm.  His  method  is  as 
simple  as  it  is  successful.  His  ground  was 
prepared  as  if  for  corn.  In  rows  running 
north  and  south,  good  layers  are  set  eight 
feet  apart.  The  roots  are  carefully  covered 
about  four  inches  deep  ;  the  surface  of  the  ground 
kept  level  and  free  from  weeds  by  a  light  culti- 
vator, or  otherwise.  The  work  of  the  first  two 
years  is  to  grow  good  strong,  healthy  roots.  To 
this  end,  a  single  cane  is  grown  and  tied  to  a 
stake,  pinching  off  the  end  if  it  grows  too  tall 
and  slim.  After  the  leaves  fall,  cut  this  to  the 
ground,  leaving  only  one  or  two  buds,  from  the 
better  of  which  to  grow  a  similar  one  the  second 
year.  This  is  to  be  treated  in  the  same  manner, 
except  that  in  the  Fall  it  is  to  be  cut  eighteen 
inches  from  the  ground. 

"  The  third  year,  a  trellis  running  north  and 
south,  should  be  erected,  the  lower  rail  or  wire 
twenty  inches  from  the  ground,  with  two  above, 
nine  inches  apart.  No.  15  galvanized  wire  is  the 
best  for  this.  From  the  two  upper  buds  on  the 
cane,grow  two  shoots  in  opposite  directions  on  the 
lower  wire,  pinching  off  the  ends  when  they  have 
grown  four  feet.  These  are  to  be  permanent 
arms,  never  allowed  to  grow  longer;  but  on 
these  arms  allow  laterals  to  grow  ten  or  twelve 
inches  apart ;  tying  them  to  the  upper  wires  but 
pinching  them  back  occasionally  to  make  them 
grow  stout.  They  should  not  grow  much  above 
the  upper  wire.  If  shoots  should  come  out  of 
these,  they  should  be  pinched  off  in  the  same 
way.  At  the  end  of  the  season  there  will  be  two 
strong  arms,  each  four  feet  long,  with  eight  or 
ten  laterals  bearing  good  strong  fruit  buds.  After 
the  leaves  fall,  prune  the  laterals,  leaving  only 
two  buds  on  each,  with  the  auxiliary  or  arm  bud 
at  the  junction. 

"  In  the  Spring,  when  the  buds  start,  save  the 
arm  bud  and  the  better  one,  on  each  lateral,  rub- 


304 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[October, 


bing  off  the  other.  Let  the  arm  bud  bear  only 
one  cluster  of  grapes,  the  other  two.  When  these 
shoots  have  made  three  leaves  beyond  the  blos- 
soms, pinch  off  the  last  leaf  and  the  blossoms, 
except  the  three  clusters  above  named,  always 
saving  the  best  clusters.  They  should  now  be 
tied  to  the  second  wire.  When  three  more 
leaves  are  pushed  out,  pinch  off  two  of  them ; 
do  the  same  if  shoots  come  out  of  these. 

"  This  is  to  be  continued  through  the  season, 
allowing  the  laterals  to  grow  to  the  upper  wire. 
Pinch  out  everything  else  that  starts  from  the 
vine.  In  the  Fall  there  will  be  two  laterals  and 
three  good  clusters  of  grapes  at  each  joint  of  the 
arms.  The  vines  should  always  be  kept  in  this 
shape,  with  no  longer  arms,  no  more  laterals, 
and  no  more  clusters  of  grapes.  It  is  all  the 
roots  will  bear  and  continue  healthy." 

Thwack  and  Turner  Raspberries. — At  a  re- 
cent meeting  of  the  Pike  County  (Mo.)  Horticul- 
tural Society,  these  two  Raspberries  were  in 
competition,  and  the  Society  decided  in  favor  of 
the  former. 

The  Thwack  has  proved  to  be  a  favorite  with 
the  large  growers  in  Ohio  this  year. 

A  Worm  in  a  Cucumber. — The  papers  are 
prophesying  that  the  "days  of  the  Cucumber 
are  over,"  because  Professor  Leidy  of  the  Acade- 
my of  Natural  Sciences  found  a  bad  intestinal 
worm  in  one  of  these.  For  the  same  reason  one 
might  not  eat  apples,  or  many  other  things,  for 
similar  things  have  been  found  in  all.  People 
must  "look  before  they  eat"  in  every  thing. 

The  Montmorenci  Cherry. — Mr.  Mumma,  of 
Dayton,  says  the  large  Montmorenci  in  that 
vicinity  proves  to  be  sixty  days  earlier  than 
Early  Richmond. 

A  Kansas  Vineyard. — F.  M.  Fleischer,  of  To- 
peka,  has  a  vineyard  of  20,000  plants  in  bearing. 
The  steel  blue  bud  borer  is  his  worst  enemy. 
They  work  when  the  vines  are  pushing.  He 
goes  over  each  vine,  and  with  a  sudden  jar,  they 
fall  into  sheets  as  in  curculio  catching. 

The  Shropshire  Damson  Plum. — This  is  said 
to  be  quite  popular  in  Central  and  Southern  Ohio, 
and  to  be  in  some  respects  superior  to  the  com- 
mon Damson.  In  the  Cincinnati  markets  there 
are  few  plums  but  Damsons  to  be  seen,  but  these 
are  abundant. 

Salad  for  Early  Spring. — There  are  few 
things  more  desirable  in  early  Spring  than  Let- 
tuce,    ft  likes  cool  weather,  and  does   not  mind 


it  quite  cold  if  it  is  not  too  much  exposed  to 
light  in  the  Winter  season.  Frames  with  board 
shutters  make  capital  places  to  shelter  them. 
The  frames  need  be  but  a  few  inches  high.  Every 
little  garden  might  at  least  have  a  few  square 
feet  so  covered.  The  cabbage  lettuces  are  con- 
sidered good  for  Winter  work,  and  September  a 
good  month  to  sow,  or  even  October  in  warmer 
regions. 

Mushroom  Growing. — We  hope  those  of  our 
readers  who  have  cellars  or  places  where  a  tem- 
perature of  about  60°  may  be  regularly  main- 
tained during  Winter,  will  not  neglect  to  try  to 
raise  Mushrooms,  for  the  culture  of  which  our 
back  volumes  contain  complete  instruction. 
Now  is  the  time  to  think  about  preparing  the 
beds  or  boxes  if  there  is  no  room  for  complete 
beds.  In  this  connection  the  following  hint  of 
information  from  the  Gardeners1  Record,  will  be 
valuable: 

"  It  may  interest  those  of  our  readers  who  cul- 
tivate Mushrooms  artificially,  to  learn  that  they 
may  increase  the  size  of  these  much  esteemed 
edible  fungi  without  in  any  way  deteriorating 
their  quality  by  watering  their  beds  from  time 
to  time  with  a  solution  of  saltpetre,  beds  thus 
treated  having  produced  Mushrooms  weighing 
as  much  as  seven  pounds  ten  oz.  each." 

Whole  or  Cut  Sets  in  Pqtato  Planting. — 
Discussions  still  go  on  in  the  agricultural  pa- 
pers as  to  the  relative  advantage  of  whole  or 
cut  sets.  It  is  not  a  question  of  sets.  It  is  one 
of  the  eye.  A  strong  eye  is  better  than  a  weak 
eye.  It  does  not  matter  whether  the  eye  is  on 
a  cut  set  or  a  whole  potato.  A  weak  eye  makes 
a  weak  plant,  a  strong  eye  a  strong  one. 

Steeping  Seeds  in  Chlorine  and  Camphor- 
ated Water. — Experiments  at  Cornell  are  report- 
ed as  showing,  beet  seeds  so  steeped  showed  the 
line  in  three  days,  those  not  steeped  did  not 
appear  till  some  time  after.  The  result  is  pro- 
posed to  show  the  value  of  chlorine  as  a  steep. 
But  we  think  it  likely  that  a  soak  in  pure  water 
would  have  hastened  the  germination  just  as 
well. 


NEW  FRUITS. 


Captain  Jack  Strawberry. — This  variety, 
raised  by  Mr.  Samuel  Miller,  of  Missouri,  we 
hear  well  spoken  of  everywhere.  It  is  said  to  be 
near  Albany  Seedling  in  many  of  its  good  quali- 
ties, with  some  superior  advantages. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


305 


Gregg  Raspberry. — This  is  a  new  Black  Cap, 
which  excited  attention  at  the  Centennial  exhi- 
bition last  year.  Mr.  N.  Ohmer,  of  Dayton, 
excellent  authority,  believes  it  will  supersede  the 
Mammoth  Cluster,  which  so  far  has  been  the 
leading  Black  Cap. 

Lee's  Black  Currant.— A  Toronto  paper 
says : — "  Messrs.  Leslie  &  Son  have  sent  us  a  fruit- 
ing branch  of  this  new  and  from  all  appearan- 
ces valuable  variety  of  fruit.  The  branch 
throughout  its  entire  length  is  thickly  hung  with 
currants  that  will  average  half  an  inch  in  di- 
ameter. Many  of  the  finest  of  them  are  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  through.  The  flavor  is 
excellent  and  the  skin  of  the  fruit  remarkably 
thin."  The  Black  Currant  has  not  been  popular 
in  the  United  States;  if  it  were,  the  fine  black 
Utah  varieties  would  be  in  demand.  They  are 
larger  and  yet  quite  as  good  in  flavor  as  the 
European  Black  Currants.  They  are  varieties 
of  the  "Missouri"  Currant. 

The  Pioneer  Strawberry  is  a  new  variety, 
and  said  to  be  peculiarly  an  early  oie. 


S CHAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


A  Good  Early  Pear. — A  Penn.  correspondent 
writes  that  for  three  years  past  he  has  had  the 


Julienne  and  the  Manning's  Elizabeth  growing 
side  by  side,  and  that  the  former  proves  slightly 
astringent.  It  is  not  so  good  a  Pear  as  the  latter, 
but  a  few  days  earlier. 

Early  Peaches  in  Texas. — A  correspondent 
from  Austin,  writes:  —  This  year  the  Early 
Beatrice  first  ripened  on  the  26th  of  May,  and 
the  Early  Louise  and  Rivers  a  few  days  later ; 
some  of  both  being  mature  before  the  last  to  ripen 
of  the  Early  Beatrice.  Here  the  Early  Rivers 
is  a  very  fine  peach,  large  and  delicious.  We 
had  a  wet  spell  about  the  time  of  the  ripening 
of  Hale's  Early,  and  they  rotted  mostly,  so  much 
so  that  if  I  did  not  think  the  trees  would  do 
better  next  year  I  would  cut  them  all  down.  In 
my  orchard  I  have  a  succession  of  ripe  peaches 
from  the  last  of  May  to  the  middle  and  last  of 
November.  I  generally  eat  freely  of  peaches, 
cream  and  sugar,  twice  a  day  and  find  them  re- 
markably healthy.  Our  Apricots  and  Nectarines 
are  also  very  fine,  the  curculio  not  having  found 
my  orchard. 

What  is  a  Fruit?— A  correspondent  inquires 
whether  in  an  agricultural  exhibition  a  Tomato 
would  be  classed  among  fruits  or  vegetables? 
Botanically  of  course  a  Tomato  is  a  fruit,  but 
in  horticulture  we  class  those  things  as  "fruits" 
only,  which  secrete  sugar  when  ripe.  The  To- 
mato must  go  with  vegetables. 


if  ATURAL  IMlSTORY  AND  SCIENCE. 


COMMUNICA  7  IONS. 


TUMBLE  WEED. 

BY   MR.    E.    HALL,   PROF.   BEAL   AND   REV.    L.   J. 
TEMPLIN. 

Mr.  Hall  says  : — "  Seeing  by  the  July  Monthly 
that  the  botanists  are  getting  involved  in  the 
Tumble  Weed  controversy  (as  per  S.  Watson), 
you  may  say  to  your  readers  that  Mr.  Weir's 
Tumble  Weed  is  the  Cycloloma  platyphyllum, 
Moq.,  and  behaves  just  as  he  so  graphically  de- 
scribes in  the  June  number,   in  the  Sandy  River 


counties  of  this  State,  growing  abundantly  in  the 
farmers'  fields  in  those  sections. 

"  Amaranthus  albus  is  also  a  splendid  tumbler 
and  is  known  to  all  prairie  men,  but  seldom 
growing  so  abundantly  in  any  one  locality  as  to 
fill  all  the  fence  corners,  and  then  go  on  tum- 
bling over  them  as  the  Cycloloma  does. 

"  Artemisia  dracunculoides,  D.  C,  is  also 
a  good  Tumble  Weed  in  Southern  Missouri  and 
Kansas,  as  per  a  shop-keeper  in  Humboldt, 
Kan.,  to  whom  I  applied  for  information  as  to 
the  plant  when  it  was  new  to  me, — 'Tumble 
Weed  !  !  curious  anybody  don't  know  Tumble 
Weed.'    And  there  are  others." 


306 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


Rev.  L.  J.  Templin  says  : — "  I  see  several  sug- 
gestions in  the  Gardener's  Monthly  as  to  the  real 
name  of  the  Tumble  Weed  ;  some  of  them  may 
be  correct  and  some  are  certainly  wrong.  We 
have  two  species  here,  of  which  I  hope  to  send 
you  specimens  as  soon  as  they  bloom." 

Prof.  Beal  writes  : — "  You  speak  of  Tumble 
Weed.  Amaranth  us  albus,  does  sometimes  tum- 
ble in  some  parts  of  this  State,  when  grown  on 
early  dry  land.  At  least  I  think  it  is  the  species. 
Prof.  Bessey,  of  Ames,  Iowa,  of  the  Agricultural 
College,  says,  their  Tumble  Weed  is  Amaranthus 
albus.  Weeds  as  well  as  many  other  plants,  and 
animals  often  behave  quite  differently  in  remote 
countries.  I  never  saw  this  weed  rolling  about 
in  Massachusetts  or  New  York,  but  I  have  seen 
small  specimens  drifting  for  some  distance  in 
Southern  Michigan,  never,  however,  until  within 
a  year.     This  was  in  Battle  Creek." 

And  somebody  from  Rockford,  without  signa- 
ture, says  : — "  Amaranthus  albus  is  the  common 
'Tumble  Weed 'of  Illinois!  Cycloloma  shares 
the  name,  but  is  comparatively  rare,  being  con- 
fined to  the  sandy  banks  of  rivers. 

As  there  are  so  many  "  Tumble  Weeds," 
would  it  not  be  well  to  provide  each  with  adjec- 
tives, and  avoid  the  trouble  that  will  otherwise 
occur  ? 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Geography  op  the  Colorado  Potato  Beetle. 
— While  the  writer  of  this  was  in  England,  hope 
was  expressed  by  English  farmers  that  their 
country  would  not  be  warm  enough  in  Summer 
to  encourage  the  beetle.  But  on  the  contrary, 
Prof.  C.  V.  Riley  has  recently  stated  that  it  does 
not  like  high  Summer  heats,  and  that  the  South- 
ern States  of  our  own  country  will  for  that  rea- 
son never  be  overburdened  with  the  pest.  Un- 
fortunately the  potato  does  best  in  the  temperate 
regions,  where  the  Colorado  beetle  doth  best  love 
to  feed. 

Euonymus  radicans. — In  our  last  year's  vol- 
ume Mr.  Boeh mer  contributed  a  highly  interest- 
ing paper  on  the  Flora  of  Japan,  and  our 
readers  may  remember  that  a  reference  was 
made  to  the  Euonymus  radicans  as  being  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  forest  scenery; 
clinging  to  the  trees  and  covering  them  with 
verdure,  as  the  ivy  does  the  walls  and  trees  of 
old  England.  We  have  had  the  variegated 
variety  of  this  under  culture  for  a  year  or  two, 


but  had  noticed  no  disposition  to  send  out  roots 
in  this  way,  and  feared  the  wrong  species  wras 
being  grown.  But  we  placed  one  against  a 
tree  to  test  it  and  find  it  does  run  in  that  way 
when  it  can  get  anything  to  cling  to,  and  is 
undoubtedly  the  kind  referred  to  by  our  friend 
in  his  Japan  forest  sketches.  As  the  English  ivy 
is  not  generally  hardy  in  our  country,  and  this 
so  far  proves  to  stand  any  of  our  severe  Winters, 
we  think  it  likely  to  be  of  immense  value  in 
American  gardening.  It  will  grow  as  a  bush  if 
desired,  when   it  does  not  root  out  as  when  it 


EUONYMUS   RADICANS. 

finds  something  to  cling  to,  and  it  makes  admir- 
able edgings  for  flower  beds,  or  it  can  be  used  in 
the  place  of  box  and  trimmed  in  close.  Consider- 
ing the  time  it  has  been  in  American  nurseries, 
it  is  surprising  that  no  one  has  made  a  point  of 
calling  public  attention  to  its  manifold  uses  in 
American  gardening.  It  will  be  a  fit  companion 
to  the  beautiful  Ampelopsis  Vietchii  also  from 
Japan,  with  the  additional  advantage  of  being 
evergreen. 

Wearing  out  of  Varieties. — In  recent  discus- 
sions on  this  subject,  it  was  contended  that 
varieties  do  not  wear  out,  but  that  they  disap- 
pear or  get  feeble  in  time  from  disease  following 
the  grafts  or  cuttings  from  which  the  plants  are 
made.  But  to  the  practical  gardener  this  is  the 
same  thing.  If  the  variety  die  out  in  time,  it  is 
not  of  much  consequence,  whether  it  is  from 
disease,  or  from  a  constitutional  giving  out,  for 
disease  is  nature's  plan  for  destroying  constitu- 
tions. 

Spontaneous  Generation. — Prof.  Tyndall,  on 
being  asked,  recently,  whether  he   thought  the 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


307 


lowest  forms  of  animal  or  vegetable  life  could  be 
"spontaneously  "  generated  from  inorganic  mat- 
ter, said  be  had  not  made  up  his  mind  whether 
it  could  be  or  not.  He  was  simply  waiting  for 
the  proof  that  it  could,  before  believing  in  it. 

Reproduction  in  Plants. — Mr.  Byron  G.  Hal- 
sted  contributes  a  good  paper  to  the  Scientific 
Farmer,  showing  the  difference  between  sexual 
(seeds)  and  asexual  (cuttings,  etc.)  reproduc- 
tion. He  takes  the  ground  that  the  latter  is  de- 
fective because  it  cannot  secure  cross-fertiliza- 
tion, i.  e.,  "  varieties  will  run  out." 

Trees  will  not  last  forever. — The  preserva- 
tion of  our  forests  is  a  good  idea,  yet  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  trees  will  not  last  forever,  and 
American  trees  do  not  last  as  long  as  trees  grow- 
ing in  Europe.  It  is  far  more  important  to  look 
after  the  planting  of  new  forests.  The  New  Eng- 
land Homestead  notices  that  the  famous  great 
elm  of  West  Springfield,  which  Dr.  Holland  in 
his  history  of  Massachusetts,  says  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  New  England,  is  destined  to  go  the  way 
of  all  things  very  soon.  About  one-third  of  it 
broke  off  last  week,  and  shows  that  the  whole  is 
much  decayed. 

Heating  Cities  by  Steam. — A  very  novel  and 
at  the  same  time  interesting  experiment,  ac- 
cording to  the  Lockport  (N.  Y.)  papers,  is  soon 
to  be  attempted  in  that  city  by  Mr.  Holly,  the 
successful  water-works  pump  inventor.  This 
experiment  is  to  heat  the  whole  city  with  steam, 
after  the  same  manner  as  it  is  lighted  with  gas. 
Unfortunately,  the  entire  programme  is  not  pub- 
lished, as  it  would  no  doubt  be  interesting  read- 
ing. It  is  not  thought  feasible  to  have  one  boiler 
do  the  job,  but  the  city  is  to  be  divided  into  dis- 
tricts, and  each  district  is  to  have  its  separate 
boiler.  Mains  from  each  boiler  are  to  run  to  the 
different  houses,  and  all  the  occupant  has  to  do 
is  to  turn  on  a  faucet  and  obtain  all  the  heat  he 
wants. 

Preparing  Vegetable  Tissue.—  Hansteim's 
method  of  rendering  vegetable  tissues  transpar- 
ent as  described  in  his  Botanische  Abhandlungen, 
heft  i.,  p.  5.,  is  very  simple.  He  employed  it 
especially  in  his  investigations  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  embryo  of  phanerogamous  plants. 
To  release  the  embryo  from  the  seed  a  dilute 
solution  of  caustic  potash  was  used,  and  this  ren- 
dered the  embryo  transparent.  Very  young  em- 
bryos required  only  a  few  seconds'  immersion  in 
the  solution,  and  afterwards  placing  in  glycerine 
to  make  them  transparent,  and   preserve   them 


in  that  state.  The  glycerine  was  diluted  with 
water  and  alcohol.  Older  embryos  required 
longer  treatment  with  the  potash  solution,  and 
subsequent  washing  in  acetic  acid.  Sometimes 
it  happens  that  the  preparation  is  too  transpa- 
rent, and  the  cell-walls  are  no  longer  distinguish- 
able; but  this  is  easily  remedied  by  immersing 
it  in  a  dilute  solution  of  alum,  when  the  walls 
become  distinctly  visible.— Gar.  Chronicle. 

Growth  of  a  Bamboo.— At  a  meeting  of  the 
Societe  Centrale.  d'  Horticulture,  M.  A.  Riviere 
exhibited  specimens  of  several  different  spe- 
cies of  Bambusa  from  the  botanic  garden  of 
Hamma,  Algeria.  Stems  of  B.  nigra  upwards 
of  16  feet  long  sprang  up  in  six  weeks, 
whilst  those  of  B.  viridi-glaucescens  attained  an 
even  greater  height  during  the  same  period. 
B.  Quilioyi  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  orna- 
mental, it  is  quite  hardy  in  the  climate  of  Paris. 
B.  mitis  grows  from  35  to  50  feet  high  in  the 
South  of  France,  and  is  sufficiently  hardy  to  be 
very  useful.  Bamboo  stems  make  excellent 
vine  props,  supports  for  flowers,  &c,  and  seve- 
ral persons  are  engaged  in  growing  them.  It  is 
reported  that  Bamboo  culture  in  the  South  of 
France  is  likely  to  develope  into  a  remunerative 
industry.  M.  Riviere  affirms  that  he  has  dis- 
covered good  specific  characters  in  the  bracts 
covering  the  young  buds.  He  adds,  spring- 
growing  Bamboos  will  bear  without  injury  from 
18°  to  25°  of  frost.— Gar.  Chronicle. 

Danger  of  Fire  from  Steam-Heating. — It  is 
a  question  whether  steam-pipes  in  connection 
with  wood  are  dangerous  ;  not  because  the  heat 
of  saturated  steam  is  capable  of  directly  exciting 
combustion,  but  because  the  conditions  under 
which  wood,  so  placed,  is  liable  to  ignite,  may  be 
produced  by  the  continued  high  temperature  to 
which  it  is  exposed.  The  marine  inspection  law 
of  the  United  States  recognizes  this  danger  when 
it  prohibits  the  use  of  steam-pipes  in  conjunction 
with  wood  upon  vessels.  A  contemporary  speaks 
thus  :  "  Just  what  these  conditions  are,  and  the 
peculiar  combination  of  circumstances  under 
which  they  are  most  readily  developed,  are  not 
now  known,  so  that  until  they  have  been  deter- 
mined by  a  careful  and  exhaustive  investigation 
of  the  whole  subject — which  task,  we  trust,  some 
able  scientist  will  soon  undertake — it  is  by  far  the 
wisest  plan  to  avoid  all  possibility  of  inducing  a 
conflagration  by  taking  the  precaution  to  ascer- 
tain that  heat-conveying  pipes  at  no  point  come 
in  contact  with  inflammable  material." 


308 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October 


To  this  it  may  be  answered  that  wood  in  its 
natural  condition  cannot  be  ignited  by  the  tem- 
perature ever  attained  by  any  of  the  steam-heat- 
ing apparatus  in  use.  In  this  city  the  steam - 
pipes  are  often  in  direct  contact  with  the  wood  ; 
and  this  is  the  case  with  the  building  in  which 
our  journal  is  published,  and  even  in  the  room  in 
which  we  write,  but  we  apprehend  no  danger  as 
long  as  no  other  cause  of  heat  development 
comes  to  the  aid  of  the  heat  produced  by  the 
steam.  Such  causes  are  animal  or  vegetable  oils 
arid  fats,  especially  drying  oils  and  varnishes. 
Almost  everybody  knows  the  effect  when  saw- 
dust or  rags  are  saturated  with  such  oil — sponta- 
neous combustion  may  be  the  result,  by  reason 
of  the  access  of  air  to  the  interior  of  the  highly 
porous  mass  which  constitutes  aheap  of  sawdust 
or  rags.  Oil  on  a  wooden  board  will  not  produce 
spontaneous  combustion,  as  from  want  of  poro- 
sity the  air  has  not  sufficient  access  to  the  inte- 
rior to  produce  enough  simultaneous  oxidation 
to  raise  the  temperature  to  the  point  of  ignition  ; 
but  if  steam-heat  comes  to  the  aid  of  the  oil- 
soaked  wood,  it  may  supply  the  function  of  the 
oxidizing  air  penetrating  the  interior,  and  raise 
the  temperature  to  the  point  of  ignition,  and  we 
are  perfectly  satisfied  that  if  the  rare  cases  of  ig- 
nition of  wood  by  steam-heat  were  investigated, 
it  would  be  found  that  a  secondary  cause  was 
added  to  the  heat  produced  by  the  steam,  or  by 
its  condensation  in  the  pipes;  such  secondary 
causes  being  wasted  oil  or  the  throwing  away  of 
a  burning  match,  which  would  not  set  fire  to 
cold  wood,  but  might  do  so  to  wood  thoroughly 
heated  and  dried.  Even  matches  laying  about 
and  carelessly  treated  may  ignite  by  steam-heat 
and  set  fire  to  papers,  or  the  wood  itself.  But  if 
such  secondary  causes  are  only  guarded  against, 
steam-heat  maybe  considered  as  the  safest  mode 
of  heating  buildings — uniformly  safer  than  cur- 
rents of  hot  air,  which  may  carry  sparks  along 
and  fan  an  incipient  fire  rapidly  into  a  blaze.  In 
fact,  the  causes  of  fire  from  steam-heat  are  com- 
paratively rare,  while  those  from  hot-air  furnaces 
are  very  common. — Manufacturer  and  Builder. 

Abies  Fraseri. — At  a  recent  meeting  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia, 
Dr.  Engclmann,  of  St.  Louis,  spoke  about  Abies 
Fraseri,  the  very  local  species  of  the  highest 
mountains  of  North  Carolina,  which  he  had  just 
visited,  together  with  several  botanical  friends, 
members  of  this  Society.  This  is  the  tree  which 
caused  these   mountains  to   be   designated  the 


Black  Mountains,  giving  their  summits  tha* 
sombre  hue  for  which  they  are  known  ;  they 
seem  to  grow  nowhere  but  on  these  mountains, 
and  only  on  those  that  reach  up  to  or  above 
6,000  feet  altitude.  The  northern  localities 
claimed  for  the  species  rest  on  confusion  with 
forms  of  Abies  balsamea,  the  common  northern 
Balsam,  of  which  our  tree  may  be  claimed  to  be 
the  southern  representative.  A.  balsamea  does 
not  seem  to  extend  southward  further  than  the 
Virginian  mountain  region,  and  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  ascertain  how  near  both  species  ap- 
proach each  other.  Besides  the  well-known 
characters  of  the  cones  and  their  cusps,  excel- 
lent distinctions  are  found  in  the  structure  of  the 
leaves  of  both  species.  It  may  not  be  generally 
known,  though  it  is  a  fact  to  which,  since  seve- 
ral years,  some  European  botanists  have  called 
attention,  that  the  anatomical  structure  of  the 
leaves  of  these  species,  as  well  as  of  Conifers  in 
general,  is  extremely  various,  and  that  this  struc- 
ture well  characterizes  many  species,  and  is  one 
of  the  safest  means  to  arrange  them  in  natural 
groups.  Abies  Fraseri  and  balsamea  are  so 
nearly  allied,  that  without  fruit  they  are  con- 
stantly confounded,  but  the  structure  of  the 
leaves  will  always  distinguish  them  so  well  that 
a  single  leaf,  or  even  a  fragment  of  one,  will  in- 
variably solve  all  difficulty.  The  leaves  of  Abies 
have  under  the  epidermis,  and  between  it  and 
the  cells  of  the  parenchyma,  which  are  full  of 
chlorophyll,  an  arrangement  of  cells  of  thick 
walls,  elongate  form,  and  destitute  of  chlorophyll, 
analagous  to  bast  cells,  which  have  been  called 
hypodermic  cells;  we  find  them  in  all  species  of 
Abies  on  the  edges  and  on  the  keel,  where  they 
strengthen  the  leaf,  but  their  distribution  under 
the  epidermis  of  the  upper  side  of  the  leaf  is  very 
different  in  different  species — they  may  be  want- 
ing there  altogether,  or  may  be  differently 
grouped,  or  ma}'  extend  over  the  whole  upper 
surface ;  now  in  all  forms  of  A.  balsamea  they 
are  there  almost  entirely  absent,  even  in  those 
of  the  highest  New  England  mountains,  while 
A.  Fraseri  exhibits  under  the  microscope  a  con- 
tinuous hypodermic  stratum  of  them. 

Insects  and  Fertilization. — Pretty  flowers  are 
thought  to  have  been  so  made  in  order  to  attract 
insects,  and  thus  gain  an  advantage  in  cross-fer- 
tilization. There  is  no  good  without  its  evil,  and 
thus  we  have  pretty  maidens  to  pull  the  pretty 
flowers,  and  ardent  botanists  to  pull  out  and  dry 
them   before  the   insect-fertilized   flower  has  a 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


309 


chance  to  seed,  and  of  these   last  especially,  a 
modern  poet  discourseth  thus  :— 

"  '  Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air,' 


But  where  a  British  botanist  has  been, 
In  his  collections  you  must  seek  it  there. 

"  Were  it  the  sweetest  plant  that  ever  bloomed, 
If  it  were  rare,  and  he  found  out  the  spot, 

He'd  make  it  rarer — nay,  it  would  be  doomed  ; 
His  spud  would  soon  eradicate  the  lot." 


& 


'■  'J-  .  ■-  ■> 


Literature,  Travels  &  Personal 


Svf 


*% 

©=^ 


GOMMUNICA  TIONS. 


AN  APRIL  DAY  IN  THE  FOOT-HILLS  OF 
CALIFORNIA. 

BY  MRS.  FANNIE   E.  BRIGGS. 

We  set  out  one  bright  day  for  a  little  excur- 
sion in  the  "  hills."  For  the  first  mile,  our  way 
lay  across  a  fertile  plain,  green  with  waving 
grain  and  grass,  and  gay  with  flowers.  Here, 
the  Poppies  (Escholtzias)  made  ground-sun- 
shine; there,  the  Nemophilas  had  taken  posses- 
sion, and  it  looked  as  if  the  sky  had  fallen  on 
the  fertile  acres.  Such  of  these  valleys  as  can- 
not be  irrigated,  are  sown  with  a  mixture  of 
wheat  and  oats,  in  the  Fall,  which  is  nourished 
by  the  Winter  rains,  and  cut  before  entirely  ripe, 
for  hay.  Everything  has  a  flavor  of  novelty. 
We  have  to  "  turn  out "  for  a  mule-team,  but 
its  ten  mules  have  each  an  iron  frame  above  the 
shoulders,  with  five  bells  suspended  from  it, 
which  tinkle  merrily,  and  the  driver  rides  one 
of  them,  and  manages  the  brakes  to  the  two 
huge  wagons  with  a  strap.  This  use  of  bells  is 
a  relic  of  Spanish  customs. 

When  we  leave  the  plain,  the  way  sometimes 
crosses  the  dry  rocky  beds  of  what  were  roaring 
torrents  in  the  rainy  season;  sometimes  crosses 
little  patches  of  fine  mountain  grass,  emerald 
green,  and  enameled  with  tiny  flowers,  and 
anon  climbing  steep,  rocky  hills,  on  whose 
rugged  sides  only  hardy  pines  and  ferns  can 
find  foot-hold. 

Far  up  the  hills,  waving  above  the  rugged 
rocks,  I  saw  a  new  flower  with  the  general 
aspect  of  a  Cypripedium.  Of  course  I  soon  had 
it  in  my  possession,  but  it  proved  to  be  a  Tulip. 
The  stem  was  slender,  branching  and  leafy;  the, 
three  sepals,  small  and  spreading;  the  three 
petals  an  inch  long,  delicate,  pearly-white,  revo- 
lute,  and  curiously  over-lapping  each  other  in  a 


way  that  entirely  hid  the  interior,  which  is 
fringed,  and  tinted  like  some  ocean  shell. 

Well,  this  discovery  was  glory  enough  for  one 
day,  but  on  we  went,  and  soon  reached  our 
destination.  "Beautiful  for  situation,"  a  fertile 
valley  far  up  among  the  highest  range  of  hills, 
sheltered  on  the  north-west  by  a  rocky  ridge, 
and  commanding  a  broad  view  of  lower  ranges 
of  hills  and  their  intervening  vales. 

It  humbles,  yet  exalts  the  soul  to  survey  such 
scenes ;  to  feel  its  own  littleness  among  these 
stupendous  works  of  the  Creator,  yet  to  feel  that 
our  Father  made  them  all,  and  gave  them  to  us 
richly  to  enjoy. 

We  gathered  flowers  and  ferns  for  memorials, 
took  a  long  look  at  the  broad  prospect,  and  the 
far-off  mountains,  and  slowly  descended,  to 
drive  home  in  the  warm  sunshine,  laden  with 
Passion  Flowers  and  Roses. 

I  notice  a  query  about  "  Tumble-weed  "  in 
the  magazine.  Every  one  who  has  lived  in  the 
West  knows  "Tumble-weed."  I  examined  it 
when  I  first  came  to  Iowa,  and  think  it  is  a 
Chenopod,  but  am  not  sure,  for  it  is  many  years 
ago.  The  plant  grows  strong,  and  branches  all 
the  way  from  the  ground,  forming  a  dense 
globular  mass.  In  the  Fall  it  gets  dry,  and  the 
wind  breaks  off  the  stem  close  to  the  ground, 
and  then  it  rolls  over  and  over,  till  something 
stops  its  course.  I  have  seen  dozens  of  them 
"tumbling"  across  a  field  at  a  time,  and  some- 
times they  pile  up  by  the  fences  to  such  a 
height,  that  belated  specimens  go  "tumbling" 
over  to  the  other  side. 


NOTES  FROM  DALLAS,  TEXAS. 

BY   AMMON   BURR. 

As  many  people  from  the  States  are  looking 
to  Texas  for  a  new  home,  and  as  all  horticulturists 
naturally  feel  an  interest  in  what  is  doing 
abroad,  I  drop  you  these  rough  notes. 


310 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


The  American  locust,  or  grasshopper,  fell  upon 
us  unusually  early  last  Fall,  say  latter  part  of 
September,  and  stripped   every  shrub  and  vege- 
table,  and   all  nursery   stock,  bare  of   foliage. 
We  usually  have  a  good  Fall  garden,  but  the 
earth  and  air  were  alive  with  this  pest,  and  noth- 
ing was  raised.     They  seemed  particularly  fond 
of  Chrysanthemums  and  Verbenas,  and  in  a  half 
day  from  the  time  the  first  cloud  fell,  all  these 
were   destroyed.     I   saved   the   wood   of  young 
apple  and  pear  trees  only  by  washing,  or  rather, 
smearing  with  a  batter  of  clay.    The  native  red 
cedar,  and  the  Libocedrus  decurrens,  were  en- 
tirely exempt  from   their  attacks;  but  all  the 
forms   of   the   Chinese    arbovitse  suffered   very 
severely — our  nursery  of  these  was  ate  down  to 
the  ground.     Olive,  Jasmines,  Gardenia,  Euony- 
mus,  in   fact,   everything  seemed   palatable   to 
them.    Ihis  is  the  third  time  they  have  visited 
us  since  1873,  but  only  once  or  twice  before,  in 
the  last  twenty  years,  have  they  hatched  out  in 
sufficient  numbers  in  the  Spring,  to  do  any  mis- 
chief.    Their   ravages    this    Spring    were    very 
serious,  and  discouraged  the  great  mass  of  our 
people    from    making    horticultural    improve- 
ments.    In  a  few  places  the  crops  were  almost 
entirely  destroyed ;  but,  as  a  general  thing,  crop 
prospects  with  us  were  never  better.     Of  course 
they  did  not  affect  our  cotton  and  sweet  potatoes, 
as  these  are  planted  after  the  locusts  have  gone. 
The  fruit  on    tall    trees,  and    grapes    on  high 
arbors,  were  not  reached  by  the  young  hopper ; 
and  just  as  soon  as  their  wings  were  sufficient 
to  bear  their  weight,  they  began  to  leave  us — the 
oldest  about  oth   or  8lh  of  May,  and  the  last,  or 
youngest,   in   two   or   three    weeks    afterwards. 
Even  before  leaving,   they   moved   in   a  living- 
stream   in   a  north-west   direction.     Lime    and 
Paris  green  did  little  or  no  good  in  destroying 
them.     One  man  saved  his  wheat  field  by  attach- 
ing  a  broad,  net-like  cloth  in  front  of  a  two- 
wheeled   cultivator,  in    which    he   caught   and 
destroyed  them.     Another   man   paid   children 
five  cents  per  pound  for  all  caught  with  a  hand- 
net  in  his  orchard.     Others  smeared   pine  tar, 
twice  a  week,  on  the  bodies  of  fruit  trees,  over 
which    they    would    not  pass.     But  this  killed 
some  young  peach  trees,  while  those  with  old. 
hardened  bark  were  unhurt. 

The  experience  of  Rev.  1,.  J.  Templin,  in 
Kansas,  is  very  nearly  our  experience  with  some 
things,  such  as  Tea,  China,  and  Noisette  Roses, 
Japan  Honeysuckles,  Deutzia,  Forsythia,  Wcige- 
la,    etc,  viz:      After    being    denuded    early   in 


Fall,  they  attempted  an  early  Winter  growth, 
and  were  destroyed  by  severe  freezes.  All  of 
the  Roses  appeared  alive  and  healthy  in  tie 
Spring,  in  fact,  were  sold  from  the  nursery 
believing  all  would  grow,  when,  to  our  astonish- 
ment, nearly  every  one  died.  In  the  extreme 
southern  portion  of  this  big  State  I  have  had 
the  English  Laurel  to  be  winter-killed. 

The  hoppers  left  me  only  two  peaches  on 
Alexander's  Early,  one  of  which  ripened  last 
of  May  (the  other  fell  off),  when  the  Beatrice 
was  coloring  well.  This  last,  and  its  sister,  the 
E.  Louise,  are  much  larger  and  finer  with  us 
than  your  chromo  represented,  and  stand  Spring 
frosts  better  than  most  varieties.  They  were 
well  ripe  when  Hale's  Early  was  coloring.  This 
last  is  our  best  and  finest  early  peach.  It  never 
rots,  and  is  always  large  and  handsome,  but  it 
does  not  ripen  its  crops  altogether,  as  the 
Beatrice,  but  keeps  the  orchardists  picking  fruit 
for  five  or  six  weeks.  The  Tillotson,  though 
very  good,  in  nearly  superseded  by  Hale's. 
Next  on  market  is  Fleitas'  St.  John,  large  and 
very  showy,  and  ripening  with  Hale's,  and  gone 
some  time  before  it  is.  Then  comes  the  Carolina 
Amelia,  largest  and  prettiest  of  early  peaches, 
hut  too  delicate  for  carriage.  The  Mountain 
Rose  is  just  being  tested  by  several,  and  bids 
fair  to  be  a  profitable  market  fruit,  as  it  is  quite 
firm,  almost  hard,  some  time  after  being  well 
colored.  With  it,  ripens  Crawford's  Early,  and 
then  comes  Crawford's  Late,  Susquehanna  (a 
better  peach),  Chinese  Cling  (the  prince  of 
peaches),  and  Old  Mixon  Free.  Old  Mixon 
Cling  is  a  partial  failure.  After  these  comes  a 
trio  of  good  Clings,  the  Indian,  Yellow  Pine- 
apple, and  White  Pineapple,  the  latter  a  little 
coarse.  These  ripen  August  15th.  After  these, 
say  September  1st,  come  in  White  English  and 
Picquett's  Late,  followed  by  Goodes'  October. 
These  are  our  very  best  peaches,  so  far  as  tried 
in  tnis  section. 


RHYMES  AND  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  CACTUS 

MAN. 

BY  WM.  T.  HARDING,  SUPT.  OAK  HILL  CEMETERY, 
UPPER   SANDUSKY,  OHIO. 

(Concluded  from  page  252). 

The  genus  Gasteria,  may  be  described  as  a 
comely,  fair  featured  family.  These  very  desir- 
able succulents,  may  be  handled  with  impunity, 
as  they  are  good  natured  plants,  in  whom  there 
is  no  guile.  Of  the  first  G,  fair  pulchella,  is  her 
name.     And   the  second  G,  soft  mollis.     Then, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


311 


picta,  all  painted  and  gay;  with  shining  nitida, 
beautiful  formosa,  lovely  vennsta,  and  the  many 
dotted  pluri-punctata,  and  poor  warty  verrucosa. 
The  few  named,  will  give  an  idea  of  the  many 
left  unmentioned. 

The  genus  Haworthia,  is  cousin-german  to  the 
Aloes  and  Gasterias,  and  their  beauty  is  at  par, 
with  any  previously  quoted.  They  are  a  safe 
investment,  which  will  always  realize  their  fail 
face  value.  Such  stock,  though  often  watered, 
never  depreciates.  Tney  are  wrorth  just  as  much 
to-day,  as  they  were  when  H.  retusa,  and  H.  mu- 
tica,  were  first  in  the  market,  in  1720.  H.  albi- 
cans, H.  margaritifera,  H.  mirabilis,  H.  tortella, 
H.  venosa,  H.  laevis,  H.  cordata,  and  H.  translu- 
cens,  were  at  the  time  of  which  I  write,  inmates 
of  all  good  greenhouses. 

The  little  Apicra  coterie  is  not  so  numerous, 
but,  is  nevertheless,  a  very  select  and  pleasant 
company.  They  are  prim, precise,  and  peculiar. 
A.  pentagona.  A.  aspera,  A.  spiralis,  A.  nigra, 
and  A  imbricata,  are  fair  specimens  of  the  set. 

Kalanchoe,  is  the  name  of  a  small,  but  very 
handsome  genus ;  but  seldom  seen  now-a-days. 
K.  acutiflora,  K.  rotundi folia,  and  K.  segyptica, 
are  the  most  remarkable  kinds  of  the  antique 
group. 

Cotyledons  seem  to  belong  to  the  arabesque 
style  of  plants.  C.  clavica,  C.  spinosa,  C.  oaespi- 
tosa,  and  C.  cristata,  will  serve  as  examples. 

As  the  writer  looks  back  along  the  vistas  of 
time,  and  sees  within  the  old  dry  stove,  their 
quaint  forms,  still  unchanged,  the  scenes  of 
other  days,  and  their  pleasant  memories,  come 
up  again  with  all  the  freshness  of  youth. 

Of  the  Cereus  grandi floras,  or  night-blooming 
Cereus,  to  which  previous  allusion  is  made,  there 
still  remains  much  to  say.  A  large  specimen, 
which  had  frequently  bloomed  before  the  writer's 
time,  was  about  to  bloom  again.  For  some  time 
he  had  watched  the  embryo  flowers  from  their 
first  appearance,  as  day  by  day,  they  gradu- 
ally increased  in  size ;  until  one  day  late  in  the 
leafy  month  of  June,  they  gave  unmistakable 
indications  of  soon  expanding.  My  kind  pre- 
ceptor was  a  sort  of  garden  prophet,  whose 
opinions  in  matters  Floricultural,  or  Horticul- 
tural, no  one  doubted.  No  word,  or  warning, 
from  Delphic  oracle  of  old,  was  ever  more  em- 
phatic than  his ;  and  as  he  prognosticated,  so 
had  the  flowers  progressed.  Well,  this  very 
June  morning,  he  informed  the  writer  that  one 
of  the  blooms  would  assuredly  open  during  the 
coming  night :  and  it  was  unanimously  agreed 


that  himself,  wife,  and  daughter,  should  keep  a 
becoming  vigil,  at  the  floral  shrine  of  the  night- 
blooming  beauty.  I,  of  course,  being  equally 
interested,  was  to  be  one  of  the  watchers, 
and  was  specially  charged  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  for  the  coming  event. 

The  evening  was  as  calm  and  serene  as  could 
be  desired,  while,  in  anxious  expectation,  the 
hours  passed  slowly  by.  During  this  time,  I 
had  frequently  gone  to  and  from  the  succulent 
house  to  report  progress  at  the  gardener's  cottage. 
At  about  eight  o'clock,  I  perceived  the  floral 
globe  was  gradually  enlarging,  arrd  from  thence 
continued  to  visibly  change  until  eleven.  All 
of  which  was  duly  reported  at  the  cottage.  In 
all  haste,  pretty  Rose  and  I  started  to  take 
another  look  at  the  remarkable  flower,  so  fast 
unfolding. 

The  glorious  disk,  or  star-like  flowers,  with  its 
glistening  whity-yellow  petals,  so  precisely  laid, 
and  evenly  arranged  around  a  lustrous  profusion 
of  long,  silky  stamens,  gracefully  drooping  from 
the  centre,  was  in  the  highest  degree  of  translu- 
cent splendor.  Emitting  the  most  delightful 
and  exquisite  odor  possible,  it  eminently  merited 
the  designation  of  grandiflora.  Like  many  a 
beautiful  flower,  and  pleasant  hour,  it  soon 
passed  away.  But  the  remembrance  of  it,  and 
the  evening's  associations,  never  will ;  until  all 
things  earthly  are  forgotten,  and  the  writer  too, 
passes  away. 

There  is  still  much  left  unsaid  about  succulent 
plants;  but  how  to  grow  them  must  not  be 
omitted.  Pot  culture  has  many  advantages,  and 
will  continue  to  be  the  one  most  generally 
adopted.  Yet,  a  properly  constructed  house,  in 
which  they  could  be  planted  out,  in  the  more 
natural  way,  would  be  the  most  appropriate. 
Having  constructed  Fern  houses,  with  miniature 
mountains,  rocks  and  ravines,  so,  would  I  sug- 
gest the  formation  of  a  succulent  house.  Any 
good  friable  loam,  with  a  fair  portion  of  sand 
and  crushed  charcoal,  will  grow  them.  With 
proper  drainage,  and  careful  watering,  they  will 
grow  in  any  ordinary  greenhouse ;  if  the  tem- 
perature, during  the  Winter  months,  can  be 
maintained  at  about  60°.  While  in  the  Summer 
season,  they  will  derive  heat  enough  from  Old 
Sol.  There  is  danger  of  the  broad-leaved  kinds 
blistering  in  bright,  hot,  sunny  weather,  unless 
the  glass  is  made  slightly  obscure.  Nothing  can 
be  better  adapted  than  they  for  the  dwelling- 
house  windows.  A  light  room,  or  bay-window, 
would  suit  them  exactly.     If  a  rustic  stand,  of  a 


312 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


rather  solid  kind,  on  castors,  was  made  for  the 
hall,  corridor,  or  room,  where  sufficient  light 
could  be  had,  with  heat,  of  course,  nothing  could 
be  more  suitable  for  their  reception.  It  occurs 
to  me,  if  the  rough  outside  bark  of  the  cork 
tree,  Quercus  suber,  such  as  they  are  using  in 
Europe  for  rustic  work,  could  be  had,  being  so 
light,  yet  tough  and  durable,  it  would  be  excel- 
lent material  with  which  to  build  a  light  succu- 
lent mountain,  for  either  plant-house  or  parlor. 
And  if  the  pots  are  hidden  in  dry  sphagnum 
moss,  the  illusion  would  be  perfect.  And  what 
a  delightful  time  there  would  be  if  a  night- 
blooming  Cereus  could  be  coaxed  into  bloom, 
and  with  social  friends  awaiting  for  just  the 
time  and  "just  the  hour 

When  pleasure,  like  the  midnight  flower. 
That  scorns  the  eye  of  vulgar  light, 
Begins  to  bloom  fjr  sons  of  night, 
And  maids  who  love  the  moon." 


NURSERY   CREDITS. 


BY   J.  M.  JORDAN,   ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

Every  one  is  supposed  to  understand  why  we 
have  hard  times,  and  has  a  remedy  for  curing 
them.  I  may  be,  therefore,  excused  if  I  say 
that  with  nurserymen  and  florists,  the  trouble  is 
credit.  People  cannot  pay  their  debts,  and  yet 
there  would  be  no  debts  if  no  one  gave  credit. 
Under  this  system  those  who  pay,  have  to  be 
charged  for  those  who  do  not,  and  when  there 
is  a  large  portion  who  do  not  pay,  those  who 
give  credit,  as  well  as  the  borrower,  go  down.  It 
is  seldom  of  use  for  the  lender  to  push  for  his 
own,  as  nursery  stock  does  not  realize  ten  cents 
on  the  dollar  at  a  forced  sale,  as  I  know  from 
personal  knowledge.  Stop  the  credit  business. 
Let  those  do  business  only,  who  can  pay,  then  it 
will  make  no  difference  in  what  shape  the  bal- 
ance of  trade  is  settled,  or  the  sort  of  currency 
used  to  accomplish  it. 

[Mr.  Jordan,  of  course,  refers  to  the  reckless 
use  of  credit.  Nurserymen  and  florists  often 
have  stock  which  no  one  wants  in  the  regular 
way,  and  they  think  it  is  just  as  well,  at  least,  to 
sell  it  on  time  to  a  doubtful  customer,  as  to 
burn  it.  The  doubtful  customer  does  not  pay, 
but  he  becomes  owner  of  thousands  of  trees 
which,  perhaps,  cost  a  dollar  to  raise, — for  noth- 
ing! 

But  he  sells  them  for  a  quarter  or  a  half 
dollar,  while  the  original  raiser  is  still 
selling  for  a  dollar.  The  one  cannot  really  sell, 
to   make   money,  for    less    than    a   dollar,   but 


doubtful  customer,  getting  them  for  nothing, 
does  well  at  half  the  price.  So,  in  order  to  sell 
at  all,  he  has  to  come  down  to  the  prices  of 
doubtful  customer,  and,  in  the  end,  he  cannot 
pay  either.  Such,  and  similar  credits,  come 
fairly  under  Mr.  Jordan's  denunciations. 

But  fair,  legitimate  credit  is  a  good  thing,  and 
there  are  few  nurserymen,  or  florists,  in  the  trade 
now,  who  have  not,  at  some  time  or  another, 
profited  by  it.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


A  KANSAS  LETTER. 

BY  H.  E.  VAN  DEMAN,  GENEVA,  KAN. 

This  State  has  been  called  "  drouthy  Kansas," 
but  it  does  not  seem  so  to  me.  Six  years  expe- 
rience i»  the  State  proves  that  we  have  no  more 
drouths  here  than  elsewhere.  This  present 
season  has,  so  far,  been  very  rainy.  The  streams 
have  overflowed  their  banks,  and  damage  has 
been  done  to  some  farms.  However,  crops  of 
all  kinds  promise  well.     The  fruit  crop  is  good. 

On  the  5th  of  May  last,  a  sharp  frost  thinned 
the  fruit  that  was  set,  on  the  cherry,  peach  and 
pear  trees,  and  blasted  many  of  the  apple 
blooms.  However,  there  is  an  abundance  of  all 
kinds  left  for  home  use,  at  least.  We  did  not 
suffer  near  so  much  as  the  States  east  of  us. 
One  thing  I  would  like  explained :  The  frost 
caused  the  peach  leaves,  that  were  out  on  the 
poorer  seedlings  at  the  time  of  the  frost,  to  curl, 
and  the  fruit  on  these  trees  to  nearly  all  drop, 
within  a  few  weeks,  while  the  better  kinds,  such 
as  were  thought  good  enough  to  bud,  were 
almost  entirely  exempt.  The  leaves  did  not 
curl,  and  th©  fruit  remains  healthy.  Why  the 
better  kinds,  that  we  generally  thought  to  be 
tender,  escaped  injury  that  the  hardier  ones  did 
not  escape,  is  a  mystery  to  us.  Some  one  please 
give  scientific  reasons,  and  state  whether  there 
are  other  like  examples.  We  had  a  like  occur- 
rence here  two  years  ago. 

The  horticulturists  in  this  new  State  are  being 
more  and  more  encouraged  as  time  and  experi- 
ence develope  their  resources^.  It  has  become  a 
settled  fact  that  our  apples  cannot  be  excelled. 
The  show  of  samples  at  the  Centennial  from 
Kansas  cannot  be  gainsayed.  We  now  know 
what  will  succeed  here,  and  if  new  comers  will 
examine  and  plant  by  the  recommended  lists  of 
our  State  and  Local  Horticultural  Societies,  and 
throw  aside  their  old  Eastern  notions,  they  will 
save   themselves    many    disappointments.     We 


1877." 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


313 


have  found  that  the  old  reliable  R.  I.  Greening, 
Roxberry  Russet  and  Baldwin,  are  almost  worth- 
less here.  We  can,  and  do,  grow  finer  specimens 
of  these  varieties,  than  ever  grew  in  New  Eng- 
land, but,  at  the  same  time,  they  are  not  profit- 
able bearers  here.  We  have  others  that  are 
excellent  substitutes.  The  locust,  or  grass- 
hopper, has  been,  and  is,  a  fruitful  source  of  talk 
and  annoyance,  yet  we  have  abundant  crops  of 
all  kinds,  and  there  is  more  scare  than  real 
damage. 

To  any  who  think  of  coming  here  to  locate  I 
say  come  and  see  our  country  for  yourselves. 
The  three  great  thoroughfares,  along  which  the 
best  farming  and  fruit  lands  lie,  are  the  M.  K.  & 
T.  R.  R.,  through  the  Neosho  Valley,  the  A.  T.  & 
Santa  Fe,  coursing  the  great  Arkansas  River  and 
the  K.  P.,  along  the  Kanses  River,  and  its 
branches,  the  Smoky  Hill  and  Republican.  It 
takes  grit,  patience,  energy  and  some  money,  to 
warrant  success.  In  the  poorest  shanties  and 
dug-outs  on  the  frontier  may  be  found  as  refined 
and  courteous  people,  as  through  the  boulevards 
of  your  own  Quaker  City.  Do  not  think  that 
rough,  ignorant  society  is  the  chief  element 
here.  The  Indian's  scalping  knife,  and  the 
Texas  drover's  pistol,  are  of  the  past.  We  have 
far  less  of  the  tramp  and  the  beggar  than  you, 
and  vicious  poverty  is  almost  unknown. 

The  church  bell  breaks  the  silence  of  a  peace- 
ful Sabbath.  School-houses,  factories  and  taste- 
ful residences,  are  multiplying  on  every  hand. 
Orchards,  groves  and  parks,  are  growing  larger 
and  more  numerous  upon  the  treeless  prairies. 
We  are  trying,  by  legislation,  to  protect  what 
birds  we  have,  and  encourage  others  to  make 
their  homes  with  us.  The  Southern  mocking- 
bird spends  his  Summers  with  us,  and  yearly 
increases  as  our  groves  afford  more  attractive- 
ness. 

But  do  not  think  that  we  have  no  drawbacks. 
The  locust  visits  us  occasionally  ;  the  plum  cur- 
culio  is  a  nuisance ;  the  currant,  and  the  sweet 
varieties  of  the  cherry,  do  not  succeed  in  our 
climate ;  the  arborvitse  and  the  firs  are 
grown  with  great  difficulty.  But  we  can,  and 
do,  have  plenty  of  easily-grown  trees  and 
flowers.     "Time  proveth  all  things." 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


European  Notes  by  the  Editor. — I  have  men- 
tioned the  Queen's  private  residence  at  Osborne 


House  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  as  one  of  the  small 
but  beautiful  gardens  with  which  England 
abounds.  It  was  to  me  especially  interesting  as 
showing  how  rapidly  trees  could  be  made  to 
grow  into  beauty,  or  even  utility  if  one  were  dis- 
posed to  look  on  planting  as  a  money  invest- 
ment alone.  There  are,  of  course,  many  trees 
now  which  were  growing  on  the  estate  when  it 
belonged  to  Lady  Isabella  Blatchford,  of  whom 
Queen  Victoria  purchased  it;  but  the  major  part 
of  the  trees  now  growing  here,  were  planted  by 
Prince  Albert,  or  since  his  time,  and  numbers 
are  over  fifty  feet  high  and  six  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. Cedar  of  Lebanon,  which  we  may  with 
justice  call  a  slow  growing  tree,  are  many  of 
them  here  over  forty  feet  high.  A  large  number 
of  our  Californian  Coniferse,  of  which  Prince  Al- 
bert was  very  fond,  are  also  of  about  the  same 
height,  and  many  of  them  I  saw*  in  great  beauty 
for  the  first  time.  The  Cupressus  macrocarpa, 
for  instance,  here  about  thirty  feet  high,  forms 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  that  a  human 
eye  could  desire  to  look  upon,  and  there  are 
some  very  fine  specimens  of  Libocedrus  decur- 
rens,  which,  I  may  say  here,  I  find,  all  through 
England,  "  Thuja  gigantea,"  though  the  error 
has  been  shown  over  and  over  again  in  Ameri- 
can literature,  and  though  any  one  can  see  by 
the  very  look  of  the  plant,  if  they  were  disposed 
to  be  inquisitive,  that  it  is  not  a  Thuja  at  all.  If 
you  ask  them  for  Libocedrus  decurrens,  they 
"  don't  know  such  a  plant."  The  real  Thuja 
gigantea  they  call  Thuja  Craigiana. 

A  very  large  number  of  the  trees — enough  to 
make  quite  an  arboretum  by  themselves — have 
been  planted  at  different  times  by  celebrated  or 
distinguished  persons,  as  memorials  of  their  visit 
to  Osborne,  or  as  commemorative  of  the  birth- 
days of  members  of  the  Queen's  family.  The 
names  of  the  planters  and  the  occasions  are 
neatly  painted  on  "labels"  at  the  foot  of  each 
tree.  Some  of  these,  like  some  of  the  planters 
have  had  misfortunes  in  their  career,  and  looked 
unhappy;  but  the  majority  were  doing  very  well 
and  must  be  a  great  source  of  pleasure.  I  envied 
especially  the  Princess  Helena,  who  on  May  25, 
1855,  planted  an  Abies  bracteata  which  was  now 
thirty  feet  high.  The  branches  lay  flat  on  the 
ground,  and  the  tree  made  a  regular  cone.  These 
branches  on  the  ground  measured  fifty-five  feet 
round.  The  general  appearance  of  the  tree  at  a 
little  distance  reminded  me  of  some  of  the  beau- 
tiful Douglas'  Spruces  I  had  seen  in  their  native 
places  of  growth,  but  the   leaves  are  very  long, 


314 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


and  I  should  judge  a  Torreya  when  old  would 
look  something  like  this.  I  wondered  when  I 
saw  it  whether  in  our  own  country  we  had  in 
cultivation  so  pretty  a  specimen  of  our  own  na- 
tive tree.  The  part  where  these  trees  are  mostly 
growing  is  separated  from  the  other  parts  of  the 
ground  by  a  dense  hedge  of  Laurels  and  Laurus- 
tinus;  and  this  makes  a  shelter  from  the  stiff 
sea-breeze,  very  favorable  to  evergreen  conifer- 
ous trees  brought  from  our  Pacific  shores,  though 
the  hedge  itself  was  planted  to  give  a  good  land- 
scape gardening  effect  to  the  grounds.  There 
are  some  pretty  specimens  of  our  mammoth 
tree,  Sequoia  gigantea,  on  the  grounds,  and  some 
that  have  suffered  from  the  same  disease  which 
has  not  left  us  one  good  specimen,  in  the  East- 
ern Atlantic  States,  indeed  hardly  a  specimen  of 
any  kind  at  all.  Whenever  I  would  ask  the  tree 
growers  of  England  or  France  about  this  disease 
they  would  answer  that  they  knew  nothing  of  it, 
and  yet  I  s^v.  traces  of  it  everywhere  in  both 
countries.  It  is  probably  a  species  of  iEcidium, 
a  small  parasitic  fungus.  It  attacks  the  lowest 
and  weakest  branches  first,  and  thrives  best 
when  the  weather  is  warm.  In  our  country  with 
so  much  Summer  heat,  it  progresses  upwards 
rapidly  enough  to  destroy  the  whole  plant  before 
Winter  sets  in  ;  but  in  these  European  instances 
it  only  browns  some  of  the  lowest  branches 
though  in  a  few  cases  I  saw  half  the  tree  de- 
stroyed. When  I  would  call  attention  to  it,  I 
would  be  told  it  was  "  only  something  in  the 
soil,"  although  a  close  neighbor  a  little  more 
shaded  perhaps,  in  the  same  "soil  "  would  look 
quite  sound. 

There  is  a  long  avenue  to  the  main  road, 
planted  by  Prince  Albert,  with  a  double  row  of 
trees.  The  first  is  of  Araucaria  imbricata,  the 
Chili  pine,  alternating  with  evergreen  Oaks,  and 
the  back  row  of  Cedars  of  Lebanon  and  evergreen 
Oaks.  There  was  thus  three  chances  of  some 
one  doing  well,  so  that  the  other  two  could  be 
cut  away  in  time.  All  have  done  well,  and  there 
has  been  nothing  cut  away  yet.  Our  readers,  of 
whom  only  a  few  have  seen  the  Araucaria  in 
greenhouses,  can  have  no  idea  of  the  peculiar 
effect  this  tree  has  on  the  English  landscape.  It 
is  quite  hardy  in  that  country,  and  we  meet  with 
it  everywhere.  Every  garden  has  its  beauty 
spots  formed  by  some  combinations  or  other; 
but  I  do  not  know  that  I  saw  a  more  beautiful 
piece  of  garden  art  in  England,  than  was  here 
with  an  Araucaria  for  the  chief  centre.  It  was 
on  a   mound   a  few  feet  high,  and  behind  the 


Araucaria  were  two  beautiful  specimens  of  the 
Californian  Cupressus  macrocarpa,  the  dark  and 
feathery  edge  of  which,  seen  on  each  side  of  the 
Araucaria  made  a  sort  of  perspective  shadow  to 
it,  rounding  it  off,  as  it  were,  in  a  most  beautiful 
manner.  In  the  foreground  of  the  mound,  and 
in  front  of  the  Araucaria,  were  pieces  of  fossil 
wood  and  rock,  and  in  among  them  our  Yucca 
gloriosa.  Around  the  base  of  the  little  evergreen 
crowned  mound,  a  narrow  gravel  walk  sweeped, 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  walk,  on  each  side, 
masses  of  Yucca  filamentosa.  The  Araucaria 
itself  has,  as  those  who  know  it  recognize,  a  sort 
of  fossil-like  look,  and  the  Yuccas  are  scarcely 
less  geological  in  their  expression.  The  whole 
made  a  happy  union  and  harmony  such  as  we 
rarely  see  in  Landscape  Gardening.  A  seat  was 
arranged  where  one  could  sit  and  enjoy  this  very 
pretty  feature,  as  I  did  for  some  time.  Those 
who  know  Queen  Victoria  tell  me  that  she  has  a 
keen  relish  for  natural  beauty,  such  as  this.  We 
often  see  trees,  especially  evergreens,  clipped 
and  sheared  into  many  strange,  if  not  really  hid- 
eous, forms;  but  there  is  no  tree-shearing  on 
these  grounds,  except  where  some  object  is  to  be 
gained  by  it,  beyond  the  mere  manufacture  of  a 
monstrosity.  One  of  these  usefully  sheared 
plants  is  a  Myrtle  against  a  wall.  This  Myrtle 
covered  the  whole  surface  of  the  wall  except  the 
coping,  and  was  sheared  so  close  and  regular 
that  one  might  almost  imagine  a  painter  had 
wholly  covered  a  board  with  green  foliage.  The 
whole  was  regularly  about  eight  inches  deep. 

In  many  parts  of  England  the  Pyracantha  and 
Cotoneaster  are  grown  against  walls  in  the  same 
way,  and  when  kept  thus  neatly  sheared  are  re- 
markably pretty — quite  as  much,  if  not  often 
prettier,  than  Ivy.  On  a  large  heavy  wall  here 
our  Magnolia  grandiflora  is  grown,  and  neatly 
trained.  Of  course,  this  tree  is  "  hardy  "  in  Eng- 
land, but  it  misses  our  Summer  heats,  and  this 
wall  treatment  supplies  some  of  this.  Here,  with 
its  very  sweet  white  flowers  and  fine  evergreen 
leaves,  it  was  very  highly  prized. 

One  of  the  matters"  with  which  I  have  been 
struck  everywhere  in  England,  and  which  I  find 
to  prevail  even  here  in  this  royal  place,  is  the 
simplicity  of  the  materials  out  of  which 
the  best  garden  effects  are  made.  In  front  of 
some  of  the  Queen's  rooms,  is  an  extensive  ge- 
ometrical flower-garden,  made  up  of  numerous 
beds  for  flowers  in  masses,  with  gravel  walks  be- 
tween. In  many  of  these  gardens  the  borders 
may  be  of  box  :  but  here  a  narrow  edge  of  what 


1877] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


315 


appeared  to  be  costly  stone,  surrounded  each 
bed.  The  effect  was  very  pretty ;  but  a  close  ex- 
amination showed  the  stone  to  be  only  painted 
wood.  Near  by  is  a  very  beautiful  garden,  made 
up  in  the  grandest  style,  for  in  the  centre  is  the 
celebrated  Greek  slave,  which,  as  a  work  of  art, 
drew  so  much  attention  at  the  first  and  great 
World's  Fair.  The  fountain  basin  is  of  polished 
granite  ;  but  soon  after,  we  pass  out  into  real 
nature  under  an  arbor  of  roses  and  vines.  At  a 
yttle  distance  is  an  Alcove,  made  in  a  terrace 
wall,  and  we  are  struck  with  the  apparent 
richness  of  the  work,  and  the  general  choice 
appearance  of  everything  in  it.  But  as  we 
get  closer  we  see  that  the  pretty  flowers  and 
foliage  apparently  carved  out  are  only  sea- 
shells  fastened  on  the  wall  in  that  way,  and 
the  whole  washed  with  stone-colored  cement, 
and  the  massive  ebony  work  is  but  polished  coal. 
About  these  very  artificial  garden  parts  are,  in 
excellent  taste,  the  more  artificial-looking  plants, 
and  the  different  kinds  of  Palm  enter  largely 
into  the  beautiful  effects.  Some  of  these  Palms 
must  be  very  valuable  from  their  great  size. 
Here,  for  instance,  is  a  Chsemerops  himulis, 
about  ten  feet  high,  and  with  numerous  young 
ones  about  it,  so  as  to  make  a  complete  mass  of 
palm  leaves.  Though  even  the  Orange  grows 
here  so  well,  that  there  were  some  fruiting  on  the 
garden  walls,  it  is  thought  best  to  protect  the 
palm  in  Winter  a  little,  and  it  is  boarded  over. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Queen  prefers  natural 
beauty  to  sheared  trees,  except  when  such  shear- 
ing harmonizes  with  artificial  work,  and  in  the 
square  in  which  is  one  of  the  geometrical  gar- 
dens, are  four  sheared  Bay  trees  in  each  of  the 
four  corners.  They  are  of  huge  size,  and  here 
their  effect  is  good.  Leading  down  to  the  sea  is 
also  a  wide  gravel  walk  on  each  side  of  which  are 
sheared  Portugal  Laurels,  which  also  have  a 
good  effect.  Around  the  palaces  in  Paris  are 
huge  Orange  trees  which  have  been  kept  in  large 
square  tubs  for  many  years.  They  are  all  sheared, 
or  rather  trimmed  with  knives,  so  as  to  be  all 
exactly  of  one  size.  If  one  could  look  along  the 
top  of  a  hundred  of  them  in  a  line,  no  one  would 
show  a  quarter  of  an  inch  higher  than  the  others. 
These,  during  the  Summer,  in  France,  are  set 
out  in  their  tubs  alongside  the  walks  at  equal 
distances.  But  they  cannot  well  have  oranges 
at  Osborne;  but  they  have  Portugal  Laurels  in 
huge  tubs,  looking  for  all  the  world  like  these 
French  Orange  trees,  as  they  are  treated  and 
placed  in  the  same  manner.     But  they  appear 


grander,  for  the  tubs  in  which  they  are  growing 
are  very  much  greater,  and  the  trees  are  larger 
in  every  respect.  But  the  secret  is  explained 
when  the  reader  learns  that  the  tubs  are  never 
moved.  The  tree  being  hardy,  remains  there  Win- 
ter and  Summer,  indeed  the  tubs  have  probably 
no  bottom,  and  the  Laurels  are  really  growing 
in  the  ground.  Yet  these  neatly  painted  tubs 
with  globes  on  the  four  upper  corners,  give 
all  the  grandeur  of  the  Versailles  Orange  trees  ; 
and  what  is  of  more  consequence,  to  an  Ameri- 
can and  an  Englishman,  at  very  little  cost  for  all ! 
The  piece  of  landscape  gardening  connected 
with  this  tub-laurel-lined  avenue  is  a  master- 
piece of  good  art.  There  appears  to  be  only  two 
or  three  acres  on  each  side  of  the  avenue,  but 
while  one  is  kept  flat  and  smooth,  and  relieved 
only  by  the  groups  of  Conifers  and  other  artistic 
trees,  the  other  side  has  a  rolling  contour  of 
surface,  and  has  massive  groups  of  decidu- 
ous trees  to  match  with  the  heavy  swells  of 
ground  surface.  Yet  so  well  is  the  long  straight 
walk  carried  through,  that  no  incongruity  be- 
tween the  scenery  on  his  right  and  his  left 
strikes  even  the  most  critical. 

Here,  as  everywhere,  the  aim  in  bedding  is  to 
have  some  carpeting  unique,  and  not  a  copy  of 
some  one  else's  work.  One  might  write  a  vol- 
ume of  what  he  sees  in  this  respect,  but  it  would 
be  out  of  date  by  another  year,  as  the  object  is- 
to  have  new  styles,  as  our  ladies  have  new  bon- 
nets. In  these  grounds,  coming  to  a  place  where 
some  roads  cross,  there  are  beds  in  the  angles  in 
which  the  plants  are  arranged  as  playing  cards. 
The  hearts,  clubs  and  diamonds  are  outlined 
chiefly  with  a  sort  of  golden  Stellaria,  or  perhaps, 
it  may  be  a  Cerastium  and  Alternantheras.  I 
remember,  however,  that  the  diamond  was  made 
of  Echeveria  for  the  outline  of  the  character,  and 
the  filling  in  was  of  golden  Pyrethrum. 

The  vegetable  garden  is  not  large,  the  Queen 
having  most  of  the  kitchen  wants  supplied  from 
Windsor.  What  is  grown,  however,  has  to  be  of 
the  very  best  character,  and  everything  did  look 
well.  Those  who  think  that  pruning  injures 
trees,  would  especially  be  struck  by  the  healthy 
appearance  of  the  wall  fruits,  which  are  here  of 
immense  age,  having  been  growing  here  before 
the  Queen  bought  the  place.  A  pruned  plant,  of 
course,  never  has  a  large  stem.  The  Osage  Or- 
ange in  our  country,  unpruned,  makes  a  large 
stout  tree  in  a  few  years— in  hedges,  cut  back,  in 
twenty  years  is  no  stouter  than  one's  wrist.  So 
here  in  this  garden  we  have  Pear  trees  trained  to 


316 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[October, 


the  walls  and  pruned  annually,  that  were  yet  of 
very  large  size.  I  measured  a  Glout  Morceau 
which  measured  three  feet  nine  inches  round. 

One  of  the  pleasantest  features  of  my  visit  to 
Osbcme  was  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Todman, 
the  gardener.  When  I  left  my  native  land 
Mr.  Winchester  was  gardener  here.  Like  so 
many  scores  of  those  I  left  behind  me,  he  had 
died  before  my  return.  With  my  card  of  ad- 
mission I  had  to  search  for  the  gardener,  and  I 
found  him  stripped  to  his  shirt,  on  the  top  of  a 
ladder,  training  the  trees  himself  to  the  wall. 
The  general  impression  we  have  of  men  in  these 
high  positions  is  that  they  have  "gloves  on  their 
hands  and  nothing  to  do."  I  was  pleased  to  find 
Mr.  Todman  a  worker  as  well  as  an  intelligent 
well-informed  gentleman— just  the  sort  of  man, 
I  thought,  we  like  to  have  in  America. 

But  I  must  stop  here,  much  as  there  was  that 
I  think  it  would  interest  my  readers  to  tell. 
There  is  much  I  would  like  to  say  of  England 
and  France  which  will  take  years  to  recount.  I 
must  from  month  to  month  say  just  a  little  of 
some  things,  and  let  the  rest  dwell  only  in  my 
own  remembrance. 

The  Garden  of  America. — Friend  Chalkley 
Gillingham  claims  the  Susquehanna  and  Poto- 
mac regions  as  the  garden  of  America,  and  in 
confirmation  thereof  gives  the  following  figures  : 
— "The  mean  temperature  of  this  region  for  the 
last  seven  years  was  :  for  the  Winter  months, 
33°  29v ;  Spring,  50°  47v ;  Summer,  76°  30'  ;  Au- 
tumn, 55°  47\  The  mean  rain-fall  for  the  U.  S. 
for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1876,  was  45.18 ;  for 
Washington,  D.  C,  it  was  48.01.  'Thus  we  are 
between  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and  con- 
sequently we  have  the  best  fruit  region  in  the 
world.'"" 

Horticulture  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. — 
We  had  a  chance  to  spend  a  few  weeks  in  this 
region  the  past  month,  with  Nashville  for  head- 
quarters, and  were  delighted  to  find  much  more 
Horticultural  improvement  than  we  expected. 
The  nursery  business,  as  conducted  by  Messrs. 
Truett's  Sons  and  Morgan,  Underhill  &  Newsom, 
and  Mclntyre,  seemed  very  prosperous.  Mr.  Lish y 
also,  we  were  informed  was  doing  well,  but  hap- 
pened unfortunately  to  be  out  of  our  line  of 
travel.  We  had  the  chance  to  see  the  beautiful 
private  places  of  Dr.  Cheatham,  Mrs.  A.V.  Brown, 
Mrs.  Polk,  the  grounds  of  the  Insane  Asylum, 
the  Vanderbilt  University  and  many  others.  At 
this  season  an  Editor  can    do   little    more    than 


wander  about  and  take  notes  for  future  use,  but 
the  treatment  accorded  to  the  writer  by  his 
Southern  Horticultural  friends  was  so  kind  and 
cordial  that  we  must  make  place  for  this  note. 

The  Christ's  Thorn. — It  is  of  course  not 
possible  to  tell  exactly  what  plant  it  was  of 
which  tradition  says  the  crown  of  thorns  was 
made  Rubens  in  his  picture  seems  to  have  a 
Gleditschia  (our  Honey  Locust).  Other  writers 
think  it  is  the  Ziziphus  communis,  the  Jujube; 
but  the  weight  of  opinion  seems  to  settle  on  the 
Paliurus  aculeatus,  which  is  a  low-growing 
thorny  shrub,  hardy  in  the  Middle  States  of  the 
Union,  except  in  very  severe  Winters.  The  Zizi- 
phus is  hardier  than  the  PaliuTus. 

An  Enemy  of  the  Potato  Beetle. — It  is  stated 
in  the  Field  and  Forest  that  the  old  potato  beetle, 
Lema  trilineata,  and  comparatively  harmless, 
feeds  on  the  larva?  of  the  Colorado  Beetle.  It  is 
worth  confirming,  as  it  is  unusual  for  a  herbiver- 
ous  insect  to  turn  carniverous,  though  it  is  be- 
lieved by  some  good  entomologists  that  some  of 
the  Lady  Bug  family,  now  carniverous,  in  past 
ages  fed  on  herbs. 

Transactions  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Horti- 
cultural Society,  Vol.  VII.,  from  F.  W.  Case, 
Sec,  Madison. — An  excellent  volume, — excellent 
because  it  does  not  confine  itself  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  single  branch  of  Horticultural  art,  but 
encourages  all.  There  are  essays — excellent  ones 
— on  every  department  of  gardening,  and  none 
the  worse  for  being  generally  short  and  to  the 
point. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Connecticut  Board  of  Agriculture.  Print- 
ed by  the  Legislature.  From  T.  S.  Gold,  Secre- 
tary, West  Cornwall,  Conn.  Besides  many 
matters  of  interest,  special  fertilizers,  manures, 
and  woods  and  woodlands  have  a  conspicuous 
place  among  the  subjects  treated  of  in  this  vol- 
ume. 

Transactions  of  the  Massachusetts  Hort. 
Society,  Part  I.  From  Robert  Manning,  Sec'y. 
This  admirable  serial  does  honor  to  the  Horti- 
cultural literature  of  our  country.  The  leading 
essays  and  discussions  in  this  number  are  on 
road  making,  self  and  cross-fertilization,  fertil- 
izers, and  squash  and  melon  culture — the  latter 
especially  exhaustive  of  the  subject. 

Orchid  Growicr's  Manual.  By  B.  S.  Williams, 
of  Victoria  Nurseries,  Upper  Holloway,  London. 
Fifth   Edition.     We  are  very  glad  to  see  a  new 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


317 


edition,  and  so  far  on  as  the  fifth  edition  of  a 
work  like  this,  because  it  shows  that  there  is  a 
much  deeper  interest  taken  in  the  culture  of 
these  plants  than  many  people  suppose.  When 
some  years  ago  we  were  favored  by  a  series  of 
articles  from  the  pen  of  that  admirable  orchid- 
grower,  Mr.  Taplin,  some  would  ask  us  why  take 
up  room  with  instruction  on  plants  that  no  one 
grew  ?  but  that  was  just  the  reason  we  valued 
Mr.  Taplin's  papers.  People  take  Horticultural 
papers  for  the  reason  that  they  need  instruction, 
and  they  wish  to  know  what  they  ought  to  do  in 
order  to  get  as  much  pleasure  as  possible  from 
gardening.  Orchid  growing  is  one  of  these  special- 
ties which  always  gives  pleasure.  It  was  at  one 
time  thought  to  be  very  expensive  to  care  for 
these  plants,  and  to  require  great  skill  in  their 
management;  but  thanks  to  writers  like  Mr.  Tap- 
lin, and  especially  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Williams, 
whose  "  Manual  "  is  now  before  us,  the  work  of 
growing  them  has  been  much  simplified.  Of 
course  if  one  desires  to  excel  in  orchid-culture  as 
in  anything  else,  the  more  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience the  better.  To  all,  whether  novices  or 
experienced  hands,  Mr.  Williams'  book  will  be 
welcome,  but  we  need  hardly  say  this  of  a  book 
in  its  fifth  edition.  This  speaks  for  itself  as  to 
how  useful  it  is  found  to  be. 

The  Cabbage  Family.  By  David  Landreth  & 
Sons,  Phila.  This  gives  the  history  of  the  Cab- 
bage, from  its  wild  to  its  improved  condition,  and 
an  account  of  the  leading  popular  varieties  of 
the  day. 

The  Locust  Plague.  By  C.  V.  Riley.  As  most 
of  our  readers  know,  Prof.  Riley  more  perhaps 
than  any  other  man,  has  made  the  locusts  a 
study  ;  and  his  position  as  Chief  of  the  United 
States  Entomological  Commission  on  the  Grass- 
hopper gave  him  unusual  facilities  for  studying 
them.  This  little  book  contains  all  that  Mr.  Riley 
knows  about  them,  and  there  is  no  one  likely  to 


suffer  from  this  insect,  but  will  find  profit  from 
reading  it. 

Fruit  and  Bread.  Translated  from  the  Ger- 
man of  Gustav  Schlickeysen  by  Dr.  Holbrook, 
New  York.  Published  by  M.  L.  Holbrook  &  Co. 
This  is  an  attempt  to  prove  that  man  was  des- 
tined to  eat  only  fruit  and  bread,  and  drink  only 
water, — that  he  has  wandered  from  this  original 
design  of  nature, — and  that  the  consequence  is  the 
numerous  diseases  by  which  he  is  afflicted,  and 
that  it  would  be  better  for  him  if  he  should  re- 
turn to  his  primitive  food.  How  he  came  to 
wander  so  far  away  while  other  animals  have  re- 
mained true  to  their  original  instincts,  is  not 
shown  ;  but  the  work  on  the  whole  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  best  exposition  of  vegetarian  views 
that  has  yet  appeared. 

Swine  Husbandry.  By  F.  D.  Coburn,  New 
York.  Orange  Judd  &  Co.  Harris  on  the  Pig,  is 
a  well-known  work  by  the  same  publishers,  and 
one  might  suppose  from  this  fact  that  another 
one  on  the  same  subject,  by  the  firm,  would  be 
of  a  totally  different  character.  A  comparison 
with  that  work  shows  that  there  is  room  for 
both.  Orange  Judd  &  Co.  seem  to  be  taking  the 
lead  as  publishers  of  standard  agricultural  books 
in  this  country. 

The  Floral  Gazette. — This  was  once  Park's 
Floral  Gazette  and  as  such  is  now  in  its  eleventh 
year.  Mr.  Park  now  publishes  it  at  Mt.  Vernon, 
Ohio.  It  is  an  unpretentious  little  monthly,  of 
sixteen  pages,  devoted  wholly  to  flowers  ;  but  in 
its  way  does  a  great  deal  of  good. 

The  Florist  and  Pomologist.  Edited  by 
Mr.  Thomas  Moore.  We  have  before  us  the 
numbers  for  June,  July  and  August,  each  with 
colored  plates  of  some  new  fruits  and  plants. 
The  price  is  only  one  shilling  a  part,  which,  con- 
sidering the  excellence  of  the  plates  is  cheap 
indeed.  It  is  one  of  our  most  welcome  English 
exchanges. 


HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETIES. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Display  of  Cut  Flowers  at  the  Permanent 
International  Exhibition. — In  order  to  adorn 
the  building  on  the  "  Governor's  Day,"  in  Phila- 
delphia, premiums  were  offered  by  the  manage- 


ment for  floral  displays,  and  which  brought  out 
considerable  competition.  We  seldom  admit 
into  our  columns  anything  of  purely  local  inter- 
est, but  as  these  exhibits  will  be  continued  as 
occasion  offers,  and  are  intended  as  the  Exhibi- 
tion itself  is  to  be,  a  whole  world  affair,  we  give 


318 


THE  GARDE NEWS  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


this  award  in  full,  as  a  piece  of  general  informa- 
tion : — 
Mr.  John  S.  Morton,  President  of  the  International 

Exhibition  Company  : 

The  Committee  on  Floral  Designs  and  Flowers 
beg  leave  to  recommend  the  award  of  the  fol- 
lowing premiums  for  designs  of  four  feet  and 
over  at  the  base:  For  the  finest  design  by  a  flor- 
ist, for  a  chaste  and  beautiful  anchor  resting  on 
a  handsome  base,  inscribed  with  the  word 
"  Hope,"  first  premium  of  $50,  to  Craig  &  Bro., 
of  Philadelphia;  for  a  beautiful  design  formed 
of  a  series  of  light  and  graceful  arches  rising  to 
about  the  height  of  seven  feet,  second  premium 
of  $25,  to  Pennock  Bros.,  Philadelphia;  for  a 
well-executed  design  of  an  American  flag  sur- 
rounded by  a  handsome  frame  composed  of 
flowers,  special  premium,  $25,  to  Joseph  Kift  & 
Son,  Philadelphia;  for  a  well-designed  plan  of  a 
lighthouse  formed  of  fine  flowers  surmounted  by 
a  glass  dome,  a  special  premium  of  $25  to  No.  3  ; 
for  designs  less  than  four  feet  at  base  :  for  an  ex- 
quisite frame  formed  of  fine  cut  flowers,  with  a 
medallion  of  Washington  in  centre,  surrounded 
by  a  beautiful  wreath,  and  resting  on  a  bed  of 
ivy  leaves,  the  whole  forming  a  chaste  and  beau- 
tiful design,  florists'  first  premium  of  $25,  to  C.  L. 
Allen  &  Co.,  of  Queen's,  Long  Island;  a  table 
formed  of  variegated  leaves,  with  a  beautiful 
glass  vase  in  centre,  the  amateur's  premium  of 
$25  to  Charity  L.  Mabbett,  Vineland,  N.  J.  We 
also  recommend  the  following  special  premiums  : 

For  designs  in  good  taste  and  formed  of  fine 
flowers  :  For  a  harp  well  formed,  $10  to  Frank 
Keefe,  Philadelphia  ;  for  a  well  formed  pyramid, 
$10  to  Pennock  Bros.,  Philadelphia;  for  a  beau- 
tiful design,  $10  to  Thomas  Meehan,  German- 
town  ;  for  a  stand  very  fancifully  arranged,  $10 
to  John  Plender,  Philadelphia;  lor  a  cross  of 
white  and  red  flowers,  to  No.  23  ;  for  a  beautiful 
vase  of  white  flowers,  $8  to  Jas.  Ritchie,  Phila.; 
for  an  anchor,  red,  white  and  blue,  $8  to  James 
Ritchie,  Phila. ;  for  a  beautiful  design  formed  of 
baskets,  to  No.  10 ;  for  a  large  and  beautiful 
stand,  $8  to  Pennock  Bros.,  Phila. ;  for  a  large 
stand  and  table,  $8  to  John  Dick,  Phila.;  for  a 
plateau  of  flowers,  $8  to  W.  H.  Westcott,  Phila. ; 
for  a  pyramid,  $5  to  James  Kent,  West  Phila. ; 
for  a  plateau,  $5  to  same ;  for  a  very  beautiful 
cross,  $5  to  Isele,  Phila.;  for  a  small  stand,  $5  to 
W.  Faust,  Phila. ;  for  a  beautiful  basket,  $3  to 
James  Kent,  Phila.;  for  a  wreath,  $3  to  Isele 
Bros. ;  for  a  plateau,  $3  to  same. 

Your  committee  congratulate  the  Exposition 
Company  onthe  variety  and  beauty  of  the  de- 
signs shown,  all  of  which  were  in  good  taste,  and 
evinced  a  commendable  degree  of  public  spirit 
on  the  part  of  our  florists  in  competing  for  the 
moderate  premiums  oll'ered.  All  of  which  re- 
port is  respectfully  submitted  by 
Yours  respectfully, 

R.  Buist,  Chairman, 
James  Ritchie, 
J.  E.  Mitchell, 
G.  H.  North, 
[saac  C.  Price 


New  York  Horticultural  Society. — Only  re- 
cently has  a  newspaper  slip  giving  an  account  of 
the  New  York  Horticultural  Society's  Spring  Ex. 
hibition,  come  before  us.  We  are  pleased  to 
gather  from  it,  that  it  was  a  complete  success, 
both  in  the  attendance  and  in  the  general  excel- 
lence of  the  articles  exhibited.  Mr.  Taplin,  Su- 
perintendent of  Mr.  Such's  establishment,  had 
many  rare  plants,  and  took  the  premium  for  the 
best  new  or  rare  plant  exhibited,  which  proved 
to  be  Artocarpus  Cannoni,  the  leaves  of  which 
were  a  reddish-brown.  The  second  premium  in 
this  class  was  taken  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  with 
Pinguicula  orchoides. 

The  new  white  Hydrangea,  Thomas  Hogg — a 
group  of  130  plants — formed  one  of  the  showiest 
groups  in  the  exhibition.  It  came  from  Mr.  John 
Cadness.  A  Japanese  Magnolia  named  M.  Hy- 
poleuca,  from  Thomas  Hogg,  "  promised  to  be  a 
great  acquisition."  Messrs.  Bliss  &  Son,  Potato 
"  Snowflake  "  attracted  special  notice  by  its  fine 
white  appearance,  good  shape,  and  excellent 
keeping  and  cooking  qualities.  Among  the  ex- 
hibitors who  obtained  honor  for  their  products, 
we  note  the  names  of  Charles  Zeller,  Flatbush  ; 
Edward  Symes,  gardener  to  Mrs.  Mitchell,  Tarry- 
town  ;  John  Henderson,  Flushing;  Peter  Hen- 
derson, Jersey  City;  H.  Reynolds,  Flatbush; 
W.  C.  Wilson,  Astoria ;  William  Ball,  Spuyten 
Duyvil ;  Walter  Reid,  Broadway ;  S.  B.  Parsons 
&  Son  and  R.  B.  Parsons  &  Co.,  Flushing;  Wm. 
Bennett,  Flatbush  ;  John  Bush,  Tremont;  James 
Bush,  gardener  to  Wm.Elisha  Brooks,  Norwood, 
N.  Y. ;  F.  Roenbeck,  Bayonne,  N.  J. ;  W.  A.  Bur- 
gess, Glen-Cove;  Fred.  Gordon,  Broad  St.,  N.  Y. ; 
A.  McConnell,  Sixth  Ave.,  N.  Y.;  J.  G.  Bes- 
champs  &  Sons,  New  York  ;  Mrs.  W.  J.  David- 
son, Brooklyn;  J.  Finn,  Tremont;  John  Eagan, 
gardener  to  Mr.  Gurnee,  Irvington ;  Ed.  Huckins, 
West  Mount  Vernon  ;  and  S.  Henshaw,  of  New 
Brighton. 

Georgia  State  Horticultural  Society. — Hor- 
ticulture, under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Berckmans, 
J.  S.  Newman  and  H.  J.  Peter,  is  looking  up  in 
Georgia.  The  second  annual  meeting,  held  on 
the  1st  of  August  at  Macon,  as  we  judge  from  the 
local  papers,  was  a  great  success. 

Pennsylvania  Hort.  Society. — The  annual 
exhibition  of  this  Society  is  being  held  just  as  we 
go  to  press,  and  promises  to  be  one  of  the  most 
successful  held  for  many  years.  Mr.  Hugh 
Graham,  one  of  Philadelphia's  most  esteemed 
florists,  is  the  Chairman  of  the  Committees  this 


1877.] 


AND  HOBTICULTURIST. 


319 


season,  and  has  used  untiring  efforts  to  make  it 
the  success  it  promises  to  be. 

Maryland  Hort.  Society. — During  the  week 
of  the  meeting  of  the  American   Pomological 
Society,  the  Maryland  Horticultural  Society  held 
its  annual    Exhibition.     It    was   a   remarkably 
creditable  one    in  every  respect,  and    we  have 
not    for    a    long    time   felt    so    much    encour- 
aged in  regard  to  the  future  progress  and   posi- 
tion of  Horticulture  in  our  country  as  after  see- 
ing this  beautiful  show.     The  plants   were  not 
only  of  new  or  rare  kinds  in  numerous  cases,  but 
had  a  large  number  of  well-grown  specimens.    It 
has  often  been  said  in   regard   to   American  ex- 
hibits of  plants  that  they  seldom  were  more  than 
the  sweepings   of  greenhouses,   showing  no  evi- 
dence whatever  of  any  gardening  skill   in  their 
growth.     The  exhibits   of  most  shows   unfortu- 
nately compel  us  to  say  honestly  that  this  is  the 
truth,  and  it  is  therefore  with  the  more  pleasure 
that  we  record  the  fact  that  on  this  occasion 
there  was  a  better  average  of  plants,  healthy  and 
well-grown — we  do  not  mean   overgrown — than 
we  have  seen  brought  together  for  a  long  time.  An- 
other feature  which  impressed  itself  strongly  on 
us  was  the  cordial  co-operation  wThich  seemed  to 
exist  between  all  the  gardening  fraternity  of  Bal- 
timore in  one  good  result.     As  human  nature  is 
what  it  is,  we  always   expect  some  dissatisfied 
persons,  sometimes  with  and  sometimes  without 
good  reason,   and   who   cannot   therefore  wrork 
well  together.     If  there  be  any  of  this  here,  we 
did  not  find  them,  and  all  this  is  in  favor  of  a 
vigorous    long    life    to    the  infant    society.     It 
also  has  the  advantage  of  amateurs  of  taste  and 
culture,  who,  without  wishing  to  appear  promi 
nent,  yet  do  not   shrink   from   leading  off  when 
they  feel  they  can  be  useful.    The  President  of 
the   Society  is  Mr.   W.   H.  Perot,   a   Baltimore 
merchant,  whose  country  seat  of  forty  acres  is  in 
many  respects  not  inferior  to  the  celebrated  one 
of  Mr.  Hunnewell  at  Boston.    The  Secretary — 
Mr.  W.  B.  Sands — is  the  editor  of  the  American 
Farmer,  and  one  of  the  best  workingmen  in  the 
line  of  tact  and  talent  that   any  Society  could 
have.     A  large  number  of  others  outside  of  the 
trade  take  an  active  pride  in  the  success   of  the 
Society,  and  we  shall   not  be  at  all  surprised  if, 
before  long,   this  young  Society  does  not  press 
the  older  ones   of  Pennsylvania  and  Massachu-* 
sett6  pretty  hard  for  pre-eminence. 

A  large  number  of  the  plants  on  exhibition  had 
no  exhibitor's  names  attached  to  them.     This  is 


supposed  to  insure  a  more  impartial  decision  by 
the  jurors,  but  it  is  doubtful.  On  the  other  hand 
it  robs  the  exhibitor  of  half  his  honors.  We  were 
enabled  to  ascertain  only  the  following  from  an 
inspection  of  the  plants  on  exhibition  :  Mr.  Wm. 
T.  Walters,  Alex.  Frazer,  gardener,  Patterson 
Park,  Mr.  Frazer,  Supt.,  Sam.  Feast  &  Son,  Eobt. 
Buist,  W.  H.  Wehrhaus,  John  Saul,  Joseph  Kift 
&  Sons,  W.  D.  Breckenridge,  U.  S.  Bot.  garden, 
W.  R.  Smith  curator,  Robt.  Halliday,  Cromwell 
&  Congdon,  James  Pentland,  Mr.  Black,  Thomas 
Farley.  The  fruit  department  was  chiefly  in 
connection  with  the  American  Pomological  So- 
ciety's exhibit,  and  we  were  notable  in  our  short 
examination  to  do  credit  to  the  Maryland  show 
separately  from  that.  We  have  only  time  and 
space  at  this  late  period  of  the  month  to  say  that 
all  in  all  this  exhibit  of  the  Maryland  Society  in 
itself,  and  in  all  its  associations,  was  one  which 
all  will  long  remember  who  took  part  in  it. 

The  American  Pomological  Society.— We 
have  only  time  to  say,  as  we  go  to  press,  that 
the  biennial  meeting  of  this  excellent  body  wras 
held  in  Baltimore  according  to  an  announce- 
ment, and  was  one  of  the  most  pleasant  and 
profitable  it  has  ever  held.  At  the  last  moment 
it  was  found  that  the  venerable  and  esteemed 
President,  Col.  Wilder,  could  not  be  present,  not 
being  quite  as  well  as  it  was  expected  he  would  be, 
and  the  Treasurer,  Mr.  Thos.  P.  James,  was 
absent  for  the  same  reason.  Mr.  James  is  one 
of  the  most  unselfish  workers  in  the  body,  and 
his  absence  was  very  much  regretted.  In  Col. 
Wilder's  absence,  Mr.  Hovey  presided,  and 
Mr.  B.  Smith,  of  Boston,  acted  as  Treasurer. 
Excellent  essays  were  presented,  and  which  will 

appear  in  the  transactions.  The  fruit  list  was 
revised,  and  such  additions  and  corrections 
made  as  seemed  warranted  by  circumstances. 
There  were  few  discussions,  wherein  were  much 
difference  of  opinion,  except  on  Pear  blight  and 
Early  Peaches.  In  the  latter  case  it  was  quite 
evident,  from  the  experience  given  in,  that  while 
there  was  a  very  close  resemblance  of  one  of  the 
popular  peaches  to  the  other,  there  were  other 
cases  where  the  same  kinds  exhibited  differ- 
ences enough  to  make  distinction  important. 
By  special  vote  of  the  Society,  Thomas  Meehan 
was  invited  to  address  the  body  on  Pear  blight, 
but  he  had  nothing  new  to  offer  beyond  what 
is  contained  in  his  remarks  at  Chicago,  as  re- 
ported in  the  Society's  proceedings  of  that  year. 
Mr.  Transou,  of  Tennessee,  moved  that  the  ntxt 
session  (1879)  be  held  at  Nashville,  others 
moved  for  Rochester,  and  for  New  York  city, 
Mr.  Quinn  making  a  warm  speech  in  favor  of 
the  latter.     But  nearly  the  whole  of  a  full  meet- 


320 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  October, 


ing  voted  for  Nashville,  and  on  the  subsequent 
motion  of  Mr.  Quinn  himself  the  motion  was 
made  and  carried  "  unanimously  "  to  Nashville. 

A  particularly  agreeable  incident  of  the  meet- 
was  a  trip  up  the  Chester  River  to  Riverside,  the 
residence,  and  peach  and  pear  orchards  of 
Col.  Wilkins.  Few  of  the  members  ever  had  so 
much  instruction  in  the  culture  of  these  fruits 
on  a  tremendous  scale  as  this  visit  afforded,  and 
many  were  the  praises  bestowed  on  the  Col.  for 
this  generous  treat.  Some  two  hundred  and 
eighty  members  went  up.  To  help  the  Society, 
the  Maryland  Horticultural  Society  spent  several 
thousands  of  dollars  in  erecting  temporary  ac- 
commodations for  the  fruits  of  the  Association, 
placing  the  Pumological  Society  under  lasting 
obligations  to  them. 

Col.  Wilder's  address  was  regarded  as  emi- 
nently practical,  and  one  of  his  best  efforts,  and 
we  need  ask  no  pardon  from  our  readers,  on 
account  of  its  length,  for  giving  it  in  full  in  our 
pages. 

ADDRESS  OF  MARSHALL  P.  WILDER. 

Gentlemen  of  the  American  Pomologieal  Society : — 

This  is  the  sixteenth  session  of  our  Associa- 
tion. We  meet  here  by  the  invitation  of  the 
Maryland  Horticultural  Society,  through  whose 
courtesy  and  liberality  we  have  been  provided 
with  most  ample  accommodations  for  the  occa- 
sion. 

Most  heartily  do  I  rejoice  in  the  privilege  and 
pleasure  of  taking  by  the  hand  so  many  with 
whom  I  have  associated  in  the  past  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  objects  of  this  Association,  and 
from  whom  I  have  received  so  many  expressions 
of  confidence,  and  so  much  assistance  in  the  dis- 
charge of  my  duties. 

Once  more,  through  the  loving  kindness  of 
Him  who  hath  again  restored  my  health,  I  rise 
to  perform  a  service  which  the  Constitution  of 
our  Society  devolves  upon  me.  Almost  a  gen- 
eration of  men  have  passed  from  the  stage  of 
action  since  its  formation,  but,  thanks  to  a  mer- 
ciful Providence,  some  still  live  who  assisted  in 
its  organization,  and  are  here  to-day.  To  these 
and  all  who  have  come  here  to  co-operate  with 
us  I  extend  a  most  hearty  welcome. 

Amidst  the  strides  of  scientific  research  and 
a  higher  state  of  civilization,  which  has  distin- 
guished the  present  century,  in  nothing  is 
progress  more  apparent  than  in  the  advance- 
ment of  pomologieal  knowledge  on  this  conti- 
nent. I  have  spoken  of  this  on  former  occa- 
sions, but  now,  as  we  are  entering  on  the  second 
century  in  the  history  of  our  republic,  I  have 
thought  that  a.  review  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished, even  at  the  expense  of  repeating  some- 
thing which  I  may  have  uttered  before,  would 
be  both  interesting  and  instructive. 

THE    GROWTH,  EXPANSION   AND  INFLUENCE   OF   THE 

AMERICAN  POMOLOGICAL  SOCIETY,  AND 

KINDREO  ASSOCIATIONS. 

Frequent  allusion  has  been  made  to  the 
remarkable  growth  and  influence  of  our  Asso- 
ciation. 


At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Society,  in  the  year 
1848,  there  were  but  twelve  States  represented 
by  delegates,  while  at  our  last  session  in  Chicago, 
in  1875,  there  were,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
Report  on  Credentials,  twenty-eight  States,  Ter- 
ritories and  Provinces  represented  in  person, 
and  nine  by  letters  of  correspondence,  making  a 
grand  total  of  thirty  seven.  In  1848  the  attend- 
ance was  limited'  by  the  number  of  delegates 
present  from  these  twelve  States,  and  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Society  by  the  area  which  they 
represented.  Now  we  have  on  our  roll  the 
names  of  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  mem- 
bers, and  its  field  covers  the  entire  territory  from 
Canada  to  Texas — from  Nova  Scotia  to  Califor- 
nia. From  nearly  all  of  these  States  and  dis- 
tricts reports  are  regularly  received  of  the 
progress  and  culture  therein,,  with  fruits  for 
identification  and  comparison,  and  with  lists  of 
those  adapted  to  their  several  localities.  And 
here  let  us  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the  noble 
and  generous  manner  in  which  the  various  State 
Societies  and  Fruit  Growers'  Associations  have 
co-operated  with  our  institution  to  bring  about 
the  grand  results  which  we  have  witnessed. 

With  the  close*  of  the  present  session  the 
Society  will  have  held  sixteen  conventions,  and 
will  have  entered  on  the  thirtieth  year  of  its 
existence.  Three  sessions  of  the  Society  have 
been  held  in  the  city  of  New  York,  three  in 
Philadelphia,  three  in  Boston,  two  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  one  each  in  the  cities  of  Cincinnati, 
St.  Louis,  Richmond  and  Chicago,  to  which  will 
soon  be  added  the  city  of  Baltimore.  These 
sessions  have  been  marked  by  evidently  rapid 
and  most  gratifying  progress,  both  as  regards 
the  information  acquired  and  disseminated,  as 
well  as  by  the  improved  workings  of  the  Society, 
and  the  character  and  usefulness  of  its  publica- 
tions. This  progress  has  been  essentially  pro- 
moted by  the  holding  of  its  meetings  in  distant 
cities  of  the  United  States. 

From  this  fact  the  Society  has  been  called  a 
national  institution.  But  it  is  more  than 
national.  It  is  continental,  embracing  within  its 
fold  not  only  the  States  of  the  Union,  but  the 
British  Provinces  on  our  borders.  Its  latitude 
extends  over  twenty-five  degrees,  and  its  longi- 
tude the  entire  breadth  of  this  continent.  Its 
area  embraces  almost  every  variety  of  soil  and 
temperature,  where  almost  all  of  the  fruits  of 
the  various  zones  may  be  grown,  from  the 
apples  of  Canada,  and  the  oranges,  figs  and 
bananas  of  Florida,  Louisiana  and  California. 
It  is,  therefore,  properly  styled  an  American 
'  Society.  Its  field  is  not  merely  the  American 
Union,  it  is  our  continent.  Its  men  and  means 
]  have  been  more  effective  than  were  ever  before 
used  for  the  promotion  of  Pomology.  The 
capabilities  and  probabilities  of  its  field  for 
progress  were  never  surpassed  by  any  country, 
affording,  as  it  does,  ample  scope  for  testing 
the  fruits  adapted  to  the  various  climates,  tem- 
peratures and  soils  of  our  widely  extended 
domain. 

(To  be   continued  in  our  next.) 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST. 

DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


NOVEMBER,  1877. 


Number  227. 


LOWER  GARDEN  AND  PLEASURE  IffROUND. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


As  we  take  up  the  pen  to  offer  a  few  November 
hints,  the  sun  is  setting  in  the  west,  and  the 
whole  sky  is  suffused  with  orange  and  crimson, 
and  blue,  which  alone  would  make  this  a  world 
of  beauty.  But  in  addition  to  this  profusion  of 
charming  interest,  the  trees  begin  to  vie  with  the 
sky  above  them.  On  the  Sumach  there  is  already 
a  crimson  blush.  The  Dogwood,  usually  of  so 
bright  a  green,  shows  signs  of  ripeness  ;  and  the 
Kentucky  Coffee  has  actually  fallen  into  its  sere 
and  yellow  leaf.  The  Golden  Rods  and  Asters 
light  up  the  meadows  with  a  red  and  yellow 
light,  and  the  azure  of  the  eastern  part  of  the 
firmament  is  just  dark  enough  to  give  the  re- 
quired shade  to  brilliant  beauty.  By  the  time 
these  lines  come  before  our  readers'  eyes  we 
shall  be  in  the  midst  of  America's  most  glorious 
season,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  natural  enjoyment 
unknown  to  the  people  of  any  other  part  of  the 
globe.  We,  as  a  whole,  hardly  appreciate  this 
wonderful  beauty.  We  admire  the  length  of  an 
English  Summer's  day,  and  appreciate  the  re- 
gretful manner  in  which  the  sun  goes  down. 
There  is  scarcely  a  lovelier  scene  in  the  Old 
World  than  the  lingering  sunset  of  a  Summer 
evening.  But  the  set  of  Summer  itself  with  us  is 
still  more  gradual,  and  as  a  month  is  to  a  day,  so 
in  proportion  is  the  enjoyment  of  an  American 
Autumn  over  anything  English  gardening  or 
European  scenery  can  provide  us  with.  We 
should  not  forget  this  in  our  efforts  at  distinc- 


tive American  gardening.  We  have  scarcely 
any  Spring,  for  Summer  is  often  on  us  before 
Winter  has  gone,  yet  we  work  away  at  Spring 
gardening.  We  envy  and  strive  to  imitate  the 
Summer  bedding  of  the  English  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  heat  of  our  climate  drives  us  to  the 
mountains,  and  our  flower-beds  are  scorched  up 
or  dried  out  while  we  are  away.  Why  not  take 
especially  to  September,  October  and  Novem- 
ber, as  characteristically  our  American  garden- 
ing months,  and  arrange  our  work  especially 
to  horticultural  enjoyment  then.  A  place  how- 
ever small  might  have  a  few  colored  leaved  Fall 
plants,  and  in  larger  places,  the  most  beautiful 
effects  could  be  made  by  a  judicious  grouping  of 
these  Fall  coloring  things.  Talk  of  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  the  English  have  brought  our 
Rhododendron !  Let  some  one  take  in  hand  the 
artistic  arrangement  of  our  Autumn  leaves,  not 
on  card-board  by  ladies  in  scrap-books,  or  draw- 
ing-rooms, but  as  nature  would  have  them  on 
our  lawns  and  gardens,  and  we  can  let  the  Rho- 
dodendron stay.  Not  stay  from  out  of  our  gar- 
dens by  any  means,  but  as  the  one  great  glory 
in  English  landscape  gardening. 

But  to  more  practical  matters.  These  leaves 
have  to  be  gathered  up.  They  are  excellent  to 
mix  with  hot  bed  material,  and  where  practica- 
ble, should  be  saved  for  this  purpose.  They  do 
not  heat  so  rapidly  as  stable  manure,  and  in  this 
"have  an  advantage  as  tempering  its  violence, 
making  it  last  longer,  and  maintaining  a  more 
regular  heat.  They  are  excellent  material  to  put 
round  cold  frames  to  protect  half  hardy  plants. 


322 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


A  board  is  put  up  the  height  of  the  frame  boards, 
and  about  a  foot  or  more  from  them,  and  the 
leaves  filled  in  between.  If  the  plants  are  some- 
what tender,  the  bottom  of  the  frames  may  be 
filled  in  a  few  feet  with  the  leaves.  Much  heat 
is  thrown  off  during  the  decomposition  of  the 
leaves,  which  though  not  enough  to  keep  out 
severe  frost,  yet  modifies  somewhat  the  tempera- 
ture. These  leaves,  after  they  have  been  two  or 
three  years  decaying,  make  admirable  stuff  for 
potting  and  flowers  in  general. 

As  soon  as  the  ground  gets  caked  with  the  first 
real  frost,  herbaceous  plants  should  be  protected. 
Though  hardy,  they  will  repay  this  extra  care, — 
mostly  natives  of  woods  or  grassy  places  in  their 
native  state,  they  expect  a  covering  of  leaves  or 
dry  grass.  We  find  dry  leaves  the  best  material 
for  the  purpose,  a  few  inches  is  a  sufficient  depth, 
a  little  soil  being  thrown  on  to  prevent  the 
leaves  blowing  away.  Where  such  material  is 
not  at  hand,  the  common  garden  soil  may  be 
drawn  over  them,  as  before  recommended  in 
these  pages. 

One  of  the  last  thought  of  things,  too  fre- 
quently, is  to  apply  manure  to  flower  beds.  But 
it  is  scarcely  less  essential  to  a  fine  Summer  dis- 
play, than  it  is  to  the  production  of  fine  vegeta- 
bles ;  and  certainly  as  necessary  as  to  trees,  or 
the  lawn.  Still  it  should  be  applied  with  cau- 
tion. While  a  poor  soil  will  only  grow  plants  to 
a  diminutive  miniature  size,  —  which,  though 
clothed  with  a  profusion  of  small,  starved-looking 
blossoms,  make  no  show, — a  soil  over  rich  will 
cause  too  great  a  luxuriance  of  foliage,  which  is 
always  opposed  to  an  abundance  of  bloom.  In 
most  cases  we  prefer  half-decayed  leaves;  where 
these  could  not  be  had  we  would  use  stable  man- 
ure. The  former  spread  over  the  soil  two  inches 
thick,  or  the  latter  one  inch,  would  form  a  dress- 
ing whioh,  in  ordinary  cases,  should  last  two  or 
three  years.  It  is  difficult  to  get  flowers  to  do 
well  in  even  the  most  favorable  soil,  if  it  is  liable 
to  hold  water  to  stagnation  in  Winter.  Where 
flower-gardens  or  beds  exist  under  such  circum- 
stances, advantage  should  be  taken  of  the  pres- 
ent season  to  have  it  thoroughly  underdrained. 
It  will  be  more  beneficial  in  the  end  than  the 
most  judicious  manuring;  it  is  indeed  in  itself  a 
powerful  means  of  fertilizing  the  soil. 

The  planting  of  trees  will  still  continue  to  en- 
gage our  attention  at  every  favorable  opportu- 
nity. Many  prefer  at  this  season  to  remove 
trees  in  the  Winter  by  the  "  frozen  ball "  system. 
There  is  nothing  gained  by  this  practice.     To 


those  unacquainted  with  this  mode  of  planting, 
we  may  as  well  describe  it.  Just  before  frost  is 
expected,  a  trench  is  dug  around  a  tree  a  few 
feet  from  its  base,  leaving  the  tree,  so  that  with  a 
rope  at  the  top,  it  can  be  easily  drawn  over.  A 
hole  is  then  dug  for  it  in  the  situation  desired. 
When  the  "  ball "  has  become  frozen  through 
around  the  tree,  it  is  removed  to  the  prepared 
hole  ;  and,  when  a  thaw  comes,  the  soil  is  filled 
in  around  it.  We  have  said  there  is  nothing 
gained  by  it,  and  there  are  many  disadvantages. 
If  the  tree  has  been  removed  a  "  time  or  two  " 
before,  as  most  nursery  trees  have,  it  will  have 
an  abundance  of  fibres  near  the  stem,  and  can 
be  successfully  removed  without  much  regard  to 
the  "  ball  of  earth,"  either  in  Fall  or  Spring.  If 
it  has  never  been  removed  before,  that  is  a  tree 
growing  naturally,  it  will  have  no  fibres  at  its 
base,  and  so  no  "  ball  of  earth "  can  preserve 
them  ;  so  that  a  tree  which  can  be  moved  suc- 
cessfully on  this  freezing  system,  can  be  as  suc- 
cessfully done  without  it.  The  disadvantages  of 
it  are  that  it  exposes  the  injured  roots  for  a  long 
time  to  the  injurious  action  of  the  frost  and  the 
elements,  besides  the  frequency  of  the  operation 
being  improperly  done  by  several  attempts  being 
made  at  its  completion.  We  have  given  the 
system  a  fair  trial,  and  have  done  with  it.  The 
main  object  should  be  to  preserve  all  the  roots 
possible  with  the  tree,  keep  them  moist  and  pre- 
serve from  injury,  then  go  ahead  and  don't  wait 
for  frost. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


SOME  JULY  FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 

'  BY  J.  M.,  PHILA. 

To  those  about  to  plant  shrubs,  there  is  always 
more  or  less  difficulty  in  deciding  what  to  plant. 
The  aim  usually  is  to  have  an  assortment  to 
flower  one  after  another  throughout  the  season. 
There  is  little  trouble  to  have  some  to  flower  in 
the  early  months,  as  the  most  of  the  shrubs 
flower  then.  At  the  present  time — July — the 
early  kinds  of  Spiraeas  are  over,  and  so  are  the 
Weigelas,  Philadelphia,  and  many  other  com- 
mon kinds  on  which  we  depend  for  the  early 
adornment  of  our  grounds.  But  there  are  yet  a 
goodly  number  which  flower  now,  enough  indeed 
to  make  our  grounds  as  attractive  as  in  the 
Spring  months.  Amongst  these  still  in  bloom, 
but  which  are  past  their  best,  are  the  Magnolia 


i8n.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


323 


glauca,  Azalea  vi8cosa,  and  Itea  Virginica.  The 
Magnolia  blooms  for  a  long  while,  one  bud  suc- 
ceeding the  other,  until  a  month  or  more  has 
passed.  Much  more  might  be  said  for  this  fra- 
grant shrub,  but  that  recent  writers  in  the 
Monthly  have  so  fully  described  it.  The  Azalea 
is  our  native  one  of  the  woods,  and  its  waxy- 
white  flowers  must  have  been  gathered  by  many 
of  the  young  folks  in  their  rambles.  But  the 
Itea  is  not  near  so  well  known  as  it  should  be, 
for  when  covered  with  its  spikes  of  white  flowers 
it  is  so  beautiful  and  uncommon  as  to  at  once 
attract  the  eye. 

But  to  come  to  those  which  may  be  called 
strictly  July  flowering  shrubs,  it  will  be  found 
the  list,  though  not  extensive,  is  ample.  There 
are  quite  a  lot  of  Spiraeas,  the  best  of  the  older 
ones  being  Billardii  with  pink  flowers  in  panicles; 
callosa,  pink,  and  callosa,  white,  with  flowers  in  a 
flat  head ;  salicifolia,  white,  with  pink  tint,  and 
flowers  in  long  panicles;  and  paniculata,  pink, 
with  flowers  in  a  more  bunchy  head  than  Billar- 
dii. Then  there  is  the  tomentosa,  with  its  light 
purple  flowers,  which  does  not  flower  until  the 
end  of  the  month  or  August.  We  have,  too,  for 
July  display,  the  Colutea  arborescens,  Weigela 
hortensis  nivea,  Yucca  filamentosa,  Hydrangea 
quercifolia  and  paniculata  grandiflora,  Rubus 
ordoratus,  Cornus  sericea,  Potentilla  fruticosa 
and  Vitex  agnus  castis.  The  Colutea  has  nearly 
done  flowering  by  July,  but  its  bladder-like  seed, 
pods,  with  their  claret-colored  tint,  make  as 
much  display  as  do  its  preceding  flowers.  It  is 
not  generally  known  that  the  Weigela  above 
named,  flowers  through  the  Summer ;  but  they 
may  be  cut  from  it  all  the  season,  and  very  beau- 
tiful they  are  too.  The  Yucca  or  Adam's  Needle 
is  so  common  that  it  seems  known  to  every  one. 
Its  long  scape,  thickly  set  with  white  lily-like 
flowers,  makes  it  a  conspicuous  object  wherever 
planted.  The  Hydrangea  quercifolia  and  pani- 
culata grandiflora  are  both  white,  the  former  not 
so  clear  as  the  latter.  The  quercifolia,  flowers  in 
the  early  part  of  the  month,  the  paniculata 
grandiflora  not  until  the  latter  part.  The  last 
named,  though  but  a  few  years  since  much 
known  here,  has  taken  a  front  place  in  gardens, 
its  beautiful  flowers,  together  with  the  immense 
size  of  the  panicles,  entitling  it  to  the  place  it  has 
received.  And  then  it  is  so  hardy  and  such  a 
strong  grower  that  it  cannot  be  done  without. 
The  Rubus  odoratus,  with  its  purplish  pink  blos- 
soms, is  very  showy.  Like  other  Rubus,  it  will 
throw  up  suckers,  and  in  some  places  this  would 


be  objectionable.  Cornus  sericea  has  large  flat 
heads  of  white  flowers,  and  contrasting  with  the 
other  shrubs  is  very  nice.  The  Potentilla  fruti- 
cosa is  yellow,  and  flowering  when  this  color  is 
scarce  in  shrubbery,  would  make  it  valuable 
even  though  it  were  not  the  pretty  thing  it  is. 
It  flowers  very  abundantly,  and  forms  a  bushy 
shrub.  The  last  on  the  list  is  the  Vitex.  This 
flowers  at  the  latter  part  of  July  aud  through 
August.  Its  prettily  divided  leaves  and  panicles 
of  pale  lilac  flowers  claim  for  it  a  good  position 
amongst  the  others.  This  list  is  meant  as  giving 
some  of  our  July  flowering  shrubs  such  as  are  to 
be  obtained  at  most  nurseries. 


EVENING   PRIMROSES. 


BY  WILLIAM   FALCONER,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

These  are  amongst  the  most  gaudy  floriferous 
and  thrifty  of  late  Summer  blooming  plants,  and 
surely  about  the  easiest  grown.  I  admit  that 
from  June  onwards  they  are  in  their  glory,  but 
many  species  and  varieties  in  late  Summer,  from 
increased  growth,  of  necessity  become  more  glori- 
ous. Amongst  them  we  have  tall  growing  sorts 
like  b.  Lamarckiana  and  fragrans,  and  decum- 
bent carpets  as  in  trichocalyx  and  csespitosa; 
white  flowers  as  in  the  last  named  two,  corono- 
pifolia  and  fspeciosa,  often  changing  with  age  to 
pink  or  rose ;  and  few  plants  have  more  bril- 
liant yellow  blooms  than  those  of  Missouriensis 
and  Lamarckiana,  besides  they  are  so  big — 4  to 
6  inches  across.  Nearly  all  are  more  or  less 
fragrant,  fragrans,  csespitosa,  marginata,  and 
eximia,  being  particularly  odoriferous.  As  a 
truly  hardy  and  neat  perennial, fruticosa  var.  line- 
aris is  one  of  the  best,  as  little  bright  yellow 
flowers  being  profusely  borne  all  Summer,  most 
lavishly  in  June  and  July.  All  are  not  equally 
fond  of  the  night  as  their  name  might  suggest- 
for  many  species  are  open  by  day,  as,  for  in- 
stance, f.  linearis,  speciosa,  taraxicifolia,  and  tri- 
chocalyx. 

Many  of  our  finest  Evening  Primroses  are  na- 
tives of  west  of  the  Mississippi  States,  as  Califor- 
nia, Utah,  Missouri,  and  Texas,  and  consequently 
several  are  not  reliably  hardy.  It  is  advisable  to 
winter  the  more  tender  sorts — biennials  or  per- 
ennials in  frames,  and  where  practicable,  save 
seeds  and  raise  seedlings  annually.  So  far  as  I  am 
■acquainted  they  all  bloom  the  first  season  from 
early  seedlings.  Some  of  the  true  perennials, 
and  particularly  the  prostrate-growing  ones,  are 
shy  seeding  in  our  garden,  but  the  tall  growers 


324 


THE  GARDENERS  MONTHLY 


[November, 


seed  freely.  Missouriensis,  linearis,  fragrans, 
Lamarckiana,  and  biennis,  withstood  last  Winter 
(40°  below  zero)  unprotected  in  the  open  garden, 
unscathed;  csespitosa  survived  under  some  leaves 
and  a  wooden  shutter,  but  alongside  of  it  tricho- 
calyx  perished.  The  rest  of  our  sorts  are  last 
Spring's  seedings. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Dracocephalum. — In  old  times  we  used  to 
grow  in  our  beds  of  hardy  herbaceous  plants 
Dracocephalum  Virginiana,  and  thought  it  the 
gem  of  the  collection.  Going  through  Ohio  this 
Summer  we  saw  occasional  patches  still  more 
beautiful  than  we  had  ever  seen  it  under  culture, 
and  we  wondered  more  why  it  is  not  universal- 
ly grown.  We  have  two  varieties  in  those 
gardens  which  have  it  at  all,  one  known  as  D. 
Virginiana  and  the  other  as  D.  denticulata, 
which  is  a  much  larger  growing  kind,  though 
botanists  generally  regard  them  as  but  forms  of 
one  species.  Strictly  speaking  we  should  say 
these  have  been  removed  from  the  old  genus  Dra- 
cocephalum, and  are  now  Physostegia.  When 
in  Europe  last  Summer,  we  noted  a  pretty  one 
being  grown  as  D.  Moldavica,  introduced  chiefly 


by  M.  Vilmorin,  of  Paris.  The  accompanying 
little  cut  will  give  some  idea  of  its  manner  01 
growth. 

The  Carolina  Poplar. — A  Western  paper  says 
that  Dr.  Furnas,  of  Danville,  is  propagating  the 
Carolina  Poplar,  "  Populus  angulata."  Here  is  a 
case  where  the  benefit  of  a  botanical  name  comes 
in.  The  Populus  angulata  would  make  a  good 
shade  tree  if  it  were  not  susceptible  to  a  rust  in 
early  Fall,  which  gives  the  tree  a  disagreeable 


look.  It  is  a  rounder  headed  tree  than  the  Caro- 
lina Poplar,  which  is  the  Populus  monolifera. 
Our  Western  friends  will  do  mischief  by  con- 
founding these  two. 

Abies  Engelmanni. — A  writer  in  the  Gardener's 
Chronicle  signing  the  letter  "  H,"  and  dating  from 
Salt  Lake  City,  speaks  of  having  visited  Colora- 
do, and  of  finding  Abies  Engelmanni  and  A. 
Menziesii,  "  varieties  of  the  same  thing."  It  is 
a  great  pity  such  errors  should  continue  to  be 
propagated,  for,  as  we  have  recently  stated,  there 
is  no  close  affinity  between  the  two. 

Crown  Imperials. — These  are  very  showy,  and 
favorite  early  Spring  flowers,  blooming  in  April. 
They  throw  up  strong  stems  to  the  height  of  two 
feet,  which  are  encircled  at  the  summit  with 
large  pendent  bell-shaped  flowers,  crowned  with 
a  tuft  of  glossy  green  leaves,  rendering  them 
very  conspicuous  and  ornamental.  The  bulbs 
should  be  planted  five  or  six  inches  deep,  in  any 
good  garden  soil.  It  is  best  to  let  them  remain 
undisturbed  for  several  years :  Aurora,  orange 
red ;  Crown  on  Crown,  red  ;  Large  Single  Red ; 
Large  Double  Red ;  Large  Single  Yellow ; 
Large  Double  Yellow;  Single  Red,  with  gold 
striped  foliage;  Single,  mixed. — G.  M.  Hovey. 


NEW  OB  BABE  PLANTS. 


Clematis  Davidiana. — This  is  a  sterling  horti- 
cultural acquisition,  quite  "new,"  a  native  of 
Northern  China,  from  whence  it  was  recently 
introduced  into  France,  and  thence  dissemi- 
nated, and  this  year  bloomed  with  us  for  the 
first  time,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  New  England. 
The  stems  are  erect,  2  to  3  feet  high,  slightly 
branched,  somewhat  woody  at  the  base,  but  the 
rest  herbaceous.  The  leaves  are  in  opposite 
pairs,  ,on  long  petioles,  and  trifoliate ;  the  two 
lower  leaflets  are  broadly  lanceolate,  4  to  5 
inches  long  by  2  to  2|  inches  broad,  and  the  in- 
termediate one  wedge-shaped,  with  a  much 
longer  petiole,  and  an  expansion  some  5J  inches 
long  by  3£  inches  wide,  and  all  of  them  deeply 
toothed  to  slightly  lobed,  reticulated  on  the 
upper  surface  and  prominently  veined  on  the 
under.  The  flowers  are  J-  to  1$  inches  across, 
pale  bluish  purple,  reflexed,  but  with  a  tube 
J  inch  long,  and  very  sweet  scented;  in  fact, in 
color  and  form  they  much  resemble  common 
blue  Hyacinths.    They  are  produced  most  freely 


1877.] 


AND  HOB  TIG  UL  TUB  1ST. 


325 


in  dense  terminal  and  axillary  heads  and  corymbs 
at  every  joint  from  the  ground  upwards,  in  one 
crowded  terminal  head.  Alone  I  counted  137 
flowers,  expanded  blooms  and  unopened  buds. 
The  lateral  branches,  mostly  in  pairs,  are  often 
but  long-jointed  flower-stems,  the  blooms  being 
gracefully  disposed  in  whorls  around  the  joints, 
which  are  closer  near  the  end  ;  and  these  branch- 
lets  are  admirably  suited  as  cut  flowers.  Its 
blooming  period  lasts  from  the  end  of  July  till 
about  the  20th  of  August.  We  regard  it  as  one 
of,  if  not  the  very  best  hardy  herbaceous  orna- 
mental plant  of  its  season.  It  seems  to  be  con- 
stitutionally strong  and  vigorous. —  W.  F. 

Clematis  tubulosa. — This  species  has  been  in 
cultivation  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  never- 
theless it  is  very  rarely  met  with.  It  is  a  native 
of  Northern  China,  2  to  3  feet  high,  herbaceous, 
or  nearly  so,  quite  hardy,  a  good  grower,  profuse 
bloomer,  and  withal  a  commendable  garden 
flower.  Its  blooming  season  is  from  about  the 
20th  of  August  till  the  10th  or  middle  of  Sep- 
tember. It  has  erect,  slightly  branched  stems  ; 
opposite,  long-petioled,  trisected  leaves,  the  leaf- 
lets rhombeo-ovate,  faintly  lobed  and  toothed. 
The  flowers  are  bluish-purple,  with  narrow  re- 
flexed  sepals,  1  to  lh  inches  across,  and  produced 
in  loose,  terminal  and  axillary  cluster-corymbs. 
—  W.  F. 


SCBAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Gas-killed  Trees. — I  have,  unfortunately,  lost 
two  fine  trees  in  consequence  of  the  escape  of 
gas  in  the  street ;  and  in  regulating  my  front 
pavement,  have  had  to  cut  down  three  others. 
Speaking  with  Mr.  Paul,  a  short  time  since,  he 
stated  that  there  was  a  species  of  Poplar  tree, — 
he  could  not  give  me  the  name,  but  the  kind  of 
tree  could  be  seen  growing  on  the  corner  of  a 
small  street  running  north  from  Vine,  be- 
tween Eighth  and  Ninth  streets, — which  he 
understood  the  gas  would  not  affect.  I  think  he 
said  you  were  aware  of  it ;  and  my  object  in 
writing  is  to  inquire  if  you  could  furnish  me 
with  its  proper  name,  or  the  name  of  any  tree 
the  gas  will  not  kill. 

[Ihe  roots  of  any  tree  whatever,  will  be  killed 
by  the  gas  escaping  from  the  mains.  It  is  no  use 
to  plant  anything  where  trees  have  been  thus 
killed,  till  the  leak  has  been  stopped.  Notify 
the  gas  company  of  the  leak,  and  they  will  stop 


it.  Then  plant.  In  equity  the  gas  corporation 
should  be  held  responsible  for  damages.  There 
is  little  excuse  for  these  leaks.  It  is  as  possible 
to  make  a  pipe  tight  below  as  above  ground. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Night  Blooming  Cereus. — Mrs.  Harriet  Beech  - 
er  Scoville,  Norwich,  Chenango   county,  N.  Y., 
writes :  —  Reading,  this  evening,   an  article    or 
note   in  the   September  number   of    Gardener's 
Monthly  on    Night   Blooming  Cereus,    alluding 
to  it  not  always  being  night-blooming,   I   am 
tempted    to  give  my  experience  on  the  same 
topic.    I  have  a  large  plant  of  the  flat  thornless- 
leaved  variety.  I  know  no  name  for  it.  But  it  has 
a  large  white  exquisitely  fragrant  and  beautiful 
blossom.     Mine  flowered  this  season  for  the  third 
time   or  year.    The   first  in  June,  it  had  three 
large  blossoms   open  at   one  time.     The   flower 
began  to  open  before  dark,  was  wide  open  before 
10   o'clock   P.   M.,  and  was  wide   open   in   the 
morning.     I   cut  two  flowers   and  sent  out,  and 
heard  that  they  did  not  close  until  full  noon,  the 
third  I  kept  on  the  plant,  and  it  also  remained 
open  until  between  12  and  12.30  midday,  when  I 
removed  it  from  my  greenhouse,  facing  south, 
into  my  darkened  dining-room,  thinking  to  keep 
it  longer,  but  it  closed  directly  after.    A  friend  has 
one   of  the  same   variety,  which   once   opened 
during  her  absence  at  church  one  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, and  I  believe  remained  open  all  that  day  and 
I  think  closed  at  night, — of  that  I  cannot  speak 
with    certainty.    There    are    a  number  of  the 
plants   in   our  town,  and  there  are  generally  a 
dozen   or    more  blossoms  seen   each   Summer. 
One  friend  had  ten  open  at  once.     Some  time  I 
may  be  tempted  to  give  an  account  of  my  green- 
house, which  I  heat  by  a  coal  base-burning  stove 
in  the  greenhouse,  unless  this  is  so  long  that  you 
are  wearied. 

[Cereus  crenatus,  C.  latifrons,  and  C.  triangu- 
laris, as  well  as  the  night-blooming  Cereus,  C. 
grandiflorus,  open  at  night,  and  some,  especially 
the  last,  continue  to  about  noon  next  day.  The 
true  night-blooming  Cereus  has  round,  rope-like 
stems ;  C.  triangularis  is  three  cornered  ;  C.  cre- 
natus has  flat  stems  with  pretty  notched  edges, 
and  latifrons  has  stems  so  thin  that  they  seem 
like  leaves.  We  should  very  much  value  the 
experience  on  heating  the  small  greenhouse.  It 
is' a  subject  of  interest  to  a  large  number  of  our 
readers.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Irish  Junipers,  &c. — W.  W.,  Hillsboro,  Md., 
writes :  —  Although    not    a    subscriber     to    the 


326 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


Gardener's  Monthly  I  am  a  constant  reader  of  it, 
as  my  employers  have  always  taken  it.  In  the 
last  number,  a  correspondent  inquired  as  to  soil 
causing  Irish  Junipers  to  change  their  habits. 
You  say  you  do  not  know  that  soil  makes  any 
difference  in  the  compactness  of  their  growth, 
but  I  am  fully  convinced  it  does.  Before  I  came 
to  this  place,  in  Caroline  county,  Md.,  I  worked 
for  R.  Peters,  at  Wilmington,  Del.  He  had 
Junipers  of  very  compact  growth,  and  all  his 
grew  in  this  way.  A  lot  of  young  plants  raised 
from  them  and  sent  to  us  here  have  made  trees 
of  spreading  habits,  so  much  so  as  to  be  more 
like  Swedish  Junipers  in  this  respect  than  like 
the  Irish:  The  soil  here  is  a  light  loam.  It  is 
not  uncommon  for  the  Irish  Juniper  to  lose  its 
compact  growth  when  transplanted  into  other 
soils.  Your  notes  on  Early  Peaches  were  very 
interesting  to  me.  Every  section  of  the  country 
seems  to  have  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  the 
earliest.  There  will  be  one  from  our  town,  of 
course,  when  the  time  comes,  as  we  must  not  be 
behind  the  age.   Williams'  Early  is  its  name. 

Preserving  Roses  in  Winter. — L.  E.,  Belle- 
ville, Illinois,  writes  : — My  last  year's  query  of 
protection  of  Tea  Roses — to  cover  such  with  coal 
ashes — I  have  tested,  and  the  result  has  proved 
satisfactory.  All  tender  Roses,  Pampas  Grass, 
Oleanders  and  Tritomas  I  bent  to  the  ground 
and  covered  entirely  with  coal  ashes.  With  the 
exception  of  a   few   very  small  Tea  Roses,  they 


stand   the   Winter   very   well.     Coldest  day,   6° 
below  zero. 

Standing  Cypress. — A.  G.,  a  lady  amateur, 
says  that  unless  this  Cypress  is  wintered  in  com- 
pact soil  it  will  freeze  out ;  or  that  having  a  loose 
soil  in  her  garden,  she  was  not  able  to  keep 
her  plants  during  their  first  Winter.  Early  in 
March,  when  sowing  seeds  in  advance  for  her 
garden,  she  mistook  the  seed  of  Standing  Cypress 
for  those  of  another  plant,  and  sowed  them. 
She  soon  discovered  her  mistake,  but  saved  the 
plants,  and  in  due  time  transferred  them  to  the 
garden,  where,  to  her  surprise,  they  grew  quite 
tall  and  bloomed  finely  the  same  Summer  (this 
1877),  and  when  the  writer  saw  them  in  August 
they  were  nearly  or  quite  three  feet  in  height. 
As  it  is,  in  some  situations,  exceedingly  difficult 
to  keep  them  through  the  first  Winter,  would  it 
not  be  well  to  try  the  plan,  accidentally  discover- 
ed, which  assures  success? 

Cut-leaved  Grape. — A  Denison,  Texas,  cor- 
respondent writes : — I  send  enclosed  a  leaf  to 
know  if  it  is  that  of  Ampelopsis  incisa,  true. 
Parties  are  selling  it  for  that  here.  The  leaf 
does  not  seem  to  me  so  thick  as  one  would  ex- 
pect from  your  description  in  the  Gardener's 
Monthly. 

[The  leaf  sent  appeared  at  first  like  the  Am- 
pelopsis bipinnata,  but  it  is  really  a  cut-leaved 
variety  of  the  European  grape,  and  not  Ampe- 
lopsis incisa. — Ed.] 


Ww 


REEN  MOUSE  AND  MOUSE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


The  greenhouse  will  now  begin  to  look  more  na- 
tural, after  having  had  the  stock  housed  last 
month.  With  many  plants  having  probably  been 
taken  up  out  of  the  open  ground,  many  dead 
leaves  will  daily  appear,  requiring  frequent  remo- 
val; neatness  is  one  of  the  chief  beauties  of  a 
greenhouse.  Acacias,  and  Australian  plants  gen- 
erally, with  hard  wood  and  delicate  roots,  should 
be  placed  at  the  coolest  end  of  the  house,  where 
little  water  will  lie  required.  These  plants 
should  not  be  watered  often  ;  but  when  they  art1, 
it  should  be  thorough.    Frequent  waterings  soon 


render  the  roots  of  these  plants  unhealthy,  when 
it  is  very  difficult  to  restore  them  to  vigor. 
Whenever  the  foliage  becomes  of  sickly  yellow 
hue,  the  best  plan  is  to  plunge  the  plant  in  a 
larger  pot,  filling  the  space  with  moss, — and 
when  the  plant  requires  water,  give  it  only 
through  the  moss,  unless  the  plant  seem  to  be- 
come so  dry  as  to  suffer,  when  it  should  receive 
one  thorough  watering.  Very  little  fire  should  be 
applied  to  a  greenhouse, — just  sufficient  to  keep 
it  about  45°.  Unless  very  far  north,  but  little 
fire-heat  will  be  required  this  month. 

Window  plants  should  not  be  kept  very  warm 
at   this  season.     They  should   have  all  the  sun 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


327 


and  air,  and  as  little  of  the  artificial  heat  of  the 
room  as  possible.  These  remarks  apply  espe- 
cially to  Mignonette,  which  is  very  impatient  of 
in-door  confinement.  Succulents,  such  as  Cacti, 
are  excellent  window  plants  in  this  respect,  as 
the  dry  air  does  not  affect  them.  To  keep  the 
air  about  the  plants  moist,  is  one  of  the  secrets 
of  window  culture.  Some  who  have  very  fine 
windows  well  stocked  with  fine  plants,  make 
glazed  cases  with  folding  doors  of  them,  by 
which,  when  the  room  is  highly  heated  and  very 
dry,  they  can  be  enclosed  in  an  atmosphere  of 
their  own.  Where  it  is  not  convenient  to  have 
the  window  enclosed  from  the  room  by  a  folding 
door,  much  benefit  has  been  found  by  using  a 
simple  curtain.  This  will  prevent  injury  from 
the  coal  or  illuminating  gas,  which  is  often  as 
destructive  as  the  dry  atmosphere. 

Aquariums  are  now  so  well  understood,  as  to 
be  in  a  fair  way  to  become  essentials  in  the  room- 
gardening  of  all  persons  of  taste.  Growing 
plants,  fishes  and  water  reptiles  are  placed  in 
the  same  globe  or  tank  of  water,  and  the  gases 
which  the  fish  reject  are  the  food  of  the  plants; 
while  the  plants,  on  the  other  hand,  prepare  the 
elements  necessary  for  the  health  of  the  fish. 
By  this  beautiful  principle  of  reciprocity,  both 
plants  and  animals  remain  in  perfect  health, 
without  the  water  scarcely  ever  being  changed. 
A  tank  for  plants  and  animals  might  form  the 
base  of  a  pretty  parlor  ornament,  a  central  por- 
tion consisting  of  a  case  for  ferns  and  similar 
plants,  and  a  cage  for  birds  on  the  top. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


TUBEROUS     ROOTED    BEGONIAS,    CYCLAMEN 
PERSICUM,  &c. 

BY  W.,  NORFOLK,  VA» 

Stepping  into  the  small  greenhouse  of  David 
Barker  the  other  day  I  was  astonished  at  his 
magnificent  display  of  new  tuberous-rooted 
Begonias  with  handsome  foliage  and  in  full 
flower.  They  are  chiefly  from  choice  hybridized 
seed ;  of  great  variety  in  color,  from  pure  white 
to  deepest  scarlet,  many  salmon  and  orange 
tinted,  with  occasionally  a  strong  tendency  to 
produce  double  flowers.  I  doubt  if  such  another 
collection  of  this  charming  novelty  is  to  be 
found  in  this  county.  When  better  known, 
they  must  become  as  popular  here  as  in  Europe. 
As  far  as  tested  they  are  most  suitable  for  bed- 


ding plants,  surpassing  the  Geranium  in  their 
beautiful  foliage  and  large  flowers  of  richest 
hues,  and  will  soon  become  a  great  acquisition 
to  the  garden  and  lawn.  In  England,  they  have 
already  superseded  it  to  a  great  extent,  being 
more  vigorous  and  floriferous. 

Mr.  Barker  has  been  fortunate  in  saving  a 
fair  quantity  of  seed,  carefully  hybridized,  from 
his  best  specimens,  which  he  will  offer  this  sea- 
son, and  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  large 
flowering  plants  are  grown  from  seed  in  a  few 
months,  the  value  of  the  tuberous-rooted  Be- 
goina  cannot  be  too  highly  appreciated. 

Mr.  B.  has  also  devoted  much  time  and  atten- 
tion to  the  Persian  Cyclamen,  of  late  more 
generally  cultivated  in  this  country.  His  bulbs, 
from  the  best  strains  of  European  seed,  already 
show  foliage  of  immense  size  and  exquisite  beau- 
ty, a  foretaste  of  the  rich  display  of  bloom  so 
soon  to  follow. 

I  cannot  omit  the  bare  mention  of  his  choice 
Gloxinias  and  hybrid  Petunias,  the  latter  superb, 
often  five  feet  in  height,  and  of  every  conceiva- 
ble shade  and  variety  of  marking. 

This  choice  collection  of  these  and  other 
novelties  his  little  greenhouse  affords,  will  well 
repay  a  call  from  those  who  are  favored  with  ac- 
cess to  more  pretentious  establishments. 


ALOCASIA  LOWII. 

BY  MANSFIELD  MILTON,  CLEVELAND,  O. 

One  of  the  grandest,  beautiful  leaved  plants  in 
cultivation.  There  are  some  very  beautiful 
species  in  this  genera  of  plants,  but  this  stands 
pre-eminent.  The  upper  surface  of  the  leaf ( is  a 
deep  green,  the  mid-rib  and  secondary  ribs  an 
ivory  white,  the  under  side  a  soft  dark  purple. 
It  is  a  native  of  Borneo,  and  therefore  requires  a 
high,  moist  temperature  to  fully  develop  its  dis- 
tinct markings.  It  requires  for  soil,  lumps  of 
peat,  charcoal,  fibrous  loam  and  pieces  of  sand 
stone ;  during  its  growing  season  abundance  of 
water,  and  when  at  rest  it  should  be  kept  just 
moist  enough  to  retain  its  foliage.  It  is  not  so 
easily  grown  as  most  of  the  Alocasias  in  cultiva- 
tion, but  when  convenience  is  afforded  a  plant 
of  it  should  be  seen.  In  a  dry  atmosphere  the 
red  spider  is  a  deadly  enemy  to  it,  often  doing 
considerable  damage  before  its  presence  is  ob- 
served ;  frequent  spongings  will  keep  the  plant 
healthy  and  free  from  insects. 


328 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


BRUGMANSIA   SUAVEOLENS 
GARDEN. 


IN    THE  FLOWER 


BY  W.  FALCONER,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

At  Mr.  Motley's,  at  Jamaica  Plains,  I  lately 
saw  this  fine  old  favorite  in  good  condition. 
The  plant  is  four  years  old  and  flowering  in  a 
suh-tropical  flower  border,  crowded  on  every  side 
by  neighbors — Ficuses,  Cannas,  Solanums,  &c. 
Mr.  M.  informs  me,  however,  that  during  the 
Summer  time  he  saw  as  many  as  one  hundred 
expanded  blooms  on  it  at  one  time ;  and  when 
I  was  there  (September  24th).  in  addition  to  the 
flowers  and  buds  on  the  plant,  I  saw  a  dozen  of 
immense  white  trumpets  that  had  just  been  cut 
from  it. 

The  plant  is  lifted  on  the  approach  of  frost, 
cut  back  and  potted,  and  wintered  in  some  out- 
of-the-way  corner  in  a  greenhouse,  where  it  can 
be  kept  nearly  dry. 


DOUBLE  GERANIUM,  "BISHOP  WOOD." 

BY  GEO.  S.  WOODRUFF,  MOUNT  AIRY,  PHILA. 

I  have  grown  this  new  Geranium  side  by  side 
with  another  from  Veitch's  collection,  called 
Guillon  Mangilli,  and  have  been  unable  to  find 
any  difference  between  them.  Others  who  have 
grown  both  give  the  same  testimony,  and  I  sus- 
pect that  by  the  time,  a  few  enterprising  florists 
have  "  substitued,"  a  few  times,  the  one  for  the 
other,  the  purchaser  will  not  be  able  to  tell 
which  he  has.  As  Mr.  Harris  is  above  suspicion, 
and  doubtless  obtained  his  Bishop  Wood  from 
seed,  we  have  here  an  interesting  instance  of 
independent  workers  arriving  at  the  same  result 
about  the  same  time,  as  has  often  happened  to 
inventors  and  discoverers. 

But  another  interesting  thing  is,  that  I  have 
obtained  seed  from  these  and  some  other  new 
doubles,  all  similar  to  Asa  Gray  in  their  dwarf 
habit  and  semi-double  flower,  the  latter,  however, 
being  much  larger  than  those  of  Asa  Gray.  Of 
these  "Auguste  Willaume"  is  of  a  very  peculiar 
shade  of  red,  nearly  vermilion,  and  "Edward 
Lequin  "  somewhat  like  it.  "Asteroid  "  is  a  rich 
crimson  scarlet.  A  splendid  pink  one,  "Noe- 
mie"  (namy),  also  seeded,  as  did  Eugene  Band- 
ouin,  but  the  seed  did  not  mature,  owing  to 
excessive  rains.  The  same  thing  happened  with 
George  Sand  and  Wilfred,  both  improvements 
on  Aline  Sisly. 

I    think    that  with   more    uniform   moisture 
ripened  seed  might  be  had  from  all  these. 


The  whole  series  is  so  much  superior  in  habit 
to  the  rank-growing  doubles  to  which  most  peo- 
ple are  accustomed  that  they  desire  mention. 

Another  of  similar  habit,  "  Meteor  Flagg,"  (!) 
has  flowers  as  perfect  as  roses,  somewhat  like 
"  Le  Negre,"  but  unlike  that,  perfect  in  form  and 
produced  freely  all  Summer. 

Now  that  I  have  made  this  article  so  much 
like  a  catalogue,  I  might  as  well  mention  that 
"  Happy  Thought "  seems  happy  in  either  wet 
or  dry  weather. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Taste  in  Farm  Houses. — An  exchange  tells 
us  that  Colonel  Ingersoll  wants  to  see  farmers' 
wives  dress  with  more  care  and  better  taste, 
which  would  cost  no  more  than  their  present 
style,  and  above  all,  he  wants  to  see  them  pitch 
their  miserable  little  cook  stoves  out  of  the 
window  and  get  a  decent  range,  over  which  they 
can  cook  without  cooking  themselves.  We 
should  like  if  he  had  added  a  word  on  the  floral 
surroundings.  No  one  knows  how  a  neat  little 
garden  adds  to  the  pleasures  of  life.  But  wre 
hardly  know  whether  it  is  right  to  address  this 
counsel  to  women.  If  they  are  careless  or 
slovenly  it  is  too  often  the  men's  own  fault.  A 
woman  when  married  usually  becomes  what  her 
husband  makes  her.  If  what  she  does  seems 
not  to  interest  him,  it  is  natural  that  she  become 
indifferent.  If  husbands — young  husbands  es- 
pecially—took more  interest  in  their  wives'  dress 
and  neat  appearance,  the  cook  stove  or  the 
flower  garden,  we  will  guarantee  there  would  be 
less  "  farmers' wives  "  of  the  class  Col.  Ingersoll 
refers  to. 

Preserving  Flowers  Fresh. — The  Worcester 
Spy  says : — "A  friend  of  ours  received  a  day  or 
two  ago  through  the  post-office,  from  Olympia, 
Washington  Territory,  a  roundish,  irregular  pack- 
age, which  on  examination  proved  to  contain  a 
large  potato.  Further  investigation  showed  that 
the  potato  had  been  cut  in  two  and  the  inside 
scooped  out,  and  in  the  cavity  were  found  flowr- 
ers  and  leaves,  which,  as  he  learned  by  a  note 
previously  received,  had  been  picked  in  a  garden 
in  the  open  air  on  the  26th  day  of  December. 
The  flowers, — pansies,  geraniums,  and  others, — 
were  as  fresh  and  bright  as  if  they  had  been 
gathered  within  an  hour,  though  their  journey 
across  the  continent  had  occupied  fifteen  days. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


329 


Olympia  is  m  about  the  latitude  of  Quebec, 
though  its  Winter  climate  is  not  more  severe 
than  that  of  Memphis."  We  refer  to  this  because 
a  correspondent  of  the  far  west  sent  us  some 
flowers  for  name  in  this  way,  and  they  came 
in  as  good  condition  as  if  fresh  gathered.  As 
we  had  not  the  material  for  full  investigation 
just  at  hand  it  was  left  for  a  week,  when  the 
flowers  were  still  found  fresh  and  good.  There 
is  just  moisture  enough  and  no  more  in  a  hol- 
low potato  to  keep  flowers  well. 

The  Richardia  ^Ethiopica. — Tnis  is  gen- 
erally known  with  us  as  the  Calla  Lily,  the  plant 
in  former  times  being  regarded  as  a  true  Calla. 
The  common  name  in  English  works  is  "  Trum- 
pet Lily." 

Grafting  Chrysanthemums. — A  correspond- 
ent of  the  Garden  says  : — "At  the  Royal  Nurser- 
ies, Slough,  I  observed  the  other  day  what  to  me 
seemed  to  be  a  novelty  in  Chrysanthemum 
growing,  viz. :  over  200  fine  plants  worked  as 
standards  on  three-feet  stems,  several  sorts  which 
bloom  simultaneously  being  grafted  into  one 
head.  Only  one  plant  was  grown  in  this  way 
last  year,  but  the  effect  which  it  produced  was 
so  striking  as  to  induce  Mr.  Turner  to  cultivate 
Chrysanthemums  largely  in  that  manner."  The 
stems  of  the. Chrysanthemum  dying  after  flower- 
ing would  seem  to  make  this  plan  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  for  a  short  gratification,  and  then  we 
should  think  as  good  an  effect  could  be  had  by 
growing  several  kinds  in  one  pot. 

Rose  Blooms. — Rose  "buds,"  as  our  florists 
call  them,  are  advertised  in  the  London  papers 
at  $2  per  one  hundred. 

Lord's  Greenhouses. — At  several  places,  re- 
cently, we  have  seen  greenhouses  by  Mr.  Lord 
being  erected,  and  they  seem  to  give  entire  satis- 
faction in  quality  and  price  to  the  owner  who 
pays  for  them,  and  in  adaptation  to  plant  and 
fruit  growing  by  the  gardener  who  has  to  work 
them.  The  peculiarity  of  Mr.  Lord's  work  is 
that  the  parts  are  all  made  at  his  factory,  and 
the  house  is  speedily  put  together  by  Mr.  Lord's 
own  men.  Many  persons  would  have  green- 
houses but  for  the  difficulty  of  getting  local 
builders  to  understand  the  wants  of  plant  grow- 
ing. This  enterprise  of  Mr.  Lord's,  therefore) 
we  regard  as  a  public  benefit,  deserving  of  all 
the  encouragement  which  those  who  wish  well 
to  horticulture  can  give  it. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 

Disease  on  the  Marechal  Neil  Rose. — S.  S.  P., 
Philadelphia,  writes : — I  am  a  very  constant 
reader  of  the  Monthly,  and  on  the  look-out  for 
any  new  diseases  that  affect  plants,  but  thus  far 
do  not  notice  that  any  of  your  correspondents 
make  complaints  of  any  insect  or  disease  that 
attacks  "  Marechal  Neil  Rose."  I  have  now 
been  fighting  it  ever  since  that  glorious  rose  has 
been  out,  but  do  not  meet  with  the  least  success 
in  checking  it,  notwithstanding  I  have  tried 
turpentine,  petroleum  and  linseed  oil.  It  makes 
its  appearance  in  the  shape  of  knotty  excrescen- 
ces, which  extend  below  the  bark,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  kill  the  plant.  It  does  not  seem 
to  affect  other  varieties  of  roses,  as  I  have  tried 
budding  it,  and  the  trouble  continues,  but 
always  on  the  Neil,  the  stock  not  being  in  any 
way  touched,  and  generally  prefer  old  and  well- 
established  plants.  I  have  one  plant  now  cover- 
ing a  space  of  fifty  or  sixty  feet,  that  last  Spring 
bloomed  four  or  five  hundred  roses,  and  it  is 
going  like  all  others,  without  the  least  ability  to 
save  it.  I  have  heard  lately  that  the  trouble- 
some customer  is  the  same  insect  that  attacks 
the  grape  vine  in  France.  Have  you  heard 
anything  of  it? 

[We  have  never  heard  of  this  before.  Have 
any  of  our  readers  had  a  similar  experience?— 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Antipodal  Hyacinths.  —A  correspondent 
asks  about  the  antipodal  Hyacinth  vases,  in 
which  one  Hyacinth  is  represented  as  growing 
down  into  the  water,  and  another  above  it 
grows  right  up  into  the  air.  We  have  not  seen 
these,  but  the  fact  is  vouched  for  by  those  whose 
evidence  we  consider  as  good  as  our  own.  But 
if  any  one  can  tell  us  something  of  his  own 
knowledge,  we  should  be  glad  to  know  of  it. 

Heating  a  Small  Greenhouse.— G.  W.  H., 
Belvidere,  N.  J.,  writes:— As  a  subscriber  to  the 
Monthly,  I  take  the  liberty  of  asking  you  for  ad- 
vice in  regard  to  the  best  plan  for  heating  a 
small  greenhouse  which  I  wish  to  build.  I  pro- 
pose building  it  about  fifteen  feet  long  by  ten 
feet  wide;  location,  dry  gravelly  soil,  lean-to 
only  two  feet  above  ground  in  front.  Exposure 
south  or  a  little  east  of  south.  Object,  to  keep 
plants  in  a  healthy  growing  condition  over  Winter 
and  for  propagating  in  Spring  for  bedding  out. 
How  would  a  brick  furnace  and  flue,  with  a 
cylinder  for  a  base-burning  stove  inserted  in  the 


330 


THE  GAEDE  NEB'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


top  of  furnace  answer  to  keep  up  a  steady  heat? 
Would  terra  cotta  pipe  answer  for  the  flue? 
Would  it  be  best  to  carry  flue  around  the  house, 
having  the  chimney  over  the  furnace,  and  a 
direct  draft  for  use  in  starting  fire  ?  What  should 
be  the  rise  of  the  flue  per  foot  of  height  ?  I 
have  had  and  used  a  furnace  in  a  greenhouse, 
burning  soft  coal,  but  have  no  experience  with 
hard  coal. 

[There  is  less  danger  from  hard  coal  than  soft 
coal.     The  gas  may  escape  from  the  base-burner 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Pelargonium — New  Life. — We  are  indebted 
to  Mr.  Chitty  for  the  use  of  the  following  engrav- 
ing of  this  interesting  new  Geranium,  an  account 
of  which  from  an  English  paper,  we  have  already 
given. 

Tuberous  Begonias.— Mr.  D.  Barker,  Norfolk, 
Va.,  writes : — I  have  this   day  mailed   to   your 


PELARGONIUM 

in  the  house.  It  would  be  best,  if  possible,  to 
have  the  furnace-door  on  the  outside.  It  is  a 
good  idea  to  have  the  chimney  return  and  go  up 
over  the  furnace;  it  helps  the  draft.  When  one 
has  experience  in  terra  cotta  flues  they  do  very 
well,  but  those  who  arc  Dot  experienced  complain. 
In  our  houses  we  have  had  these  pipes  for  fifteen 
years,  and  would  have  no  other;  but  for  those 
who  are  not  experienced  in  management,  a 
brick  flue  is  best.  It  may  run  on  a  level,  if  the 
draft  is  made  good;  try  running  the  chimney 
over  the  furnace. 


"new  life." 


address  a  box    of   the  "tuberous-rooted   Bego- 
nias," which  I  hope  will  reach  you  in  safety. 

[These  were  beautiful,  warranting  all  we  said 
of  them  in  our  last.  It  is  so  seldom  that  our 
own  people  take  in  hand  improvements,  that 
when  we  find  one  going  along  and  keeping  pace 
with  Europeans  in  floral  culture,  we  are  glad  to 
give  every  encouragement.  We  noted  several 
collections  of  improved  tuberous  Begonias  in 
England  last  year  that  were  considered  "extra 
strokes  of  luck,"  but  these  of  Mr.  Barker's  were 
the  equal  of  any.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


1871.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


331 


RUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


So  much  has  been  said  in  this  journal  on  the 
proper  preparation  of  the  soil  for  orchai-ds,  that 
it  need  not  now  be  repeated.  We  should  only 
say,  that  a  light  dryish  soil  is  the  best  to  choose 
for  the  peach.  The  pear  does  best  on  a  strong 
loamy  soil.  Plums  much  the  same  as  the  last. 
The  apple  prefers  a  heavy  loam,  if  on  limestone 
so  much  the  better.  The  cherry  does  well  in 
soil  adapted  to  the  peach. 

If,  however,  a  fruit  orchard  is  dry  and  proper- 
ly top  dressed  annually,  there  is  not  much  differ- 
ence in  the  value  of  soils  for  fruit  orchard. 
With  rich  decaying  vegetable  matter  abundantly 
supplied  to  the  trees,  they  will  do  well  enough  in 
most  kinds  of  soil. 

Whatever  prunin'g  trees  may  require,  is  best 
done  early  if  one  have  the  time.  On  this  ac- 
count, however,  it  is  generally  deferred  to  to- 
wards Spring  when  there  is  more  leisure. 

Probably  most  of  our  fruits  do  best  in  partial 
shade.  The  gooseberry  and  currant  certainly  do. 
The  former  must  have  shade;  and  if  on  the 
moist  northern  aspect  of  a  wall,  so  much  the 
better.  The  raspberry  prefers  a  rather  moist 
soil,  and  partial  shade. 

Where  currants,  gooseberries  and  raspberries 
are  not  to  be  disturbed,  old  low  stalks  thrown 
thickly  in  about  the  plants  and  allowed  to 
remain  and  rot  away,  keep  the  roots  cool,  and 
make  a  condition  of  things  in  which  these  three 
kinds  of  fruit  luxuriate. 

In  cultivating  raspberries  on  a  large  scale 
they  do  best  in  hills,  as  the  cultivator  keeps 
them  from  crowding  each  other  so  much.  For 
garden  culture  they  are  better  in  rows,  the 
suckers  to  be  kept  hoed  out  occasionally  as  they 
grow ;  enough  only  being  left  that  will  be  re- 
quired for  fruiting  next  year.  Where  canes  are 
required  for  new  plantations,  of  course  a  portion 
of  the  crop  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  suckers. 

In  choosing  pears,  select  those  that  have  been 
budded  close  to  the  ground,  as  when  they  are  re- 
planted the  stocks  should  be  buried  an  inch 
below  the  pear  scion,  which  prevents  the  attacks 
of  the  quince  borer.     If  a  lorfg  stem  has  to  be 


buried,  the  usual  consequences  of  deep  planting 
result,  and  do  as  much  injury  as  the  quince 
borer.  Also  in  choosing,  select,  if  possible; 
plants  that  have  been  raised  from  cuttings  ;  for 
layered  stocks  have  almost  always  a  long,  deep 
tap  looking  root,  on  which  dwarf  pears  do  not 
do  well.  If  we  have  to  use  such  dwarf  pear  trees, 
better  shorten  some  of  this  long  trunk  root 
before  planting.  Never  plant  what  appears  to 
be  the  stem  of  a  tree  far  beneath  the  surface, 
under  any  circumstances,  for  disease  will  be 
most  probably  an  ultimate  consequence. 

In  making  new  vegetable  gardens,  a  south- 
east aspect  should  be  chosen,  as  far  as  practica- 
ble. Earliness  in  the  crops  is  a  very  great  de- 
sideratum, and  such  an  aspect  favors  this  point 
materially.  Too  great  a  slope  is  objectionable, 
as  inducing  to  a  great  run  of  water  in  heavy 
rains.  The  plots  for  the  crops  should  be  laid  off 
in  squares  or  parallelograms,  for  convenience  in 
digging,  and  the  edges  of  the  walks  set  with  box 
edging.  If  water  can  be  introduced,  it  is  a  great 
convenience. 

Sometimes  broccoli  does  not  head  before  there 
is  danger  of  frosts,  especially  if  growing  vigor- 
ously. If  taken  up  with  small  balls  of  earth, 
and  set  in  a  damp  cellar,  they  will  still  perfect 
themselves. 

Asparagus  beds,  after  the  tops  have  been 
cleared  off,  are  better  covered  with  litter  or  sta- 
ble manure.  The  plants  shoot  easier  for  it  next 
season. 

When  the  ground  becomes  frozen,  or  no  other 
work  offers,  preparation  can  always  be  made  for 
advancing  prospective  work  when  it  arrives. 
Bean-poles  may  be  made ;  and  if  the  ends  are 
charred,  and  then  dipped  in  coal  tar,  the  com- 
monest material  will  be  rendered  nearly  equal  to 
the  best  cedar. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


WHITEWASHED  PEAR  TREES. 

BY  J.  S.  COLLINS,  MOORESTOWN,  N.  J. 

The  whitewashed  pear  trees  referred  to  in  are- 
cent  issue  of  the  Monthly  under  the  head  of 
"  Proceedings  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Horticul- 


332 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November , 


tural  Society,"  were  not  whitewashed  with  a 
view  of  preventing  blight,  but  to  clean  the  bark, 
it  acting  apparently  on  the  same  principle,  and 
perhaps  nearly  as  well,  as  a  wash  of  soap  and 
water.  The  whitewash  was  applied  early  in 
Spring  each  year  on  the  trunks  and  large 
branches  with  a  common  whitewash  brush,  and 
I  do  not  consider  it  had  any  effect  on  the  trees 
blighting,  either  one  way  or  another.  Some 
Lawrence  trees  that  had  formerly  been  entirely 
exempt  from  blight,  were  attacked  and  ruined  in 
1876,  the  year  of  second  application. 


THE  NORTHERN  RANGE  OF  WALNUT 
GROWING. 

BY  MR.  ROBT.  COIT,  NEW  LONDON,  CONN. 

In  a  late  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly 
some  one  inquires  how  far  north  the  English 
Walnut  will  mature  its  fruit.  I  have  this  tree  in 
my  garden  here,  which  bears  and  ripens  nuts 
every  year.  This  year  the  crop  is  larger  than 
ever  before,  amounting,  I  should  think,  to  1£  or 
2  pecks.  The  tree  is  at  least  twenty-five  years 
old,  and  has  been  in  bearing  some  eight  years. 
It  is  sheltered  on  the  north  and  west  by  build- 
ings. But  in  the  garden  adjoining  mine  is 
another  English  Walnut  tree,  exposed  in  all  di- 
rections. It  is  an  older  tree  than  mine,  and  has 
ripened  crops  of  nuts,  more  or  less  sparsely,  for 
twenty  years.  The  latitude  of  New  London  is 
47°  21v  north. 


APRICOTS  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

BY  "  BERYL,''  SAN  DIEGO,  CAL. 

In  the  Gardener's  Monthly  for  July,  1877,  I  see 
a  short  article— " Apricots  in  California" — 
speaking  of  the  failure  of  said  fruit  there  this 
year,  which  suggests,  the  "  curculio  "  as  being  the 
possible  cause  of  the  failure. 

I  have  been  over  eight  years  in  the  nursery 
business  in  this  State,  and  have  never  seen  or 
heard  of  said  pest  yet. 

Peaches  and  apricots  are  almost  a  total  failure 
south  of  San  Francisco  this  year,  and  although 
many  seem  in  doubt  as  to  the  cause,  I  have  but 
little  doubt  that  the  unusual  hot  weather  in  Janu- 
ary was  the  cause  of  it,  the  thermometer  stand- 
ing at  80°  to  87°  in  the  shade  for  a  good  part  of 
three  or  four  days.  The  bloom-buds  on  my 
peach  trees  swelled  as  though  they  were  going  to 
bloom,  and  the  chilly  weather  afterwards  stop- 


ping the  flow  of  the  sap  killed  the  fruit,  I  believe. 
Most  of  the  peach  trees  remained  dormant  from 
the  middle  until  the  last  of  June.  Many  of  the 
limbs  have  died  about  half  back,  but  now  the 
new  growths  are  quite  vigorous  in  most  of  the 
trees,  but  some  of  the  trees  that  are  leaving  out 
are  dried  on  one  side  as  though  scorched  by  fire. 
What  do  you  think  is  the  cause  of  failure,  if  I 
am  wrong? 

Some  five  years  ago  I  had  an  orange  tree  com- 
pletely girdled  by  cut  worms,  which  grew  more 
than  two  feet  afterwards,  but  withered  as  though 
it  had  been  cut  off  as  soon  as  the  upward  flow  of 
sap  ceased.  The  puzzle  to  me  is  how  the  thing 
could  grow  after  being  girdled. 

[A  layer  of  wood  is  formed  annually.  The 
new  wood  each  year  is  generated  from  the  wood 
of  the  last.  These  annual  layers  are  alive  for 
seveial  years,  varying  according  to  the  kind. 
Sometimes  the  act  of  girdling  kills  these  usually 
living  layers  at  once — the  trees  die ;  but  some- 
times they  live,  and  their  crude  sap  will  be 
drawn  up  for  several  years — as  long  as  they  live 
— enabling  all  above  the  girdled  part  to  keep  in 
growth  for  that  time.— Ed.  G.  M.] 


GRAPE  CULTURE  UNDER  GLASS. 

BY   JOHN   DONN,     FOREMAN    TO   P.   HENDERSON, 
JERSEY    CITY   HEIGHTS,   N.   J. 

I  read  your  paper,  one  copied  from  the  London 
Journal  of  Horticulture.  The  writer's  practical 
suggestion  holds  good  in  some  points  ;  in  others 
my  experience  differs.  I  will  therefore  reply  to 
the  remarks  as  arranged,  which  begin — Thin- 
ning the^shoots  :  I  disbud  when  the  eyes  have 
pushed  about  an  inch,  and  remove  all  but  one, 
the  strongest.  I  infer  that  if  it  don't  produce  a 
bunch  the  weaker  ones  will  not.  Crowding  the 
wood  in  fruit  trees  is  injurious,  equally  so  is 
thinning,  to  the  same  extent  as  practiced  in 
Great  Britain.  Sun  and  light  is  stronger,  and 
more  foliage  is  required  to  keep  from  scorching. 
I  find  no  difficulty  in  thoroughly  ripening  the 
wood  in  a  cold  grapery,  as  far  north  as  New 
York.  Stopping  the  shoots  :  My  plan,  and  one 
I  also  find  answers  well,  is  to  pinch  every  shoot, 
sometimes  three  or  four  eyes  above  the  bunch 
and  even  more  if  there  is  any  show  for  the  leaf 
to  develop  without  overcrowding.  Also,  in  pinch- 
ing the  lateral  shoots,  I  leave  two  or  three  eyes 
instead  of  one,  but  am  always  careful  toward  the 
middle  of  October  to  thin    out  gradually  as  the 


1877.1 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


333 


days  get  shorter.     I   never   allow   shoots  to  get 
stronger  than  I  can  pinch  them  off  with  thumb 
nail  and  forefinger.     I   find   no   ill   effects  from 
leaving  the  leading  shoot  grow  till  it  reaches  the 
top  of  the  house,  then  turn  it  down  to  ramble  at 
its  will.     In   a  span-roofed  grapery  under  my 
charge   the   shoots   have   reached  the  floor,  and 
are  growing  up  again.     The   effect  is  pleasing, 
and  I  think  it  has  a  tendency  to  keep   the  roots 
in  a  healthy  growing  state.     Tying   the  shoots : 
I  concur  in  the  method  of  tying,  but  would  here 
remark  that  the  wires  should  be  at  least  twenty 
inches  from   the  glass.    Thinning  the  bunches  : 
The  remarks  are  in  accordance  with  my  practice ; 
the   only   exception  is   with   such    varieties    as 
white  Muscadine  and  the   Frontignaus.     I  leave 
one  bunch  on  each   shoot  without  bad  effects ; 
they  are  smaller  kinds  and  the  latter  at  least  is  a 
strong  grower.      Syringing:    Squirting    with    a 
hand-syringe  is  laborious   where  grapes  are  ex- 
tensively grown.     I   find   a  portable  garden  en- 
gine the  most  effective.    When  washing  the  foli- 
age is-  required  I  like  to  take  the  advantage  of  a 
gust  for  the  operation,  when  plenty  of  rain-water 
can  be  had.     Hydrant  or  spring  water  leaves  a 
mark  on  the  bloom  of  the   fruit,  more   or  less. 
In  the  grapery  above  mentioned,  there  has  been 
no  water  used  on  the  foliage  prior  to  blooming, 
and  the  foliage  is  perfectly  free  from  all  insects. 
Water  can  be  used  more  freely  on  the  surface 
inside  than  in  the  United  Kingdom.     Watering : 
Where  borders  are  inside  entirely,  which  is  best 
in  this  country  north  of  Baltimore,  if  ripe  grapes 
are  wanted  by  second  week  in  May,   abundance 
must  be  given  as  recommended.     Where  parties 
are  satisfied  with  ripe  grapes  by  middle  of  July, 
outside  borders  answer  the  purpose.     My  expe- 
rience is,  the  roots  will  seek  out  where  they  can 
get ;  they  might  work  inside  where  they  get  en- 
couragement to  do  so.     Practical  men  in  private 
situations,  "  as  a  rule  here,"   don't  get  the  assist- 
ance that  is  given   in  Great  Britain,  and  there 
are  many  points  in  grape-growing  they  cannot 
do  justice  to  for  want  of  help,  etc.     Yet  there  are 
a  good   many   operations  done  in    connection 
with  grape-growing  there,  could  be  done  without, 
or  in  a  great  measure  simplified,  considering  the 
extreme  changes  of  climate   and   too  often  the 
want  of  necessary  help.  Methinks  not  a  few  who 
follow  the  profession  will  think  with  me,  that 
cultivating  the  grape-vine  under  glass  in  Great 
Britain  is  one  thing,  and  in   America  another. 
Still  I  will  not  say,  but  there  are  advantages  here, 
as  well  as  disadvantages ;   with  the  exception  of 


giving  the  outside  borders  a  slight  watering  with 
manure  water,  say  twice  in  the  season,  is  all  the 
attention  I  have  been  able  to  give  in  that  way, 
yet  have  had  good  crops  of  grapes.  There  is  yet 
a  great  deal  to  learn,  and  more  points  to  be  ob- 
served than  have  been  discussed  in  those  papers 
— I  mean  in  regard  to  this  country.  "  If  you  de- 
sire," I  will  relate  several  points  commendable, 
which  experience  has  taught  me,  in  another 
paper.     [Please  do. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


A  PROMISING  ORCHARD. 

BY  MR.  A.  C.  FOWLER,  PAN-HANDLE,  W.  VA. 

I  see  by  a  late  Monthly  a  notice  of  trees  being 
killed  by  applying  oil  to  prevent  rabbits  from 
injuring  them.  I  had  a  lot  of  apple  trees  greased 
with  lard  to  keep  rabbits  from  them,  and  the 
bark  came  off  where  they  were  greased,  and  new 
bark  came  on  a  part  of  them.  A  neighbor 
rubbed  carbon  oil  on  a  fine  lot  of  trees  to  keep 
the  rabbits  from  them  and  the  next  Summer  the 
trees  were  as  dead  as  if  they  had  been  kept  in  a 
barn.  I  have  planted  thousands  of  trees,  and 
seldom  fail  to  have  them  grow  finely.  If  I  want 
to  have  a  tree  make  a  fine  growth,  I  tie  hay  or 
straw  from  the  branches  to  the  ground.  I  have 
saved  some  valuable  trees  in  that  way  that  I  do 
not  think  could  have  been  saved  any  other  way. 
I  am  experimenting  with  about  two  thousand 
pear  trees,  planted  in  different  soils,  exposures, 
and  planted  different  depths;  also,  am  doing 
what  I  can  to  stop  the  blight,  and  think  I  am 
succeeding.  This  will  be  my  third  year,  and  if 
I  lose  as  few  trees  this  year,  I  will  give  you  my 
way  of  prevention. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Fruit-growing  as  a  Business. — The  Country 
Gentleman  reports  some  interesting  discussions 
at  the  New  York  State  Fair  on  these  subjects. 
Mr.  Hooker  thinks  there  are  four  and  a  half  mil- 
lions of  acres  in  fruit  in  the  Union,  and  the  pro- 
duct equal  to  half  the  value  of  an  average  crop 
of  wheat.  Like  every  other  business,  however, 
it  required  hard  work  and  intelligent  business 
habits  to  make  it  a  success. 

The  Phylloxera  in  Europe. — They  have  an 
International  Phylloxera  Congress  in  Europe, 
and  it  sat  recently  in  Susanne.  It  has  no  light 
task  before  it.    Apropos  of  Phylloxera,  an  assc- 


334 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


ciated  press  dispatch  carried  the  news  to  the 
morning  papers  that  the  authorities  at  Washing- 
ton believed  that  the  grapes  in  New  Jersey  were 
really  infested  by  Phylloxera,  and  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  probably  take  steps  to  look  into 
it.  Similar  ridiculous  dispatches  as  to  what  the 
government  proposed  to  do  in  agricultural  mat- 
ters, have  been  given  to  the  public  of  late.  It  is 
not  fair  to  hold  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
responsible  for  newspaper  dispatches.  No  doubt 
what  the  Department  has  done,  or  will  do,  in 
these  matters  has  been  misunderstood  by  the 
newspaper  men.  A  very  slight  change  in  phra- 
seology will  often  make  a  sensible  thing  seem 
absurd ;  and  the  Department  at  Washington 
must  have  known  from  the  labors  of  Riley  and 
others,  that  the  Phylloxera  was  a  very  bad  thing. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  some  injustice  done  the  De- 
partment in  these  dispatches. 

La  Versailles  Currant. 
—  "  John,"  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.,  writes  ; — "Anxious  to 
plant  only  a  few  of  the  best 
Currants,  I  inquired  of  a 
friend  who  replies,  '  set  out 
only  the  Red  Dutch.'  An- 
other recommends  the  Ver- 
sailles, and  a  third  the 
Cherry,  while  an  agent  from 
Rochester  tells  me  the  last 
are  both  the  same  thing. 
What  do  you  say  ? " 

[Taking  all  in  all  we 
should  plant  the  Red  Dutch 
in  preference  to  all  others. 
The  Versailles  is  a  very  nice 
fruit,  with  a  long  bunch  and 
large  berries,  but  hardly  so 
good  in  flavor  as  the  Red 
Dutch.  The  Cherry  is  a 
short  bunch,  with  large  and 
few  berries,  and  with  a  very 
acid  juice.  We  give  an  il- 
■jC%  lustration  of  the  Versailles, 
by  which  you  will  readily 
see  the  distinctness  from  the 
Cherry.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Utah  Hybrid  Cherry. — E.  Y.  Teas,in  Country 
Gentleman,  has  a  good  word  for  the  Utah  Hybrid 
Cherry.  It  is  a  mistake  to  call  it  a  hybrid.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  any  such  hybridization  was 
attempted.  It  is  simply  a  natural  improvement 
on   the  Sand  Cherry,  Cerasus  pumila,  and  was 


found  in  Utah  by  Mr.  J.  E.  Johnson,  though  not 
recorded  in  any  botany  of  the  territory.  It  is  a 
much  stronger  grower  than  the  normal  Sand 
Cherry,  and  Mr.  Johnson  may  well  be  pardoned 
for  considering  it  a  hybrid,  and  giving  it  out  as 
such. 

Mr.  Teas  justly  remarks  that  it  has  suffered 
through  the  over-zeal  of  agents,  and  the  high 
wrought  comparisons  with  other  fruits.  While 
"some  like  apples"  and  "some  like  oysters," 
there  is  no  reason  why  some  will  not  like  the 
Utah  Cherry  on  its  own  merits. 

Linseed  Oil  on  Pear  Trees. — A.  C.  L.,  Madi- 
son, Ind.,  writes: — "I  recently  killed  two  fine 
pear  trees  with  an  application  of  linseed  oil." 
As  we  know  of  many  trees  that  have  been  bene- 
fited instead  of  injured,  it  is  an  interesting  ques- 
tion why  these  varied  results.  We  have  made, 
therefore,  special  inquiry  into  the  oil  question 
by  one  in  the  secrets  thereof,  and  we  find  that 
there  are  three  kinds  of  linseed  oil  in  the  mar- 
ket— one,  the  pure  extract  of  flaxseed,  the  other 
half  petroleum,  and  the  third  our  informant  could 
not  tell  exactly  what.  But  the  petroleum  ex- 
plains. Such  oil  as  that  would  certainly  kill  the 
trees. 

Profitable  Cherries. — Near  all  our  large 
cities  the  large  sweet  cherries  are  very  profitable. 
Very  little  really  nice  fruit  comes  to  market 
— when  it  does,  it  brings  good  figures.  But  taking 
all  things  together,  the  Early  Richmond  is  the 
most  profitable  variety.  It  is  more  certain  to 
yield  a  full  crop  than  any  other  kind,  suffering 
less  from  the  curculio  and  diseases  than  the 
others.  The  black  knot  is  its  greatest  enemy, — 
but  this  is  easily  kept  down  by  continual  watch- 
fulness with  the  pruning  knife  in  hand. 

Locality  for  Orchards. — In  almost  all  cases 
it  is  the  universal  experience  that  orchards  are 
more  certain  to  do  well  where  the  spot  chosen  is 
somewhat  higher  than  the  surrounding  land. 
Often  enough  the  fruit  will  be  killed  by  Spring 
frosts,  when  those  on  land  fifty  feet  higher  will 
escape.  The  cold  air  always  sinks,  and  if  there 
is  any  low  spot  for  it  to  sink  in,  the  higher  of 
course  escapes.  Often  trees  on  river-banks  es- 
cape, when  others  are  injured,  and  people  think 
it  is  the  contiguity  to  water,  when  it  is  really  the 
elevation — the  cooler  air  being  drawn  to  the 
river-bed. 

The  Dwarf  Service  Berry. — A  correspondent 
inquires  what  is  this  plant?    We   do  not  know 


1817.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


335 


certainly,  but  suppose  it  is  what  is  known  in  the 
East  as  June  Berry,  Shad  Berry  and  Indian 
Cherry,  and  the  botanical  name  of  which  is 
Amelanchier  Botryapium.  If  we  are  wrong  we 
shall  be  glad  to  be  informed  by  those  who  know. 

How  many  Peach  Buds  a  Day.— It  has  often 
been  said  that  workmen  in  the  North  do  a  great 
deal  more  work  than  do  those  of  the  South,  and 
the  following  advertisement  in  the  Home  Journal 
of  New  Orleans  strikingly  illustrates  the  truth  of 
the  assertion  : — "  Wanted,  a  good  nurseryman  to 
bud  four  thousand  peach  trees  by  the  day,  month 
or  by  the  job,  etc."  We  fancy  there  are  plenty 
of  men  here  who  would  be  glad  to  have  four  days 
given  them  to  do  the  budding  in,  instead  of  a 
month  or  more,  as  proposed  by  the  advertiser. 

Caroline  and  Belle  Strawberries.  —  We 
noted  the  fact  some  time  since  that  the  Massa- 
chusetts Horticultural  Society  had  praised  these 
seedlings  of  Mr.  Moore,  of  Concord,  Mass.  The 
Massachusetts  papers  speak  highly  of  their  be- 
haviour this  year.  They  say  they  are  not  only 
of  large  size  and  abundant  bearers,  but  are  also 
of  very  superior  flavor. 

Grape  Rot  in  Missouri. — Isidor  Bush,  writing 
from  Missouri,  says : — "  Taylor  and  Herbemont 
Grapes  failed  almost  totally  this  season  again 
from  rot — in  fact  nearly  all  varieties — and  unless 
a  remedy  or  preventative  against  this  serious 
evil  is  discovered,  or  that  it  disappears,  grape- 
growing  here  has  seen  its  last  days." 

•  Bradt  Seedling  Russet  Apple. — At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Toronto  Fruit  Growers'  Associa- 
tion, with  a  large  number  of  good  seedling 
apples  before  their  eyes,  highly  endorse  this,  and 
ask  for  its  dissemination.    This  is  high  praise. 

Indian  Fruit  and  Nut  Culture. — A  notable 
feature  of  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Toronto  Fruit 
Growers'  Association  was  the  presence  of  one  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  Tuscarora  Indians.  He  has  en- 
tered largely  into  the  culture  of  nut-bearing 
trees,  and  gave  an  interesting  account  of  his  suc- 
cess to  the  meeting. 

A  Texan  Peach  Grower. — Dr.  Smith, of  Pales- 
tine, Texas,  is  said  to  be  not  only  a  great  peach 
grower,  but  to  be  a  raiser  of  great  peaches,  and 
also  to  have  demonstrated  that  Texas  is  one  of 
the  best  peach-raising  States  in  the  Union. 

Crawford's  Early  Peach  in  England. — We 
find  in  the  London  Journal  of  Horticulture  the 
following  tribute  to  this  popular  American  vari- 


ety. New  Jersey  ought  to  be  proud  of  the  world- 
wide reputation  of  her  famous  seedling: — "Two 
cultivators  from  different  districts  inform  us  that 
Crawford's  Early  Peach  has  resisted  the  inclem- 
ent weather  of  the  past  Spring  better  than  most 
other  varieties,  and  that  this  handsome  looking 
American  sort  is  bearing  good  crops  on  the  open 
wall." 

Increasing  the  Size  of  Mushrooms. — Not  long 
since  we  noted  the  fact  that  nitrate  of  potash 
was  said  to  increase  the  size  of  Mushrooms.  How 
large,  we  now  learn  from  the  following  in  the 
Record  : — "  We  learn  from  the  Garden  that  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Horticultural  Society  of 
France  an  enormous  Mushroom  was  exhibited 
by  M.  Courcier,  who  took  occasion  to  point  out 
that  equally  remarkable  results  can  often  be  ob- 
tained by  watering  the  beds  on  which  these  fungi 
are  grown  with  a  solution  of  nitrate  of  potass. 
Under  this  treatment  a  bed  usually  producing 
Mushrooms  of  but  very  small  size  will  frequently 
bear  specimens  upwards  of  twenty  centimetres 
in  diameter  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 
Occasionally  they  attain  really  gigantic  propor- 
tions, and  Mushrooms  weighing  as  much  as 
seven  pounds  each  have  been  grown  in  ordinary 
beds  by  the  aid  of  such  solutions.  Nor  is  this 
increase  in  size  attended  with  any  loss  of  quality, 
the  monstrous  specimens  thus  obtained  being 
equally  palatable  with  those  of  more  moderate 
dimensions.  The  simplicity  of  the  plan  is  not 
the  least  of  its  recommendations,  since  any 
Mushroom  grower  possessed  of  a  handful  of  salt- 
petre can  test  it  for  himself  without  either  trou- 
ble or  expense." 

Best  Maine  Apples. — Rhode  Island  Greening 
and  Tallman's  Sweet  are  regarded  as  the  best 
Maine  apples  by  the  Maine  Pomological  Society. 

Peaches  in  California. — Messrs.  Shinn  &  Co., 
the  eminent  nurserymen,  have  demonstrated 
that  in  Alameda  it  is  not  essential  to  irrigate 
peach  orchards  in  order  to  insure  regular  and 
full  crops. 

The  Scuppernong  Grape. — Mr.  Transou  in- 
forms us  that  this  variety  is  popular  in  the  South 
for  the  table  as  well  as  for  wine;  and  that  im- 
proved kinds  occasionally  appear. 

Nectarines. — We  believe  the  Nectarine  does 
not  succeed  anywhere  in  our  country  except 
when  raised  under  glass.  They  rot  more  easily, 
or  else  are  greater  favorites  with  the  curculio 
than  is  its  brother,  the  peach.  For  house-culture, 


336 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


however,  they  are  more  popular  than  the  peach 
in  many  instances.  Thos.  Rivers  still  pays  at- 
tention to  new  nectarines.  Lord  Napier  is  one 
of  his  latest. 

Poisonous  Mushrooms. — "The  neighborhood  of 
Agen  has,"  says  a  correspondent  of  the  Garden, 
"  been  placed  in  a  state  of  consternation  by  the 
•death  of  eight  members  of  the  same  family 
through  eating  Mushrooms.  This  fatal  example 
is  a  warning  for  those  who  persist  in  the  use  of 
Mushrooms  of  doubtful  quality."  A  much  larger 
number  of  species  of  Mushrooms  are  edible  than 
people  imagine,  but  unfortunately  few  are  intel- 
ligent enough  to  distinguish  them.  Our  friend, 
John  Haines,  assures  us  that  the  common  large 
puff  ball  is  wholesome  as  well  as  delicious,  in  the 
form  in  which  he  cooks  it. 

Destruction  of  the  Potato  Beetle. — The  Gar- 
dener's Monthly  was  the  first  to  recommend  the 
use  of  Paris  green  for  the  destruction  of  the  po- 
tato beetle,  and  naturally  takes  an  interest  in 
anything  that  will  be  an  improvement  on  it.  The 
following  we  find  in  the  Boston  Journal  of  Chem- 
istry, and  we  shall  be  glad  if  any  of  our  corres- 
pondents will  report  next  year  what  success  they 
may  have  with  it : — "  Good  authorities  condemn 
the  use  of  the  poisonous  Paris  green  for  the  de- 
struction of  potato  bugs,  and  suggest  carbolate  of 
lime  instead.  They  say  that  the  latter  is  equally 
fatal  to  the  bugs,  while  it  is  harmless  in  other 
respects.     Farmers  will  do  well  to  give  it  a  trial." 


NEW  OR  RARE  FRUITS. 


Mr.  Ricketts'  Grapes.— The  seedlings  of  Mr. 
J.  H.  Ricketts  have  been  exhibited  at  many 
places  this  season,  and  always  receiving  high 
praise  for  their  fine  appearance  and  delicious 
flavor. 

The  Lady  Washington  Grape. — By  kindness 
of  Mr.  J.  E.  Mitchell,  we  have  on  our  table  a 
bunch  of  Mr.  Ricketts'  new  seedling  grape, 
"Lady  Washington."  Though  it  had  been 
several  days  on  the  tables  of  the  Permanent 
Exhibition,  it  weighed  nearly  a  pound.  It  is  a 
white  grape,  with  a  slight  amber  tint,  and  of 
excellent  flavor. 

Marshall  Pear.— This  fine  new  American 
pear  originated  in  Washington  county,  New 
York,  and  is  now  [187G],  being  propagated  and 
for  sale  by  P.  H.  Foster,  at  the  Babylon  Nursery. 


And  the  following  is  Mr.  Foster's  description : 
"  Tree  moderately  vigorous;  very  productive;  fruit 
rather  large;  bell  shape;  greenish  russet,  be- 
coming yellowish  when  ripe;  thin  skin;  flesh 
white,  juicy,  buttery;  flavor  neither  sweet  nor 
sour;  ten  days  after  the  Bartlett,  as  good  a 
bearer  and  better  fruit ;  smooth  ;  does  not  crack 
nor  canker ;  is  always  much  admired  while 
growing  and  when  ripe." 

Some  fruit  came  to  hand  a  few  weeks  ago, 
and  we  can  truly  say  that  few  pears  will  excel  it 
in  flavor.  We  regard  it  as  a  very  valuable  ac- 
quisition, and  we  say  this  knowing  full  well  that 
the  list  of  pears  "  recommended  for  cultivation  " 
is  already  too  large. 

Early  Dawn  Grape. — At  the  recent  annual 
meeting  of  the  Newbury  Bay  Horticultural 
Society  the  premium  for  the  best  seedling  grape 
grown  in  the  open  air,  worthy  of  cultivation, 
and  to  which  no  premium  has  been  before 
awarded,  was  given  to  Dr.  William  A.  M.  Cul- 
bert's  "Early  Dawn." 

.Brighton  Grape.  —  Mr.  T.  T.  Southwick, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  writes : — "  I  do  not  believe  I 
can  serve  my  friends  better  than  to  recommend 
them  to  try  this  new  grape.  The  more  I  see  of 
it  the  better  I  am  pleased.  The  growth  is  almost 
as  strong  as  Concord,  and  so  far  as  I  can  see  the 
foliage  is  free  from  all  fault.  The  fruit  is,  in  the 
highest  sense,  excellent.  Last  season  I  tested  it 
by  eating  Brighton  from  one  hand  and  from  the 
other  my  favorite  Iona,  and  it  stood  this  severe 
test.  Both  bunch  and  berry  are  large,  and  what 
is  more  important,  it  is  among  the  very  first  to 
ripen.  Taken  all  in  all  I  consider  this  one  of 
my  best  grapes  yet  brought  out.  Allow  me  to 
add  I  have  no  vines  for  sale,  or  any  interest 
whatever  in  this  vine,  save  as  a  lover  of  fine 
fruit." 

[We  have  had  opportunities  of  testing  this 
grape  this  season  and  can  say  that  in  all  that 
refers  to  the  good  quality  of  bunch  and  berry 
we  can  endorse  all  Mr.  Southwick  says  of  it. — 
Ed.  G.  M.] 

Freeman's  Late  Peach.— We  have  from  Col. 
Freeman,  of  Alto  Pass,  Illinois,  samples  of  this 
beautiful  peach,  reaching  us  on  the  27th  of 
September.  Some  measured  ten  inches  in  cir- 
cumference and  weighed  seven  ounces.  It  is  a 
yellow  fleshed  freestone,  and  in  quality  equal  to 
Crawford's  Late.  Following  that  excellent  va- 
riety in  order  of  ripening,  it  ought  to  be  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  our  list. 


187T.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


83T 


Forrest  Rose  Strawberry. — I  have  seen 
this  new  berry  in  its  bearing  state  growing  along- 
side of  the  most  noted  sorts.  I  looked  through 
two  acres  of  it  and  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying 
that  it  is  the  largest  of  all,  plant  and  berry,  and 
of  unsurpassed  quality.  A  bright  color  and  of 
solid  texture,  with  a  kind  of  toughness  that  will 
make  it  desirable  for  market.  The  owner  and 
discoverer,  Mr.  J.  Fetters,  of  Lancaster,  0.,  con- 
tents himself  with  sending  large  quantities  to 
market  and  out-selling  everybody,  and  won't 
sell  plants.— J.  H.  C. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Early  Peaches  in  California.  —  Mr. 
Robert  Strong,  Westminster,  Cal.,  writes: — "I 
have  been  disappointed  in  finding  no  notes  in 
the  Monthly  on  the  three  new  peaches  competing 
for  the  prize  of  best  early,  viz. :  Alexander,  Ams- 
den  and  Briggs'  Red  May,  with  comparisons  on 
Early  Beatrice.  The  peculiar  season  in  Califor- 
nia has  affected  our  peach  crop,  and  here  in 
Southern  California  no  peach  trees  are  bearing 
this  year,  except  seedlings.  All  these  varieties 
should  have  fruited  with  me,  side  by  side,  as  I 
expect  them  to  do  next  year.  Can  any  of  your 
readers  give  us  notes  from  experience  as  to 
their  comparative  value.  Early  Beatrice  has 
fruited  here  for  two  years,  ripening  about  June 
20th,  a  valuable  peach,  but  too  nearly  a  cling 
and  too  small,  though  of  very  fine  flavor.  All 
nursery  stock  looks  well.  lean  show  apricot  on 
peach  eight  feet  high,  from  the  bud  this  season  ; 
and  plum  on  peach  nine  feet,  and  peach  on 
peach  seven  feet,  with  good  stout  stems  and 
branches,  and  still  growing.  We  expect,  how- 
ever, to  do  in  one  year,  in  our  long  seasons, 
what  it  takes  two  years  to  do  in  the  East." 

A  Good  Early  Pear. — A  Pennsylvania  corres- 
pondent writes  that  for  three  years  past  he  has 
had  the  Julienne  and  the  Manning's  Elizabeth 
growing  side  by  side,  and  that  the  former  proves 
slightly  astringent.  It  is  not  so  good  a  pear  as 
the  latter,  but  a  few  days  earlier. 

Improved  Siberian  Crab.— Mr.  Joseph  Liggett, 
Lowellville,  Ohio,  writes: — "I  send  you  two 
Siberian  crabs,  please  let  us  know  how  they 
compare  with  other  varieties  that  have  come  to 
your  knowledge.  It  was  raised  from  the  seed  of 
what  is  known  among  nurserymen  as  the  large 
red  Siberian  crab.     This  is   the  first  year  it  has 


fruited.     Both    specimens   are    from    the    same 
tree." 

[We  have  seen  a  large  number  of  the  seedling 
improved  crabs  from  Canada  and  Michigan  dur- 
the  last  two  years.  These  improvements  have 
not  been  reduced  to  any  system  yet,  so  that  the 
comparative  merit  may  be  noted.  We  can  only 
say  that  this  one  is  at  least  as  good  in  quality  as 
any  we  have  seen. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Kinney's  Cider  Crab  Apple. — J.  T.,  Quincy, 
Ky.,  says  : — "  I  send  you  to-day  by  mail  a  speci- 
men of  Kinney's  cider  crab,  a  seedling  of  the 
Wells;  originated  with  Henry  Kinney,  Esq., 
near  Portsmouth,  Scioto  county,  Ohio.  It  is  an 
early  and  profuse  bearer,  and  fruit  hangs  well  on 
the  tree.  Please  give  us  your  opinion  of  it  in 
the  Gardener's  Monthly — a  magazine  I  could  not 
live  without." 

[This  is  a  small  apple,  about  the  size  of  the 
larger  improved  Siberian  crab,  but  evidently  not 
belonging  to  that  section.  If  it  is  a  "  crab  "  at 
all  it  certainly  is  not  one  of  the  "  austere  "  kind 
about  which  political  farmers  love  to  refer  to  in 
their  "  orations  "  at  agricultural  fairs,  but  a  nice 
little  juicy  thing.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

Care  in  Varieties. — A.  C.  L.,  Madison,  In- 
diana, writes  : — "A  word  of  new  fruits  and  plants. 
It  is  the  custom  of  horticulturists  and  florists  to 
send  out  new  fruits  and  plants  with  the  high- 
sounding  names  attached  (and  above  all  high 
prices)  of  the  originators,  and  if  either  prove  to 
be  worthless,  attach  the  blame  t>  the  propaga- 
tor. This  is  poor  consolation  to  the  purchaser. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  disseminator  to  test  every- 
thing that  passes  through  his  hands,  and  if  it 
prove  a  failure  reject  it,  and  if  a  success  declare 
it  so  from  his  own  knowledge;  but  a  course 
directly  the  ctoposite  of  this  is  pursued.  Should 
I  send  a  bad  twenty  dollar  greenback  to  a  florist 
he  would  lose  no  time  in  returning  it,  no  matter 
how  innocent  I  may  have  been  in  receiving  it 
myself." 

Hoosac  Thornless  Blackberry. — T.  G.,  Ham- 
ilton, Illinois,  writes  :— "  Will  some  one  who  has 
had  experience  with  this  new  berry  give  the  re- 
sult to  the  readers  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  t 
It  seems  to  be  hardy  and  a  good  grower,  and  is 
certainly  quite  free  from  thorns,  and  if  its  fruit 
will  compare  favorably  with  other  sorts,  may  be 
a  great  acquisition.  The  writer  has  a  quantity 
of  young  plants  (and  others  are,  doubtless,  simi- 
larly situated)  but  does  not  wish  to  set  them 


338 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


without  knowing  more  of  the  character  of  the 
fruit.  Are  they  of  good  quality  ?  are  they  pro- 
lific? and  how  do  they  compare  in  size  with 
Kittatinny  or  other  sorts?  Will  some  one  not 
having  an  'axe  to  grind '  please  answer?" 

Lime  on  Clover  Sod.— G.  W.  N.,  Silcott's 
Springs,  Va.,  writes  : — "Recognizing  as  I  do  the 
high  authority  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  I  come 
to  you  for  advice.  I  have  a  clover  sod  that  I 
wish  to  plough  for  peach  trees,  and  intend  to 
apply  fifty  bushels  of  lime  to  the  acre.  How 
and  when  would  you  apply  it?  " 

[We  would  lime  and  plough  at  once,  and  plant 
the  trees  early  in  Spring. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Bassett's  American  Plum. — Mr.  B.  writes : — 
"  I  have  a  half  peck  of  my  new  Plums  on  exhi- 
bition. Please  examine  and  see  if  it  keeps  up 
the  good  character  you  once  gave  of  it."  But 
the  plums  had  disappeared.  At  all  exhibitions 
we  have  attended  this  season  we  have  noticed  an 
enormous  amount  of  fruit  and  even  flower  pil- 
fering going  on,  not  by  "poor"  people,  but  by 
the  "well-dressed,"  and  their  "  dress  "  generally 
keeps  them  from  anything  more  than  a  "remon- 
strance." We  think  it  due  to  exhibitors  that  a 
better  example  should  be  made  of  these  gentry. 


Fine  Late  Peaches. — J.  K.,  Springfield,  Mis- 
souri, under  date  of  October  4th,  sends  us  the 
following  note  : — '  'I  sent  this  day  a  small  box  of 
a  seedling  peach,  which  I  hope  will  arrive  in 
good  condition.  It  ripens  the  first  of  this  month. 
Three  years  ago  it  was  fully  two  weeks  later.  I 
planted  the  seeds  eleven  years  ago.  Had  it 
bearing  in  1872,  first;  then  1874,  and  this  season 
the  trees  were  very  full.  Would  like  your 
opinion  on  it.  I  have  no  trees  for  sale,  as  I  am 
not  in  the  nursery  business,  but  am  a  reader  of 
your  most  valuable  Gardener's  Monthly  since  the 
first  number  in  1860.  Some  of  these  days  will 
let  you  hear  of  fruits  in  this  part  of  the  world." 

[Beautiful  and  good,  and  then  twelve  inches 
round!  They  arrived  in  good  condition  after 
their  long  journey,  which  shows  them  to  be  a 
good  traveler.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  best 
white  fleshed  clings  we  know. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Fruit  from  the  Grand  Traverse  Region, 
Michigan. — Mr.  A.  Hoppe  calls  our  attention  to 
some  remarkably  fine  apples  grown  by  Mr.  Geo. 
Parmlee  of  this  region,  but  we  already  know,  and 
we  think  our  readers'do,  that  there  is  no  better 
fruit  district  in  the  Union  than  this,  and  possibly" 
no  better  fruit-grower  than  Mr.  Parmlee. 


ftoRESTRY. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


GROWTH    OF  THE  HICKORY. 

BY  MR.   GEO.   CRUIKSHANKS,  WHITIXSVILLE,  MASS. 

In  the  Monthly  for  this  month  (September)  you 
give  some  account  of  the  rapid  growth  of  some 
Hickory  trees  in  your  favored  State.  Hear  a  re- 
port from  the  old  Bay  State.  In  June,  185 
found  a  few  Hickory  (Carya  alba)  shellbark 
nuts  among  a  lot  of  moist  wood-shavings.  They 
had  started  to  grow.  I  planted  three  of  them  ; 
two  of  them  grew;  one  of  them  I  cut  out,  and 
it  continued  to  grow.  Thirteen  years  from  plant- 
ing, the  tree  bore  nuts.  On  account  of  exten- 
sive improvements  in  the  garden  ami  grounds, 
the  tree  had  to  be  lowered  two  and  a  half  (Vet, 
which  I  did  successfully  last  April,  when  the 
Irec  was  36|  inches  in  circumference,  and  over 


30  feet  high.  The  tree  is  in  good  foliage,  and 
bids  fair  to  do  as  well  in  the  future  as  it  has  in 
the  past. 


A  LARGE  HORSE  CHESTNUT  TREE. 

BY  W.  G.  B.,  GLENN  MILLS,  PA. 

It  is  with  great  interest  I  always  read  notices 
of  trees  of  unusual  size.  One  which  I  think  well 
worthy  of  publicity  has  lately  come  under  my 
notice.  It  is  a  Horse  Chestnut  close  by  the  resi- 
dence of  the  late  Mr.  Borden,  about  two  miles 
south  of  Media,  Delaware  County,  Pa.  Measured 
three  feet  from  the  ground  it  is  just  fourteen  feet 
in  circumference.  If  measured  two  feet  higher, 
the  girth  would  be  a  foot  or  two  greater.  The 
height  of  the  tree  and  the  amount  of  branches 
correspond  well  with  the  enormous  body,  and  it 
is  in  all  respects  a  most  majestic  tree,  and  well 
worthy  a  visit. 


187T.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


339 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Forestry  on  Unproductive  Lands. — We  have 
thousands  on  thousands  of  rock  covered  acres 
on  our  American  hills  not  well  fitted  for  agricul- 
tural purposes,  but  just  suited  to  timber  culture, 
that  are  well  worth  looking  after  in  this  connec- 
tion. 

Scarcity  of  Dog-wood. — Says  the  Boston  Jour- 
nal of  Chemistry :  "  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the 
bellicose  condition  of  England  has  so  largely  in- 
creased the  manufacture  of  gunpowder  that  the 
supply  of  dog-wood  (Rhamnus  frangula)  has  fallen 
short,  and  a  supply  is  obtained  in  Germany  and 
other  parts  of  the  Continent.  The  government 
formula  for  gunpowder  calls  for  charcoal  made 
from  dog-wood,  and  hence  the  demand.  Other 
kinds  of  charcoal  would  unquestionably  serve 
just  as  good  a  purpose,  but   official   commands 


must  be  exactly  met.  A  state  of  war  in  any 
civilized  country  does  not  usually  increase  the 
use  of  gunpowder.  The  arts  of  peace  demand 
the  largest  employment  of  the  explosive,  and 
when  men  are  drawn  away  from  the  mines  and 
the  quarries  to  enter  armies,  the  consumption  of 
gunpowder  is  arrested." 

If  this  is  really  intended  for  Rhamnus  frangu- 
la, our  country  could  probably  find  in  the  Caro- 
lina Buckthorn  a  very  good  substitute.  The 
writer  of  this  saw  it  this  Summer  growing  very 
abundantly  in  the  woods  of  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee. We  have  never  heard  of  R.  frangula 
before,  however,  in  any  special  connection  with 
gunpowder,  nor  that  it  bore  the  common  name 
of  dog-wood  in  Europe.  Its  berries  are  highly 
valued  there  in  dyeing,  and  it  might  be  worth  the 
while  of  our  Tennessee  friends,  whom  we  recent- 
ly found  very  intent  on  developing  their  home 
industries,  to  look  after  the  Carolina  Buckthorn 
in  this  connection. 


ATURAL  MISTORY  AND  SCIENCE. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Quercus  heterophylla. — This,  which  in  Mi- 
chaux's  time  was  thought  to  be  confined  to  a  sin- 
gle tree  near  Philadelphia,  and  was  called  the 
Bartram  Oak,  proves  to  be  widely  scattered 
through  Delaware  and  New  Jersey.  The  botan- 
ists near  Philadelphia  are  continually  finding 
trees,  notably  Messrs.  Canby,  Commons,  Burk, 
and  Martindale.  We  are  still  of  the  opinion, 
offered  some  time  ago,  that  it  is  but  a  Northern 
form  of  the  Southern  Water  Oak,  though  we 
have  to  confess  that  the  leaf  stalks  are  longer 
than  we  have  seen  in  the  Water  Oak  South. 

Helping  Botanical  Studies. — Managers  of 
newspapers  generally  underrate  the  intelligence 
of  their  readers.  There  are  innumerable  people 
interested  in  something  more  than  mere  gossip 
and  tittle  tattle  than  might  be  supposed  from  the 
material  served  up  to  them.  Last  year  the 
Philadelphia  Public  Ledger  gave  continuous  arti-T 
cles  on  the  botany  of  Fairmount  Park  with 
popular  notes  on  the  plants,  by  Mr.  Isaac  Burk, 
of  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  and  they  were  im- 
mensely popular. 


Restoring  Dead  Seeds. — We  see  some  state- 
ments apparently  with  scientific  endorsement, 
from  time  to  time  in  the  papers,  which  need 
further  explanation.  See,  for  instance,  the  fol- 
lowing, which  is  going  the  rounds  of  the  papers: 

"Professor  Lazenby,  of  Cornell,  tried  many  ex- 
periments with  steeps  on  seeds  kept  at  an 
average  temperature  of  65°.  The  best  effects  on 
cruciferous  seeds  appear  to  have  been  with 
chlorine,  and  with  camphorated  water.  Turnip 
seeds,  so  old  that  hardly  a  tenth  would  germi- 
nate under  ordinary  treatment,  were  treated 
with  camphorated  water  and  then  dried  by 
rolling  in  plaster.  These  germinated  freely. 
The  difference  was  striking.  This  treatment  is 
easily  given,  and  the  experiment  is  worth 
remembering  and  repeating.  In  other  instances, 
seeds  which  would  germinate,  when  moistened 
with  pure  water,  in  forty- eight  hours,  required 
only  from  thirty  to  thirty-six  hours  when  moist- 
ened with  bromide  water,  and  twenty-four  hours 
with  iodine  water." 

When   old  turnip   seed    does    not  grow,  the 

supposed  reason  is  that  their  vitality  is  gone — 
really  they  are  dead.  Are  we  to  understand 
from  these  experiments  that  90  per  cent,  of  dead 
seed  among  a  hundred  good  ones  are  brought  to 
life  by  camphorated  water  ?  Of  course  this  can- 
not be  the  meaning,  but  what  is  it  then  ? 


340 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


Mountain  Ash  Berries  Poisonous. — An  Eng- 
lish paper  says: — "A  girl,  four  years  old,  named 
Campbell,  has  died  at  Grennock  from  the  effects 
of  having  eaten  a  quantity  of  Rowans  or  Mount- 
ain Ash  tree  berries." 

When  the  writer  of  this  was  in  England  re- 
cently, there  was  much  excitement  over  a 
supposed  case  of  death  from  eating  ice  cream  ; 
and  people  have  died  from  eating  oysters  and 
other  things.  But  there  is  a  prevalent  belief 
that  no  rosaceous  plant  is  poisonous,  and  we 
very  much  doubt  whether  the  Mountain  Ash  is 
an  exception  to  this  rule. 

The  Poisonous  Yew. — It  has  long  been  a 
belief  that  yew  berries  are  poisonous.  The  pulp 
around  the  berries  certainly  is  not.  There  is  a 
discussion  going  on  in  England,  that  the  seeds 
neither  are  poisonous,  but  we  should  not  be 
disposed  to  risk  them. 


A  New  Destructive  Beetle 
named  a  new  beetle  after  Mr 
Araniigus  Fulleri.  It  is  a  brown 
insect,  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  and 
leaf-feeder.  It  does  not  seem  to 
what  plant  it  feeds  on.  It  is  not 
great  numbers,  but  makes  up  for 
mense  appetite.    It  takes  to  New 


-Dr.  Horn  has 

A.  S.  Fuller- 
warty- coated 
is  a  voracious 
be  particular 
found  in  any 
this  in  its  im- 
Jersey  chiefly. 


A  Curious  Fact  for  Darwin. — Under  this 
head,  a  paper  from  which  we  might  expect  bet- 
ter things,  has  the  following: — 

"  In  a  garden  at  Billancourt  may  be  seen  at 
the  present  moment  an  apple  tree  loaded  with 
fruit.  There  is  nothing  extraordinary  in  this, 
but  the  stock  of  the  tree  is  cherry,  on  which  has 
been  grafted  the  apple,  a  species  of  golden  pip- 
pin. The  fruit  precisely  resembles  cherries  — 
the  same  stem,  the  same  size,  the  same  form, 
and  nearly  the  same  color ;  but  its  taste  is  that 
of  an  apple,  and  it  contains  pips  instead  of 
stones.  Specimens  of  this  botanic  phenomenon 
were  recently  submitted  to  our  inspection,  it 
must  be  a  real  curiosity,  for  it  is  generally 
thought  impossible  to  graft  a  pip-bearing  fruit 
on  the  stock  of  a  tree  bearing  stone  fruit." 

In  a  public  garden  of  some  pretension,  where 
the  trees  are  grouped  scientifically,  we  saw  the 
"Mountain  Ash,"  which  is  not  an  Ash  planted 
with  the  true  Ashes.  It  would  be  just  as  reason- 
able to  call  this  a  "fact  for  Mr.  Darwin."  No 
doubt  the  "garden  at  Billancourt"  has  here 
an  "Indian  cherry,"  which  is  not  a  cherry,  but 
nearer  to  an  apple.  There  is  much  misconcep- 
tion in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  work  of  Mr.  Dar- 
win, and  all  soils  of  absurdities  arc  passed  oil' 
under  his  name.  People  may  honestly  differ  from 


Mr.  Darwin  in  some  of  his  conclusions,  but  few 
men  have  appeared  who  have  done  so  much  for 
true  science  as  he. 

The  "Tumble  Weed."— In  Mr.  Hall's  note 
(see  p.  305)  last  month,  "  Artemisia  dracuncu- 
loides"  should  read  Amphyachiris  dracunculoides. 
The  error  was  ours — not  Mr.  Hall's.  It  is  a  yel- 
low flowered  composite  plant — or  as  we  may  say 
in  popular  language,  of  the  Aster  family. 

The  Andromeda  arborea. — The  Garden  cred- 
its the  American  Agriculturist  with  saying  that 
this  tree  "  is  valuable  for  its  fruit  which  hangs  on 
all  Winter,  and  that  it  is  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  southwards."  There  must  be  an  error 
somewhere.  The  fruit  is  dry  and  valueless,  but 
it  is  well  worthy  of  culture  for  its  graceful  habit 
of  flowering,  and  its  pretty  Fall  colored  foliage. 

The  Flavor  of  American  and  English 
Peaches. — The  following  letter  is  given  just  as 
received : — 

"  Mr.  Editor :  You  live  near  by  one  of  the  best 
peach  regions  in  the  United  States,  or  at  least  of 
the  Nortbern  States.  You  have  just  passed  a 
Summer  in  England,  and  you  may  fairly  be  sup- 
posed to  know  as  much  about  fruit  as  anybody  I 
could  refer  to.  Pray  allow  me  then  to  ask  you 
what  you  think  about  peaches?  The  point  is 
this:  My  English  friends  and  acquaintances 
when  they  come  over  here  praise  our  pears,  but 
declare  that  our  peaches  are  not  good.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  believe  that  our  people  who  cross 
the  Atlantic  think  that  English  peaches,  how- 
ever fair  to  the  eye  and  exalted  in  price,  are  de- 
ficient in  flavor.  My  own  experience  accords 
with  theirs,  but  it  is  very  limited  as  respects  the 
English  fruit,  and  I  have  eaten  delicious  peaches 
on  the  continent.  I  lately  had  the  question  of 
the  relative  goodness  of  English  and  American 
peaches  put  to  four  ladies  of  undoubted  taste  and 
judgment,  two  of  whom  had  resided  for  some 
years  in  England,  and  the  other  two  had  passed 
more  than  one  season  there,  while  all  had  the 
means  of  indulging  in  good  fruit  and  the  oppor- 
tunity of  tasting  it  at  the  tables  of  well-to-do  peo- 
ple. The  answer  was  essentially  unanimous, 
that  English  peaches  were  not  to  be  mentioned 
in  the  same  day  with  ours,  that  they  were  sweet 
and  juicy,  hut  comparatively  insipid.  I  suppose 
that  the  standard  is  different  in  the  two  coun- 
tries; for  our  English  friends  say  that  our  peaches 
are  acid,  and  need  to  be  eaten  with  sugar.  But 
I  remark  that  this  does  not  apply  to  other  fruits ; 
lor  our  friends  say  that  in  our  apples  they  miss 
the  'agreeable  tartness'  of  the  English  article. 

"Now  please  give  us  the  benefit  of  your  large 
experience  on  both  sides  of  the  water,  and  oblige 
your  constant  reader,  PERSICUS." 

[This  is  one  of  those  happy  cases  in  which 
both  sides  arc  right.     The  Editor  had  boasted  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


341 


the  superiority  of  English  peaches  to  his  Ameri- 
can traveling  companion,  and  was  a  little  taken 
aback  when  he  could  not  find  one  in  Covent 
Garden  market  fit  for  her  to  eat — from  an  Amer- 
ican point  of  taste.  If  any  of  these  came  to  the 
tables  of  well-to-do  people,  when  American 
friends  were  entertained,  the  verdict  would  cer- 
tainly favor  American  peaches.  These  were  (in 
July)  evidently  glass-house  fruit.  But  when  the 
peaches  are  from  healthy  trees,  trained  on  south 
walls,  in  the  open  air,   and   allowed   to   mature 


only  what  the  trees  can  well  take  care   of,   Eng- 
lish peaches  are  delicious. 

On  the  other  hand,  Europeans  judging  of  Am- 
erican peaches  by  the  average  of  our  market 
fruits,  much  from  unhealthy  and  overladen 
trees,  are  at  a  disadvantage. 

The  exact  state  of  the  case  is  that  there  is  very 
little  difference  between  the  best  specimens  of 
English  peach  growing  and  the  best  of  Ameri- 
can— that  little  difference  we  believe  to  be  in 
favor  of  American  fruit. — Ed.  G.  M.] 


ITERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  pERSONAL  ffOTES. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


SIX  MONTHS  IN  THE  FOOT-HILLS. 

BY  MRS.  FANNIE  E.    BRIGGS. 

For  a  few  months  it  has  been  my  privilege  to 
study  the  flora  of  a  little  nook  up  among  the 
California  hills,  but  even  this  little  space  afforded 
some  choice  treasures. 

The  flowers  of  the  Manzanita  were  the  first. 
This  beautiful  shrub  was  blooming  in  December, 
and  in  May  its  flowers  might  be  found  in  some 
localities.  It  is  an  Ericaceae,  with  strong  resem- 
blances to  other  members  of  the  family,  has 
light  green,  leathery  leaves,  and  clusters  of  flow- 
ers with  the  shape  of  the  flower  of  the  common 
Wintergreen,  the  hue  of  the  Arbutus,  and  the 
odor  of  fresh  honey. 

There  were  other  handsome  shrubs,  including 
an  Azalea  with  large  white  flowers  just  tinged 
with  pink ;  but  the  shrub  that  I  should  think 
would  be  the  greatest  acquisition  to  the  flower- 
garden  is  a  species  of  Rhamnacese,  of  close,  com- 
pact habit,  small  dark  green  leaves,  and  clusters 
of  fine  bright  blue  flowers.  [Ceanothus  thyrsi- 
florus.— Ed.] 

There  were  a  great  many  miniature  plants 
that  were  very  interesting.  There  is  a  little 
plant  of  the  Pink  family  that  whitens  acres  with 
its  minute  stars,  and  sweetens  the  air  with  the 
odor  of  Violets.  The  whole  plant,  including  the 
root,  measures  less  than  three  inches.  Scarcely' 
larger  are  three  other  little  plants,  nearly  related 
to  the  Mimulus,  consisting  of  a  little  woody  root, 
a  cluster  of  leaves,  and  a  flower  which  constituted 


nearly  half  the  length  of  the  plant,  and  were 
crimson,  pink,  and  yellow.  I  thought  I  dis- 
covered one  of  nature's  secrets.  Many  of  these 
little  plants  were  provided  with  a  cluster  of  thick, 
juicy  leaves,  set  closely  about  the  flower,  which 
retained  their  freshness  when  the  stem  and  root 
seemed  entirely  dry,  and  I  think  furnished  nutri- 
ment to  the  flowers.  [This  Mimulus  is  Eunanus 
Douglasii.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

In  that  dry  climate  it  would  be  natural  to  look 
for  many  bulbous-rooted  flowers,  and  I  found 
them  in  great  abundance.  The  Climbing  Hya- 
cinth is  one  of  the  prettiest.  Vick  gives  the  bo- 
tanical name  as  "  Brodisea  Californica."  It  re- 
sembles the  common  Hyacinth  somewhat,  but  is 
smaller,  and  has  but  three  perfect  stamens  alter- 
nating with  three  imperfect  ones.  Assuming 
that  this  is  the  generic  distinction,  there  are 
several  members  of  the  family  who  are  near 
neighbors.  These  vary  in  color — white,  pink, 
and  several  shades  of  blue ;  in  shape  from  almost 
tubular,  to  broadly  campanulate ;  in  size,  from 
little  over  half  an  inch  to  nearly  two  inches;  and 
in  height,  from  the  little  early  blue  Hyacinth, 
four  or  five  inches  high,  to  the  climber,  as  many 
feet;  but  all  having  the  three  imperfect  stamens, 
long,  narrow,  fleshy  leaves,  and  involucrate  um- 
bels of  flowers. 

These  false  stamens  in  all  are  larger  than  the 
true,  and  nearly  conceal  them,  but  differ  much 
in  size  and  shape,  being  broad,  and  curved  so  as 
to  be  almost  tubular  in  some ;  long,  narrow,  and 
straight  in  others;  and  in  others  still,  long,  but 
broad  and  spreading. 


342 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


The  Triteleias,  of  which  there  are  three  species, 
yellow,  white,  and  blue,  are  nearly  related  to  the 
Brodisea,  but  have  six  perfect  stamens.  The 
dried-up  beds  of  the  little  mountain  streams  are 
full  of  little  Alliums  bearing  little  clusters  of 
pearly  white  blossoms. 

I  looked  vainly  for  Vick's  "  Calochortus  caeru- 
lea,"  but  found  a  beautiful  bright  yellow  species 
exactly  resembling  it  in  shape.  The  species 
which  he  calls  the  "  Mariposa  Tulip,"  was'very 
abundant,  and  is  known  as  the  "Butterfly 
Tulip,"  a  name  which  is  very  well  chosen, 
for  the  pale  yellow  petals  variegated  with 
rings  and  spots  of  rich  velvety  brown,  ex- 
actly resemble  some  butterflies'  wings.  [A.  Fri- 
tillaria. — Ed. J  But  the  pearl  of  all  these  flowers 
I  think  is  the  White  Tulip.  The  most  rocky 
hillsides  seem  to  be  its  chosen  abode,  as  if  con- 
scious that  its  delicate  beauty  and  grace  were 
enhanced  by  the  contrast.  It  is  a  slender  and 
leafy  plant,  in  general  appearance  resembling  a 
Cypripedium,  but  more  delicate  and  graceful, 
the  flowers  pearly-white,  the  petals  overlapping 
in  a  way  that  hides  the  interior,  which  is  slightly 
fringed  and  faintly  tinted  with  rose  like  an  ocean- 
shell. 

I  saw  none  of  the  most  beautiful  California 
Lilies,  and  found  only  two  species.  One  was  the 
Bloomerianum  of  the  florists;  the  other  I  know 
no  distinctive  name  for.  It  bloomed  in  April 
and  May,  the  flowers  rather  small,  reddish-yel- 
low, and  curiously  checked  or  barred  rather 
than  spotted,  with  brown.  I  looked  vainly  for 
any  Cactii  in  the  hills,  but  found  two  species  of 
Crassulse.  One  of  these  was  quite  large,  growing 
solitary  in  clefts  of  the  rocks,  and  bearing 
bright  orange-scarlet  flowers ;  the  other  was 
small  and  spreading,  growing  in  the  moss  that 
covered  the  rocks  on  the  banks  of  streams. 

I  should  have  mentioned  the  "Soap  Root" 
among  the  bulbs.  It  is  said  that  the  Indian?  use 
it  for  soap,  but  I  made  many  inquiries  as  to  the 
mode  of  preparation,  without  obtaining  any  in- 
formation. The  bulb  is  very  large  in  good  soil, 
and  covered  with  a  thick  fibrous  envelope  which 
is  used  for  mattresses.  The  stem  is  tall,  branch- 
ing, and  bears  great  numbers  of  pale-blue  flow- 
ers.   [Chlorogalum  poweridianum. — Ed.] 


PROTECTION    TO  PLANTS. 

BY  EUGENE  GLEN,  ROCHESTER,  N.  V. 

A  prominent  nursery  linn,  in  a  recent  letter  to 
me,  while  conceding  the  importance  of  some 
measure  of  protection,  have  brought  to  my  atten- 


tion a  single  question  regarding  the  practical 
working  of  horticultural  copyrights.  As  the 
same  question  may  have  arisen  in  the  minds  of 
some  of  our  readers,  I  will  attempt  a  solution  of 
it  through  your  columns.  They  say  in  sub- 
stance :  "  Suppose  one  hold  a  copyright  upon  the 
name  of  a  valuable  grape,  what  is  to  prevent  a 
purchaser  of  a  quantity  of  the  vine  from  us, 
propagating  others  therefrom,  and  selling  out 
those  propagated  by  him  under  color  of  selling 
those  originally  purchased  from  us."  To  this  I 
reply  :  So  long  as  the  purchaser  from  you  sells 
the  vines  propagated  by  him  under  some  name 
other  than  that  secured  to  you — that  is  so  long 
as  he  does  not  attempt  to  steal  in  part  the  repu- 
tation for  the  grape  which  you  will  have  created 
— you  will  have  no  reason  to  complain,  but  your 
rights  under  the  law  will  not  be  easily  evaded. 
The  law  would  give  to  new  varieties  in  horticul- 
ture, precisely  the  same  degree  of  protection  that 
is  now  secured  by  trade  marks  to  manufacturers 
of  any  kind  of  merchandise,  and  I  believe  that  it 
cannot  be  shown  that  there  will  be  one  difficulty 
attending  its  execution  that  is  not  equally  appli- 
cable to  trade  marks  upon  other  merchandise, 
and  especially  to  the  names  of  so-called  patent 
medicines.  To  illustrate :  Mr.  Ayer  operates 
under  the  same  law  that  governs  brands  of  flour, 
or  any  other  ©ommodity.  He  has  no  patent  upon 
or  exclusive  right  of  property  in  the  formula 
from  which  his  pills  are  made.  He  simply  holds 
the  right  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  name 
"  Ayer's  Pills."  There  is  no  practical  difficulty 
to  prevent  any  druggist  from  making  a  quantity 
of  pills  resembling  Ayer's,  putting  them  up  in 
packages  similar  to  those  containing  the  latter, 
and,  under  cover  of  the  purchase  of  an  invoice  of 
the  genuine,  selling  out  those  made  by  him.  But 
experience  shows  that  druggists  do  not  do  this,  and 
that  Mr.  Ayer  and  other  manufacturers  of  trade 
mark  goods,  do  not  suffer  in  any  considerable 
degree  from  piracy  upon  their  rights.  The  rea- 
sons of  this  are  these.  Before  a  druggist  could 
work  up  a  trade  in  his  make  of  pills  sufficient  to 
render  their  manufacture  remunerative,  the  at- 
tention of  Mr.  Ayer  would  be  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  former  could  not  afford  to  make  the 
outlay  or  pay  the  attention  he  is  showing  to  the 
trade  in  "  Ayer's  Pills,"  simply  to  sell  out  those 
purchased.  The  moment  that  Mr.  Ayer's  suspi- 
cions are  thus  aroused,  he  could  file  a  bill  in 
equity  against  the  druggist,  make  him  produce 
his  books  and  papers,  and  show  under  oath  just 
how  many  boxes  of  so-called  "Ayer's  Pills"  he 


1877.] 


AND  HOB  TIC  UL  TUBIS  T. 


343 


had  sold.  If,  as  a  result  of  the  examination,  it 
appeared  that  Mr.  Ayer's  rights  had  heen  in- 
fringed, he  would  recover  judgment  against  the- 
druggist  for  the  damages  he  had  sustained,  with 
costs,  and  an  injunction  against  future  violations 
of  his  rights.  The  chance  of  having  to  pay  the 
costs  of  both  parties,  if  actions  are  not  main- 
tained, would  deter  Mr.  Ayer  and  others  from 
commencing  prosecutions  without  having  well- 
grounded  reasons  for  believing  that  their  rights 
were  being  invaded. 

So,  too,  if  you  should  sell  another  nursery- 
man one  dozen  or  one  hundred  of  your  copy- 
righted grape  vines,  and  he  "should  put  the  name 
secured  to  you  in  his  catalogues  and  circulars, 
and  press  the  sale  of  vines  under  that  name, 
without  making  further  purchases  from  you, 
your  suspicions  that  your  rights  were  being  in- 
fringed would  be  aroused.  Under  the  proposed 
law  you  would  have  all  the  remedies  now  given 
for  violation  of  trade  marks,  with  the  added  ad- 
vantage that  while  the  latter,  being  common  law 
remedies,  are  limited  to  actual  damage,  if  one 
could  recover,  in  addition  to  actual  damage,  the 
entire  profits  realized  by  the  infringement. 
The  fact  that  they  cannot  thereby  make  any 
considerable  sum  without  subjecting  themselves 
to  the  consequences  of  prosecution,  has  been 
found  quite  sufficient  to  deter  most  evil  disposed 
persons  from  infringing  upon  trade  marks  of 
those  who  are  here  to  look  after  them.  With 
no  greater  difficulties  to  encounter,  and  with  the 
added  penalty  named,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  law  would  give  you  substantial  protec- 
tion in  the  enjoyment  of  your  copyright. 

In  another  communication  I  will  present 
some  of  the  reasons  for  adopting  this  law  as  a 
means  of  lessening  the  sale  of  fraudulently 
labeled  trees  and  plants. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


European  Notes  by  the  Editor.  —  In  going 
through  the  world  we  meet  with  two  sets  of  trav- 
elers. The  one  stands  watch  in  hand,  counting 
the  mile-posts  as  the  cars  rush  by,  and  rejoices 
when  he  discovers  that  he  has  made  forty  miles 
an  hour.  The  other  looks  out  on  the  hills  and 
vales  and  streams,  the  green  fields  and  bright 
flowers,  the  works  of  nature  and  the  works  of 
art,  and  would  almost  be  thankful  for  a  slight 
accident  which  would  detain  the  locomotive  that 
he  might  get  out  and  admire.    Steam  is  too  fast 


for  him  ;  yet  he  feels  that  he  must  go  on.  In 
spite  of  himself,  he  has  to  go.  And  thus  it  is 
through  all  life,  and  especially  through  my  short 
life  in  Europe.  I  see  things  every  mom'ent  I 
know  it  would  interest  my  friends  at  home  to 
hear  about.  This  little  Isle  of  Wight  containing 
not  three  hundred  square  miles  is  full  of  them, 
but  I  have  other  things  to  say,  so  we  must  "  get 
on."  Yet  I  must  linger  a  while  to  take  another 
last  look  at  it. 

Here  is  the  town  of  Byde,  which,  when  I 
was  brought  into  it  a  child  of  five  years  old, 
had  about  one .  hundred  old-fashioned  houses, 
is  now  a  fashionable  town  of  some  thirty  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  I  look  around  for  some  old 
landmark  to  remind  me  of  my  youthful  days, 
but  the  proverbial  cat  in  a  strange  garret  might 
feel  more  at  home  than  I.  Doubtfully  I  go 
from  house  to  house  to  inquire  for  old  friends, 
but  it  is  generally  the  same  answer:  "Dead, 
dead,  long  since  dead  and  gone."  Here  is  the 
pretty  "  Swan's  Nest  Cottage,"  and  my  escort 
whispers  "  Surely  you  knew  Captain  Masters '? 
his  son  still  lives  there."  And  I  must  venture 
in  at  least  and  ask  for  the  boys.  It  seemed 
scarcely  possible  that  one  should  be  Masters  of 
Nebraska,whom  I  had  known  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  and  yet  had  never  recognized  as  the  play- 
mate of  my  school-boy  days!  I  wandered 
around  to  my  old  haunts,  but  all  were  changed. 
Surely,  I  thought,  the  graves  of  the  dead  in  Eng- 
land at  least  are  sacred.  They  do  not  rise  and 
follow  their  descendants  into  distant  lands.  So  I 
started  for  the  spot  where  the  six  hundred 
drowned  sailors  of  the  "  Eoyal  George  "  were 
buried,  and  where  the  only  knewn  locality  for 
the  "  Proliferous  Pink  "  made  the  spot  equally 
venerable  to  the  botanist ;  but  these  also  had 
been  swept  away,  and  very  fashionable  houses, 
with  "  apartments  to  let "  swinging  from  the 
windows,  occupied  the  site.  Right  through  this 
grassy  meadow  where  I  had  often  watched  the 
king-fisher  spread  its  beautiful  blue  wings,  the 
water-rat  paddle  in  perfect  security,  and  once 
had  the  rare  privilege  of  seeing  the  ignis  fatuus 
float  across  its  marshy  surface — the  locomotive 
now  coursed,  a  stern  reality,  and  all  the  poetry 
had  vanished  away. 

Rip  Van  Winkle's  experience  seemed  less  real 
than  mine.  It  was  not  without  some  satisfac- 
tion that  I  found  the  old  school -house  where  I 
and  some  hundred  other  boys  were  taught,  still 
just  the  same.  In  the  days  of  which  I  speak, 
those    who    could  not  go    many   miles    away, 


344 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


had  to  take  such  education  as  they  could 
get.  The  Lankasterian  school  was  the  only 
chance  for  me.  It  did  not  take  long  to  go 
through  the  course  in  those  days,  and  at  twelve 
years  old  I  was  a  "monitor  "  over  a  dozen  boys, 
on  a  salary  of  one  penny  a  week,  and  the  privi- 
lege of  attending  on  some  extra  branches  of  edu- 
cation on  Saturday  morning,  which  the  zealous 
master  voluntarily  gave  us  besides  the  duties  he 
was  engaged  to  perform.  I  can  hardly  express 
the  feelings  with  which  I  stood  on  the  only  spot 
in  all  this  great  town  I  recognized,  and  where 
forty  years  before  I  was  the  centre  of  a  half 
circle  with  a  dozen  boys  toeing  the  chalk-line 
around  me.  One  by  one  I  endeavored  to  recall 
their  faces,  but  it  was  a  hard  task.  I  wandered 
into  the  little  "dissenting"  chapel  near  by  and 
which  had  started  that  school,  but  it  was  not  the 
church  I  knew.  Nothing  was  left  of  its  former 
simplicity.  "  Where"  I  asked  the  sexton,  brush- 
ing up  for  the  morrow's  Sunday  service,  "  is  the 
old  minister  Guyer?"  "Dead.  We  were  not 
allowed  to  bury  a  Calvinist  in  the  church -yard 
of  the  town,  so  we  put  him  in  there  in  front  of 
the  pulpit."  "And  where  "  I  asked  "  is  Mr.  Par. 
rish  who  taught  in  that  school  ?  "  "  He  went  as 
missionary  to  Burmah,  and  took  the  fever  and 
died  there."  It  was  the  same  story  all  the  while- 
Ryde  was  indeed  an  American  town  to  me.  It 
is  ever  on  the  improve,  and  it  drives  out  the  past 
even  worse  I  think  than  we  do.  It  has  im- 
proved itself  to  death.  When  it  built  a  pier, 
and  established  a  steamboat  line  to  the  main- 
land seven  miles  away,  it  was  a  lovely  rural 
spot  for  the  tired,  Londoner  to  approach  and  en- 
joy for  a  few  days.  But  it  has  been  "  esplanaded  " 
and  walled  in  all  round  about  in  various  ways 
until  there  is  little  left  to  enjoy  but  a  sight  of 
the  sea  from  your  bed-room  window,  so  that 
now  when  the  visitor  comes  he  mounts  the  cars 
at  once,  and  goes  for  the  back  of  the  island,  or 
some  place.  Our  prosperous  towns  may  take  a 
lesson  from  this  :  Improve  and  beautify — but  lose 
not  sight  of  natural  advantages. 

Was  there  to  be  nothing  but  this  little  school 
and  its  dream  of  the  past  left  of  the  old  long 
ago  ?  We  took  the  cars  to  wander  about  the 
island  which  was  once  known  as  the  garden  of 
England,  in  hopes  to  find  something  of  the  olden 
time.  The  hedge-fences  purple  with  the  glowing 
fox  glove,  and  the  hundreds  of  mollusks  with 
their  beautifully  colored  shells  which  abound 
among  the  vegetation  of  this  favored  clime;  the 
red  tiled  or  straw  thatched  houses  seemed  about 


as  they  once  looked ;  but  it  was  not  until  we 
came  on  the  ivy-covered  ruins  of  Carisbrooke 
Castle,  we  felt  entirely  at  home.  There  is  a  well 
here  near  three  hundred  feet  deep,  sunk  they 
say  in  the  time  of  King  Stephen,  to  keep  the  be- 
sieged in  drink,  and  the  waters  of  which  are 
drawn  by  a  donkey,  which  stands,  or  rather 
walks  in  the  inside  of  an  immense  wheel.  The 
donkey  of  our  time  had  passed  away;  his  suc- 
cessor st;od  in  the  green  "  parade  ground  "  in- 
side the  castle,  listless  to  all  around,  and  waiting 
for  his  time  to  come ;  and  the  third  generation 
was  now  at  the  wheel.  But  the  crumbling  old 
battlements  were  still  about  the  same.  We 
walked  still  over  the  parapets  from  whence  the 
famous  bow-and-arrow  men  picked  off  their 
enemies.  We  looked  through  the  rooms  where 
the  prisoner  King  Charles  was  confined,  and  the 
chamber  where  the  Princess  Elizabeth  died  ;  and 
the  ivy  still  clung  lovingly  around  the  bars  of 
the  window  through  which  the  King  escaped, 
once  more  to  be  restored  to  his  royal  seat.  These 
venerable  ruins  may  probably  be 

"  The  Ivy's  food  at  last," 

but  the  famous  old  plant  is  a  long  time  over  its 
meal.  Huge  trees  grow  out  of  the  ruins, 
and  you  walk  in  and  out  of  what  were  once 
upper  chambers,  with  branches  of  trees  them- 
selves perhaps  a  century  old  at  your  very  feet. 
Dust  has  blown  into  crevices  on  the  heights  of 
the  walls,  and  the  moss  has  grown  and  died  in  it, 
and  made  soil ;  and  in  this  again  the  birds  have 
built  their  nests,  bringing  seeds  of  plants  in  the 
material,  till  the  whole  of  these  old  walls  have 
become  a  botanic  garden — wall-flowers,  Canter- 
bury bells,  stone-cups  and  wild  thyme.  One 
could  soon  fill  a  good  sized  herbarium  from  this 
little  world  which  has  been  wholly  created  since 
the  hand  of  man  put  this  vast  pile  of  mortar 
and  stone  together-  here.  But  how  long  it  was 
since  this  was  done  no  one  knows. 

Right  in  the  valley,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  has 
recently  been  dug  out  from  beneath  the  surface 
the  remains  of  a  cottage  of  immense  size.  It  is 
only  the  floors  and  partition  walls  at  the  base, 
but  it  must  have  been  an  elaborate  affair.  The 
floors  are  made  of  half-inch  squares  of  stone  or 
tile,  and  worked  in  Mosaic  style  to  represent  as 
many  beautiful  patterns  as  a  modern  carpet. 
But  what  interested  us  most  was  the  remains  of 
the  bath-room.  These  baths  are  of  thin  stone, 
rather  shallow,  and  lined  with  Roman  cement 
and  were  warmed  by  hot-air  flues  which  are  car- 
ried under  them.     It  is  no  doubt  the  remains  of 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


345 


a  Roman  villa,  and  perhaps  two  thousand 

well,  I  have  assisted  at  the  opening  of  Mound 
Builders'  graves,  but  it  never  seemed  to  me  that 
they  were  as  old  as  these.  We  have  to  go  among 
these  evidences  of  time  in  the  Old  World  before 
we  can  fully  realize  the  fact  tbat  in  the  order  of 
Providence  a  thousand  years  is  but  as  a  day. 

But  we  must  let  the  past  go.  How  is  horticul- 
ture in  these  present  times  ?  The  best  we  could 
do  was  to  select  types  of  various  branches  of 
garden  art  and  garden  trade,  and  let  these  give 
us  an  idea  of  whole. 

The  Rose  trade  has  always  been  an  important 
one,  and  after  a  hasty  run  through  Portsmouth, 
Chichester,  Brighton,  and  other  interesting  spots 
along  the  south  coast,  and  of  which  we  know 
we  shall  not  have  time  to  speak,  I  found  myself 
in  the  famous  old  stand  of  the  Woods  of  Mares- 
field  in  Sussex,  and  of  whom  all  at  least  who 
have  admired  the  beautifiul  Madame  Charles 
Wood — still  one  of  the  best  hybrid  perpetuals — 
will  love  to  know  about. 

Rain  ! — well,  of  course  in  England ;  but  we 
took  temporary  refuge  under  a  beautiful  tulip 
tree  and  I  felt  at  once  at  home.  But  remember- 
ing that  I  really  was  in  England,  I  took  out  tape- 
line  and  measured  five  feet  round.  This  is  not 
Had  for  only  thirty  years,  and  yet  nobody  could 
tell  me  why  American  trees  were  so  scarce  in 
England.  In  our  own  country  we  find  most  of 
our  garden  pets  foreign  born  ;  but  the  bulk  of 
English  planting,  except  with  Conifera,  is  of  their 
own  native  trees.  Then  we  were  introduced  to 
the  packing  sheds  for  shelter,  and  were  kindly 
permitted  to  examine  the  details  for  transporta- 
tion. Boxes  are  seldom  used.  The  pots  are 
stood  upright  in  stout  shallow  willow  baskets 
with  a  handle  in  .each  side.  Light  poles  are 
stuck  in  the  edges  of  the  basket,  and  then  tied, 
tent-like,  at  the  top,  and-  a  "Russian  mat" 
turned  round  the  whole.  These  three  feet  over 
baskets  are  charged  to  the  purchaser  at  about 
seventy-five  cents.  Nothing  shows  so  much  the 
differences  in  the  horticultural  conditions  of  the 
two  countries.  With  us  these  "  hampers  "  would 
dry  out  "  in  less  than  no  time,"  and  the  express 
companies  would  growl  because  they  could 
"  pack  nothing  on  top  "  and  raise  the  rates  on 
us.  Basket  making,  by  the  way,  is  mostly  in  the 
hands  of  the  blind  in  England. 

Of  course  the  most  striking  thing  of  note  in 
an  English  Rose  nursery  is  the  quantity  that  is 
grafted  on  stems  several  feet  high ;  these  are  the 
standard  or  tree-roses.     There  is  this  advantage, 


that  the  flower  is  then  brought  near  to  the  eye 
for  examination,  and  for  the  nose  to  enjoy  the 
rose's  delicious  scent.     We  cannot  have  these  in 
our    severe    climate    as  all    experience  proves. 
Here  there  were  about  an  acre  of  them,  and  all 
in  full  bloom.     The  stocks   are   simply  of  the 
Wild  Dog  Rose — Rosa  canina,  and  are  gathered 
by  men  who  make  a  business  of  scouring   the 
woods  for  them,  and  sell  them  to  the  nursery- 
men for  about  forty  shillings  a  thousand,  or  one 
cent  a  piece  of  our  mo^iey.     These  are  set  out  in 
nursery  rows  and  budded,  and  there  is  as  much 
rivalry  among  young  English   gardeners   as  to 
who  can  bud  the   most  roses,  and  do  the  rose- 
work  best,  as  there  is  among  us  to  bud   Peach 
trees.     Our  climate  brings    the     rose-flower    to 
early  maturity,  and  almost  annihilates  the  vari- 
ous delicate  tints  and  shades  which  characterize 
varieties  in  England.     If   the    following    hybrid 
perpetuals    do    as    well  with  us  as  I  saw  them 
here,  they  would  prove  among  the  best  of  their 
colors : — Whitish  pink  or  flesh  color  Baronness 
Rothschild;   white   clustered  and    Noisette-like 
Boule  de  Neige;    Louis  Van  Houtte,    crimson; 
Eliza  Boyle,  large  blush    white;  Comptesse  de 
Maroonaise,  of  very  pure  white   double   perpet- 
ual moss ;  Olga  Marie,  a  very  beautiful  blush  ;  a 
very  pretty  Noisette  is  Creme  D'or— pretty  for  its 
delicate  brown  tinted  young  foliage.      Of  course 
there   is   "  any   quantity  "   of  Dwarf  Roses,  and 
there  is  the  same  rage  to  have  them  grafted  on 
the   Mannetti   stock  that  there   was  here  thirty 
years  ago.     It  will  probably  not  last.     There  is  a 
large  number  of  glass  houses  here,   and  mostly 
in  connection  with  rose  growing.      Teas,  Chinas, 
and  other  of  the  more  tender  kinds,  are  grown 
in  pots  in  large  quantities.     It  is  strange  that  so 
much  care  can  be  given  to  Roses  as  are  given 
here,  and  yet  the  business  be  made  to  pay.    The 
best  houses  were  of  two-year    plants,    and    all 
models  of  health,  and  perfectly  clear  of  insects. 
Men  are  kept  constantly  going  over  the  plants, 
sponging  the  leaves  with  "  Fowler's  Insecticide." 
After  all,  it  does  not  take  as  much   time  to  give 
proper  attention  to  things  "  in  the  bud,"  as  it  does 
when  we  let  work   get  the  upper  hand  of   us. 
Besides   the   acres   of  roses,  there  is  a  fine  col- 
lection of  fruit  and  ornamental  trees  as   part  of 
the  trade.    The  Hawthorne,  or  "  Quick,"  is  still 
the  hedge-plant  of  England  and  sells  for  about 
ten  dollars  a  thousand.     It  was  a  surprise  to  my 
English  friends  to  be  told  that  hedge-plants  sold 
in  America  for  the  half    or    three-fourths    less 
than  this. 


346 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


The  Norway  Spruces  I  saw  here  were  among 
the  best  I  found  in  England,  and  I  take  the  occa- 
sion to  sajr  that  1  rarely  find  this  or  most  of  the 
Conifera  do  as  well  in  England  as  in  America. 
As  compared  with  our  trees,  I  can  scarcely  say  I 
saw  one  beautiful  Norway  Spruce  in  all  Eng- 
land. When  we  come  to  the  kinds  from  our 
Pacific  coast,  they  have  much  the  advantage  of 
us,  and  here  let  me  say  that  I  think  if  we,  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  would  grow  these  Pacific 
trees  at  all  well,  wre  mu§t  plant. them  in  shel- 
tered woods  and  half-shady  places.  I  know 
I  shall  be  told  they  grow  in  the  open  in  their 
own  country,  but  I  do  not  care  about  that. 

The  Senior  Wood  was  away  to  the  Alexandra 
Rose  Show,  and  I  found  that  most  of  the  lead- 
ing nurserymen  of  England  took  great  interest  in 
all  these  public  exhibitions.  But  I  was  happy  in 
finding  the  young  scions  from  the  old  tree, 
quite  as  likely  to  bring  forth  as  good  horticultu- 
ral fruit  as  their  time-honored  parent,  and  they 
were  very  kind  to  me.  There  are  other  interest- 
ing nurseries  and  gardens  in  the  vicinity  on 
which  I  may  remark  another  time,  but  I  must 
s'op  now. 

Gardening  around  Nashville,  Tennessee. — 
In  August  we  had  the  chance  of  a  run  through 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  were  much  grati- 
fied by  various  signs  of  revival  in  gardening. 
Before  the  war  the  great  bulk  of  the  readers  of 
the  Gardener's  Monthly  were  in  the  South,  and 
we  could  still  find  remains  of  our  old  time  work. 
The  American  Association  was  in  session  at 
Nashville,  and  a  p,aper  read  by  Miss  Ingram,  of 
Edgefield,  reminded  one  of  the  opinion  of 
Major  Hardee,  of  Florida,  that  insects  could  be 
destroyed  in  orchards  by  firing  off  guns.  The 
lady  is  sure  that  disease  germs  can  be  destroyed 
by  concussion,  and  an  explosion  of  gun-powder 
will  destroy  insects.  The  idea  may  not  be  of 
great  value  to  fruit  growers,  but  certainly  there 
is  a  germ  of  truth  in  it,  and  how  far  it  may  be 
practically  effective  is  for  experiment  to  deter- 
mine. Nashville  is  a  beautiful  town.  It  is 
a  continuous  succession  of  hill  and  dale.  The 
prevailing  street  tree  is  Paper  Mulberry,  and 
they  are  numerously  planted.  Once  in  a  while 
there  are  a  few  Silver  Maples.  The  Black  Sugar 
Maple  thrives  well,  but  the  northern  species 
does  not.  Gardening  is  not  of  course  what  it 
was  before  the  war.  In  the  older  places  we 
can  see  how  well  it  was  patronized ;  but 
though  many  of  the  old  roads  and  walks  in  gar- 


dens are  now  so  grass-grown  that  we  can  hardly 
see  them,  the  grand  old  trees  grouped  with  great 
artistic  effect  show  what  the  art  .has  been. 
There  are  many  smaller  and  newer  places,  how- 
ever, that  show  considerable  taste  both  in  plant- 
ing and  floral  adornment.  One  of  the  prettiest 
and  best  kept  grounds  I  saw  was  the  State  Hos- 
pital for  the  Insane.  The  original  laying  out  of 
the  grounds  was  very  fine,  and  the  spirit  of  it  all 
has  been  preserved.  It  is  too  often  the  fault  to 
add  without  judgment  until  the  original  design 
is  lost.  The  plant-houses  had  many  nice  plants, 
healthy  and  well  grown  ;  but  the  Victoria  Regia, 
so  long  the  only  one  in  the  country,  perished 
last  Winter.  The  Winter  was  one  of  unusual 
severity  for  these  parts,  killing  even  the  English 
Ivy  on  the  walls  ;  and  the  new  experience  proved 
fatal  to  the  Royal  Water  Plant.  But  the 
house  is  here,  and  no  doubt  a  new  plant  will  be 
started  next  year.  A  beautiful  sight  was  the 
Cissus  discolor,  growing  on  the  wall  resigned  by 
the  Ivy.  Of  course  it  is  only  a  summer  beauty. 
Why  do  we  not  oftener  employ  it  this  way  in  the 
North  ?  It  would  make  an  admirable  edging  to 
a  flower  bed.  Dr.  Callender,  who  has  charge  of 
the  Institution,  has  excellent  horticultural  taste. 

The  Vanderbilt  University  has  for  its  gardener 
Mr.  Douglas,  an  excellent  selection,  as  he  is  one 
of  the  intelligent  class  that  it  is  always  a  pleas- 
ure to  meet.  The  planting  had  been  very  suc- 
cessful indeed.  The  dead  and  half  dead  sticks 
we  so  often  meet  with  in  public  grounds  near 
home,  being  entirely  wanting;  and  this  is  the 
more  remarkable,  as  of  the  many  thousand  trees 
planted  here  by  Mr.  Douglas,  they  were  all  from 
the  woods.  It  is  a  case  of  skill  against  great  dis- 
advantages. The  trees  are  planted  promiscu- 
ously everywhere  about  the  grounds ;  and  this 
will  give  a  good  chance  to  some  future  landscape 
gardener  to  cut  out  Secundum  artem,  which,  by  a 
reference  to  a  dictionary  of  Latin  quotations,  we 
find  means  "  according  to  the  rules  of  art."  As 
it  is  now7  the  custom  to  use  French  and  Latin 
phrases  instead  of  the  good  old  Saxon  words  in 
English  composition,  we  may  as  well  be  in  the 
fashion  for  just  this  once!  The  gardens  around 
ttie  dwellings  of  the  professors  were  gay  with 
(lowers,  and  the  grass  and  walks  kept  up  in  right 
good  taste.  The  location  is  beautiful,  and  we 
have  no  doubt  good  gardening  will  grow  on  it 
with  the  years  that  are  to  come. 

Dr.  Cheatham's  beautiful  grounds  at  Belmont, 
so  famous  before  the  war,  are  beautiful  still,  and 
with     characteristic     liberality    the    proprietor 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


34T 


opens  them  freely  to  the  public  to  enjoy  every 
day  but  Sunday.  There  are  many  fine  speci- 
mens of  Evergreens  here  one  does  not  see  North, 
and  the  numerous  varieties  of  Cucurbits  ram- 
bling over  trellisses  and  arbor  in  a  kind  of  negli- 
gent, or  perhaps  we  might  say  unconscious  love- 
liness, gave  a  peculiar  character  to  the  grounds. 
The  excellent  health  of  the  plants  in  the  conser- 
vatories showed  that  they  were  in  the  care  of  a 
good  gardener.  The  distant  scenery  from  these 
grounds  is  particularly  impressive,  and  I  shall 
long  remember  the  very  short  and  pleasant  visit 
I  made  to  Belmont. 

Melrose,  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Governor 
Brown,  is  farther  away  from  Nashville.  The 
house  is  also  beautifully  situated  to  take  advan- 
tage of  delightful  distant  views.  The  grounds 
are  extensive  and  park-like,  and  the  disposition 
of  the  grand  old  trees  is  such,  and  the  roads  led 
around  the  knolls  and  up  the  glades  in  such  a 
delightfully  enticing  way  that  a  master  hand 
must  have  been  employed  in  the  original  ar- 
rangement. The  Scotch  Pine,  for  so  far  south 
was  doing  wonderfully  well  here. 

Truett  Sons  &  Morgan  are  out  on  the  Edge- 
field Road  across  the  Cumberland  River,  through 
a  district  abounding  with  improved  gardens  and 
tasteful  dwellings,  and  occupy  in  their  nurseries 
some  five  hundred  acres.  Of  course  most  of  the 
stock  is  of  fruit  trees,  the  apple  and  peach 
predominating.  The  more  tasteful  departments 
of  gardening  are,  however,  beginning  to  be 
sought  after ;  and  they  feel  very  much  encour- 
aged with  the  future  of  horticulture  South  in 
every  way.  The  firm  is  an  excellent  one  in  every 
respect,  and  we  can  all  rejoice  in  the  abounding 
evidences  of  their  prosperity. 

The  grape  seems  to  be  the  most  popular  fruit 
about  Nashville.  The  kind  mostly  grown  is  the 
Ives,  and  it  was  strange  to  find  a  kind  we  think 
so  little  of  so  delicious  down  here.  Thus  doth 
climate  modify  all  our  kinds. 

Our  notes  must  of  necessity  be  brief;  but  we 
must  not  omit  one  on  Mr.  Mclntyre's  nursery. 
It,  like  its  owner,  is  still  young ;  but  if  the  re- 
ports we  everywhere  heard  of  his  industry  and 
integrity  mean  anything,  we  may  regard  him  as 
one  of  the  rising  firms.  His  grounds  are  full  of 
beautiful  specimens  of  Magnolia  grandiflora, 
which  is  commonly  planted  South  as  a  Norway 
Spruce  is  with  us.  He  has  a  pure  white  sport 
from  that  good  old  rose  Bougere,  which  has 
proved  constant  for  several  years,  and  which  he 
thinks,   and   we   think   with    good   reason,   will 


prove  a  little  fortune  for  him.     We  hope  so,  for 
he  deserves  it. 

For  the  first  time  we  saw  in  flower  the  "  Hen- 
na "  plant  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  It  was 
their  royal  plant,  yielding  a  juice  which  bright- 
ened their  skin,  and  an  odor  which  might  set 
the  Mignonette  wild  with  envy.  It  is  Lawsonia 
alba. 

"  How  Not  to  Do  It."—  The  Editor  of  this 
Magazine  has  been  car,eful  not  to  refer  to  any 
matter  of  business  that  may  relate  to  himself 
personally  in  these  pages,  as  he  might  he  charged 
with  using  his  position  for  personal  ends.  Hence 
the  collection  of  720  kinds  of  trees  of  which  his 
arboretum  was  formed  at  the  Centennial,  received 
no  notice  here.  But  a  matter  has  grown  out  of 
this  in  connection  with  the  Paris  Exposition 
which  seems  to  be  of  public  interest  enough  to 
warrant  a  departure  from  this  rule. 

As  usually  seen  at  exhibitions,  trees  are  taken 
up  and  set  in  the  «ame  season,  and  thus  look 
shabby,  and  are  no  credit  to  the  exhibitor  or  the 
exhibition.  Therefore,  the  whole  of  these  720  trees 
were  grown  in  boxes  a  year  beforehand,  and 
thus  were  turned  out  on  the  Exhibition  ground 
with  balls,  and  the  testimony  of  the  Judges  on 
the  "growth"  of  these  plants,  as  given  in  the 
award  made  on  them,  shows  how  well  this  plan 
worked.  This  collection,  though  costing  $3000 
(including  the  commercial  value  of  the  trees)  to 
place  on  the  grounds,  received  comparatively  no 
attention  from  Americans,  but  was  very  appre- 
ciatively noticed  by  foreign  papers,  and  the 
owner  therefore  determined  to  make  a  similar 
exhibit  in  Paris.  Our  people  knowing  how  easy 
it  was  to  overcome  difficulties  of  planting  by 
growing  a  year  in  tubs,  had  no  restrictions  on 
time;  but,  in  the  French  rules,  we  were  met  at 
the  outset  with  the  regulation  that  "  trees  must 
be  in  the  ground  one  year  beforehand."  Suppos- 
ing, however,  that  this  would  not  be  insisted  on 
after  we  explained  our  method,  we  had  near  a 
thousand  boxes  made,  and  wrote  to  see  what 
could  be  done,  but  no  answer  was  vouchsafed. 
Fearing  we  might  have  addressed  the  wrong 
party,  we  addressed  two  others  in  high  connec- 
tion with  the  Commission,  but  still  not  even  the 
poor  courtesy  of  a  reply !  Then  we  made  a  per- 
sonal visit  to  Pars,  and  were  told  that  they  had 
nothing  to  do  with  us — that  an  American  must 
apply  for  space  through  the  American  Commis- 
sion ;  and  that  in  regard  to  the  year-a-head  rule — 
rules   were   made   to  be  observed.     We  pointed 


348 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


out  (hat  in  regard  to  the  American  Commission, 
we  had  no  disrespect  to  the  French  people,  but 
the  last  Congress  had  quite  enough  to  do  to  settle 
our  own  presidential  question  ;  that  in  any  case 
our  Government  was  not  a  paternal  but  a  filial 
one  ;  that  we  did  not  propose  to  send  our  trees 
over  at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  in  a 
Government  ship,  but  at  our  own  sole,  individual 
expense  and  risk.  Give  us  15,000  square  feet  of 
ground,  and  we  would  plant  our  trees  without 
thanks  to  anybody,  sending  them  over  this 
coming  Fall,  and  having  everything  in  readiness 
when  the  Exhibition  opened.  But  the  only  ans- 
wer was  : — "  You  must  ask  through  the  American 
Commission."  We  returned  to  America  satisfied 
that  we  could  make  no  exhibit  there. 

However,  in  correspondence  with  a  distin- 
guished French  nobleman,  we  gave  a  statement 
of  our  difficulties,  who  kindly  replied,  "I  am 
sorry  to  see  that  though  you  could  not  exhibit  in 
a  national  capacity,  you  could  not' either  arrange 
for  a  private  exhibition  of  your  hardy  trees  at 
the  great  exhibition  of  Paris  next  year.  As  the 
Due  d'Audiffret  Pasquier,  President  of  the  Com- 
mission happens  to  be  staying  with  me,  I  gave 
him  an  extract  from  your  letter,  and  he  will  see 
whether  it  is  still  possible  to  arrange  the  matter 
to  your  mind." 

The  Duke  kindly  interested  himself  as  prom- 
ised, and  the  following  letter  is  the  result  : 

Paris,  le  28,  Aoui,  1877. 
Monsieur  le  President  et  Cher  Collegue  : 

Le  Gouvernementdes  Etats-Unis  n'a  pas  encore 
accepte  ofnciellement  l'invitation  de  partieipeo  a 
l'Exposition  de  1878.  II  n'a  point  non  plus  nom- 
m6  ou  design  6  officieusement  les  Commissaires 
charges  de  designe  representer  les  interets  de 
ses  nationaux.  Nous  n'avons  pu,  par  conse- 
quent, prendre  aucun  engagement  vis-a-vis  des 
exposants  Amercains  qui  se  sont  addresses  a 
nous;  le  Reglement  general  nous  interdisant 
tons  rapports  avec  les  exposants  etrangers. 

Meanmoins,  d'apres  les  assurances  donnees  au 
Gouvernement,  je  suis  fonde"  a  conserv-er  l'espoir 
de  voir  les  Etats-Unis  representes  a  Paris  en 
1878.  Un  espace  est  tenu  en  reserve  pour 
la  Section  Americaine,  mais  seule  la  Commission 
quand  elle  sera  nominee  aura  qualite  pour  re- 
parlir  cet  espace  entre  ses  nationaux.  C'est  a 
elle,  ou  a  sou  defaut  au  Gouvernement  Federal 
lui-nieme  que  M.  Meehan  doit  faire  parvenir  sa 
demande  et  ses  reclamations. 

Ogreez,  Monsieur  le  President  et  chev  Collegue 
['assurance  dc  ma  haute  et  respectueuse  consid- 
ation. 

B.  Krantz, 
Le  Senatcur,  Commissionaire  General. 


Monsieur  le  Due  d'Audiffret  Pasquier,  Presi- 
dent du  Senat  et  de  la  Commission  Superieure 
de   l'Exposition  Universelle  a  Sany  par  Morhie. 

The  plain  English  of  this  is  that  we  must  apply 
to  a  Commission  that  does  not  exist,  and  which 
if  it  did  exist,  would  still  be  too  late  to  come 
within  the  "year-planted"  rule.  "How  Not  to 
Do  It,"  was  never  better  illustrated  than  now. 
We  are  quite  sure  that  such  a  ease  never  could 
occur  in  our  country. 

We  refer  to  the  subject  here  because  there  is 
a  general  impression  that  the  nursery  trade  of 
America  is  far  behind  that  of  Europe ;  that  we 
must  send  to  Europe  if  we  want  to  get  com- 
plete collections.  It  is  a  misapprehension  of  our 
own  people,'for  we  have  found  Europeans  always 
ready  to  do  us  justice  when  the  facts  were  fairly 
before  them.  In  the  present  case,  it  was  our  de- 
sire to  carry  the  facts  there  in  so  far  as  one  firm 
could  do  it;  and  it  is  as  well  to  show  that  the 
failure  arises  from  our  French  friends  not  being 
able  to  find  any  way  but  the  one  way,  and  a 
way  which,  by  their  own  regulations  they  insist 
on  effectually  blocking  up. 

The  Gardener's  Monthly  for  1878. —  The 
recent  meeting  of  the  American  Pomological 
Society  reminds  us  that  nearly  twenty  years  ago 
the  Editor  was  asked  to  write  a  "specimen  num- 
ber "  of  a  cheap  horticultural  paper,  for  distribu- 
tion at  the  pomological  meeting  then  being  held, 
so  as  to  see  whether  such  a  paper  would  be  sus- 
tained. It  was  a  large  newspaper  sheet,  the  idea 
being  to  decide  after  people  had  seen  and  ap- 
proved the  matter  and  style,  what  ultimate  form 
it  should  take  with  the  beginning  of  the  year. 

It  owed  its  origin  to  the  horticultural  enthu- 
siasm of  D.  Rodney  King,  one  of  Philadelphia's 
most  enthusiastic  merchants,  who  fathered  all 
the  expenses  of  the  venture. 

The  little  venture  was  approved,  and  it  is  with 
pleasure  that  the  writer  of  this  remembers  the 
kind  letters  he  received  expressing  this  friendly 
approval.  He  remembers  especially,  a  pleasant 
one  from  Mr.  Barry,  in  which  he  thought  this  new 
pomological  product  might  be  "  placed  on  the  list 
promising  well." 

Now  entering  on  the  twentieth  volume,  the 
Editor  cannot  but  pause  at  the  prospect  before 
him,  and  look  back  as  well.  Many  of  his  early 
friends  have  gone,  but  he  is  yet  spared  for  the 
work.  He  has  been  through  sad  times  for  Horti- 
culture, but  he  has  been  able  to  carry  the  work 


1877.] 


AND  EOETIGULTUBIST. 


349 


with  him,  and  now  that  our  art  promises  to  re- 
vive and  assume  somewhat  of  its  ante  bellum 
greatness,  he  feels  a  renewed  spirit  in  the  task. 
Never  has  there  been  so  much  interest  felt  in 
the  work  as  during  the  past  year,  as  our  numer-, 
ous  and  widely  distributed  list  of  correspondents 
show.  The  Editor  has  no  cause  to  complain  of 
the  support  given  him  in  his  department.  It  is 
magnificent.  He  may  be  pardoned  for  hoping 
that  at  this  season  the  publisher  will  be  as  well 
remembered. 

Every  year  young  people  are  taking  the 
place  of  older  horticulturists,  and  the  ranks 
in  various  ways  are  being  filled  by  new  re- 
cruits. These  will  take  it  as  a  favor  if  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  existence  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  and  many  may  be  able  to  send  on  a  new 
subscription  with  their  own. 

It  may  be  as  well  to  state  that  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  stands  alone  in  its  aim  and  objects  in 
the  literature  of  this  country.  It  takes  up  hor- 
ticulture where  agriculture  drops  it,  and  there- 
fore every  person  who  takes  but  one  agricultural 
paper  and  is  fond  of  gardening,  will  need  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  as  a  supplement.  We  do 
not  aim  to  fill  the  Magazine  with  matter  that  the 
bulk  of  the  readers  already  know,  or  that  they 
could  easily  find  in  their  regular  agricultural  or 
family  paper,  but  write  for  those  who  want  to 
read  something  about  trees,  plants,  fruits  and 
flowers,  which  will  add  to  their  general  intelli- 
gence as  members  of  cultivated  society,  and 
which  will  redound  eventually  to  their  pleasure 
and  jjrofit.  There  never  was  a  time  when  peo- 
ple revolted  more  at  the  superficial  education  of 
the  present  day,  and  the  shallow  pursuits  in 
which  so  many  are  engaged  ;  and  in  the  efforts 
which  are  being  made  to  direct  the  attention  of 
the  people  to  natural  beauty,  and  to  an  intelli- 
gent knowledge  of  all  that  is  about  them  ;  we  are 
proud  to  know  that  the  Gardener's  Monthly  oc- 
cupies no  mean  place.  As  the  season  for  re- 
newed subscriptions  is  at  hand,  we  may  "be  par- 
doned for  indulging  in  a  word  of  this  kind. 

The  Lilies  of  Utah.— Mr.    John   Muir  thus 

closes  an  article  on  the  Lilies  of  Utah,  which  has 

appeared  in  a  California  paper  : 

"  Liliaceous  women  and  girls  are  rare  among 
the  Mormons.  They  have  seen  too  much  hard 
expressive  toil  to  admit  of  the  development  of 
lily  beauty  either  in  form  or  color.  In  general, 
they  are  thick  set,  with  large  feet  and  hands, 
and  with  sun-browned  faces,  often  curious!}' 
freckled,  like  the  petals  of  Fritillaria  atropurpu- 
rea.    They  are  fruit  rather  than  flower — loaves 


of  good  brown  bread.  But  down  in  the  San 
Pitch  Valley  at  Gunnison  I  discovered  a  genuine 
lily,  happily  named  Lily  Young.  She  is  a  grand- 
daughter of  Brigham  Young,  slender  and  grace- 
ful, with  lily-white  cheeks,  tinted  with  clear 
rose.  She  was  brought  up  in  the  old  Salt  Lake 
Lion  House,  but  by  some  strange  chance  has 
been  transplanted  to  this  wilderness,  where  she 
blooms  alone,  the  "  Lily  of  San  Pitch."  Pitch  is 
an  old  Indian,  who,  I  suppose,  pitched  into  the 
settlers,  and  thus  acquired  fame  enough  to  give 
name  to  the  valley.  Here  I  feel  uneasy  about 
the  name  of  this  Lily,  for  the  compositors  have 
a  perverse  trick  of  making  me  say  all  kinds  of 
absurd  things  wholly  unwarranted  by  plain 
copy,  and  I  fear  that  "  The  Lily  of  San  Pitch" 
will  appear  in  print  as  the  widow  of  Sam.  Patch. 
But,  however  this  may  be,  among  my  memo- 
ries of  this  fair,  far  land,  that  Oquirrh  Moun- 
tain, with  its  golden  Lilies,  will  ever  rise 
in  clear  relief,  and  associated  with  them  will  al- 
ways  be  Lily  Young,  the  prettiest  lily  lass  in 
Utah." 

Bequest  for  Tree  Planting. —  A  gentleman 
of  Philadelphia,  named  Neil,  recently  deceased, 
provided  in  his  will  $50,000,  for  the  purpose  of 
"  tree  planting  in  Fairmount  Park." 

The  Hashish  op  the  Egyptians. —  The  Gar- 
dener's Magazine  tells  us  about  this  famous 
article : — 

"An  odoriferous  resin  much  used  in  Eg3rpt, 
is  Hashish,  which  is  prepared  from  the  tops  of 
hemp,  which  has  degenerated  as  a  textile  plant. 
The  flowers  contain  a  resin, which  is  extracted  by 
boiling  the  tops  in  alcohol  and  afterwards  preci- 
pitating the  resin  with  water.  This  preparation 
possesses  all  the  narcotic  properties  of  the  plant 
in  a  high  degree.  The  Arab  preparations  of 
hashish  have  all  a  greasy  base,  being  prepared  by 
boiling  resin  with  butter.  From  these  various  elec- 
tuaries are  prepared  with  the  addition  of  sugar, 
honey,  almond,  different  scents,  &c.  These  are 
made  up  into  little  cakes,  or  into  a  syrup  which 
is  concentrated  into  a  jelly  by  cooling.  The 
abuse  of  these  preparations,  which  with  impress- 
ionable subjects  produce  ecstacy  or  extravagant 
hilarity  has  led  to  the  suppression  of  their  sale. 
The  ell'ects  of  hashish  have  long  been  known. 
The  plant  forms  the  principal  ingredient  in  a 
species  of  drink  which  has  often  been  used  by 
im posters  for  fanatical  ends  and  the  working  of 
pretended  ^miracles.  With  it,  Hassan  Saba, 
Prince  of  the  Assassins,  better  known  as  the  Old 
Man  of  the  Mountain,  was  wont  to  plunge  his 
fanatic  disciples  into  extravagant  extacies,  re- 
quiring them  in  return  for  the  ephemeral  pleas- 
ure to  sacrifice  their  lives  wherever  his  hates  or 
cupidity  called  for  it." 

Express  Charges. —  People  who  send  us  fruit 
or  other  things  for  name  or  examination,  always 
pay  the  freight  and  generally  mark  it  "  paid  "  on 
the  box.    A   few  years  ago  we  had  to  tell  our 


350 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


friends  to  mark  it  "  paid  through,"  otherwise  the 
company  insists  that  it  is  only  partly  paid,  and 
we  have  often  had  to  pay  the  whole  freight 
charges  over  again.  For  awhile  our  friends  re- 
membered this,  but  some  recent  very  expensive 
experiences  make  it  necessary  to  renew  the  ad- 
vice. 

The  Illinois  Thistle  Law. —  Mr.  Edgar  San- 
ders says,  that  so  far  as  he  knows,  there  has  not 
been  a  single  prosecution  under  the  thistle  law, 
though  thistles  abound. 

Buffalo  Park  Commission— Sixth  Annual 
Report.— We  learn  from  this  that  $132,426  were 
expended  on  this  public  work  last  year.  It  is 
part  of  their  policy  to  endeavor  to  find  work  for 
unemployed  labor  at  a  season  of  the  year  when 
other  work  is  stopped,  and  hence  $30,000  of  this 
was  spent  in  the  Winter  in  quarrying  and  break- 
ing stone  for  the  roads.  In  this  way  480,000 
square  feet  of  carriage  way  wras  completed  last 
year.  The  city  getting  the  benefit  of  the  good 
drives,  and  the  laborers  finding  work  when  none 
else  was  to  be  had.  The  cost  of  these  stoned 
roads  is  $15,000  per  mile.  The  influence  which 
the  park  has  on  the  general  culture  of  the  citi- 
zens, and  the  welfare  of  all  classes,  is  well  shown 
in  this  report.  The  park  embraces  600  acres, 
and  is  managed  with  such  excellent  taste,  judg- 
ment and  economy,  that  it  is  a  model  in  every 
respect.  Olmsted  and  Vaux  are  the  landscape 
gardeners  and  architects,  and  Mr.  Wra.  McMillan 
the  general  superintendent. 

Drs.  Hooker  and  Gray. — On  the  29th  of  Au- 
gust a  special  meeting  of  the  California  Academy 
of  Sciences  was  held  to  do  honor  to  these  distin- 
guished botanists  who  have  done  so  much  for 
the  science  all  over  the  world.  Prof.  Davidson 
made  an  admirable  speech  of  welcome,  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  valuable  work  of  Dr.  Hooker, 
Dr.  Gray,  and  Prof.  Hayden,  by  whose  kindness 
the  two  botanists  have  been  able  to  see  so  much 
of  our  country.  Prof.  Hayden  made  some  brief 
remarks  injreply.  Dr.  Hooker— or  more  proper- 
ly now  Sir  Joseph  Hooker— returned  thanks  for 
his  welcome,  and  said  that  his  visit  had  been  the 
means  of  adding  immensely  to  his  stock  of 
knowledge.  Dr.  Gray,  in  acknowledging  the 
kindness  of  his  reception,  took  occasion  to  refer 
to  the  work  of  Menzics  in  connection  with  the 
botany  of  California,  and  the  pleasure  it  gave 
him  to  walk  in  his  footsteps.  Altogether  the  oc- 
casion was  one  long  to  be  remembered  by  the 


botanists  of  California.  Dr.  Hooker  has  since 
returned  to  England,  and  with  Dr.  Gray  will  con- 
tribute to  Hayden's  report. 

B.  M.  Watson. — A  son  of  this  well-known  and 
esteemed  nurseryman,  of  Plymouth,  Mass.,  is 
said  to  be  Professor  of  Horticulture  in  the  Bussey 
Institute  of  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Proceedings  of  the  Indiana  Horticultural 
Society  for  1877.  From  W.  H.  Rogan,  Secretary. 
— Besides  the  usual  full  reports  of  progress  in 
fruit  culture  and  other  incidents  of  horticulture, 
it  contains  a  very  able  essay  on  "  Forestry  "  by 
Prof.  J.  Hussey.  He  concludes  that  only  capital- 
ists or  governments  can  plant.  He  will  not  have 
the  support  of  every  one  to  this  view.  Our  idea 
is  that  it  is  to  individual  interests  to  plant  trees, 
and  that  those  societies  will  do  the  most  good 
which  show  how  individuals  may  profitably 
plant  trees.  But  those  who  differ  from  Prof. 
Hussey  will  at  least  give  to  his  views  every 
respect,  as  they  are  ably  stated. 

Transactions  of  the  Michigan  State  Pomo- 
logical  Society.  From  Chas.  W.  Garfield,  Esq., 
Secretary,  Lansing,  Michigan. — Among  many 
items  of  information,  we  find  that  in  1875  an 
Act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
for  preventing  the  yellows  in  the  peach  and 
allied  fruits.  Persons,  who  after  the  order  to  cut 
infected  trees  away  allow  them  to  stand,  are 
iiable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dol- 
lars and  costs,  besides  the  expenses  of  having 
such  trees  cut  out  by  the  commissioner.  As 
Jack  Bunsby  says,  "  it  is  in  the  application 
that  proof  of  wisdom  comes."  It  would  be  very 
interesting  to  know  whether  this  law  has  proved 
a  sufficient  terror  to  cause  the  owners  of  infected 
trees  to  uproot  them  ;  whether  any  waited  to  be 
forced  to  do  it;  how  many  lines  have  been 
collected,  and  whether  there  is  as  much  of  the 
disease  now  as  there  was  two  years  ago.  If  this 
cure  has  proved  effectual  it  may  be  worth  while 
carrying  it  to  other  States.  If  not,  save  burdens 
on  the  statute  books. 

Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Ohio  Horti- 
cultural Society. — We  do  not  know  when  we 
have  read  a  report  so  full  of  matters  of  practical 
value  as  this,  and  congratulate  the  members  of 
the  Society  in  getting  the  full  value  of  their  an- 
nual subscriptions  in  so  substantial  a  way.  Mr. 
Bateham  recounts  the  trouble  he  had  in  getting 
together  the  beautiful  Centennial  exhibit  from 
Ohio.  Though  the  Slate  made  a  handsome  ap- 
propriation to  exhibit  its  products  at  the  Centcn- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


351 


nial,  the  money  went  "somewhere,"  and  none 
came  to  these  workers.  The  Ohio  Society  had 
to  stand  the  brunt  of  the  cost. 

As  a  practical  item,  we  select  the  following  re- 
marks of  Mr.  P.  Barry  on  orchard  culture,  and 
we  do  so  because  we  once  had  to  endure  so 
much  contumely  for  expressing  nearly  the  same 
views.  It  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  us  that 
teaching,  in  which  we  stood  wholly  alone  at  one 
time,  is  now  generally  accepted  as  the  sound 
doctrine  by  fruit  cultivators. 

"  In  the  earlier  years  of  an  orchard,  nothing 
but  good  culture  and  plenty  of  manure  will 
answer,  but  when  an  orchard  comes  into  bear- 
ing, rapid  growth  of  wood  is  not  calculated  to 
produce  the  finest  fruit.  Fruitfulness  is  promo- 
ted by  seeding  down  and  checking  the  growth. 
Pasturing  with  sheep  is  an  easy  practical  way  of 
taking  care  of  an  orchard,  but  manure  must  be 
used  to  keep  up  the  fruitfulness.  Starving  trees 
on  grass  is  the  extreme  of  grass  culture.  He 
would  not  assert  but  what  greater  burdens  of 
fruit  could  be  produced  by  '  high  culture,'  but 
cost  must  be  considered.  He  has  as  good  quality 
of  fruit  in  grass  as  in  clean  culture,  but  cannot 
have  fine  fruit  in  a  crowded  orchard." 

Transactions  of  the  Nebraska  State  Hort. 
Society  for  1877.  —  From  Dan'l  K.  Wheeler, 
Plattsmouth.  Beautiful  plates  of  scenery  in 
various  parts  of  Nebraska  adorn  the  volume, 
which  gives  also  much  valuable  information  as 
to  the  fruits  best  suited  to  that  distant  region. 

The  Microscopist's  Companion. —  By  John 
Phin.  Second  edition.  New  York  Industrial  Com- 
pany. This  is  but  a  small  book — but  as  a  micros- 
cope is  now  a  part  of  the  complement  of  every 
intelligent  household,  it  will  be  of  great  value  to 
many.  Mr.  Phin,  the  author,  is  a  pains-taking 
and  conscientious  naturalist,  and  whatever  comes 
from  his  pen  is  sure  to  be  reliable.  He  is  already 
known  to  our  readers  by  one  of  the  best  works 
on  wine  making.  We  are  glad  to  see  the  present 
little  work  in  the  form  of  a  second  edition, which 
shows  that  the  public  has  appreciated  his  work 
as  well  as  we. 

Music. — ''  Dear  Old  Homestead." —  Song  and 
Music  for  the  Piano.  From  F.  W.  Helmich, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

A  Good  Michigan  Nursery. — It  is  always  a 
good  sign  to  be  spoken  well  of  by  one's  neigh- 
bors, and  this  is  what  has  been  done  by  the 
Michigan  Farmer  for  Bragg  &  Stearns  of  Kalama- 
zoo. 

Journal  of  Forestry. — We  have  before  us  the 
first  number  of  this  new  English  candidate  for 
public  favor,  and  considering  the  increasing  in- 
terest in  the  subject  of  Forestry,  have  no  doubt 
there  is  room  for  its  success.  If  there  be  such 
a  field,  the  present  venture  promises  to  fill  it 
very  creditably.  The  only  suggestion  we  would 
make  is,  that  there  is  a  little  too  much  of  de- 
pendence on  Loudon  and  older  writers,  when 
modern  ones  have  contributed  better  material. 
It  would  be  astonishing  if  these  good  friends  had 


exhausted  all  knowledge,  or  made  no  mistakes. 
In  an  editorial  here,  Loudon  is  quoted  as  au- 
thority that  the  "  Black  Italian  Poplar"  is 
Populus  monilifera.  We  all  thought  so  in 
Loudon's  time,  and  he  was  excusable,  but  no 
authority  thinks  so  now.  Populus  nigra  is  the 
Black  Italian  Poplar — a  European  kind. 

Pretty  Feathers  make  Pretty  Birds. — The 
Poultry  World  sends  us  copies  of  the  chromos 
they  intend  to  give  as  premiums  next  year,  and 
we  must  say  that  they  are  very  nicely  gotten  up, 
and  will,  no  doubt,  be  an  acceptable  gift  to  bird 
fanciers. 

L.  B.  Case,  Richmond,  Ind.,  sends  us  his  green- 
house catalogue,  which  is  worthy  of  special 
notice  for  the  great  amount  of  useful  informa- 
tion it  gives  about  the  plants  offered  for  sale. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Fruiting  of  Akebia  quinata. — A  number  of 
correspondents  send  us  fruit  this  seaspn.  It 
must  be  a  rare  season  for  it.  One  suggests  that 
probably  insects  have  been  more  abundant  or 
active  in  cross  fertilizing,  but  we  prefer  to  believe 
it  is  a  question  of  nutrition. 

A  Twin  Apple. — B.  F.  L.  sends  us  an  apple 
with  a  small  one  growing  out  of  it  near  the  base. 
It  is  useful  as  showing  by  how  many  ways  nature 
will  bring  out  similar  experiences.  In  the  apple 
and  the  pear,  orange  and  other  things,  the  branch 
which  normally  is  arrested  in  its  growth  when  it 
is  turned  into  a  fruit,  still  retains  a  little  of  its 
original  elongating  power.  In  this  case  the  twin 
is  formed  by  the  development  of  two  branch 
buds  from  near  one  base.  It  is  not  easy  to 
explain  these  things  in  a  few  words,  unless  the 
reader  has  already  some  idea  of  vegetable 
morphology. 

Twin  Peach.— A  South  Carolina  correspon- 
dent sends  us  a  sketch  of  a  twin  peach.  This  is 
another  illustration  of  similar  effects  from  differ- 
ent physiological  law.  In  the  apple  we  have  five 
divisions  in  the  core,  and  each  of  these  divisions 
(carpels}  is  formed  of  an  original  single  leaf. 
There  is  no  other  reason  why  the  peach  has  not 
five  peaches  side  by  side  arranged  somewhat  as 
the  apple  core  is,  except  abortion.  In  the  case 
of  this  twin  peach  two  have  been  produced,  and 
we  have  seen  as  many  as  three  together,  and 
would  'not  be  surprised  some  day  to  see  five 
together,  but  should  be  to  find  more  than  this. 

The  .Kentucky  Coffee  as  a  Fly  Poison. — 
Miss  A.  says  : — "  When  in  Virginia  last  year  the 
negroes  told  me  that  the  Kentucky  "  locust,"  as 
they  called  it — Gymnocladus  Canadensis — was 
boiled,  and  the  juice  mixed  with  molasses  and 
set  for  flies  to  drink,  by  which  they  were  poison- 
ed.    It  is  the  great  fly  poison  with  them." 

Fertile  Hydrangea.— S.  sends  a  head  of 
hydrangea  in  which  the  flowers  are  very  nearly 
all  fertile.     We  may  explain  that  the  large  rosy 


352 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[November, 


George 


flowers  which  commonly  form  the  head  of  hy- 
drangea blossoms  are  male  or  neutral,  the  female 
or  fertile  flowers  being  very  small  and  not  seen  un- 
less they  are  searched  for.  These  fertile  flowers 
vary  in  number  with  every  head,  and  in  this  in- 
stance have  assumed  unusually  large  propor- 
tions. The  laws  which  govern  these  varying 
proportions  are  in  some  way  connected  with  nu- 
trition, but  the  exact  way  in  which  they  operate 
has  not  yet  been  discovered. 

Beggar  Ticks  vs.  Beggar  Lice. — Mr. 
Woodruff,  Mount  Airy,  Philadelphia,  writes: 
"  Apropos  of  the  discussion  on  Tumble  Weed, 
which  shows  how  beautifully  '  common  '  names 
don't  identify  plants,  I  notice  that  in  the  August 
number  you  speak  ot  the  Cynoglossum  as  a  forage 
plant,  and  call  it  '  the  common  Beggar  Ticks.' 
Now,  I  had  known  a  certain  weed  as  '  Beggar's 
Lice'  since  I  could  remember,  and  'guessed' 
that  was  it.  Turning  to  Gray,  I  found  not  only 
that  he  used  the  two  names  for  different  plants, 
but  that  he  applied  the  name  B.  Lice  instead  of 
B.  Ticks  to  Cynoglossum  using   '  B.   Ticks '  for 


Bidens,  which  is  the  weed  I  know.  As  both  are 
'  vile  weeds,'  I  don't  think  many  people  will 
wish  to  sow  either;  but  we  again  see  the  diffi- 
culty of  identifying  plants  by  '  common  names,' 
even  when  they  are  as  'nice'  as  the  foregoing." 

[In  justice  to  Prof.  Gray,  it  should  be  stated 
that  in  the  use  of  popular  names  he  scarcely 
"applies"  them,  but  records  the  name  as  gene- 
rally applied  by  others.  It  is  almost  impossible 
to  follow  up  popular  names,  and  it  is  this  fact 
which  makes  botanical  names  so  necessary,  hard 
though,  confessedly,  they  often  be.  We  were 
asked  the  other  day  for  some  information  about 
the  "  McDermott  Weed."  We  had  to  waste 
time  in  sending  for  a  specimen,  and  received 
our  old  friend  from  Mexico  —  Gallnsogoa  parviflo- 
ra — with  the  information  that  it  "  first  appeared 
on  the  ground  of  a  Mr.  McDermott."  Now  we 
know  that  it  has  been  abundant  around  that 
very  spot  for  thirty  years,  and  how  much  longer 
we  do  not  know,  so  that  popular  names,  even 
when  they  are  supposed  to  help  popular  history 
are  of  no  value  at  all. — Ed.  G.  M.j 


♦  ♦  • 


HORTICULTURAL  fSOCIETIES. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


The  Nashville  Meeting  of  the  American 
Pomological  Society  in  1879.— J.,  Harvest 
Home,  Tenn.,  writes : 

"The  Editor  hardly*  does  justice  to  himself  in 
his  note  on  the  meeting  in  Baltimore.  It  was 
evident  that  only  for  the  warm  terms  in  which 
he  spoke  of  the  Southern  people  and  the  pros- 
pects of  Southern  Pomology  and  Horticulture, 
would  the  meeting  have  so  unanimously  agreed 
to  go  there,  and  I  am  sure  in  this  you  will  have 
earned  the  grateful  regards  of  the  whole  Southern 
people." 

The  Editor  deserves  no  special  credit  for  his 
speech  on  that  occasion.  It  was  only  that  he 
had  a  recent  experience,  and  gave  that  ex- 
perience to  the  members.  Much  more  credit  is 
due  to  those  who  in  such  numbers  voted  for  it; 
because  they  had  to  take  on  faith  \vhat  the 
"  Editor  "  told  them,  and  in  this  sacrificed  their 
own  feelings  as  to  where  they  would  like  to  have 
the  next  meeting  held,  solely  because  they 
believed  their  Southern  friends  wished  to  have 
the  meeting  South.  Some  friends  think  we  have 
staked  a.  great  deal  in  promising  a  good  meeting 
at  Nashville,  but  we  are  well  assured  they  will 
not  bo  ashamed  of  what  the  South  will  do  on 
that  occasion. 

The  Paris  Exposition. — Though  nurserymen 
canhotexhibit  trees  at  this  exhibition, there  is  time 


if  Congress  act,  for  other  departments  of  nursery 
or  seed  business.  The  impression  that  we  are 
behind  other  countries  in  these  branches  is,  in 
many  respects,  a  mistaken  one,  and  we  hope  as 
much  will  be  done  as  possible  to  set  the  world 
right.  The  American  Legation  at  Paris,  will  see 
that  any  American  who  may  want  to  exhibit, 
has  justice  done  him — in  case  Congress  in  Octo- 
ber appoint  a  Commission.  Applications  may 
go  through  Salmon  &  de  Stnckle,  23  Park  Place, 
New  York,  or  Ostheimer  Bros.,  Bank  Street, 
Philadelphia. 

City  Plant  Growing. — A  boy  takes  the  Silver 
Medal. — The  London  Journal  of  Horticulture,  tells 
us  that  the  Seventh  Annual  Exhibition  of  Win- 
dow Plants  grown  within  the  city  was  held  on 
the  13th  inst.  in  the  gardens,  Finshury  Circus. 
The  Duchess  of  Teck,  who  was  announced  to 
distribute  the  prizes,  arrived  early  in  the  after- 
noon. A  splendid  bouquet  was  presented  to  the 
Duchess  by  Miss  Davies.  The  Duke  of  Teck, 
replying  to  some  observations  of  the  Lord 
Mayor,  observed  that  the  difficulties  of  cultiva- 
tion were  great,  particularly  in  a  place  where 
hricks  and  stone  had  almost  banished  every 
vestige  of  vegetation.  Here  it  was  that  the 
influence  of  (lowers  was  most  felt.  They  all 
knew  their  tendency  to  brighten  the  home  and 
cheer  the  sick.  The  Royal  Horticultural  Socie- 
ty's silver  medal  was  awarded  to  a  youth  named 
Jarvis  for  the  best  plant. 


'tNCtHfED  tXPtSSSlf    FOK   TMt  CAMtXCft    MO>fTMLY. 


T.  SIHCLAI*  a  SOU.    LIT*  PMlLA. 


VITIS     HETEROPHYLLA 


THE 


GARDENER'S    MONTHLY 


AND 


HORTICULTURIST, 


DEVOTED  TO  HORTICULTURE,  ARBORICULTURE  AND  RURAL  AFFAIRS. 


Edited  by    THOMAS   MEEHAN. 


Vol.  XIX. 


DECEMBER,  1877. 


Number  228. 


<^JvO 


LOWER  llARDEN  AND  pLEASURE  GROUND 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


There  is  not  much  to  be  done  in  this  depart- 
ment during  December,  especially  in  the  North 


where  the   Winters    are    severe.      When    the 
weather  is  fine,  pruning  of  such  things  as  require 


it  may  be  "effected.    Street  trees  arc  often  cut 
back.     They  look    badly  afterwards,  and  are 


offensive  to  good  taste.  And  yet  it  is  often  a  ne- 
cessity from  our  first  choice.  We  want  shade  to 
our  front  doors  and  piazzas,  but  we  choose  tall- 
growing  and  fast-growing  trees,  and  before  we 
hardly  know  it,  all  the  shade  is  to  the  chimney- 


top.  There  is  then  no  remedy  but  to  cut  back 
the  tree  to  near  the  main  trunk,  if  we  would 
have  the  shade  near  the  ground.  Then  some 
pruning  may  be  done  in  the  way  of  thinning 
out.  Trees  are  generally  and  properly  set 
thickly  at  first,  both  for  shelter  to  one  another 
and  immediate  effect.  At  this  season  some  of 
the  least  needed  may  be  cut  away.  In  some 
wild  part  of  the  ground  a  well  constructed  rock- 
ery would  not  be  out  of  place  but  look  well,  and 
material  may  be  gathered  together  for  the  pur- 
pose. If  there  be  handy  men  about  to  be  kept 
in  employ,  rustic  baskets,  vases  and  frames  may 


354 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


be  made  of  tree  prunings  and  other  waste 
materials.  Many  of  our  books  on  garden  embel- 
lishments are  full  of  these,  and  we  give  several 
herewith    but  rustic  work,  generally,  is  best  when 


original,  and  not  made  after  copy,  but  the  de- 
sign should  rather  be  suited  to  the  material  on 
hand. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


HOW  BEDDING  PLANTS  MIGHT  BE  ARRANGED. 

BY    C.    G.    BJORKLUND,  NATIONAL    SOLDIERS'    HOME, 
NORFOLK,  VA. 

Great  attention  is  at  present  devoted  to  grow- 
ing and  arranging  bedding  plants,  due  not  only 
to  the  times,  but  partly,  I  believe,  to  some  rival- 
ism  between  cultivators  since  public  parks  were 
established  in  several  of  the  large  cities,  where 
one  rightly  endeavors  to  excel  another  in  tasteful 
arrangements,  etc. 

Not  pretending  to  know  better  than  all,  but 
having  devoted  much  of  my  time  to  this  branch 
of  Horticulture,  and  studied  the  different  and 
popular  modes  of  arrangements  in  several  of  the 
European  countries,  at  the  acknowledged  best 
places,  I  wish,  as  taking  a  great  interest  in  the 
matter  myself,  to  give  an  account  of  my  experi- 
ences regarding  arrangement  of  bedding  plants. 

SPRING  BEDS. 

The  practice  of  planting  certain  beds  in  the 
Autumn  with  bulbs,  such  as  Tazettes,  Tulips, 
Hyacinths,  Narcissus,  and  Crocus,  to  produce 
flowers  in  early  Spring,  is  so  general  and  well 
known,  that  of  this  there  is  hardly  anything  to 
say;   but  there  are'many  other  plants  suitable 


for  the  same  purpose,  such  as  Aubrietia  pur- 
purea, and  several  other  species ;  Myosotis  dissiti- 
flora,  Hepatica  triloba,  Convallaria  majalis  (Lily 
of  the  valley),  Campanula  pumila,  Bellis  aucubse- 
folia,  Primulas,  Wallflowers,  etc.  These  will 
do  well  mixed  with  the  bulbs  for  decorating  beds 
intended  for  tender  plants  that  cannot  be  put 
out  until  considerably  later.  In  regard  to  the 
cultivation  of  said  plants,  it  may  differ  in 
different  localities.  Some  of  them  could  certain- 
ly be  planted  in  the  beds  in  the  Fall,  and  covered 
there;  but  it  will  be  found  safest  to  keep  them  in 
pots  in  a  cold  frame  during  Winter,  and  early  in 
the  Spring  to  induce  growth,  and  plunge  in  the 
beds. 

ROCKWORK. 

Alpine  plants  may  appear  insignificant  to  the 
ignorant  and  uninterested,  but  have  attractions 
indeed.  They  are  often  used  for  rockwork,  or 
rather  rockwork  for  them.  This  should  be  con- 
structed wheresoever  there  is  a  chance.  They 
not  only  grow  better  there,  but  appear  to  more 
advantage,  and  a  rockwork  is  a  good  contrast  to 
flower-beds  and  shrubberies.  But  to  erect  a 
regular  pyramid,  as  we  sometimes  see  on  a  level 
lawn,  is  not  good  taste.  As  the  landscape  gar- 
dener in  most  cases  places  a  group  of  shrubs  or 
trees  at  the  bending  of  a  walk,  to  make  an  ap- 
parent reason  for  the  bending,  so  even  here 
everything  should  be  done  to  make  it  look  as 
natural  as  possible.  The  top  and  sides  of  a  cave 
is  a  good  spot.  If  there  is  no  hilly  spot  on  the 
ground  to  improve  for  the  purpose,  it  might  be 
put  up  against  a  stone  wall  in  lieu  of  a  better 
situation. 

Of  Alpine  plants,  we  have  in  the  first  place  the 
Saxifragas,  of  which  there  are  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  varieties  in  cultivation.  The 
following  are  very  striking:  affinis,  Aizoon 
minor,  Aizoides,  circinata,  crustata,  cochlearis, 
geranioides,  incrustata,  intacta,  longifolia,  1.  mar- 
ginata,  notata,  pectinata,  sarmentosa,  flaves- 
cens,  and  umbrosa  fol.  variegata.  Next  in  or- 
der comes  the  Sedums  and  Sempervivums. 
The  best  varieties  of  the  latter  are  arachnoi- 
deum,  arenarium,  Brauni,  calcaratum,  cornutum, 
Delassiad,  globiferum,  hirtum,  hispidulum,  La- 
mottei,  Pamelli,  and  tectorum.  But  there  are 
hundreds  of  others  that  will  do  well  on  rock- 
work; any  low-growing  herbaceous  plant  that 
will  stand  a  dry  situation  will  also  do. 

Those  having  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  rockwork  in  the  Botanical  Garden  of  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  will  never  forget  the  sight  there 


1871.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


355 


afforded.  The  extent  there  is  about  one  half 
acre  of  ground,  the  steps  and  walks  in  it  being 
what  some  would  call  "  labyrinthish."  The  rocks 
used  are  themselves  a  curiosity,  gathered  from 
all  formations.  Roll-stones,  old  logs  and  fossiled 
wodtt  in  the  most  artful  way  arranged,  in  great 
contrast,  as  well  as  harmony. 

HERBACEOUS  PLANTS  IN  GENERAL. 

If  there  should  be  any  borders  in  a  flower  gar- 
den these  plants  are  best  suited  for  them  ;  but  in 
my  individual  opinion,  borders  should  be  avoided 
as  much  as  possible.  There  are  certainly  in- 
stances when  a  border  is  better  than  anything 
else,  such  as  on  the  sides  of  an  entrance  walk 
where  they  should  be  backed  by  a  hedge,  along 
a  wall,  or  at  the  foot  of  a  slope ;  but  where  there 
is  no  real  necessity  for  regular  borders,  so  called 
"  semi-borders,"  to  lay  on  the  lawns  five  to  ten 
feet  from  the  walk,  will  be  found  preferable. 
Fig.  1,  gives  an  idea  of  such  a  combination. 
This,  as  it  will  be  seen,  has  two  rounded  projec- 
tions, which  make  it  look  as  much  of  a  bed  as  a 
border,  and  may  be  filled  with  shrubs,  Cannas  or 


very  desirable.  If  this  section  be  concentrated 
into  a  collection  of  beds  as  Fig.  2  indicates,  it 
will  prove  to  make  a  fine  display.  The  scale  for 
this  is  five  feet  to  one-eighth  inch,  but  can  be  on 
any  scale  as  well  as  number  of  beds.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  situated  in  front  of  a  pavilion  or  a 
gate.  If  the  ground  slopes  gently  towards  the 
main  walk,  or  if  there  be  a  shrubbery  a  short 
distance  behind  the  group,  it  will  gain  greatly  in 
appearance.  Suppose  we  decorate  the  designed 
beds  with  the  following  sorts.  They  are  of  the 
best  annuals  in  cultivation  :  1.  Lobelia  speciosa ; 
2.  Antirrhinum  Tom  Thumb;  3.  Portulaca  gran- 
diflora;  4.  Phlox  Drummondii ;  5.  Tagetes  patu- 
la  nana  parviflora ;  6.  Petunia  hybrida ;  7.  He- 
lichryum  monstrosum  nanum ;  8.  Verbena 
(scarlet);  9.  Ageratum  Mexicanum  nanum ;  10. 
Aster  Victoria  (white);  11.  Scabiosa  nana  fl.  pi.; 
12.  Zinnia  elegans  fl.  pi.;  13.  Gaillardia  coccinea 
nana ;  14.  Gomphrena  globosa  (purple);  and 
15.  Dianthus  chinensis. 

The  other  half  may  be  planted  similarly,  but 
in  different  colors.     The  seed  should  be  cut  away 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


other  tall-growing  foliage  plants.  Besides  the 
general  perennials,  Tuberoses,  Lilies,  Gladiolus, 
Hollyhocks,  and  ornamental  grasses,  etc.,  can  be 
put  on  this  border,  and  any  old  plant  can  be 
brought  to  fill  occasional  gaps  here  during  the 
Summer.  The  plants  should  be  planted  in  rows, 
with  each  patch  of  one  kind  as  far  from 
another  as  convenient,  only  taking  the  height 
of  growth  into  consideration,  so  that  the  tallest 
be  placed  on  the  back  row. 

ANNUAL  PLANTS. 

Although  these  are  partly  neglected  since  the 
introduction  of  so  many  foliage  plants,  yet,  as 
the  latter  become  rather  expensive  to  use  al 
large,  the  annuals  will  keep  their  hold,  at  least 
in  the  private  gardens ;  and  an  assorted  collec- 
tion of  those  that  endure  the  Summer  heat  is 


at  least  once  a  week,  as  this  gives  more  strength 
to  the  flowers. 


A  NEW  METHOD  OF  PROPAGATING  EXO- 
CHORDA  GRANDIFLORA. 

BY   SAMUEL   PARSONS,   FLUSHING,   L.   I.,   N.   Y. 

It  is  not  often  that  Americans  claim  to  vie 
with  the  skill  of  French  horticulturists,  but  we 
think  it  only  fair  to  state  the  fact  that  Mr.  Trum- 
py,  of  S.  B.  Parsons  &  Sons,  Flushing,  L.  I.,  has 
long  successfully  root-grafted  Exochorda  grandi- 
flora,  which  we  now  hear  from  English  and 
French  authorities,  through  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  of  August,  has  been  first  employed  by 
Monsieur  J.  Goujon.  That  others  in  various 
parts  may  have  done  the  same,  I  do  not  ques- 


356 


THE  GARDENER' 8  MONTHLY 


[December, 


tion,  only  when  our  French  brethren  undertake 
to  Bound  their  trumpets  over  some  feat  at  last 
accomplished,  it  may  be  gratifying  to  learn  that 
America  has  long  been  doing  the  same  thing 
quite  successfully.  We  do  not  wish  to  depreciate 
the  value  of  the  achievement,  for  it  is  undoubt- 
edly the  best  method  of  propagating  Exochorda 
grandiflora.  All  difficulties  will  not,  however, 
vanish  on  this  discovery,  for  much  skill  and 
judgment  are  required  to  select  the  proper 
roots  and  grafts  to  ensure  success.  In  fact,  it 
will  probably  long  remain  a  plant  somewhat  dif- 
ficult to  propagate.  This  beautiful  hardy  shrub 
should  receive  more  attention,  and  perhaps, with 
increased  demand,  improved  methods  of  propa- 
gation may  be  devised. 


IDESIA  POLYCARPA. 

BY  MR.  J.  SAUL,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Tree  lovers  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  this 
beautiful  tree  is  quite  hardy.  My  specimen  plant 
has  been  out  three  Winters  uninjured.  The 
past  Winter  a  lot  of  young  plants  were  left  out 
without  the  slightest  protection,  and  they  came 
through  uninjured.  This  tree,  when  better 
known,  will  he  largely  planted.  It  is  of  rapid 
growth,  with  clean,  shining,  green  foliage,  which 
stands  our  hot  Summers,  without  burning  or 
being  in  the  least  injured— a  point  of  great  im- 
portance in  foreign  trees — and  so  far  no  insect 
has  touched  its  foliage. 


MY  GARDEN. 

BV   ETHEL  ALLEN. 


O  my  bonny,  bonny  garden  ! 

Dearer  to  me  from  this  hour  ; 
For  my  true  love  he  doth  covet, 

From  thy  beds  a  flower. 

Shall  it  be  a  white  rose,  dainty, 
Gracious  queen  of  all  her  kind? 

No,  I'll  have  thee  not,  because  thou 
Sadness  means  I  find. 

Crimson  roses,  why  so  eager, 
When  their  merits  I  discuss? 

Could  I  choose  them  when  they  to  him 
Say,  "  Love's  dangerous  !  " 

Nodding  harebells,  blue  and  fragrant, 
Will  they  come  to  my  relief? 

But,  alas  !  their  pale  sweet  blossoms, 
Do  but  breathe  of  grief. 


Evening  primrose  that  so  softly 
Opens  quick  this  world  to  see, 

Thou  art  lovely,  but  would  whisper 
Of  inconstancy. 

0,  blue  violets,  meek  and  lowly, 
How  their  presence  now  I  bless ! 

For  in  confidence  they'll  tell  him 
Of  my  faithfulness. 


DOUBLE  CHINESE  PRIMROSES. 

BY   F.   W.   WOODWARD,   EAlTCLAIRE,   WIS. 

In  your  editorial  notes  for  October  you  speak 
of  there  being  none  so  good  as  the  old  double 
white  kind.  You  cannot  have  seen  the  seedling 
raised  by  John  Saul,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  called 
Mrs.  John  Saul.  I  have  grown  this  for  several 
years,  and  find  it  much  superior  to  the  old  white. 
The  flowers  are  larger,  more  double,  beautifully 
fringed ;  they  open  pure  white,  changing  to  a 
delicate  rose  color  with  age.  Mr.  Saul  has  two 
new  seedlings  which  are  described  as  having 
flowers  as  large  as  a  Carnation,  and  perfectly 
double.  These  I  will  be  able  to  report  upon 
when  they  bloom.  All  my  primroses,  double  and 
single,  have  been  out  of  doors  all  Summer,  on 
the  north  side  of  a  building,  getting  the  sun  for 
a  couple  of  hours,  morning  and  evening.  They 
have  made  a  wonderful  growth,  and  promise 
abundant  bloom.  In  Wiiter  I  keep  them  in  a 
cold  house,  with  a  temperature  of  not  over  45° 
at  night,  and  frequently  down  to  35°.  If  taken 
to  a  warm  greenhouse  the  blooms  dwindle  in 
size,  and  the  plants  suffer  in  health. 


EDITORIAL   NOTES. 


Vitis  heterophylla  (See  frontispiece). — Un- 
der the  name  of  "  Variegated  Grape,"  this  has 
been  known  for  some  time  in  American  gardens. 
We  have  chosen  it  for  a  frontispiece  to  our  vol- 
ume because  its  great  merit  in  ornamental  gar- 
dening is  not  near  as  well  known  as  it  ought  to 
be.  The  leaves  are  first  green,  but  when  tho 
plant  has  something  to  run  on,  and  grows  vigor- 
ously they  arc  prettily  feathered  with  white. 
The  deep,  sky-blue  berries  towards  Fall,  give  it 
additional  attractions.  It  grows  with  great 
rapidity,  very  soon  covering  an  arbor  or  trellis. 
It  is  a  native  of  the  north  of  China  and  Japan, 
and  is  perfectly  hardy  here. 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


357 


According  to  authors  it  varies  very  much  in 
different  districts  as  our  grape  vines  do  here,  and 
hence  there  are  many  synonyms,  authors  hav- 
ing supposed  they  had  distinct  species.  In  such 
cases  the  rule  is  to  take  the  oldest  name,  and 
drop  the  rest.  It  is  being  advertised  in  England 
as  Vitis  humulifolia;  but  as  Thunberg's  name 
of  V.  heterophylla,  is  the  oldest,  it  is  the  one  we 
must  adopt.  It  so  happens  that  the  name  of 
heterophylla  or  various  leaved,  is  quite  appro- 
priate, as  our  native-leaved  Vitis  indivisa  is 
nearly  allied  to  it,  and  never  has  variously 
divided,  but  always  entire  leaves. 

Our  Autumns. — In  England,  a  frost  on  the 
24th  of  August,  destroyed  Dahlias  and  similar 
things.  Here,  as  Ave  write  on  the  5th  of  Novem- 
ber, we  have  Dahlias,  Honeysuckles,  Scarlet 
Sage,  Geraniums,  in  full  bloom,  and  bright- 
leaved  Coleuses,  and  other  things  still  giving  a 
charm  to  the  garden.  There  are  many  beautiful 
features  in  English  gardening  which  make  an 
American's  heart  pine  with  envy,  and  our  object 
in  making  this  comparison  is  to  show  that  we 
have  some  good  things  also.  There  are  few 
more  enjoyable  things  in  the  world  than  an 
American  garden  in  Autumn. 

Fall  Colored  Bedding. —  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  plan-  lor  massing  for  Fall  colors  is  the 
common  Dogwood,  cut  down  and  kept  pinched 
low.  It  has  a  far  more  beautiful  color  than 
when  it  grows  up  in  the  natural  way.  The  deli- 
cate wine  color  is  quite  equal  to  the  dark  blood- 
colored  Japan  Maple.  We  are  writing  of  the 
Cornus  florida. 

Beauty  by  Moonlight.  —  The  Gardener's 
Clironicle  says  that  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
eights  among  trees,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  our  va- 
riegated Box  Elder  (Negundo),  seen  by  moon- 
light. 

Anemone  japonica.— On  the  grounds  of  Mr. 
Sam'l  Chew,  of  Germantown,  there  is  a  bed  of 
Rhododendrons,  and  among  them  is  planted  the 
rose-colored  Anemone  japonica.  From  the  public 
road  the  effect  is  just  as  if  the  Rhododendrons 
were  in  bloom.  On  the  grounds  of  Miller  & 
Hayes  there  is  a  white  variety  also  in  bloom.  It 
is  one  of  our  best  October  flowers. 

The  Crimson  Boursault  Rose. — We  have  oc- 
casionally noted  how  well  this  variety  is  adapted 
to  the  American  climate.  There  is  no  more 
beautiful  sight  than  a  wall  of  Boursault  Roses  in 
June.    Of  course  it  is  not  an  ever-blooming  rose, 


or  it  would  not  flower  so  abundantly  when  in 
bloom.  But  it  is  entirely  hardy  in  these  parts, 
and  besides  its  vigorous  growth  has  a  fine  green 
foliage. 

Growing  the  Victoria  Lily  in  the  Open 
Air.— Mr.  E.  D.  Sturtevant  of  Bordentown,N.  J., 
grew  a  plant  of  this  celebrity  in  the  open  air  this 
season,  in  a  tank  of  brick  20x30  feet.  He  had 
leaves  over  three  feet  in  diameter.  He  proposes 
to  try  to  winter  it  without  an  expensive  house  for 
the  purpose.  The  experiment  will  be  watched 
with  much  interest,  and  its  success  earnestly 
hoped  for. 

Wistaria  Sinensis. — A  correspondent  of  the 
Gardener's  Chronicle,  says  the  Chinese  Wistaria  is 
really  indigenous  to  Japan,  and  not  introduced 
there  as  formerly  supposed.  It  seeds  freely  in  a 
wild  state. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Mentha  Gibraltica.  —  This  is  *the  newest 
"  massing"  plant  of  the  season  in  England.  It 
is  a  pale  green,  and  has  some  resemblance  in 
odor  to  our  native  "  Pennyroyal." 

New  Weeping  Oak. — A  new  weeping  variety 
of  the  Turkey  Oak  is  recorded  as^  one  of  the 
latest  valuable  novelties  among  trees  in  the  Eng- 
lish gardens. 

Golden  Tulip  Tree. — The  Golden  Tulip  tree 
of  Van  Houtte  has  green  leaves,  but  margined 
with  golden  yellow. 

Pachystima  myrsinites. — The  writer  of  this 
found  the  above-named  plant  growing  luxuri- 
antly in  the  mountains  of  Utah,  but  doubted 
whether  it  would  prove  adapted  to  culture  in  the 
Eastern  States,  and  so  made  no  special  effort  to 
introduce  it ;  but  we  see  that  it  extends  far  up  into 
British  America,  and  so  should  do  well  with  us. 
It  is  a  pretty  dwarf  evergreen,  of  the  Celastracese, 
of  which  our  Euonymus  or  Burning  Bush  is  a 
familiar  representative. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


The  Ivy. — J.  J.  S.  writes: — "Incidentally, 
Mr.  Editor,  I  notice  it  is  generally  conceded  that 
the  Ivy  proper  is  not  exactly  hardy  in  our  Phil- 
adelphia latitude.     Permit  me  to  say  that  my 


358 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


experience  confirms  this;  but  after  forty  years 
perseverance,  the  hardiness  depends  on  giving 
the  root  sufficient  space,  manure  and  support. 
By  planting  a  few  feet  from  the  tree  or  verandah 
designed  to  be  covered,  I  find  a  marked  im- 
proved hardiness." 

[This  is  an  excellent  hint  and  applicable  to  all 
trees.  A  half  starved  plant  of  any  kind  always 
suffers  more  from  untoward  circumstances  than 
one  well  fed.  The  most  losses  in  transplanting 
trees  are  from  those  that  are  taken  from  poor 
ground.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

EXOCHORDA    GRANDIFLORA. — Ml*.    E.     F.    Llick- 

hurst,  foreman  to  A.  Hance  &  Son,  Red  Bank, 
New  Jersey,  writes : — "  I  noticed  an  article 
in  your  Monthly  of  August  last,  an  account 
of  propagation  of  Exochorda  grandiflora  by  a 
French  horticulturist.  He  says  the  end  of  Win- 
ter or  commencement  of  Spring  is  the  most  suit- 
able time  for  putting  in  the  grafts.  All  I  have 
to  say  is,  I  grafted,  two  years  ago  last  January, 
several  hundred,  and  raised  about  eighty  per 
cent,  of  them." 

Flowering  of  Old  Hyacinth  Bulbs  — Mrs.  R., 
Springfield,  Ills.,  asks ; — "  I  am  told  that  Hya- 
cinths, after  blooming  in  bottles,  are  no  use  any 
more,  and  have  always  thrown  them  away.  But 
I  do  so  dislike  it.  Is  there  no  way  to  save  them 
and  make  them  flower  again  ?" 

[In  the  hands  of  those  who  understand  it,  they 
could  be  made  to  do  quite  well ;  but  it  is  hardly 
worth  your  while  to  try.  Not  even  as  a  matter 
of  trade  have  Americans  been  able  to  beat  the 
the  Dutch — though  there  were  hopes  of  it  some 
years  ago  in  New  Jersey.  If  you  would  like  to 
try  your  hand,  as  a  matter  of  horticultural  exer- 
cise, plant  the  bulb  in  a  pot  of  earth  as  soon  as 


it  has  done  flowering,  and  keep  it  growing  as 
long  as  you  can.  Next  year  take  an  offset  and 
grow  it  in  as  good  earth  as  you  can  get,  and  so 
keep  on  next  year,  and  do  not  let  the  offset 
flower  till  it  makes  a  good  strong  bulb.  In  a  few 
years  you  would  get  it  as  good  as  a  Dutch  root. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 

Peristrophe  angustifolia. —  B.  says :  —  "If 
you  will  please  inform  me  in  the  Monthly  of  the 
name  of  the  plant  of  which  I  enclose  a  piece,  I 
will  be  very  much  obliged.  It  is  of  a  low  spread- 
ing habit,  having  blue  flowers  somewhat  like  the 
Lobelia." 

[This  is  Peristrophe  angustifolia — a  plant  of 
the  Acanthus  order,  with  variegated  leaves,  and 
a  capital  thing  for  bedding,  where  few  other 
things  will  stand  the  sun. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Sexes  of  Salisburia. — Prof.  Sargent  com- 
municates the  following  : — "  One  of  the  Salis- 
burias,  planted  some  twenty  years  ago  in  the 
grounds  of  the  Kentucky  Military  Institute  at 
Farmdale,  Ky.,  and  now  thirty  feet  high,  proves 
to  be  a  female,  and  has  fruited  this  year  for  the 
first  time.  I  am  not  aware  that  this  interesting 
tree  has  fruited  before  in  the  United  States,  while 
in  Europe  specimens  known  to  be  female  are 
still  very  rare.  Through  the  kindness  of  Prof. 
R.  H.  Wildberger,  specimens  of  the  ripe  fruit  are 
before  me.  Its  fleshy  outer  covering  exhales  an 
extremely  disagreeable  smell  of  rancid  butter, 
but  the  kernel  is  excellent  with  the  flavor  of  Fil- 
berts, although  more  delicate.  In  Japan  the 
kernels  have  reputed  digestive  qualities,  and  are 
very  generally  served  at  dessert.  The  cultivation 
of  the  '  Ginjko '  for  its  fruit  is  one  of  the  possibil- 
ities of  American  Horticulture,  and  is,  perhaps, 
worth  consideration." 


ffREEN  MOUSE  AND  MOUSE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


It  is  too  soon  for  window  plants  to  get  into 
trouble  yet.  They  generally  look  well  till  after 
New  Year,  after  being  brought  in  during 
October.  But  soon,  over-watering,  or  under- 
watering,   or  the  effects   of  minute   insects,   or 


waste  gas  from  the  burners,  or  sulphurous  gas 
from  the  heaters  or  stoves  will  begin  to  tell,  and 
there  will  be  trouble.  As  these  are  about  all  the 
diiliculties  in  window-plant  culture,  one  soon 
learns  to  avoid  them,  and  indeed  nothing  but  a 
real  love  of  window-plant  culture  will  enable 
anyone  to  learn.  It  is  what  the  best  of  maga- 
zines, with  the  smartest  of  editors  cannot  teach. 


18T7.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


359 


It  is  a  good  season  to  watch  for  coming  troubles. 
As  soon  as  the  slightest  thing  seems  wrong, 
search  at  once  for  the  cause  of  the  trouble. 
They  are  often  but  small,  and  easily  remedied  at 
the  outset. 

There  is  not  much  requiring  special  care  in  the 
greenhouse.  The  Camellia  is  very  apt  to  drop  its 
buds  if  the  atmosphere  is  too  dry ;  but  generally 
dropping  follows  any  check  to  the  roots  by  which 
the  regular  flow  of  moisture  to  the  bud  is  stopped. 
This  may  be  either  too  little  or  too  much  water; 
if  too  little,  of  course  there  is  not  enough  moist- 
ure ;  if  too  much,  the  fibers  are  liable  to  have  their 
points  injured,  and  thus  are  unable  to  draw 
moisture  to  the  bud.  Usually  the  last  bad  re- 
sults follow  from  over  potting.  With  a  large 
mass  of  soil,  water  is  apt  to  not  pass  readily 
away,  when  the  soil  "  sours,"  as  it  is  termed.  A 
pot  full  of  roots  will  seldom  drop  the  Camellia 
buds  for  any  other  cause  than  too  little  water. 

A  great  enemy  of  the  Camellia  is  the  Red  Spi- 
der. The  leaves  indicate  its  presence  generally 
by  a  brown  tinge,  when  the  pocket  lens,  which 
every  gardener  of  course  carries,  readily  detects.' 
All  plants  are  more  or  less  liable  to  these  insects, 
as  well  as  the  green  fly,  mealy  bug.  and  scale. 
The  best  way  to  keep  them  down  is  by  a  free  use 
of  the  syringe  in  fine  days,  using  water  in  which 
some  sulphur  has  been  strewn.  Tobacco  smoke 
is  still  the  best  cure  for  aphis.  Scale  is  a  very 
troublesome  pest;  water  heated  to  130°  is  still 
the  best.  This  injures  very  tender  leaves,  but 
the  scale  is  rarely  on  such,  it  usually  keeps  to  the 
branches  or  in  thick  leathery  leaves. 

Tree  Carnations, — these  are  now  indispensa- 
ble 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  sup- 
ply 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  high  tempera- 
ture. 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  roo'ts  fill  each 
pot,  let  them  not  want  moisture  or  light;  do 
not  pinch  off  their  tops,  but  let  them  grow  rap- 
idly. The  temperature  in  which  they  are  grown 
should  not  exceed  55°.  A  turfy  loam,  moder- 
ately enriched  with  well  decayed  manure,  and 
well  drained  with  charcoal,  suits  them  admir- 
ably. 


COMMUNTGA  TIONS. 


PROPAGATION    OF    RICHARDIA    /ETHIOPICA— 
THE  CALLA  LILY. 

BY  W.  M.  MAESHALL,  MOBILE,  ALA. 

Seeing  an  article  in  your  last  edition  on  the 
propagation  of  Callas,  I  thought  I  would  let  you 
know  of  my  success.  I  had  but  one  Richardia 
maculata  last  year ;  it  bloomed  and  produced 
seed,  a  few  of  which  I  planted  this  Spring,  having 
first  soaked  them  in  boiling  water.  Twenty 
came  up,  and  I  planted  them  in  a  shady,  damp 
spot.  They  are  all  doing  beautifully,  and  have 
produced  such  large  bulbs  that  I  think  they  will 
bloom  next  Spring.  This  is  a  much  faster  way 
of  propagating  them  than  that  which  you  gave. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Price  of  Flowers  in  America. — We  are  con- 
tinually reading  the  most  astounding  things  of 
American  habits,  customs  and  things,  in  Euro- 
pean papers,  and  as  none  of  us  can  see  the  beams 
in  our  own  eyes,  wonder  whether  American  pa- 
pers are  as  inaccurate  when  treating  of  things 
European.  Here  is  Mr.  H.  J.  Van  Hulle,  in 
L' Horticulture  Beige,  who  says  the  American  cares 
very  little  for  growing  plants,  which,  as  com- 
pared with  European  taste,  we  may  pass  as  not 
far  wrong.  Then,  he  says,  they  have  an  intense 
passion  for  cut  flowers,  and  arranging  them  in 
some  fashion  or  another.  He  names  Philadel- 
phia, New  York,  Boston  and  Washington,  in 
which  this  extravagant  taste  was  found  to  exist. 
$5,000  was  paid  at  the  marriage  of  a  rich  heiress 
for  bouquets  and  other  floral  decorations.  To- 
wards Christmas  and  New  Year's  the  cut  flower 
trade  reaches  its  height  (atteint  son  apogee).   The 


360 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


smallest  bouquet  costs  $6,  and  $25  for  a  little 
bouquet  is  not  rare.  Plateaus  of  flowers  bring 
$120  to  $150,  and  $250  for  flowers  to  decorate  a 
grave. 

During  the  Winter,  for  a  single  rose-bud,  with 
a  dozen  violets,  a  piece  of  Mignonette  and  Helio- 
trope, you  pay  one  dollar.  The  cut  flower  busi- 
,  ness  of  New  York  florists  alone,  in  a  single  year, 
amounts  to  twelve  million  dollars. 

It  would  not  be  fair  to  say  that  such  prices 
never  were  paid  in  the  four  cities  named ;  but 
we  are  sure  they  were  quite  exceptional,  and 
only  paid  under  some  peculiar  stress  of  circum- 
stances, but  it  is  not  true  of  the  average  prices  of 
cut  flowers,  and  it  gives  an  exaggerated  view  of 
the  whole  business.  We  much  doubt  whether 
the  receipts  for  cut  flowers  in  New  York  reach 
one  million  dollars  a  year,  to  say  nothing  of 
twelve  !  If  any  one  who  knows,  will  give  us  in 
detail  the  figures,  we  shall  gladly  stand  cor- 
rected. 

Pampas  Grass. — We  note  that  there  is  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  the  spikes  of  Pampas  Grass 
for  decorating.  First-class  spikes,  properly  dried, 
are  worth  about  $25  per  100,  but  they  have  to  be 
truly  first-class  to  bring  these  prices. 

Thomas  Hogg  Hydrangea. — This  is  already 
getting  so  abundant  as  to  find  its  way  to  the  auc- 
tion block.  1,000  went  off  this  way  recently  in 
New  York. 

Curious  Effects  of  Grafting  Coleuses  —  The 
novel  and  interesting  paper  on  this  subject,  on 
page  298,  was  credited  to  R.  H.  B.,  in  Gardener's 
Magazine.  As  a  stray  disease  will  strike  the 
healthiest,  so  these  troubles  will  now  and  then 
fall  on  the  most  wide-awake  editor.  In  this  in- 
stance the  Garden  should  have  had  the  credit. 

Popular  Appreciation  of  Cheap  Flowers. — 
The  Journal  of  Horticulture  tells  us  Dahlias  have 
been  sold  in  the  streets  of  London  in  immense 
quantities  within  the  past  few  weeks.  The 
costers'  barrows,  heaped  with  them,  have  made 
an  unwonted  display  of  color  in  the  streets,  and 
the  low  price  charged  for  them  has  caused  a 
quick  distribution  of  the  bunches  to  windows 
and  sideboards. 

The  Tritoma  in  Decoration. — A  friend  in- 
forms us  that  the  Hall  in  which  a  recent  confer- 
ence of  Unitarians  was  held  in,  at  Springfield, 
Mass.,  was  decorated  wholly  with  flowers  of  Tri- 
toma uvaria,  and  that  the  effect  was  unique  and 

tfie  meaning  of  Tri- 


pleasing.     She  also  asks  for 


toma.  The  word  is  from  the  Greek,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  reference  to  the  three  edged  upper 
portion  of  the  leaves. 

Spring  Bulbs. — Among  the  bulbs  we  note  as 
offered  by  the  dealers  this  year  at  rather  lower 
prices— which  show  they  are  getting  commoner 
than  they  were— are  Pancratium  Illyricum  and 
Scilla  Peruviana.  They  are  hardly  hardy  enough 
for  out-door  work,  but  are  fine  cool  greenhouse 
things. 

Flower  of  Fourcroya.— Under  the  name  of 
Fourcroya  cubense,  Mr.  Chas.  P.  Hayes,  of  Mil- 
ler &  Hayes,  places  on  our  table  a  few  very  in- 
teresting flowers.  The  sharply  three-angled  ova- 
rium and  the  thick  bases  of  the  stamens  will 
interest  those  who  like  to  look  into  structure, 
and  even  those  who  can  see  no  beauty  in  a 
green  flower,  will  be  pleased  with  the  delicate 
fragrance.  The  plant  does  not  flower  often,  re- 
sembling in  this  the  Century  plant,  and  probably 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Century  plant,  will  die  down 
after  flowering. 


NEW  OR  RARE  PLANTS. 


Stenocakpus  Cunninghami. — This  beautiful 
exotic  is  now  in  bloom  in  the  greenhouses  of 
F.  L.  Ames,  Esq.,  at  North  Easton,  Mass.  It  be- 
longs to  Proteacese,  is  a  native  of  New  Holland, 
and  after  it  attains  a  considerable  age,  bears 
candelabrum-like  umbels  of  orange-scarlet  flow- 
ers that  are  vividly  colored,  curiously  shaped, 
and  very  pretty.  The  leaves  are  leathery,  ever- 
green, entire  or  sinuate,  quite  ornamental,  and 
somewhat  resemble  those  of  an  oak.  In  1828, 
this  species  was  discovered  by  the  late  Allan 
Cunningham,  on  the  banks  of  Brisbane  River, 
Moreton  Bay,  and  who,  without  seeing  the  flow- 
ers, describes  it  thus :  "  A  slender  tree  of  most 
remarkable  habit,  with  large  leaves  from  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  branches,  glossy  and  lobed,  or 
laciniated."  More  recent  travelers  describe  it  as 
a  lofty  tree  bearing  terminal  and  axillary  um- 
bels of  deep  orange  flowers. 

It  is,  however,  seldom  met  with  in  cultivation, 
and  much  less  frequently  seen  in  blossom  in 
greenhouses,  owing  no  doubt  to  the  fact  that  the 
trees  must  attain  a  goodly  age  and  sizo  beforo 
they  blossom. 

A  feW  days  ago  Mr.  Alfred  J.  Edmonds,  Mr. 
Ames'  gardener,  sent  to  us  an  umbel  and  leaves 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


361 


for  identification,  and  afterwards  at  our  request 
for  some  particulars  regarding  their  plant, 
obligingly  sent  the  following: 

"The  flower  and  leaves  that  I  sent  to  you 
came  from  Mr.  Men  and  at  Albany,  but  since 
then  Mr.  Ames  has  bought  the  plant.  It  is  quite 
large— about  seven  feet  high  by  four  feet  through, 
and  has  a  good  head.  The  stem  at  the  base  is 
eight  and  a  half  inches  around;  at  two  feet  from 
the  ground  it  begins  to  branch,  the  branches  be- 
ing more  inclined  to  grow  upwards  than  horizon- 
tally outwards,  but  if  they  were  trained  they 
would  make  a  fine  head.  Mr.  Menand  says  it 
keeps  flowering  all  Winter,  the  blossoms  being 
produced  on  the  old  wood,  five  or  six  clusters  on 
a  stem.  Just  now  they  are  growing  on  the  two- 
year  old  wood,  and  one  cluster  on  the  three-year 
old  wood.  You  say  it  is  of  slender  habit;  but 
our  plant  is  just  the  reverse,  the  wood  being 
very  strong  and  shrubby,  and  the  two  and  three 


year  old  wood  is  furnished  with  leaves,  say  twelve 
or  fifteen  inches  down  the  stem." 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Cure  for  Mealy  Bug. — "Eeader"  writes: — 
"Is  there  any  cure  for  mealy  bug?  I  have  a 
fine  lot  of  Bouvardias  that  are  badly  infested  by 
these  pests.  I  am  using  whale  oil  soap.  Is 
there  anything  better?  Please  advise  in  your 
next  Monthly  and  oblige. 

[We  must  say  that  we  have  never  had  a 
remedy  for  mealy  bug  that  was  entirely  satisfac- 
tory. If  taken  in  time  they  may  be  easily  kept 
down ;  but  when  they  once  get  possession  they 
hold  it  pretty  well.   Diluted  spirits  of  wine  is  fair. 

If  any  of  our  readers  have  a  really  good  reme- 
dy, easy  to  apply,  we  shall  be  glad  to  know. — Ed. 
G.  M.J 


RUIT  AND  VEGETABLE  GARDENING. 


SEASONABLE  HINTS. 


Where  fruit  trees  are  grown  among  vegetable 
or  farm  crops,  they  will  generally  take  care  of 
themselves,  and  seize  on  some  of  the  food  in- 
tended for  the  crops ;  where  nothing  else  but 
trees  are  grown  they  should  be  top-dressed  occa- 
sionally. It  pays  to  feed  orchards  as  well  as 
other  things.  The  season  of  leisure  is  a  good  one 
to  do  it  in.  The  best  kind  of  manure  for  the 
purpose  is  that  which  can  be  had  the  easiest. 
Where  no  crop  whatever  is  taken  off,  coal  ashes 
are  good.  It  is  said  there  is  no  fertilizing  mate- 
rial in  coal  ashes,  but  somehow  trees  grow  won- 
derfully when  top-dressed  with  them. 

Young  growing  trees  are  very  much  benefited 
by  having  their  bark  slit  by  running  the  knife 
up  and  down  freely,  they  must  not  be  cut 
cross-wise  or  horizontally  ;  also  they  are  much 
benefited  by  having  their  trunks  and  main 
branches  washed  with  whitewash,  sulphur  and 
soot.  These  are  "  old  fogy  notions,"  but  try 
them  and  blame  us  if  they  prove  wrong.  Where 
branches  have  grown  too  thick,  cut  out  the  sur- 


plus ones.  If  this  happens  to  be  a  large  branch 
paint  the  scar  to  keep  it  from  rotting  till  the 
wound  heals  over.  If  the  trees  are  large,  and 
the  old  bearing  wood  seems  weak,  cut  some  of  it 
away  and  encourage  young  vigorous  branches 
from  the  interior  to  take  their  place.  If  you 
have  a  large  orchard  of  plum  trees  it  may  pay  to 
keep  a  person  in  early  Summer  jarring  the  trees. 
If  you  have  but  a  few  trees,  it  is  better  to  invest 
fifty  cents  in  mosquito  netting  to  cover  each 
tree  with,  and  you  may  now  keep  this  in  view 
in  pruning  time,  and  cut  your  tree  so  as  to  best 
suit  your  net.  Look  after  the  labels.  Much  of 
the  interest  in  an  amateur's  orchard  is  in  know- 
ing the  names.  After  years  of  observation  and 
experiment  we  have  found  no  fancy  labelling  so 
good  as  a  good  piece  of  pine  wood,  about  six 
inches  long,  one  inch  wide  and  the  eighth  of  an 
inch  thick,  the  name  written  when  fresh  painted 
with  white  lead,  and  a  piece  of  very  thick  copper 
wire  ran  through  the  end.  It  should  be  hung 
around  the  trunk  over  a  fork,  and  with  a  loop 
many  inches  round,  so  as  to  give  room  for  many 
years  increase  in  the  diameter  of  the  stem.  On 
this  the  names  may  be  written  so  large  that  he 


362 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


who  runs  may  read,  and  if  well  done  such  a  label 
will  remain  good  for  ten  years  at  least. 

Very  little  can  be  done  in  the  vegetable  gar- 
den. 

Manure  can  be  placed  on  the  ground  wherever 


if  the  temperature  be  kept  at  45°.  When  it  goes 
above  that,  the  sashes  should  be  lifted  entirely 
off. 

The  same   remarks  apply  to  the  Potato  and 
the  Early  Horn  Carrot. 


required,  and  Asparagus  beds,  if  not  already 
done,  should  have  a  slight  covering  of  it.  Bean 
poles,  Pea-brush,  and  stakes  of  all  kind  should 
be  got  now,  the  tool  house  gone  over  and  put  in 
order,  and  everything  kept  in  good  order  and 
studiously  in  its  place.  When  the  season  of 
operation  commences,  there  will  then  be  no- 
thing to  hold  back  the  attention. 

Where  there  can  be  heat  of  60°  commanded, 
Bush  Beans  can  be  usually  grown  in  pots,  and 
can  be  gathered  in  two  months  from  time  of 
Bowing. 

If  there  is  abundance  of  leaves  or  manure  at 
command,  and  small  frames,  beds  may  be  put 
up  for  early  Spring  salads,  at  the  end  of  the 
month. 

Kadishes  and  Lettuces  are,  however,  very  im- 
patient of  too  much  heat;  they  will  come  on  well 


Cauliflowers  in  frames  require  all  the  air  pos- 
sible. Never  allow  them  to  become  dry ;  this  is 
the  cause  of  many  failures  by  way   of  "  button- 


ing off." 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


THE    D10SPYRUS    KAKI,  OR    JAPANESE    PER- 
SIMMON, IN  CALIFORNIA. 

BY  MR.  C.  H.  SHINN. 

I  send  you  outline  drawings  of  the  five  best 
varieties  of  this  new,  fruit,  They  are  fac-simile 
reproductions  from  the  original  Japanese  draw- 
ings on  the  seed  bags  of  our  last  importation. 
No.  1,  Hachia,  is  soft  when  ripe;  No.  2,  Emong, 
has  fruited  in  several  places,  and  is  the  largest 
variety  ;  Nos.  3  and  5  are  chiefly  used  dried,  or, 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


363 


as  our  Japanese  correspondent  expresses  it, 
"  Much  for  dry ;"  No.  4  is  the  best  flavored. 

We  have  been  growing  the  first  two  of  the 
above-named  varieties  for  five  years  past,  and 
last  year  imported  also  the  seedless  variety, 
which  is  propagated  only  by  buds  and  grafts. 
Our  experience  so  far  has  been  that  the  persim- 
mon requires  no  more  careful  cultivation  than 
an  apple,  but  must  have  good  management 
when  transplanted.  The  future  of  this  fruit  will 
depend  upon  whether  the  American  palate  ad- 
mires its  flavor ;  but  on  this  point  Commissioner 
Capron  writes  that  "It  is  the  best  fruit  Japan 
has,  and  is  well  worthy  of  introduction." 

The  persimmon  has  also  shown  itself  to  be  a 
beautiful  ornamental  tree,  with  dark  glossy 
leaves,  and  upright,  graceful  growth.  It  attracts 
instant  attention  from  every  visitor. 


NOTES   FROM   KENTUCKY. 

BY  MR.  C.  P.  HALE,  CALHOON,  MC  LEAN  COUNTY. 

It  has  been  a  long  time  since  I  have  written 
you  on  any  subject,  so  I  concluded  to  write  you 
a  few  lines  on  one  in  which  I  am  interested 
and  wish  to  see  others  interested — that  is.  fruit- 
growing. Now  you  may  think  I  am  making  a 
heavy  call  on  the  Gardener's  Monthly,  but  I  have 
been  postponing  it  so  long  that  I  cannot  desist 
now.  You  know  that  almost  every  fruit-grower 
in  the  whole  country  wishes  to  know  what 
every  other  one  is  doing,  his  prospects  in 
early  season  and  his  success  in  late  season.  Now 
how  are  Ave  to  get  this  information  unless  the 
Gardener's  Monthly  (being  a  national  paper)  col- 
lects reports  from  all  sections  or  all  of  the  States 
of  the  Union,  and  publishes  them  for  us,  Spring 
and  Fall,  if  not  oftener.  Now,  is  this  asking  too 
much?  Can  it  be  done?  If  so,  I  think  it  will  be 
of  great  interest  to  your  readers,  especially  those 
interested  in  growing  fruits.  I  will  give  you  my 
report,  which  is  limited  to  a  very  small  section. 

The  apple  crop  was  large  in  early  Summer, 
but  has  decayed  and  wasted  away  from  the  heat 
and  moisture  of  Summer  and  early  Fall.  Peach 
trees  full  in  just  a  few  sections  on  high  lands  ;  in 
all  others  killed  in  bud.  Grapes  killed  in  bud  in 
many  places;  crop  small  and  inferior.  Some 
varieties  of  pear  trees  were  quite  full,  and  of 
very  good  quality ;  crop  under  average  of  good 
seasons. 

Now  let  me  change  subjects  and  .brag  a  little, 
and  I  will  quit.     Can  you  beat  it?     Last  Spring 


I  started  a  Caladium  root  about  two  inches  in  di- 
ameter in  a  six-inch  pot,  in  a  sweet  potato  hot- 
bed. I  let  it  remain  until  it  made  five  shoots 
about  three  inches  long.  I  then  transplanted  it 
in  a  bed  of  old  leaf  muck  about  five  feet  square 
and  ten  inches  deep.  Now  after  having  lost 
several  leaves,  it  has  twenty-three  large  leaves 
and  stems,  and  several  small  ones.  The  longest 
stem  is  over  61  inches,  or  5  feet  1  inch  long.  The 
longest  leaves  are  41  inches,  or  3  feet  5  inches 
long,  and  30  inches,  or  2  feet  6  inches  wide,  by 
the  English  rule. 


OHIO  NOTES. 


BY  M.  B.  B. 

Pardon  me  for  saying  I  think  there  are  three 
mistakes  on  page  304  of  Monthly  (for  October). 
I  have  traveled  much  in  Ohio  this  Summer,  and 
the  only  man  I  have  seen  or  heard  of  as  fruiting 
the  Thwack  Kaspberry  (Frank  Ford,  of  Raven- 
na), says  it  is  too  poor  in  quality  even  for  market, 
and  such  was  certainly  my  own  impression  of 
the  few  late  berries  that  I  tasted  there. 

2d.  Montmorency  Cherry  certainly  is  not  "sixty 
days"  earlier  than  the  Early  May,  as  the  latter 
ripens  in  Southern  Ohio  the  1st  of  June.  It  may 
possibly  be  six  days,  but  of  that  I  have  doubts. 

3d.  I  have  seen  and  eaten  Mushrooms  in  vari- 
ous countries,  cultivated  and  wild,  and  the 
weight  quoted  from  the  English  paper  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  intended  for  ounces  instead  of 
"  pounds." 

I  think  you  must  have  meant  to  say  the  Gregg 
Raspberry  was  approved  by  Ohio  growers,  which 
is  true. 


FRUIT  CULTURE   AMONG    FARMERS. 

BY  JAS.   M.   HAYES,   DOVER,   N.   H. 

As  I  have  attended  the  agricultural  fairs  this 
Fall,  I  could  but  notice  the  wonderful  improve- 
ments that  have  been  made  in  a  score  of  years  by 
our  farmers  in  fruit  culture.  It  seems  but  a  short 
time  since,  that  the  only  apple  cultivated  was 
the  wild  native  Crab,  whose  only  use  was  the 
manufacture  of  cider  to  be  guzzled  down  by  the 
farmer  and  his  neighbors  around  the  kitchen 
fire  on  Winter  evenings.  Now  our  farmers  drink 
less  cider  and  raise  more  fine  apples.  Almost 
every  farm  has  its  orchard  of  apples, — Baldwins, 
Greenings  and  Porters  being  as  common  as  the 
natives  a  few  years  ago.  Of  pears  there  has  also 
been  a  noticeable  improvement.      Formerly  the 


364 


TEE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Perry  Pear  was  the  only  variety  raised  ;  now  we 
often  hear  our  farmers  talking  of  their  Duchess 
and  Louise  Bonnes,  like  veteran  pomologists. 
Then  the  only  grapes  we  had  were  those  that 
grew  wild  around  our  rivers,  worthless  and  foxy; 
while  now  almost  all  our  farmers  have  vines  of 
such  improved  varieties  as  Concord,  Hartford 
and  Delaware;  and  many  of  them  are  well 
versed  in  pruning  and  the  care  of  vines.  All 
this  goes  to  show  that  there  is  intelligence 
among  our  rural  population,  that  they  read  and 
study.  It  is  farther  proof  that  the  work  of  our 
horticultural  and  pomologieal  societies  for  the 
past  few  years  is  having  its  effect  upon  the  farm. 
Well  may  our  leading  fruit  growers  feel  encour- 
aged to  labor  on  in  the  good  cause,  when  they 
see  upon  every  hand  the  results  of  their  efforts." 
[Does  our  correspondent  mean  that  the  "wild 
native  Crab"  was  "cultivated"  by  Maine  farm- 
ers? or  should  it  read  inferior  varieties  of  the 
cultivated  kinds  ?— Ed.  G.  M.] 


NOTES  ON  THE  SEASON. 

BY   A.   HUIDEKOPEH,     MEADVILLE,   PA. 

The  year  1877  has  witnessed  in  this  region  as 
little  grumbling  about  the  weather,  and  things 
dependent  on  the  weather,  as  any  season  we 
have  ever  known.  The  field  crops  have  been 
sound  and  abundant;  potatoes  of  the  best 
quality,  despite  the  Colorado  beetle,  selling  at 
twenty-five  and  thirty  cents  per  bushel  in  the 
market;  and  the  supply  of  all  fruits,  with 
the 'exception  of  apples,  has  been  better  than 
usual.  Although  the  nights  have  been  cool,  and 
the  Summer  temperature  below  what  it  was  last 
year,  fruits  have  ripened  this  Fall  from  a  week  to 
ten  days  earlier  than  they  did  in  187G. 

I  give  brief  notes  on  some  fruits  on  my  own 
grounds.  Readers  will  bear  in  mind  that  local 
results  arc  only  partial  tests : — 

i  Pears— Buerre  Giffard  —  Good  bearer;  fruit 
fair;  early;  medium  sized;  moderately  good; 
juicy. 

Ti/son. — Good  yield  ;  fruit  hanging  in  clusters  ; 
medium  sized ;  sweet;  handsome;  very  good. 

Seckel. — Good  crop  ;  good  size  for  the  variety  ; 
juicy,  sweet  and  high  flavored;  very  line.  This 
variety  often  suffers  Cor  want  of  thinning  out  the 
fruit. 

Bloodgood. — Not  so  good  as  it  was  years  ago. 

Howell.—  Handsome  in  shape,  but  about  as 
astringent  as  the  Onondaga. 


Duchesse  d'Angouleme. — Good  .crop  ;  fruit  large, 
juicy,  sweet;  very  fine. 

Clairgeau  —  Good  bearer;  large  fruit,  but  rather 
dry  for  one  reputed  juicy  ;  second  rate. 

Columbia. — Slow  to  bear ;  smooth,  green-col- 
ored fruit.  A  few  specimens  showing  the  histo- 
rical tendency  to  large  cracks. 

Lawrence. — Early  bearer;  fair,  medium  sized 
fruit,  not  mature  enough  yet  to  judge  of  quality. 

Nelis. —  Generally  a  shy  bearer  though  pro- 
fuse in  flowering.  This  year  shows  a  heavy  crop. 
Size  medium,  juicy,  sweet,  high-flavored.  Though 
labelled  Winter,  I  suppose  I  must  have  the  Au- 
tumn Nelis,  as  the  fruit  matures  fully  in  October 
and  November.  I  place  this  fruit  where  Downing 
puts  it,  "  as  the  Seckel  of  the  late  varieties." 

Strawberries.— Magnificent  seems  the  proper 
term  for  the  large  and  long-continuing  crop  of 
this  fruit  placed  in  the  market  here  this  season. 
Wilson's  Albany  waged  an  unequal  contest  with 
Monarch  of  the  West,  and  other  giant  novelties 
of  late  introduction. 

Grapes. — Delaware  takes  the  lead  for  quality  of 
all  the  out-door  varieties.  Good  culture,  cutting 
out  all  the  old  wood  and  much  of  the  new ;  and 
thinning  out  the  clusters  will  increase  the  size  of 
this  fruit  one  half.  Experiments  with  seedlings 
ought  soon  to  give  us  a  fruit  of  the  same  excel- 
lence and  double  the  size,  as  a  substitute. 

Christine  (or  Telegraph). — This  variety  is  pro- 
ductive but  sets  too  thickly,  and  drops  off  like 
the  Hartford.  It  may  be  good  for  wine,  but  is 
not  good  for  eating  here. 

Iona. — Colored  well ;  was  good  sized  and  good 
looking,  but  is  a  thin  grape  lacking  character. 

Underbill's  Seedling. — This  variety  is  hardy  and 
productive ;  fruit  a  cloudy  red  color,  and  being 
very  spicy  or  aromatic  has  too  much  taste  to  be 
agreeable  as  a  table  grape. 

Israella. — Bears  well,  and  ripens  well,  but  has 
not  much  character  to  it. 

Rebecca. — Is  a  poor  bearer;  late  in  ripening; 
was  eatable  this  season,  though  never  before  for 
some  half  dozen  years  that  it  has  fruited  here. 

Hartford  Prolific. —  Worthless;  dropping  its 
worthless  fruit  as  soon  as  well  colored. 

Crevellivg. — Set  better  than  usual,  and  ripened 
well ;  moderately  good  ;  does  not  keep  well. 

Herbert  (Rogers'  44). —  Ripened  well;  open 
bunches  ;  fair  fruit  with  a  bloom  on  it;  tolerably 
good. 

Ontario. — Very  large  bunches  and  fruit  ripened 
pretty  well.  Better  in  character  than  many 
other  of  the  fox  grapes,  but  only  so,  so. 

Concord. — Though  coarse,  this  still  appears  to 
be  the  grape  most  generally  cultivated.  If  the 
juice  be  separated  from  the  skins  as  soon  as  the 
grapes  are  mashed,  it  makes  a  brilliant  white 
wine  that  will  keep,  though  to  many  tastes  it 
would  be  improved  by  the  addition  of  sugar, 
which  is  only  supplementing  nature,  and  not  adul- 
teration. 


1877. 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


365 


Rose  Chasselas.— Though  a  foreign  variety,  this 
will  ripen  out  of  doors,  and  have  a  higher  color 
than  when  grown  under  glass;  but  it  has  not 
much  flavor  grown  in  a  vinery,  and  has  still  less 
if  fruited  out  of  doors.  Under  glass  it  is  a  very 
beautiful  rose-colored  fruit,  refreshing  to  be  eaten 
on  a  journey;  and  if  supplemented  by  a  bunch 
of  real  black  Hamburgs  with  a  blue  bloom,  and  a 
bunch  of  amber-tinted  Buckland  Sweetwater 
grapes,  artistically  gotten  up  with  green  foVage, 
6erves  to  make  a  nice  fruit  bouquet  to  offer  to  a 
young  lady  on  the  occasion  of  her  wedding. 

The  September  number  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly  contains  a  very  sensible  article  on  grape 
culture  under  glass.  Severe  thinning  (a  very 
good  fault),  being  perhaps  carried  to  its  ultima- 
tum. 

With  regard  to  your  inquiry  about  the  Gros 
Colman  grape,  I  think  Mr.  Saunders  who  has  it 
in  his  collection  can  answer  better  than  I. 
Something  (not  now  recollected)'  that  I  heard 
about  it  prevented  my  getting  it. 

The  results  with  it  in  England,  reported  at  page 
242  of  your  August  number  have  been  surpassed 
in  this  State,  probably. — See  Gardener's  Monthly 
for  1866,  p.  122,  for  specimens  presented  to  editor 
by  Mr.  Zug,  of  Pittsburg.  With  its  extra  size  to 
command  it,  it  must  have  some  drawback,  or  it 
would  be  more  commonly  grown. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Twig  Blight  on  the  Apple  Tree. — It  is  sin- 
gular how  regularly  this  disease  has  spread  from 
the  West  to  the  East.  About  twelve  years  ago 
we  first  saw  it  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and 
though  we  looked  carefully  through  orchards 
east  of  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  could 
see  no  trace  of  it.  Some  six  years  later  we  noted 
it,  but  not  common  in  Ohio;  more  recently  very 
badly  in  Michigan ;  two  years  ago  badly  in 
Maryland ;  and  now  it  is  not  uncommon  in  Penn- 
sylvania. We  should  be  glad  to  know  if  it  is 
much  further  north  than  this  yet.  The  whole 
appearance  is  similar  to  that  of  the  fire  blight  in 
Pear,  and  we  have  no  doubt  a  closely  allied  fun- 
gus is  at  the  bottom  of  the  disease.  The  differ- 
ence is  that  so  far  as  wo  know,  it  seldom  destroj's 
more  than  two  year  old  branches,  generally  only 
one  year  old,  while  the  Pear  fungus  destroys 
branches  of  several  years  old.  Besides  the  twig 
blight,  the  Apple  has  a  spur  blight,  in  which  the 
spurs  arc  destroyed,  but  this  We  believe  to  be  the 


work  of  a  minute  insect,  which  deposits  its  eggs 
in  the  angles.  We  are  not  sure  either,  but  some- 
times the  death  of  annual  twigs  in  the  Apple 
tree  is  caused  by  the  boring  of  an  insect.  The 
branches  die,  and  the  appearances  of  course  are 
just  the  same  as  in  the  fungus-killed  cases,  for  a 
branch  suddenly  killed  when  growing  looks  the 
same,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  destroying 
cause. 

The  matter  is  exciting  some  attention  among 
Eastern  apple  orchardists,  and  needs  more  than 
mere  cursory  discussion. 

American  Blackberries  in  England.— Though 
"  only  Blackberries,"  our  native  improvements 
are  slowly  gaining  ground  in  English  favor.  The 
Gardener's  Chronicle  says  of  Mr.  Parker's  Tooting 
Nursery: — "We  also  remarked  here  several  va- 
rieties of  the  American  Blackberries,  which  de- 
serve much  more  attention  than  they  get  at  pres- 
ent. One  of  the  best  of  all  is  the  Lawton,  a  most 
prolific  bearer  of  large,  jet  black  and  finely-fla- 
vored berries.  The  black  fruits  of  the  Kittatinny 
are  also  of  fine  quality,  and  as  large  as  Mulber- 
ries. The  Dorchester  variety  may  also  be  men- 
tioned as  being  amongst  the  best." 

Peaches  in  Texas. — A  Southern  paper  tells  us 
that  a  peach  grower  in  Washington  Co.,  Texas, 
"realized"  $6,000  from  twenty  acres  of  Peaches. 

The  Catawissa  Raspberry. — Mr.  J.  H.  Pierce, 
of  Dayton,  Ohio,  has  a  good  word  for  the  Cata- 
wissa Raspberry.  He  gathers  them  all  Fall  up 
to  November.  He  thinks  they  will  yield  1,700 
quarts  to  the  acre,  and  would  all  sell  in  their 
market,  and  at  twenty-five  cents  per  quart. 

Rot  in  Grapes. — Mr.  Ohmer  thinks  this  trou- 
blesome disease  is  rather  on  the  increase  in 
Montgomery  Co.,  Ohio. 

Eating  the  Best. — The  Rural  New  Yorker  tells 
of  a  friend  who  "  ordy  planted  one  kind  of  Pear," 
because,  said  he.  "  when  you  have  got  the  best, 
what  more  do  you  want?  "  He  is  the  same  old 
gentleman  who  studied  a  week  over  Thorburn's 
Seed  Catalogue,  and,  making  up  his  mind  that 
onions  were  the  best  of  all  vegetables,  had  his 
garden  wholly  planted  therewith,  and  had  them 
to  cat  three  times  a  day,three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  days,  and  throe  hundred  and  sixty-six  in 
leap  year.  Only  for  the  fact  that  he  gave  this 
lucid  reason  for  planting  one  kind,  we  should 
suppose  he  was  the  same  man  who  claimed  so 
much  more  wisdom  than  his  fellows,  because  he 
"  always  went  through  the  world  with  his  mouth 
shut." 


366 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Late  Grapes. — One  of  the  most  striking  fea- 
tures in  the  way  of  fruit  at  South  Kensington 
the  other  day  was  a  splendid  collection  of  Grapes 
from  Mr.  Wildsmith,  gardener  to  Lord  Eversley 
at  Heckfield,  who  has  excellent  clusters  of  Ali- 
cante, perfect  in  berry  and  bloom,  and  Lady 
Downes  Seedling,  also  well  finished.  Trebbiano 
and  Burchardt's  Prince  were  likewise  represented 
by  large  bunches,  as  were  Mrs.  Pince's  Black 
Muscat,  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  and  Eaisin  de 
Calabre;  and  there  were  enormous  clusters  of 
Barbarossa  (well  colored),  White  Nice,  and  the 
best  Gros  Col  man  we  have  ever  seen,  the  ber- 
ries being  mostly  over  1  in.  in  diameter.  Mr. 
Wildsmith  likewise  showed  excellent  bunches  of 
White  Tokay,  each  bunch  being  almost  faultless, 
as  were  also  Bowood  Muscat — in  all,  thirteen 
sorts ;  and  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have 
found  at  this  season  finer  bunches  than  those 
shown  of  Gros  Colman,  Alicante,  and  Barba- 
rossa.— Garden. 

Numerous  Varieties  of  Apples. —  Mr.  Bate- 
ham  says  in  Country  Gentleman : —  "  I  am  often 
asked  to  give  an  assortment  of  apples  for  a 
family  orchard,  and  on  doing  so,  the  remark  is 
almost  invariably  made  :  '  What  is  the  use  of  so 
many  kinds  ?'  Then  comes  the  old  complaint, 
that  nurserymen  are  fond  of  multiplying  names 
of  fruits,  so  as  to  make  a  great  show  in  their 
catalogues.  But,  as  an  ex-member  of  the  pro- 
fession, I  assert  this  is  mere  slander  ;  for  no  in- 
telligent nurseyman  wishes  to  grow  more  varie- 
ties than  he  believes  will  be  useful  to,  or  desired 
by  his  customers. 

Will  it  Pay  to  Thin  the  Fruit  ? — That 
this  severe  thinning  will  change  the  bearing 
year  there  is  sufficient  testimony,  but  there  is  one 
point  on  which  we  lack -evidence — will  it  pay?  If 
any  of  our  friends  have  tried.thinning  to  induce 
annual  bearing,  or  to  reverse  the  bearing  year  on 
full  grown  trees,weask  in  behalf  of  many  inquirers 
that  they  will  give  their  results.  With  young  or- 
chards, just  coming  into  bearing,  the  case  is  very 
different,  and  whoever  will  take  the  pains  and  give 
the  young  trees  the  needed  care,  can  make  their 
orchard  bear  annually.  The  education  of  the  trees 
must  begin  with  their  first  fruiting,  as  the  first  ex- 
cessive crop,  though  small  in  itself,  starts  the  tree 
on  the  wrong  track.  When  the  trees  are  young, 
the  quantity  of  fruit  to  be  removed  is  small,  and 
all  within  reach.  Of  course  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil  must  not  be  neglected,  but  a  healthy  growth 
maintained.  Whoever  will  start  right  with  his  or- 


chard, and  treat  it  fairly,  will  have  no  reason  to 
complain.  Among  the  varieties  of  apples  that 
are  naturally  annual  bearers,  though  they  may  be 
starved  into  bearing  biennially,  or  not  at  all,  are 
Vandevere;  Sops  of  Wine ;  Grimes'  Golden,  a 
comparatively  new  apple  of  great  excellence; 
Milam;  Minklers';  Rawles' Janet,  for  the  south; 
Benoni  ;  Hubbardston  Nonsuch  ;  Domine; 
Higby  Sweet  and  English  Sweet  (Ramsdell's 
Sweet  at  the  south).  If  any  of  our  fruit  growers 
can  add  to  this  list  of  annual  bearers,  we  hope 
they  will  do  so. — American  Agriculturist. 

Nut  Farming  in  California. — Experienced 
horticulturists  of  this  State  say  the  cultivation  of 
the  almond  and  English  walnut  is  extensively 
profitable.  Some  of  them  aver  that  an  almond 
orchard  fourteen  years  old  and  well  cared  for 
will  average  a  production  worth  $250  per  acre  a 
year,  with  an  increasing  tendency  of  fifteen  per 
cent,  for  seven  or  eight  years.  The  cost  of  plant- 
ing and  tending  for  half  a  dozen  years  will 
hardly  exceed  the  cost  of  planting  an  equal 
number  of  aeres  of  wheat.  The  cost  of  gather- 
ing the  crop  will  not  exceed  twenty  per  cent,  of 
its  gross  market  value.  The  net  return  of  an 
average  acre  of  four-year-old  almond  trees 
would  at  this  rate  be  equal  to  the  average  twelve 
or  fifteen  acres  of  wheat.  Moreover,  the  nut 
crop  does  not  depend  on  the  home  market.  It 
is  as  portable  as  wheat  or  flour,  and  the  East- 
ern States  would  take  all  we  could  produce.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  English  walnut,  save 
that  the  tree  requires  a  longer  time  to  mature 
than  .the  almond  tree.  Both  do  well  almost  any- 
where ten  miles  from  the  harsh  sea  winds  and 
below  an  altitude  of  2,500  feet.  Los  Angeles 
and  Santa  Barbara  counties  have  achieved  the 
best  reputations  in  this  branch  of  farming,  so  far, 
only  because  they  have  paid  more  attention  to 
it.  San  Joaquin,  Sacramento,  Solano,  Yolo, 
Sutter,  Butte,  Colusa,  Tehama,  and  all  the  lower 
foothill  region,  where  water  for  irrigation  can  be 
obtained,  are  as  well  adapted  by  soil  and  climate 
to  the  almond  and  walnut  as  Los  Angeles. — San 
Francisco  Chronicle. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 

How  to  Make  a  Grape  Border. — Amateur, 
Hazleton,  Pa.,  says  : — "  Can  you  give  some  direc- 
tions for  making  a  grape  border?  My  house  will 
only  be  fifty  feet  long,  as  at  present  advised  I 
shall  only  set  out  the  Black  Hamburg  kind." 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


367 


[It  must  be  remembered  that  the  grape-vine 
does  not  like  to  have  its  roots  down  in  deep  cold 
soil,  but  in  warm  ground  near  the  surface.  Under 
these  circumstances  any  good  garden  ground 
made  rich  by  stable  manure,  will  grow  good 
grapes.  The  border  is  best  made  outside  and  the 
grape-vines  taken  inside  from  the  out.  Most 
grape  borders  are  made  so  that  water  drains  into 
them,  instead  of  draining  out.  This  is  not  much 
to  say,  but  it  is  about  all  the  secret  there  is  in 
making  a  successful  vine  border. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Persimmons. — J.  H.,  Moundsville,  W.  Va., 
writes  : — "  I  wish  some  information  on  sprouting 
Persimmon  seed,and  growing  the  seedlings  ;  also 
the  best  mode  of  working  the  Japanese  Persim- 
mon.   Will  I  graft,  or  bud,  or  any  other  mode? " 

[Persimmon  seed  should  be  kept  till  Spring. 
They  sprout  a  few  weeks  after  sowing.  We  have 
no  personal  experience,  but  have  no  doubt  what- 
ever that  the  Japan  kinds  will  either  graft  or  bud 
freely  on  them.— Ed.  G.  M.] 

The  Climate  and  the  Foreign  Grape. — 
"Warning,"  Cincinnati,  O.,  writes  : — "Is  it  not 
time  that  some  word  of  warning  is  given  against 
the  attempts  being  made  to  introduce  seedling 
grapes  that  are  hybrids  of  Vitis  vinifera?  We 
know  by  experience,  dear  bought,  years  ago,  at 
least  in  these  parts,  that  the  foreign  grape  is  ut- 
terly unsuited  to  the  American  climate,  and  any 
infusion  of  that  blood  to  our  own  native  kinds 
can  only  lead  to  degeneration,  and  not  to  im- 
provement, however  sweet  the  flesh  of  the  hy- 
brids may  be." 

[Our  correspondent's  remarks  deserve  great 
consideration.  Yet  he  is  both  right  and  wrong. 
He  is  right  when  he  says  that  experiments  with 
the  foreign  grape  have  mostly  been  failures — 


wrong  when  he  says,  as  a  matter  of  ascertained 
fact,  that  the  failure  was  wholly  due  to  climate,  for 
it  is  well-known  that  in  cases  of  experiment  with 
foreign  grapes,  they  generally  did  well  for  a  few 
years.  Indeed,  we  now  know  that  it  was  not  al- 
ways the  climate,  but  sometimes  the  insect  called 
Phylloxera,  which  brought  about  the  failure, 
and  that  many  undoubted  native  kinds  failed 
as  badly  as  the  foreign  ones.  So  clearly 
is  this  now  made  to  intelligent  men,  that 
they  sit  and  listen  with  wonderment  to  dis- 
cussions about  "  varieties,"  adapted  to  various 
localities  in  conventions.  All  that  is  neces- 
sary to  one  who  has  kept  pace  with  intelligence, 
is  a  look  at  the  roots.  If  these  are  strong,  active 
in  making  fibres,  and  quick  to  make  new  ones, 
when  they  have  been  injured  by  Phylloxera 
or  anything  else,  it  makes  little  difference  to  him 
whether  it  has  foreign  "  blood  "  or  not.  He  will 
know  at  once  whether  it  is  "  adapted  to  the  cli- 
mate," and  act  accordingly. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Discussion  on  Pear  Blight. — M.,  Bucks  Co., 
Pa.,  writes  : — "  Will  the  discussion  in  regard  to 
Apple  and  Pear  blight,  which  took  place  on  the 
excursion  down  the  Chesapeake,  appear  in  an 
early  number  of  the  Gardener's  Monthly  ?  I  am 
asked  very  frequently  in  regard  thereto,  and  I 
should  be  pleased  to  see  that  discussion  in  print. 
It  is  a  subject  that  is  of  great  interest  to  the  fruit- 
growers of  this  section." 

[We  had  no  idea  of  publishing  the  discussion 
because  it  brought  out  nothing  new.  The  cause 
of  the  fire  blight  in  the  Pear  is  well  understood 
by  all  readers  of  the  magazine  who  have  followed 
the  mycologists  through  our  pages.  If  we  can 
now  come  on  a  good  preventative  of  this  fungoid 
disease,  we  should  be  glad  to  find  a  place  for  it. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 


ORESTRY. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Cryptomeria,  JAPOnica  grows- larger  in  Japan 
than  any  other  forest  tree ;  35  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence is  not  unusual. 

Pine  Tree  Oil. — Between  Bordeaux  and  Bay- 
onne  there  is  a  large  stretch  of  sandy  desert, 


whereon  there  is  little  vegetation  save  here  and 
there  patches  of  Pine  trees.  From  these  trees, 
says  the  Garden,  there  runs  a  resinous  matter 
which  is  collected  and  sold  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  region.  The  substance  has  recently  been 
studied  by  M.  Guillemare,  and  he  has  now  an- 
nounced to  the  French  Academy  of  Science  that 
he  has  produced  three  kinds  of  oil  from  the  ma- 


368 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


terial,  all  rich  in  carbon,  containing  respectively 
80,  90  and  92  per  cent,  of  that  element.  The 
light  yielded  on  burning  the  oils  is  remarkable 
for  its  whiteness  and  steadiness,  and  is  said  to  be 
suitable  for  lighthouse  illumination. 

We  call  attention  to  this  because  we  believe 
there  are  many  dry  sections  or  sandy  sections  of 
our  country  which  people  think  worthless,  that 
might  be  profitably  planted  with  some  kinds  of 
Pine  trees.  Some  species  send  numerous  roots 
deep  clown  into  the  ground,  which  enables  them 
to  hold  on  well  in  the  dryest  seasons.  Thirty 
years  ago  most  of  the  land  between  London  and 
Southampton,  in  England,  was  a  barren  heath, 
and  regarded  as  utterly  unfit  for  any  cultural 
purposes.  Since  then  it  has  been  sown  with 
Scotch  Pine,  and  as  the  writer  of  this  has  re- 
cently seen,  with  great  success.  No  doubt  much 
of  our  Colorado  barren  lands  could  be  success- 
fully stocked  with  forests  of  some  deep-rooting 
Pine  trees.  We  should  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  Pinus  pungens  would  thrive  very  well 
there,  as  we  have  seen  it  do  well  in  some  re- 
markably dry  spots. 

The  Cork  Tree  in  California.  —  Cork  trees 
at  Sonoma,  from  seed  twenty  years  ago,  and  now 
twenty-five  feet  high,  and  a  sheet  of  cork  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  thick  was  taken  from  it  last 
year.  It  will  not  stand  the  winters  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

American  Gum  Arabic. — At  a  recent  meeting 
of  the'Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Scien- 
ces, some  gum  from  the  Prosopis  glandulosa,  or 
Mesquite,  was  presented  by  Mr.W.  H.  Dougherty, 
and  seems  to  justify  the  following  which  we 
find  in  the  'Journal  of  Microscopy  : 

"  It  is  said  that  the  mesquite  gum  of  Western 
Texas  is  almost  identical  with  gum  Arabic,  and 
during  the  past  year,  has  become  an  article  of 
export,  some  twelve  thousand  pounds  having 
been  gathered  in  Bexar  county,  and  as  much 
more  between  that  and  the  coast.  This  gum 
exudes  from  the  stem  and  branches  of  the  mes- 
quite, a  mimosa,  several  species  of  which  grow 
in  Texas,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 

Growth  of  the  Pecan-nut  Hickory. —  Our 
experience  in  Pennsylvania  with  the  Pecan-nut 
Hickory,  led  us  to  believe  that  this  would  be  one 
of  the  most  rapid  growing  and  profitable  timber 
trees  to  plant,  and  that  it  would  be  well  worth 
the  attention  of  planters.  For  the  nuts,  it  would 
be  worthless  north  of  the  Potomac  in  the  Atlan- 
tic States,  but  for  timber  it  would  no  doubt  do 
well  even  in  New  England.     The  following  from 


a  Mr.  Harrison,  a  correspondent  of  the  Prairie 
Farmer  confirms  this  view  : 

"  The  Cottonwood  was  hardy  and  of  rapid 
growth,  but  worthless  as  a  timber  tree  and  very 
inferior  as  fuel.  The  Locust  would  sprout  from 
the  root  so  as  to  become  a  nuisance,  and  the 
borers  ruined  the  groves.  The  Gray  Willow  did 
not  realize  the  anticipation  formed  of  it  even  as 
a  fencing  material.  The  Soft  Maple  was  valua- 
ble for  wind-breaks  and  for  fuel,  but  was  not  a 
timber  tree.  At  this  point  I  thought  of  the  Pe- 
can (Carya  oliviformis),  a  species  of  Hickory,  a 
native  of  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  valleys.  I 
satisfied  myself,  by  experiment  and  investiga- 
tion, of  its  value  as  a  timber  tree — wagon  and 
carriage-makers,  wherever  they  had  used  it,  tes- 
ti flying  to  its  value,  as  being  equal  to  the  best 
of  White  Ash  for  all  purposes  of  buggy  or  car- 
riage manufacture,  possessing  equal  durability 
and  greater  strength  and  elasticity..  At  various 
points  on  the  Mississippi  river,  steamboat  car- 
penters who  have  used  it,  find  it  valuable  timber 
in  boat  building.  As  a  fuel  it  has  no  superior. 
But  would  it  grow  and  thrive  on  our  prairies  ? 

To  test  this,  in  the  Fall  of  1871  I  dug  up  in 
the  bottom  land  along  the  Illinois  river  a  dozen 
or  two  young  trees,  heeled  them  in  my  garden 
for  the  Winter,  and  in  the  Spring  removed  them 
to  my  farm  on  the  prairie.  The  Summer  of  1872 
was  hot  and  dry  ;  but  all  the  trees  grew  and  did 
finely.  Next  year  I  increased  my  planting,  and 
thus  far  have  three  different  settings  of  trees.  I 
find  it  as  easily  transplanted  as  any  tree  I  have 
ever  handled,  having  never  lost  a  tree  of  vigor- 
ous growth,  clean  and  healthy.  By  my  advice, 
several  of  my  friends  have  procured  and  planted 
this  tree,  and  I  have  five  hundred  more  which  I 
intend  to  plant  the  coming  Spring.  The  Pecan 
tree  ordinarily  commences  bearing  about  eight 
years  of  age.  It  bears  one  of  the  finest  nuts, 
which  sold  in  the  Cincinnati  market  for  the  past 
six  years,  at  an  average  price  of  $3  per  bushel. 
A  gentleman  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
who  has  a  Pecan  oi'chard,  partly  natural,  which 
he  has  increased  by  further  planting,  says  it  is  of 
more  value  to  him  yearly  than  his  apple  orchard. 
The  Pecan  tree  is  grown  readily  from  the  nut, 
if  it  is  not  allowed  to  become  dry  before  plant- 
ing. 

Sicilian  Sumach. — It  is  said  that  besides  the 
Rhus  coriaria,  our  common  garden  mist  tree — 
R.  cotinus— enters  largely  into  Sicilian  Sumach. 

The  Lacquer  Tree.— Some  interest  was  re- 
cently created  in  Philadelphia  by  a  letter  to  the 
Public  Ledger,  by  a  Japanese  gentleman  who 
came  here  to  the  Centennial,  offering  to  intro- 
duce the  Lacquer  tree  and  the  Lacquer  business  to 
Philadelphia.  It  does  not  seem  well  known  that 
our  Rhus  venenata  is  so  nearly  alike  botanically 
to  the  Lacquer  tree  of  Japan,  and  its  rc.-inous 
product  so  similar  to  that,  that  it  would  be  worth 
while  to  experiment  with  that  before  spending 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


309 


money  in  importing  extensively  the  Japan  form. 
Of  this  Lacquer  tree  in  Japan,  a  correspondent 
of  the  Gardener's  Chronicle  says  : 

"  Six  species  of  Rhus  have  been  observed  in 
Japan,  though  two  of  them,  R.  succedana  and 
R.  venicifera,  are  only  cultivated,  and  originally 
introduced  from  China.  The  cultivation  of  R. 
vernicifera  and  the  collection  of  the  Lacquer  is 
one  of  the  principal  industries  of  Japan.  Some 
of  the  villages  are  completely  surrounded  by 
forests  of  this  small  tree.  Like  R.  Toxicoden- 
dron and  some  other  species,  this  is  venomous 
to  some,  in  fact,  to  most  persons  on  first  touch- 
ing it ;  but  it  is  averred  that  the  same  person 
suffers  only  once.  Contact  with  the  plant,  or  the 
Lacquer  it  produces,  or  even  inhalation  of  the 
vapor,  causes  the  softer  parts  of  the  hands  be- 
tween the  fingers,  the  tips  of  the  ears,  margins 
of  the  eyes,  cheeks,  scrotum,  &c,  to  swell  and 
inflame,  and  during  four  or  five  days  the  effects 
are  very  painful." 

Aralia  papyrifera,  which  is  now  being  used 
so  freely  in  our  country  for  ornamental  pur- 
poses, is  the  tree  from  which  in  the  island  of 


Formosa  only,  the  Chinese  make  a  choice  kind 
of  paper.  The  most  common  tree  for  paper- 
making  is  the  Paper  Mulberry,  so  common  in 
many  Southern  towns,  Nashville  especially,  as  a 
shade  tree.  All  American  trees  have  been  appar- 
ently raised  from  one  separate  tree,  as  they  are 
all  male  plants.  In  France  the  writer  of  this 
saw  female  trees  covered  with  immature  fruit, 
and  thousands  of  seedlings  are  annually  raised 
in  the  nurseries. 

A  Valuable  Oak. — The  Monarch  Oak,  the 
largest  in  Herefordshire,  was  sold  the  other  day 
by  auction.  The  reason  for  cutting  down  this  king 
of  the  forest  was  because  it  has  been  three  times 
struck  by  lightning  within  the  last  seven  years, 
but  though  these  repeated  attacks  have  shattered 
a  great  part  of  its  top,  it  still  contains  upwards  of 
1,000  cubic  feet  of  timber,  and  its  girth  is  66  feet. 
With  this  tree  two  smaller  Oaks  were  included 
(one  of  them  a  dead  tree),  and  the  three  together 
realized  the  reserve  price  of  £200. 


ATURAL 


umISTORY  AND  SCIENCE. 


COMMUNICA  TIONS. 


RESTORING  DEAD  SEEDS. 

BY  SEEDSMAN. 

What  is  dead  is  dead,  and  cannot  be  restored 
by*any  human  power.  Many  seeds  fail  to  grow 
that  are  really  good.  The  shell  or  outer  cover- 
ing of  the  seed  becomes  so  hard,  that  ordinary 
influences  fail  to  break  it.  In  the  meantime  the 
seed  itself  rots,  by  the  very  influence  that  should 
make  it  grow.  Whereas,  if  artificial  influence 
can  be  brought  to  bear  to  break  the  shell,  in  time 
to  allow  the  germ  to  shoot  forth,  the  seed  will 
grow. 

It  sometimes  happens  with  new  seeds  in  ripen- 
ing, the  shell  may  become  so  hard  as  to  prevent 
growth  without  artificial  aid.  In  the  case  of 
Osage  Orange  seed,  it  is  questionable,  if  under 
favorable  circumstances,  they  ever  lose  their 
vitality.  Yet  it  is  frequently  necessary  to  soak- 
the  seed  in  warm  water,  or  mix  it  with  sand  satu- 
rated with  warm  water,  to  make  it  grow.  To 
seedsmen  there  is  nothing  new  developed  by  the 
experiments  of  Professor  Lazenby. 


NOTES  SUGGESTED  BY  THE  "TUMBLE  WEED." 

BY   MR.   VLADIMER   DE   NIEDMAN,  53d   AND 
DARBY  ROAD,  PHILADELPHIA. 

Having  noticed  several  queries  about  "Tumble 
Weed  "  in  the  Monthly,  and  taking  the  queries  as 
a  common  rule  for  a  sign  of  people  interested  in 
the  subject,  I  offer  a  few  words  in  general  about 
plants  of  the  same  genus.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  some. 

Tumble  Weed,  as  already  rightly  remarked  by 
a  California  lady,  is  a  Chenopodeae,  where 
nearly  all  other  "  Tumble  Weeds,"  and  the  Cyclo- 
loma  platyphylla  and  Amarantus  albus  belong 
also.  The  representatives  of  this  large  family, 
shrubby  or  herbaceous,  are,  as  a  rule,  only  of  the 
intermediate  zone  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 
In  tropical  countries  they  are  replaced  by 
the  Amaranthacese,  of  which  the  Amarantus 
caudatus,  Celosia  cristata  (the  so-called  Cocks- 
comb), Gomphrena  globosa,  and  many  others, 
are  found  in  our  gardens  as  ornamental  plants. 
The  Chenopodese,  preferring  a  ground  rich  in  salt, 
— a  nutritious  substance, — to  any  other,  will  be 
found  growing  chiefly  in  the  Western  prairies, 


310 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


and  a  good  many  in  the  Utah  Territory.  In 
Europe,  at  the  south-western  salt  region  in  Rus- 
cia;  and  also  in  Central  Asia  some  of  them  grow 
along  the  sea-shores,  as  Salsala  Kali,  Salicornia 
herbacea,  and  Halogeton  sativus,  and  contain  a 
good  deal  of  soda ;  the  latter  is  grown  in  Spain 
in  quantities  for  this  purpose.  Also  a  few  her- 
baceous ones,  mostly  annuals,  are  pululating 
near  by  habitated  places,  along  the  roads,  on 
rubbish,  half  rotten  humus,  and  vital  remnants  ; 
in  fact  always  there,  where  the  ground  contains 
some  sal-ammoniac  or  azotic  particles.  All 
parts  of  the  plants  are  of  an  offensive  smell,  and 
often  used  in  medicines,  as  Chenopodium  oli- 
dum  and  Chenop.  atriplex. 

There  are  also  among  the  representatives  of 
this  family  some  positively  useful  to  the  human 
race,  and  they  are  cultivated  with  much  care, 
skill,  and  on  a  large  scale.  As  for  instance :  Out 
of  the  Cycloloma,  the  Beta  vulgaris,  commonly 
known  as  sugar  beet,  of  which  principally 
the  white  and  yellow  varieties  are  extensively 
cultivated  in  Southern  Russia  for  extraction  of 
the  finest  quality  of  sugar.  (The  process  of  pro- 
duction of  the  beet-sugar  was  discovered  in  1747 
by  the  German  chemist  Markgraff,  but  the  ex- 
tensive production  of  it  commenced  only  since 
1872.) 

Spinacia  oleracea,  our  common  Spinage, 
was  at  first  introduced  by  the  Arabs  in  Spain  ; 
and  now  it  is  nearly  in  every  vegetable  garden. 
In  France  the  Spinage  is  replaced  by  Atriplex 
hortensis,  and  in  England  by  the  Chenopodi- 
um bonus  Henricus,  both  of  them  serving  well 
the  purpose.  In  Peru  the  Chenopodium  qui- 
noa  is  cultivated  as  a  grain,  and  often,  even  to 
the  height  of  13,000/,  are  immense  fields  sown  of 
it.  The  seed  is  very  oily,  contains  a  considerable 
quantity  of  starch,  and  is  relishable  and  nourish- 
ing. The  green  parts  of  the  plant  are  also  used 
as  a  vegetable. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Our  " Finger  Grass"  in  Europe. — This — 
Panicum  digitaria — and  which  is  well  known  to 
American  lawns  and  gardens  from  its  amazing 
and  coarse  growth  in  the  Fall  of  the  year,  was 
noticed  in-  France  about  1826,  and  has  since 
spread  through  the  country  like  wildfire.  Serves 
them  right.  They  should  spread  information 
among  cultivators  as  to  what  are  likely  to  be 
noxious,  so  that  people  could  recognize  and  de- 


stroy them  on  their  first  appearance.  They 
have  done  this  with  the  Colorado  potato 
beetle,  simply  because  their  entomologists  bring 
their  studies  home  practically  to  the  people. 
Colorado  potato  bugs  are  not  near  the  evil  that 
noxious  weeds  are. 

Aiding  Pollen  in  Fertilization. — In  regard  to 
a  matter  which  some  months  ago  excited  some 
attention  from  correspondents,  we  give  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  Gardener's  Chronicle : 

"  To  those  who  devote  attention  to  hybridiza- 
tion we  suggest  the  possibility,  that  if  mucus 
from  the  stigma  of  the  intended  pollen  parent  is 
applied  to  the  stigmas  of  the  plant  desired  to  be 
fertilized,  many  difficult  crosses  might  be  effected. 
This,  of  course,  depends  on  the  supposition  that 
if  the  pollen  tubes  are  emitted  they  may  pene- 
trate the  style,  and  that  the  foreign  mucus  is  not 
always  congenial  for  the  commencement  of 
growth.  Some  hybridists  may  have  experi- 
mented on  this  point,  and,  if  so,  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  know  with  what  result.  This  idea 
has  frequently  presented  itself  to  our  mind,  and 
we  are  induced  to  express  it  from  having  re- 
cently read  an  observation  by  Mr.  James  O'Brien 
in  the  Garden  of  August  19th,  that  to  get  pollen 
tubes  for  the  microscope  it  is  only  necessary  to 
place  a  sufficient  quantity  of  mucus  on  the  slide 
and  apply  the  pollen.  He  says  that  one  or  two 
drops  of  nectar  are  taken  from  Lilium  speciosum 
or  L.  auratum,  and  not  more  than  a  dozen  grains 
of  pollen  applied,  that  in  half  an  hour  the  tubes 
will  begin  to  appear  and  grow  for  from  one  to 
two  hours,  when  they  will  resemble  long  snakes. 
The  nectar  will  soon  harden,  and  being  perfectly 
transparent,  a  permanent  object  is  secured  by 
laying  on  a  thin  glass  and  pressing  out  air  bub- 
bles before  hardening  takes  place." 

About  Spruces  and  Firs.— A  California  botanist, 
who  accompanied  Professors  Hooker  and  Gray 
through  parts  of  their  excursions  in  California, 
and  the  ring  of  whose  pen  has  a  strong  Lemmo- 
nian  sound,  in  writing  of  some  of  their  views  and 
experiences  of  things,  gives  great  credit  to 
Dr.  Engelmann  for  insisting  that  the  spruces  and 
firs  shall  be  kept  as  botanically  distinct  as  they 
are  practically,  and  should  have  their  right 
names.  Those  which  have  cones  erect,  and 
which  crumble  in  the  hand  when  mature,  like 
our  common  Balsam  Fir,  are  the  Abies — those 
which  have  pendant,  permanent  cones  are  Picea. 
Of  late  years  the  English  botanists  have  called 
them  all  Abies,  and  when  they  did  divide  them, 
called  the  Firs  Picea,  and  the  Spruces  Abies. 
Americans  have  hesitated  to  insist  on  the  correct 
names,  believing  it  would  be  proper  for  Euro- 
peans who  made  the  error  to  correct  it.  But  as 
no  effort  of  this  kind  is  made,  we  propose  to  fol- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


371 


low  the  right  course  as  indicated  by  Engelmann, 
hereafter. 


A  New  Enemy  to  the  Pine  Tree. — The  impor- 
tance of  the  subject  leads  us  to  give  entire  the 
following  paper  read  by  Professor  Aug.  T.  Grote, 
before  the  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation : 

"  In  the  months  of  June  and  July  the  Red  Pine 
(Pinus  resinosa),  and  the  White  Pine  (Pinus  stro- 
bus),  show  by  the  exuding  pitch  that  they  are 
suffering  from   the  attacks   of  an  insect.    The 
wounds  occur  on  the  main  stem  below  the  inser- 
tion of  the  main  branch.     On  cutting  into  the 
bark  the  injury  is  found  to  be  caused  by  a  small 
larva  which,  when  full  grown,  measures  sixteen 
to  eighteen  millimeters.     The  head  is  shining 
chestnut  brown  with  black  mandibles.   The  body 
is  livid  or  blackish  green,  naked,  with  series  of 
black  dots,  each  dot  giving  rise  to  a  single  rather 
stout  bristle.    The  protharasic  is  blackish.    The 
larva  has  three  pair  of  thorasic,  or  true  jointed 
feet,  and  four  abdominal  or  false  feet,  besides 
anal  elaspers.    This  larva,  eating  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  bark,  and  making  furrows  in   the 
wood,  causes  the  bleeding  which,  when  the  de- 
pletion is  excessive  or  continuous,  and  especially 
in  the  case  of  young  trees,  has  proved  fatal.     In 
July  the  worm  spins  a  whitish  thin  paper  cocoon 
in    the  mass  of  exuding  pitch,  which  seems  to 
act  as  a  protection  to  both  larva  and  chrysalis. 
The  chrysalis  contained  in  the  cocoon  is  cylindri- 
cal, smooth,  narrow,  blackish  brown   about  16 
millimeters   in   length.      The  head   is   pointed, 
there  being  a  pronounced  clypeal  protuberance, 
the  segments  are  unarmed,  and  the  anal  plate  is 
provided  with   a  row   of  four  spines,  and  two 
more  slender,  on  either  side  of  the  mesial  line, 
below  the  first.     It  gives  the  moth  in  ten  to  four- 
teen days.     The  perfect  insect  expands  on  an 
average  30  millimetres.    An  examination  of  the 
veins  of  the  wing  shows  that  vein  7  of  the  prima- 
ries is  wanting,  Avhile  vein  6  is  simple.     On  the 
hind  wings  the  cell  is  closed  or  very  nearly  so. 
It  belongs  thus  to  the  Phycidae,  a  sub-family  of 
the  Pyraledae.    The  male  antennae  are  bent  a  lit- 
tle at  the   base,  the  joints  inconspicuous;   the 
maxillary  pulpi  in  the  same  sex  are  not  brush- 
like, and  the  hind  wings  are  8  and  not  7  veined. 
We  may  refer  the  moth  then  to  the  genus  Ne- 
phopterix.    Veins  3, 4  and  5  spring  nearly  to- 
gether from  the  outer  extremity  of  the  cell  of  the 
hind  wings  (though  5  seems  to  be  nearly  indepen- 
dent while  running  close  to  4) ;  vein  2  is  not  far 
removed  from  3.    On  the  primaries,  veins  4  and  5 
spring  from  a  common  stalk,  so  that  we  must 
refer  the  moth  to  the  sub  genus  Diosyctria  of 
Zeller.      In   color   the   moth    is  blackish  gray, 
shaded  with  reddish  on  the  basal  and  terminal 
fields  of  the  forewings.    There   are  patches  or 
lines  of  raised  scales  on  the  basal  field  and  oil  the 
anterior  and  darker  portion  of  the  median  space. 
The  medium  lines  are  prominent,  consisting  of 
double  black  lines   enclosing  pale  bands.    The 
inner  line  at  basal  third  is  perpendicular,  W 
shaped,  or  dentate.    The  outer  line  at  apical 


fourth  is   once  more  strongly  indented  below 
costa.    The  black  component  lines  do  not  seem 
to  be  more  distinct  on  one  side  than   on   the 
other  of  the  pale  included  bands  or  spaces.    The 
median  field  is  blackish,  becoming  pale  towards 
the  outer  line  ;  it  shows  a  pale,  sometimes  whit- 
ish, cellular  spot,  surmounted  with  raised  scales. 
It  can  be  seen  that  these  raised  scales  (easily  lost 
in  setting  the  insect)   accompany  the   median 
lines  as  well  as  forming  the  discal  mark  and  the 
linear  patch  on  the  basal   field.    The  terminal 
edge  of  the  wing  is  again  pale  or  ruddy  before 
the  terminal  black  line.     The  fringes  are  black- 
ish.    The  hind  wings  are  pale,  yellowish  white, 
shaded  with  fuscous  on  cortal  region  and  more 
or  less  terminally  before  the  blackish  terminal 
line;  the  fringes  are  dusky.     Beneath  the  fore- 
wings  are  blackish  marked  with  pale  on  corta  ; 
hind  wings  as  on  upper  surface.     Body  blackish 
gray,  with  often  a  reddish   cast  on   the   thorax 
above  and  on  the  vertex.     The  eyes  are  naked, 
the  labrial  pulpi  long  ascending,  with  moderate 
terminal  joint.     Tongue  rather  long.    The  gray 
abdomen  is  annulated  with  dirty  white,  the  legs 
are  pale  dotted.    The  species  differs  from  the 
European  alietella  by  raised  scale  tufts  on  the 
wings,  and   Prof.   P.  C.  Zeller,  who  has  kindly 
compared   examples   for  me,  declares  it  to   be 
quite  distinct  from  any  European  species.     The 
pupa  seems  to  differ  from  that  of  alietella  by  the 
elypeal  prominence  which  appears  entirely  ab- 
sent   in    the    European    species   judging  from 
Ratzburg's  excellent  figures.     The  larva  is  found 
to  attack  also  various  imported  conifers ;  for  this 
reason  I  suppose  it  might  be  an  imported  para- 
site.   It  has  been  noticed  on  the  Scotch,  Austrian 
and  Russian  pine,  and  it  will  be  found,  I  fear,  a 
grave  enemy  to  the  cultivation  of  this  genus  of 
plants. 

Since  the  insect  is  not  noticed  yet  in  any  scien- 
tific publication,  I  propose  to  name  it  Nephopte- 
rix  (Diosyctria)  Zimmermani,  after  Charles  D. 
Zimmerman,  of  Buffalo,  who  has  made  many  ex- 
cellent observations  on  our  noxious  insects,  and 
to  whom  I  am  greatly  indebted  for  help  in  get- 
ting all  the  facts  with  relation  to  the  present  spe- 
cies. He  has  kindly  spent  much  time  in  climb- 
ing large  trees  and  cutting  out  pupae  and  larvae, 
and  rearing  the  perfect  insect. 

The  larva  of  ailetella  is  described  by  Batzburg 
as  living  in  the  cones  chiefly  of  various  species 
of  Pinus.  Nevertheless,  he  speaks  of  one  instance 
in  which  it  was  found  under  similar  circum- 
stances to  those  which  are  usual  with  Zimmer- 
mani, which  latter  I  have  not  yet  noticed  attack- 
ing the  fruit.  The  European  species  is  said  to 
winter  in  the  pupae  state.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Buffalo  our  species  seems  to  be  single  brooded. 
I  have  not  yet  ascertained  the  winter  state. 
Batzburg  recommends  cutting  off  infected 
branches,  but,  especially  on  small  trees  I  find 
the  larva  of  Zimmermani  usually  infesting  the 
main  stem  at  the  insertion  of  the  branches. 
From  the  fact  that  the  pitch  of  the  trees  offers  a 
protection,  I  do  not  think  that  any  washes 
would  reach  the  insect.  The  knife,  then,  seems 
the  only  remedy. 


3T2 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Our  species  has  a  natural  enemy  in  a  small 
hymenopterous  parasite  with  which  I  have  found 
certain  of  the  chrysalids  to  be  filled." 

Respiration  and  Assimilation  in  Plants. — 
Corenwinder  has  recently  published  an  elaborate 
paper  detailing  what  appears  to  have  been  long 
and  careful  experiments  on  the  respiration  of 
plants.  Protoplasm  (the  matter  out  of  which 
cells  are  made)  and  chlorophyl  (the  green  color- 
ing matter  in  the  cell),  he  finds,  have  distinct 
powers.  Protoplasm  absorbs  oxygen  and  exhales 
carbonic  acid,  just  as  animals  do,  day  and  night. 
In  the  early  stage  of  plant  growth,  before  much 
green  coloring  matter  is  formed,  the  plant  does 
little  else  than  exhale.  But  as  soon  as  chloro- 
phyl is  formed  this  throws  off  oxygen  and  retains 
the  carbon,  out  of  which  structure  and  material 
for  future  use  is  formed.  As  already  known,  it 
can  only  do  this  under  light.  This  difference  is 
important,  and,  while  it  explains  much  that  has 
been  an  enigma,  may  lead  to  practical  results. 
Potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  sprouting  in  dark 
cellars,  grow  very  well,  as  such  a  blanched 
growth  grows ;  but  the  growth  must  die,  because 
there  is  no  chlorophyl  to  manufacture  future 
material.  Then  we  learn  why  cellars  with  vege- 
table growths  in  them  are  unhealthy.  Plants, 
as  we  generally  see  them,  purify  the  atmosphere. 
They  decompose  carbonic  acid,  appropriating 
the  carbon  and  expiring  the  oxygen ;  but  in 
these  cases  of  blanched  vegetation  the  case  is  re- 
versed and  the  oxygen  is  the  element  absorbed. 
There  are  few  papers  appearing  in  scientific 
journals  from  which  we  can  learn  so  much  as 
from  this  of  Corenwinder's. — Independent. 

Artificial  Ivory.— The  new  process  for  the 
manufacture  of  this  material  have  just  been 
brought  out  in  France.  The  first  consists  in  dis- 
solving two  parts  of  pure  India  rubber  in  thirty- 
six  parts  of  chloroform,  and  saturating  the  solu- 
tion with  pure  ammoniacal  gas.  The  chloroform 
is  then  distilled  at  a  temperature  of  165  degrees 
Pah.,  and  the  residue,  mixed  with  phosphate  of 
lime  or  carbonate  of  zinc,  is  pressed  into  moulds 
and  dried.  When  phosphate  of  lime  is  used,  the 
product  is  said  to  possess  in  a  remarkable  degree 
the  peculiar  composition  of  natural  ivory.  The 
second  process  involves  the  use  of  paper  mache 
and  gelatine  combined.  Billiard  balls  of  this 
substance  cost  about  one-third  of  the  price  of 
genuine  ivory  balls,  and  are  claimed  to  be  quite 
as  hard  and  elastic  as  the  latter.  They  may  be 
thrown   from   high   elevations   upon   pavement 


without  injury,  and  will  withstand  heavy  blows 
with  the  hammer.  The  composition  is  known 
as  Paris  marble,  and  may  be  used  for  raised  or- 
namentation on  ceilings  or  prepared  so  as  to 
imitate  fine  varieties  of  marble. — Gardener's 
Record. 


SCB APS  AND  QUERIES. 


Burying  Roots.  —  E.  K.,  Brattleboro,  Vt., 
says  : — "  Last  Spring  I  had  my  grounds  graded, 
and  about  two  feet  of  soil  was  heaped  around  a 
fine  larch  tree.  It  has  so  far  not  shown  any 
sign  of  hurt.  Fearing,  nevertheless,  that  in  might 
get  injured,  I  beg  to  ask  your  kind  advice.  Tak- 
ing the  soil  away  to  any  extent  round  it,  would 
make  a  basin  into  which  the  water  would  run 
from  all  sides,  the  tree  standing  unfortunately  in 
the  centre,  and  is  the  lowest  spot  of  the  ground." 

[Very  often  trees  die  after  being  buried  up  ; 
but  then  again  they  sometimes  live.  The  chances 
are  that  they  will  die.  They  want  air — and  it 
may  be  that  in  some  of  the  fortunate  cases,  some 
of  the  roots  find  the  way  to  get  air  in  spite  of  the 
covering.  In  some  cases  a  small  walled  up  well-" 
like  circle  is  made  around  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
through  which  water  goes  and  air  follows.  This 
often  saves  the  tree.  It  is  not  the  filling  up  of 
the  stem  that  causes  the  tree  to  die,  but  the  suf- 
focation of  the  fibrous  roots. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Freezing  of  the  Sap  of  Plants. — A  Boston 
correspondent  says  : — "  In  the  July  number  of 
the  Gardener's  Monthly,  page  217,  you  say  '  the  sap 
does  not  freeze  in  plants  in  the  winter  time/ 
which  seems  to  me  to  be  a  contradiction  of  what 
you  say  upon  this  matter  in  the  June  number  of 
the  Gardener's  Monthly,  page  185,  where  you  say  : 
'  If  it  has  not  been  long  or  severely  frozen,'  re- 
ferring to  a  plant,  '  it  may  be  recovered  by  immer- 
sion in  cold  water.'  If  I  am  in  error  in  regard 
to  this  matter  will  you  be  so  good  as  to  point  it 
out  to  me  as  briefly  as  you  please,  and  at  the 
same  time  state  what  it  is  that  injures  plants  in 
the  winter  season,  if  it  is  not  the  freezing  and 
thawing  of  the  sap." 

[Our  correspondent  has  the  idea  exactly  in 
one  way  by  putting  it  conversely,  "  Freezing  and 
thawing  of  the  sap  in  Winter  injures  plants." 
Therefore  we  say  when  they  are  not  injured 
the  sap  has  not  been  frozen. 

But  our  correspondent  must  not  forget  that 
plants  may  die  in  the  Winter  from  either  of  two 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


373 


causes :  1st,  They  may  die  from  rupture  of  the 
cells  when  they  expand  from  the  freezing;  or, 
2d,  they  may  die  from  the  evaporation  of  their 
juices,  as  they  often  will  in  severe  weather.  Tech- 
nically no  distinction  is  made.  In  both  cases  it 
is  customary  to  say  the  plant  was  killed  by  frost. 
When  we  say  "  If  the  plant  has  not  been  long 
or  severely  frozen,"  syringing  with  water  will 
bring  it  to — we  are  referring  to  plants  under 
the  second  condition.  When  a  plant  in  a  green- 
house is  first  touched  with  "  frost  "  it  wilts  ;  its 
juices  evaporate  rapidly,  and  this  is  why  it  wilts. 
After  a  time  the  sap  vessels  will  freeze,  and  burst. 
If  we  help  the  plant  to  regain  its  losses  before 
the  interior  freezes,  that  is  a  gain ;  but  if  the 
juices  in  the  cells  once  freeze,  the  geranium,  or 
whatever  it  be,  is  gone  surely. — Ed.  G.  M.] 

Wearing  Out  of  Varieties. —  R.  J.  S.,  Phila- 
delphia, says  : — "As  I  see  the  subject  of  wearing 
out  of  varieties  continues  to  receive  attention, 
is  it  not  a  proof  in  the  common  Butter  Pear, 
which,  during  recent  years  has  degenerated 
surely.     How  do  you  explain  this  ?  " 


[What  does  our  correspondent  mean  by  '  recent 
years?"  This  pear  is  no  worse  about  Philadel- 
phia than  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago,  as  we  have 
indisputable  evidence.  It  is  no  worse  now  than 
it  was  then  ;  it  has  not  "degenerated  "  in  a  hun- 
dred years.  The  Butter  Pear  is  just  the  same  as 
it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  Therefore,  we  say 
it  is  no  nearer  "  wearing  out  "  than  it  was  then. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 

Different  Degrees  of  Thickness  in  the 
Annual  Wood  Circles  of  Trees. — J.  S.,  Mt. 
Carmel,  111.,  writes: — "In  connection  with  the 
subject  on  'Excrescences  and  Eccentric  Wood 
Growth,'  it  may  be  interesting  to  state  a  fact  that 
I  have  often  noticed,  viz.:  That  the  annular 
rings  of  many  trees  that  I  have  counted,  show  a 
very  irregular  growth.  The  rings  representing 
eighty  to  one  hundred  years  back,  are  crowded 
into  much  less  space  than  those  found  before  or 
since.  I  know  of  no  way  of  accounting  for 
this,  except  it  be  that  the  corresponding  years 
were  very  dry." 


ITERATURE,  ^RAVELS  &  PERSONAL  ff OTES. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


European  Notes  by  the  Editor,  IS  o.  4. — To 
describe  in  detail  all  the  novel  points  of  our 
little  trip,  would  fill  a  volume.  1  shall  have  to 
omit  much,  and  simply  take  special  topics,  nur- 
series, large  estates,  public  grounds,  markets, 
antiquities,  and  so  forth,  as  they  impressed  them- 
selves on  my  memory,  "jumping"  about  from 
place  to  place,  in  order  to  select  our  types.  As 
we  left  off  in  our  last  with  a  typical  Rose  nur- 
sery, we  may  as  well  continue  the  subject  of 
nurseries  in  this  present  note. 

For  a  nursery  where  fine  specimen  trees  and 
shrubs  are  the  leading  features,  I  saw  no  one 
that  better  pleased  me  than  that  of  Jas.  Mitchell 
&  Son,  of  Pilltown,  near  Uckfield,  in  Sussex. 
The  nursery  does  not  count  its  acres  by  the 
scores,  but  the  number  of  beautiful  specimens 
was  very  great.  A  smooth  gravel  road,  with 
neat  box-edgings,  extends  around  the  grounds, 


and  the  borders  on  both  sides  are  filled  with  spe- 
cimens of  trees  and  shrubs  of  every  variety,  set 
out  with  no  particular  regard  to  kinds,  but  just 
as  they  would  look  best.  These  are  all  cared  for 
and  made  to  look  nice.  The  prices  paid  for  these 
pretty  specimens  would  "scare"  an  American 
accustomed  to  look  at  $5  for  a  "tree,"  as  a  " big 
thing,"  so  I  will  say  nothing  about  that  here. 
Seme  of  these  specimens  I  had  never  seen  so 
large  and  fine.  Imagine  golden  Arborvitaes  per- 
fect globes  of  six  feet  over !  Taxus  adpressa  globes 
of  eight  feet  over  !  what  would  its  lover,  Hoopes 
of  West  Chester,  say  to  a  few  score  like  that? 
Berberis  Darwini  about  four  by  four  feet.  Libo- 
cedrus  decurrens — "  beg  pardon,  Thuja  gigantea" 
— twenty  feet,  and  as  regularly  conical  as  a  child's 
green  moss  tree!  Our  Shepherdia  Canadensis, 
beautiful  globes  of  six  feet  over,  and  hosts  of 
similar  wonderfully  grown  things.  As  soon  as 
one  thing  is  sold  another  takes  its  place,  so  that 
there  is  a  constant  succession   of  transplanted 


374 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


stock  almost  sure  to  grow,  though  of  any  size. 
Of  course  I  ask  myself  why  cannot  we  have  such 
things?  Why  cannot  a  man  or  woman  in  our 
country  plant  a  place  at  once  like  a  perfect  pic- 
ture, instead  of  waiting  until  the  day  they  die  to 
know  the  trees  have  grown,  and  these  only  to  be 
cut  away  by  the  next  inheritor,  who  sees  only 
"  valuable  building  lots  "  at  hand?  Only  because 
nurserymen  here  cannot  afford  to  treat  the  plants 
suitably  at  ruling  prices.  A  long  avenue  of  Arau- 
caria  imbricata  here  is  worth  any  one's  going  to 
see.  One  which  I  measured  was  70  feet  round  in 
the  spread  of  its  branches,  and  eight  feet  and  a  half 
in  the  circumference  of  its  beautiful  straight 
trunk.  If  my  memory  is  true,  it  is  but  about  13 
years  old.  The  large  pine-apple-like  cones  on 
the  bearing  trees,  add  much  to  their  striking 
effect. 

I  was  anxious  to  see  a  trade  nursery.  Be  it 
known  that  London  is  in  a  measure  all  England. 
If  a  person  in  any  part  of  the  little  island  wants 
anything  whatever,  the  first  thought  is  to  "send 
to  London  for  it."  And  so  orders  for  trees  and 
flowers  of  any  kind  whatever,  go  to  London. 
Now  one  cannot  have  nurseries  or  greenhouses 
to  any  great  extent  in  a  crowded  place  like  that, 
in  which  there  are  more  people  than  in  all  Penn- 
sylvania !  So  those  who  sell  have  persons  in  the 
suburbs  who  supply  their  needs  on  short  no- 
tice. These  places  are  called  nurseries  which 
"grow  stock  for  the  London  trade."  One  of  the 
best  known  of  these  is,  perhaps,  Cutbush's  of 
Barnet.  The  great  especial  feature  is  the  Holly, 
of  which  an  enormous  quantity  in  endless 
variety  are  grown.  Of  course  I  admired  their 
beauty  in  a  general  way,  but  as  we  cannot  have 
these  beautiful  things  in  our  country,  I  showed 
I  fear,  little  interest  in  the  "  Microphylla  gran- 
dens,"  the  "  Purpurea  feroxes  "  and  the  "  Angu- 
lorum  foliolorums  "  on  which  my  guide  so  fondly 
dwelt ;  and  it  was  not  till  I  found  myself  among 
the  pretty  Heaths,  Epacrises,  Acacias  and  other 
beauties  of  New  Holland,  of  which  hundreds  of 
thousands  are  here  raised  and  sold,  that  I  seemed 
to  regain  a  reputation  as  a  person  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence. Most  of  the  things  grown  of  this  char- 
acter are  still  the  Boronias,  Dracophyllums,  and 
similar  old  stagers,  which  were  popular  when  us 
gray  beards  were  'prentice  boys— Genitylis  tulipi- 
fera  being  one  of  the  few  favorites  grown  in  im- 
mense quantity,  that  were  not  much  about  in  the 
olden  time.  To  grow  grapes  in  pots — hot-house 
grapes  as  we  may  say — for  the  London  trade,  is 
also  a  specialty  here.    They  know  how  to  grow 


them — ten  feet  of  good  strong  wood  in  a  season. 
This  is  the  way  all  do  in  this  business.  They 
grow  only  a  few  articles  that  they  have  learned 
to  grow  well. 

We  will  now  miss  a  few  days'  work,  and  take 
an  omnibus  ride  from  Charing  Cross  to  what  we  ' 
understood  everybody  to  say  the  Bulingate, 
which  translated,  means  "  Bull  and  Gate."  It 
must,  no  doubt,  have  been  a  fearful  gate  in  old 
Bovine  times;  but  it  has  probably  been  all  car- 
ried off  by  the  relic  hunters,  for  when  the  gentle- 
manly guard  informed  us  that  we  were  at  "  the 
gate,"  I  failed  to  find  a  solitary  splinter  even  of 
its  post.  But  I  took  a  "  tramway  "  from  there, 
and  about  noon  came  on  the  famous  "  show  " 
nursery  of  the  Williams'  at  Upper  Holloway. 
The  main  feature  is  stove  and  greenhouse  plants, 
and  the  aim  is  not  only  to  have  everything  new 
to  be  found  in  the  trade,  but  everything  new  and 
good  before  any  one  else,  if  possible.  When 
Mr.  Williams,  Sen.,  began,  he  found  little  trade, 
because  people  did  not  know  what  good  things 
were,  so  he  determined  to  grow  them  to  perfec- 
tion, and  exhibit  them  through  the  world.  His 
beautiful  collection  at  our  Centennial  was  a  great 
feat.  He  could  not,  of  course,  trust  his  best  spe- 
cimens so  far,  but  it  was  wonderful  that  he  did 
so  well  as  he  did.  His  son  had  just  returned 
from  Portugal  as  I  was  there,  with  the  grand 
medal  of  honor  for  his  exhibit  at  their  great 
show  at  Oporto.  Young  Mr.  Williams  left  a  good 
opinion  of  his  gentlemanly  character  and  busi- 
ness intelligence  behind  him  in  America,  and  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  find  him  everywhere 
highly  spoken  of  in  his  own  country.  Few  peo- 
ple who  are  familiar  only  with  plants  as  seen  at 
our  American  exhibitions,  can  have  any  idea  of 
plants  as  they  are  when  grown  as  Mr.  Williams 
grows  them.  Azaleas  "four  to  six  feet  high,  and 
so  perfect  that  not  a  leaf  is  misplaced  ;  but  in 
these  we  are  not  so  far  behind,  as  a  visit  to 
Mr.  Sargent's  in  Brookline  in  March,  at  least  will 
show.  Croton  Johannis  six  feet  high;  Ixoras  with 
flower  heads  six  inches  over;  Adiantum  Farley- 
ense,  solid  globes,  three  feet  through ;  Draco- 
phyllum  gracile  with  two  hundred  heads  of 
flowers ;  Ericas  about  six  feet  high  by  four  wide, 
with  thousands  of  flowers ;  A  Dracaena  rubra, 
with  fifty  perfect  leaves;  Statice  Holfordi  four 
feet  by  two ;  an  orchid  Sobralia  macrantha,  with 
forty  open  flowers ;  Cypripedium  barbatum,  in 
an  eighteen-inch  pan,  with  thirty-five  flowers ; 
a  Dicksonia  sixteen  feet  high  and  four  feet  round. 
These  are  but  faint  samples  of  hundreds  of  other 


1877. J 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


375 


things  in  the  forty  beautiful  greenhouses  which 
comprise  the  establishment.  Mr.  Williams  thinks 
a  good  share  of  his  success  has  been  the  persist- 
ent exhibiting  of  good  specimens,  by  which  people 
could  see  for  themselves  how  fine  plants  might 
be  made  by  growth  and  skill. 

Hardy  herbaceous  plants  are  becoming  exten- 
sively patronized  in  England,  and  there  are  now 
numerous  nurseries  engaged  in  growing  these 
alone.  One  of  the  best  of  these  is,  perhaps,  Ware's 
of  Tottenham.  I  do  not  know  of  anything  which 
gave  me  so  much  pleasure  as  the  day  I  spent 
here.  A  single  plant,  as  we  see  them  in  our  gar- 
dens, is  pretty  enough,  many  would  say  ;  but  here 
with  hundreds  of  a  kind  in  beds,  the  effect  is 
beautiful  in  the  extreme.  For  Alpine  plants, 
rocks  are  arranged  on  elevations,  and  swamp 
plants  are  grown  in  kegs  of  water,  sunk  in  the 
ground.  The  water  is  very  slow  in  evaporating 
under  these  circumstances,  and  is  just  the  thing 
for  these  plants.  For  Cypripediums  and  plants 
that  need  shelter  from  wind  and  sun,  hedges  of 
Privet  and  Arborvitse  are  made;  and  for  bog 
plants  peat  beds  are  formed.  With  this  little 
care  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  many  of  our 
own  native  plants,  far  more  beautiful  than  I  had 
ever  seen  them  at  home.  At  Parker's  at  Toot- 
ing, and  Barr  &  Sugdens  at  Fulham,  herba- 
ceous plants  are  specialties — the  last  chiefly  in 
bulbs — the  former  especially  rich  in  aquatics, 
from  having  a  stream  by  an  artesian  well. 

In  the  matter  of  new  and  rare  kinds,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  the  inquirer  takes  his  steps  to 
Chelsea,  where  Bull  and  Vietch,  neighbors,  have 
wonderful  establishments,  and  whose  proprietors 
ransack  the  whole  world  for  whatever  may  in- 
terest the  lovers  of  trees  and  plants.  A  day  at 
Mr.  Bull's  was  entirely  too  short  to  take  in  all 
the  treasures  of  this  immense  establishment. 
The  entrance  is  through  a  large  palm  and 
tree  fern  house,  which  is  shaded  by  training 
grape-vines  under  the  glass.  Orchids  are  grown 
in  immense  quantities,  and  some  of  the  more 
common  kinds  are  now  thought  cheap  at  from 
one  to  three  dollars  each — small  plants  of  course. 
The  rarer  ones,  however,  bring  high  prices. 
Odontoglossum  vexillarium  brings  about  $15 
each.  Mr.  Bull  states  that  it  cost  him  over 
$15,000  to  get  his  stock  of  this  plant.  Some  of 
these  Odontoglossums  bring  $50  each,  with  the 
demand  often  beyond  the  supply.  In  Dracaenas 
and  leaf  plants,  generally,  there  were  a  great 
number  of  good  things.  Dracaena  Goldiana  par- 
ticularly attracted  us.     So  many  new  Dracaenas 


are  hardly  different  from  the  old  ones;  but  the 
white  feathery  painting  of  this  made  it  very  dis- 
tinct, and  as  beautiful  as  it  was  novel.  Mr.  B. 
was  paying  great  attention  to  economic  plants, 
and  the  new  Cotton,  new  Liberian  Coffee,  and  a 
species  of  Eucalyptus,  with  leaves  as  sweet  as  the 
Lemon  Verbena,  had  a  good  share  of  his  atten- 
tion.   New  Arums,  new  Palms,  new  Ferns,  new 

Lilies,  new  Zamias,   new  Orchids,  new well, 

one  would  hardly  think  there  were  so  many  new 
things  in  the  world  to  find,  and  there  would  not 
be,  but  for  the  wonderful  enterprise  of  men  like 
these.  A  pretty  improvement  is  in  the  old  Pelar- 
goniums. They  are  crumpled  and  increased  in 
petals,  and  yet  have  a  beautiful  regularity  amidst 
all  their  seeming  confusion.  Some  of  the  earlier 
kinds  having  been  named  after  Royal  person- 
ages, the  whole  race  has  been  called  "  Regal 
Pelargoniums." 

At  Veitch's  the  entrance,  as  at  Bull's,  is  par- 
ticularly imposing  ;  when  you  get  through  to  the 
houses,  you  are  not  apt  to  feel  the  establishment 
particularly  impressive;  but  as  you  go  from 
house  to  house — there  are  one  hundred  and  four 
of  them — and  you  proceed  to  the  rarer  and  more 
valuable  plants,  the  riches  and  vastness  of  the 
collection  are  almost  overwhelming.  Great  at- 
tention was  being  paid  to  getting  new  races  of 
plants  by  hybridization.  Mr.  Domine,  who  first 
made  hybrid  Orchids  an  actual  and  a  profitable 
fact,  is  with  them,  living  in  a  house  on  the 
grounds  most  beautifully  covered  with  Ampelop- 
sis  Veitchii.  They  have  improved  the  tuberous 
rooted  Begonias  to  a  wonderful  extent,  a  fact  of 
much  interest  to  Americans,  in  whose  land  they 
will  make  admirable  bedding  plants.  There  is 
in  hand  a  new  race  of  hybrid  Rhododendrons. 
Fuchsias  and  Geraniums  were  also  under  the 
improver's  hand,  and  the  Gloxinia  had  been  put 
under  training  for  still  more  beautiful  varieties 
than  it  has  yet  given  us.  Mr.  Veitch  told  me  the 
Gloxinia  had  even  been  made  to  cross  with  the 
Foxglove,  but  whether  he  said  he  had  this  in 
hand,  or  it  was  only  talked  of  in  England,  I  do 
not  now  quite  remember.  There  is  a  beautiful 
Camellia  house  here,  one  hundred  feet  long,  the 
plants  growing  in  the  open  ground;  and  an  in- 
teresting point  to  me  was  the  shading  effected  by 
coarse  netting. 

Wonderful  attention  is  bestowed  on  the  Orchid 
family,  no  less  than  twenty-four  houses  or  one- 
fourth  the  whole  establishments  being  devoted 
to  them.  The  Hydrangea  was  being  improved, 
the  aim  being  to  get  a  fixed  rosy  red  color,  and 


376 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


considerable  success  had  attended  their  efforts. 
New  Egyptian  Cotton,  new  Cinnamon  from  Ja- 
pan, that  would  be  half  hardy  if  not  more  than 
half,  new  Nepentheses  or  Bornean  pitcher  plants, 
and  the  Darlington  pitcher  plants  from  Califor- 
nia; these  will  give  an  idea  of  the  scope  of  this 
immense  establishment. 

It  was  my  aim  to  take  this  day  also  to  examine 
a  type  of  a  hardy  tree  nursery,  but  the  day  is 
gone  at  this  immense  place,  and  I  must  leave 
this  for  another  one,  and  take  the  omnibus  back 
to  London. 

"You're  a  furriner,  I  see,"  said  the  kind- 
hearted  guard,  "  and  I  suppose  like  to  see  all  the 
interesting  things?"  It  always  surprised  me  how 
a  man  in  his  own  born  country  should  be  taken 
for  a  "furriner,"  but  I  admitted  that  it  was  just 
so.  "Well,"  said  he,  "there  is  a  curiosity  you 
will  hardly  meet  with  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
A  church  wedged  in  between  two  of  the  gayest 
kind  of  taverns."  "But,"  said  I,  "tell  us  about 
these  gardens,  whose  they  are,  and  anything  you 
know  about  them."  And  it  is  wonderful,  as  Sir 
Walter  Scott  once  said,  how  much  there  often  is 
under  a  tarpaulin  hat  or  fustian  jacket. 

Arboretum  Segrezianum — An  enumeration 
of  the  trees  and  shrubs  cultivated  at  Segrez, 
Seine  et  vise,  by  Alphonse  Lavallee. — Mr.  Lav- 
allee  is  a  wealthy  young  gentleman,  President 
of  the  leading  Horticultural  Society  of  France, 
and  who  takes  a  great  interest  in  every- 
thing that  pertains  to  Horticulture,  and  espe- 
cially the  Arboricultural  branch ;  and  he  has 
collected  together  over  four  thousand  species  or 
marked  varieties  of  ligneous  plants,  and  which 
form,  perhaps,  the  finest  arboretum  in  the  world. 
There  is  a  collection  of  over  one  thousand  in 
Germantown,  out  of  which  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  were  exhibited  at  the  Centennial,  and  this 
is  thought  to  be  pretty  full,  and  one  may  judge 
from  this  how  superior  is  this  one  of  Monsieur 
Lavallee.  The  great  value  of  this  "enumera- 
tion" is  in  the  care  with  which  the  correct  name 
is  raked  out  from  the  mass  of  synonyms,  and  the 
authorities  given  for  the  names.  If  the)'  have 
been  figured,  references  are  made,  and  the  na- 
tive country  of  each  is  appended.  It  is  a  work 
that  will  be  of  great  service  to  any  one  interested 
in  tree  culture. 

It  is  possible  that  a  little  more  acquaintance 
with  American  literature  would  have  prevented 
some  errors.  Our  old  friend,  the  Heath-leaved 
Arborvita?,  and  which  every  American  who  has 


ever  watched  the  growth  of  a  lot  of  seedlings, 
knows  is  but  an  Arborvitaa  that  has  retained  ' 
through  life  its  juvenescent  character,  is  now 
carried  out  of  "  Retinospora,"  where  Carriere 
placed  it,  into  Cupressus,  and  actually  reduced 
to  the  same  thing  as  "  C.  (Ret.)  squarrosa."  And 
our  other  friend,  "  Tom  Thumb,"  which  in  our 
country  grows  out  of  its  juvenescence  after  a  half 
dozen  years  or  so,  and  assumes  its  hitherto  de- 
layed full  Arborvitse  character,  is  also  made  a 
Cupressus — C.  squarrosa  Elwangeriana.  The 
further  error  is  made  of  giving  Mr.  Barry  as  the 
author  of  the  name  "  Retinospora  Elwangeri- 
ana," which  we  all  know  he  is  not.  The  way  in 
which  foreign  botanists  worry  and  fuss  over  these 
simple  things,  is  very  amusing  to  Americans. 
The  work  can  be  had  of  Bailliere  et  Fils,  Paris 
or  London. 

Corrections. — A  friend  well-informed  on  Cali- 
fornia botany,  kindly  suggests  that  Mrs.  Briggs' 
"  Butterfly  Tulip  "  is  a  Calochortus,  and  that  the 
"  White  Tulip  "  is  a  Cyclobothra.  "  Poweridia- 
num  "  is  of  course  a  misprint  for  pomeridianum. 
So  in  Mr.  Falconer's  article,  p.  324,  speaking  of 
the  hardihood  of  Evening  Primroses,  it  should 
be  4°,  not  40°  below  zero.  And  in  addition  we 
have  the  following,  although  the  printer  insists 
that  in  these  cases  the  fault  is  in  the  "  copy," 
and  is  none  of  his. 

"New  London,  Conn.,  November  6th,  1877. 
"  Mr.  Editor : — You  make  me  say  in  Novem- 
ber number  of  the  Monthly,  p.  332,  that  the  lati- 
tude of  New  London  is  47°  21/  N.  What  I 
wrote  was  41°  21/  N.  I  would  hardly  warrant 
the  English  Walnut  to  bear  fruit  at  Quebec, 
which  is  about  47°  N.     Yours  truly, 

"  Robert  Coit." 

"Rochester,  N.  Y. 
"Mr.  Editor: — In  printing  my  last  communi- 
cation, p.  343,  the  substitution  of  the  words  '  if 
one '  for  '  if  any,'  you  do  such  extreme  violence 
to  the  sense  that  I  am  tempted  to  call  attention 
to  the  mistake.  Eugene  Glen." 

Guano. — It  takes  a  long  while  for  the  world  to 
find  out  the  value  of  things.  Guano  and  its  good 
qualities  is  mentioned  by  a  Spaniard,  Alonsa 
Barba  de  Potosi,  in  1640,  translated  into  English 
by  the  Earl  of  Sandwich  in  1670. 

The  Soldiers'  Home  at  Dayton,  Ohio. — These 
grounds,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Beck, 
are  said  to  be  models  of  good  taste,  and  they  have 


1877.] 


AND  HOB  TIG  UL  TUB  IS  T. 


377 


had  a  marked  effect  on  the  garden  culture  of  the 
Daytonians. 

Business  Enterprise. — It  was  remarkable  that 
in  the  same  number  that  we  noticed  the  beauti- 
ful new  Violet,  Belle  de  Chatenay,  and  remarked 
that  it  was  probably  not  yet  in   our   country,  it 


Tradescantia  Virginica  are  perhaps  the  best 
known  by  it  Though  we  cannot  decide  which 
our  correspondent  means  (if  either),  we  may 
say  that  both  are  "  cultivated  in  this  coun- 
try," where,  if  tbey  must  have  "  popular  names," 
they  are  tolerably  well  known  as  "  Spiderwort " 
and  "  Foxglove."    The  former  he  can   find  wild 


DOUBLE   WHITE   VIOLET,       BELLE   DE   CHATENAY. 


should  be  advertised  in  that  very  number  by 
H.  A.  Dreer.  We  herewith  give  an  illustration 
of  it. 

Thomas  S.  Kennedy,  of  Louisville. — A  Louis- 
ville paper  before  us  speaks  complimentarily  of 
the  appointment  of  this  gentleman  as  one  of  the 
Vice  Presidents  of  the  American  Pomological 
Society.  It  is  always  a  sign  of  worth  when  one's 
neighbors  praise. 


SCRAPS  AND  QUERIES. 


Ephemeron  Flower. — "Classic"  asks  us  if  the 
plant  known  as  "  Ephemeron  flower  "  is  in  cul- 
tivation in  this  country  ?  As  we  have  repeatedly 
said  it  is  little  use  in  bothering  with  the  "  popu- 
lar "  names  of  plants,  unless  like  Mignonette  and 
Pansy  they  have  become  "household  words." 
There  are  at  least  half  a  dozen  kinds  of  things 
which  have  had  the  name  of  "Ephemeron" 
given  to  it,  of  which  the  Digitalis  purpurea  and 


in  the  meadows  from   near   which   he  hails  (St. 
Paul). 

Napoleon's  Willow.  —  F.,  Boston,  Mass., 
writes  : — "  Excuse  a  question  which  may  seem 
a  simple  one  to  you,  but  happened  to  arise,  and 
prove  an  unsettled  dispute  in  a  little  circle.  It  is, 
is  the  common  Weeping  Willow  of  our  gardens 
the  same  as  the  one  growing  over  Napoleon's 
tomb  at  St.  Helena?" 

[It  is  the  same,  and  tradition  says  all  our  Wil- 
lows sprung  from  a  cutting  of  that  one,  having 
been  brought  over  by  Captain  Jacob  Smith  of 
Khode  Island.  Perhaps  our  old  correspondent, 
A.  Smith  of  Providence,  (if  still  living,  for  we  have 
not  heard  of  him  for  some  years,)  could  give  us 
the  exact  date  of  the  introduction,  as  we  have  an 
impression  Capt.  Smith  was  one  of  his  ancestors. 
—Ed.  G.  M.] 

Sending  Stamps  for  Answers. — A  few  people 
— we  are  glad  to  say  not  many — forget  to  send 
stamps  when  a  reply  is  required  on  their  own 
business.  There  are  others  who  are  over  thought- 
ful, and  who  send  cards  or  envelopes  already 
stamped  and  addressed.  A  man  with  a  score  or 
two  of  letters  coming  to  his  table,  does  not  an* 


3*78 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


ewer  each  one  as  he  reads  it,  leaving  all  the  rest 
unopened  till  he  finishes  the  answer  to  that  one, 
but  he  opens  all  first.  When  he  comes  to  the 
letter  that  had  a  stamped  and  directed  envelope, 
it  is  a  rare  chance  if  among  so  many  he  remem- 
bers about  it — at  least  we  cannot.  The  scores  of 
addressed  stamped  envelopes  and  cards  lying 
about  on  our  table  is  a  nuisance.  We  shall  be 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  "  stamp  enclosed." 
Some  think  that  as  an  addressed  card  cannot  be 
used  for  anything  else,  it  forces  an  answer  they 
would  not  otherwise  receive,  but  this  is  a  mistake 
— in  our  case  at  least. 

Rules  for  Judges. — An  Ohio  correspondent 
writes : — "  In  our  State  Fair  and  some  of  the 
Horticultural  Premium  Catalogues,  under  the 
class  of  greenhouse  plants,  is  this  rule,  '  All 
plants  must  be  grown  in  the  pots  in  which  they 
are  exhibited.'    Is  there  any  rule  by  which  to 


decide  how  long  the  plant  must  have  been  in  the 
pot,  to  come  under  this  rule,  if  the  plant  is  dug 
up  out  of  the  ground  and  potted?" 

[We  must  never  forget  that  language  ia  used 
to  express  one's  meaning,  and  in  any  doubtful 
case,  what  ideas  it  was  the  evident  intention  to 
express,  should  have  the  benefit  of  any  doubt 
that  may  arise.  In  the  present  case  it  was  clearly 
the  intention  to  encourage  the  pot-culture  of 
flowers,  and  it  would  be  no  such  encouragement 
if  plants  could  be  first  grown  in  the  ground,  and 
then  just  lifted  and  put  into  a  pot  for  the  purpose 
of  exhibiting  them.  Butm  the  present  case  there 
is  not  even  this  doubt,  for  the  language  is  not 
"  growing  in  a  pot,"  but  grown  in  a  pot ;  and  we 
should  say  that  if  the  best  part  of  the  plant  or 
more  than  one-half  of  it,  had  been  grown  in  a 
pot,  and  only  the  minor  part  of  it  originally  in 
the  ground,  it  ought  not  to  be  disqualified. — Ed. 
G.  M.] 


fMORTICULTURAL  ^SOCIETIES. 


The  Pennsylvania  Fruit  Growers'  Society. 
— We  should  gladly  notice  the  proposed  meet- 
ings of  all  our  Horticultural  Societies,  if  they 
came  to  us  in  time  ;  but  very  few  notes  come  to 
hand  until  a  few  days  before  the  time.  Just  as 
we  go  to  press  we  have  the  following  from  one 
of  the  officers  of  .  the  Pennsylvania  Society  : — 
"  The  next  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Fruit 
Growers'  Society  is  to  be  held  in  Williamsport, 
on  the  third  Wednesday  of  January  next,  and 
that  the  officers  are  using  every  endeavor  to 
make  it  an  unusually  interesting  time.  They 
are  now  engaged  in  collating  matter  for  the  new 
report,  which  will  contain,  among  other  good 
features,  some  superb  full-page  illustrations  of 
our  little  known  seedling  Pennsylvania  fruits. 
The  several  committees  are  at  work,  and  appear 
desirous  of  keeping  up  the  reputation  of  the 
Society,  as  a  means  of  diffusing  information  upon 
general  Horticulture  throughout  the  State.  Dele- 
gates and  visitors  from  other  States  will  be 
heartily  welcomed." 

Organizations  for  Town  Embellishments. — 
Mr.  Steele,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  recently  read  before 
the  Montgomery  Co.  (0.)  Horticultural  Society, 


a  very  interesting  paper  on   this  subject.     He 
quotes  the  following  from  the  pen  of  Geo.  E. 

Waring,  in  Scribner's  Monthly  : — 

"  The  Laurel  Hill  Association  takes  its  name 
from  a  wooded  knoll  in  the  center  of  the  village, 
which  had  been  dedicated  to  public  use.  The 
first  object  of  the  association  was  to  convert  this 
knoll  into  a  village  park.  Then  they  took  in 
hand  the  village  burial  ground,  which  was  put  in 
proper  condition  and  suitably  surrounded  with 
hedge  and  railing.  Then  the  broad  village  street 
was  properly  graded  and  drained  and  agreeable 
walks  were  made  at  its  sides.  Incidental  to  this 
the  people  living  along  both  sides  of  the  streets 
were  encouraged  to  do  what  they  could  to  give 
it  an  appropriate  setting  by  putting  their  own 
premises  into  tasteful  condition  and  maintaining 
them  so.  The  organization  worked  well  and 
accomplished  good  results.  The  Rev.  N.  P. 
Eggleston,  formerly  of  Stockbridge,  in  a  paper 
on  village  improvements,  written  for  the  New 
York  Tribune,  thus  describes  the  collateral  work 
and  influences  of  the  Laurel  Hill  Association  : 

"Next  followed  the  planting  of  trees  by  the 
roadside,  wherever  trees  were  lacking.  The 
children, sometimes  disposed  in  their  thoughtless- 
ness to  treat  young  trees  too  rudely,  were  brought 
in  as  helpers  of  the  association,  while  at  the  same 
time  put  under  a  beneficial  culture  themselves. 
Anybody  who  would  undertake  to  watch  and 
care  for  a  particular  tree  for  two  years  was  re- 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


379 


warded  by  having  the  tree  called  by  his  name. 
Other  children  were  paid  for  all  the  loose  papers 
and  other  unsightly  things  which  they  would 
pick  up  and  remove  from  the  street.  Gradually 
the  work  of  the  association  extended.  It  soon 
took  in  hand  the  streets  connected  with  the 
main  street.  Year  by  year  it  pushed  out  walks 
from  the  center  of  the  village  towards  its  outer 
borders.  Year  by  year  it  extended  its  line  of 
trees  in  the  same  manner ;  and  year  by  year 
there  has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  the 
aspect  of  the  village.  Little  by  little,  and  in 
many  nameless  ways,  the  houses  and  barns,  the 
door — yards  and  farms,  have  come  to  wear  a 
look  of  neatness  and  intelligent,  tasteful  care 
makes  the  Stockbridge  of  to-day  quite  different 
from  the  Stockbridge  of  twenty  years  ago.  Trav- 
elers passing  through  it  are  apt  to  speak  of  it 
with  admiration  as  a  finished  place ;  and,  com- 
pared with  most  of  our  New  England  villages,  it 
has  such  a  look ;  but  the  Laurel  Hill  Association 
does  not  consider  its  home  finished  nor  its  own 
work  completed.  Still  the  work  goes  on.  Com- 
mittees are  even  now  conning  plans  for  further 
improvements.  The  association  fosters  libraries, 
reading  rooms  and  other  places  of  resort,  where 
innocent  and  healthful  games,  music  and  conver- 
sation, will  tend  to  promote  the  social  feeling 
and  lessen  vice  by  removing  some  of  its  causes." 

ADDRESS  OF   MARSHALL   P.  WILDER. 

(Continued  from  page  320.) 

THE  EXTENSION  OF  FRUIT  CULTURE,   AND  THE 

IMMENSE   CROPS   OF   OUR  COUNTRY. 

As  the  source  of  light  and  heat  travels  from 
the  East,  completing  its  daily  circuit  on  our 
Western  shore,  there  to  rejoice  in  all  his  strength, 
so  fruit  culture  has  crossed  our  continent  to  the 
Pacific  slope,  there  to  produce  almost  all  the 
fruits  of  the  habitable  globe,  and  finally  to  per- 
meate, enrich  and  adorn  our  whole  land. 

At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  our  Society, 
the  cultivation  of  fruits  for  the  market,  or  for 
exportation,  was  limited  to  a  few  of  the  older 
States.  In  Mr.  Coxe's  opinion  the  fine  apple 
growing  section  was  bounded  by  the  Mohawk 
river  in  the  North,  and  the  James  river  in  the 
South.  Fruit  growing  in  this  section  was  con- 
fined principally  to  apples  and  peaches ;  but 
very  few  of  the  latter  found  their  way  to  the 
markets  of  the  North,  while  strawberries  and 
other  small  fruits  were  scarcely  to  be  seen,  except 
in  the  locality  where  they  were  raised. 

But  now,  almost  every  steamer  from  New 
York  for  Liverpool  or  London,  in  the  Fall  and 
Winter  months  takes  apples  varying  from  five 
hundred  to  three  thousand  barrels.  Shipments 
have  been  made  from  other  ports,  and  as  late 
as  last  May  there  were  fifteen  hundred  barrels 
sent  to  England  from  Philadelphia.  In  Decem- 
ber last,  ninety  thousand  barrels  of  American 
apples  were  landed  at  Liverpool.  Very  little 
difficulty  is  experienced  in  the  winter  months, 
but  arrangements  have  been  made  to  ship  in 
warm  weather  by  vessels  with  refrigerator 
compartments. 

As  the  refrigerating  process  becomes    more 


and  more  perfect  it  will  aid  largely  the  exporta- 
tion, not  only  of  apples,  but  of  more  delicate 
fruits.  Pears,  peaches  and  grapes  have  been  sent 
to  England  in  good  order,  and  it  is  confidently 
expected  that  American  peaches  will  soon  be 
well  known  in  the  markets  of  England. 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  Canada,  Iowa,  Wis- 
consin, Minnesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  California, 
Oregon  and  other  sections,  and  other  new  States 
and  Territories,  where  the  cultivation  of  fruits 
had  scarcely  commenced  when  this  Society  was 
established !  Who  that  witnessed  the  exhibitions 
of  fruit  from  the  States  first  mentioned  at  our 
various  sessions  in  Richmond,  Boston,  Chicago, 
and  at  the  Centennial  in  Philadelphia,  has  not 
been  surprised  at  the  progress  already  made. 

At  the  time  this  Society  was  formed,  the  area 
of  fruit  culture  and  the  value  of  our  fruits  was  so 
limited  that  it  was  not  thought  worth  while  to 
collect  the  statistics.  Then  many  States,  Canada 
and  Nova  Scotia,  had  given  but  little  attention  to 
fruit  culture,  except  that  of  apples.  These  and 
other  sections  were  deemed  too  far  North  for 
successful  fruit  cultivation.  Now  they  produce 
large  quantities  of  fine  fruits,  the  Nova  Scotia 
Society  having  received  four  medals  from  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  London,  and  the 
Ontario  Society,  at  the  Quarter  Centennial  ses- 
sion in  Boston  in  1873,  the  Wilder  Medal,  for  the 
best  collection. 

The  estimate  by  the  Government  for  the  Cen- 
tennial, last  year,  furnished  the  following  statistics 
(soon  to  be  published),  of  the  fruit  culture  of  our 
country : 

The  number  of  acres  under  cultivation,  in 
orchards,  vines  and  small  fruits,  is  estimated  at 
4,500,000.  The  number  of  trees  is  estimated  as 
follows:  apples,  112,000,000;  pears,  28,260,000  ; 
peaches,  112,270,000;  grapes,  141,260,000;  total, 
393,790,000.  The  estimated  value  of  fruit  pro- 
ducts is  :  apples,  $50,400,000;  pears,  $14,130,000 ; 
peaches,  $56,135,000  ;  grapes,  $2,118,900  ;  straw- 
berries, $5,000,000;  other  fruits,  $10,432,800; 
making  a  grand  total  of  $138,216,700  ;  or,  nearly 
equal  to  one-half  of  the  value  of  our  average 
wheat  crop.  California,  to  say  nothing  of  figs, 
oranges,  olives  and  almonds,  has  nearly  one- 
third  of  the  whole  grape  area,  sixty  thousand 
acres  of  vineyards,  and  forty-three  millions  of 
vines,  yielding  annually,  besides  grapes  and 
raisins  for  the  market,  ten  millions  of  gallons  of 
wines,  to  which  may  be  added  the  wines  of 
Missouri,  Ohio  and  other  States,  the  whole  wine 
product  being  fifteen  millions  of  gallons,  as  the 
annual  crop. 

The  following  are  a  few  illustrations  of  the 
immense  quantities  of  fruits  which  are  sent  to 
market  in  addition  to  what  is  consumed  at 
home. 

Of  strawberries,  there  were  received  in  one 
day,  in  the  New  York  market  at  the  height  of 
the  season,  from  all  sources,  7,000  crates,  averag- 
ing at  least  a  bushel  and  a  half  each — more  than 
10,000  bushels.  The  crop  of  peaches  raised  in 
this  country  is  so  enormous  that  we  hardly  dare 
state  the  quantity.  The  largest  crop  was  in  1875, 
and  on  the  peninsula  of  Delaware  and  Maryland 


380 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


alone  was  estimated  at  between  7,000,000  and 
8,000,000  baskets. 

From  California,  according  to  the  statement 
furnished  me  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Hooper,  editor  of  the 
California  Horticulturist,  there  were  sent  East 
in  1876,  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  car  loads 
of  fruit,  of  four  hundred  bushels  each ;  an 
increase  of  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent, 
over  the  previous  year,  one  firm  having  sent 
seven  hundred  tons  ;  and  of  the  strawberry,  it  is 
estimated  that  from  San  Jose  and  vicinity,  some 
days  therewere  sent  for  home  consumption  forty 
tons  of  this  fruit,  and  in  a  circuit  of  about  five 
miles  there  are  more  than  a  thousand  acres  of 
this  fruit  under  cultivation.  Dr.  Strentzel,  our 
Chairman  of  the  Fruit  Committee  for  California, 
writes,  that,  at  short  notice,  that  State  can  furnish 
the  whole  continent  with  an  overflowing  supply 
of  fruit. 

From  Virginia,  Mr.  Leighton,  our  Vice-IYesi- 
dent,  ^writes,  that  the  increase  of  strawberry 
culture  in  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk,  is  astonishing, 
completely  heading  the  page  of  horticultural 
progress,  and  that  it  seems  wonderful  how  the 
demand  keeps  pace  so  closely  with  the  supply. 
The  shipments  this  year  have  been  over  three 
millions  of  quarts.  There  were  nearly  10,000 
pickers  in  the  field  in  one  day.  One  grower  had 
185  acres.  To  Boston  alone  there  have  been 
shipped  this  year  11,547  crates,  of  45  quarts  each, 
or  more  than  16,000  bushels. 

In  Illinois  very  little  fruit  was  raised,  except 
for  home  use,  until  1840,  when,  according  to  Mr. 
Flagg's  interesting  historical  address  before  the 
State  Horticultural  Society,  a  new  era  in  fruit 
culture  commenced.  Now  there  are  320,000 
acres  of  orchards  in  that  State.  Mr.  Parker  Earle 
informs  me  that  in  a  good  season  there  have  been 
sent  from  his  station  alone  (Cobden)  twenty-five 
car  loads  of  fruit  daily.  Of  strawberries,  where 
scarcely  any  were  raised  sixteen  years  ago  for 
exportation,  within  six  or  seven  years  the  culti- 
vation has  increased  at  Cobden  and  vicinity  to 
over  one  thousand  acres,  so  that  five  or  six  car- 
loads daily  are  dispatched  to  the  various 
markets. 

From  Georgia,  Mr.  Berckmans,  President  of 
the  State  Horticultural  Society,  writes  as  follows 
of  the  late  exhibition  of  his  Society : 

"Many  of  our  people  of  intelligence  were 
amazed  at  our  progress.  The  exhibition  of  fruits 
was  grand.  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  the  display 
of  peaches  was  never  surpassed,  if  equalled,  in 
any  place  in  the  past.  I  had  fifty-six  varieties  of 
peaches,  all  ripe  and  in  perfection ;  others  had 
collections  almost  equal  in  number,  and  several 
surpassing  in  size.  Many  had  peaches  measuring 
twelve  and  one-half  inches  in  circumference.  The 
grape  show  was  almost  equal  to  the  peach 
exhibit.  Upwards  of  fifty  varieties  were  exhibi- 
ted. Some  wonderfully  fine  Concords  were 
shown,  which  weighed  one  pound  to  the  bunch. 
Pears  were  fine,  but  not  numerous  as  to  varie- 
ties." He  had  forty  varieties  in  eating  condition, 
which,  together  with  the  balance  of  his  collec- 
tion, made  nearly  two  hundred  varieties  of  fruits. 

The  increase  in  the  crops  of  apples,  in  New 


York,  Michigan,  and  the  more.  Western  States, 
is  wonderful. 

From  New  York,  it  is  estimated  that  in  abun- 
dant years,  one  and  a  half  millions  of  barrels,  are 
exported  in  addition  to  those  consumed  at  home, 
a  single  firm  at  Boston  receiving  from  that  State 
from  30,000  to  40,000  barrels  of  apples  per  year. 
In  the  best  seasons,  Monroe,  Niagara  and  Orleans 
counties  produce  more  than  one  million  barrels 
of  apples,  and  the  value  in  one  county  is  stated 
to  be  a  million  of  dollars. 

Michigan  is  a  great  fruit  producing  State,  and 
many  parts  of_  it  fully  up  to  New  York.  The 
crop  of  apples  in  this  State,  is  estimated  by  Vice- 
President  Lyon,  at  $2,000,000  in  value;  peaches, 
$1,000,000,  and  other  fruits,  $1,000,000,  or  a  total 
of  $4,000,000. 

TROPICAL  FRUITS. 

The  reports  of  Mr.  Bishop,  Chairman  of  the 
Fruit  Committee  for  Florida,  and  of  Mr.  Bed- 
mond,  Vice  President  for  Mississippi,  give  pro- 
mise of  a  great  increase  in  the  cultivation  of 
tropical  fruit.  This,  says  Mr.  Berckmans,  has 
revolutionized  the  State  of  Florida  within  the 
past  ten  years.  It  has  long  been  known  that  the 
climate  of  Florida  was  well  suited  to  the  culti- 
vation of  the  orange,  but  is  is  within  the  last  few 
years  that  it  has  been  practically  demonstrated 
that  this,  as  well  as  many  other  tropical  fruits 
could  be  grown  with  profitable  results.  Florida 
oranges  were,  until  within  a  few  years,  seldom 
seen  in  our  northern  cities  ;  now  the  bulk  of  the 
consumption  is  derived  from  the  flowery  State. 
In  this,  as  in  many  other  fruits  in  other  sections 
of  the  continent,  there  has  been  great  improve- 
ment; by  selecting  the  best  varieties  for  propa- 
gation, until  the  standard  of  quality  of  the  orange 
in  California  is  based  upon  that  of  Florida 
oranges.  The  lower  portions  of  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana  produce  large  quantities  of  oranges, 
but  they  are  seldom  shipped  to  the  northern 
cities,  New  Orleans  consuming  all  that  are  pro- 
duced in  the  surrounding  parishes.  Bananas 
are  being  extensively  grown  in  lower  Florida, 
and  find  ready  sale  at  remunerative  prices. 
Limes,  shaddocks  and  lemons  have  received  in- 
creased attention,  while  pineapples  have  been 
found  to  be  very  successful  in  the  southern  por- 
tion of  Florida.  The  date  begins  to  thrive  suc- 
cessfully on  the  coast  of  lower  Georgia  and  will, 
doubtless,  ere  long  be  extensively  cultivated. 
California  now  raises  seven  millions  of  oranges 
annually,  and  it  appears  probable  that  this  State, 
with  the  Gulf  States,  can  furnish  all  the  tropical 
fruits  required  for  the  consumption  of  the  whole 
country. 

The  immense  collection  of  fruit  shown  at  the 
Centennial  Exposition  last  year,  surpassing  even 
the  great  exhibitions  of  this  Society  at  Boston 
and  Chicago,  deserves  mention  here.  Mr.  Parker 
Earle,  one  of  the  Judges,  writes  me,  "  I  know 
that  the  Judges  examined  over  twelve  thousand 
dishes  of  fruit  during  the  week,  commencing  the 
10th  of  September,  and  I  have  no  doubt  the  en- 
tire exhibition  during  the  season,  reached  the 
grand  number  of  over  sixty  thousand  dishes, 
and  over  four  hundred  thousand  specimens." 


INDEX.— VOL.  XIX. 


Abies  Engclmanni,   165,  229, 
324 
•*       Menziesii,  278 
"       Fraseri,  308 
About  Greenhouses,  200 
Absorptive  Power  of  Clay,  27 
Abut) Ion,  Monstrous,  140 
Acalypha  tricolor   in    the 

Flower  Garden,  262 
Acer  colchicum  rubrum,  37 
Aconite,  Yellow  Winter,  231 
Aconitum  japonicum,  38,  100 
Address  of  Marshall  P.  Wil- 
der, 320,  379 
Adiantum    Farleyense    and 

Double  Primulas,  167 
Adiantum    Farleyense    as  a 

Room  Plant,  234 
Aeration     Apparatus,     Mc- 
Afee's, 115 
jEsculua  Californica,  285 
"       Hippocas  t  a  n  u  m  — 
Horse  Chestnut,  63 
Agave  Shawii,  Flowering  of, 

140 
Age  of  Orange  Trees,  222 
Ages  of  Distinguished  Men, 

128 
Agriculture,  U.  S.  Dept.  Re- 
port, 1875,  64 
Ailanthus,  Chinese,  132 

"  The.  194,  226,  279 

Ajuga  reptans,  231 

Akebia  quinata,  Fruiting  of, 

351 

"  "         Seedling,  7 

Alder   and   Sweet    Fern  in 

Tanning,  23 
Alexander  Apple,  17 

Peach,  147 
Algse,  214 

"      in  Drinking  Water,119 
Alocasia  Lowii,  327 
Alpine  Garden,  A  Little,  100 
Amaryllis  formosissima,  295 
"         vittata  Harrisons, 
265 
Amateur  Marketing,  256 
American  Apples,    Packing, 
211 
"         Ass'n  for  Advance- 
ment of  Science, 
Meeting,  127 
"  Ass'n  of  Nursery- 

men, 288 
Ass'n,  The,  248 
"         Blackberries      in 
England,  50,  365 
"  Gum  Arabic,  368 

Naturalist,  64 
"  Pomological  Soc'y, 

96,  159,   192,  255, 
319,  320,  352 
"  and  Foreign  Tube- 

roses, 30 
"  Tuberoses,  2 

"  "  Italian 

and,  112 
America.Price  of  Flowers  in, 
359 
"       The  Garden  of,  316 
Ampelopsis  japonica,  7 
"  Veitchii,  165 

"  Virginica,    Poi- 

soning by,  151 
Amsden  Peach,  303 
Andromeda  arborea,  340 


Anemone  japonica,  357 
Animal  and  Vegetable  Life, 
Northern  Limits  of,  215 
Annual  Plants,  355 
Ant  Hill,  Plant  in  an,  233 
Antholoyza,  Culture  of,    171 
Anthurium  crystallinum,  239 
Antignon  leptopus,  39,  170 
Antipodal  Hyacinths,  329 
Apple,  Alexander,  17 

"      and  Pear  Trees,  De- 
caying, 47 
"      Baldwin,  50 
"      Ben  Davis,  16 
"      Best  in  the  World,  301 
"      Blenheim  Pippin,  16, 

147, 206 
"      Bradt  Seedling  Russet, 
335 
"      French  Pippin,  51 , 1 16 
"      Golden        "       Histo- 
ry of,  254 
"      Hames'  Seedling,  273 
"      Kinney's  Cider  Crab, 
337 
"      Mother,  146 
"      Names,  Origin  of  some 

Old,  254 
"      Northern  Spy  in  the 

West,  207    ' 
"      Ribston  Pippin,  17 
"      Rossingold,     A   Good 

French,  79 
"      Sener,  113 
"      Siberian     Crab,     Im- 
proved, 337 
"      State,  The,  241 
"      Stump,  19 
"      Swenker,  52 
"      Tree,  Twig-blight  on 

the,  365 
"      Twin,  351 
Apples,  American  Packing, 
241 
Best  Maine,  335 
for  England,  207 
for    North -eastern 

New  Jersey,  80 
Name  of,  52 
New,  19 
Numerous  Varieties 

of,  366 
Popular  English,241 
Wearing  out  of  Va- 
rieties, 240 
Apricots  in  Boston,  80,  173 
"         "   California,    206, 
332 
April  Day  in  the  Foot-hills 

of  California,  309 
Aquilegia  Californica,  100 
"         Chrysantha,   Hy- 
brid, 292 
Aquilegias,  California,  37 
Aralia  papyrilera,  369 
Arboretum,  Arnold,  56 

"  Segreyanum,375 

Arboriculture,  Piizes  for,  245 

Artichoke,  Jerusalem,  51, 158 

"  "  History 

of,  126 
"  "         Native 

Country' 
of,  157 
To  Cook 
175 
Artificial  Colored  Flowers,296 
Artillery  Plant  for  Window 
Gardens,  234 


Arundo  conspicua,  58 
Asclepias  cornuti,  118 
"        Syriaca,  69 
Ash  as  a  Timber  Tree,  177 
"    White,  in  New  England, 
245 
Asparagus,  Conover's  Collos- 
sal,  175 
"  Forcing,  208 

Monstrous,  146 
Asplenium  Trichomanes,  264 
Asters,  German,  165 
Attractive   Country    Places, 

Building  up,  63 
Australia,    Recollections  of, 

60,  122,  187 
Autumns,  Our,  357 
Awards  at  the  Centennial,  31 
Ayer  &  Son's  Manual,  2J 
Azalea  calendulacea,  262 
"      Indica,  Empereur  du 
Bresil,  44 
Azaleas,  Hardy,   Treatment 
of,  166 


Bag  Worm,  Drop  or,  87 
Baldwin  Apple,  50 
Bananas  in  California,  16 
Barrow,  A  Water,  243 
Bassett's  American  Plum, 338 
Beans,  Fertilization  in,  55 
Bearing  Age  of  Pear  Trees,211 
"        Long  Continuous,174 
Beautiful     Specimens    of 

Trees,  5 
Beauty  by  Moonlight,  357 
"       of  Glazenwood  Rose, 

104,  141,  168,  194 
"      of  the  Eucalvptus,  202 
Bedding,  Fall  Colored,  357 
"        Plants,  How  might 
be  Arranged,  354 
Beds,  Spring,  354 
Beech  in  Indiana,  52 
Bees  and  Clover,  94,  280 
Beetle,  Damage  by  a,  263 

"      New  Destructive,  340 
Begonia  Rex,  71 
Begonias, Improved,  237 

"         New  Tuberous,  290 
"         Tuberous    Rooted, 
327  330 
Belle  de  Chaten'ay  Violet,  298 

"     Strawberry,  335 
Ben  Davis  Apple,  16 
Bermuda,  Vegetation  of,  55 
Bequest  lorTree-planting,349 
Best  Apple  in  the  World,  301 
"    Eating  the,  365 
"    Maine  Apples,  335 
"    Raspberry, Which  is, 270 
"  Sciadoptysverticillata,39 
"  Tea  Rose,  237 
Billyeu's  Late  October  Peach, 
242 
Birches,  Japanese,  232 
Birkett  Pear,  173 
Bishop  Wood,  Double  Gera- 
nium, 12,  328 
Blackberries,  American,  in 
Hngland,    5  0, 
365 
Blackberries,  Very  Late,  184 
Blackberry,  Iloosic    Thorn- 
less,  337 
"  Wilson's  Early, 

Hardiness  of, 
51 


Black  Hills,  Fruit  of  the,  79 
Blenheim  Pippin  Apple,  16. 

147,  206 
Blight,  Pear,  Discussion  on, 
367 
"  "        Tree,  20,145,147 

"       Twig,  on  Apple  Tree, 
365 
Blooms,  Rose,  329 
Blue  Glass,  119,  214 

"  Controversy,  247 

Blumenbachia  coronata,  232 
Boiler,  Portable   Hot-water, 
141 
Boilers,  Hot-water,  141 
Borers  in  Peach  Trees,  80 
Boston,  Apricots  in,  80,  173 
"       Rhododendrons    at, 
229 
Botanical  Against   Common 
Names,  183 
"  Garden   in    Fair- 

mount  Park, 85 
"  Names,  Plural  of, 

252 
Studies,  Helping, 
339 
Bougainvillaea  spectabilis,  234 
Bouquet,  A  Summer  Garden, 
296 
Flowers,  237 

"        White,  235 
"        Vases,    Permanent 
Ivy  for,  201 
Bouquets,  Co  vent  Garden,  12 
"         Maiden  Hair  Fern 
for,  202,  296 
Bouvardia  jasminiflora,  203 
Bradt  Seedling  Russet  Apple, 
335 
Bragdon,  C.  C,  Death  of,  29 
Brainard,Prof.,on  Solar  Heat 

Theory,  95 
Brighton  Grape,  336 
Brisbane  Lily,  237 
Brodisea  Californica,  83 
Browallia  Roezii,  166 
Brugmansia  suaveolens  in  the 

Flower  Garden,  328 
Buds,  Peach,  How   many   a 

Day,  335 
Building  up  Attractive  Coun- 
try Places,  63 
Bulbs,  Hardy,  292 

"      Old   Hyacinth,  Flow- 
ering of,  358 
"      Spring,  360 
Buifalo  Park  Commission  Re- 
port, 350 
Burdett's  Island  and  Orchard 
in  the  Niagara  River,  252 
Burlingtonia  tragrans,  202 
Burnet    Landreth,   Address 

of,  22 
Burning    of  Lee's   Green- 
houses, 92 
Burying  Roots,  371 
Business  Enterprise,  377 

"       Fruit  Growing  as  a, 
335 
Butter  from  Cydonia  japon- 
ica, 19 
Button-hole  Roses,  201 


Cabbage  Family,  317 
Cactus  in  Upholstery,  253 


384 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Cactus  Man,    Rhymes   and 
Recollections  of.  219, 
250,  310 
"     Paper  from,  211 
Cairo,    Tree  of  the  Blessed 

Virgin  near,  254 
California,  Apricots  in,  206, 
332 
April  Day  in  the 
Foot  hills,    309 
Aquilegias,  37 
Bananas  in,  16 
Climate  of,  57 
"         Cork   Trees    in, 

81,  368 
"         Dahlias  in,  263 
Early    Peaches 

in,  337 

Eucalyptus   i  n  , 

176 

Fritillarias     o  r 

Rice  Roots,  228 

Garden    Flowers 

in,  264 
Letter  from,  218 
"  Lilies,  58 

Notes  from,  121 
Nut-farming  in, 
366 
Peach  Disease  in, 
50 
Peaches  in,  335 
Phylljxerain,17 
Pines,      Fungus 

on,  119 
Plants  East,  163 
"  Tea  in,  303 

"         Timber     Notes 
from,  176 
Tree     Planting 

Law  in,  179 
Yuba  Co.,  Notes 
from,  211 
Californian  Chestnut,  38 
Conifers,  230 
Calla  -Ethiopica,  108,  269 
"     Lily,  Culture  of  the,  170 
"        "      Propagating,    298 
"        "     R'.chardia  .ffithio- 
pica,  Propagating,  359 
Callas,  Double  Headed,  151, 
185 
Callirrhoe  Macrorrhize,  292 
Camden,    Wood's   Vineyard 

at,  63 
Camellia,  Falling  of  Flower 

Buds  in  the,  202 
Camellias  in  Cold  Frames,232 
Campbell,  Mr.  Roderick,  287 
Canada  Farmer,  The,  64 
"        Honey  Locust  in,  229 
"       Tree-planting  in,  22 
Canna,  Gladiolus  anJ,  139 
Canbya  Candida.  87 
Captain  Jack  Strawberry,  51, 
304 
Carbolic  Acid  for  Insects,  144 
Care  in  Varieties,  337 
Carnation,  La  Belle,  73, 107 

Pinks,  30 
Carnations,    Winter -flower- 
ing, 44 
Carolina  Poplar,  324 
Caroline  Strawberry,  335 
Carrots,  243 

Case,  L.  B.,  Catalogue,  351 
Catalogue,  Dahlia,  189 
Catalpa,  Early  Flowering,  69 
Timber, Value  of,82 
Ca'awlssa  Raspberry,  365 
Ceanothus  integerrimus,  293 
Cedar.  Red,  Cream-colored,  6 
Celery,  Dwarf.  A  Good,  146 

"      Fly,  243 

Celtis  Australis,  Nettle  Tree, 

212 

Centaurea  rntaefolia,  239 

Centennial,  Awards  at  the,  31 

Horticulture    at 

the,  62 
Exposition,  192 
P  o  - 
mological  Sec- 
tion, 160 


Centennial,  Jury,    Work    of 
Group   xxxvi., 
288 
Pomological  Ex- 
hibit.Notes  on, 
192 
Pom  ologi  cal 
Judges,  154 
Cercis  Japonica,  Japan  Judas 

Tree,  226 
Cereus,  Night-blooming,  £67, 
325 
Chamsedorea,  135 

"  formosa,  72 

Champion  Wind  Engine,  18 
Chemical  Hygroscope,  90 
Cherries,  Profitable,  334 
Cherry,  Cornelian,  New,  6 
"      Early    Richmond, 
Best  Stock  for,  207 
"      Montmorenci,  304 
"      Olivet,  19 
"      Stock  of  the,  208 
"      Utah  Hybrid,  334 
"      Weeping,  259 
Chestnut,  Californian,  38 

Trees,  Large,  177 
Chestnuts  from  Seed,  Grow- 
ing, 244 
Chicago  Botanic  Garden,  29 
"      Roof  Gardening  in, 
296 
China,  Peen-to,or  Flat  Peach 

of,  301 
Chinese  Ailanthus,  132 

"      Primrose,  Flowering 

of,  77 

The    Old 

Double,  296 

"      Primroses,     Double, 

356 

Chionanthus   Virginicus, 

Fruiting  of,  6 

Chlorine  and   Camphorated 

Water,  Steeping  Seeds  in, 

304 

Chlorophyllum  Sternbergian- 

um,  110 
Christ's  Thorn,  316 
Chrysanthemum      fcenicula- 

tum,  264 
Chrysanthemums,    Grafting, 
329 
Cinerarias,  Double,  76,  298 

Improved,  140, 234 
City  Plant  Growing,  352 
Clay,    Absorptive  Power  of, 
27 
Clematis  calycina,  168 
"        Davidiana,  324 
"       tubulosa,  325 
Climate     and    the    Foreign 

Grape,  367 
Climate  of  California,  57 

"        Coalville,     Utah, 
119 
Climate,  Our,  Eucalyptus  in, 
86 
Clover,  Bees  and,  9t,  280 
"      Blossoms,    Fertiliza- 
tion of.  180 
Clover  Sod  Lime  on,  338 
Coalville,  Utah,  Climate,  119 
Cott'ee,  Liberian,  303 
Coix  lachryma,  Job's  Tears, 
170 
Cold,  Exposure  of  Seeds  to,217 
"  Frames, Camellias  in,  233 
"  Vinery,  Thrips  in,  116 
Coleuses,   Grafting,    Curious 

Effects  of,  298,  360 
Colorado  Menzies  Spruce,  292 
Potato   Beetle,  Ge- 
ography of,  306 
Colors  of  Dried  Plants,  Natu- 
ral, To  Preserve,  236 
Comet  Peach,  242 
Cumfrey,  Prickly,  209 
Commercial  Classes  of  Forest 

trees.  82 
Commissioner  of  Forestry,  22 
Common    Namea,    Botanical 

Agalnut,  183 
Common  Silk-weed,  69 


Concord  Grape,  303 
Coniferae,    A     New     Pinus 

Omorika,  293 
Coniferae,  Pruning,  103 

"         Variations  in,  25 
Conifers,  Californian,  230 
"        Timber    in    Massa- 
chusetts, 211 
Coninck,  A.  M.  C.  Jongkindt, 

Catalogue  of,  93 
Connecticut  Board  Agricul- 
ture. Report  of,  316 
Conover's    (Jollossal  Aspara- 
gus, 175 
Conservatory  of  H.  C.  Gibson, 
155 
on     Roof    of  a 
Hotel,  235 
Consider  the  Flowers  of  the 

Field,  3 
Contributors,  Our  128,  264 
Convolvulus  arvensis,  264 

"         Mauritanicus  298 
Cork  Trees  in  Caiilornia,  81, 

368 
Cornish  Gilliflower,  50 
Cornus   mascula   aurea   ele- 

gantissima  231 
Corrections,  375 
Correspondence,  2  to  4  9  to  12 
15  to  16,  24  to  25,  28  to  29, 
34  to  37,  41  to  44,  47  to  49 
54, 58  to  62,  66  to  68, 73to76, 
78to79,81,83to84,90to92, 
94  to  96,  97  to  103,  104  to 
109.  113  to  114,  116  to  118, 
120  to  126,  130  to  133,  135 
to  139,  143  to  146,  H9  to 
150,  153  to  154,  162  to  165, 
167  to  168,  172  to  173,  176, 
179  to  183,  186  to  188,  194 
to  197,  200  to  201,  206,  210 
to  211,213  to  214,  218  to 
221,  226  to  229,  233  to  234, 
246  to  247,  258  to  262,  266 
to  267,  270  to  271,  277,  278 
to  279,  280  to  281,  287  to 
288,  299  to  291,  295  to  295, 
300  to  301,  305  to  306,  309, 
313,  322,  to  324,  327  to  323, 
331  to  333,  341,  343,  354  to 
356,  359  to  360,  362  to  365, 
369,370,371 
Covent  Garden  Bouquets,  12 
Crab,  Kinney's  Cider,  337 

"     Siberian,  Improved,  337 
Cranberries      in      Southern 

Utah,  243 
Crawford's  Early    Peach    in 

England,  335 
Cream-colored  Red  Cedar,  6 
Credits,  Nursery,  312 
Crimson  Boursalt  Roso,  357 
Crocus  speciosus,  6 
Cross-fertilization  and   Self- 
fertilization  of  Flowers, 
117,  149,  181 
Crown  Imperials,  324 
Cryptogams,      Lower,      and 
Fungi,  Collection  of,  214 
Cryptomeria  japonica,  367 
Cucumber,  Worm  in  a,  304 
Cultivated  Pine  Apples,  50 
Cultivation    of  Zonal    Gera- 
nium for  Exhibition,  42 
Culture,  Brodioea  Californica, 
84 
"       Antholyza,    of,    171 
"        Cactus,  of  the,  269 
"        Calla   Lily,   of,    170 
"        Fruit  among  Farm- 
ers, 363 
Culture  Grape,  in  England, 
220 
"       Grape,  under  Glass, 
272 
"        Hardy     Rhododen- 
drons, of,  194 
"        Hedychium     Gard- 

nerianum,  269 
"        Lilium  Humboldtii, 
258 
"        Lily,  37,  104 
"        Orchid,  44 


Culture,  Peach  in  the  North, 

Raspberry,  16 
"        Richardia       (Calla) 
jEthiopica,  of,  235 
"       Verbena,  9 
Cuphea  Rillfieldiana,  169 
Cure  for  Mealy  Bug,  361 
Curious  Fact  for  Darwin,  340 
Currant,  La  Versailles,  334 

"        Lee's  Black,  305 
Cut-leaved  Grape,  326 
Cut  Flowers,  Display  at  Per- 
manent      International 
Exhibition,  317 
Cycas  revoluta  not  the  Sago 

Palm,  249 
Cyclamen  Persicum,  327 
Cyclamens,  Flowering,  201 

"         Starting,  45 
Cydonia    japonica,     Butter 

from,  19 
Cypress,  Standing,  326 


D 

Daemonorops    palembanicua, 
23« 
Daffodil,  The,  229 
Dahlia  Catalogue,  224 

of        Max 
Deegan,  Jr., 
189 
Dahlias  in  California, 263 
Damage  by  a  Beetle,  263 
Damages  for  Delay,  256 
Damson    Plum,   Shropshire, 
304 
Dandelion  Salad,  243 
Daphne,  Purple-leaved,  6 
Darlingtoniaand  Sarracenia, 
Singular  Analogy  in,  56 
Darlingtonia  Californica,  230 
Dartmouth  College,  255 
Darwin,  Curious   Facts   for, 
340 
Darwin's.  Mr.,  Family,  287 
Daytoq,  Ohio,  Soldiers' Home 

at,  376 
Dead  Seed,    Restoring,    339, 
369 
Death  of  C.  C.  Bragdon,  29 
"       Dr.  J.  S.  Houghton, 
29 
"        Lady  Smith,  128 
"'       R.  Robinson    Scott, 

255,  286 
"       T.  T.  Mather,  286 
Decaying   Pear    and   Apple 

Trees,  47 
Decoration  of  Grounds,  &c.,97 
'*  Tritomia  in,360 

Delay,  Damages  for,  256 
Descending  Sap,  184 
Destruction    of  the    Potato 

Beetle,  336 
Deterioration  of  Grasses  on  a 

Lawn,,  197 
Dewberry,  White,  174 
Dianella  aspera,  12 
Dianthus,  196 

Dick's  Garden  Hand  Books, 

255 

Dlospyrus  Kaki  or  Japanese 

Persimmon,  362 
Diplacus  glutinosus,  258 
Disease,  Peach,  50 
"      Pears,  in,  48 
"      Marechal  Neil  Rose, 
of,  829 
Distinct  Phloxes,  292 
Distinguished  Men,  Ages  of, 
128 
Dividing  Herbaceous  Plants, 
199 
Dog's-tooth  Violet,  Erythro- 

nium,  197 

Dog-wood,  Scarcity  of,  339 

Double  »nd  Single  Tuberoses, 

232 

"      Blossom  Peaches,  229 

"      Chinese     Primroses, 

856 


1877-3 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


385 


Double  Flowered  Cinerarias, 
76,  298 
"      Flowers,  248 
"      Geranium,       Bishop 

Wood,  12,  328 
"      Headed   Dallas,    151, 
185 
"      Lilium  Auratum,  2 
*'      Poinsetta,  44 
"      White  Bedding  Lobe- 
lia, A,  204 
"     Oleander,  "268 
"     Violet,     New, 
166 
"      Zonale,Wonderful,?6 
Downer  Peach,  115 
1  >i  twning,  Chas. , Notes  by,  100 
Pracocephalum,  324 
drainage,  Pot,  41,  106 
P/ried  Plants,  To  Preserve  the 

Natural  Colors,  236 
Drinking  Water,  Alga?  in,  119 
Drop  or  Bug  Worm,  87 
Dryness,  Plants  which  Endure 

137 
Duchess  of  Edinburg  Rose,  12. 

106 
Durand's  Strawberry  Culture, 

224 
i  >usty   Roads,  To  Moisten,  197 
Dwarf  Celery,  A  Good.  146 
*'      Service  Berry,  334 


E 

Earle,  Mr.  Parker,  64 
Early     Beatrice     and     Early 
Rivers  Peaches,  242 
"     Dawn  Grape,  336 
"      Flowering  Catalpa,  69 
««  "        Plants,  134 

"     Fruits  and  Other,  Notes 

on,  301 
"      Peaches,  The  Best,  276 
"      Pear,  A  Good,  305 
"     Richmond  Cherry,  Best 

Stock  for,  207 
"     Spring,  Salad  for,  304 
"     Vegetables,lmporting,207 
Earth,  Shape  of  the,  216 
Eating  the  Best,  365 
Echinocactus  Simpsoni,  151,279 
Egrptians,  Hashish  of  the,  349 
Editor,  European  Notes  by  the 
281,  313, 343 
''      Woes  of  an,  62 
Editorial  Notes,  5,  12,  22,  25, 
29   30,  37,  44,  49,  52,  54,  62, 
68,  76,  79,81.  84,  92,  96,  103, 
110,  115,  118,  126.  133,  139. 
146,  150,   154,  159,  165,  168, 
173.  176,  183,  1S8,  190,   197, 
201,  2(16,  211,   214,   221,  229, 
234,  240,  244,  247,  252,  262. 
267,  271,  281,  288,  291,  296, 
301,306,313,  317,  324,  328, 
333,  339,  343,  352,  355,  359, 
365,  367,  370,  372 
Effect  of  Frost  on  Persimmon 

Fruit,  116 
Elder,  Variegated,  39 
Elsagnus  parvifolius,  294 
Elm,  The  Name,  223 
FtnMematic     Plants,    English 

National,  222 
Enemy  of  the  Potato  Beetle, 

316 
England,  American  Blackber- 
berries  in,  50,  365 
Apples  for,  207 
"         Crawford's        Early 

Peach  in,  335 
"         Culture  of  the  Grape 

in,  220 
"  .      Hale's  Early  Peach, 
in,  17 
English    Name,    Bothered    bv 
the,  253 
"        National  Emblematic 

Plants,  222 
"        Popular  Apples,  241 
"       Walnut,  51 
"        Winter,  The,  127 


Ephemeron  Flower,  376 
Ericas,  Hardy,  229 
Erythronium—Dog's-tooth  Vio- 
let, 197 
Eucalpytus,  Beauty  of  the,  202 
**         globulus  a  failure, 
81 
"  "       in     Ver- 

mont, 23 
"  "        Watering 

267 
•*         in  California,  176 
"  "    Mexico,  63 

"  "    Ohio,  53 

"  "    Our  Climate,  86 

"    Philada.,  152 
"  "   South  Carolina, 

177 
Eucharis  Amazonica,  Flower- 
ing under  Difficulties,  11 
Euonymus,  A  Beautiful  Speci- 
men of,  70 
"  radicans,  306 

"  "    variegata,5 

European  Notes  by  the  Editor, 
281,  313,  343,  372 
"         Walnut,  The,  213 
Europe,  Finger  Grass  in,  Our, 

370 
Forests  in,  23,  277 
Phylloxera  in,  333 
Evening  Primroses,  323 
Evergreen  Plantation,  An,  261 

The,  223 
Evergreens  at  St.  Louis,  165 

Effects  of  Wind  on, 
133 
"         Notes  on,  and  some 
Rhododendrons, 67 
"         Propagation    ol    by 
Soft     Wood     Cut- 
tings, 232 
"         Pruning,  264 
Evidence,  Time  in,  18 
Evolution.  56 

"       in  Plants,  55 


Facts  Relative  to  Rainfall  and 

the  Lakes,  54 
Failure,  Eucalyptus  globulus,  a, 

81 
Fairmount  Parte,  29,  285 

"  "    Botanical  Gar- 

den in,  85 
Fall  Colored  Bedding,  357 
"    Fruiting  Strawberries,  16, 
51 
Falling  of  Flower  Buda  in  the 

Camellia,  202 
Farmers,  Fruit  Culture  Among 

363 
Farm  Houses,  Taste  in,  328 
Far  West,  To  the,  123 
Feathered  Awns,  Use  of  to  some 

Seeds,  184 
Ferneries,  76 

Fern,  Japanese  Climbing,  Ly- 

godium  scandens,  169,  237 

"    Maiden  Hair" Im  Bouquets 

202,  296       » 
"    Sweet,  for  Tanning,  83 
Ferns,  Maiden  Hair,  44 

"    Golden,  44 
Fertile  Hydrangea,  351 
Fertilization,  Aiding  Pollen  in, 

370 
"  by  Insect  Agency, 

88, 219,  308 
"  in  Beans,  55 

"  of     Clover    Blos- 

soms, 180 
"  of  Flowers  thro' 

Insect  Agency,  54 
Fertilizing  Fies  in  Smyrna,  174 
fibre  Plants,  184 
Ficus    elastica,  Flowering  of, 

171 
Fig,  Fructification  of,  270 
Figs,    Fertilizing    in  Smyrna, 

174 
Fine  Late  Peaches.  338 


Fine  Sciadopitys,  199 
Finger  Grass,  Our,  in  Europe, 

370 
Fire  from  Steam-heating,  Dan- 
ger of,  307 
"  Proof  Wood,  247 
Firs  and  Spruces,  About,  370 
Flavor  of  American  and  Eng- 

glish  Peaches,  340 
Fleshy  Fruits,  184,  247 
Fly,  Celery,  243 
Flora]  Decorations  at  Parties 
in  France,  285 
"    Gazette,  317 
Florist  and  Pomologist,  317 
Flower-buds  in  the  Camellia, 

Falling  of,  202 
Flower  Ephemeron,  376 

"     Garden,  Acalypha  tri- 
.  color  in  the,  62 
'•  '        "       and     Pleasure 
Ground,    33, 
65,    97,     129, 
161,  193,  225, 
257,  289,  321, 
353 
"    Brugmansia  sua- 
veolens  in   the 
328 
"      Mocassin,  292 
'•     of  Fourcroya,  360 
"     Satin,  253 
Flowering  Cyclamens,  201 

Plants,  Early,  134 
"  of  Agave  Shawii,140 

ofChinese  Primrose 
77 
of   Eucharis   Ama- 
zonica tinder  Dif- 
ficulties, 11 
"  of  Ficus  elastica, 171 

"  of  Fuchsia  procum- 

bens,  201 
"  of  Primula,  140 

Flowers  and  Plants,  Prices  of, 

287 
"        Artificial  Colored,  296 
"        Bouquet,  237 
"       Cheap,  Popular  Appre 

ciation  of,  360 
"        Double,  248 
"        Fertilization  of  Thro' 

1  nsect  Agency,  54 
"        in  America,  Price  of , 
359 
"       of  the  Field,  Consider, 
3 
"        Prairie,  24.  278 
"        Preserving  Fresh,  328 
"        Self-fertilization    and 
Cross-fertilization  of 
117,  149.  181 
"  White  Bouquet,  235 

Foot-hills,  Six  Months  in  the. 

341 
Forced  Fruits  and  Vegetables, 

208 
Forcing  Asparagus,  208 
"      Grape, '242 

Lily  of  the  Valley,  268 
"       Tender  Roses,  41 
Foreign   Grape,   Climate   and 
the,  367 
*«       Trees,  53 
Forest  Planting  in  France,  245 
•'     Rose  Strawberry,  274 
"     Seedlings,  212 
':     Trees.Commercial  Class- 
es of,  82 
Forest  rv,  20, 52,81, 176, 210, 214, 
277,  338,  357 
"       Commissioner  of,  22 
'•       in  Massachusetts,  211 
••       on  Unproductive 
Lands,  339 
Forests  and  Rainfall,  53 
"      in  Europe,  23,277 
"     of  Massachusetts,  177 
"      of  Sweden  ,213 
"      Premiums  for,  53 
Fourcroya,  Flower  of,  360 
Fox  Glove,  Improved,  292 
Fox's  Seedling  Pears,  115 
Fragraria  arborea,  197 


France,  Forest-planting  in,  245 
Freeman's  Late  Peach,  336 
Freezing  of  Sap,  185,  217,  372 
French  Pippin  Apple,  51,  116 
Frittillarias  or  Rice  Roots,  228 
Frost  and  Hardiness,  68 

"    on      Persimmon      Fruit, 
Effects  of  116 
Fructification  of  the  Fig,  270 
Fruit  and  BTead,  317 

"        "    Nut  Culture,  Indian 

"       "    Vegetable     Garden- 
ing, 14,46.  77,  113, 
142,   171,  204,  239, 
2^9,  299,  331,  358 
*'    at  the  North,  172 
"    Crops  in  Ohio,  147 
"     Culture  Among  the  Farm- 
ers, 363 
*'     from  Grand  Traverse  Re- 
gion, Michigan,  338 
"    Garnishing,   Leaves    for, 
236 
"    Growing  as   a  Business, 
333 
"    How  to  Raise,  189 
"    Illustrations  of,  174 
"     Of  Passiflora  edulis,  276 
"    of  the  Black  Hills,  79 
"     Pruning  for,  18 
"    Synonyms,  49 
"    Thinning,  49 
"    Trees,  Oil  for,  115,  271 

'*     Preserving       from 
Grasshoppers,  206 
"    Prun'g  Full-grown, 
78 
"    Trained,  173 
"    What  is  a,  305 
"    Will  it  Pay  to  Thin,  366 
Fruiting  of  Akebiaquiuata,  351 
"         Chiouamhus    Vir- 
giuicus,  6 
Fruits  and  Vegetables,  Forced. 

208 
"      Early  and  Other,  Notes 

on,  301 
'*      Fleshy,  184,  247 
"      Patented,  186 
"      Some  Old,  78 
Fuchsia,  New,  237 

"       Number  of  Species  of, 
119 
*'       procumbens,  44,  208 
"  "  Flower- 

ing of 
201 
Fuel,  Growing  Wood  for,  213 
Fungi  and  the  Lower  Crypto- 
gams, Magnificent  Collec- 
tion of,  214 
"    Parasitic,  127 
Fungus,  Black,  in  a  Graperv, 

147 

"        on   California   Pints, 

119 


Garden,  A  Little  Alpine,  100 
"        Flowers  in  California, 
264 
My,  356 
"       of  America,  The,  316 
"        Plant,  Papyrus  as  a, 
296 
Gardener's  Monthly,  Contribu- 
tions    to 
the,  128 
"  "  for   1878, 

348 
"  "         The,  93 

Gardening    Around  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  346 
"        Gossip  of  the  Olden 
Time,  120,  153 
Gardens,  Roof,  169 
Gary's  Hold-on  Peach,  174 
Gas  and  Oil  Light,  41 
"  Killed  Trees,  325 
*•  Lime,  195,  271 
Gen.  Washingtou  Rose,  69 
Generation,  Spontaneous,  306 


386 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[  December, 


Georgia,  Early  Peaches  in,  276 
"        Tea  in,  63 
'*       State    Hort.  Society, 
92,  318 
Geranium,     Double,      Bishop 
Wood,  12,  328 
Ivy-leaved,  235 
"       Mrs.Taylor.Scented 
170 
"        Zonale,  for  Exhibi- 
tion,   Cultivation 
of,  42 
Geraniums,  Preserve  Old,  297 
Germau  Asters,  1G5 
Gerniantown,  Phila.  Hort.  So- 
ciety, 191 
Gibson,  Henry  C.Conservatory 

of,  155 
Gaillardia  Amblyodon,  69 
Gilliilower,  Cornish,  50 
Gillya  Parryse,  87,  151 
Gladiolus  and  Canna,  139 

"        Large   Collection   of, 
229 
Glass,  Blue,  119,  214 
"  "    Controversy,  247 

"      Grape    Culture    Under, 

272,  332 
"      Grapes   Culture   Under, 
256 
Golden-leaved  Poplar,  166 
"      Pippin  Apples,  History 

of,  251 
"      Tulip  Tree,  357 
Gold-veined  Honeysuckle,  69 
Good  Early  Pear,  337 

"    Grape  Manual,  15 
Gooseberry,  Late  Emerald,  275 
Roe's  Seedling,  274 
"         Smith's  Improved, 
303 
Graft  Hybrids.  87 
Grafting  Cli  i  ysantbemums,  329 
"        Coleuses,  Curious  Ef- 
fects of,  298,  360 
"        Magnolias,  39 
Grape  Border,  How  to  Make  a, 

3G6 
"      Brighton,  336 
"      Concord,  303 
"      Culture  in  England,  221 
"  "       Under  Glass.272 

332 
"      Cut-leaved,  326 
u      Early  Dawn,  336 
"      Fore'ign,  Cliuiateand  the 
367 
"      Forcing,  242 
"      Gros  Colman,  207.242 
"      Insect  on  the,  90 
"      Lady  Washington,  336 
"      Los  Angeles  or  Mission, 

Origin  of,  211 
"      Maine,  fa,  145 
"      Manuel,  A  Good,  15 
"     Roots,  Pruning,  80 
"      P.ot  in  Missouri,  335 
*'      Seuppernong,  335 
"     Secretary,  80 
"      Vine,  Purple-leaved.  38 
"      Vines,  Inarching,  147 
Gra5>ery  and  Sanatorium,  271 
•'        Black    Fungus   in   a. 
147 
Grapes,  3G4 

'•      A  Large  Bunch  of,  16 
"      Hybrid.  128 
"  "    Experiments  for 

Production   of, 
126 
«'  "    Seedlings  of,  113 

"      Late,  366 
"      New  White,  242 
"      Rlckett's.336 
"      Rot  in,  865 
"      Lolling  of,  in  a  Grape- 

ry,  81 
"      Under  Glass,  256 
Greenhouse  and  House  Garden- 
ing, 8,  41),   7n,  104, 
134,    167,    199,   Li33, 
265,  326,  361 
*•        Heating    a  Small, 
329 


Greenhouses,  About,  200 

"  Heating  a  Small 

Vegetable  or,106 
"  Lee's,  Burning  of, 

92 
Lord's,  329 
"  Nasty,  135 

"  Obscured  Glass  in 

108 
*'  Ruined  byhis,  188 

"  Small,  Heating  bv 

aCoalStove,200 
"  Trees  tor  Protect- 

ing, 45 
Grasses  on  a  Lawn,  Deteriora- 
tion of,  197 
Grasshopper  Machines,  115,253 
Grasshoppers,Killing,  303 

"  Preserving  Fruit 

Trees  from,  206 
Grass,  Job's  Tears,  170 

"      Pampas,  360 
Gray,  Dr.,  350 
Grease  for  Pear  Trees,  52 
Gregg  Raspberry,  305 
Gros  Colman  Grape,  207,  242 
Grounds,  Decoration  of,  99 
Growing  Chestnuts  from  Seed, 

244 
"        Mushroom,  304 
"        Wood  for  Fuel,  213 
Growth  of  Hickory,  Rapid,  277, 

338 
Oak,  277 
"        Pecan  Nut  Hickorv 
368 
Tree,  27 
Guano,  376 

Gum  Arabic,  American,  368 
Gvmnocladus  Canadensis  as  a 

Fly  Poison,  351 
Gymnostacbyum  Verschaffelti. 

295 


Hale's  Early  Peach,  17 

"  "      in  England 

17 
Hames'  Seedling  Apple,  273 
Haud  Book  of  Practical  Land- 
scape Gardening,  92 
"    Plough,  115 
Hardiness,  Frost  and,  68 

"       of   Japan    Persim- 
mon, 241 
"        of    Wilson's    Early 
Black berrv,  51 
Harding.  W.  T.,  93 
Hardy  Azaleas,  Treatment  of. 

166 
"       Bulbs,  292 
«'       Ericas.  229 
«       Evergreen    Flowering 
Shrub,     Hypericum 
paiulum.  New.  232 
«*       Herbaceous  Catalogue, 
224 
"       Rhododendrons,  2 
"  "  Culture 

of,  194 
Hashish  of  the  Egyptians,  349 
Hatching    Eg>,'s    and    Raising 
Poultry  by  Horse  Manure, 

Hawthorns,  Ornamental. 
Hazel-nut,  Sicilian,  52 
Healing  a  Small  Greenhouse, 

"       Cities  by  Steam,  307 
a       Small  Greenhouses  by 

a  Coal  Stove,  200 
«  •'     Veget  able   or 

i ,  reenhou 
"       Steam,  I'  inger  ol  riro 

i,  Ml? 

ir.  :■(,  rnternal,  of  Plants,  248 
rdnerianum,269 
ng  Botanii 
Hepatica,  Cbe,  id,  21 1 
Herbaceous  Plants,    Dividing, 

199 
"         "    in  General,  355 


Herbarium  Specimens,  216 
Hickories  and  Walnuts,  Sow- 
ing, 246 
Hickory,  Rapid  Growth  of, 277, 

3^8 
"        Pecan  Nut,   Growth 
of,  368 
Highland  Hardy  Raspberry,  20 
Hints,  Seasonable,  1,  8,  14,  33, 
40,  46,  65,  70,  77,   97,  129, 
134,    142,   162    167,171,  193, 
199,  204,  225,  233,  239,  257, 
265,  269,  289,  294,   299,  321 
326,  353,  358,  361 
History  of  the  Golden  Pippin 
Apple,  254 
"  "     Jerusalem  Arti- 

choke, 126 
"      United     States 
Leeds'  224 
Hollyberries.  151 
Hollyhock,  New  Japanese,  166 
Honeyed  Secretions,  The  Pur- 
pose or  Use  of,  57,  87 
Honey  Locust  in  Canada,  229 
Honeysuckle,  Gold-veined,  69 
Honeywell  Peach,  303   . 
Honor  to  Drs.  Hooker  &  Gray, 

350 
Hooker,  Dr.,  350 
Hoopes  Pro.  &  Thomas,  Cata- 
logue of,  127 
Hoosac  Thornless  Blackberry 

337 
Horse  Chestnut,  63 

"  "  for    Rheuma- 

tism, 285 
"  "  Tree,  A  Large 

338 
"     Power  Vineyard,  174 
"     Radish,  Seedling  of,  151 
Hortensia,  126 

"        or  Hortensis,  28,  90 
Horticultural  Exhibitions,  Mu- 
sic at,  288 
"  Pioneers  at  the 

West,  192 
"  Protection,     58, 

124 
"  Purposes,   Glass 

for,  141 
"  Science,  27 

«'  Societies,  30,  94, 

159,     190,    287, 
317,  352 
"  Societies,  State, 

and  Penologi- 
cal, 96 
"  Society,  Georgia 

State,  92,  318 
"  Society.Germau- 

town,      Phila- 
delphia, 191 
"  Society.Iudiana, 

350 
"  Society,  Kansas, 

State,  287 
"  '  Society,      Mary- 

land, 319 
**  Society,     Massa- 

chusetts,    157, 
-  191,316 

"     9      Society,  Nebras- 
ka, State,  350 
"  Society,  N.  Jer- 

sey, State,  223 
"  Society,  N.  York, 

191. 

".  Society  ,Ohio,350 

"  Society,    Penna. 

318 

"  Society  .Western 

N.  Y",  30, 190 
"  Soeietv  Wiscon- 

sin State,  316 
Horticulture  at  the  Centennial 

62 

"  in    Kentucky  and 

Tennessee,   316 

"  Royal    Patronage 

Of,  221 

"  Swindles  in,  285 

Hot-bed,  Improved  Sash  tor,  70 
Hot  Water  Boiler,  Portable,  203 


Hot  Water  Boilers,  141 

"       "     on  Insects,  168 
Houghton,  Dr.  J.  S.,  Death  of, 

29 
House  Rhododendron,  104 
How  Bedding  Plants  Might  be 
Arranged,  354 
"    Not  to  Do  It.  347 
"    to  Make  a  Grape  Border, 
366 
Hyacinth  Bulbs,  Old,  Forcing 
of,  358 
"       Leaves,  140 
Hyacinths,  Antipodal,  329 

"  Propagating    from 

Leaves,  149 
Hybrid  Aquiiegia  chrysantha, 

292 
"      Cherry,  Utah,  334 
"      Grapes,  128 
"  "  Experiments 

for  Produc- 
tion of,  126 
"  "  Seedlings  of, 

113 
"      Tea  Rose   (so  caliedj 
Beauty     of    Glazen- 
wood,  168 
Hybrids,  Graft,  87 
Hydrangea,  Fertiie,  351 

"  paniculata,  230 

"  Thos.    Hogg,    204, 

360 
Hygroscope,  Chemical,  90 
Hypericum   patulum,    New 
Hardy  Evergreen,  Flower- 
ing Shrub,  232 


Idesia  polycarpa,  292,  356 
Illinois,  Early  Nurserymen  of, 

92 
"      Museum  Nat.  History, 

Bulletin,  93 
"      Nursery,   A    Prosper- 
ous, 254 
"      Thistle  Law.  350 
Illustrations  of  Fruit,  174 
Importing  Early  Vegetables,  207 
Improved  Begonias,  2:j7 

"        Cinerarias,  140,  234 
"        Fox  Glove,  292 
"        Petunias,  237 
Improving  Old  Favorites,  169 
Inarching  Grape  Vines,  147 
Increasing  the  Size  of  Mush- 
rooms, 335 
Indiana,  Beech  in,  52 

"       Hort.  Society,  350 
Indian  Fruit  and  Nut  Culture, 

3;-= 
Industries  of  Philadelphia.  127 
Injury  to  a  Linden  Tree,  39 
Insect    Agenev,     Fertilization 
by,  54,  88 
"      Fertilization,  249 
"      on  the  Grape,  90 
Insects  and  fertilization,  308 
"       Carbolic  Acid  lor,  144 
Hot  Water  on,  240 
War  on  the,  240 
International  Exhibition  Com- 
pany, 190 
Interpretation       of      Varying 

Forms,  84 
Iowa,  Roses  and  Verbenas  in, 

162 
Ipomoea  leptophylla,  263 
Ireland,   Seuding    Peaches   to, 

207 
Irish  Junipers,  325 
Iris  Iberica.  231 
Irrigation  for  Farm, Garden  or 

Orchard,  157 
Italian    and    American    Tubi  - 

rosi  s.  112 
Ivy,  69,  357 

Ivy-leaved  I  reranium,2M 
Ivy,   Permanent,  for  Bouquet 
Vases,  201 
"    Purple-leaved,  170,  209 
Ixora  Regiua,  297 


LS77-] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


387 


Jackson.S.  S.,  Wedding  of,  29 
James  Veitch  Strawberry ,19,51 
Japanese  Birches,  232 

•'        Climbing  Fern,  Lygo- 
cliuiii  3cande  s,  169, 
237 
"        Hollyhock,  New,  166 
"        Persimmon,    Diospy- 
tus  Kaki,  362 
Japan  Judas  Tree,  Cercis  Ja- 
ponica,  226,  229 
Maples,  The,  103 
Paper.  179 
"       Persimmon,  51,  80,  174 
'•    Hardiness  of,241 
Jerusalem  Artichoke,  51,  158 
■ 'History  of,126 
"  "       Natife 

Country 
of,  157 
"    ToCook,175 
Job's  Tears,  Coix  lachrvma,  170 
Jonah's  Gourd,  (53 
Journal  of  Forestry,  351 
Judas  Tree,  Japan".  226,  229 
.lodges.  Rules  tor.  37ti 
July  Flowering  shrubs,  322 
Junipers,  I  rish,  325 

Variations  in  263 


K 

Kansas,  Experiments  in  Tim- 
ber Raising  in,  210 
Letter,  A.  312 
State  Hurt  Society,287 
Vineyard,  304 
Keeping  Tom  toes,  145 
Keuedya  rubicunda,  235 
Kennedy,  Thos.  S,  of  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  376 
Kentucky  Cotfee  as  a  Fly  Poi- 
son, 351 
Horticulture  in,  316 
Notes  from,  363 
Killing  Grasshoppers,  303 
Kinney's  Cuter  Crab.  337 
Kinsey's  Catalogue,  158 


La  Belle  Carnation,  73, 107 

Laca.uer  Tree,  3GS 

Lady  Bug,  New  Use  for,  267 

"     Washington  Grape,  336 
La  France  Rose,  (39 
Laiidreth,  B  .  Letter  from,  192 
Land  and  Game  Birds  of  New 

England,  59 
Large  Bunch  of  Grapes,  16 
Chestnut  Trees,  177 
"      Collection  of  Gladiolus, 
229 
"      Horse  Chestnut  Tree,33o 
'*      Uak  Trees,  22 
"      Sequoia  gigantea,  134 
"       White  Oak  in  Michigan, 
"244 
Largest  Lrtubrella  Pine,  6S 
Late  Blackberries,  Very,  184 
"    Cone  Strawberries,  274 
"    Emerald  Gooseberry,  275 
"    Grapes,  36G 

"    Peach  or  Walling  Plum, 
115 
Laurentia  carnosula,  70 
Laurus  Sassafras.  227 
La  Versailles  Currant,  334 
Lawn,  Deterioration  of  Grasses 
on  a,  197 
"        Grass  for  Oregon,  7 
Lawns,  Weeds  in,  199 
L  tyered  Grape  Vines,  80 
L/eaf- roller,  Strawberry,  143 
Leaves  for  Garnishing  Fruit, 

£36 
"      Hyacinth,  140 
"      Propagating  Hyacinths 
from,  140 
Leek,  Origin  of  the,  63 


Lee's  Ulack  Currant,  305 
Lommouia  Californica,  184,  252 
Letter  iroin  California,  218 

Kansas.  A,  312 
Leucopliyta  Brownii,  165 
Ltbei  tan  Coffee,  303 
Lichens,  214 

us  Marvels,  20 
Light  and  Vegetation.  184 
Litte  i'roducing  Like,  5S 
Lilac,  Persian.  Seeds  of,  279 
Lilies,  California,  58 
ot  Utah,  349 
"        Our  Native,  55 
Planting,  167 
Lilium  Aurat urn,  Double,  2 
'•       Catesban,  165 
"       Humboldtianum,  25 
"        Hnmboldtii,  165,  258 
"       parvuin,  68 
"        Tliunbergianum    Van 
Houtei,  294 
Lily,  Brisbane,  237 
"      Calla.  Propagating,  298 
"      Culture,  37,  104 
"      of  Valley,  Forcing,  268 
"      Victoria,  Growing  in  the 

Open  Air,  357 
"      White  Water,  99 
Lime,  tins,  195,  271 
Linden  Tree,  Injury  to  a,  39 
Linseed  Oil  on  Pear  Trees,  334 
Literature,  Travels    and  Per- 
sonal Votes,  26,  58,  90,  120, 
153,  186,  21S,  249,  260,  309, 
341,  372 
Lobelia,   Double   White   Bed- 
ding, 204 
"        erinus  erects  fi.   albo 
plena,  204 
Locality  of  Orchards,  334 
Locust  Plague.  317 

in  Garden,  The,  224 
Long  Continuous  Bearing,  174 
Lonicera  fragrantissima,  134 
Lotd's  Greenhouses,  329 
Los  Angeles  or  Mission  Grape, 

Origiu  of,  241 
Loss  of  a  Subscriber,  62 
Lumber  Resources  of  Tulare, 

Cal.,  177 
Lygodium  scandens,  Japanese 
Climbing  Fern,  169,  237 

M 

Machines,  Grasshopper,  1 15,253 
Macrozamia  plumosa,  156 
Mademoiselle    Marie     Finger 

Rose,  292 
Magnificent  Collection  of  Fun- 
gi and  the  Lower  Crypto- 
gams, 214 
Magna  Charta  Rose,  134 
Magnolia  glauca,  99,  100 

•'        New  Late  Flowering, 
290 
Magnolias,  35,  104, 162 
"  Grafting,  39 

New,  198 
Maiden  Hair  Fern    for   Bou- 
quets, 202,  296 
"  "      Ferns,  44 

"  "  "   Golden,44 

Maine  Apples,  Best,  335 

"     Grape,  51,  145 
Maples,  Japan,  The,  103 
Marschal    Neil  Rose,   Disease 

of,  329 
Marketing,  Amateur,  256 
Market,  Strawberries  for,  52 
Marshall  Pear,  336 
Marvels,  Ligneous,  20 
Maryland  Hort.  Society,  31b 
Massachusetts,  Forestry  in,  211 
Forestsof,  177 
"  Hort.     Societv, 

157,191,316  " 
"  Conifers  in,  211 

Mather,  T.  T.,  Death  of,  286 
May  Beetles  on  Raspberry,  209 
McAfee's  Aeration  Apparatus, 

115 


Mealy  Bug,  Cure  for,  361 
Medinilla  magnifies.  295 
Melbourne,  Australia,  Botanic 

Garden  Report,  190 
Memorial  'lie.  s   63 
Mentha  Gibraltiea,  357 
Menzies  Spruce,  Colorado.  -92 
Mexico,  Eucalyptus  ii 
Michigan,   Fruit    from  Grand 
Traverse  Region, 

Large  White  Oak  in 

214 

"  Nursery,    A   Good, 

351 

"  State     Potnologieal 

Society,  3=i0 

Microscopist's  Companion,  351 

Minnesota,  Tree-planting  iu.S2 

Mission, or  Los. Angeles  Grape, 

Origin  of,  241 
Missouri,  Grape  Rot  in,  3 

"      State  Entomologist,  223 
Mocassin  Flowt  r,  292 
Monocotyledons,  New  Classifi- 
cation of,  185 
Monstrous  Abutilon,  140 
"        Asparagus,  146 
Montmorenci  Cherry,  304 
.Moonlight,  Beauty  by,  357 
i'orea  \ii*s)  fimbriate,  7 
Mosaiculture,  ;.  66 
Mother  Apple,  146 
Moth,  Pota: 
Mountain  Ash  Berries  Poison- 

'  us.  340 
Mountains,  Timber  Line  in,  179 
Mulched  Peach  Trees,  80 
Mummy  Wheat,  152 
Musa  ensete,  12 
Muscl,  214 

Mushroom  Growing,  304 
Mushrooms,    Increasing     the 
Size  of,  ■ 
"  Poisonous,  336 

Music,  158,  287.351 
"     and  Plants.  S7 
"     at  liorUculturafcExhibi- 
tions.  288 
Musser  Peach,  274 
Name,  Elm,  The,  223 

"      English,    Bothered    by 

the,  253 
"      Walnut,  Origin  of,  222 
Names,  Apple,  Origin  of  Some 
Old,  254 
"     Botanical  Against.  Com- 
mon 
"  "         Plural  of,  252 

"    of  Apples,  52 
"     of  Plants,  7,39,58.  77,90 
Napoleon's    Villow,  376 
Nashville,    Tenn.,    Gardening 

Around,  346 
Nasty  Greenhouses,  135 
Native  Lilies,  Our,  55 

"      Trees  for  Timber,  52 
Natural  History  and  Science, 
24,  54,  83,  116.  149, 
179,    213,    246,    273, 
305,  339,  369 
"        Peach  Stones,  78 
Nebraska  State  Hort.  Soc.,351 
Nectarines,  335 

Nettle  Tree,  Celtis   Australis, 

212 
New  Apples,  19 
"    Cemetery  at  Toledo.O.,291 
"   Classification   of  Monoco- 
tyledons, 185 
"    Conitera?,  PinusOmorika, 
293 
"   Cornelian  Cherry,  6 
"    Destructive  Beetle,  340 
"    Double  Ivy-leaved  Pelar- 
gonium, 239 
"        "        White  Violet,  166 
*•   Early  Peaches,  300 
"   Enemy  to  the  Pine  Tree. 
370 
"   England,  Lnnd  and  Game 
Birds  of,  59 
"       White  Ash  in,  245 


New  Forage  Plant,  253 
"    Fuchsia.  237 
"    Hardy  Evergreen  Flower- 
ing    Shrub,    Hypericum 
patulum,  232 
"    Japanese  Hollyhock,  166 
"    Jersey,  North-eastern  Ap- 
ples for.  80 
"  "      State  Hort.  So  .223 

'■    Late-flowering    Magnolia, 
290 
"    Life  Pelargonium,  330 
"    Magnolias,  198 
"    Method    of     Propagating 
Exorchorda  grand iflora, 

"    Old  Things  Become,  162 
"    or   Ka-e    Fruits,    IS,   115, 

273,  304,  336, 
"    or  Rare  Plants.  6,   12,  25, 
U    51,  111,   165,  169, 

. 
298,  324.330,357,359 
•'    Peaches,  8u 
"    Pinus,  6 

"    Product  from  'he  Pine,248 
"    P  ■  .  224 

"    Rochelle  Raspberry  5,  115 
"    Rose,   Beauty    of  Gla/.en- 
woou,  104 
"    Queen  ol  13edders,204 
"    (so    called;    Hybrid    Tea 
Rose,  Beauty  of  Glazen- 
wood,  168 
"    South  Wales,  Essay  on,127 
"   Tuberous  Begonias, 
"     United  States  Plants  ; R6 
"    Use  for  the  Lad}  Bu 
"    Varieties,   Protection  for, 
280 
"   Violet,  Belle  de  Chatenay, 
298 
"    Weeping  Oak,  357 
"    White  Grapes,  242 
"    York  Hort.  So.,  191,  318 
Nierembergia     gracilis     as   a 

Window  Plant. 
Night-blooming  Cereus,  267,  325 
Northern  Limits  of  Animal  and 
Vegetable  Life,  215 
"        Range      of      Wainut 

Growing,  332 
"       Spy    Anjile    in     the 
West,  207 
North,  Fruit  at  the.  172 

"      Peach  Culture  in  the,147 
Norway,  Plant  Life  of,  92 

"        Spruce.  259 
Notes  by  i_has.  Downing,  100 
"    European,  bv  the  Editor, 

281,313,343,372 
"    from  Colitornia,  121 
"       "    Dallas,  Texas,  309 
"        "    Kentucky,  363 

"    Yuba  Co.,  Cal.,  213 
"    Ohio,  363 

"    on  Adiantum  Farleyen^e 

and  Double  Primulas, 

167 

"      "  a  Summer  Tour,  136 

"      "  Centennial  Pomologi- 

cal  Exhibit,  192 
"      "  Early  and  other  Fruits 
301 
"      "  Little  Known  Plants, 
102 
"      •'  Rare  Plants  of  South- 
ern Utah,  227 
"      "  Rhododendrons    and 
some  Evergreens,67 
"      "  The  reason,  354 
"      "  Trees  130 
"    Suggested    by     Tumble 
•     Weed,  369 
Novelties,  Production  of  and 

Encouragement  to,  219 
Nurseries  of  HargisA  Summer. 

29 
Nursery  Business,  285 

"        Credits,  312 
Nurserymen,  American  Asso- 
ciation of,  288 
"  Early  Illinois,  9J 


388 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Nurserymen, Marengo,  Ills.  286 
Nurserymen's  Directory,  127 

"  Protective  Asso- 

ciation, 288 
Nut  Farming  in  California,  366 
"  Pecan,  246 
"  Sicilian,  114 
Nuttalia  cerasiformis,  166 


O 

Oak,  Growth  of,  277 
'•    New  Weeping,  357 
"    Royal,  The,  29 
"    Timber,  Preserving.  82 

Profits  of,  23 
"    Trees,  Large,  22 
"     White,  Large,  82 
"         "  "        in     Michi- 

gan, 244 
Obituary,  29,  128,255,286 
Obscured  Glass  in  Greenhouses, 

108 
Odontoglossuni  phalaenopsis,  43 
Oliio,  Eucalyptus  in,  53 
"     Fish  Commission  Report 

of,  256 
"    Fruit  Crops  in,  147 
"    Horticultural  Society,  350 
"    Notes,  363 

"    Pear  Tree  Blightin,  94 
Oil  and  Gas  Light,  44 
"  for  Fruit  Trees,  115,  271 
"  Linseed  on  Pear  Trees,  334 
"  on  Peach  Trees,  275 
"  Parrafin,  217 
"  Pine  Tree,  267 
"  Trees  Injured  by,  209 
Olden  Time,  Gardening  Gossip 

of,  120. 153 
Old  Favorites,  Improving,  169 
"    Things  Become  New,  162 
Oleander,  Double  White,  268 
Olivet  Cherry,  19 
Omphalodes  verna,  262 
Onion  Smut,  190 
Orange  Trees,  Age  of,  222 
Orchard,  A  Promising,  333 

"       Locality  for,  334 
Orchards,  Stirring  Surface  Soil 

of,  148 
Orchid  Culture,  44 

'•      Growers'  Manual,  316 
Oregon,  Lawn  Grass  for,  7 
"      Peach  Plum  in,  17 
Origin  of  the  Name  Walnut,  222 

"        "     Phylloxera,  216 
Our  Contributors,  264 
Oxalis  enneapbylla,  232 
Oyster  Plant/208 


Pseonia  Brownii,  291 
Pseonies,Trees,Propagating,294 
Pachystoma  myrsinites,  357 
Packing  American  Apples,  241 

"        Pears,  174 
Palm,  !-ago,  Cycas  revoluta  Not 

the,  249 
Pampas  Grass.  360 

"  "  Preserving  Spikes 

of,  5 
Pandanus  utilis,  139 
Panicum  plicatum  variegatum, 

201 
Pansies,  133 
Paper  trom  Cactus,  211 

"     Japan,  179 
Papyrus  as  a  Garden  Plant,  296 
Parasitic  Fungi,  127 
Paris  Exposition,  352 
Park,  Fail  mount,  29 
Parrafin  Oil,  217 
Parsons,  R.  B.,255 

S.  B.  &  Co.,  127 
Passifiora  edulis,  Fruit  of,  276 
Patented  Fruits,  186 
Patents,  Plant,  126 
Pavements,  Wood,  83 
Pea,Sabre,;242 


Peach,  Alexander,  147,  303 
"     Amsden,  303 
"     Billyeu's  Late  Oct.,  242 
"     Bowers'  Early,  274 
"     Buds,  How  Many  a  Day, 

«'     Comet,  242 
"     Crawford's  Earlyin  Eng- 
land, 335 
"     Culture  in  the  North,  147 
"     Disease  in  California,  50 
"        in  the  South,  50 
"     Downer,  115 
"      Exquisite,  51,  114 
"     Freeman's  Late,  336 
«'     Gary's  Hold-on,  174 
"      Grower,  A  Texan,  335 
"     Hale's  Early,  17 
"  "        "      in  England, 

17 
"      Honeywell,  303 
"      Late    or  Walling  Plum, 
115 
"     Musser,  74 
"     Peen-to,  or  Flat,  of  China 
301 
"     Plum  in  Oregon,  17 
"      Rogers,  115 
"      Seedling.  276 
"      Stones,  Natural .  78 
"     Trees,  Borers  in,  80 

"       Mulched.  80 
"        "  "      Oil  on,  275 

'*     Twin,  351 
Peaches,    Alexander,    Honey- 
well, and  Amsden. 303 
"        Best  Early,  276 
"        Double  Blossom,  229 
"        Early,  276 

'*      Beatrice      and 
Rivers,  242 
"  "        in  Georgia,  276 

"  "       in  Texas,  305 

Mr.  H.  M.  En- 
gle  on,  287 
Five  Late,  338 
"        Flavor   of  American 

•       and  English,  340 
"       in  California,  335 

Early,  337 
"       Texas,  365 
"       New,  80 
"  "     Early,  300 

"        Sending,tolreland,207 
Pear  and  Apple  Trees,  Decaying 

47 
"    Birkett,  173 
"    Blight,  Discussion  on,  367 
"    Good  Earlv,  305,  337 
"    Marshall.  336 
"     Timber,  211 
"    Tree  Blight,  20,  145.  147 
"        "         "       in  Ohio,  94 
"    Trees,  Bearing  Age  of,  241 
"       Grease  for.  52 

Linseed  Oil  on,  334 
"      Whitewashed,  331 
"    Wilder,  241 
Pears,  364 
"     Disease  in.  48 
"      Fox's  Seedling,  115 
"      Packing,  174 
"      Pot-raised,  Size  of.  207 
"      Three    Perfect  Crops  in 

One  Season,  17 
"      Two  Good,  49 
Peat  and  Rhododendrons,  131 
Pecan  Nut,  246 

"       Nuts,  Variations  in.  185 
Pelargonium,  New  Double  Ivy- 
leaved,  239 
"  New  Life,  330 

Penna.  Hort.  Society.  318, 
Peristrophe  august  i  flora,  358 
Periwinkles,  The.  38 
Permanent    International  Ex- 
hibition Cut-flowers  at,  :;i7 
Persimmon, Diospyrus  kaki,362 
Effect  of  Frost  on 

tin-  fruit,  116 
Hardiness  of,  211 
Japan,  51, 80, 174 
Ripening  of,  86 
Persimmons,  367 


Petunias,  Improved,  237 
Phellodendron,186 

"  amurense,   198 

Philadephia, Eucalyptus  in,152 
"  FairmountPark, 

285 
"  Industries  of,  127 

Philodendron,  186 
Phloxes,  Distinct,  292 
Phylloxera,  in  California,  17 
"  "  Europe,  333 

*'  Origin  of  the,  216 

Physinthus,  alliens,  234 
Pine  Apples,  Cultivated,  50 
"    New  Product  from  the, 245 
"    Pitch,  22 

"     Umbrella,  the  largest .  lis 
"    Tree,  New  Enemy  to,  370 
"      Oil,  367 
Pines,California,Fuugus  on, 119 
"      Yellow  or  Short-leaved, 
177,211,  277 
PinK.Sweet  William,  197 
Pinks,  Carnation,  30 
Pinus,  a  New,  6 
"    excelsa,  68 
"    Lambertiana,  31  • 
"    Omorika,  A  New  Conife- 
rse,  293 
Pioneer  Strawberry,  305 
Pitcher  Plants,  Tropical,  268 
Pitch  Pine,  22 
Pippin,  Blenheim,  16 
Plane  Tree,  A  large,  63 
Plan    for   a  Small    Vegetable 

House,  47 
Plantation,  An  Evergreen,  261 
Planting  Lilies,  167 

"        Pyrancantba,  70 
"        Potato,  Whole  or  Cut 
Sets  in  304 
Plant,  Forage,  A  new,  253 
"      Growing,  City,  352 
"      in  an  Ant  Hill,  233 
"     Life  of  Norway,  92 
"      Oyster,  208 
"     Patents,  126 
Plants  and  Flowers,  Prices  of, 

287 
"      Annual,  355 
"      California,  East,  163 
"      Early  Flowering,  134 
"       Evolutions  of,  55 
"      bnglish  National    Em- 
•blematic,  222 
Fibre,  184 
"       Freezing  of  Sap  in,  185, 

217,372 
"       Herbaceous,    Dividing, 
199 
"  "in  General,  355 

"      Internal  Heat  of,  248 
"      Little  Known,  Notes  on, 
102 
"      Music  and,  87 
"      Names  of  7,39,58,77,90 
"      New  Double,  U.  S.,  86 
"      Protection  to,  342 
•'      Reproduction  in,  307 

sleep  of,  215 
"      Southern    Utah,    Notes 

on.  227 
"      which  Endure  Dryness, 
137 
Platycerinm  Willinckii,  204 
Plough,  Hand,  115 
Plumbago  Larpentre,  267 

rosea,  201 
Plum,  Ha-sett's  American,  338 
Shropshire  Damson,  304 
"     Walling,  <>!•  Late  Peach, 

115 
Plural  of  Botanical  Names,  252 
Poinsetta,  Double,  45 
Poisoning  by  Ainrelopsia  Vir- 
ginica,  151 
Rhus,  119 
Poisonous  Mountain   Ash  Ber- 
ries, 310 
"        Mushrooms,  336 
Yew,  3-10 
Polemoniuin  confertum,  88 
Pollen  in  Fertilizing,  Aiding, 

370 


Pomological    Judges,   Centen- 
nial, 154 
'*  Section,  Centen- 

nial, 160 
Societies.     State 

and  Hort., 96 

Societv.  Am.,96, 

159, 192."  255,319,352    , 

Society.Miebigan 

State.  350 

Poplar,  Carolina,  324 

"       Golden-leaved,  166 
Popular  Appreciation  ot  Cheap 
Flowers,  360 
English  Apples.  :ui 
Portable  Hot-water  Boiler,  203 
Potato  Beetle.    Enemy  of  the. 

316 
"       Geography  of,306 
•'       Moth.  56 

"      Planting,  Whole  or  Cut 
Sets,  304 
Pot  Drainage.  41 
'*    Raised  Pears,  Size  of.  207 
Pots,"  60-sized,"  207 
Prairie  Flowers,  24,  27S 
Premiums  for  Forests,  53 
Preservation  of  Timber.  178 
Preservatives,  Wood,  177 
Preserve  Old  Geraniums.  297 
Preserving  Flowers  Fresh.  328 
"  Fruit    Trees    from 

Grasshoppers,20C. 
Oak  Timber,  S2 
Roses  in  Winter,326 
"  Spikes   of    Pampas 

Grass,  5 
Pretty  Feathers  Make  Pretty 

Birds,  351 
Price  of  Flowers  in  America, 359 
Prices  of  Nurserv  Plauts  and 

Flowers,  287 
Prickly  Coinfrey,  209 
Primrose,  i.  hinesc.Old  Doable, 

296 

"  "  Flo  we  riim 

of.  77,Uu 

Primrosts,  Double  Chinese,  356 

"  Evening,  323 

Primulas,  Double   and    Adian- 

tum  Farleyense,  167 
Pritchardia  filifera,  25 
Prizes  for  Arboriculture,  215 
Production   of  Novelties.    En- 
couragement to  the,  219 
Professors,  New,  J24 
Profitable  Cherries.  334 
Profit  of  Timber  Planting,  82 
Profits  of  Oak  Timber,  23 
Propagating  Calla  Lily,  298 

"  Exochorda    gran- 

diflora,       New 
Method,  355 
"  Hyaciuths     from 

Leaves,  140 
"  Tree  Paeonys.  294 

Propagation  of  Evergreens  by 
Soft  Wood   Out- 
tings,  232 
"  ;"  Exochorda  gran- 

difl'm:,  230 
"  "  Richardia  .Ethi- 

opic<i — ('alia  Lily, 359 
Protection    f«  r  Now  Varieties, 

280 
Hort.,  58, 124 
to  Plains.  342 
Protective    Association,    Nur- 
seryman's, 288 
Pruning  Conifene,  103 

Evergreens,  264 
"         for  Wood  and  Kruit.lS 
"       Full     Grown      Fruit 

Trees.  78 

( Irape  Roots,  80 
Pterodiscus  Bpeciosus,  13 
Purple-leaved  Daphne,  6 

Grape-vine,  88 
[vy,  170,  269 
Pyracantha  Planting,  79 

White  Berry,  7 
Pvrethrum  aureiim  laciniatuin, 

232 
Pyrus  Maulei,  198 


1877.] 


AND  HORTICULTURIST. 


389 


Q 

Queen  of  Bedders.New  Rose,204 
Quercus  pedunculata,  29 
heterophylla,  339 


K 

Rain-fall  and  the  Lakes,  Facts 
Relative  to,  54 
'*        Forests  and,  53 
Raisers  of  the  Best  Roses,  64 
Rambling  Widow,  63 
Range  of  the  Tulip  Tree,  53 
Rascally  Seedsmen,  189 
Raspberry,  Catawissa,  365 
"  Culture,  16 

Gregg,  305 
Highland  Hardy,20 
May  Bee8)eson,209 
"  New  Rochelle,  115 

Reliance,  301 
"  Southern     Thorn- 

less,  15 
"  Thwack  and   Tur- 

ner, 304 
Turner,  242 
Which  is  the  Best. 
270 
Recollections  of  Australia,  60, 

122,  187 
Red  Cedar,  Cream -colored,  6 

'•   Spider,  45 
Rein  wardtia  trigynia,  267 
Reliance  Rasnberry,  301 
Remedy  for  Slugs,  267 
Report,  U.  S.  Dep't  Agr'l,  64 
Reproduction  in  Plants,  307 
Repton's  Tomb,  222 
Restoring  Dead  Seeds,  339,  369 
Retinospora,  68 
Rheumatism,   Horse  Chestnut 

for.  285 
Rhododendron     Californicum, 

226 
House,  104 
Rhododendrons,  36,  131 

"  and  Some  Ever- 

greens,    Notes 
on,  67 
"  at  Boston,  229 

Hardy,  2 
"  "        Culture 

of,  194 
Peat  and,  131 
"  Waterer's,  93 

Rhus,  Poisoning  by,  119 
Rhymes  and  Recollections  of  a 

Cactus  Man,  29,  250,  310 
Ribston  Pippin  Apple,  17 
Richardia  (Calla)  J£thiopica.329 
"  "  •'  Culture 

of,  235 
"  "  "  Propaga- 

tion of,  359 
Ricinus     communis,    Jonah's 

Gourd,  63 
Ricketi's  Grapes,  336 
Ripening  of  the  Persimmon,  86 
Roads,  Dusty,  To  Moisten,  197 
Rockwork,  354 

Roe's  Seedling  Gooseberry,  274 
Roger's  Peach,  115 
Roof  Gardens,  169 
"    Gardening  in  Cbicago,296 
"    of  a  Hotel,  Conservatory 
on,  235 
Room    Plant,  Adiantum    Far- 

leyense  as  a,  2:14 
Roots,  Burying,  371 
Rose,  Beauty  of  Glazenwood, 
104,  141,  168,  194 
"    Best  Tea,  237 
"     Blooms,  329 
"    Crimson  Boursalt,. 357 
'•    Duchess  of  Edinburg,  12, 
106 
"    Gen'l  Washington,  69 
"    Hardy  Yellow,  294 
"    La  France,  69 
"   Mademoiselle  Marie   Fin- 
ger, 292 
"    Magna  Charta,  134 


Rose.Marechal  Neil,  Disease  of, 

329 
"    Queen  of  Bedders,New,204 
"    Sensitive — Schrankia  un- 
cinata,  278 
Roses,  76 

"      and  Verbenas  in  Iowa,  162 
"        Button-hole,  201 

Raisers  of  the   Best,  64 
"        Tender,  Forcing,  41 

Winter,  291 
"  "      Preserving,  326 

Rosin,  Tar  and  Turpentine.176 
Rossingold    Apple,    A    Good 

French,  79 
Rot  in  Grapes,  81,  365 
Rotting  of  Seeds  in  Spring,  152 
Royal  Patronage  of  Hort.,  221 
Ruined  by  his  Greenhouses,188 
Rules  for  Judges,  376 
Rust,  Verbena.  9,  10, .11,88,  109 


Sabre  Pea,  242 

Sago  Palm,  Cycas  revoluta  not 

the,  249 
Salad,  Dandelion,  243 

for  Early  Spring,  304 
Salisburia,  Sexes  of,  358 
Salvia  marmoiata,  140 
Sap,  Descending,  184 
'•    Freezing  ol,  in  Plants,  185, 
217,  372 
Sarracenia    and  Darlingtonia, 
Singular  Analogy  in,  56 
"        Mooreana,  169 
Sash  for  Hotbed,  Improved,  75 
Sassalras,  Laurus,  227 
Satin  Flower,  253 
Saundeis,  Wm.,  127 
Saxilraga  japonica,  7 
Scarcity  of  Dog -wood.  339 
Scented  Geranium,  Mrs.  Tay- 
lor, 170 
Schrankia  uncinata,  278 
Sciadoptiys,  Fine,199 

verticillata,  Best,  39 
Science,  Amer.  Ass'n  for  Ad- 
vancement of,  127 
Horticultural,  27 
Scientific  Theories,  181 
Scion  and  Stock,  240 
Scotch    Highlands,    Value    of 

Timber  in,  212 
Scott,  R.  Robinson,  Death  of, 

255,  286 
Scraps  and  Queries,  7,19,  23,  27, 
30,  39,45,  52,  53,  56,  70,  76, 
80,  88,  94.  104,  111,  115,  119, 
128,  140,  147,  152,  158,  166, 
170,  185,  192,  199,  208,  217, 
224,  232,  239,  243,  246,  256, 
263,  268,  275,  279,  287,  288, 
294,  298,  305,  325,  329,  337, 
351,  357,  361,  371,  376 
Scuppernong  Grape,  335 
Season,  Notes  on,  364 
Secretary  Grape,  80 
Secretions,  Honeyed,  the  Use 

of,  57,  87 
Sedum  glaucum,  228 
Seed,  Chestnuts  from.Growing, 

244 
"    Strawberries   from,  206 
Seeding  Akebia  Quinata,  7 

of  Horse  Radish,  151 
Seedling  Peach,  276 
Seedlings  Forest,  212 

Hybrid  Grape,  113 
Seeds,  Exposure  to  Cold,  217 
"     Persian  Lilac,  279 
"      Restoring  Dead,  339,  369 
"      Rotting  of  in  Spring,  152 
"    Soaking  in  BoilingWater, 
247 
"     Steeping  in  Chlorine  or 

Camphorated  Water,  304 
"     Use  of  Feathered  Awns 
to  some,  184 
Selecting  Timber,  178 
Self-fertilization  and  Cross-fer- 
UUwtion,  117, 149,  18J 


Sending  Peaches  to  Ireland,207 
"        Stamps  for  Answers, 
376 
Sener  Apple,  113 
Sequoia  gigantea,  Large,  134 

"  "        Weeping,  5 

SericographisGhiesbreghtiana, 

235 
Service  Berry,  Dwarf,  334 
Sexes  of  Salisburia.  358 
Shade  Trees,  Washington,  37 
Shape  of  the  Earth,  216 
Short-leaved'orYellow  Pine,177 
Shropshire  Damson  Plum,  304 
Shrubs,  July   floweiing,  Save, 

322 
Siberian  Crab,  Improved,  337 
Sicilian  Hazel  Nut,  52,  114 

"     Sumach,  368 
Silk  Weed,  The  Common,  69 
Silver  Thorn,  294 
Six  Months  in  the  Foot-hills.341 
Size  of  Pot-raised  Pears,  207 
Sleep  of  Plants,  215 
Slippery  Elm,  Origin  of,  70 
Slugs,  Remedy  for,  267 
Smith,  Lady,  Death  of.  128 
Smith's  Improved  Gooseb'y,  303 
Smut,  Onion,  190 
Smyrna,  Fertilizing  Figs  in,  17  4 
Soaking  Seeds  in  Boiling  Wa- 
ter, 247 
Soft  Wood  Cuttings  of   Ever- 
greens, Propagation  by,232 
Soil,  Stirring  in  Orchards,  148 
Solan  urns,  236 
Solanum  Torreyi,  263 
Solar  Heat,  Theory,  95 
Some  Old  Fruits,  78 
South  Carolina,  Eucalyptus  in, 

177 

"     Peach  Disease  in  the,  50 

Southern  Thornless  Raspb'y,15 

Southwick,  T.  T.,  &  Co.,  158 

Sowing  Walnuts  and  Hickories, 

246 
Species  of  Fuchsia,  Number  of, 

119 
Specimens,  Herbarium,  216 
Spider,  Red,  45 
Spirea  palmata,  38,  100 
Spontaneous  Generation,  306 
Spring  Beds,  354 
"      Bulbs,  360 
"      Rotting  of  Seeds  in,  152 
Spruce,  Colorado  Menzies,  291 

"        Norway,  259 
Spruces  and  Firs,  370 
Stamps  for  Answers,  Sending, 

376 
Standing  Cypress,  326 
Starting  Cyclamens,  45 
Steam,  Heating  Cities  by,  307 
"         Danger  of  Fire 
from,  307 
Stenocarpus  Cunninghami,  360 
Sternberg^  lutea,  166 
Stirring    Surface    Soil   of   Or- 
chards, 148 
St.  Louis,  Evergreens  at,  165 
Stock  for  Cherry,  208 
Scion  and,  240 
Strawberries,  364 

"         Caroline  and  Belle. 
335 
Fall  Fruiting,  16,51 
for  Market,  52 
from  Seed,  206 
"  Late  Cone,  274 

Strawberry,  Capt.  Jack,  51,  304 
Forest  Rose,  274 
James  Veitch  ,19,52 
"         Leaf-roller,  143 
"         Pioneer,  305 
"  Vicomtesse     heri- 

cart  de  thury,  16 
"         Wilson's      Albany 
Seedling,True,147 
Streptocarpus  rhexil,  109 
Stump  Apple,  19 
Styrax  Japonica,  166 
Subscriber,  Loss  of  a,  62 
Sulphur  for  Red  Spider,  76 
Sumach,  Sicilian,  368 


Summer  Garden  Bouquet,  296 
"       Tour,  Notes  on,  136 
Sweden,  Forests  of,  213 
Sweet  Fern  and  Alder  for  Tan- 
ning, 23,  83 
"    Gum  as  a  Tan  Bark,  53 
Sweet-scented  Rhododendrons, 

12 
Sweet  William.  197 
Swenker  Apple,  52 
Swindles  in  Horticulture,  285 
Swine  Husbandry,  317 


Taberiuemontana  camassa,  170 
"  coronaria  flore- 

pleno,  266 
Tabernremontanas,  239,  298 
Tan  Bark,  Sweet  Gum  as  a,  53 
Tanning.  Alder  and  Sweet  Fern 

for,  23,  83 
Tar,  Rosin  andTurpentine,176 
Taste  in  Farm  Houses,  328 
Tea  in  California,  303 
"    in  Georgia,  63 
"    Rose,  Best,  237 
Tender  Roses,  Forcing,  41 
Tennessee,  Horticulture  in, 316 
Texan  Peach  Grower.  335 
Texas,  Dallas.  Notes  from,  309 
Early  Peaches  in,  305 
"        Peaches  in,  365 
Theories,  Scientific.  181 
Thinning  Fruit,  49 
Thin  the  Fruit.Will  it  pay,  366 
Thirtieth  Verse,  The,  158 
Thistle  Law,  Illinois,  350 
Thomas  Hogg,  Hydrangea,204, 

360 
Thorn,  Christ's,  316 

Silver,  294 
Three  Perfect  Crops   Pears  in 

One  Season.  I, 
Thrips  in  a  CjUI  Vinery,  116 
Timber  Catalpa,  Value  of,  82 
"        Conifers  in  Massachu- 
setts, 211 
"         Durable  Torreya  tax- 

ifolia,  22 
"         line    in     the    various 

Mountains,  179 
"         Native  Trees  lor,  53 

Notes  from  California, 
176 
"         Oak,  Preserving,  82 
»  "    Profits  of,  23 

Pear,  211 
"         Planting,  profit  of,  S2 
"         Preservation  of,  178 
"         Raising  in  Kansas.Ex- 

periments  in,  210 
"         Selecting,  178 
"         Value  of  in  the  Scotch 

Highlands,  212 
"         Walnut  for,  52 
"         Wild  Cherry,  53 
Time  in  Evidence,  118 
Tissue,    Preparing  Vegetable, 

307 
To  all  Wanting  Homes,  29 
Toledo,Ohio,New  Cemetery  ,291 
Tomatoes,  175 

"  Keeping,  145 

Tomato  Season  Prolonged, 15,79 
Tomb,  Repton's,  222 
Torrenia  Fourneri,  29S 
Tornilla,  189 
Torreya  taxifolia,  244 

"  "  as   durable 

timber,  22 
Trachelospermum     (Rhyncos- 
permum)  jasminoides,110, 
140 
Trained  Fruit  Trees,  173 
Transactions,  Mass.  Hort.  So- 
ciety, 157 
Treatment  of  Hardy  Azaleas, 

166 
Tree  Growth ,  27 
"        Lacquer.  368 
"       of  Blessed  Virgin  near 
Cairo,  254 


390 


THE  GARDENER'S  MONTHLY 


[December, 


Tree,  Plane,  a  Large,  63 
"        Planting,    Bequest  for, 
349 
"  "  in  Canada,  22 

"  "     in  Minnesota,82 

"  "     Law,  California, 

179 
"       Timber,  Ash  as  a,  177 
Tulip,  198 
Value  of  a,  21 
Trees,  Beautiful  Specimens of,5 
"        Chestnut,  Large,  177 
"        Difference    in    Annual 
Wood  Circles,  372 
for  Colorado,  177 
"        for    Protecting  Green- 
houses, 45 
"       Foreign,  53 
"        Forest,     Commercial 
Classes  of,  82 
Gas-killed,  325 
"        Injured  by  Oil,  209 

Memorial,  63 
"        Notes  on,  130 
Oak,  Large,  22 
Orange,  Age  of,  222 
Shade,  Washington,  37 
"        will  not.  last  Forever, 307 
Trietelia  uniflora.  231 ,  279 
Tritoma  in  Decoration,  360 
Tritomas,  69 

Tropical  Pitcher  Plants,  268 
Tuberoses,  American,  2 

••  &  Foreign,30 

"  &  Italian.  112 

Double  and  Single,23'2 

Tuberous-rooted  Begonias,  290, 

327,  330 
Tulare,  Cal.,  Lumber  resources 

of,  177 
Tulip  Tree,  198 

Golden,  357 
Range  of  the,  53 
Tumble  Weed,  128, 155, 179,224, 

246,  305,  340,  369 
Turner  Raspberry,  242,  304 
Turpsntine,  Rosin  and  Tar,  176 
Twig  Blight  on  Apple  Trees,365 
Twin  Apple,  351 
"    Peach.  351 
Two  Good  Pears,  49 


V 

United  States  Plants,  New,  86 
Unproductive  Lands,  Forestry 

on,  339 
Upholsterv,  Cactus  in,  253 
Utah  Hvb'rid  Cherry,  334 
"    Lilies  of,  349 


Utah ,Sou them,  Cranberries  in, 

243 
"  •'        Notes  on   Rare 

Plants,  227 


Value  of  a  Tree,  21 

"      Catalpa  Timber,  82 
"     Timber     in     Scotch 
Highlands,  212 
Variations  in  Conifers, 25 
"         "    Junipers,  2*>3 
"         "     Pecan   Nuts,  185 
Variegated  Elder,  39 
Varieties,  Care  in,  337 

"        of  Apples,  Numerous, 
366 
"  "      Wearing 

out  of,  240 
"        Wearing  out    of,    25, 
306,  372 
Various  Topics,  100 
Varying  Forms,  Interpretation 
of,  84 
"        Results  of  Climate,  249 
Vegetable    and    Animal    Life, 
Northern  Limits,  215 
"  E  iting,  50 

"         House,       Plan      for 

Small,  47 
"         Mould,    To    Prepare 
Quickly,  236 
or  Greenhouse,  Heat- 
ing Small,  Ki6 
"  Tissue, Preparing.307 

Vegetables  and  fruit,  Forced, 

208 
"         Early,Importing,207 
Vegetation,  Light  and,  184 
"  of  Bermuda,  55 

Verbena,  11,  12,  74 
•'        Culture,  9 

Rust,  9.  10,  88,  109 
"  "      and       Verbena 

GrowiDg,  11 
Verbenas  and  Roses  in  Iowa,  162 
Vermont,  Eucalyptus  globulus 

in,  23 
Viburnum  plicatum,  229 
Vick's  Guide  and  Flower  and 

Vegetable  Garden,  29,  64 
Vicomtesse  hericart  de  thury 

Strawberry,  16 
Victoria   Lily    in    Open    Air, 
Growing,  357 
"        Regia,  76 
Vinca   acutiloba — Mauve   Per- 

winkle,  38 
Vinery,  Cold,  Thrips  in,  116 


Vineyard,  Horse-power,  174 
"  Kansas,  304 

Thos.  Wood  at  Cam- 
den, 63 
Violet— Belle  de  Chatenay,  29S 

377 
"      Dog's-tooth  or  Erythri- 

num,  197 
"      New  Double  White,  166 
Vitis  heterophylla,  356 

W 

Waban  Conservatories,  Boston, 

76 
Walling  Plum  or  Late  Peach, 

115 
Walnut,  English,  51 
"        European.  213 
"        Growing,     Northern 
.     Range  of,  332 
for  Timber,  56 
"        Origin  of  Name,  222 
Walnuts  and  Hickories,  Sow- 
ing, 246 
War  on  the  Insects,  240 
Washington  Shade  Trees,  37 
Water  Barrow,  243 

"    Lily,  White,  99 
Waterer's  Rhododendrons,  93 
Wat  so  q,  B.M.,  350 
Wearing  out  of  Varieties,  25, 

240,  306 
Weeds  in  Lawns,  199 
Weed,    Tumble,    128,   155,    179, 

224,  246,  305,  340,  369 
Weeping  Cherry,  239 
"        Oak,  New,  ;i.~>7 

Sequoia  gigantea,  5 
"        Yellow    or    Slippery 
Elm,  Origin,  70 
Weigelas,  163 

Western  N.  Y.  Hort  Soc.,30,190 
West,  Far,  To  the,  123 
"    Horticultural  Pioneers  at 
the.  192 
What  is  a  Fruit,  305 
Wheat,  Mummy,  152 
White  Ash  in  New  England, 245 
"      Berry  Pyracantha,  7 
"      Bouquet  Flowers.  235 
"      Dewberry,  174 
"      Grapes,  New,  242 
"      Oak,  Large,  82,  244 
"      Water  Lily,  99 
Whitewashed  Pear  Trees,  331 
Widow,  Rambling,  63 
Wild  Cherry  Timber,  83 

"     Flowers  of  America,  29 
Wilder  Pear,  241 

"      Marshall  P.,  64 


Wilder,  Marshall  P.,  Address  of, 
320,379 
"  *'  Letter  from. 

192 
Willow,  Napoleon's,  376 
Wilson's      Albany       Seedling 
Strawberry,  True.147 
"      Early  Blackberry  Har- 
diness of,  51 
Wind  Engine,  Champion,  18 
"     on  Evergreens,  Effect  of. 
133 
Window      Garden,      Artillery 
Plant  for,  234 
"        Plant,    Niererabergia 
gracilis.  235 
Winter,  English,  127 

"       FloweringCarnations, 
44 
"       Roses  in,  291,  326 
Wintering  Eucalyptus  globulus, 

267 
Wisconsin  State  Hort.  Soc.,316 
Wistaria  sinensis,  357 
Woes  of  an  Editor,  62 
Wonderful,  Double  Zonale,  76 
Wood  Circles  of  Trees,  Differ- 
ent Thickness.  372 
"     Fire-proof.  247 
"     ibr  Fuel,  Growing,  213 
"     Pavements,  83 
"     Preservatives.  177 
"     Pruning  for,  18 
Work    of     Centennial     Jury, 

Group  xxxvi.  288 
Worm,  Cucumber,  304 
"      Gooseberry,  208 


Xanthoceras  sorbifolia,  133,232 


Yello  v  Pine.  277 

"    orShort-leaved,177 
•'     Pinis,  The.  211 
"     Rose,  Hardv,  294 
"    Winter  Aconite,  231 

Yew,  Poisonous,  340 


Zelkova  crei.sta,  34,  89 
Zonale  Geranium,  Cultivation 
for  Exhibition,  42 
"    Geranium,Wonderful,76 


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