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UBRAW 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
M  •■SSACHUSEHS 

aMi-iERST.  MASS. 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY, 

A    Magazine   of  Horticulture,   Botany 
and  kindred  subjects. 


CONDUCTED   BY 


THOMAS  MEEHAN, 


FORMERLY  EDITOR  OF  THE  "GARDENERS'  MONTHLY,"  AND  AUTHOR  OF  THE  "  NATIVE  FLOWERS  AND 
FERNS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES."      VICE-PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ACADEMY  OF  NATURAL 
SCIENCES  OF  PHILADELPHIA..,      BOTANIST  TO  THE  PENNSYLVANIA 
STATE  BOARD  OF  AGRICULTURE,  ETC.  '    ■' 

ASSISTED   BY  ■    ' 

THOMAS  B.  MEEHAN,  J.  FRANK  MEEHAN,    '■  S.  l^T.  MEEHAN. 


Volume  III, 
1803. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  COLORED  LITHOGRAPHS, 

BY 

L.  PRANQ  &  CO. 

AND  NUMEROUS  COPPER  AND  WOOD  ENGRAVINGS. 


COPYRIGHTED. 


THOMAS   MEEHAN  &  SONS, 

Grrmantown,  Phila.,  Pa. 


Preface  to   Volume  III. 


ENTLE  READER :  We  herewith  place  in  your  hands  the 
third  vohune  of  Meehans'  Monthly;  a  work  which 
we  trust  will  continue  till  all  the  leading  wild  flowers 
of  our  beloved  United  States  have  been  illustrated  and 
described.  There  is  nothing  in  it  "continued."  Each 
volume  is  a  complete  book  in  itself,  which  you  and  those  who  come  after 
you  will  enjoy  and  profit  by. 

No  one  can  expect  to  own  much  of  this  glorious  world ;  but  he  may, 
in  a  certain  sense,  with  our  figures  and  descriptions,  own  the  beautiful 
flowers  which  cover  it. 

To  give  you,  good  reader,  this  pleasure  through  all  time,  is  the  task 
we  have  set  ourselves  to  do. 


Index  to  Volume  III. 


COLORED  PLATES. 


Adiantum    pedatum  113 

Ascyruni  crux-andreEe 65 

Baptisia  IcucophcKa 177 

Comarum  palustre 97 

EpigEea  repens 17 

Michella  repens 49 


Opuntia  prolifera i 

Pelkea  gracilis 33 

Prenanthes   alba 161 

Solidago  petiolaris 129 

Trichoniaues  Petersii 81 

Ximenesia  encelioides 145 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 169 

A  garden  in  the  desert 89 

Agassiz,  Prof.  Louis 62 

An  owl 133 

A  winter  scene  in  Nevada 6 

Budding 88 

Cercidiphyllutu  Japonicum 74 

Citrus  trifoliata loi 

Cool  orchids 165 

Corn  flowers 104,  105 

Coues,  Dr.  Elliot 47 

Cypress  swamp 53 

De  Candolle,  Alphonse 95 

Douglas,   David 79 

Flowering  almond 168 

Fruit  seedlings  inside  citrus 41 

Fuchsia 58 

Grafting  bottle 10 

Grape  culture  under  glass 189 

Horse  radish  leaves 77 

Horticultural   Hall 137 

Incarvilla  Delaveyi 26 

Japan  snowball 121 

Lettuce 28,  29 

Magnolia  hypolcuca 73 

Mansan  i  ta 85 

Martindale,  Isaac   C 31 

Michaux,  F.  A iii 


Mountains  of  North  Carolina 149 

Peaches  in  pots  124 

Pepper,  Dr.  William 191 

Plane  tree 69 

Plaque  presented  to  Thomas  Meehan 143 

Potentilla  canadensis 38 

Quercus  cerris 166 

Rhododendron 22 

Richardia   maculata 152 

Rocks  of  the  Wissahickon 117 

Rose  leaves 148 

Salt  bushes 170 

Sea-kale 57 

Sea  side  walk,  St.  Clare,  Isle  of  Wight 9 

Spiraea  prunifolia 182 

Strawberry  proliferous 1S2 

Strawberr}'  culture  in  Florida 185 

The  Starr  apple 157 

Tomatoes,  forcing 12 

Training  fruit 12 

Tree  trunks,  elongation  of 37 

Vaccinium  corymbosum 61 

Vanilla  phalsenopsis 90 

Viola  cucuUata  Var.  palmatn 4 

Wild  roses  of  Nevadi 116 

Yucca  brevifolia 153 

Yucca  filamentosa 100 


POEMS. 


A  Beautiful  Garden 103 

A  Day 174 

An  Autumn  Night 131 

An  Old  Thue   Christmas 190 

Autumn  Love 158 

A   Winter   Scene 183 

Bacchus  and  the  Grape 135 

Down  to  Sleep 163 

Foretelling  the  Weather 99 

Hail  to  the  Apple  Tree 151 

Hope  On 14 

May  Day 67 

Mountain  Scenes 83 

Nature's  Rosary 179 

October 147 

Park  Scenery 87 

Rotha 46 

Self  Praise  is  no  Praise 24 


Song  of  the  Flowers 70 

Song  to  a  Pet  Cicada 115 

Spring 19 

Spring  Beauty 55 

Spring   Flowers 62 

Sunny   Italy 119 

The  Advent  of  Spring 35 

The    Beautiful   Snow 3 

The  Cascade 7 

The  First  Flowers  of  Spring 51 

The  Heart  of  Flowers 142 

The  Landscape  Gardener 23 

The  May  Queen 77 

The  Moss  Covered  Wall 167 

The  Orange  Tree 39 

The  Wanderer's  Night  Song 126 

Wasted   Lives 94 

Youth  in  Old  Age no 


A  sunmier  outing  in  North  Carolina 149 

Abies  Frazeri 25,  64 

Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 174 

Acer  Nikkcense 24 

Agassiz,  Prof.  Louis 63 

Agriculture  by  law 141 

Ailanthus 10,  152 

Almonds 73 


American  Pomological  Society 188 

Ampelopsis  Veitchii 75 

Adiantum  pedatum II3 

Anemone,  Japan 138 

Apple,  miscellaneous  notes  on  the  42,  92,  123,  125, 

157.  166 

Apple,  the  Chenango  strawberry 29 

Apple,  the  Newtown  pippin 188 


Apple,  the  Russian 142 

Apple,  the  Starr 157 

Arbutus 127 

Arnebia  cornuta 7 

Artichoke,  Jerusalem 86 

Ascyruiu  cru x-andreEe 65 

Asparagus,  miscellaneous  notes  on 29,  44,  186 

Asphodel  of  Homer,  the 115 

Asplenium  septentriouale 134 

Asters  in  Wisconsin 3 

Azaleas 135 

Bailey,  Prof.  L.  H 14 

Baker,  J.  G 142 

Bananas 93 

Baptisia  leucophsea 177 

Bartram ,  John 126 

Bean  poles,  corn  stalk 24,  76 

Beau  tree 192 

Bear  grass 150,  180 

Beautifying  waste  places 120 

Bees  and  clover 83,  86 

Beet,  the  wild  118 

Beggar  weed 99 

Benary ,  Ern St 64 

Benthamia  Japonica 4 

Bering  Strait 144 

Birds,  migration  of. 67 

Blackberries  and  raspberries 28 

Blackberry  and  raspberry  stem  borer 109 

Blackberr}',  the  English 76 

Blue-stone  and  copperas 160 

Boston  Public  Garden 16,  23 

Botany  in  the  west 158 

Botany  for  beginners 128 

Bourcharlet,  Mens 142 

Brackenridge,  W.  D 47 

Budding 88 

Bulbs 51,  85,  154 

Butter,  preserving 140 

Button  wood 179 

Burk,  Isaac 78 

Cabhage 29,  156 

Cactuses 123,  1S2 

Californiain  New  York 11 

Calla,  double-spathed 152 

Callalily 183 

Cal tha  palustris 84 

Campanula  Mariesii 154 

Cana  Agra 19 

Canby's  herbarium 14 

Cannas,  Notes  on' 40,   154 

Carnations,  Notes  on 26,  43,  89,  91,  152,  167 

Cauli  flower 44 

Cedar  of  Lebanon 152 

Cemeteries,  beautiful 1S6 

Century  plant 137 

Cercidiphyllum  Japonicum 74 

Champagne 93 

Cherrj'  culture 60 

Cherry,  The  Deacon 156 

Cherry,  The  Vladimir 77 

Chestn  ut ,  Japan 107 

Chicken  flower 85 

Chionanthus  Yirginica 134 

Chorogi 106 

Christmas  trees 1 60 

Chry  san  themums 123,   139 

Cinquefoil 39,  79 

Citrus  trifoliata loi 

Clark,  the  explorer 30 

Closed  rooms 86 

Clover  devil 86 

Clover,  Texas.. 147 


Cnicus  edulis 176 

Coniarum  palustre 97 

Compass,   a  watch  as  a 32 

Couover,  George  S 159 

Cornelius,  Robert 158 

Corn 92 

Corn  flowers 105 

Corvdalis  nobilis 71 

Cosmos  10,  148 

Cones,  Dr.  Elliot 47 

Cowslip 70 

Crooked  trees,  straightening 122 

Cucumbers,  Japanese 189 

Currants  and  gooseberries 125 

Currauts,  notes  on 123,   125 

Currant,  the  Crandall 61 

Cypress  knees 100 

Cypress  swamp 53 

Cypripedium  acaule 132 

Dahlias,  seedling 106 

Dahlia  stem  borer 88 

Dandelions 86 

Darwin,  Francis 47 

De  Candolle,  Alphonse 95 

Deutzia  parviflora 139 

Digitalis 132 

Diervilla 43 

Dodder 86 

Douglas,  David 79 

Douglas,  Robert 47 

Douglas  spruce 51 

Drainage 120 

Early  spring  flowers 150 

Elongation  of  the  trunks  of  trees 131 

Empress  Josephine ". 62 

Empress  tree 153 

EpigcEa,  history  of 22 

EpigcEa  repens 17 

Evergeens,  hardiness  ,  of. 24 

Evergreens,  notes  on 136,  138 

Evergreens,  a  hand  book  of 127 

Ferns,  notes  on 3,  35,  54 

Fern,  the  walking 118,  133,  182 

Fertility  of  laud,  testing  the 72 

Figs,  notes  on 28,  43,  <5,  171,  173 

Floral  enterprise 87 

Flora  of  Pennsylvania 79 

Floriculture 48 

Flo  weriug  almond 168 

Flowers  aud  Ferns  of  the  U.  S 48,  112 

Flowers,  color  of. 120 

Flowers,  florists' 186 

Flowers,  notes  on S,  36,  85,  90,  no,  134,  163,  164 

Flowers,  preserving  the  color  of. 1S7 

Flowers,  the  nectar  of. 116 

Flowers,  variation  in 118 

Forage  plaut,  a  new 140 

Forestry,  notes  on  75,  78,  100,  118,   136,  138 

Forest  Park,   Springfield,  Mass 58 

Fruit  growers,  Indians  as 14,  45 

Fruit  machinery 184 

Fruit,  names  of 44 

Fruit,  notes  on 11,  139,  141,  173,  185 

Fruit,  seedless 21,  75 

Fruit,  seed  sprouting  in 35 

Fruit  trees,  culture  of 12 

Fuchsias,  notes  on 27,  58,  155 

Fungi,  luminous 181 

Fungus 23 

Fungus,  root 119 

Fuukia 104 

Gardening,  American 190 

Garden,  a  wild 151 


P\GE 

Gardeu  of  Eileu 14,  95 

Gardening,  healthful 12S 

Gardening  in  the  desert 89 

Gardening,  notes  on 32,  88,  no 

Gardens,  wild 25 

Ghiesbrccht,  August  B 79,  94 

Girdled  trees 51 

Girdling  branches  to  promote  fruitfuluess 173 

Gladiolus 103 

Gloxinia 122 

Golden  rod 128,  129 

Gooseberry,  English 24,   140 

Grafting 10,  92,  168 

Grafts  from  Algeria 96 

Grapes,  notes  on 

77.  93.  108,  III,  125,  141,  171,  182,  1S9 

Grass,  bear 1 84 

Grasses  of  Pennsylvania 35 

Grease  wood 117,  165 

Greenhouses 43 

Hagen,  Prof 190 

Halesia  diptera 134 

Hanging  baskets 155 

Harris,  Joseph 62 

Heating,  notes  on 90,  186 

Hedges,  notes  on 40,  loi,  155,  185 

Heilprin,  Prof.  Angelo 30 

Heliotrope,  a  hedge  of. 29 

Hennaplant 41 

Hibberd,  Shirley 15 

Hollies,  notes  on 40,  53,  72,  84,  103 

Honey 99 

Hoopes,  Josiah 14 

Horseradish 28 

Horsetail    family 20 

Horticulture  in  Burlington,  Iowa 128 

Horticulture  in  South  Dakota n 

Hybrids,   sterility   of. 5 

Hybridizing  distinct  species 19 

Hydrangea,  notes  on 23,  26,  171 

Incarvilla  Delaveyi 26 

Insects,  to  destroy 72,  74,  87,  119 

Insects  in  the  far  North 131 

Indian    customs 174 

Islands,   floating 1 65 

Ivy,  the  Japan 182 

Jack  pine 53 

Jasmine,  Carolina 70 

Jussieua  repens 166 

Kalmia  latifolia,  the  range  of. 70 

Kalmia,  geographical  range  of 187 

Kidder,  N.  T.,  gardens  of. 39 

KcElreuteria  paniculata 154 

Ladies'  traces 127 

Landscape  gardening 41 

Large  trees 4,  19,  45,  52,  80,  186,  188 

Lawes,  Sir  John  Bennett 159 

Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedition 62 

Lawns,  notes  on 25,  36 

Leaf  variation 4 

Leaves,  evolution  of 164 

Leaves,  healthy 76 

Leaves  in  the  dark,  green 68 

Lettuce 28,  44 

Libocedrus  decurrens 6 

Licorice 185 

Lillies,  Easter 59 

Lillies  of  the  valley 59,  180 

Linaria,  a  new 19 

Lions-foot 16 1 

Love  for  intelligence 64 

Magnolia  acuminata 171 

Magnolia  hypoleuca 73,  135 


PAGE 

Magnolias 139 

Magnolias,  succession  in 57 

Magnolia  Thompsoniana 155 

Magnolia  Watsoni 27 

Maiden  hair 113 

Mai tese  honey 118 

Mammoth  tree  of  California 8 

Manure  for   fruit  trees 155 

Mansanita,  notes  on 85,  118,  J32,  134,  147 

Martindale,  Isaac  C 31 

Martindale's  herbarium 160 

May-flower 17 

Menzies,  Archibald 190 

Michaux,  Francois  Andre m 

Mitchella  repens 49,  54.  85 

Monarda  punctata 166 

Monotropa 54 

Morel,  the 24^  54,  155,  124 

Moss  bunches  on  the  poison  vine .    5 

Murdoch,  Alexander 64 

Mushrooms,  notes  on 172,  187,  192 

Names  of  plants I44 

Nature  as  a  teacher , 52 

National  flower,  the 63 

Native  flowers  and  ferns 80 

Nectarine 187 

Nocturnal  creatures 165 

Ocean  foam 19 

Olmsted,  Frederick  Law i59 

Onions...'. 187 

Open  spaces  in  cities 112 

Opuntia  prolifera i 

Oranges  and  lemons 39 

Oranges,  notes  on 139,  140,  141,  170,  188 

Orchards 127,  157 

Orchids,  cool 167 

Orchids  in  Oregon 20 

Oriental  spruce 103 

Oriole,  The 134 

Osage  orange 102 

Ostrich  fern 134 

Our  native  song  birds 158 

Overwork 1 75 

Palm,  Colorado  River 153 

Pansy,  the.... 137 

Paraguay  tea 87 

Parkman,  Francis 159,  191 

Parks  in  the  old  world 170 

Parks  in  Philadelphia,  small 142 

Parks  of  Cleveland,  Ohio 23 

Parks,  small 144 

Parsley 43 

Partridge  berry 49 

Paulownia,  a  large 186 

Pavonia,  history  of. 20 

Peaches,  notes  on 44,  107,  109,  124,  141 

Peach  tree  borer 124 

Peach  yellows 135 

Pear,  a  large 13 

Pear,  Beurre  d'Anjou 93 

Pear,  the  Bloodgood 123 

Pears,  notes  on 45,  91,  125,  141,  164 

Pear,  Vermont  Beauty 189 

Pecan  nut,  graftingthe 42 

PelUea  gracilis 33,  85 

Pepjno 44 

Pepper,  Dr.  William 191 

Pepper  tree  of  California v6,  106 

Perfumes 180 

Persimmons 44 

Peters,  Judge 126 

Peter's  hair  fern 81 

Phylloxera 53.  188 


PAGE 

Picea  Breweriana 3,  37 

Pine,  a  piiioii 153 

Pineapple  serving .- 1S9 

Pine  cone  for  fuel 21 

Pine,  second  growth  of 180 

Pine,  growth  of  white 119,   149 

Pine,  white 75 

Finns  edulis 86 

Plane  trees,  notes  on 19,69,  134 

Plant  euiigralion 181 

Plant  fibre 57 

Plant  hairs  21 

Plant  names 1 60 

Plants,  carnivorous 163 

Plants,  edging 27 

Plants,  frozen 39 

Plants,  Indian  names  of 80 

Plants,  irritability  of 148,   181 

Plants,  names  of 15,  48 

Plants,  notes  on 127,  179,  187 

Plants,  sight  in 171 

Plants  turning  to  the  light  5 

Plants,  wintering 11,  106,  154,  184 

Plum,  the  Japan 45 

Plum,  Prince  of  Wales 45 

Plums,  notes  on 72,  109,  140 

Poem,  Prof.  Porter's 48 

Pogonia  di va ricata  133 

Pogonip 80 

Poison  vin es 104 ,   168 

Poplar,  an  enormous  balsam 4 

Potash  in  agriculture 126 

Potatoes,  notes  on 12,  104,  137,  156 

Pratt,  Anne 191 

Preuanthcs  alba i6r 

Primrose,  a  new 107 

Primrose  as  a  vegetable 139 

Primrose,  the   English 122 

Pringsheim ,  Prof. 1 90 

Pruning  and  transplanting 56 

Pruning,  noteson 55,  71,  77,  92,  139,  151 

Quercus  Cerris 166 

Radishes 45 ,  1 88 

Raspberries,  noteson 76,  109,  155,  188 

Red  spider 139 

Rhododendron  maximum,  notes  on. ..5,  19,  36,  ^8, 

83,  fyi 

Roads,  notes  on 10,  55,  74,  136 

Robinia  hispida,  notes  on 101,  iiS,  182 

Rockeries 58 

Rocky  Mountain  cherry 109 

Roots 56 

Roots  on  trees,   feeding '   72 

Rose  acacia 6,  90 

Rosa  rugosa 89,  123 

Roses,  notes  on...  10,  11,  25,  73,  88,  90,  91,  11 1,  116, 

148,  152 

Rose,  the  polyautha  stock 10 

Rubus  deliciosus 57 

Rudbeckia 51 

Russel,  John  L 78 

Salt  as  manure 57 

Salt  bushes 170 

Sargent,  Prof  C.  S 16,  176 

Sarracen  ia 131 

Schinus  molle 68 

Science 80,  159 

Scribner,  Prof.  F.  L,amson 14 

Sea   Kale 27 

Seeds 156 

Seeds,   sowing 59 

Senecio  sagittifolius 83 

Slender  cliff-brake    33 


PAGE 

Smith,  Benjamin  J no 

Smith,  Prof  E.  E 47 

Smith,  Sidney,  on  the  strawberry 190 

Snowball,  Japan 120 

Snow  plant 99,  132,  166 

Solidago  petiolaris  129 

Spirjea  pr  unifolia 42 

Spraying 6,  89 

Spring  flowers  in  California 6 

St.  Andrew's  Cross 65 

Stewart,  Dr.  J.  T 16 

Strawberries,  notes  on io8,  125,  154,  182,  188 

Strawberry,  the  Chili 125 

Strawberry,  the  white  Alpine 147 

Stuartia 115 

Sugarcane 68 

TabcruKmoutana ; 46 

"  The  Asa  Gray  Bulletin  " 159 

The  house  by  the  medlar  tree 125 

The  London  Journal  of  Horticulture 192 

The  owl 133 

The  union  of  parts 102 

Thistle,  edible 70 

Thistle,  Russian 180 

Tiger  flower,  Mexican 153 

Tomatoes,  noteson 13,  29,  75,  76 

Tree  linnl,  northward 4 

Tree  planting 60 

Trees,  notes  on 40,  68,  88,  93,  115,  117,  128,  137 

Trees  of  Greenland 22 

Trees,  the  seat  of  vitality  of. 115 

Tree  trunks,  elongation  of. 37 

Tricliomanes  Petersii  81 

Truffles 104 

Trumpet  leaf,  yellow 86 

Turkey  oak 167 

Turnip  culture 172 

Turtles,  the  age  of 16 

Vacciniuni  corymbosum 61 

Vanilla  bean 83 

Variation  in  leaves 67,  115,  122,  133 

Vasey,  Dr 79 

Vedalia  cardinalis 183 

Vegetables,  notes  on 27,  155,  1S6 

Victoria  regia 79 

Vines  clinging  over  trees 106 

Vineyards 172 

Violets 54,   172 

Walk,  a  seaside 9 

Walnuts  in  California 13 

Warts,  a  cure  for 138 

Watermelons 124 

Weeds,  destroying 122 

Weeds,  seeds  of  American 16 

Weevil,  Pea 123 

Wicr,  D.  1! Ill 

Wild  flowers,  noteson 16,  iii,  142 

Wild  flowers  of  Greenland 21 

Willkomni's  herbarium 31 

Wine  making 157 

Wissahickon,  the 117,   181 

Wistaria,  propagation  of  the 106 

Witloof 171 

Wood,  splitting   16 

Worm,  canker 125 

Wych  hazel,  galls  on 179 

Ximenesia  encelioides 145 

Yucca  alocfolia 43 

Yucca,  a  new 42 

Yucca  brevifolia 147 

Yucca  filanientosa 100 

Zinc  labels 156 


VOL.  ill 


Platk 


OPUNTIA  PROLIFERA. 


NATURAI,  ORDER,  CACTACE^. 


Opdntia  PROLIFERA,  Eugeluiaiiu. — An  elongated  shrub  with  elongated  joints,  covered  with  oblong  obtlise  tubercles,  which'  ' 
bear  three  to  six  or  eight  spines,  obscurely  sheathed  ;  flowers  densely  clustered  at  the  ends  of  the  branches,  small  brick- 
red  ;  fruit  (greeu)  clavate,  obovate,or  sub-globose,  fleshy,  strongly  tubercled,  without  spines,  deeply  urabilicate,  almost 
always  sterile  and  often  proliferous;  seeds,  large,  regular,  with  a  broad  promiuent  raphe.     (Brewer  and  Watson's 
Tloiany  of  the  California   Gi'ologicat  Survey.) 


Opus  was  a  city  of  ancient  Greece,  and  was 
destroyed  eventually  by  an  earthquake.  The 
people  of  the  district  round  about  were  called 
Opuntii  ;  and  Plinj'  the  ancient  Roman  writer 
tells  us  that  around  the  city  grew  a  root  much 
esteemed,  and  refers  also  to  a  fruit  produced 
without  any  evident  external  flower,  but  bear- 
ing seeds  within,  no  doubt  referring  to  the  fig. 
Hence  probably  arose  the  impression  that  the 
Opuiitia  of  the  ancients  was  a  sort  of  fig,  and 
the  application  of  the  name  by  some  of  the 
botanists  of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  a  species 
of  cactus  which  was  brought  from  the  West 
Indies  on  the  early  discovery  of  America,  and 
which  had  an  edible  fig-like  fruit,  and  was  in 
fact  known  as  Indian  fig,  is  evident  independ- 
entlj'  of  the  fact  that  it  does  not  agree  with  the 
description  of  the  plant  Pliny  writes  of  as  grow- 
ing round  the  city  of  Opus  ;  it  could  have  no 
relation  with  it,  as  the  whole  cactus  family  is 
a  native  of  the  new  world, — and,  though  one 
Opuntia  is  found  wild  enough  in  Italy  to  de- 
serve the  character  of  indigenous,  it  is  well 
known  to  be  au  importation  originally  from 
America.  On  the  American  continent  cactuses 
are  found  in  numerous  species.  They  abound 
chiefly  in  Mexico,  penetrating  the  United 
States  to  Colorado,  chiefly  by  way-  of  the 
dryer  regions,  in  which  they  find  themselves 
most  at  home. 

In  classifying  these  numerous  species,  Lin- 
nfeus  went  no  further  than  to  divide  them  into 
groups.  They  were  all  referred  by  him  to  the 
genus  Cactus.  Since  his  time,  several  genera 
have  been  made  of  them — the  name  of  Cactus 
simply  representing  the  whole  order  Cactacew. 
Opuntia,  as  distinguished  from  other  sections 
of  the  family,  is  referred  to  Tournefort,  and  was 
adopted  by  Haworth,  a  distinguished  writer  on 
succulents  about  the  middleof  the  last  centur>-. 
The  section,  or  genus  as  it  may  properly'  be 
called,  is  generally  distinguished  by  the  thick 


fleshy  sections  of  stems,  and  flowers  having  no 
tube  as  in  some  of  its  near  allies.  There  are 
other  characters  which  those  disposed  to  ex- 
amine the  order  critically  will  ascertain  and 
study, — but  in  this  order  especially  we  find 
that  the  divisions  are  not  very  clearly  drawn 
in  nature,  and  there  are  some  species  on  the 
borderland  which  puzzle  the  botanist  some- 
what to  place  in  a  decided  position. 

The  species  we  now  illustrate  however  will 
cause  no  difiiculty  to  the  student,  who  will  at 
once  place  it  in  Opuntia,  though  in  its  specific 
relations  it  comes  closely  to  some  others.  It 
was  first  discovered  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry  in  1849 
when  connected  as  botanist  with  Lieut. 
Emory's  survey  of  the  Mexican  boundary.  He 
found  it  in  the  dry  creek  beds  and  on  dry  hilla 
about  San  Diego  in  California ;  and  it  is  re- 
markable that  although  the  country  has  been 
pretty  well  explored  since  that  time,  this  spe- 
cies has  been  found  only  in  a  comparatively 
limited  extent  of  country  as  compared  with  the 
usual  range  of  species  in  members  of  the  cactus 
family.  The  cactuses  collected  by  Dr.  Parry 
on  that  expedition  were  described  by  Dr. 
Engelmann  in  Si/timati's  Journal,  and  this 
one  named  Opuntia  prolifcra  from  the  singular 
circumstance  of  one  flower  growing  out  of  an- 
other, as  well  shown  in  our  illustration  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  flowers  are  proliferous.  The 
branch  from  which  our  drawing  was  made  was 
sent  by  Mr.  Parish  and  planted  in  the  open 
ground  in  the  author's  garden,  where  it  rooted 
in  a  few  months  and  flowered  as  represented  in 
the  illustration.  But  though  this  will  serve 
to  educate  the  student  to  recognize  the  species, 
it  will  afford  but  a  poor  idea  of  the  peculiar 
effect  of  the  plant  on  its  native  scenery.  There 
it  grows  in  immense  masses,  forming  impene- 
trable thickets  often  eight  feet  or  more  high. 
In  the  earl}'  accounts  of  its  discovery  the 
thickets    are   likened   to   immense   masses    of 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — OPUNTIA  PROLIFERA. 


[Jan. 


•coral  reefs.  In  these  cases  the  flower-bearing 
'branches  are  not  always  erect,  as  one  would 
imagine  from  our  plate,  but  push  out  on  all 
sides  of  the  masses,  and  indeed  are  sometimes 
pendulous.  One  distinguished  botanist  who 
saw  the  plant  on  the  writer's  grounds,  believes 
that  the  flowers  are  sometimes  larger  and  more 
showy  when  they  first  appear  from  the  proper 
■stems,  and  before  they  become  proliferous, — 
but  those  given  in  our  plate  accord  with  the 
dimensions  as  given  in  Brewer  and  Watson's 
"Botany  of  California."  The  effect  on  the 
landscape  of  the  bright  flowers  on  the  huge 
succulent  gray  branches  must  be  grand  in  the 
extreme. 

In  times  not  very  long  ago,  the  fact  of  one 
flower  growing  out  of  another  in  the  manner 
these  do  would  have  been  regarded  as  simply 
a  monstrosity,  and  have  excited  little  further 
thought.  But  in  these  days  the  facts  are  very 
welcome  to  the  morphologist  and  physiologist, 
as  aiding  them  to  unlock  the  secrets  of  nature 
in  regard  to  plant  structure  and  the  way 
plants  live  and  grow.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  stem  of  a  plant  and  its  flower  would 
have  been  regarded  as  essentiallj'  different  or- 
gans ;  and  even  to  this  day  there  are  some  who 
while  admitting  that  the  parts  of  the  flower  are 
modified  leaves,  would  hardly  regard  the  stem 
and  leaves  as  primarily  identical.  But  in  this 
case  we  see  the  fruit  which  ,we  know  to  be 
modified  leaves,  acting  as  stem,  and  continu- 
ing the  plants'  existence  as  easily  as  the  nor- 
mal stem  structure  would.  At  Fig.  2,  we  note 
the  flowers  coming  out  of  the  fruit  for  the  third 
successive  year,  and  at  Fig.  i ,  we  have  a  fruit, 
finding  itself  in  the  earth,  sending  out  normal 
branches  instead  of  the  proliferous  flowers. 
The  only  difference  notable  between  the  fruit 
and  the  normal  stems  is,  that  they  seem  to 
have  lost  the  power  of  producing  spines, 
though  fine  bristles  are  sometimes  found  on 
them,  which  make  it  imprudent  for  any  one 
to  handle  them  incautiously. 

What  especial  use  the  spines  serve  in  the 
economy  of  cactus  life,  has  long  been  a  subject 
for  philosophic  speculation.  Some  have  con- 
tended that  some  fruits  are  made  attractive  and 
edible  as  an  aid  in  the  distribution  of  the 
seeds.  Animals  take  the  fruit  to  their  haunts, 
use  the  flesh,  and  scatter  the  undigested  seeds 
in  ^various  directions, — certainlj'  many   fruit- 


bearing  plants  are  widely  distributed  in  this 
manner.  Those  who  think  this  feature  a  spe- 
cial adaptation  will  see  in  the  absence  of  spines 
in  the  fruit  of  this  species,  strong  confirma- 
tion of  this  view.  The  plant  would  be  spiny, 
it  would  be  contended,  in  order  to  protect  it 
against  browsing  creatures  ;  while,  when  con- 
sumption instead  of  protection  became  useful 
to  the  plant,  the  production  of  spines  would 
be  arrested.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  specula- 
tions of  this  kind,  reasonable  as  they  appear  in 
the  solitary  instances  that  suggest  them,  to  be 
found  wanting  in  other  cases  where  the  same 
reasons  would  seem  to  be  necessary.  But  there 
are  many  cactuses  wholly  smooth  in  cases 
where  protective  spines  would  seem  quite  as 
desirable,  and  spiny  fruit  where  it  might  seem 
just  as  useful  to  the  plant  that  every  induce- 
ment should  be  given  to  animal  life  to  eat,  and 
aid  in  seed-distribution. 

Again  it  might  be  contended  that  if  the  dis- 
tribution by  birds  or  other  creatures  had  been 
one  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  species 
was  formed,  and  that  the  fruit  was  rendered 
spineless  in  order  that  animals  might  he  more 
readily  attracted  to  the  fruit,  some  color  would 
be  given  in  order  to  add  to  the  attractiveness. 
Indeed  it  is  generally  claimed  that  the  fruits 
on  which  most  animals  love  to  feed  are  beauti- 
ful as  well  as  useful  to  them.  In  many  plants 
of  the  cactus  family  the  fruits  are  very  highly 
colored.  In  this  particular  species,  however, 
the  fruit  is  green  even  when  mature,  and  unless 
the  creature  desiring  to  feed  on  it  had  an  edu- 
cated eye,  would  most  likely  pass  it  wholly  by. 
Perhaps  a  reply  might  be  offered  that  as  the  plant 
is  proliferous,  seldom  perfecting  seed,  there  was 
no  necessitj'  for  making  attractive  fruit. 

The  earlier  botanists  believed  that  the  plant 
never  produced  perfect  seed, — but  "  the  Botany 
of  California"  says  "  almost  always  "  sterile. 
And  this  qualification  is  correct,  for  out  of 
about  twenty  cut  open  the  writer  found  one 
with  a  single  seed  in  the  centre,  which  we  have 
illustrated  in  Fig.  3. 

As  alread}'  noted  it  is  found  in  but  a  limited 
geographical  area.  The  "  Botany  of  Califor- 
nia' '  says  ' '  up  the  coast  to  San  Beunaventura, 
and  southward  into  the  peninsula." 


Explanations  of  the  Plate, — i.  Fruit  producing  nor- 
mal branches.  2.  Proliferous  flowers.  3.  Fruit  with  a  single 
seed  in  the  centre. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  SNOW. 

"The  silvery  snow  : — the  silvery  snow  : —  1 

Like  glory  it  falls  on  the  fields  below  ; 
And  the  trees  with  their  diamond  branches  appear 
Like  the  fair3-  growth  of  some  magical  sphere ; 
While  soft  as  music,  and  wild  and  white, 
It  glitters  and  floats  in  the  pale  moonlight. 
And  spangles  the  river  and  fount  as  they  flow  ; 
■Oh  !  who  has  not  loved  the  bright,  beautiful  snow. 

Ch.\ ri.es  Swain. 

PiCEA  Breweriana. — This  beautiful  Spruce 
is  one  of  the  more  recently  discovered,  and  vpas 
named  after  the  well  known,  eminent  botanist, 
Prof.  Brewer.  It  has  been  supposed  to  be  but 
local,  having  been  found  in  but  a  very  few 
localities.  Mr.  Thomas  Douglas,  son  of  the 
well  known  horticulturist,  Robert  Douglas, 
has  now  found  a  group  of  them  in  the  Coast 
Range  Mountains,  in  Oregon.  Mr.  R.  Douglas 
writes  very  enthusiastically  of  the  great  beauty 
of  this  spruce.  He  styles  it  emphatically  the 
"Weeping  Spruce,"  and  it  might  be  as  well 
that  it  should  be  known  as  the  Pacific  Weep- 
ing Spruce.  Although  it  has  been  understood 
to  be  a  very  beautiful  species,  Mr.  Douglas 
thinks  it  still  more  beautiful  than  it  has  been 
reputed  to  be.  It  grows  at  an  elevation  of  from 
7,.ooo  to  8,000  feet  on  the  Oregon  boundary. 


Asters  in  Wisconsin. — I\Ir.  John  W.  Dun- 
lop,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  under  date  of  October 
31,  1892,  writes  ; — 

"As  the  season  of  wild  flowers  is  now  a 
thing  of  the  past,  we  have  time  to  reflect  on 
what  pleased  us  most  during  the  summer.  The 
season  has  been  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of 
its  flowers  and  for  the  great  variety  in  flower 
simultaneously.  This  has  been  especially 
true  of  the  Asters  (Compositae)  of  Wisconsin. 
They  came  in  bloom  in  this  order  :  Asler  ter- 
7nmalis  and  A.  ptarmicoides  were  first  and  were 
found  in  marshy  ground.  The  next  two,  A. 
corymbosus  and  A.  tiiacrophyllus,  are  botanical 
curiosities.  They  were  found  on  timber  land 
adjoining  the  marshes.  A.  turhincllus,  A. 
la-vis,  and  A.  la'vigatus  ought  to  be  cultivated 
in  every  good  garden.  A.  patens  and  A. 
Shortii,  two  more  blues,  but  taller,  ought  also 


to  be  in  cultivation  here  as  they  have  been  in 
Europe  for  the  last  fifty  years.  A.  cordifolins 
and  A.  sagittifolius  have  been  very  gay  in  the 
ravines  around  Milwaukee.  A.  multifloriis,  a 
small  white  species,  has  been  like  bouquets  on 
the  prairie.  A.  7n iser  and  A.  Tradescanli,  to- 
gether with  several  other  varieties,  are  not 
showy  enough  to  gain  a  place  in  the  garden. 
A.  sericeus  and  A.  liiiifolhis  are  two  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  desirable  for  cultivation. 
The}'  are  fine  for  rock-work  as  they  are  found 
on  lime-stone  ridges.  We  have  a  few  strong 
species  which  grow  on  rich  bottom  lands  that 
would  make  a  fine  show  in  among  the  shrub- 
bery of  a  lawn.  They  are  A.  Novce-Anglce, 
A.  punicctts,  A.  longifolius,  A.  prena7ithoides. 
They  could  be  cultivated  with  ease.  The  list 
I  have  given  is  not  the  full  amount  of  the  spe- 
cies in  Wisconsin.  We  have  over  thirty  spe- 
cies. I  will  tell  you  of  our  golden  rods  in 
another  letter. ' ' 

Natural  Variation  in  Ferns. — Mons.  H. 
De  Varigny  of  Paris,  makes  an  inquiry,  given 
below.  American  ferns  probably  vary  little, 
less  even  than  flowering  plants,  still  the  exper- 
ience of  others  would  be  very  desirable. 

"Page  164  of  Meeh.\ns'  Monthly  I  note 
that  many  ferns  vary,  and  that  Mr.  G.  J.  Lowe 
has  raised  new  varieties  from  bulblets.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  see  in  H.  Correvou's  very  inter- 
esting and  valuable  Les  Fougeres  Rustic] lies 
(2  Chemin  Daucet,  Geneva,  Switzerland),  that 
variation  is  very  frequent  among  ferns.  A 
curious  fact  is  that  according  to  the  Swiss 
writer  variation  in  the  wild  state  is  more  fre- 
quent in  England  than  elsewhere.  Some 
genera  are  recorded  as  more  variable  than 
others,  such  as  Scolopendrium,  or  Asplctmim. 
Could  you,  or  any  of  your  readers,  inform  me 
whether  any  genus  seems  to  be  particularly 
variable,  or,  contrariwise,  particularly  liable 
to  variation,  among  American  ferns  in  situ? 
And  does  any  such  genus  seem  to  vary  more 
in  America,  or  one  part  of  the  United  States 
than  elsewhere  ?  Information  would  be  grate- 
fully received  by  oneofj'our  constant  readers." 

f3l 


4 


MEEHAN'S   monthly — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Jan.. 


Significance  in  Leaf  Variation. — Mrs. 
W.  A.  Kellerman,  observes  :■■—"  There  is  some- 
thing particularly  fascinating  to  me  in  the 
variation  of  leaves.  Every  herb,  shrub  or  tree 
is  full  of  autobiographical  sketches.  Look  at 
the  leaves  of  the  hop  vine  [Humulits  Liipu- 
lus)  ;  pull  down  a  limb  or  branch  of  a  mulberry 
tree,  or  notice  the  common  elder  {Sa7nbucus 
Canadensis)  and  what  curious  variations  you 
will  see  among  their  leaves.  The  more  care- 
fully you  study  these  variations,  the  more  sig- 
nificant they  appear  to  be.  They  indicate  so 
obviously  their  derivation  from  a  primitive 
brotherhood.  Here  for  instance,  is  a  figure  of 
a  little  Viola  aicullata,  Var.  palmata.  There 
is  one  leaf  which  "  runs  back"  to  Ciicullata  ;  it 
shows  at  once  where  the  plant  belongs,  and 


VIOLA   CUCULLATAVAR     PALMATA. 

the  other  leaves  are  gradual  developments 
which  have  proceeded  by  virtue  of  the  two 
great  fundamental  laws  underlying  all  prog- 
ress ;  viz.  :  adaptation  and  evolution.  Al- 
though we  cannot  say  that  plants  think  or 
reason,  we  must  admit  that  they  contrive 
most  admirably  to  meet  the  obstacles  which 
beset  them,  and  arm  themselves  for  their  tour- 
naments and  life-struggles  with  something 
akin  to  intelligence  ;  and  l^ar.  palmata  needed 
more  "  luxuries"  (just  as  our  children  now-a- 
days,  claim  almost  as  their  right,  what  were 
luxuries  to  us)  and  grew  its  leaves  in  accord- 
ance with  this  need,  deepening  and  increasing 
its  lobes.  At  first  the  variation  of  these  chil- 
dren of  Cucullata  was  so  slight  that  no  atten- 


tion was  paid  to  it,  but  it  went  on  and  on,  till' 
botanists  could  no  longer  endure  to  include 
them  among  the  old  heart-shaped  leaves,  and 
hence  set  them  oif  by  themselves  as  a  variety. 
But  botanists  cannot  keep  them  where  they- 
have  placed  them,  for  plants  outgrow  old  de- 
scriptions, in  spite  of  all  the  painstaking  care 
spent  upon  them. " 

As  Mrs.  Kellerman  suggets,  few  studies- 
give  more  pleasure  than  those  connected  with 
variation.  Possibly  some  "hard  headed" 
critic  might  ask  whether  it  is  really  a  fact  that 
the  polymorphic  character  of  the  leaves  in  the 
white  mulberr}',  hop  vine  and  others  are 
modern  and  not  ancient  variations,  —  but  a 
great  beauty  of  such  notes  as  these  Mrs. 
Kellerman  presents,  is  in  the  suggestive 
thoughts  they  originate. 

An  Enormous  Balsam  Poplar. — Near  Gen- 
eva, New  York,  is  a  Balsam  Poplar  tree,  120  feet 
high,  diameter  of  the  top  1 15  feet,  and  with  a 
trunk  23  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  probably  the 
finest  specimen  of  this  tree  in  the  world.  It 
is  on  the  home  grounds  of  Charles  Bean,  Esq. 
It  has  been  taken  for  the  common  Canadian 
Poplar,  but  Dr.  Sweet  is  authority  for  the  cor- 
rected name.  It  is  believed  to  be  about  100 
years  old,  and  is  called  the  Century  Tree  ;  but 
as  this  would  make  an  average  increase  of 
nearly  three  inches  in  diameter  a  year,  it  must 
be  older  than  supposed. 

Northward  Tree  Limit.  The  Birch  seems 
to  have  advanced  nearer  the  pole  than  any 
other  tree,  though  the  spruce,  Abies  oricntalis 
is  not  far  behind  it.  No  evergreens  were  seen 
by  the  recent  Peary  Expedition  to  North 
Greenland.  The  late  Finnish  Expedition  to 
the  Kola  peninsula  found  this  spruce  crossing 
the  peninsula  in  a  sinuous  line  between 
70°  and  71°, — but  Lieut.  Melville  on  Greeley's 
expedition  found  it  on  the  islands  north  of 
the  Lena  river  as  far  as  75°. 


Benthamia  Japonica. — According  to  Amer- 
ica)! Gardening,  which  figures  the  plant,  Ben- 
thamia Japonica,  is  to  be  called  Cornus  kousa 
It  takes  the  place  of  our  Cornus  Florida  in 
Japan,  and  has  enlarged  bud-scales  simulating- 
an  involucre  as  our  Dogwood  has.  The  union 
of  the  separate  berries  in  a  syncarp  like  a. 
strawberry  separated  Benthaviia  from  Cornus. 


•IS93-] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


Plants  Turning  to  the  Light. — Though 
plants  take  an  upright  growth,  seemingly  "to- 
wards the  light,"  it  is  by  no  means  certain 
that  it  is  light  which  they  seek  by  striving  in 
this  direction.  Potato  sprouts  in  the  darkest 
cellars,  still  strive  upwards  ;  and  a  recent  scien- 
tific paper  shows  that  even  a  mushroom  push- 
ing downwards  from  a  bank,  or  even  in  the 
darkness  of  a  coal  mine  will  curve  upwards. 
Referring  to  the  latter.  Prof.  E.  J.  Hill  says: — 
"  In  reading  the  article  "  On  the  Direction  of 
Growth  in  Cryptogamic  Plants,"  I  was  re- 
minded of  the  mosses,  which  I  have  mainly 
studied  among  cr3-ptogams.  The  stems,  pedi- 
els,  and  fruit  of  these  are  usually  at  right 
angles  to  their  support,  at  least,  I  do  not  recall 
any  bending  up  from  any  position  in  which 
the3'  may  be  placed,  though  I  never  made 
special  study  of  this  feature.  Having  handled 
a  great  many,  if  there  had  been  a  peculiarity  of 
this  kind  at  all  general,  I  think  it  would  have 
been  noticed.  As  they  grow  in  almost  all  posi- 
tions on  trees  and  branches,  logs,  stones  and 
on  the  ground,  their  attitude  may  be  observed. 
I  do  not  here  refer  to  the  curvature  of  the  cap- 
sule, which  may  occur  in  an}'  position  of  the 
plant, — that,  and  the  twisting  of  the  pedicel  to 
the  right  or  left,  or  sometimes  the  upper  part 
•one  way  and  the  lower  another,  has  always 
seemed  verj^  curious  to  me.     But  why  ? 

I  have  often  noticed  plants  kept  over  night, 
or  for  a  day  or  two  in  the  tin  collecting  box 
had  the  floral  end  of  the  stem  bent  upward. 
They  are  in  the  dark  except  for  brief  intervals 
"when  the  box  may  be  opened  to  remove  some 
specimen,  which  I  should  not  deem  a  sufficient 
cause  for  the  strong  curvature  seen  in  some 
•cases.  I  noticed  it  in  a  few  hours  in  the  case 
oi  Ranuiiaihis  abortivus  a   short  time  since." 

Sterility  of  Hybrids. — It  has  been  known 
of  late  that  hybrids  between  species  of  plants 
are  by  no  means  sterile  as  generally  supposed- 
On  the  other  hand  Mr.  G.  J.  Lowe,  who  was 
the  earliest,  and  has  been  the  most  persistent 
experimenter  in  hybridizing  ferns,  states  that 
hybrids  between  these  are  usually  sterile.  He 
has  been  experimenting  since  1855.  No  other 
manipulation  is  required  in  hybridizing  ferns 
than  that  spores  of  two  species  should  be 
mixed  in  sowing.  The  cross-fertilization  oc- 
curs during  the  sprouting  and  development  of 
the  spores. 


Moss  Bunches  on  the  Poison  Vine. — The 
Mist  tree,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  green 
fringe,  is  among  the  most  interesting  of  our 
ornamental  shrubs,  by  reason  of  the  great  pro- 
fusion of  moss-like  stalks  which  are  produced 
on  the  fruit  bearing  plants.  The  male  plants 
have  no  moss  or  fringe.  We  do  not  know  that 
it  has  been  noticed  in  any  botanical  periodi- 
cal that  the  common  poison  vine,  which  is 
a  close  neighbor  of  the  Mist,  indeed  belongs  to 
the  same  genus,  namely,  Rhus,  frequently  pro- 
duces huge  bunches  of  moss,  very  similar  to 
that  which  is  produced  bv  the  Mist  tree.  We 
suppose  the  dread  which  most  people  have  of 
the  poison  vine  has  led  to  the  ignoring  of  this 
special  beauty.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  in  this 
place  that  some  scientific  writer  has  recently 
alleged  that  the  poisoning  from  the  poison  vine 
is  of  a  bacterial  nature.  It  is  usually  the  case 
that  when  some  prominent  truth  is  brought 
forward  in  connection  with  the  microscopic 
organisms,  that  it  is  very  likely,  to  use  a  com  • 
mon  expression,  "  to  be  run  into  Ihe  ground," 
and  this  is  probably  the  case  here,  for  we  are 
quite  sure  that  hundreds  of  people  have  taken 
the  poison  without  actual  contact  with  the 
plant,  and  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  these 
minute  organisms  will  travel  directly  from  the 
plant 'to  the  patient  without  some  actual  con- 
tact. On  the  other"  hand,  there  are  hundreds 
of  people  who  can  handle  and  tear  to  pieces, 
even  chew  the  poison  vine,  without  suffering 
the  least  therefrom,  and  one  would  suppose 
that  if  bacteria  had  anj'thing  to  do  with  the 
poisoning  of  people,  this  actual  contact  would 
be  far  more  favorable  to  propagation  than  the 
mere  walking  by,  without  contact  with  the 
plants  at  all. 

A  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of  the  poison 
rhus  is  that  cows,  sheep,  and  probably  all  herbi- 
vorous animals,  eat  the  plant  greedily,  but  there 
is  no  record  of  any  disastrous  results. 

Rhododendron  maximum. — A  new  locality 
has  been  discovered  for  the  Mountain  Laurel 
by  Park  Commissioner  Brown  of  Rochester, 
New  York,  who  has  found  it  only  nine  miles 
from  that  city.  The  Rochester  Post- Express 
condenses  what  Meehans'  :Monthly  (July, 
1891)  says  of  it,  and  credits  it  to  Grafs  Man- 
ual. It  extends  further  north  towards  the 
east,  but  the  Rochester  station  is  possibly  the 
most  western  one. 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Janv 


A  Winter  Scene  in  Nevada. — Since  the 
opening  of  railroad  lines  across  the  continent, 
the  unique  beauty  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
scenery,  as  it  appears  in  summer  time,  is  well 
known  to  most  travelers  ;  but  the  particular 
fascinationof  the  winter  views  is  comparatively 
unknown.  We  have  much  pleasure  in  giving 
with  this,  an  illustration  of  a  winter  scene  in 
Reno  county,  Nevada.  The  arborescent  vege- 
tation is  made  up  in  great  part  of  alders,  var- 
ious spruces,  the  pine,  and  arbor  vitaea-like 
plants,  in  the  character  ol  Libocednis  decurrens. 
and  cedars,  —  the  prevailing  characteristic, 
however,  being  of  evergreens.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note,  as  if  there  might  be  a  certain  par- 
ticular intention  of  nature  to  repeat  associa- 
tions, that,  while  in  the  East,  the  mistletoe  is 


Spraying  Plants. — Noting  a  lady  in  her 
small  conservatory  recentlj',  with  a  light  water 
pot  trying  to  sprinkle  the  plants  through  an 
old  fashioned  rose,  the  thought  occurred  how 
slow  is  progress  in  all  matters  of  public  inter- 
est, and  in  gardening  not  excepted.  With  the 
great  advance  made  in  "sprayers"  of  late 
years,  water  pots  and  syringes  are  now  things 
of  the  past.  Especially  are  sprayers  desirable 
wherever  plants  are  grown,  since  so  many  so- 
lutions for  the  destruction  of  insects  and  fun- 
gus troubles,  have  been  found  so  effective. 

Early  Spring  Flowers  in  California. — 
The  American  Cowslip,  Dodccatheon  Afcadia,  is 
said  to  be  one  of  the  earliest  if  not  the  earliest 
spring  ilower  in  Monterey  county,   California. 


A   WINTER   SCENE    IN    NEVADA. 


always  found  on  deciduous  trees,  in  this  part 
of  the  world  nature  has  made  the  mistletoe  to 
grow  on  evergreens,  that  is  to  say,  it  is  a  mis- 
tletoe to  all  intents  and  purposes,  although 
classed  by  botanists  as  a  distinct  genus,  called 
Arceuthobiian.  This  is  found  chiefly  on  the 
Libocednis.  While  our  mistletoe  has  broad, 
green  leaves,  this  species  has  none,  the  green, 
slender  stalks  seeming  to  act  as  leaves. 

Winter  scenery  is  well  worth  a  study.  The 
snow  falling  on  all  plants  alike,  one  would 
imagine  it  would  present  a  uniformity  of  ap- 
pearance ;  but  it  usually  follows  the  conforma- 
tion of  the  branches  and  foliage  of  each  tree, 
and  thus  the  snow  character  of  two  closely  re- 
lated species  of  pine  will  yet  have  different 
effects,  corresponding  with  the  slight  diSerence 
in  foliage. 


It  was  open  the  past  springTon 'January  '15th. 
On  the  prairies  of  the  Atlantic  slope  it  does, 
not  flower  till  May  or  June.  Some  botanists, 
have  made  the  Pacific  forms  distinct  species. 

The  Rose  Acacia.  —  The  Director  of  the- 
Royal  Gardens  at  Kew,  writes  for  a  seed  vessel, 
or  seeds  oi  Robinia  hispida.  The  conductors- 
of  Meehans'  Monthly  never  saw  a  seed  ves- 
sel under  cultivation, — nor  in  the  mountains^ 
of  Tennessee,  where  the  senior  conductor  has- 
found  the  plant  in  abundance.  Has  anj'  ever 
seen,  or  do  they  possess  a  seed  vessel  ? 

It  was  at  one  time  supposed  that  a  barren: 
plant  had  been  first  introduced  to  cultivation, 
and  that  all  plants  in  gardens  propagated  from, 
this  had  preserved  the  barren  character.  But 
if  so,  wild  plants  should  seed. 


GENERAL    GARDENING. 


THE  CASCADE. 

"  Unconscious  nature,  with  voice  subdued, 
Soothes  the  soul  with  its  various  tones — 
The  muffled  roar  of  the  wiutry  wood. 

Or  the  sigh  of  the  piues  where  the  south  wind 
moans  ; 
Or  here,  where  the  spray  of  the  foam-cascade 

Keeps  green  forever  the  moss-robed  walls 
Whose  ferns  and  vines  are  an  emerald  braid. 
Amid  the  murmur  of  waterfalls." 

— "  Howard  Worcester  Gii,bert." 


Arnebia  cornuta. — The  following  note  by 
a  good  correspondent  of  Meehans'  Monthly, 
l\Ir.  Oskar  Lindkvist,  of  Ulricekamm,  Sweden, 
refers  to  a  beautiful  Siberian  annual  which  has 
appeared  in  some  catalogues  as  a  Lithosper- 
mum.  The  specific  name,  Corniila,  refers  to 
small  horns  at  the  base  on  the  inside  of  the 
Forget-me-not, — like  flowers  : 

"Among  the  prettiest  and  most  interesting 
annual  plants,  recently  introduced  in  culture, 
the  DoraginacecE  above  mentioned  must  be 
reckoned.  It  probablj'  originates  from  Abys- 
sinia, of  which  country  several  of  the  perennial 
species  at  least  are  natives,  and  forms  a  herb 
50-60  cm.  high,  richly  and  bushly  branched, 
with  narrow  lanceolate  leaves.  The  ilowers, 
plentifully  produced  in  the  axils  along  the 
branches,  as  these  grow,  or  in  the  tops  of  them 
collected  in  small  clusters,  are  gamopetalous, 
with  long  tube  and  spreading  five-cleft  limb, 
about  2  cm.  in  diameter,  bright-yellow  colored, 
with  five  dark  brown  (almost  black)  cordate 
spots,  very  well  contrasting  with  the  bright 
ground.     The  entire  herb  is  very  hispid. 

The  pretty,  brilliant,  curiously  spotted  flow- 
ers, which  are  richly  produced  all  the  summer, 
ought  to  assure  Arnebia  cornuta  (as  it  becomes 
generally  known)  a  place  in  every  garden. 
There,  no  doubt,  it  will  prove  suitable  both  for 
middle-sized  groups  and  as  solitary  plant. 
It  also  produces  charming  bouquets 

The  seed,  yet  very  dear,  must  be  sown,  or 
rather  laid,  very  thinly  (at  an  interspace  of 
8-10  cm.)  in  a  hot-bed,  and  the  seedlings  trans- 
planted in  due  time.  The  plant  requires  much 
room,  good  and  nourishing  soil,  open  place  as 
sunny  as  possible.     Also  some  support  might 


sometimes  be  necessary  in  case  of  violent  winds 
or  showers. 

I  called  this  Arnebia  (for  also  other,  peren- 
nial species  are,  as  hinted,  to  be  found)  not 
only  a  pretty  but  also  an  interesting  plant,  and 
I  did  so  on  account  of  the  singular  shifting 
color  of  the  flowers.  As  these  opened  last  sum- 
mer, I  soon  observed  some  of  them  had  the 
color  and  spots  above  described,  while  others 
had  only  three  spots,  and  still  others  were  mere 
yellow  ;  besides  the  spots  were  sometimes  very 
dark,  sometimes  quite  pale.  I  then  thought 
the  flowers  had  au  uncommon  propensity  to 
vary  (as  do  a  great  many  plants),  and  so  thought 
little  on  the  subject.  Toward  the  end  of  the 
summer,  however,  I  began  to  examine  the  phe- 
nomenon closer  :  I  marked  some  flowers  (by  tj'- 
ing  a  fine  thread  very  loosely  round  them)  and 
so  day  by  day  followed  their  development.  The 
results  of  my  observations  were  as  follows  : 
All  the  flowers,  recently  opened  had  thenormal 
color  and  marks,  but  some  day  later  two  of  the  • 
spots  grew  pale  and  continued  so  till  they 
quite  vanished  ;  then  the  remaining  three  spots 
in  the  same  manner  began  to  fade  till  they  also 
were  effaced  and  the  flower  was  mere  yellow. 
Some  days  afterwards  it  decayed. 

This  wonderful  shifting  of  color  (which  also 
occurs  in  the  perennial  species)  passes  of  course 
faster  in  the  middle  of  the  summer  than  at  the 
end  of  it.  It  is  also  especially  characteristic 
for  the  genus  Arnebia  and  besides  not  to  be  met 
with  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  In  the  species 
in  question  it  gives  a  single  specimen  or  a 
small  group  a  peculiar  variation  and  in  a  man- 
ner sets  off'  its  beauty. 

The  reason  of  the  name  Cornuta  must  be  a 
secret  to  everybody,  except  to  the  author  him- 
self More  reasonable  it  would  have  been  to 
name  the  plant  Arnebia  mutabilis,  though  (as 
I  hinted  before)  the  singular  shifting  of  color 
is  not  characteristic  for  this  species  alotie." 

It  might  be  added  to  this  very  interesting 
note,  that  many  boraginaceous  plants  have  the 
power  of  changing  color— the  Puliuonaria  or 
Lungwort  for  instance — but  none  to  the  extent 
described  in  Arnebia. 

(7) 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Jan. 


Growing    Window    Flowers.  —  Growing 
-window  flowers  is,   like   the    art   of  ripening 
fruit,  one  of  those  matters  which  can  only  be 
well  learned  by  experience  and  careful  observa- 
tion.     It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  windows, 
■attended  by  ladies  who  have  not  the  slightest 
knowledge  of  any  of  the  principles  of  gardening, 
showing  the  most  successful  growth  of  flowers 
— not  even  first-class  florists  being  able  to  com- 
pete with  the  ladies  in  the  excellence  of  their 
productions  ;  still  there  are  some  few  general 
principles  which  can  be  given,  by  which  every- 
body may  profit.     For  instance,  in  the  use  of 
water,  strange  to  say,  even  some  college  students 
"who  had   been    educated  by    a   very   eminent 
professor  of  horticulture,  could  give  no  intelli- 
gent reason  why  there  should  be  a  hole  in  the 
Ijottom  of  a  flower  pot.       In   a  general    way 
the3'-  knew  that  it  was  to  carry  off  water — but 
■why  the  water  should  be  carried  off  was  a  mys- 
tery to  them.     They  knew  that  plants    could 
not  live  without  water,   and  yet  they  remem- 
bered that  if  a  plant  was  continually  in  a  basin 
or  vessel  of  water  it  would  soon  die.     The  real 
explanation  of  this  apparent  contradiction  is 
that  plants  do  not  want  water  so  much  as  they 
want  air.     They  want  moisture,  but  they  must 
have  air  also,  and  the  continual  watering  which 
plants  require  is  just  as  much  to  provide  them 
with  a  new  supply  of  air  as  it  is  to  give  them 
water.     No  plant  adapted  to  growth  on  land 
■can  live  long  without  a  suppl}'  of  oxygen.     It 
is  the  oxygen  which  prepares  the  food  which 
the  plant  has  to  take  up  ;   and  good  earth,  espe- 
cially when  comparatively  dry,  is   full  of  air. 
The  plant  takes  out  from  this  supply  the  oxy- 
gen  it   requires,   and  what  is  left  is  then  im- 
pure.    And  this  impure  air  is  driven  out  when 
the  earth   is  thoroughlj-  soaked    with    water. 
When  that  water  again  disappears,  air  follows. 
Watering  then  is  just  as  much  to  drive  out  the 
impure  air  as  it  is  to  furnish  the  plant  with 
moisture.     Now  when  we  remember  this,  we 
can   apply  it   practicall}'  to  the  cultivation  of 
many  kinds  of  window  plants,  especially  those 
which  are  grown  in  baskets  or  on  blocks.    One 
of  the  best   lady  cultivators  of  basket  plants, 
whom  we  know,  has  each  basket  dipped,  until 
it  is  thoroughU-  soaked,    in  a  bucket  of  water 
every  morning,  and  is  then  taken  out  and  suf- 
fered to  drain.     If  a  plant  in  a  basket  were  to 
be  thoroughly  soaked  in  water  a  dozen  times  a 
•day,  it  would  not  hurt  it,  but  would  rather  be 


a  benefit,  because  in  that  way  a  continual  sup- 
plj'  of  fresh  air  would  be  furnished  to  the  roots. 
Again,  in  the  culture  of  plants  in  pots,  we  see 
the  necessity  for  drainage,  so  that  the  water 
may  rapidly  pass  away.  If  the  hole  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pot  be  so  completely  choked 
that  water  cannot  pass  rapidly,  the  water 
remains  in  the  .soil  and  thoroughly  prevents 
the  circulation  of  air  through  the  soil,  then,  to 
use  a  common  expression,  it  "  sours" — that  is 
to  say,  it  has  not  oxygen  enough  to  sweeten  it, 
and  every  one  knows  that  the  result  of  sour 
soil  is  the  rotting  of  the  roots,  followed  by  yel- 
low and  sickly  leaves, — and  if  the  trouble  con- 
tinue long  enough,  the  final  death  of  the  plants. 


Disease  on  the  California  Mammoth 
Trees. — A  correspondent,  Mr.  A.  A.  Cope,  of 
Haverford,  Pa.,  inquires  for  the  best  method  of 
preserving  young  Mammoth  Trees  healthy.  It 
is  generally  known  that,  on  account  of  a  small 
fungus  which  follows  the  tree  from  California, 
the  healthy  grovs-th  of  these  wonderful  trees  in 
the  East  is  rendered  practically  impossible. 
The  fungus  spreads  through  the  growing  sea- 
son, and  before  fall  nearly  every  green  shoot  is 
destroyed.  Since,  however,  the  discover}'  of 
the  copperas  solutions  there  is  hope  that  this 
fungus  may  be  destroyed.  The  conductors 
have  tried  it  on  one  tree  for  one  season,  which 
was  very  nearly  destroyed  b}'  the  fungus,  and 
it  seems  to  be  entirely  successful.  The  tree 
was  brought  from  California  with  a  number  of 
others  in  1883.  Every  summer  the  disease 
spread  as  the  trees  grew,  until  eventuall}'  all 
but  one  was  thoroughl}' destroyed, — that  one, 
two  years  ago,  had  only  about  six  inches  of 
healthy  green  leaves  left  at  the  apex.  The 
past  season,  just  before  growth  commenced,  it 
was  treated  to  a  syringing  of  the  copperas  so- 
lution, with  another  dose  some  four  or  five 
weeks  afterwards.  To-day  the  specimen  has  a 
mass  of  healthy  green  foliage  at  the  top  of  the 
bare  stem,  some  two  feet  thick  and  two  feet 
wide,  a  result  which  certainly  would  not  have 
been  obtained  except  for  the  use  of  the  cop- 
peras solution.  There  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  if  the  young  plants  from  California 
seed  were  thoroughly  washed  with  this  solu- 
tion during  the  first  year  of  their  growth,  the 
fungus  would  be  so  entirely  destroyed  that  the 
tree  would  probably  remain  healthy  during  the 
whole  of  its  life  afterwards. 


»893.] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENEKAL  GARDENING 


A  Sea-side  Walk. — Occasion  was  taken 
recently  to  note  in  the  cases  of  rockeries,  the 
incongruity  of  placing  rough  rocks  in  situa- 
tions out  of  character  with  the  surroundings  ; 
and  this  brings  to  mind  that  one  of  the  princi- 
ples most  difficult  to  accomplish  in  landscape 
gardening]is  that  of  introducing  such  things  in 
harmony  with  these  surroundings.  Vases  and 
statuary  are  entirely  out  of  place  in  natural 
scenes  of  landscape  gardening  ;  and  it  is  only 
in^very  rare  ^instances  that  the  art  of  a  land- 
scape gardener  can  so  combine  these  artificial 
characteristics  with  natural  beauty  as  to  make 
the  whole  a  pleasure  to  the  beholder.  One  of 
the  most  successful  instances  of  this  combina- 


ous  geometrical  forms,  kept  continually  var- 
nished for  its  perpetual  preservation.  Along 
the  sides  of  this  broad  avenue,  at  regular  dis- 
tances, are  pairs  of  vases,  which,  in  summer 
time,  are  filled  with  blooming  flowers.  The 
cooling  breezes  of  the  ocean  make  this  walk 
a  popular  promenade  ;  while  the  huge  elm 
trees,  with  their  spreading  branches  overhead, 
add  to  the  coolness  which  the  sea  breezes 
afford.  When  this  piece  of  landscape  gardening 
was  first  accomplished  some  fifty  years  ago,  it 
was  considered  one  of  the  best  specimens  of 
artificial  gardening  in  England.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria,  on  her 
marriage  with   Prince  Albert,    St.  Clare  was  a 


SEA-SIDC  WALK--ST.   CLAIRE,    ISLE  OF  WIGHT. 


tion  is  ■  on  the  grounds  of  St.  Clare,  the 
country-seat  of  Augustus  Vernon  Harcourt, 
Esq.,  but  recently  occupied  by  a  well-known 
American  lady,  especially  fond  of  gardening, 
Mrs.  Wheeler,  of  Bryn  Mawr,  near  Philadel- 
phia, who  for  several  seasons  has  had  her 
summer  residence  iu  England  there.  The 
view  fronts  on  the  Solent  Sea,  the  shores 
of  which  are  kept  in  place  by  a  high  sea 
wall.  Nearly  level  with  the  top  of  this  wall 
a  flat  plateau  has  been  formed,  through  the 
centre  of  which  is  a  broad,  straight  avenue, 
terminating  in  a  rustic  summer  house.  This 
structure  is  formed  of  boards,  on  which  are 
fastened  split  branches,  all  arranged  in  vari- 


frequent  visiting  place,  and  this  particular 
promenade  a  favorite  walk.  It  was  one  of  the 
early  lessons  to  the  writer  of  this,  that  human 
nature  is  the  same  whether  the  heart  beats  in 
a  queen  or  in  a  subject.  It  is  not  uncommon 
to  see  young  folks  together  in  the  early  da3's 
of  life,  one  perhaps  leading  the  other,  on  some 
dangerous  spot,  as  for  instance  trying  to  walk 
along  the  iron  rail  of  a  railroad  track.  In  like 
manner,  the  writer  of  this  can  see,  although 
now  so  long  ago  in  the  distance,  the  young 
Queen  trying  to  walk  along  the  narrow  top  of 
a  sea  wall  here  depicted,  with  the  Prince  hold- 
ing her  hand  to  steady  her  for  fear  of  falling  in 
the  waves.    ' '  Would  the  Queen  be  pleased  with 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Jan. 


this?"  once  said  che  writer  timidly  to  one 
near  her.  "  Why  not,  "  was  the  reply  ;  "hu- 
man nature  is  the  same  everywhere. "  And 
it  is. 

Grafting  for  Amateurs. — It  is  now  nearly 
a  century  since  the  father  of  the  writer  of 
the  present  paragraph  invented  a  method  by 
which  amateurs  who  were  not  well  acquainted 
with  the  ordinary  processes  of  scientific  graft- 
ing might  very  readily  accomplish  the  same 
object  by  a  species 
of  inarching,  which 
is  now  popularly 
known  as  bottle 
grafting.  Inarching 
is  simply  drawing  to- 
gether the  branches 
of  two  trees  growing 
side  by  side,  slight- 
ly shaving  the  bark 
down  to  the  wood 
and  then  fitting  the 
two  shaven  sides 
closelj'  together  and 
tying  them  tightly 
with  bast  or  even 
cotton  yarn.  In  a  few 
weeks  the  two  bran- 
ches will   be  united 

_         _   _^ together    when     the 

one  desired  may  be 
cut  from  the  parent's  stem.  Bj'  this  method 
moisture  is  conveyed  to  the  grafted  portion 
until  it  is  united.  The  same  thing  is  accom- 
plished by  the  use  of  a  bottle  of  water  which 
keeps  the  graft  moist  in  the  same  wa}'  as  if  it 
was  really  attached  to  the  mother  plant.  Half 
ripened  wood  is  the  best  for  this  kind  of  graft- 
ing. Wood  of  last  year  or,  as  gardeners  say, 
old  wood,  is  not  so  good  for  the  purpose.  Or- 
anges, lemons,  camelias,  or  in  fact  anything 
of  this  kind  which  amateurs  desire  to  increase 
can  be  propagated  easily  this  way  without  the 
nice  care  which  other  more  complicated  sys- 
tems of  grafting  require. 

The  Rose  Polyantha  Stock.  —  French 
rose  growers  of  Lyons  claim  that  roses  grafted 
on  the  Polyantha,  will  bloom  fifteen  daj'S  earlier 
and  have  double  the  bloom  than  those  grafted 
on  the  dog-rose,  which  hitherto  has  been  the 
popular  stock  with  European  rose  growers. 


Cosmos. — Mr.  N.  F.  Cressman  suggests  that: 
some  brief  notes  on  the  history  of  this  now 
popujar  flower,  might  be  interesting.  The 
name  is,  pure  Greek,  Kosmos,  that  is  beautiful, 
and  was  given  by  the  celebrated  Spanish  priest- 
botanist,  Cavanilles,  to  this  genus,  from  the 
beauty  of  the  purple  and  yellow  flowers  of  the- 
original  species  on  which  the  genus  was 
founded.  They  favor  low  grounds  and  brook- 
sides  in  parts  of  Mexico,  as  our  Bidens  do 
here.  They  are  closely  related  to  the  latter 
genus,  and  to  the  Dahlia.  Though  C.  bipinna- 
tifida  has  been  introduced  to  European  culti- 
vation for  nearly  one  hundred  years,  it  is  only 
of  late  years  that  the  "  daisy  "  family  has- 
gained  a  place  in  popular  fancy,  and  that  Cos- 
mos has  been  found  to  be  an  annual  eminently 
suited  to  American  taste  and  American  gar- 
dening. 


A  National  Road  Department. — A  letter 
from  Col.  Albert  A.  Pope,  of  Boston,  suggests 
that  a  National  Department,  having  the  over- 
sight of  road  improvement  throughout  the 
nation,  should  be  established  at  Washington. 
Meeh.\ns'  Monthly  hardly  considers  this  ad- 
visable. Every  one  knows  the  importance  of 
good  roads,  the  difficulty  is  to  find  the  money 
to  improve  them.  It  would  seem  that  the  mat- 
ter might  be  simplified  by  allowing  townships 
or  counties  to  issue  bonds  wherewith  to  im- 
prove the  roadways ;  and  the  revenue  de- 
rived from  the  higher  assessments  of  proper- 
ties along  the  line  of  the  road  which  would 
sureh'  follow  from  these  improvements,  would 
eventually  paj'  the  bonds.  This  is  probably 
the  only  solution  that  will  ever  be  arrived  at  in 
regard  to  the  general  improvement  of  roads. 

A  Large  Rose  Tree. — At  Cologne  there  is 
a  rose  tree  which  is  believed  to  be  300  years- 
old,  and  has  a  trunk  of  four  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence. California  has  one  at  Ventura  which  is 
now  three  feet  in  circumference  at  the  ground. 
It  was  only  planted  in  1876,  and  now  covers 
2000  square  feet. 

To  Restrain  Shifting  Sand.  —  Popular 
Science  Monthly  recommends  the  Ailantus  as  an 
excellent  tree  to  plant  near  the  sea-shore  or 
elsewhere  where  it  may  be  desirable  to  restraia 
shifting  sand. 


1893] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


IB 


Plants  in  Heavy  Boxes  — Miss  Katherine 
Rhoads,  of  Haddon field,  N.  J.,  refers  to  the 
great  difficulty  which  so  many  people  find  in 
moving  large  tubs  with  ornamental  plants 
from  the  lawn  to  the  cellar  for  protection  in  the 
wintertime.  The  plant  in  question  isa  very  large 
Crape  Myrtle.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  gener- 
ally known  that  a  large  number  of  these  plants 
can  be  shaken  out  of  their  tubs  in  the  fall  and  by 
themselves  taken  into  the  cellar,  or  other  place 
for  protection.  The  tub  can  follow,  the  earth 
can  then  be  carried  down  and  placed  in  again, 
and  the  plant  thrive  and  do  just  as  well,  or  if 
not  better,  as  if  the  enormous  weight  was 
undertaken  to  be  placed  down  in  one  job.  This 
treatment  can  be  particularly  applied  to  large 
American  Aloes,  Sago  plants,  and  similar 
kinds,  which  are  in  themselves  particularly 
heavy.  Some  of  these,  in  fact,  can  be  taken 
and  kept  in  cellars  with  a  little  earth  around 
them,  without  any  tubs  or  box  at  all,  and  then 
replanted  again  in  the  spring  in  the  tubs  in 
which  they  were  growing  the  year  before. 
This  practice  lightens  the  work  and,  in  many 
cases,  is  far  better  for  the  plants  than  if  they 
were  suffered  to  remain  from  year  to  year  in 
the  same  tub. 


FK<yilTS  SS  MS^ET/^PLESi 


Horticulture  in  South  Dakota. — A  cor- 
respondent of  Meehans'  Monthly  from 
Watertown,  speaks  enthusiastically  of  the 
great  love  for  horticulture  in  South  Dakota. 
And  horticulture  there  does  not  mean  simply 
the  mere  commercial  aspect  of  gardening, 
which  is  well  encouraged,  but  the  amateur 
love  of  horticulture  for  its  own  sake,  and  with- 
out which  commercial  gardening  would  be 
shorn  of  support.  There  is  a  flourishing 
horticultural  society  alread3'  there. 


An  Old  Rose  Bush.  It  is  said  that  at  Hil- 
dersheim,  an  old  town  in  Hanover,  there  is  still 
existing  a  rose  bush  planted  by  the  Emperor 
Charlemagne  a  thousand  years  ago.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  planted  in  commemoration 
of  a  visit  from  the  author  of  the  "Arabian 
Nights."  Possibly  this  part  of  the  story  is 
apochryphal,  for  we  have  no  certain  know- 
ledge that  it  was  customary'  in  olden  times  to 
plant  memorial  trees  or  flowers,  still  this  is  the 
accepted  history. 


The  Art  of  Ripening  Fruit. — A  corres- 
pondent remarks  that  we  say  the  proper  ripen- 
ing of  fruit  is  an  art,  and  he  would  like  to  have 
further  details  as  to  how  that  art  is  to  be 
learned.  Unfortunately  this  is  just  one  of  those 
points  which  cannot  be  taught  by  printed  les- 
sons, but  is  one  of  those  little  things  which 
each  one  has  to  learn  by  hard  experience. 
Taking  pears,  for  instance,  no  two  varieties  of 
pear  require  the  same  treatment — each  one  has 
a  favorite  line  for  itself — which  those  who 
would  like  to  master  the  art  must  find  out  espe- 
cially in  each  case, — and  in  like  manner  no  two 
persoiis  have  exactly  the  same  facilities,  and, 
therefore,  no  treatise  on  the  art  of  ripening 
could  instruct  the  fruit  grower  as  to  the  best 
method  of  ripening  them.  Some  pears,  for  in- 
stance, require  to  remain  on  the  trees  as  long 
as  it  is  possible  before  frost  reaches  them  ;  and 
even  in  the  summer  time  some  varieties  of 
pears  are  much  better  left  on  the  trees  until, 
by  .slightly  lifting  the  fruit,  it  is  found  to  sep- 
arate easily  from  the  parent  stem  ;  but,  again, 
there  are  some  varieties  of  pears  which,  if  suf- 
fered to  remain  this  length  of  time,  would  rap- 
idly, in  technical  "language,  rot  at  the  core. 
Where  one  finds  that  he  has  a  pear  which  is 
liable  to  this  rapid  decay  from  the  interior,  he 
has  to  gather  the  fruit  a  week  or  two  before  it 
reaches  this  stage  of  maturity,  and  even  then 
very  nice  conditions  of  light  and  shade,  and  of 
heat  and  cold,  will  make  all  the  difference  be- 
tween a  first-class  pear  and  a  poor  one.  While 
there  is  undoubtedly  a  great  art  in  ripening 
pears  and  other  fruits  of  this  character,  to  our 
mind  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  any  lessons 
of  detail  could  be  given  that  would  be  of  the 
slightest  value  to  any  one  ;  and  all  that  can  be 
done  is  to  suggest  to  the  grower  that  there  is- 
such  an  art,  which,  by  a  little  careful  observa- 
tion and  experience  he  could  learn  for  himself. 

California  in  New  York.— It  is  said  that 
for  all  the  cost  of  transportation,  prices  which 
the  California  garden  products  bring  in  New 
York,  bring  profitable  returns  to  the  grower. 
In  the  early  part  of  February  canned  asparagus 
wholesaled  at  $4  per  dozen  ;  raisins,  5  '4  cents 
per  pound  ;  prunes,  jji  cents  per  pound  ; 
Lima  beans,  $1.50  per  bushel. 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Jan. 


Special  Culture  of  Fruit  Trees.— 
Meehans'  Monthly  had  occasion  recently  to 
refer  to  the  fact  that  the  management  of  pears 
after  they  were  mature,  had  as  much  to  do 
with  their  quality  as  anything  that  the  tree 
itself  could  do,  that  a  good  pear  was  as  much 
a  work  of  art  as  of  nature.  Special  reference 
was  made  in  this  connection  to  the  Kieflfer 
pear.  A  small  illustration  is  now  before  us  in 
connection  with  the  Le  Conte.  As  usually 
found  in  markets,  this  is  a  pear  that  is 
scarcely  worth  eating  when  other  varieties  are 
to  be  had.  The  specimen  before  us  is  of  a 
different  character.  It  would  be  regarded  by  a 
connoisseur  as  far  above  the  average  of  pears 
in  all  that  makes  a  good  eating  pear  desirable. 
This  specimen  was  prepared,  so  to  speak,  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Meehan,  the  well  known  horticul- 
■•tural    writer,   in   connection  with    the    IVivkfy 


of  a  pear  tree  trained  over  the  side  of  a  cottage, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  "Journal  of 
the  Horticultural  Societj'  of  Tuscan3',"  which, 
however,  gives  the  original  credit  to  M.  Bur- 
venich,  of  Brussels.  The  Journal  takes  the 
opportunitj'  of  recommending  that  some  such 
care  should  be  given  to  the  training  of  fruit 
trees  in  Italy  as  is  given  in  Belgium,  if  the 
same  admirable  results  are  expected.  One 
great  advantage  to  fruits  of  training  in  this 
way,  comes  from  the  horticultuml  lessons 
which  such  experience  give.  If  you  can  suc- 
cessfully train  trees  in  this  manner  so  as  to  be 
able  always  to  keep  healthy  leaves  and  first- 
class  fruit  equally  at  the  base  of  the  tree  as  at 
the  extremity  of  the  limbs,  which  he  must  do  to 
be  a  successful  trainer,  he  will  have  solved  a 
very  large  number  of  problems  that  vex  the 
fruit  grower  in  these  directions. 


Press  and  Practical  Farmer.  In  like  manner, 
we  have  seen  pears  taken  from  trees  that  have 
been  carefully  trained  and  cared  for  by  skilled 
cultivators,  that  have  an  excellence  of  charac- 
ter far  beyond  the  same  varieties  that  are 
simply  gathered  from  trees  that  are  left  to 
grow  just  as  nature  makes  them.  This  skill 
in  the  treatment  of  pear  trees  is  particularly 
evidenced  by  the  work  of  the  Belgium  pear 
culturists.  Few  people  ever  eat  a  pear  outside 
of  Belgium  equal  to  those  of  the  same  varie- 
ties grown  by  the  skillful  cultivators,  of  that 
land.  They  take  pains  to  train  them  on  trel- 
lises, or  even  on  the  sides  of  a  house,  and  it  is 
just  from  these  skillfully  trained  trees  that  the 
specimens  of  particular  excellence  are  usually 
obtained.     We  give  with  this,  an   illustration 


Cooking  Potatoes. — The  California  Fruit 
Grower,  an  excellent  practical  paper  of  the  Paci- 
fic coast,  well  observes  that  cooking  potatoes 
is  an  art,  and  though  it  is  the  most  common 
of  all  vegetables  on  the  table,  no  one  vegetable 
comes  before  mankind  so  often  in  a  poor  con- 
dition. Those  of  mankind  who  have  had  ex- 
perience in  "camping  out"  may  well  claim 
to  have  some  knowledge  of  cooking  this  escu- 
lent, and  one  might  saj'  that  whether  a  potato 
is,  or  is  not  well  cooked  is  often  a  difference  of 
opinion  between  those  who  eat  it.  Some  peo- 
ple have  a  taste  for  the  dry,  mealy  condition  ; 
while  others  prefer  that  firm  texture  which  is  a 
peculiar  characteristic  of  the  new  potato.  The 
misfortune  generally  is  that  the  potato  comes 
on  the  table  soggy,  which  is  generally  caused 
by  a  desire  to  keep  it  hot.  A  potato  to  be 
good  should  be  allowed  to  have  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  steam  carried  away  before  the 
dish  cover  is  placed  over  it,  and  this,  after 
all,  is  one  of  the  best  hints  that  could  be  given 
for  having  a  potato  in  the  best  condition.  The 
Fruit  Grower  states  that  the  great  injury  to 
potatoes  in  cooking  is  from  boiling  them  too 
rapidly.  Thej'  should  be  placed  over  a  moder- 
ate fire  and  boiled  slowly,  and  when  apparent- 
ly nearly  doue,  a  small  quantity  of  cold  water 
should  be  thrown  in,  in  order  to  retard  the 
effect  of  the  heat  when  allowing  it  to  boil  the 
second  time.  This  seems  to  be  the  only  novel 
point  brought  out,  beyond  those  which  are  al- 
ready well  known  to  good  potato  cooks. 


i892.] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


13 


Forcing  Tomatoes. ^ — There  are  few  occu- 
pations that  the  amateur  gardener  can  indulge 
in  more  satisfactorily  than  the  forcing  of  toma- 
toes. To  be  sure  earl}'  in  March,  and  perhaps 
sometimes  earlier,  tomatoes  can  be  had  from 
Bermuda  in  the  markets  of  the  eastern  States, 
but  the  quality  is  so  miserable  in  comparison 
with  the  rich,  melting  character  of  the  forced 
article  that  one  might  almost  suppose  them  to 
be  of  different  varieties.  No  more  delicious 
luxury  can  be  had  in  winter  in  the  eastern 
States  than  well  grown  forced  tomatoes.  Prof. 
T     TT    PT-V\',  nf  Ithaca,  N   Y.,  Iri^'   I)-''n    nink- 


ing  shows  the  inside  of  a  house  of  forced  toma- 
toes on  the  grounds  of  the  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station  at  Orono,  Maine,  under  the. 
successful  management  of  Prof  Munson. 

A  Large  Pear. — We  have  no  record  of  the 
largest  pear  raised  in  our  country,  but  English 
papers  reporta  fruit  of  the  Pittmaston  Duchess 
which  weighed  one  and  three-quarter  pounds, 
and  this  is  regarded  as  possiblj'  the  largest  ever 
known  in  the  old  world.  It  seems  to  us  that 
California  might  beat  this  weight.  It  would 
he  wnrtli  while  to  have  the  exact  figures. 


A  TOMATO    FORCING    HOUSE. 


ing  experiments  and  finds  that  seeds  sown  on 
the  9th  of  August,  j'ielded  their  first  fruits  on 
the  20th  of  December  ;  plants  started  on  the 
loth  of  November  had  their  first  fruits  gathered 
on  the  6th  of  Maj'.  He  finds  that  no  soil  can 
be  too  rich  for  them,  and  if  even  a  fourth  part 
of  the  bulk  of  the  soil  be  well  rotted  manure 
so  much  the  better,  and  even  liquid  manure  is 
found  to  be  useful.  He  finds  that  artificial 
poUenization,  by  pressing  the  stigma  with 
pollen,  is  a  great  advantage  in  having  large 
and  symmetrical  fruit.     The  annexed  engrav- 


English  Walnuts  in  California.  —  The 
United  States  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  the 
industrial  progress  of  California.  Scarcely  a 
year  passes  but  what  some  new  feature  is  add- 
ed to  its  commercial  products.  For  grapes, 
figs,  almonds,  and  other  fruits,  it  has  long 
been  famous,  and  now  we  find  added  to  the 
number  the  Engli.sh  Walnut,  which  is  be- 
ing raised  in  enormous  quantities.  A  recent 
California  paper  informs  us  that  a  single  train 
from  Rivera,  in  Los  Angeles  county,  carried 
east  for  transportation  200  tons  of  these  nuts. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


HOPE  ON. 


-These  naked  shoots, 


Barren  as  lances,  atnoug  which  the  wind 
Makes  wintry  music,  sighing  as  it  goes. 
Shall  put  their  graceful  foliage  on  again, 
And,  more  aspiring,  and  with  ampler  spread, 
Shall  boast  new  charms,  and   more  than  they  have 
lost.  COWPER. 


A  New  Location  for  the  Garden  op 
Eden.  —  A  lady,  congratulating  the  senior 
editor  of  Meehans'  Monthly  on  the  safe  re- 
turn of  his  son  from  the  Peary  Arctic  Relief 
Expedition,  informed  him  that  she  was  sure 
some  time  before  that  he  would  never  discover 
the  North  Pole.  She  said  she  was  sure  of  this 
from  the  wonderful  display  of  the  Aurora 
Borealis,  which  occurred  while  he  was  on  the 
Expedition.  She  remarked  that  the  exact 
site  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  had  never  3'et  been 
located;  but,  said  she,  "You  remember  that 
when  Adam  and  Eve  were  driven  out  of  Para- 
dise, cherubims  were  placed  at  the  gate,  with 
iJaming  swords,  to  prevent  them  from  returning 
thereto."  "  Now, "  she  continued,  "  You  know 
that  every  place  on  the  earth  has  been  ran- 
sacked to  find  the  Garden,  and  the  only  place 
not  yet  visited  is  the  North  Pole.  There  is 
no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  North  Pole  is 
the  Garden  of  Eden  and  that  the  Aurora 
Borealis  is  the  flaming  swords  of  the  cheru- 
bims  that  are  still  guarding  the  gates."  No- 
ting that  the  lady  was  uniquely  constituted, 
it  was  quietly  remarked  to  her  that  the  re- 
mains in  a  fossil  condition  of  tropical  ferns  and 
plants,  and  of  elephants,  found  in  the  Arctics, 
might  seem  to  confirm  her  views.  The  conver- 
sation ended  with  the  feeling  that  the  notions  of 
people,  whom  all  would  regard  as  peculiar,  are 
yet  often  sustained  by  what  might  seem  to 
be  good  collateral  evidences. 


Mr.  L,.  H.  Bailey.  —Professor  Bailey  having 
recovered  his  former  health,  again  assumes 
the  editorship  of  American  Gardening. 


Prof.  F.  Lamson  Scribner. — The  "Grasses 
of  Tennessee,"  Part  I.  The  cultivators  of 
Tennessee  are  in  luck,  and  are  to  be  envied. 
To  have  such  a  work  as  this,  botanically  accur- 
ate, beautifully  illustrated  by  a  facile  pencil, 
and  with  a  full  popular  account  of  the  grasses 
of  the  State,  issued  freely  to  all  who  apply,  is 
surely  a  privilege  not  often  enjoyed  by  citi- 
zens elsewhere.  Prof.  Scribner  is  one  of  the 
leading  authorities  on  grasses,  and  this  gives 
this  work  additional  value.  The  man  of  mere 
science  as  well  as  the  mere  practical  man,  will 
find  himself  equally  well  served  in  these 
papers. 


Indians  as  Fruit  Growers — Many  of  the 
native  tribes  of  Indians  were  good  gardeners, 
and  quite  progressive  ones  at  that.  Through 
the  earlier  missionaries,  European  fruits  arid 
vegetables  were  introduced  to  this  continent  by 
which  some  of  the  Indians  were  glad  to  profit. 
Mr.  Geo.  C.  Conover  has  an  ancient  map  of  a 
Seneca  settlement  near  Geneva,  whereon  is 
located  the  site  of  an  orchard  of  apple  trees 
planted  by  that  tribe. 


Mr.  Canby's  Herbarium.  —  Mr.  William 
N.  Canby,  of  Wilmington,  Del.,  has  sold  his 
herbarium  to  the  New  York  College  of  Phar- 
macy for  $6,000.  This  is  probably  one  of  the 
best  private  herbariums  in  the  United  States, 
and  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  many  public 
institutions  are  now  saying,  "We  wish  we 
had  known  that  it  could  be  obtained.  We 
would  have  liked  to  have  had  it  for  our  institu- 
tion." 

JosiAH  HooPES. — It  is  gratifying  to  the 
lovers  of  botany  and  ornithology  to  learn  that 
Josiah  Hoopes  who  has  rendered  so  much  good 
services  to  these  special  branches  of  intel'i- 
gence  in  the  past,  is  enjoying  good  health 
with  advancing  years,  and  that  ornithology 
especially  continues  an  active  branch  of  study. 


'893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY   AND   LITERATURE. 


IS 


The  Educational  Value  of  Plants' 
Names. — Few  accomplishments  are  more  valu- 
able than  the  ability  to  clearly  and  fluently 
•express  our  thoughts.  A  broad  acquaintance 
with  our  mother  tongue  is  an  admirable  aid 
in  this  direction.  Blodern  language  is  an  out- 
growth of  ancient  roots,  and  botanical  names 
furnish  a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  the 
old  and  the  new,  aiding  wonderfully  in  giving 
clearer  ideas,  and  thus  more  fluency  to  the 
language  we  use,  Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders,  of 
Philadelphia  sends  the  following,  which  sug- 
gests this  preface  : 

"I  wonder  if  all  tyros  in  botany,  who  read 
the  Monthly,  know  the  significance  of  the 
specific  names  of  their  plants.  Gray's  "  Man- 
ual ''  is  very  complete  in  meanings  of  generic 
names,  but  is  silent  as  to  the  specific.  To 
me  it  has  been  a  great  help  and  pleasure  to 
study  out  the  English  equivalents  of  the 
Latin  specific  terms,  and  to  endeavor  to  under- 
stand their  application  ;  and  the  knowledge 
thus  gained  has,  at  the  same  time,  served  to 
fix  the  name  in  the  memory.  To  do  this 
does  not  require  any  special  previous  acquain- 
tance with  Latin,  although  if  something  is 
remembered  of  our  school-day  declensions, 
it  will  not  be  amiss  ;  but  a  good  lexicon  will 
be  suSicient  for  practical  purposes.  Occa- 
sionally a  Greek  term  is  used,  in  which  case 
a  Greek  lexicon  would  be  needed,  and  this, 
of  course,  would  necessitate  the  student's 
knowing  the  Greek  alphabet — but  that  is 
easily  acquired. 

To  one  who  has  been  lumbering  his  memory 
■with  a  long  list  of  dead  names,  which  were 
without  meaning  to  him,  it  is  the  beginning 
of  a  new  life  to  know  that  these  words  have  a 
real  significance,  descriptive,  in  most  cases,  of 
the  plant.  For  instance,  I  for  a  long  time  con- 
sidered Polygonum  dumdoritm  a  cumbersome 
sort  of  name  for  the  climbing  plant  we  have  all 
seen  stringing  its  little  buckwheat-like  fruit 
over  roadside  thickets.  To  be  sure  Gray's  ex- 
planation o{  polyg07iiim  was  clear  enough,  but 
diimclonnn  was  meaningless  and  hard  to  re- 
member ;  until  one  day  it  occurred  to  me  to 
look  it  up  in  the  Latin  dictionary.  It  is  the 
genitive  plural  of  a  word  signifying  thicket, 
and  so  means  of  the  thickets,  which  exactly 
describes  the  vine's  favorite  haunt.  So,  too, 
Spircra  salicifolia  (i.  e.  willow-leafed)  is  fairly 
descriptive   of   the   willow-like   leaves   of  the 


common  meadow-sweet.  Eupatorium  perfolia- 
tum  {per,  through,  and  folium,  a  leaf)  is  accu- 
rate for  boneset,  who.=e  united  opposite  leaves 
seem  literal!  j'  pierced  by  the  stem  of  the  plant. 
Crotalaria  sag  it  talis  (from  sag  ilia,  an  arrow) 
calls  attention  to  the  arrow-shaped  stipules 
decurrent  on  the  stem,  which  a  careless  ob- 
server might  overlook.  In  Ayicmonclla  thalic- 
troides.  (i.  e.  somewhat  like  thalictrutn)  the 
specific  name  alludes  to  the  marked  similarity 
of  the  foliage  of  this  plant  to  that  of  thalictrutn 
or  meadow-rue.  Repens,  creeping  ;  cirrhosus, 
cudy;  procitmbens,  prostrate;  j7A7(/«5,  sticky; 
quadrifolius,  four-leaved, — are  specimens  of 
scores  of  expressions  used  to  designate  species, 
and  which  are  so  used  because  they  represent 
some  characteristic  feature.  One  that  has  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  particularly  beautiful  is 
cei  Hints  (&&  in  trilliiim  ccniuum)  meaning  with 
bowed  head,  from  ccrncre,  to  perceive,  as  one 
who  looks  on  the  ground  to  see — the  same  root 
as  our  discern.  Any  one  who  knows  this  lovely 
flower  will  see  how  well  its  attitude  is  described 
by  this  word. 

Of  course,  the  appropriateness  of  all  specific 
names  is  not  so  apparent  as  in  the  case  of 
these  I  have  just  cited,  but  I  think  they  will 
always  repay  study.  By  the  wa3',  can  any  one 
tell  me  the  signification  of  Amsonia  TabenicE- 
ino7itona  f  The  specific  name  would  seem  to 
mean  moiintaiti  of  the  tavern,  but  why  this 
variety  oi  Amsonia,  a  clump  of  which  is  grow- 
ing in  our  yard,  should  be  so  called,  is  a  mys- 
tery to  me,  for  the  solution  of  which  I  should 
be  thankful. 


Shirley  Hibberd. — It  may  be  well  re- 
membered that  flowers  have  their  martyrs 
as  well  as  their  lovers  and  admirers.  Mr. 
Shirley  Hibberd,  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
and  effective  writers  on  horticulture  who  have 
adorned  its  annals  during  the  present  and  past 
generations,  is  said  to  have  sacrificed  his  life 
to  the  cause  of  the  Chrysanthemum  in  1890, 
by  over  work  in  connection  with  the  efforts 
that  were  being  then  made  to  bring  the  plant 
into  popular  use.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  editor  of  the  "  Gardeners'  Magazine," 
which  had  been  continuously  in  existence  in 
some  form  or  other  since  1S33.  The  magazine 
is  still  continued  and  edited  with  great  ability 
by  Mr.  George  Gordon. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


The  Boston  Public  Garden. — It  is  known 
to  be  difiBcult  to  get  good  talent  for  public  gar- 
dens,— not  because  such  talent  does  not  exist, 
but  because  those  who  have  to  engage  it  do  not 
know  just  where  to  look  for  it  when  needed. 
Boston  is  one  of  the  fortunates,  and  its 
"Public  Garden,"  under  Mr.  Doogue,  meets 
praise  everywhere.  A  funny  paragraph  in  a 
daily  paper  makes  St.  Peter  tremble  for  the 
appearance  of  things  in  Paradise  on  the  entry 
of  a  spirit  familiar  with  this  garden. 

Prof.  C.  S.  Sargent. — This  eminent  botan- 
ist and  promoter  of  arboriculture  has  returned 
from  the  trip  to  Japan  of  which  we  made  a 
note  some  months  ago.  It  is  pleasant  to  know 
that  he  regards  his  exploration  as  a  remark- 
ably successful  one.  He  traveled  nearly  all 
over  the  Empire  ;  made  a  very  large  herbar- 
ium, and  brought  home  a  number  of  species  of 
trees  and  shrubs,  of  which  a  considerable  por- 
tion has  never  yet  been  brought  into  cultiva- 
tion. Every  lover  of  trees,  plants,  and  general 
gardening,  will  extend  cordial  welcome  to  the 
Professor  on  his  safe  return. 

American  Weed  Seeds. — Prof.  Byron  D. 
Halsted,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  is  doing  good 
service  to  cultivators  by  making  herbariums  of 
American  weeds,  which  he  sells  in  sets  of  loo 
each  at  $io  per  loo.  Possibly  nothing  could  so 
well  educate  the  cultivator  than  preparations  of 
this  kind.  Seeds  really  afford  better  distin- 
guishing characteristics  than  any  other  portion 
of  a  plant  ;  and  with  a  common  pocket  lens, 
one  could  tell  the  name  of  a  weed  by  these 
specimens  more  readily  than  by  a  large  herba- 
rium of  dried  plants  themselves. 

Dr.  J.  T.  Stewart. — Good  local  herbariums 
are  of  inestimable  value  in  the  study  of  geo- 
graphical botany.  Dr.  J.  T.  Stewart  of  Peoria, 
Illinois,  has  a  good  one  of  that  section.  Alto- 
gether the  herbarium  has  over  3000  species, 
and  all  this  has  been  accomplished  in  the  time 
snatched  from  a  large  medical  practice. 

(16) 


The  Next  Plate. — Though  it  was  an- 
nounced in  the  last  issue  that  the  Trailing 
Arbutus  would  be  the  subject  of  this  month's 
illustiation,  it  seems  a  little  too  early  for  even 
this  early  harbinger  of  Spring.  It  has  been 
thought  best  to  defer  it  a  month,  and  give 
California  with  its  earlier  season  the  post  of 
honor. 

As  a  work  of  art,  it  is  believed  nothing 
heretofore  given  will  excel  this  prettj'  cactus 
picture.    The  conductors  at  least  are  proud  of  it. 

The  Age  of  Turtles.— The  age  of  turtles, 
like  the  age  of  some  excellent  women,  will 
never  be  known.  In  many  parts  of  the  country 
boys  cut  their  initials  on  the  shell  of  the  tor- 
toise, with  the  date,  and  then  watch  for  them 
in  later  years.  At  Hatboro,  in  Pennsylvania, 
one  was  found  with  L.  W.,  1S33,  cut  on  the 
shell.  Mr.  Levi  Walton,  who  cut  the  lettering, 
is  still  living,  but  the  slow  going  turtle  will 
probably  out-do  him  in  the  race  of  life. 


Wild  Flower  Studies. — Most  of  the  lead- 
ing horticultural  societies  now  encourage  the 
knowledge  of  wild  flowers,  by  offering  prem- 
iums for  properly  named  collections.  At  the 
recent  annual  meeting  of  the  Hartford,  Conn., 
Horticultural  Society,  Mrs.  W.  Seliger  obtained 
the  highest  premium.  She  had  fifty  varieties 
in  her  collection,  beautiful  berried  kinds  being 
among  them. 


Splitting  Wood.  —  The  California  Fi-uit 
Grower  takes  issue  with  Meehans'  Monthly, 
and  contends  that  the  proper  way  to  split  a 
stick  or  log  is  to  commence  at  the  narrow  end. 
It  is  another  illustration  of  doctors  differing. 
Has  the  Fruit  Groiccr's  axeman  ever  split  an 
oak? 


M.  B.  Faxon  &  Co. — This  well  known  firm 
of  Boston  seedsmen  have  removed  to  Saugus,. 
a  suburb  ten  miles  from  that  city. 


Vqi.  III. 


Plate  2 


^^^'^k^. 


EPIG.^A  REPENS. 


MAY-FLOWER. 


NATURAL  ORDER,  ERICACE-^. 


Ei'iG/EA  REPENS,  Linn.— Corolla  salver-form  ;  the  tube  hairy  inside,  as  long  as  the  ovate-lanceolate  pointed  and  .scale-like 
nearly  distinct  sepals.  Stamens  ten,  with  slender  filaments;  anthers  oblong,  awnless,  opening  lengthwise.  Style 
slender,  its  ape.'c  (as  in  Pyrola)  forming  a  sort  of  ring  or  collar  around  and  partly  adnate  to  the  five  little  lobes  of  the 
stigma.  Pod  depressed  globular,  five-lobed,  five  celled,  many  seeded.  A  prostrate  or  trailing  scarcely  shrubby  plant, 
bristly  with  rusty  hairs,  with  evergreen  and  reticulated  rounded  and  heart-shaped  alternate  leaves,  on  slender  petioles, 
and  with  rose-colored  flowers  in  axillary  clusters,  from  scaly  bracts.  (Gray's  Manual  oj  the  Botany  of  the  Northern 
United  States.  See  also  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States.  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany,  and  Gray's 
Synoptical  Floi  a  of  North  Ametica.) 


There  are  few  American  wild  flowers  that 
have  excited  alike  the  interest  of  the  botanist 
and  of  those  pursuing  the  various  branches  of 
a  polite  education  as  this  one  has.  In  a  short 
chapter  like  this  we  shall  be  able  to  do  little 
more  than  briefly  allude  to  these  points  of  in- 
terest. 

In  the  earlier  botanical  times  the  plant  was 
popularly  known  as  ground  Ivy,  and  Trailing 
Arbutus  ;  and  later  Mayflower.  The  English 
Ivy  is  evergreen  and  climbing,  and  many 
things  the  emigrant  found  here,  reminded 
him  of  the  famous  plant  of  the  old  world, 
and  hence  the  numerous  "ivies"  which  are 
found  in  the  popular  American  language  of 
the  day.  Arbutus  is  evidently  from  the  resem- 
blance of  the  flowers  to  those  of  the  popu- 
lar strawberry  tree  of  European  gardens. 
Arbutus  Unedo,  with  which  genus  in-  fact  the 
Trailing  Arbutus  has  a  relationship,  both  be- 
longing to  the  great  order  Ericacece.  It  may 
be  here  noted  that  the  prevailing  pronunciation 
is  incorrect,  the  accent  should  be  on  the  first 
and  not  the  second  syllable.  It  is  ^r-butus, 
not  Ar-d«-tus.  Mayflower,  the  more  recent 
name,  appears  to  have  had  its  origin  from 
poetical  imagination,  connecting  with  it  the 
history  of  the  Pilgrims  who  arrived  from  Eng- 
land in  the  Mayflower,  and  not  as  many  Eng- 
lish writers  have  stated  because  it  ' '  blooms  in 
May."  Longfellow  uses  it  in  connection  with 
the  early  Pilgrims  in  his  courtship  of  Miles 
Standish. 

"  So  through  the  Plymouth  woods  John  Alden  went 
on  his  errand  ; 
Crossing  the  brook  at  the  ford,  where  it  brawled 
over  pebbles  and  shallow, 


Gathering    still,  as  he  went,    the   May-flowers 

blooming  around  him. 
Fragrant,  filling  the    air    with    a    strange  and 

wonderful  sweetness. 
Children  lost  in   the   woods,  and   covered   with 

leaves  in  their  slumber." 

Whittier  also  connects  the  plant  with  emi- 
grants of  the  ' '  Mayflower  "  : 

"  Sad  Mayflower!  watched  by  winter  stars, 
And  nursed  by  winter  gales, 
With  petals  of  the  sleeted  spars, 
And  leaves  of  frozen  sails  ! 

What  had  she  in  those  dreary  hours, 

Within  her  ice  rimmed  bay. 
In  common  with  the  wild-wood  flowers, 

The  first  sweet  smiles  of  May  ! 

Yet,  '  God  be  praised  !  '  the  Pilgrim  said, 

Who  saw  the  blossoms  peer 
Abov^  the  brown  leaves,  dry  an  I  dead, 

Behold  our  Mayflower  here  !  " 

Then  follows  a  very  pretty  lesson  of  hope  for 
the  future  emigrants  of  the  "Mayflower,"  when 
the  Mayflower  of  Plymouth  Rock  bloomed  so 
well  after  all  the  wintry  storms.  A  very  pretty 
essaj'on  the  "  Mayflower's"  Plymouth  history 
appears  in  the  American  Naturalist  for  1867. 
"  The  Mayflower,  "  it  reads,  "  has  become  his- 
torical, in  consequence  of  its  association  with 
the  Pilgrims,  or  properly  with  the  Pilgrim 
ship  '  Mayflower.'  Its  starry  loveliness  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  arrest  the  attention  of 
our  worthy  forefathers,  whose  high  purposes 
and  imperative  necessities  left  so  little  room 
for  the  play  of  sentiment.  "  "  Pretty  little 
branches  of  this  early  gem,"  continues  the 
author,  "  may  now  (April)  be  purchased  along 
the  thoroughfares  and  at  the  flower  shops  of 
Boston,"  and  concludes  by  quoting  from  "  a 
certain  poet  of  New  Bedford. 

(17) 


I? 


MEEHANS     MONTHLY — EPIG.EA   REPENS. 


[Feb. 


■"  Dear  to  my  heart  thy  rock-ribbed  hills, 
Thy  valleys  green,  thy  gentle  rills, 
Thy  suuny  works,  where  neath  the  snows, 
The  fragrant  Epigsea  blows  ; 
And  tempts,  ere  winter  yields  her  sway, 
"The  blooming  maidens  steps  away. 
In  many  a  wooded  warm  recess. 
To  seek  its  starry  loveliness." 

In  reference  to  the  flowers  appearing  before 
•winter  has  scarcely  resigned  her  sway.  Pro- 
fessor Chickering  notes  in  the  third  volume  of 
-the  same  magazine  "this,  among  the  very 
•earliest,  is  also  the  choicest  gift  that  Flora  has 
in  New  England  to  offer  us,  alike  for  its  beauty 
of  form  and  color,  and  its  charming  habit  of 
peeping  out,  almost  from  the  edge  of  the  re- 
treating snowdrifts, " 

Where  there  is  no  snow  to  hide  the  bashful 
flowers,  they  are,  as  Longfellow  remarks, 
"  like  the  lost  children  in  the  woods,  covered 
by  the  drifted  autumn  leaves,"  and  this  pretty- 
point  seems  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of 
most  authors,  and  to  have  suggested  numer- 
ous poetical  associations.  Conrad,  whose 
closest  acquaintance  with  it  was  on  the  Wissa- 
hickon  near  Philadelphia,  says  : 

"  'Tis  not  for  me  sweet  Epigsea  trails 

Its  strings  of  pearls  o'er  beds  of  fern   and  moss." 

Park  Benjamin  has  some  very  good  thoughts 
suggested  by  the  blooming  under  old  dried 
leaves. 

"  Thou  comest  when  spring  her  coronal  weaves. 
And  thou  liidest  thyself  mid  dead  strewn  leaves  ; 
Where  the  young  grass  lifts  its  tender  btede. 
Thy  home  and  thy  resting  place  arc  made  ; 
And  in  the  spot  of  thy  lowly  birth, 
"Unseen,  thou  bloomest,  in  modest  worth  : 
The  richest  jewel,  the  rarest  gem 
May  never  grow  in  a  diadem." 

Miss  Gould  sings  in  much  the  same  vein : 

""  And  while  my  hand  was  brushing 
The  scary  leaves  from  thee. 
It  seemed  that  thou  wert  blushing, 
To  be  disclosed  to  me. 

Thou  didst  reward  my  ramble 

By  shining  at  my  feet. 
When,  o'er  brake  and  bramble, 

I  sought  thy  lone  retreat : 

As  some  sweet  flower  of  pleasure 

Upon  our  path  may  bloom, 
Mid  rocks  and  thorns,  that  measure 

Ourjourney  to  the  tomb." 

It  is  well  that  "Mayflower"  does  not 
•wholly  refer  to  its  time  of  flowering,  for  it  is 
more  generally^  an  April  than  a  May  flower, 
even  in  New  England.   In  1S64,  the  Rev.  J.  L. 


■Russel,  a  distinguished  botanist  of  Salem, 
Mass.,  contributed  to  the  United  States  De- 
partment a  table  of  the  first  appearances  of 
many  New  England  plants  in  flovier.  In  1S37 
he  found  the  first  flowers  on  the  historic  Ply- 
mouth Rock  on  April  29th,  while  at  Hubbard- 
ston  in  the  same  year,  they  did  not  open  till 
May  13.  In  1841  he  found  it  just  open  on  the 
17th  of  April  at  Chelmsford. 

To  the  students  of  botany  it  is  interesting 
as  being  up  to  recently,  when  the  writer  of  this 
discovered  the  same  peculiarities  in  Aiidro- 
meda  Catesbm,  the  only  ericaceous  plant 
know  to  approach  a  dioecious  character.  In 
some  plants  the  pistil  is  long  and  the  plant 
fertile,  in  others  the  pistil  is  short,  and  the 
plant  barren.  Michaux,  in  1805,  observed 
that  entire  plants  were  often  barren  ;  but  the 
dioecious  structure  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  noted  till  the  writer  of  this  communicated 
the  facts  to  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia  in  May,  1868.  In  Silliman's 
Journal  for  July,  1876,  Dr.  Asa  Gray  places 
the  same  facts  on  record,  having  evidently  for- 
gotten the  paper  previously  published.  In  the 
paper  in  the  "  proceedings,  "  the  great  number 
of  forms  are  referred  to,  and  these  variations 
seem  to  have  attracted  the  earlier  botanists. 
Writing  to  Bartram  in  1743,  Collinson,  as 
Darlington  has  it  in  his  Memorials,  records, 
"  I  find  I  have  three  distinct  species  of  Epigsea, 
this  last  sent  me  differs  from  the  others."  The 
passage  has  also  an  interest  to  the  student  of 
botanical  chronology.  John  Mitchell,  a 
learned  Virginia  botanist,  did  not  know  in 
1769  that  the  plant  had  been  named  Epigaa, 
and  proposed  Mcmctcylum  for  it. 

Most  writers  refer  to  the  fragrance  of  the 
flowers,  but  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  if  a 
bunch  of  the  short  styled  and  of  the  long 
styled  flowers  are  gathered  separately,  the 
female  form  is  found  almost  scentless. 

In  the  sixth  volume  of  the  American  Natur- 
alist, Dr.  Gray  records  the  finding  of  a  double 
flowered  plant  by  Mrs.   Arba  Pierce. 

Dr.  Gray  in  his  "Synoptical  Flora  of  North 
America"  locates  it  from  "  Newfoundland  west- 
ward to  Saskatchewan,  and  south  to  Kentucky 
and  Florida." 


Explanations  of  the  Plate.  —  i.  Branches  from  a 
Massachusetts  plant.  2.  Enlarged  flower  with  pistil  having 
imperfect  stigma,  but  perfect  stamens.  3.  Enlarged  flower 
with  perfect  pistil  and  no  stamens.  4.  Pollen  grains  from 
perfect  anther. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


SPRING. 

In   the  spriug  a  fuller  crimsou  comes   upon   the 
robin's  breast, 

In  the  spring  the  wanton  lapwing  gets  himself  an- 
other crest, 

Ii  thesprinij  a  livelier  iris  changes  on  the  burn- 
ished dove, 

In  the  spring  a  young  man's  fancy  lightly  turns  to 
thoughts  of  love. 

— Tennyson. 

CAN.-i.  Agra. — Mr.  William  Saunders  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Department,  and 
who  possesses  a  vast  fund  of  valuable  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  economic  plants,  kindly 
.contributes  the  following  : 

"The  Caiia  Agra,  mentioned  at  page  192  of 
Meehans'  Monthly,  is  a  name  given  to  the 
roots  of  Rumex  hymcnosepalus  (Torr).  These 
Toots  are  produced  in  clusters  like  some  kinds 
of  sweet  potatoes,  and  contain  about  24  per 
cent,  of  tannin." 

Prof.  Trelease  also  says  ; 

' '  Caiiaigre — Monthly-,  192 — is  Rumex hyinen- 
osepalus.  Extensive  experiments  on  its  propa- 
gation and  cultivation  in  the  arid  region,  and 
on  feasible  ways  of  shipping  its  tannin  in  con- 
densed form  are  being  carried  on  by  Professor 
Colling  wood  of  the  University  of  Tucson. 
The  dried  roots  are  already  largely  exported 
from  the  arid  region  of  Texas." 

A  New  Linaria. — Under  the  name  of  Lin- 
aria  Revcrclwni,  Prof.  Wittrock  the  eminent  ' 
Swedish  botanist  describes  and  figures  a  new 
species  of  Snap  dragon,  which  he  says  is 
closely  allied  to  L.  Clementei  of  Boissier,  but 
differs  chiefl5'  in  the  structure  and  color  of 
the  corolla,  and  the  form  and  sculpture  of  the 
seeds.  The  general  interest  in  the  matter  is 
that  such  a  beautiful  species  should  only  just 
now  be  for  the  first  time  found  near  so  old  a 
settled  place  as  Malaga  in  Spain,  where  it  was 
found  growing  in  June,  1S88,  in  dry  places  on 
the  Sierra  de  Miyas,  by  the  famous  collector 
Reverchon. 

Ocean  Foam. — Ocean  Foam  is  the  common 
name  given  on  the  Pacific,  to  Spircaa  aricefolia. 


Hybridizing  Distinct  Species. — Mr.  Luther 
Burbank  sent  recently  a  large  series  of  photo- 
graphs of  the  leaves  of  different  individuals — 
hybrids  between  different  species,  blackberries, 
dewberries,  and  raspberries.  It  is  a  remarkable 
variation.  Some  have  leaves  as  finely  divided 
as  ferns  ;  others  are  palmate,  like  tlie  horse 
chestnut  ;  others  have  but  a  single  leaf.  It 
would  ptizzle  the  scientific  botanist  to  know 
how  to  distinguish  a  variety  from  a  species. 
Considering  the  ease  with  which  even  different 
species  hybridize,  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that 
considerable  crossing  is  going  on  in  nature  ; 
and  when  the  some  four  hundred  species  of 
blackberries  of  Europe  are  critically  examined, 
it  is  most  likely  that  many  will  be  found  to  be 
nothing  more  than  natural  hybrids,  or  varia- 
tions from  these  hybrids.  Mr.  Burbank  is  do- 
ing an  excellent  work,  not  only  in  the  line  of 
scientific  botany,  but  also  for  the  practical 
fruit  grower. 


Rhododendron  maximum  at  Home. — At  p. 
22  is  an  illustration  of  the  Northern  Rhododen- 
dron, R.  maximum,  as  it  appears  in  its  native 
haunts.  The  picture  was  taken  on  the  mountain 
side  at  Henry  ville,  Monroe  County,  Pa.  It  seems 
in  loving  company  with  the  trunk  of  a  Sugar 
maple,  while  further  to  the  right  the  Hemlock 
branches  spread  themselves.  The  density  of 
the  mass  makes  the  forest  quite  dark — and 
the  Rhododendron  selects  from  among  these 
darker  spots,  the  lighter  ones  for  its  special 
enjoyment. 


Large  Plane  Trees, — The  Bultonwood  or 
Plane  tree,  divides  with  the  Deciduous  cypress 
the  honors  of  having  the  widest  trunk  of  any 
tree  on  the  Atlantic  slope  of  the  United  States. 
The  Garden  and  Forest  states  that  a  large  speci- 
men of  Eastern  Plane  near  Constantinople  is 
thirty-nine  feet  around  at  three  feet  from  the 
ground.  What  is  the  largest  specimen  of  the 
American  Plane  or  Buttonwood  that  our  readers 
know  of?  The  conductor  believes  the  largest  he 
has  seen  were  along  the  river  lines  in  Kentucky. 

(19^ 


20 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


[Feb. 


History  op  Pavonia. — The  Pavonia  be- 
longs to  the  mallow  family,  or,  botanically, 
Malvacea,  of  which  the  Hibiscus,  or  com- 
mon Althaa,  is  a  familiar  example.  It  was 
at  one  time  classed  with  Hibiscus  but  taken 
therefrom  by  Cavanilles,  a  Spanish  botanist, 
now  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  who  gave 
it  the  name  it  bears.  In  his  own  language 
he  distinguished  it  "  because  the  fruit  was  di- 
vided into  five  sections  (see  Fig.  3,  Dec.  1892), 
while  in  Hibiscus  there  was  but  one. ' '  Some  of 
his  contemporaries,  however,  objected  to  the 
division.  Curtis,  writing  in  1799  of  Cavanilles' 
Pavonia  cuneifolia,  remarks  that  he  must  still 
regard  it  as  a  Hibiscus,  because  he  was  '  'not  par- 
tial to  the  multiplyings  of  genera,  unless  there 
be  an  obvious  necessity  for  it."  In  the  order 
MalvacecB  there  is  such  a  general  resemblance 
running  through  the  whole  in  consequence  of 
the  union  of  the  stamens  into  a  central  col- 
umn, that  the  necessity  of  dividing  them 
wherever  any  fair  character  can  be  seized  on 
is  perhaps  more  obvious  to  the  modern  bot- 
anist than  it  was  to  Mr.  Curtis,  for  the  genus 
is  regarded  as  a  very  good  one,  and  now  con- 
sists of  several  dozen  good  species,  the  greater 
part  of  them  natives  of  the  new  world,  Mex- 
ico and  the  West  Indies  claiming  the  most 
of  them.  The  difficulties,  however,  of  divid- 
ing a  very  natural  order  into  genera  on 
grounds  satisfactory  to  botanists  generally,  are 
always  great,  and  it  has  been  found  so  in 
relation  to  the  species  allied  to  Pavonia,  for 
nearly  a  dozen  different  names  of  genera  ap- 
pear among  the  synonyms  of  Pavonia. 

Orchids  in  Oregon. — Species  of  this  inter- 
esting family  are  not  numerous  in  Oregon, 
nine  species  it  is  believed,  comprise  the  entire 
list.  Cypripedium  montaimm,  Epipactis gigan- 
tea,  Goodycra  Afenziesii,  are  the  most  common. 

On  the  Equisetum  or  Horsetail  Family. 
— Mr.  Josiah  W.  Leeds,  Seal  P.  O.,  Pa.,  con- 
tributes the  following  interesting  sketch  : 

"Noticing  the  communication  upon  the 
textile  value  of  the  Hibiscus  in  the  Monthly 
for  the  current  month,  I  am  reminded  of  a 
hint  contained  in  a  letter  from  a  correspondent 
some  months  ago  relative  to  a  possible  eco- 
nomic use  of  a  species  of  horsetail.  My  corre- 
spondent, writing  from  Asheville,  North  Caro- 
lina, says  : 


"  '  A  leaiiess  Horsetail,  Equisetum  Icevigatum,. 
was  brought  home.  This  I  put  into  one  of  my 
coat  pockets  alongside  my  lead-pencil,  and  in 
either  this  act,  or  in  removing  it,  rubbed  it 
against  one  of  my  finger  nails.  Yesterday, 
I  cut  my  nails  and  they  were  still  a  little  rough, 
and  it  occurred  to  me  to  try  the  file-like  horse- 
tail against  the  edges  of  these  nails.  I  was 
surprised  at  the  good  work  this  natural  imple- 
ment did,  so  far  superior  to  knife's  edge  or  the 
coarse  little  file  that  usually  covers  a  portion  of 
one  of  the  smaller  blades  of  the  pocket-knife. 
I  will  send  for  trial  a  section  of  the  one  stem 
that  I  brought  back.  Chapman  gives  the  South 
but  a  oingle  species  of  horsetail,  the  one  above 
named,  but  this  species  may  not  make  any 
better  nail  file  than  one  or  more  of  the  five, 
six  or  eight  species  credited  to  the  North  by 
Gray.' 

' '  My  correspondent  makes  the  further  apt 
suggestion  :  'A  good  plan  would  perhaps  be 
to  take  an  inch  section  and  after  opening  it  out 
flat,  apply  glue  and  lay  it  over  a  round  pencil 
or  pen-handle.  Dixon,  or  some  other  pencil 
manufacturer,  might  tip  his  pencils  with  a  bit 
of  Equisehun  and  so  draw  attention  to  his 
make.' 

' '  The  above  writer  was  not  aware  of  the 
various  uses  to  which  the  horsetail,  especially 
the  introduced  European  species,  liyema/e,  had 
been  applied  in  the  arts  and  in  household 
economy.  Gray  says  of  it :  '  Formerly  in 
common  use  for  polishing  wood  and  metal.' 
It  was  hence  commonly  known  as  Scouring 
rush  or  Shave  grass.  Wood  says,  of  the  horse- 
tail genera :  '  They  abound  in  silex,  and  hence 
are  used b}- cabinetmakers,  combmakers,  etc.,  in 
polishing  their  work.'  Dr.  Darlington,  in  his 
Flora  Cestrica,  observes  of  the  Winter  Equise- 
tum or  Scouring  rush  :  '  The  cuticle  of  this 
plant  abounds  in  siliceous  earth,  and  its  rough 
file-like  surface  is  well  adapted  to  the  scouring 
and  polishing  of  hard  wood,  metals,  etc' 

"  It  is  more  than  likely  that  the  combmakers 
who  formerly  used  Equisetum  stems  to  smooth- 
surface  and  polish  their  fabrications,  knew  all 
about  what  it  would  do  to  neatly  round  off  their 
finger  nails.  Nevertheless  my  correspondent's 
practical  hint  is  passed  on  to  pencil-maker 
Dixon,  or  any  other  manufacturer  who  maj'  be 
disposed  to  give  the  Equisetum  a  fresh  trial. 
The  specimen  that  was  sent  me  did  admirably 
all  that  was  claimed  for  it. " 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND   NATURE. 


The  Wild  Flowers  of  Greenland. — For 
years  Professor  Thomas  IMeehan  rarely  missed  a 
monthly  meeting  of  theGermantovvn  Horticul- 
tural Society  to  be  present  and  give  an  extempor- 
aneous address  on  the  flowers,  fruits  and  vege- 
tables exhibited.  These  lectures,  it  is  believed, 
did  much  to  maintain  the  popularity  which 
this  society  has  continued  to  enjoy  to  this  day. 
Prof.  Meehan  has  withdrawn  from  all  evening 
engagements,  believing  that  after  fifty  years' 
teaching  he  is  entitled  to  this  limited  rest  at 
an}-  rate.  At  the  last  meeting  his  place  was 
filled  by  his  eldest  son,  Wm.  E.  Meehan,  one 
•of  the  editors  of  the  well  known  Public  Ledger, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Heilprin  Peary  Re- 
lief expedition  in  the  Arctic  region.  In  regard 
to  the  wild  flowers  of  Greenland  he  said,  after 
describing  the  journey  to  the  North,  the  vege- 
tation of  Greenland  could  be  divided  into  three 
■belts  :  one  class  of  vegetation  beginning  at 
Cape  Farewell  and  ending  a  short  distance 
above  Godthaab,  one  extending  to  Melville 
Bay,  and  the  other  beyond  that  point.  In  the 
first  belt  there  were  found  spruce  trees,  dwarf 
willows  and  birches  ;  in  the  second  the  spruces 
■disappeared,  and  in  the  third  the  birches.  In 
like  manner  many  other  plants  existing  in  the 
first  belt  disappeared  in  the  .second  and  third, 
but  through  them  all  were  found  the  poppies, 
dryas,  buttercups,  dandelions  and  grass  grow- 
ing in  profusion  wherever  they  could  gain  a  foot- 
hold in  wet  or  dry  places,  or  in  the  crevices  of 
the  rocks,  and  they  were  even  found  sometimes 
in  the  melted  spots  on  the  great  inland  ice  it- 
self, and  often  thej-  buried  old-time  glaciers  in 
a  mass  of  green.  The  vegetation  was  due  to 
the  warm  summers  and  the  continued  day- 
light which  began  in  April  and  ended  in  Sep- 
tember—the  summer  beginning  in  the  middle 
of  May  and  lasting  until  the  middle  of  August. 

Pine  Cones  for  Fuel. — The  fashionable 
city  of  Cannes  has  obtained  considerable  celeb- 
rity of  late  on  account  of  the  sad  affairs  con- 
nected with  the  Hotel  Metropole,  which  is  a 
brilliant  affair  about  a  mile  from  the  city.  A 
recent  correspondent  states  that  here  and  else- 
where in  this  fashionable  quarter  coal  is  a  thing 
unknown,  and  that  the  only  fuel  being  used  is 
the  cone  of  a  pine,  Pinus  Pinaster.  It  is  quite 
an  item  in  the  i  adustry  of  that  part  of  the  world 
to  collect  the  cones  which  are  in  that  way  used 
ibr  fuel. 


Plant  Hairs. — It  has  often  seemed  to  the 
writer  as  one  of  the  weaknesses  of  some  scien- 
tific speculations,  that  because  an  organ  in  a 
plant  or  animal  is  capable  of  certain  functions, 
it  was  especially  formed  for  that  purpose  and 
nothing-  else.  A  careful  survey  of  nature  will 
show  that  a  great  variety  of  objects  can  be  ob- 
tained by  means  of  the  same  organ,  and  no 
one  would  be  justified  in  selecting  any  one  as 
the  one  especially  selected  for  certain  purposes. 
In  a  recent  able  paper  the  author  takes  the 
ground  that  ' '  the  ofiice  of  plant  hair  is  to  assist 
the  epidermis  in  protecting  the  plant  from 
natural  enemies."  That  they  do  so  assist  some- 
times may  be  conceded,  but  that  this  is  "  the  " 
ofiBce  one  would  hardly  admit  when  it  is  noted 
that  hairy  plants  abound  in  localities  where 
animal  enemies  are  least  offensive.  One  might 
as  well  assume  that  "  the  ofiice  "  of  legs  is  to 
kick  with,  when  a  man  is  assailed  ;  but  surely 
locomotion  is  just  as  ably  served,  while  the 
terpsichorean  might  contend  that  "  the  ofiice  " 
of  legs  is  to  dance  with.  Hair  has  many  use- 
ful offices.  Darwin  affords  good  reason  for 
supposing  that  glandular  hair  at  least,  absoibs 
nitrogen  and  thus  aids  in  the  nutrition  of 
plants.  On  sunny  places  they  serve  to  break 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun,  and  save  excessive 
transpiration;  while  in  malvaceous  plants  they 
permit  the  entrance  of  pollen  tubes  to  the  style 
without  the  necessity  of  enteringby  the  stigma, 
as  in  so  many  other  plants,  and  thus  they  are 
of  immense  service  in  aiding  the  flower  to  self- 
fertilization.  No  one  can  say  that  hair  in  plants 
is  for  any  one  special  oSice, — nor  can  it  be  said 
of  any  organ  that  any  one  special  purpose  only 
is  evident.  

Seedless  Fruit. — Mrs.  Kellerman  kindly 
sends  samples  of  Persimmons  exhibited  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Columbus  (Ohio)  Horti- 
cultural Society.  The  tiee  producing  them 
grows  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  State. 
A  large  number  of  kinds  of  trees  produce 
seedless  fruits,  of  which  the  "currant"  of 
commerce  and  the  Sultana  grape,  are  familiar 
examples.  Just  how  this  condition  is  brought 
about  has  never  been  fully  made  out  by  vege- 
table physiologists,  so  far  as  Meehans' 
Monthly  is  aware.  Usually  fruits  are  not 
formed  in  the  absence  of  pollenization, — but 
whether  seedless  fruits  are  formed  with  or 
without  being  pollinated, — or  whether  fertili- 
zation occurs  in  part  only  is  not  clear. 


22 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Feb. 


History  of  the  Epig.ea. — In  addition  to 
points  made  in  the  main  chapter,  it  may  be 
noted  that  Linnaeus  describes  it  in  the  volume 
of  the  Amoenitates  AcadeniiccB  published  later, 
but  the  name  seems  by  the  given  extract 
to  have  been  familiar  to  Bartram  and  Col- 
linson  long  before.  Ray  says  it  was  first 
sent- to  Europe  by  Dr.  Vernon  from  Mary- 
land. It  was  in  those  days  supposed  to  be 
a  Pyrola,  and  Clavton  sent  it  to  Gronovius 
as  Pyrola  affinis.  and  sa.ys  Planta  esthumillima. 


Trees  of  Greenland. — Mr.  W.  E.  Mee- 
han,  botanist  of  the  Peary  Relief  expedition, 
saj's  : 

"  In  our  journey  to  the  North  we  found  no- 
birches  north  of  Melville  Bay,  but  willows  in 
abundance. 

As  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  Abies  Orienialis, 
on  the  west  coast  of  Greenland,  ceased  a  short 
distance  above  Godthaab,  the  capital  of  the 
southern  Inspectorate  of  South  Greenland.  At 
Godhavn,  the  capital  of  the  northern  Inspec- 


RHODODENDRONS  IN    HEMLOCK    FOREST.--SEC  P.  19. 


nunquam  a  terra  assiirgens,  that  is,  "a  humble 
plant  that  never  rises  from  the  ground,  "  and  it 
may  have  been  from  this  expression  of  Clay- 
ton that  the  name  Epigcea,  was  suggested, 
which  is  from  the  Greek,  meaning  simply  "on 
the  ground." 

Dr.  Barton  in  his  "Elements  of  Botany"'  says 
the  plant  is  reported  as  poisonous  to  sheep,  but 
this  is  probably  part  of  the  fictitious  character 
given  to  so  many  ericaceous  plants.  In  like 
manner  it  has  been  thought  impatient  of  cul- 
ture ;  but  those  who  have  put  it  in  partial 
shade  have  had  success. 


torate  of  South  Greenland,  we  fourd  willows- 
and  birches  in  great  profusion,  as  we  did  further 
south.  At  Upernavik  we  also  found  willows 
and  birches.  At  Duck  Islands,  near  the  south- 
ern entrance  to  Melville  Bay,  plenty  of  willows 
but  only  a  few  birches,  and  these  small  and 
sickly,— and  that  was  the  last  trace  of  this  tree 
that  we  came  across.  If  I  did  not  strangely 
overlook  the  birch,  therefore,  that  plant  does 
not  exist  on  the  Greenland  coast  beyond  the 
73rd  or  74th  degree  of  latitude.",  A  botanical 
report  of  the  expedition  is  in  course  of  prep- 
aration. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


THE  LANDSCAPE  GARDENER. 

Between  the  foaming  jaws  of  the  white  torrent 
The  skilful  artist  draws  a  siiddeu  mound  ; 
Bv  level  long  he  subdivides  their  strength, 
Stealing  the  waters  from  their  rocky  bed, 
First  to  diminish  what  he  means  to  conquer, — 
Then,  for  the  residue  he  forms  a  road. 
Easy  to  keep,  and  painful  to  desert, 
And  guiding  to  the  end  the  planner  aimed  at. 

—  The  Engineer. 


The  Boston  Public  Garden. — The  Boston 
papers  are  calling  attention  to  the  remarkably 
successful  management  of  the  Public  Gardens 
under  Mr.  Doogue's  administration.  Plants 
are  so  judiciously  selected  and  arranged  that 
from  the  earliest  spring  until  the  autumn 
frosts  there  is  a  continual  succession  of  bloom; 
whereas,  in  many  gardens,  by  reason  of  the 
want  of  this  intelligent  selection,  nearly  the 
whole  spring  and  early  summer  are  left  with- 
out anything  particularly  attractive.  And  an- 
other feature  of  the  Boston  public  gardening  is 
that  the  style  and  material  is  so  changed  from 
year  to  year  as  to  avoid  anything  like  mono- 
tony in  the  seasonal  successions.  The  past 
season,  one  of  the  special  features  was  the 
selection  and  arrangement  of  plants  for  the  so- 
called  Tropical  Garden.  With  the  bright  colors 
of  these  tropical  growths,  evergreens  have  been 
so  finely  blended  that  the  particular  colors  and 
tints  of  the  exotic  have  been  brought  out  in  a 
rare  and  unique  manner,  presenting  pictures 
of  grand  coloring  as  well  as  of  artistic  design. 
A  particular  feature  this  j-ear  has  been  the  in- 
troduction of  Asters,  in  order  to  make  a  spe- 
cialty of  the  later  fall  season. 


New  Parks  for  Cleveland,  Ohio. — By 
the  will  of  Cleveland's  vrealthy  merchant,  W. 
J.  Gordon,  who  died  receutl}',  a  magnificent 
park  comes  into  possession  of  the  city.  It  was 
laid  out  expressly  with  the  purpose  of  making 
it  a  beautiful  place  of  public  resort, — and 
which  now  becomes  a  fact  accomplished. 

The  valuable  Wade  Park  of  four  acres  has 
also  been  made  over  to  the  city. 


Blue  Hydrangeas.— Mrs.  S,  B.  Strout,  of 
Evergreen,  Alabama,  referring  to  recent  para- 
graphs in  Meehans'  Monthly  about  Blue 
Hydrangeas,  writes  : 

"  A  lady  here  has  an  enormous  blue  hydran- 
gea. She  gave  a  cutting  to  another  lady,  and 
from  this  second  lady  I  obtained  mine. 

When  mine  blossomed,  it  was  pink.  I  spoke 
to  the  first  mentioned  lady  about  it,  and  she 
told  me  the  plant  from  which  she  obtained  hers 
had  pink  blooms,  but  her  flower  garden  was 
formerly  the  site  of  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  she 
thought  the  iron  in  the  soil  had  changed  the 
color, 

I  procured  some  sweepings  of  a  forge,  and 
with  my  trowel  dug  them  into  the  soil  about 
the  plant  ;  and  what  was  my  astonishment  to- 
see  in  a  few  days  the  pink  blossoms  changing 
to  a  dingy  blue,  or  purple  rather.  Since  then 
the  blossoms  have  been  blue." 

The  only  thing  clear  about  the  whole  ques- 
tion is  that  while  it  is  well  known  that  the 
colored  calices  which  form  the  "flowers"  of 
the  Hydrangea,  are  leaves  that  have  been 
modified  in  order  to  form  these  calices, — in 
the  blue  stage  there  is  much  more  vegetative 
vigor  than  when  in  the  rosy  stage.  The  only 
way,  then,  in  which  soil  can  effect  the 
question,  would  lie  in  the  direction  of  vege- 
tative vigor.  A  plant  or  branch  in  a  high, 
state  of  vegetative  vigor  is  more  likely  to 
have  blue  flowers,  than  when  vegetative  vigor 
is  in  greater  check.     Iron  may  check  vigor. 


Fungus  Growths.— For  a  number  of  years- 
writers  even  of  scientific  renown  used  the  ex- 
pression "  fungoid  growth"  when  referring  to 
the  small  microscopic  funguses  that  are  found 
on  vegetation.  Prof.  Riley  first  objected  to  this 
abuse  of  the  word  fungoid,  which  simply  means 
having  a  likeness  or  resemblance  to  fungus, 
when  the  organizations  are  actually  fungus 
growths.  Since  Prof.  Riley  called  attention  to 
this  abuse  of  the  word,  it  has  been  in  a  measure 
dropped,  but  yet  it  continues  to  be  used  by 
many  writers  of  eminence. 

(23> 


24 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Feb. 


The  Morel. — Since  the  paper  on  the  Morel 
in  Meehans'  Monthly  appeared,  we  have 
noted  an  excellent  chapter  on  the  same  subject 
in  the  Country  Gentlemen,  from  the  pen  of  the 
eminent  mycologist,  Prof.  C.  H.  Peck,  of  Al- 
bany, which  gives  additional  information  con- 
cerning this  interesting  group  of  fungi.  The 
name  Morel  is  said  to  be  of  German  derivation. 
They  grow  in  America  from  two  to  four  inches 
in  height,  larger  under  favorable  conditions. 
According  to  Prof.  Peck  they  are  rather  fragile 
and  tender  when  fresh.  At  Albany  he  says 
they  are  found  during  May  and  early  in  June. 
He  has  not  found  them  later  than  June,  and 
they  are  most  abundant  in  wet  weather.  They 
grow  in  any  kind  of  soil,  but  prefer  certain 
kinds  of  trees. 

The  one  we  figured,   Morchella  esculenta,  is 

most  often  found  near  pine,  or  ash  trees.     Six 

different  species  have  been  found  in  New  York 

State,  all  of  which  are  edible,  and  no  species  of 

the  genus  is  positively  known  to  be  dangerous. 

They  are  cooked  as  ordinary  mushrooms,  but 

should  be  fried  in  butter  and  duly  seasoned,  as 

they  have  not  as  much  juice  as   the  ordinary 

mushroom.      Dried   Morels  are   recommended 

as  a  flavoring  ingredient  in  soups  and  broth. 

Though  they  are  about  equally  good,  it  may 

be  useful  to  know  how  to  distinguish  them, 

for  this  purpose  we  give  below  the  key  as 

furnished  by  Prof.  Peck. 

Margin  of  the  cap  united  to  the  stem  : 
Cap  rounded,  egg-shaped  or  oval,         AT.  esculenta. 
Cap  narrowly  oblong  or  cylindrical,   71/.    deliciosa. 
Cap  narrowly  conical  or  obloug-conical : 

Much  broader  at  base  than  stem ,      I\I.  conica. 
Scarcely  broader  at  base  than  stem, 

M.  augusticeps. 
Margin  of  the  cap  free  from  the  stem  : 
Cap  free  half  its  length,  spores  eight 

in  a  sack,  lil.  stinilibera. 

Cap  free  to  the  top  of  the  stem,  spores 

two  in  a  sack,  I\I.  bispora. 

Corn  Stalk  Bean  Poles. — A  correspondent 
suggests  that  the  party  who  recommended  to 
plant  Lima  beans  and  corn  together,  so  that 
the  corn  stalk  might  be  a  substitute  for  the 
regular  bean  pole,  is  probably  one  of  those 
ingenious  writers  that  abound  in  horticultural 
literature,  who  think  their  mission  is  to  think 
of  things  for  other  people  to  try.  Our  corre- 
spondent says  that  thirty  years  ago  when  his 
horticultural  experience  was  young,  he  read  the 
same  advice  and  then  tried  it.  The  result  was 
that  he  had  to  get  poles  to  sustain  the  corn  stalks ! 


Hardiness  of  Evergreens. — It  is  r\<^\.  the 
low  temperature  which  destroys  evergreens  so 
much  as  it  is  light.  As  a  rule  evergreens  love 
shade.  The  same  kind  under  the  shade  of 
trees,  although  that  shade  may  be  quite  par- 
tial, will  get  through  a  severe  winter  without 
the  slightest  injury,  when  one  exposed  to  the 
sun  will  loose  all  its  leaves  and  frequently  be 
entirelj'  destroyed.  This  is  particularly  no- 
ticed in  the  case  of  evergeen  climbing  vines, 
and  notably  the  English  Ivy.  Throughout 
most  of  the  Eastern  States  this  beautiful  and 
historically  valued  plant  never  suffers  in  the 
slighest  when  grown  on  a  northern  wall  where 
it  gets  no  sun  in  the  winter  time,  while  on  the 
south  side  of  the  same  building,  it  is  usually 
killed  with  the  thermometer  scarcely  at  zero. 
The  same  plant  suffered  to  grow  up  trunks  of 
trees  where  it  is  simply  shaded  by  nothing  but 
the  bare  branches  in  the  winter  time,  will  pass 
through  the  severest  winters  uninjured.  Even 
Rhododendrons,  hardy  as  they  are  known  to 
be,  suffer  more  or  less  when  exposed  to  the 
full  sun  in  winter,  and  those  who  desire  to 
grow  them  with  the  greatest  success  usually 
cover  with  some  sort  of  light  material  during 
the  winter  season.  It  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  success  with  Rhododendrons,  but  adds 
very  much  to  the  beauty  and  vigor  of  the 
plants. 

The  English  Gooseberry. — ^The  superior 
character  of  the  English  gooseberry  in  size  and 
flavor  is  well  known.  Unfortunately  the  plant 
does  not  thrive  well  in  high  temperatures.  In 
Canada  they  are  nearly  as  successful  as  they 
are  in  England.  Those  who  desire  to  cultivate 
them  successfully,  in  most  parts  of  the  United 
States,  have  to  set  the  plants  in  positions 
where  the  sun  has  no  great  power  and  the 
soil  is  comparatively  moist.  Where  in  the  full 
sun,  they  can  be  grown  fairly  well  by  having 
some  material  under  the  bushes,  which  will 
prevent  the  soil  from  becoming  very  warm. 

Acer  Nikkojnse. — This  is  a  Japanese  spe- 
cies of  maple,  not  yet  introduced  into  cultiva- 
tion, and  was  found  by  Professor  Sargent,  in 
his  recent  exploration  in  Japan,  to  be  more 
brilliant  in  autumn  than  any  of  the  other  spe- 
cies of  that  country.  It  is  hoped  that  the  Pro- 
fessor's labors  will  result  in  its  introduction  to 
American  gardens. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


25 


Grass  for  Lawns. — Where  the  locality  de- 
sirable for  a  lawn  is  naturallj'  free  from  weeds, 
the  modern  suggestion  of  making  it  by  plant- 
ing patches  of  one  particular  kind,  which  will 
run  together  in  a  few  months,  is  particularly 
desirable.  Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than 
a  lawn  which  is  wholly  made  up  of  one 
species  only.  For  small  gardens,  especially 
where  the  new  plantation  can  be  hand-weeded 
■during  the  summer,  it  is  the  best  of  all  methods. 
No  lawn  made  of  grass  seeds  will  be  confined 
strictlj'  to  one  kind,  and  on  account  of  the  dif- 
ferent shades  of  green  in  the  grass  will  always 
have  a  more  or  less  patchy  appearance.  Those 
who  supply  mixed  lawn  grass  seeds  usually 
keep  this  in  mind,  and  endeavor  to  get  their 
kinds  so  generally  alike  in  tint  of  green  as  to 
avoid  this  objection.  One  advantage  of  the 
mixed  system  is  that  one  can  rarely  tell  by  the 
-description  of  a  customer  what  particular  kind 
of  grass  will  thrive  to  best  advantage.  A  mix- 
ture is,  therefore,  likely  to  best  serve  the  pur- 
pose, in  this  that  the  one  which  is  the  most 
suitable  will  eventually  crowd  out  those  not  so 
well  adapted  to  the  soil  and  circumstances.  We 
have  seen  a  lawn  made  of  mixed  grasses  which 
had  to  be  secured  under  the  shade  of  large 
trees,  eventually  become  wholly  occupied  by 
the  Sheep  Fescue.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
j-ears  every  other  kind  was  crowded  out,  and 
this  particular  species  alone  occupied  the  land. 


■     Wild  Gardens. — Mr.   Edward  J.  Canning 
kindly  contributes  the  following  note  : 

"Around  country  residences  may  often  be 
found  waste  ground  neither  suited  to  a  lawn 
nor  to  vegetables.  To  any  having  such  I 
would  suggest  turning  it  into  a  "  wild  garden." 
If  covered  with  grass  and  rocks,  so  much  the 
better,  as  there  are  so  many  beautiful  hardy 
plants  suited  to  such  conditions.  The  plant- 
ing should  be  irregular — the  object  being  to 
imitate  nature  as  much  as  possible.  Among 
many  plants  adapted  are  Polygonum  cuspida- 
ium  (or  Sieboldii,  as  it  is  also  called),  which 
may  ber  used  either  as  a  screen  or  background. 
Clumps  of  Digitalis  purpurea  and  alba,  Rud- 
beckia  sublomentosa  and  R.  incisa,  Boltonia 
asteroides,  and  clumps  of  the  best  varieties  of 
Asters,  clumps  of  Funkia  ovata,  are  good,  and 
among  these  Lilium  trigrinum,  also  Lilium 
Catiadense.  L.  Candidum,  L.  hulbiferum  and 
-L.  speciosum  roseum,  should  be  set.     In  shaded 


positions,  Lily  of  the  Valley,  Trilliums  and 
Snowdrops  are  useful,  and  under  trees  Crocus, 
Aconites,  Scillas  do  well.  Narcissus  and  Or- 
nithogalums  thrive  in  open  spaces  among  the 
grass.  Around  rocks  or  tree  stumps,  climbing 
Roses,  Honeysuckles,  the  beautiful  Hydrangea 
scandens  and  Forsylhia  suspeiisa,  have  a  pretty 
effect.  If  the  rocks  should  be  partially  buried 
plant  on  them  Sedum  acre  or  I  'eronica  rupestris; 
the  latter  is  well  suited  forhanging  over  a  ledge 
of  rock  forming  a  perfect  picture  when  in  flower. 
Arabis  albida  is  also  a  plant  peculiarly  adapted 
for  rock  work.  Many  other  plants  will  also 
suggest  themselves.  For  moist  and  shaded 
positions  plant  hardy  Ferns.  The  taller  plants 
should  be  planted  in  irregular  clumps ;  the 
bulbs  and  smaller  plants  may  be  more  scat- 
tered. If  a  ravine  should  run  through  the 
garden,  the  beauty  may  be  enhanced  by  plant- 
ing aquatic  and  half  aquatic  plants. 

A  judicious  selection  will  give  a  succession 
of  flowers  the  whole  season,  and  if  carefully 
planted  and  well  arranged,  will  be  a  constant 
source  of  pleasure." 

Abies  Frazeri. — This  is  probably  one  of  the 
handsomest  of  all  the  hardy  Firs  ;  and  yet, 
strange  to  say,  a  specimen  in  cultivation  is 
rarely  met  with.  The  reason  for  this  seems  to 
be  that  for  a  number  of  years  past  seeds  sent  to 
the  old  world  for  Abies  Frazeri  were  simply  of 
forms  of  the  common  Balsam  Fir.  The  true 
Frazer  Fir  seems  to  be  confined  to  the  moun- 
tains of  North  Carolina,  wherein  Fraser  orig- 
inally discovered  it.  Two  of  our  advertiz- 
ers,  Kelsey  &  Co.,  and  Russell  Bros.,  are 
doing  great  service  to  lovers  of  our  coniferae 
by  introducing  the  genuine  plant  into  culti- 
vation. 


Grafted  Roses. — Roses  are  usually  budded 
on  a  stock  known  to  the  trade  as  the  Manetti, 
which  is  a  strong,  vigorous  and  healthy  grower. 
If  parties  who  have  these  budded  roses  under- 
stand the  management,  they  are  far  superior 
than  when  growing  on  their  own  roots.  The 
chief  care  required  is  to  see  that  no  suckers  or 
sprouts  are  ever  allowed  to  come  out  from  the 
stock.  Where  these  are  permitted,  the  grafted 
portion  soon  dies.  Those  who  can  give  grafted 
roses  their  proper  care,  do  well  to  plant  them. 
Those  who  cannot  do  so,  but  have  to  trust  the 
others,  had  better  have  roses  on  their  own  roots. 


26 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Feb-. 


IncarvillEa  Delaveyi. — It  is  difficult  to 
imagine  a  Trumpet  flower,  as  plants  of  the 
bignonaceous  order  are  termed,  as  any  thing 
than  a  tree  or  woody  climbing  vine;  but  in  the 
genus  Incarvillea  we  have  an  herbaceoiis  family, 
with  flowers  quite  as  beautiful  as  any  Trumpet 
vine  could  give.  The  plant  was  first  made 
known  nearly  a  hundred  years  ago  by  a  zealous 
missionary  botanist.  Father  Incarville,  a  Jesuit 
priest  in  China.     But  thej'  have  only  recently 


INCARVILLEA    DELAVEYI. 

been  obtained  for  cultivation.  Our  knowledge 
of  the  plant  is  through  the  well  known  house 
Vilmorin,  Andrieux  &  Co,  of  Paris.  An  in- 
teresting feature  of  the  flower  is  that  the  cloven 
stigma,  when  touched,  closes  like  the  leaves 
of  the  sensitive  plant. 

Hydrangea  Culture. — Mr.  R.  G.  Potter, 
of  Kingston,  Rhode  Island,  contributes  the 
following  valuable  note  : 

"  I  have  never  seen  any  article  in  maga- 
zines about  keeping  Hydrangeas  in  the  winter 
as  they  are  kept  here.  A  gardener  at  the 
Pier  has  for  years  had  the  finest  I  have  ever 
seen.  He  digs  a  hole  late  in  the  season, 
puts  the  plants  in,  covers  with  earth  and  then 
sod.  One  this  year  had  five  hundred  flowers. 
Others  kept  in  same  way  had  one  190,  an- 
other 164  flowers.     I  have  a  great  many,  but 


do  not  cut  them  down  as  they  do,  preferring 
to  see  the  flowers  droop. 

The  gardener's  name  is  Charles  Yost,  Nar- 
ragansett  Pier," 

It  may  be  added,  that  a  covering  with  earth 
is  one  of  the  best  methods  of  preserving  half 
hardy  wood}-  plants  during  the  winter,  and  the 
good  gardener  often  practices  it  with  roses, 
grape  vines,  raspberries,  cabbage  and  other 
things, — but  it  has  not  been  practiced  before 
for  Hydrangeas,  so  far  as  records  show.  No 
doubt  magnificent  specimens  can  be  had  by 
following  Mr.  Yost's  method. 


The  Pepper  Tree  of  California.  — Visi- 
tors to  California  regard  this  tree  with  ad- 
miration, and  have  a  feeling  of  regret  that  it 
is  not  hardy  in  the  northeastern  states.  Its 
botanical  name  is  Schinus  Molle.  It  belongs 
to  the  same  family,  with  the  Rhus,  to  which 
our  poison  vines  are  referred.  Strange  to  say, 
the  tree  is  regarded  as  a  nuisance  by  Califor- 
nians.  It  is  said  to  grow  so  rapidly  that  the- 
roots  push  up  pavements  in  every  direction, — 
and  that  wherever  even  the  smallest  branch  is 
broken,  a  gummy  substance  drops,  rui"ing 
everything  it  falls  on.  It  is  said  that  so  great 
is  the  annoyance  caused  in  this  way,  that  some 
of  the  cities  in  southern  California  compel  the 
owners  to  cut  off  every  branch  that  spreads 
over  sidewalks  or  roadways.  The  pollen  is 
collected  by  bees,  but  the  odor  is  so  strong  as- 
to  unfit  the  honey  in  the  hive  for  human  use. 
The  Blue  Gums,  that  is  to  say,  the.  Eucalyptus, 
are  said  to  be  preferable  for  street  trees  in  every 
way. 

Winter  Flowering  Carnations.  —  The 
Bulletin  of  the  Horticultural  Society  of  Tus- 
cany gives  a  colored  plate  of  seven  different 
forms  of  winter  blooming  carnations,  which  it 
considers  a  vast  improvement  on  the  varieties 
formerly  in  cultivation  ;  but  we  should  judge 
by  the  appearance  of  these  forms,  that  America 
is  far  in  advance  in  the  production  of  im- 
proved varieties — certainly  a  large  number  of 
American  varieties  are  much  more  beautiful 
and  distinct  than  these  illustrated  in  the  Bul- 
letin. Altogether  we  think  that  American 
carnation  growers  may  congratulate  them- 
selves on  having  taken  the  lead  of  the  whole 
world  in  the  improvement  of  this  beautiful 
class  of  flowers. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


History  of  the  Fuchsia. — It  is  said  that 
the  first  Fuchsia  was  introduced  into  England 
by  a  sailor  from  Chili,  in  1746.  A  plant  from 
this  was  sold  to  an  English  nurseryman  for 
over  f4oo.  Between  1S30  and  1840,  hybrids 
became  rather  common.  The  modern  race  of 
Fuchsias  dates  from  the  introduction  oi  Fuch- 
sia fulgens.  The  white  corolla  varieties  ap- 
peared in  1855.  The  raiser  of  them  dying 
about  the  time  that  they  w-ere  produced,  left  no 
knowledge  as  to  how  he  obtained  them. 
There  are  a  large  number  of  species  in  South 
America,  many  of  them  in  many  respects  far 
more  beautiful  than  the  hybrid  varieties,  but 
not  having  been  pushed  by  florists,  they 
have,  in  a  great  measure,  gone  out  of  cultiva- 
tion. 

Edging  Plants. — Many  persons  do  not  like 
box-edging,  and  yet  desire  bordering  of  some 
kind.  Mr.  Geo.  Woolson  of  Passaic,  N.  J  , 
find  the  following  very  useful  in  different 
situations  : 

Achillea  tomentosa,  Anthemis  nobilis,  Aren- 
aria  verna,  Aubrittias  in  sorts,  Cerastium  Bier- 
besteini,  Cerastium  Boissieri,  Cerastium  to- 
mentosum,  Dianthus  deltoides,  Herniaria  gla- 
bra, Iv5'simachia  Nummularia,  Mitchella  re- 
pens,  CEnothera  speciosa.  Phloxes,  Moss  Pinks 
in  sorts,  Pyrethrum  Tchihatchewi,  Sedum 
acre,  Stellaria  graminea  aurea,  Stellaria 
Holostea,  Thymus  lanuginosus.  Thymus  mon- 
tanus  albus,  Tunica  Saxifraga,  Veronica  re- 
pens,  Veronica  cercfeoides,  Vincaminor. 


Magnolia  Watsoni. — A  large  number  of 
the  trees  and  shrubs  of  Japan  have  been  put 
in  cultivation  through  the  energy  of  Parsons, 
Sons  &  Co.,  of  Flushing,  N.Y.  Among  these, 
several  beautiful  Magnolias.  One  which  was 
introduced  by  them,  through  Mr.  Thomas 
Hogg,  in  1875,  was  supposed  by  them  to  be 
the  Magnolia  parviflora,  long  ago  described 
by  botanists  who  have  made  Japan  plants  a 
study.  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  contested  that  this 
was  not  parviflora,  but  an  entirely  new  species, 
which  he  has  named  Magnolia  Walsoni.  Ac- 
cording to  this  statement  of  Dr.  Hooker's,  the 
true  Magnolia  parviJJora  has  not  yet  been  in- 
troduced. It  may  be  here  noted  that  Mr. 
Hogg  who  brought  so  many  beautiful  plants 
in  addition  to  this,  died  on  December  30th. 


Ground  Blanching  of  Sea  KalE. — Mee- 
HANS'  Monthly  recently  called  attention  to- 
the  neglect  in  America  of  this  delicious  vege- 
table, and  gave  some  suggestions  as  to  methods 
of  culture.  This  brings  the  following  ex- 
cellent note  from  one  of  the  readers  of  the  mag- 
zine.  Miss  L.  Shackleton,  Lucan,  Ireland,  where 
the  plant  is  intelligently  grown  : 

"  E.  S.  Delamer,  in  Tiie  Kitchen  Garden, 
writes:  'Some  time  in  December,  not  too 
soon,  when  the  foot  stalks  of  the  leaves  have 
fairly  separated  themselves  from  the  crown  of 
the  plants,  heap  over  each  about  a  quarter  of  a 
peck  of  sea  sand  or  wood  ashes,  or  those  from 
turf,  if  not  to  be  had,  any  light,  unmanured  soil 
will  do.  Then  earth  up  the  plants  from  a  trench 
dug  along  the  space  between  the  rows,  deep 
and  not  too  near  them  to  avoid  approaching 
the  roots,  exactly  as  if  you  were  earthing  up- 
celery,  only  that  no  leaves  appear  above  the 
top  of  the  ridge.  The  earth  should  be  heaped 
up  till  it  is  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet  above- 
the  crowns  of  the  plants,  and  then  regularly 
rounded  like  a  donkey's  back,  flatted  down  on 
the  sides  with  the  spade  and  made  smooth  and' 
neat.'  Mr.  Delamer  cautions  against  blanch- 
ing and  protecting  with  leaves  which,  he  says, 
often  heat  and  ferment,  giving  the  sea  kale 
an  unpleasant  taste.  We  treat  it  as  he  recom- 
mends above,  except  that  we  use  coal  ashes.  " 

Vegetable  Curiosities. — Some  very  pleas- 
ant surprises  for  children  may  be  obtained  by 
getting  fruits  to  grow  inside  of  glass  bottles. 
Some,  especially  of  the  cucumber  family,  can 
be  inserted  into  the  narrow  mouths  of  bottles 
while  young,  the  bottles  attached  to  the  branch, 
and  after  full  growth,  it  will  be  a  mystery  how 
these  fruits  got  inside  the  bottles  or  jars. 
Besides  the  pleasant  surprises  many  a  useful 
lesson  on  plant  growth  can  be  furnished  by 
these  tests.  It  is  stated  that  King  George  the 
Third,  of  England,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
insanity  which  subsequently  overtook  him, 
used  to  express  his  surprise  to  those  vvho  were 
dining  with  him,  as  to  how  the  apple  got  in- 
side of  the  dumpling  ;  but  with  these  fruits  in 
glass  jars,  the  surprises  to  even  sane  people 
are  quite  as  interesting  to  intelligent  people  as- 
the  apple  dumpling  was  to  this  unfortunate- 
monarch. 


28 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Feb. 


Lettuce. — In  former  times  there  were  two 
popular  classes  of  lettuce,  one  known  as  the 
■Cos  class,  and  the  other  as  the  Cabbage.  The 
one  requires  to  have  the  leaves  tied  up  when 
the  blanching  process  takes  place  in  the  cen- 
tre ;  the  other  the  head  becomes  pale  in 
the  interior  naturally  ;  or,  as  one  might  say, 
of  its  own  accord.  Of.  late  years  the  Cos  class 
has  nearly  gone  out  of  use,  the  Cabbage  being 
the  kind  almost  usually  seen.  Those  who 
know  a  good  thing,  however,  when  they  see  it, 
have  still  a  tender  regard  for  the  memory  of 
the  old  Cos  kind.  It  is  far  superior  to  the 
generality  of  lettuce  such  as  we  generally  get. 
The  reason  for  comparative  disappearance  is 
probably  the  extra  labor  envolved  by  the  tying 
process.  Man  seems  to  have  come  to  the 
■opinion  thatineverylinehe  hasbuta  short  time 


A    COS    LETTUCE. 


to  live  and,  therefore,  that  which  is  the  easiest 
accomplished,  although  accomplished  indiffer- 
ently, is  the  wisest  line  of  industry  to  pursue. 

But  is  it? 

It  is  just  possible  that  many  do  not  know 
the  difference  between  the  two.  It  will  there- 
fore be  instructive  to  take  from  Vilmorin's 
great  work  on  vegetables,  "  Les  Plantes  Pota- 
geres, ' '  sketches  of  each  kind .  It  is  there  that  the 
Cos,  as  it  is  called  in  English  literature,  is  known 
as  the  Roman  Lettuce,  while  the  Head  Lettuce, 
(see  p.  29),  is  described  as  Laitue  PommL  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  two  such  distincts  forms 
originated  from  the  one  wild  species,  but  Vil- 
morin  thinks  there  is  no  doubt  of  it.  These 
authors  also  believe  that  the  native  country  is 
unknown,  though  possibly  it  was  Central  Asia. 
It  has  been  under  cultivation  prior  to  modern 
history. 


Horse-Radish.  —  Of  late  years  it  has 
become  the  practice  to  buy  horse-radish  al- 
ready grated  for  table  use  ;  and  the  result  has 
been  that  a  large  portion  of  it  is  adulterated 
with  cabbage  stalks  and  some  chemical  sub- 
stance to  give  it  the  hot  taste  of  the  genuine 
article.  This  renders  the  cultivation  of  horse- 
radish by  amateurs,  who  want  the  proper  ar- 
ticle, more  desirable  than  ever.  It  is  propagated 
by  cutting  roots  into  sections  of  about  an  inch 
in  length  and  planting  these  pieces  where  it  is 
desirable  to  have  a  plantation  made.  One  very 
good  method  is  to  make  a  hole  with  a  crow-bar 
and  drop  the  pieces  of  root  into  the  hole,  so  that 
it  is  a  foot  or  so  beneath  the  surface, — the  new 
growth  never  has  any  diflSculty  in  finding  its 
way  to  the  surface, — and  that  new  growth  is 
what  makes  the  future  root.  One  has  then  a 
clean,  straight  root  when  ready  for  use,  which 
is  much  preferable  for  culinary  purposes  to  the 
stumpy  looking  affairs  sometimes  seen  in 
markets.  The  soil  cannot  be  too  rich  for  this 
vegetable, — and  if  damp  and  cool  so  much  the 
better. 


Planting  Blackberries  and  Raspberries. 
—  Probably  more  complaints  in  relation  to 
plants  dying  after  transplanting  are  heard  in 
connection  with  the  raspberry  and  blackberry 
than  with  any  other  fruit.  In  almost  all 
cases  the  cane  should  be  cut  nearly  to  the 
ground  when  planted,  and  the  plant  should 
not  be  set  more  than  a  few  inches  under  the 
surface  ;  if  planted  deep  the  buds  will  rot  be- 
fore the  j'oung  sprouts  get  to  the  surface.  In 
shallow  planting  it  is,  of  course,  very  desirable 
that  the  earth  should  be  hammered  in  very 
tightly  around  the  plants  at  transplanting. 

Figs  in  California. — Mr.  Charles  H.  Shinn 
states  that  this  is  likely  to  be  one  of  the 
most  productive  fruit  culture  industries  of 
California, — that  they  thrive  well  in  much 
dryer  ground  than  almost  any  other  tree  would 
stand.  At  the  Foothill  station,  near  Jackson, 
in  Amador  county,  they  are  found  to  endure 
twenty  degrees  of  temperature  without  being 
in  any  way  injured.  Over  fifty-one  varieties 
of  figs  are  now  being  tested  at  that  station, 
and  kinds  known  as  Brown  Ischia,  Constan- 
tine,  Monacia,  Bianca  and  White  Adriatic  are 
named  as  doing  remarkably  weil  there. 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


29 


Tomatoes  in  England,- — A  recent  issue  of 
the  Gardeners'  Chronicle  states  that  although 
the  tomato  was  introduced  into  England  as  far 
back  as  the  sixteenth  century,  and  notwith- 
standing it  has  been  a  common  and  popular 
article  of  food  in  the  United  States  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  it  is  only  during  the  past  ten  years 
that  they  have  come  into  general  use  in  Great 
Britain.  But  popular  public  favor  once  started 
in  that  direction,  the  increase  in  consumption 
has  been  enormous,  and  it  is  believed  at  the 
present  time  over  a  million  square  feet  of  glass 
surface  is  devoted  to  their  cultivation,  the  fruit 
bringing  from  eight  to  sixteen  cents  a  pound, 
and  occasionally  going  up  as  high  as  fifty  cents 
in  the  middle  of  winter.  In  the  Channel  Is- 
lands, where  the  climate  is  much  milder,  to- 
mato culture  has  developed  amazingly  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  the  London  market. 
The  value  of  the  imports  from  these  Islands 
the  past  year  amounted  to  $250,000.  France 
and  Spain  are  also  going  into  their  cultiva- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  immense 
demand  arising  for  them  in  Great  Britain. 
The  Chronicle  states,  "From  present  appear- 
ances, in  ten  years  the  consumption  will  be 
five  times  what  it  is  to-day, "  and  they  are 
looking  forward  to  America  to  help  them  out. 
Strange  to  say,  no  attempt  seems  to  have  been 
made  by  American  growers  to  profit  by  this 
new  condition  of  things  in  England,  although 
it  must  be  evident  that  tomatoes  could  very 
readily  be  carried  there,  from  the  fact  that 
passengers  on  board  of  our  line  steamers  have 
the  fresh  American  article  on  their  tables  all 
the  way  across  the  Atlantic  until  they  reach 
the  docks  in  Liverpool  harbor,  being  quite  as 
good  and  fresh  after  ten  days'  travel  as  they 
were  on  the  first  day  they  were  shipped. 

Chenango  Strawberry  Apple. —  A  report 
of  the  Hartford  Co. ,  (Conn.)  Horticultural  Soci- 
ety speaks  in  terms  of  praise  of  a  set  of  the 
beautiful  apple  known  as  the  Chenango  Straw- 
berry. Though  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
delicious  of  apples,  it  is  rarely  seen  in  market 
through  not  possessing  those  carrying  pecu- 
liarities which  give  value  to  inferior  kinds. 
Nurserymen  keep  in  stock  onh*  those  gener- 
ally asked  for,  and  these  are  usuallj-  kinds  that 
bring  back  a  money  return  to  the  market 
grower,  with  whom  this  is  naturally  the  first 
consideration . 


A  Hedge  of  Heliotrope. —  The  Los  Angeles 
Express  states  that  Mrs.  Shepherd,  of  whose 
good  work  in  gardening  Meehans'  Monthly 
has  before  spoken,  has  a  hedge  200  feet  long, 
consisting  solely  of  heliotrope.  Low  posts 
were  first  placed  and  wire  stretched  across  in 
order  to  support  the  small  plants  of  the  helio- 
trope which  were  planted  out  five  years  ago  ; 
now  they  are  six  feet  above  the  walk,  drooping 
down  and  lining  the  promenade  with  the  frag- 
rant masses  of  purple,  lavender  and  white 
blossoms.  The  flowers  are  said  to  be  great  at- 
tractions to  humming  birds,  butterflies  and  in- 
sects. It  maybe  noted  here  that  the  heliotrope 
is  a  native  of  Peru,  and  that  the  vernacular 
name  with  the  Peruvians  is  Vanilla, — and  on 
account  of  the  identity  in  the  aroma  between 
this  fragrance  and  that  of  the  fruit  of  the  cele- 
brated orchid,  the  name  has  been  transferred  to. 
this  particular  fruit,  which  is  known  in  com- 
merce as  the  Vanilla  bean. 


A  CABBAGE  HEADED  LETTUCC--SEE:  P.  28 

Sowing  Cabbage. — As  a  general  thing  the 
best  early  cabbage  comes  from  plants  that  are 
raised  from  seed  in  the  fall,  and  somewhat  pro- 
tected ;  but  there  is  always  a  chance  of  its 
running  to  seed  if  sowed  early  in  the  fall,  or  if 
the  winters  are  open  and  mild.  Very  excellent 
results  are  obtained  by  sowing  seeds  in  a  slight 
hot-bed  hot-house  in  February  or  March,  and 
planted  out.  If  the  soil  is  good  and  rich  such 
cabbages  are  more  tender  and  in  ever}'  way 
better  than  those  raised  from  fall  seeds. 

Planting  Asparagus. —  It  is  said  that 
whether  the  white  part  of  asparagus  be  soft 
or  stringy  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  the 
depth  of  planting  ;  the  farther  it  has  to  grow 
beneath  the  ground  the  more  stringy  the 
sprouts  become.  Tender,  white  asparagus  is 
rather  the  effect  of  blanching  than  of  mere 
growth. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


"SELF-PRAISE  IS  NO  PRAISE." 

-Ali,  summer  the  breath  of  the  roses  around 
Is  naught  but  a  delicate,  passionate  sound  ; 
And  when  from  a  trellis,  in  holiday  places, 
Thev  croon  and  cajole,  with  their  slumberous  faces, 
A  lad  in  the  lane  must  slacken  his  paces. 

Fragrance  of  these  is  a  voice  in  a  bower , 

But  low  by  the  wall  is  my  odorless  flower, 

So  pure,  so  controlled,  not  a  fume  is  above  her. 

That  poets  or  bees  should  delay  there  and  hover  ; 

For  she  is  a  silence,  and  therefore  I  love  her. 

Louise  Imogen  Guiney. 


Professor  Angelo  Heilprin. — This  emi- 
nent scientific  man  was  born  in  Hungary,  but 
has  been  connected  with  the  Academy  of  Na- 
tural Sciences  of  Philadelphia  for  some  years 
past.  In  scientific  directories  he  is  classed  as 
a  geologist,  but  as  in  the  case  of  Prof  Agassiz, 
Prof  Leidy,  and  other  great  names,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  branch  of  science  in  which 
he  does  not  take  an  intelligent  interest.  The 
Philadelphia  Academy  owes  much  of  its  fame 
and  its  importance  to  the  great  reputation  so 
many  of  its  members  have  acquired  for  it,  and 
in  more  recent  years  a  large  share  is  due  to  the 
labors  of  Prof.  Heilprin.  A  number  of  years 
ago  it  was  determined  to  build  a  magnificent 
museum  and  lecture  hall  adjoining  the  present 
one,  but  all  attempts  to  get  the  Legislatitre  to 
see  its  duty  failed.  Prof.  Heilprin 's  fame  had 
reached  the  Legislature,  and  when  he  went  be- 
fore it  and  pleaded,  it  voted  $50,000.  At  the 
last  session  he  repeated  his  mission  and  ob- 
tained $50,000  more.  As  an  explorer  his  cour- 
age and  leadership  of  a  small  party  across  the 
hitherto  almost  unknown  territory  of  Yucatan 
brought  rich  results  to  the  academy.  As 
the  leader  in  the  escort  party  to  Peary's  winter 
quarters  and  safe  return  he  won  golden  opin- 
ions. And  when,  about  a  year  ago,  fears  were 
expressed  over  the  whole  Union,  that  Peary  had 
met  with  disaster,  he  volunteered  to  lead  a 
search  party,  the  wonderful  success  of  which  is 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.  Few  members  of  the 
academy  have  brought  more  renown  to  the  in- 
stitution than  Prof  Heilprin,  and  Philadel- 
phians  generally  are  very  proud  of  the  young 
Professor. 

',30) 


Clark,  the  Famous  Explorer. — It  must 
be  true  that  if  it  is  worth  honoring  a  person  at 
all,  it  is  important  that  he  should  be  honored 
under  his  own  name,  and  not  under  that  of 
some  other.  Having  to  refer  to  the  famous 
explorers  Lewis  and  Clarke,  as  generally 
written,  Meehans'  Monthly  followed  Lip- 
pincott's  Biographical  Dictionary,  and  wrote  it 
Clark.  The  propriety  of  this  has  been  ques- 
tioned. The  matter  was  referred  to  Dr.  Elliott 
Coues.     His  reply  settles  the  question  : — 

"  In  reply  to  your  question  :  I  am  in  posi- 
tion to  speak  positively.  The  name  of  the 
famous  explorer  with  Lewis  was  Clark,  not 
Clarke.  My  authorities  are:  i.  A  verbatim 
copy  of  family  Bible  records  of  the  Clark  fam- 
ily, going  back  to  1724 — not  an  e  in  one  of 
the  names.  2.  Many  autograph  letters  of 
Clark  with  his  signature,  which  I  have  ex- 
amined—  invariably  "  \Vm.  Clark." — no  sign 
of  an  e.  He  wrote  the  k  large,  like  a  capital, 
and  with  a  long  flourishing  lower  loop,  but 
never  a  mark  that  could  be  mistaken  for  an  e. 
3.  Many  ofHcial  and  other  letters  addressed  to 
him,  always  Clark.  4.  Copies  of  various  com- 
missions issued  to  him  by  at  least  three  presi- 
dents of  the  United  States — invariably  Clark. 
5.  Copies  of  letters  to  him  from  Nicholas  Bid- 
die,  editor  of  the  famous  "  Travels,"  always 
Clark.  6.  Copies  of  legal,  commercial,  etc., 
notices,  advertisements,  etc.,  in  early  news- 
papers of  St.  Louis — always  Clark.  7.  Re- 
peated notices  in  Billon's  "  Annals  of  St. 
Louis" — always  Clark.  S.  I^etters  to  me  from 
his  only  surviving  son,  Jefferson  K.  Clark.  9. 
Various  other  authentic  sources  of  informa- 
tion. 

The  wrong  spelling  with  an  e  seems  to  have 
first  come  into  vogue  in  1807,  in  Gass's  "Jour- 
nal," where  it  is  invariably  Clarke,  as  it  is  in 
all  the  four  later  editions  of  Gass.  Then  the  re- 
gular authentic  edition  of  the  "  Travels,"  Phil- 
adelphia, 1847,  has  Clarke  throughout  the 
text,  but  curiously,  Clark  on  the  title  page. 
So,  also,  Clarke  in  later  editions,  following 
suit  of  the  princeps. 


«893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY^BIOGRAPHY  AND   LITERATtTRE. 


31 


So  it  has  turned  out  that  a  man  whose  fam- 
ily name  was  Clark,  who  was  Ensign  Clark, 
Lieutenant  Clark,  Captain  Clark,  General 
■Clark,  and  Governor  Clark — who  was  William 
Clark  in  all  commercial,  legal  and  official 
functions,  who  was  doubtless  "  Bill  Clark"  to 
his  cronies,  has  passed  into  literature  and  his- 
tory as  a  Clarke.  Pursh  was  right  in  naming 
the  genus  Clarkia  (not  Clarkea)  " 

Isaac  C.  Martindale. — Natural  history  has 


losses     than     by    the 


suffered  few  severer 
■death  of  the  banker- 
botanist  Isaac  C.  Mar- 
tindale  of  Camden, 
New  Jersey,  which  oc- 
curred suddenly  by 
apoplexy,  on  the  3rd 
of  January.  He  was 
as  universally  beloved 
for  his  personal  char- 
;act2r,  as  held  in  high 
esteem  for  his  scien- 
tific eminence.  He 
was  wholly  a  self- 
made  man,  having 
been  raised  on  a  farm 
in  By  berry ,  near  Phila- 
adelphia,  where  he  was 
born  on  July  15,  1842. 
While  a  lad  at  the 
plough,  he  would  stop 
to  track  birds  to  their 
homes  in  order  to 
know  all  about  them 
and  books  that  would 
tell  of  them  were  his 
familiar  friends.  By 
self  study  he  acquired 
a  fair  education  and 
became  a  clerk  in  a 
bank.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  he  strived  for 
excellence,  and  was  promoted  from  a  junior 
clerk  to  the  highest  office,  that  of  cashier. 
By  his  devotion  to  the  interest  of  the  bank, 
his  health  broke  down,  and  he  was  granted 
a  vacation  to  Europe.  It  was  here  that 
his  fondness  for  botanj'  became  fi.xed. 
Brooding  over  some  trouble  and  wondering 
what  use  he  was  in  the  world,  while  sitting 
to  rest  in  Switzerland,  his  eye  fell  on  a 
little  plant,  struggling  in  the  cleft  of  a  rock, 
-without     any     soil     that    was     visible,     and 


ISAAC  c.   M 


yet  in  perfect  health  and  blooming  beauty- 
fully.  Accustomed  to  reading  lessons  from 
nature,  he  took  it  as  a  hint  to  himself.  If 
in  the  midst  of  such  disheartening  surround- 
ings such  beauty  and  perfection  could  result, 
surely,  there  was  yet  a  place  for  him  in  the 
world  !  He  made  collections  of  plants  from 
that  time.  His  herbarium  became  one  of  the 
finest  in  America,  and  his  botanical  correspon- 
dence was  world-wide.  His  j'oung  son,  now 
about  thirteen,  developed,  when  quite  a  lad,  a 
taste  for  insect  study,  and  during  the  last  few 
years  the  father  was 
led  bj'  the  child's  taste 
into  similar  pursuits, 
and  he  was  fast  be- 
coming as  great  an 
authority  in  the  ento- 
mological world,  as 
he  was  in  botany.  He 
was  vice-president  of 
the  Entomological 
Society  of  Philadel- 
phia at  his  death, 
treasurer  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  correspond- 
ing secretary  of  its 
botanical  section,  a 
member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical 
Society,  Fellow  of  the 
American  Association 
for  the  Advancement 
of  Science, — besides  a 
member  of  many  other 
useful  institutions  ol 
similar  import.  The 
portrait  is  from  a 
photo  taken  in    1879. 

ARTINDALE.  

Willkomm's  Herbarium. —  Mr.  Thomas 
Hanbury  has  presented  to  the  Botanical  Insti- 
tute at  Genoa  the  very  rich  collection  of  vascular 
plants  made  by  the  late  Prof  Willkomm,  of 
Prague.  It  comprises  as  many  as  14,472  spe- 
cies, the  greater  number  being  European  or 
from  the  adjacent  districts  of  Asia  and  Africa. 
It  is  especially  rich  in  plants  of  the  Spanish 
Peninsula,  and  includes  most  of  Willkomm's 
original  type  specimens.  The  herbarium  of 
that  Institution  is  one  already  much  consulted 
by  botanists. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Meehans'  Monthly  for  1893. — The  large 
number  of  appreciative  letters  while  renewing 
subscriptions  has  about  overwhelmed  the  pub- 
lishers, who  can  only  take  this  poor  method  of 
returning  thanks.  Universal  surprise  is  ex- 
pressed that  Meehans'  Monthly  can  give  a 
plate  botanically  accurate  and  of  such  a  super- 
ior style  of  art,  with  so  much  gardening  and 
matters  of  natural  history,  for  $2  a  year.  It 
could  not  be  done  only  for  the  hope  of  an  im- 
mense subscription  list  some  day.  The  pub- 
lishers have  faith  that,  as  time  rolls  on,  every 
person  who  has  a  taste  for  art  or  science — out- 
side of  the  mere  love  of  gardening — will  feel 
compelled  to  have  it  as  a  work  of  reference  in 
their  libraries.  While  we  can  yet  only 
speak  of  subscribers  in  the  thousands,  we 
hope  for  the  hundred  thousands  one  of  these 
days. 


Vegetable  Physiology  in  Practical  Gar- 
dening. —  A  correspondent  from  Greenport, 
N.Y. ,  calls  attention  to  a  paragraph  in  Garden 
a?id  Forest,  of  January  22nd,  1890,  in  which  a 
correspondent  suggests  that  vegetable  physio- 
logy, or  any  other  department  of  botany,  is  in- 
jurious to  one  who  desires  to  be  a  first-class 
practical  gardener.  Of  course,  this  is  but  the 
opinion  of  the  correspondent,  and  we  are  sure 
would  not  be  endorsed  by  our  eminent  contem- 
porary. If  a  gardener  were  asked  why  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  a  flower 
pot,  he  might  perhaps  answer,  "  Because  it  is. " 
"I  have  found  by  experience  that  a  plant  grows 
better  by  having  a  hole  there."  But  he  cer- 
tainly would  not  be  the  worse  gardener  because 
he  also  knew,  in  addition  to  this,  that  the  hole 
was  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot  in  order  that  the 
roots  might  get  fresh  supplies  of  air,  which 
they  could  not  do  while  wholly  underwater,  as 
they  would  be  if  the  hole  was  not  there  ;  the 
latter  points  he  could  not  know,  unless  from 
vegetable  physiology. 

The  article  seemed  to  be  aimed  at  ' '  Profes- 
sors of  Horticulture"  in  American  colleges. 
Certainly  some  of  these  know  nothing  practi- 

(32) 


cally  of  the  sciences  they  teach,  and  are  as  bad 
leaders  as  the  extremes  of  the  other  sort. 
When  the  writer  of  this  was  a  student,  some 
fifty  years  ago,  of  some  two  hundred  which 
"came  and  went  "  during  two  years  in  a  cer- 
tain institution,  less  than  a  dozen  cared  any- 
thing for  science.  The  argument  of  the  major- 
ity was,  "We  shall  probably  be  able  to  raise 
cabbages  and  potatoes  as  well  as  any  of  you 
with  all  your  science."  This  is  about  all  they 
ever  did  raise,  while  every  one  of  the  twelve 
became  "healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise"  with 
all  the  expression  implies.  "  The  proof  of  the 
pudding,  etc." 

Sill's  Window  Garden  Sprayer. — In  last 
Meehans'  Monthly  surprise  was  expressed 
that  sprinkling  plants  with  a  watering  pot 
had  not  wholly  give  place  to  the  modern 
sprayer.  These  have  been  wonderfully  improved 
of  late.  Sill's  Sprayer  is  especially  well  adapted 
to  house  plant  work.  It  is  of  rubber,  the  end 
of  the  tube  being  placed  in  the  vessel  of  water, 
and  the  air-bag  which  pumps  the  water  being 
in  the  hand  near  the  plant.  The  whole  plant 
can  thus  be  reached — the  under  surface  of  the 
leaf  as  well  as  the  upper.  It  is  just  the  thing 
for  the  amateur  gardener. 

A  Watch  as  a  Compass. — Hold  the  watch 
in  such  a  position  that  the  hour-hand  is  point- 
ed in  the  direction  of  the  sun,  then  the  point 
midway  between  the  position  of  the  hour- 
hand  and  XII.,  will  be  due-south.  If,  for  in- 
stance, the  hour-hand  point  to  V.,  due-south 
will  be  between  II.  and  III.,  or  halfway  be- 
tween XII.  and  V. 

Pell.EA  gracilis.— Those  readers  who  have 
been  asking,  when  shall  we  have  another  fern, 
will  be  gratified  next  month,  when  Pellaa  gra- 
cilis will  have  the  field.  The  last  fern  plate — 
Asplenitim  montafia7n  had  many  encomiums^ 
possibly  its  companion  in  the  next  issue  will 
merit  as  much  praise. 


i^LATE    3. 


.^>t*«hHi».'!>k.niM4  1 


I^I.IAW    (3RAC1L1.' 


PELLyEA  GRACILIS. 

SLENDER  CLIFF-BRAKE. 
NATURAL  ORDER,  FILICES. 

Pell^a  gracilis,  Hooker.^Fronds  smooth,  three  to  six  inches  high,  delicately  membraneous  and  slender,  of  few  pinnae^ 
the  lower  ones  once  or  twice  pinnately  parted  into  three  to  five  decurrent  divisions,  those  of  the  fertile  frond  oblong  or 
linear-oblong,  entire  or  sparingly  incised  ;  of  the  sterile  ovate  or  obovate,  crenate  or  incised  ;  veins  of  the  fertile  frond 
mostly  once  forked.  (Gray's  Manitat  of  the  Botany  of  the  Nortlietn  i'nitcd  Statrs.  See  also  Wood's  Class-Book  of 
Botany,  and  Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America.) 


The  poets  .seldom  tiie  of  beautiful  flowers. 
Flowers  constitute  a  perpetual  burthen  of  their 
songs.  Most  people  love  flowers  ;  and  regard 
this  love  as  one  of  the  marks  whereby  man  is 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  brutes  below 
him.  Some,  in  these  days,  believe  that  man 
was  little  bej'ond  a  brute  in  his  earliest  times, 
and  that  his  present  superiority  is  the  result 
of  continuous  stages  of  developmental  pro- 
gress. It  is  singular  to  note  that  our  Con- 
necticut poet,  Percival,  in  his  "  Prometheus," 
published  in  1S20,  seemed  to  have  had  the 
same  idea,  for  he  paints  the  primeval  man  as 
indifferent  to  flowers  : — 

"  With  brute,  unconscious  gaze,  man   marks   the 
earth 
Take  on  its  livery  of  early  flowers  ; 
He  sees  no  beauty  in  this  aunual  birth, 
No  ceaseless  working  of  creative  powers  ; 
His  soul,  lethargic,  wakes  not  in  those  hours 
When  air  is  living,  and  the  waters  teem 
With  new-born  being,  and  the  mantling  bowers 
Are  full  of  love  and  melody,  and  seem 
The  happy  Eden  of  a  poet's  raptured  dream." 

It  would  seem  that  if  an  admiration  for  the 
gayer  flower  is  a  proof  of  man's  advancement, 
the  growing  love  for  ferns  which  have  no  pretty 
blossoms  to  commend  them  must  be  regarded  as 
greater  evidence  of  human  pv ogress.  Ferns 
have  few  outward  accessories  to  recommend 
them.  They  take  little  interest  in  the  livery 
furnished  by  the  early  spring  growth  of  other 
fonns  of  vegetation,  nor  are  there  many  ex- 
pectants eager  for  their  annual  birth.  Our  deli- 
cate little  species  especially  is  an  evergreen, 
and  what  it  contributes  to  Nature's  charms  it 
gives  perpetually.  It  is  about  the  same  to-day 
as  yesterday,  and  goes  on  throughout  the  year. 


The  only  change  in  its  garb  is  in  the  narrower 
character  of  the  spring  frondlets  over  those 
which  are  produced  in  the  fall.  These  narrower 
ones  (Fig.  I )  produce  the  sporangia  which  we  see 
withiu  the  rolled  edges  on  the  under  surface, 
as  shown  in  Figs.  3,  4.  Later  in  the  season 
the  broader  ones  are  produced  (Fig.  2).  These 
furnish  no  reproductive  organs,  as  they  are 
the  barren  fronds.  They  are  the  ones  which 
give  the  plant  its  evergreen  character,  and  they 
remain  green  until  after  the  fertile  fronds  have 
been  produced,  dying  away  only  as  newer 
ones  of  the  same  character  appear  towards 
the  end  of  the  following  summer.  Now  many 
ferns  add  somewhat  to  the  gaiety  of  nature  by 
producing  bright  golden  or  brown  sporangia, 
sometimes  in  round  or  at  other  times  in  linear 
masses  ;  but  our  little  species  makes  little  eifort 
to  attract  the  eye.  The  narrowness  of  the 
frondlets  alone  indicate  the  fruiting  stage — all 
the  rest,  must  be  sought  for,  and  best  with  a 
pocket  lens  to  aid  the  search.  It  is  one  of 
those  captivating  little  things  which  one  learns 
to  love  for  themselves  alone. 

Nor  are  we  to  look  where  the  waters  teem 
with  new-born  being  and  the  mantling  bowers 
are  full  of  love  and  melody  to  find  out  where  it 
dwells.  Its  home  is  in  the  shady  recesses  of 
rugged  rocks — not  even  in  flowery  climes,  but 
chiefly  in  those  northern  regions  where  flowers 
are  scarce  or  chiefly  come  and  go  with  the 
springtide  sun.  Our  specimens  come  from  the 
rocky  faces  of  the  dells  of  the  Wisconsin,  and 
all  who  have  found  it  anywhere  describe  similar 
locations.  It  attaches  itself  to  the  friendly 
rock  with  wonderful  tenacity.  In  the  "  Ento- 
mologist and  Botanist  "  for  1870,  Mr.  William- 

(33) 


34 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — PELL^A  GRACIUS. 


[March 


son  remarks  that  on  an  occasion  when  he  met 
v?ith  it,  the  roots  were  so  deep  in  the  fissures 
of  the  rocks  that  the  rock  had  to  be  broken  to 
get  the  root  out.  Prof.  Eaton  confines  the 
species  to  "calcareous  "  rocks,  but  many  spe- 
cies once  believed  to  have  absolute  prefer- 
ences have  occasionally  been  found  feeding  at 
other  tables.  As  already  suggested,  it  is  com- 
mon only  in  boreal  regions.  Chapman  does  not 
admit  it  into  his  Flora  of  the  Southern  United 
States  nor  does  it  find  a  place  in  Mr.  William- 
son's Ferns  of  Kentucky,  but  it  is  not  at  all 
'Unlikely  that  some  one  will  find  it  some  day  in 
some  of  the  southern  mountains,  as  new 
locations  are  occasionally  being  found.  At 
present,  it  has  not  been  collected  south  of  the 
Pennsylvania  AUeghenies.  A  few  years  ago, 
Mr.  T.  S.  Brandegee  discovered  it  in  the 
mountains  of  Southern  Colorado,  leaving  an 
immense  gap  between  that  and  more  northern 
locations,  and  which  will  at  no  distant  day  be 
filled  by  stations  from  other  collectors.  It  was 
long  wholly  overlooked  in  our  own  country. 
It  is  first  believed  to  have  been  found  in  Siberia 
Ijy  John  George  Gmelin,  whose  Flora  of  that 
country  appeared  between  1747  and  1769,  and 
<iescribed  as  Pteris  Stelleri.  At  that  time  the 
tferns  with  an  indusium  bending  back  over  the 
«dge  of  the  frond  or  frondlet  were  all  known  as 
Pteris.  All  our  earlier  botanists  overlooked  it 
on  the  American  Continent  till  Michaux 
found  it  near  Malbaye,  in  Canada,  and  he 
•describes  it  under  Pteris  gracilis  in  1803  in  his 
Flora  of  North  America.  This  is  to  say,  the 
slender  Pteris  or  brake-fern.  Botanists  are  by 
no  means  agreed  that  the  Pteris  Stelleri  of 
Siberia  is  exactly  the  same  as  our  species.  If 
it  were  proved  to  be,  we  should  have  to  call  our 
plant  under  the  laws  of  priority  Pteris  Stelleti, 
provided  the  plant  should  not  be  regarded  as  a 
Fellaea  or  some  of  the  genera  made  out  of 
Pteris  since  Gmelin's  time.  When  a  plant  is 
taken  from  one  genus  to  another,  the  one  who 
discovers  the  new  relationship  is  not  obliged 
under  the  laws  to  take  the  specific  name  from 
ithe  old  to  the  new  genus,  though  it  is  regarded 
best  to  do  so  if  there  do  not  happen  to  be  a 
specific  name  of  the  same  kind  already  in  the 
genus  the  old  plant  is  removed  to.  It  remained 
as  Ptetis  gracilis  until  Sprengel  and  Kaulfuss' 
time,  when  it  was  taken  to  the  genus  Cheilan- 
thes  made  by  Swartz  in  1806.  Kaulfuss,  in 
1824,  described  it  as   Cheilanthes  gracilis.     It 


does  not  appear  to  have  been  collected  by  any 
one  in  the  United  States  till  Dr.  Lewis  C.  Beck 
found  it  in  great  abundance  on  the  rocks  near 
Whitehall  about  the  year  1830,  who  still  held 
out  against  Sprengel 's  attempt  to  class  it  with 
Cheilanthes.  In  1806,  Bernhardi,  a  professor  of 
botany  at  Erfurt,  made  another  genus  out  of 
the  old  Pteris,  called  Allosurus.  Our  little 
plant  was  removed  to  it,  as  Allosurus  gracilis, 
under  which  name  it  appears  in  the  earlier 
editions  of  Gray's  "Manual."  Hooker,  in 
"  Species  Filicum,"  published  at  various  times 
between  1844  and  1864,  removed  it  to  the 
Pellsea,  a  genus  founded  by  Link  in  1841,  and 
which  is  made  up  of  species  taken  from  the 
old  genus  Pteris,  with  some  Cheilanthes  and 
Allosurus — and  in  this  genus  it  seems  to  remain 
undisturbed  by  more  modern  authors.  Since 
Beck's  time  it  has  been  found  in  various  places 
along  the  line  west  of  New  York  and  Northern 
Pennsylvania  to  Nebraska  according  to  Pro- 
fessor Hughes  and,  as  already  noted,  leaping 
far  below  this  to  Southern  Colorado.  On  the 
east  it  is  found  in  Labrador — from  whence  the 
writer  has  beautiful  specimens  collected  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Butler — and  from  there  extends  to 
Siberia,  if  the  form  Stelleri  is  the  same,  till  it 
reaches  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  where  it 
ends,  so  far  as  now  known,  its  geographical 
travels.  That  it  will,  however,  be  found  in 
many  more  northern  subalpine  regions  is  prob- 
able, as  it  is  a  fern  very  likely  to  be  overlooked, 
from  the  obscure  locations  in  which  it  has 
hitherto  been  found. 

The  pretty  figure  in  Eaton's  Ferns  of  North 
America  illustrates  a  fern  with  much  more 
difference  between  the  fertile  and  barren  fronds 
than  our  specimen  does.  Some  of  his  fertile 
frondlets  are  an  inch  in  length  and  not  over 
two  lines  wide  ;  narrower,  indeed,  than  any 
found  on  our  plant.  The  differences  between 
the  characters  of  these  two  classes  of  fronds 
are  well  worthy  of  note  by  the  student  of 
ferns.  They  often  afford  good  specific  charac- 
ters, and  come  often  as  aids  to  generic  dis- 
tinctions. In  some  cases,  as  in  the  common 
Polypody  for  instance,  there  is  no  difference  at 
all  between  the  barren  and  fertile  fronds. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate.— A  plant  sent  by  Mr.  A.  C. 
Tuttle,  fiom  the  dells  of  the  Wisconsin.  I.  Fertile  spring 
frond.  2.  Barren  summer  one.  3.  Under  surface  slightly 
enlarged,  showing  a  dotted  character  of  indusium  approach- 
ing Cheilanthes.  4.  Still  more  enlarged,  with  indusium 
thrown  back  showing  the  terminal  forked  vein. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


THE  ADVENT  OF  SPRING. 

■"  Rich  mosses  o'er  the  brown  and  mouldering  bole 
■Crept  many-tinted,  with  their  broidery  rare, 
And  others  gemmed  the  shadowy  runnel's  side 
With  clustered  stars  green  as  the  emerald-stone, 
While  the  arbutus  trailing  lowly  near 
Her  fragrant  and  auroral  buds  and  bells 
Made  pale  with  greater  beauty  now  once  more, 
The  matchless  carpet  which  they  wove  anew." 

—Howard  Worcester  Gilbert. 

Seeds  Sprouting  in  Fruit.  —  Observers 
must  have  occasionally  noticed  seeds  sprout- 
ing inside  the  fruit.  In  squashes  particularly 
is  this  phenomenon  occasionally  seen.  On 
the  table  is  a  specimen  of  Citrus  decumana  (see 
p.  41)  sent  by  the  Rev.  Lyman  Phelps,  of 
Sanford,  Fla.,  showing  a  similar  occurrence. 
There  is  one  matter  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject which  has  not  received  the  attention  of 
scientific  men  to  the  extent  it  deserves — and 
that  is  the  green  coloring  of  the  leaves  in  what 
must  be  the  deep  shade  of  the  centre  of  the 
fruit.  It  is  the  general  impression  that  the 
coloring  matter  can  only  be  derived  through 
the  agency  of  light.  These  young  orange 
plants  were  just  as  green  and  fresh  as  if  they 
had  been  growing  in  the  full  sunlight.  Simi- 
lar facts  have  been  recorded  before.  Some 
two  years  since  a  paper  was  read  before  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  sometimes  the  cotyledons  of  Celas- 
trus  scandens  were  perfectly  green  in  the 
seed,  but  no  one  ventured  any  explana- 
tion. In  addition  to  these  points,  there  is 
yet  another.  As  seen  in  the  sketch  made, 
the  plant  is  growing  inside  the  fruit  vertically, 
just  as  it  would  do  if  growing  in  the  ground  ; 
the  fruit  of  course  is  pendant  from  the  branch 
— the  stem  end  therefore  being  uppermost. 
The  plant  is  growing  in  that  direction,  and 
Prof.  Phelps  says  they  always  grow  so. 
Prof.  Hill  called  attention  in  "  Meehans' 
Monthly  "  not  long  since  to  the  fact  that  even 
in  the  total  darkness  of  a  botanical  box 
specimens  would  curve  upwardly,  confirming 


similar  points  that  had  already  been  made  in 
the  magazine.  It  is  evident  that  the  law 
which  imposes  on  plants  the  necessity  of 
growing  erect  and  also  for  obtaining  green 
coloring  matter,  yet  needs  more  elaboration. 

Natural  Variation  In  Ferns.— Mr.  P.  H. 
Oberwetter,  Austin,  Texas,  says  : 

"  In  the  January  number  of  MeEHANS' 
Monthly  there  is  an  inquiry  of  Mons.  H.  de 
Varigny,  of  Paris,  whether  there  is  natural 
variation  of  ferns  in  America.  One  instance 
has  come  under  the  observation  of  the  writer. 

In  May,  1S86,  the  writer  of  this  had  a  chance 
to  botanize  in  the  Granite  Mountains  of  Bur- 
net County,  sixty  miles  above  Austin,  Texas. 
In  the  clefts  of  the  rocks  I  found  what  was  to 
me  a  new  fern  !  It  had  the  pinnse  arranged  in 
whorls  around  the  stipe. 

Sending  a  specimen  to  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  he 
said  it  was  only  a  variety  of  Pellcea  atropurpu- 
^(?a, which  is  simply  pinnate,  though  otherwise 
the  two  resembled  each  other  very  much. 

This  is  the  only  instance  that  came  under 
my  observation." 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Botanical  Section 
of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences, Mr.  Crawford  exhibited  a  series  of  forms 
of  Asplcnium  montamim,  recently  gathered 
from  a  newly  discovered  station — York  Fur- 
nace, on  the  Susquehanna  in  Southern  Penn- 
sylvania— varying  from  very  finely  dissected 
fionds  to  fronds  with  all  the  segments  very 
broad,  and  varying  in  other  respects. 


The  Grasses  op  Pennsylvania.  —  The 
grasses  of  Pennsylvania  number  150  species 
and  10  strong  varieties.  These  have  been 
prepared  for  the  World's  Fair,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  State  Board  of  Managers,  by 
Prof.  T.  C.  Porter.  It  was  hoped  long  ago 
that  a  complete  flora  of  Pennsylvania,  by 
Prof.  Porter,  would  be  one  of  Pennsylvania's 
great  works,  but  it  seems  destined  not  to  be. 

f35) 


36 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[March 


Rhododendron  maximum,  L. — Mr.  David 
Day  kindly  furnishes  additional  notes  on  the 
western  range  of  Rhododendron  maximnm  : — 

"  As  long  ago  as  1S67  or  8,  I  found  Rhodo- 
dendron maximum,  L,  growing  in  consider- 
able abundance  at  Hamburgh,  (then  White's 
Corners),  Erie  county,  at  the  distance  of  about 
ten  miles  directly  south  of  the  city  of  Buffalo. 
The  fact  was  reported  to  Mr.  Peck,  the  botanist 
of  the  state,  and  was  by  him  announced  in  the 
220  Annual  Report  of  the  Regents,  at  page 
103,  1869.  Subsequently  I  met  the  plant  at 
Machias,  in  Cattaraugus  Co.,  growing  at  the 
edge  of  a  sphagnous  swamp,  near  Lime  lake. 
This  was  at  the  distance  of  about  40  miles 
south-easterly  from  Buffalo.  Later  still,  I  dis- 
covered a  third  station  of  the  plant,  at  Clear 
Creek,  Chautauqua  Co.,  at  the  distance  of 
about  38  miles  from  Buffalo.  This  locality  is 
the  most  westerly  of  the  three.  All  these 
stations  are  given  in  my  "  Plants  of  Buffalo 
and  Vicinity,"  1883.  The  plant  was  also 
announced  by  Prof  E.  S.  Burgess  in  his 
"Chautauqua  Flora,"  (1877),  as  occurring  at 
"Stockton,  towards  Jamestown,"  in  that 
county.  I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  still 
farther  west  in  Chautauqua  Co.,  and  in  War- 
ren and  Crawford  Counties,  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  plant  will  be  found,  if  searched  for  in  such 
situations  as  it  affects.  I  should  not  expect 
to  meet  it  in  Ohio.  But  it  occurs,  according 
to  Gray  and  Chapman,  in  the  mountains  of 
Georgia,  which  places  it  at  least  400  miles 
west  of  the  meridian  of  Rochester,  and  makes 
its  appearance  likely  in  eastern  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee. ' ' 

Dressing  for  L.'^wns. — Mr.  George  Wool- 
son,  who  has  paid  special  attention  to  the 
making  of  lawns,  states  that  nitrate  of  soda,  at 
the  rate  of  200  to  400  pounds  to  the  acre,  is 
one  of  the  best  possible  fertilizers  for  lawns. 
The  great  advantage  of  fertilizers  of  this  kind 
over  ordinary  manure  is  that  it  is  entirely  free 
from  weeds  and  gives  off  no  offensive  odor. 
This  ought  to  be  a  good  point  with  those  who 
have  the  charge  of  parks  and  city  gardens. 
Trees  and  grass  suffer  more  in  these  situations 
from  the  want  of  food  than  city  gardeners  have 
the  slightest  idea  of ;  and  the  great  objection 
to  applying  ordinary  manure  has  generally 
been  the  offensive  odors  which  make  them  a 
nuisance  to  surrounding  property  owners  and 


passers  by.  He  also  recommends  that  the 
grass  should  not  be  cut  at  all  the  first  year. 
This  is  all  in  the  line  of  the  teachings  of 
Meehans'  Monthly,  that  very  early  pruning 
tends  to  weaken  plants  ;  and  what  is  true  of 
shrubbery  is  true  of  grass  also.  No  plant 
should  be  trimmed  or  pruned  the  first  }'ear. 

Beautiful  Pacific  Flowers. —  Mr.  G.  W. 
Hammond,  in  a  recent  enumeration  of  beauti- 
ful Oregon  flowers  gives  great  praise  to  the 
Cynoglossom  grande.  The  medium  sized  flowers- 
are  in  panicles  and  of  a  "Phlox  purple," 
and  finally  become  a  Campanula  blue  ;  both 
colors  are  often  side  by  side  and  produce  the 
effect  of  watered  silks.  Others  which  come  in 
for  praise  are  Dodecatheon  Hendersoni ,  Delphi- 
?iiiim  Menziesii,  Aquikgia  Jormosa  —  ' '  often 
called  Honeysuckle,"  and  several  Valerianellas 
and  Collinsias,  Phlox  adsiitgens,  "no  wild 
flower  more"  delightfully  pretty,  and  Sileiie 
Hookeri,  which  is  of  a  deeper  shade  than  the 
Phlox  and  in  this  respect  more  attractive. 
The  "cat's  ear" — Caloclwiius  Tolmci — gets  a 
share  of  good  praise,  and  two  composites. 
Madia  elegans,  and  Hemizonia  Iruncala,  are 
great  aids  in  Oregon  wild  flower  beauty.  The 
native  Sweet  Vea.,  Lalhynis  Nez'adensis,  "liot 
so  conspicuous  as  the  Gaillardia,"  "is  not 
surpassed  by  many  in  its  delicate  shades  of 
purple  and  blue."  Various  Irises  cut  "con- 
spicuous figures,"  and  Dog-tooth  Violets  in  a 
variety  of  colors,  with  the  "Chequer  lilies" 
(Fritillaria),  are  large  and  handsome.  The 
statement  is  made,  of  which  the  writer  of  this 
paragraph  was  before  ignorant,  that  the  flowers 
of /^  pudica  are  deliciously  fragrant. 

Encouragement  of  the  Love  of  Flowers. 
— In  a  recent  paragraph,  notice  was  made  of 
the  beautiful  exhibition  of  wild  flowers  made 
at  the  Hartford  Co.  Horticultural  Society  by 
Mrs.  Seliger.  The  note  was  made  up  from  a 
report  in  a  Hartford  paper,  which  stated  that 
the  lady  received  a  premium  therefor  ;  instead 
of  premium  it  should  have  been  praise,  as 
she  exhibited  not  in  competition,  but  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  children.  It  appears 
that  premiums  are  offered  for  these  flowers  to 
children  under  fifteen  years  of  age  ;  but  the 
lady's  beautiful  collection,  accurately  named, 
was  more  to  aid  these  children  than  for  any 
special  reward  to  herself. 


i893] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY— WILD    FLOWERS   AND   NATURE. 


37 


PiCEA  Breweriana. — California  Weeping 
Spruce,  as  it  has  been  named,  is  a  compar- 
atively new  species,  and  represented  as  being 
very  beautiful ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  rarest, — pos- 
sibly in  the  three  localities  where  it  has  been 
found  are  there  not  more  than  a  hundred  trees 
all  told.  Every  effort  to  get  seed  has  hitherto 
failed,  and  Messrs.  Thorburn  &  Co.,  who  now 
offer  a  small  lot,  have  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  to  give  cultivators  the  chance  to  try  it. 

Elongation  OF  Tree  Trunks. — Mr.  Edwin 
Jellett,  Philadelphia,  says: 

"In  reading3'our  editorial  upon  the  "  Length- 
ening of  Tree  Trunks,"  in  the  December  num- 
ber of  Meehans  '  Monthly,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  you  had  opened,  or  rather  had  re-opened, 
a  good  subject  for  discussion  and  investigation. 
While  I  have  not  the  inclination  to  doubt,  nor 
the  ability  to  question  your  conclusion,  still 
the  decision,  as  announced,  does  not  satisfy 
me  theoretically.  It  would  seem  to  me  that  if 
there  had  not  been  a  vertical  elongation  in  the 
timber,  the  first  branch  from  the  surface  would 
be  nearer  the  earth,  or  the  line  of  measure- 
ment, at  the  end  of  a  greater  number  of  years, 
than  at  the  end  of  a  less  number  of  years,  by  rea- 
son of  the  increase  in  the  diameter  of  the  hori- 
zontal growth.  If  the  distance  from  the  first 
branch  to  the  line  of  measurement  be  the  same, 
the  line  of  the  horizontal  axis  must  conse- 
C[uently  be  higher,  thus  : — 


TtRMINgi  END 


Say  at  the  end 
of  5  years. 


Say  at  the  end 
of  lo  years. 


My  theory  is  that  there  is  not  an  actual 
^growth  in  mature  wood,  but  that  there  is  an 
elongation  by  compression,  and  that  the  ex- 
tent of  the  compression,  and  consequent  elon- 
gation, is  in  direct  ratio  inversely,  to  the 
square  of  the  diameter  of  the  trunk,  which 
theoretically  may  be  indicated  thus  ; — 


Wood  spongy  and  yielding 
freely;vertical  development 
marked- 


Wood  harder  and  less  yield- 
ing; vertical  development 
less  marked. 


Wood  hard  and  yielding  reluct- 
antly; vertical  development  im- 
perceptible. 


Dotted  lines  indicate  ratio  ol  elon- 
gation. 


I  have  not  the  opportunity  for  investigation 
and  observation  to  confirm  this  theory.  I 
merely  offer  it  with  the  hope  that  it  may  prove 
of  interest." 

To  which  may  be  added  that  of  course  a 
horizontal  branch  will  have  its  exterior  surface 
nearer  the  ground  just  in  proportion  to  its 
annual  increase  in  thickness,  but  the  centre  of 
the  branch  must  be  understood  when  taken  in 
reference  to  the  elongation  of  the  main  trunk. 
This  centre  is  always  at  the  same  distance  from 
the  ground,  provided  the  branch  is  perfectly 
horizontal,  as  in  pines  and  spruces  referred  to. 


Evolution  of  the  Leaves  of  the  Cin- 
QUEFoiL  or  Common  Fivefinger. — The 
following  from  the  pen  and  pencil  of  Mrs. 
W.  A.  Kellerman,  will  have  great  iuterest 
to  students  of  plant  life  •. — 

"Almost  any  plant  we  take  up  becomes 
more  and  more  interesting  to  us  as  its  life 
history  unfolds  in  response  to  our  question- 
ing observation  and  continued  study  of  it. 
For  several  years  past,  I  have  been  very 
much  interested  in  our  common  Cinquefoil 
or  Fivefinger  {Potefitilla  Ca?iadensis). 

This  rather  dainty,  trailing  little  vine  has 
bright  green  leaves,  resembling  those  of  the 
strawberry. 

Although  this  species  of  Potentilla  is  called 
"Fivefinger,"  because  of  the  fancied  resem- 
blance of  its  leaflets  to  the  digits  of  the  hand, 
there  is  considerable  variation  from  this  five- 
leaved  form,  in  every  vine  we  may  examine. 

At  the  extremity  of  the  vine  small,  three- 
lobed,  leaf  like  appendages  are  seen,  as  shown 


38 


MEEHAJSrs'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[March 


in  the  accompanying  illustration.  These  occur 
with  little  regularity,  here  and  there,  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  vine.  Following  back 
from  the  extremity  we  find  a  single  leaf,  bear- 
ing two  small  stipules,  instead  of  the  five 
leaflets. 

Now,  it  is  right  here  that  the  question  of 
evolution,  which  has  been  puzzling  me,  arises. 
Although  according  to  orthodox  botany,  the 
stipules  of  leaves  are  considered  to  be  an  out- 
growth from  the  base  of  the  leaf  or  petiole,  it 
seems  to  me,  in  this  case,  that  this  single  leaf, 
with  its  stipules  is  an  evolution  from  the  three- 
lobed  appendage  or  bract.  It  seems  clear  that 
the  middle  lobe  has  been  pushed  forward,  and 


CINQUEFOIL.    POTENTILLA  CANADENSIS 

developed  into  the  leaf,  while  the  lateral  lobes 
have  become  more  or  less  aborted  and  are  the 
stipules  of  the  present  leaves.  This  lobe  or 
bract  occurs  just  as  leaves  would  occur,  and 
is  sometimes  developed  into  what  we  might 
term  an  ancestral  form,  such  a  one  is  figured 
at  I  in  our  illustration.  At  3  we  have  a  more 
highly  developed  leaf,  the  margin  is  typical  of 
our  normal  leaves,  but  the  lateral  lobes  (?)  are 
still  larger  than  the  ordinary  stipules.  Did 
not  this  single  leaf  then,  give  rise  to  the  tre- 


foHate  form,  by  the  process  known  as  leaf 
branching,  so  commonly  seen  in  the  black- 
berry {Rubus  villosus)  ? 

The  transition  stages  which  occur  frequently 
appear  to  affirm  this  interpretation  of  the  evo- 
lution of  the  leaves.  At  2,  4  and  5  transition 
forms  are  represented  illustrating  the  evolution 
from  three  to  four,  and  from  four  to  five  leaf- 
lets. 

In  these  "ancestral  "  or  single  leaves,  there 
is  no  petiole  present,  the  leaf  being  sessile  ;  it 
has  not  j-et  outgrown  the  hereditary  influence 
of  the  primitive  type,  viz.:  the  three-lobed 
bract,  which  is  still  far  less  developed,  having 
no  differentiated  petiole,  but  being  attached  to- 
the  stem  by  the  contracted  base  of  blade. 

We  sometimes  hear  people  talk  of  "ances- 
tral forms,"  and  "  present  types,"  as  if  there 
were  but  two  variations,  as  if  plants  (like 
everything  else)  were  not  constantly  changing, 
in  harmony  with  changing  conditions.  But  a 
form  beyond  the  cinquefoil  or  fivefinger  is  rep- 
resented at  6  and  7,  where  we  have  six  and 
seven  leaflets.  I  have  thus  far  never  found 
these  "  progressive  "  leaves  on  the  vine,  but 
always  as  radical  leaves.  I  have  found  a  num- 
ber of  them,  and  here,  too,  the  transition 
stages  occur.  The  simple,  naturally  precedes 
the  complex.  Such  is  recognized  as  the  fun- 
damental law  of  evolution,  and  the  leaves  of 
the  cinquefoil  seem  but  another  illustration  of 
this  law." 

It  is  but  fair  to  the  reader  to  say  that  the 
changes  noted  in  the  suggestive  remarks  of 
Mrs.  Kellerman,  can  scarcely  be  due  to  chang- 
ing conditions  of  environment  or  outward  in- 
fluences. Are  they  not  more  likely  to  flow 
from  varying  powers  of  life  energy  within  the 
plant  itself? 

Range  of  Rhododendron  maximum. — Mr. 
Calvin  C.  Laney,  of  the  Rochester  Park  Com- 
mission, says : — 

"  In  your  issue  of  January,  1893,  you  say  in 
regard  to  Rhododendron  maximum,  "that 
Rochester  station  is  possibly  the  most  western 
one."  Mr.  Wm.  McMillan,  superintendent  of 
the  Buffalo  Parks,  has  informed  me  that  he 
has  found  Rhododendron  maximum  in  a  swamp 
a  few  miles  from  Buffalo.  It  has  also  been 
found  in  Chautauqua  County;  Taly  Hill, 
Gates  County  and  in  Danby,  Tompkins 
County," 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


THE  ORANGE  TREE. 

"  Just  then,  beneath  some  orange  trees, 
Whose  fruit  and  blossoms  in  the  breeze 
Were  wantoning  together,  free. 
Like  age  at  play  with  infancy." 

— Moore. 


Frozen  Plants. —  The  exact  manner  in 
whichfrostactstotheinjury  of  vegetation  is  not 
yet  well  understood.  It  is  known  that  injury 
is  always  more  pronounced  in  light  than  in 
darkness.  Roots  of  trees  exposed  to  frost  in 
the  day  time  usually  rot,  while  if  they  are 
frozen  and  thawed  in  the  darkness  they  seldom 
suffer.  Nurserymen  understand  this  better 
than  the  amateur.  Boxed  plants,  usually 
hardy,  may  have  their  roots  frozen,  and  yet, 
if  thawed  in  a  dark  cellar,  or  suffered  to  re- 
main in  cases  until  thawed,  are  seldom  injured. 
In  small  conservatories  or  frames,  when  by 
accident  the  plants  in  them  get  frozen,  should 
be  darkened  and  the  frozen  plants  allowed  to 
thaw  in  that  way,  and  the  injury  is  much  less, 
if  any  at  all,  than  when  thawed  by  the  sun- 
light. Again,  with  half-hardy  evergreens, 
which  are  supposed  to  be  somewhat  tender. 
These  suffer  little  under  low  temperature  in 
January,  when  in  February  they  would  be  ut- 
terly killed  under  the  same  circumstances,  and 
this  is  attributed  to  the  much  brighter  light 
prevailing  in  that  month  than  in  the  former 
one.  The  general  impression  is  that  evapora- 
tion is  much  greater  under  bright  light  than 
in  darkness,  and  it  is  rather  the  heavy  loss  of 
liquid  under  low  temperature  which  destroys, 
than  the  expansion  and  disruption  of  the  tis- 
sues by  frost.  Indeed,  there  are  some  who 
contend  that  as  long  as  the  plant  retains  a  hold 
on  life  the  sap  does  not  freeze,  and  if  any  ice 
is  found  in  the  tissue  of  plants,  that  portion  of 
the  tissue  is  practically  dead.  Ice  is  sometimes 
found  in  the  centre  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  and 
during  its  formation  will  expand  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  split  the  trunk,  but,  of  course,  the 
interior  of  such  trees  is  composed  practically 
of  dead  material. 


Gardens  of  Nathaniel  T.  Kidder,  Mil- 
ton, Mass. — According  to  the  proceedings  of 
the  Mass.  Horticultural  Society,  one  of  the 
best  arranged  conservatories  near  Boston  is 
owned  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  T.  Kidder.  It  is  a 
lean-to  ;  but  is  filled  with  extremely  beautiful 
plants,  which  are  selected  chiefly  with  the 
view  of  having  'interesting  blooming  flowers 
in  winter  time,  of  a  character  which  could  not 
be  obtained  at  the  florists.  Among  specimens 
of  remarkable  beauty,  which  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  committee  of  the  Mass.  Society, 
were  fine  Acacias,  of  which  the  Acacicr 
pubescens  is  especially  mentioned.  What  is  of 
especial  interest  is  the  fact  that  the  beautiful 
heaths  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  Australia, 
which  are  rarely  seen  in  collections  in  this 
country,  on  account,  it  is  said,  of  the  dryness 
of  our  summer  climate,  are  here  represented 
by  excellent  specimens  of  several  species. 
Another  remarkably  pretty  plant,  Chorozcma 
cordata,  from  New  Holland,  which  has  pea- 
shaped  flowers  of  orange  and  purple  color, 
and,  though  seldom  seen,  is  not  at  all  diSicult 
to  grow,  is  represented  here  by  a  splendid 
specimen.  Notwithstanding  the  number  of 
our  Australian  and  Cape  plants,  of  which  this 
beautiful  collection  is  chiefly  composed,  more 
popular  plants  of  a  temporary  character,  such 
as  squills,  stocks,  primroses,  cyclamens  and 
daphnes  help  to  give  an  additional  interest  to 
the  choice  collection.  The  camellia,  which  has 
nearly  gone  out  of  cultivation  since  florists 
abandoned  it  for  roses  and  carnations,  is  still- 
in  favor  in  this  beautiful  conservatory. 


Oranges  and  Lemons. — Notwithstanding- 
all  the  active  competition  of  Florida  and  Cali- 
fornia, Europe  manages  to  ship  profitably, 
enormous  quantities  of  oranges  and  lemon* 
to  America.  Philadelphia  is  one  of  the  great 
centres  of  this  trade,  and  the  arrivals  are 
generally  distributed  by  auction.  On  one  day 
in  February  7,796  boxes  from  Palermo  brought 
about  $2.30  per  box  for  best  samples,  and  4,432 
boxes  of  lemons  at  $3.70  for  the  highest  price. 

(39> 


40 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[March 


The  History  of  the  Canna. — Our  excel- 
lent French  contemporary,  the  Lyon-Horlicole, 
gives  a  history  of  the  Canna,    from   which   it 
appears  that  the  first  species  known  was  the 
one  discovered  by  the  famous  John  Bartram  in 
South  Carolina,  in  1811,  which  was  named  by 
Philip  Miller,   Canna  flaccida.     Between  18 17 
and  1820  a  large  number  of  species  were  intro- 
duced, and  a  still  greater  number  between  1820 
and  1830.      It  was  not,   however,    until   1850, 
■when    the   dark-leaved   canna,     Warszewiczii, 
was  introduced  that  hybridization  commenced. 
Since  that  time  every  year  produces  some  beau- 
tiful forms  that  have  been   raised  by  hybridi- 
sation,  or  through  cross  fertilization   by  the 
florists.     It  is  hard   now  to  tell   one   species 
from  another,  as  they  have  been  mixed  up  so 
considerablj'.     The  magazine  from  which   we 
have  condensed  these  facts  gives  the  credit  of 
the  first  attempt   at  hybridization  to  a  diplo- 
matic agent  of  the  French  government,  named 
Annee.      This  hybrid  was  obtained   in    1S47, 
and  was  called   Canna  Annei.     It  was   raised 
between  Canna   indica  and   Canna   nepalensis. 
After   this  gentleman  came  Jean   Sisley,     re- 
cently deceased,  and  a  number  of  others.     In 
America,  however,  as  recently  stated  in   Mee- 
hans'  Monthly,  there  have  been  a  number  of 
successful  improvers.     The  plants  thrive  bet- 
ter in  our  country  than  in   the  old   world   and 
give  quite  a  tropical  appearance  to  our  sum- 
mer gardening  and  this  of  itself  gives  encour- 
agement to  our  own  improvers. 

HoLLYBERRiES. — Does  anyone  know  of  a 
solitary  holly  tree,  a  long  way  from  any  other 
holly  treee  that  ever  bore  a  berry  ?  The  writer 
never  has  seen  one.  Knowing  its  proclivity  to 
have  purely  sterile  flowers,  he  once  placed  three 
in  a  group,  but  they  all  proved  sterile.  Still 
it  is  a  joy  as  it  is.  The  group  makes  a  mass 
about  fifteen  feet  high  and  twelve  feet  wide, 
and  early  in  June,  with  its  young  leaves  and 
myriads  of  greenish  white  flowers,  is  far  hand- 
somer than  many  shrubs,  though  no  bright 
red  berries  follow.  Berry-bearing  trees  have 
been  selected  from  the  nursery  rows  for  lawn 
planting,  never,  however,  to  bear  a  terry  after. 
The  holly  is  one  of  the  easiest  trees  to  trans- 
plant, if  very  severely  pruned  at  the  time,  but 
they  rarely  live  without  this  treatment.  As 
a  general  rule  we  believe  both  the  American 
and  English  holly  to  be  dioecious. 


Osage  Orange  Hedges. — Nothing  shows 
more  the  advantage  of  scientific   knowledge, 
practically  applied,  than  in  the  treatment  of  an 
Osage   Orange  hedge.     It  is   particularly  de- 
sired that  the  Osage  Orange  plant  should  grow 
very  strong  for  a  few  years,  and  then  compara- 
tively weak    after  the   hedge   is    formed — yet 
Osage  Orange   hedges,  as  we  see  them,  grow 
comparatively  slow  for  several  years,  and  only 
form     a    vigorous     growth     when    somewhat 
neglected.     The  reason  for  this  is  that  no  plant 
can    grow   strong   without   an    abundance    of 
leaves.     The  first  two  or  three  years  of  the 
plant's  life  it  should  have  all  the  leaves  that  it 
can  get.     By  the  time  the  roots  get  strong  the 
plants  will  then  be  able  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves.    For  this   reason  we  would  not  cut  an 
Osage  Orange  hedge  until  three  years  after  it 
was  planted.     It  should  be  allowed  to  grow  in 
its  own  way  and  vigorously  as  it  had  a  mind 
to.     Then  it  should   be  sawed  or  cut  with  an 
ax  close  to  the  ground  and  suffered  to  sprout. 
After   such     treatment,    the   sprouts,     if    un- 
touched, would  be  7  or  8  feet  in  height,  more 
or    less,     according    to    the    richness   of    the 
ground  ;  but  the  following  summer  after  this 
cutting  down,  the  pruning  should  commence. 
It  might  be  cut  at  midsummer  to  the  shape  we 
want,  and  we  have,  as  if  by  magic,  a  complete 
hedge  in  one  season.     The  continual  cutting 
away  of  young  plants  weakens  them,  and  it 
takes  a  long  time,  if  ever,  for  a  plant  trimmed 
often  in  infancy  to  make  a  strong  protective 
hedge. 


Longevity  of  Trees. —  In  the  Eastern 
States,  trees  do  not  live  over  300  years  at 
most,  even  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stances— the  climatic  conditions  being  un- 
favorable to  longevity.  In  the  old  world, 
however,  and  especially  in  England,  most 
trees  live  to  a  great  age.  The  Yew  and  the 
English  Oak  are  familiar  examples — a  thou- 
sand years  seem  to  be  nothing  to  these 
trees.  The  "Gardeners'  Chronicle"  states 
that  the  sweet,  or  as  we  call  it,  the  Spanish 
chestnut,  also  lives  long  ;  and  it  gives  a  sketch 
of  one,  which  was  quite  a  large  tree,  in  the 
reign  of  King  Stephen,  that  is  to  say,  1135. 
We  doubt  whether  any  specimen  of  the 
Spanish  chestnut  would  remain  particularly 
healthy  long  over  100  years  in  our  climate. 


t893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


41 


The  Henna  Plant. — Under  the  name  of 
Mignonette  tree,  Lawsonia  alba,  has  long 
been  cultivated  and  esteemed  for  its  delicious 
fragrance,  in  the  Southern  United  States.  It 
is  about  as  hardy  as  the  crape  myrtle  and  will 
succeed  where  that  will.  Mr.  H.  C.  Mitten,  of 
Rija  Park,  Cassipore,  East  India,  gives  the 
readers  of  Meehans'  Monthly  the  following 
interesting  sketch  of  it  as  it  appears  in  that 
far  away  corner  of  the  Magazine's  domain  : — 

Name,  Lawsonia  alba.,  Lat. ;  Mendika,  Saka. 
CItara,  Sans.;  Hinna,  Arab. 

Habitat. — A  small,  handsome  and  sweetly 
scented  bush  first  grown  on  the  borders  of 
Persia,  and  then  its  use  and  cultivation  prob- 
ably spread  from 
that  region  west 
into  Africa  and 
eastward  to  the 
several  provinces 
of  India,  such  as 
the  Punjab  Sind, 
the  Northwestern 
Provinces,  Madras, 
Bombay  and  Ben- 
gal .  Flower  smal  1 , 
pale,  greenish  and 
fragrant. 

Uses  and  appli- 
cations.— The  use 
of  the  dye  prepared 
fro  m  its  lea  ves 
pounded  with  cate- 
chu or  lime,  as  a 
cosmetic  is  evident- 
ly of  Mahommedan 
origin,  being  chief- 
ly used  by  the  women  of  that  race  for  stain- 
ing the  hands,  fingers,  nails,  and  feet.  The 
simple  decoction  of  the  leaves  also  is  frequent- 
ly used  in  dyeing  cloth  and  handkerchiefs  ; 
color  produced  is  a  shade  of  yellowish  or 
redish  brown  or  red.  The  second  use  is  a 
paste  prepared  with  water  from  the  powders 
of  Lawsonia  alba  and  Tndigofera  Anil,  each 
two  parts,  and  of  dried  myrtle  leaves  and 
emblie  myrobolans,  each  one  part,  for  dyeing 
the  hair. 

Properties. — Embalming,  medicinal  or  chem- 
ical. The  seeds  yield  an  oil,  and  the  flowers  a 
fragrant  otto  or  attar.  The  leaves  possess  the 
property  of  curing  ulcers  of  all  kinds,    and  a 


gonorrhoea  and  cases  of  burns,  scalds,  etc., 
The  bark  is  given  in  jaundice,  enlargement  of 
the  spleen,  also  in  calculous  affections,  and  an 
alterative  in  leprosy  and  obstinate  skin  dis- 
eases. An  infusion  of  the  flowers  cures  head- 
ache. The  only  chemical  substance  in  the 
leaves  is  gallic  acid.  They  also  possess  the 
properties  of  tannin. 

This  elegant  shrub  is  grown  in  gardens  as 
a  hedge.  The  value  of  the  leaves  averages  a 
rupee  for  twelve  seers. 


GREEN -LEAVED  SEEDLI  NGS  I IMSI  DE  A  CITRUS  FRUIT.- sec  p    3s 


Artificial  Aid  in  Landscape  Gardening. 
— A  lady  correspondent  from  Cheltenham, 
Pa. ,  in  reference  to  a  recent  note  says  : — 

"In  the  article  on 
'A  Seaside  Walk' 
in  the  January 
number  of  the 
Monthly,  I  read, 
' '  Vases  and  Statu- 
ary *  *  *  it  is 
only  in  rare  instan- 
ces that  the  art  of 
a  landscape  garden- 
er can  so  combine 
*  *  *  "  May 
I  recall  to  your  re- 
collection the  truly 
beautiful  landscape 
gardening  of  Mr. 
Downing,  at  '  Med- 
ary  '  —  where  the 
vases  on  the  terrace 
and  on  the  lawn  at 
the  foot  of  the  ter- 
race are  as  prettily 
placed,  (as  I  am  sure  you  will  agree  with  me), 
as  in  any  small  bit  of  landscape  in  this 
country  or  even  England. 

Mr.  Sergeant,  of  Wodenethe,  used  to  say 
there  were  few  prettier  bits  of  lawn  to  be 
found  in  this  part  of  the  world.  My  love  for 
Medary  prompts  me  to  send  you  these  gentle 
reminders." 

The  Monthly's  correspondent  has  good 
reason  for  loving  the  beautiful  effects  ol  the 
vase  and  balustrade  gardening  at  Medary. 
Besides  the  successful  instances  named,  there 
are  some  admirable  illustrations  on  the 
grounds  of  Mr.  H.  H.  Hunnewell,  at  Wellesley, 
near  Boston,  and  though  the  instances  are  rare, 


decoction  of  them  is  used  as  an  injection  for      others  might  be  named. 


42 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY^GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[March- 


2r^ 


Spir^a  prunifolia. — Among  the  beautiful 
flowering  shrubs  of  spring  that  are  now  gen- 
allj-  appreciated,  few  sustain  popularity  better 
than  the  Spima  pnttiifolia,  or  plum-leaved 
Spirfea.  The  flow- 
ers are  double,  and 
come  out  in  immense 
profusion  at  the  ends 
of  the  branches  in 
early  spring. 
Strange  to  say,  the 
original  single-flow- 
ered species,  which 
must  be  wild  some- 
where in  Japan,  has 
never  been  introduc- 
ed into  cultivation, 
and  all  botanists 
know  of  the  species 
is  from  this  double- 
flowered  garden 
form.  There  is  one 
attraction  to  the 
plant  which  is  not 
generally  observed, 
and  that  is  the  beau- 
tiful, rosy  red  color 
which  the  leaves  as- 
sume in  the  fall  of 
SPiR>EA  PRUNiFOLiA.        the      year.  This 

makes  it  as  much  desirable  for  ornamental 
purposes  as  the  profusion  of  handsome  white 
blossoms  in  the  spring.  Possibly  this  over- 
sight has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  so  many 
American  trees  take  on  a  beautiful  tint,  and 
no  effort  has  been  made  to  distinguish  one 
from  Ihe  other  in  gardening  ;  but  the  beauty 
of  the  leaves  of  this  plant  themselves,  in  con- 
nection with  the  brilliant  fall  color,  gives  an 
opportunity  to  place  the  plant  in  opposition 
against  evergreens,  for  instance,  or  other 
shrubs  or  trees  which  do  not  change  color, 
and  thus  bringing  out  by  contrast,  the  special 
beauty  which  the  plum-leaved  Spireea  in  this 
condition  presents. 

Hardy  Appi,es. — The  Vermont  U'atciiman, 
which  has  an  agricultural  department  of  high 
order,  makes  the  good  point  that  the  term 
"hardiness"  in  fruit  trees  may  be  variously 
understood.  A  plant  may  be  hardy  in  a  sense 
to  resist  the  vicissitudes  of  climate  ;  on  the 
other  hand,   a  fruit  tree,    or  any  other  plant 


may  be  liable  to  attacks  of  parasitic  fungi,  and 
in  that  way  easily  die  in  the  wintertime,  when 
a  variety  free  from  these  attacks  would  be 
hardy.  It  makes  these  suggestions  in  connec- 
tion with  the  hardy  varieties  of  apples,  and  it 
speaks  especially  of  three  kinds,  namely  :  the 
Alexander,  the  Astrachan  and  Oldenburgh, 
Russian  varieties,  which  have  been  found  not 
only  hardy  from  the  one  standpoint,  but  also 
from  the  other,  and  a  new  variety.  Yellow 
Transparent,  which  is  so  hardy  as  to  adapt 
itself  to  a  great  variety  of  contingences  and 
thus  to  be  found  to  do  well  over  the  whole 
continent.     These  distinctions  are  well  worth 

noting.  

A  New  Yucca,  Yucca  Hanbuiyi. — "The 
Gardeners'  Chronicle  "  gives  a  description  of 
a  new  Yucca  from  Colorado,  under  this  name, 
which  is  found  growing  in  company  with  the 
common  Yucca  of  that  region,  Yucca  angusti- 
folia.  The  description  reads  very  much  like 
one  which  has  long  been  known  here — having 
been  first  collected  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry.  Dr. 
Parry  thought  it  worthy  of  being  regarded  as 
a  new  species  ;  but  Dr.  Engelmann  contended 
that  those  who  were  familiar  with  Yucca  a?i- 
gustifolia  with  us,  were  acquainted  with  its 
tendency  to  vary  in  many  directions,  and  he 
hesitated  to  recommend  it  as  a  new  species. 
The  foliage  is  precisely  the  same  as  the  com- 
mon form  of  angustifolia — the  difference  being 
chiefly  confined  to  the  flower.  If  the  same  as 
we  suppose  it  to  be,  and  which  is  growing  in 
our  collection,  one  great  difference  is  that  the 
blossoms  open  during  the  day,  while  those  of 
the  normal  forms  of  angustifolia  are  noc- 
turnal. 

Grafting  the  Pecan  Nut. — It  does  not 
seem  to  be  known  that  all  the  different  species 
of  Hickory,  including  the  pecan,  which  is  one 
of  that  family,  can  be  very  readily  grafted  by 
taking  a  plant  one  or  two  years  old  and  graft- 
ing at  the  collar,  just  as  fruit  growers  do  with 
their  apples  and  pears  in  the  winter  time. 
Among  the  hickories,  shellbarks  and  pecans 
there  are  often  some  trees  with  larger  fruit 
than  others,  or  with  thinner  shells,  qualities 
ver3'  desirable  in  this  class  of  nuts  and  desirable 
to  preserve  them  and  increase  the  number  of 
trees  by  grafting  in  the  winter.  As  we  have 
described  it  is  easy  to  increase  them  in  any 
quantity. 


■893.] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


45 


DiERViLLA  — As  a  general  rule,  when  a  plant 
has  been  named  by  a  competent  botanist  and 
sent  out  into  the  horticultural  world,  where  it 
appears  under  such  a  name  in  hundreds 
of  catalogues,  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
change  it,  although  it  should  be  shown 
that  a  prior  name  given  by  another  bot- 
anist ought  to  have  been  used.  Thus 
Weigela  is  now  the  name  bj'  which  a 
popular  shrub  is  universally  knOvvn,  al- 
though it  is  said  that  Diei~'illa  is  its  prior  and 
therefore  proper  name.  In  England,  however, 
they  seem  to  have  succeeded  in  getting  the 
horticultural  world  to  adopt  the  change  and 
the  plant  is  now  much  more  frequently  called 
Dien'illa  than   Wcii;eln . 


Improvement  of  the  Carnation. — The 
winter  flowering  carnation,  though  vastly  im- 
proved during  recent  years,  has  not  reached 
the  size  that  the  old  summer  flowering  kinds 
produced.  An  old  newspaper,  printed  in  Nor- 
wich, England,  dated  June  29,  1S33,  records  a 
florist  of  that  city  had  them  blooming  four 
inches  across.  These  were  not  even  those  en- 
tire edged,  broad-petaled  ones,  which  they  es- 
pecially demonstrated  carnations,  but  the 
fringed-edged  dwarf,  those  cut-edged  ones, 
which  the}'  knew  as  pinks,  and  between  which 
two  classes  our  winter  blooming  carnations  are 
intermediate. 

Yucca  Aloifolia, — Mrs.  T.  H.  McC,  writ- 
ing from  Los  Angeles,  California,   remarks  : — 

"Noticing  j-our  inquiry  in  j-our  very  inter- 
esting magazine  as  to  how  old  a  '  Yucca  aloi- 
folia '  must  be  before  flowering,  that  one 
flowered  here  in  1886,  when  three  years  planted 
and  has  flowered  every  year  since.  It  was 
about  one  foot  high  when  planted  and  is  about 
eight  feet  now. ' ' 

Heating  Small  Greenhouses  and  Con- 
servatories.— It  is  easy  to  heat  large  green- 
houses, but  small  conservatories  attached  to 
dwellings  are  often  troublesome  to  manage  pro- 
perly in  this  respect.  The  ordinary  cellar 
heater  gives  out  too  dry  a  heat  and  sulphurous 
vapors  get  into  the  heat  flues,  and  which  are 
very  injurious  to  plants.  Mr.  Ingram  of  106 
North  Third  street,  Philadelphia,  claims  tohave 
combined  hot  water  with  an  ordinary  stove,  to 
be  placed  in  each  greenhouse,  which  is  entire- 
ly satisfactory. 


Fertilization  of  the  Fig. — As  recently 
noticed,  Californians  have  been  to  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  to  introduce  an  insect  from  the  old 
world,  which  is  supposed  to  be  an  agent  in  the 
fertilization  of  the  fig.  The  fig  it.self  will  come 
to  considerable  perfection  without  any  fertili- 
zation, as  is  well  known.  The  seeds,  however, 
being  without  any  germ  are  of  course  imper- 
fect. As  the  result  of  an  examination  by  the 
editor  of  this  magazine  years  ago,  he  was 
satisfied  that  the  fig  is  not  by  any  means  uni- 
sexual, but,  in  a  large  number  of  cases,  has 
both  forms  of  flovrers  inside  one  fig.  In  such 
cases  there  is  no  reason  why  one  individual  fig 
tree  might  not  produce  figs  with  perfect  seeds. 
It  is  now  stated  in  the  Califotnia  Fruit  Grower, 
that  a  committee  recentl}'  examined  some  fruit 
of  the  Smyrna,  at  Los  Gatos,  in  Santa  Clara 
County,  and  found  them  full  of  perfect  seeds, 
without  the  intervention  of  the  supposed  fig 
insect.  It  so  happened  that  the  last  letter  of 
the  eminent  botanist.  Dr.  Ravenel,  of  Aiken, 
S.  C,  to  the  writer  of  this  paragraph,  sent  just 
before  his  death,  so  strongly  combated  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  fig  coming  thus  to  perfection,  that 
the  editor  has  never  strongly  expressed  his  own 
views, — Dr.  Ravenel  having  been  so  very  acute 
an  observer  in  these  matters  ;  still  the  facts 
now  related  certainly  tend  to  show  that  the  fig 
is  by  no  means  the  unisexual  fruit  it  has  gen- 
erally been  supposed  to  be.  On  the  other  hand 
attempts  have  been  made  on  trees  belonging  to 
Mr.  Shinn,  at  Niles,  to  effectually  fertilize  by 
the  use  of  the  staminate  figs,  with  no  better 
results  than  on  trees  where  no  pollen  was  em- 
ployed. 

Parsley. — It  is  common  to  sow  parsley  in 
spring  in  theopen  ground  ;  but  some  amateurs 
state  that  thej'  get  better  success  by  sowing 
in  boxes  in  February,  and  then  setting  the 
plants  out  in  good  rich  earth  when  the  spring 
time  comes.  Of  course  the  plants  have  to  be 
well  watered  at  the  time  of  transplanting.  If 
not  sown  until  the  proper  time  for  open  air 
work  commences,  the  plants  do  not  get  large 
enough  to  be  of  any  service  until  late  in  the 
season.  The  general  impression  is  that  parsley 
does  not  transplant  well  ;  but  this  is  said  not 
to  be  the  case  by  those  who  have  given  it  care- 
ful treatment,  as  above  noted. 


44 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[March 


Tender  Asparagus.— The  annoying  feature 
of  some  asparagus,  in  many  cases,  is  the 
stringiness  of  the  lower  portion.  It  is  very 
aggravating,  as  to  many  people  the  lower  or 
white  portion  is  the  most  toothsome  of  the 
whole.  But  there  is  sometimes  asparagus 
which,  from  tip  to  toe,  throughout  its  whole 
length,  from  the  thick  base  to  the  green  or  pur- 
ple top,  is  as  tender  as  a  sprig  of  cauliflower, 
so  tender  that  it  will  almost  melt  in  one's 
mouth.  Few  know  how  this  is  done,  and  if 
the  readers  of  Meehans'  Monthly  will  keep 
the  secret  to  themselves,  it  shall  now  be  told 
to  them.  This  tender,  luscious  character  is 
imparted  to  the  thick  ends  by  bleaching,  just 
as  celery  is  bleached,  only  in  those  coun- 
tries where  special  attention  is  given  to  the 
production  of  good  asparagus,  it  is  done  in  a 
different  way.  The  plants  are  set  out  in  beds 
about  four  feet  wide  and  when  the  spring 
comes,  very  light  rich  earth  is  placed  some  six 
inches  deep  over  the  plants,  to  be  raked  off  into 
the  alleyways,  and  again  thrown  over  the 
plants  in  spring.  Much  the  same  results  can 
be  obtained  by  deep  planting,  provided  the  soil 
be  very  light,  and  this  saves  the  labor  and 
trouble  of  the  annual  labor  which  the  specialist 
in  asparagus  culture  gives  to  the  culture  of 
the  plant.  In  our  country  where  good  labor 
is  hard  to  get,  and  costs  much  when  found, 
the  deep  planting  will  be  best  for  obtaining 
nice,  tender  asparagus. 


The  Cos  Lettuce. — A  Florida  paper  notes 
that  the  Cos  lettuce  is  the  only  class  that  can 
be  grown  to  any  satisfaction  in  Florida— the 
round-headed  kinds  get  much  sand  in  them 
and  it  is  impossible  to  get  this  sand  out  with 
any  amount  of  washing  ;  but  the  Cos  lettuce, 
which  has  to  be  tied  up  in  order  to  blanch 
properly,  is  free  from  sand.  This  is  an  advan- 
tage that  we  have  never  heard  of  before,  in 
connection  with  this  class  of  lettuce. 


Cauliflower. — It  is  remarkable  how  slowly 
the  cauliflower  has  become  a  staple  American 
vegetable,  probably  because  it  is  not  quite  as 
hardy  as  the  rest  of  the  cabbage  tribe.  If  the 
plants  can  be  protected  somewhat  in  the  fall 
they  do  remarkably  well.  Dr.  Crozier,  who 
has  been  a  successful  market  grower  for  seven 
years,  has  recently  published  a  complete  work 
on  the  subject. 


Names  of  Fruits.— 77;^  Gazette,  of  Allegan, 
Mich.,  has  an  excellent  horticultural  column, 
in  which  appears  a  paper  by  Mr.  T.  T.  Lyon, 
on  the  necessity  of  having  some  authority  de- 
cide the  proper  names  which  fruits  shall  bear. 
He  thinks  that  the  best  way  to  settle  this  ques- 
tion would  be  for  the  horticultural  division  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington 
to  be  that  authority,  and  whatever  nomencla- 
ture is  decided  on  by  that  department  should 
be  the  one  adopted  by  fruit  growers.  This 
body  is  to  be  also  the  arbiter  upon  all 
questions  pertaining  to  the  identification  of 
varieties  and  the  determination  of  their  com- 
parative values.  It  is  not  clear  that  this 
tribunal  will  be  any  greater  than  the  authority 
of  the  American  Pomological  Society,  which 
was  established  expressly  to  decide  these  quest- 
ions ;  still  it  is  pleasant  to  find  that  the  best 
pomologists  are  awake  to  the  necessity  of  in 
some  way  or  another  crowding  out  the  enor- 
mous amount  of  trash  which  is  continually 
being  thrust  on  the  American  fruit  grower. 

Persimmons— A  correspondent  of  The  Florida 
Farmer,  writing  from  Japan,  has  some  merri- 
ment over  the  fact  that  Americans  wait  to  eat 
persimmons  until  they  have  been  partially 
decayed,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  their  bitterness. 
He  states  that  in  regard  to  the  persimmons  in 
Japan  it  has  been  found  that  their  bitterness 
resides  only  in  the  skin,  and  they  peel  their 
persimmons,  therefore,  and  these  fruits  are  as 
good  after  that,  when  just  taken  from  the  tree, 
as  if  they  were  to  wait,  as  in  America,  for  the 
fruit  to  blette. 

Peach  Growing  in  Kentucky. — Professor 
Cross,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  writes  en- 
couragingly to  MeehaNs'  Monthly,  of  peach 
culture  near  that  city.  There  have  been  five 
full  crops  in  six  years,  and  the  prospect  for 
the  coming  year  was  at  that  date,  January 
loth,  excellent  for  the  coming  season. 

Pepino. — Garden  and  Forest  identifies  the 
Solanttm  which  has  attracted  considerable  at- 
tention as  tree  tomato,  pepino,  and  has 
even  been  named  Solanum  Guatemalense,  as  a 
species  long  since  named  by  Alton,  S.  tnurica- 
tum.  Its  native  place  is  credited  by  Alton,  to 
Chili  and  Peru. 


'893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


45 


A  Large  Pear  Tree  in  Louisiana.— Col. 
M.  B.  Hillyard,  of  New  Orleans,  write.s  in 
reference  to  a  pear  tree  in  the  northern  part  of 
Louisiana,  which  was  a  very  large  tree,  and 
growing  where  it  now  stands  as  early  as  1845, 
and  is  now  six  feet  in  circumference  a  foot 
above  the  ground.  It  is  low  and  wide  spread- 
ing ;  the  head  having  a  diameter  of  limbs  es- 
timated at  32  feet  It  seems  to  be  about  20  feet 
high.  It  is  the  picture  of  health,  though  it 
has  never  had  any  artificial  fertilization  and 
the  ground  has  not  been  stirred  around  it  for 
probably  30  years.  From  the  description 
given  it  seems  closely  related,  although  not 
quite  the  same  apparently,  to  the  old  French 
Pear,  Brown  Buerre.  It  is  probably  some 
other  French  variety  brought  by  the  early 
French  settlers  of  Louisiana.  It  ripens  about 
November.  The  facts  indicate  that  Alabama 
and  northern  Louisiana  are  admirably  adapted 
to  pear  culture,  although  it  is  supposed  that 
neither  the  pear  nor  the  apple  are  well  adapted 
to  Southern  fruit  growing.  More  information 
in  regard  to  the  possibilities  of  these  localities 
would  be  very  desirable. 


Japan  P1.UM. — A  plum  has  been  introduced 
into  our  fruit  culture  that  is  really  a  desir- 
able addition  to  our  list  of  fruits.  But 
it  is  liable  to  be  confused  with  another  fruit 
grown  in  New  Orleans  and  the  South,  which 
is  known  as  Japan  plum,  though  really  of  the 
medlar  tribe.  This  has  been  known  as 
Mespilus  faponica,  though  other  botanists  call 
it  Etiobotiya  Japonica.  This  last  flowers  in  fall 
and  ripens  towards  January,  so  cannot  be  grown 
where  the  frost  descends  below  the  freezing 
point.  The  fruit  is  golden,  more  like  an  apri- 
cot than  a  plum. 


Early  Radishes  and  Lettuce. — Consider- 
ing how  easy  it  is  to  get  these  favorite  spring 
vegetables  early  by  the  use  of  glass  frames,  it 
is  rather  surprising  that  amateur  gardeners  do 
not  more  often  take  pains  to  have  these  luxu- 
ries. Frost  does  not  hurt  them  and  they  grow 
on  with  every  few  warm  days,  resting  only 
when  the  ground  is  frozen.  If  the  seeds  are. 
sown  thinly  under  a  common  hot-bed  sash,  they 
may  be  had  for  several  weeks  in  use  before 
they  could  be  obtained  from  the  open  air. 


Indian  Fruit  Orchard  Near  Geneva. — 
Mr.  Geo.  S.  Conover  contributes  the  following 
especially  interesting  note,  regarding  the 
Indian  fruit  orchard  before  referred  to ; — 

"  In  connection  with  the  paragraph  '  Indians 
as  Fruit  Growers  '  in  the  January  number  of 
the  Monthly,  the  following  may  be  of  interest. 
The  site  of  the  capital  village  of  the  Senecas, 
near  Geneva,  is  now  occupied  in  part  by  the 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station.  This  place  was  completely  destroyed 
by  the  army  of  General  Sullivan  in  September 
1779,  the  palisade  fortification  which  had  been 
built  by  Sir  Wm.  Johnson  to  protect  the 
Senecas  during  the  French  war  was  burned 
and  the  large  Apple  and  Peach  orchards 
girdled.  Sprouts  from  the  roots  however  soon 
sprang  up  and  in  1797,  only  18  years  later,  100 
bushels  of  peaches  were  sold  to  a  distillery,  and 
cider  to  the  amount  of  $1200  was  sold,  the 
product  of  these  orchards.  Sergeant  Moses 
Fellows,  of  Sullivan's  army,  records  in  his 
journal  under  the  date  of  Sept.  9,  1797,  as 
follows  : 

'  By  Reason  of  the  Heavy  Rain  last  night  we 
were  Not  able  to  move  this  Morning  till  12 
o'clock  for  Geneses  ;  what  Corn,  Beans,  peas, 
Squashes,  Potatoes,  Inions,  turnips,  Cabage, 
Cowcumbers,  watermillions,  Carrots,  pasnips 
&c  our  men  and  horses  Cattle  &c  could  not 
Eat  was  Distroyed  this  Morning  Before  we 
march  ;  ' — A  pretty  good  assortment  I  think 
for  that  place  in  those  days." 

Enemies  to  Fig  Culture. — In  all  our  hor- 
ticultural works  great  merit  has  been  claimed 
for  the  fig,  that  neither  fungus  disease,  nor 
any  insect's  ravages  seemed  to  distress  it.  It 
is  now  stated,  however,  that  a  small  beetle  is 
playing  great  havoc  with  the  fig  trees  about 
New  Orleans,  Its  method  of  procedure  is  to 
girdle  the  branches. 

Plum  Prince  of  Wales  —The  Canadian 
Hoiiiculturist  for  November,  1892,  gives  a 
beautiful  colored  plate  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
Plum,  introduced  from  the  old  world  by  Mr.  S. 
D.  Willard,  of  Geneva,  who  gives  it  much 
praise  as  doing  well  in  that  portion  of  New 
York.  It  is  a  round  plum,  reddish-purple, 
medium  in  size,  and  so  abundant  a  bearer,  that 
thirteen  plums  are  on  a  branch  less  than  twelve 
inches  long. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


ROTHA. 


While  I  sit  and  muse  as  the  shadows  deepen, 
Scenes  of  youth's  bright  morn  reappear  before  me, 
And  the  days  long  past,  in  their  dewy  freshness  ; 
Sweet  resurrection  ! 

Thro'  the  wide-spread  boughs  of  a  lofty  elm-tree, 
Where  their  pendent  nest  orioles  are  weaving. 
Sunbeams  glide  and  dance  on  the  running  brooklet. 
Spotted  with  foam-flakes. 

Silvery  minnows  sport  in  the  crystal  waters  ; 
Round  the  hawthorn-blooms  butterflies  are  flitting ; 
Humming  sounds  are  heard,  and  the  air  is  balmy, 
Laden  with  odors. 

Fairer  far  than  these,  in  her  virgin-beauty. 
Full  of  grace,  she  comes,  like  a  fawn  advancing. 
Light  of  footstep,  where  violets  and  bluets 
Broider  the  green  bank. 

Loose  her  tresses  fall  underneath  a  garland  ; 
Every  feature  tells  how  the  joyous  springtide 
All  her  soul  hath  filled  with  its  life  and  splendor  ; 
Darling  of  Nature ! 

Brief  her  sojourn  here  as  the  vernal  flowers'  ! — 
Angel-pinions  gleam  in  the  gate  of  Heaven. 
And  immortal  Love  to  her  bosom  gathers 
Rotha,  the  blue  eyed. 

— Professor  Thos.  C.  Porter. 


The  Name  Tabern^montana. — Regarding 
a  recent  inquiry  by  Mr.  Saunders,  Prof.  G.  J. 
Hill  says  : — 

"The  specific  name  of  Atnsonia  Tabemce- 
montana  comes  from  the  employment  of  a  gen- 
eric name  for  a  trivial  one.  It  is  derived  from 
Taberntemontanus,  a  botanist  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  who  died  in  1590.  In  1703  Plumier 
published  at  Paris  a  work  on  American  plants, 
and  dedicated  a  group  of  apocynaceous  plants 
to  the  botanist  who  had  lived  more  than  two 
hundred  years  before.  Jacobus  Theodorus  Ta- 
bernfemontanus,  stating  that  he  received  the 
last  name  from  the  place  of  his  birth,  Berg  Za- 
bern,  for  which  Tabernae  Montanse  is  given  as 
the  Latin  equivalent.  Linnaeus  adopted  this 
generic  name  when  he  published  "his  Genera 
Plantarum. "  The  plant  was  called  by  him  Ta- 
bemcemontana  Arnsonia.  In  1788,  Walter,  in 
the  Flora  Carolhiiana,  reversed  the  order  of  the 
two  words,  and  we  have  the  name  as  it  now 

(46) 


stands.  Arnsonia  is  at  present  limited  to  a 
small  genus  of  herbaceous  plants  of  North 
America  and  Eastern  Asia,  while  Tabemosmon- 
tana  comprises  a  much  larger  number  of  woody 
plants  of  the  tropical  parts  of  the  globe.  Plu- 
mier says  Taberncemontanus  was  an  industrious 
man,  especially  devoted  to  the  study  of  botany. 
He  published  two  works  on  botany,  one  in 
Latin,  the  other  in  German,  a  "  New  Book  of 
Blants,"  on  useful  plants.  To  write  in  the 
vernacular  on  scientific  subjects  was  very  un- 
usual for  the  time,  and  the  author  deserves  re- 
membrance for  it.  The  translation  of  the 
name,  Mountain  of  the  Tavern,  may  be  the  cor- 
rect one,  though  Plumier  gives  it  in  the  plural, 
which  would  be  Mountain  Taverns.  It  was 
evidently  in  some  such  sense  that  Plumier  took 
it,  for  Bergzabern  is  a  town  of  the  Palatinate, 
at  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Vosges  ]\Iountains. 
The  specific  name  of  the  plant  has,  as  in  many 
other  cases,  no  descriptive  value,  only  histori- 
cal or  philological.  The  desire  of  Mr.  Saunders 
to  know  the  meanings  of  plant  names  is  a  very 
commendable  one,  and  adds  much  to  one's 
knowledge  of  botany,  and  to  the  pleasure  de- 
rived from  the  study  of  its  nomenclature.  The 
vicissitudes  of  names  in  natural  history  is  very 
great,  owing  to  the  numerous  changes,  legiti- 
mate or  whimsical,  to  which  they  are  subject, 
but  those  who  take  delight  in  a  name  as  some- 
thing more  than  a  definite  arrangement  of  let- 
ters to  designate  an  object,  will  always  be  re- 
warded for  their  efforts." 

It  may  be  added  that  the  conductors  had  it 
in  mind  to  explain  the  substantive  character  of 
the  adjective  in  this  instance,  but  the  paragraph 
passed  before  it  was  done,  a  lapse  not  regret- 
ted now,  since  the  result  has  been  Mr.  Hill's 
instructive  paragraph.  It  may  be  further  noted 
that  it  is  customary  when  these  proper  or 
generic  names  are  employed  as  adjectives  or 
"  specific  "  terms,  to  continue  the  capital  ini- 
tial, and  hence  we  have  Arnsonia  Taberncernon- 
tana  and  not  A.  tabemcrmontaria. 

Mr.  Michael  Barker  kindly  sends  a  similar 
note  to  that  supplied  by  Mr.  Hill. 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHI^Y — BIOGRAPHY   AND   LITERATURE. 


47 


Dr.  Elliot  Coues.— Few  scientific  men  are 
better  known  by  reputation  than  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  ;  and  in  those  lines  of  natural  his- 
tory relating  to  rural  affairs,  which  it  is  the 
province  of  Meehans'  Monthly  to  cultivate, 
his  reputation  is  especially  wide.  In  the  de- 
partment of  ornithology  particularly,  he  stands 
pre-eminent.  Aside  from  his  devotion  to  natur- 
al history,  properly  so-called,  he  has  paid  very 
successful  attention  to  physical  science.  He 
was  born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  September 
the  9,  1842.  His  father  was  a  business  man  ; 
but  who  possessed  many  of  those  scientific  at- 
tributes for  which  his  son  has  since  become  so 
famous.  The  family  moved  to  Washington  in 
1853,  where  Dr.  Coues  has 
always  resided,  except  when 
serving  in  the  armj',  or  in 
scientific  explorations.  He 
graduated  from  what  is  now 
the  Columbian  University,  in 
1863.  Among  his  earliest 
labors  was  a  collection  of  the 
birds  of  Labrador  for  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  ;  but 
his  scientific  love  has  drawn 
him  from  the  extensive  prac- 
tice of  medicine  and  surgery. 
He  was  Secretary  and  Natu- 
ralist of  the  United  States 
Geographical  Survey  of  the 
Territories,  under  Dr.  Hay- 
den.  He  was  elected  in  1877 
a  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  of  Phila- 
delphia, being  probably  the 
youngest  man  who  ever  re- 
ceived that  honor.  He  resigned  finally  his 
position  in  the  army,  and  has  been  connected 
more  or  less  ever  since  closely  with  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  at  Washington.  The  num- 
ber of  scientific  institutions  which  have  honored 
Prof.  Coues  with  membership  is  phenomenal. 
One  might  say,  in  a  general  way,  that  there 
is  scarcely  an  institution  of  distinction  over 
the  whole  world  that  has  not  Dr.  Coues'  name 
on  its  membership  roll. 

W.  D.  Brackenridge. — Intelligent  horti- 
culture suffers  a  severe  loss  in  the  death  of  Mr. 
W.  D.  Brackenridge,  which  occurred  near  Bal- 
timore on  February  3rd.  He  was  in  his 
eighty-third  year.     He  was  born  at  Ayr,  Scot- 


land, on  June  10,  1810,  and  early  in  life  became 
eminent  as  a  landscape  gardener.  He  engaged 
with  the  famous  nurseryman  Robert  Buist  of 
Philadelphia  in  1837,  and  in  1838  sailed  as 
naturalist  on  the  celebrated  four  years  cruise 
of  the  Wilkes'  exploring  expedition.  To  him 
was  committed  the  preparation  of  the  work  on 
the  Ferns  of  the  expedition,  for  which  he  was 
eminently  fitted  by  a  three  years  course  under 
Prof.  Otto  of  the  Berlin  Botanical  Garden.  The 
result  was  a  noble  work.  After  a  few  sample 
copies  had  been  distributed,  the  whole  was 
lost  by  fire.  Mr.  Brackenridge's  copy  is  one 
of  the  treasures  of  the  library  of  the  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia. 


Robert  Douglas.  —  Rob- 
ert Douglas  was  the  first 
American  (though  he  was  not 
born  in  America)  to  show 
that  evergreens  could  be 
raised  in  America  as  cheaply 
and  as  easily  as  in  Europe, 
and  who  gave  the  first  great 
impetus  to  practical  forest 
planting.  He  not  only  pre- 
pared the  seedlings — but  un- 
dertook the  work  of  planting 
the  forests — and  what  he  did 
in  this  line,  has  been  the  great 
American  exemplar  of  good 
forest  culture.  It  will  gratify 
his  many  friends  to  know 
that  though  in  his  8oth  year, 
he  is  still  ready  on  any  occa- 
sion to  climb  a  mountain  and 
enjoy  a  genuine  forest  outing, 
one  above  60 — or  even  very  much 


DR.    ELLIOT  COUES. 


with 


any 


younger  if  they  do  not  dare  him  too  much. 

Francis  Darwin. — Mr.  Francis  Darwin,  who 
makes  a  fourth  in  the  direct  line  of  descent  from 
the  original  Darwin,  has  been  appointed  deputy 
professor  of  botany  in  the  England  Cambridge 
University,  as  an  aid  to  the  aged  Prof.  Babing- 
ton,  of  whom  we  have  made  a  note  recently. 

Prof.  Emory  E.  Smith. — Emory  E.  Smith, 
Professor  of  Horticulture  in  the  Leland  Stan- 
ford, Jr.,  University  of  California,  has  re- 
turned from  the  long  European  journey  under- 
taken with  the  view  of  studying  the  best 
methods  of  teaching  horticulture  as  practiced 
in  the  old  world. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


The  Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United 
States. — Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders,  of  Philadelphia, 
after  purchasing  a  copy  of  "Flowers  and  Ferns" 
as  offered  in  our  advertising  pages,  was  kind 
enough  to  send  the  following  letter  to  the  au- 
thor :— 

"  I  received  from  your  firm  on  Saturday  the 
volume  of  "  Native  Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the 
United  States,"  and  cannot  forbear  sending 
you  a  line  of  acknowledgment,  as  the  money 
which  I  sent  j'ou  does  not  begin  to  be  an  equiv- 
alent for  the  pleasure  which  I  have  already  de- 
rived from  only  a  superficial  examination  of  the 
book.  As  I  sat  by  the  fire  Saturday  evening 
turning  over  the  pages,  with  my  little  niece, 
who  has  been  an  enthusiastic  companion  in 
many  a  botanical  ramble,  it  seemed  like  going 
"  a-Maying  "  again.  We  lost  sight,  for  the 
nonce,  of  our  wintry  environment — the  shrill 
whistle  of  the  wind  died  away  into  the  drowsy 
hum  of  bees  and  we  were  off  "down  Jersey," 
despite  the  frozen  Delaware  and  the  snow 
drifts.  So  please  accept  our  thanks  for  the 
book  which  I  find  to  be  the  key  that  unlocks 
a  hundred  delightful  memories." 

So  much  interest  was  felt  and  is  continued 
in  that  work,  that  though  the  author  lost  tliree 
thousand  dollars  by  the  sudden  death  and  the 
subsequent  insolvency  of  the  estate  of  the 
publisher,  Mr.  Charles  Robson,  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  pleasure  his  labors  gave  thou- 
sands, has  always  kept  him  from  seriously  re- 
gretting the  loss.  He  seldom  uses  the  titles 
and  honorable  appellations  bestowed  on  him  by 
scientific  institutions  and  associations  of  learn- 
ing, much  as  they  are  prized,  and  he  may 
therefore  be  more  readily  pardoned,  perhaps, 
for  being  touched  by  unsought  testimonials  of 
this  kind. 

English  and  Latin  Names  of  Plants. — 
Botanists  complain  of  English  names  some- 
times, and  now  it  is  Prof.  Lemmon  who  com- 
plains of  botanists  that  they  will  lazily  coin 
an  English  name  sometimes,  when  there  are 
already  good  ones  in  circulation.    The  English 

48) 


botanists,  for  instance,  speak  of  the  "Douglas 
Fir,"  when  the  regularly  accepted  name  is 
Douglas  Spruce.  As  to  whether  the  plant  is 
a  Fir  or  a  Spruce,  is  no  more  a  question  when 
it  comes  to  an  English  name,  than  whether  the 
"  Tulip  Poplar"  of  the  people  is  a  Poplar  in 
botany. 

Prof.  Porter's  Poem. — The  beautiful  poem 
by  our  great  botanist,  Dr.  Porter,  will  have  a 
special  interest  to  the  readers  of  the  present 
issue  of  Meeh.\ns'  Monthly.  Many  of  us 
have  had  our  "  Rotha's  ". — the  early  loved 
and  the  long  since  lost.  Amidst  sorrow  that 
can  hardlj'  be  suppressed,  it  is  still  a  pleasure 
to  see  the  picture  of  their  young  and  happy 
lives,  under  leafing  trees,  and  garlanded  with 
spring  flowers,  and  to  feel  that  though  their 
lives  might  have  been  prolonged,  their  short 
careers  were  supremely  happy. 


Mitchella  repens.— For  the  April  leading 
illustration  a  famous  popular  Eastern  plant 
has  been  prepared  —  the  Partridge  Berry, 
Mitchella  repens,  selected  for  April  because  of 
its  early  flowering,  though  for  its  beautiful 
red  berries,  of  interest  all  year  round.  To  the 
student  of  plant  life  it  commends  itself  as  well 
as  to  the  mere  lover  of  wild  flowers,  by  much 
the  same  opportunity  for  peering  into  the 
secrets  of  nature  which  the  trailing  arbutus 
aflbrded  us. 

Floriculture  in  the  United  States. — At 
the  annual  meeting  in  Washington  last  August 
there  were  2,000  members  in  attendance. 
140,000,000  is  invested  in  the  business  in  the 
Union — and  the  sales  last  year  are  estimated 
at  over  $26,000,000.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  florist's  business  is  chiefly  confined  to 
cut  flowers  and  plants  for  decorative  purposes, 
the  immensity  of  the  business  is  astounding. 
In  many  cases  the  demand  is  from  mere 
fashion,  and  does  not  represent  real  floral  love, 
but  much  of  it  is  from  real  love. 


Vol.  III. 


Plate  4. 


lU  liw  M  T  r  hull  •'  Mnn<  1 1 


MiTdiELLA     REPENS. 


MITCHELLA  REPENS. 

PARTRIDGE  BERRY. 
NATURAL  ORDER,  RUBIACE^. 

MiTCHELLA  REPENS,  Liunseus. — Stem  prostrate,  six  to  twelve  inches  long,  branching  from  the  root,  and  spreading  in  all  . 
directions  ;  leaves  roundish  ovate,  sub-cordate,  dark  green,  with  a  whitish  central  line,  half  an  inch  to  three-quarters  in 
length;  petioles  one-quarter  to  half  an  inch  long,  connected  by  small  acuminate  stipules:  flowers  white;  peduncles 
two — flowered,  axillarv  and  terminal  ;  berries  twin,  sub-globose,  red  when  mature,  insipid,  persistent  until  flowers 
come  again.  (Darlington's  ZVoxi  Cestiica.  See  a\so  {GY&y's  Manual  of  the  Botany  o/ the  Northern  United  States. 
Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany,) 


The  Partridge  berry  is  a  distinctively  Amer- 
ican plant,  and  is  an  important  element  in 
American  forest  scenery.  It  is  an  inhabitant 
of  almost  ever3'  portion  of  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  extending  from 
its  extreme  northern  to  its  southern  limit,  and 
it  is  rare  that  any  intelligent  -writer  gives  de- 
tails of  the  attractive  vegetation  of  any  part 
■which  interests  him,  ■without  including  the 
Mitchella  repens  in  the  list  of  species  found 
there. 

For  instance,  William  Bartram  in  his  "  Tra- 
vels through  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  to 
Florida,"  published  in  1791,  is  describing  the 
spot  in  the  Cherokee  country  ■where  he  first 
discovered  the  Magnolia  atiriculata.  All 
alone  he  ' '  entered  upon  the  verge  of  the 
dark  forest,  charming  solitude  !  "  He  found 
"  rushing  from  rocky  precipices  under  the 
shade  of  the  pensile  hills,  the  unparalleled  cas- 
cade of  Falling  Creek.  "  Further  on  he  says, 
"  I  have  seated  myself  on  the  moss  clad  rocks, 
under  the  shade  of  spreading  trees  and  flori- 
ferous  fragrant  shrubs  in  full  view  of  the  cas- 
cades," and  then  noted  "  in  this  rural  retire- 
ment the  assemblage  of  the  charming  circle  of 
mountain  vegetable  beauties."  In  this  circle 
■with  Anemone  thalidroides.  Anemone  Hepatica, 
various  Trilliuras,  Cypripedium,  Sangiiinaria, 
and  Epigcea,  Mitchella  finds  a  place.  It  may 
be  noted  here  that  this  plant  is  not  only 
a  native  of  the  United  States, — it  extends 
into  Mexico.  But  even  in  these  southern 
locations  it  shows  its  northern  proclivities  by 
always  choosing  the  coolest  places.  Generally 
it  is  along  partially  shaded  river  banks,  or 
under  the  shade  of  lofty  trees.  In  the  warmer 
latitudes,  however,  it  is  chiefly  at  home  in  the 


higher  altitudes.  Its  love  for  coolness  is  well 
shown  by  an  incident  recorded  by  Mr.  J.  R. 
Lowrie  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Bota7iical 
Gazette.  It  appears  that  in  the  Alleghanies  of 
Central  Pennsylvania,  on  Tusse}'  and  Bald 
Mountains,  at  an  altitude  of  1400  feet,  there  is 
a  tract  of  land  which  exhibits  the  curious 
phenomenon  of  perpetual  frost.  Even  in 
August  it  seldom  thaws  to  a  greater  depth 
than  three  feet  from  the  surface.  The  list  of 
plants  growing  here  as  given  by  Mr.  Lowrie 
is  very  meagre,  chiefly  a  few  RosacecE,  but  the 
Mitchella  repens  is  recorded  as  one.  When, 
however,  it  finds  itself  in  a  warmer  climate, 
which  from  its  wide  distribution  it  is  very 
likely  to  do,  a  very  little  warmth  brings  the 
flowers  forward  so  as  to  show  a  wonderful  dif- 
ference between  the  time  of  flowering  in  such  a 
spot,  and  localities  not  so  very  far  a'n'ay.  For 
instance,  Dr.  Baldwin,  who  was  appointed 
Naturalist  to  the  Long  Exploring  Expedition, 
but  died  at  Franklin,  Missouri,  before  the  ex- 
pedition had  well  started  on  its  way,  found  it 
on  Cumberland  Island,  in  the  extreme  south- 
east corner  of  Georgia,  in  bloom  on  the  22d  of 
December,  1813.  Here,  near  Philadelphia,  on 
this  4th  day  of  June,  1881,  the  first  flowers  are 
just  open,  or  nearly  six  months  of  difference, 
in  only  about  si.x  hundred  miles  as  the  crow 
flies. 

It  has  been  long  known  to  botanists,  as  Ray 
mentions  it  in  1704  as  having  been  communi- 
cated to  him  by  Dr.  Sloane,  who  ' '  received 
it  from  Dr.  Vernon,  who  collected  it  in  Mary- 
land." Plukenet,  who  wrote  in  1769,  gives 
a  figure  of  the  plant,  and  ascribes  its  place  of 
growth  to  "  the  Province  of  Florida."  The  liv- 
ing  plants,    Alton   says,   were   introduced  to 

(49) 


50 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — MITCHELLA  REPENS. 


[April 


England  in  1761,  by  Mr.  John  Bartram.  Gro- 
novius  notices  it  in  Flora  Virginica  ;  but  by  all 
these  early  botanists  it  was  regarded  as  a  sort 
of  Honeysuckle  or  Lonicera,  to  which  it  was 
referred  even  by  Linnseus  in  his  earlier  works. 
In  our  description  from  Dr.  Darlington,  the 
student  will  note  it  said  that  the  berries  are 
"  twin."  This  is  the  same  with  some  of  the 
Honeysuckle  family,  and  on  this  account 
chiefly,  it  was  probably  classed  with  them. 
.  Dr.  Mitchell,  after  whom  the  genus  was  sub- 
sequently named  was  the  first  to  note  its  dis- 
tinction, and  in  a  small  work  describing  many 
new  American  genera,  gave  this  the  name  of 
"  Chamfedaphne.  "  Of  this  work  Dr.  Gray 
thus  writes  in  "  Silliman's  Journal  "  for  1840. 
"Dr.  Mitchell  had  sent  to  Collinson,  perhaps 
as  early  as  in  the  year  1740,  a  paper  in  which 
thirty  new  genera  of  Virginian  plants  were 
proposed.  This  Collinson  sent  to  Trew  at 
Nuremberg,  who  published  it  in  the  Ephcme- 
rides  and  Natural  Curiosonim  for  1748,  but  in 
the  meantime  most  of  the  genera  had  been 
published,  with  other  names,  by  Linnaeus  or 
Gronovius.  Among  Mitchell's  new  genera 
was  one  which  he  called  Chamcedaphne  ;  this 
Linnaeus  referred  to  Lonicera,  but  the  elder 
(Bernard)  Jussieu,  in  a  letter  dated  February 
19,  1751,  having  shown  him  that  it  was  very 
distinct  both  from  Lonicera  and  Linnaa,  and 
in  fact  belonged  to  a  different  natural  order, 
he  afterwards  named  WMitchella.  If  Mitchell's 
name  was  published  in  1748,  and  Linnseus  did 
not  name  it  till  "  after"  Jussieu's  letter  in 
1 75 1,  under  the  law  of  priority  which  prevails 
among  botanists,  Mitchell's  name  should  be 
the  recognized  one  ;  but  as  the  adopted  name 
honors  a  good  early  botanist,  there  would  pro- 
bably be  no  disposition  to  change,  even  were 
there  no  other  reasons. 

In  regard  to  Dr.  Mitchell,  Dr.  Gray  says, 
"  Linnseus  had  another  correspondent  in  Dr. 
John  Mitchell  who  lived  several  years  in  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  collected  extensively  ;  but  the 
ship  in  which  he  returned  to  England,  having 
been  taken  by  pirates,  his  own  collections,  as 
well  as  those  of  Governor  Golden,  were  mostly 
destroyed."  He  seems  to  have  come  to  Vir- 
ginia about  1700.  He  resided  about  seventy- 
five  miles  from  Richmond,  at  Urbana,  on  the 
Rappahannock.  He  appears  to  have  resided 
there  for  a  number  of  years,   for  we  find  John 


Bartram,  under  date  of  June  3,  1744,  answer- 
ing a  letter,  telling  Dr.  Mitchell,  he  passed 
through  his  country  "in  1738,"  and  should 
have  been  pleased  if  he  had  been  acquainted 
with  him  then.  Mitchell  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  Lord  Bute  and 
others,  and  when  sending  Bartram  an  order  for 
plants  and  seeds  for  them  quaintly  remarks, 
"This  is  the  only  way  I  ever  knew  botany  to 
be  of  any  service  to  anybody  ;  for  botany  is 
at  a  very  low  ebb  in  our  country  since  the 
death  of  Lord  Petre. "  It  is  pleasant  to  reflect 
since  this,  on  how  many  ways  botany  is  of  value 
now,  and  that  it  does  not  depend  for  its  suc- 
cess in  these  days  on  the  patronage  of  any  one 
man,  however  good  or  great  he  may  be. 

As  already  noted  its  common  name  is  "Par- 
tridge berry."  A  lady,  Helen  E.  Watney, 
writing  to  the  "  London  Gardeners'  Chronicle" 
in  1879,  says  :  "The  general  name  for  these 
berries  is  '  cats'  eyes,  '  because  the  two  calyces 
marking  the  two  ovaries  appear  on  the  same 
fruit,  which  is  the  joint  product  of  two  flowers. 
Why  the  plant  is  called  Partridge  berry  I  do 
not  know."  Emerson  in  his  "Trees  and 
Shrubs  of  Massachusetts, ' '  says,  ' '  it  furnishes 
food  for  the  Partridge  and  other  birds  which 
remain  in  our  climate  during  the  winter. "  It 
may  be  here  remarked  that  the  flowers  appear 
about  mid-summer,  and  the  berries  which  fol- 
low continue,  if  they  are  not  devoured,  till  the 
flowering  time  next  3'ear. 

It  is  remarkable  that  a  plant  so  attractive  in 
so  many  ways  should  not  have  become  more 
attached  to  the  public  mind,  or  received  more 
attention  from  polite  writers,  but  the  author 
can  recall  no  instance  in  American  poetry  or 
general  literature  in  which  the  Partridge  berry 
plays  a  conspicuous  part.  The  discovery  of 
the  white  berried  form  was  first  made  by  Miss 
Kate  Fisher  Kurtz,  of  York,  Pa.,  and  proved  a 
source  of  great  delight  when  communicated  to 
Prof.  Asa  Gray. 

Rafinesque  says  the  berries  are  used  in  New 
England  as  tea,  to  cure  dropsy  and  gout,  and 
in  North  Carolina  are  a  popular  remedy  in 
diarrhoea  and  dysentery. 


Explanations  OF  THE  Plate. — i.  A  Pennsylvania  plant 
drawn  in  June.  2.  The  exserted  styles.  3.  Portion  of  another 
plant  with  included  styles,  and  exserted  stamens.  4.  A  berry 
with  "cats  eyes,''  and,  as  often  occurs,  a  pair  of  leaves 
united  with  the  fruit. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


THE  FIRST  FLOWERS   OF  SPRING. 

Yes,  'twas  the  spring;  and  the   gray  willow  now 
And  the  red-flowering  maple  bloomed  again — 
The  alder  hung  its  tassels  o'er  the  brook, 
Freed  from  its  thrall. 

Howard  Worcester  Gii<bert. 


Abnormal  Rudbeckia. — The  writer  when 
young  in  botany,  sent  to  the  late  Prof.  Asa 
Gray,  a  specimen  of  Echinacea  purputca,  which 
instead  of  the  usual  purple  ray  petals,  had 
them  greenish;  and  instead  of  a  pistil  a  little 
branch,  with  numerous  small  flower  buds, 
came  from  the  centre  of  each  floret.  His  reply 
was  very  interesting.  "  It  is  a  case  of  a  flower 
gone  crazy."  On  the  table  is  a  specimen  of 
Rudbeckia  hirta,  an  ally  of  ths  Echinacea,  which 
exhibits  similar  ' '  craziness. ' '  Such  cases  afford 
valuable  lessons  in  morphology.  They  teach 
that  a  flower,  or  a  floret  in  a  composite  flower, 
is  but  an  arrested  branch.  In  these  instances 
the  power,  whatever  it  be,  that  decides  whether 
an  embrj'o  cell  shall  be  a  flower  or  a  branch 
was  weak  in  purpose,  and  had  started  to  make 
a  branch  before  it  had  fully  decided  that  it 
should  be  flower.  This  is  speaking  metaphori- 
cally, but  metaphors  in  these  cases,  give  the 
best  explanation. 


Rocky  Mountain  Douglas  Spruce. — A 
correspondent  of  Meehans'  Monthly,  writing 
from  Chester,  England,  desires  to  know 
whether  the  Abies  Douglasii,  of  Colorado  is 
distinct  from  the  same  species  found  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  whether  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain tree  is  as  good  for  timber  purposes  as  the 
one  from  the  Pacific.  The  latter  question  is 
one  to  which  both  yes  and  no  can  be  answered. 
The  Rocky  Mountain  tree  is  a  much  slower 
grower  than  the  one  on  the  Pacific  and  does 
not  grow  by  any  means  so  tall.  If  long, 
straight,  rapid-growing  poles  are  desired,  the 
Pacific  coast  species  is  decidedly  the  best  ;  but  as 
for  the  quality  of  the  timber,  the  Colorado  one 
is  said  to  be  much  more  durable.     When  used 


as  railroad  ties,  it  is  almo,st  as  indestructible 
as  the  Eastern  Arbor  Vitct,  which  is  saying  a 
good  deal.  An  advantage  in  the  Colorado 
form  is  that  it  would  endure  without  injury  a 
very  much  lower  temperature  than  the  one 
from  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is  rather  remarkable 
that  botanists  have  not  made  the  Colorado 
form  into  a  distinct  species  as  they  have  with 
some  of  the  other  spruces  and  pines  of  that 
region.  In'cultivation,  as  our  Chester  corres- 
pondent well  remarks,  they  appear  so  distinct 
that  even  ordinary  nursery  laborers  can  see  the 
difierence. 

Vitality  of  Girdled  Trees. — Prof  W.  H. 
Ragan,  Secretary  of  the  Indiana  Horticultural 
Society,  speaks  of  a  Scotch  pine  tree  which  had 
been  girdled  for  many  years,  and  yet  continued 
on  growing  as  usual  ;  the  upper  portion  of  the 
tree  is  described  as  being  five  or  six  times 
thicker  than  the  part  below  ;  the  lower  portion 
never  seemed  to  increase  in  size  after  the  gird- 
ling had  been  once  effected — it  is  only  the 
upper  portion  that  continues  to  increase  in 
diameter.  Any  tree  may  have  the  bark  com- 
pletely stripped  off'  of  it  during  the  few  weeks 
near  midsummer,  and  it  will  make  a  complete 
new  layer  without  injury  whatever  to  the  tree, 
— but  frequently  with  great  benefit.  This  has 
been  often  remarked  in  deciduous  trees,  but  we 
do  not  know  of  any  case,  except  in  coniferous 
trees,  where  trees  will  live  as  this  has,  not  only 
when  the  outer  layer  of  bark  but  the  living  layer 
of  wood  also  have  been  destroyed. 


The  Persistency  of  Bulbs. — As  a  general 
rule  bulbs  are  annual  —  a  new  bulb  grow- 
ing every  year  in  the  place  of  the  old  one. 
Those  who  grow  gladioluses  are  well  aware  of 
this  fact.  Sometimes,  however,  some  bulbs 
are  very  persistent.  A  statement  is  made  in 
one  of  our  exchanges,  "that  a  Persian  Cycla- 
men is  known  to  be  23  years  old,  and  shows 
every  evidence  of  much  greater  longevity." 


52 


MEEHANS     MONTHI^Y — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[April 


Nature  as  a  Teacher. — The  following  in- 
tellectual treat  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Ernest 
Walker,  of  New  Albany,  Indiana,  will  be  read 
with  interest.  It  did  seem  to  the  writer  of 
the  paragraph  criticised  that  as  in  "  in  nature" 
the  Magnolia  glauca  and  some  other  trees  are 
never  found  but  in  swamps,  and  "  man  ' '  found 
out  the  tree  did  better  in  dry  than  in  moist 
ground,  it  was  man  and  not  nature  who  taught 
us  that  lesson.  Still,  what  is  natural  and  what 
is  unnatural  is  capable  of  so  many  interpreta- 
tions, that  possibly  no  one  can  object  to  the 
manner  in  which  Mr.  Walker  so  ably  puts  the 
question  : — 

"I  will  have  to  take  the  Monthly  to  task  for 
the  closing  comment  in  the  article  "Vigor  of 
Introduced  Plants,"  given  on  page  149,  Octo- 
ber number,  1892,  in  which  it  says  :  "The  cul- 
tivator can  not  learn  much  by  taking  nature 
as  a  pattern  of  propriety."  With  what  goes 
before  I  agree.  Nature  never  makes  conditions 
to  suit  individuals,  but  individuals  to  conform 
to  her  conditions,  or  within  certain  limits  se- 
lect from  the  infinite  variety  of  her  conditions, 
the  one  or  ones  most  suitable. 

I  object  to  the  closing  statement,  not  because 
there  is  not  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the  assertion 
as  it  reads,  but  because  some  will  be  apt  to  sub- 
stitute teacher  for  and  as  synonymous  with 
pattern  of  propriety.  Nature  is  not  always  a 
pattern  of  propriety,  but  is  always,  I  have 
found,  the  best  of  teachers.  Some  look  for 
positives  when  nature  as  often  instructs  by 
negatives.  Many  are  inclined  to  limit  the  term 
nature  to  a  few  facts  connected  with  wild 
plants  in  their  native  haunts.  But  I  claim  all 
is  nature  that  results  from  conditions  beyond 
man's  control,  even  though  the  plant  be  culti- 
vated in  a  garden.  For  instance,  roses  when 
the  cool  weather  of  fall  comes  take  on  a  glory 
scarcely  dreamed  of  during  the  hotter  days  of 
summer.  It  is  plainly  due  to  the  moister 
nights  and  cooler  temperature  of  autumn.  The 
gardener  catches  the  hint  and  takes  it  into  the 
green  house.  In  this  he  has  learned  from  na- 
ture. In  the  case  of  marsh  plants  nature  may 
fail  us  as  a  pattern,  but  never  as  a  teacher. 
The  seeds  germinate  more  readily  under  these 
conditions  is  said  to  be  the  reason  these  plants 
are  confined  to  those  places.  That's  a  lesson 
for  the  gardener  from  nature.  While  the  seeds 
germinate  better  in  the  moist  ground  the  plants 
thrive  better  in  dryer  soil.      Now  I'll  venture 


the  discovery  of  this  fact  originally  came  from 
nature.  Take  the  Sauntrus  cerniais  or  almost 
any  simi-aquatic.  They  grow  in  shallow 
streams  or  in  the  edges  of  marshes.  While  in 
spring  or  early  summer  they  will  be  found  in 
water,  yet  later  when  the  dry  weather  comes 
the  streams  or  borders  of  the  pools  become  dry  ; 
and  in  the  case  of  the  lizard-tail,  some  plants 
growing  in  fairly  dry  soil,  which  I  saw  last 
summer,  were  stronger  than  those  growing  in . 
the  water.  In  the  case  of  the  Diantheta 
Americana ,  I  have  never  seen  any  striking  ad- 
vantage exhibited  by  plants  growing  in  soil 
out  of  the  water  over  those  growing  in  the 
water.  The  water  plantain  varies  in  some 
cases.  I  remember  having  seen  better  in  the 
dr3'er  soil,  some  feet  back  from  the  water's  edge 
than  in  the  water,  during  the  summer.  In 
these  plants  it  seems  to  be  not  the  growing  in 
or  out  of  water  that  is  important  to  the  pres- 
ence of  the  plants  in  these  places,  so  much  as 
the  moist  conditions  of  the  air  resulting  from 
proximity  to  water.  All  this  is  useful  and 
suggestive  to  the  florist. 

As  for  plants  sometimes  thriving  better  in 
other  places  than  their  native  home,  this  does 
show  that  these  plants  in  nature  have  not  found 
the  conditions  most  favorable  to  their  vigor. 
But  it  does  not  prove  that  within  the  original 
limits  of  their  native  land  they  had  not  sought 
and  found  the  locations  best  suited  to  their 
needs.  Take  away  the  ocean's  barriers  to 
their  wanderings  and  long  ago  they  would  have 
been  natives  here  and  science  would  have  re- 
corded the  fact  that  the  conditions  here  were 
more  suited  to  their  needs  than  those  else- 
where within  the  limitations  set  by  nature 
to  wandering.  I  believe  that  the  majority  of 
plants  have  sought  and  found  their  proper 
homes.  If  they  be  found  to  thrive  better  in 
another  place,  take  away  the  barriers  to  their 
spread  and  they  would  not  be  long  in  finding 
these  more  favorable  homes. ' ' 


Large  Plane  Trees,  or  Buttonwoods. — 
Mr.  William  T.  Harding,  of  Mt.  Holly,  refers  to 
a  paragraph  in  the  former  ' '  Gardeners'  Month- 
ly," which  gives  a  specimen  growing  on  the 
farm  of  Henry  Peters,  Upper  Sanduskj',  Ohio, 
as  being  about  160  feet  in  height,  and  at  4 
feet  from  the  ground  the  trunk  measured  48 
feet  in  circumference.  At  the  height  of  15  feet 
from  the  base,  the  trunk  branches  into  eight 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


S3 


large  column-like  shafts,  the  round  measure- 
metit  of  which  is  from  lo  to  15  feet.  The  spread 
of  the  branches  covers  an  area  of  700  feet.  Mr. 
Harding,  who  has  been  a  world-wide  traveler, 
both  among  the  large  Mammoths  of  California 
and  of  Australia,  considers  this  the  largest  tree 
of  any  kind  that  he  has  ever  saw.  In  addition 
to  this  note,  Mr.  Benj.  Heritage  of  Mickleton, 
N.  J.,  refers  to  one  in  Monroe  Co.,  Ky.,  which 
is  also  48  feet  in  circumference.  At  Muhlen- 
berg, Ky. ,  is  a  white  oak  36  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  a  black  oak  iS  feet. 

Noting  Facts  in  Natural  History. — 
Those  who  are  fond  of  watching  the  operations 
of  nature  should  never  go  out  without  a  note 
book,  and  mark  down  at  the  time 
the  interesting  points  worth  record- 
ing. It  is  too  much  the  habit  to 
depend  on  memory,  and  hence  many 
imperfect  observations  are  recorded 
which  are  rather  injurious  than 
otherwise  to  the  progress  of  science. 
We  give  with  this  an  illustration  of 
an  observer  who  is  in  the  midst  of 
a  Southern  Cypress  swamp,  and 
during  his  observations  has  come 
across  some  interesting  facts  sug- 
gesting thoughts  worthy  of  record- 
ing. As  we  see  in  the  picture,  he 
doesn't  wait  until  he  gets  home  to 
do  the  work  ;  but  at  once,  with 
pencil  and  paper,  is  setting  down 
at  the  momtnt  just  what  occurs  to 
him.  It  is  such  accurate  and  care- 
ful observers  as  these  who  do  the 
most  service  in  the  advancement  of 
science.  The  remarkable  point  he 
is  probably  recording,  is  a  shoot  to  a  sprou 

make  a  tree  from  a  cypress  knee,  which  sup- 
ports an  English  hypothesis,  that  these  knees 
are  in  the  nature  of  suckers. 

The  PiiYLLO.xER.i  in  America. — Mr.  Bur- 
net Landreth  has  been  engaged  by  the  French 
Government  to  examine  the  present  status  of 
this  destructive  root  insect  on  the  grape  vines 
of  the  United  States.  Everywhere  the  reports 
he  gathers  are  the  same,  that  the  improved 
native  grapes,  which  are  the  kinds  grown  for 
fruit  east  of  the  Rockies,  have  no  bad  results, 
indeed  few  growers  are  conscious  of  the  exis- 
tence of  the  insect;  but  on  the  European  vine, 


as  cultivated  in  California,  grafting  on  the 
riparia  and  Lenoir  is  being  extensively  resort- 
ed to  in  order  to  succeed. 


Jack  Pine  — According  to  Mr.  Johnson,  of 
Snow  Flake,  Mich.,  this  is  the  common  name 
in  that  part  of  the  world  of  Pitius  Banksia?ia. 
It  has  alwaj-s  been  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
this  beautiful  tree  has  not  been  more  popular 
with  cultivators,  possibly  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  of  getting  seed.  In  the  Northeastern 
States  it  is  only  a  small,  scrubby  bush,  scarcely 
worth  the  name  of  tree,  but  the  form  that  grows 
in  northern  Michigan,  is  very  different.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  graceful  and  handsome  of  the 
smaller  class  of  coniferous  trees. 


T   FROM   A   CYPRESS   KNEE   IN    A    FLORIDA   SWAMP. 

The  Range  of  the  Holly. — A  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  correspondent  would  be  glad  to 
know  how  far  north  the  native  Holly  has  been 
found  hardy  or  indigenous.  He  does  not  re- 
member seeing  any  specimens  in  Central  Park, 
New  York,  and  therefore  inclines  to  the  beliel 
that  it  may  not  be  found  hardy  there.  Our 
own  opinion  is  that  in  sheltered  woods,  where 
it  would  not  be  exposed  to  the  sun  in  winter, 
it  would  be  found  perfectly  hardy,  even  in 
Canada.  But  all  this  is  a  matter  for  actual 
experience.  Shade  aids  hardiness  in  Ever- 
greens. The  English  Holly  is  hardy  far  north 
when  not  in  the  full  sun. 


54 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[April 


MiTCHELLA    REPENS. — The   flowers  have   a 
pleasing  waxy  consistency,    and  a  delightful 
fragrance;  while  the  bright  green  leaves,  con- 
tinuing all  the  winter  season,  exposing  brilliant 
scarlet  berries,  often  in  profusion,  should  sug- 
gest at  least  as  many  themes  as  the  Holly  or 
the  Bay.     In  modern  scientific  literature  it  is 
however  conspicuous.     An  interesting  fact  is 
that   it  is  so  often   found  in    companionship 
with    the  plant   named  in  honor  of  LinnfEUS, 
Lhuiaa  borealis.     In  many  notes  of  collectors, 
now  before  the  writer,  extending  from  Maine 
to  Michigan  and  Minnesota,  this  fact  is  record- 
ed.    In  classification  they  are  placed  in  separ- 
ate natural  orders,   the  Partridge  berry  in  Ru- 
biacece  and  the  Linnsea  in   the  Capri foliacea:, 
but  after  all  the  two  natural  orders  have  so 
much  in  common  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
distinguish  them.     The  most  interesting  fact 
in  connection  with  the  plant  is  the  discovery 
of  the  dimorphism  of  the  flowers,  which  seems 
to  have  been  made  about  the   same  time  by 
Prof.   Asa  Gray,  and  the  present  writer.     The 
stamens  in  some  flowers  are  exserted,  in  others 
they  are  included  within  the  corolla,  and  the 
stigmas   are  exserted.      Mr.    Darwin   experi- 
mented with  these  different  classes  in  1864,  and 
found  that  they  could  be  made  productive  by 
the  use  of  their  own   pollen  in  each  case.     He 
refers  also  to  Mr.  J.  Scott's  experience  in  the 
Edinburgh  Botanic  Garden,   where   a    single 
plant  produced  an  abundance  of  berries.     This 
is  not  the   experience  of  the   writer  of   this. 
Some  years  ago  he  found  on  the  Wissahickon 
a  plant  covered  with   an  abundance  of  snow- 
white  berries.     Anxious  to  cultivate  so  inter- 
esting a  variety  a  large  quantity  was  removed 
to  his  garden,  where  they  are  to  this  day,  flow- 
ering profusely  every  year,  but  not  producing 
one  berry.     On  another  part  of  his  grounds  is 
a  plant  of  the  normal  red-berried  form,  which, 
since  its  removal  to  the  garden,  has  not  borne 
any  fruit.     Both  of  these  are  forms  with  ex- 
serted pistils. 

Color  Changes  in  the  Monotropa. — 
"Ruth  Raymond,"  Crawford  Co.,  Pa.,  re- 
marks: "It  is  nothing  uncommon  to  find 
s^e.c\m.&r\soi Monotropa  uniflora  slightly  tinged 
with  pink.  Two  years  ago  I  found  several 
clusters  of  a  much  deeper  tint  than  any  pre- 
viously found  ;  indeed,  the  stems  and  ovaries 
were  red,   the  petals   varying  through  lighter 


shades  to  almost  blush.  I  supposed  the  color 
due  to  the  effects  of  frost,  as  it  was  then  late  in 
October,  while  the  normal  time  of  blossoming 
here  is  July  or  August.  Some  of  the  speci- 
mens were  put  to  press  and  not  thought  of 
again  for  a  fortnight  ;  then,  instead  of  having 
turned  black  as  they  commonly  do  in  a  day  or 
two  at  most,  the  peculiarity  in  color  which  had 
at  first  attracted  my  notice  was  still  retained  to 
a  considerable  extent  ;  parts  of  the  plant  were 
dark,  others  scarceh'  changed.  This  feature 
aroused  my  curiosity  and  the  specimens  were 
then  daily  cared  for  until  completely  diy. 
Then  they  were  dark  but  with  a  reddish  shade 
by  which  they  could  readily  be  distinguished 
from  others  of  the  species. 

Last  j-ear  I  watched  their  appearance  eager- 
ly, and  was  pleased  to  find  .some  early  in  Sep- 
tember before  any  chilling  breezes  had  come, 
thus  proving  that  the  variation  in  color  was 
not  caused  by  the  cold  weather.  There  were 
young  plants  still  nestled  in  the  leaf-mould 
and  old  ones  with  heads  erect,  the  color  equal- 
ly noticeable  in  either  case.  Specimens  oi  M. 
Hypopitys  of  a  rich  red,  instead  of  ' '  reddish  " 
as  described  by  Gray,  were  found  at  the  same 
time.  As  this  species  is  new  to  me,  I  am  not 
sure  that  the  deep  color  is  uncommon.  They 
were  growing  in  a  wood  composed  principally 
of  maple,  oak,  and  beech  trees,  but  were  in- 
variably found  near  the  latter. 

It  is  known  that  these  plants  derive  their 
nourishment  from  decaying  vegetation  and  to 
some  extent  from  living  matter.  The  ques- 
tion is,  what  causes  the  change  not  only  in 
color  but  in  the  general  structure  of  the  plant, 
enabling  it  to  retain  its  original  appearance 
for  so  long  a  time  after  the  process  of  drying 
has  commenced." 


Variation  in  Ferns. — Miss  Pinckney  re- 
marks that  in  South  Carolina,  the  only  really 
valuable  fern  is  Adiantiim  pedatwn,  the  com- 
mon maiden  -  hair  fern.  It  often  loses  the 
semi-circular  form  of  the  pinnule  so  as  to  take 
on  at  times  something  of  the  appearance  of  its 
sister  species,  Adiantum  capillus-veneris. 


The  Bird's  Foot  Violet.— Mr.  T.  C.  Thur- 
low,  of  W.  Newbury,  Mass.,  notes  that  in  that 
part  of  the  world  the  Viola  pedata  grows  abund- 
antly in  the  poorest  ground — dry,  exposed 
places  where  very  little  else  will  grow. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


SPRING  BEAUTY. 

Of  all  the  months  that  fill  the  year, 
Give  April's  month  to  me, 

For  earth  and  sky  are  then  so  filled 
With  sweet  variety : 

The  apple-blossoms'  shower  of  pearl, 
Though  blent  with  rosier  hue — 

As  beautiful  as  woman's  blush. 

As  evanescent  too. — MiSS  Landon. 


Pruning  Large  Trees.  —  Wherever  one 
travels  he  may  see  evidences  of  the  improper 
pruning  of  large  trees, —  snags  many  inches 
in  thickness  are  left  which  rot  dovpn  to  the 
main  trunk — the  rot  not  stopping  there,  but 
penetrating  the  whole  body  of  the  tree  ;  or  if 
a  side  branch  is  taken  ofiF,  it  may  be  several 
inches  from  th^  trunk,  and  this  rots  in  like 
manner.  All  branches  should  be  cut  as  close 
as  possible  to  the  main  trunk  and  then  painted 
to  prevent  damage  by  water  until  the  wound 
shall  have  thoroughly  grown  over.  One  would 
think  that  any  one  going  through  the  world 
with  his  eyes  open,  would  easily  see  the  result 
of  this  ignorant  pruning  and  profit  by  experi- 
ence against  such  bad  practice,  but  it  seems 
not  to  be  the  case.  Although  any  one  may  see 
across  the  street  his  neighbor's  trees  dying 
from  this  kind  of  mutilation,  he  will  in  all 
probability  have  trees  done  in  the  same  way. 
Trees  in  public  gardens  and  parks  especially 
suffer  from  this  ignorance.  Trees  are  planted 
comparatively  close  when  they  are  young,  in 
order  to  make  an  immediate  shade.  Not  hav- 
ing the  opportunity  to  branch  in  a  lateral  di- 
rection they  naturally  go  upwards  and  are  then 
considered  too  lofty  and  are  headed  back,  with 
the  mistaken  idea  that  this  will  cause  the  lat- 
eral spread.  This  also  any  one  might  see  from 
experience  is  a  fallacious  idea.  Trees  try  to 
grow  upwardly  all  the  stronger  for  this  kind 
of  heading  back,  and  then  usually  rot  within  a 
few  years  afterwards.  A  judicious  thinning 
when  young  gives  the  tree  a  chance  to  have  its 
natural  characteristic,  which  is  to  spread  lat- 
erally as  well  as  vertically.  Very  often  for 
street  trees  kinds  are  selected  that  have  a  tend- 


ency to  grow  vigorou.sly  upwards,  because  of 
their  affording  shade  somewhat  earlier  in  life 
than  trees  which  persist  in  spreading.  The 
temptation  to  cut  back  usually  follows  from 
employing  this  class  of  trees.  It  will  be  much 
better  to  select  at  first  those  which  have  greater 
natural  tendency  to  spread,  although  they  may 
not  grow  so  rapidly  at  first.  It  is  possibly  the 
rage  for  fast  growing  trees,  which  induces  this 
improper  selection,  and  which  finally  leads  to 
the  destruction  of  all  street  trees. 


Macadam  Roads. — For  all  the  talk  about 
macadam  roads  one  may  travel  a  long  dis- 
tance before  seeing  one  that  is  constructed  on 
the  principles  that  Macadam  himself  laid  down. 
The  underlying  principle  of  his  system  was 
that  the  stone  should  pack  together  so  closely 
that,  no  matter  what  kind  of  a  vehicle  drove 
over  the  road,  not  one  of  the  stones  would  be 
disturbed  ;  but,  in  our  so-called  macadam 
roads,  vehicles  crush  and  grind  the  stones  in 
every  direction .  Macadam's  plan  was  to  have 
all  the  stones  that  formed  the  upper  stratum  of 
the  road  so  small  that  all  could  go  through  a 
two-inch  ring.  This  small  size  of  stone  when 
thoroughly  rolled,  pack  together  so  tightly 
that  it  would  take  a  very  small  wheel  indeed 
to  drive  the  stones  apart.  In  this  case,  there 
is  no  grinding  or  crushing  of  the  stones,  and 
the  road  bed  has  to  do  nothing  more  than  bear 
the  dead  weight  of  the  vehicles.  When  these 
roads  needed  repairing,  which  under  his  sys- 
tem was  very  seldom  indeed,  the  surface  would 
be  torn  up  by  a  pair,  or  even  four  horses  with 
a  heavy  drag  harrow,  and  the  new  resurface 
applied.  When  rolled  down  this  was  almost 
as  good  as  a  new  road.  It  would  be  amusing, 
if  it  were  not  so  costly  to  the  tax  payers,  to 
see  the  manner  in  which  the  so-called  macadam 
roads  of  our  country  are  repaired,  especially  in 
the  vicinity  of  large  cities,  certainly,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Philadelphia.  After  some  three  or 
four  inches  are  worn  away,  the  custom  is  to 
put  three  or  four  inches  of  broken  stone,  some 
of  the  stones  nearly  as  large  as  goose  eggs  over 

(55) 


56 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[April 


the  road  surface.  The  wheels  then  grind  up 
these  stones  or  push  them  away  in  every  direc- 
tion, so  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  like 
coffee  in  a  mill,  these  are  ground  completely  to 
powder.  Within  the  knowledge  of  the  writer, 
a  resurfacing  of  this  character,  costing  $3000, 
placed  on  a  road  So  feet  wide  and  600  feet 
long,  was  ground  to  mud  within  twelve 
months.  Such  macadam  roads  as  these,  and 
such  repairing  of  the  so-called  macadam  roads, 
are  the  best  illustration  of  municipal  ignor- 
ance, possibly,  that  could  be  adduced.  In  the 
management  of  public  affairs  we  expect  more 
loss  than  in  private  ones,  but  the  ignorance 
displayed  in  the  making  and  care  of  macadam 
roads  beats  all. 

Fibrous  Roots. — We  find  a  surprising  want 
of  knowledge  as  to  what  is  a  iibrous  root. 
Really  a  fibre,  as  technically  understood,  is 
not  a  root  any  more  than  a  leaf  is  a  branch  of 
a  tree.  Roots,  to  be  sure,  are  formed  out  of 
fibres,  and  when  a  tree  has  a  number  of  small 
roots,  it  is  not  uncommon  to  say,  that  it  has 
an  abundance  of  fibres.  Fibres  are  the  small 
white,  thread-like,  that  are  principally  engaged 
during  the  growing  season  in  gathering  and 
collecting  food  for  the  plants,  just  as  leaves  do 
the  same  work  for  the  branches.  Towards  the 
fall  of  the  year  nearly  all  these  fibres  die  ;  on- 
ly a  very  few  that  are  present,  live  over  until 
the  next  season.  They  are  not  roots.  If,  how- 
ever, one  lives  over,  it  eventually  becomes  a 
root.  Fibres,  as  thus  limited,  are  of  no  sort  of 
benefit  to  a  tree  in  transplanting.  What  is 
needed  is  an  abundance  of  healthy,  vigorous, 
one  or  two  year  old  roots.  Sometimes  people 
say  that  in  order  to  transplant  a  tree  success- 
fully, it  is  well  to  dig  around  it  one  year  ;  first 
cutting  off  the  main  roots,  and  in  this  way  get- 
ting a  number  of  "  fibres  "  for  the  next  year. 
It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  word  tends  to  mis- 
lead. Fibres  are  not  thrown  out  when  these 
larger  roots  are  cut,  but  small  roots. 

One  cannot  have  too  many  of  these  small 
one  or  two  year  old  roots  in  transplanting. 
They  are  full  of  life  and  vigor,  and  aid  materi- 
ally in  supporting  a  plant.  But  fibres,  as  limit- 
ed in  their  definition  in  this  paragraph,  are 
of  absolutely  no  conseqnence,  and  in  mauv  re- 
spects are  rather  an  injury  than  a  benefit.  We 
have  known  evergreen  trees  moved  with  what 
were  supposed  magnificent  roots,  that   is  to 


say,  there  were  thousands  of  real  annual  fibres 
and  yet  die  afterwards  ;  no  one  seeming  to  un- 
derstand why  it  should  be  so  ;  but  the  trouble 
is,  that  this  large  mass  of  sponge-like  threads 
prevents  the  earth  from  coming  into  contact 
with  the  large  roots,  and  then,  they  are  far 
more  of  an  injury  than  a  benefit. 

Pruning  and  Transplanting. — There  is  a 
difference  of  opinion  among  some  planters  as 
to  the  propriety  of  pruning  in  the  branches  of 
fruit  trees  when  they  are  planted.  There  is  no 
question  among  those  who  have  had  extensive 
experience, — they  all  concur  as  to  the  wis- 
dom of  pruning  in  under  most  circumstan- 
ces when  trees  have  been  transplanted.  It 
is  chiefly  from  the  evaporation  of  their  juices 
faster  than  the  roots  can  draw  in  sap  to  supply 
the  place  of  that  waste  that  they  die,  and  prun- 
ing in  the  branches  prevents  too  great  an  evap- 
oration, and  that  is  the  reason  why  the  practice 
of  pruning  in  is  to  be  commended.  When  the 
trees  have  been  planted  without  such  pruning, 
in  the  pear,  for  instance,  it  is  not  unusual  for 
them  to  remain  a  whole  season  and  send 
out  only  a  few  leaves,  and  without  making 
any  growth  of  branches,  indeed,  sometimes 
pear  trees  remain  the  whole  season  alive, 
without  making  any  leaves  at  all.  They 
are  just  able  to  meet  the  demands  of  evapor- 
ation, leaving  nothing  for  growth.  .  Whenever 
a  transplanted  tree  does  not  show  signs  of 
pushing  out  leaves  when  the  proper  time  comes 
to  make  leaves,  the  pruning  knife  should  at 
once  be  called  in,  and  the  branches  pruned. 
Hundreds  of  transplanted  trees  which  die 
might  be  saved  by  a  judicious  use  of  the  prun- 
ing knife. 

Succession  in  Magnolias.  —  The  Yulan  or 
Chinese  Magnolia — Magnolia  conspicua — is  the 
first  to  open,  blooming  before  the  leaves  ex- 
pand, — though  Soulange's  hybrid,  magnolia 
Soulangeana — is  not  more  than  a  day  or  two 
behind  it.  The  dwarfer  kind  and  newer.  Hall's 
magnolia,  M.  stellata,  is  almost  co-eval  with 
them.  Just  as  they  fade  magnolia  purpurea 
opens,  closely  followed  by  M.  Frazeri.  This 
is  barely  gone  before  the  umbrella  magnolia, 
Mag.  tripetela,  comes  out.  Before  these  have 
scarcely  dropped,  the  cucumber  magnolia,  M. 
acuminata,  opens.  These  are  not,  however, 
showy,  and  the  yellow  petals  will  often  be  seen 


1 893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


57 


on  the  ground,  before  observed  on  the  trees. 
In  this  line  there  are  successions  of  flowers 
from  April  to  the  end  of  May.  The  beautiful 
red  cones  and  seeds  which  many  have  in  the 
fall,  are  as  interesting  as  the  blossoms,  making 
the  magnolia  admired  through  the  whole  sea- 
son. A  few  good  kinds,  like  Mag.  grandiflora, 
J\I.  macrophylla,  and  some  of  the  newer  Asiatic 
kinds,  are  omitted  from  the  list,  because  the 
exact  chronology  of  their  flowering  periods, 
has  not  been  carefully  noted. 


before  noted,  especially  when  it  is  likely  to  dry 
out  in  summer  time.  It  has  been  common  to 
say,  in  lawn  practice,  to  scatter  it  over  the 
lawn  so  that  it  would  look  like  one  of  the  light 
sprinklings  of  snow. 

Fibre  plants.— Mrs.  Kellerman,  of  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  referring  to  the  textile  value  of  the 
fibre  of  Hibiscus  moschcutos,  sends  specimens 
of  extremely  strong  fibre,  obtained  from  our 
common  milkweed. 


RuBUS  DELiciosus. — Some  attempt 
has  been  made  to  introduce  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Raspberry  into  cultivation . 
Its  merits  rest  chiefly  on  its  specific 
name.    The  original  discoverer,  Long, 
or  at  least  some  of  the  botanists  on 
Long's    expedition,    pronounced    the 
fruit  delicious.     In  the  writer's  own 
exploration    in    the    earlier   times   of 
Colorado,    its  delicious  character  was 
only  apparent  when  tliose  who  gath- 
ered them  were  particularly  hungry  ; 
but  occasionally  some  fruit  would  be 
quite     agreeable.       Another     feature 
seemed  to   be  that  there  were  never 
many   fruit  at   a  time  on  the  plant. 
It  would  be  a  pretty  large  bush  from 
which    a    pint    of    berries    could    be 
gathered.     It  would  be  well  to   know 
from  those   who  may  have  had  it  in 
cultivation   in  the   East,   whether  its 
character  is  at  all  improved  by  cultiva- 
tion.    To   the   general    observer,    the 
plant  looks  more  like  a  mock  orange 
than   any   of  the   ordinary   forms    of 
raspberry  ;     and    as    an    ornamental 
shrub,  ought  to  be  particularly  desir- 
able. 

Salt  as  a  M.'Vnure. — In  a  general 
way  every  one  knows  that  salt  is  a 
good  fertilizer  for  the  asparagus  plant. 
It  is  not  so  generally  known  that  it  is 
very  useful  in  other  instances.  Its 
chief  advantage  is  in  attracting  mois- 
ture from  the  atmosphere,  therefore  it 
is  an  admirable  help  to  fertility  in  soils 
that  are  likely  to  become  compara- 
tively dry.  In  heavy  wet  soils  salt  is 
worse  than  useless.  For  lawns,  salt 
has  been  found  of  great  value  ;  and  as 


SEA    KALE. 


-St  E     P.      60  . 


58 


MEEHANS'    MONTHI,Y — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[April 


Specimen  Fuchsias. — Plant  growing  has  be- 
come almost  a  lost  art.  Very  few  understand 
enough  of  physiology  and  the  nature  of  plant 
growth  sufiSciently,  either  as  a  science  or  an 
art,  to  know  how  to  make  a  beautiful  plant  out 
of  a  rough  and  straggly  one.  One  can  see  this 
lack  of  knowledge  even  in  the  popular  Chrys- 
anthemum culture.     Although  some  tolerably 


SPECIMEN    FUCHSIA. 

fine  specimens  may  be  seen  occasionally  at 
Chrysanthemum  shows,  one  may  ask  in  vain 
any  of  the  exhibitors  why  it  should  be  that 
two  plants  of  exactly  the  same  variety  in  the 
hands  of  two  different  cultivators  should  show 
flowers  considerably  larger  in  one  case  than 
another.  The  one  who  grew  the  large  flowers 
could  not  tell  why  the  others  were  small  ;  nor 
could  the  one  growing  the  small  flowered  plants 


tell  why  the  other  flowers  were  superior.  Plant 
growth  in  such  cases  is  simply  a  matter  of 
chance.  We  give  with  this  an  illustration 
taken  from  "  The  Gardeners'  Chronicle"  of  how 
a  plant  grower,  who  is  master  of  the  art,  would 
grow  a  Fuchsia.  It  will  be  seen  that  in  the 
whole  plant,  from  base  to  apex,  healthy  leaves 
and  fair  sized  flowers  are  just  as  abundant  at 
the  base  as  anywhere  else.  Nature  would  not 
do  this  for  us.  The  result  is  wholly  the  work 
of  a  highly  successful  cultivator.  We  question 
very  much  whether  there  is  to-day  in  America 
a  dozen  plant  growers  who  could  produce  a 
specimen  of  a  Fuchsia  so  perfect  in  every  re- 
spect as  this  one  is. 

Forest  Park,  Springfield,  Mass. — In  the 
great  movement  for  parks  and  breathing  places, 
a  number  of  our  leading  towns  and  cities 
are  now  in  friendly  contest.  Springfield, 
Mass.,  is  one  among  the  number  which  boasts 
of  a  beautiful  one.  It  goes  under  the  name  of 
"  Forest  Park,"  overlooking  the  Connecticut 
river,  and  comprises  340  acres,  and  of  this  75 
acres  was  first  given  by  Mr.  O.  H.  Greenleaf, 
of  that  city.  To  this  Mr.  E.  H.  Barney  added 
109,  on  condition  that  the  city  secured  92 
others.  A  number  of  influential  citizens  con- 
vened, purchased  and  gave  to  the  city  other 
tracts,  making  340  in  all.  Among  the  magni- 
ficent trees  which  adorn  this  Park,  specimens 
of  the  common  Chestnut  tree  are  said  to  be  pre- 
eminent, some  of  them  being  100  feet  high  and 
six  feet  in  circumference.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  artificial  ponds  on  the  grounds,  stocked 
with  water  plants.  Mr.  Barney,  who  is  still 
living,  still  spends  much  money  in  beautify- 
ing the  Park.  His  mansion  stands  in  the 
midst  of  the  Park.  A  monument,  intended 
as  a  lookout  for  visitors  as  well  as  a  memorial 
of  his  son,  is  now  being  constructed  in  the 
Park  at  a  cost  of  $40,000. 

Rockeries  for  Small  Gardens. — One  of 
the  pleasantest  features  in  gardening  for  small 
places  is  a  rockery,  that  is  saj',  small  banks, 
or  blufts  made  of  projecting  stones  and  earth, 
in  which  certain  kinds  of  plants  love  to  grow. 
A  considerable  degree  of  taste  is,  however,  re- 
quired in  order  to  make  these  little  rockeries 
ornamental.  The  great  idea  should  be  to 
make  them  look  as  natural  as  possible.  It  is 
not  uncommon  to  see  a  little  mount  of  stones 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


59 


and  earth  of  this  character  in  the  center  of  a 
grass  plot  far  away  and  disconnected  with  any 
other  artificial  features.  These  rarely  look 
well,  they  are  entirely  out  of  place,  but  if  they 
•can  be  made  to  appear  as  if  they  were  being 
projected  from  some  bank,  or  as  if  they  sprang 
out  of  the  ground  in  some  natural  way,  the  effect 
is  very  different.  Under  the  shade  of  trees 
especially,  a  little  rock  garden  can  be  made 
particularly  effective  by  the  use  of  ferns  and 
other  shade  loving  plants.  The  great  effort  in 
all  these  attempts  should  be  to  make  art  and 
nature  seem  to  gradually  merge  the  one  into 
the  other.  It  is  a  great  dividing  line,  the 
gulf  between  the  two,  which  renders  hideous 
verj' often  that  which  might  be  beautiful,  both 
from  a  natural  and  artificial  point  of  view. 

Lilies  of  the  Vallev. — It  is  not  generally 
known  that  these  beautiful  flowers  are  pro- 
duced to  much  better  satisfaction  under  the 
-shade  of  trees  than  elsewhere.  Wherever  there 
is  a  clump  of  trees  no  better  plant  can  be  in- 
troduced to  grow  under  them  than  the  Lilies  of 
the  Valley.  In  order  to  get  them,  however,  to 
best  advantage  under  the  shade  of  trees,  they 
require  an  annual  top  dressing  of  manure,  or 
some  other  rich  soil.  This  is  after  all  doing 
good  to  the  trees  ;  for  on  lawns  and  in  places 
somewhat  under  cultivation,  where  the  leaves 
of  the  trees  are  gradually  cleaned  up  for  neat- 
ness' sake,  they  suffer  very  much  for  want  of 
food.  When  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  is  grown 
in  this  way,  therefore,  the  trees  get  a  portion 
of  the  food  as  well  as  the  plants,  and  thus  we 
do  ourselves  a  double  service  by  adding  to  the 
health  and  longevity  of  the  trees  while  culti- 
vating the  beautiful  flowers  beneath  them. 
More  fine  old  trees  die  early  from  want  of  food 
than  from  any  other  cause. 

Easter  Lilies. — In  the  old  world  the  Easter 
Lily  is  the  White  Lily,  Liliiun  cajididum,  or 
the  variations  of  the  White  Japan  Lilies.  In 
our  country  the  Calla  or  Richardia  Ethiopica 
usually  receives  this  designation.  The  word 
Easter  is  a  corruption  of  Eostro,  who  was  an 
Anglo  -  Saxon  goddess,  worshipped  in  the 
month  of  April  in  Britain,  with  peculiar  cere- 
monies. When  the  island  was  converted  to 
Christianity,  the  name  was  retained  and  the 
Christian  festival  supplanted  the  older  cere- 
monies. 


Sowing  Seeds  — Those  who  deal  in  seeds 
are  frequently  puzzled  at  the  reports  of  some 
purchasers  that  seeds  bought  of  them  fail  to 
grow.  Seedsmen  who  have  had  themselves 
practical  experience,  understand  why,  but  the 
majority  have  not  had  this  advantage,  and  the 
whole  subject  remains  a  puzzle  to  them.  One 
of  the  chief  causes  of  the  failure  of  seeds  to 
grow  is  that  they  are  sown  too  deep.  Almost 
every  one  has  heard,  if  they  have  not  actually 
experienced,  that  seeds  several  inches  deep  in 
the  ground,  or  perhaps  in  some  cases  several 
feet,  will  remain  without  germinating  for 
numbers  of  years  ;  while  the  seeds,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  would  naturally  have 
grown  the  year  after  maturity.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  they  are  wholly  excluded  from  the 
atmosphere  ;  the  converse  of  this  proposition 
is  that  seeds  require  atmospheric  air  in  order 
to  germinate  well,  if  they  are  near  the  surface 
of  the  earth  where  there  are  extremes  of  tem- 
perature ;  but  with  atmosphere  excluded  they 
simply  rot.  Perhaps  no  better  illustration  of 
the  necessity  of  atmospheric  air,  in  order  to 
get  seeds  to  germinate,  is  furnished  than  by  a 
visit  to  some  old  fruit  tree — say,  for  instance, 
the  cherry,  where  the  seeds  have  fallen  and 
covered  the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  early 
spring  these  cherry  stones  will  be  observed 
to  be  sprouting  in  every  direction  ;  while  seeds 
from  the  same  tree  set  by  the  nurserymen,  will 
fail  to  grow  at  all — the  reason  being  that  they 
were  planted  so  deep  as  to  exclude  the  atmos- 
phere. What  is  true  of  these  larger  seeds  is 
equally  true  of  small  garden  seeds.  Where 
they  fail  to  germinate,  in  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  it  is  from  being  sown  too  deep.  The  late 
Peter  Henderson  so  well  understood  this  that 
he  advised  many  of  his  customers  to  simply 
tramp  the  seeds  into  the  ground.  He  would 
choose  a  dry  day  to  sow  when  the  earth 
would  rather  powder  under  pressure  than  be- 
come pasty  ;  the  garden  line  would  be  stretched ; 
the  seeds  sowed  either  on  the  surface  or  in  a 
mere  scratch,  and  then  tramped  in  with  the 
feet  along  the  surface  of  the  line.  Very  few 
failures  ever  occur  under  these  circumstances. 
As  to  the  seeds  being  bad,  every  purchaser 
should  examine  carefully  before  sowing,  in 
order  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  good  or 
not.     With  a  common  pocket  lens  in  hand, 


6o 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[April 


and  the  seed  carefully  divided,  no  one  could 
fail  to  be  satisfied  whether  the  seed  was  in 
germinating  condition  or  not — imperfect  seeds 
being  yellowish  ;  while  sound  seeds,  usually, 
being  of  ivory  white.  In  brief,  seeds  require, 
^  to  germinate  well,  atmospheric  air,  moisture, 
and  some  shade  ;  with  these  essentials  very 
little  more  knowledge  is  required  as  to  how  to 
germinate  seeds  successfully. 

Sea  Kale.  — -  In  recent  issues,  notice  was 
taken  of  some  excellent  but  neglected  vege- 
tables worthy  of  a  better  fate.  Sea  Kale  was 
one  of  these.  Prof.  Cote,  of  the  Oregon  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station  at  Corvallis,  finds 
it  easy  to  cultivate  there, — and  the  illustration 
on  p.  57  shows  how  well  he  succeeds.  The 
seeds  were  sown  April  loth  ;  on  the  next  Feb- 
ruary 12th  transplanted  in  rows  10  inches 
apart.  The  crown  buds  were  cut  out  at  trans- 
planting to  prevent  flowering.  They  were  set 
in  an  eight  inch  trench,  and  the  crown  an  inch 
below  the  surface.  The  plants  made  a  strong 
growth  during  the  summer.  In  December 
the  earth  about  them  was  loosened  by  a  digging 
fork,  an  inverted  nail  keg  set  over  each  plant, 
then  stable  manure  and  leaves,  fifteen  inches 
deep,  over  the  whole.  By  March  4th,  under 
this  light  forcing,  the  plants  were  ready  for 
table  use. 

An  Error  in  Tree-planting. — The  follow- 
ing timely  note  comes  from  Mr.  Ernest  Walker, 
of  New  Albany,  Ind. 

"  Nothing  connected  with  trees  or  an  orchard 
is  of  more  importance  than  careful  setting  of 
the  trees.  It  is  a  kind  of  sowing,  and  as  is  the 
sowing  so  will  the  harvest  be. 

In  places  where  the  sub-soil  is  of  the  heavy 
impervious  sort  and  not  drained,  it  is  a  serious 
mistake  in  setting  trees  to  dig  great  deep  holes 
and  fill  them  with  light,  rich  soil.  Such  holes 
become  drainage  pits  for  the  water  of  surround- 
ing soil  and,  except  in  dry  weather,  will  be  a 
fourth  or  half  full  of  water.  Trees  planted  in 
them  are  theoretically  shown  the  kindest  treat- 
ment, but  practically  are  subjected  to  killing 
cruelty. 

When  set  in  the  fall  they  are  liable  to  be 
either  drowned  out  or  frozen  out.  Aud  if  they 
survive,  the  water  in  the  bottom  of  the  hole  is 
as  a  knife  to  the  formation  of  the  deep  and  an- 
choring roots. 


Select  a  better  piece  of  ground  or  else  drain 
that  at  band,  is  the  writer's  first  recommenda- 
tion ;  if  neither  can  be  done,  however,  the  ad- 
vice then  would  be,  don't  make  a  bad  matter 
worse  by  digging  holes,  rather  make  mounds 
on  which  to  set  the  trees. 

This  has  been  done  and  with  great  success. 
One  of  the  finest  orchards  of  Ben  Davis  apples 
in  Indiana  was  planted  after  this  method  which 
might  appropriately  be  called  smface-planting . 

The  ground  being  undrained  and  heavy,  in- 
stead of  digging  holes  it  occurred  to  the  gentle- 
man in  planting  his  trees  to  try  another  plan. 
Accordingly  after  plowing  the  land  three  cart- 
loads of  soil  were  dumped  at  the  spot  where 
each  tree  was  to  stand.  Having  been  smoothed 
off"  and  formed  into  a  low  mound,  on  one  of 
these  each  tree  was  set.  Between  the  rows  a 
little  grading  provided  for  the  running  off  of 
most  of  the  surface  water. 

In  this  orchard  of  ten-year-old  trees,  bearing 
twelve  to  sixteen  bushels  each,  there  was  not 
a  specked  apple  seen.  Had  the  trees  been  set 
in  the  same  ground  according  to  the  prevalent 
method,  the  probabilities  are  the  kindest  care 
would  not  have  reaped  such  glowing  rewards. 

Some  years  have  passed  since  the  writer  saw 
for  the  first  time  his  theory  reduced  to  success- 
ful practice,  though  entirely  independently  of 
any  suggestion  of  his.  Further  observation 
and  experience  have  confirmed  the  correctness 
of  his  view  of  the  matter. 

The  writer  would  not  be  understood  as  re- 
commending surface-plaiiting  for  all  soils.  By 
no  means.  Only  in  flat,  undrained,  or  rather 
wet  land  is  it  advised  as  largely  compensating 
for  natural  disadvantages,  out  of  which  the 
planter  may  not  otherwise  see  his  way. ' ' 

One  of  the  finest  apple  orchards  one  of  the 
conductors  ever  saw  was  in  Indiana,  where  the 
land  had  been  plowed  into  narrow  and  steep 
ridges,  and  the  trees  planted  on  the  apex  of 
the  ridges.  All  trees  hate  water.  Rich 
food,  dampness  and  oxj'gen  is  what  the  roots 
require. 

Cherry  Culture. — In  an  excellent  report 
on  experiments  with  cherries,  Mr.  John  Craig, 
of  the  Experiment  Farm,  of  Ottawa,  Canada, 
speaks  of  well  drained,  sandy  loam  as  being 
excellent  for  this  fruit.  A  large  number  were 
planted  for  experiment, — one  of  a  kind, — so  as 
to  judge  of  their  comparative  merits.     They 


t893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


6l 


■were  set  25  feet  apart,  kept  clear  of  weeds  by  a 
"horse  cultivator  up  to  midsummer,  manured 
originally  with  good  barn-yard  manure,  and 
later  with  unleiched  wood  ashes,  at  the  rate  of 
about  1 25  bushels  to  the  acre.  Canada  is  especi- 
ally favorable  to  the  hardier  varieties  of  cherry. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  one  of  the  oldest 
varieties  known  to  our  cultivators,  the  Carna- 
tion, id  regarded  as  still  one  of  the  healthiest 
and  best — even  meriting  a  trial,  Mr.  Craig 
says,  where  other  kinds  fail.  He  speaks  of 
the  variety,  Griotte  du  Nord,  as  having  been 
first  introduced  to 
America  by  Prof. 
Budd,  from  Sile- 
sia, not  many 
years  ago.  It  has, 
however,  been  in 
cultivation  in  the 
vicinity  of  Phila- 
delphia for  nearly 
half  a  century — 
possibly  introduc- 
ed by  the  late 
Peter  KiefFer , 
whose  name  is  at- 
tached to  a  well- 
known  pear.  The 
Montmorency  is 
spoken  of  as  in 
some  sections 
superseding  the 
Early  Richmond. 
If  this  could  be 
generally  borne 
out,  it  would  give 
this  variety  a  good 
character,  —  f  o  r 
the  Early  Rich- 
mond in  this  part  VACCINIUM  CO 
of  the  world  continues  to  stand  ahead  of  all 
competitors.  It  is  one  of  the  sour  cherries — 
only  used  for  table — and  when  a  little  over 
ripe,  if  one  may  use  that  expression,  it  is  still 
rather  acid  when  in  a  condition  that  would 
make  other  sour  cherries  palatable. 

Vaccinium  corymbosum. — Pictures  of  the 
huckleberry  or  blueberry  have  been  going  the 
rounds  in  some  quarters  representing  fruit  of 
enormous  size,  but  which  does  not  represent  a 
huckleberry  at  all  ;  it  is  simply  the  dwarf 
form  of  the  common  Juneberry,    botanically, 


Amelanchier  botiyapiittn.  It  will  help  to  in- 
form the  public  and  counteract  the  bad  im- 
pression which  disappointment  with  this  mis- 
nomer may  occasion,  to  give  an  illustration  of 
the  true  thing.  This  particular  one  now  illus- 
trated is  Vacciniian  corvmbosiim,  native  of  the 
whole  sea-board  of  the  eastern  United  States, 
from  Canada  to  Florida.  The  readers  of 
Meehans'  Monthly  have  probably  never 
seen  a  more  beautiful  specimen  than  this  now 
illustrated  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  it  was  grown 
in  California  and  made  from  a  photograph  fur- 
nished to  us  by 
Mr.  Luther  Bur- 
bank,  of  Santa 
Rosa.  Like  many 
other  plants  with 
very  fine,  hair- 
like  roots,  it  is 
not  adapted  to  cul- 
tivation in  stiff, 
heavy  soils  ;  but 
in  any  light, 
gravell}'  ground, 
which  never 
bakes  under  the 
hot  summer  sun, 
it  will  thrive  well; 
and  there  is  no 
part  of  the  United 
States  in  which 
it  might  not  be 
grown  if  a  little 
care  be  taken  to 
select  the  soil 
suited  for  it. 

The  Crandali, 
Currant. — We 
RYMBOSUM.  ijave   had   a  sus- 

picion, from  the  description,  that  what  has 
been  sent  out  as  the  Crandali  currant  is  noth- 
ing more  than  the  Utah  variety  of  the  common 
Mo.  currant,  which  has  been  on  sale  in  leading 
nurseries  in  the  East  for  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century.  Mr.  A.  G.  Heaver,  of  Boyre,  Ontario, 
states  in  the  "Canadian  Horticulturist"  that 
he  has  grown  and  fruited  it,  and  finds  that  it  is, 
precisely  as  we  supposed  it  was,  only  the  Mo. 
currant  sent  out  at  high  prices,  on  account  of 
its  having  been  given  a  new  name.  Any  one 
may  give  a  plant  a  new  English  name, — and 
pay  twice  for  the  same  plant. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


SPRING  FLOWERS. 

'Tis  sweet  to  love  in  childhood,  when  the  souls 
that  we  bequeath 

Are  beautiful  in  freshness  as  the  coronals  we  wreathe; 

When  we  feed  the  gentle  robin  and  caress  the  leap- 
ing hound, 

And  linger  latest  on  the  spot  where  buttercups  are 
found ; 

When  we  see  the  bee  and  ladybird  with  laughter, 
shout,  and  song. 

And  think  the  day  for  wooing  them  can  never  be 
too  long.  — EuzA  Cook. 


Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedition.  —  We 
could  not  have  placed  our  inquiry  in  relation 
to  the  proper  spelling  of  Clark's  name,  into 
better  hands  than  Prof.  Coues,  vphose  decisive 
note  in  Meehans'  Monthly  for  January, 
finally  settled  the  question,  for  we  now  find 
that  the  Professor  has  been  engaged  on  the 
study  of  the  Expedition  under  the  command 
of  Lewis  and  Clark,  which  went  across  the 
continent  in  1804-5-6.  The  history  of  this 
Expedition  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on 
record,  and  the  curious  facts  gathered  then  re- 
lating to  wild  nature,  show  that  the  general 
features  of  the  American  continent  will  soon 
themselves  be  matters  of  history  as  little  by 
little  the  press  of  civilization  causes  the  orig- 
inal features  to  disappear.  Even  now,  as  he 
reads  the  details  as  given  by  these  heroic  trav- 
elers, one  can  scarcely  imagine  many  of  the 
facts  related  to  ever  have  had  a  real  exis- 
tence, so  rapid  has  been  the  advance  of  civili- 
zation over  the  whole  continent.  When  rising 
from  his  blanket  spread  on  the  ground  in  a  part 
of  these  weird  regions,  only  twenty  years 
ago,  a  Mexican  ox  driver  remarked  to  the 
writer  of  this  paragraph,  that  he  hoped  civili- 
zation would  not  be  thrust  on  them  too  fast. 
To  see  it  now  the  full  force  of  the  Mexican's 
fear  can  be  well  realized. 


Joseph  Harris. — Probably  few  men  have 
done  more  to  bring  American  agriculture  and 
that  department  of  horticulture  which  is,  in  a 
measure,  agricultural,  up  to  its  present  ad- 
vanced condition  than  Joseph  Harris.     As  a 

(62) 


writer  in  periodicals  and  of  agricultural  books 
his  name  is  well  known.  His  death  at  Moreton 
farm,  about  five  miles  from  Rochester,  has  re- 
cently been  announced.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  bring  into  great  notice  the  famous 
apple,  the  Northern  Spy.  He  was  also  one  of 
the  first  to  demonstrate  by  actual  practice  that 
an  orchard  was  more  permanently  profitable 
by  not  having  the  surface  continually  torn  to 
pieces  ,by  the  plow  or  harrow.  His  practice 
was  to  keep  the  coarse  grass  and  weeds  down 
by  the  use  of  swine  for  pasturing.  For  many 
years  he  was  the  editor  of  the  famous  Genesee 
Farmer.  His  work  on  fertilizers  has  been  espe- 
ciall}'  popular.  Mr.  Charles  A.  Green,  in  his 
Fruit  Grower,  has  recently  paid  a  very  hand- 
some tribute  to  the  memory  of  this  especially 
useful  man. 


The  Empress  Josephine. — Some  of  the  best 
botanical  works  of  the  past  generation  were 
issued  under  the  patronage  of  the  Empress 
Josephine,  who  was  herself  very  fond  of  gar- 
dening.    A  recent  account  says  of  her  : 

Josephine's  favorite  employment  —  it  was 
more  than  a  diversion — -was  horticulture.  She 
was  not  in  any  sense  a  scientist.  She  loved 
nature  for  nature's  sake,  and  her  hothouses 
and  gardens  were  her  long  and  lasting  delight. 
In  those  days  such  pleasures  were  costly,  and 
more  than  once  after  her  divorce,  complaints 
were  made  that  she  overdrew  her  rather  large 
annuity.  Napoleon  was  liberal  himself,  but 
the  State  interfered,  and  on  one  occasion  he 
was  compelled  to  delegate  a  minister  to  warn 
her  of  the  consequences  of  her  horticultural 
extravagance. 

GooDALE's  Wild  Flowers  and  Eaton's- 
Ferns  of  North  America. — These  magnifi- 
cent works  on  American  Botany,  are  now  being 
again  advertised.  The  beautifully  colored  plates 
and  descriptive  text  render  the  work  popular 
with  intelligent  people  and  should  be  well 
supported. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND   LITERATURE. 


63 


Prop.  Louis  Agassiz  — There  is  scarcely  a 
person  interested  in  science  but  who  has  heard 
of  this  great  man,  and  yet  we  find  that  his  por- 
trait is  unfamiliar  to  a  large  circle  of  his  ad- 
mirers. By  the  courtesy  of  Prof  Harlan  H. 
Ballard,  of  Pittsfiekl,  Mass.,  who  founded  the 
Agassiz  Association  in  1875,  two  years  after 
Prof.  Agassiz's  death,  the  accompanying  por- 
trait comes  before  the  readers  of  Meehans' 
Monthly.  It  was  not  merely  his  great  scien- 
tific eminence,  great  as  it  was,  which  endeared 
Prof.  AgHssiz  to  so  large  a  circle,  but  also  the 
lovable  character  of  the  man  which,  as  in  the 
case  of  Prof.  Leidy,  attached  to  him  all  who 
knew  him,  and  which  character  seemed  to 
make  students  of  nature 
of  ever}'  one  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  The 
writer  of  this  well  re- 
members when  many 
3'ears  ago  at  the  in- 
stance of  a  large  educa- 
ational  institution  in 
Philadelphia  the  Profes- 
sor gave  an  evening 
lecture,  how  the  school 
teachers  of  Philadelphia 
crowded  around  him, 
and  it  was  interesting 
to  hear  their  remarks  in 
relation  to  his  affability. 
Thej-  seemed  to  imagine 
that  on  account  of  his 
high  position  in  the 
world  of  science,  he 
would  have  to  be  looked 
up  to  as  if  he  were  an  object  of  adoration  ; 
but  as  one  remarked  to  the  writer,  he  was 
"simply  just  the  same  as  one  of  ourselves." 
It  was  the  surprise  which  accompanied  the 
remark  which  seemed  to  show  how  heartfelt 
was  the  appreciation  of  the  Professor's  char- 
acter— the  feeling  himself  to  be  simply  one 
of  the  world.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
say  in  this  connection,  that  he  was  born  in 
Montier,  near  Lake  Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland, 
in  the  year  1807  ;  and  yet  so  early  and  success- 
ful in  life  were  his  studies  in  natural  history 
that  at  the  age  of  20  years  he  was  appointed 
by  the  author  of  the  "  Flora  of  Brazil"  to  work 
up  the  fishes  collected  on  Spix's  Expedition, 
which  he  did  in  an  able  work  wholly  in  the 
Latin  language.     He  visited  America  in  1846, 


and  so  thoroughly  delighted  was  he  with  our 
country  that  he  determined  to  make  it  his  per- 
manent home,  and  did  not  return.  During  his 
residence  in  this  country  very  tempting  offers 
were  made  to  him  to  go  back  to  the  Old  World, 
but  nothing  moved  him  to  leave  America.  His 
death  occurred  on  the  14th  of  December,  1873. 


PROF.    LOUIS  AGASSIZ. 


The  National  Flower.  —  Meehans' 
Monthly  has  taken  very  little  interest  in  the 
discussions  concerning  a  national  flower,  be- 
lieving that  national  flowers  never  become  na- 
tional until  connected  with  some  great  nation- 
al event.  National  flowers  are  like  the  poets  ; 
the}'  are  born  and  not  made.  However,  as 
some  of  our  intelligent 
correspondents  seem 
still  interested  in  the 
question,  it  may  be 
noted  that  Mr.  T.  C. 
Thurlow  writes  warmly 
in  regard  to  the  Colum- 
bine, especially  remark- 
ing, "  As  this  is  the 
Columbus  year."  But 
the  Columbine  is  scarce- 
ly an  American  flower 
in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word,  as  the  great  home 
of  this  flower  is  in 
north  ern  Europe. 
America  has  but  a  very 
few  species  to  boast  of, 
and  these  by  no  means 
common.  There  is  one 
matter,  however,  con- 
nected with  this  flower  which  always  had  an 
interest  for  the  writer.  The  Latin  word  for 
dove  is  Columba,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  ancient 
history  that  the  dove,  Columba,  was  sent 
out  of  the  Ark  to  find  a  new  world.  In  like 
manner,  Columbus,  whose  name  is  evidently 
derived  from  Columba,  was  sent  out  from 
the  old  world  to  find  the  new  world  we  now 
enjoy — a  singular  and  remarkable  coincidence. 
Further  the  Columbine  was  so  named  from  the 
fact  that  when  the  flowers  are  looked  at  upside 
down,  the  curved  nectaries  give  the  flower  the 
appearance  of  a  number  of  young  doves,  all 
sitting  round  and  drinking  out  of  one  dish, 
and  in  this  way  the  flower  derived  the  name 
of  Columbine.  The  three  remarkable  facts, 
all  coinciding,  form  a  remarkable  symposium. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Nursery  Exhibits  at  Chicago. — A  Western 
paper  states  that  a  small  plot  of  ground,  50 
feet  by  35,  in  all,  "  three  blocks,"  has  been  set 
apart  for  Mr.  Pinney  to  exhibit  varieties  of 
coniferse.  "  He  is  informed  no  other  nursery- 
man exhibiting  coniferse  has  asked  for  more 
than  one  block,  "  and  "that  it  is  not  thought 
probable  that  they  will  do  so." 

It  is  but  fair  to  some  of  the  leading  nursery- 
men of  the  United  States,  and  probabl3'  else- 
where to  say  that  if  "applications  "  in  form 
were  not  made,  it  was  due  to  the  failure  of  cor- 
respondence to  make  anj^thing  out  of  the 
management. 

One  firm  can  be  named  who  earnestly  desired 
to  make  an  exhibit  of  over  one  thousand  kinds 
of  trees  and  shrubs — possibly  the  finest  the 
world  had  ever  seen, — but  the  whole  subject 
was  knocked  about,  from  one  "  agent  "  to  an- 
other "  agent,  "  who  seemed  to  be  thriving  on 
salaries  with  wonderful  prolificacy,  but  with 
corresponding  paucity  of  the  knowledge  neces- 
sary to  comprehend  the  wants  of  a  nurseryman, 
that  the  whole  matter  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Mr.  Pinney  is  to  congratulated  on  having  been 
able  to  secure  even  this  small  space. 

Love  for  Intelligexce. — A  correspond- 
ent from  a  large  Connecticut  city  with  some 
reputation  as  a  centre  of  intelligence,  says  : — 
"  In  this  splendid  library  of  our  city  there  is 
a  whole  alcove  andj[more  full  of  books  on 
botany,  but  no  readers  or  students,  at  best 
only  a  few.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  when 
the  common  people'know  nothing,  so  to  say, 
of  such  priceless  treasures.'  Money,  and  how  to 
get  it  seems  everybody '  s  sole  purpose  to  live  for . ' ' 

This  is  not  merely  true  of  botanical  work 
but  of  almost  all  classes  of  books  except  novels 
and  romances.  And  this  latter  remark  would 
lead  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  not  mere 
money-making  treatises  that  take  the  place  of 
substantial  reading,  but  rather  that  "  culture" 
has  run  in  the  wrong  direction.  It  is  the  mis- 
sion ot  works  like  Meehans'  Monthly,  to 
improve  this  neglected  field. 

(64) 


Alexander  Murdoch. — Among  the  horti- 
cultural losses  of  last  month  must  be  chronicled 
the  death  of  Mr.  Alexander  Murdoch,  one  of 
the  well  known  nursery  firm  of  J.  R.  &  A. 
Murdoch,  of  Pittsburgh.  He  died  February 
the  9th,  in  his  53rd  3'ear.  His  father  was  one 
of  the  first  to  engage  in  the  nursery  business 
in  Pittsburgh,  having  started  it  in  1840.  He 
was  well  known  for  his  advanced  intelligence 
in  everything  connected  with  plants,  fruits  and 
flowers.  His  son  inherited,  in  a  great  mea- 
sure, the  peculiar  horticultural  gifts  of  his 
father  and  took  an  active  interest  in  everything 
connected  with  the  advancement  of  his  profes- 
sion. The  Home  Wood  Cemetery,  a  very  beauti- 
ful place,  received  a  large  share  of  his  atten- 
tion, he  being  one  of  the  directors. 

Ernst  Penary, — While  going  to  press  notice 
comes  of  the  death  of  the  eminent  horticulturist 
Ernst  Penary,  of  Erfurt,  which  occurred  on  the 
19th  of  February,  in  his  74th  year.  He  was 
one  of  the  rare  men  who,  starting  in  a  humble 
way,  determined  to  make  horticulture  a  life- 
long pursuit,  and  he  spared  no  exertion  to  make 
himself  a  master  of  the  art.  He  commenced 
the  seed  business  in  1843 — and  so  has  been 
nearly  a  half  century  at  the  head  of  the  seed 
firm  bearing  his  name. 

A  Book  on  Celery  Culture. — Messrs.  W. 
Atlee  Burpee  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  have 
issued  a  small  paper  covered  treatise  of  eightj'- 
five  pages  on  the  most  profitable  methods  of 
cultivating  celery,  which  is  timely  and  useful. 
New  methods  have  simplified  what  was  once  a 
troublesome  culture,  and  a  perusal  of  the  trea- 
tise shows  that  even  an  experienced  celery 
grower  has  much  to  learn. 


Abies  Frazeri. — It  should  have  been  Mr. 
Harlan  P.  Kelsey  to  whom  credit  is  due  for 
introducing  the  beautiful  Fir,  the  true  Abies 
Frazeri  to  cultivation,  and  not  Kelsey  &  Co., 
which  is  not  a  North  Carolina  firm. 


X 


ASCYRUM  CRUX-ANDRE.E 


ST.  ANDREW'S  CROSS. 


NATURAL  ORDER,  HYPERICACE.E. 


AsCYRrm  CRUx-ANDRK.E.  l.intiKus  — Stem  nine  to  eighteen  inches  high,  much  branched  from  the  base  I  eaves  obovafe- 
oblong.  narrowed  at  the  base,  half  an  inch  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length,  with  numerous  dajk  colored  dots  on 
both  sides.  Flowers  vellow,  in  terminal  few-flowered  corymbs,  and  sub-terminal  from  the  axils,  on  short  peduncles ;. 
petalslinear  oblong;'stvles  two.  Darlington's  .F/oa  Ceslrica.  ^ee  &\so  Gtay's  Manual  of  Ihf  Botany  of  the  Northeinf 
United  Stales.    Chapman's  Flora  of  t/ie  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany. 


One  of  the  most  beautiful  pieces  of  rural 
scener}'  near  the  great  city  of  Philadelphia,  is 
the  valley  of  the  Wissahickon.  The  great 
diversity  of  its  tree  clad  hills,  and  fern-covered 
rocks,  with  the  cool  shade  which  the  rapid 
stream  gives  to  the  umbrageous  trees,  are  by 
no  means  the  chief  of  its  charms.  A  large 
part  of  its  interest  lies  in  the  great  variety  of 
its  vegetal  forms.  Its  botany  is  as  diversiSed 
as  the  lovely  hills  themselves.  Few  areas  of 
similar  extent  could  offer  more  species  to  the 
collector,  and  there  is  something  special  to 
attract  at  any  season  of  the  year.  The  low 
evergreen  plant  now  about  to  be  described  oc- 
curs in  many  places,  but  the  writer  does  not 
remember  it  as  producing  the  same  effect  in 
winter  scenery  anywhere  else  as  along  the 
Wissahickon.  On  the  slopes  of  the  hills  among 
the  rocks  bunches  over  eighteen  inches  wide 
and  nearly  a  foot  high,  may  be  seen  aiding  in 
relieving  the  drearine.'ss  of  winter  when  the 
snow  is  on  the  ground.  It  is  quite  as  green  as 
the  box-edging  of  our  gardens,  but  far  more 
beautiful,  because  it  has  none  of  the  set  stiff- 
ness which  box  has.  Its  fringy  form,  amid  the 
white  snow,  and  among  the  brown,  rough 
rocks,  is  particularU'  pleasing.  In  summer 
time  the  soft  green  foliage  is  brightened  by 
the  pale  yellow  and  very  singular  flowers. 
Each  flower  does  not  last  long,  but  they  are 
continuously  produced,  and  some  maybe  found 
open  at  any  time  from  the  end  of  June  to  the 
beginning  of  August.  The  profusion  of  bloom 
is  owing  to  the  immense  number  of  little 
branches  which  form  the  bush,  and  which  give 
the  whole  plant  its  pleasing  winter  character. 

Besides  these  general  features  there  are  many 
peculiarities  which  render  it  very  acceptable 
to  those  lovers  of  wild  flowers  who  delight  in 


looking  at  nature  in  detail.  The  little  woody 
stems  at  the  base  of  the  plant  are  quite  round, 
but  as  the  summit  is  examined  the  branches 
are  found  to  be  two-edged.  As  the  growth  of 
the  season  ceases,  or  among  the  short  and 
sturdy  growths  on  the  branchlets,  there  will  be 
found  some  cases  where  the  stems  are  square. 
An  examination  will  show  that  from  the  edges 
of  the  leaf  near  the  base  two  membraneous 
tissues  run  down  to  the  node  below.  As  the 
leaves  are  opposite,  there  are  thus  four  lines, 
and  which,  in  the  last  condition  noted, 
make  the  stem  appear  four-edged  or  square. 
In  the  more  vigorous  branches,  where  there  is 
the  widest  distance  between  the  nodes,  the 
two  edges  of  the  membrane  connected  with 
each  leaf,  meet  the  edges  of  those  opposite, 
unite,  and  then  we  have  the  two-edged  condi- 
tion. This  membrane  forms  only  the  outer 
cortical  or  bark  layer,  and  lasts  only  one  sea- 
son ;  when  it  decays  the  normal  round  condi- 
tion remains.  The  finding  of  three  forms  on 
the  one  plant  affords  a  good  lesson,  and  gives 
the  clue  to  the  formation  of  all  two-edged  and 
square-stemmed  herbaceous  growths.  It  is 
from  the  union  or  separation  of  edges  which 
seem  to  run  down,  or  be  decurrent  from  the 
bases  of  leaves  at  the  node  above  ;  and  only 
among  plants  with  opposite  leaves  are  square 
stems  found. 

Another  interesting  study  is  furnished  by 
the  inflorescence, — the  sepals,  petals,  and  other 
parts  of  flowers  might  have  been  leaves.  By 
the  agency  of  some  law  operating  at  a  very 
early  stage  of  the  organ's  existence,  what 
might  have  been  leaves,  are  transformed  inta 
floral  organs.  In  many  plants  the  process  of 
transformation  is  verj'  gradual,  in  others  sud- 
den and  seemingly  fitful.     In  our  plant   the 

(65) 


66 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — ASCYRUM   CRUX-ANDREA. 


[May- 


series  of  leaves  at  each  node  is  remarkably 
even  and  regular.  In  many  successive  series, 
scarcely  a  leaf  will  be  found  larger  or  varying  in 
form  from  another,  but  when  the  flower  condition 
appears,  instead  of  a  gradual  decrease  of  the 
size  of  the  leaves  till  they  become  mere  bracts, 
a  pair  of  very  minute  ones  are  formed  at  once, 
and  to  the  next  pair  is  given  large  ovate  forms 
very  different  from  the  regular  leaves.  With 
this  fitful  effort  the  growth  force  seems 
measurably  exhausted,  and  the  next  pair  of 
leaves  are  but  little  larger  than  the  small 
leaves, — the  "mere  bracts"  already  noted. 
The  first  small  set  has  a  low  vital  power,  and 
soon  dies,  so  that  the  oSice  of  calyx  falls  to 
the  other  two  series, — the  pair  of  large  ovate, 
and  the  pair  of  very  small  inner  ones,  forming 
the  "  four  parted  calyx  ;  "  after  this  we  have  a 
vigorous  growth,  apparently  embracing  two 
nodes  at  once,  and  which,  therefore,  results  in 
four  petals  of  very  nearly  equal  size, — and  in 
-which  the  irregular  arrangement  is  very  re- 
markable ;  and  suggested  its  specific  name, 
Crux-andrea — or  the  St.  Andrew's  cross. 

Passing  from  its  morphological  characters  to 
its  relation  with  history,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  Ascy7'on  was  a  plant  used  in  medicine  by 
the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  seems  to 
have  been  some  plant  of  the  order  Hypericacea 
to  which  our  plant  belongs, — perhaps  the 
European  plant  now  known  as  Hypericum 
Ascyron.  According  to  Plin}',  the  Ascyron  of 
that  day  had  a  "coma" — probably  referring  to 
the  head  of  hair-like  stamens — which,  when 
bruised,  turned  as  red  as  blood.  The  old 
herbalists  in  their  endeavors  at  system,  had  a 
section  of  Hypericum  in  which  those  related  to 
the  supposed  Ascyron  found  a  place  ;  and  our 
plant  first  sent  to  Europe  from  Virginia  by  the 
Reverend  John  Banister,  was  placed  therein. 
When  systematic  botany  was  revised  by  Lin- 
naeus, the  old  Ascyrons  were  found  to  be  true 
Hypericums,  and  the  American  member  of  the 
family  found  to  be  a  distinct  genus  ;  and  it  was 
thus  left  with  the  ancient  name,  though  the 
genus  of  about  half  a  dozen  species  is  wholly 
an  American  one.  Separated  from  its  ancient 
family  relations,  it  has  not  only  borne  with  it 
a  part  of  the  name  of  the  family,  but  also  one 
of  its  common  names,  that  of  St.  Peter's  wort, 
by  which  the  whole  family  of  Ascyrons  is 
sometimes  known  in   American  works.     Hy- 


pericum perforatum  was  the  original  St.  John's 
wort.  In  old  times  it  was  believed  that  if  the 
herb  was  gathered  on  the  eve  of  St.  John's  day, 
it  was  blessed  by  that  saint  to  this  extent,  that 
if  hung  in  a  window  during  a  thunder  storm, 
the  occupant  of  the  room  was  perfectly  safe. 
The  Hypericum  Ascynim  was  believed  to  be 
under  the  patronage  of  St.  Peter,  and  St,  Peter's 
wort  has  evidently  been  transferred  to  our 
plant  with  the  transfer  of  the  name.  Plukenet, 
an  early  English  author,  writing  soon  after  its 
introduction,  adopts  the  name  suggested  by 
the  American  botanist  Banister,  and  writes  of 
it  as  St.  Andrew's  wort.  It  would  be  as  well 
to  let  the  name  of  St.  Peter's  wort  drop, — 
especially  as  there  is  already  a  St.  Peter's 
wort  in  the  samphire  of  Shakespeare,  botanic- 
ally  Crithmum  jnaritimum, — and  there  hap- 
pens to  be  no  plant  ofiered  to  St.  Andrew 
in  the  Monkish  calendar.  Our  St.  Andrew's 
wort,  has  made  for  itself  no  name  in  poetical 
literature,  nor  become  related  to  any  art  other 
than  that  of  gardening.  It  may,  however, 
have  some  use  in  the  art  of  healing  according 
to  a  suggestion  thrown  out  by  Dr.  Francis 
Peyre  Porcher  in  his  "  Resources  of  Southern 
Fields  and  Forests.  "  He  says  that  an  infusion 
of  the  bruised  root  and  branches  of  Ascyrum 
crux-andrece  was  used  with  success  by  an 
Indian  in  the  case  under  his  observation, 
of  a  female  with  an  ulcerated  breast  which 
had  resisted  all  other  attempts  at  relief;  and 
he  speaks  of  having  since  used  the  plant  with 
success  in  similar  cases.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  in  connection  with  this  observation,  that 
Pliny,  the  ancient  Roman  writer,  records  much 
the  same  properties  of  the  Ascyron  of  that 
time,  and  which  plant  as  we  have  already 
uoted,  is  in  all  probability  closely  related  to 
our  St.  Andrew's  wort. 

The  geographical  range  of  the  plant  is  con- 
fined to  the  States  east  of  the  Mississippi.  It 
does  not  exist  except  in  limited  locations  north 
of  New  Jersey,  though  one  of  these  limited 
locations  is  so  far  north  as  Nantucket.  It 
varies  somewhat  in  different  locations,  and 
these  variations  have  produced  several  syno- 
n5ms,  but  which  are  now  rarely  used. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate. —  i.  Foliacious  segment  of 
the  calyx  in  unopened  flowers.  2.  Small  branch  from  a 
thick  dense  plant  from  the  Wissahickon. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


MAY  DAY. 

"  The  veil-like  verdure  of  the  early  spring 
Thickened  and  deepened  to  the  green  of  May, 
The  lady's-slipper,  in  the  hidden  dell, 
Once  more  her  frail  and  rosy  bubble  hung. 
And  lace  like  vines  the  summer  decks  with  bells, 
Mantled  the  towering  rocks  moss-stained  and  gray, 
While  from  the  clefts  the  scarlet  columbine 
Her  golden-lined  horns  hung  lower  still 
Heavy  with  black  wild  bees  that  murmuring 
Were  gathering  honey  there  the  livelong  day." 
Howard  Worcester  Gilbert. 

Variation  of  the  Horse-radish  Leaves. 
— Mrs.  W.  A.  Kellerman  contributes  the  fol- 
lowing admirably  suggestive  paper  : 

Late  in  autumn,  once,  I  noted  that  the 
Horse-radish  leaves  had  undergone  a  curious 
transformation.  The  familiar  leaves  (Fig.  i), 
p.  77,  with  broad  blaae  and  crenate  margin 
(Fig.  I),  had  disappeared,  or  had  become 
notched,  lobed  and  cut  (Figs.  5,  6),  until  they 
seemed  but  skeletons. 

Upon  referring  to  "Gray's  Manual  "  I  find 
in  his  description  of  the  leaves,  "  rarely,  cut- 
pinnatifid.' ' 

Observation  has  satisfied  me,  that  the  leaves 
are  not  "rarely,  cut-pinnatifid,"  but  pass 
through  an  annual  cycle  of  variation,  in  which 
the  "cut-pinnatifid"  form  is  as  constant  as 
the  broad  crenate  leaf.  The  cut  leaves  begin 
to  make  their  appearance  about  the  middle  of 
August.  From  this  time  on,  there  is  a  gradual 
transition  from  the  ordinary  leaf  to  the  pin- 
natifid  form.  The  first  stages  have  but  the 
apex  cut  (Figs.  2,  3),  the  remainder  of  the  leaf 
retaining  the  shape  common  to  the  typical 
leaf.  The  divisions  continue  to  extend  towards 
the  base  of  the  leaf  until  the  entire  leaf  is 
superseded  bj'  the  cut-pinnatifid  form.  The 
broad  crenate  leaves  are  killed  by  the  hard 
frosts  in  the  fall,  while  the  small,  almost  "dis- 
sected "  leaves  (Fig.  9),  which  fill  the  crown  at 
this  time  remain  green  throughout  the  winter, 
although  growth  ceases  when  cold  weather 
sets  in.  These  finely  divided  leaves  are 
necessarily  the  first  to  appear  in  the  early 
spring,    since   thej'   are    but    a    continuation 


of  the  fall  growth.  As  the  season  advances 
they  pass  back  through  transition  forms  to 
the  ordinary  crenate  leaf.  These  are  the 
simple  facts  in  the  case,  and  as  Mr.  Squeers 
says,  "  facts,  sir,  are  what  we  want." 

During  the  carboniferous  era,  it  is  said, 
plant  life  cleared  the  poison  from  the  murky 
air  and  thus  prepared  the  way  for  animal  life. 
Presumably,  plants  behave  now  as  they  did 
in  those  early  times,  consume  carbon  dioxide 
and  liberate  oxygen.  Is  it  mere  speculation, 
therefore,  to  claim  that  there  is  an  appreciable 
diflference  between  the  air  of  the  springtime 
and  that  of  the  iall  ?  That  the  difference  be- 
tween the  conditions  for  vegetable  growth 
during  the  coal  age,  and  the  present  time,  is, 
in  a  measure,  comparable  with  the  difference 
in  the  conditions  for  the  growth  of  vegetation, 
between  our  spring  and  fall  ? 

From  this  .standpoint,  the  "cut-pinnatifid" 
leaves  of  the  Horse-radish  (and  of  many 
other  plants  appearing  late  in  the  fall),  be- 
come intelligible.  The  rationale  of  their  trans- 
formation becomes  apparent.  They  must 
adapt  themselves  to  their  environment  or 
drop  out  altogether.  As  the  struggle  for 
existence  is  rendered  more  severe,  both  on 
account  of  the  increase  of  neighboring  com- 
petitors, and  because  of  the  decreased  amount 
of  carbon  dioxide  in  the  air,  the  leaves  must 
adjust  themselves  to  these  changed  conditions, 
hence  they  become  notched,  lobed,  cut,  to 
better  facilitate  the  more  thorough  sifting  of 
the  atmosphere  ;  to  better  admit  the  sunlight, 
Nature's  magic  wand,  to  all  parts  of  the  foilage. 

The  large  crenate  leaves,  like  the  old  ladies 
who  "  went  early  to  get  the  first  run  o'  the 
tea, "  come  earl}'  in  the  spring,  sit  at  the  first 
table,  as  it  were,  and  dine  right  royally.  As 
the  season  advances,  over-population  and  a 
diminished  food  supply  seive  to  bring  about 
the  curious  variation  of  its  foilage. 


Migration  of  Birds.— How  do  robins,  and 
other  migratory  birds,  find  their  way  to  and 
from  their  Summer  homes  ? 

(67) 


68 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[May 


Leaning  Sea-side  Trees. — Observers  by 
the  sea-shore  all  note  that  trees  by  the  sea- 
coast  lean  either  by  their  trunks  or  branches 
landward,  and  away  from  the  ocean  lines.  In 
a  pretty  poem  by  Mary  Darmesteter  called 
"  The  death  of  Prester  John,"  recentl}'  pub- 
lished in  the  New  York  hidependeitt,  this  sea- 
side peculiarity  is  thus  referred  to  : 

"Then  up  and  spake  the  eldest  Seer  (and  he  was 
white  as  rime, 
Bent  as  a  sea-blown  apple-stem,  solemn  as  night 

at  sea.)  " 

The  authoress,  evidently,  nor  possibly  any 
one  ever  gave  a  thought  to  the  real  cause  of 
the  leaning,  for  they  are  not  really  "blown" 
in  the  direction  noted.  The  early  branches 
while  still  3'oung  and  tender  have  their  points 
killed  on  the  sea-exposed  side  by  the  cold  sea 
breezes  of  early  spring.  These  would  not  suffer 
by  later  summer  breezes.  The  secondary  shoots 
thus  get  through  uninjured.  But  those  on  the 
leeward  side  do  not  suffer,  and  hence  these  have 
the  double  chance  to  extend,  and  thus  event- 
ually give  a  "lopsided"  appearance  to  the 
tree's  growth,  and  which  in  time  present  the 
appearance  of  having  had  the  branches  "wind- 
blown "  toward  the  land. 


The  Home  of  the  Sugar-Cane. — It  is  often 
a  subject  of  comment  that  mankind  know  the 
least  about  things  with  which  thej-  are  in  some 
respects  the  most  familiar.  This  is  certainly 
true  of  sugar  and  the  sugarcane.  Though  for 
so  many  centuries  sugar  has  been  in  common 
use,  few  could  tell  his  neighbor  where  it  came 
from  and  where  was  the  sugar  plant's  original 
home.  The  sugar-cane  is  a  species  of  grass 
and  not  distantly  related  to  our  Indian  corn 
and,  like  the  Indian  corn,  is  not  now  found 
wild  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Wherever  it 
originally  grew,  it  must  have  been  destro3-ed 
by  the  advance  of  civilization.  It  is  said  that 
a  Chinese  literary  compilation,  which  was  put 
together  in  the  thiid  century,  states  that  the 
Province  of  Bengal  sent  sugar-cane  as  a  tribute 
to  China  ;  but  it  is  not  known  that  the  solid 
sugar  itself  was  extracted  from  the  cane.  The 
first  indication  of  the  solid  sugar  has  been 
located  between  the  third  and  the  sixth 
centurj'  in  India  ;  while  the  Chinese  do  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  method 
of  extracting  the  sugar  from  the  cane  until 
about  the  year  640.  Cane-sugar  was  first  intro- 


duced into  Europe  by  the  Saracens  in  827, — 
from  thence  it  extended  into  Spain.  From 
some  snatches  of  history  it  would  appear  that 
it  found  its  way  into  Germany  first  from 
Venice.  Just  when  it  was  introduced  into 
America  does  not  seem  clear.  On  his  second 
voyage  plants  were  taken  by  Columbus  ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  to  have  finally  established 
itself  from  this  early  introduction.  The  first 
sugar  refinery  known  was  established  in  1573, 
at  Augsburg,  in  Saxony.  The  largest  refinery 
was  in  1597  at  Dresden.  These  facts  are 
gathered  from  the  Louisiana  Planter. 

Schinus  Molle. — "  Referring  to  your  notes 
on  Schinus  Molle,  page  26,  and  Vegetable  Curi- 
osities, page  27,"  sajs  Mr.  Wm.  Saunders,  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
"  attention  might  be  called  to  the  action  of  the 
leaves  of  the  Schinus  when  placed  in  water. 
These,  after  lying  a  short  time  on  the  surface 
will  begin  to  start  and  jump  as  if  they  were 
alive,  while  at  the  same  instant  of  start  a  jet 
of  oily  matter  is  discharged,  acting  as  a  pro- 
peller. Lindley  states  it  thus  :  '  The  leaves 
expel  their  resin  with  such  violence  when  im- 
mersed in  water  as  to  have  the  appearance  of 
spontaneous  motion,  in  consequence  of  the 
recoil.' 

So  far  as  I  know,  this  peculiarity  of  motion 
in  leaves  is  confined  to  another  plant  of  the 
same  family  as  the  Schinus,  called  Duvaua 
latifolia,  a  South  American  plant  also." 

The  American  species  of  Rhus  possess,  in  a 
more  or  less  degree,  ihe  same  peculiarities. 


Green  Leaves  in  the  Dark. — A  corres- 
pondent from  Charleston,  S.  C,  suggests,  in 
reference  to  the  50ung  green-leaved  orange 
plants  occasionally  found  in  fruits,  that  the  ^ 
pulp  and  rind  become  so  thin  as  to  be  semi- 
transparent,  and  that  there  is  sufficient  light 
in  such  cases  to  produce  the  green  of  the  leaf. 
This  is  a  matter  for  actual  observation.  Those 
living  in  the  vicinit3'  where  these  green-leaved 
seedlings  inside  the  fruit  occur,  could  perhaps 
test  it.  In  the  absence  of  this  actual  ex- 
perience, one  would  hardly  suppose  there 
would  be  suflBcient  light,  for,  in  taking  the 
thin  rind  of  some  oranges  and  placing  it 
against  brilliant  gas  jets,  no  appearance  of 
transparency  is  evident. 


1803.] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


69 


The  American  Plane  Tree. — The  interest 
in  the  King  of  the  Eastern  American  forest  is 
unabated,  and  a  number  of  correspondents  send 
valuable  contributions  to  its  history. 

Mr.  Robert  Ridgway,  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institute  sends  in  the  following,  and  notes  of 
other  famous  trees  will  follow: 

"In  the  February  number  of  your  excellent 
and  always  welcome  magazine  you  ask  for  in- 
formation respecting  large  American  plane 
trees.  Having  paid  much  attention  to  the 
study  of  our  forest  trees  and  taking  many 
measurements,  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  con- 
tribute something  which  may  be  of  interest. 

Fourteen  trees  of  this  species  {Platanus 
occidentalism  standing  within  one  square  mile 
of  forest  in  Gibson  County,  Indiana,  were,  in 
1S75,  measured 
by  me  with  the 
following  result  : 
Girth,  average, 
well  above  swell 
oF  roots,  23 >^  feet; 
the  extremes,  14 
and  30  feet, 
res  pecti vely . 
Spread  of  top, 
average,  127  feet, 
the  extremes 
being  100  and  135 
feet. 

Altogether,  I 
have  measured 
the  circumference 
of  27  trees  ;  the 
average  girth  of 
these,  above  the 
"swell,"  was  23.22  feet,  the  smallest  being 
nine  feet  and  the  largest  33.50.  The  average 
would  have  been  considerably  greater  had 
not  several  comparatively  small  trees  been 
measured  on  account  of  their  long,  clean 
trunks  ;  for  example,  the  tree  girting  nine  feet 
measured  S3  'i  feet  to  the  first  limb.  As  may 
be  well  known,  few  trees  vary  more  in  the 
character  of  their  trunk  than  the  present 
species.  Usually,  the  trunk  divides  at  a  com- 
paratively low  elevation,  often  very  near  the 
ground.  It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  in  the 
heavy  forests  of  the  western  bottom-lands  to 
find  shafts  of  the  "sycamore"  which  are  as 
straight  and  mast-like  as  the  trunk  of  any 
pine  or  spruce.     The  longest  trunk  measure- 


A   LARGE  AMERICAN    PLANE  TREE, 


ments  which  I  have  been  able  to  make  (always 
from  felled  trees)  are  as  follows:  (a)  length, 
83;^  feet,  circumference,  nine  feet  ;  (b)  length, 
74  feet,  circumference,  iS  feet ;  (c)  length,  68 
feet,  circumference,  25  feet ;  (d)  length,  50  feet, 
circumference,  27  feet ;  (e)  length,  60  feet,  cir- 
cumference, 30  feet. 

The  total  length  has  been  measured  by  me 
of  only  eight  trees,  all  but  one  of  which  had 
been  felled  and  were  measured  with  a  loo-foot 
tapeline.  The  average  length  of  these  eight 
trees  was  145 'jf  feet,  the  longest  being  16S  feet 
and  the  shortest  129  feet. 

Perhaps,  the  largest  tree  of  this  species 
hitherto  recorded  is  mentioned  in  Case's  Botan- 
ical Index,  for  April,  18S0,  p.  44.  It  stood 
near  Worthington,  Greene  County,  Indiana,  in 

the  White  River 
bottom.  It  was 
48  feet  in  circum- 
ference, and  had  a 
solid  trunk  which 
at  25  feet  from  the 
ground  divided 
into  three  or  four 
main  branches, 
the  largest  of 
which  was  more 
than  five  feet  in 
diameter. 

I  send  you  with 
this  a  photograph 
of  a  tree  which, 
in  November, 
1875,  when  the 
view  was  taken, 
measured  42  feet 
in  circumference  at  the  ground  and  30  feet 
round  the  smallest  part  of  the  trunk.  It 
was  about  160  feet  high  (as  determined 
by  triangulation  and  measurements  with  a 
"  dendrometer"),  the  massive  crown  spread- 
ing 112  by  134  feet,  and  elevated  70  or  80 
feet  above  the  ground.  This  tree  stood  on 
the  Indiana  side  of  the  Wabash  River,  near 
Mt.  Carmel,  Illinois,  and  was  still  standing  in 
1S90,  though  a  wreck  through  attempts  to 
burn  it  down  as  a  cumberer  of  the  ground. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that  while  these 
gigantic  plane  trees  were  by  no  means  rare 
twenty  years  ago,  few  of  them,  comparatively, 
have  survived  the  demands  for  lumber  and  the 
requirements    of    the    farmer.     Thousands    of 


70 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[May 


magnificent  trees  of  this  species  have  been 
killed  by  "girdling"  and  afterward  burnt, 
simply  to  get  them  out  of  the  way.  More 
recently,  the  wood  of  the  "sycamore"  has 
been  used  in  enormous  quantities  for  the 
manufacture  of  tobacco  boxes,  the  extent  of 
this  demand  being  indicated  by  the  fact  that, 
in  1890,  the  St.  Louis  Box  Company  purchased 
from  land-owners  along  the  Embarras  River, 
in  Jaspar  County,  Illinois,  3,750,000  feet  of 
sycamore  lumber  ;  and  I  was  informed,  during 
a  visit  to  that  locality  in  the  summer  of  that 
year,  that  a  single  mill  had  a  contract  for  saw- 
ing 11,000,000  feet." 

The  Range  of  Kalmia  latifolia. —  Mr. 
Harlan  P.  Kelsey,  of  Highlands  Nursery, 
N.  C. ,  finds  the  Kalmia  further  south  than 
generally  supposed. 

"  While  on  a  hurried  business  trip  to  the 
progressive  and  rapidly-growing  little  town  of 
Florence,  S.  C,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  en- 
joying a  most  charming  boat  ride  on  a  large 
artificial  lake  or  pond,  through  the  courtesy  of 
Mr.  A.  A.  Cohen,  the  proprietor  and  one  of 
the  most  prominent  business  men  of  this 
'  New  South  '  town. 

"  As  I  was  drinking  in  the  truly  delightful 
and  tropical  scene  of  a  '  Cypress  L,ake  ' — wind- 
ing our  way  among  the  peculiar-enlarged 
bases  of  the  smooth  straight-trunked  trees  of 
the  '  Bald- Cypress  '  {Taxodiiim  distichum), 
whose  limbs  were  draped  with  tons  of  the 
beautiful  '  Southern  Grey  Moss  '  hanging  in 
long  festoons  even  to  the  surface  of  the  water, 
I  was  greatly  surprised  and  delighted  to  espy 
a  hillside  which  formed  the  rather  abrupt 
south  bank  of  the  lake,  completely  covered 
with  a  jungle  of  our  lovely  evergreen  Mountain 
Laurel,  or  Kalmia  latifolia  ;  and  I  afterward 
learned  that  it  grew  elsewhere  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood. 

"  Noting  the  fact  that  Florence  is  only  80 
miles  from  the  Atlantic,  and  but  a  few  hundred 
feet  elevation,  and  further,  only  a  little  over  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  truly  southern  and 
almost  semi-tropical  cit}'  of  Charleston,  it 
makes  the  discovery  particularly  interesting, 
proving  as  it  does  in  what  varied  soils  and 
among  what  widely  different  environments 
our  ericaceous  evergreens  will  thrive,  and 
encouraging  our  southern  gardeners  to  plant 
these  beautiful  broad-leaved  Kalmias  and  Rho- 


dodendrons where  they  never  dreamed  before 
of  being  able  to  have  the  luxury  of  this 
class  of  handsomely  foliaged  and  gorgeously 
flowered  shrubs. 

"I  shall  be  glad  if  any  of  the  readers  of 
Meehan's  Monthly  can  apprise  us  of  a  more 
southerly  station  for  Kabnia  latifolia  than  the 
one  here  noted." 


The  Carolina  Jasmine.  —  Miss  Maria 
Pinckney,  sends  from  Charleston  specimens 
of  Gelsemiwn  nitidum,  with  remarkably  large 
and  pale  jellow  flowers.  The  leaves  are  also 
long  and  narrow.  The  plant  is  very  different 
from  the  one  the  conductors  are  familar  with, 
which  has  flowers  scarcely  half  the  size  of 
these,  and  of  a  deep  orange  color  ;  with  the 
leaves  broadly  ovate. 

When  the  diflerences  were  first  brought  out 
by  correspondence  it  was  suspected  there  were 
dimorphic  forms,  which,  as  the  conductors 
have  since  noted.  Prof.  Pond  long  ago  ob- 
served to  exist  in  this  plant. 

In  these  specimens  from  Miss  Pinckney,  the 
stamens  and  pistils  are  both  of  equal  length, 
and  absolutely  perfect.  This  is  probably  a 
distinct  species,  hitherto  overlooked  by  bo- 
tanists. 

An  Edible  Thistle. — In  the  search  for  im- 
proved vegetables,  the  Rocky  Mountain  Thistle 
should  not  be  forgotten.  It  rolls  up  its  young 
leaves  after  the  fashion  of  a  cabbage  lettuce, 
and  was  food  for  Indians  who,  as  Dr.  Cones 
has  determined,  called  it  Shanataque.  The 
writer  of  this  paragraph  has  collected  them  in 
Colorado  as  large  as  small  cabbages.  They 
ought  to  be  as  good  as  an  artichoke,  which  is 
the  flower  head  of  an  ally  of  the  thistle.  Dr. 
Gray  named  it  Cnicus  ediilis.  A  few  seeds 
would  be  acceptable  for  experiment.  * 


Cowslip. — This  in  the  Old  World,  is  a  well 
known  form  of  the  Primrose.  In  the  Eastern 
States  the  name  is  applied  to  Caltha  pahtstris, 
which,  in  the  Old  World,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  called  Marsh  Marigold.  The  confusion  in 
the  common  names  is  very  misleading.  In- 
quiries often  come  as  to  whether  the  Cowslip 
of  New  England  is  the  real  Cowslip  of  the 
poets,  which,  as  will  be  seen  by  this  paragraph, 
it  is  not. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


SONG  OF  THE  FLOWERS. 

"  We  arc  the  sweet  flowers, 

Born  of  sumiy  showers, 
(Think,  wheu'er  you  see  us  what  our  beauty  saith;) 

Utterance,  mute  and  bright, 

Of  some  unknown  delight, 
We  fill  the  air  with  pleasure,  by  our  simple  breath  : 

All  who  see  us  love  us — 

We  befit  our  places  ; 
Unto  sorrow  we  give  smiles.and  unto  graces,  races." 

— Leigh  Hunt. 


Pruning  Trees. — Many  trees  suffer  from 
excessive  pruning  ;  while  as  many  probably 
fail  to  meet  the  results  anticipated  by  culti- 
vators, through  a  vpant  of  pruning.  No  one 
can  be  taught  how  to  prune  properly,  unless 
the  object  to  be  attained  by  such  pruning  is 
clearly  kept  in  view.  The  student  of  this 
branch  of  practical  horticulture,  coming  into 
Philadelphia  by  the  Pa.  R.  R  may  see  an  ad- 
mirable lesson  in  this  line  from  the  large  forest 
trees  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Zoological  Gardens. 
These  have  evidently  suffered  at  some  time  or 
another  from  starvation.  In  natural  woods, 
trees  receive  a  great  deal  of  food  from  the  decay 
of  fallen  leaves  which  accumulate  beneath 
them;  this  collects  sand  and  other  mineral 
.matters,  and  forms  an  excellent  opportunity  of 
giving  food  to  the  roots.  When  the  surface  is 
kept  clear,  as  it  ought  to  be  kept  clear  for 
popular  enjoyment,  the  trees  have  no  opportu- 
nity of  getting  the  nutrition  necessarj'  to  sus- 
tain vigorous  hold  on  life.  When  a  dry  season 
comes  of  extra  severity,  or  an  extra  severe  win- 
ter is  experienced,  the  vital  power  being  low, 
large  branches  get  weak,  or  in  many  cases, 
nearly  die.  In  the  illustration  we  have  above 
referred  to,  these  trees  simply  had  their  heads 
cut  off.  The  trees  were,  in  common  language, 
pollarded;  but  the  branches  shot  out  with  little 
more  vigor  than  before,  because  the  real'trouble 
was  not  this  excess  of  branches,  but  the  defi- 
ciency of  food.  As  a  consequence,  the  stumps 
are  rotting  away  at  the  centre,  and  it  will  not 
be  many  years  before  these  fine  specimens  of 
the  ancient  forests  of  Pennsylvania  will  disap- 
pear.    If  a  large  amount  of  surface  manuring 


had  been  applied  instead  of  heading  off  the 
trees,  it  would  have  been  a  life-saving,  instead 
of  a  life-destroying  operation. 

It  will  be  seen  then,  that  the  object  for 
which  we  prune  must  be  first  considered  before 
pruning  is  resorted  to. 

In  connection  with  orchard  trees,  the  same 
thoughtfulness  before  commencing  to  prune  is 
required.  It  is  essential  that  a  tree  should 
have  a  large  amount  of  healthy  foliage  rather 
than  the  same  quantity  of  half  starved  leaves. 
Branches  in  the  interior  of  the  tree,  bearing 
only  half  shaded  or  weak  leaves,  are  of  little 
use.  If  these  are  taken  out,  the  vital  energies 
are  directed  into  the  healthier  branches,  which 
are  made  still  more  healthy,  and  great  good 
results.  But  it  may  be  that  the  trees  have 
been  allowed  to  overbear  and  the  larger 
branches  have  had  their  life-principle  some- 
what exhausted.  In  such  a  ease,  instead  of 
pruning  out  the  younger  branches  in  the  in- 
terior, it  is  better  to  cut  away  the  larger  and 
somewhat  exhausted  ones  and  leave  a  younger 
race  of  shoots  to  take  their  place.  These  illus- 
trations are  given  to  show  that  the  whole 
question  of  whether  pruning  is  or  is  not  an 
advantage,  is  wholly  dependent  on  the  object 
which  it  is  attempted  to  gain,  and  this  can 
only  be  answered  by  the  facts  in  each  individ- 
ual case. 

CoRYDALiS  NOBiLis. — Mr.  E.  Canning  says, 
"Just  a  word  in  favor  of  this  beautiful,  yet 
but  little  known  plant,  (or  to  me,  it  seems 
little  known,  as  I  so  seldom  meet  with  it  out- 
side my  own  garden).  It  belongs  to  the 
natural  order  Fumariacece,  and  is  among  the 
earliest  of  spring  flowering  plants.  Its  bright 
spikes  of  pale  yellow  flowers,  tipped  with 
green,  standing  above  a  tuft  of  fern-like 
foilage.  It  is  perfectly  hardy,  and  requires 
little  attention,  growing  in  almost  any  sit- 
uation. It  is  well  adapted  for  a  border  plant 
as  its  height  when  in  flower  is  only  about  nine 
inches.  Being  bulbous-rooted  it  may  be  in- 
creased by  offsets." 

(71) 


72 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[May 


Feeding  Roots  of  Trees. — It  must  not  be 
forgotten  in  all  lessons  in  practical  fruit  cul- 
ture, that  there  are  two  classes  of  roots  to 
trees  ;  one  are  permanent  and  are  truly  roots, 
the  others  endure  only  one  year,  and  are  called 
fibres.  When  therefore,  the  term  fibrous  roots 
is  used,  it  is  calculated  to  mislead.  There  may 
be  dozens  of  fine  threads  which  are  intended 
to  make  permanent  roots,  and  which  appear 
like  fibres,  but  are  not  truly  fibres  in  the 
sense  already  intimated.  True  fibres  are 
annual,  and  are  the  feeders.  They  collect  the 
food  which  goes  to  the  nourishment  of  the 
main  roots  and  branches,  just  as  the  leaves  of 
a  tree  prepare  the  food  which  goes  to  the  per- 
manent shoots  and  branches.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  leaves,  these  usuallj-  die  after  a  short 
period — usually  a  year.  As  the  food  of  the 
tree  has  to  be  near  the  surface,  in  order  to  be 
prepared  properly  by  oxygen  from  the  atmos- 
phere, it  is  essential  that  these  fibres  should 
be  near  the  surface,  and  for  this  reason  it  is 
not  always  wise  to  cultivate,  as  continual 
stirring  of  the  surface  is  called,  during  the 
season.  When  these  fibres  are  in  actual 
rest  in  an  orchard,  there  is  no  harm  what- 
ever resulting  from  a  plowing  or  harrowing  of 
the  ground  in  early  spring  ;  but  the  repeated 
use  of  the  harrow  during  the  summer,  thus 
disturbing  these  feeding  fibres,  is  a  positive 
injury. 

It  is  for  the  reason  given  that  trees  suffer 
from  deep  planting.  The  real  roots  do  not 
care  how  deep  they  go.  Sometimes  these 
have  been  traced  as  much  as  15  or  20  feet  be- 
low the  surface.  Deep  planting  does  not 
injure  these  roots,  but  by  preventing  the  access 
of  the  fibres  which  feed  the  plant,  to  the  at- 
mospheric air,  injury  follows.  It  is  from  the 
injury  to  the  fibres  or  feeding  roots,  that  trees 
should  not  be  set  too  deep. 

Testing  the  Fertility  of  Land. — Ac- 
cording to  a  writer  of  many  j-ears  ago,  a  per- 
son in  buying  a  piece  of  ground  for  horticul- 
tural uses,  dissolved  a  handful  of  earth  from 
the  land  in  question,  in  water.  After  leaving 
it  settle  for  several  hours,  if  the  water  was 
tasteless  the  land  was  considered  fit  for  use. 

Possibly  these  old  fashioned  people  onl3' 
knew  that  some  good  came  from  this  test,  and 
they  may  have  been  laughed  at  as  a  set  of 
agricultural    "cranks."    Since   moderns  have 


discovered  that  the  fertility  of  a  soil  depends 
on  its  power  to  absorb  and  retain  nutritive 
matter,  the  old-time  practice  is  seen  to  have 
been  a  sensible  one.  The  purity  of  water 
showed  that  the  land  had  properly  absorbed 
the  fertilizing  material  in  the  water. 

A  blind  man  was  once  laughed  at  for  going 
to  select  a  farm.  On  being  helped  out  of  the 
vehicle,  he  asked  that  the  horse  might  be  lead 
to  a  bunch  of  thistles.  He  was  told  there  were 
none  Then  he  remarked  that  docks  would 
do  as  well.  This  request  they  were  able  to 
gratify.  He  subsequently  bought  the  farm. 
When  asked  the  reason  for  his  "cranky" 
desires,  he  replied  that  thistles  grew  on  poor 
land,  docks  only  on  rich  soil. 

Some  versifyer  says  : 

"  Though  justly  prized  are  modern  science  rules, 
It  will  not  do  to  call  our  fathers  fools." 

and  there  seems  force  in  the  remark. 


Destroying  Insects  in  Plant  Houses. — 
Mr.  P.  J.  Berckmans,  the  eminent  horticul- 
turist of  Augusta,  Georgia,  notes  that  few 
greenhouses  may  be  said  to  be  free  from  either 
of  the  following  insects,  viz :  Green  Fly  or 
Aphis,  Thrip,  Red  Spider  and  Mealy  Bug. 
Whenever  plants  are  infected  with  either  of 
the  above,  immediate  measures  for  their  des- 
truction must  be  resorted  to.  For  Green  Fly 
use  tobacco,  either  in  the  form  of  snuff  or  in  a 
weak  solution,  or  by  burning  tobacco  stems  to 
create  a  dense  smoke.  For  Mealy  Bug  and 
Red  Spider  use  Persian  Insect  Powder,  Cole's 
Insect  Destroyer,  or  a  strong  solution  of  Whale 
Oil  Soap,  in  addition  to  the  tobacco  smoke. 
These  ingredients  may  be  obtained  from  lead- 
ing druggists. 

Fruit-bearing  Hollies. — Miss  Kate  Kurtz, 
of  York,  Pa.,  tells  of  two  American  Hollies  in 
the  same  cemetery,  though  on  separate  lots, 
one  sterile  and  one  berry-bearing.  At  first 
thought,  it  might  seem  that  the  berry-bearing 
one  was  self-fertile,  and  the  conductors  so 
wrote  to  Miss  K.  But  when  it  is  remembered 
how  wonderfully  abundant  pollen  is,  and  how 
easily  it  is  taken  by  wind  or  in.sects  to  the 
flowers  which  thereby  become  fertile,  it  is 
possible  the  tree  bearing  berries  receives  its 
pollen  in  one  of  these  ways  and  is  not  self- 
fertile. 


nSgS-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


.73 


Magnolia  hypolEuca. — In  the  issue  of 
"  Gardening  "  of  September  the  15th,  there  is 
an  illustration  of  the  beautiful  Japan  Mag?iolia 
hypoleuca,  recently  introduced,  showing  it  in 
flower.  We  now  supplement  this  by  giving 
an  illustration  of  the  fruit  from  a  specimen 
which  has  matured  on  the  grounds  of  the 
proprietors  of  "  Meehans'  Monthly.  "  "  Gar- 
dening "  states  that  in  its  opinion  it  has 
'■  the  most  beautiful  foliage  of  any  species  we 
grow."  And  "Meehans'  Monthly'"  can 
well  endorse  this  character.  As  will  be  seen, 
the  fruit  very  much  resembles  that  of  Magnolia 
tripetala.  It  is  more  ovate  and  less  slender 
than  that  species,  but  has  the  beautiful  rosy 
tint,  previous  to  the  expulsion  of  the  seeds, 
which  gives  that  species  a  high  claim  to  a 
prominent  place  in 
ornamental  garden- 
ing. The  habit  of 
the  tree  appears 
intermediate 
between  Magnolia 
tripetala  and  M. 
tnacrophylla,  and  it 
would  be  fair,  per- 
haps, to  say  that  it 
is  the  Japanese  ana- 
logue of  the  Mag- 
nolia tripetala  of 
this  country.  As 
before  noted,  there 
is  a  close  relation- 
ship between  the 
plants  of  Japan  and 
the  plants  of  the 
Atlantic  portion  of 
the  United  States — sometimes  exactly  the  same 
species  occur  in  both  of,  these  places  so  widely 
separated  ;  and  where  the  species  is  not  exactly 
identical,  a  very  closely  related  one,  as  in  this 
instance,  is  frequently  found. 

Grafted  Roses. — Mr.  Louis  Bosanquet,  of 
Truitland  Park,  Florida,  writes  to  the  Farm 
and  Fruit  Grower,  that  he  finds  the  McCartney 
and  Cherokee  roses  first-class  stocks  on  which 
to  bud  the  finer  kinds.  He  has  a  La  Marque 
rose  grafted  on  a  Cherokee,  only  one  year  old, 
which  has  had  20  shoots  more  than  6  feet 
long.  As  a  climbing  rose  of  the  South,  Mr 
Bosanquet  believes  that  one  of  the  very  best 
is  the  Duchess  de  Brabant.     He  says  he  has  a 


MAGNOLIA   HYPOLEUCA. 


bush  of  it  which  is  7  feet  high  and  nearly  as 
much  across,  and  which  is  nearly  always  in 
bloom.  In  regard  to  propagating  roses,  Mr. 
Bosanquet's  plan  is  to  tie  the  cuttings  up  into 
bunches  and  bury  them  about  a  foot  deep  in 
the  ground  for  a  few  weeks  ;  after  which  they 
are  taken  up  and  planted  with  the  eyes  two 
feet  above  the  ground  ;  each  cutting  starts  at 
once  into  growth,  and  failure  is  rare. 

Almonds. — It  is  not  generally  known  by 
cultivators,  though  people  well  informed  in 
historical  matters  understand  it,  that  the  peach 
and  the  almond  are  both  originally  of  the  same 
stock.  It  is  indeed  believed  that  the  peach 
sprang  from  the  almond.  The  peach  is  little 
more  than  an  almond,  with  a  succulent,  fleshy 

coating  to  the  seed, 
the  almond  having 
adryer  shell,  which 
cracks  and  falls 
away,  much  as  the 
shell  of  a  Horse 
Chestnut  would  do. 
There  are  some  al- 
monds with  (.tones 
like  peaches  —  the 
softer  shelled  ones 
being  different  from 
the  other  in  no  other 
respect  except  in 
that  character,  ■ — 
leaves  and  flowers, 
and  all  the  parts  of 
the  plant  are  pre- 
cisely the  same. 
In  almond  grow- 
ing countries  the  shells  of  the  fruit  on 
some  trees  do  not  open  well,  and  the  profit  of 
the  crop  depends  in  a  great  measure  on  this 
point.  When  the  fruit  is  ripe  it  is  knocked 
off"  the  trees  with  poles,  and  if  in  the  splendid 
condition  which  the  almond  grower  delights 
in,  a  very  little  raking  or  working  will  get  the 
almond  to  fall  easily  out  of  the  shell.  Many, 
however,  will  not  open  easily — in  this  case, 
they  have  to  be  selected  and  thrown  into  heaps 
by  themselves.  It  would  not  pay,  however, 
to  grow  almonds  largely  if  there  were  many 
shells  which  refused  easily  to  open.  The 
almond  finds  itself  at  home  in  California.  It 
has  become  a  staple  there,  and  one  of  the  most 
profitable. 


74 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[May 


Cercidiphyllum  Japonicum. — Prof.  Sar- 
gent in  a  recent  "  Garden  and  Forest,"  states 
this  to  be  a  leading  forest  tree  of  Japan,  often 
reaching  a  hundred  feet,  and  a  circumference 
of  twenty  or  twenty-four.  Like  most  forest 
trees  all  over  the  world,  the  flowers  are  insig- 
nificant, and  the  sexes  are  on  separate  trees. 
The  finest  specimen  at  the  Meehan  nurseries, 


CERCIDIPHYLLUM  JAPONICUM. 

Germantown,  is  iS  feet  high,  and  15  inches  in 
circumference  at  the  base.  The  habit  is  that 
of  the  Lorabardy  poplar,  as  shown  in  the 
annexed  illustration,  and  this  manner  of 
growth  will  make  it  valuable  where  landscape 
gardening  of  an  artificial  type  will  be  in  char- 
acter. The  plant  above  referred  to  is  from 
seed  distributed  some  years  ago,  by  Prof 
Clark,  of  Amherst  College. 


Good  Roads. — Mr.  Wm.  H.  Rhawn,  a  pub- 
lic spirited  Philadelphian,  who  has  done  much 
to  attract  attention  to  road  reform,  kindly 
sends  the  proceedings  of  the  National  League 
for  Good  Roads,  held  in  Chicago  in  October 
last.  Some  great  good  must  surely  come  from 
these  disinterested  noble  efiorts.  The  numer- 
ous illustrations,  showing  miserable  roads  in 
America,  and  grand  roads  in  the  Old 
World,  are  all  very  well  as  object  lessons, 
but  before  we  slight  America  we  must 
not  lose  sight  of  the  financial  problem. 

To  make  these  good  ro  ds  and  similar 
great  works  in  the  Old  World,  the  popu- 
lation is  so  ground  down  by  taxation, 
that  the  lower  classes  have  to  flock  in 
thousands  to  the  New  World,  and  cheer- 
fully accept  the  bad  roads  in  exchange. 
The  great  Roman  Appian  Way  of  which 
we  hear  so  much,  was  probably  made  by 
the  unpaid  labor  of  the  captives  taken  in 
war. 

There  is  possibly  not  an  American 
who  drives  a  horse  but  fully  understands 
the  good  economy  of  a  good  road  over  a 
bad  one.  The  great  problem  is  how  to 
get  them  without  excessive  or  unfair 
ta.xation. 

Hot  Water  to  Destroy  Insects. — 
In  the  early  numbers  of  the  "  Gardeners' 
Monthly,"  over  a   quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  it  was  shown  that  pot  plants  infest- 
ed with   red   spider,    mealy   bug,  green 
aphis,  or  other  insects  could  be  readily 
ridden  of  them  by  inverting  the  pot  and 
dipping  the  plant  hastily  in  water  heated 
to    125  or  130   degrees.     The  instantan- 
eous dipping   does   not  hurt  the  plant ; 
while  certain  death  to  the  insects.     Re- 
cently this  method  of  destroying  insects 
by  hot  water  has  been  tried  with  outdoor 
plants,    and    especially    with    the    rose 
beetle  ;     but    the   attempts  to    use   this 
plan  effectiveh'  in   this    way   have  failed,    on 
account  of  the  rapid  cooling  of  the  water.     It 
is  said  that  where  heated  to  200  degrees   and 
thrown  over  plants  by  a  whisk-broom,  it  gets 
so  cooled  as  to   be    no   benefit   in    destroying 
insects.         Where    plants,    however,     can    be 
dipped,  as  before  stated,  it  is  one  of  the  very 
best    remedies  in  the   hands   of    the   window 
plant  grower. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


75 


Ampelopsis  Veitchii. — Ampelopsis  Veitchii, 
or  as  it  is  more  properly  A.  tricuspidata,  is  one 
of  the  hardiest  of  plants,  and  would  probably 
endure  a  winter  at  the  North  Pole.  It  is  how- 
ever subject  to  a  disease  similar  to  that  which 
afflicts  the  Clematis  and  the  Pear — in  the 
latter  case  known  as  "Fire  blight."  In 
these  cases  something,  the  exact  nature  of 
which  has  not  been  clearly  demonstrated, 
girdles  a  branch  for  an  inch  or  two,  destroying 
bark  both  and  wood,  when  all  that  is  above 
the  injured  spot  dies.  Whatever  it  is  that 
makes  the  attack,  it  evidently  commences  the 
injury  before  we  can  see  the  fatal  effect,  as  the 
branch  which  is  to  die  has  leaves  of  a  paler 
tint  than  those  which  are  on  the  other 
branches  ;  sometimes  indeed  taking  in  some- 
what of  the  rosy  tint  of  the  autumn  leaf.  The 
disease  does  not  effect  the  part  of  the  plant 
below  the  point  of  attack.  Hence  though  the 
whole  side  of  a  large  wall  may  be  killed,  the 
plant  will  soon  recover  the  lost  ground.  A 
plant  even  badly  hurt,  may  never  again  be  at- 
tacked, though  sometimes  the  same  plant 
continually  suffers.  Those  unaware  of  these 
facts  consider  the  plant  "tender  in  some 
localities." 

Forestry  Advancement.  —  The  writer  of 
this  paragraph,  having  some  public  business 
at  Harrisburg,  was  pleased  to  see  Prof  J.  T. 
Rothrock,  from  the  Speaker's  desk  in  the  hall 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  addressing 
the  members  of  the  Legislature  on  the  subject 
of  forestry.  A  very  large  number  of  the  Legis- 
lators were  pre.sent  listening  to  the  Professor's 
entertaining  address.  In  other  States,  as  well 
as  Pennsylvania,  public  interest  is  being  cen- 
tred on  this  question.  A  Forestry  association 
has  just  been  established  in  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin— a  State  which  is  above  all  interested 
in  the  preservation  and  extension  of  its  forests. 

Growth  OF  THE  White  Pine. — Mr.  Edmund 
Hersey,  Superintendent  of  the  Bussey  Farm, 
Mass.,  shows  that  it  does  not  take  so  long  to 
raise  timber  trees  as  many  persons  believe. 
Four  White  Pine  trees  set  out  31  years  ago, 
measure  three  feet  from  the  ground  160  inches 
in  circumference,  165  inches  and  266  inches. 
These  were  year  old  seedlings  vi^hen  set  out. 
He  thinks  that  160  to  170  trees  to  the  acre  is 
the  best  number  for  successful  forest  planting. 


3LEi 


Seedless  Fruit. — Recently  "  Meehans' 
Monthly"  called  attention  to  the  value  of 
improvements  in  the  direction  of  seedless  fruit. 
For  many  purposes  in  domestic  economy,  seed- 
less fruit  is  desirable.  In  the  grape,  as  is  well 
known,  the  currant  has  held  its  own  in  this 
respect  from  time  almost  immemorial,  and  yet 
the  currant  of  the  grocery  stores  is  nothing 
but  a  seedless  grape.  Fruits  which  seem,  so 
to  speak,  to  avoid  seed  bearing,  never  are  as 
large  as  those  which  produce  seed, — and  this  is 
the  reason  the  currant  seems  so  small  in  com- 
parison to  the  raisin. 

In  the  orange  a  great  advance  has  been  made 
in  the  line  of  the  variety  called  the  Navel. 
This  also  never,  or  rarely  produces  seeds. 
But  in  the  apple  and  pear,  and  other  popular 
fruits,  although  seedless  varieties  have  been 
brought  to  popular  notice,  few  of  them  have 
reached  deserved  popularity.  In  relation  to 
the  class,  known  as  stone  fruits,  no  attention 
has  been  given.  If  only  a  seedless  peach  could 
be  obtained,  it  would  prove  a  bonanza  to  com- 
mercial men, — and  yet,  so  far  as  vegetable 
physiology  is  concerned,  there  appears  to  be 
no  reason  why  a  seedless  peach  could  not  be 
originated  as  well  as  seedless  varieties  of  other 
fruits.  The  whole  subject  is  well  worthy  of 
careful  attention  to  those  improvers  whose 
chief  object  is  to  derive  a  fortune  from  scienti- 
fic truths  reduced  to  practice. 


Early  Tomatoes. — A  few  very  superior 
tomatoes,  from  the  hothouse  of  Mrs.  S.  A. 
Harrison,  grown  by  her  gardener,  Mr.  James 
Lawler,  reached  us  on  the  9th  of  March,  and 
leads  to  the  remark  that  few  branches  of  vege- 
table gardening  are  more  profitable  and  pleas- 
ant than  the  forcing  of  tomatoes.  Even  from 
the  South  tomatoes  had  not  reached  the  market 
up  to  that  date  ;  and  yet,  one  of  the  objections 
of  forcing  fruits  and  vegetables,  common 
many  years  ago,  is  that  it  is  so  easy  now 
to  get  them  naturally  from  points  further 
south.  Forced  tomatoes  have  also  an  advan- 
tage, which  forced  fruits  and  vegetables  gene- 
rally do  not  possess,  in  this,  that  to  most 
taste  they  are  far  superior  in  flavor  when 
forced  to  those  grown  in  the  open  air. 


76 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[May 


The  Culture  of  Raspberries. — It  is  not 
generally  known  that  the  raspberry  cane  is 
hardy  just  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
healthy  leaves  which  will  continue  healthful 
to  the  last.  If  the  leaves  fall  before  the  natural 
time  for  leaf-ripening,  the  wood  has  but  a  very 
low  vital  power,  and  is  very  easily  killed  by 
the  first  frost.  Every  effort,  therefore,  should 
be  made  to  keep  the  leaves  of  raspberry  canes 
healthy.  Small  and  weak  canes,  should  be 
kept  down,  and  good  manure,  or  other  enrich- 
ing food  applied  to  the  plants.  The  raspberry 
is  especially  fond  of  cool  earth  to  grow  in.  It 
is  indifferent  to  the  temperature  of  the  atmos- 
phere, but  does  not  like  extra  heat  at  the  roots. 
To  this  end  a  mulching  of  any  half-rotten 
material  is  an  excellent  practice  in  cultivating 
this  fruit.  Sometimes,  in  spite  of  all  precau- 
tions, rust  will  attack  raspberry  leaves,  or 
some  other  kind  of  fungus  will  make  a  home 
on  the  foliage — the  leaves  then  die  early, 
and  the  canes  are  not  very  strong.  Under 
these  circumstances,  much  profit  ensues  from 
bending  the  canes  down  and  covering  them 
with  earth  during  winter.  This  prevents  great 
evaporation  from  the  canes,  which  is  the  chief 
source  of  injury.  Early  in  the  season,  as  soon 
as  the  frost  is  gone,  the  earth  must  be  taken 
from  the  canes,  otherwise  the  buds  will  push 
early  and  rot.  With  a  little  care  in  cultiva- 
tion, with  some  such  treatment  as  that  des- 
cribed, the  raspberry  is  one  of  the  most 
successful  of  amateur  grown  fruits. 

Corn  Stalk  Bean  Poles.  —  Ruth  Ray- 
mond, Harraonsburg,  Pa.,  remarks,  "Beans 
have  been  successfully  grown  with  corn  stalk 
support,  notwithstanding  your  correspondent's 
skepticism.  Sunflowers  are  also  used  with 
beans  for  the  same  purpose  ;  and  if  the  Mam- 
moth Russian  variety  is  chosen,  there  is  no 
danger  that  extra  supports  will  be  needed  for 
■either  plant.  The  sunflowers,  however,  are 
apt  to  shade  the  beans  too  much  by  their  rank 
growth  of  loliage  ;  this  can  be  remedied  by 
keeping  most  of  the  lower  leaves  picked  off. 
It  is  doubtful  if  the  beans  grow  as  luxuriantly 
under  either  of  these  methods  as  when  poled 
in  the  regular  way.  A  part  of  the  nourishment 
in  the  soil  which  should  go  to  the  bean,  and 
possibly  a  very  generous  share,  is  appropriated 
by  its  neighbor.  Yet  it  is  a  saving  of  labor, 
and  that,  too,  of  labor  that  cannot  well  be  per- 


formed by  women,  to  whom  the  work  of  gar- 
den-making often  largely  falls." 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  earlier  reference 
was  to  the  Lima  Bean,  which  is  very  heavy. 
It  is  common  to  grow  soup  beans  and  corn  to- 
gether.    These  are  not  so  heavy  as  the  Lima. 

The  English  Blackberry. — As  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  size  and  flavor,  the  English  blackberry 
does  not  begin  to  compare  with  the  American, 
but  in  enormous  productiveness  it  is  far  supe- 
rior. It  is  remarkable  that  this  fact  has  not 
been  discovered  until  of  late  years.  Under 
the  name  of  Evergreen  Blackberry,  the  cut 
leaf  variety  of  the  English  blackberry,  namely, 
Rubus  discolor  laciniatus,  is  getting  wide  at- 
tention in  the  West.  It  is  a  trailer,  and  is 
not  so  bush-like  as  the  American  blackberry, 
and  the  leaves  remaining  on  all  winter,  justifies 
to  some  extent  the  name  of  evergreen.  A 
picture  issued  by  J.  B.  Hershberger  &  Co., 
which  has  been  handed  us  as  a  possible  ex- 
aggeration, can  by  no  means  be  classed  in 
this  category.  The  picture  is  not  in  the  least 
overdrawn.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
abundant  bearers,  setting  aside  size  and  qual- 
ity, of  all  the  species  of  blackberry.  Although 
long  known  in  cultivation  as  a  curiosity,  it  is 
only  of  late  that  its  merit  as  an  inmate  of 
the  fruit  garden  has  been  prominently  brought 
out. 


Healthy  Leaves— Healthy  Trees. —  A 
Geneva,  N.Y.,  correspondent  expects  good  crops 
of  fruit  the  coming  year,  because  last  autumn 
the  foliage  continued  healthy  to  the  last.  A 
more  valuable  lesson  was  never  better  told. 
Healthy  leaves  make  healthy  wood,  and  per- 
fect health  brings  perfect  functions.  It  should 
be  the  aim  of  all  cultivators  of  fruits  or  flowers 
to  retain  the  health  of  leaves  up  to  the  latest 
possible  moment. 

Weight  of  Tomatoes. — A  correspondent  of 
the  London  Gardeners'  C//r<7«zV/^,  who  has  been 
raising  plants  under  glass,  finds  twelve  pounds 
to  be  the  average  weight  produced  bj'  a  single 
plant.  There  seems  to  be  no  record  of  the 
greatest  weight  a  single  plant  would  produce 
in  America  ;  but  we  should  not  be  surprised  if 
fifty  pounds  would  not  be  an  average  for  a 
plant  under  favorable  circumstances. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


n 


Root  Pruning  Trees. — Amateurs  who  have 
small  gardens,  frequently  desire  to  have  trees 
come  into  bearing  before  the  lapse  of  many 
years.  For  this  reason  rapid  growing  trees 
are  grafted  on  those  of  slower  growing  pro- 
clivities. For  instance,  the  pear,  which  is  a 
strong  grower,  is  grafted  on  the  slower  grow- 
ing quince.  This  checks  the  vegetative  vigor, 
which  is  the  desired  point  in  inducing  early 
fruitfulness. 

Sometimes,  however,  it  is  not  desirable  to 
have  trees  grafted   on   these  weaker  growing 
stocks,  but  to  have  the  early  fruitfulness  on 
trees  with  their  own 
roots.     The    pear 
on    the   pear   root, 
for  instance,  is  pref- 
erable in  many  re- 
spects to  the  pear 
on  the  quince,  pro- 
viding it  will  only 
come  into  bearing 
without   waiting 
long  for  this  desir- 
able result.     Gird- 
ling   is   sometimes 
employed,  but  this 
is  dangerous  to  the 
permanent     health 
of     the      branches 
girdled,   and  those 
who  have  the  time 
to  spare  h  ave  belter 
results    from    root 
pruning.  This  sim- 
ply means  digging 
around  the  tree  so 
as  to  cut  off  some 
of    its  roots.     The 
distance    will     de- 
pend on  the  age  and  size  of  the  tree 
for  instance,  a  pear  tree  to  be  as  thick  as  one's 
wrist,  perhaps  eight  or  ten  years  old,  and  still 
growing  too  vigorously  to  bear, — a  trench  may 
be  dug  out,  four  feet  from  the  stem  of  the  tree, 
two  feet  deep,  and  the  earth  filled  in  again  ; 
the  usual  result  is  that  fruit  bearing  buds  are 
formed  the  next  year,  or,  at  the  most,  a  fair 
crop  may  be   expected   the  second   year  after 
such  an  operation.     If  the  tree  had  not  thus 
been    treated,    it    might    have    been     several 
years    later    before     fruit     could     have    been 
obtained. 


VARIATION    IN    HORSE   RADISH    LEAVES 


Suppose, 


First- CLASS  Grapes  for  the  Amateur. — 
It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  we  rarely  get  the 
best  varieties  of  fruit  in  the  markets.  The 
market  man  has  to  consider  what  varieties 
will  travel  best  and  what  varieties  can  pro- 
duce most  abundantly ;  productiveness  and 
carrying  facilities  are  the  chief  elements  which 
he  necessarily  has  to  look  after.  The  amateur 
grower  can  always  get  much  better  fruit  than 
he  can  get  in  market.  In  the  matter  of  grapes, 
for  instance,  the  Concord  is  the  most  popular 
with  the  market  grower  ;  it  has  the  special 
qualifications  which    lead    to   profit ;   but   the 

Concord  in  its  best 
state  will  never 
equal  many  other 
varieties — some  of 
them  even  very  old 
kinds.  "The Rural 
New  Yorker"  very 
pointedly  states 
that  a  number  of 
the  Roger's  seed- 
lings, which  were 
among  the  first  of 
the  great  modern 
advance  in  grape 
growing,  are  still 
far  ahead  of  the 
Concord  in  those 
properties  which 
give  value  to  a 
grape  for  the  ama- 
teur, and  it  es- 
pecially names, 
among  these,  the 
Wilder,  the  Lindley 
and  the  Agawam. 
The  Delaware  is 
however  one  of 
those  kirfd  which  has  been  found  both  profit- 
able and  of  high  character  otherwise. 


-SEE     P.     67- 


The  Vladimir  Cherry.— The  late  Mr.  Gibb, 
in  the  Eighth  Report  of  the  Minnesota  Horti- 
cultural Society,  says  of  this  cherry  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  popular  in  Russian  fruit  gar- 
dens,— that  it  is  a  comparatively  dwarf  kind 
and  is  grown  in  bush  form,  and  that  even 
seedlings  from  it  produce  trees  of  a  similar 
dwarf  and  bushy  character, ' —  varying,  how- 
ever, a  little  in  habit — some  being  more  up- 
right and  some    more   drooping  than  others. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


THE  MAY  QUEEN. 

Of  gauzy  white  her  simple  dress, 

Which  they  with  garlands  have  enwound, 
And  ou  her  youthful  brow  did  press 

The  wreath  with  which  they   her  had  crowu'd. 
I  gazed  upon  the  fragile  child 

Who  sat  enthroned  upon  the  green, 
And  watched  her  whilst  she  sweetly  sniil'd 
On  those  who  claimed  her  for  their  queen." 

John  Ingram. 

Isaac  Burk. — It  is  well  to  sing  in  praise 
of  the  modest  violet,  but  unfortunately,  it  is  a 
flower  not  often  seen  unless  sought  for.  Thou- 
sands of  useful  people  die  unknown,  while 
numerous  less  useful  get  fame  and  glory.  This 
thought  comes  strongly  forward  while  reading 
the  obituary  of  Isaac  Burk,  one  of  the  most  tise- 
ful  botanists  possibly  of  the  many  useful  Phila- 
delphia has  produced.  He  died  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  30th  of  March,  in  his  77th  year.  He 
put  an  immense  amount  of  time  and  labor  on 
the  Herbarium  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  and  much  of  the  emi- 
nence of  thia  great  collection  of  dried  plants 
in  the  earlier  of  its  modern  stage  is  due  to 
him.  In  early  life  a  merchant  tailor,  his 
health  suflered,  and  in  order  to  get  open  air 
exercise,  he  purchased  "a  route"  as  carrier 
on  the  daily  Public  Ledger,  the  balance  of  his 
time  being  devoted  mainly  to  botanical  pur- 
suits. Under  his  guidance  and  example  his 
family  has  become  useful  like  the  father. 
Reverend  Jesse  Y.  Burk,  an  eminent  Episco- 
palian Divine,  is  also  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  University.  Ad- 
dison B.  Burk  is  Chief  Associate  Editor  of 
Mr.  Geo.  W.  Childs'  well  Vino-Kn  Public  Ledger . 
Dr.  Wm.  H.  Burk  also  on  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  same  paper,  was  the  Botanist  of  the  ex- 
ploring party  which  carried  Lieut  Peary  to 
Greenland,  and  Charles  W.  Burk  is  at  the 
head  of  one  of  the  great  printing  establish- 
ments. Mr.  Burk,  though  his  modesty 
brought  him  few  honors  while  living,  has 
surely  not  lived  i»  vain.  His  good  works  will 
live  long,  though  his  name  may  not  be 
brilliantly  recorded. 

(73) 


Young  Forests  and  their  Industries. — 
This  is  a  concise  work,  though  in  pamphlet 
form,  by  Dermot  O'C.  Donelan,  and  published 
in  Dublin  by  H.  M.  Gill  &  Son  for  the  price 
of  sixpence.  Ireland  was  at  one  time  well 
wooded  and  harbored  the  true  shamrock — 
Oxalis  acetosella,  under  the  shade  of  its  forest 
trees.  No  woods  are  there  now,  but  there  is 
no  reason  why  forests  should  not  again  be 
planted.  Mr.  D.  points  out  the  one  reason 
why  they  are  not  is  no  reason  ;  namely  that  a 
tree  would  be  of  no  service  until  it  is  half  a 
century  old.  There  are  numerous  trees  that 
would  come  into  great  profit  in  half  that  time. 
Mr.  D.  believes  the  Government  should  take 
Irish  forestry  in  hand.  In  our  country  we 
would  rather  offer  premiums  for  people  to  do 
it  themselves. 

John  L.  Russell. — Rev.  John  L.  Russell, 
one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Unitarian  clergymen 
of  Mass.,  was  among  the  foremost  in  advancing 
the  knowledge  of  small  microscopic  fungi, 
which  has  come  to  be  so  important  a  part  of 
horticultural  education.  He  was  really  far  in 
advance  of  his  contemporaries  in  his  knowl- 
edge of  these  destructive  agencies,  and  much 
of  the  great  pleasure  which  the  writer  of  this 
derived  from  his  scientific  correspondence  is 
associated  with  the  letters  of  Prof.  John  L. 
Russell  ;  his  title  coming  from  his  having 
been  elected  as  Professor  of  Botany  to  the  Mass. 
Horticultural  Society.  Long  before  it  was 
announced  in  any  scientific  serial.  Prof 
Russell's  correspondence  gave  the  writer  his 
first  knowledge  of  the  agency  of  cork  cells  in 
causing  the  rifting  of  the  bark  in  trees.  Be- 
fore Prof.  Russell's  researches,  the  doctrines 
taught  in  all  botanical  text  books  was  that 
the  rifts  were  caused  simply  by  the  mechanical 
expansion  of  the  trunk.  Prof.  Russell  dis- 
covered that  the  development  of  these  cork 
cells  at  various  periods  in  the  life  of  the  bark, 
was  the  real  cause  of  these  clefts.  After  this 
discovery  it  was  easy  to  understand  how  every 
species  of  tree  had  its  own  style  of  taking  on 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


79 


the  rougfb  bark.  We  notice  by  the  report  of 
the  Mass.  Horticultural  Society  that  Prof. 
Russell  left  $1000  in  trust  to  the  Mass. 
Horticultural  Society,  as  a  fund  ;  the  interest 
of  which  is  to  be  paid  annually  to  some  com- 
petent person,  who  shall  deliver  a  lecture  on 
the  latest  discoveries  of  the  connection  of 
fungi  with  horticultural  pursuits.  In  this  way 
the  Professor  happily  thought  to  continue  the 
work  in  his  favorite  study. 

David  Douglass. — Exploration  to  day  is 
very  different  to  what  it  was  a  half  century 
or  more  ago.  Now  we  can  get  all  the  com- 
forts of  modern  life  up  to 
the  verge  of  the  unknown, 
and  return  to  civilization 
almost  before  we  are  missed. 
The  labors  and  dangers  of 
the  earlier  collectors  for  our 
gardens  can  scarcely  be  ap- 
preciated in  our  day,  some 
of  them  losing  their  lives  in 
our  behalf.  Few  names  are 
better  known  to  flower  lovers 
than  that  of  David  Douglass 
— the  Douglass  spruce  alone 
would  make  him  well  re- 
membered— and  he  too  was 
one  of  those  whose  life  was 
a  sacrifice  to  science.  Far 
awaj-  from  home  and  friends 
he  was  killed  by  a  wild 
beast  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  centurj'  gardeners 
were  a  remarkably  intelli- 
gent class  of  men.  Broad  culture  would 
often  be  found  hand  in  hand  with  the  spade 
and  hoe.  David  Douglass  was  one  of  those 
humble  but  learned  gardeners,  born  at  Scone 
in  Perthshire  in  1798.  His  botanical  tastes 
were  fixed  by  a  short  term  in  the  Glasgow 
Botanic  Garden.  Between  1823  and  1827  he 
explored  the  central  and  western  part  of  our 
continent.  It  was  on  a  second  visit  to 
America  that  he  died  as  aforesaid  in  1S34. 

The  Victoria  Regia.  — Dr.  William  H. 
Seaman,  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia, 
has  issued,  as  a  souvenir  of  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Microscopical  Society  in  Washing- 
ton, a  beautiful  folio  edition  of  a  paper  pub- 


-^^m^^^ 


^ 


DAVID    DOUGLASS 


lished  in  the  Proceedings  of  that  Society — a 
compilation  of  all  the  leading  points  that  have 
been  brought  out  in  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  celebrated  water  lily,  Victoria  regia, 
It  is  illustrated  by  a  beautiful  frontispiece  of 
the  plant  as  it  bloomed  last  year  in  Washing- 
ton. It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  contributions 
to  our  knowledge  of  this  beautiful  plant  that 
has  appeared  for  a  long  time. 

Dr.  Vasey. — To  the  large  list  of  able  botan- 
ists of  the  past  generation  that  have  recently 
passed  away  must  now  be  added  the  name  of 
Dr.  Geo.  Vasey,  for  many  years  Curator  of  the 
United  States  National  Her- 
barium, who  died  on  the  4th 
of  March  in  Washington. 
Like  his  predecessor,  Dr. 
C.  C.  Parry,  he  was  a  native 
of  England,  having  been 
born  in  Yorkshire,  England, 
in  1822,  butcame  to  America 
at  an  early  age.  He  took 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  in  his  twenty- 
fifth  year,  at  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  and  shortly  after  re- 
moved to  Illinois  to  practice. 
His  love  for  botany  soon 
placed  him  in  the  front 
line,  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  grasses  especiallj'  he  be- 
came a  leading  authority. 
Besides    his    work  on    the 

J National     Herbarium,      he 

has  written  leading  treaties 
on    trees     and     grasses. 


The  Flora  of  Pennsylvania. — A  corres- 
pondent sends  to  Meehans'  Monthly  the  ex- 
pression of  his  delight  that  Professor  Porter 
may  issue  some  day  a  Flora  of  Pennsylvania. 
By  such  an  eminently  fitted  authority  he  con- 
siders it  would  be  a  work  of  reference  for  all 
time,  just  as  Dr.  Darlington's  local  work. 
Flora  Cestria  for  the  wild  flowers  of  Chester 
county  continues  to  be. 

Ghiesbrecht. — August  B.  Ghiesbrecht,  a 
native  of  Belgium,  but  one  of  the  best  botanical 
explorers  of  Brazil  and  Mexico,  and  whose 
name  is  familiar  to  plant  lovers,  died  at  San 
Cristobal,  February  7th,  in  his  82d  year. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Our  Native  Fi.owers  and  Ferns. — The 
conductors  appreciate  the  hearty  welcomes 
which  continually  come  from  intelligent 
people.  The  following  sample  from  a  North 
Carolina  friend  is  the  more  appreciated,  be- 
cause it  recognizes  as  Meehans'  Monthly 
does,  the  good  work  done  by  contemporaries, 
whose  success  is  as  heartily  desired  as  that  of 
this  publication  : 

"  I  wish  to  say  that  I  think  Meehans' 
Monthly  is  a  credit  to  America,  as  it  is  doing 
a  work  for  our  '  American  plants  '  that  has 
been  sadly  neglected,  so  much  so,  that  our 
American  citizens  hardly  know  what  a  Native 
plant  is, — the  majority  not  knowing  that  within 
our  borders  grow  some  of  the  finest  trees, 
shrubs  and  plants  that  the  world  can  produce, 
and  having  the  peculiar  advantages  of  adap- 
tability and  freedom  from  disease.  And  it 
seems  to  be  the  work  of  Meehans'  Monthly, 
and  we  might  add  Garden  and  Forest,  and  in 
part  the  American  Gardening,  to  teach  our 
people  of  the  treasures  we  have  at  our  very 
doors.    I  sincerely  wish  you  much  success." 

Science. — Light  reading,  and  general  news- 
paper literature,  has  made  a  wonderful  advance 
of  late  years,  with  a  rush  to  the  extreme  as 
frequently  good  things  do.  Solid  in'brmation 
has  been  neglected  until  well  educated  Ameri- 
cans compare  unfavorably  with  similar  classes 
in  the  old  world.  A  reaction  now  is  taking 
place.  Magazines,  like  Meehans'  Monthly, 
find  good  encouragement,  and  general  science 
is  becoming  more  popular  than  ever.  The 
weekly  magazine  known  as  Science,  published 
in  New  York,  now  in  its  eleventh  year,  reports 
good  encouragement,  and  it  deserves  all  it  gets. 


Early  Death  of  Large  Trees. — At  page 
59  occurs  the  sentence,  "  More  old  trees  die 
early  from  want  of  food  than  from  any  other 
cause."  A  friend  whose  kindl}'  criticism  is 
always  appreciated,  remarks,  "old  trees  die 
carlv — impossible!"  In  a  strictly  literary 
sense,  the  point  raised  by  our  friend  is  well 
taken,  and  yet  the  expression  is  fairly  defen- 
sible. A  man  at  60  reaches  old  age — that  is  to 
say  its  early  stage.  If  he  reaches  90  that 
would  be  a  late  stage.  There  seems  to  be  an 
early  and  a  late  stage  to  maturity  as  to  all 
earthly  things. 

POGONIP. — This  is  an  Indian  word  for  fog, 
used  only  by  the  Washoe  and  Piute  Indians. 
A  correspondent,  Mrs.  Lewers,  gives  a  graphic 
account  of  the  great  beauty  of  the  trees  of  that 
section  of  the  country  under  a  pogonip  that 
was  suddenly  succeeded  by  frost.  Although 
with  no  snow,  the  shrubs  and  sage  bush  were 
covered  with  long,  fine,  snowy  forms,  some 
hanging  down  from  the  branches,  others 
clustered  and  looking  like  flowers.  The  par- 
ticular one  referred  to  lasted  eight  days.  Im- 
mediately on  the  sun  coming  out  the  frosted 
mist  thaws  and  falls  like  dust,  forming  a 
picture  of  beaut\'  rarely  told  in  natural 
history. 

The  Next  Plate.  —  One  of  our  pretty  ■ 
native  ferns,  Trichomattcs  Petevsi,  will  be  the 
subject  of  the  next  illustration.  This  will  be 
a  treat  to  those  who  are  strictly  botanical,  as 
it  is  among  the  rarest  of  American  ferns  ; 
while  the  mere  lover  of  wild  flowers  will  be 
delighted  with  the  delicate  beauty  of  the 
fronds. 


Sending  Specimens  by  Mail. — Correspond- 
ents sending  plants  for  name  or  examination 
to  newspaper  offices,  should  have  their  names 
on  the  envelope.  With  hundreds  of  letters 
arriving,  it  is  often  extremely  difficult  to  con- 
nect the  articles  sent  with  the  person  sending  it. 

(So) 


Indian  Names  of  Plants. — United  States 
Commander  A.  O.  Ingalls,  stationed  at  Mur- 
ray, Idaho,  is  making  a  specialty  of  the  study 
of  Indian  names  of  plants,  and  would  be  thank- 
ful for  any  aid  any  readers  of  Meehans' 
Monthly  can  give  him. 


voL.m. 


Plate  6. 


.•Kf,.rM"vh«(.«Mii>ii'hIy!'iirraf>i:l""' 


HO  ma; 


TRICHOMANES  PETERSII. 

PETERS'  HAIR  FERN. 
NATURAL  ORDER,  FILICES. 

TRICHOMANES  Tetersii,  Gray.— Very  small,  ^-ith  entangled  filiform  tomeuto^e  root  stocks  ;  fronds  oblong— lanceolate  or 

obovate,  entire  or  variously  pinuatifid,  narrowed  into  a  slender  stipe  nearly  as  long  as   the  frond,  the  younger  ones 

with  a  few  black  forked  hairs  along  the  margin  ;  veins  forked,  pii  nale  from  the  midrib ;  involucie  solitary,  terminal, 

funnel-shaped,  the  mouth  expanded  and  slightly  two-lipped,  receptacle  included.     (Chapman's  Flai a  0/  the  Soittkein 

,      Vjiited  States.    See  also  Hilton's  Fefns  0/ /Vofth  America. 


This  very  singular  looking  fern  would   not 

be  called  pretty  by  the  mass  of  observers  ;  for 

under  the  idea  of  pretty  we  should  have  to 

consider  gaiety,  gracefulness  or  other  elements 

of  beautj'  ;  none  or  at  least  few  of  these  does 

our    little    fern    possess.     Yet  those  who    are 

favored  by  nature  with  the  key  to  her  secrets 

will  see  beauty  where  others  fail.     Tennyson's 

"Character"  illustrates  the  lesson  which  may 

be  taught  here. 

"  He  spake  of  beauty  :  that  the  dull 
Saw  no  divinity  in  grass, 
Life  in  dead  stones,  or  spirit  in  air; 
Then  looking  on  as  'twere  in  a  glass. 
He  smoothed  his  chin,  and  sleeked  his  hair. 
And  said  the  earth  was  beautiful." 

After  all  if  it  should  be  decided  that  there  is 
no  great  beauty  in  this  species  of  fern  as  we 
see  it  in  a  picture  or  as  a  dried  specimen  in  a 
herbarium,  it  adds  remarkably  to  the  beautj'  of 
the  natural  scenery  amongst  which  it  is  found 
according  to  those  few  who  so  far  alone  have 
had  the  privilege  of  observing  it.  For  it  is 
one  of  the  rarest  of  our  native  ferns,  and  has 
only  been  discovered  with  certainty  in  modern 
times.  The  first  account  of  it  in  any  text- 
book appeared  in  i860  in  the  work  of  Chap- 
man above  cited,  though  it  was  described  for 
the  first  time  and  named  by  Prof.  Asa  Gray  in 
Silliman's  "American  Journal  of  Science  and 
Arts"  for  1S53,  in  honor  of  Judge  Peters,  its 
discoverer. 

The  brown  rock  which  line  the  mountain 
streams,  or  form  the  basin  around  which  the 
spray  collects  from  the  waterfall,  would  lose 
half  their  charm  but  for  the  green  mosses  or 
ferns  which  have  taken  up  their  abode  in  the 
vicinity,  and  it  is  in  just  this  useful  work  that 
our  little  fern  is  found  engaged.  It  was  first 
noticed  on  the  eighth  of  January,  1853,  by  Mr. 


Peters  on  the  Lipsej'  River  in  Winston  County 
(then  Hancock  County),  Alabama.  In  the 
compass  of  a  square  mile  in  the  vicinity  of  its 
habitat,  it  has  been  found  in  only  four  locali- 
ties, and  always  between  the  river  and  the 
bluffs,  closely  attached  to  sand  rocks  near  a 
waterfall.  On  the  shady  side  of  these  large 
sand  rocks,  it  grows  in  bright  green  patches. 
The  exact  spot  where  it  was  first  found  was  in 
Township  9,  above  the  crossing  of  the  Lipsey 
River,  known  as  the  Pidgeon  Root  Ford,  and 
is  now  found  above  and  below  that  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river.  Since  then  it  has  been  found 
in  other  localities  in  the  State,  of  which  Mr. 
Charles  Mohr,  of  Mobile,  writes  as  follows 
under  date  of  October  18,  1880.  "The  first 
time  I  found  it  in  a  new  locality  was  on  the 
Falls  of  Black  Creek,  on  Lookout  Mountain, 
Etowah  County,  Alabama,  at  an  altitude  of 
1060  feet  above  the  gulf,  and  subsequently  in 
the  rocky  glen  on  the  Lipsey  fork  of  the  Black 
Warrior  River,  near  where  Judge  Peters  made 
the  first  discovery.  In  the  larger  watered 
valleys  of  the  Lookout  and  the  Sand  Moun- 
tain, open  numerous  chasms,  penetrating  into 
their  deep  table  lands.  The  walls  of  these 
mountain  gorges,  often  over  500  feet  high,  are 
almost  perpendicular  and  built  up  by  the 
rugged  ledges  and  bold  clifis  of  sandstone,  ter- 
minating in  terraces  over  which  the  waters  of 
the  high  lands  rush  on  to  the  abyss,  forming 
grand  falls.  Surrounded  b}'  the  primeval  forest, 
and  shaded  by  might}-  pines  and  gigantic  de- 
ciduous trees,  they  present  a  scenery  of  grand 
and  imposing  aspect.  Around  these  falls,  in 
the  gloomiest  recesses  among  the  rocks,  in 
narrow  clefts,  or  in  or  beneath  the  overhang- 
ing cliffs  perpetually  damp  by  the  dripping 
water  and  completely  secluded  from   the  rays 

(81) 


82 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — TRICHOMANES   PETERSII. 


[June 


of  the  sun,  this  rare  and  peculiar  fern  spreads 
in  dense  masses  over  the  rocky  surface  resemb- 
ling at  first  sight  a  large  liverwort.  In  this 
secluded  spot  it  finds  among  plants  of  a  higher 
order  no  associates,  and  only  a  few  mosses  and 
hepatica  of  an  habit  similar  to  its  own  inside 
its  home." 

In  regard  to  Judge  Peters  whose  name  is  so 
pleasantly  associated  with  the  discovery  of  this 
fern,  the  liberty  may  be  pardoned  of  giving  an 
extract  from  a  private  letter  which  is  among 
the  writer 's  botanical  correspondence.  ' '  While 
I  was  wandering  through  these  woods  (northern 
Alabama)  I  met  another  person  on  the  same 
errand  of  plant  collecting,  whom  I  soon  found 
to  be  Thomas  Minott  Peters,  of  Moulton  in 
I,awrence  County,  whom  I  found  to  be  one 
of  the  kindest  and  most  amiable  of  men.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  farmer  at  Clarksville,  Tennes- 
see, where  he  was  born  in  iSio.  They  settled 
in  Alabama  in  1S19.  Thomas  studied  in  the 
University  of  Alabama,  graduated,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1836.  He  opened  a  law 
office  in  Moulton,  and  established  and  edited  a 
newspaper  there.  In  1S45  he  is  found  in  the 
Legislature,  and  in  1847  in  the  Senate  of  his 
State.  When  the  Secession  hostilities  com- 
menced he  opposed  the  movement,  abandoned 
his  home,  and  entered  the  Union  lines.  His 
love  for  his  native  State  however  never  de- 
serted him,  and  his  botanical  library  and  herba- 
rium has  been  generously  bestowed  on  the 
University." 

It  is  quite  likely  that  new  localities  will 
be  discovered,  and  possibly  some  new  species 
added  to  the  genus  when  the  Southern  country 
has  been  thoroughly  explored.  Pursh  in  his 
Flora  notes  having  found  in  the  mountains  of 
Virginia  what  h^caWs  Hymcnophyllujn  citiatum 
which  no  one  has  since  gathered.  It  was  for 
a  long  time  regarded  as  "mythical;"  but  in 
the  light  of  two  plants  like  Trichomanes  radi- 
cans  and  Trichomanes  Petersii,  so  nearly  allied 
to  Hymenophyllum,  being  found  there,  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  the  plant  Pursh  says  he  saw, 
may  yet  be  rediscovered.  The  species  abound 
in  other  countries,  and  each  generally  has  a 
wide  geographical  range. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  plant  as  it 
grows  on  the  rocks  under  the  spray  of  water- 


falls looks  very  much  like  patches  of  moss, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  in  many  respects  the 
plant  has  the  character  of  moss.  Indeed  the 
Hymenophyllous  Ferns,  as  these  may  be  called, 
form  a  sort  of  connecting  link  between  moFses 
and  ferns.  In  most  ferns  the  fronds  last  only 
a  few  months,  and  in  those  which  are  called 
evergreen,  continue  but  about  twelve  months- 
before  they  die ;  but  the  fronds  of  some  7>z- 
chomanes  have  been  known  to  continue  se\  eral 
years,  and  in  some  cases  they  continue  to  grow 
after  having  apparently  matured,  and  fre- 
quently they  alter  their  form  somewhat  in 
these  successive  growths  so  as  to  lead  bot m- 
ists  sometimes  to  believe  that  they  have  new 
species.  In  this  persistent  character  of  the 
foliaceous  parts  of  the  fronds  they  very  much, 
resemble  mosses.  But  they  resemble  them 
still  more  in  the  cellular  arrangement  of  these 
fronds.  Sachs  in  his  "Text-Book  of  Botany,'* 
notes  that  the  lamina  of  the  leaf  consists  in 
Hymenophyllaa  only  of  a  single  layer  of  cells 
as  in  mosses,  in  all  other  ferns  it  is  formed  of 
several  layers.  Dr.  J.  Gibbons  Hunt,  of  Phila- 
delphia has  confirmed  these  observations  of 
Sachs,  and  further  that  the  leaf  blades  are 
wholly  destitute  of  stomata,  or,  as  they  are 
sometimes  termed,  breathing  pores.  But  it 
will  be  at  once  seen  that  in  a  blade  with  but  a 
single  layer  of  cells  they  are  unnecessary  if 
the  object  be  to  bring  the  interior  cells  into 
contact  with  the  atmosphere  ;  for  in  this  single 
layer  they  have  all  such  contact  directly.  One 
might  infer  from  a  lesson  like  this  what  the 
uses  of  stomata  were,  though  direct  observa- 
tion had  not  already  taught  their  use. 

There  have  been  differences  of  opinion  as  to 
the  derivation  of  the  word  Trichoma?ics.  Sir 
W.  J.  Hooker  says  it  is  from  Irichas,  thrix,  hair, 
and  tnatiia,  excess,  "  from  the  numerous  hair- 
like exserted  receptacles," — that  is  to  say  the 
little  thread-like  columns  around  which  the 
sporangia  are  gathered  in  the  involucre  (Fig. 
2).  But  in  olden  times,  many  ferns  were  col- 
lected together  under  the  name  of  Trichomanes. 
our  present  genus  among  others, — the  name 
belonging  originally  to  that  which  is  now- 
known  as  Asp/cnium  Trichomanes, — and  when 
the  old  genus  was  divided  these  plants  were  le:t 
with  the  old  name. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


MOUNTAIN  SCENES. 
E'en  now,  where  Alpine  solitudes  ascend, 
I  sit  down  a  pensive  hour  to  spend  ; 
And,  placed  on  high  above  the  storm's  career, 
Look  downward  where  a  hundred  realms  appear : 
Lakes,  forests,  cities,  plains  extending  wide, 
The  pomp  of  kings,  the  shepherd's  humbler  pride. 
— Oliver  Goldsmith. 

The  Vanilla  Bran.  —  In  a  paragraph 
recently,  occasion  was  taken  to  refer  to  the 
Vanilla  Bean  of  commerce  as  an  orchid.  A 
correspondent  expresses  interest  in  this  and 
suggests  that  very  fevs'  know  this  to  be  the 
case.  We  happen  to  have  an  admirable  work 
in  German,  called  Steen's  "  Orchideenbuch," 
in  which  are  some  magnificent  illustrations 
of  orchids,  superior  to  anything  in  that  line 
that  we  have  ever  seen,  and  we  take  from  that 
for  an  illustration,  see  p.  go,  Vanilla  phalaenop- 
sis,  which  will  serve  to  show  the  characteristic 
of  the  Vanilla  of  commerce,  which  is,  however, 
not  the  same,  but  a  closely  allied  species, 
namely.  Vanilla  planifolia.  It  will  be  seen 
that  this  plant  of  commerce  is  not  only  useful, 
but  pre-eminently  beautiful. 

Only  peculiar  species  of  insects  can  fertilize 
the  flowers  ;  cultivators  of  the  Vanilla  bean  in 
localities  where  the  insect  does  not  naturally 
exist,  go  over  the  flowers  with  a  needle,  and 
remove  the  obstruction  which  prevents  the 
natural  access  of  the  pollen. 

It  might  be  made  a  profitable  crop  in 
southern  Florida  or  southern  California.  It 
is  propagated  by  cuttings  of  the  climbing 
shoots. 

Seneciosagittifolius. — Just  imagine  a  wild 
flower  with  leaves  three  feet  long,  and  flower 
stems  seven  feet  or  more  high,  bearing  about 
140  flowers  on  a  stalk,  with  each  flower  having 
white  ray  petals  half  inch  long,  and  a  yellow 
disc  an  inch  wide!  This  is  literally  "a  daisy." 
The  American  Senecio  aureus  will  give  an  idea 
of  what  a  wonderful  thing  this  -monster  Senecio 
sagittifoliiis  must  be.  It  is  a  new  species  re- 
cently discovered  in  Uruguay  by  M.  Andre, 
and  figured  in  the  Gardener' s  Chronicle. 


Bees  and  Clover. — Statements  are  being 
made  that  the  clover  never  perfected  seed  in 
New  Zealand  until  bumble-bees  from  Europe 
were  introduced  there, — now  statements  are 
made  that  since  the  introduction  of  these  bees 
clover  produces  seed  abundantly.  A  few  years 
ago  the  statetrent  was  made  that  the  bumble- 
bee was  essential  to  the  proper  fertilization  of 
the  clover.  It  was  said  that  the  position  of 
the  stamens  and  stigma  was  such  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  plant  to  receive  any  aid 
from  its  pollen  without  the  assistance  of  bees. 
The  bumble-bee  was  supposed  to  enter  the 
mouth  of  the  clover  flower,  carrying  on  its 
exit  pollen  which  was  then  introduced  to  the 
stigmas  of  the  other  flowers  which  the  bees 
visited,  and  in  this  way  the  fertilization  of  the 
flower  was  brought  about.  This  was  the  hypo- 
thesis presented  in  America.  However  it  has 
been  found  by  careful  observers  that  the  bumble- 
bee never  enters  the  mouth  of  a  clover  flower, — • 
it  simply  slits  the  tube  of  the  flower  on  the  out- 
side and  goes  off  with  the  nectar,  without  in 
any  way  touching  the  stamens  or  the  pistil  of 
the  flower.  Just  why  the  bees  of  England  and 
the  same  creature  introduced  into  Australia 
should  behave  differently  to  the  bumble-bee  of 
America  has  never  been  explained.  In  America 
it  is  found  that  the  first  crop  of  clover  rarely 
produces  seed,  while  if  this  crop  is  cut  and  a 
new  growth  starts,  the  second  crop  produces 
seeds  abundantly,  and  yet  the  visits  of  the  bees 
to  both  crops  may  be  exactly  the  same.  So 
many  statements  of  similar  character  to  this 
of  the  relation  of  bees  to  clover  are  made  with- 
out proper  authentication  that  it  leads  one  often 
to  doubt  the  value  of  man  j-  scientific  hypotheses . 

Range  of  Rhododendron  m.\ximum.  — 
Miss  Bessie  L.  Putnam,  of  Harmonsburg,  Pa., 
notes  : 

"  Your  correspondent  in  March  number  was 
right  in  thinking  Rhododendron  maximum 
might  be  found  in  Crawford  Co.,  Pa.  It  has 
been  found  in  Pymatuning  swamp  in  western 
Crawford,  not  far  from  the  Ohio  line." 

(83I 


84 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[June 


Caltha  Palustris. — Says  Mr.  C.  L.  Saun- 
ders : 

"Mrs.  W.  S.  Dana,  in  her  book  entitled, 
"  How  to  Know  the  Wild  Flowers,"  published 
recently,  claims  that  this  flower  is  identical 
with  the  "  Winking- Mary-buds  "  in  the  song 
in  "  Cymbeline  "  : 

"  Hark  !  hark  !  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings, 
And  Phoebus  'gins  arise, 
His  steeds  to  water  at  those  springs 

On  chaliced  flowers  that  lies  ; 
And    winking   Mary-buds    Ijegin    to    ope    their 
golden  eyes." 

She  makes  this  claim  without  citing  specific 
authority,  except  the  statement  in  Mr.  Robin- 
sons  "Wild  Garden"  that  the  marsh  mari- 
gold is  so  abundant  along  certain  English 
rivers  as  to  cause  the  ground  to  look  as  though 
paved  with  gold  at  those  seasons  when  they 
overflow  their  banks. 

Prior  refers  "  Mary -buds  "  without  the  ex- 
pression of  a  doubt,  to  the  garden  marigold, 
Cale7idula  officinalis  ;  but  Britten  and  Holland's 
"Dictionary  of  English  Plant  Names"  says 
that  while  Calendula  officinalis  is  almost  cer- 
tainly meant,  the  subject  has  been  the  occasion 
of  much  discussion.  Has  Meehans'  Monthly 
any  facts  in  the  case  ?  I  must  confess  that  my 
sympathies  are  with  Mrs.  Dana's  view  of  the 
matter,  and  I  should  be  very  glad  if  this  lovely 
cousin  of  the  buttercup  might  rightl}'  be  asso- 
ciated with  so  beautiful  a  fancy  as  that  of  the 
song  quoted.  I  suppose  we  all  have  our  pets, 
and  there  is  no  accounting  for  tastes,  but  I 
cherish  a  special  affection  for  this  flower,  and 
I  think  I  have  a  substantial  pleasure  for  life  in 
the  recollection  of  my  first  sight  of  it  in  its 
home — a  secluded,  boggy  meadow,  upon  whose 
vivid  green  the  quiet  sunshine  of  an  April  Sab- 
bath lay  ;  and  here  and  there,  to  m}'  delighted 
gaze,  a  little  clump  of  the  gleaming  yellow 
flowers,  round,  chubby,  and  eager  to  live  all  of 
life — their  radiant  color  overflowing  .by  reflec- 
ion  into  the  placid  little  pools  that  spread 
about  their  feet.  They  seemed  the  personifica- 
tion of  gladness  —  a  veritable  smile  of  the 
morning." 

Keep  on  sympathizing  with  Mrs.  Dana. 
Prior  and  other  moderns  are  but  following 
others  in  advance.  Thomas  Green  (1820)  quotes 
James  Rowley,  a  dramatist  co-temporary  with 
Shakespeare,  "  The  Marybudde  that  shootethe 
with  the  light  "  as  being  the  "marigold"  of 
moderns. 


It  is  evident  that  Shakespeare  had  another 
plant  than  marigold  in  mind,  because  he  uses 
the  term  "marigold"  in  "  Winter's  Tale  ;" 
though  there  may  have  been  different  plant 
names  then  as  now,  it  is  hardly  likely  the 
same  person  would  use  one  day  one  name  and 
another  the  next.  Again,  Shakespeare  is  des- 
cribing an  English  scene  in  nature  ;  but  the 
marigold  is  a  garden  and  not  a  wild  plant  as 
the  Caltha  is.  And  it  is  probable  from  the 
whole  context  of  the  play  that  it  is  a  Spring 
scene,  but  the  marigold  is  not  in  bloom  till 
Summer  begins. 

Another  argument  is  derived  from  the  name. 
The  months  in  the  Roman  calendar  are  derived 
from  great  personages  or  myths.  May  is  from 
Maia,  the  mother  of  Mercury.  The  month  of 
May,  the  month  of  Mercury  and  of  Mary,  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  have  become  almost  synonym- 
ous. The  festival  on  the  first  of  May  to  Maia 
is  as  often  given  in  honor  of  Virgin  Mary  in 
the  North  of  Europe.  The  Caltha  in  these 
boreal  regions  is  the  earliest  Spring  flower,  and 
is  often  not  fairly  open  on  the  first  of  May. 
Still  the  buds  with  their  yellow  tips  were 
gathered  and  wreathed  into  chaplets  to  crown 
statues  of  the  Virgin  during  the  festival. 

It  seems  not  unreasonable  that  "marsh  buds" 
should  be  called  "Marybuds."  Somewhere  the 
writer  has  seen  the  statement  that  Mari,  Marish, 
or  some  such  form  of  word  is  the  original  of  our 
modern  "  marsh,"  and  if  so  Maribud  would  be 
simply  "  marsh  buds  "  which  would  have  done 
as  well  for  an  unopened  flowers  in  those  days 
as  "  Rose  bud  "  does  in  ours. 


Range  op  the  American  Holly.  — Mr. 
Ellis  B.  Noyes,  Lewistown,  Pa.,  has  found 
American  Holly  in  sheltered  woods  at  Abing- 
ton,  Plymouth  Co.,  Mass,  15  miles  from  the 
coast,  with  a  few  berries  on  one  of  the  trees. 
W.  L.  Foster,  Hanover,  also  in  Plymouth  Co., 
Mass.,  finds  it  "quite  common  in  the  moister 
and  richer  woodlands  of  this  county,  near  the 
coast.  It  must  be  rare  north  of  Boston.  Twenty 
miles  south  of  Boston,  it  will  make  a  small 
tree,  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter  of  trunk, 
It  is  never  found  aglow  with  berries  as  further 
south.  In  Martha's  Vineyard  are  trees  three 
feet  in  circumference.  Sheltered  from  the 
Winter's  sun,  it  would  probably  be  hardy  con- 
siderably north  of  Boston. " 


1893.] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND   NATURE. 


85 


The  Odors  of  Flowers. — The  Gertuantown 
Horticultural  Society  has  a  committee  on  in- 
struction. It  is  the  duty  of  this  committee 
to  address  the  assembled  audience  at  each 
monthly  meeting,  explaining  what  may  be 
peculiar  or  interesting  about  the  plants  ex- 
hibited. Mr.  Meehan  gave  till  recently  this 
monthly  address  for  a  number  of  years.  They 
always  drew  largely  from  the  best  classes  in 
the  community  as  listeners.  As  these  ad- 
dresses were  extemporaneous,  of  course,  as  ap- 
plying to  what  may  be  present  in  the  room, 
reporters  for  the  public  newspapers,  not  familiar 
with  the  subject,  often  mixed  up  matters  con- 
siderably. In  one  address  on  the  odors  of 
flowers,  his  remarks  as  they  have  been  reported, 
but  not  with  very  great  accuracy,  have  been 
widely  distributed.  He 
called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  out  of  the  100,000 
flowering  plants  known  to 
botanists,  possibly  not  10 
per  cent,  of  them  had  any 
odor.  The  large  majority 
of  plants  are  in  fact  scent- 
less. Among  other  points 
he  called  attention  to  the 
remarkable  circumstance 
that  in  many  large  families 
there  were  only  one  or  two 
sweet  species  :  for  in.stance 
in  the  mignonette  family, 
of  50  species  known,  only 
the  one  in  our  gardens  was 
sweet.  Among  100  of 
violets  there  are  nol  a  dozen  sweet  ones. 
In  many  other  large  families  also,  begonia  for 
instance,  the  scentless  ones  are  as  a  hundred 
to  one.  Among  our  wild  flowers  the  number 
of  sweet  smelling  flowers  is  very  slim. 

Travels  of  Bulbs. — A  Philadelphia  corre- 
spondent placed  stakes  around  a  crown  impe- 
rial. Next  season  it  came  up  outside  the  circle. 
He  asks,  do  bulbs  travel  ?  They  do.  Most 
bulbs  are  but  annuals.  They  make  a  new  one, 
and  then  die.  Often,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
gladiolus,  the  new  bulb  grows  at  the  top  of  the 
old  one, — again,  as  in  the  Hyacinth,  the  new 
one  grows  out  by  the  side  of  the  old  one.  This 
kind  of  travel  is  slow.  But  in  others,  as  in  some 
lilies,  the  new  bulb  is  projected  some  distance 
on  the  end   of  a   "stolon"    or  thread,  which 


dies,  and  leaves  the  old  bulb  to  die  some  dis- 
tance from  the  new  one.  By  the  aid  of  these 
underground  runners  the  new  bulb  is  some- 
times carried  a  long  distance  from  the  old  one. 


Mansanita.  —  The  singular  beauty  and 
fragrance  of  the  Mansanita,  Arbutus  ISIenziesii 
the  ally  and  representative  in  the  far  west  of 
our  Trailing  Arbutus,  were  referred  to  recently 
in  the  Monthlj'.  A  vase  filled  with  it  from  a 
photograph  kindly  sent  by  I\Irs.  Ross  Lewers, 
of  Western  Nevada,  is  here  represented.  Its 
reputation  has  certainly  not  been  unworthily 
gained. 

Chicken  Flower. — Mr.  George  S.  Conover 
sends  us  from  Geneva,  flowers  of  the  Pediail- 


MANSANITA. 

aris  canadensis,  which  he  says,  from  fanciful 
resemblance,  is  commonly  called  in  that  part 
of  the  country  chicken  flower.  Certainly  the 
keel  of  the  flower,  with  its  projecting  portion 
of  the  pistil,  bears  a  great  resemblance  to  the 
head  of  a  bird  with  its  beak,  although  some 
might,  with  equal  justice  suggest,  that  it  was 
the  head  of  a  serpent  with  its  fiery  tongue. 
There  is  no  accounting  for  notions  in  the  pop- 
ular names  of  flowers. 

Range  of  Fell.Ea  gracilis. — Pella-a  graci- 
lis was  collected  at  Case>  ville,  Illinois,  oppo- 
site St.  Louis  and  about  seven  miles  from  that 
city,  bj'  Mr.  Charles  E.  Smith.  Southern 
Illinois  is  a  good  place  for  rare  ferns.  The 
writer  of  this  paragraph  has  collected  Asple- 
nium  pinnatifidum  there. 


86 


MEEHANS     MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


[June 


PiNUS  EDULIS. — A  correspondent  in  Nevada 
kindly  sends  samples  of  Piiion,  much  larger 
than  the  nuts  usually  seen  from  Pimis  edulis, 
almost  as  large  as  those  from  the  well 
known  Pinus  Pinea,  the  Italian  Pine.  Sus- 
pecting some  different  species — the  lady 
writes  about  them: 

"  Every  fall  when  the  Washoe  Indians  are 
going  to  pine  nut,  about  40  miles  south 
of  Washoe  Valley  I  ask  them  to  bring  me  burrs 
and  branches,  and  still  they  just  bring  me 
pine  nuts  to  eat.  They  cannot  imagine  what 
else  I  want  with  them.  From  what  I  can  learn 
from  an  Indian  woman  to-day,  about  the  large 
nuts,  I  think  she  gathered  them  of  young 
trees.  She  said,  '  small  trees,  large  burrs  four 
or  five  inches  long,  and  not  many, — large 
trees,  small  burrs,  and  plenty  all  the  same  kind 
of  tree."  ' 

The  Odor  of  Closed  Rooms. — A  lady 
a.<5ks,  "Why  do  textile  fabrics  when  kept  wet 
in  summer  time  become  offensively  soiir  smell- 
ing? Is  it  due  to  the  development  of  life 
germs  or  to  lower  orders  of  plant  or  animal 
existence?" 

With  little  thought  one  would  answer — mil- 
dew generates  in  close  dark  rooms  where  there 
is  moisture  to  develop  it, — but  on  careful  re- 
flection it  would  seem  that  the  odor  referred  to 
from  carpets  and  similar  fabrics,  is  not  the 
same  as  the  odor  from  a  mildewed  wall.  Very 
careful  observation  by  a  "  specialist"  would  be 
required  to  answer  the  question  intelligently. 

The  Yellow  Tru.mpet  Leaf. — Mr.  Charles 
W.  Henry,  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Fair- 
mount  Park,  Philadelphia,  sends  from  Pass 
Christian  a  beautiful  bunch  olSarraccnia  flava. 
the  first  living  specimens  seen  b}'  the  con- 
ductors, who  learn  for  the  first  time,  that 
these  beautiful  flowers  are  odoriferous,  the 
fragrance  resembling  that  of  the  tulip  poplar 
or  some  of  its  allied  magnolias. 

The  Life  of  Bees. — Bees  seldom  live  over 
a  year,  and  but  a  few  months — it  is  generally 
supposed. in  most  cases.  Large  numbers  of 
dead  bees  are  found  under  Wistarias,  Judas 
trees,  and  other  early  flowering  plants,  and  it 
is  often  attributeid  to  some  poisonous  quality 
in  the  flowers.  It  is  simply  cases  where  the 
bees'  "  time  has  come.  " 


Jerusalem  Artichoke. — The  pretty  native 
plant  of  the  Atlantic  States,  Helianthus  doro- 
nicoides,  and  of  which  the  double  perennial 
sun-flower  of  gardens  is  a  form,  has  tuberous 
roots,  is  believed  to  be  the  parent  of  the  Jeru- 
salem artichoke,  not  a  bad,  though  now  sel- 
dom used  vegetable.  A  native  of  North 
America,  efforts  have  unsuccessfully  been 
made  to  trace  the  origin  of  its  name.  Gira- 
sole  signifies  in  Italian  turning  with  the  sun, 
and,  as  Helianthus  is  a  "sun  flower,"  from 
the  sun-picture  style  of  the  flower,  it  was 
thought  to  have  started  the  corruption  Jeru- 
salem from  Girasole. 


Dodder.  —  The  well  known  parasites,  spe- 
cies of  Citstuta,  which  seem  like  masses  of 
coarse  threads  over  the  plants  they  feed  on, 
are  great  pests  to  the  farmer  in  the  old  world. 
The  flax  dodder^the  kind  preferring  flax — is 
Cusaita  Epilinum,  the  one  favoring  clover,  is 
C  Epilhymum.  Farmers  are  fined  who  allow 
them  to  spread,  and  children  in  the  public 
schools  are  taught  to  know  and  destroy  them. 

Clover  Devil. — Clover  devil  is  the  common 
name  in  Germany  of  the  Orobanche  minor,  a 
fleshy  and  rather  pretty  plant,  parasitic  on  the 
roots  of  clover.  It  has  been  introduced  to 
America  with  European  clover  seed,  but  some- 
thing in  soil,  climate,  or  conditions  seems  to 
be  unfavorable  to  its  spread.  It  sometimes  is 
so  abundant  in  cloverfields  in  the  old  world  as 
to  render  the  whole  crop  valueless. 


Note  on  Mitchella  repens. — Miss  Bessie 
Putnam  says  : 

"We  were  much  pleased  with  the  plate  in 
April  number  ;  it  is  a  fit  companion  for  the 
Trailing  Arbutus  in  February  magazine.  Did 
you  ever  try  putting  the  leaves  in  the  grate 
where  it  is  so  hot  as  to  almost  but  not  quite 
burn  them  ?  They  become  inflated  and  resemble 
miniature  puff  balls  in  form." 


Proliferous  Dandelions.  —  Mr.  Frank  N. 
Tillinghast,  of  Greenport,  N.  Y.,  sends  the 
finest  specimen  of  prolification  in  the  dandelion 
flower  that  we  have  ever  seen.  The  stalk  was 
as  thick  as  an  average  asparagus  ;  while  the 
head  of  flowers  more  resembled  a  huge  chry- 
santhemum than  the  ordinary  dandelion  head. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


PARK  SCENERY. 

Parks  with  oak  and  chestnut  shady, 
Parks  with  ordered  gardens  great, 

Ancient  homes  of  lord  and  lady, 
Built  for  pleasure  and  for  state. 

— Tennyson. 


also  grown,  as  well  as  kinds  required  for  florist 
decorations.  The  management  is  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  Mr.  H.  W.  C.  Dihm. 


American  Floral  Enterprise. — Seibrecht 
&  Wadley,  the  well-known  florists  of  New 
York,  according  to  a  correspondent  of  the 
"Gardeners'  Chronicle,"  have  a  very  fine 
establishment  fourteen  miles  from  the  Port  of 
Spain,  in  Trinidad,  which  they  carry  on  under 
the  name  of  the  United  States  Tropical  Nursery 
Co.  Here  they  raise  immense  quantities  of 
Palms,  Dracaenas,  Pandanuses,  and  other 
plants,  which  they  use  in  their  American 
sales.  These  are  shipped  to  New  York  during 
June,  July  and  August.  For  transit  purposes 
they  contract  with  steamers,  which  set  apart  a 
certain  portion  of  their  space  for  the  purpose. 
Even  large  cocoanut  palms  have  been  brought 
from  Trinidad  to  New  York  in  that  way  with 
perfect  success.  Although  thej'  have  com- 
paratively, or  really  nothing,  that  we  would 
call  here  winter,  it  is  still  found  better  to  raise 
the  seeds  of  many  things  artificially,  and  for 
this  reason  they  have  glass  houses  there  as  we 
should  expect  to  have  in  this  climate,  although 
they  are  built  very  low  and  close  to  the  ground, 
— indeed  while  we  have  to  protect  against  frost, 
they  have  to  protect  against  heavy  tropical 
rains,  which  would  completely  wash  seeds 
away  if  dependent  wholly  on  the  open  ground. 
Enormous  numbers  of  the  beautiful  fern,  Adi- 
antum  Farleyense  are  also  raised  there  for  im- 
portation here.  Latania  borbonica,  one  of  the 
best  known  and  useful  of  palms  for  American 
decorative  purposes,  are  raised  here  in  im- 
mense quantities.  A  large  number  of  other 
species  are  also  grown  on  a  smaller  scale. 
Here  they  also  experiment  with  rare  palms, 
and  smaller  trees  from  other  countries.  The 
celebrated  palm,  called  the  "Travelers'  tree," 
Ravenala  jlfadagascariettsis,  is  growing  here, 
and  last  year  commenced  to  produce  seeds. 
Curious  plants,  like  the  Black  Pepper  tree,  are 


Arsenites  for  the  Destruction  of  In- 
sects.— Lee,  the  Chicago  gardener,  who  first 
seems  to  have  made  use  of  Paris  green  to 
destroy  the  potato  beetle,  deserves  as  much 
renown  as  Parmentier  who  made  the  potato 
popular.  It  is  wonderful  how  the  idea  has 
grown, — and  still  more  the  practical  results. 
Not  only  insects  but  fungus  diseases  are  no 
longer  dreaded  by  the  intelligent  cultivator. 
Copper  sulphate  is  now  kept  on  hand  as  a 
necessity  equal  to  the  manure  pile.  Professor 
John  Craig,  horticulturist  of  the  Canadian 
Central  "Experimental  Farm"  (Experiment 
Farm  is  probably  intended),  at  Ottawa,  uses 
Paris  green  with  the  copper  sulphate  for  spray- 
ing as  follows : 

4  lbs. 
.   4  lbs. 

4  oz. 
.   50  gallons. 

This  may  be  prepared  by  dissolving  in  a 
barrel,  four  pounds  of  powdered  copper  sul- 
phate. In  another  vessel  slake  four  pounds 
of  fresh  lime  with  as  many  gallons  of  water. 
Spread  a  piece  of  coarse  sacking,  held  in  place 
by  a  hoop,  over  the  top  of  the  barrel  in  which 
the  copper  sulphate  has  been  dissolved.  Strain 
through  this  the  creamy  mixture  of  lime  and 
water.  Paris  green  may  then  be  added,  after 
which  the  barrel  should  be  filled  with  water. 
This  forms  an  excellent  insecticide  as  well  as 
fungicide,  and  is,  therefore,  useful  to  destroy 
codling  worm,  bud  moth,  and  canker  worm. 
It  should  be  used  soon  after  being  prepared. 


Copper  Sulphate 
Lime 

Paris  Green 
Water 


Paraguay  Tea. — Prof  E.  J.  Wickson,  of 
the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  at  Berke- 
ley, California,  has  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Paraguay  tea.  Ilex  Paraguayetisis,  could  be 
profitably  grown  in  California.  He  would  be 
very  glad  if  any  one  who  has  the  opportunity 
will  send  him  a  few  seeds  for  trial. 

(87) 


88 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[June 


Budding. — Propagation  by  budding  is  sim- 
ple. A  bud  is  cut  out 
of  a  half  mature  shoot, 
and  then  inserted  un- 
der the  bark  of another 
branch,  called  the 
stock.  It  can  be  done 
only  when  the  bark  is 
found   to    lift    easily. 


Sometimes  this  may 
be  till  late  in  summer. 
Seedling  peaches  may 
often  be  operated  on 
till  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember. It  is  only  by 
the  edges  of  the  shield- 
like bud  that  the  union 
takes  place,  and  hence 

American  propagators  wonder  why  their  En  glish 

friends  take  so  much  trouble  to 

take  the  wood  out    from   under 

the  shield.     The  annexed  cuts 

show  this  effort  in  the  old  world, 

where  even  a  piece  of  thread  is 

used  to  get  the  wood  out  easily. 

No  American  thinks  of  it. 


Coal  Tar  to  Protect  Trees  from  Injuri- 
ous Insects. — Discussions  continue  off  and  on 
in  agricultural  and  horticultural  newspapers  as 
to  whether  coal  tar  is  or  is  not  injurious  to  the 
bark  of  trees.    It  has  often  been  recommended, 
in  order  to  paint  around  the  base  of  trees  that 
are  liable  to  the  attacks  of  borers — for  instance, 
the  apple  borer,  quince  borer  and  peach  borer. 
Certainly,  the  writer  has  known  of  cases  where 
it  has  been  applied  without  the  slightest  in- 
jury, while  there  are  undoubted  cases  of  trees 
having  suffered   by  its   use.     Just   how  this 
variation  in  effect  comes  about  is  not  clear,  nor 
does  it  much  matter  to  the  practical  man.     It 
is  safe  to  say  that  sometimes  coal  tar  so  applied 
is  a  serious  injury;  but  why  use  coal  tar  at  all  ? 
Pine  tar  is  just  as  effectual  in  preserving  trees 
from  the  ravages  of  these  noxious  insects,  and 
certainly  does  no  damage  to  the  tree.   It  is  one 
of  the  best  preventatives  against  the  inroads  of 
stem  borers,  that  is,  when  these  borers  operate 
near  the  ground,  and  it  is  also  effectual  in  pre- 
serving the  trees  from  the  ravages  of  mice  in 
winter  time.    Many  trees,  especially  in  regions 
where  the  ground  is  covered  by  snow  in  the 
winter  time,  suffer  seriously  from  the  attacks 
of  mice. 


Winter  Room  Gardening. — Miss  Putnam 
says  : 

"It  is  not  generally  known  that  blossoms 
of  apple,  peach,  cherry,  etc.,  or  any  plant 
that  perfects  flower  buds  in  autumn,  may  be 
easily  secured  in  midwinter.  If  twigs  of  said 
plants  are  placed  in  a  glass  of  water  and 
given  plenty  of  light  with  as  much  of  sun- 
shine as  the  season  allows,  they  will  soon 
present  a  mass  of  bloom." 

A  New  American  Rose. — Notwithstanding 
the  favorable  conditions  for  raising  new  roses, 
very  little  attention  has  been  given  in  America 
to  this  interesting  branch  of  floriculture.  Just 
now  California  is  credited  with  a  new  and 
valuable  variety,  which  is  called  Sarah  Isa- 
bella Gill.  It  is  said  to  be  a  deep  yellow,  quite 
equal  to  the  famous  "Pearl  of  Gardens,"  yet 
has  a  bud  of  the  character  of  the  well  known 
Mermet. 


Valued  Timber  Trees.  —  In  our  country 
where  timber  is  so  abundant  and  prices,  as  a 
rule,  are  low,  it  is  difiicult  to  estimate  the  high 
figures  which  are  placed  on  trees  in  some  parts 
of  the  old  world.  A  German  paper  states  that 
in  the  prosecution  of  a  railway  line  it  became 
necessary  to  remove  a  large  cherry  tree  ;  the 
proprietor  demanded  about  $1,500  for  it;  this 
the  railroad  company  objected  to  paying. 
But  after  some  legal  work  the  owner  was 
awarded  $1,100  for  the  tree.  We  suppose  it 
would  be  a  long  time  before  any  one  would  give 
such  a  high  price  for  any  single  tree  in  our 
country. 


The  Dahlia  Stem  Borer.  —  Mrs.  Wilhel- 
mina  Seliger  describes  in  the  Hartford  Times  a 
borer  affecting  the  main  stems  of  the  Dahlia. 
As  in  all  cases  of  stem  borers,  the  flowers  are 
much  injured  in  size  and  the  whole  plant  weak- 
ened by  the  operation  of  the  insect.  So  far  as 
Meehans'  Monthly  knows  this  is  the  first 
public  intimation  of  the  existence  of  such  an 
enemy  to  the  Dahlia. 


■893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


89 


Gardening  in  the  Desert.  —  One  can 
scarcely  understand  the  full  force  of  the  ex- 
pression, "  To  make  the  desert  blo.ssora  as  the 
rose,"  than  by  going  across  the  deserts  of  our 
continent  before  human  beings  settle  thereon, 
— and  then  to  follow  a  few  years  after,  when 
civilization  has  once  obtained  a  foothold.  The 
writer  of  this  paragraph  once  traversed  the 
great  Nevada  desert  when  there  was  little  else 
besides  alkali,  rock  and  sage  brush.  To  see 
such  a  pretty  little  picture  as  the  one  now  illus- 
trated on  just  such  a  spot,  seems  remarkable. 
It  is  a  portion  of  the  garden  of  a  good  cor- 
respondent of  Meehans'  Monthly,  at  Frank- 


the  case  of  hybrids,  very  different  kinds  of 
plants  have  been  obtained  from  the  same  seed. 
The  writer  of  this  paragraph  crossed  one 
flower  of  the  rugosa  with  the  pollen  of  Gen. 
Jacqueminot,  and,  although  two  plants  were 
raised  from  this  single  seed  vessel,  one  of 
them  was  as  near  Gen.  Jacqueminot  as  it  pos- 
sibly could  be,  while  the  other  was  truly  and 
simply  rugosa  and  nothing  else. 

Spraying  Insecticides  and  Fungicides. — 
Mr.  Craig,  the  intelligent  horticulturist  of  the 
Canadian  Central  Experiment  Station,  well 
observes  that  in  order  to  make  spraying  efifec- 


A  GARDEN  IN  THE  NEVADA  DESERT. 


town,  Nevada.  The  large,  shrubby  bush, 
most  prominent  in  the  picture,  is  evidently 
the  Mist  Tree,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called. 
Green  Fringe  Tree, — the  Rhus  Cotinus. 

Rosa  rugosa. — A  very  large  number  of 
hybrids  between  Rosa  rugosa  and  other  garden 
roses  are  now  being  introduced — all  of  them 
said  to  be  extremely  hardy  and  very  beautiful. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  con- 
nection with  this  rose  is  its  great  variation  in 
the  size  and  form  of  the  fruit.  Even  without 
any  chance  of  hybridization,  some  of  the  seed- 
lings will  produce  fruit  as  large  as  plums.     In 


tive  it  must  be  commenced  early.  All  parts 
of  trees  or  plants  must  be  reached  with  the 
preventive  agent.  Drenching  is  not  necessary 
and  is  expensive.  A  thin  film  or  coating  of 
the  fungicide  deposited  upon  the  foliage  will 
prevent  the  development  of  the  spores  as 
weU  as  a  complete  soaking  ;  but  it  is  impor- 
tant that  all  the  leafy  surface  should  be  wetted 
at  least  on  the  upper  side. 

Large    Carnations.  —  Mr.    John  Thorpe 

thinks   the   model    Carnation   should  be  four 

inches  in  diameter.  It  is  well  to  have  a 
standard  to  work  up  to. 


90 


MEEHANS     MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[June 


The  Prairie  Rose. — Recently  garden  litera- 
ture has  much  to  say  of  the  beauty  of  the  wild, 
single  form  of  this  American  rose.  It  has  been 
long  cultivated  in  the  nurseries  of  the  conduc- 
tors of  this  magazine,  and  they  can  cheerfully 
bear  testimony  to  the  special  beauty  of  this 
species.  It  comes  into  flower  just  as  the  ordi- 
nary garden  roses  are  going  out,  and  before 
the  fall  blooming  roses  appear,  and  the  flowers, 
though  each  comparatively  small,  are  borne  in 
such   immense  clusters   that  the  efifect   from 


VANILLA    PHAL/ENOPSIS.--ecc  p     as 


the  beauty  standpoint  is  very  grateful.  One 
singular  point  about  the  rose  is,  that  when 
found  growing  wild  north  of  the  Potomac,  as 
it  often  is — indeed  the  specimens  under  culti- 
vation as  before  cited  are  from  Pennsylvania 
plants — they  seem  to  be  perfectly  sterile,  never 
attempting  to  make  any  seed,  and  for  this 
reason  no  opportunity  has  been  afforded  to 
endeavor  to  improve  the  race  by  seed  ;  but  it 
must  produce  seed  further  south,  as  the  Balti- 
more Belle  and  Prairie  Queen,  were  raised  in 


Baltimore  from  these  wild  plants'  by  the  late 
Mr.  Samuel  Feast.  In  native  localities  further 
south,  it  seems  to  produce  seed  freely,  at  least 
the  writer  of  this  noticed  it  producing  seed 
abundantly  in  the  cave  regions  of  Kentucky, 
and  round  the  Kahokia  mounds  in  Illinois  near 
St.  Louis. 


Double  Flowers.  —  A  correspondent  in- 
quires how  double  flowers  are  produced. 
Nearly  all  the  double  flowers  of  gardens  were 
first  found  wild.  Double  buttercups,  double 
primroses,  double  daisies,  double  roses,  and 
many  other  things  were  first  discovered  among 
their  wild  fellows  and  introduced  into  the  gar- 
dens. The  florist,  however,  can  produce  double 
flowers.  He  watches  this  tendency  in  nature. 
If  a  flower  usually  has  five  petals,  and  he  dis- 
covers that  some  of  the  stamens  have  somewhat 
of  a  petal-like  character,  the  pollen  is  taken 
from  these  flowers  and  others  in  a  normal  con- 
ilition  fertilized  with  this  pollen.  This  ten 
ilency  once  started  is  then  given  to  the  progeny. 
.Vlmost  any  species  of  plant  will  in  this  way 
be  capable  of  producing  double  flowers.  It  is 
surprising  that  with  this  knowledge,  more  at- 
tempts at  this  line  of  improvement  in  ordinary 
garden  flowers  are  not  made. 


Steam  Heating. — ^Judging  by  the  horticul- 
tural literature  of  the  old  world  there  seems  to 
be  a  doubt  whether  steam  heating  can  be  made 
a  great  success — hot  water  being  in  general  use 
there.  The  dread  seems  to  be  that  steam  re- 
quires much  more  personal  attention  than  hot 
water.  But  American  invention  has  so  simpli- 
fied things  that  it  really  requires  little,  if  any 
more  labor  to  look  after  the  houses,  or  a  large 
series  of  houses  heated  by  steam  than  when 
heated  by  hot  water, — while  the  advantage  of 
carrying  heat  to  long  distances  very  rapidly 
are  so  much  in  favor  of  steam  that  instead  of 
its  being  a  question  with  us  as  to  whether 
steam  or  hot  water  is  the  best,  hot  water  is 
really  going  out  of  existence. 


Rose  Acacia. — One  of  the  most  beautiful 
of  garden  shrubs,  Robinia  hispida,  has  nearly 
disappeared  from  cultivation  through  the 
ravages  of  the  locust  borer.  The  pretty  Ro- 
binia viscosa  meets  the  same  fate.  All  of  the 
many  varieties  so  popular  in  European  gard- 
ening sufier  equally  with  these. 


'893] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


91 


The  Christmas  Rose. — This  is  not  a  rose 
but  more  near  a  buttercup,  deriving  its  name 
from  flowering  about  Christmas  time.  Near 
Philadelphia,  this  season,  it  was  in  bloom  on 
Christmas  day  — the  season  being  more  open 
than  usual  at  that  period.  It  is  entirely  hardy 
and  may  always  be  had  in  the  open  air  in  our 
country,  provided  the  plants  are  sheltered  a 
little  with  dry  leaves.  The  flowers  will  open 
and  blossom  under  these  leaves.  It  is  very 
common  when  cultivated  in  gardens  of  the 
old  world,  but  not  nearly  as  much  in  our 
gardens  as  it  deserves  to  be.  What  is  remark- 
able is,  that  the  flowers  in  the  open  air  with 
us  are  odorless,  but  when  cultivated  in  green- 
houses, as  they  frequently  now  are  by  florists, 
for  the  sake  of  their  flowers,  are  quite  sweet. 
Possibly  if  this  clew  be  followed  up  by  a  close 
observer,  it  might  lead  to  a  discovery  of  the 
•causes  of  odor  in  flowers. 


FK'mTS  ^  ME^ETi^PLES. 


Disease  in  Carnations. — During  the  past 
year  or  two  a  very  troublesome  fungus  disease 
of  a  rust  has  appeared  among  winter  blooming 
carnations  to  the  dismay  of  the  florist,  cutting 
down  the  product  of  his  plants  nearly  one- 
half.  It  has  been  discovered  that  this  species 
of  fungus  belongs  to  the  genus  Uromyces ;  and 
on  account  of  its  afiinity  for  the  carnation  has 
been  named  Uromyces  caiyophyllimis.  Like  so 
many  of  these,  it  easily  gives  away  to  the 
copper  sulphates.  Prof.  Arthur  says  that  the 
sulphates  of  iron,  or  green  copperas  have  been 
found  to  be  generally  as  effectual  as  the  sul- 
phate of  copper,  or  blue  copperas.  He  says 
that  there  is  already  prepared  in  the  drug 
stores  a  mixture  known  as  copperdine,  which 
is  ammoniated  copper  carbonate.  This  ready 
preparation  may  be  of  great  service  to  those 
who  have  not  the  time  or  disposition  to  make 
a  mixture  for  themselves. 

Pruning  Roses. — It  is  often  very  desirable 
to  have  hybrid  perpetual  roses  flower  freely  in 
the  fall  ;  to  accomplish  this  the  plants  should  be 
severely  pruned  after  the  June  flovi-ering.  Some 
growers  cut  almost  the  whole  of  the  flowering 
branch  away,  leaving  young  shoots  from  near 
the  bottom  to  take  their  places.  An  abundance 
of  flowers  usually  follows  this  treatment. 

Those  who  cut  their  rose  buds  before  mature, 
or  as  soon  as  the  petals  fade,  have  fall  flowers 
freely. 


Vigorous  Growing  Pear  Trees. — A  Chest- 
nut Hill  correspondent  speaks  of  the  extreme 
vigor  of  pear  trees  planted  out  a  few  years  ago, 
and  inquires  what  will  bring  them  into  a  bear- 
ing condition.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
what  is  known  as  the  vegetative  force  in  plants 
is  in  antagonism  to  what  is  known  as  the  re- 
productive force, — and  it  is  generally  after  the 
vegetative  force  has  been  in  some  respects 
checked  that  the  reproductive  forces  have  a 
chance  of  showing  much  energy.  For  this 
reason  it  is  the  custom  of  many,  when  they 
wish  to  bring  into  bearing  trees  which  show  a 
great  propensity  for  growth  rather  than  flower- 
ing, to  dig  around  them,  and  in  that  way  cut 
off  some  of  the  roots,  which  lessens  their  power 
of  nutrition,  and  this  generally  throws  them 
into  a  bearing  condition  in  a  year  or  two. 
Others  carry  out  the  same  object  by  compara- 
tively starving  the  trees,  that  is,  shortening 
the  supply  of  top  dressing  ;  but  root  pruning 
is  the  method  generally  emploj-ed.  In  one 
sense  it  is  all  the  better  for  trees  to  grow  vigor- 
ously and  to  be  a  rather  long  time  in  coming 
into  bearing,  because  such  trees  have  veiy  long 
and  fruitful  lives,  while  those  which  come  into 
bearing  early  in  their  existence  are  usually 
short  lived,  and  are  much  more  subject  to  dis- 
ease than  those  which  grow  healthily  along 
for  several  years.  The  cultivator  must  judge 
a  little  for  himself  in  this  matter.  Sometimes 
a  very  healthy  tree  can  spare  a  little  of  its 
vegetative  vigor  without  any  serious  injury, — 
then  one  may  root  prune  ;  but  unless  the  vigor 
is  extraordinary  and  something  unusual,  the 
best  method  is  to  allow  the  trees  to  come  into 
the  reproductive  stage  naturally,  and  without 
aid  from  art. 

Pears  for  Amateurs. — The  characteristics 
of  good  market  pears,  —  solidity,  abundant 
bearing,  standing  rough  usage,  and  similar 
points — are  not  always  the  best  characteristics 
for  a  fruit  that  we  would  desire  to  grow  for 
themselves.  The  Bartlett,  Sheldon,  Belle 
Lucrative,  Beurre  d'Anjou,  Beurre  Bosc, 
Seckel,  and  for  an  early  kind  Doyenne 
d'Ete,  can  seldom  be  had  in  the  market,  but 
are  very  desirable  for  one's  own  garden.  Even 
kinds  like  Buffum,  taking  little  room,  have 
advantages  for  small  gardens. 


92 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[June 


Pruning  Fruit  Trees.  —  In  traveling 
through  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  one  is 
especially  struck  with  the  want  of  correct  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  pruning  of  fruit 
trees.  In  many  cases  apple  trees  are  as  thick 
with  branches  as  if  they  were  gigantic  brooms. 
Branches  should  never  be  allowed  to  set  as 
thick  as  this.  Trees  to  be  healthj'  require  an 
abundance  of  healthy  leaves.  An  abundance 
of  poor  and  hali-starved  leaves  is  of  little  con- 
sequence. When  branches  are  thickly  crowded 
as  these  are,  the  mass  of  leaves  are  inferior  and 
of  very  little  good.  Branches  should  be  kept 
thinned  out,  so  that  those  which  are  left  have 
abundance  of  room  to  develop  healthy  leaves. 
In  most  cases  under  observation ,  the  trees  have 
twice  as  many  branches,  at  least,  as  ought  to 
be  left.  It  is,  however,  generally  too  late  to 
think  of  pruning  after  trees  have  been  left  for 
many  years  in  this  unkempt  condition.  The 
best  time  for  pruning  is  in  the  summer  when 
the  shoots  are  made.  A  proper  thinning  at 
that  time,  and  carried  on  every  year,  would 
keep  the  main  branches  in  first  class  condition. 

Corn  Culture. — -In  1890  e.xperiments  were 
made  in  the  Cornell  E.xperiment  Station  in 
regard  to  the  value  of  cutting  off  the  tassel 
from  every  other  row.  The  increased  yield  of 
corn  was  50  per  cent.  In  the  Delaware  College 
Experiment  Station  last  year,  experiments 
were  repeated  and  gave  an  increased  percentage 
of  7  per  cent.  Many  similar  experiments  have 
been  made,  usually  with  the  result  of  an  in- 
creased weight  of  corn.  Although  the  percent- 
age varies  considerably,  it  would  appear  that 
on  the  whole  it  is  an  advantage.  The  tassel 
has  to  be  taken  out  very  early, — as  soon  as 
it  can  be  perceived  within  the  upper  leaves, — 
with  a  twisting  and  pulling  motion,  it  snaps 
easily  and  is  then  withdrawn. 

Plum  Culture. — As  a  general  rule  our  or- 
chard trees,  after  being  set  out,  are  left  entirely 
to  nature,  and  when  the  question  of  pruning 
comes,  as  it  frequently  does  in  discussions  be 
fore  horticultural  societies,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  no  one  can  give  an}'  sensible  reason 
for  advocating  pruning  on  the  one  hand,  or 
no  pruning  on  the  other.  But  the  plum  is  a 
tree  that  is  especially  healthful  only  when  a 
limited  number  of  branches  are  left  on  the 
trees  ;   and    for   this    reason    the  weaker  and 


poorer  class  of  shoots  should  never  be  allowed 
to  exist.  When  the  trees  are  young,  one 
should  keep  an  eye  to  the  branches  that  are 
likely  to  be  the  most  vigorous,  and  many  of 
the  weaker  ones  should  be  at  ones  taken  away. 
This  suggestion  is,  in  a  measure,  true  of  all 
fruit  trees.  A  limited  number  of  large,  heavy 
vigorous  leaves  is  of  much  more  consequence 
to  the  vital  power  of  the  tree  than  a  large 
number  of  half  starved  leaves  would  be  ;  but, 
true  as  this  is  with  most  fruit  trees,  it  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  the  plum.  The  go-as-you- 
please  style  of  raising  plum  trees  rarely  results 
in  remarkable  profit. 

Dwarf  Apples. — There  are  two  kinds  of 
apples  which  never  attain  a  large  size — species 
which  always  continue  low,  and  have  a 
meagre  growth.  One  of  these  is  called  the 
Paradise  Apple,  and  the  other  the  Doucain 
Apple.  For  those  who  wish  to  have  apples 
fruit  very  early,  and  not  to  occupy  much 
space,  the  ordinary  kinds  of  apples  are  grafted 
on  these  stocks.  These  are  known  com- 
mercially as  dwarf  apples.  Those  grafted  on 
the  Paradise  are  the  dwarfest.  Those  on  the 
other  stock  frequently  make  trees  nearly  as 
large  as  those  grafted  on  the  ordinary  apple 
stock  used  for  orchard  trees.  So  far  as  we 
know  these  dwarf  apple  trees  in  our  country 
are  only  used  as  curiosities  in  small  gardens. 
A  correspondent,  however,  desires  to  know 
whether  any  attempt  has  been  made  to  grow 
these  as  a  crop  for  profitable  market  purposes. 
Our  impression  is  that  thej'  have  not,  nor  do 
we  think  it  is  possible  that  they  could  be  ;  but 
we  should  be  glad  to  know  whether  anyone 
has  actually  tried  the  experiment. 

Ti.ME  FOR  Grafting. — It  is  not  generally 
known,  but  Meehans'  Monthly  takes  pleasure 
in  giving  the  secret  to  its  readers, — that  the 
longer  scions  can  be  retarded,  the  more  cer- 
tainty there  is  of  success.  For  instance,  if 
grafts  of  Pear  are  cut  in  the  winter,  and  stuck 
in  the  ground  like  cuttings,  they  will  keep 
green  without  sprouting  for  months.  The 
Pear  tree  to  be  grafted  may  push  into  leaf  in 
May, — but  the  grafting  may  not  be  done  till 
June  or  later.  The  unsprouted  cuttings  used 
as  grafts,  grow  with  surprising  success.  The 
writer  has  known  some  of  these  to  be  success- 
fully grafted  even  at  the  end  of  July. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY GENERAL  GARDENING. 


93 


Rapid  Growth  ok  Trees.  —  It  has  often 
been  said,  that  as  soon  as  you  can  excite  a 
personal  interest  in  the  planting  of  trees,  the 
forestry  question  will  settle  itself.  One  of  the 
mistakes  too  frequently  made  is,  however,  the 
encouragement  of  the  idea  that  it  takes  cen- 
turies to  get  trees  large  enough  for  timber  pur- 
poses. If  properlj'  planted  and  properly  cared 
for,  as  they  ought  to  be  in  a  well  ordered  forest 
plantation,  growth  is  extremely  rapid,  and 
good  timber  trees  could  be  obtained  within  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  Near  where  this  para- 
graph is  written,  there  is  a  specimen  of  Silver 
Maple,  Acer  dasycarpiim,  not  fifteen  years  since 
it  was  a  seed,  which  is  4  feet  6  inches  in  cir- 
cumference ;  and  an  American  Elm,  about  the 
same  age,  which  is  5  feet  in  circumference. 
Facts  like  these  could  be  easily  multiplied, 
showing  how  easy  it  is  to  get  profitable  forests 
in  a  ver3'  short  time  when  the  great  public 
necessitj'  and  consequent  profit  becomes  a 
matter  of  exact  figuring. 

Champagne. — "  Lippincott's  Magazine"  for 
December  says  that  the  vine3'ard  district  of 
France,  from  which  is  produced  substantially 
the  world's  supply  of  champagne,  is  contained 
within  an  area  of  thirty  miles  square,  with 
Reims  as  its  commercial  and  cathedral  city. 

The  vine-lands  in  this  area  produce  the  white, 
red,  and  black  grapes  from  which  champagne 
is  made,  and  yet  these  same  roots  planted 
beyond  the  confines  of  this  district  fail  to  pro- 
duce grapes  from  which  the  high  quality  of 
wine,  perfect  in  bouquet  and  flavor  can  be  ob- 
tained. Again,  with  all  the  care  and  attention 
given  to  the  cultivation  of  the  grape  here,  it 
is  impossible,  from  year  to  year,  to  attain  to 
anything  like  uniformity  in  the  quality  of  the 
harvest  from  the  same  vines.  Even  in  the  best 
years  some  portion  of  the  harvest  will  fall  so 
far  below  the  required  standard  that  its  product 
can  only  be  labelled  and  sold  as  a  cheap  or 
rejected  wine.  There  is  no  doubt,  however, 
that  the  champagne  houses  of  France,  after 
learning  something  of  the  nicety  of  the  palate 
of  their  customers,  cater  accordingly. 

Grape  Culture  in  California.— The  Euro- 
pean grape  which  does  not  succeed  in  the  East- 
ern States,  finds  itself  at  home  in  California. 
The  vineyards  of  California  are  chiefly  made 
up  of  varieties  of   the   European  stock.     So 


successful  is  it  in  that  climate,  that  it  fre- 
quently attempts  to  make  two  crops  a  year. 
The  effort  in  cultivation  there  is  to  prevent  it 
making  the  second  crop,  as  it  is  believed  that 
this  interferes  with  the  abundance  of  the  earlier 
crop  the  following  season.  The  3'ield  of  grapes 
per  acre  is  usually  four  tons,  but  it  is  believed 
that  if  the  grape  there  could  be  prevented  from 
bearing  a  second  crop,  that  the  yield  per  acre 
would  be  six  tons.  It  is  said  that  particular 
systems  of  pruning  are  more  responsible  for 
this  second  crop  than  peculiarities  of  climate. 

Beurre  d'Anjou  Pear.  —  Where  this  fine, 
early  winter  pear  is  handled  with  intelligence, 
with  knowledge  how  to  mature  it  properly,  it 
is  one  of  the  very  best  of  all  Winter  pears  for 
the  amateur.  Everyone  knows  how  apples  can 
be  preserved  by  being  packed  tightly  in  bar- 
rels ;  but  very  few  can  do  this  with  a  pear. 
But  this  particular  variety,  under  the  hands  of 
such  intelligent  managers  as  Ellwanger  & 
Barry,  of  Rochester,  has  been  preserved  in  bar- 
rels pretty  much  as  one  might  do  with  apples, 
and  they  can  be  kept  for  a  considerable  time 
in  this  condition.  Where  they  are  suffered  to 
ripen  on  the  trees,  just  as  nature  perfects  them, 
this  goo.i  character  cannot  be  obtained. 

The  Early  Ohio  Grape. — This  grape,  which 
has  already  been  favorably  noticed  in  Mee- 
hans'  Monthly,  was  a  chance  seedling  found 
in  the  vineyard  of  Mr.  R.  A.  Hunt,  of  Euclid, 
Ohio,  being  one  of  twelve  that  was  selected 
to  be  allowed  to  grow  up  to  fruiting  condi- 
tion. Its  comparative  earliness  is  evidenced 
by  its  being  ten  days  earlier  than  the  well 
known  Moore's  Early.  Early  grapes  of  first- 
class  quality  are  still  desideratums,  and  this 
one,  if  it  confirms  by  experience  all  that  has 
been  said  of  it,  will  certainly  be  a  valuable 
addition  to  an  already  large  list  of  varieties. 

Dried  Bananas. — A  new  thing  under  the 
sun  seems  to  be  the  attempts  of  South  Ameri- 
cans to  dry  bananas.  ' '  The  Rural  New  Yorker' ' 
states  that  American  evaporators  are  now 
getting  to  be  quite  common  in  Central  and 
South  America  for  drj'ing  these  fruits,  and 
that  after  drying  the  bananas  are  ground  into 
meal  and  are  used  eventually  for  making  bread, 
puddings,  cakes,  and  other  toothsome  things. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


WASTED  LIVES. 

Yet  oft  a  sigh  prevails,  and  sorrow  fall, 

To  see  the  hoard  of  human  bliss  so  small  ; 

And  oft  I  wish,  amidst  the  scene,  to  find 

Some  spot  of  real  happiness  consign'd. 

Where  my  worn  soul,  each  wandering  hope  at  rest. 

May  gather  bliss  to  see  my  fellows  blest. 

— Oliver  Goldsmith. 


Death  of  Ghiesbreght. —  "The  Natural 
Sciences  are  in  mourning !  The  great  Belgian 
botanist,  Augustus  B.  Ghiesbreght  died  at  San 
Cristobal  Las  Casas  on  the  7th  of  February  last, 
at  the  age  of  82  years  and  1 1  months. 

This  great  man,  after  his  profitable  studies 
begun  in  Brussels  and  finished  in  Paris  ;  after 
the  various  honors  which  he  received  from  the 
King  Leopold  L  for  his  valuable  services 
given  to  science  in  his  explorations  of  Brazil 
and  made  under  commission  of  the  same 
sovereign,  in  company  with  the  illustrious 
Linden  ;  after  his  repeated  journeys  in  Mexico, 
which  revealed  to  old  Europe  the  beauties  of 
the  Mexican  flora  and  fauna,  came  at  last  to 
fix  his  residence  in  the  ancient  capital  of  Chia- 
pas, where  he  collected  the  multitude  of  pre- 
cious plants  which  to-day  enrich  the  herbaria 
of  Europe.  'The  botanical  collections  of  Ghies- 
breght are  distributed  among  the  Museums  and 
Academies  of  Belgium,  England,  France, 
Switzerland,  Germany  and  Russia.  The  num- 
ber of  new  species  sent  to  those  herbaria  or  in- 
troduced to  the  gardens  of  those  countries  is 
immense.'  * 

Though  the  illustrious  Belgian,  in  his  scien- 
tific explorations,  figures  by  the  side  of  Linden, 
as  a  zoologist  only,  it  appears  that  his  favorite 
study  was  botany,  since  it  was  to  that  he  de- 
voted himself  in  Tobasco  and  Chiapas,  from 
the  moment  he  arrived  upon  their  shores.  In- 
deed," the  monumental  work  of  Hemsle}^  "Bio- 
logia  Centrali-Americana,"  registers  in  almost 
all  the  orders  of  its  plants,  a  multitude  which 
were  collected  by  the  industrious  savant,  as 
well  as  many  that  have  been  dedicated  to  him, 

*  Jos^  N.  Rovirosa — Life  and  labors  of  the  Belgian  natur- 
alist. Augustus  B.  Ghiesbreght.  explorer  of  Mexico,  La  Na- 
turaleza,  2nd  series,  Vol.  I,  p.  211. 

(94) 


of  which  we  miy  mention  the  following : 
Lomaria  Ghiesbicglitii,  Bkr. ;  Polypodium  (Go- 
niopteris)  Ghiesbreghtii,  Linden  ;  Philodendron 
Ghiesbreghtii,  Linden  ;  Ouercus  Ghiesbreghtii, 
Martens  ;  and  the  remarkable  Scrophularaceous 
Tree,  Ghiesbreghtia  grandiflora,  a  new  genus 
which  the  celebrated  Dr.  Asa  Gray  took  occasion 
to  name  after  its  illustrious  discoverer.  The 
name  of  the  studious  Belgian  is  also  borne  by 
several  species  in  the  zoological  kingdom, 
among  which  we  record  the  bird  of  prey,  Uru- 
bitinga  Ghiesbreghtii,  Du  Bus,  and  the  mol- 
lusks,  Glandina  Ghiesbreghtii,  PfeifFer;  Am- 
pullafia  Ghiesbreghtii,  Reeve ;  and  Helicina 
Ghiesbreghtii,  PfeifFer. 

In  his  visit  to  the  Grotto  of  Cocona  in  the 
vicinity  of  Teapa,  made  July  16,  1890,  our 
esteemed  friend  D.  Jose  N.  Rovirosa,  already 
cited,  honored  one  of  the  chambers  of  that  cave 
with  the  name  of  the  illustrious  Belgian  ex- 
plorer, as  a  new  trib;ite  of  admiration  to  the 
merit  of  the  man  who  has  rendered  such  great 
service  to  the  progress  of  the  study  of  nature, 
no:  only  by  his  great  knowledge,  but  by  his 
enthusiasm  and  persistence  in  dissection  and 
herborization. 

The  great  botanical  labors  of  Ghiesbreght 
were  ^)ot  limited  to  the  collection  of  dried 
classified  plants,  but  what  is  more,  he  also 
sent  large  consignments  to  various  points  in 
Europe,  of  living  plants,  preserved  by  his  skill 
and  careful  pains  in  glass  cases,  with  the  praise- 
worthy object  of  making  the  riches  of  the  Am- 
erican Flora  better  known  to  the  old  continent. 
»»***** 

From  his  establishment  in  our  State,  about 
the  year  1838  or  1839,  this  traveling  naturalist 
did  not  cease  for  a  moment  to  collect  the  rare 
plants  of  those  which  grow  in  such  profusion 
in  our  fertile  zone,  whether  on  the  coasts  of 
the  gulf,  or  the  marshy  interior  of  the  terri- 
tory, or  along  the  cascades  of  the  Sierra  known 
to  be  most  abundant  in  the  rarities  of  Ameri- 
can vegetation.  Doubtless  these  wonderfully 
multiplied  rarities  encouraged  the  modest 
Ghiesbreght  to  fix  his  residence  in  the  centre 


«893.] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


95 


of  that  virgin  and  privileged  region,  the 
climate  of  which  is  exceptionally  healthy, 
where  the  panoramas  presented  are  so  varied 
and  peculiar,  and  where  the  perspective  of  the 
mountains  displays  such  creative  power.   *  *  * 

Nor  was  he  a  mere  naturalist  forgetful  of  his 
philanthropic  and  social  duties,  for  the  refining 
fire  of  patriotism  kindled  its  flame  in  the  breast 
of  Ghiesbreght,  for  his  biographer  tells  us  that 
in  1830  he  gave  proof  of  his  love  for  liberty, 
enlisting  as  a  physician  among  the  defensive 
forces  of  his  country,  when  it  was  threatened, 
an  action  which  the  Belgian  government  re- 
warded with  a  diploma  and  a  cross  of  honor. 

The  same  courage  was  manifested  under 
another  verj'  distinct  aspect,  every  time  that 
he  exposed  his  precious 
life  to  make  the  conquest 
of  a  rare  plant  among  the 
mountain  clefts  or  the 
deep  ravines.  Nor  was  it 
at  all  extraordinary  that 
the  man  who  had  exposed 
his  breast  to  the  cannon- 
shot  in  defence  of  his 
country,  should  have 
placed  his  feet  upon  the 
peaks  of  Colima,  of  Ori- 
zaba, of  Jorullo,  and  of 
Cempoaltepec. 

So  also  the  merits  of 
Jenner  and  of  Monthyon 
shone  upon  the  brow  of 
this  eminent  naturalist, 
for  we  know  that  he  liber- 
ally bestowed  not  merely 
the  treasures  of  his  medi- 
cal knowledge,  but  also  his  slender  savings 
upon  the  needy  classes.  'For  this  reason 
says  his  biographer)  the  people  of  Chiapas 
are  proud  to  retain  him  in  their  capital,  to  call 
him  their  compatriot,  as  those  should  be  called 
who  love  the  progress  of  the  sciences  in 
Mexico' — and  for  this  reason  we  who  love 
this  progress  lament  his  disappearance  from 
earth,  and  from  the  bosom  of  science,  but  we 
corsole  ourselves  bj^  remembering  that  he  has 
exchanged  the  American  skies  for  the  skies  of 
glory.  Felipe  A.  Margalh. 

San  Baptista  de  Tabasco,  March  10,  1893. 

[To  the  above  communication  it  may  be 
added  that  European  journals  often  spell  the 
name  Ghiesbrecht. — Ed.] 


ALPHONSC   DE  CANDOLLE. 


De  Candoli.i'.— The  ^eath  is  announced  at 
Geneva,  Switzerland,  on  the  4th  of  April,  of 
Prof.  Alphouse  de  Candolle,  whose  name  at 
the  present  time  .<-tands  at  the  head  of  botanical 
knowledge  everywhere.  He  was  the  son  of 
another  botanist  quite  as  great,  Augustin 
Pyramus  de  Candolle,  originally  Professor  of 
botany  at  Montpellier,  but  subsequently  at 
Geneva.  He  was  born  at  Paris,  on  October 
the  27th,  1806.  His  earljf  studies  were  in  the 
direction  of  medicine,  but  he  finally  became 
assistant  to  his  father,  and  afterwards  successor 
in  the  Professorship  of  botany  in  the  Institute 
at  Geneva,  and  for  eighteen  years  was  Director 
of  the  Botanic  Garden  there.  Although  the 
author  of  a  number  of  independent  botanical 
works,  possibly  his  great- 
est was  the  completion  of 
the  "Prodromus,"  which 
his  father  left  unfinished 
in  1841.  Notwithstanding 
his  advanced  years,  the 
announcement  of  his  death 
came  with  some  surprise 
to  his  botanical  colleagues 
in  America,  where  he  has 
been  for  many  years  held 
in  the  highest  estimation. 
The  cut  used  is  from  the 
London  "Journal  of  Horti- 
culture, "  the  one  in  the 
writer's  collection  going 
back  to  younger  days. 
Like  all  truly  great  men, 
he  was  beloved  for  his 
broad  sympathies  as  for 
his  learning.  No  true 
searcher  for  botanical  truths,  however  humble, 
but  found  a  friend  in  De  Candolle. 


The  Garden  of  Eden.  —  The  notice  in 
Meehans'  Monthly  regarding  a  fanciful 
location  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  at  the  Noith 
Pole,  brings  for  us  a  note  from  Miss  Maria 
Pinckney,  of  Charleston,  to  the  efTect  that 
the  lady  referred  to  is  not  alone  in  her  glory, 
as  Miss  P.  read  some  years  ago  a  500-page 
book,  by  a  well  known  professor  in  a  Northern 
college,  whose  name  has  escaped  her,  to  prove 
the  same  point ;  and  she  remarks  that  if  his 
arguments  were  not  conclusive,  the  facts  gather- 
ed and  fitted  together  were  certainly  mcst 
wonderful. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


COIIPLIMENTS  TO  THE  MAGAZINE. — A  little 
over  forty  years  ago,  the  writer  of  this  para- 
graph started  with  a  bundle  of  manuscript 
under  his  arm,  on  a  tour  amongst  book  pub- 
lishers. It  was  on  "American  Ornamental 
Trees."  Only  one  gave  even  a  reason  for  de- 
clining it.  "  If  it  were  something  like  '  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin'  we  could  make  it  go."  But  the 
author  had  more  faith  in  the  American  love  for 
solid  reading  than  these  publishers.  He  could 
not  then  aiford  to  risk  much,  so  he  cut  down 
the  manuscript  two-thirds,  and  then  risked  the 
little  seventy-five  cent  book  by  a  guarantee  to 
the  publishers  who  issued  it ! 

He  has  had  faith  in  American  love  of  gard- 
ening. He  was  told  that  "something  to  eat" 
was  the  true  basis  for  a  horticultural  magazine, 
and  that  unless  it  be  shown  that  there  was 
"  money  in  the  garden,"  it  was  useless  to  pre- 
sent gardening  to  the  American  mind.  Yet 
for  thirty  years  he  kept  prosperous  a  magazine 
the  main  effort  of  which  was  to  show  that 
gardening  was  for  living  souls  as  vk'ell  as  for 
mortal  bodies. 

He  could  not  find  a  publisher  for  the  second 
series  of  "Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United 
States  "  without  becoming  a  silent  partner  in 
the  firm  itself  !  and  when  that  publisher  died 
he  spent  vainly  several  years  in  looking  for 
another. 

Even  when  the  younger  members  of  the 
firm  of  Thomas  Meehan  &  Sons  undertook  to 
take  on  themselves  the  burden  of  publication, 
it  was  a  whisper  among  the  knowing  ones, 
"  who  will  care  for  a  work  like  that  ?  " 

It  would  not  be  so  difficult  to  find  a  pub- 
lishers to-day.  The  complimentarj'  letters 
from  end  to  end  of  our  great  country,  would 
show  the  grand  mistake  in  regarding  an  Amer- 
ican as  but  a  slight  remove  from  a  Digger 
Indian.  "I  anxiously  await  the  coming  of 
each  number,"  says  Mr.  Thomas  E.  Fahey,  of 
Lenox  in  the  Berkshire  Hills, — and  so  say 
they  all. 

Not  being  publishers,  and  without  the 
machinery  to  make  the  work  known  a  regular 

(96) 


publishing  firm  would  have,  much  dependence 
has  to  be  pla'^ed  on  the  good  will  of  friends  in 
making  the  work  known.  In  reply  to  some 
friends,  whose  inquiries  have  suggested  this 
paragraph,  it  may  be  here  noted,  that  a  few 
full  sets  have  been  saved  for  those  who  come 
in  at  the  later  hour. 


The  Beautiful  Plates. — The  praises  of 
Meehans'  Monthly  have  been  so  continuous 
and  are  echoed  from  so  man}'  varied  centres  of 
intelligence,  that  it  could  not  be  supposed  that 
these  unsurpassed  encomiums  could  be  still 
surpassed.  For  the  remarkably  flattering 
manner  in  which  the  press  of  the  country  and 
numerous  correspondents  have  expressed  their 
pleasure  at  the  plate  of  Epigcva  rcpe?is — the 
Partridge  berry — and  of  that  number  generally 
the  conductors  are  proud.  A  substantial  testi- 
monial was  the  increase  in  the  number  of  orders 
for  the  bound  volumes  from  the  beginning  show- 
ing the  growth  of  the  feeling  it  is  desired  to 
encourage,  that  the  work  is  not  one  of  tempor- 
arj'  concern,  but  will  become  a  standard  library 
book  of  reference  for  all  time.  A  limited  set 
of  bound  volumes  can  still  be  furnished. 

Strange  Gra.ss  from  Algeria.  —  It  is 
stated  in  the  newspapers  that  a  peculiar  grass 
has  been  discovered  that  will  grow  around  the 
craters  of  the  volcano  of  Oran,  a  seaport  on 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  No  other  plant,  it  is 
said,  can  endure  the  temperature  as  this  grass 
can.  It  is  reported  to  be  in  quantities  suflicient 
for  profitable  export,  and  large  quantities  are 
being  used  as  tying  material.  No  information 
is  given,  however,  as  to  what  species  of  grass 
this  may  be. 

The  Next  Plate. — Having  given  our  bo- 
tanical friends  a  rich  feast  in  a  rare  fern,  the 
real  flower  lover,  pure  and  simple,  shall  next 
be  ministered  to,  and  Comanim  palustre,  a 
beautiful  purple  flowered  native  of  the  North- 
east will  be  illustrated. 


Plate 


,OMARrM    PALUSTRE 


COMARUM  PALUSTRE. 

MARSH  CINQUEFOIL. 
NATURAL  ORDER,  ROSACE.E. 

CoMARUM  PALUSTRE.  I.lNN.^us.— Stems  creeping  at  the  base,  one  to  two  feet  high,  nearly  smooth,  branching  ;  leaflets  three, 
five,  or  seven,  crowded,  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  inches  long  and  half  as  wide  ;  oblong-lanceolate,  hoary  beneath, 
obtuse,  sharply  serrate,  subsessile  ;  petiole  longer  than  the  scarious,  woolly,  adnate  stipules  at  the  base  ;  flowers  large  ; 
calyx  segments  several  times  larger  than  the  petals;  petals  about  three  lines  long,  ovate-lanceolate,  and  with  the 
stamens,  styles,  and  upper  surface  of  the  sepals,  dark  purple  ;  fruit  permanent.  (Wood  s  Class-Book  of  Bolaity.  See  also 
Torrey  and  Gray's  Flora  of  North  America,  and  Gray's  Manual  of  tht:  Botany  of  the  Northern  C'mted  States  under  the 
name  cii  Potentilla  palustris). 


The  interesting  wild  flower  here  illustrated 
affords  us  some  valuable  lessons  in  botany  as 
a  science,  and  in  botanical  history. 

Few  of  our  modern  names  for  plants  can  be 
traced  back  more  than  three  or  four  hundred 
years,  as  beyond  that  we  have  few  works  extant 
except  those  which  were  written  by  the  learned 
men  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  Still  there 
were  in  all  the  intervening  ages  some  who 
studied  plants  more  or  less  intelligently  in  the 
little  light  vouchsafed  to  them,  and  the  names 
given  to  plants  in  these  times  have  been 
handed  down  to  us,  but  often  with  little 
knowledge  as  to  why  they  were  so  named,  or 
an}'  clue  to  their  meaning.  Our  present  plant 
being  common  to  the  north  of  Europe  as  well 
as  to  northern  America,  and  with  some  fame 
as  a  medicinal  plant,  must  have  attracted 
attention  even  in  early  times,  when  it  was 
probably  associated  with  Polentilla,  under 
which  name  the  common  Potetitilla  ansetina 
of  our  modern  system,  has  been  known  for 
many  ages.  With  the  revival  of  learning 
which  followed  the  dark  ages,  botan}-  came  in 
for  a  share  of  attention,  and  attempts  were 
made  at  classifying  plants  in  some  natural 
way.  Bauhin  in  1671  separated  plants  allied 
to  the  one  we  are  now  discussing,  and  made 
the  genus  QuinqnefoUitm,  because,  he  says,  of 
the  number  of  leaves  they  have,  and  our  plant 
became  Quinquefoltum  palustre  rubrum.  So 
little  was  known  of  the  real  structure  of  plants 
at  that  time,  that  often  the  appearances  of  the 
leaves  decided  the  genus,  and  we  might  expect  to 
find  even  an  Ampclopsis  in  the  same  genus  with 
the  Strawberry,  simply  because  both  had  five 
leaflets.  Before  Bauhin's  timeOesner  had  estab- 
lished a  genus  Pentaphyllutn ,  in  which  was  our 


plant;  and  Rudbeck,  the  predecessor  of  Lin- 
nteus,  re-established  it,  and  our  plant  became 
Pcniaphyllum  aquaticum . 

Tournefort  who  wrote  about  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century,  and  whose  views  of  the 
structure  and  affinities  of  plants  were  so  correct 
that  many  of  his  views  were  adopted  by  Lin- 
naeus, and  continue  to  this  day,  made  a  new 
genus  for  our  plant,  and  it  became  Pcntaphyl- 
loidcs  paliisti'C  rubrum.  Linnaeus,  following, 
again  gave  it  a  new  place,  and  called  it  Co- 
marum,  thus  removing  it  from  the  true  Cinque- 
foils,  among  which  in  some  form  or  another  it 
had  so  long  appeared.  This  was  in  \\\s.Floia 
Lappoitica,  or  Flora  of  Lapland,  in  1737.  Thus 
it  remained  till  1772,  when  Scopoli,  in  the  Flora 
Carniolica,  or  Flora  of  the  Italian  Alps,  took  it 
back  to  its  old  relations,  and  made  it  Potentilla 
palustris.  This  however  did  not  seem  to  meet 
with  general  approval.  So  recently  as  183S, 
our  own  great  botanists,  Torrey  and  Gray,  in 
the  Flora  of  North  America,  followed  Linnaeus 
in  regarding  it  as  Comarum  palusite,  but  in  his 
more  recent  writings  Dr.  Gray  has  followed 
Scopoli  in  regarding  it  as  a  mere  Potentilla. 
As  there  have  been  no  new  facts  discovered  in 
relation  to  our  plant  and  its  immediate  con- 
nections than  were  known  to  Linnfeus.  it  shows 
that  genera  in  botanical  systems  are  more  or  less 
artificial,  and  that  there  is  nothing  absolutely 
definite  in  the  botanical  mind  as  to  what  should 
constitute  a  generic  character.  It  may  be  here 
remarked  that  in  establishing  genera  of  the 
plants  allied  to  the  one  under  present  considera- 
tion, Linnreus  looked  to  the  behavior  of  the 
receptacle  for  the  best  distinguishing  character. 
In  the  Raspberry,  for  instance,  the  fleshy  matter 
covers  the  seeds,  and  when  mature  falls  from  the 

(97)  • 


•98 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— COMARUM  PALUSTRE. 


[July 


"  core"  like  a  thimble.  In  the  Blackberry  the 
seeds  are  covered  also,  but  when  the  fruit  falls 
the  "  core"  falls  with  it.  The  Strawberry  also 
falls  from  the  calyx  as  the  Blackberry  does,  but 
the  seeds  are  naked — set  on  the  fleshy  matter 
and  not  covered  by  it.  The  Potentilla  or  true 
Cinqucfoil  family  has  no  pulpy  matter,  and  the 
seeds  are  set  in  a  dry  almost  flat  receptacle. 
Now  Cornariim  is  an  intermediate  between  the 
Strawberry  and  the  Potentilla,  for  the  receptacle 
is  round,  somewhat  like  a  Strawberry  in  form, 
but  is  spong-y  instead  of  being  fleshy.  In  this 
respect  it  rather  approaches  the  Strawberry, 
while  the  leaves  favor  the  Potentilla  familj-. 
Linnseus  himself  saw  the  difiiculty  of  separ- 
ating such  a  natural  family  into  different 
genera,  but  he  thought  on  the  principle  he 
adopted  Coinanim  must  stand  separate,  or  else 
we  should  have  to  put  Riibus,  Rosa,  Geum, 
Dryas,  and  others  together  under  one  name. 

The  origin  of  the  name  Comanini  cannot  be 
certainly  traced.  Johnson  says  it  is  from  the 
Greek  Komaros,  the  Arbutus  Uiiedo, — -or  Straw- 
berry tree, — because  the  fruit  is  like  that,— but 
there  is  no  suggestive  resemblance  between 
these  fruits.  Prof.  Wood  says,  from  Komaros, 
the  Strawberrj'  tree,  which  the  ' '  plant' '  re- 
sembles, but  here  again  there  is  no  resem- 
blance. Linnaeus  who  named  the  genus  merely 
tells  us  he  found  the  name  in  Apuleius,  and 
adopted  it  for  this  genus.  This  Apuleius  was 
a  distinguished  Athenian  scholar,  who  flourish- 
ed in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  emigrated  to  Rome.  Here  he  was  smitten 
by  the  charms  of  an  exceedinglj'  rich  widow 
named  Pudentilla,  whom  he  married ;  but 
under  such  a  storm  of  jealous  envy,  that  he 
set  to  work  to  defend  himself  in  writings  so 
able,  that  it  was  chiefly  through  these  that  he 
became  famous.  It  is  remarkable  that  there 
has  seemed  no  adequate  reason  for  the  name 
Potentilla.  Dr.  Gray  remarks  in  his  "Manual," 
"  name  a  kind  of  diminutive  from  potcns,  pow- 
erful, alluding  to  the  reputed  medical  power, 
of  which  in  fact  these  plants  possess  very 
little."  Bauhin  and  Linnaeus  merely  say  that 
the  name  is  derived  from  its  power  over  men — 
using  the  word  z>ir — or  man  in  the  masculine 
sense;  and  as  he  had  Apuleius  in  mind  when 
lie  separated  Comarum  from  it,  his  explanation 
ol  Potentilla  is  strongly  suggestive  of  the  power 
of  Pudentilla  over  the  celebrated  writer.  One 
might  be  scarcely  pardoned  for  suggesting  this 


fancy,  if  it  were  not  that  writers  in  the  past 
ages  were  not  as  particular  in  repeating  as 
accurateh'  as  the  present  era  demands.  For 
instance,  in  respect  to  this  very  plant.  Dr. 
Withering  in  his  "Arrangement  of  British 
Plants"  in  1830  wrote,  "The  root  dyes  a 
dirty  red.  The  Irish  rub  their  milking  pails 
with  it  to  make  the  milk  appear  richer  and 
thicker."  Miss  Pratt  in  her  "  English  Wild 
Flowers"  saj'S,  "It  is  called  Cowberry  in 
some  parts  of  England,  probably  from  a 
practice  common  among  the  Irish  of  rubbing 
the  inside  of  their  milk  pails  with  this  plant." 
Dr.  Prior  does  not  include  "Cowberry"  at  all 
among  his  "  Popular  Names  of  British  Plants, " 
and  we  may  see  some  tendenc}'  to  varj'  from 
the  original  statement  of  Dr.  Withering.  In 
the  "Treasury  of  Botany,"  1874,  Rev.  C.  H. 
Johns  writes,  "The  roots  dye  a  dirty  red.  In 
some  parts  of  Scotland  the  fruits  are  called 
Cowberries  on  account  of  their  being  used  to 
rub  the  inside  of  milk  pails  for  the  purpose  of 
thickening  milk."  It  is  by  no  means  clear 
that  Dr.  Withering  was  not  speaking  of  the 
root  only  ;  but  Miss  Pratt  varies  it  to  the 
"plant,"  and  makes  the  "English"  call  it 
Cowberry  because  the  "Irish"  use  it,  while 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Johns  carries  the  practice  to 
"  Scotland"  and  limits  the  use  to  the  "fruit." 

The  original  Potentilla,  P.  a7iserina,  was  very 
famous  in  old  times  for  its  medical  properties. 
There  was  scarcely  any  disease  it  was  not  em- 
ployed in.  It  was  not  merely /b/f «////(?,  "little" 
power,  but  a  great  power  over  the  troubles  of 
both  men  and  women — in  agues,  wounds,  and 
sores  of  every  description.  Grifiiths  in  his 
"Medical  Botany"  regards  it  as  having  some 
real  astringent  qualities,  and  so  far  useful. 

The  plant  has  had  many  common  names 
suggested  for  it.  Dr.  Gray  uses  ' '  INIarsh  five- 
finger.  ' '  But  as  it  seems  desirable  that  only 
one  should  come  into  general  use.  Marsh  cin- 
quefoil  is  emplo3-ed  here  as  the  oldest,  and  the 
one  which  seems  to  be  in  the  most  general  use 
in  the  old  world. 

It  is  confined  to  the  northern  parts  of  the 
United  States,  extending  to  the  Arctic  Circle. 
Our  illustration  is  from  a  Massachusetts  speci- 
men. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate. — i.  Creeping  root  stock. 
2.  Portion  of  a  branch,  showing  seven,  five,  and  three  leaflets 
to  one  leaf  on  the  same  plant.  3.  United  stipule.  4.  Flower, 
showing  proportion  in  size  of  petals  to  the  colored  sepals. 
5.  Showing  bracts  at  base  of  calyx,  also  seen  in  Fig.  4. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


FORETELLING    THE  WEATHER. 

But,  more  than  all,  the  setting  sun  surve}-. 

When  dowu  the  steep  of  heaven  he  drives  the  day  : 

For  oft  we  find  him  finishing  his  race, 

With  various  colors  erring  on  his  face. 

If  fiery  red  his  glowing  globe  descends, 

Higluvinds  and  fiery  tempests  he  portends  : 

But,  if  his  checks  are  swoln  with  livid  blue, 

He  bodes  wet  weather  by  his  watery  hiie  ; 

If  dusky  spots  are  varied  on  his  brow. 

And,  streaked  with  red,  a  troubled  color  show  ; 

That  sullen  mixture  shall  at  once  declare. 

Winds,  rain,  and  storms,  and  elemental  war. 

But,  if  with  purple  rays  he  brings  the  light, 

And  a  pure  heaven  resigns  to  quiet  night, 

No  rising  winds  or  falling  skies  are  nigh, — 

But  northern  breezes  through  the  forests  fly, 

And  drive  the  rack  and  purge  the  ruffled  sky. 

Dryden'S  Virgii,. 


Honey  INIaking. — Nectar  in  flowers  is  not 
honey.  This  nectar  is  gathered  by  the  tongue 
of  the  bee,  and  enters  what  is  called  the  honey 
bag,  from  which  it  is  regurgitated  by  the  bee 
on  its  return  to  the  hive,  and  deposited  in  the 
honey  celL  Even  then  it  is  thin  and  watery, 
and  does  not  become  really  honey  until  the 
watery  parts  have  evaporated.  In  collecting  the 
sweets  the  bees  do  not  confine  themselves  wholly 
to  flowers.  The  writer  of  this  paragraph  has  for 
a  next  neighbor  a  professional  bee  keeper,  whose 
bees  depend  almost  wholly  on  the  flowers 
from  the  writer's  garden — that  is  to  say,  there 
are  few  other  flowers,  except  wild  ones,  on 
which  the  bees  can  collect  their  material.  Un- 
fortunately for  him  they  are  not  satisfied  with 
the  flower,  but  also  carry  away  the  fruit.  It 
is  almost  impossible  in  raspberry  time  to  get 
enough  from  his  garden  to  make  a  respectable 
dish  for  the  tea  table — nearly  every  berry  is 
sucked  to  pieces  before  it  is  absolutely  ripe. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  grape  ;  in  order  to 
secure  them  from  the  ravages  of  the  bees  they 
have  to  be  protected  by  paper  bags.  Last 
season,  and  for  the  first  time,  they  have  been 
found  to  carry  awa}'  peaches  also.  How  they 
first  penetrate  the  skin  is  not  clear  ;  but  it 
may  possibly  have  been  from  the  puncture 
of  the  curculio.  The  curculio  frequently  cuts 
the  skin  without  depositing  the  egg,  and  this 


single  break  may  be  borne  along  without  in- 
jury to  the  peach,  permitting  it  to  ripen.  It 
is  possible  that  they  get  a  first  entrance  here. 
At  any  rate  certain  it  is  that  before  the  peach 
is  fairly  ripe  little  is  left  on  the  peach  but 
the  stone.  Other  fruit  growers  likewise  com- 
plain of  the  ravages  of  bees.  Bee  keepers 
contend  that  this  cannot  be  so — that  the  bee 
is  incapable  of  perforating  fruit.  This  may  or 
maj'  not  be — certain!}'  what  perforations  might 
exist  before  the  bees  discovered  them  would 
not  injure  the  fruit — the  following  up  of  this 
by  the  bees  is  just  as  bad  as  if  they  made 
the  original  perforations  for  themselves. 


The  Snow  Plant. — The  full  history  of  the 
growth  of  the  Snow  Plant  of  the  Nevadas, 
Sarcodes  sa7iguinea,  has  not  j'et  been  fully  as- 
certained. A  remarkably  observant  corres- 
pondent, Mrs.  Ross  Lewers,  of  Washoe  Co., 
Nevada,  finds  that  the  plants  are  pushing  up 
from  the  ground  by  the  ist  of  October, — all 
ready,  as  a  Hyacinth  would  be,  to  push  up  its 
flowers  as  soon  as  the  spring  opens.  This 
shows  that  the  whole  of  their  growth  must  be 
made  the  year  before  the  flowers  appear,  and 
this  fact  has  not  before  been  recorded,  and 
helps  considerably  with  its  historj'.  A  very 
large  mass  of  coralline  appearance,  is  formed 
before  the  flowering  stage  is  reached,  and  it  is 
hardly  likely  that  from  the  time  the  seed  ma- 
tures in  the  fall,  the  whole  of  this  mass  is 
formed  before  October.  It  all  goes  to  show 
that  the  plant  may  possibly  take  more  than 
one  year  to  perfect  itself 

Beggar  Weed.  —  It  is  very  hard  to  keep 
up  with  the  common  names  of  plants,  as  they 
are  changing  from  year  to  3'ear,  if  not  oftener. 
But  it  is  important  to  watch  the  drift  of 
things  in  this  line.  It  appears  that  Richard- 
sonia  scabra  is  known  in  the  South  as  "  Beg- 
gar weed."  It  is  an  immigrant  from  Mexico, 
and  is  becoming  a  well  known  weed  in  the 
South. 

(99) 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS   AND   NATURE. 


[Jul3^ 


Yucca  filamentosa.  —  Although  pictures 
of  the  pretty  Yucca,  familiarly  known  as 
Adam's  Needle,  are  not  at  all  un frequent, 
rarely  is  seen  anything  so  pretty  as  the  plant 
here  illustrated,  and  which  was  grown  in  the 
garden  of  Mrs.  Cornelia  Boecklin,  of  Burling- 
ton, Iowa.  This  particular  species  of  Yucca  is 
probably  the  easiest  to  cultivate  of  all,  and  it 
is  now  getting  a  ver}'  wide  distribution  in 
pleasure  grounds.  It  is  an  extremely  interest- 
ing plant  outside  of  its  mere  beauty.  Through 
the  labors  of  Prof.    Riley   and    the  late    Dr. 


YUCCA     FILAMCNTOSA. 

Engelmann,  it  was  made  known  some  years 
ago  that  a  particular  night  moth,  which  Prof. 
Riley  named  Pronuba,  is  always  associated 
with  the  plant  in  order  to  its  fruitfulness.  No 
seed  is  ever  proditced  where  this  moth  is  ab- 
sent ;  wherever  it  visits  the  flowers,  seed  usu- 
ally follow  in  abundance.  Dr.  Englemann 
noted  that  the  pistil  in  this  plant  was  deep 
down  in  an  orifice  at  the  apex  of  the  st}  le  ;  and 
Prof.  Riley  found  that  the  insect  brought  the 
pollen  and  thrust  it  into  this  orifice.  It  seemed 
almost  instinctive  on  the  part  of  the  insect 
which  deposited   its  egg  in  the  immature  seed 


vessel,  that  it  was  necessary  that  the  flowers 
should  be  fertilized,  in  order  that  the  fruit 
might  come  to  perfection,  and  thus  afford  food 
for  the  larva;.  Possibly  no  more  wonderful 
discovery  of  the  relation  between  plants  and 
insects  was  ever  made.  There  have  been  diflTer- 
ent  views  as  to  the  physiological  value  to  the 
plant  of  this  work  of  the  insect  ;  but  no  dif- 
ference of  opinion  as  to  the  great  honor  due  to- 
those  eminent  observers  for  our  knowledge  of 
the  interesting  facts. 

Forestry. — While  this  paragraph  is  being 
written  thousands  of  acres  of  valuable  timber 
is  under  fire  in  New  Jersey,  and  reports  of 
similar  forest  conflagrations  are  in  every  news- 
paper. It  is  remarkable  that  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  forest  interests  of  our  country 
do  not  see  that  the  great  obstacle  is  the  ex- 
istence of  underbrush.  With  no  underbrush' 
there  could  be  no  forest  fires.  It  is  the  dead 
wood  and  accumulation  of  leaves,  and  dead 
material  which  is  encouraged  by  underbrush, 
that  feed  the  fire.  Although  leaves  may 
burn  underneath  forest  trees,  where  there  is 
no  brush,  the  bark  is  a  suflScient  protection, 
and  trees  never  suffer  from  these  light  burn- 
ings. The  whole  subject  of  forestry  has  been 
made  too  much  a  question  of  meteorology  and 
meteorological  influences  so  far  as  leading  to 
springs  and  streams  ;  but  the  practical  man 
who  wants  money  from  forests  will  not  plant 
merelj'  for  the  sake  of  public  interest,  and  until 
we  can  show  him  that  there  is  money  in  the 
planting,  very  little  is  likely  to  be  done.  Un- 
til he  feels  sure  that  he  is  secure  against  a 
forest  fire,  he  is  not  likely  to  invest  much. 
The  great  campaign  in  the  interest  of  forestry 
should  be  against  the  existence  of  underbrush, 
as  much  as  for  the  preservation  of  old  trees. 

Cypress  Knees. — In  the  Southern  swamps, 
the  deciduous  cypress  sends  up  curious  knobs, 
called  Cypress  Knees,  the  object  or  purpose  of 
which  is  a  subject  of  discussion  in  some  quar- 
ters. It  has  been  said  they  never  behave  in 
this  way  except  when  growing  in  wet  places. 
Mr.  Burnet  Landreth,  at  Bristol,  Pa.,  having 
some  trees,  informs  us  that  two  of  his  trees 
are  growing  on  the  edge  of  a  swamp,  and  one 
on  the  high  and  dry  ground.  They  all  throw 
up  knees  as  well  on  the  dry  as  on  the  wet. 
situation. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


lOI 


Citrus  trifoliata.— Mr.  W.  Saunders,  of 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  con- 
tributes the  following  note  on  this  valuable 
introduction  ; 

In  the  Spring  of  1S69,  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  received  an  invoice  of  orange 
trees  from  Japan.  In  crossing  the  Rocky 
mountains  they  encountered  severe  weather, 
and  reached  here  a  solid  mass  of  ice. 

They   looked  bad.     After   unpacking  them 
they  were  placed  under  a  greenhouse  staging 
where  they  would  recuperate  if  any  life  was 
left  in  them.    Verj'  few  of  the  tops  recovered, 
but  the  stocks  upon  which  thej'  had  been 
worked  budded  forth    in  profusion.     These 
growths  puzzled  us  for  some  time,  they  did 
not   show  much   externally  to  class  them 
with   the   Citrus    family.     After   a  time  a 
drawing  and  description  of  the  plant  was 
found   in   an  old  botanical  work,    where  it 
was  named   Citnis  trifoliata.     Linn. 

Supposing  that  this  might  prove  to  be  a 
superior  stock  for  oranges,  an  order  was  sent 
to  Japan  for  a  quantity  of  seed.  This  order 
was  duly  fulfilled  and  from  it  several  thous- 
ands of  plants  were  produced,  and  for  several 
years  these  were  used  as  stocks  for  budding 
oranges  of  different  varieties.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  this  stock  dwarfed  the  orange,  the 
trees  making  but  little  growth,  and  it  was 
abandoned,  with  one  exception. 

Citnis  Japan  ica,  the  Kum-quat  of  China,  a 
small  orange  much  used  by  the  Chinese  for 
preserves,  thrives  best  when  budded  on  this 
stock,  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  grow  it  upon 
any  other. 

Some   plants   of   Citms  trifoliata   having 
been  planted  in  the  shrubbery  border,  proved 
them  to  be  perfectly  hardy  in  this  climate, 
and  their  growth    indicated   a   remarkable 
adaptability  as  a  hedge  plant.    For  the  purpose 
of  introducing  it  as  such,   further  orders  were 
placed  for  seed  from   which  man3'  plants  have 
been  produced  and  distributed  for  trial  as  a 
hedge  plant.     In  climates  where  it  will  stand, 
I  do  not  know  of  a  more  formidable  plant  for 
strong  hedges  for  live  stock  inclosures. 

Hedges  for  Shadv  Places.  —  It  is  often 
■desirable  to  have  hedges  along  lines  where 
large  trees  are  already  gxowing.  Evergreens 
are  wholly  unfitted  for  these  situations  ;  only 
deciduous  shrubs  can   be  employed.     Among 


the  best  of  these  are  the  various  varieties  of 
Privet.  They  stand  dry  ground  better  than 
almost  anything  else.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
shade  which  injures  the  hedges  in  these  situa- 
tions as  it  is  the  drying  of  the  ground  by  the 
roots  of  the  trees.  When  we  imagine  the 
enormous  amount  of  moisture  transpiring  from 
thousands  of  leaves  of  trees,  we  can  readily 
see  how  dry  the  ground  must  be  which  has  to 
supply  this  moisture.  But  those  who  have 
practical  experience  understand  this  without 
even  a  thought  of  the  philosophy  involved. 


CITRUS     TRIFOLIATA. 

Robinia  hispida,  —  A  correspondent  from 
Rutherford  County,  N.  C,  states  that  Robinia 
hispida,  the  rose-colored  Acacia,  is  quite  abun- 
dant in  that  locality.  It  is  a  verj'  easj'  plant 
to  raise  in  nurseries,  and  is  usually  found  in 
all  good  collections.  But  the  chief  interest 
connected  with  it  is  in  its  supposed  inability 
to  perfect  its  own  seed.  Those  who  have  the 
opportunity  would  do  good  service  to  botanical 
science  b}'  watching  for  seed  vessels.  No 
botanist  seems  ever  to  have  seen  any.  A  few 
seed  vessels  would  be  very  valuable  to  botanical 
collectors. 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[July 


The   Osage  Orange.  —  Value  of  Scien- 
tific Facts.  —  The  question  is  often  asked,— 
what  is  the   practical  use  of  abstract  science  ? 
The  answer  generally  is,  that  a  new  thought, 
or  a  new  fact  is  like  a  new  born   babe,  of  no 
particular  use  at  that  time.     We  have  to  wait 
and  see  whether  the  new  fact  or  the  new  babe 
is  of  any  practical  use   in  the  world.     A  good 
illustration  of  this  is  connected  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  Osage  Orange.     The  great  journey 
across  the  continent  projected   by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  had  for  its  object  the  collection  of  ob- 
jects of  natural  history  as  much  as  of  the  gen- 
eral facts  in  physical  science.     No  one  could 
tell  before  they  started  whether  anything  dis- 
covered could   be  made  of  practical  use.     This 
expedition  was  planned  in  the  house  of  Bernard 
McMahon,   an    Irish    exile   and  gentleman  of 
means  in  his  own  country,  but  who  had  to  sus- 
tain himself  as  a  seedsman  and  florist  in  Phila- 
delphia.    His  great  intelligence  drew  around 
him  many  learned  and  active  spirits,  and  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  it  was  he  who  sug- 
gested to  Jefferson,  who  frequently  visited  him 
at  his  home,  the  exploration  which  Lewis  and 
Clark    afterwards   made.      The   herbarium    of 
dried  plants  which  these  explorers  made,  was 
given    to  McMahon,   as   also   were   the   seeds 
which  they  collected.     Among  others  were  a 
few  Osage  Orange  seeds,  and  the  plants  raised 
from  these  seeds  were  still  standing  until  about 
two  years  ago,  when  both  the  trees  and  the 
house  were  destroyed,   in  order  to  make  car 
sidings   for  the  Reading   Railroad   Company. 
The  few  Osage  Orange  trees  were  simply  looked 
upon   as   curiosities,    and    probably,    if  seeds 
could  have  been  sold  at  that  time,  a  few  cents 
a  package  would  have  been  considered  their 
full  value.     But   it  came  about  that  the  Osage 
Orange   proved   to    be  one  of  the  best   hedge 
plants  that  had  ever  been  introduced,— to  say 
nothing  of  the  famous  Hawthorn  of  the  old 
world.     When  this  became  evident,  our  enter- 
prising western  nurserymen  took  hold  of  it  in 
earnest,  and  with  much  earnestness, — and  the 
present  eminent  forest  planter  and  nurseryman, 
Robert  Douglass,  gave  as  much  as  $50  for  a 
bushel  of  the  seed,  when  now  the  seeds  can  be 
had  for  nearly  the  asking  in   many  localities. 
When  we  remember  how  little  was  known  of 
the  value  of  this  tree  when  Lewis  and  Clark 
first  gave  McMahon  a  few  seeds,  who  would  ever 
have   supposed   that  they  would   reach   such 


value  that  a  nurseryman  eagerly  would  pay  as 
much  as  this  a  bushel  for  them  ?  And  so  it  is. 
Science  must  go  on  pursuing  its  thankless 
course.  It  is  only  after  it  has  gained  the  facts 
that  we  can  possibly  tell  of  what  value  they 
are  to  mankind. 

The    Union  of  Parts.  —  Of  late    j'ears  a 
branch  of  botany,  known  as  morphology,  has- 
advanced  so  as  to  be  one  of  the  most  useful,  as 
well  as  fascinating,  of  the  many  divisions  into 
which  botany  is   now  divided.     The   concep- 
tion is  that  all  parts  of  plants  are  leaf  blade 
modified.      It    has  been  stated,    for  instance, 
that  a  peach  fruit  is  nothing  more  than  a  bun- 
dle of  modified  leaves.     Of  course  they  never 
were  leaves,  except  in  the  sense  of  a  formation, 
so  early,   that  even   the  microscope  could  not 
perceive  them.    We  know  this  only  by  results. 
Accidental  occurrences  give  the  confirmation 
to  these  truths.  '  The  honeysuckle  sometimes 
has  the  leaves   so  completely  united  that  the 
stem  seems  to  have  been  forced  through  the 
centre  of  one  single  leaf ;  but  lower  down  on 
the  stem,  it  can  be  seen  that  the  two  leaves  are 
entirely  separate  and  that  the  seemingly  separ- 
ated leaf  above  must  have  been  united  in  the 
very  early  stage.     This   happens  as  a  regular 
thing  with  the  honeysuckle,  but  we  see  similar 
things  occasionall3'    in    other    plants.       With 
this  is  an  illustration  of  a   leaf  of  Magnolia 
K'obus,  a  comparatively  rare  Japanese  species, 
in  which  the  edges  of  the  lower  portion  of  the 
leaf  have  become  united  so  that  the  leaf  has  the 
form  and  appearance  of  a  Calla  spathe.     As  a 
principle  it  may  be  said  that  there  is  no  reason 
why  what  a  plant  does  in  one  leaf  it  might  not 
do  in  all,  providing  the  forces  which  influenced 
the  change  in  one  leaf  should  prevail  through- 
out the  whole  ;  and  hence  it  would  not  be  im- 
possible to  have  a  Magnolia  in  which  every 
leaf  would  have  the  characteristics  represented 
in   the  picture.     At  one  time  these  monstrosi- 
ties were   simply  looked  upon  as   something- 
curious,  and  that  was  all.     In  these  days  they 
are   made  to  teach   valuable    lessons,    which 
could  not  be  taught  in  any  other  waj'. 

Unfortunately  the  illustration  referred  to  in 
the  above  text  was  not  ready  when  the  printer 
called  to  his  feast,  and  shows  that  Burns  might 
have  included  editors  among  those  with  whom 
things,  "gang  aft  aglee."  It  will  appear  in 
next  issue. 


GENERAL    GARDENING. 


A  BEAUTIFaL  GARDEN. 
-Thus  was  this  place 


A  happ3'  rural  scat  of  various  view, — 
Groves   .vhose  rich  trees  wept  odorous  guuis 

ar.d  balm  ; 
Others  whose  fruit,  burnished  with  goldeu 

rind. 
Hung  amiable,  Hesperian  fables  true, 
If  true,  here  only,  and  of  delicious  taste  : 
Betwixt  them   lawns,   or   level  downs,  and 

flocks 
Grazing  the  tender  herb,  were  interposed  ; 
Or  palmy  hillock  or  the  flowery  lap 
Of  some  irriguous  valley  spread  her  store. 
Flowers  of  all  hue,  and  without  thorn  the 

rose.  Milton. 


The  Holly. — In  a  cemetery  lot  at  Wood- 
lands, near  Philadelphia,  known  as  the  Drexel 
Mausoleum,  there  is  a  magnificent  specimen 
of  the  English  Holly,  which  has  been  there  a 
number  of  years.  Occasionall}-  other  fine  speci- 
mens are  seen  in  this  part  of  the  world.  There 
are  also  very  fine  ones  in  some  of  the  parks  at 
Washington.  It  is  very  rarely  planted  from  a 
belief  that  it  is  too  tender  for  this  latitude  ;  but 
this  seems  to  be  only  the  case  where  it  is 
planted  in  open,  sunny  places.  Where  it  has 
a  little  shade  from  the  sun  in  summer  and  pro- 
tection from  severe  wintry  blasts,  it  seems  to 
thrive  very  well.  One  remarkable  point  about 
it  is,  that  thus  isolated  they  rarely  fruit,  if  in- 
deed they  ever  produce  the  beautiful  red  ber- 
ries for  which  the  Holly  in  the  old  world  is 
celebrated.  Miller,  the  well  known  English 
botanist  of  the  last  age,  contended  that  the 
plant  was  absolutely  dicecious,  and  conse- 
quently isolated  plants  could  not  bear  fruit. 
We  do  not  believe  this  is  accepted  by  modern 
English  botanists,  because  they  see  the  Holly 
bearing  everywhere  ;  but  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  it  is  really  so  dicEcious  that  the 
fact  that  it  bears  berries  so  freely  in  the  old 
world  is  due  to  the  conveying  of  the  pollen 
everywhere  by  wind,  bees  or  other  insects. 
The  beautiful  green  of  the  foliage,  however, 
and  its  famous  historical  associations  would 
render  the  Holly  worthy  of  cultivation  every- 
where though  a  red  berry  was  never  seen. 


The  Oriental  Spruce.  —  The  "  Rural 
New  Yorker  "  makes  a  point  that  among  all 
evergreen  trees  on  the  Rural  grounds,  nothing 
is  more  valued  than  the  Oriental  Spruce.  A 
feature  of  this  tree,  it  states,  is  not  half  appre- 
ciated, namely,  its  beautiful,  little,  scarlet 
cones  that  resemble  strawberries  in  shape  and 
color.  Endorsing  this  good  character  of  the 
editor  of  the  "  Rural  New  Yorker,"  it  might 
be  added  that  an  extremely  beautiful  feature  is 
the  young  shoots  when  they  are  first  issuing^ 
from  their  scaly  buds.  The  old  foliage  of  the 
tree  is  of  the  darkest  possible  green,  while  the 
light  shade  of  the  newly  growing  shoots 
makes  one  of  the  most  beautiful  contrasts  to  be 
seen  in  evergreen  trees.  They  are  so  numer- 
ous too  as  to  have  quite  an  effect.  On  the  end 
of  one  single  branch,  the  writer  of  this  counted 
no  less  than  fifty-six  growing  buds.  As  the 
"Rural  New  Yorker"  says,  it  also  thrives 
where  even  the  Norway  Spruce  will  sometimes 
fail.  Among  the  few  botanical  specimens 
brought  by  the  one  survivor  of  the  unfortunate 
De  Long  expedition  to  the  Arctics,  Lieut. 
Melville,  was  a  specimen  of  this  tree,  gathered 
in  the  Asiatic  seas  near  the  mouth  of  the  Lena 
River. 

Improvements  in  Gladiolus. — In  the  last 
issue  of  Meeh.ans'  Monthly  notice  was  made 
of  the  great  improvements  in  the  Gladiolus  in 
the  old  world,  b}'  which  some  new  races  of 
great  interest  had  been  introduced.  Our  Cali- 
fornia experimenter,  JMr.  Luther  Burbank,  has 
been  working  in  the  same  line,  and,  by  six  or 
seven  generations  of  selections  from  various- 
hybrids,  he  has  produced  a  race  which  may 
well  be  termed  the  California  strain.  Some  of 
these,  by  those  who  have  seen  them,  are  said 
to  be  extremely  beautiful.  INIany  of  them 
growing  all  around  the  spike  like  a  hyacinth 
instead  of  being  on  one  side  of  the  stem  as  usu- 
ally seen,  and  some  of  them  are  as  double  as 
the  hyacinths  are.  It  is  said  to  be  a  strikingly- 
beautiful  and  distinct  race. 


I04 


MEEHANS"  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[July 


Destroying  Poison  Vines  and  Other 
Weeds. — A  number  of  correspondents  inquire 
how  to  destroy  poison  vines  and  other  noxious 
weeds.  Nothing  is  more  easj'.  No  tree  can  live 
without  leaves.  When  the  young  leaves  push 
out  in  the  spring,  they  take  from  the  roots  and 
woody  trunks,  if  they  have  any,  whatever  food 
has  been  stored  up  in  the  winter,  and  the 
plants  "are  in  practicallj'  an  exhausted  state. 
If,  at  this  time,  the  plants  are  cut  off  near  the 
junction  of  root  and  stem,  they  will  probably 

not  push  out  again, 
but  occasionally 
some  few  will, — a  lit- 
tle nutrition  being 
left  in  the  roots.  But 
if  the  plants  are 
watched  and  again 
cut,  should  any 
leaves  appear  the 
second  time,  they  will 
not  push  out  again. 
Any  one  may  readily 
try  this  experiment 
for  himself  by  cut- 
ting down  a  tree — 
large  or  small  makes 
no  difference — just 
after  the  leaves  have 
pushed .  Some 
sprouts  will  occa- 
sionallj'  come  out 
from  the  stem  after 
this.  If  they  do,  and 
these  sprouts  are 
taken  off  soon  after 
the}'  appear,  they  will 
not  push  out  the 
second  time,  —  the 
trees  die  absolutely. 
This  knowledge  is  of 
great  value  in  the  case  of  cutting  down  trees 
where  yards  are  paved,  and  it  may  not  be 
desirable  to  take  up  the  pavement  to  grub  out 
the  roots.  If  cut  to  the  ground  and  the  sprouts 
taken  off,  as  described,  the  tree  will  die,  and 
the  portion  of  the  trunk  left  beneath  the  ground 
soon  rots  and  decays . 

Truffles.  —  A  number  of  inquiries  come 
about  the  Morel,  on  which  a  chapter  recently 
appeared.  It  might  be  obseived,  that  the 
various  kinds  of  puff  balls  are  almost  as  good 


riG.    a.--p 


and  to  some  tastes  much  better  than  the  ordin- 
ary mushroom  or  Morel.  They  are  taken  when 
quite  young  and  fresh,  and  cut  up  into  slices 
like  egg  plants.  Fried,  these  are  particularly 
good, — but  there  is  one  kind  of  puff  ball,  called 
a  Truffle,  which  grows  wholly  under  the 
ground.  These  are  collected  by  dogs  which 
are  trained  to  tell  b}'  the  scent  where  they  lie 
hidden.  As  recently  stated  in  Meehans'  Mon- 
thly, it  is  believed  that  the  Truffle  has  occa- 
sionally appeared  in  America, — but  there  is 
no  authentic  record  of  any  places  where  they 
were  found.  They  are  usually  collected  in  the 
vicinity  of  oak  forests  in  the  old  world, — and 
it  is  said  that  they  are  seldom  found  in  the 
same  place  two  years  successively.  So  far  as 
known  all  experiments  to  cultivate  them  have 
been  failures. 

FuNKL-i  and  Hemerocallis. — This  is  one  of 
the  most  satisfactory  of  any  class  of  herbaceous 
plants  for  growing  under  the  shade  of  trees. 
They  have  a  praiseworthy  habit  of  taking  care 
of  themselves.  Once  planted  they  endure  till 
the  end  of  time.  Besides  their  striking  leaves, 
the  flowers  of  many  of  them  are  as  pretty  as 
lilies.  Indeed  the  common  name  of  Day-L,ily, 
is  very  expressive. 


Potato  Stem  Borer.  —  In  the  Eastern 
States  there  was  trouble  for  many  years  with 
a  small  stem  borer  in  the  potato,  which  des- 
troyed the  plant  before  the  potatoes  were 
more  than  half  grown  ;  after  which,  of  course, 
the  tubers  ceased  to  grow,  and  the  crop  was 
very  small.  The  larvcE  of  the  borers  remain 
in  the  stem  some  considerable  time  before 
they  go  out  to  finish  their  transformation  in 
the  earth  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this  habit, 
it  was  very  easy  to  destroy  the  whole  crop 
b}-  pulling  up  the  stalks  as  soon  as  they 
would  fade,  and  burning  them.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  practice,  the  borer  has  not  been 
very  destructive  to  the  potato  crops  in  the  East 
during  the  past  few  years.  During  the  past 
five  or  six  j'ears,  a  similar  trouble  has  been 
found  in  the  West,  that  we  would  suppose  to 
be  caused  by  the  same  insect ;  but  Prof. 
Popenoe,  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Man- 
hattan, Kansas,  in  which  state  the  injury  has 
been  particularly  destructive  the  last  five  or 
six  years,  states  that  it  is  the  work  of  another 
species,  known  as  Goiiyna  nitela.     It  does  not 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


lOS 


confine  itself  there  to  the  potato,  but  he  says 
that  it  attacks  cockleburs,  corn,  and  tomatoes 
as  well  ;  still  it  would  seem  that  the  same 
practice  of  pulling  vip  and  burning  the  stalks 
early  in  the  season  would  be  an  effectual  way 
of  ridding  Kansas  of  this  destructive  pest. 

Sexual  Flowers  in  Indian  Corn. — An  ex- 
tremely interesting  lesson  in  vegetable  morpho- 
logy may  be  derived  from  the  stud}'  of  Indian 
corn.  If  we  take  what  is  known  as  an  "eight 
rowed"  ear  of  corn,  we  can  often  see  that  it 
is  made  up  of  four  pieces, 
the  seeds  being  arranged 
on  either  side  of  each 
piece.  If  these  four  pieces 
were  separate  but  joined  at 
the  base,  and  then  drawn 
up  through  the  hand  so 
that  the  four  pieces  were 
to  unite  by  their  backs, 
and  then  these  pieces  were 
to  become  a  little  succu- 
lent and  adhere,  we  should 
have  precisel}'  the  ear 
of  corn.  Now  if  we  take 
what  is  known  as  the  tas- 
sel of  the  Indian  corn,  we 
see  that  it  is  usually  made 
up  of  four  pieces,  just  as 
in  this  theoretical  concep- 
tion, with  a  row  of  stam- 
inate  flowers  at  the  edges 
■of  each  piece  ;  and  if  they 
were  drawn  up  through  the 
hand  so  as  to  touch  back 
by  back,  and  then  become 
succulent,  we  should 
equally  have  the  ear  of 
corn  but  with  male  flowers. 
In  other  words,  the  method  of  forming  the  ear 
of  corn  and  the  tassel  is  precisely  the  same, 
and  we  can  see  that  one  can  be  formed  out  of 
the  other  if  only  there  were  less  power  of  ad- 
hesion in  the  ear  of  corn,  and  a  greater  power 
of  cohesion  in  the  tassel.  Just  what  is  the 
powsr  that  induces  cohesion  and  succulency  in 
the  one  case,  or  the  lack  of  it  in  the  other,  is 
the  one  thing  that  has  not  yet  been  ascer- 
tained. It  is  however  a  great  gain  to  see  the 
method  by  which  nature  forms  the  different 
sexes  of  flowers,  although  we  may  not  be  able 
to    understand    the     exact    details    of     these 


methods.  The  conditions  however  required, 
must  be  very  nice,  for  we  frequently  find  grains 
of  corn  among  the  tassels  instead  of  barren 
flowers  ;  on  the  other  hand,  we  frequently  find 
barren  flowers  coming  out  of  the  ear  of  corn, 
just  as  if  nature  was  uncertain  in  either  case 
whether  to  make  the  barren  or  the  fertile 
flowers.  Herewith  are  illustrations,  (see  page 
104,  fig.  2)  of  these  cases.  In  the  one  case  an 
ear  of  corn  has  taken  on  a  considerable  amount 
of  the  characteristic  of  the  barren  tassel,  with 
its   male  flowers  ;  while  in   the  other  case,   a 


SEXUAL    FLOWERS    IN    INDIAN    CORN. --fig. 


very  large  number  of  the  male  flowers  of  the 
tassel  have  become  fertile  and  produced  grains. 
Some  seasons  are  more  prolific  in  these  changes 
than  others.  Illustrations  in  these  seasons 
may  often  be  seen, — at  other  seasons  these  ab- 
normal results  are  rarely  to  be  found.  This 
would  tend  to  show  that  the  power  underly- 
ing the  whole  is  in  some  way  or  another  con- 
nected with  nutrition.  We  say  as  a  general 
principle,  that  various  phases  of  nutrition 
decide  whether  the  flower  should  be  barren  or 
fertile,  without  being  able  to  state  exactl}'  in 
what  manner  these  phases  of  nutrition  act. 


io6 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[July 


Plants  in  Heavy  Boxes.— A  Florida  cor- 
respondent, referring  to  a  suggestion  made  in 
Meehans'  Monthly,  that  many  large  plants 
could  be  taken  out  of  their  boxes  and  replaced 
again  in  the  cellar  or  other  places  for  protec- 
tion during  severe  weather,  instead  of  lowering 
the  heavy  boxes  themselves,  questions  whether 
this  woul.-l  apply  well  to  the  Sago  plant.  He 
doubts  whether  the  Sago  plant  would  well  en- 
dure such  treatment.  The  writer  of  this  para- 
graph can  only  say,  that  with  him  Sago  plants 
are  planted  in  the  open  ground  during  Sum- 
mer, and  then  replaced  in  pots  or  boxes  for  the 
storehouse  during  Winter,  and  again  set  out  in 
the  Summer  season.  No  difficulty  whatever  is 
experienced  with  the  plants  under  this  treat- 
ment, and  it  would  be  difficult  to  see  why  the 
same  result  should  not  apply  to  a  plant  grow- 
ing in  a  box  as  to  one  growing  in  the  open 
ground.  Certainly  succulent  plants  raised  in 
boxes,  such  as  the  American  Aloe,  do  remark- 
ably well  under  the  treatment  suggested, — 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why,  if  plants 
of  these  varying  characteristics  do  well  under 
the  treatment,  it  might  not  be  a  general  rule 
with  most  plants. 

Seedling  Dahlias. — A  very  pleasant  occu- 
pation for  the  amateur  flower  grower,  is  the 
endeavor  to  raise  new  varieties  of  garden 
flowers  from  seed.  The  Dahlia  especially  offers 
good  inducements,  as  the}-  change  remarkably 
from  seed.  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  any  cross- 
fertilization.  Several  kinds  of  Dahlias  are 
grown  together,  and  seeds  taken  from  these. 
The  seedlings  are  almost  certain  to  be  of  differ- 
ent varieties  to  or  to  diflfer  from  the  parent. 
The  early  flower  of  the  Dahlia  should  be  the 
selected.  It  is  better  to  cut  off"  some  of  the 
petals  soon  after  they  have  faded,  or,  otherwise, 
during  a  rain  storm,  the  whole  head  rots.  The 
seeds  can  be  cleaned  out  in  the  fall,  and  set  in 
the  ground  early  in  the  spring.  They  usually 
flower  the  first  year  from  seed. 


to  extend  over  the  spreading  portion  of  the 
trees,  getting  up  among  the  leaves  and  inter- 
fering, thereby,  with  the  ability  of  the  spread 
of  the  trees  to  get  nourishment  through  its 
leaves  ;  then  it  is  also  an  injury.  It  is  noun- 
common  thing  to  see  trees  and  shrubs  entirely 
destroyed  by  the  vines  which  grow  over  them, 
not  because  of  any  injury  by  the  attachment, 
but  simplj'  by  the  leaves  of  the  vine  oversha- 
dowing those  of  the  tree  over  which  the  vines 


Chorogi. — This  is  the  Japanese  name  of  a 
vegetable  derived  from  the  tubers  of  Slachys 
Sieboldii.  These  tubers  are  not  very  large — not 
much  larger  in  fact  than  good  sized  peanut 
pods,  but  are  produced  in  immense  quantities, 
are  easily  washed  and  cleaned,  and  consequent- 
ly give  no  great  trouble  to  boil.  It  is  a  Japan 
species,  but  is  closely  related  to  our  eastern 
American,  Stachys  palustris,  though  botanists 
can  easily  tell  the  distinction.  We  think  it 
quite  likely  that  if  the  American  species  were 
closely  examined,  it  would  be  found  occasion- 
ally to  have  tuberous  roois  also.  The  writer 
of  this  paragraph,  a  year  or  so  ago,  found  very 
large  tubers  in  great  quantity — tubers  as  large 
as  Lima  beans,  around  the  roots  of  a  closely 
allied  plant,  Lycopus  Americaiia.  Although  it 
was  known  that  this  plant  occasionally  pro- 
duced small  tubers,  it  was  not  until  this  dis- 
covery understood  that  they  were  so  large  or  so 
numerous. 

The  Pepper  Tree  of  California. — Mrs. 
D.  B.  Fritch,  of  Pasadena,  California,  dissents 
from  the  opinion  expressed  in  some  Californian 
papers,  and  referred  to  recently  in  Meehans' 
Monthly,  that  the  tree  exudes  a  gummy  sub- 
stance to  an  extent  as  to  be  found  annoying. 
She  says  that  at  Riverside,  Redlands,  Colton 
and  Los  Angeles  the  trees  are  being  still 
planted  for  shade  trees  in  large  numbers,  and 
appear  fully  as  popular  as  they  ever  were. 


Vines  Climbing  Over  Trees.  —  Some 
people  suppose  that  Ivy  is  injurious  to  trees. 
This  is  not  the  case  as  long  as  the  branches 
grow  in  a  perfectly  upright  condition.  When 
the  Ivy  or  any  other  vine  is  allowed  to  encircle 
a  trunk,  in  this  way,  checking  the  perfect  flow 
of  the  sap,  it  will  injure  the  trees  ;  but  in  no 
other  way.   Sometimes  branches  will  be  allowed 


Propagating  the  Wistaria. — It  is  not 
generally  known  that  the  Wistaria  grows  from 
root  cuttings.  La3'ering  however  is  a  very 
good  method  where  there  is  room  for  it.  The 
trailing  shoots  root  by  being  buried  in  the 
earth  a  little, — but  root  better  if  a  slit  is  first 
made  in  the  shoot.  There  are  now  a  white  and 
double  purple,    besides    the   old  purple   kind. 


1893  ■] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


107 


The  Japan  Chestnut. — The  introduction  of 
the  Japan  Chestnut  brings  up  again  before 
botanists  the  qtjestion  of  the  specific  differ- 
ences between  the  chestnut  of  the  old  world, 
Castanca  vesca,  and  the  forms  found  in  other 
countries.  There  are  still  some  who  class  them 
all  as  mere  varieties  of  forms  of  this  species. 
Those  who  are  with  them  constantly,  however, 
and  see  them  grow,  have  no  difficulty  what- 
ever in  observing  characters  which  would  be 
considered  entirely  specific,  although  perhaps 
these  characters  may  not  be  observed  by  those 
who  have  only  herbarium  specimens.  The 
American  chestnut  is  very  readily  disting- 
uished from  the  European  by  its  branchlets — 
these  are  always  slender  and  twiggy,  while  the 
European  are  thick  and  heavy.  The  American 
chestnut  leaf  is  very  thin,  while  the  European 
one  is  extremely  thick  and  shining.  The  Japan 
is  twiggy  in  common  with  the  American  spe- 
cies, but  the  leaves  are  plicate  and  very  deeply 
serrate.  There  is  certainly  just  as  much  dis- 
tinction of  a  specific  character  between  C. 
Americana  and  C.  Japoiiica,  and  the  C.  vesca  of 
Europe,  as  there  is  between  the  dwarf  chestnut 
of  eastern  America,  Castanca  pumila,  and  the 
Japan  chestnut ;  yet  these  two  latter  are 
regarded  as  distinct  by  those  who  do  not  ad- 
mit the  others.  They  are  perhaps  more  closely 
related  than  species  are  in  other  families, — but 
as  the  several  kinds  always  retain  their  dis- 
tinctive characters  generation  after  generation, 
there  is  no  particular  reason  for  considering 
them  all  one  thing.  It  is  one  of  those  cases 
where  the  horticulturist  cannot  follow  the 
botanists,  as,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the 
forms  must  be  kept  distinct.  A  nurseryman 
who  sent  out  a  Japan  chestnut  for  the  Spanish, 
or  the  Spanish  for  the  American,  would  not  be 
pardoned. 

A  New  Primrose.  —  The  whole  tribe  of 
Primroses,  give  us  delightful  company.  What 
our  gardens  would  be  without  the  Chinese 
Primrose  it  would  be  hard  to  tell,  and  the 
many  forms  of  the  English  Primrose,  especially 
the  Polyanthus,  many  lovers  of  hardy  flowers 
would  seriously  miss.  Primula  obconica  is  a 
very  good  addition  to  the  class.  In  the  old 
world  they  have  another  which  is  spoken 
highly  of,  from  the  Himalayan  mountains 
which  no  doubt  will  be  hardy  here.  It  is 
known  as  Primula  sikkimensis. 


fWWfS  SS  ¥E<^ETiiPLES. 


Peach  Growing  under  Difficulties. — In 
countries  unfavorable  to  the  outdoor  cultiva- 
tion of  the  peach  glass  houses  are  built  for 
their  accommodation,  and  great  success  follows 
this  method  of  treatment  ;  in  fact,  it  has  been 
asserted  that  under  proper  management,  a 
house  of  not  particularly  large  size  would  grow 
as  man}'  peaches  as  one  could  get  in  an  ordin- 
ary orchard,  covering  half  an  acre  of  ground. 
This,  however,  must  be  under  extremely  favor- 
able circumstances  ;  But  still  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  remarkable  and  wonderful  success 
follows  this  artificial  system  of  culture.  They 
are  not  only  grown  in  the  open  ground,  or  in 
borders,  as  the  practice  is  technically  called, 
but  are  often  made  to  produce  enormously 
when  grown  in  pots.  Illustrations  frequently 
appear  in  horticultural  papers,  showing  this 
method  of  pot  culture  and  what  excellent 
results  can  be  had  from  it.  A  number  of 
growers,  however,  in  America  have  them  in 
this  way, — not  so  much  because  of  any  dif- 
ficulties in  outdoor  culture,  as  to  have  them 
earlj'  ;  in  other  words,  for  forcing.  They  can 
be  produced  in  this  manner  so  as  to  have  the 
fruit  ripe  in  April  and  May  ;  and  indeed  it  is 
said  that  some  have  been  gathered  under  ex- 
tremely careful  and  intelligent  culture  as  early 
as  March.  This,  however,  it  is  presumed  not 
to  be  very  often  the  case. 


Remedy  Against  the  Plum  Knot. — "  The 
Rural  New  Yorker  "  states  that  a  correspon-, 
dent  paints  portions  of  his  plum  trees,  on  which 
the  plum  knot  appears,  with  coal  oil,  and  that 
this  eventuall}'  stops  the  growth  of  the  swell- 
ing, known  as  "  the  knot."  By  taking  it  in 
time  he  says  that  the  disease  does  not  spread 
and  that  the  knots  eventually  peel  off,  leaving 
only  a  scar  to  mark  the  spot.  As  this  disease 
is  caused  by  a  minute  fungus,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  this  observation. 
Oils  of  all  kinds  are  well  known  to  be  fatal 
to  all  fungous  organisms.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  if  the  plum  trees  were  to  get  a  paint- 
ing of  pure  linseed  oil,  or  any  other  vegetable 
oil  once  a  year,  they  would  continue  at  all 
times  healthy, — as  in  this  case  the  spores  from 
which  the  fungus  germinates  would  be  des- 
troyed before  they  had  the  opportunity  to  do 
any  damage  at  all. 


io8 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[July 


Bagging  Grapes. — If  any  more  were  needed 
to  prove  the  point  made  by  the  scientific  men 
that  many  diseases  of  plants  are  caused  by 
microscopic  fungi,  the  spores  of  which  are 
borne  through  the  atmosphere,  the  result  of 
bagging  grapes  would  afford  the  necessary 
evidence.  Scientific  men  prove  beyond  a  doubt 
that  rot,  mildew,  and  other  so-called  diseases 
of  grapes  are  caused  by  the  growth  of  small 
species  of  microscopic  fungi  which  originated 
on  the  fruit  from  spores  borne  bj'  the  atmos- 
phere. 

When  the  bunches  of  the  grapes  are  inserted 
in  paper  bags  at  once  after  flowering,  they  are 
kept  perfectly  clear  of  all  these  diseases.  No 
further  argument  need  be  necessary  to  show 
the  origin  of  the  disease.  The  bags  keep  away 
the  spores,  and  the  fruit  remains  perfect  ;  but 
the  bagging  teaches  us  another  lesson  of  great 
advantage  in  practical  cultivation.  Some  peo- 
ple believe  that  the  coloring  of  grapes  is  a 
result  of  light,  and  they  thin  out  leaves  fre- 
quently, in  order  that  the  sun  may  gain  some 
advantage,  as  they  suppose,  in  the  coloring  of 
the  grape  ;  but  careful  obser\-ers  have  long  ago 
known  that  this  was  an  injury,  and  that 
grapes  ripen  to  the  full  perfection  of  their  color 
just  as  well  in  deep  shade  as  with  abundant 
sunlight.  Grape  vines  growing  on  the  ground, 
where  the  leaves  have  kept  the  surface  in  utter 
darkness,  will  still  produce  the  finest  and  best 
of  black  or  red  grapes  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  grapes  exposed  to  full  sunlight  are 
known  not  to  ripen  any  better  than  those  in 
comparative  darkness.  The  old  and  intelligent 
cultivator  of  the  grape  under  glass  when  he 
wished  to  produce  the  finest  colored  grapes, 
would  frequently  shade  the  grapes  just  before 
ripening,  with  the  special  view  of  getting 
darker  and  blacker  grapes.  However,  if  all 
these  results  of  practical  experience  went  for 
nothing,  the  modern  practice  of  bagging  would 
teach  the  lesson.  Grapes  in  the  total  darkness 
of  a  paper  bag  yet  produce  their  proper  dark 
colors  to  absolute  perfection.  Ripening  is,  in 
fact,  a  vital  process,  and  not  altogether  a 
chemical  one, — and  vigorous,  healthy  leaves 
are  essential  in  this  vital  process.  Another 
point,  showing  that  ripening  is  a  vital  and 
not  wholly  a  chemical  process,  is  evidenced  in 
the  act  of  ripening  in  the  bags.  When  a  tree 
is  somewhat  diseased,  as  cultivators  well 
know,  the  fruits  precociously  ripen.     A  peach 


tree,  afflicted  with  the  disease  known  as  j^el- 
lows,  ripens  before  one  that  is  perfectly  heal- 
thy. A  bunch  of  grapes  in  a  bag  does  not 
ripen  quite  as  soon  as  one  fully  exposed,  and 
the  reason  is  that  there  is  less  of  a  struggle  for 
life,  less  of  a  strain  on  vital  power  when  it  is 
protected  from  its  enemies  by  the  bag  than 
when  exposed  ;  and  this  increased  vitality  is 
best  evidenced  by  a  little  later  ripening  of  the 
grape — ^just  as  we  find  it  in  the  case  of  the 
diseased  peach  alread}'  noticed.  It  is  custo- 
mary sometimes  to  deride  the  scientific  horti- 
culturist ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  some- 
times he  allows  his  theories  to  run  away  with 
him  ;  but  in  the  large  majority  of  cases,  culti- 
vators owe  largely  of  modern  success  to  the 
great  advance  made  in  scientific  knowledge. 

Cultivating  Strawberries. — The  straw- 
berry leaf  disease,  known  as  the  spot,  has  been 
much  more  injurious  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century  than  it  was  in  former  times  ;  and 
growers  are  looking  about  for  some  explana- 
of  the  spread  of  this  trouble.  In  most  all 
cases  a  new  variety  soon  "  runs  out,  "  as  it  is 
called,  and  chiefl}'  through  the  operation  of 
this  disease.  New  varieties  are  continually 
being  introduced — not  because  they  are  much 
better  than  the  varieties  that  have  preceded 
them — but  on  account  of  the  older  varieties 
going  back  ;  in  fact,  no  one  will  contend  that 
the  strawberries  of  to-day,  as  a  rule,  are  even 
as  good  as  thej'  were  in  former  times.  It  is 
thought  that  the  old  method  of  cultivation, 
which  moderns  have  laughed  at,  might  not 
have  been  such  bad  practice  after  all.  The 
practice  was  to  grow  the  strawberries  in  beds  ; 
as  soon  as  the  crop  was  gathered  the  leaves 
were  mown  off  with  the  scythe  and  burnt,  and 
a  new  crop  of  leaves  came  up  before  winter. 
With  the  progress  of  vegetable  physiologj' this 
was  thought  to  be  very  bad  practice.  The  argu- 
ment was  that  leaves  make  food,  and  the  more 
leaves  the  better.  This  would  be  true  if  the 
leaves  were  healthy  leaves  ;  but  diseased  leaves 
are  worse  than  no  leaves  at  all.  No  one  ever 
thought  of  the  strawberry  spot  in  those  daj'S  ; 
in  fact  a  specimen  of  this  disease  was  rarely 
seen.  It  is  now  believed  that  the  practice  of 
mowing  and  burning  the  leaves  was  advantage- 
ous, in  this  that  it  destroj'ed  all  attempts  of  this 
fungus  to  propagate  itself,  and  was  therefore 
beneficial  rather  than  otherwise.     It  is  an  illus- 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


109- 


tration  of  a  point  frequently  made  that  though 
our  forefathers  were  not  able  to  philosophize  on 
their  garden  practices  as  closely  as  we  may, 
they  were  able  to  find  out  a  great  deal  from 
nothing  at  all  but  practical  experience.  One 
thing  our  strawberry  amateurs  might  do,  which 
is  not  done  now,  and  that  is  to  cut  off  during 
the  season  and  burn  every  leaf  which  shows  a 
spot  as  soon  as  it  is  observed.  This  probably 
would  preserve  their  favorite  varieties  from  de- 
generating. 


Origin  op  the  Peach.  —  Nothing  is  now 
more  universally  accepted  than  the  fact  that 
the  Peach  is  an  improved  variety  of  the  Al- 
mond. The  Almond  has  a  thin  shell  around 
the  stone,  which  splits  open  and  exposes  the 
stone  when  mature.  This  outer  skin  has  sim- 
ply become  fleshy  in  the  peach,  so  that  is  all 
that  gives  it  its  specific  character.  It  seems 
now  clear  from  investigation  in  the  history  of 
ancient  Babylon,  that  in  their  gardens,  now 
nearly  4000  years  ago,  the  Peach  was  cultiva- 
ted then  as  it  is  now.  It  must  have  been  many 
years  before  this  that  the  Peach  was  improved 
from  the  Almond,  and  this  fact  goes  to  show 
the  great  antiquity  of  the  fruit.  Possibly 
gardening  in  some  respects,  at  least  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  many  of  our  cultivated  fruits,  was 
as  far  advanced  six,  or  perhaps  eight  or  10,000 
years  back,  as  it  is  to-day. 

Phcenecians,  many  thousands  of  years  ago, 
as  is  proved  by  the  records,  had  in  their  gar- 
dens almonds,  apricots,  bananas,  citrons,  figs, 
grapes,  olives,  peaches,  pomegranates,  and 
even  sugar  -  cane  was  in  extensive  cultiva- 
tion. Certainly  this  shows  how  very  far  ad- 
vanced these  nations  were  in  garden  culture 
these  many  years  ago. 

The  Coming  Fruit  Crops.  —  Mr.  L.  N. 
Bean,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  111.,  reports  on  the  end 
of  April  admirable  prospects  for  plums,  peaches 
and  strawberries  the  coming  year,  notwith- 
standing the  plants  seemed  to  suffer  from  the 
remarkable  drought  of  last  fall.  A  a  general 
rule  the  drought  would  indicate  that  large 
crops  would  follow.  In  the  house-cultivation 
of  plants  and  fruits  it  is  customarj^  to  subject 
the  plants  to  a  drying  period.  Strawberries 
for  instance,  cultivated  in  pots,  towards  the 
end  of  the  season  are  usually  laid  on  their 
sides,   expressly   to   get  dry  ;  and  Callas  and 


other  bulbs  are  "dried  off,"  as  it  is  termed,, 
expressly  with  the  view  of  increasing  the 
productiveness  of  flowers  and  fruit  the  follow- 
ing season.  We  do  not  know  that  this  point 
has  ever  been  brought  out  prominently  in  re- 
gard to  orchard  trees;  but  it  is  no  doubt  just 
as  true,  and  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  a 
comparatively  dry  fall  practically  means  an 
uncommon  fruit  crop  the  following  season. 

Plum  Culture  on  the  Pacific.  —  Fruit 
growers  in  the  East  can  have  but  a  very  faint 
impression  of  the  immensity  of  the  fruit  in- 
terest in  California.  It  is  questionable  to 
which  California  owes  the  most  of  its  wealth — 
its  gold  mines  or  its  fruit  orchards.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, the  plum.  One  single  grower,  says  the 
Hanford  (California)  Journal,  has  544  acres  all 
set  to  the  prune  variety.  On  this  tract  are 
66,000  trees.  This  one  orchard  contains  as 
many  trees  as  some  whole  states  do  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Union. 

Blackberry  and  Raspberry  Stem  Borers. 
— It  has  long  been  known  that  the  blackberry 
and  raspberry  are  often  very  much  injured  by 
a  borer  which  penetrates  the  stem  and  leaves 
the  cane  comparatively  hollow.  The  "Bul- 
letin of  the  New  Jersey  State  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station"  states  that  the  insect 
which  does  the  boring  is  known  as  Agrilus 
ruficollis.  It  usually  leaves  a  gall  where  it 
penetrates  the  stem,  and  if  these  are  cut  ofi" 
and  burnt  as  soon  as  apparent,  the  insect  is 
very  readily  kept  under. 


Everbearing  Raspberries. — The  marvel  of 
four  seasons— a  variety  of  the  European  stock 
—and  the  Catawissa,  a  variety  of  the  American 
Black, — have  hitherto  been  our  best  autumn 
bearing  raspberries.  Mr.  Hatfield,  of  Wayne 
County,  Indiana,  writes  that  he  has  discovered 
a  variety  that  will  yield  250  berries  to  a  cane 
in  the  middle  of  August. 

Rocky  Mountain  Cherry.  —  Under  this 
name  Cerasiis  puviUa,  the  ordinary  sand-cherry, 
was  formerly  distributed.  More  recently,  the 
Cerasus  dcmissa,  a  species  scarcely  distinct 
from  the  ordinary  choke  cherry — Cerasus  Vir- 
giniana — is  being  circulated  under  the  same 
name. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


YOUTH  IN  OLD  AGE. 

He  who  plants  a  tree 
He  plants  youth  ; 
Vigor  won  for  centuries,  in  sooth  ; 
Life  of  time  that  hints  eternity  ! 

Boughs  their  strength  uprear, 

New  shoots  every  year 

On  old  growths  appear. 
Thou  shalt  teach  the  ages,  sturdy  tree, 
Youth  of  soul  is  immortalit)'. — 

Lucv  Larcom. 


Gardening  and  Farm  Notes. — Under  the 
title  of  "Market  Gardening  and  Farm  Notes" 
Mr.  Burnet  Landreth,  formerly  Chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Agriculture  at  the  Centennial  In- 
ternational Exhibition,  has  issued  a  neat  little 
book  of  213  pages,  treating  of  many  leading 
topics  in  practical  market  gardening.  It  treats 
of  the  subject  practically  as  well  as  scientifically. 
Chemical  manures  and  stable  manures  get  equal 
attention, — the  manner  of  sowing  seeds, — the 
best  methods  of  transplanting, — relation  of 
treating  crops  ;  with  discussions  on  diseases  and 
garden  insects,  and  an  especially  interesting 
chapter  on  heredity  in  plants,  are  prominent 
topics  discussed.  On  some  of  the  more  staple 
crops  for  market,  such  as  celery,  onions  and 
mushrooms,  special  chapters  are  given.  It  is 
not  possible  in  a  country  so  large  as  North 
America,  to  get  explicit  directions  for  the 
operations  of  the  garden,  but  Mr.  Landreth 
has  divided  the  calendars  into  Northern  and 
Southern,  and  this  gives  some  advantage. 
The  firm  of  D.  Landreth  &  Sons,  of  which  Mr. 
Burnet  Landreth  is  a  member  has  been  so  long 
known  in  connection  with  progressive  market 
gardening  operations,  that  a  work  of  this  kind 
by  one  of  the  firm  must  have  many  special 
advantages. 


Benjamin  J.  Smith. — ]\Ir.  B.  J.  Smith,  one 
of  the  principal  colleagues  of  Col.  Wilder  in 
establishing  and  sustaining  the  famous  Ameri- 
can Pomological  Society,  and  still  its  esteemed 
Treasurer,  is  eminent  in  other  branches  of 
gardening,  as  well  as  specially  an  amateur 
fruit  grower.     A  correspondent  of  the  Boston 

(no) 


Traveller  notes  that  his  garden  at  Cambridge 
is  one  of  the  beauty  spots  of  that  suburb, — 
grand  Norway  spruces  and  Scotch  pine, — some 
of  them  60  feet  high,  though  only  planted  forty 
years  ago,  give  a  special  character  to  the 
grounds.  Tubs  of  hydrangeas  line  the  walk 
from  the  street  to  the  house  ;  and  orange  trees, 
palms  and  fine  specimens  of  fuchsias  are  in 
front.  It  is  one  of  the  homes  of  amateur 
rose  growing,  over  100  kinds  being  on  the 
grounds.  Though  possibly  past  his  three 
score  and  ten,  Mr.  Smith  is  the  picture  of 
health,  much  of  which  he  believes  to  be  due  to 
his  love  for  and  interest  in  gardening. 

"Outlines  of  Forestry,  or  the  Elemen- 
tary Principles  underlying  the  Science  of  For- 
estry," hy  Edwin  J.  Houston,  Professor  of  Na- 
tural History  in  the  Central  High  School  of 
Philadelphia.  This  is  a  treatise  of  some  254 
pages,  published  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co., 
Philadelphia.  It  gives,  in  a  condensed  form, 
nearly  all  that  has  been  brought  out  in  rela- 
tion to  forestry  science  scattered  over  numer- 
ous works  and  treatises.  To  get  all  these 
differing  views  together  in  one  work  is  of  it- 
self a  useful  task.  Many  of  the  so-called 
principles  are  untenable,  but  that  does  not  in 
the  least  lessen  the  value  of  Prof.  Houston's 
work.  Every  one  should  know  what  is  being 
taught,  whether  all  that  is  taught  is  on  solid 
foundation  or  not. 

"  How  TO  Grow  Cut  Flowers," — by  M.  A. 
Hunt,  published  by  the  author,  Terre  Haute, 
Indiana.  This  little  book  of  22S  pages,  ex- 
presses its  object  in  its  title.  It  is  unique 
among  books,  in  the  fact  that  it  is  confined 
wholly  to  the  experiences  of  the  author.  Even 
in  matters  where  it  might  be  proper  to  refer  to 
the  experience  of  others,  as  corroborating  his 
ovpn  thought,  the  author  generally  remarks 
that  so  and  so  has  been  said,  but  that  he  has 
had  no  experience  of  his  own  in  connection 
with  the  subject.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  best 
practical  effort  that  has  come  before  the  public. 


1 893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY   AND   LITERATURE. 


Ill 


Francois  Andre  Michaux.  —  Andre  Mi- 
chaux,  the  great  French  Botanist,  who  over 
one  hundred  years  ago  made  a  botanical  ex- 
ploration of  America,  and  published  a  Flora  of 
North  America  which  became  a  standard  work, 
was  born  at  Versailles  in  1746.  F.  Andre 
Michaux,  his  son,  whose  portrait  is  here  given 
was  born  also  at  Versailles  in  1770,  and  like 
his  father  traveled  extensively  over  Eastern 
North  America,  collecting  seed  and  especially 
studying  the  trees  for  the  French  Government. 
He  wrote  a  history  with  illustrations  in  four 
volumes  of  the  trees  of  North  America,  and 
died  at  Vaureal,  France,  on  the  23d  of  October, 
1855,  leaving  in  trust  to  the  American  Philos- 
ophical Society  a  large  sum  of  money,  the  in- 
come to  be  devoted  to  the 
■encouragement  of  American 
arboriculture. 

"How  TO  Know  the 
Wild  Flowers,"  by  Mrs. 
William  Starr  Dana.  —  A 
young  friend  places  on  our 
table  a  copy  of  this  book, 
with  the  remark,  "  This  is 
just  the  work  I  had  long 
been  looking  for.  Botany 
always  seemed  to  me  a  dull 
study.  The  text  books  are 
so  dry.  I  think,  after  read- 
ing Mrs.  Dana's  book,  I  do 
know  something  of  botany 
beyond  the  mere  love  of 
gathering  the  wild  flowers." 
Looking  through  the  book, 
the  expression  is  appre- 
ciated. Botany  as  taught  in  the  schools  is  dry. 
The  writer  of  this  paragraph  has  been  for  eigh- 
teen years  a  Director  of  Public  Schools.  In 
some  of  the  higher  schools  botany  is  supposed 
to  be  taught.  Nothing  is  more  amusing  than 
to  listen  to  the  teachers,  teaching  botany.  It 
'seems  as  if  the  teachers  should  first  be  taught. 
Pupils  know  little  more  after  going  through 
the  botanical  course  than  when  they  begun. 
It  may  be  said  in  brief,  that  a  book  like  this 
will  do  more  to  create  a  love  of  botany  among 
young  people  than  all  the  text  books  ever 
written.  The  critical  botanist  might  of  course 
find  a  great  deal  to  object  to,— but  after  master- 
ing a  book  like  this  thoroughly,  the  student, 
himself  or  herself,  will  be  able  to  find  out  what 


F.    A.    MICHAUX 


the  critic  might,  perhaps,  desire  to  object  to  in 
the  first  place.  Every  lover  of  wild  flowers 
ma}'  profit  by  reading  the  book. 

American  Grape  Training. — "  An  account 
of  the  leading  forms  now  in  use  of  Training  of 
American  Grapes,"  by  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey,  pub- 
lished by  the  Rural  Publishing  Co.,  of  New 
York.  Prof.  Bailey  has  found,  like  so  many 
other  teachers,  that  a  large  number  of  works 
have  to  be  studied  in  order  to  get  a  fair  view  of 
all  that  has  been  taught.  It  has  been  thought 
wise  therefore  to  put  together  in  one  little 
book  his  notes  gathered  from  these  various 
sources  with  his  own  judgment  as  to  their 
value.  He  well  remarks  that  all  grape  growers 
are  still  students,  and  he 
believes  there  is  yet  much 
to  learn,  especially  as  the 
native  grape  requires  differ- 
ent training  and  manage- 
ment to  the  foreign  grape, 
— and  we  are  only  just  in 
the  infancy  of  a  successful 
ktiowledge  of  what  our  na- 
tive grape  requires.  As  a 
plain,  practical  account  of 
the  methods  of  training  in 
use,  there  can  be  nothing 
better. 

The  Rose,— by  H.  B.  Ell- 
wanger.  New  York, — Dodd, 
ISIead  &  Co.  New  edition. 
Death  took  from  the  world 
of  horticulture  the  accom- 
plished author  of  the  first 
edition  of  this  admirable  work  on  the  Rose.  The 
"Old,  Old  Story  "of  the  Rose,  like  the  story  of 
young  lovers  is  ever  new, — and  valuable  as  this 
book  was  in  the  first  instance,  the  ' '  bringing  it 
up  to  the  times"  by  Mr.  George  H.  EUwanger, 
adds  again  to  the  value  of  the  original  story. 
The  lover  of  roses  will  find  it  an  excellent  aid 
in  Rose  culture,  and  even  those  who  cannot 
grow  but  can  admire  and  profit  in  reading  it. 

D.  B.  WiER.  —  Western  horticulture  owes 
considerable  to  the  intelligent  energy  of  Mr.  D. 
B.Wier.  He  removed  from  Illinois  to  California 
in  1 888, — planting  a  small  fruit  farm  in  Sonoma 
County.  He  died  in  San  Francisco  suddenly 
from  an  apoplectic  stroke  on  the  24th  of  May. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Open  Spaces  in  Cities. — Under  the  lead  of 
Councilman,  Thomas  Meehan,  Philadelphia, 
during  the  past  ten  j-ears,  has  embarked  in  the 
project  of  securing  open  spaces,  of  between  5 
and  10  acres,  for  its  massed  population.  That 
city  is  under  the  disadvantage,  so  far  as  it  may 
be  a  disadvantage  in  some  cases,  of  not  being 
allowed  by  the  constitution  to  borrow  more 
than  7  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  the  assessed 
valuation  of  its  property,  and  that  7  per  cent. 
was  reached  before  the  passage  of  the  new  con- 
stitution. It  is  unable  to  borrow,  and  these 
small  spaces  have  to  be  acquired  out  of  annual 
taxation.  It  is  to  its  credit  that,  under  these 
circumstances,  it  has  already  secured  a  number 
of  open  spaces  to  the  value  of  probably  three 
million  of  dollars,  and  the  work  of  locating  is 
still  going  on,  though  necessarily  slow  under 
these  financial  conditions.  These  open  spaces 
are  not  intended  so  much  as  mere  beauty  spots, 
laid  out  as  gardens,  which  thee3-eofthefesthetic 
can  alone  revel  in,  but  are  for  practical  use, — • 
for  physical  enjoyment  as  well  as  mere  mental 
recreation  and  the  supply  of  pure  air.  Other 
cities  are  going  on  in  the  same  line,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  old  world, ^ — the  City  of  London 
especially  leading  in  the  good  work.  In  a 
great  measure  these  results  are  owing  to  the 
establishment  of  organizations  which  look 
after  these  special  objects.  In  Philadelphia 
they  have  a  City  Park  Association,  which 
backs  up  and  encourages  the  progress  of  the 
movement  ;  and  the  City  of  London  has  a 
Public  Garden  Association,  which  follows  up 
the  same  work  there.  Philadelphia  is  not  de- 
pending alone  on  the  city,  but  private  parties 
frequentl}'  subscribe,  or  even  donate  the  squares 
wholly.  In  the  case  of  one  of  the  squares, 
known  as  Vernon  Park,  costing  $175,000,  the 
citize.is  subscribed  $20,000  towards  helping  the 
city  pay  for  it, — and  two  or  three  similar  parks 
have  been  free  gifts.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
London  Association, — and  much  is  made  of  the 
fact  that  recently  the  Princess  Louise,  well 
known  to  Canadians  and  Americans,  sub- 
scribed a  considerable  sum  towards  it.     A  sub- 

(112) 


scription  of  $25,000  was  also  made  recently  for 
the  improvement  of  Soho  Square — the  arrange- 
ment of  which  open  space  was  wholly  the  work 
of  the  Association.  The  city  itself  only  paid 
$15,000  towards  it.  Three  million  dollars  are- 
also  being  raised  to  make  an  open  space  of 
what  is  known  as  the  Hackney  Marshes.  In 
addition  to  this  one  great  society,  London  has 
in  connection  with  it,  what  are  known  as  Open 
Space  Associations,  which  take  in  especially 
the  collection  of  funds  to  help  the  city  in  the 
work.  The  great  misfortune  with  most  people 
is  that  they  expect  municipal  bodies  of  counties 
or  of  cities  to  do  everything  out  of  taxation. 


"Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United 
States.'' — It  is  not  as  generally  known  as  it 
might  be,  that  Meehans'  Monthly,  so  far 
as  the  colored  plates  and  leading  chapters  are 
concerned,  is  an  exact  counterpart  of  the 
"Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United  States," 
the  stopping  of  the  publication  of  which  by 
the  death  of  its  former  publisher,  caused  so 
much  regret.  Subscribers  to  Meehans' 
Monthly  who  wish  to  bind  the  volumes,  will 
therefore  practically  have  a  continuation  of  this 
splendid  work.  Mr.  Thomas  Lyman,  of 
Downer's  Grove,  111.,  referring  to  this  fact 
writes,  after  receiving  the  bound  volumes  so 
far  as  they  have  gone,  that  with  those  that 
have  gone  before  and  those  to  follow,  "will 
make  a  very  desirable  addition  to  one's  library. 
I  like  it  very  much  indeed."  We  should  be 
very  glad  if  the  friends  of  Meehans'  Monthly 
will  let  those  who  may  have  been  subscribers 
to  the  ' '  Flowers  and  Ferns  of  the  United 
States,"  know  of  the  facts  herein  noted. 

The  Next  Plate.  —  The  whole  northern 
continent  will  be  interested  in  the  next  plate, 
which  will  represent  our  great  Maiden-Hair 
Fern,  Adiantum  pedatiim.  which  is  found  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  A  friend  at  the 
conductor's  elbow  believes  the  historical  and 
popular  chapter  which  accompanies  the  plate, 
one  of  the  most  instructive  yet  written. 


Plate  8. 


MjIANTl  .^l    i'l^D/O'UM 


ADIANTUM  PEDATUM. 


COMMON  MAIDEN-HAIR. 


NATURAL  ORDER,  FILICES. 


ADiANTrM  PEDATUM,  I.iNN.EUS.— Frond  forked  at  the  summit  of  the  upright  slender  stalk  (nine  to  fifteen  inches  high),  the 
recurved  branches  bearing  on  one  side  several  slender  spreading  divisions,  which  bear  numerous  triangular-oblong  and 
oblitiue  short-stalked  pinnules:  these  are  as  if  halved,  being  entire  on  the  lower  margin,  from  which  the  veins  all 
proceed,  and  cleft  and  fruit-bearing  on  the  other.  (Gray's  Manual  of  Bolanv  of  the  Northern  United  Slates.  See  also 
Chapman's  Botany  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Woods  Class-Book  of 'Botany  ;  Eaton's  Ferns  of  North  America, 
and  Williamson's  Feins  of  Kentucky.) 


This  very  handsome  fern  grows  to  such  large 
proportions  that  it  was  difficult  to  decide 
whether  to  take  only  a  portion  of  a  mature 
frond  for  our  small  page,  or  to  select  a  com- 
plete plant  of  moderate  size  that  would  serve 
to  show  all  its  general  characteristics,  giving 
only  enlarged  views  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
fructification.  Now,  with  the  picture  before 
us,  the  wisdom  of  the  last  course  is  apparent, 
as  it  is  doubtful  whether  so  complete  a  view  of 
the  whole  plant  could  be  better  presented  in  so 
small  a  space.  It  is  well,  however,  to  remark 
that  when  the  plant  is  growing  vigorously  it 
has  a  thick  rhizome  or  creeping  underground 
stem  as  thick  as  a  lead  pencil,  from  which  the 
straight  fibrous  roots  descend  into  the  earth, 
and  the  fronds  ascend  into  the  atmosphere.  In 
"the  experience  of  the  writer  no  specimen  has 
ever  been  found  that  had  not  a  forked  rhizome, 
and  this  tendency  to  divide,  especially  in  some 
of  its  parts  in  one  direction  is  a  characteristic 
almost  peculiar  to  this  fern,  and  on  account  of 
its  very  marked  disposition  in  this  respect,  its 
name  pedatum  was  suggested  to  the  earlier 
botanists, — pedate  in  botany  signifying  divided 
like  the  hand,  or,  perhaps,  more  strictly,  like 
the  foot  of  a  bird.  The  habit  of  forking,  which 
we  find  in  the  rhizome,  is  exhibited  in  the 
stems  of  the  frond,  which  divide  into  two  equal 
portions  at  the  top  (Fig.  2),  and  in  large  speci- 
mens, each  division  takes  a  downward  curve, 
while  the  branchlets  come  out  always  on  the 
•upper  side  of  this  curve.  This  is  shown  to 
some  extent  on  our  small  specimen.  On  the 
right  hand  branch  of  the  fork  only  one  branch- 
let  appears  from  the  upper  side,  but  on  the  left 
band  one  two  appear.  In  vigorous  specimens 
as  many  as  six  of  these  branchlets  will  come 
out  from  the  outside  of  the  curve  ;  and,  occa- 


sionally, the  lowermost  branchlet  will  again 
have  one  or  two  secondary  branchlets,  also  on 
the  outside  line.  If  we  now  examine  the  en- 
larged frondlet  (Fig.  3),  we  see  the  same  char- 
acteristic. As  noted  in  the  description  of  Dr. 
Gray,  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  but  half 
a  leaf, — -the  original  leaf  having  been  cut 
through  the  midrib,  leaving  the  veins  on  the 
side.  The  little  veins,  when  they  fork,  have 
also  the  one-sided  character  to  a  great  extent. 
The  reason  for  this  peculiar  unilateral  character 
does  not  appear. 

Another  peculiarity  is  in  the  unfolding  of 
the  young  fronds.  While  most  ferns  uncoil  in 
one  graduating  curve,  this  has  a  double  bend 
(Fig.  6),  first  curving  over  to  the  right,  and 
then  returning  to  the  left,  taking,  indeed,  what 
might  be  called  a  serpentine  course  in  devel- 
opment. In  the  end  the  stipe  is  perfectly 
straight  and  stiff.  The  long  wiry  black  roots, 
which  obtained  for  the  long  known  European 
species  the  common  name  of  "Maiden-hair 
Fern,"  are  not  very  apparent  in  this  species  ; 
but  the  general  characteristics  already  de- 
scribed are  so  marked  that  one  can  scarcely 
mistake  the  relationship  whenever  a  "  Maiden- 
hair Fern  ' '  is  found  for  the  first  time,  for  they 
are  found  in  great  numbers  in  tropical  regions. 
Its  more  strict  botanical  characters,  as  used 
in  classification,  are  so  essentially  distinct 
from  other  ferns,  that  there  have  been  few 
attempts  to  make  other  genera  out  of  it,  as 
there  have  been  in  Pteris,  Aspidium,  and  other 
genera  handed  down  to  us  from  the  botanists 
of  the  Linnaean  age.  Mr.  Thomas  Moore,  the 
distinguished  English  student  of  ferns,  thus 
describes  what  these  characters  are: — "They 
have  all  black  shining  stipites,  and  mostly 
roundish   or  rhomboidal   or   ternately-curved 

(113) 


114 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY— ADIANTUM    PEDATUM. 


[Aug. 


pinnules,  the  fronds  being  very  various  in  size 
and  general  character.  The  structure  is  very 
peculiar, — unlike  that  of  any  other  fern.  The 
sori  are  marginal,  covered  by  the  indusia, 
which  are  either  roundish  and  distinct,  or  be- 
come blended  into  a  linear  form,  these  two  con- 
ditions respectively  resembling  the  fructifica- 
tion seen  in  Cheilanthes  and  Pteris  ;  but  it  is 
resemblance  only,  the  fructification  (spore 
cases)  being  in  the  latter  genera  seated  on  the 
frond  itself  and  covered  by  the  indusium ; 
while  in  Adiantum  they  are  not  attached  to 
the  frond,  but  to  the  under  side  of  the  indu- 
sium, and  are  therefore  turned  upside  down  on 
to  the  surface  of  the  frond.  This  structural 
peculiarity  distinguishes  Adiajitum  from  all 
other  ferns  but  Hewardia,  which  is  known  by 
having  a  reticulated  venation,  that  of  Adian- 
tum being  free."  In  order  that  the  student 
may  the  better  understand  this  description  of 
Mr.  Moore,  we  have  given  the  enlarged  Figs. 
4  and  5, — in  Fig.  4  the  sporangia  are  just  seen 
at  the  edge  of  the  indusium.  Fig.  5  is  the 
same,  with  the  indusium  turned  back,  and 
showing  the  sporangia  at  the  apex  of  the 
veins. 

The  common  Maiden-hair  Fern  has  a  very 
ancient  history.  The  younger  Tradescant — 
the  name  being  very  familiar  to  lovers  of  our 
wild  flowers  in  the  Tradescantia — made  one  of 
the  earliest  botanical  visits  to  this  country, 
and  brought  with  him  to  England  from  Vir- 
ginia in  1628  a  fair  collection  of  living  plants, 
among  which  were  Cystopteris  bulbifera  and 
our  present  plant.  These  were,  therefore,  the 
patriarchs  of  American  ferns  in  British  gar- 
dens. Cornutus,  however,  was  not  long  after 
in  getting  a  knowledge  of  it,  for  he  wrote  a 
work  on  Canadian  plants  in  1635,  and  desig- 
nates it  as  the  Adiantum  Canadetise,  by  which 
it  was  known  till  the  time  of  Linnseus.  In 
1671  Bauhin  writes  of  it  as  having  had  it  from 
J.  Burser,  who  obtained  it  from  Brazil,  on 
which  account  he  named  it  "  Adiantum  fruti- 
cosum  Brasilianum."  It  is  singular  that  where 
Bauhin  refers  to  plants  "  from  J.  Burser  from 
Brazil  "  they  are  all  North  American  plants, 
and  in  those  early  times  Burser  had  not  prob- 
ably a  clear  idea  where  "Brazil"  was.  In 
1686  we  find  Ray  describing  it  as  the  "  Black 
Maiden-hair,"  and  he  refers  to  Tradescant's 
bringing  the  plant  to  England  in  the  first  place 
from  Virginia.     In   1695  Plukenet   figures  it, 


and  says  at  that  time  it  was  quite  common  in 
the  gardens  around  London.  At  the  present 
time  it  is  one  of  the  most  popular  ferns  in 
English  collections. 

Of  Amer'can  authors,  John  Josselyn, 
"gentleman,'  in  his  "New  England  Rari- 
ties," published  in  1672,  is  the  first  to  notice 
it.  He  says:  "The  Maiden-hair,  or  Capillus 
veneris  verus,  which  ordinarily  is  half  a  yard 
in  height.  The  apothecaries  for  shame  will 
substitute  Wall-rue  no  more  for  Maiden-hair, 
since  it  grows  so  abundantly  in  New  England, 
from  whence  they  may  have  good  store."  The 
Wall-rue,  it  may  be  noted,  is  Asplenium  ruta- 
muraiia,  a  very  small  species  of  fern.  Kalm 
notices  it  in  his  travels,  and  seems  to  be  the 
first  to  refer  to  its  ' '  pedate ' '  character,  and 
which  suggested  to  Linnaeus  its  specific 
name. 

The  extract  from  Josselyn  of  its  use  by  the 
apothecaries,  brings  to  mind  how  celebrated 
the  Adiantum  capillus-veneris  was  in  medicine 
in  ancient  times.  Ray  refers  to  a  Doctor  Peter 
Formius,  of  Montpellier  in  France,  who  issued 
a  work  in  1644,  to  show  that  this  fern  was  a 
universal  panacea,  bearing  health  to  all  parts 
of  the  body.  In  these  days  our  GriSith  simply 
says  of  this,  and  Adiantum  pedatum,  "they 
are  considered  as  pectoral  and  demulcent,"  and 
this  is  all. 

If  advantageous  it  would  be  a  good  con- 
sideration that  it  could  scarcely  be  destroyed. 
It  has  a  geographical  range,  accorded  to  few 
ferns.  It  is  found  as  far  south  as  the  mountain 
district  of  Alabama,  becomes  very  abundant  in 
southern  Illinois,  and  then  goes  up  through  all 
the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  into  Canada, 
except  those  which  jut  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
though  as  it  gets  northwardly  it  loses  this 
peculiarity,  as  it  has  been  collected  at  East 
Hampton  in  Long  Island  by  Mr.  E.  E.  Miller. 
It  is  found  at  Leavenworth  in  Kansas,  and 
again  in  California,  curiously,  as  Prof  Eaton 
remarks,  skipping  the  mountains  of  Colorado. 
Crossing  by  way  of  Behring's  Strait,  into  Asia, 
it  is  found  over  most  of  that  quarter  of  the 
globe. 

Explanation  of  the  PlAte.  —  i.  A  small  plant  with 
forked  rhizomes,  in  an  early  stage  of  growth.  2.  Showing 
the  forked  stipe.  3.  Enlarged  pinnule  or  frondlet.  showing 
the  di.'stribvition  of  the  veins  on  one  side  of  the  marginal  rib. 
4.  Part  of  a  pinnule  showing  the  sporangia  on  the  under 
surface  near  the  edge  of  the  indusium.  5.  The  same  with 
the  indusium  pressed  back,  showing  the  sporangia  on  the 
end  of  the  veinlets.  6.  Shows  the //.g-A/ serpentine  growth  of 
the  unfolding  stipe. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


SONG  TO  A  PET  CICADA. 

Cicada,  you  who  chase  away  desire, 

Cicada,  who  beguile  our  sleepless  hours  ; 

You  song-winged  muse  of  meadows  and  of 
flowers, 
Who  are  the  natural  mimic  of  the  lyre, 
Chirp  a  familiar  melody  and  sweet. 

My  weight  of  sleepless  care  to  drive  away  ; 

Your  love  beguiling  tune  to  me  now  play. 
Striking  your  prattling  wings  with  your  dear 

feet. 

In  early  morning  I'll  bring  gifts  to  you 

Of  garlic  ever  Iresh  and  drops  of  dew. 

From  the  Greek  oj  Meleager. 


Variation  in  the  Leaves  of  Horse  Radish. 
— Meehans'  Monthly  felt  that  Mrs.  Keller- 
man's  deductions  (see  p.  67)  would  not  prove 
acceptable  to  botanists  generally, — but  that 
they  suggested  much  that  vpould  greatly  aid 
botanical  progress.  The  following  note  from 
M.  H.  de  Varigny,  of  Paris,  will  not,  therefore, 
be  ranked  amongst  the  unexpected  criticisms  : 

"Facts  are  required  before  we  can  accept 
Mrs.  Kellerman's  interpretation.  It  must  be 
shown  that  carbonic  acid  is  less  abundant  in 
the  air  during  autumn  or  summer  than  during 
spring,  and  till  this  has  been  conclusively  de- 
monstrated we  have  nothing  but  '  mere  specu- 
lation.' All  the  experiments  go  to  show  that 
the  proportion  of  oxygen,  carbonic  acid,  nitro- 
gen, are  the  same  the  whole  year  round,  and 
before  the  sub-pinnatified  leaves,  are  explained 
by  reason  of  carbonic  acid,  it  must  be  shown 
that  the  experiments  are  wrong,  and  that  there 
is  a  positive  decrease  of  carbonic  acid.  I  do 
not  know  of  any  reliable  experiments  going  to 
show  this  last  point." 

A  Beautiful  Display  of  Violets. — The 
Neiv  York  Sun  notices  that  along  the  line  of 
the  railroad  plying  between  Jamaica  and  the 
near  neighborhood  of  Babylon  in  Long  Island, 
the  country  in  early  spring  was  one  dense  mass 
of  beautiful  violets — the  description  indicating 
that  Viola  pedata  was  the  kind  referred  to.  It 
regrets  that  sweet  odor  wasn't  given  to  this 
violet  as  well  as  singular  beauty. 


The  Asphodel  of  Homer. — The  following 
correspondence  in  regard  to  the  identity  of  the 
modern  AsphodelviWh  that  of  the  ancients,  will 
interest  our  classical  readers  : — 

"  A  good  many  years  ago,  as  you  will  see  by 
the  following  letter,  I  wrote  to  Prof.  Gray,  say- 
ing that  I  believed  the  Asphodel  of  Homer  was 
the  Xarcissus  poeticus  of  botanists,  quoting  from 
the  '  Odyssy,'  XI,  538,  the  passage  : 

*  *  *  ^"jyri  '?£  —u!^t_t}Y.ntq  A'.iv/.wd  (fuha^  ij.ay.ifi 
•^i^miya,  ■/.aTaaifiidE/.i'.ij.m-ja, 

His  obliging  reply  will,  I  think,  be  inter- 
esting to  many  of  j'our  readers. 

Very  truly  yours, 
Howard  Worcester  Gilbert." 

Botanic  Garden,  Cambridge,  Mass., 

Sept.  IS,  1873. 
Dear  Sir. — The  best  thing  to  consult  is 
"Prior's  Popular  Names  of  British  Plants." 
The  Asphodel  of  Greek  poets  is  supposed  to  be 
Narcissus  poeticus,  of  Lucian — that  of  modern 
botanists,  Asphodeltts,  L.  ;  of  earlier  English 
and  French  poets- — Narcisstis  pseudo-yiarcissus. 
That  with  edible  roots,  mentioned  in  later 
Greek  writers,  to  which  Charon  alludes,  in 
Lucian's  Ka7a-km^  is  doubtful  wholly. 

Truly  yours, 

A.  Gray, 

Stuartia.  —  This  beautiful  hardy  shrub,. 
which  is  one  of  the  few  American  species 
related  to  the  tea  plant  of  China,  is  sometimes 
vsx\\.\.^vi.Steivartia.  "The Gardeners'  Chronicle" 
notes  that  the  plant  was  named  in  honor  of 
John  Stuart,  the  third  Earl  of  Bute,  who  was 
very  much  interested  in  botany. 

A  Large  Buttonwood  Tree. — ^Josiah  W. 
Leeds  states  that,  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash 
river  in  southwestern  Indiana,  due  west  from 
Princeton,  is  the  remains  of  an  enormous  Sjxa- 
more  which,  in  1S63,  bis  brother  found  to 
measure  33  feet  around  the  base.  The  stump 
was  about  15  feet  high. 


ii6 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Aug. 


The  Seat  of  Vitality  in  Trees. — Mr.  T. 
Wheeler,  of  Moscow,  Vt.,  in  reference  to  a 
recent  note  in  Meehans'  Monthly  on  the 
"  Vitality  of  Girdled  Trees,"  page  51,  makes 
the  pointed  inquiry,  as  to  where  life  and  death 
meet  in  a  tree,  and  how  can  that  point  be  dis- 
covered ?  It  may  be  difficult  to  answer  this 
inquiry  clearly  in  a  few  words,  but  it  may  be 
said,  that  a  tree  is  merely  a  collection  of  innu- 
merable individuals— one  single  small  cell 
really  comprises  that  individual  —  and  the 
millions  of  cells  of 
which  a  tree  is  com- 
posed, make  the  com- 
pound organism 
which  we  call  a  tree. 
To  continue  the  life 
of  a  tree  new  cells 
germinate  from  the 
old  cell,  and  after 
the  new  cell  has  been 
formed,  vitality,  as 
we  understand  it, 
ceases  in  the  old  cell. 
The  new  cells  simply 
constitute  a  living 
tree.  In  our  ordinary 
trees  these  mother- 
cells  produce  the 
young  or  daughter- 
cells  during  mid- 
summer, that  grow 
out  of  the  old  cells. 
It  is  very  doubtful 
whether,  after  these 
new  cells  have  been 
formed,  there  is 
really  any  great  vital 
power  in  the  old 
ones.  We  may  prac- 
tically say,  there 
fore,  that  all  of  the 
structure  around  the 

outer  layer  of  wood  cells,  is  destitute  ot  life. 
The  whole  trunk  of  a  tree  is  simply  a  mass  of 
skeletons  of  what  have  been  living  cells.  They 
have  the  physical  power  of  absorbing  moisture, 
and  perhaps  aiding  in  carrying  up  this  mois- 
ture by  capillary  attraction  to  the  upper  por- 
tions of  the  tree,- — and  in  that  way  aiding  and 
assisting  in  carrying  on  the  vital  powers,— but 
for  all  practical  purposes  are  destitute  of  life 
in  themselves.     Mr.  Wheeler  refers  to  chips  of 


the  Redwood  tree,  growing  occasionally  when 
scattered  from  the  trunk  by  the  axeman, — but 
growth  in  these  cases  can  only  come  from  the 
living  cells,  which  are  just  beneath  the  bark  of 
the  tree.  New  growth  could  not  possibly 
come  from  the  old  interior  wood. 

Wild  Roses  of  the  West. — In  the  far  West 
one  of  the  most  common  and  beautiful  of  the 
wild  roses  is  the  Cinnamon  Rose,  /\osa  cinna- 
momea,  with  its  close  ally,  the  Rosa  nutkcFusis. 

The  peculiar  light 
rosy  tint  is  possessed 
by  few  other  species. 
In  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain region,  Rosa 
blanda,  and  its  close 
ally  Rosa  Arkansatia 
take  its  place.  A 
vase  with  specimens 
probably  of  the  last 
named,  as  grown  in 
western  Nevada,  is 
here  presented. 


WILD   ROSES  OF   NEVADA 


The  Nectar  of 
Flowers.  —  An  in- 
teresting question 
connected  with  the 
nectar  of  flowers  is 
whether  the  bee  is 
simply  an  agent 
transferring  it  as 
honey  to  the  comb, 
or  whether  it  under- 
goes some  transform- 
ation in  the  honey 
bag  before  it  becomes 
honey.  The  opinion 
generally  entertain- 
ed is  that  honey  is  a 
mere  transfer,  in 
which  case  there 
would  be  no  use  in  trying  to  improve  Apic  races 
as  one  might  desire  to  improve  a  race  of 
cows  for  improved  milk, — though  the  in- 
dustrious creatures  might  commend  them- 
selves by  a  still  greater  industry  in  one 
race  than  in  another.  There  are,  however, 
some  apiarists  who  believe  there  is  a  change  in 
some  slight  degree  effected.  These  point  to  the 
fact  that  the  bee  certainl}'  can  make  wax  out 
of  precisely  the  same  material  as  honey  is  made. 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


117 


The  Rocks  of  the  Wissahickon.  —  Who 
has  not  heard  of  the  attractiveness  of  Wissa- 
hickon ?  One  of  the  best  art  critics  in  the 
United  States  stated  to  the  writer,  that  he 
could  not  concede  it  to  be  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  pieces  of  scenery  in  the  United  States, 
but  it  certainly  was  the  prettiest.  The  reader 
will  have  to  draw  the  line  between  these  two 
interpretations.  Among  the  chief  of  its  charms 
is  the  singular  beauty  of  the  stratification  of 
the  gneiss  rock.  In  many  cases  large  blocks 
have  fallen  out,  so  as  to  give  the  rocks  a  cave- 
like appearance.  This  only  occurs  where  there 
is  a  peculiar  twisting  in   the  formation.     Of 


Grease  Wood. — A  correspondent,  writing 
from  the  far  west  describes  the  Grease  Wood, 
Rhus  aro7na/ica,  as  being  remarkably  beautiful 
this  year,  the  bushes  being  completely  covered 
with  their  yellow,  coral  berries.  Another 
"  grease- wood' '  is  Purshia  tridcntata,  which 
has  in  the  flowers  deliciously  fragrant.  The 
Indians  use  the  wood,  she  says,  for  medicine. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  the  plant  is  bisexual, 
and,  in  consequence,  there  is  an  absence  of 
berries  from  isolated  plants  when  under  culti- 
vation. In  the  writer's  recollection  the  berries 
of  the  Rhus  are  eaten  by  squirrels,  and  other 
creatures  which  inhabit  the  mountain  region. 


ROCKS  OF  THE  WISSAHICKON. 


course  caves  to  any  great  extent  only  exist  in 
limestone  regions.  The  action  of  strong  acid 
wears  away  the  limestone,  and  in  this  way 
miles  of  subterranean  passage  ways  are  formed 
by  the  dissolving  of  rocks.  However,  as  in 
the  case  illustrated,  hollows  or  caves  of  con- 
siderable size  occur  on  the  Wissahickon.  The 
one  illustrated  is  of  considerable  depth  and  is 
known  as  the  "Hermit's  Cave."  It  is  said 
that  a  famous  astronomer  of  very  eccentric 
habits,  many  years  ago  made  his  home  there. 
The  figure  standing  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave, 
represents  one  of  the  Arctic  explorers  who  was 
on  the  Relief  Expedition  in  the  interest  of  Lieu- 
tenant Peary. 


Large  Trees  in  California. — The  mam- 
moth Sequoias  are  not  the  only  trees  that  reach 
huge  dimensions  in  California.  At  Arlington 
a  cedar  was  measured  last  year  which  was  58 
feet  in  circumference,  and  near  the  ground 
around  the  knotty  roots,  it  was  99  feet ;  about 
75  feet  from  the  ground  it  forks  into  four  im- 
mense branches — beneath  one  of  which  is  a 
large  knot  hole — five  men  have  been  able  to 
climb  into  the  hole  and  get  into  the  interior  of 
the  trunk  at  one  time.  It  is  nothing  but  a 
mere  shell  at  present,  though  still  bearing  a 
considerable  amount  of  green  foliage,  so  says 
a  California  paper — but  the  species  of  cedar  is 
not  given. 


ii8 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Aug. 


RoBiNiA  HiSPiDA. — Mr.  David  F.  Day,  Buf- 
fallo,  New  York,  writes  : — 

"Several  years  ago,  I  had  this  species  of 
Locust  in  cultivation.  As  is  usual,  it  ilowered 
freely,  but  did  not  fruit.  In  apparent  compen- 
sation for  this  failure,  it  spread  rapidly  b3'  the 
root.  As  my  plant  showed  no  difference  be- 
tween it  and  other  specimens,  which  I  saw  in 
gardens,  I  was  quite  disposed  to  believe  that 
all  cultivated  plants  of  the  species  had  grown, 
as  root-offsets  from  one  original  plant.  Hav- 
ing never  seen  a  legume  of  Robinia  hispida, 
and  desiring  one  for  herbarium  use,  it  occured 
to  me  that  one  might  be  easily  obtained,  if  I 
took  pains,  to  secure  perfect  pollination,  when 
the  plant  was  in  flower.  I  had  no  suspicion 
that  the  blossoms  were  not  perfect  ;  but  I 
thought  that  they  needed  extraneous  aid  for 
fertilization.  But  when  I  came  to  make  my 
experiment,  I  met  with  a  great  surprise.  There 
was  a  perfect  development  of  pistil.  The 
stamens  seemed  complete,  having  large  an- 
thers upon  the  tips  of  long  filaments.  But 
upon  opening  the  anther  cells,  I  found  them 
void  of  pollen.  The  plant  was  itijacl  imisexual. 
It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  the  problem, 
whether  the  species  is  really  dioecious,  should 
be  resolved  by  some  botanist,  who  has  the 
opportunit}-  to  study  the  plant  in  its  native 
soil." 

The  writer  of  this  paragraph,  havingthe  infer- 
tility of  the  cultivated  plant  in  mind,  met  with 
considerable  quantities  of  it  on  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, Tennessee,  where  it  forms  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  undergrowth  in  the  open  woods 
in  that  locality,  but  could  not  find  a  solitary 
seed  vessel.  The  examination  was  made  in  the 
end  of  August. 


The  Manzanita. — Those  lapses  of  memory, 
which  are  frequently  miscalled  ' '  slips  of  the 
pen,"  are  often  remarkable,  and  just  how  the 
term  Manzanita  came  to  be  applied  to  the  illus- 
tration given  in  a  recent  number  of  the 
magazine,  is  a  case  in  point.  It  should  have 
been  Madroiia.  The  Manzanita  is  a  large 
shrub  or  small  tree,  and  is  Arctostaphylos  pun- 
gens.  Arbutus  Menziesii  is  the  Madroiia.  The 
error  is  the  more  inexcusable  as  a  specimen  of 
the  Manzanita  is  on  the  writer's  table  as  a  paper 
weight.  A  number  of  correspondents  have 
kindly  sent  us  corrections. 


Variation  in  Wild  Flowers. — The  florist 
is  generally  credited  with  producing  the  great 
variety  of  colors  in  species  of  flowers  under  culti- 
vation, but  he  does  little  more  than  select  that 
which  nature  prepares  for  him.  The  sharp  eye 
can  see  variations  in  the  woods  and  fields  as 
well  as  in  gardens.  Mr.  John  K.  Goodrich,  of 
Waterbury,  Ct.,  notes  that  on  the  30th  of  May 
he  found  the  first  flower  oi  Aretliusa  bulbosa — 
one  of  our  most  beautiful  orchids — and  which 
had  the  brighest  color  he  ever  saw  in  that 
species.  He  regards  it  justly  as  a  gem  of  the 
first  water  among  our  wild  flowers.  He  thinks 
that  Calypso  borealis,  which  he  saw  in  flower 
on  the  28th  of  March  from  bulbs  perfected  in 
Oregon,  comes  next.  The  two  he  thinks  are 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  orchids  of  New 
England. 

Forestry  Notions.— General  J.  S.  Brisbin, 
in  a  work  on  "  Trees  and  Tree  planting,"  states 
"  that  others  say,"  a  desert  may  be  reclaimed 
by  first  planting  its  belt  with  trees.  Then  r^in 
falls  on  these  trees.  By  adding  to  the  planted 
belt  from  time  to  time  rain  will  fall  on  the  whole 
desert  in  time  ;  and  this  is  called  the  "science" 
of  forestry.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  such  char- 
latanry should  get  so  much  respect.  Trees  are 
the  result,  and  not  the  cause,  of  climatic  con- 
ditions. 

Maltese  Honey. — The  honey  of  the  Malta 
bees  is  noted  for  its  purity  and  delicious  flavor. 
This  is  due  to  the  extensive  crop  of  sulla  (clo- 
ver), from  which  the  bees  extract  most  of  their 
honey.  Some  one  has  estimated  that  to  col- 
lect one  pound  of  honey  from  clover  62,000 
heads  of  this  flower  must  be  examined,  and 
3,750,000  visits  must  be  made  by  the  bees. 


The  Wild  Beet. — Probably  few  vegetables 
have  been  developed  to  such  a  remarkable 
degree  as  the  beet.  The  writer  has  gathered 
it  along  the  shores  of  the  south  of  Europe 
without  finding  the  slightest  trace  of  succu- 
lency  in  the  root.  Its  development  to  the 
extent  we  find  it  in  modern  gardens  is  ex- 
tremely remarkable. 

The  Walking  Fern. — Mr.  John  K.  Good- 
rich finds  a  locality  for  the  Walking  Fern  on 
the  Naugatucket  river  near  Waterbury — As- 
plenium  viride  being  a  companion  to  it. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


SUNNY  ITALY. 

Could  nature's  bounty  satisfy  the  breast, 
The  sons  of  Italy  were  surely  blest, 
Whatever  fruits  in  different  climes  are  found, 
They  proudly  rise,  or  humbly  court  the  ground ; 
Whatever  blooms  in  torrid  tracts  appear, 
Whose  bright  succession  decks  the  varied  year  ; 
Whatever  sweets  salute  the  northern  sky 
With  vernal  lives,  that  blossoms  but  to  die  ; 
These  here  disporting  own  the  kindred  soil, 
Nor  ask  luxuriance  from  the  planter's  toil ; 
While  sea-born  gales  their  gelid  wings  expand 
To  winnow  fragrance  round  the  smiling  land. 

OuvER  Goldsmith. 


Coal  Oil  as  a  Protection  Against  In- 
sects.— It  has  long  been  known  that  oil  is  one 
of  the  best  agents  to  be  employed  in  the  de- 
struction of  insects,  but  unfortunately  the  best 
methods  of  using  it  have  never  been  drawn  out 
to  a  fine  point.  Insects  mostly  breathe  through 
pores,  and  the  oil  closing  these  pores  suffo- 
cates the  insects  ;  but  if  used  in  its  full  strength 
oil  will,  at  the  same  time,  close  the  breathing 
pores  of  the  plant,  and  be  just  as  destructive 
to  one  as  to  the  other.  About  one-half  a  wine 
glass  of  oil,  with  a  gallon  of  rain  water,  is  the 
quantity  recommended  for  the  destruction  of 
such  insects  as  red  spider,  thrips  and  aphis. 
To  mix  the  water  and  oil  it  has  to  be  boiled 
with  soap,  in  the  proportion  of  about  one  part 
of  soap  and  eight  of  water.  When  the  mixture 
of  soap  and  water  is  near  the  boiling  point  it  is 
poured  into  bottles  and  the  oil  added  at  that 
time.  The  nearer  the  liquid  is  to  the  boiling 
point  at  the  time  the  oil  is  applied  the  better  it 
will  mix.  Corked  in  bottles  it  can  be  kept  for 
use.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the  insecticides 
advertised  for  amateur  flower  growers  are  made 
in  this  way, — preparations  being  occasionally 
varied, — and  where  it  can  be  bought  cheaply  it 
is  often  better  to  get  it  in  that  way  than  to  go 
to  the  trouble  of  making  it  oneself.  Sometimes 
the  material  obtained  in  this  way  may  be  di- 
luted further  by  water,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
give  exact  directions  in  these  cases.  Those 
who  try  them  must  watch  results  and  learn  a 
little  from  their  own  experience. 


Root  Fungus. — Intelligent  raisers  of  trees 
and  plants  must  be  familiar  with  the  work  of 
root  fungus,  and  with  its  effects  on  the  foliage. 
In  most  cases  the  result  is  to  turn  the  leaves 
from  deep  green  to  a  golden  yellow,  as  in  the 
Peach,  the  Norway  Spruce,  and  the  White 
Pine.  In  the  Carnation  the  glacous  gray 
green  is  changed  to  a  sea  green,  and  so  on 
with  other  things.  The  rapidity  with  which 
the  mycelium,  or  "spawn,"  as  gardeners  term 
it,  travels  under  ground  is  wonderful.  In  a 
bed  of  carnations  planted  out  in  early  spring 
for  removal  in  the  fall  to  the  carnation  house, 
the  writer  saw  a  circle  containing  a  few  less 
than  loo  plants  infected,  and  which  lot  had  to 
be  rejected. 

This  fungus  had  started  from  some  half 
rotten  wood,  and  then  had  radiated  some 
fifteen  feet  to  the  circumference  of  the  circle 
infesting  every  carnation  root  in  its  march, 
and  this  fifteen  feet  had  been  all  developed  in 
four  months,  certainly,  and  probably  much  less 
judging  by  the  fact  that  the  leaf  tint  had  all 
been  completely  changed.  Just  how  the  change 
is  effected  so  as  to  give  the  yellows  to  the  Peach, 
Spruce,  Pine,  and  other  plants,  is  not  known. 
No  trace  of  the  original  fungus  can  be  found 
in  the  woody  structure, — yet  the  wood  impreg- 
nated with  some  deleterious  substance,  is 
capable  af  carrying  the  disease  to  other  plants 
by  inoculation.  But  the  fact  remains  that  root 
fungus  is  the  primary  cause. 

Growth  of  the  White  Pine. — In  reference 
to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  White  Pine  in  New 
England,  noticed  at  page  75,  Mr.  Robert  Doug- 
las kindly  states  that,  as  one  j'ear  seedlings 
barely  reach  an  inch  in  height,  and  in  three 
years  are  no  larger  than  lead  pencils,  he  thinks 
that  a  tree  seven  feet  in  diameter  could  not  be 
obtained  in  thirty-one  years.  He  would  give 
it  three  times  thirty  to  reach  that  dimension. 
Just  how  theses  errors  occur  it  is  very  hard  to 
say,  but  they  detract  very  much  from  the  value 
of  forestry  literature. 

(119) 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Aug. 


Japan  Snowballs — Viburnum  Plicatum.— 
Few  hardy  shrubs  have  pushed  their  way  so 
rapidly  to  wide  popularity  as  the  Japan  Snow- 
ball, and  though  much  has  been  said  and  wi  it- 
ten  about  it,  inquiries  show  that  much  mote 
has  to  be  told.  It  has  not  only  held  its  own 
as  one  of  the  most  valuable  floral  ornaments 
of  our  gardens,  but  enters  largely  into  florists' 
sales  in  the  demand  for  cut  flowers.  The  orig- 
inal species  was  long  ago  described  by  Thun- 
berg  as  Viburnum  plicalian.  The  variety  is 
known  in  botanical  work  as  V.  plicatum  plen- 
um,  the  specific  name  from  the  singularly 
plaited  leaves  which  give  the  plant  great  interest 
even  when  not  in  blossom.  Even  two-year 
old  plants  flower,  but  it  takes  a  strong  five- 
year  old  to  produce  the  effect  of  the  one  given 
in  the  illustration  on  the  opposite  page. 

The  flowers  are  all  barren,  the  variety  being 
a  sport  from  the  normal  form  propagated  in 
Japanese  gardens.  It  was  introduced  from 
Japan  by  Fortune,  the  English  botanical  col- 
lector, about  fifty  years  ago  ;  but  has  only  in 
comparatively  recent  times  become  abundant 
enough  for  cheap  popular  planting. 

Beautifying  the  Waste  Places.  —  It  is 
said  that  few  farmers  have  any  great  taste  for 
gardening,  that  farming  is  simply  a  mere  ques- 
tion of  getting  the  most  out  of  the  ground  that 
is  possible,  in  other  words,  it  is  a  business  in 
which  money-making  rules  supreme.  This  is 
a  very  good  principle  to  take  as  the  basis  of 
successful  farming,  j-et  beauty  never  does  any 
harm,  even  in  connection  with  the  solid  facts 
and  figures  of  business,  especially  when  it  can 
be  accomplished  without  the  expenditure  of 
much  cash.  Pennsylvania  is  a  State  famous 
for  its  number  of  springs, — there  is  scarcely  a 
farm  in  the  whole  of  its  wide  territory  but  has 
a  spring  of  water  somewhere  about  it,  and  the 
original  settlers  endeavored,  as  far  as  practica- 
ble, to  build  their  houses  near  these  springs, 
over  the  outlets  of  which  they  erected  what 
are  known  as  spring  houses,  in  which  the  var- 
ious operations  of  the  dairy  were  conducted. 
In  passing  through  a  portion  of  Pennsylvania 
recently,  the  writer  was  interested  in  noting 
that  in  a  case  where  the  pathway  had  to  be  cut 
several  yards  through  the  surrounding  earth 
to  get  to  the  spring,  on  account  of  its  being 
some  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  the 
little   embankment  formed  by   this  cut,    was 


thickly  studded  with  large  stones  or  rocks,  and 
in  among  these  rocks  were  set  native  ferns, 
evidently  collected  from  the  woods  in  the  local- 
ity. To  prepare  this  could  scarcely  have  oc- 
cupied more  than  a  day,  and  yet  the  result 
was  as  the  poet  would  say,  "  A  thing  of  beau- 
ty," which  was  certainly,  "  a  joy  forever." 
There  is  no  reason  why  these  little  evidences  of 
superior  taste  in  the  owner  of  a  farm  might 
not  be  much  more  extensively  exhibited  than 
they  evidently  are. 

Philosophy  of  Drainage. — Few  cultiva- 
tors understand  how  water  operates  in  soil  cul- 
ture. One  of  its  chief  uses  is  to  purify  the 
soil.  The  roots  of  plants  require  the  agency 
of  oxygen  in  preparing  food,  just  as  much  as 
the  leaves  do  ;  and  after  the  air  has  lost  its 
oxygen  it  is  impure  and  unfit  for  the  use  of  the 
plant.  A  heavy  fall  of  rain  completely  satur- 
ates the  soil  and  drives  out  the  impure  air,  and 
as  this  water  passes  away  a  new  supply  of  air 
follows.  In  no  other  way  can  the  soil  be  ren- 
dered free  of  impure  air  than  by  this  curious 
process  of  nature.  In  brief,  rain  is  a  purifier 
of  the  earth.  Of  course  the  soil  retains  mois- 
ture, and  from  this  moisture  the  roots  subse- 
quently are  enabled  to  draw  their  supply.  This 
is  necessary,  but  air  is  no  less  necessary  than 
the  water.  One  of  the  most  interesting  treatises 
on  the  subject,  and  by  which  this  paragraph 
has  been  suggested,  is  an  essay,  delivered  be- 
fore the  Marion  County  Horticultural  Society 
of  Salem,  Oregon,  by  President  John  M.  Bloss, 
of  the  State  Agricultural  College,  and  Director 
of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station.  The 
Bulletin  is  sent  free  to  all  who  think  proper 
to  ask  for  it,  —  and  we  could  wish  nothing 
better  than  that  every  reader  of  Meehans' 
Monthly  had  a  copy  for  perusal. 

Color  of  Flowers. — Blue  Roses,  or  blue 
Dahlias,  at  one  time  thought  impossible,  and 
probably  still  impossible  as  a  natural  product, 
may  now  be  obtained  by  placing  the  cut  flowers 
in  a  solution  of  analine  substances.  Indigo 
carmine  produces  beautiful  blue  tints.  For  a 
while  there  was  quite  a  rage  for  having  these 
artificial  colored  flowers.  Lily  of  the  Valley, 
Dahlias,  Hyacinths,  and  others  being  so  suc- 
cessfully treated  ;  but  this  has  entirely  gone 
out  of  use.  Except  where  people  wish  to  try 
the  matter  as  a  simple  chemical  experiment. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


121 


JAPAN   SNOWBALL.--SEE  p.  120. 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Aug. 


Straightening  Crooked  Trees.  —  Mr. 
Ernest  Walker,  of  New  Albany,  Indiana,  fur- 
nishes the  following  very  valuable  hints  for 
straightening  crooked  trees  : 

"  Young  trees  that  are  bent  or  crooked  may 
easily  be  straightened  without  cord  or  stakes, 
and  a  good  many  of  them  in  a  short  space 
of  time,  if  it  be  done  in  the  right  season. 
The  right  time  is  iii  the  spring,  whefi  the  buds 
are  swelling  and  until  the  trees  are  in  full 
leaf.  At  this  time  the  trunks  are  in  a  degree 
plastic  and  incline  to  remain  the  way  they  are 
bent.  All  kinds  of  trees  with  trunks  from  a 
half  inch  to  two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter 
may  be  made  to  grow  straight  in  this  way. 

Trees  in  the  nursery  row  often  become  lean- 
ing, or  bent  from  the  direction  of  prevalent 
winds,  which  unless  remedied  detracts  from 
their  market  value.  Such  trees  may  be  straight- 
ened at  a  slight  expense,  and  with  great  profit 
by  simply  bending  them  forcibly  in  the  oppo- 
site direction.  The  writer  had  a  block  of 
several  thousand  yearling  peach  trees  several 
years  ago,  the  trunks  of  which  were  all  curved 
from  the  southwest  winds.  A  man  went  over 
the  lot  in  about  a  half  a  day,  and  straightened 
the  trunks.  It  was  an  experinjent,  but  proved 
a  very  successful  and  valuable  one. 

It  is  not  sufBcient  simply  to  pull  the  top 
over  and  bend  the  trunk  by  one  big  curve,  ex. 
cept  in  the  case  of  larger  trees  which  cannot  be 
otherwise  treated.  Where  the  size  of  the  trunk 
vein  admit  it  the  bending  should  be  a  succes- 
sion of  forcible  short  curves  along  the  trunk. 
If  there  is  any  damage  done  the  cells  on  the 
short  side  of  the  trunk  it  will  be  immed- 
iately remedied  unless  the  trunk  be  abruptlj' 
broken,  which  must  be  guarded  against." 

Destroying  Weeds.  —  Several  correspond- 
ents have  written  to  Meehans'  Monthly  re- 
cently, as  to  how  to  destroy  noxious  weeds. 
Poison  Ivy,  Dock,  Canada  Thistle,  and  Dande- 
lions are  the  subjects  of  these  varied  inquiries. 
Intelligent  gardeners  know  that  no  plant  can 
live  long  without  leaves.  If,  therefore,  a  plant 
is  cut  ofl  to  the  ground  soon  after  making 
leaves  in  Spring,  it  is  generally  destroyed  at 
once  ;  but  sometimes  another  or  second  growth 
will  appear,  of  a  more  or  less  weak  character, 
and  if  this  is  again  cut,  the  plant  will  surely 
die.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  destroy  these 
weeds  when   this  principle  is  kept  in  mind. 


The  writer  of  this  paragraph  has  known  a 
whole  half  acre  of  Canada  Thistle  entirely 
eradicated  by  having  a  boy  cut  them  beneath 
the  ground  with  a  knife  early  in  Spiing.  Very 
few  shot  up  leaves  the  second  time,  but  these 
were  again  cut  as  soon  as  perceived,  and  the 
result  was  to  eventually  destroy  every  plant. 
It  did  not  cost  $io.  to  do  it. 

The  English  Primrose.  —  Few  American 
flower  lovers,  familiar  with  English  literature, 
but  have  a  warm  affection  lor  the  English 
primrose,  as  the  primrose  of  Northern  Europe, 
is  called.  What  are  known  as  Polyanthuses, 
closely  related  to  the  wild  forms  of  English 
primroses,  are  included  in  this  thought.  As  a 
class  they  are  extremely  beautiful,  aside  from 
the  interest  derived  from  their  literary  rela 
tions.  They  are  extremely  subject  to  attacks 
of  the  red  spider  in  a  warm,  dry  climate.  Our 
warm  and  dr}'  summers  are  always  against 
their  success  ;  but  if  planted  where  they  can 
be  shaded  from  the  hot  sun  in  the  day  time, 
and  yet  have  some  light,  by  reason  of  eastern 
or  western  walls,  or  better  still,  northern  ex- 
posures, and  to  be  put  in  soil  not  allowed  to 
get  dry  by  reason  of  the  incursions  of  the 
roots  of  rapid  growing  trees,  they  may  be 
grown  in  our  climate  with  considerable  suc- 
cess. 

A  Double  Gloxinia.  —  Some  cultivated 
flowers  seem  to  have  a  much  greater  tendency 
to  produce  double  varieties  than  others : 
while  others,  cultivated  for  many  years,  rarely 
exhibit  the  double  flowering  tendency.  It  is 
said  that  in  England  a  double  Gloxinia  has 
now  been  produced.  As  it  is  over  fifty  years 
since  they  have  been  in  very  general  cultiva- 
tion, it  is  remarkable  that  it  has  taken  so 
long  a  time  to  produce  the  double  form. 

Variation  in  Nature. — The  paragraph  in 
Meehans'  Monthly,  calling  attention  to  the 
great  variation  which  may  be  found  in  any  one 
species  of  plant  in  a  state  of  nature,  is  interest- 
ing a  great  number  of  the  readers  of  the 
magazine.  Mrs.  Fannie  E.  Briggs,  of  Wash- 
ington State,  writes  that,  "among  the  native 
Lily,  Lilium  Hkmboldtii,  flowers  usually  spot- 
ted are  on  some  plants  entirely  unspotted  ;  in- 
stead of  being  brown,  as  is  characteristic  of  the 
species,  the  stem  is  often  wholly  green." 


^893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


123 


Classification  of  Chrysanthemums. — 
"The  American  Chrysanthemum  Society  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  classify  this  popular 
fall  blooming  flower.  In  the  report  before  us 
they  have  shown  how  well  they  have  accom- 
plished the  task  they  were  appointed  to  do. 
One  would  hardly  suppose  there  could  be  so 
many  varieties,  yet  here  so  many  are  named 
and  fully  described,  as  to  occupy  a  pamphlet 
of  thirty-seven  pages.  The  officers  of  the 
Society  are  William  K.  Harris,  of  Philadelphia, 
E.  J.  Hill,  Richmond,  Ind.,  Edwin  Lonsdale, 
Chestnut  Hill,  Philadelphia,  and  Myron  W. 
Hunt,  of  Terre  Haute,  Ind. 

Ros.\  rugosa. — A  very  beautiful  rose,  Rosa 
Camtscliatica  of  Ventenat,  a  native  of  Russia, 
as  its  name  implies,  has  long  been  cultivated 
in  some  few  choice  American  gardens.  A  few 
j-ears  ago  Rosa  rugosa  of  Thunberg,  a  native 
of  Japan,  was  introduced,  but  no  one  saw  any 
difference  between  the  two,  and  there  was  a 
suspicion  that  in  some  way  the  two  had  been 
confounded.  A  French  rose  grower,  Souchet — 
suggests  that  the  real  R.  rugosa  has  stipules 
and  bracts  comparatively  undeveloped,  while 
the  R.  Catntschatica  has  them  very  large. 
It  is  said  that  a  pure  white  variety  of  the  latter, 
perfectly  double,  has  been  produced  in  France. 

Pe.'V  Weevil. — Many  remedies  have  been 
given  for  the  destruction  of  the  little  weevil 
which  bores  holes  in  peas.  No  one  cares  to 
sow  such  and  introduce  the  insect  at  the  same 
time.  Mr.  James  Fletcher,  of  the  Experimen- 
tal Farm,  of  Toronto,  states  that  peas  are  just 
as  good  two  years  old  as  when  but  one  year. 
He  found  two  year  seed  all  grew.  The  insect 
will  not  live  that  long,  so  that  those  who 
maj'  not  care  to  introduce  the  pea  weevil 
with  any  particular  variety,  have  only  to  hold 
them  over  for  a  couple  of  years,  in  order  to 
have  them  certainly  clear  of  this  trouble. 

Watering  Cactuses. — Mrs.  Frederick  John- 
son, noting  a  visit  to  the  Cactus  House  in  the 
Missouri  Botanical  Gardens  at  St.  Louis,  re- 
marks that  the5'  are  only  watered  once  in  three 
months.  This  used  to  be  the  rule  in  old  times, 
but  the  practice  has  been  changed  more  re- 
cently. These  are  probably  watered  oftener 
than  is  supposed.  Cactuses  do  not  dislike 
water  if  the  pots  are  well  drained. 


The  Bloodgood  Pear.  —  An  intelligent 
contemporary,  the  "  Florida  Fruit  Grower," 
replete  with  valuable  suggestions,  remarks 
that  the  Bloodgood  pear  is  superior  in  quality 
to  the  Bartlett,  but  is  not  considered  profitable 
by  the  grower  of  pears  for  market,  because  of 
its  lack  of  attractiveness.  This  can  scarcely 
be  a  reason  why  the  Bloodgood  pear,  is  not 
generally  grown  for  market,  for  among  this 
class  of  fruits,  as  well  as  among  apples,  numer- 
ous varieties  remarkably  lacking  in  attractive- 
ness, are  extremelj'  popular.  Who  would,  for 
instance,  see  anything  particularly  attractive 
about  the  Rhode  Island  Greening  Apple  ? 
There  are  scores  of  varieties  considerably  more 
attractive,  and  yet  are  not  grown.  In  relation 
to  the  Bloodgood  pear  in  the  Eastern  States, 
it  has  rarely  been  considered  as  of  even  second 
quality,  to  say  nothing  of  first.  If  it  is  so 
superior  in  quality  in  Florida,  it  must  be  a  case 
often  noted,  wherein  varieties  of  no  reputation 
in  one  locality,  will  get  to  the  head  of  the  list 
under  other  circumstances. 

Apple  Orchards  in  Iowa.  —  Mr.  H.  W. 
Lathrop,  of  Iowa  City,  states  that  the  first 
apple  orchards  were  planted  in  Iowa  between 
1799  and  1802.  He  thinks  that  if  successive 
generations  from  these  trees  had  been  carefully 
selected,  some  very  hardy  varieties  might  have 
been  by  this  time  obtained.  This  is  quite 
likely.  Though  environment  has  not  much  to 
do,  in  the  opinion  of  some  botanists,  with  any 
very  material  changes  in  the  form  and  general 
characters  of  plants,  it  is  believed  that  hardi- 
ness is  achieved  by  successive  generations  of 
comparatively  tender  plants  grown  in  severe 
climates. 


Crops  of  Currants. — A  European  paper 
states  that  one  currant  bush  there  produced 
17K  pounds,  which  was  thought  to  be  some- 
thing extraordinary.  It  strikes  us  that  at  least 
as  great  a  weight  of  fruit  has  sometime  been 
produced  from  American  bushes,  but  we  have 
no  positive  knowledge,  and  shall  be  glad  to 
have  a  note  from  some  one  who  has  made  a 
positive  test.  At  Haywards,  in  California,  we 
have  certainly  seen  bushes  that  must  have  had 
a  weight  of  fruit  approaching  these  figures  at 
an3-  rate. 


124 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Aug, 


Growing  Peaches  in  Pots.  —  One  of  the 
prettiest  sights  in  ornamental  gardening  is  a 
house  for  forcing  fruits.  It  is  not  generally 
known  that  fruit  trees  can  be  raised  in  pots 
pretty  nearly  as  well  as  oranges  or  lemons, — 
and  aside  from  the  beauty  of  a  house  filled  with 
ripe  fruit,  is  the  satisfaction  of  having  first 
class  fruit  for  the  dessert  table.  One  of  the 
most  successful  of  these  fruit  houses,  which 
but  a  few  years  ago  the  writer  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing,  is  on  the  grounds  of  the  Hon.  J.  D. 
Cameron,  United  States  Senator,  near  Harris- 


PEACHES   IN    POTS. 

burg.  The  sketch  given  with  this  paragraph, 
illustrates  how  easily  peaches  can  be  grown  in 
this  way,  and  how  handsome  they  must  look 
when  in  perfection.  Notwithstanding  the  ease 
with  which  fruit  can  be  transported  from 
southern  regions  to  more  northern  ones,  forced 
peaches  can  be  had  before  the  earliest  southern 
crops  are  ready. 

The  Morell.  —  In    a    former   number  of 
Meehans'  Monthly  surprise  was   expressed 


that  the  Morell  was  not  more  frequently  met 
with  in  America  and  more  generally  used. 
This  paragraph  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Isaac  Shepardson,  a  good  neighbor  of  the  con- 
ductors of  this  magazine,  who  reports  that  they 
have  been  as  long  as  he  can  remember,  fre- 
quently found  under  apple  trees  during  apple 
blossom  time,  and  to  confirm  his  statement 
brought  a  fine  basket  of  them  during  the  June 
month.  They  were  prepared  as  a  test  with  the 
common  mushroom  and  in  the  same  way,  and 
a  large  number  of  those  who  participated  in  the 
feast  regarded  them  as  far  more  delicious  than 
the  ordinary  mushroom,  and  especially  when 
prepared  as  a  gravy.  It  seems  remarkable, 
considering  the  excellence  of  this  species  of 
the  mushroom  tribe,  that  the  spawn  has  not 
been  prepared  and  offered  for  sale  in  markets, 
just  as  the  spawn  of  the  common  mushroom 
is.  Possibly  it  will  not  bear  such  treatment, 
but  then  no  record  has  been  made  of  any  ex- 
periment on  the  contrary. 

The  Peach  Tree  Borer. — Many  remedies 
are  given  for  the  destruction  of  the  peach  borer. 
It  seems  wiser  to  keep  the  insect  out  than  the 
worry  so  much  about  it  after  it  has  obtained 
possession  of  the  tree. 

Any  kind  of  greasy  matter  applied  to  the  base 
of  the  tree  will  keep  the  borer  away.  The 
best  thing  that  we  know  of,  is  wheel  grease, 
made  up  with  various  fats  in  connection  with, 
pine  tar  ;  pine  tar  alone  has  been  found  effica- 
cious, but  the  danger  is  from  its  being  con- 
fused with  gas  tar  by  fruit  growers  not  well 
informed.  Gas  tar  is  very  liable  to  destroy 
the  tree.  So  far  as  we  know,  pine  tar  has  not 
been  found  injurious.  What  is  true  of  the 
peach  is  true  of  all  trees  that  are  liable  to  be 
affected  by  the  borer  near  the  ground  ;  the 
apple  and  quince  being  particularly  in  mind  as 
this  paragraph  is  being  written. 


Large  Watermelons.  —  The  season  will 
soon  come  around  when  the  amateur  horticul- 
turist will  be  twitting  his  neighbor  on  the 
superior  products  of  his  garden.  Who  has 
the  largest  watermelon  is  one  of  the  ques- 
tions frequently  coming  up  in  this  friendly  ri- 
valr}'.  In  California  last  year,  Mrs.  Hender- 
son, of  Chula  Vista,  boasted  of  one  weighing 
ii3>2  pounds.  The  Eastern  States  can  scar- 
cely equal  this. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


125 


The  House  by  the  Medlar  Tree.  —  A 
"book  by  this  title  has  recently  been  translated 
into  English  from  the  German,  by  a  New  York 
publishing  house. 

Several  friends  inquire  what  is  a  Medlar  Tree  ? 
This  is  a  common  garden  fruit  in  Northern  Ger- 
tuanj',  the  Mespilus  Getmanica  of  botanists.  It 
belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  apple,  pear, 
and  cherry,  but  does  not  thrive  well  except  in 
rather  northern  regions.  As  is  the  case  with 
our  persimmon  the  fruit  is  too  austere  until  de- 
ca}^  has  partially  set  in.  The  word  decay  is 
not  an  acceptable  one,  so  the  French  term 
"  blette  "  is  used.  A  bletted  medlar  is  fit  for 
use.  The  Japan  Plum  of  the  South  is  very 
close  to  the  medlar,  it  is  known  as  Mespilus 
Japotiica. 


Mythology  of  the  Apple. — A  recent  note 
in  Meehans'  Monthly  on  the  "  Mythology  of 
the  Apple  Tree,"  is  made  the  text  of  a  highly 
interesting  paper  on  the  subject  by  Mr.  John 
J.  Janney,  before  the  Columbus  Horticultural 
Society  of  Ohio.  Mr.  J.  brings  together  all 
that  has  possibly  ever  been  written  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  winds  up  the  paper  by  the  very  prac- 
tical statement  that,  on  a  tree  of  Newtown  Pip- 
pins, presumably  on  his  own  grounds,  he 
gathered  no  less  than  sixty-three  bushels  of 
perfect  apples.  Those  which  dropped  to  the 
ground  or  were  imperfect  were  not  counted. 
This  is  pretty  good  for  Ohio.  We  should  be 
glad  to  know  whether  this  record  has  ever  been 
reached  elsewhere. 

The  Canker  Worm.  —  Few,  except  those 
actually  living  in  districts  where  this  insect 
abounds,  can  have  any  idea  of  its  destruc- 
tive nature.  Orchard  trees  infested  with  them 
look  precisely  as  if  burned  over.  Since  the  in- 
troduction of  spraying  machines,  whereby  a 
solution  of  Paris  green  can  be  easily  employed, 
the  insect  is  not  so  much  feared  as  formerly. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  certain  remedies  that 
lave  ever  been  introduced. 

Good  Pears.  —  Although  the  list  of  pears 
has  been  largely  added  to  by  introductions 
during  the  past  few  years,  some  of  the  older 
kinds  still  lead  in  popular  favor.  In  a  list  of 
six  best  pears,  we  would  be  almost  sure  to  find 
the  names  of  the  Bartlett,  Sheldon,  Seckel, 
Lawrence  and  Howell. 


New  Strawberries.  —  In  America  straw- 
berries rapidly  deteriorate,  and  new  varieties 
continually  appear  to  replace  the  worn  out 
kinds.  Rarely  can  we  find  one  retaining  popu- 
lar favor  for  over  ten  years.  In  striking  con- 
trast is  the  persistency  of  varieties  in  the  old 
world.  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Lyon  Ho>iicole 
the  kinds  recommended  for  general  culture 
have,  some  of  them  been  a  half  century  before 
the  public.  It  seems  strange  to  read  of  La 
Constante,  British  Queen,  Wonderful,  Jucunda, 
Duke  of  Malakoff,  Victoria,  and  similar  old 
kinds,  being  yet  the  best  strawberries  for  the 
French  to  grow. 


The  Chili  Strawberry. — Along  the  cooler 
regions  of  the  Pacific  slope,  both  northwardly 
and  southwardly  from  the  equator,  the  pre- 
vailing species  of  strawberry  is  F.  Oiiloetisis, 
or,  as  it  is  often  written  about,  the  Chili  Straw- 
berry. As  the  writer  has  seen  it  in  its  native 
localities,  it  is  a  much  more  luxurious  grower 
than  our  breed  from  the  Virginia  Scarlet.  It 
appears  from  a  note  in  the  American  Garden, 
that  the  South  Americans  have  improved  it  as 
we  have  our  kind,  and  in  the  Copiapo  Valley  in 
Chili,  the  correspondent  found  kinds  six  inches 
in  circumference,  growing  in  gardens. 

Resistant  Grape  Vines. — The  Phylloxera 
is  an  American  insect,  but  does  not  injure  th.e 
American  vine,  as  it  does  the  European. 
Hence  there  is  not  so  much  concern  in  Ameri- 
can vineyards  when  the  insect  appears  on  the 
roots  as  in  European  vineyards.  These  Amer- 
ican vines  are  called  "  resistants  "  by  those 
who  grow  the  foreign  grape.  These  are  grafted 
on  American  or  "  resistant  "  stocks. 

Currants  and  Gooseberries  — These  are 
very  easily  raised  from  cuttings.  Lengths  of 
about  five  or  six  inches  are  usually  employed. 
They  need  to  be  buried  about  two-thirds  their 
length  in  the  open  ground.  If  cut  a  week  or 
two  before  using,  and  packed  in  moss  slightly 
damp,  they  root  much  more  rapidly  when 
placed  in  the  ground  than  if  put  in  at  once  on 
cutting.     Partial  shade  is  an  advantage. 


The  Best  Currants. — Orchard  and  Garden 
has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  after  all  the 
introductions  of  late  years,  the  best  currant 
for  the  amateur  to  grow  is  the  White  Grape. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


THE  WANDERER'S  NIGHT  SONG. 

FROM   GCETHE  :    BY    THOS.    CONRAD   PORTER. 

[This  beatiful  lyric  was  -written  at  night  upon  the 
wall  of  a  little  hermitage  on  the  Kickelhahn,  a  hill 
in  the  forest  sf  Ilmenau,  where  the  poet  composed 
the  last  act  of  his  Iphigenia.] 

Ueber  alien  Gipfeln 

1st  Ruh  ; 

In  alien  Wipfeln 

Spiirest  du 

Kaum  einen  Hauch  ; 

Die  Vogelein  schweigeu  im  Walde  ; 

Warte  nur,  balde 

Ruhest  du  auch. 

Over  all  the  hill-tops 

Quiet  reigns  now ; 

lu  all  the  tree-tops 

Scarce  stirs  a  bough 

By  Zephyr  caressed  ; 

Ceased  iu  the  grove  has  the  little  bird's  song ; 

Wait!  and  ere  long 

Thou  too  shall  rest. 


Potash  in  Agriculture.  —  A  very  useful 
and  suggestive  essay  on  "Potash  in  Agricul- 
ture "  has  been  issued  by  Dr.  B.  Von  Herff, 
99  Nassau  street,  New  York.  There  is  one  quo- 
tation from  Prof.  J.  B.  Smith,  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  vrhich  we 
think  must  be  a  misquotation.  Surely,  Prof. 
Smith  never  said  that  "  Many  a  New  Jersey 
peach  orchard  has  recovered  from  an  attack 
of  the  yellows  after  a  free  application  of 
Kainit  " — kainit  being  a  form  of  potash.  It 
is  a  prevalent  belief,  and  a  belief  probably 
impregnable  against  any  attack,  that  when 
once  a  peach  tree  has  an  attack  of  yellows  it 
cannot  be  preserved  by  anything  known.  The 
wood  is  changed  in  character  by  the  disease 
and  never  returns  to  a  normal  state.  It  must 
be  remembered  in  connection  with  the  potash 
question,  that  almost  all  soil  which  is  derived 
from  the  disintegration  of  granite  rock  con- 
tains natural  potash,  and  that  this  potash, 
when  stable  manure  is  applied  to  it,  makes 
one  of  the  most  fertile  of  soils.  But  there  are 
different  results  by  different  methods  of  treat- 
ing the  soil  itself.  Different  combinations  of 
materials  will  produce  different  results.     Land 

(126) 


may  indeed  be  sterile  from  too  much  potash.. 
It  is  sometimes  so  sterile  by  an  oversupply  of 
decayed  feldspar,  which  is  a  form  of  potash, 
that  nothing  but  the  common  mullein  will 
grow  in  it.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  par- 
ties ignorant  of  this  lact  apply  special  fertil- 
izers, containing  potash,  to  such  soils  with  ab- 
solutely no  result  at  all.  A  knowledge  of  what 
is  in  the  ground  before  we  apply  other  mate- 
rials to  it,  helps  wonderfully  in  the  success  of 
practical  operations. 

John  Bartram. — It  appears  that  Bartram, 
like  many  other  famous  men,  was  not  merely 
interested  in  botany,  but  in  everj'  good  work 
that  had  relation  to  humanity.  His  name  ap- 
pears among  the  contributors  to  the  first  sub- 
scription library  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  the  borough  of  Darby,  and  which  was  estab- 
lished on  the  loth  of  March,  1743.  He  had, 
as  his  correspondence  shows,  many  varied 
interests  at  heart,  and  a  letter  is  extant  from 
Jonathan  Bonsai,  the  Secretary  of  the  Library, 
to  Peter  Collinson,  who  was  a  friend  of  Bar- 
tram, and  who  itappears  had  advised  Bonsai  to 
correspond  with  the  celebrated  Peter  Collinson, 
to  purchase  some  English  books  to  start  the 
library  with.  Collinson  was  asked  to  ship  the 
books  to  the  care  of  John  Bartram.  Bonsai 
writes  to  Collinson:  "  Be  so  good  as  to  get 
the  books  lettered  on  ye  backs  if  that  can  be 
done  without  much  trouble  or  cost,  or  as  manj' 
of  them  as  conveniently  can  be.  We  also  desire 
thee  to  send  the  price  of  each  book  purchased . ' ' 
Collinson  sent  forty-two  volumes,  among 
them,  as  appears  in  the  invoice,  "  Rawleigh's 
History  of  ye  World.  "  The  Library  Company 
is  still  in  existence,  with  one  of  John's 
descendents,  Deborah  W.   Bartram,  Librarian. 

Judge  Peters. — We  regret  to  learn  that  this 
excellent  botanist,  who  discovered  the  beauti- 
ful fern  named  in  his  honor,  and  which  was 
figured  in  the  June  number  of  the  magazine, 
died  about  three  years  ago  at  his  home  at 
Moulton,  Ala. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND   LITERATURE. 


127 


A  Hand-book  of  Evergreens. — Mr.  T.  C. 
Thurlow  expresses  a  hope  that  Mr.  Hoopes,  or 
some  other  capable  authority  will  get  up  a  new 
Book  of  Evergreens,  so  that  nurserymen  could 
decide  what  name  to  adopt.  He  remarks  that 
firs,  spruces,  and  other  common  names  have 
become  inextricablj'  mixed,  and  the  Latin 
names  also, — that  while  one  authority  calls  a 
fir  Picea,  another  will  call  it  .-ibies, — and  again, 
others  just  the  reverse.  He  wonders  which  of 
these  names  will  be  adopted  in  Meehans' 
Monthly?  It  is  proper  to  say  that  in  all 
these  cases,  Meehans'  Monthly  simply 
adopts  the  name  which  is  used  in  what  might 
be  termed  the  latest  botanical  lexicon  or  dic- 
tionarj'.  If  the  names  of  plants  are  to  be 
changed  merely  to  correspond  with  views  in 
magazines,  no  matter  how  ably  and  intelli- 
gently the  .subjects  may  be  discussed,  there 
would  be  no  end  to  the  confusion.  For  the 
present  it  is  the  practice  of  this  magazine  to 
take  the  great  botanical  work  of  Bentham  and 
Hooker  as  the  authority  for  the  names  em- 
ployed, just  as  it  takes  Webster  or  the  Century 
Dictionary  as  the  referee  on  any  other  literary 
question.  When  this  great  work,  or  some 
other  great  work  in  universal  use,  adopts  the 
many  changes  suggested,  this  magazine  will 
follow  in  line.  Any  other  course  would  only 
tend  to  throw  nomenclature  into  inextricable 
confusion, — there  would  be  a  Babel  of  names 
in  which  no  one  would  understand  the  other. 

Apocryphal  Stories  about  Plants.  —  It 
is  said  of  a  large  number  of  plants,  that,  on 
their  first  introduction,  they  met  with  difficul- 
ties in  transportation,  when  steam  and  rapid 
voyages  were  not  known  ;  for  instance,  theie 
are  at  least  half  a  dozen  accounts  of  scientific 
men  bringing  plants  in  boxes  of  earth  and 
sacrificing  their  own  drinking  water  in  order 
to  sustain  the  plant's  life  on  the  long  voyages. 
Among  these  stories  is  one  regarding  the  Cedar 
of  Lebanon.  It  is  said  that  the  elder  DeCan- 
dolle  brought  a  Cedar  of  Lebanon  to  Europe  in 
that  way  ;  the  voyage  was  prolonged — cedars 
and  passengers  were  pufon  a  short  supply  of 
water  —  but  DeCandolle  denied  himself  and 
gave  his  scanty  portion  to  the  little  tree  to  save 
it  from  perishing.  This  is  the  story,  similar 
to  that  referred  to  above,  about  many  plants. 
The  oldest  Cedar  of  Lebanon  in  Europe  was, 
however,  planted  by  DeCandolle  more  than  a 


century  ago,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  oldest 
one  now  known  in  Europe,  though  the  drink- 
ing water  story  has  no  foundation  in  fact. 

Ladies'  Traces.  —  These  very  interesting- 
fall  orchids,  among  the  last  wild  flowers  to 
cheer  us  before  winter  comes,  get  a  good  word 
in  a  recent  number  of  the  American  Garden. 
Drawings  are  given  of  these  species,  Spiranthes 
simplex,  S.  gracilis,  and  5'.  ccniua.  The 
American  Garden  adopts  the  modern  render- 
ing of  "  Ladies  tresses  "  for  these  plants.  The 
old  English  people  who  gave  the  plant  its- 
common  name,  called  them  ladies  "traces," 
an  old  word  signifying  a  cord,  and  of  which 
the  word  trace,  as  used  in  harness,  is  still  sig- 
nificant. It  is  to  be  supposed  that  a  ladies 
trace  might  be  a  silken  cord,  which  these 
flowers  much  resembled.  These  flowers  might 
in  some  respects  be  suggestive  of  a  curl  on  the 
head  of  some  venerable  grey-headed  dame,  but 
as  for  a  tress,  as  tresses  are  generally  under- 
stood, there  is  nothing  in  the  flowers  to  sug- 
gest them.  At  any  rate  the  old  English  name 
is  Ladies  traces,  and  not  tresses. 

Scarlet  Fruited  Arbutus.  —  A  question 
has  been  raised  as  to  the  plant  referred  to  by 
Cowper,  in  the  following  lines  : — 

-Glowing  bright. 


Beneath,  the  various  foliage,  widely  spreads 
The  arbutus,  and  rears  his  scarlet  fruit. 

The  question  natuially  arises  from  our  famil- 
iarity with  the  Trailing  Arbutus,  Epigcea 
repens.  Cowper's  plant  grows  indigenously 
in  Europe  only  on  the  Lakes  of  Killarney,  and 
is  a  small  growing  ericaceous  evergreen,  which. 
has  large  strawberry-like  red  fruit.  Its  botan- 
ical name  is  Arbutus  Unedo.  It  will  stand 
some  frost,  and  ought  to  do  in  some  of  the  Mid- 
dle States. 

Original  Orchards.  —  In  various  parts  of 
the  West,  they  are  discussing  where  the  first 
orchards  were  planted.  In  California,  at  the 
present  time,  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the 
earliest,  is  claimed  for  the  town  of  Butte.  That 
orchard  was  planted,  it  is  said,  by  a  Mr. 
Thresher,  in  1852.  Some  of  the  pear  trees  then 
planted  now  bear  about  a  thousand  pounds  per 
tree  annually,  at  least  these  are  the  statements 
recorded  in  some  of  the  California  newspapers 
recently. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Botany  for  Beginners. — Senor  Roberto 
Jaime  Berri,  Durango,  Mexico,  thinks 
Meehans'  Monthly,  might  do  good  work  in 
•directing  students  how  to  study  botany  in 
some  easier  manner  than  the  usual  text  books 
do.  He  refers  to  the  difficulty  he  had,  when 
in  the  United  States,  to  determine  plants  from 
the  works  of  Asa  Gray  and  others  ;  but  these 
works  are  not  intended  so  much  for  beginners, 
but  for  those  who  have  already  mastered  the 
rudiments  of  the  science.  Teachers  have  among 
themselves  different  views  as  to  what  is  best 
for  beginners.  To  the  writer's  mind  there  is 
nothing  better  than  enthusiasm  in  collecting 
and  preserving  little  specimens  of  everything 
seen,  whether  wild  or  cultivated,  without  any 
regard  the  first  year  to  getting  the  names. 
After  a  large  number  have  been  collected  one 
learns,  by  comparison,  more  in  a  day,  than  by 
the  early  puzzling  by  books  for  a  long  time. 
The  second  year,  the  "text  books"  referred 
to,  are  found,  then,  to  be  just  the  thing. 

Odor  From  Closed  Rooms. — In  reply  to  a 
note  in  the  June  issue  of  Meehans'  Monthly 
a  Providence  correspondent  says  : — 

' '  Perhaps  it  hardly  needs  a  specialist  to 
account  for  the  odor  arising  from  damp  textile 
fabrics  or  from  closed  rooms.  It  is  due  in  great 
part  to  the  "  size"  used  in  weaving  or  finishing 
such  fabrics — starch  in  cotton  and  glue  in 
woolen.  In  the  weaving  of  carpets  (tapestry 
and  Brussels  especially)  large  quantities  of  glue 
are  used  and  often  of  a  low  grade.  A  little 
dampness  under  such  conditions  will  easily 
give  rise  to  unpleasant  odors." 

Horticulture  in  Burlington,  Iowa. — It 
must  have  been  with  great  regret  that  one  of  our 
correspondents,  who  has  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful suburban  residences  and  grounds  near 
Burlington,  should  bring  herself  to  write  as 
follows  :  "I  am  so  fond  of  this  place.  I  have 
planted  every  tree  and  shrub  on  it,  watching 
them  all  grow — but  as  I  and  my  husband  are 
now  left  wholly  alone,  we  shall  have  to  let  it 

(128) 


go.  The  house  is  one  of  Downing's  original 
designs,  and  in  the  thirteen  jears  that  I  have 
been  on  it  I  have  had  an  eye  to  the  planting 
of  everything  now  growing.  As  we  shall  have 
to  give  it  up,  I  should  so  much  desire  that 
some  good  lover  of  trees  and  plants  would  get 
to  be  its  owner."  Should  any  of  our  friends 
desire  to  settle  in  that  part  of  the  world,  we 
would  gladly  hand  them  our  correspondent's 
address. 


Golden  Rod. — Some  one  has  suggested  that 
the  Golden  Rod  might  make  "a  national  flower" 
because  it  was  distinctly  an  American  genus- 
very  few  species  being  found  in  other  parts  of 
the  world.  The  answer  was,  "which  species 
of  Golden  Rod  ? ' '  for  there  are  numerous. 
Certainly  no  plant  enters  so  grandly  into  the 
remarkable  beauty  of  American  autumn  scenery 
as  the  numerous  Golden  Rods, — and  the  fall 
season  is  coming.  To  help  their  study  a  very 
pretty  one — Solidago  petiolaris  will  be  the  sub- 
ject of  the  next  plate. 

Large  Tulip  Trees. — In  the  writer's  own 
experience,  the  mountain  ranges  of  Virginia 
seem  to  be  the  home  of  the  tulip  tree,  at  least, 
if  the  idea  of  feeling  perfectly  at  home  is  an  in- 
dication of  a  plant  coming  under  this  idea  of 
home  life.  In  the  Garden  and  Forest,  of 
June  the  Sth,  a  correspondent  speaks  of  a  speci- 
men which  is  nineteen  feet  in  circumference, 
four  feet  from  the  ground.  It  is  probable 
that  no  part  of  the  world  can  show  larger  tulip 
trees  than  West  Virginia  and  Tennessee. 

Healthful  Gardening.  —  English  statis- 
tics, recently  issued,  giv^  the  longest  average 
of  life  to  clergymen,  but  next  to  them  come 
flower  lovers.  Gardeners  are  so  nearly  equal 
to  clergymen  in  a  long  lease  of  life,  that  a 
slight  change  in  the  average,  would  place  them 
at  the  head  of  the  list.  Physicians  have  the 
shortest  lives  of  any  class  in  England,  probab- 
ly because  they  seldom  take  their  own  medi- 
cines. 


Vol.  Ill 


%&55i^ 


Plate  9. 


SoMDAGO    F1-:T1()L-\KIS. 


SOLIDAGO  PETIOLARIS. 

LATE-FLOWERING  GOLDEN  ROD. 
NATURAL  ORDER,  COMPOSITE. 

SOLIDAGO  PETIOLARIS.  AiTON.— Minutely  pubescent  ;  stem  mostly  simple,  straight,  very  leafy  ;  leaves  oblong-lanceolate 
or  elliptical,  acute,  rough  on  the  iiiargius,  all  but  the  lowest  entire,  and  nearly  sessile  ;  panicle  racemose  or  oblong  ; 
heads  large,  twenty  to  twenty-five  flowered,  rays  about  ten,  showy;  scales  of  the  involucre  linear,  pubescent;  the 
outer  ones  more  or  less  spreading;  achenia  smoothish.  (Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Soul/iefn  United  States.  See  also 
Gray's  Manual  of  the  Northern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.') 


Few  American  wild  flowers  are  better 
known  than  Golden  Rods  and  Asters,  as 
together  they  play  an  important  part  in  giving 
beauty  to  a  rural  autumn  scene.  The  number 
of  species  of  the  Golden  Rod  is  very  large,  and 
some  one  or  another  may  be  found  in  every 
variety  of  soil  and  situation.  It  makes  no 
difference  whether  we  are  in  the  swamp  or  on 
the  rocky  hill  side,  by  the  stream  or  in 
dry  places,  in  the  woods  or  out  in  the 
open  meadow,  it  will  be  strange  if  some  species 
of  Golden  Rod  be  not  found  among  all  the 
autumn  flowers.  Some  commence  to  bloom  in 
September,  others  continue  until  November, 
and  very  often  they  are  among  the  last  of  all 
flowers  to  mark  the  floral  year.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  find  a  Golden  Rod  in  bloom 
when  some  trees  have  been  wholly  bereft  of 
foliage, — indeed  sometimes  the  wind  drifted 
leaves  will  gather  in  small  hillocks  about  the 
Golden  Rods,  leaving  the  spikes  of  the  flowers 
like  little  flags  flying  from  the  tops  of  the 
mounds. 

A  painting  of  American  autumn  scenery 
would  scarcely  be  complete  without  the  Golden 
Rod  as  a  leading  feature,  and  there  are  few 
American  poets  who  have  not  offered  something 
in  its  praise.  Brj-ant's  reference  to  the  Golden 
Rod  in  his  beautiful  lines  on  the  "  Death  of 
the  Flowers  "is  so  well  known  that  it  would 
be  almost  superfluous  to  quote  them  here,  only 
that  they  are  particularly  applicable  to  the 
one  we  have  now  before  us,  as  it  is  among  the 
latest  to  flower  of  this  remarkably  late  flower- 
ing class.  Bryant  is  describing  a  very  lonely 
scfene,  and  says : 

"The  wind  flower  and   the  violet,  they  perished 

long  ago, 
And  the  wild  rose  and  the  orchis  died,   amid  the 

summer  glow ; 


But  ou  the  hill   the  golden-rod,  and  the  aster  in 

the  wood, 
And  the  yellow  sunflower  by  the  brook,  in  autumn 

beauty  stood. 
Till  fell  the  frost  from  the  clear  cold  heaven  as  falls 

the  plague  on  men. 
And  the  brightness  of  their  smile  was  gone,  from 

upland,  glade,  and  glen." 

The  emblematic  poets  have  also  made  fre- 
quent use  of  the  Golden  Rod,  and  in  the 
language  of  flowers  it  is  made  to  stand  for 
"encouragement."  But  this  is  apparently 
derived  more  from  its  name  than  from  anything 
particularly  suggested  by  the  flower  itself.  In 
ancient  mythology  the  rod,  virga,  was  the  em- 
blem of  power,  and  particularly  of  what  in  these 
days  is  popularly  called  the  "one-manpower," 
as  a  bundle  of  rods  or  fasciculus  was  regarded 
as  typical  of  collective  power.  A  king  is 
generally  represented  as  having  in  his  hand  a 
golden  rod  or  sceptre,  and  only  as  he  held  it 
towards  those  who  sought  an  interview  with 
him,  were  thej-  encouraged  to  proceed.  Thus 
we  read  in  the  Book  of  Esther,  ' '  And  it  was  so 
when  the  king  saw  Esther  the  queen  stand- 
ing in  the  court,  that  she  obtained  favor  in  his 
sight;  and  the  king  held  out  the  golden  sceptre 
that  was  in  his  hand.  So  Esther  drew  near 
and  touched  the  top  of  the  sceptre.' ' 

As  already  noted,  our  species,  Solidago 
petiolaris,  is  a  late  flowering  kind.  Many 
years  ago,  when  our  native  solidagos  were  not 
known  as  they  are  now,  and  when  only  a  small 
portion  were  grown  in  European  gardens,  this 
received  the  name  of  ' '  Late-flowered  Golden 
Rod;"  and  though  some  others  now  known 
will  keep  in  flower  as  long  as  this,  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  change  the  popular  name.  It 
seems  to  have  been  under  culture  in  Europe 
ever  since  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  It 
is  recorded  as  having  been  grown  by  Philip 

(129) 


130 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY— SOLIDAGO   PETIOLARIS. 


[Sept. 


Miller,  at  Chelsea,  near  London,  in  1758.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  a  calendar 
of  flowers  was  made  up  by  French  monks,  in 
■which  the  date  of  the  first  opening  of  flowers 
•was  associated  with  whatever  Saint's  day 
occurred  at  that  time.  Our  plant,  cultivated 
in  their  gardens,  opened  about  October  26th, 
and  in  that  way  became  dedicated  to  Saint 
Evaristus,  who  is  commemorated  bj^  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  on  that  day.  Eva- 
ristus was  born  in  the  same  city  which  gave 
Jesus  birth,  Bethlehem  in  Judea,  and  became 
Pope  just  one  hundred  years  after  the  date 
fixed  for  the  birth  of  Christ.  During  the  reign 
of  Trajan  he  suflfered  martyrdom  on  October 
26th,  log,  the  same  date  on  which  the  "late- 
flowered  Golden  Rod"  became,  with  these  old 
observers,  a  candidate  for  that  frost  which 
"like  a  pestilence"  is  soon  to  take  it  away. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the 
time  of  flowering  with  such  plants  as  these, 
depends  on  the  precise  locality  wherein  they 
are  grown.  As  we  have  seen  the  plant  is  in 
bloom  about  the  end  of  October  in  France.  In 
England  Aiton  gives  from  October  to  December. 
In  our  country  Chapman,  fiom  whom  we  have 
taken  our  description,  notes  it  as  only  bloom- 
ing in  September  in  the  Southern  States, 
while  in  Philadelphia  a  cultivated  plant  is  just 
^oing  out  of  flower  as  November  comes  in. 

The  name  petiolaris  signifies  having  a  leaf 
stalk,  but  this  species  has  none.  Torrey  and 
Gray  in  the  ' '  Flora  of  North  America  ' '  remark, 
"this  plant  is  a  native  of  pine  barrens  and 
sandy,  usually  dry  soil,  from  North  Carolina  to 
Georgia,  Florida  and  western  Louisiana.  The 
lower  leaves  are  very  much  narrowed  at  the 
base,  but  very  slightly  petioled.  The  extreme 
forms  would  seem  to  belong  to  difierent  species, 
but  a  full  suite  of  specimens  furnishes  every 
gradation  between  them.  No  species  can  less 
■deserve  the  name  of  Solidago  petiolaris  than 
this,  or  at  least  in  its  ordinary  forms;  if  the 
leaves  may  be  said  to  be  petiolate,  they  are  so 
slightly  so,  that  we  believe  no  author  has 
identified  the  plant  by  that  character;  but  as 
this  is  certainly  the  plant  described  in  the 
Horttis  Kewensis  as  well  as  by  Smith,  we  do 
mot  feel  at  liberty  to  reject  it."  Sir  James  E. 
Smith,  however,  says  that  the  leaves  of  the 
species  he  refers  to  have  the  leaves  "  stalked,' ' 
and  grows  from  "  New  Jersey  to  Carolina." 
Muhlenberg   in   his   catalogue   says   that   the 


petiolaris  he  refers  to  ' '  grows  in  Pennsylvania. ' ' 
Dr.  Engelmann  has  found  a  form  growing  so 
far  north  as  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis, — but  in 
the  more  eastern  States,  none  that  we  now 
recognize  as  Solidago  petiolaris  have  been  found 
northwardly  beyond  North  Carolina, — so  that 
it  is  likely  that  the  plant  now  known  was  not 
the  one  originally  intended  to  bear  the  name — 
the  name,  perhaps,  became  accidentally  trans- 
ferred, But  however  this  may  be,  botanists  do 
not  lay  much  stress  on  the  meaning  of  a  name. 
If  it  be  the  one  originally  used  with  the 
description,  it  is  generally  adopted,  whatever 
the  meaning  may  be. 

As  already  noted  in  the  extract  from  Torrey 
and  Gray,  the  species  is  a  very  variable  one. 
The  form  found  by  Dr.  Engelmann  near 
St.  Louis  is  the  one  we  have  selected  for 
illustration  and  is  known  in  botanical  works 
as  Solidago  petiolaris  var.  squarrtilosa.  This 
form  has  the  involucral  scales  with  points 
more  spreading  than  others,  or  as  botanists 
would  saj'  squarrose.  Besides  this  the  flower 
stems  seem  more  branching  than  other  forms. 
It  is  the  custom,  however,  in  these  times  to 
expect  variations  from  an  assumed  type  in  all 
species,  and  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  retain 
Latin  or  Greek  names  for  these  different  forms; 
but  rather  to  amend  the  descriptions  so  that 
all  forms  may  be  included  under  them. 

Most  species  of  Golden  Rod  have  the  flowers 
arranged  on  one  side  of  the  stem,  giving  the 
branchlets  a  wand-like  appearance.  This  spe- 
cies has  very  little  of  this  character,  though 
occasionally  there  is  a  tendency  to  this  arrange- 
ment. The  heads  are  individually  larger  than 
in  most  Golden  Rods,  and  the  shade  of  yellow 
is  peculiar  among  the  species  of  this  genus. 
It  bears  cultivation  remarkably  well.  Nothing 
is  more  interesting  in  a  garden,  especially  the 
modern  "wild  garden,"  than  a  collection  of 
Golden  Rods,  and  among  them  all  there  is  none 
more  conspicuous  than  our  "  Late- Flowering 
Golden  Rod,"  Solidago  petiolaris. 

Botanists  usually  dread  the  study  of  Golden 
Rods.  The  dividing  lines  are  slight.  But 
nothing  is  more  valuable  in  the  making  of  a 
good  botanist  than  a  good  eye,  which  Golden 
Rod  studies  cultivate.  They  seem,  and  they 
are  difficult, — the  greater  the  victory. 

Explanations  of  thb  Plate. — i.  Upper  portion  of  a 
main  flowering  stem.  2.  Lower  portion  of  the  same.  3.  En- 
larged floret.    4.  A  small  branchlet. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


AN  AUTUMN  NIGHT. 

It  was  night  in  autumn,  and  the  moon 

Was  visible  through  clouds  of  opal,  laced 

With  gold  and  carmine, — such  a  silent  night 

As  fairies  love  to  dance  and  revel  in. 

When  winds  are  hushed,  and  leaves  are  still,  and 

waves 
Are  sleeping  on  the  waters,  and  the  hum 
And  stir  of  life  reposing. — Percivai,. 

Elongation  of  the  Trunks  of  Trees. — 
Prof.  J.  F.  Jameson,  of  Brown  University, 
.describing  in  the  New  York  Indepcndi'nt  a 
visit  to  an  old  graveyard  in  Jamestown, 
Virginia,  writes : 

' '  The  oldest  inscription  is  that  of  Hannah 
Blair,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blair,  a  most 
important  man  in  his  time.  Commissary  of 
Virginia  and  founder  of  old  William  and  Mary 
College.'  Her  tombstone,  dated  1670,  origin- 
ally lay  flat  upon  one  of  those  altar-shaped 
tombs  which  are  frequent  in  old  Virginia 
graveyards.  But  a  sycamore  tree  which  has 
grown  up  beside  it  has  seized  this  top  slab, 
and  now  the  stone  has  become  imbedded  side- 
wise  and  immovably  in  the  trunk  of  the  tree, 
and  has  been  bodily  lifted  from  its  place  by 
the  tree's  growth." 

It  is  just  possible  that  a  root,  by  thickening, 
has  lifted  the  slab, — but  it  is  impossible  that  a 
tree  trunk  can  elongate.  The  whole  interior 
of  a  tree  is  of  practically  dead  wood,  the  only 
live  wood  is  on  the  exterior  ;  granting  that  live 
wood  might  elongate,  which  from  what  we 
know  of  the  manner  of  formation  of  the  annual 
growth  of  wood  in  the  trunk  is  not  admissable, 
how  could  the  lifeless  wood  of  the  interior 
elongate  ?  Still  Dr.  Jameson 's  case  is  a  curious 
one,  and  deserves  further  investigation. 

Insects  in  the  Far  North. — It  is  a  matter 
of  surprise  to  all  who,  for  the  first  time,  have 
any  experiences  in  high  northern  latitudes,  to 
note  the  great  abundance  of  insect  life  in 
Alaska.  The  writer  of  this  paragraph  was 
especially  interested  in  noting  the  large 
amount  of  larvce  and  other  low  conditions  of 


animal  life  which  was  carried  down  from  the 
melting  glaciers  into  the  rivers  and  streams 
which  flowed  from  them.  It  is  to  this  that  we 
have  to  attribute  the  great  abundance  of  the 
higher  forms  of  animal  life  which  prevails. 
Fish  especially  are  in  such  quantity  near  the 
coast,  attracted  by  this  abundance,  that  it 
seems  like  repeating  the  tales  of  Baron 
Munchausen  to  the  listener.  The  young  son 
of  the  writer,  who  was  with  him  in  this  expe- 
dition, was,  with  a  couple  of  Indians  in  a 
boat,  able  to  drive  salmon  into  narrow  creeks 
in  such  abundance  that  the  boat  would  be 
driven  against  the  fish  in  their  endeavors  to 
escape.  They  could  have  been  dragged  up  in 
shoals  by  any  strong  and  ordinary  net.  In  the 
earlier  history  of  Colorado  very  much  stress 
was  laid  on  the  fact  that  Fremont  saw  a  bee 
on  one  of  the  high  elevations  while  crossing 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Lieutenant  Peary  in 
his  recent  expedition  to  north  Greenland  found 
a  humble  bee  on  the  north  coast  of  Greenland 
— the  highest  point  of  land  yet  reached  by  a 
human  being  so  far  as  known.  This  explorer 
states  that  not  only  bees  but  other  insects 
abound  as  soon  as  the  spring  fairly  opens. 
Flowers  of  manv  kinds  are  particularly  beauti- 
ful and  abundant,  affording  a  good  chance  for 
honey  and  pollen-collecting  insects  to  lay  up 
rich  stores  in  advance  of  their  long  Arctic 
winters. 

Odor  in  Sarracenia. — Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders 
says  of  odor  in  Pitcher  plants  : — 

"  Referring  to  your  note  in  the  June  number 
about  the  odor  of  Sarracenia  Jlara.  I  might 
mention  that  I  collected  a  number  of  the 
blossoms  of  5".  purpurea  on  Decoration  Day, 
and  found  them  decidedly  odoriferous.  The 
perfume  was  strongest  on  the  day  I  picked 
them,  but  some  which  are  near  me  as  I  write 
this,  still  retain  enough  to  be  quite  perceptible. 
I  had  never  noticed  this  fact  before.  The  odor 
was  very  pleasant  in  the  open  air,  but  proved 
somewhat  rank  in  the  house.  " 

U3I) 


132 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  .\ND  NATURE. 


[Sept. 


Abnormal  Digitalis. — Mr.  W.  C.  Egan,  of 
Highland  Park,  Illinois,  calls  attention  to  an 
abnormal  form  of  Digitalis  purpurea,  the  com- 
mon Fox  Glove,  in  the  upper  flower.  At  page 
50,  Vol.  I,  this  remarkable  departure  from  the 
normal  type  is  figured,  and  the  curious  circum- 
stance commented  on  that  what  should  have 
been   an  irregular  figure  has   become   regular 


solvable.  In  this  case  it  is  clear  that  the 
cause  for  the  difference  in  the  order  of  anthesis 
lies  within  the  plant  itself  and  in  no  condition 
of  environment,  and  thus  limits  materially  the 
field  of  inquiry.  To  explain  matters  more 
clearly  the  cut  is  reproduced. 


^jT-A'tJi)     the    above 
,  tV^*V^'     through  a 


when  it  assumed  an  erect  position.  Mr.  Egan 
now  calls  attention  to  another  point  then  over- 
looked, that  while  the  inflorescence  is  usually 
centrifugal  (flowering  from  the  bottom  up- 
wards) in  this  changed  condition  the  upper 
flower  opens  first.  Observations  of  this  char- 
acter are  of  great  value  in  vegetable  biology, 
as  giving  the  clue  to  mysteries  not  otherwise 


Fertilization  of  Cypripedium  acaule. — 
C.  F.  Saunders,  Philadelphia  :  "  Cyprepedium- 
acaule — I  have  just  been  reading  your  inter- 
esting description  of  this  plant  in  "The  Na- 
tive Flowers  and  F'trns,"  and  notice 
Dr.  Gray's  supposition  that  the  bees 
which  fertilize  these  flowers  enter 
one  of  the  lateral  openings  and 
make  their  exit  by  the  other,  I 
might  mention  that  I  was  fortunate 
enough  this  spring  to  observe  an 
actual  operation,  which  was  accom- 
plished somewhat  differently  from 
Instead  of  entering 
lateral  opening,  the  bee 
butted  his  way  through  the  cleft  in 
the  lip,  and  after  remaining  hidden 
a  few  seconds  appeared  at  one  of 
the  lateral  openings,  through  which 
he  dragged  himself  with  great  exer- 
tion, and  when  free,  flew  gaily  off". 
It  was  a  tight  squeeze  to  get  out,  and 
his  back  after  contact  with  the  pollen  mass  of 
the  anther  looked  bedraggled  and  wet,  like 
that  of  a  kitten  after  a  wetting." 

Duration  of  the  Snowplant. — Mr.  C.  F. 
Sonne  says,  ' '  that  the  facts  about  the  snow- 
plant  in  No.  7  of  the  Monthly  have  been 
known  to  the  writer  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
in  October,  i  SS8,  he  sent  a  cluster  of  snowplants 
to  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences  in  San 
Francisco,  and  the  same  was  exhibited  at  the 
meeting  on  Nov.  5,  18S8,  and  my  note  on 
same  read.     (See  Proceedings)." 

Manz.\nita.- — Mr.  C.  F.  Sonne,  Truckee, 
California,  notes  that  botanists  have  made  two- 
distinct  sub-species  out  of  what  was  originally 
Arctostaphylos  pjaigetis,  and  that  the  Frank- 
town  specimens,  recently  illustrated,  are  Arc- 
tostaphylos pungens,  var.  plalyphylla,  of  Dr. 
Gray,  but  Dr.  Parry  deemed  it  distinct  enough 
to  be  considered  a  full  species  and  named  it 
Arctostaphylos  Manzanita.  Watson  saw  its- 
distinctness,  but  mistook  it  for  A.  glauca. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS  AND  NATLTRE. 


133 


Variation  in  the  Wild  Carrot. — A  cor- 
respondent sends  a  sample  in  which  three 
umbels  are  fastened  together  by  their  backs  on 
one  stem,  and  the  stem  itself  is  channeled  like 
a  leaf  stalk.  There  are  many  things  of  inter- 
est in  these  wild  flowers,  if  people  would  only 
look  for  them.  A  distinguished  Professor  in 
Ihe  Pennsylvania  University  has  recently  noted 
that  the  wild  carrot  heads  of  flowers  hang 
down  at  various  times  of  the  day  and  at  other 
times  of  the  day  are  erect.  These  regular 
periods  occur  at  the  same  time  daily.  No 
doubt  there  are  many  other  extremely  interest- 
ing facts  about  even  such  a  common  thing  as 
the  Wild  Carrot.  Just  before  Mr.  Darwin's 
death  he  was  interested  in  the  observation  that 
the  center  flower  in  the  umbel  of  the  Wild 
Carrot  was  colored,  and  that  it  was  also  usu- 
ally infertile, — in  this  respect  having  some 
analogy  with  birds  in  which  the  males  are 
always  more  highly  colored  than  the  females. 

The  Pinon  Pine. — It  is  not  generally  known 
that  there  are  two  species  of  Pine  which  go 
under  this  name.  The  more  southern  form  is 
Pmus  edulis,  which  is  abundant  in  New  Mex- 
ico, extending  into  Colorado;  the  other  is 
Pinus  monophylla,  which  is  found  farther 
north.  The  former  has  generally  two  leaves 
in  a  sheath,  although  occasionally  branches 
are  found  on  which  are  two  leaves  united 
together  so  as  to  form  a  single  leaf  In  the 
northern  form,  on  the  other  hand,  the  two 
leaves  are  always  united, — and  thus  originates 
the  name  "  monophylla."  A  new  point  has 
recently  been  brought  to  our  attention  through 
the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Ross  Lewers,  of  Nevada, 
^namel}',  that  the  seeds  of  the  monophylla 
are  larger  than  the  seeds  of  the  southern 
form. 

The  Owl. — Not  among  the  least  attractions 
of  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  to  the 
yearly  increasing  number  of  summer  tourists, 
is  the  number  of  owls  which  exist  there  and 
which  amuse  by  their  quaint  waj's.  The  bird 
was  taken  as  their  emblem  by  the  ancient 
Athenians  ;  and,  as  Athens  was  the  great  seat 
of  Grecian  learning,  the  owl  has  been  taken  as 
the  symbol  of  learning  and  wisdom  by  Athe- 
naeums and  other  scientific  institutions.  Just 
"why  such  an  ungrammatical  creature  as  this 
bird    which    insists    on    shouting    all     night 


"  to-whoo,  to-whoo,"  instead  of  "to  whom," 
should  be  regarded  as  a  patron  of  intelligence 
in  a  city  like  Athens  is  not  clear,  and  the  text 
books  of  the  day  tell  us  nobodj'  knows.  But 
if  Meehans'  Monthly  may  hazard  a  guess, 
it  came  about  from  the  owl  being  the  chief 
companion  of  the  student  who  "burnt  mid- 
night oil." 

The  chief  article  that  gave  ancient  Athens 
any  commercial  greatness  was  the  manufac- 
ture of  olive  oil.  It  would  be  natural  that  the 
learning  of  which  Athens  boasted  should  be 
represented  by  the  great  companion  of  the 
midnight  oil-burner. 


A    NORTH   CAROLINA   OWL. 

Pogonia  divaricata. — Mr.  E.  S.  Wheeler, 
of  Tryon,  N.  C,  sends  some  handsome  speci- 
mens of  the  rare  orchid,  Pogonia  divaricata. 
He  says  they  are  found  along  hillsides  and  on 
hill  tops,  and  usuall}'  in  company  with  the 
Kalmia,  which  they  follow  in  bloom. 


The  Walking  Fern. — Mr.  Samuel  J.  Kirk, 
of  Hartford,  Conn.,  reports  finding  Asplenium 
(Antigramma)  rhizophylhon  near  that  city, — 
and  Mr.  Joseph  Meehan  that  he  gathered  it 
near  the  famous  "  Devil's  Den  "  on  the  Gettys- 
burg battle-field. 


134 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Sept, 


Odors  in  Flowers. — A  correspondent,  refer- 
ring to  a  recent  paragraph  in  Meehans' 
Monthly,  that  possibly  not  ten  per  cent  of  all 
flowers  known  have  any  odor,  suggests  that 
numbers  may  have  odors  perceptible  to  in- 
sects, but  which  human  olfactories  cannot  re- 
cognize. This  may  or  may  not  be.  When  re- 
ference is  made  to  the  odor  of  flowers,  it  is 
to  be  understood  that  only  such  flowers  are 
referred  to  in  which  the  odor  is  perceptible 
to  ourselves.  Flowers  certainly  vary  in  the 
intensity  of  their  odors,  and  possibly  some 
may  have  been  overlooked  which  deserved  re- 
cognition. It  was  only  during  the  present 
year  that  it  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
writer  by  a  large  bunch  of  Andromeda  race- 
inosa,  that  it  possessed  odor.  From  the  whole 
bunch  a  very  pleasant  fragrance  was  percep- 
tible. 

Food  of  the  Oriole. — This  pretty  bird  is 
usually  classed  as  wholly  insectiverous.  The 
writer  has  seen  orioles  drawing  honey  from 
flowers,  just  as  the  humming  bird  does.  Mrs. 
William  Seliger  notes,  in  the  Hartford  Times, 
that  she  has  seen  them  suck  nectar  from  the 
blossoms  of  peach  trees.  This  lady  is  also 
evidently  struck  by  the  reputation  which  they 
have  of  being  wholly  insectivorous, — for  she 
makes  the  suggestion  that  the  bird  was  possi- 
bly searching  for  insects  among  the  blossoms; 
but  she  is  really  right  in  her  first  impres- 
sion. The  bird  loves  honey  as  well  as  insect 
food. 

The  Down  of  the  Leaves  of  the  Plane 
Tree.— Mr.  G.  C.  Nealley,  of  San  Diego,  Tex., 
notes  that  the  down  which  covers  the  leaves  of 
the  Plane  tree  often  floats  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent in  the  atmosphere,  and  when  taken  into 
the  nostrils  affects  seriously  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  throat  and  nose.  The  foreman 
in  Meehans'  Nursery  reports  that  this  trouble 
is  frequently  complained  of  by  the  workmen 
who  have  to  labor  among  the  trees  in  the 
Nursery. 

The  Ostrich  Fern. — Mr.  C.  J.  Wister  sends 
a  specimen  of  that  supremely  beautiful  fern, 
Stnithiopteris  Germanica,  collected  near  Carvers- 
ville,  Bucks  Co.,  Pennsylvania,  which  is  prob- 
ably its  most  southern  location.  It  is  a 
northern  fern. 


Chionanthus  virginica. — It  is  now  well 
understood  that  this  plant  is  dioecious.  It  has 
been  further  noticed  of  late  that  the  fruit- 
bearing  ones  have  the  most .  insignificant 
flowers;  the  showiest  blooming  ones  are  of  the 
barren  kind.  We  think  this  holds  true  with 
most  dicecious  plants.  The  male  flowers  in 
these  cases  are  usually  much  more  brilliant 
than  the  female  ones.  The  writer  once  pointed 
this  out  to  Mr.  Darwin, — as  showing  a  similar 
law  prevailing  among  plants  as  is  well  known 
to  exist  among  birds  and  other  animals. 

Manzanita. — A  correction  may  be  overdone, 
and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  case  in  regard 
to  the  Manzanita.  Mr.  C.  F.  Sonne,  of  Truckee, 
California,  kindly  helps  us: — 

"  I  see  that  you  in  the  No.  8,  just  received, 
say  that  the  name  Manzanita  was  applied  to 
the  illustration  whereas  it  should  have  been 
Madtona.  The  illustration  is  a  Mauza7tita, 
sure  enough,  but  your  mistake  is  to  call  the 
Manzanita  Arbutus  Menziesii  instead  of  Arc- 
tostaphylos  Manzanita  Parry. ' ' 

HalESia  diptera. — A  correspondent  call» 
attention  to  the  fact  of  a  difierence  between 
Halcsia  diptera  and  Halesia  tetraptera,  that 
has  not  before  been  noted, — namely,  that  the 
former  does  not  commence  to  bloom  until  a  con- 
siderable time  after  Helesia  tetraptera  has  gone 
out  of  bloom, — and  this  renders  any  chance  of 
hybridization  between  them,  as  has  been  some- 
times suggested,  still  more  doubtful  than  some 
have  supposed. 

The  Pinons  of  New  Mexico.  -Alice  P.  Hend- 
erson tells  the  New  York  Independent,  that  the 
greatest  inconvenience  in  traveling  many  parts 
of  New  Mexico,  comes  from  riding  through  the 
low  bushy  masses  of  Pinon  trees^Pinus  edulis. 
In  her  opinion  the  bushes  are  "cunningly 
devised  demons, ' '  sworn  to  annoy  the  traveler 
in  every  possible  shape. 

AsPLENiuM  septentrionale. — Among  the 
most  unexpected  of  recent  botanical  finds  is 
Asplenium  septentrionale,  hy  Mr.  T.  S.  Brande- 
gee,  on  the  San  Pedro  Mountains  in  California. 
There  is  much  yet  to  learn  about  the  causes 
underlying  the  geographical  distribution  of 
plants, — and  such  discoveries  as  these  helj> 
much.     The  snow-plant  he  also  found  there. 


GENERAL    GARDENING. 


BACCHUS  AND  THE  GRAPE. 

At  the  purple  close  of  eveuing, 

Careless  Bacchus  sleeping  lay, — 
Pirates,  from  the  coast  of  Naxos, 

Bore  him  to  their  deck  awaj-: 
When  the  slumb'ring  God  awakened, 

Wond'ring  he  beheld  the  deep, 
While  the  Pirates  laughing  told  him, 

Boys  should  ne'er  be  caught  asleep  ! 
Ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  !  —ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  ! 

Boys  should  ne'er  be  caught  asleep. 

As  they  jeered  green  vines  kept  springing, 

Rich  as  fed  by  southern  gales ; 
From   each  plank  their  broad  leaves  flinging 

Mingling  with  the  cords  and  sails  : 
Circling  mast  and  spar,  like  Beauty 

Round  the  neck  of  warrior  brave  ; 
Whilst  the  ship,  unfit  for  duty, 

Lay  all  helpless  on  the  wave  : 
Ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  ! — ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  ! 

Who's  the  captor? — who's  the  slave? 

All  amazed  the  Pirates  gazing. 

Watched  the  clustering  grapes  ascend — 
To  the  topmost  spar  aspiring. 

As  their  richness  ne'er  would  end  : 
Then  the  Pirates,  lowly  kneeling, 

Strove  to  turn  the  boy -god's  frown  ; 
But  the  ship,  like  drunkard  reeling. 

With  a  sudden  shriek  went  down  ; 
Ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  ! — ha  !  ha  !  Bacchus  ! 

Fathoms  deep  the  traitors  drown. 

— Charles  Swain. 


Magnolia  hypoleuca. — Prolessor  vSargent 
says  in  Garden  and  Forest,  that  this  beautiful 
species,  to  which  reference  was  recently 
made  with  the  figure  of  the  fruit  in  "  Mee- 
HANS'  Monthly,  is  seen  at  its  best  in  the 
damp,  rich  forests  which  cover  the  hills  of 
Yezo,  where  it  sometimes  rises  to  the  height  of 
loo  feet,  and  forms  trunks  two  feet  in  diameter.. 
It  seems  to  affect,  particularly,  more  northerni 
regions,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  adapted  to. 
warm  localities.  Professor  Sargent  compares  it, 
as  we  did,  in  habit  with  j\Iagnolia  tripctala.  It 
was  first  introduced  into  America  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Hogg,  in  1865,  being  first  propagated 
in  the  famous  nursery  of  the  Parsons  of  Flush- 
ing. In  the  same  article  Professor  Sargent  de- 
scribes ATagnolia  salicifolia,  which  has  not  yet 
been  introduced  into  cultivation,  unless  seeds 
brought  by  the  Professor  should  have  been, 
successful.  This  is  a  small  tree — 15  to  20  feet 
high— branches  green  and  slender.  Like  IMag- 
iiolia  glauca  the  leaves  are  fragrant  when 
bruised  ;  the  flowers  have  not  yet  been  seen. 
By  the  description  one  would  judge  that  it 
may  be  allied  to  Magnolia  glatica. 


Potash  and  Peach  Yellows. — Mr.  B.  Von 
Herif,  93  Nassau  street,  N.  Y.,  contends  that  a 
want  of  potash  in  the  soil  produces  frequent 
and  disastrous  results  to  the  peach  grower. 
All  diseases  or  any  disease  troubling  the 
peach  grower  can  be  found  in  soils  abounding 
in  potash, — and,  moreover,  it  is  so  well  known 
that  the  manifestation  known  as  peach  yel- 
lows, and  similar  manifestations  in  many 
other  trees,  are  produced  by  root  fungus,  that 
there  is  no  need  to  call  in  the  lack  of  any 
mineral  ingredient  to  account  for  them. 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  a  good  fer- 
tilizer for  the  peach,  kainit,  or  potash  salts, 
may  take  a  good  place  among  valuable  articles. 
Anything  that  may  aid  in  checking  fungus 
growth  may  be  useful  aside  from  fertilizing 
properties.  Kainit  may  do  this.  Even  boiling 
water  poured  freely  around  the  roots  of  fungus 
infested  trees  has  been  found  excellent. 


SweetScented  Azaleas.— Most  Azaleas  are 
inodorous.  The  only  species  with  a  very  strong 
and  agreeable  fragrance  is  the  swamp  Azalea,. 
Azalea  viscosa.  The  fragrance  of  this  species 
is  so  delicious,  and  so  much  like  that  of  the 
famous  English  Honeysuckle,  that  the  fact  has 
given  the  name  of  Honeysuckle  to  the  Ameri- 
can Azaleas  generally.  If  we  could  only  get 
fragrance  to  the  Azaleas  of  the  old  world  and 
of  Asia,  it  would  give  us  a  race  of  plants  which, 
would  probably  reach  the  highest  wave  of  pop- 
ularity. "  Gartenflora,"  a  German  horticul- 
tural and  botanical  work  of  very  high  order^ 
figures  a  variety  which  it  calls  Daviesii,  and 
which  is  a  hybrid  between  the  Chinese  Azalea 
mollis  and  the  Azalea  viscosa  before  noted,  and 
it  is  believed  that  this  is  the  first  introduction 
of  a  class  of  sweet  scented  Azaleas,  which  will 
combine  tte  fragrance  of  our  native  species 
with  the  beauty  of  the  old  world  forms. 

(135) 


136 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Sept. 


Massing  Evergreens. — In  parks  and  large 
gardens,  where  some  years  ago  it  became  fash- 
ionable to  have  huge  beds  of  summer  flowers 
and  foliage  for  a  few  months  and  naked  earth 
instead  of  flowers  the  rest  of  the  year,  neces- 
sity taught  the  usefulness  of  dwarf  evergreens, 
of  various  shades,  which  should  have  a  cheery 
effect  the  whole  year  through.  Among  the 
earliest  to  adopt  this  improved  method  of  gar- 
dening, was  Mr.  Charles  H.  Miller,  the  laud- 
scape  gardener  of  Fairmount  Park,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  to  whom  the  great  eminence  of 
this  beautiful  spot,  under  the  good  judgment 
of  the  Park  Commission,  is  mainly  due.  One 
of  the  most  beautiful  of  these  masses  is  in 
front  of  the  grand  Horticultural  Hall,  and  is 
shown  in  the  opposite  illustration.  The  tree 
in  the  same  picture,  is  a  young  specimen  of 
the  European  Plane  tree,  which  is  found  free 
from  the  fungus  disease  which  disfigures  its 
American  brother,  while  the  greater  tendency 
to  spread  its  branches,  makes  it  more  desirable 
as  a  shade  tree. 


labor  of  later  authors.  But  the  question  is  a 
live  one — if  an  individual  writer  will  have  the 
liberty  to  go  on  forever  changing  accepted 
records — where  shall  the  confusion  end  ? 

The  writer  has  no  desire  to  underestimate 
in  anywise  the  value  of  recent  publications  by 
most  talented  and  most  learned  authorities, 
but  the  time  will  come  when  radical  changes 
must  be  submitted  to  a  higher  authority  than 
an  individual,  however  learned,  or  to  an  isolated 
college,  no  matter  how  renowned. 

The  writer  believes  there  should  be  a  Board 
composed  of  members  of  the  various  learned 
societies  and  colleges  throughout  the  country 
— men  of  acknowledged  ability  and  scientific 
reputation  in  their  several  branches — to  whom 
all  questions  of  change  should  be  submitted 
for  ratification,  and  w'hose  decision  upon  any 
matter  within  the  scope  of  its  authority  should 
be  final  and  conclusive,  and  without  whose  ap- 
proval, no  work  of  scientific  consequence  could 
be  accepted  as  standard. 

Edwin  C.  Jellett. 


Contradictory  Principles  of  Forestry. 
— A  recent  issue  of  a  report  on  forestry,  brings 
again  to  mind,  and  emphasizes  the  necessit3' 
for  a  National  or  for  an  International  Board  of 
Science,  to  whom  all  questions  of  scientific 
import  should  be  referred  for  consideration  and 
approval — and  whose  conclusions  should  be 
recognized  as  absolute. 

As  matters  now  stand,  any  writer  who  has 
the  ability  to  produce  a  book,  may  without  let 
or  hindrance,  so  alter  and  confuse  existing 
records,  that  the  best  efforts  of  a  "  pro- 
fessional "  are  sometimes  required  to  discover 
and  confirm,  either  the  correctness  or  the  error 
of  the  changes  made.  In  the  development  of 
the  natural  sciences  in  the  "  United  States  "  it 
was  reasonable  to  expect  that  man}'  enthusi- 
astic collectors,  working  independently,  and 
rushing  into  print  unreservedly,  should  pro- 
duce and  record  much  that  could  not  stand  the 
test  of  more  thorough  investigation  and 
greater  breadth  of  knowledge  ;  and  too  often 
it  was  not  a  sincere  love  of  science,  but  in- 
stead, a  love  for  notoriety,  a  yearning  for  liter- 
ary fame,  a  desire  to  annihilate  a  co-laborer's 
work,  which  influenced  and  prompted  an 
author  to  give  to  the  world  a  work  which  never 
should  have  appeared.  It  is  the  absence  of  all 
this   superfluity    which    gives  dignity  to  the 


Root  Diseases  of  Plants. — Error  marches 
with  seven-leagued  boots,  while  truth  at  the 
usual  pace  vainly  tries  to  overtake  it.  The 
old-time  belief  that  parasitic  fungi  will  only 
attack  vegetation  previously  diseased  still  pre- 
vails among  many  cultivators,  though  for  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century'  it  has  been  clearly  dis- 
proved. This  belief  has  been  the  greatest  foe  to 
fruit  growing  progress ;  but  excellent  progress 
has  been  made  to  sounder  principles  the  past 
half  dozen  years.  "  Disinfecting  the  ground," 
that  is,  destroying  root  fungi,  is  now  a  common 
practice  with  some  of  the  best  peach  growers.  In 
Florida  particularly  excellent  success  follows 
the  use  of  bi-sulphate  of  soda,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  seven  pounds  dissolved  in  fifty  gallons 
of  boiling  water.  If  poured  freely  in  and 
around  a  one-j'ear  old  peach  tree,  so  as  to 
thoroughly  destroy  spores  or  mycelium  of  the 
wretched  fungus,  the  diseases  which  follow 
from  root  fungus  rarely  occur.  It  is  no  use 
to  apply  any  of  these  root  remedies  after  the 
zymotic  influences  have  changed  the  character 
of  the  whole  structure.  It  is  one  of  those  cases 
where  a  "stitch  in  time"  not  only  "saves 
nine,"  but  also  the  digging  and  burning  the 
tree.  This  is  also  true  of  many  plants,  as  well 
as  of  peach  trees.  A  mushroomy  odor  in  the 
ground  will  allow  one  to  detect  fungus. 


■1893] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


137 


A  New  Enemy  to  the  Potato. ^Mr.  Chan- 
dler Eves,  of  Millville,  Pa.,  send.s  .sample  of 
potato  stems  which  are  just  as  badly  devoured 
by  an  insect  as  if  they  had  been  attacked  by 
the  famous  Colorado  potato-beetle,  and  which 
seems  allied  to  the  well  known  Spanish  blister- 
beetle,  which,  as  all  gardeners  know,  is  so 
destructive  to  the  Clematis,  Anemone,  and 
other  garden  flowers  of  the  Ranunculaceous 
tribe.  It  has  not  before  been  known  that  any 
one  of  them  had  an  especial  liking  for  the 
potato.  Dr.  Skinner,  the  well-known  Ento- 
mologist of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
of  Philadelphia,  decides  that  it  belongs  to  the 


sufficient  to  carry  weight.  Few  men  understand 
what  they  are  writing  about  in  these  lines  better 
than  these  horticulturists.  It  was  a  great 
treat  to  s^e  the  illustration  of  the  large  tree 
being  transported  for  planting,  with  all  its 
roots,  instead  of  the  conventional  "  ball  of 
earth."  It  is  remarkable  how  long  the  ball 
of  earth  idea  has  maintained  a  foothold. 
Usually  the  "ball  of  earth  "  means  all  the 
good  roots  left  in  the  ground — only  the  stumps 
near  the  trunk  being  taken  away. 


The    Century   Plant. — I,ike    Sir    Walter 
Scott's   Athelstane  the  Century  plant.  Agave 


MASSING   EVERGREENS. 


same  family  as  the  blister-beetles,  namely,  the 
Melridae,  and  that  the  name  of  the  beetle  is 
Epicant'a  vittata, — fortunately,  all  insects  of 
this  kind  that  live  by  devouring  foliage  can  be 
as  readily  destroyed  by  the  use  of  Paris  green 
as  can  be  the  Colorado  beetle. 

Street  and  Shade  Trees. — A  light  book- 
let, costing  only  twenty  cents,  has  been  issued 
under  this  title  by  the  Rural  Publishing  Co., 
of  New  York,  prepared  by  Mr.  E.  C.  Powell, 
Assistant  Editor  of  Ametican  Gardening ,  and 
Mr.  William  McMillan,  superintendent  of  the 
Bushnell  Park  ;  these  authors'  names  alone  are 


Ametica?ia,  is  slow  towards  good  work,  but 
gets  it  in  magnificently  when  it  once  awakens 
from  its  lethargic  state.  One,  67  years  old,  is 
now  blooming  in  the  Botanic  department  of  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College.  It  has 
thrown  up  a  stem  18  feet  high,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated there  are  over  3,000  buds  and  flowers 
on  it.  Truly  this  is  making  up  for  lost 
time. 


A  Remarkable  Pansy. — Mrs.  Ross  Lewers, 
of  Reno  Co.,  Nevada,  sends  samples  of  a 
Pansy,  which  have  dark  blue  flowers  and  yellow 
flowers  on  the  same  branch. 


138 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Sept. 


Transplanting  Evergreens. — It  has  be- 
come a  maxim  that  evergreens  are  best  set  later 
in  the  spring  than  deciduous  trees;  but  this  is 
an  error.  All  trees,  whether  evergreen  or 
deciduous,  require  a  little  time  to  push  out 
new  fibers  before  they  are  safe  from  the  shock  of 
transplanting.  Trees  may,  and  probablj-  do, 
absorb  a  little  moisture  from  the  outer  surfaces 
of  rough  roots,  just  as  a  branch  would  absorb 
a  little  when  placed  as  a  cutting  in  water, — 
but  the  active  drawing  of  moisture  into  the 
tree  is  only  from  the  points  of  growing  fibers. 
As  these  push  their  way  in  close  contact  with 
the  earth,  moisture  is  then  absorbed,  and  an 
evergreen  as  well  as  any  other  tree  must  have 
time  to  push  these  new  fibers  after  planting. 
Planted  late  in  the  season  there  is  not  sufiicient 
time, — for  warm,  dry  weather  makes  a  draft  on 
the  foliage.  Indeed,  the  only  reason  that 
could  be  given  in  a  few  words  as  to  why  trees 
die  after  transplanting  is  that  evaporation  of 
the  juices  takes  place  faster  than  the  supply 
afforded  by  the  roots.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  pruning  is  often  advantageous  by  limiting 
the  evaporating  surface,— and  so  with  ever- 
greens, one  would  gain  much  more  by  playing 
a  hose  on  the  plants  themselves  once  or  twice 
a  day  than  by  pouring  water  in  around  the 
roots.  If  the  earth  is  hammered  in  very  hard 
around  the  roots,  the  tree  will  usually  get  all 
of  the  moisture  it  requires  from  that  which  is 
naturally  in  the  soil.  Pouring  in  water  when 
there  are  no  fibers  to  make  use  of  it,  is  gener- 
ally worse  than  useless.  When  the  whole 
question  is  seen  to  be  one  purely  of  evapora- 
tion, it  affords  a  more  valuable  lesson  than 
a  long  treatise  on  the  subject  would  be  likely 
to  give. 


Practical  Forestry. — Those  who  know, 
cannot  complain  that  those  who  do  not  know 
have  the  leading  places  in  forestry  agitation, 
for  they  do  little  to  instruct  the  masses.  Once 
in  a  while  the  practical  man  gets  in  a  useful 
lesson,  and  A.  R.  Whitney,  the  well  known 
nurseryman,  of  Franklin  Grove,  Illinois,  has 
done  much  good  service.  That  it  will  take 
ages  to  replace  our  forests  is  a  constant  news- 
paper theme.  Meehans'  Monthly  has  shown 
that  25  years  is  abundance  of  time  to  get 
serviceable  timber,  while  50  years  would  be 
enough  for  a  tree  to  get  to  its  best.  Mr. 
Whitney  has  a  wagon — a  strong,  substantial 


farm  wagon,  made  wholly  from  timber  of  hi& 
own  raising. 

The  construction  of  the  wagon  in  detail  is  as 
follows:  Spokes,  white  oak;  front  hounds, 
etc.,  white  ash;  two  hubs,  iron  wood;  two  hubs, 
apple;  axles,  rock  maple;  doubletrees,  black 
cherry;  bolster  risers,  box  alder;  stake  cleats, 
beech;  bottom  cleats,  American  larch;  top  box 
cleats,  soft  maple;  end-gate  cleats,  butternut;, 
felloes,  etc.,  honey  locust;  insides,  etc.,  black 
walnut;  bottom,  European  larch;  brake  slides, 
red  cedar;  tongue,  etc.,  chestnut;  stakes,  etc., 
osage  orange  ;  upper  spring  bars,  willow ; 
bolsters,  etc.,  mulberry;  brake  bars,  etc.,  red 
maple;  brake  posts,  black  locust;  spring  bars, 
rock  elm;  box  cleats,  catalpa  and  red  bud;  box 
sides,  whitewood. 

Which  shows  that  no  trashy  fast  growing 
tree  has  been  selected  to  adorn  a  forestry  tale, 
but  that  many  varied  standbys  of  our  forests 
are  all  in  the  same  good  list. 

Cure  for  Warts. — In  almost  all  country 
gardens  in  Pennsylvania,  there  are  patches 
of  the  Milkweed,  known  to  botany  as  Euphor- 
bia Cyperissias.  It  has  no  particular  beauty, 
and  it  has  been  a  subject  of  some  interest  why 
it  was  so  universally  planted.  One  friend  wh» 
inquired  was  made  to  believe  that  it  was  gen- 
erally used  in  the  Olden  Time,  when  people 
used  the  herbs  of  the  garden  for  medicine  in- 
stead of  calling  in  the  family  physician  for 
every  trifling  thing.  This  plant  was  used  ta 
cure  warts.  It  is  said  that  the  milk  from  the 
broken  stem,  placed  on  the  surface  of  the  wart 
will  cause  it  to  disappear  within  a  week  or 
two,  without  pain  or  suffering.  The  plant  is 
curious,  aUhough  not  showy,  and  in  the  Olden 
Times  curious  flowers  were  planted  in  gardens 
as  well  as  those  which  had  an  interest  solely 
from  their  gay  color.  It  may  be  that  the  plant 
had  an  interest  in  this  line,  although,  not  par- 
ticularly showy. 

The  J^pan  Anemone  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  fall  flowers  ;  but  about  Philadel- 
phia, and  possibly  elsewhere,  it  is  nearly  im- 
possible to  keep  it,  as  the  Spanish  beetles  de- 
vour the  foliage.  Clematis,  Ranunculus,  and 
all  plants  to  which  the  anemone  is  allied,  suffer 
likewise.  They  can  be  destroyed  by  sprinkling 
the  plants  with  Paris  green,  though  this  is  not 
a  nice  article  in  a  flower  garden. 


•] 


MEEHANR'    MONTHLY — GENERAL   GARDENING. 


139 


Red  Spider  in  the  open  air. — In  open  air 
culture,  during  the  hot  summer  season,  the 
Red  Spider  is  as  destructive  a  pest  as  it  is 
to  the  grower  of  plants  under  glass.  Many 
a  cultivator  refers  to  "rust,"  or  "  poor  soil  " 
appearances  on  his  plants,  due  really  to  this 
pestiferous  little  insect,  as  a  pocket  lens 
would  easily  show.  Mr.  Dunn,  a  Bakersfield, 
California,  horticulturist,  has  found  spraying 
with  the  following  mixture,  sure  death  to  the 
creatures : 

Three  pounds  caustic  soda  or  potash,  two 
pounds  of  sulphur ;  dissolve  in  two  gallons 
of  water  ;  add  25  pounds  of  whale  oil  soap, 
and  boil  until  thoroughly  dissolved.  Add 
water  to  make  100  gallons,  and  spray  with 
it  while  the  mixture  is  warm. 

Uses  of  Public  Squares. — Mr.  Edwin  C. 
Jellett  makes  an  excellent  suggestion  that  in 
all  Public  Squares  provision  should  be  made, 
especially,  to  set  apart  plots  for  children  to 
play  in,  and  in' these  plots  a  notice,  instead  of 
the  usual  one,  "  Keep  off  the  grass,"  should  be 
"Adults  and  pedestrians  keep  away."  It  is 
too  much  the  fashion  to  look  to  mere  artistic 
beauties  in  laying  out  the  squares, — and  Mr. 
Jellett  is  no  doubt  correct  in  his  idea  that  the 
practical  use  of  these  plots  by  children  should 
be  more  frequently  kept  in  view.  Utility  is  too 
frequently  sacrificed  to  mere  pictorial  beauty. 

Growing  Chrysanthemums. — In  potting 
plants,  broken  pots  or  some  other  material  is 
used  to  place  over  the  hole  in  the  bottom  of 
the  flower  pot,  in  order  that  water  may  pass 
rapidly  away.  The  best  growers  of  chrys- 
anthemums in  the  Old  World  now  employ 
broken  bones.  These  serve  as  drainage  and 
afford  nutrition  at  the  same  time. 

A  New  Deutzia. — From  a  figure  in  the 
"Gardener's  Chronicle,"  Deiitzia  parviflora, 
this  Japan  species  promises  to  be  as  popular  as 
Deutzia  gracilis.  It  was  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  Europeans  by  Prof.  Sargent. 

Perpetual  Flowering  Magnolias — Most 
Magnolias,  like  summer  roses,  flower  only 
once  a  year;  but  one  kind,  the  Magnolia  pur- 
purea— again,  as  in  the  case  of  some  roses — 
seems  to  have  a  tendency  to  bloom  several 
times  a  year. 


The  Evening  Primrose  as  a  Vegetable. 
— The  ' '  Lyon  Horticole  ' '  has  a  long  and  inter- 
esting chapter  on  the  great  value  as  a  vegeta- 
ble of  the  common  CEnothera  biennis,  the  very 
common  weed  known  as  Evening  Primrose. 
Though  introduced,  it  says,  from  America  as 
earl  J'  as  1614,  it  has  only  recently  been  known 
as  a  kitchen  vegetable.  It  says  that  it  is  be- 
coming wild  in  France,  and  is  known  by  the 
common  name  of  donkey  flower.  It  questions 
the  accepted  origin  of  the  name,  and  contends 
that  the  botanical  name  is  rather  derived  from 
onagra  and  not,  as  generally  supposed,  because 
the  roots  exhale  the  odor  of  wine.  From  the 
shape  of  its  roots  it  is  called  in  France  the  leg 
of  St.  Anthony.  However,  it  is  as  a  vegetable 
that  we  have  to  do  with  it.  If  the  seeds  are 
sown  as  soon  as  they  ripen  young  plants  grow 
at  once,  and  the  plant  throws  up  flower  shoots 
early  next  year.  This  is  the  case  with  all 
plants  known  as  biennials;  but  if  we  save  the 
seed  and  sow  it  in  the  spring  at  the  same  time 
as  we  do  salsafy,  parsnips,  and  similar  bien- 
nials, the  plants  make  roots  only  that  season 
instead  of  flowers.  The  author  of  the  paper 
compares  the  roots  with  the  salsafy  in  value. 
It  is  stored  away  for  use  from  November  to 
April.  Under  good  culture,  it  states,  the 
roots  develop  to  quite  a  large  size.  It  also 
states  that  it  is  far  superior  as  a  vegetable  to- 
the  recently  introduced  Stachys  from  Japan. 

Oranges  in  Florida. — The  Florida  "Pal- 
ladium "  states  that  non-success  in  the  profit- 
able culture  of  oranges  simply  results  from 
ignorance  of  the  proper  methods  of  cultivation. 
Those  who  think  that  all  there  is  to  do  is  to 
plant  trees  and  let  nature  take  care  of  them  are 
generally  disappointed;  but  men  of  diligence 
and  thought,  who  put  intelligence  of  a  practi- 
cal character  into  the  business,  find  orange 
culture  quite  as  profitable  as  any  class  of  fruit 
growing  in  any  part  of  the  Union. 

Varying  Seasons  for  Fruit. — Variations- 
in  climate  can  often  be  measured  by  the  differ- 
ences in  the  ripening  of  fruit.  While  in  Phil- 
adelphia the  Bartlett  Pear  ripens  at  the  end  of 
September,  the  same  variety  ripens  in  many 
parts  of  California  at  midsummer  or  the  mid- 
dle of  June. 


I40 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Sept. 


Starr  Apple. — Mr.  Wm.  Parry  sends  Mee- 
HANS'  Monthly  a  sample  of  the  Starr  apple, 
which  came  to  hand  on  July  27th.  With  such 
an  immense  list  of  apples  already  existing,  a 
new  claimant  for  popularity  must  give  a  good 
reason  for  a  place  in  the  catalogue.  The  Starr 
will  probably  awaken  comparison  with  the 
White  Doctor,  a  highly  appreciated  Pennsyl- 
vania variety,  which  in  descriptive  character- 
istics it  closely  resembles.  But  a  good  White 
Doctor  of  the  same  date  weighs  but  three 
ounces,  while  the  Starr  has  completed  its 
growth  at  nine  and  a  quarter.  In  other  words 
it  is  a  full  month  in  advance.  Mr.  Parry  has 
certainly  a  good  thing  in  a  profitable,  early, 
cooking  apple. 


English  Gooseberries. — It  is  well  known 
that  the  English  Gooseberry  as  cultivated  in 
most  American  gardens,  is  liable  to  an  attack 
of  mildew  which  seriously  interferes  with  its 
successful  culture, — the  plant  finally  grows 
very  weak  and  the  fruit  rarely  comes  to  per- 
fection; but  when  grown  in  a  cool  situation,  or 
where  the  soil  can  be  kept  cool  and  fairly 
moist,  it  thrives  very  well .  A  correspondent 
tells  us  that  in  large  cities  which  have  small 
gardens  attached,  where  the  soil  is  shaded  by 
high  walls  or  other  buildings,  it  does  remark- 
ably welL,  and  the  fruit  is  often  quite  as  good 
in  quality  as  can  be  produced  in  the  best  Eng- 
lish garden.  It  may  be  said  as  a  city  garden 
fruit,  the  English  gooseberry  is  a  fair  success, 
producing  luscious  fruit  to  good  perfection, 
-although  it  requires  great  care  to  produce  it 
healthful  in  large  gardens. 

A  New  Forage  Plant,  Polygonum  Shal- 
i»ense.— This,  one  of  the  Buckwheat  family, 
introduced  into  France  from  Moscow  in  1870, 
has  been  found  a  wonderfully  productive  forage 
plant — over  1 78  tons  have  been  produced  in  a 
green  state  from  an  acre. 

Preserving  Butter. — When  we  consider 
how  many  hints  have  been  given  during  the 
many  centuries  past  for  the  preservation  of 
fruits,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  present 
enormous  industry'  in  that  line  had  not  been 
invented  earlier.  It  shows  the  advantage  of 
what  is  called  abstract  studies.  When  by  the 
invention  of  the  microscope  it  was  found  that 
rot  and  decay  were  the  result  of  the  action  of 


small  organisms,  and  that  not  even  these  fungi 
could  develop  without  atmospheric  air,  it  was 
the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that 
successful  canning  of  fruits  should  follow, — 
yet  the  hint  has  long  ago  been  given  in  con- 
nection with  many  things,  and  especially  with 
the  preservation  of  butter.  The  old  Gardeners' 
Monthly  recorded  a  number  of  cases  where 
butter  had  been  fished  out  of  wells,  where  it 
had  dropped  from  vessels  suspended  over  the 
water  for  the  sake  of  the  cold  temperature. 
These  lumps  of  butter,  in  many  cases 
a  century  old,  were  found  I'ust  as  fresh 
and  good  as  the  day  they  were  churned.  Kept 
from  the  atmosphere  no  parasitic  fungus 
could  attack  it.  Recently  butter  has  been 
found  at  the  bottom  of  bogs  in  the  old  world. 
It  is  believed  in  some  cases  to  be  nearly  a 
thousand  years  old,  and  yet  entirely  fresh  and 
good.  These  hints  certainly  are  of  great  value 
to  the  practical  person,  who  desires  to  see  a 
dollar-and  cent  value  in  every  scientific  idea. 

Crop  of  Oranges. — At  Athens,  in  Florida, 
a  tree  produced  18,000  oranges;  at  least  7,564 
were  gathered,  packed  and  shipped  from  that 
one  tree.  We  suppose  each  of  these  oranges 
would  have  weighed  half  a  pound,  so  that 
there  must  have  been  4,000  pounds  weight  for 
the  tree  to  bear.  When  we  remember  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  weight  of  an  orange  is 
water,  it  seems  wonderful  where  all  this  liquid 
can  be  obtained,  as  the  ground  is  generally 
comparatively  dry  in  which  the  orange  tree 
grows.  In  bearing,  the  branches  by  the 
enormous  weight  are  borne  down  considerably, 
but  it  is  said,  after  the  oranges  are  gathered, 
they  easily  erect  themselves  again. 

Barren  Plum  Trees. — Professor  L.  H. 
Pammel,  Ames,  Iowa,  has  confirmed  some 
previous  observations  that  the  native  American 
Plum  is  dimorphic  in  the  sexes,  having  often 
flowers  in  which  the  stamens  and  pistils  are 
perfect,  and  at  other  times  trees  which  have 
flowers  imperfect.  These  characteristics  of  a 
great  many  American  trees  and  shrubs  are  not 
nearlj'  as  frequent  among  allied  species  of 
European  trees.  It  is  not  a  question  of  culture, 
as  some  believe,  but  simply  that  the  American 
climate  is  more  favorable  to  the  division  of 
the  sexes  in  floweis  than  the  climate  of 
Europe. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


I4t 


The  American  Grape  Vine  in  Europe. — 
Recent  advices  state  that  over  40,000  plants 
of  American  Grape  Vines  are  to  be  planted 
the  coming  season  in  Austria.  It  has  been 
found  by  experience  that  the  American  Grape 
Vine  is  not  susceptible  to  injury  from  the 
small  insect  called  phylloxera,  which  has  been 
found  so  destructive  to  the  European  grape  as 
to  render  grape  culture  in  some  parts  of  the 
old  world  a  signal  failure.  Strange  to  say  this 
insect  is  a  native  American,  and  has  been 
connected  with  the  grape  vine  from  time  im- 
memorial ;  but  the  stronger  rooting  character 
of  the  American  grape  renders  the  injury  from 
it  very  small.  The  European  grapes  are 
grafted  on  the  American.  Possibly  in  the 
wine  growing  countries  of  the  old  world  the 
fruit  of  the.  American  grape  may  in  time  be 
bfought  into  use  for  wine  making  there,  as  it 
has  been  here.  American  wines  from  Ameri- 
can varieties  of  grapes  are  now  nearly  as  pop- 
ular as  wines  from  the  European  sorts. 


Improving  the  Quality  of  Fruits. — 
Nothing  is  more  common,  in  conventions  of 
fruit  growers,  than  to  hear  one  man  say  of  a 
certain  variety,  that  it  is  tasteless  and  worth- 
less, while  the  following  speaker  may  laud 
that  variety  as  one  of  the  highest  flavor  and 
best  quality.  The  truth  is,  that  ripening 
fruit  is  an  art,  which  is  only  to  be  learned  by 
intelligent  experience.  Some  kinds  of  fruit 
require  to  be  gathered  a  little  before  ripe,  in 
order  to  produce  the  highest  flavor  while 
others  require  to  be  dead  ripe  on  the  trees  be- 
fore they  are  gathered.  Again,  to  get  the  best 
quality  some  require  to  be  ripened  in  a  dark 
and  cool  place,  while  others  require  a  warmer 
and  lighter  situation.  All  this  has  to  be  learnt 
by  experience,  and  one  of  the  pleasures  of 
amateur  gardening  is  to  study  these  points, 
with  the  view  of  the  production  of  the  best 
class  of  fruit. 

The  Origin  of  the  Peach. — It  has  never 
been  clearly  ascertained  what  was  the  original 
parent  of  the  peach.  It  is,  however,  well 
known  that  the  peach,  the  almond,  and  the 
nectarine  can  all  be  developed,  the  one  from 
the  other  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  reasonable 
that  all  had  the  same  origin.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  the  almond  was  really  the  ante- 
cedent of  the  other  two.     Recently,  however, 


there  has  been  found  a  wild  plant  in  the  north 
of  China,  which  is  considered  a  good  species, 
and  has  been  named  Amygdalus  Davidiana, 
and  it  is  believed  that  this  is  really  the  parent 
of  the  peach  and  its  allies.  All  that  is  known 
of  the  peach  and  almond  is  that  they  were  in 
cultivation  as  garden  plants  as  far  back  as 
written  history  goes. 


Agriculture  by  l.wv. — Some  few  years  ago, 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  passed  a  law  looking 
to  the  thorough  eradication  of  trees  suffering 
from  the  peach  disease  known  as  the  '-yellows." 
It  was  stated  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  State 
Horticultural  Association  that  all  attempts  to 
put  this  law  into  practice  have  proved  futile. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Rural  New  Yorker 
states  that  this  has  been  the  result  with  the 
New  York  law  against  the  disease  in  the  plum 
and  cherry,  known  as  "black  knot."  It  is 
pronounced  a  dead  letter.  Almost  every 
efibrt  to  carry  on  agriculture  by  law  has 
proved  a  failure.  The  only  hope  in  these  cases 
is  by  the  universal  dissemination  of  correct 
knowledge. 

Pears  for  the  West. — Mr.  T.  T.  Lyon,  the 
eminent  pomologist,  of  Michigan,  makes  up 
his  list  of  first- class  pears  for  the  amateur,  as 
follows  :  Summer  Doyenne,  Clapp's  Favorite, 
Bartlett,  Sheldon,  Howell,  Onondaga,  Beurre 
d'Angou,  and  Lawrence.  If  one  has,  how- 
ever, an  eye  to  profitable  pears  that  are  pro- 
duced in  abundance  and  somewhat  showy, 
he  would  have  Summer  Doyenne,  Tyson, 
Sterling,  Clapp's  Favorite,  Beurre  d'Angou, 
Howell,  Onondaga,  Beurre  Bosc,  and  Law- 
rence. 

Orange  Culture. — In  the  cultivation  of 
fruits  in  the  more  northern  parts  of  the  Union, 
girdling  is  sometimes  employed,  in  order  to 
assist  productiveness.  Grapes  are  more  fre- 
quently treated  this  way  than  any  other  fruit ; 
but  even  with  the  grape  girdling  is  not  often 
practiced.  In  orange  culture,  however,  accord- 
ing to  a  correspondent  oi  t\ie  Farmer  and  Fniit 
Grower,  girdling  enters  into  one  of  the  general 
practices  of  good  culture.  Not  only  is  good 
production  of  fruit  increased,  but  it  is  said  the 
quality  is  very  much  improved.  In  northern 
grape  culture  girdling  has  been  found  to  impair 
seriously  the  quality  of  the  fruit. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


THE  HEART  OF  FLOWERS. 

I  sometimes  think  that  never  blows  so  red 
The  Rose  as  where  some  buried  Csesar  bled, 

Ihat  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden  wears 
Dropt  in  her  Lap  from  some  once  lovely  Head. 
Omar  Khayyam. 

Mr.  J.  G.  Baker. — The  Gardeners'  Chroni- 
cle of  June  24th  gives  a  picture  in  which  this 
estimable  botanist  and  keeper  of  the  Royal 
Herbarium  at  Kew  is  the  prominent  feature. 
He  is  represented  with  some  Onoclea-like  fern 
on  the  table  before  him,  about  which  he  is 
penning  notes.  The  pleasure  it  gives  to  see 
for  the  first  time  the  facial  outlines  of  one  so 
much  beloved  is  mingled  with  regret  that  his 
hard  labors  cannot  be  softened  by  the  use  of  a 
fountain  pen  instead  of  an  old  steel  one, — and 
instead  of  having  himself  bent  down  to  his 
work  till  his  body  is  at  a  right  angle  with  his 
legs,  and  his  nose  but  a  few  inches  from  his 
wrist,  some  better  care  for  his  vital  organs  have 
not  been  provided  for.  It  is  well  worth  some 
thought  and  a  little  expense  in  improved  furni- 
ture to  add  ten  or  fifteen  years  to  the  life  of 
such  a  useful  man  as  J.  G.  Baker. 

Russian  Apples. — For  all  the  large  number 
of  varieties  of  hardy  apples  introduced  from 
Russia,  few  of  them  seem  to  obtain  permanent 
popularity.  One  of  the  oldest  is  the  Alexan- 
der— a  very  large  and  beautiful  apple — which 
although  not  of  the  highest  flavor,  is  very 
popular  as  a  cooking  variety.  The  Duchess  of 
Oldenberg  is  another  which  has  received  con- 
siderable favor — and  a  third  might  be  named, 
the  Tetofsky.  Outside  of  these  three,  few 
are  known  to  any  extent. 


Double  Wild  Flowers. — Nearly  all  our 
double  garden  varieties  of  wild  flowers  were 
first  found  wild  and  transferred  to  gardens. 
Double  Hepaticas  have  occasionally  been  found 
and  are  in  good  collections,  but  we  seldom  see 
them.  Dr.  Stewart,  of  Peoria,  writes  that 
Prof.  Barnhart,  of  that  vicinity,  has  receutly 
found  one  double  in  that  section. 

(142) 


MONS.  BouRCHARLET. — M.  Laurent  Bour- 
charlet,  one  of  the  advanced  improvers  of 
florists'  flowers,  and  who  especially  started 
the  great  progress  made  in  the  Petunia  during 
recent  years,  died  at  Lyons,  France,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  in  his  87th  year. 


Small  Parks  in  Philadelphia. — The 
senior  conductor  of  Meehans'  Monthly, 
Professor  Thomas  Meehan,  has  done  some- 
what to  crystalize  and  direct  a  successful 
movement  for  small  open  spaces  or  parks  in 
Philadelphia,  in  the  City  Councils  of  which  he 
has  been  for  eleven  years,  and  still  continues 
to  be  a  member.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  in  one 
of  the  squares  he  had  been  especially  success- 
ful in  securing  despite  a  determined  fight  by 
some  of  the  best  legal  talent  in  Philadelphia, 
and  in  the  presence  of  five  thousand  people, 
a  silver  ornament  valued  at  $1,000  was  pre- 
sented to  him  in  behalf  of  the  citizens,  in 
recognition  of  the  services  rendered. 

Not  in  the  spirit  of  any  "self-praise" 
on  the  part  of  the  conductors,  but  to  give  the 
readers  of  Meehans'  Monthly  a  view  of  four 
of  these  open  places,  a  representation  of  the 
plaque  is  here  given. 

On  the  observers'  left  hand,  lower  corner,  is 
Baftram — the  house  which  the  great  American 
botanist  built  with  his  own  hands.  Elm 
Treaty  Park,  on  the  upper  corner,  is  a  copy  of 
West's  famous  painting  of  Penn's  Treaty  with 
the  Indians,  which  was  made  on  the  spot  now 
the  park.  Stenton,  in  the  upper  right  hand,  was 
the  home  of  Logan,  an  eminent  botanist,  after 
whom  the  genus  Logania  was  named,  and  who 
was  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania under  William  Penn.  In  the  lower 
right  hand  is  represented  a  view  in  Vernon 
Park,  the  home  of  the  Wisters,  but  originally 
settled  by  Meng,  a  German  banker,  and  a  rare 
lover  of  trees  and  flowers — and  also  a  patron 
of  Kin,  an  early  botanical  explorer  of  our 
country,  whose  specimens  are  still  preserved 
in  the  Royal  Museum  at  Berlin. 


<i893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND   LITERATURE. 


143 


Not  the  least  pleasant  thought  connected 
with  the  subject  is  the  fact,  afterward  de- 
veloped, that  the  prime  mover  in  this  beauti- 
ful testimonial  to  Mr.  Meehan,  was  one  of  the 
descendants  of  William  Penn,  now  residing  in 
England. 

It  may  be  further  explained  that  the  figures 
on  the  top  represent  the  arms  of  the  City  of 
Philadelphia,  with  the  Greek  words  Philadel- 
phia maneto  for  the  motto.  This  is  the  shortest 
verse  in  the  Greek  Bible,  and  is  translated, 
"let  brotherly  love  prevail,"  and  from  this 
scriptural  phrase,  the  city  derives  its  name. 

The  words  cut  in  the  solid  silver  are  scarcely 
legible  on  the  greatly  reduced  scale  of  the  pic- 
ture, but  are,  an  extract  from  the  original 
charter  of  Penn. 


' '  That  it  may  be  a 
green  country  town 

and 
always  wholesome." 

Presented 

To  Thomas  Meehan  by 

his  fellow  citizens  of  Philadelphia 

in  grateful  acknowledgement  of  his  services 

while  a  member  of 

Councils  of  Philadelphia 

1883  in  1892 

Establishing 

SMALL  PARKS 

in  the  several  sections 

for  the 

Health  and  Enjoyment 

of  its  citizens. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


A  Botanical  Gardener. — It  is  one  of  the 
misfortunes  attendant  on  improved  gardening 
in  our  country,  that  just  when  a  first-class 
man  is  required  no  one  knows  where  to  find  him. 
On  the  other  hand  when  a  first-class  man  is 
looking  for  a  situation,  no  one  knows  where 
the  situations  are  which  require  just  such 
services;  and  opportunities  of  bringing  the  two 
wants  together,  are  not  frequent.  Just  now 
a  rare  opportunity  offers.  An  excellent 
botanist  and  first-class  gardener  is  Mr.  M. 
Millard,  whose  address  at  present  is  140  Second 
Avenue,  New  York.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the 
Vienna  Botanic  Garden,  having  previously  had 
a  thorough  course  in  the  Vienna  Gardening 
School  and  the  Pomological  Institution, — 
a  combination  of  advantages  rarely  met  with. 
These  educated  gardeners  are  always  welcome 
to  America,  and  add  largely  to  our  reputation. 
Mr.  Millard's  services  will  no  doubt  soon  be 
sought  for,  and  for  which  we  shall  be  happy 
in  having  assisted. 

English  Names  of  Plants. — He  jumped 
from  his  wheel  and  entered  the  Editor's  room. 
"Take  a  seat,"  said  the  Editor,  "you  look 
tired."  "Not  tired,"  replied  the  wheelman, 
"but  suffering  from  an  acute  attack  of  kypharis 
bicyclistarium.  I  have  called  to  get  the  name 
of  a  pretty  flower  gathered  along  the  road." 
"  It  is  a  species  of  Phlox,"  said  the  Editor. 
"A  species  of  what?"  he  exclaimed.  "A 
species  of  Phlox."  "  These  confounded  Latin 
names,"  growled  the  man  of  the  wheel,  "  give 
me  its  English  name  ?  "  "I  never  heard  any, 
Phlox  is  all  I  know."  "I  can't  see  why 
there  can't  be  English  names.  I  should  have 
been  a  botanist  long  ago  but  for  these  hard 
terms,"  and  the  victim  of  kypharis  bicyclis- 
tarium mounted  his  wheel,  growling  about 
hard  plant  names,  and  trudged  up  the  hill. 

"Catalogue  op  New  Creations." — A  re- 
markably unique  catalogue  is  one  under  the 
above  title,  issued  by  Luther  Burbank,  of  Santa 
Rosa,  California.     Mr.  Burbank  seems  to  have 

(144) 


devoted  his  life  chiefly  to  the  improvement  of 
fruits  and  flowers.  He  has  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  this  line,  and  we  have  here  an  illus- 
trated catalogue  of  fifty-two  pages,  devoted 
wholly  to  the  description  of  the  more  valuable 
of  his  productions.  He  does  not  sell  them  all 
singly,  but  offers  the  whole  stock  of  each  kind' 
for  sale  at  prices  suited  to  the  character  of  the 
new  introduction.  It  is  a  particularly  useful 
field  to  occupy,  and  one  in  which  we  believe 
Mr.  Burbank  stands  alone. 

The  Philadelphia  Small  Park  Move- 
ment.— A  daily  paper  says  another  of  the 
projected  open  spaces  has  been  finally  se- 
cured. 

' '  The  city  of  Philadelphia  has  taken  title 
from  Builder  John  Meighan  to  the  property  at 
Clearfield  and  F  streets,  in  the  Thirty-third 
Ward,  which  is  to  be  known  as  McPherson 
square.  The  lot  is  about  500  feet  square,  and 
cost  the  city  $73,866.67.  This  ground  was 
originally  the  property  of  General  McPherson 
and  was  called  Stouton  farm.  It  was  placed 
on  the  city  plan  by  ordinance  of  November 
29th,  1890." 

Bering  Strait. — In  reference  to  a  recent 
allusion  to  this  locality  as  "  Behring's  Straits," 
a  correspondent  remarks  that  the  United  States 
authorities  have  restored  the  original  and  cor- 
rect name  of  Bering, — and  that  the  old  plural 
form  "  Straits  "  has  given  place  to  the  correct 
one  of  Strait.  The  possessive  st3-ie  is  also 
obsolete.  Bering  Strait  and  not  "Behring's 
Straits  "  will  come  into  universal  use. 

The  Next  Plate.— The  Rocky  Mountain 
region  and  territory  of  the  Southwest,  will 
claim  the  attention  of  the  next  plate. 

Ximeuesia  aiceloides  will  be  illustrated.  The 
fall  is  especially  the  season  for  composites, 
and  this  plant  will  be  of  interest  in  the  general 
study  of  this  great  order  which  comprises 
one-tenth  of  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom. 


Ill 


y  I  .A  .  ! 


XlMENESIA    ENCRLIOIDES, 


XIMENESIA  ENCELIOIDES. 


XIMENES  FLOWER. 


NATURAL  ORDER,  COMPOSIT.^. 

XlMENF.SiA  ENCELIOIDES,  Cavanii.les.— Annual,  cinereous-pubescent ;  stems  stout,  striate,  three  to  five  feet  high;  branched 
above  :  leaves  opposite  or  alternate,  ovate,  coarsely  dentate-serrate,  tapering  into  a  long,  winged  petiole,  tripli-nerved, 
paler  beneath  ;  heads  corymbose  on  long,  naked  peduncles;  achenia  of  the  disk  slightly  villous,  surrounded  by  a  broad 
wing,  C'uarginate  at  the  summit  of  the  deeply  three  toothed  achenium. — Porter's  Ftoia  nf  Colorado. 


When  in  1817  Rafinesque  published  his 
Flora  of  Louisiana,  he  predicted  that  on  the 
basis  of  some  statistics  that  he  had  gathered, 
botanists  might  expect  that  "  more  than  100 
new  genera  and  700  new  species  will  reward 
their  exertions,  many  of  which  will  be  com- 
mon to  Mexico,  since  Louisiana,  lying  on  the 
borders  of  that  empire,  must,  of  course,  possess 
a  botany  partly  Mexican,  and  consequently 
highly  interesting."  Since  that  time  "  Louis- 
iana" has  furnished  several  States  to  the 
Union,  and  the  contiguous  "  parts  of  Mexico" 
have  come  into  our  possession  ;  but  still  the 
expression  of  Rafinesque  as  to  the  probabilit}' 
of  a  Mexican  plant  wandering  into  other 
territory,  is  particularlj'  suggestive,  especially 
in  connection  with  the  plant  we  now  illustrate; 
for,  in  all  probability,  there  was  a  time  when 
this  plant  would  not  have  been  found  in  any 
part  of  what  are  even  now  portions  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  time,  too,  not  in  remote 
generations.  It  is  essentially  a  Mexican  plant, 
and  has  travelled  northward  mainly,  perhaps, 
by  the  agency  of  man.  In  1840  when  Torrey 
and  Gray's  Flora  of  North  America  appeared,  it 
had  already  entered  this  "Territory  of  Louis- 
iana," for  these  authors  record  it  as  having 
been  found  by  two  collectors,  at  least  it  was 
supposed  to  have  been  by  recent  travellers, 
for  they  suggested  that  it  had  been  ' '  prob- 
ably introduced." 

But  after  all  the  question  as  to  whether  a 
plant  is  truly  indigenous  or  not,  need  scarcely 
be  considered  by  a  lover  of  wild  flowers, — for 
there  is  rarely  a  plant  anywhere  but  has 
probably  traveled  there  from  some  other  place, 
through  the  ages  past,- — and  it  can  make  little 
difference  in  a  catalogue  of  native  plants, 
whether  any  were  carried  to  one  spot  from 
another  by  the  winds  or  waves,  by  the  feathers 


of  birds  or  the  furs  of  beasts,  or  by  the  incidents 
of  travel  between  man  and  man  ;  yet  it  is 
customary  in  botanical  works  to  make  this 
distinction.  Plants  which  have  been  carried 
by  human  agency,  and  have  been  found  wild, 
no  matter  how  widely  spread  they  may  be, 
would  be  classed  as  "introduced," — while  a 
plant  found  where  no  human  being  would  be 
likely  to  carry  it,  would  be  pronounced  as 
"certainly  indigenous."  The  element  of  time 
is,  however,  sometimes  considered  ;  and,  if  a 
district  has  once  been  thoroughly  explored, 
and  afterwards  a  plant  found  which  could  not 
probably  have  been  overlooked  before,  it  would 
perhaps  be  regarded  as  introduced. 

Our  present  subject,  Ximenesia  oicelioides,  is 
an  illustration  of  these  various  shades  of 
meaning  in  the  term  "indigenous."  Though 
now  found  in  Colorado,  and  southwardly  in 
the  dryer  portions  of  the  central  districts  of 
our  country  reaching  towards  Mexico,  it  is  as 
we  have  already  noted,  in  all  probability,  a 
not  very  remote  wanderer  from  a  southern 
clime.  As,  however,  it  was  in  these  districts 
when  first  explored  by  botanists,  it  is  regarded 
as  indigenous,  without  regard  to  where  it 
originally  sprung. 

It  appears  to  have  been  first  found  in  1848 
by  the  naturalists  of  Emory's  expedition  from 
Fort  Leavenworth  to  San  Diego,  when  it  was 
discovered  along  the  Gila  River.  Others  have 
from  time  to  time  found  it  in  various  places. 
Prof.  Porter,  in  the  work  above  cited,  records 
it  as  having  been  found  abundantly  near 
Canon  City  by  Mr.  Brandegee.  The  writer  of 
this  collected  it  in  1878,  on  the  Arkansas  River, 
near  Pueblo,  in  Colorado,  and  it  was  from 
these  collections  that  our  drawing  was 
made. 

To  the  lovers  of  wild  flowers  -the  parts  they 

(145) 


146 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — XIMENESIA  ENCELIOIDES. 


[Oct. 


play  in  the  varying  aspects  of  natuie  is  a  wel- 
come study.  In  the  dryer  regions  of  Colorado 
these  aspects  vary  remarkably.  With  the  im- 
mediate advent  of  spring  appears  a  fragile  but 
beautiful  class,  wholly  disappearing  as  summer 
approaches.  Then  a  totally  difierent  appear- 
ance is  given  to  the  scenery  by  the  warm- 
weather  plants,  in  the  main  tall  and  coarse, 
but  generally  keeping  character  with  the 
dreary  and  overwhelmingly  desolate  scenery 
everywhere  around, — till  as  the  autumn  comes 
along,  asteraceous  plants  peculiar  to  the 
country  appear  in  many  varied  forms.  In 
some  cases  huge  torrents  in  winter  bear  from 
the  disintegrating  mountain  sides  volumes  of 
debris,  which  form  large  banks  of  diluvium 
on  the  lower  lands,  which  vegetation  hurries 
after,  doing  her  best  to  clothe  with  floral 
beauty.  Only  a  few  of  the  coarser  plants  are 
equal  to  this  labor  of  love,  and  foremost 
among  these  is  our  Ximcnesia.  Where  the 
writer  gathered  it  the  feet  sunk  deeply  in  the 
untrodden  sand,  and  there  was  comparatively 
nothing  growing  for  a  wide  extent  around  on 
that  hot  August  day  but  small  clumps  of  this 
showy  yellow  flower  which,  amidst  all  the 
desolation,  seemed  determined  to  hold  on  and 
thrive.  It  was  an  admirable  lesson  to  those 
who  love  to  be  taught  by  flowers. 

The  purely  botanical  history  of  the  plant  is 
brief.  It  appears  to  have  been  first  known 
from  plants  raised  from  seeds  sent  from  Mexico 
to  the  Royal  Gardens  in  Madrid,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  an  Encelia.  Cavanilles,  a  famous 
botanist  of  Madrid,  in  his  "Genera  and 
Species,"  published  in  1861,  tells  us  the  genus 
differs  from  Encelia  in  having  "fertile  ray 
flowers, "and  refers  to  a  figure  in  his  "Icones" 
of  a  few  years  before.  According  to  Loudon 
he  flamed  it  "after  Joseph  Ximenes,  a  Spanish 
apothecary,  who  is  said  to  have  attended  to 
plants."  But  his  "attentions"  appear  to 
have  been  real,  for  his  biographer  tells  us  he 
' '  undertook  a  flora  of  Castilla  in  four  volumes, 
in  which  he  delineated  more  than  700  plants." 
There  is  another  genus  native  to  the  Southern 
United  States,  named  by  Plumier  Ximenia, 
after  the  celebrated  Cardinal  Ximenes,  of  whom 
it  is  said  that  of  the  great  power  he  wielded, 
and  the  immense  sums  of  money  he  controlled, 
not  one  penny  was  ever  diverted  from  legiti- 
mate public  u.<!es.  Although  the  orthography 
of  the  botanical  names  is  different,  being  made 


from  the  same  name,  Ximenes,  Sir  Joseph  E. 
Smith  contended  this  one  for  Joseph  Ximenes 
should  not  stand,  and  inliis  works  the  plant  is 
known  as  Pallasia  serratifolia  ;  but  this  view  is 
not  adopted  by  American  botanists  who  still 
use  Cavanilles'  name,  Ximenesia. 

Indeed,  the  practice  of  American  botanists 
is  to  professedly  make  several  genera  by 
changing  or  combining  names.  Thus  we  have 
Grayia  and  Asa-grayia,  both  from  the  late  emi- 
nent botanist  of  Cambridge,- — Parrya  and  Par- 
ryella,  not  exactly  for  the  same  botanist,  but  a 
change  of  orthography  to  make  different  genera 
of  the  same  name.  Botanical  science,  how- 
ever, has  no  more  to  do  with  the  meaning  of 
the  names  of  plants  than  one  would  have  with 
the  meaning  of  any  individual's  name  on  a 
first  introduction.  As  a  matter  of  curiosity, 
it  might  be  of  interest  to  know  how  the  ances- 
tor of  Mr.  Smith  or  Mr.  Brown  came  by  his 
name,  but  the  man's  name  that  meant  nothing 
would  be  as  good  for  use  as  the  one's  that 
meant  much.  It  is  the  same  with  plant 
names.  There  have  been  botanists  who  have 
contended  that  there  would  be  less  liability  to 
error  if  such  names  meant  absolutely  nothing 
at  all. 

The  fertility  of  the  ray  flowers  will  interest 
the  inquiring  student.  It  has  recently  been 
noted  that  where  the  disk  florets  are  perfect 
and  the  ray  florets  pistillate,  the  tubular  per- 
fect flowers  become  pistillate  only,  should 
these  florets  become  ligulate  like  the  ray 
florets.  This  is  well  known  in  the  case  of  the 
Dahlia,  Chrysanthemum  and  similar  plants 
which,  under  the  selective  care  of  the  florist, 
become  "double"  or  wholly  ligulate.  There 
is  evidently  some  relation  between  the  sexual 
characteristics  of  flowers  and  the  form  of  the 
floret,  which  has  an  interesting  bearing  on  the 
whole  question  of  sex  in  flowers. 

The  leaves  are  killed  by  the  first  white  frost, 
and  this  fact  is  used  to  certify  to  its  early  tropi- 
cal home.  Numbers  of  species  emigrate  north- 
wardly, holding  their  own  in  their  travels  by 
reason  of  a  frost-resisting  power  in  the  seeds. 
If  seed  can  perfect  before  frost  comes,  a  very 
tender  plant  can  get  far  northwardly.  The 
seed  remains  in  the  earth  till  spring. 


Explanation  of  Plate.— 1.  Upper  branchlet  of  a  flower 
stem  two  feet  high,  from  a  Colorado  plant.  2  Section  of  the 
conical  receptacle,  with  a  broadly  winged,  emarginate 
akeue,  with  broad  chaflFy  pointed  scale  at  the  base,  and  com- 
paratively small  narrow-tubed  corolla  at  the  apex. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


OCTOBER. 

Sweet  are  the  woodland  notes 

That  gush   melodious  at  morn   from   palpitating 
throats 
In  anthems  fresh  as  dew  !    Ay,  they  are  sweet ! 
But  from  that  dim  retreat 
Where  Evening  muses  through  the  pensive  hours 
There  sometimes  floats  along 
A  more  appealing  song  : 
So,  love,  thy  voice  breathes  a  diviner  music  in  the 
chill 
Of  autumn,  when  the  glen  is  still 
And  Flora's  gold  all  tarnished  on  the  hill, 
Than  in  the  time  when  merry  May  calls  forth  her 
bashful  flowers, 

—Florence  Eari,e  Coates, 
Lippincott's  Magazine. 


White  Alpine  Strawberries. — Mr.  Ellis 
B.  Noyes  sends  a  box  of  white  fruit  of 
Fragaria  I'esca,  the  Alpine  Strawberry,  which 
he  says  abounds  among  the  red  ones  on  the 
hillsabout  Lewistown.in  Pennsylvania.  White 
fruiting  varieties  of  the  Alpine  Strawberry  are 
not  uncommon  in  cultivation,  but,  on  account 
of  the  Alpine's  love  for  cool  temperatures  it  is 
not  often  met  with  in  strawberry  gardens.  The 
fruit  is  small,  and  this  also  is  somewhat 
against  their  culture,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted, 
because  the  flavor  of  the  Alpine  is  much 
higher  than  that  of  the  common  red  or  Vir- 
ginia Strawberry.  In  fact,  one  scarcely  can 
fully  appreciate  the  statement  of  Sidney  Smith 
that  ■'  The  Lord  could  doubtless  make  a  better 
fruit  than  the  strawberry,  but  doubtless  the 
Lord  never  did,"  unless  he  had  once  a  taste  of 
a  good  Alpine.  Another  interesting  feature 
for  the  amateur  is  that  they  fruit  much  later, 
and  indeed  some  of  them  produce  fruit  in  the 
fall.  Where  gardening  is  followed  for  the 
pleasure  it  affords  rather  than  the  profit  result- 
ing from  sending  things  to  market,  no  better 
occupation  could  be  presented  than  the  culture 
of  Alpine  Strawberries,  and  among  this  the 
ciilture  of  white  forms  should  have  a  promi- 
nent place.  By  the  way,  botanists  frequently 
fail  to  recognize  the  difference  between  Fraga- 
ria vesca  as  a  species,  and  some  forms  of  Fra- 
garia   I'irginiatia ;  but  with  a   little  practice 


they  could  be  readily  distinguished  by  the 
plaited  leaves  and  by  the  fruit,  in  which  the 
seeds  are  much  more  prominent  and  much 
more  numerous  than  in  the  ordinary  forms  of 
the  scarlet. 

Yucca  brevifolia. — Lovers  of  flowers  in  the 
Northern  portion  of  the  Union,  whose  know- 
ledge of  Yuccas  is  confined  to  the  "Adam's 
Thread  and  Needle"  of  gardens.  Yucca  fila- 
menlosd,  will  be  pleased  with  an  illustration,  on 
page  153,  of  a  species  which  not  only  makes  a 
small  tree,  but  occasionally  forms  straggling 
forests  in  the  dryer  regions  of  our  country — 
and  we  give  with  this  a  representation  of  a 
specimen  taken  from  the  admirable  report  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
on  the  Death  ^'alIey  expedition.  Dr.  Merriam 
says  that  occasionally  there  will  be  forests  of 
them  15  or  20  miles  in  length.  He  found  some 
30  feet  high.  They  are  abundant  in  the 
Mohave  Desert  on  high  gravelly  slopes.  In 
Nevada  they  were  found  on  Mt.  Magruder- — 
and  other  places — and  in  the  southwest  corner 
of  Arizona.  Dr.  Torrey  thought  it  to  be  a 
mere  variety  of  Yucca  Draconis  of  Linnfeus, 
in  which  case  he  suggested  the  varietal  name 
arborcscens  for  it, — but  Dr.  Engleman,  in  the 
"Transactions  of  the  St.  Louis  Academy," 
showed  that  it  was  a  mistake — that  it  should 
be  regarded  as  a  distinct  species  and  named  it 
characteriscally  Y.  brevifolia.  In  the  report, 
however,  it  is  described  as  Yucca  arborcscens. 


Texas  Clover. — Miss  Laura  Bennett,  of 
Wadesboro,  N.  C,  notes  that  the  Richatdsonia 
scabra  was  introduced  into  southwest  Georgia 
about  thirty  years  ago,  and  has  received  the 
common  name  of  "Texas  Clover."  She  has 
seen  eight  acres  literally  covered  with  it.  It  is 
a  very  persistent  weed  when  it  once  gets  a 
foothold.     Its  native  country  is  Mexico. 

Manzanita. — Mrs.  Lewers  says  that  this 
Indian  name  signifies  "  Little  Apple." 

(147) 


148 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY^WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Oct. 


Stipules  of  Rose  Leaves.— Mrs.  W.  A. 
Kellerman  remarks  : 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  things  con- 
nected with  the  study  of  plants,  it  seems  to 
me,  is  the  variation,  the  reversions,  the  transi- 
tion stages  found  in  the  foliage.  Nowhere 
else'do  we  so  frequently  come  across  connect- 
ing links  showing  the  relation  of  the  lower  to 
the  higher  forms;  illustrating  the  development, 
the  evolution  of  the  more  complex  from  the 
simple.  Through  no  other  channel  are  we 
shown  so  clearly  the  steps  which  have  been 
taken  by  the  plant,  in  climbing  its  'hill  of 
life.'  Among  the  many  interesting  variations, 
the  leaves  of  the  young  branches  of  the  Rose 
(it  matters  not,  whether  of  a  wild  or  cultivated 
species)  are  well  worth  observing.  The  leaflets 
are  so  dainty  and  pretty,  with  their  fine  serra- 


tures,  that  one  always  admires  them.  But 
these  bracts,  these  curious  stipules  crowned 
with  quaint  leaflets,  bearing  no  petiole — some- 
times part  leaf,  and  part  stipule — what  are  we 
to  think  of  them  ?  What  can  we  think,  but 
that,  from  the  first  bract  or  scale,  at  the  base 
of  the  branch,  we  have  but  progressive  steps 
until  we  reach  the  perfect  leaf?  It  is  the  look- 
ing at  them  from  this  point  of  view,  which 
renders  them  interesting, — and  it  is  so  evident 
that  these  really  common  variations  are  but 
types  of  leaves  borne  by  the  ancestors  of  the 
Rose.  We  must  divest  ourselves  of  the  idea 
that  the  Rose,  for  instance,  once  had  an  ances- 
tral form.  Plants,  like  human  beings,  have 
long  histories  behind  them  ;  they  have  passed 
through  various  forms,  and  no  one  single 
individual  form  is  the,  and  the  only,  ancestral 


type.  And  hence,  I  would  say  that  at  one 
time,  the  Rose  had  but  what  we  find  at  the 
base  of  the  branch,  for  leaves  ;  later  on,  this 
bract  became  more  developed,  more  leai-like  ; 
and  again,  it  reaches  a  higher  plane,  and  evolu- 
tion merges  the  bract  into  the  stipule,  or  the 
latter  is  developed  from  the  former.  The 
leaves  themselves  are  finally  developed  from 
the  stipules.  This  is  clearly  shown  in  the 
accompanying  illustration,  and  certainly,  'see- 
ing must  be  believing.'  " 

The  suggestive  points  made  by  Mrs.  Keller- 
man,  are  among  the  most  valuable  of  all 
received  for  the  magazine.  It  has  been  toler- 
ably well  developed  that  even  the  rose  petals 
themselves  are  but  modified  stipules.  Bud- 
scales  are  always  either  modified  stipules  or  of 
the  dilated  bases  of  leaf-stalks, — and  a  petal 
has  the  same  protective  oflSce  over  the  more 
delicate  floral  organs,  as  the  bud  scale  performs 
for  its  delicate  enclosures.  Not  only  in  the 
rose,  but  in  probably  all  flowers,  petals  are  the 
analogues  of  stipules  or  the  flattened  bases  of 
leaf  stalks. 

Irritability  IN  Plants. -Mr.  Ernest  Walker, 
of  New  Albany,  Ind.,  has  recently  contributed 
some  interesting  notes  on  the  manner  in  which 
the  common  wild  sour  grass,  as  it  is  called, 
Oxalis  stricfa,  expels  its  seeds.  They  are 
thrown  to  a  great  distance  by  the  sudden  dis- 
ruption of  the  capsule.  He  finds  O.ralis  violacea 
has  the  same  power.  The  common  Balsam  of 
our  gardens,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called  in 
American  floriculture,  "Lady  Slipper,"  does 
the  same, — especially  when  the  seed  pods  are 
grasped.  This  and  the  Oxalis  belong  to  the 
same  natural  order  of  plants.  The  garden 
balsam  derived  its  Latin  name,  Impatiens,  from 
this  characteristic. 


Cosmos  BiPiNNATUs.^Mr.  W.  C.  Egan  calls 
attention  to  the  apparent  adaptation  of  plants 
to  circumstances  as  illustrated  by  the  Cosmos. 
It  is  a  very  late  flowering  species,  usually 
opening  near  Chicago  just  before  the  frost 
comes.  This  season  they  have  bloomed  earlier 
than  usual,  and  by  selecting  seeds  from  these 
early  bloomers  a  summer  flowering  race  will 
in  all  probability  ensue.  It  is  by  selection  in 
this  manner,  that  many  early  races  of  fruits 
and  flowers  have  been  secured.  Selection 
rules,  where  environment  fails. 


1893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


149 


A  Summer  Outing  in  North  Carolina. — 
Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders  says  ;  "  You  may  remem- 
ber recommending  me  some  time  since  to  the 
mountains  of  North  Carolina.  I  went  there 
about  July  i,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia  a 
few  days  ago,  and  I  feel  as  though  I  ought  to 
express  to  you  my  thanks  for  putting  me  in  the 
way  of  a  trip  that  was  thoroughly  enjoyable 
and  botanically  profitable  far  beyond  my  ex- 
pectations. I  shall  not  be  satisfied  now  until 
I  can  go  again  to  that  delightful  region.  I 
spent  about  a  week  at  Linville. 


found  the  moist  cool  atmosphere  a  good  substi- 
tute for  the  damp  places  and  bogs  of  lower 
altitudes.  Annexed  is  another  view  of  a 
North  Carolina  mountain  scene. 

Growth  of  a  White  Pine.— Mr.  Robert 
Douglas,  writes  : 

"Referring  to  page  119  in  which  you  state 
that  I  am  quoted,  page  79,  as  saying  that  I 
would  give  a  White  Pine  tree  three  times  30 
years  to  reach  a  diameter  of  seven  feet. 

As  I  have  not  the  page  79  article  at  hand,  I 


VIEW    IN  THE  MOUNTAIN 

I  was  frequently'  surprised  to  find  on  those 
dry  high  altitudes  plants  which  are  common 
in  bogs  and  wet  pine  barrens, — for  instance 
Calopogon  pulchellus  and  Pogonia  divaricata, 
which  I  saw  growing  on  a  slope  of  the  Grand- 
father Mountain  in  a  perfectly  dry,  barren  sort 
of  spot,  between  four  and  five  thousand  feet 
above  sea  level.  I  should  be  much  interested 
to  know  what  explanation  there  is  for  this. 
Perhaps  you  might  have  something  to  say  on 
the  subject  in  the  columns  of  the  Monthly.  " 

The  facts  detailed  by  Mr.  Saunders  seem 
only  to  be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  the 
mountain  region  has  been  thrown  up  since  the 
species  referred  to  came  into  existence.  They 
were  thrown  up  with  the  upheaval — and  have 


S   OF  NORTH   CAROLINA. 

am  not  certain  what  I  did  write.  I  certainly 
did  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  saying  that 
a  White  Pine  tree  would  reach  a  diameter  of 
seven  feet  in  90  yesrs,  as  I  never  saw  a  White 
Pine  tree  seven  feet  in  diameter,  and  I  never 
saw  a  tree,  no  matter  how  rapid  in  growth — 
either  evergreen  or  deciduous — that  reached 
a  diameter  of  seven  feet  in  30  years. 

There  may  have  been  a  time  when  White 
Pines  grew  to  larger  size  in  New  England  than 
any  found  there  now. 

About  ten  years  ago,  when  investigating  the 
White  Pine  around  Hanover,  N.  H.,  the 
Treasurer  of  Dartmouth  College  handed  me  an 
old  book.  Rev'd  Mr.  Wheeler  or  Wheelock 
was  the  author,  and   made  remarkable  state- 


ISO 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Oct. 


ments  about  the  size  of  White  Pines  at  the 
time  he  founded  the  college. 

This  was  high  authority,  and  no  one  could 
doubt  the  reverend  gentleman  believed  he  was 
making  a  correct  statement.  But  knowing 
that  the  best  men  are  liable  to  mistakes,  and 
as  fortunately  one  statement  in  the  book 
could  be  tested,  I  prevailed  on  Mr.  Chase,  the 
Treasurer,  to  allow  me  to  test  it. 

The  book  stated  positively  that  the  sills  of 
the  building  were  each  a  single  stick  of  timber 
and  the  building  150  feet  in  length. 

The  only  way  to  examine  the  sills  was  to 
go  into  the  cellar,  which  proved  to  be  the 
catchall  of  everything  unusable  that  had  accu- 
mulated in  a  century  ;  but  we  accomplished  it 
on  a  hot  summer  day,  and  we  were  both  disap- 
pointed, for  Mr.  Chase  expected  to  find  only 
one  stick  of  timber,  and  I  expected  to  find  two 
splices;  the  result  was,  it  was  only  spliced  in 
the  centre,  making  two  sticks  of  timber  each 
75  feet  long,  aside  from  the  splice ;  this  was 
certainly  a  good  showing  for  the  White  Pine 
of  the  past  century." 

The  Survival  of  the  Fittest. — Mrs. 
Kellerman  pointedly  observes  that:  "Years 
ago  the  return  of  spring  was  hailed  with 
delight,  and  the  first  wild  flowers  were  sought 
with  the  keenest  of  pleasure.  The  Spring 
Beauty,  {Claytoiiia),  Eiythronium,  and  blue 
violet  were  my  favorites.  Often  besides  gath- 
ering bouquets  the  plants  were  dug  up,  taken 
home  and  planted  in  some  nook  or  corner  of  a 
flower  bed.  I  finally  had  quite  a  wild  garden, 
as  they  grew  and  wandered  beyond  the  border 
of  the  flower-bed,  making  themselves  quite  at 
home  in  the  sod  of  the  lawn,  or  yard,  as  we 
said  then. 

"  Recently,  after  an  interval  of  twenty 
years,  I  visited  that  old  door-yard,  and  what 
was  my  surprise  to  find  that  the  blue  violet 
had  monopolized  it  all  !  There  was  absolutely 
nothing  else.  All  the  flower-beds  of  twenty 
years  ago  were  merged  into  one  great  bed  of 
violets.  Not  a  blade  of  grass,  not  a  Spring 
Beauty  nor  an  Erythronium  was  to  be  seen. 

"My  curiosity  as  to  the  reason  why  the 
violet  was  able  to  gain  so  completely  the 
ascendancy  was  thoroughly  aroused.  I  found 
no  blossoms  which  had  perfected  seed,  though 
the  plants  had  bloomed  profusely.  Pulling 
up   several   bunches    I    found    many   of  those 


peculiar  seed  pods,  which  appear  as  if  seeking 
concealment  at  the  base  of  the  plant,  bending 
down  towards  the  roots,  quite  out  of  view. 

"  Now,  is  it  not  a  little  strange,  a  good  sub- 
ject for  'speculation,'  indeed,  that  the  violet, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  produces  flowers 
abundantly,  to  which  insects  have  free  access, 
still  produces  its  seed  in  this  secluded  manner 
from  buds  which  never  open  ?  These  curious 
'  pods  '  are  quite  abundant  and  well  filled  with 
seed,  and  no  insect  or  wind,  or  outside  agency 
has  anything  to  do  with  their  pollination. 
And  since  new  plants  spring  from  the  rhizome 
in  such  prolificacy,  why  this  abundant  pro- 
duction of  seed  ? 

"  Is  the  plant  in  a  transition  state  still 
uncertain  as  to  which  mode  of  reproduction 
will  best  answer  the  purpose  of  perpetua- 
tion ?  " 

These  underground  flowers  are  called  cleis- 
togene  ;  that  is,  being  born  in  secret,  and  occur, 
as  is  now  well-known,  in  many  plants,  borne 
both  above  and  near  the  ground.  They  have 
disturbed  considerably  the  speculations  that 
were  gaining  ground  some  years  ago,  that 
color  and  fragrance  were  assumed  by  flowers  ; 
in  order  to  attract  insects,  and  thus  insure 
cross- fertilization,  which  on  very  slim  evi- 
dence was  supposed  to  be  a  benefit  to  the 
species  of  plants.  These  cleistogene  flowers  ; 
have  no  petals  or  odor,  but  the  same  plants  at 
some  stages  do  produce  petal  bearing  flowers  ; 
and  then  it  was  assumed  that  the  plant,  tired, 
as  it  were,  of  in-and-in  breeding  by  these 
closed  bud  seeds,  produced  some  attractive 
flowers  to  get  at  an  "  occasional  cross."  But 
this  amended  speculation  has  proved  faulty, 
for  it  is  found  they  seldom  yield  any  seed. 
Even  where  they  do  the  "occasional  cross" 
plant  would  be  crowded  out,  as  Mrs.  K.  well 
points  out,  by  the  sheer  force  of  numbers.  The 
Liliputians,  weak  as  they  were  individually, 
were  the  "fittest  "to  survive  in  the  battle 
with  Brobdignag. 

Bear  Grass. — A  correspondent  says  that  in 
the  South  Yucca  filamentosa  is  known  as  Bear 
Grass,  and  that  farmers  keep  a  few  stalks  cul- 
tivated in  order  to  use  the  leaves  as  strings  in 
order  to  hang  pork  on, — and  for  other  similar 
uses.  In  some  cases  the  plant  throws  up  the 
flower  stalks  ten  feet  high.  Soap  can  be  made 
from  the  roots. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


HAIL  TO  THE  APPLE  TREE. 

"  Here's  to  thee,  old  apple  tree  : 
Hence  thou  may'st  bud,  and  whence  thou  may'st 

blow  ; 
And  whence  thou  may'st  bear  apples  enow  : 
Hats  full  :   caps  full  : 
Bushel,  bushel,  sacks  full. 
And  my  pockets  full  too  :  Hurra  :  " 

— Old  Ballad. 


Pruning  Trees. — A  correspondent  justly 
remarks  that  amateur  gardeners  know  very 
little  of  pruning  and  that  instructions  in  this 
line  would  be  very  desirable.  The  unfortunate 
part  of  all  attempts  at  these  practical  lessons 
is  that  in  pruning,  one  must  have  some  object 
before  he  starts,  and  that  this  object  will  vary 
continually — not  only  on  various  trees,  but 
with  a  tree  itself — and  it  is  impossible,  there- 
fore, to  give  practical  lessons  in  detail  without 
knowing  what  particular  object  one  may  have 
in  view.  For  this  paragraph,  we  will  say  that 
one  might  have  fruit  trees  growing  in  a  com- 
paratively small  space,  and  which  he,  there- 
fore, desires  to  keep  dwarf.  With  this  object 
in  view,  a  very  special  system  of  pruning 
would  be  necessary,  and  the  object  would  be  to 
get  growing  branches  nearer  to  the  ground  and 
not  up  in  the  air  a  long  distance,  where  the 
trees  would  make  large,  spreading  heads.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this,  one  has  to  prune  out, 
during  the  summer,  most  all  the  strong  and 
vigorous  growths  at  the  apex  of  the  plant,  so  as 
to  throw  the  course  of  the  sap  into  the  branches 
near  the  ground  ;  for,  in  a  state  of  nature,  the 
tendency  of  the  tree  is  to  go  up,  and  to  go  up  as 
rapidly  as  it  can,  and  the  upper  branches  are, 
therefore,  the  strongest,  and  the  lower  branches 
are  the  weakest.  To  cut  the  strong  ones  out, 
therefore,  strengthens  the  lower  ones.  It  is  on 
the  same  principle  that  we  prune  hedges. 
These  we  wish  to  keep  low,  and  for  this  reason 
the  plants  are  pruned  in  the  summer  time. 
The  strong,  vigorous  branches — the  top  of  the 
hedges — being  the  ones  cut  out  ;  and  this 
throws  the  sap  into  the  branches  near  the 
ground,  thereby  strengthening  them  and  mak- 
ing them  of  equal  growth  with  those  at  the 


apex, — and  this  work  has  to  be  done  during 
the  growing  season.  If  the  same  kind  of 
pruning  were  done  in  the  winter  time  instead 
of  the  summer,  the  result  would  be  that  the 
next  spring  innumerable  strong  shoots  would 
push  out  where  the  upper  ones  are  cut  oflF, — • 
and  growing  so  strong  they  would  absolutely 
draw  the  nourishment  from  the  lower  branches. 
The  pruning  has  to  be  done  in  this  case  while 
the  sap  is  in  vigorous  circulation,  so  that  the 
channel  may  at  once  be  turned  into  these  lower 
branches.  One  might  take  up  any  number  of 
questions  of  trees  in  detail — apples,  cherries, 
plums,  grapes,  or  whatever  it  may  be — and  the 
lesson  is  just  the  same  for  all  of  them.  If 
you  want  to  keep  trees  dwarf,  with  abundance 
of  good  growing  branches  near  the  ground, 
cut  out  all  the  strong  shoots  at  the  apex  during 
the  growing  season.  From  time  to  time,  we 
may  give  other  similar  lessons  in  regard  to 
other  objects  of  pruning. 


A  Pretty  Wild  Garden.— Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Loud,  of  Chelsea,  Mass.,  has  a  beautiful  wild 
garden,  which  has  attracted  the  commendation 
of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society. 
This  little  garden  is  30  feet  long  by  20  feet 
wide,  and  a  strip  of  3  feet  around  the  margin, 
— and  a  small  patch  in  the  centre  being  of 
grass  ;  yet  in  this  comparatively  small  space 
Mrs.  Loud  has  growing  more  than  a  hundred 
species  of  native  plants,  and  one  of  the  chief 
pleasures  of  her  life  is  in  caring  for  and  culti- 
vating them.  The  selection  has  been  so  made 
that  some  flowers  are  in  bloom  the  whole  season 
of  the  year,  commencing  with  Hepatica  triloba, 
the  wild  columbine,  some  of  the  early  crow- 
foots, blood  roots,  and  violets,  winding  up  at 
the  end  of  the  3'ear  with  various  golden  rods 
and  asters.  Some  of  them  are  grown  expressly 
for  their  rarity,  while  such  common  things  as 
the  ox-eye  daisy,  which,  though  common,  are 
yet  ine.xpressively  beautiful,  find  a  place  in 
the  collection.  A  small  space  is  devoted  to 
ferns — some  two  dozen  of  the  most  interesting 
kinds  finding  a  place  in  the  garden. 

(151) 


152 


MEEHANS"  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Oct. 


Double  Spathed  Calla.— The  common 
calla,  or  Richardia  athiopica,  often  has  a 
double  spathe.     Mr.  A.  Blanc  sends  Meehans' 

Monthly  a  case  in 
which  the  spotted 
calla,  R.  maculata, 
has  taken  the  same 
course.  These  ab- 
normal growths  are 
useful  for  the  lessons 
they  teach.  The 
true  inflorescence  of 
the  calla  is  the  inside 
spike,  known  as  the 
spadix.  The  upper 
yellow  portion  is  a 
mass  of  male  flow- 
ers ;  the  female  flow- 
ers are  at  the  base. 
But  the  flower  stem 
of  which  this  "spa- 
dix "  is  the  termina- 
tion, has  been  en- 
folded by  the  stalk 
of  another  leaf,  and 
so  closely  that  no 
mark  of  union  is 
left.  The  leaf  blade 
only  was  not  ab- 
sorbed; but  as  if  in 
revenge  for  this  close  familiarity,  the  ruling 
power  in  the  floral  kingdom  has  forced 
this  leaf  blade  to  loose  its  green  color  at  any 
rate,  and  to  blanch  and  pale,  as  if  part  of  the 
real  flower.  In  this  instance  the  union  has 
not  been  so  complete  as  in  the  cases  of  other 
callas,  and  the  outer  leaf  at  the  apex  has  a 
more  sheath-like  appearance. 

Ever-blooming  Climbing  Roses. — Roses, 
hardy  enough  to  stand  considerable  frost,  and 
to  serve  as  climbers  are  scarce,  but  one  of  the 
best  is  Gloire  de  Dijon.  This  has  often  been 
known  to  get  through  safely  when  the  ther- 
mometer has  fallen  to  zero.  It  is  a  rapid 
grower,  and  in  a  few  years  will  cover  the  gable 
of  a  two-story  house.  The  delicious  fragrance 
of  the  tea  rose,  one  of  its  parents,  is  abund- 
antly displa5'ed.  The  rose  William  Allan 
Richardson,  is  said  to  be  a  successful  competi- 
tor with  Gloire  de  Dijon  in  the  old  world. 
Has  any  one  had  good  American  experience 
with  it  ? 


RICHARDIA   MACULATA, 
WITH    DOUBLE  SPATHE. 


Popularity  of  the  Carnation. — Flower 
lovers  who  are  growing  gray  can  remember 
how  fickle  fashion  has  changed,  and  often  left 
some  smooth  sailing  favorite  high  and  dry  on 
a  neglected  shore.  Take  the  camellia  for 
instance.  It  made  the  fortune  of  many  a 
florist  less  than  half  a  century  ago.  Philadel- 
phia especially  was  one  of  the  headquarters  for 
camellia  culture.  Any  florist  had  or  could 
fill  at  a  few  hours'  notice  orders  for  a  thou- 
sand plants  at  a  time.  Recently  an  order 
came  to  one  for  a  hundred  from  a  Southern 
customer,  which  could  not  be  filled  by  the 
whole  city.  How  different  with  the  rose  and 
carnation.  The  popular  love  for  these  has 
never  failed.  Spenser,  the  great  poet  of  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  writes: 

Bring  hither  the  Pincke  and  purple  Cullambine, 

With  Gelli  flowers,— 
Bring  Coronations,  and  Sops-of-Wine, 

Worn  of  paramours. 

It  is  clear  the  small  bunches  of  carnations 
worn  by  all  who  can  reach  them  to-day  were 
just  as  popular  three  hundred  years  ago,  or 
long  before  even  that.  The  carnation  is  a 
flower  of  the  gods — a  Dianthus — and  will 
never  die. 

Female  Ailantus. — Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders,  of 
Philadelphia,  justly  calls  attention  to  the  great 
beauty  of  this  tree.  The  male  Ailantus  first 
disgusts  by  its  disagreeable  odor,  and  then  the 
flowers  fall  leaving  nothing  more  behind  them. 
But  the  female  flowers  have  a  rather  pleasant 
fragrance  and  are  followed  by  the  fruit,  which 
soon  takes  on  a  beautiful  golden  color.  Most 
will  agree  with  him  that  there  are  few  things 
more  beautiful  than  the  female  Ailantus  with 
its  young  fruit  during  the  months  of  August 
and  September.  By  the  way  the  name  is 
Ailantus  and  not  Ailanthus,  as  frequently 
written,  the  tree  being  named  from  the  Chinese 
"  Ailanto." 

The  Cedar  of  I,ebanon. — A  correspondent 
from  Dayton,  Ohio,  inquires  how  far  north  the 
Cedar  of  Lebanon  has  been  known  to  stand 
the  rigors  of  our  winters.  In  Mr.  Downing's 
time  there  was  a  very  large  specimen  at  Prince- 
ton, N.  J.  ;  no  doubt  there  are  good  specimens 
further  north.  It  would  be  well  to  make  a 
record  of  them,  as  these  practical  experiences 
are  of  great  value  to  planters. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


153 


The  Empress  Tree. — Mr.  George  Canby, 
of  Philadelphia,  writes  that  a  recent  measure- 
ment of  the  specimen  of  Pauloivnia  imperialis 
in  Independence  Square,  Philadelphia,  gives 
nine  feet  in  circumference.  It  will  be  interest- 
ing to  know  whether  there  is  any  larger  speci- 
mens in  America.  In  Japan  they  are  extremely 
valuable  forest  trees,  the  wood  being  used  for 
similar  work  to  which  we  should  apply  our 
Linodendroii,  or  Tulip  Tree,  the  wood  being 
very  soft,  light  and  white  ;  the  growth  is 
extremely  rapid.  The 
specimen  referred  to  was 
given  by  the  late  Mr. 
Robert  Buistto  the  city, 
to  be  planted  in  its  pres- 
ent location.  He  used 
to  remark  with  a  sad 
expression  of  jocularity 
that  after  having  kept  a 
large  number  for  many 
years  he  became  dis- 
gusted with  its  rough- 
looking  habit.  He  had 
all  his  fine  plants 
burned,  supposing  no 
one  would  care  to  buy 
them;  but  a  year  or  two 
after  this  ruthless  de- 
struction of  his  stock 
this  one  in  Independ- 
ence Square  flowered, 
and  having  such  a  de- 
lightful fragrance  and 
pale  blue  blossoms, 
there  arose  a  very  large 
number  of  inquiries  for 
the  plants  which  he  had 
but  a  year  or  two  before 
destroyed. 

The  Me.xican  Tiger 
Flower.— Possibly  one 
of  the  prettiest  and  most 
interesting  of  the  bulbs 
that  are  planted  in  the 
spring  is  the  Mexican 
Tiger  Flower,  Tigridia 
Pavonia.  Some  few 
years  ago  one  species 
was  discovered  to  be  a 
native  of  the  United 
States,     having     been 


found  in  southern  Texas  by  Mr.  Pringle, — 
this  has  been  named  Tigridia  baccifera.  It 
has  blossomed  the  present  season  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  F.  H.  Horsford,  of  Vermont. 

Colorado  River  Palm. — The  Bulletin  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Association  of  Tuscany 
notes  that  the  fine  American  Palm,  Washitig- 
tonia  filifera ,  has  borne  fruit.  This  is  possibly 
the  first  time  it  has  produced  seeds  outside  of 
its  native  localities. 


YUCCA    BREVIFOLIA.-sEc  p.  147. 


154 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Oct. 


KCELREUTERIA  PANICULATA.  —  Miss  Fay 
writes  that  this  beautiful  small  tree  is  per- 
fectly hardy  at  Falmouth,  Mass.  We  have  an 
impression  that  it  is  one  of  the  hardiest  of 
Japan  trees,  and  no  doubt  will  be  found  to 
endure  winters  much  further  north.  It  will 
be  worth  noting  that  the  flowers,  like  so  many 
trees,  are  more  or  less  bi-sesual,  some  trees 
having  flowers  wholly  barren,  while  others  are 
abundantly  fertile.  They  also  vary  as  to  time 
of  blooming.  In  the  Meehan  Nurseries  is  a 
group  composed  of  six  trees,  which  have  all 
grown  up  closely  together.  There  is  as  much 
diflference  as  one  month  between  the  time  of 
the  earliest  and  the  latest  to  bloom.  Every 
one  admires  a  beautiful  golden  sunset,  and  the 
Koelreuteria  in  full  blossom  has  nearly  as 
attractive  a  representation  of  this  beautiful 
scene  as  it  is  possible  for  even  a  skilful  artist 
to  produce. 

Planting  Potted  Strawberries.— A  not 
uncommon  fault  in  planting  strawberries, 
whether  they  are  plants  from  runners  direct 
from  the  ground,  or  whether  they  are  potted 
plants,  is  to  set  the  crown  too  deep,— if  the 
crown  is  set  an  inch  or  even  less  beneath  the 
surface,  it  is  almost  sure  to  rot.  Many  set 
them  so  that  a  good  portion  of  the  leaf  stalks 
are  covered  as  well  as  the  crown.  This  is  not 
only  true  with  strawberries,  but  of  many 
plants  which  have  a  similar  habit  of  growth. 
Even  such  an  easily  growing  plant  as  the 
blackberry  or  the  raspberry  will  rot  when  set 
too  deep.  There  is  a  bud  at  the  base  of  the 
cane  from  which  a  new  plant  is  to  spring  ;  and 
if  this  bud  is  buried  too  far  beneath  the  sur- 
face, just  as  in  the  case  of  the  strawberry, 
it  will  rot.  Plants  of  this  character  should  be 
set  so  that  the  bud  itself  is  barely  beneath  the 
surface, — but  very  great  care  should  be  taken 
to  press  the  earth  very  tight  about  the  roots. 
It  is  literally  true  that  the  earth  should  be 
hammered  in  about  plants  when  with  light 
roots  of  this  character. 

Protection  op  Half  Hardy  Plants  in 
Winter.— A  correspondent  of  Reading,  Pa., 
endeavored  to  protect  Magnolia  grandiflora  by 
tying  long  straw  about  it  and  then  tying 
this  straw  with  coarse  sacks.  All  the  leaves 
subsequently  dropped  oflJ  of  them  when  mak- 
ing new  growth.      Trees  of  similar  character 


do  not  want  close  protection  of  this  kind — but 
simply  to  be  sheltered  from  the  sun  and  cold 
winds — the  atmosphere  is  rather  an  advantage 
to  them.  There  are  quite  a  number  of  very 
fine  specimens  of  this  Magnolia  in  the  city 
yards  and  gardens  of  Philadelphia  and  vicin- 
ity that  get  BO  protection  at  all  but  what  the 
surrounding  buildings  afford.  The  sun  does 
not  shine  on  them  long  in  the  winter,  and  the 
cold  winds  are  effectually  kept  from  them. 

Campanula  Mariesii. — One  of  our  prettiest 
border  plants  is  the  Campaiiula  gra7idiflora. 
There  are  two  varieties,  white  and  purple.  It 
is  an  admirable  plant  for  cutting,  as  the 
leathery  flowers  continue  a  long  while  without 
withering.  It  is  popular  with  florists  on  this 
account.  A  new  species.  Campanula  Alariesii, 
has  been  introduced  from  Japan,  and  flowered 
for  the  first  time  on  our  grounds  this  season. 
The  leaves  and  flowers  seem  very  much  like 
the  well  known  form  we  have  referred  to  ;  but 
the  plant  is  quite  dwarfish  in  its  habits,  not 
growing  more  than  a  foot  high,  while  the 
other  species  is  well  adapted  to  the  back  part 
of  a  border,  growing  as  it  does  several  feet  in 
height.  The  new  introduction  will  be  valuable 
for  placing  in  positions  near  the  front  of  the 
beds. 

Improvement  in  Bulb  Gardens. — There 
are  a  number  of  herbaceous  plants  which 
flower  in  spring  almost  as  early  as  the  tulip, 
the  hyacinth,  and  other  plants  known  as 
German  bulbs  ;  and  when  these  herbaceous 
plants  are  used  as  bordering  for  the  tulip  beds, 
or  in  other  ways,  in  connection  with  the  culti- 
vation of  these  flowers,  the  effect  is  said  to  be 
quite  unique.  It  certainly  adds  very  largely 
to  the  varied  pleasures  which  the  cultivation  of 
flowers  gives. 


Improved  Gannas. — The  great  popularity 
of  the  Canna  for  tropical  effects  in  our  north- 
ern flower  ga,rdens  during  the  summer  has 
led  many  florists  to  take  especial  interest  in 
producing  new  and  improved  varieties.  One 
of  these  experimenters  who  have  achieved 
remarkable  success  is  Mr.  J.  C.  Vaughan,  of 
Western  Springs,  near  Chicago.  He  raises 
Canna  plants  in  immense  quantities,  and  has 
produced,  among  seedlings,  many  remarkable 
and  valuable  varieties. 


J  893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY— GENERAL   GARDENING. 


155 


CtJTTiNG  Back  Evergreen  Hedges. — Mr. 
Joseph  Dougherty,  of  New  Castle,  Del.,  in- 
quires whether  it  would  be  safe  to  cut  down  an 
arbor  vitae  which  has  grown  too  large,  being 
now  twenty  feet  high.  An  evergreen  of  this 
character  can  safe!}-  be  cut  down  as  low  as  may 
be  desirable,  providing  some  evergreen  foliage 
is  left  to  give  the  plant  a  start.  No  plants  suf- 
fer so  much  the  loss  of  foliage  as  evergreens, 
— and  in  all  pruning,  whether  the  plants  are 
growing  in  hedges  or  singly,  it  must  always  be 
kept  in  mind  that  some  healthy  green  branches 
are  to  be  left, — otherwise  the  trees  will  die. 

Hanging  Baskets. — These  are  nice  attrac- 
tions for  rooms,  and  are  especially  desirable  for 
suspending  under  trees  in  summer  time.  But 
they  dry  out  rapidly,  and  should  be  soaked  for 
some  minutes  in  a  bucket  of  water  two  or 
three  times  a  week.  One  of  the  best  plants 
for  summer  flowering  in  such  baskets  is  the 
Blue  Lobelia.  It  likes  a  little  shade  with 
cool  soil  to  do  well,  and  this  it  gets  in 
baskets  suspended  on  the  tree  branches. 


J,  *Si  ME^ETi^PLESo 


The  Morel. — Mrs.  Seligman,  of  Hartford, 
notes  that  she  used  to  buy  them  fresh  in 
the  spring,  presumably  in  Europe,  where  peo- 
ple gathered  them  in  hilly  forests  of  oak  and 
birch.  The}'  are  readily  found  by  their  pecu- 
liar aromatic  scent.  They  are  sold,  she  says, 
in  every  first  class  grocery,  both  in  the  fresh 
and  dry  state.  A  friend  of  hers  reports  that 
they  are  tolerably  abundant  at  Homer,  Cham- 
paign Co.,  111. 

Bedding  Fuchsias. — A  dwarf  and  compara- 
tively hardy  race  of  Fuchsias  is  being  devel- 
oped in  the  old  world  from  the  species  known 
as  Fuchsia  Riccattoni.  The  dwarf  forms  are 
not  much  more  than  a  foot  high,  and  the 
plants  bloom  all  summer.  In  our  country 
they  would  require  damp,  cool  and  shady  situ- 
ations to  thrive  well. 


Protecting  Vegetables  in  the  Winter 
Season. — It  does  not  seem  to  be  generally 
known  that  light  in  the  winter  time  is  the 
chief  agent  in  the  destruction  of  vegetables, 
otherwise  hardy  ;  and  especially  light  shining 
brightly  on  the  plant  when  frozen.  A  cabbage 
or  turnip  that  is  exposed  to  the  light  rots 
readily,  but  will  keep  perfectly  sound  if  but 
slightly  covered  with  earth.  This  principle 
should  be  remembered  when  collecting  vege- 
tables together  in  large  masses  for  protection. 
It  is  often  customary  to  cover  such  sets  of  veg- 
etables with  some  light  material,  such  as 
leaves,  hay,  or  straw,  the  result  of  which  gen- 
erally is  simply  to  form  a  harbor  for  mice, 
which  is  much  more  destructive  than  the  frost 
itself  Water  has,  of  course,  to  be  excluded, 
and  if  the  vegetable  plants  are  set  closely 
together  and  covered  with  boards  to  keep  out 
the  rain,  it  is  generally  all  that  is  required. 
Water  must  be  excluded,  or  else  rotting  may 
result.  For  this  purpose  it  is  good  practice  to 
invert  vegetables  at  times  ;  the  cabbage  espec- 
ially must  receive  this  attention.  They  are 
almost  always  inverted  when  placed  together 
under  boards,  or  covers  for  protection,  and,  in 
fact,  where  no  covering  at  all  is  used  they 
will  keep  perfectly  well  when  inverted. 

Manure  for  Fruit  Trees. — There  are  two 
methods  of  manuring,  one  spreading  it  on  the 
surface,  and  the  other  plowing  or  digging  it 
in.  As  the  result  of  long  experience  it  is 
found  that  much  better  results  are  achieved  by 
surface  manuring  than  by  the  other  method. 
In  fruit  trees,  especially,  this  has  been  found 
to  be  the  case.  The  top  dressing  should  be 
applied  as  soon  in  the  spring  as  the  frost  is 
gone,  or,  at  least,  in  time  to  get  the  benefit  of 
the  spring  rains,  which  carry  the  fertilizing 
material  a  little  way  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
soil. 


Magnolia  Thompsoniana. — This  is  one  of 
the  late  flowering  Magnolias.  It  is  said  to 
be  a  hybrid  between  M.  grajtdtflora  and  the 
Magnolia  glauca,  but  there  is  no  indication  of 
any  other  species  being  mixed  with  it.  It  is 
just  as  sweet  as  AFagnolia  glauca,  but  comes 
into  bloom  a  little  earlier  than  the  normal 
form. 


Raspberry  Culture. — Prof.  Fred  W.  Card, 
Cornell  University  Experiment  Station,  Ithaca, 
N.  Y..  is  making  an  especial  study  of  the 
Blackberry  and  Raspberry, both  in  their  history 
and  culture,  and  any  one  in  possession  of  any 
special  fact  would  be  thanked  for  the  informa- 
tion and  get  due  credit  when  the  paper  is  pub- 
lished. 


iS6 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Oct. 


Experiment  with  Wild  Potato. — Mr. 
T.  Wheeler,  of  Moscow,  Vt.,  says; — "Your 
last  statement,  '  New  growth  could  not  possi- 
bly come  from  the  old  interior  wood,'  brought 
to  my  mind  one  particular  experiment  which  I 
tried  with  wild  potatoes  three  and  two  years 
since.  In  digging  these  potatoes  I  found  one 
very  sound  potato  (an  old  one  of  the  previous 
year's  growth)  which  I  thought  to  save  over 
and  plant  the  next  spring  and  see  if  it  would 
grow  a  second  crop.  *  *  *  spring  I  carefully 
planted  it,  sticking  a  stake  on  each  side  of  it. 
In  due  time  it  came  up  and  grew  vigorously  all 
the  season. 

In  digging  this  hill,  in  the  fall,  I  found  125 
potatoes  in  number.  Of  course  some,  yes, 
many  of  them,  were  very  small. 

It  seems  that  this  potato  had  life  left  in  it 
after  producing  one  crop. 

I  have  been  experimenting  with  these  pota- 
toes for  eight  years,  then  taken  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Mexico  in  their  wild  state. 

I  had  hoped  to  raise  up  a  healthy  potato,  free 
from  disease,  but  I  am  getting  discouraged,  for 
I  am  beginning  to  think  that  one  man  would 
not  live  long  enough  to  accomplish  the  desired 
result  as  to  size. 

As  yet  they  show  no  signs  of  disease.  No 
potato  bugs  will  touch  them.  In  all  their 
growth  from  spring  to  fall  no  person  can 
guess  what  they  are.  If  you  should  take  any 
notice  of  this  in  your  Monthly,  please  give 
your  opinion  as  to  the  poisonous  nature  of 
these  potatoes. 

Would  you  have  any  fears  in  cooking  and 
eating  these  potatoes  ? ' ' 

[Mr.  Wheeler's  note  was  not  paged,  and  it 
would  seem  where  the  asterisks  are  placed 
something  is  missing,  but  that  part  evidently 
describes  that  the  roots  are  persistent.  Still 
the  law  does  not  vary  even  here.  It  is  the 
exterior  layer  of  cells  only  that  carry  on  the 
life  processes. 

This  "Wild  Potato"  is  probably  the  com- 
mon Ipomcea  pandurata,  a  great  enemy  of  the 
cultivator  and  the  roots  of  which,  enlarging 
from  year  to  year,  sometimes  get  as  large  as 
some  human  beings,  and  get  the  common  name 
of  "  man  of  the  earth  ' ' — roots  in  this  popular 
sense  meaning  tubers.  The  sweet  potato  is 
closely  allied  to  it,  and  so  is  the  plant  from 
which  "Jalap  "  is  produced.  There  seems  no 
reason  why  the  roots  should  not  be  wholesome 


when  properly  cooked, — but  one  must  do,  as 
the  original  man  did  with  everything  found  to 
be  good,  try  a  very  little  first,  which  can  do  no 
harm, — and  then  eat  more  when  no  bad  results 
follow  the  little  taken.] 


Preservation  of  Cabbage  in  the  Win- 
ter.— A  correspondent  of  the  "Lyon  Horti- 
cole, "  an  excellent  French  magazine,  refers 
with  approval  to  the  common  American  prac- 
tice of  preserving  cabbages  by  placing  them 
upside  down,  and  then  covering  them  with 
just  enough  earth  to  prevent  the  sun  from 
affecting  them.  Frost  in  darkness  does  not 
injure  the  leaves  ;  while  the  inversion  prevents 
chance  of  water  getting  in  to  rot  the  heads. 
The  roots,  of  course,  are  above  the  ground  ; 
but  this  makes  no  difference.  It  is  one  of  the 
easiest  and  best  methods  of  preserving  this 
vegetable  during  the  winter.  If  the  earth  is 
not  very  thickly  spread  on,  say  not  more  than 
an  inch  or  two,  it  is  easily  cracked  by  a  light 
blow,  so  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  getting 
out  the  heads  in  the  severest  weather. 

Zinc  Labels. — Some  years  ago  the  Garden- 
ers' Monthly  made  the  public  acquainted  with 
the  fact  that  an  ordinary  lead  pencil  used  on 
zinc  makes  an  indelible  mark,  and  since  then 
zinc  labels  written  in  this  way  are  among  the 
most  approved  for  trees  of  permanent  char- 
acter. Although  not  clear,  the  writing  is 
legible  for  many  years.  The  zinc  label  may 
be  in  the  form  of  a  triangle  and  the  narrow 
portions  coiled  around  a  branch.  It  requires 
uncoiling  every  few  years  ;  otherwise  it  will 
grow  into  the  bark. 


The  Deacon  Cherry. — It  does  not  seem  so 
very,  very  long  ago,  since  the  writer  of  this 
paragraph  sent  the  first  Cherry  trees  to  Cali- 
fornia. They  .had  to  make  a  long  voyage 
round  to  get  there.  Now  the  fruit  growers  of 
the  State  can  not  only  raise  their  own  Cherry 
trees,  but  have  new  varieties  from  the  seeds 
they  have  raised.  The  Deacon,  a  variety 
raised  by  the  W.  R.  Strong  Company,  of 
Sacramento,  is  said  to  be  in  the  way  of  the 
Black  Tartarian,  but  is  ten  days  later. 

Vitality  of  Seeds. — Seeds  vary  in  vital 
power  of  one  sample,  a  seed  may  live  one,  two 
or  three  years.     The  earliest  to  ripen  die  first. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


IS7 


Management  of  Orchards. — It  is  con- 
ceded that  orchards  are  the  best  managed 
when  the  surface  of  the  ground  is  not  dis- 
turbed ;  but  this  depends  on  various  condi- 
tions. For  instance,  if  the  ground  is  compara- 
tively poor  and  a  large  crop  of  hay  is  expected, 
without  any  fertilizing,  it  is  impossible  for 
the  trees  to  keep  in  good  condition.  Trees 
require  food  as  well  as  grass,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible, besides  unreasonable  to  expect  two  full 
crops  from  the  same  ground.  Where,  there- 
fore, grass  is  grown  under  orchards,  it  has  to 
be  kept  low  in  some  manner,  or  else  heavy 
dressings  of  fertilizers 
applied.  Where  sheep 
can  be  employed  to  keep 
the  grass  down, 
orchards  are  more  suc- 
cessfully managed  than 
in  any  other  way.  In 
addition  to  the  advant- 
age of  keeping  the  grass 
cropped,  is  the  fact  that 
the  animals  eat  the 
wormy  apples,  and  in 
this  way  destroy  a  large 
amount  of  insect  larvse. 
Where  sufficient  fertili- 
zers for  top  dressing 
cannot  be  obtained, 
rather  than  have  a 
heavy  crop  of  grass  or 
weeds,  it  is  much  better 
to  keep  the  surface  har- 
rowed or  even  plowed. 
Any  one  who  may  have 
had  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  a  fruit  tree  on  a 
lawn  where  the  grass  is 
kept  constantly  mown, 
will  not  need  any  other  lesson  to  show  the 
advantage  of  not  disturbing  the  soil,  as  it  is 
so  often  done  by  people  who  use  the  plow 
among  the  trees. 

The  Best  Country  for  Apples. — It  is 
said  that  California  will  never  get  the  fame  in 
apple  culture  which  has  followed  its  experi- 
ence with  other  fruits.  This  is  natural  ;  the 
apple  is  a  native  of  cool  and  comparatively 
northern  regions.  It  h^s  never  been  able  to 
adapt  itself  to  warm  countries.  Even  in  the 
Eastern  States  the  apple  is  not  a  particularly 


successful  fruit  south  of  the  Potomac  river, 
except  in  the  mountains  and  cool  regions.  All 
along  the  Allegheny  range  they  thrive  admir- 
ably, quite  as  well  as  in  the  famous  apple 
regions  of  western  New  York  ;  but  when  we 
get  into  the  lower  lands,  where  a  long  and 
comparatively  high  summer  temperature  pre- 
vails, the  apple  would  never  be  looked  upon  as 
a  desirable  orchard  fruit  by  those  who  were 
looking  to  profit  from  fruit  culture. 

The  Starr  Apple. — An  apple  equal  to  the 
famous   White  Doctor  in  the  latter' s  special 


THE  STARR   APPLE. 

(Full  size.) 
Ripe  near  Philadelphia  the  end  of  July  and  beginning  of  August. 


good  qualities,  and  yet  a  month  earlier,  as 
presented  by  the  "Starr,"  seemed  deserving 
of  an  illustration,  but  it  could  not  be  gotten 
ready  for  the  paragraph  which  appeared  in  the 
last  issue.  The  engraving  is  full  size  from  the 
specimen  received  from  Mr.  Parry. 

Wine  Making  in  America. — Mr.  Elwood 
Johnson,  of  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  has  a 
bottle  of  wine  made  in  1760,  from  American 
species  of  grapes,  which  is  probably  the  oldest 
sample  of  native  wine  in  America.  The  Frost 
grape  was  probably  used. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


AUTUMN  LOVE. 
True  Love  is  but  a  humble,  low-born  thing, 

-:v  ev  ^-  *  -X-  * 

Which,  when  our  Autumn  cometh,  as  it  must. 

And  life  in  the  chill  wind  shivers  bare  and  leafless, 

Shall  still  be  blest  with  Indian-summer  ^-outh 

In  bleak  November;   and,  with  thankful  heart. 

Smile  on  its  ample  stores  of  garnered  fruit. 

As  full  of  sunshine  to  our  aged  eyes 

As  when  it  nursed  the  blossoms  of  our  spring. 

—  Lowell. 


Nehrling's  "  Our  Native  Birds  of  Song 
AND  Beauty." — A  caustic  writer  once  said  of 
a  class  he  disliked,  "had  they  a  hand  in  the 
creation  of  the  world  not  a  flovcer  would  have 
been  made  to  bloom  nor  a  bird  be  allowed  to 
sing."  It  so  happened  that  there  are  no 
warmer  lovers  of  birds  and  flowers  than  those 
the  critic  was  angered  at.  The  love  of  both  is 
innate  in  the  human  race,  and  the  love  of  both 
go  together.  To  the  readers  of  Meehans' 
Monthly  no  recommendation  of  such  a  beau- 
tiful and  scholarly  work  as  Nehrling's  "Our 
Native  Birds  of  Song  and  Beauty,"  will  be 
necessary.  It  will  stand  in  all  libraries  side 
by  side  with  the  best  illustrated  works  on  nat- 
ural history  that  this  country  has  produced. 
The  second  volume,  to  complete  the  first,  now 
presented,  will  soon  be  issued.  There  will  be 
thirty-six  colored  plates  of  American  birds,  a 
number  of  species  being  presented  on  a  single 
plate.  The  whole  is  to  be  issued  in  si.xteen 
parts,  with,  in  addition  to  the  colored  plates, 
forty  to  forty-eight  pages  of  reading  matter 
relating  to  the  birds  described.  Mr.  H.  Nehr- 
ling,  the  author,  is  connected  with  the  Public 
Museum  of  Milwaukee,  and  the  well-known 
Milwaukee  book  firm  of  Geo.  Brumder  is  the 
publisher.  The  subscription  price  is  $15.  The 
first  volume,  beautifully  bound,  is  now  ready  ; 
price,  $11. 

Robert  Cornelius. — Amateur  horticultur- 
ists have  lost  a  devoted  and  successful  friend  in 
Robert  Cornelius,  formerly  of  the  well-known 
Philadelphia  firm  of  Cornelius  &  Baker, — the 
firm   who  built  the  bronze  stair-railing  in  the 

(158) 


Capitol  building  at  Washington.  He  was 
always  in  the  advance  in  everj'  improvement, — 
and  the  writer  of  this  well  remembers  his  enthu- 
siasm in  exhibiting  an  appliance  to  light  all  the 
gas  lamps  in  a  large  hall  by  merely  turning  on 
an  electric  screw.  This  was  thought  to  be  the 
great  wonder  of  the  world  in  its  time, — but  he 
lived  to  see  far  greater  advancements  than 
this  as  soon  as  the  dynamo  was  constructed. 
In  horticulture  he  was  especiallj'  famous  for 
his  successful  cultivation  of  fruits.  Pears, 
especially,  were  a  great  favorite  with  him. 
He  was  always  on  the  alert  for  new  methods  of 
culture,  not  so  much  for  himself, — but  because 
he  felt  in  this  way  he  was  advancing  the 
pleasures  of  horticulture.  He  was  the  inventor 
of  a  propagating  pot,  which  for  a  long  time 
was  quite  popular  with  successful  florists.  He 
also  was  the  inventor  of  a  method  of  grafting 
the  grape  from  green  wood,  which  was  partic- 
ularly successful  and  yet  extremely  simple. 
For  many  years  he  was  one  of  the  strongest 
supports  of  the  Pennsylvania  Horticultural 
Societ}'  when  it  was  to  a  great  extent  the  admi- 
ration of  the  whole  union'.  He  was  born  on 
the  first  of  March,  1809,  and  died  on  the  loth  of 
August  last. 

Botany  in  the  West. — The  report  of  the 
Professor  of  Botany  ib  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, Dr.  W.  J.  Beal,  shows  a  wonderful 
advance  in  the  popularity  of  botanical  study 
in  that  section  of  our  country.  The  herb- 
arium, especially,  is  now  believed  to  be  one  of 
the  best  in  the  Union,  while  Dr.  Beal  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  of  botanical 
instructors.  Very  much  depends  on  the  per- 
sonality of  a  teacher  of  science, — some  have 
the  ability  to  attract  students  to  studies  that 
very  often  seem  hard,  but  the  good  teacher 
renders  the  pathway  so  pleasant  that  supposed 
difiiculties  soon  disappear.  The  late  Dr.  Gray 
was  one  of  these  exceptionally  attractive 
men, — Dr.  Beal  is  a  student  of  Dr.  Gray's, 
and  seems  to  have  imbibed  the  geniality  of  Dr. 
Gray  with  high  botanical  attainments. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND   LITERATURE. 


159 


George  S.  Conover.  —  Mr.  George  S. 
Conover,  the  eminent  historian  of  the  Indians 
of  Geneva,  is  one  of  that  city's  patrons  of 
gardening.  A  recent  issue  of  the  Geiieva 
Review  has  an  appreciative  notice  of  Mr. 
Conover's  garden  work.  He  is  especially  fond 
of  wild  flowers,  and  has  a  number  of  the  rarer 
kinds  in  cultivation.  One  of  his  chief  pleas- 
ures is  in  giving  away  to  his  friends  and 
neighbors  his  surplus  plants.  He  has  over 
fifty  varieties  of  Pteonies,  and  forty  of  Daffo- 
dils. Dead  trees  are  utilized  by  planting 
around  them  various  forms  of  flowering  vines. 
One  of  the  finest  illustrations  of  the  value  of 
the  Japan  ivy, — Vae  Ampelopsis  I'eitchii — to  be 
seen  in  America,  is  growing  over  Mr.  Cono- 
ver's house.  He  uses  these  plants  as  a  sort  of 
ladder  up  which  very  delicate  plants  may 
climb.  Clematises  and  other  flowering  plants 
are  set  out  with  the  ivy,  and  they  all  grow  up 
in  harmony  together.  This  is  an  excellent 
idea  which  may  be  la'rgely  improved  by  the 
readers  of  Meehans'  Monthly. 

Sir  John  Bennet  Lawes. — The  Count ty 
Gentlemen  of  August  24th  gives  us  a  picture 
of  this  great  man,  for  surely  if  anyone  has  a 
right  to  this  honorable  designation  it  is  Sir 
John  Bennet  I.awes.  There  have  been  numer- 
ous men  eminent  in  practical  gardening,  and 
some  who  are  as  prominent  in  the  science  as 
well  as  art  ;  but  Lawes  has  united  science  and 
practice  to  such  an  eminent  degree,  that  he 
has  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  good  results 
of  his  work  in  his  own  lifetime;  while  usually 
such  work  as  this  is  scarcely  apparent  until 
after  the  workers  are  gone.  One  point,  how- 
ever, ma}'  be  remarked  that  Sir  John  is  now  in 
his  eightieth  year,  so  there  has  been  abundant 
time  for  the  fruition  of  the  seed  which  he  early 
sowed. 

Science. — This  monthly  serial  is  now  in  its 
eleventh  year,  and  deserves  the  hearty  support 
of  those  who  value  general  intelligence.  The 
world  is  only  just  coming  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  exact  knowledge,  which  is  simply 
what  science  means.  "What  good?"  has 
become  a  stale  query.  Lovers  of  flowers  es- 
pecially laugh  at  the  question.  What  good  is 
the  geranium  growing  in  an  old  tomato  can  to 
the  poor  woman  who  so  sedulously  watches 
over  it?      Human  pleasure  and  human  knowl- 


edge are  closer  than  Siamese  twins.  Science 
should  have  a  growing  subscription  list.  It  is 
published  weekly  by  N.  D.  C.  Hodges,  New 
York,  at  $3.50  per  year. 


The  Asa  Gray  Bulletin.— It  has  come  to 
be  an  acknowledged  principle  that  the  value 
of  a  magazine  does  not  consist  in  its  size, 
so  much  as  in  brief  and  well  considered  state- 
ments of  facts.  The  Asa  Gray  Bulletin  is  a 
good  exemplification  of  this,— although  small 
in  its  number  of  pages,  it  abounds  with  facts 
about  wild  flowers  and  botany  in  general,  that 
we  could  not  find  in  larger  or  more  preten- 
tious works.  It  is  the  official  organ  of  The 
Gray  Memorial  Botanical  Chapter  of  the 
Agassiz  Association. 

It  is  not  saying  too  much  that  even  the 
most  intelligent  amateur  or  professional  botan- 
ist will  find  it  a  great  aid  in  botanical  study. 

Applications  for  membership  in  tie  Associa- 
tion can  be  made  to  C.  L.  Shear,  Alcove,  N.  Y. 


Frederick  Law  Olmsted. — Landscape 
gardening  in  America  owes  gratitude  to  Mr. 
Olmsted,  one  of  our  popular  landscape  garden- 
ers, well  known  in  connection  with  Central 
Park,  New  York,  and  who  has  devoted  his 
whole  life  to  this  art.  Numerous  illustrations 
of  the  value  of  his  work  are  around  us  every- 
where, and  particularly  the  work  in  connection 
with  the  Columbian  exhibit,  which  in  many 
cases  leave  on  the  minds  of  visitors  to  the 
exhibition  more  lasting  impressions  of  pleasure 
than  anything  else  seen  there.  It  will  gratify 
all  lovers  of  true  art  in  gardening  to  learn  that 
Harvard  has  conferred  the  honors  of  an  LL.  D. 
on  Mr.   Olmsted. 

Francis  PARKMAN.^This  excellent  ama- 
teur horticulturist  is  now  in  his  eighty-first 
year.  Few  men  have  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of 
gardening  more  than  he.  His  recreation  has 
been  among  his  garden  and  flowers.  Some 
branches  of  gardening  he  has  made  an  especial 
study,  especially  in  connection  with  the  im- 
provement of  lilies,  one  beautiful  variety — 
Liliiim  Parktnani  being  named  in  his  honor. 
All  intelligent  Americans  will  wish  a  long  life 
to  the  author  of  "Pioneers  of  France  in  the 
New  World,  "  one  of  the  most  fascinating  his- 
torical works  ever  written. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Destruction  of  Forests  through  Christ- 
mas Trees. — The  newspapers  are  frequently 
very  pathetic  over  the  enormous  destruction  of 
forests,  caused  by  the  annual  sales  of  Christ- 
mas trees.  As  trees  are,  in  any  form,  valuable 
only  for  the  pleasure  which  humanity  can 
derive  from  them,  there  seems  to  be  no  more 
reason  why  they  may  not  be  sacrificed  for  this 
pleasure  when  comparatively  young, as  for  floor 
boards  when  thej'  reach  maturer  years.  The 
satisfaction  which  thousands  of  young  folks 
receive  from  the  Christmas  tree  is  a  full  com- 
pensation for  its  destruction  ;  and  aside  from 
this,  as  any  one  knows  who  may  have  visited 
northern  forests,  the  trees  usually  are  far  too 
close  together  ever  to  form  first-class  timber. 
Spruce  and  Firs  may  be  seen  growing 
together  as  thick  as  wheat  in  the  grain  field; 
and  to  expect  timber  from  such  closely  grow- 
ing specimens  is  entirely  out  of  the  question, — 
hence  the  trees  may  be  cut  from  the  young 
northern  forests  without  operating  against  full 
grown  forest  trees  eventually. 

Condensation. — While  some  of  our  co-tem- 
poraries are  boasting  of  their  immense  size — 
one  priding  itself  on  115  pages, — Meehans' 
Monthly  is  setting  the  example  of  condensa- 
tion. Life  is  now  too  short  for  long  reading. 
The  conductors  believe  as  much  is  given  in 
the  sixteen  pages  of  this  magazine  as  could  be 
spread  over  50. 

Martindale  Herbarium. — A  life  of  hard 
work  and  abundant  cash,  joined  with  high 
botanical  attainments,  can  only  found  a  great 
herbarium.  Happy  is  the  young  student  who 
finds  one  ready  formed  for  him.  Mr.  Isaac  C. 
Martindale's — one  of  the  finest  in  America — 
is  to  be  sold  before  the  end  of  the  year.  It  has 
been  valued  at  $10,000.  INIrs.  M.  has  been 
asking  only  f  Sooo  ior  it.  As  it  must  be  sold  it 
might  be  well  for  parties  desiring  to  secure 
this  prize  to  offer  what  they  think  they  can 
afford.  Her  address  is  Penn  street  above 
Third,  Camden,  N.  J. 

(160) 


Plant  Names.— Botanical  authors  have  been 
at  war  about  plant  names.  One  of  the  old 
canons  of  botany  prescribes  that  the  oldest 
names  that  have  been  accompanied  by  clear 
descriptions  should  be  adopted.  It  now  appears 
that  this  has  not  always  been  done.  To  enforce 
this  rule  in  relation  to  what  has  been  done  the 
past  hundred  years  would  demand  the  chang- 
ing of  thousands  of  names.  Authors  of  local 
works  are  everywhere  changing  the  names,  as 
they  discover  some  prior  one,  until  botanists 
have  come  not  to  know  what  his  neighbor  is 
talking  about.  Meehans'  Monthly  has 
taken  the  ground  that  it  is  the  best  on  the 
whole  to  follow  some  ably  edited  lexicon, 
just  as  in  some  literary-  squabble  we  would  let 
Webster  or  Worcester  have  the  casting  vote. 
It  is  very  pleasant  to  note  that  under  the  lead 
of  so  able  and  eminent  a  botanist  as  Prof.  ■ 
Trelease,  the  Society  of  American  Florists  has 
adopted  this  view.  Nicholson's  Dictionary  is 
named  as  their  standard  for  plant  names. 

Thanks. — The  thanks  of  Meehans'  Month- 
ly are  due  to  Mr.  P.J.  Berckmans,  of  Augusta, 
Ga.,  for  kindly  notice  in  his  beautiful  cata- 
logue just  issued.  Mr.  Berckmans  was  among 
the  first  of  the  more  intelligent  members  of 
the  nurserj^  trade  to  welcome  the  magazine, 
and  the  continued  regard  is  appreciated. 


Blue  Stone  and  Copperas. — To  save  con- 
fusion it  is  well  to  state  that  when  one  asks 
in  the  drug  store  for  "  Copperas  "  he  gets 
sulphate  of  iron.  If  the  article  for  copper 
solutions  is  required,  "  Blue  Stone  "  is  to  be 
ordered.  The  name  copperas  is  misleading 
and  often  gets  writers  into  trouble. 


The  Next  Plate. — As  there  will  yet  be 
many  species  of  the  great  order  CompositcE  in 
bloom  during  November,  it  will  help  in  their 
study  to  give  for  our  next  illustration  a 
picture  oi  Prenanthes  alba. 


Vol.  III. 


Plate  11. 


F'renanthes  Alu-v, 


PRENANTHES  ALBA. 


LION'S  FOOT. 


NATURAI,  ORDER,  COMPOSITE. 


Trenanthes  ALiiA,  LiNN.EUS.— Stem  rather  stout,  purplish  and  prlaucous,  two  or  three  to  five  or  six  feet  high, 
smooth,  sometimes  nearly  simple,  often  much  branched  ;  leaves  two  to  six  or  eight  inches  long,  and  often  as  wide  as 
long,  varying  from  triangular— hastate  to  palmate— lobed  and  pinnatitid,  the  radical  ones  large;  petioles  from  four 
to  eight  or  ten  inches  long  :  heads  puri)Iish,  eight  to  twelve  flowered,  florets  ochroleucous,  often  with  a  purple  tinge. 
(Under  Nahahts  albus,  from  Darlington's  Flora  Cestrica.  See  also  Gray's  Manual  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern 
Citited  States.  Chapman's  Flora  of  the  Southern  United  States,  and  Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.') 


The  species  now  illustrated  may  be  classed 
among  the  distinguished  Americans,  having 
had  honor  among  the  Indian  races  long  before 
it  was  drawn  to  the  attention  of  the  white  man. 
rt  was  one  of  the  first  to  attract  the  notice  of 
the  botanists  of  the  old  world.  The  "  Botani- 
cal Magazine"  tells  us  it  was  first  introduced 
to  the  gardens  at  Kew  in  1778,  but  it  was  well 
known,  at  least  from  dried  specimens,  if  not  in 
actual  cultivation,  long  before  this.  Plukenet, 
an  old  English  author,  gives  a  drawing  of  it, 
and  says  it  was  introduced  by  the  Rev.  John 
Banister,  who  sent  plants  from  Virginia  to 
Ray  in  16S0,  or  near  a  hundred  years  prior  to 
the  date  fixed  for  the  appearance  of  the  plant 
in  the  Kew  collection.  In  those  days  it  was 
classed  with  Sonchus  or  milk-thistles,  and  in 
these  early  times  when  there  was  but  one  name 
for  a  genus,  and  the  species  distinguished  only 
by  a  long  string  of  adjectives,  we  find  it  des- 
cribed first  by  John  Josselyn  in  his  "New 
England  Rarities"  as  Sonchus  nova-angliacs, 
in  later  works  as  Sonchus  Marianus,  So?ichus 
Vitginianus,  Sonchus  Floridanus,  and  so  on; 
that  is  to  say.  New  England  milk-thistle,  or 
Virginia,  Maryland  or  Florida  milk  -  thistle. 
It  was  seen  to  vary  very  much,  even  in  those 
daj'S,  and  we  have  various  subdivisions,  not 
to  quote  the  original  Latin,  as  "  the  Florida 
milk-thistle  with  the  leaves  like  an  arrow  ;  " 
"Florida  milk-thistle  with  the  leaves  like  a 
turnip,"  "  Florida  milk-thistle  with  the  leaves 
like  a  sassafras"  and  so  on.  Even  in  later 
times,  when  a  better  knowledge  of  the  plant 
and  its  power  to  vary  had  been  obtained,  the 
full  extent  of  the  variations  have  not  been  per- 
ceived, and  thus  we  have  now  many  synonyms 
which  have  been  given  to  some  of  these  varia- 
tions, under  the  impression  that  they  were  dis- 


tinct species.  Even  so  recently  as  the  time  of 
Pursh,  1814,  there  is  in  his  "  Flora  of  North 
America"  described,  Prenanthes  alba,  Pren- 
anthes  rubiauida,  and  Prenanthes  serpentaria, 
as  distinct  species,  but  which  are  now  re- 
garded as  mere  forms  of  the  first  named  one. 
How  much  the  plant  varies  could  be  readily 
understood  if  the  reader  could  see  with  the 
writer  of  this,  four  pictures  before  him  which 
have  been  made  of  this  plant.  The  earliest 
one  by  Plukenet  has  a  panicle  of  flowers  some- 
what corymbosely  branched,  that  is,  flattened 
at  the  top,  and  the  heads  rather  few  flowered — 
in  these  respects  agreeing  with  our  plate,  but 
while  ours  has  the  leaves  all  entire,  Plukenet's 
is  very  much  divided.  The  "  Botanical  Maga- 
zine' '  has  a  form  that  must  be  but  seldom 
seen  ;  the  flowers  are  made  to  appear  almost 
horizontal,  looking  at  us  as  it  were,  instead  of 
hanging  on  slender  pedicels ,  as  in  our  plate, 
and  having  the  large  white  ligule  bent  so  far 
back  over  the  bright  rosy  involucral  scale,  as 
to  look  almost  like  the  famous  daisy  flower 
of  the  poets.  Then  there  is  Pursh's  illustra- 
tion, which  has  the  flowers  much  as  in  ours, 
only  they  are  arranged  more  wand  -  like, 
while  the  leaves  are  deeply  divided  into 
numerous  irregular  lobes. 

Not  only  has  there  been  difficult^'  in  distin- 
guishing the  species,  there  have  also  been  doubts 
as  to  the  proper  limits  of  the  genus.  We  have 
seen  that  Linnaeus  and  his  contemporaries  re- 
garded our  plant  as  a  Prenanthes.  In  1817, 
Rafinesque  believed  some  of  the  species  had 
the  pappus  feathery,  while  those  generally 
seen  had  the  pappus  bristly.  On  this  he  pro- 
posed to  erect  a  new  genus  under  the  name  of 
Esopon.  This  was  not  acceptable  to  other 
botanists.     In  1825,   Cassini  made  another  at- 

(161) 


l62 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— PRENANTHES  ALBA. 


[Nov. 


tempt  to  divide  the  genus.  Some  have  but 
three  to  five  flowers  in  a  head,  but  four  to  six 
leaves  in  the  involucre,  and  the  style  but  little 
protruded  beyond  the  anthers.  Those  vi^ith 
these  and  some  other  slight  characters  vpere 
left  as  Pienant/ies.  But  there  were  others  with 
five  to  twenty  flowers  in  a  head,  eight  to  ten 
leaves  in  the  involucre,  and  the  style  very 
much  exserted.  These  were  arranged  as 
another  genus,  which  he  named  Nabalns. 

The  original  name  Prenanlhes,  is  derived 
from  two  Greek  words,  preties  drooping,  and 
anthos  flower,  so  many  species  having  pendent 
blossoms.  Nabalus,  in  like  manner,  seems  to 
have  been  suggested  by  the  appearance  of  the 
leaves  of  many  species  which  are,  as  already 
noted,  often  lyrate  or  lyre-like,  nabla  being  a 
Greek  word  for  harp.  At  the  time  of  writing 
this  chapter,  our  plant  will  be  found  under 
Nabalus  in  all  American  works,  but  more  re- 
cent European  authors  have  abandoned  the 
genus,  and  referred  the  species  back  to  the 
original  Prenanlhes,  and  our  plant  is  now 
Prenanl/ies  alba. 

From  a  geographical  standpoint  it  might  be 
regretted  that  good  botanical  characters  could 
not  be  found  for  the  separate  names,  as  all  the 
species  ranged  under  the  name  of  Prenanlhes 
are  European  or  Asiatic,  while  A'^abaliis  are 
all  American. 

The  plant  seems  to  have  been  popular  as  a 
medicine  with  the  Indian  races.  Many  Indian 
remedies  have  proved  no  more  efiicacious  than 
the  remedies  of  the  white  man,  but  it  is  worth 
noting  that  much  credit  has  been  given  to 
this  plant  for  its  virtues,  by  many  modem 
observers.  Pursh  was  so  impressed  with  its 
value,  that  he  gave  a  drawing  of  it  in  his 
"  Flora  of  North  America,"  and  says  :  "  this 
plant  is  known  by  the  inhabitants  under  the 
name  of  '  Lion's  foot,'  and  is  in  high  esteem 
as  a  specific  in  curing  the  bite  of  the  rattle- 
snake. During  my  travels  through  the  moun- 
tains of  Virginia,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  be- 
ing a  witness  of  the  efficacy  of  this  remedy. 
A  man  living  in  Cove  Mountains,  near  the 
Sweet  Springs,  was  bit  in  the  foot  by  a 
mocassin  snake,  a  species  considered  the 
most  dangerous.  An  inflammation  and  swel- 
ling of  his  whole  leg  took  place  immediately, 
but  by  taking  the  milky  juice  of  this  plant 


boiled  in  milk,  inwardly,  and  applying  to  the 
wound  the  steeped  leaves,  which  were  very 
frequently  changed,  he  was  cured  in  a  few 
days.  As  this  plant  deserves  the  attention  of 
the  physician,  I  have  given  a  figure  of  it,  it  be- 
ing frequently  confounded  with  another  species 
of  this  genus,  which  probably  may  not  have 
as  strong  an  effect,  as  the  inhabitants  are  very 
careful  to  have  the  true  Lion's-foot,  in  case  of 
accidents  happening,  and  usually  call  the  other 
species  of  Prenanlhes  "False  Lion's-foot." 
Gronovius  in  his  "Flora,"  page  113,  men- 
tions Dr.  Witt's  Snake-root  under  Prenanlhes 
aulumnalis  or  Willdenow's  rubicunda,  as  a 
remedy  for  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake  ;  which 
shows  that  he  had  information  of  the  use  made 
of  this  plant,  though  he  did  not  know  the 
genuine  species.  In  the  Bafiksiana  Herbarium 
is  a  sp&ciratnoi  Prenanlhes  rubicunda  with  the 
following  note  in  the  hand-writing  of  Clayton: 
"This  is  the  rattlesnake  root  that  Dr.  Witt 
supposes  to  be  the  best  cure  for  the  bite  of  the 
snake  ;  a  very  odd  plant,  hardl}'  two  leaves 
alike  upon  a  plant  as  to  the  shape  or  the  in- 
dentings  of  the  leaves."  In  regard  to  Pursh's 
anxiety  about  the  true  kind,  we  now  know 
that  most  of  these  forms  are  but  mere  varieties 
of  Prenanlhes  alba,  and,  as  it  is  now  also 
known  that  the  bites  of  these  venemous  snakes, 
though  often  fatal,  are  not  necessarily  so,  faith 
in  any  real  value  in  the  plant  has  been  much 
diminished.  It  is  indeed  doubtful,  whether 
any  thing  cures  snake  bites, — recovery  being 
due  chiefly  to  the  vital  resisting  power  of 
the  blood,  than  to  curative  virtues  of  any 
plant.  The  root  is  intensely  bitter  and 
among  its  earlier  common  names,  "  Gall  of  the 
earth,  "  is  reported  by  Dr.  Brickell  of  Savannah. 
Dr.  Torrey  also  mentions  "  White  Lettuce"  as 
a  common  name.  Rafinesque  in  his  "  Flora 
of  Louisiana, "  refers  to  the  yellowish  flowered 
variety  as  being  called  chicory,  and  "  used  in 
Louisiana  in  decoction  instead  of  chicory." 
In  his  "  Medical  Botany"  he  says,  it  is  used  in 
cases  of  dysentery.  In  some  of  its  forms  it  is 
found  over  most  of  the  Eastern  portion  of  tlie 
United  States.  Our  specimen  was  from  woods 
near  Philadelphia. 


Explanation  op  the  Plate,— i.  Stem  le^from  nearlhe 
ground.  2.  Upper  portion  of  a  flower  stalk.  3.  Magnified 
floret,  showing  the  longstyle. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


"DOWN  TO  SLEEP." 

November  woods  are  bare  and  still, 
November  days  are  clear  and  bright, 

Each  noon  burns  up  the  morning's  chill, 
The  morning's  snow  is  gone  by  night. 
Each  day  my  steps  grow  slow,  grow  light 
As  through  the  woods  I  reverent  creep, 
Watching  all  things  lie  "  down  to  sleep." 

I  never  knew  before  what  beds, 

Fragrant  to  smell  and  soft  to  touch, 

The  forest  sifts  and  shapes  and  spreads. 
I  never  knew  before  how  much 
Of  human  sound  there  is,  such 
Low  tones  as  through  the  forest  sweep 
When  all  wild  things  lie  "down  to  sleep." 

Each  day  I  find  new  coverlids 

Tucked  in  and  more  sweet  eyes  shut  tight 

Sometimes  the  viewless  mother  bids 
Her  ferns  kneel  down  full  in  my  sight. 
I  hear  their  chorus  of  "  good  night," 
And  hali  I  smile  and  half  I  weep, 
Listening  while  they  lie  "down  to  sleep." 

November  woods  are  bare  and  still, 
November  days  are  bright  and  good, 

Life's  noon  burns  up  life's  morning  chill. 
Life's  night  rests  feet  that  long  have  stood, 
Some  warm  soft  bed  in  field  or  wood, 
The  mother  will  not  fail  to  keep 
Where  we  can  "  lay  us  down  to  sleep." 

— Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 


Carnivorous  Plants.  —  A  correspondent 
from  Highlands,  N.  C,  would  like  to  knovy 
for  certain  w-hether  such  plants  as  Sarracenia, 
Droseia,  Dionwa  and  others,  famous  as  car- 
nivorous plants,  do  really  catch  insects  and 
eat  them — that  is  to  say,  do  they  absorb  the 
plant  food  by  their  own  cell-structure  or  not  ? 
In  the  case  of  Sarracenia  the  correspondent 
doubts  whether  the  insect  in  the  pitchers  is 
really  converted  into  plant  food.  It  is,  per- 
haps, fair  to  say  that  it  is  an  open  question, 
whether  the  insect  caught  by  the  pitcher 
plant  be  really  used  by  the  plant  or  not. 

Parasites  deposit  their  eggs  in  the  pitchers, 
and  make  use  of  the  insect  caught  by  the 
plant  ;  this  is  certain,  but  it  has  not  been 
shown  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  that  the 
plant  makes  use  of  the  insects  as  do  the  para- 
sites.     Too  much  has  been  made  of  the  sup- 


position that  because  plants  behave  in  certain 
ways,  the  behavior  is  intended  expressly 
for  their  own  good.  All  nature  is  evidently 
arranged  so  as  to  work  for  ulterior  purposes  as 
well  as  for  immediate  ones,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  selfishness  that  is  the  basis  of  life's 
action.  In  regard  to  the  other  plants  named, 
however,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  they 
absorb  food  through  their  tissues  in  the  man- 
ner claimed  for  them.  There  is  strong  rea- 
son to  believe  from  the  careful  experiments  of 
Mr.  Darwin,  that  plants  absorb  nutriment  from 
the  atmosphere  through  means  ot  their  glands. 
There  is  very  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
innumerable  sticky  glands  on  the  tomato 
aid  largely  in  sustaining  the  plant,  and  this 
is  believed  to  be  the  case  with  all  plants  hav- 
ing glandular  structures.  There  is,  however, 
a  wide  field  open  for  careful  observations  in 
this  line.  Nearly  all  that  is  known  has  resulted 
from  Mr.  Darwin's  elaborate  experiments. 
Should  some  similar  careful  observer  arise,  he 
would  yet  find  abundant  material  for  interest- 
ing essays. 

Preserving  Flcwers  under  Low  Tem- 
perature.— In  America  it  is  now  well  known 
that  plants  can  be  kept  for  a  considerable  time 
in  a  very  low  temperature.  All  florists  in  a 
moderately  large  business  use  cold  storage 
rooms  or  closets  to  preserve  their  flowers. 
Fish  and  meats  are  also  preserved  for  a  long 
time  under  similar  conditions.  In  an  actually 
frozen  condition,  however,  possibly  no  com- 
mercial use  could  result,  because,  on  thawing, 
the  flowers  would  turn  black,  and  yet  this  fact 
has  been  turned  to  some  good  use.  Flowers 
have  been  sent  all  the  way  from  Sidney  in 
New  South  Wales  to  London,  in  a  transparent 
block  of  ice,  and  possibly  some  plants  might 
be  preserved  for  indefinite  periods  under  these 
circumstances.  Where  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  such  flowers  preserved,  one  can  see 
hovp  valuable  these  experiences  are.  Of  course, 
the  flowers  would  be  of  no  use  after  the  ice 
block  thaws. 

1163) 


1 64 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — ^WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Nov. 


Concerning  Prickly  Pears.— In  the  ac- 
count of  Optmtia  Rafincsqidi  in  the  June  num- 
ber, the  writer  states  that  he  is  not  aware  that 
its  present  range  is  north  of  Nantucket.  But 
westward  it  extends  considerably  north  of  that 
limit  at  the  East.  The  latitude  of  Nantucket 
is  about  41°  30'.  The  Prickly  Pear  grows  on 
Point  Pelee,  a  sandy  projection  of  the  north 
shore  of  Lake  Erie  near  its  west  end,  and  at 
the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  latitude  42°. 
In  Michigan  it  is  found  on  sand  hills  on  the 
Muskegon  river  and  in  Barraboo,  Wis.,  at 
about  43°  30'.  In  Minnesota  it  occurs  on 
rocks  at  Taylor's  Falls,  on  the  St.  Croix,  as 
well  as  on  the  opposite  side  in  Wisconsin.  In 
central  Minnesota  it  is  reported  near  the  Mis- 
sissippi a  little  south  of  St.  Cloud.  The  lati- 
tude of  the  last  three  localities  is  about  45°  30', 
•and  marks  its  northward  limit,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn.  This  is  also  the  latitude  of  the  north- 
ern part  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  it  shows  the 
probability  that  the  plant  figured  by  Miller 
may  have  come  from  there  according  to  his 
statement,  since  it  is  not  too  far  north  for  it  to 
grow.  Still  farther  west  Opuntia  Rafinesquii 
is  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Niobrara  in  north- 
ern Nebraska,  at  about  the  same  range  as  on 
the  Muskegon,  in  the  basin  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Opuntia  Missouriensis  appears  to  range  the 
farthest  north  of  any  cactus.  Macoun  reports 
what  he  takes  to  be  this,  from  the  banks  of 
Peace  river,  a  tributary  of  the  Mackenzie,  in 
latitude  56°  12'.  "It  grows  on  the  arid  clay 
slopes,  exposed  often  to  a  temperature  of  55° 
below  zero."  Opiaitia  Rafinesquii  must  some- 
times be  subjected  to  a  temperature  of  30°  or 
more  below  zero  in  Minnesota,  unless  covered 
by  snow.  Its  limp  condition  and  shrivelled 
appearance  in  tfie  winter  are  very  noticeable 
here  in  the  lake  region.  It  generally  lies 
nearly  flat  upon  the  ground,  parti j-  covered  by 
the  sand,  and  dead  leaves  heaped  about  it  by 
the  wind,  which  its  spines  and  jointed  stems 
serve  well  to  hold  in  place.  The  fruit  is  quite 
palatable  when  fully  ripe,  but  so  drastic  that  it 
aieeds  to  be  eaten  sparingly. 

Probably  the  Opxoitia  found  by  Capt.  Back, 
on  the  Rainy  River,  was  Opuntia  fragilis. 
Keating  states  in  his  account  of  Long's  Expe- 
dition that  a  Prickh'  Pear  abounded  on  islands 
in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  which  has  lately 
■been  identified  as  this.  Rainy  River  flows  into 
this  lake.  E.  J.  Hill. 


Evolution  of  Leaves. — Mr.  John  W.  Dun- 
lop  remarks  :  "  Mrs.  Kellerman's  observations 
on  l^iola  cticullata  var.  palmata  are  no  doubt 
very  fascinating,  although  there  are  many 
things  still  unexplained,  and  if  at  her  leisure 
she  would  enlighten  me  on  some  of  the  facts 
to  be  mentioned  I  will  think  myself  indebted 
to  her.  Some  twelve  years  ago  when  collect- 
ing plants  on  Racine  Prairie,  I  found  a  plant  of 
V.  palmata  which  I  planted  in  my  garden.  It 
stood  in  the  same  spot  for  nine  years,  a  large, 
strong  plant  with  fine  palmated  leaves.  Its 
flower  stems  with  small  petals  never  arose 
higher  than  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  in  every 
way  it  was  as  unlike  /  'iota  aicullata  as  it  possibly 
could  be.  It  seeded  freely,  with  seed  pods  as 
large  as  V.  pubescetts,  but  so  hidden  under  the 
leaves,  that,  except  you  looked  for  them,  you 
would  not  have  seen  them.  Now,  have  you 
ever  seen  V.  pabnata  bloom  ?  If  you  have, 
was  it  like  cuadlata,  or  did  it  bloom  as  I  have 
described  my  plant  ?  I  have  seen  many  plants 
on  Racine  Prairie,  but  I  never  saw  one  of  them 
in  bloom  in  their  wild  state. 

'  'Hepatica  triloba  after  being  grown  two  years 
in  a  box,  became  acutiloba,  and  this  season  I 
found  some  beautiful  maculated  H.  triloba 
which  have  already  lost  their  markings,  and  I 
expect  them  to  lose  their  round  leaves.  Hepa- 
tica triloba,  when  found,  is  always  on  lime- 
stone ridges,  and  when  moved  off'  into  loamy 
soil,  it  assumes  the  character  of  H.  acutiloba. 
Be  sure  you  try  a  plant  of  it  under  cultiva- 
tion." 


Fall  Flowers. — In  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  United  States  there  are  always  some  few 
flowers  that  come  to  blossom  only  just  before 
the  frost  appears ;  some  orchids,  gentians, 
asters  and  others  are  familiar  examples.  In 
every  part  of  the  world  there  seems  to  be  the 
same  arrangement.  In  bloom  at  the  present 
time  in  flower  borders  is  a  plant  which  is  get- 
ting to  be  known  under  the  name  of  East 
Indian  Lily,  botanically  Tricyrtis  pilosa  ;  the 
flowers  are  white,  but  profusely  covered  with 
purple  dots.  These  are  opening  just  as  the 
frost  is  appearing,  and  they  would  no  doubt 
have  the  same  peculiar  effect  in  the  autumn 
scenery  of  the  Himalayan  Mountains  as  a 
Fringed  Gentian  would  have  with  us.  The 
Maximilian  Sunflower  of  Nebraska,  seldom 
opens  till  October,  when  it  is  a  blaze  of  beauty. 


IS93-] 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD   FLOWERS   AND  NATURE. 


165 


Nocturnal  Creatures. — Following  in  the 
line  of  what  was  said  of  owls  in  a  recent  num- 
ber, the  following-  from  the  New  York  Inde- 
pendent will  be  appropriate. 

Nocti:mal  creatures  are  generally  supposed 
not  to  see  well  in-  the  daylight,  but  facts  col- 
lected are  gradually  dispelling  the  idea.  It  is 
well  known  that  felines,  which  see  well  by 
night,  seem  to  be  able  to  see  quite  as  well  by 
day;  and  this  is  being  found  true  of  many 
other  creatures.  The  bat  sees  admirably  by 
daytime,  as  any  one  can  ascertain  by  threaten- 
ing it  with  a  twig.  The  owl,  also,  has  first- 
rate  day  sight.  Night-flying  Lepidoptcra, 
when  disturbed  in  their  places  of  refuge  dur- 
ing the  day,  have  no  difficulty  in  seeing  at 
once  where  is  the  nearest  and  best 
place  for  a  temporary  refuge.  These 
and  similar  facts  are  being  made 
use  of  by  those  interested  in  the 
study  of  development.  It  might 
be  assumed  that  all  were  originally 
light-lovers,  but  protective  consi- 
derations, or  better  chances  of  get- 
ting food,  led  to  the  development 
of  the  night-roving  disposition. 
The  owl,  for  instance,  is  hated  by 
all  birds.  When  one  is  discovered 
by  other  day-loving  species  they 
subject  it  to  the  direst  persecution. 
Owls  could  scarcely  live  as  a  day- 
loving  bird  under  the  present  order 
of  things.  It  would  be  driven  from 
the  earth  ;  and,  supposing  it  took 
on  gradually  its  thieving  habits  lor 
a  living,  it  has  had  to  love  darkness 
rather  than  light  because  of  these 
evil  deeds.  At  any  rate,  the  naked  fact  seems 
to  be  that  night-working  creatures  can  generally 
see  well  in  the  day-light  when  they  want  to. 

Grease  Wood. — Common  names  of  plants 
are  frequently  pleasant  and  attractive,  and 
when  any  such  names  become  common  even 
the  driest  botanist  prefers  to  use  them, — but 
when  names  are  not  so  much  common  as  local, 
much  confusion  arises.  In  Colorado,  as  the 
writer  of  this  found  in  its  early  history, — the 
Rhus  aromatica  was  known  as  "grease  wood." 
In  Nevada,  to-day,  the  "grease  wood"  is 
Grayia  polygaloides, — and  no  doubt  there  are 
numerous  other  "  grease  woods  "  in  other  sec- 
tions where  plants  exude  a  greasy  secretion. 


Floating  Islands. — Floating  Islands  are 
not  uncommon.  There  is  one  in  Cranberry 
Lake,  near  Arden,  N.  H.  The  writer  of  this 
paragraph  well  remembers  chancing  on  one  in 
his  younger  days.  He  was  collecting  plants 
without  any  idea  that  he  was  on  floating  land, 
and  yet,  when  he  was  returning,  he  was 
amazed  to  find  one  hundred  feet  of  water  in  his 
line  of  travel.  This  island  was  really  float- 
ing. Large  trees,  as  well  as  small  vegetation 
of  many  varied  kinds,  were  just  as  abundant  on 
this  floating  island  as  on  the  ordinary  dry 
land.  But  it  was  an  island  and  the  wind 
changed  while  he  was  searching  for  plants, — 
causing  the  island  to  float  to  the  other  side  of 
the  lake  from  which  it  had  been  a  few  hours  be- 


COOL  ORCHIDS. -see   p.  is?. 

fore.  These  islands  originate  in  a  very  small 
way,  just  as  a  large  oak  will  grow  from  a  verj- 
small  acorn.  Drift  wood  will  become  covered 
with  leaves  and  moss  ;  sand  will  then  blow  in 
among  the  moss  and  leaves, — seeds  of  trees 
and  other  kinds  of  vegetation  are  then  brought 
by  the  same  method  in  among  the  sand,  and 
are  carried  there  by  the  feathers  of  birds  or  the 
fur  of  animals,  or  even  will  float  on  the  water 
until  they  reach  the  spot,  then  the  amount 
of  wood  and  light  vegetable  matter  will 
accumulate  suflicient  to  float  the  trees  and 
vegetation  which  grow  on  the  surface.  These 
special  phenomena  in  Nature  are  always  inter- 
esting to  the  young  as  they  furnish  from  time 
to  time  a  clue  to  the  mysteries  in  Nature. 


1 66 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY WILD    FLOWERS    AND   NATURE. 


[Nov. 


JussiEUA  REPENS. — In  a  letter 'to  the  con- 
ctor,  Baron  Mueller  calls  attention  to  the 
general  writing  of  this  name  as  Jussiaa  as 
being  incorrect.  In  our  copy  of  Linnseus' 
"  Genera  Plantarum  iabatn  ex  museo  Cliffort- 
iano,  lyjd  "  and  referring  to  Rheede's  "  Hortus 
Matabariais,"  it  is  written  Jussieua  as  Baron 
Mueller  suggests.  He  asks  the  aid  of  Ameri- 
can botanists  in  settling  a  question  of  great 
geographical  importance  concerning  Jussieua 
?^/>«M  credited  to  our  continent.  The  plant  we 
believe  to  be  the  one  that  he  thinks  is  Forskall  's 


■^"i^. 


r- 


The  Snow  Plant  of  the  Pacific  Coast. — 
Recently  contributors  to  Meehans'  Monthly 
have  shown  that  the  Snow  Plant  is  not  an 
annual,  as  has  generally  been  supposed  ;  it  is 
certainly  a  plant  living  more  than  one  year,  if 
not  for  several  years.  In  addition  to  what  has 
been  already  stated  Mr.  Charles  H.  Douglas, 
of  Waukegan,  111.,  remarks  that  he  found 
specimens  of  it  in  November  last  on  the  coast 
range  of  mountains  in  south  western  Oregon. 
Some  had  seeds  perfectly  ripe,  while  others  had 
a  large  mass  of  coralline  matter,  the  size  of 
one's  fists,  several  inches  above  the  ground ,  — 
other  specimens  of  coralline  matter  were  no 
larger  than  one's  thumb.  In  the  ground 
below  the  surface  a  number  of  smaller 
masses  would  be  found.  Mr.  Douglas  be- 
lieves that  these  masses  continue  to  grow 
for  several  years  before  flowering, — three 
years  certainly.  The  flowers  also  vary 
from  a  deep  carmine  to  chocolate  color.  Mr. 
Douglas  asks  why  call  it  the  Snow  Plant 
of  the  Nevada,  when  it  is  found  over  such 
a  wide  extent  of  territory  ?  The  only 
reason  that  can  be  given  is  that  this  was 
the  name  by  which  it  was  originally 
called, — very  few  names  would  hold  for 
critical  analj-sis. 


TURKEY    OAK.--QU  tRCUS   CERRlS.-stt    p.   .67. 

Jussieua  diffusa.  The  genuine  Jussieua  repe7is 
has  white  petals  a  little  yellowish  at  the  base 
in  the  manner  of  Ranunculus  aquatalis.  Torre3' 
and  Gray  describe  the  American  species  as 
having  bright  3'ellow  flowers,  as  also  has  the 
Australian  plant.  Jussieua  diffusa  is  a  larger 
plant  than  Jussieua  repens  and  has  other  difler- 
ences.  It  is  very  desirable  to  know  whether 
the  American — presumably'  Jussieua  diffusa — 
is  identical  with  the  African  and  Australian 
species. 


Monarda  punctata. — American  Garden- 
ing has  a  pleasant  word  to  say  in  praise 
of  this  interesting  wild  flower.  In  its. color 
it  is  rather  dull,  but  the  bracts  which  sur- 
round the  flowers,  give  it  an  attraction 
which  would  otherwise  be  wanting.  In 
very  large  masses,  as  seen  in  New  Jersey, 
the  effect  in  wild  flower  scenery  is  very 
pretty.  The  remark  of  our  contemporary 
that  the  spotted  flowers,  standing  upright 
on  the  bracts,  have  the  appearance  of  a 
number  of  squirrels  resting  on  their 
haunches,  is  particularly  apt  and  appropriate. 


Forests  of  Apple  Trees. — In  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  the  apple  has  became  wild,  and 
forests  of  trees  of  many  acres  are  found  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  They  extend 
from  the  level  of  the  sea  far  up  into  the  moun- 
tain sides.  It  is  said  that  miles  of  these  apple 
forests  can  occasionally  be  seen.  One  traveller 
gives  the  extent  of  one  of  them  as  between 
five  and  ten  miles  in  width  and  about  twenty 
miles  long. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


THE  MOSS  COVERED  WALLS. 

"  The  moss  of  many  a  year  was  undisturbed 
XTpon  the  stained  walls  of  Aldoruere, 
And  now  the  niaHy-colored  autumn  leaves 
Lay  thickly  strewn  in  all  the  woodland-ways. 
There  was  the  warbler  busy  all  day  long 
Among  the  bowery  deeps  of  shadowy  elms 
Slow  fading  in  the  autumn's  paly  gold, 
And  his  continual  ditty  on  the  ear 
Fell  like  the  silver  voice  of  woodland  stream." 

—Howard  Worcester  Gilbert. 


Cool  Orchids.  It  is  not  generally  known 
that  many  of  the  Mexican  orchids,  and  orchids 
from  the  higher  elevations  of  tropical  coun- 
tries do  not  require  the  skilful  care  that  those 
from  the  more  warm  regions  require.  Some 
indeed  do  very  well  suspended  under  trees  in 
parts  of  gardens  or  near  buildings  where  the 
air  is  still  and  not  too  dry;  and  a  temperature 
not  above  that  of  ordinary  sitting  rooms  will 
give  them  good  satisfaction  during  winter. 
The  genus  Stanhopea,  is  particularly  suited  to 
this  easy  going  culture.  They  are  planted  in 
baskets  of  peat,  rotting  wood,  and  moss  ;  and 
the  flowers  push  out  through  the  meshes,  at 
different  seasons  of  the  year,  according  to  the 
species.  The  flowers  are  very  large  and  sweet, 
and  have  a  waxy  texture.  The  forms  of  the 
flowers  are  exceedingly  curious,  representing 
one  would  say,  some  curious  creature  ;  more 
however,  resembling  legendary  dragons,  than 
any  found  in  the  zoological  gardens  of  the 
present  time.  The  cut  was  made  from  a  plant 
grown  by  a  zealous  Germantown  amateur,  Mr. 
H.  Cramer,  and  is  represented  hanging  from 
a  honeysuckle  trellis  on  the  front  piazza. 

Improvement  of  the  Carnation. — For 
many  years  when  carnations  were  grown  sim- 
ply for  their  beauty  as  cut  flowers  little  atten- 
tion was  given  to  any  other  point  except  to 
their  fragrance,  tints  and  color,  or  size  of 
bloom.  When  they  were  cut  for  florists'  pur- 
poses, artificial  stems  had  to  be  given  to  each 
flower.  This  made  it  very  troublesome  to 
florists  and  besides  prevented  the  general  use 


of  the  carnation  in  boutonieres,  because  for 
want  of  stems  there  was  no  opportunity  to  put 
articles  retaining  moisture  around  the  stalks 
by  which  withering  could  be  prevented, — they 
were  soon,  therefore,  useless.  American  flor- 
ists, however,  have  turned  their  attention  to 
developing  carnations  which  produce  flowers 
singly  on  long  stems,  and  yet  will  stool  up  so  as 
to  give  bushy,  stocky  plants,  producing  these 
long  stalked  flowers  in  the  greatest  abundance. 
So  successful  has  the  improvement  of  the 
carnation  been  in  this  way,  that  no  one  ever 
thinks  now  of  buying  carnations  except  with 
stalks  often  five  or  six  inches  in  length.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  this  particular  kind  of 
improvement  does  not  seem  to  have  been  ap- 
preciated by  improvers  in  the  old  world,  as  the 
popular  carnation  for  florists'  work  is  still  one 
which  was  raised  in  France  nearly  20  years 
ago,  known  as  Souvenir  de  la  Mabnaison .  This 
produces  one  enormous  flower,  often  times 
i;<  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top  of  the  stalk, 
with  numerous  short  stalked-buds  along  the 
main  stem.  No  florist  here  could  make  his 
salt  out  of  the  cultivation  of  such  a  carnation. 
Little  instances  like  these  show  the  immense 
advance  made  by  American  florists  in  certain 
lines  of  improvement  over  the  progress  which 
the  same  thing  has  made  in  the  old  world. 

Turkey  Oak. — The  oaks  are  all  admired  for 
the  beauty  of  their  foliage  and  for  their  varied 
habits  of  growth.  In  modern  gardening  the 
demand  for  the  different  species  has  of  late 
years  been  very  large  ;  but  it  might  be  as  well 
to  call  attention  to  the  beauty  of  the  fruit, 
which  is  seldom  wholly  overlooked  by  lovers  of 
the  oak  tribe.  The  English  oak,  especially 
Quercus  ivbiif,  or  the  Royal  Oak,  is  never  more 
beautiful  than  when  covered  with  its  lovely 
acorns  in  the  fall  of  the  year;  and  architecture 
and  sculpture  have  been  considerably  indebted 
for  models  which  these  acorns  have  furnished. 
Another  European  oak,  which  has  beautiful 
fruit,  is  not  so  well  known  in  America  as  it 
ought  to  be,  namely,  the  Turkey  Oak,  Quercus 

(167) 


1 68 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Nov. 


Cerris,  see  page  i66.  The  cup  is  completely 
covered  with  the  appearance  of  moss,  and  the 
proportion  between  cup  and  acorn  is  considered 
remarkably  beautiful  from  an  artistic  point  of 
view.  We  have  Mossy-cup  oaks  of  our  own 
which  are  also  beautiful  in  their  own  particular 
style ;  but  the  particular  characteristics  of 
beauty  in  the  Turkey  Oak  are  unique. 


The  Double-Flowerjng  Almond. — Many 
years  ago  few  things  were  more  sought  after 
for  the  decoration  of  gardens  then  the  double- 
flowered  Almond,  of  which  there  are  two  forms, 
one  pink  and  the  other  white.  Few  gardens 
of  taste  but  had  specimens  of  this  plant. 
Although  called 
dwarf  Almond,  it  is 
a  wholly  different 
species  from  the  Al- 
mond of  commerce, 
and  no  one  would 
recognize  by  the  look 
of  the  plant  that  it 
belonged  to  the  Al- 
mond family.  It  is 
one  of  those  cases  of 
a  plant  brought  from 
another  country  in  a 
double-  flowering 
condition,  and  of 
which  the  single 
form  is  not  known, 
consequently  the 
fruit  from  these 
double  flowers  never 
comes  to  perfection, 
and  the  plant,  there- 
fore, gives  no  inti- 
mation of  its  close 
relationship  with  the 
Almond  family.  It 
is  beginning  to  disappear  from  gardens  chiefly 
from  the  operation  of  the  peach  borer,  which 
attacks  it  as  badly  as  it  does  the  peach  or  the 
Almond.  This  has  been  the  chief  cause  of 
its  disappearance  from  gardens.  Another  cause 
is  the  attack  of  a  species  of  parasitic  fungus, 
which  will  destroy  frequently  the  whole  plant 
in  a  night,  just  as  the  disease  known  as  the 
fire  blight  takes  off' the  pear.  As  the  pear  and 
the  Almond  are  all  of  the  same  family,  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  fungus  which  does  this 
damage  is  of  the  same  species,  or  a  closely 


FLOWERING    ALMOND. 


allied  one  to  that  which  does  so  much  mis- 
chief with  the  pear  tree.  In  order  that  the 
public  be  made  acquainted  with  the  beauty^ 
half  lost  in  this  case,  we  give  a  figure  of  a 
flowering  branch,  so  that  people  may  not  for- 
get the  things  which  have  given  them  so  much 
pleasure  in  the  past,  as  well  as  to  induce  them 
to  look  into  these  troubles  and  diseases,  and 
ascertain  if  there  may  not  be  some  remedies 
easily  applied,  by  which  these  beautiful  flowers 
may  be  preserved  to 

Herbaceous  Grafting. — Prof.  L.  H.  Baily 
of  Cornell,  has  been  grafting  the  tomato  on 
potato  plants,  with  the  result  that  the  upper 
portion  bore  tomatoes,  and  the  lower  portion 
bore  potatoes.  This  seems  natural,  and  yet  it 
is  in  direct  opposition  to  experiments,  which 
have  been  reported  as  having  been  made  in 
other  countries,  where  the  result  was  said  to 
be  an  intermixture  of  the  two,  and  the  facts 
have  been  brought  forward  as  illustrating 
what  is  known  as  graft  hybridism.  The  result 
of  Prof  Baily's  experiment  does  not  show  that 
the  other  experiments  have  been  misreported 
or  misconstrued,  but  it  certainly  does  go  to 
show  the  value  of  continually  repeating  experi- 
ments which  are  said  to  produce  such  unique 
results.  Prof.  Baily  found  that  peppers  could 
be  grafted  on  tomatoes,  and  that  tomatoes 
could  be  grafted  on  peppers,  and  that  these, 
including  egg  plants,  would  grow  when  grafted 
on  the  Alkekengi.  It  should  be  remembered, 
however,  that  all  these  plants  are  of  the  same 
natural  order,  and  very  closely  related, — all 
belonging  to  Solanaccsa,  and  there  is  no  more 
surprise  at  this  result  than  the  grafting  of  the 
Pear  on  the  Quince,  or  the  White  Thorn.  In 
the  use  of  material  for  this  herbaceous  graft- 
ing. Prof.  Baily  notes  that  the  wood  must  not 
be  too  young,  but  rather  on  the  approach  to 
maturity. 

Poison  Vines. — Ignorant  people  in  the  north 
often  frighten  themselves  by  mistaking  the 
Virginia  Creeper — Avipelopsis  quiiiquefolia — 
for  the  poison  vine — Rhus  radicans.  Mr. 
Walter  N.  Pike,  of  Jessamine,  P'lorida,  writes 
that  in  the  Southern  States  the  perfectly  inno- 
cent Trumpet  Vine —  Tecoma  radicans — is  also- 
mistaken  for  it.  But  what  can  we  expect 
when  a  whole  town  writes  itself  Jessamine  in- 
stead of  Jasmine? 


i893] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


169 


■  I.  iiii-  l/if  I 


P  c 
^? 

"  s 

m  O 

B  5 

~  n 

«  <" 

s  o 


3-    11 


170 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Nov. 


Salt  Bushes.  —  Plants  that  will  resist 
drought  and  saltish  soils  on  deserts  and  dry 
places  generally,  are  comparatively  scarce, 
and  those  who  discover  the  adaptation  of  cer- 
tain plants  to  such  localities  are  doing  good 
service   to    mankind.       One    of  their    "  Salt 

Bushes"  in  the 
^^?ffei,  Old    World    is 

Atriplex  Hali- 
mus;  but  prob- 
ably one  of  the 
best  known  is 
the  Australian 
species,  Atri- 
plex halimoidcs 
more  recently 
called  A.  iiiaii- 
mularia.  There 
are  man}' local- 
ities in  Amer- 
ica where  the 
introduction  of 
this  plant 
would  be  of 
great  benefit  to 
our  agricultur- 
al interests. 

The  "Agri- 
cultural Jour- 
nal o  f  Cape 
Colony"  in  its 
issue  of  the 
iSth  of  May, 
gives  an  inter- 
•esting  account  of  the  successful  experiments 
made  in  that  portion  of  the  world,  where  the 
Australian  plant  has  been  introduced  through 
the  indefatigable  Baron  von  Mueller  of  Mel- 
bourne. The  plant  has  been  found  of  so  much 
value  there,  and  so  well  adapted  to  the  peculiar 
conditions,  that  the  demand  for  the  seed  has 
been  found  farbej^ond  the  supply.  There  is  a 
demand,  not  only  by  the  settlement,  but  from 
outsiders  in  the  belief  that  the  plant  will  be 
found  of  inestimable  benefit  wherever  there  are 
dry  or  salty  conditions.  The  plant  has  bi- 
sexual flowers,  as  in  all  Chenopodiacece ,  on  the 
same  plant,  and  occasionally  plants  with  dis- 
tinct sexes  on  separate  plants.  The  illustra- 
tion with  this  is  of  a  male  plant.  It  will  be 
seen  that  this  species  differs  from  the  A.  Hal- 
imus  in  having  the  flowers  scattered  over  the 
whole    plant    instead    of  their   being   simplj' 


SALT    BUSHES 


terminal  as  in  that  species.  There  are,  of 
course,  other  distinguishing  characters.  We 
give  this  matter  prominent  attention,  as  we 
think  it  will  be  to  the  interest  of  our  people 
who  may  have  dry  or  salty  soil,  to  introduce 
the  plant.  It  has  been  one  of  the  reproaches 
of  American  gardening,  and  American  agricul- 
tural enterprise  that  the}'  are  usually  far  be- 
hind other  sections  of  the  world  in  introduc- 
ing and  testing  valuable  plants  that  would 
possibly  be  in  the  best  interests  of  agricultural 
progress  to  try. 

Cultivation  of  Oranges. — A  recent  trav- 
eler in  China  and  Japan  notices  that  in  those 
countries  the  orange  trees  are  not  grown  as  we 
grow  them  in  our  country,  by  training  them  up 
to  good  stems  and  allowing  them  to  have 
large  and  bushy  heads,  but  are  suffered  to 
grow  low,  crooked  and  stumpy  like,  more  like 
bushes  than  as  trees  such  as  ours  present. 
The  traveler  states  that  the  reason  given  for 
this  by  the  Asiatic  cultivators  was  that  it  was 
much  more  easy  in  this  way  to  gather  the 
fruit,  and  for  that  reason  it  was  cheaper  and 
more  economical  to  train  the  trees  so  than  in 
the  form  of  trees  as  our  orange  cultivators  do; 
but  this  could  scarcely  be  the  reason,  as  the 
labor  in  those  countries  is  so  excessively  low 
that  the  extra  cost  of  a  ladder  and  baskets  to 
gather  them  could  scarcely  be  an  item  in  the 
calculation.  We  have  recently  come  across 
some  account  of  an  experiment  by  an  orange 
cultivator  in  California,  who  allowed  some  of 
his  trees  to  grow  low  and  bushy,  as  the  culti- 
vator might  sav  "straggling,"  and  had  along- 
side the  other  trees  trained  up  as  if  they  were 
apple  trees  in  the  ordinary  manner  of  an 
orange  grove,  and  to  his  amazement  he  finds 
that  these  unpruned  trees,  suffered  to  grow  in 
this  way,  are  more  than  doubly  as  productive 
as  those  which  have  been  subjected  to  the 
pruning  necessary  to  give  them  an  ornamental 
character.  It  is  more  than  likely,  therefore, 
that  it  was  this  productive  character  rather 
than  the  mere  saving  of  labor  which  has  lead 
the  Chinese  and  Japanese  to  adopt  this  method 
as  their  universal  plan  of  cultivation. 

Public  Parks  in  the  Old  World. — There 
are  thirteen  public  parks  and  squares  in  Turin, 
a  city  of  only  300,000  inhabitants,  says  Mrs. 
Trowbridge,  in  the  Detroit  Christian  Herald. 


1S93-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


lyl 


Sight  in  Plants.  —  A  correspondent  asks 
■whether  plants  can  see  or  not,  and  suggests 
that  as  plants  will  turn  their  tendrils  in  the 
direction  of  something  to  cling  to,  that  may 
indicate  that  plants  can  possibly  see.  It  is 
certainly  a  fact  that  the  proximity  of  some- 
thing to  cling  to  will  make  parts  of  plants 
turn  in  that  direction.  There  is  evidentlj' 
some  attraction,  but  as  for  seeing  as  we  gener- 
all}'  understand  by  sight,  this  is  of  course, 
entirely  out  of  the  question.  A  very  pretty 
experiment  may  be  made  by  placing  stakes  in 
among  a  mass  of  garlic.  The  leaves  will  in 
many  cases,  be  found  twisting  around  the 
stakes,  occasionally  clinging  tightlj'  to  them, 
but,  as  generally  seen,  the  garlic  would  be  the 
last  thing  we  would  think  of  as  having  a 
twining  habit;  and  yet  we  see  by  this  that 
when  there  is  a  chance  to  twine  they  evidently 
know  that  the  chance  is  there.  It  is  not  sight, 
but  it  is  some  remarkably  attractive  power. 
What  the  nature  of  that  power  is  has  not  yet 
been  determined. 

Magnolia  acuminata  Leaves.  An  ex- 
traordinary large  leaf  of  the  Magnolia  acumin- 
ata was  recentl}'  laid  on  our  desk .  It  measured 
i6  '4  inches  in  length,  and  12  inches  in  breath. 

This  le?f  was  taken  from  a  two  year- old 
plant,  six  feet  high,  transplanted  last  year. 
Other  plants  along  side  of  this  one,  which  were 
raised  and  transplanted  at  the  same  time, 
•with  precisely  the  same  treatment,  had  the 
usual  sized  leaf. 

We  should  be  glad  to  hear  from  any  one 
having  noticed  such  large  leaves  before. 

Hydrange.'^  p.xniculata  grandiflora. — 
Most  persons  prefer  the  variety  grandiflora  of 
the  Hydrangea  pa7iiculala.  Its  large,  heavy 
bunches  of  flowers  are  certainly  very  striking. 
Not  a  few,  however,  prefer  the  original  pani- 
culata.  The  light,  feathery  spikes  of  flowers 
are  in  striking  contrast  with  the  heavy  bunchy 
mass  which  characterizes  the  improved  variety. 

ROHDEA  Japonica.  —  The  Journal  of  the 
Japan  Horticultural  Society,  devotes  a  whole 
page  to  the  praise  of  this  as  a  window  or  room 
plant.  So  far  as  we  know  it  has  not  been  in- 
troduced to  America.  There  appear  to  be 
numerous  varieties.  It  is  an  aroid,  and  has 
been  known  as  Orontium  Japonicum. 


IT/^PLES. 


Seedless  Grapes. — Most  of  our  readers 
probably  know  that  the  currant  of  commerce 
is  not  the  currant  of  our  small  fruit  gardens, 
but  a  variety  of  grape  which  fails  to  produce 
seed.  During  the  last  few  j-ears  another 
varietv  of  seedless  grape  has  become  common 
in  California,  and  which  is  known  as  the  Sul- 
tana. These  are  now  becoming  quite  as  com- 
mon in  grocery  stores  as  the  kind  of  the  old 
world.  They  are  paler  than  the  European  cur- 
rant, but  are  more  highly  appreciated  for  some 
classes  of  culinarj'  work  than  that  kind.  Just 
why  it  is  that  these  grapes  fail  to  produce  seed 
has  never  been  definitely  determined.  The 
grape,  however,  is  not  the  only  fruit  that  pro- 
duces berries  without  seeds,  as  we  find  this 
deficiencj-  in  manj-  classes,  but  in  all  cases 
these  so-called  fruits  rarely  reach  half  the  size 
of  those  that  are  capable  of  producing  per- 
fect seeds.  In  many  varieties  of  native  grape 
a  number  of  berries  will  be  found  of  smaller 
size  among  the  larger  ones,  and  in  such 
cases  these  also  are  seedless. 

Growing  Filberts  and  Hazel  Nuts. — In- 
quiries frequently  come  to  ]\I  E  E  h  A  N  s ' 
Monthly  in  regard  to  the  probabilitj'  of  profit- 
able culture  of  the  Hazel  and  Filbert  nuts. 
Trees  growing  by  themselves  seldom  produce 
large  crops,  on  account  of  the  different  periods 
at  which  the  catkins  mature,  and  the  bearing 
flower  opens.  In  order  to  get  them  success- 
ful, therefore,  they  have  to  be  grown  in  large 
quantities  together.  Of  all  trees  Filberts  are 
the  most  gregarious.  When  numbers  are 
planted  in  an  orchard  by  themselves  they  bear 
remarkably  well.  The  best  situation  is  one 
exposed  to  the  north,  as  the  southern  ex- 
posures might  induce  a  still  greater  period  be- 
tween the  openings  of  the  two  classes  of 
flowers. 

Witloof  — This  popular  French  salad  is  a 
form  of  endive,  and  originated  in  Brussels  in 
1S57.  It  derives  its  name,  says  M.  Rodigas, 
from  "wit,"  white,  and  "loof"  foliage,  and 
the  name  was  formerly  applied  to  the  blanched 
endive  itself.  Endive  is  an  improved  form  of 
the  common  chicory,  now  found  growing  wild 
around  most  of  the  older  cities  of  the  United 
States. 


172 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Nov. 


Poisonous  Mushrooms. — A  number  of 
Italians  were  fatally  poisoned  recently  by  eat- 
ing some  noxious  species.  The  newspapers 
have  had  much  to  say  about  the  ignorance 
which  mistook  "toadstools"  for  mushrooms; 
but  have  displayed  much  more  ignorance  in 
the  efforts  at  enlightenment  than  the  unfortu- 
nate Italians  who  suffered  from  over-confidence 
rather  than  from  excessive  ignorance.  Of  the 
large  number  of  species  comprising  the  mush- 
room family,  by  far  the  larger  number  are 
wholesome  and  nutritious.  Those  that  are 
severely  poisonous  are  comparatively  few.  In 
Italy  a  poisonous  species  of  mushroom  is  a 
rarity,  and  a  large  number  are  used  as  food. 
The  Italian  is  fully  justified  by  his  experience, 
in  laughing  at  American  ignorance  which 
sufiters  such  a  vast  amount  of  delicious  and 
nutritious  material  to  go  to  waste.  That  a 
few  Italians  have  been  caught  by  mistaking  a 
noxious  for  an  edible  one  is  nothing  to  merit 
the  declamations  on  their  profound  ignorance 
which  the  overwise  critics  have  uttered  over 
their  misfortune.  In  one  of  these  diatribes  the 
writer  has  giveri  a  sketch  of  a  "  toadstool  " 
which  his  reader  is  to  avoid,  but  has  figured 
Agaricus  oreades,  which  is  really  one  of  the 
most  wholesome  and  delicious  of  the  group. 

Possibly  in  the  utter  ignorance  of  the  boun- 
teous blessings  of  Providence  showered  every- 
where around  in  great  variety  in  the  mush- 
room family,  it  is  wise  not  to  touch  any  but 
the  one  particular  mushroom  which  even  the 
bitterest  despiser  of  general  intelligence  has 
to  know.  To  the  one  who  loves  to  look  into 
the  real  nature  of  common  things,  there  is  no 
more  reason  why  he  should  not  enjoy  scores  of 
species  than  that  he  not  eat  tomatoes  or  egg- 
plants because  the  Atropa  is  a  near  relative. 
When  asked  how  to  distinguish  a  poisonous 
species  of  mushroom  from  an  innocuous  one, 
little  more  can  be  said  then  that  they  are  to  be 
distinguished  by  the  same  rules  by  which  we 
distinguish  the  fruit  of  a  tomato  or  egg-plant 
from  that  of  Atropa  belladonna, — that  is  to 
say,  by  intelligent  knowledge  and  observation. 
There  is  no  royal  road  to  such  learning. 

Turnip  Culture. — Probably  few  vegetables 
are  more  satisfactorily  grown  by  amateurs 
than  the  turnip,  and  yet  it  is  one  which  they 
very  seldom  think  to  try.  The  reason  prob- 
ably is   that    so  many   persons  try   to   grow 


vegetables  by  published  hints  in  catalogues 
and  serials,  which  are  impossible  to  carry  out, 
by  reason  of  the  different  climates  and  circum- 
stances under  which  vegetables  are  grown. 
This  was  particularly  found  to  be  a  trouble  in 
the  early  literary  work  of  the  senior  editor  of 
this  magazine,  who  endeavored  to  get  up  hints- 
for  the  month  in  the  periodicals  with  which  he 
was  connected.  In  a  small  country  like  Eng- 
land, densely  populated,  and  where  the  whole 
country  is  scarcely  larger  than  the  single  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  instructions  of  this  kind  can 
be  made  generally  useful  ;  but  in  our  countr}', 
which  extends  almost  from  the  Tropics  to  the 
Arctics,  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  details 
which  shall  be  valuable  over  any  extent  of  ter- 
ritory. The  turnip  is  especially  an  illustration 
of  this.  In  order  to  get  them  into  thorough 
perfection  they  can  only  be  made  to  reach  this 
point  when  the  temperature  is  comparatively 
low, — no  one  can  raise  good  turnips  when  the 
temperature  is  over  55°  or  60°,  and  as  soon  as 
it  gets  beyond  this  they  are  hot  and  stringy. 
Thus  in  Pennsylvania  the  turnip  would  have 
to  be  sown  to  get  the  best  results  about  the 
middle  of  September  ;  a  hundred  miles  north 
it  would  have  to  be  two  weeks  earlier,  and  so^ 
on  ;  until  in  Canada  one  might  sow  turnips 
about  midsummer  and  yet  have  fairly  good  re- 
sults. In  some  parts  of  our  southern  country 
we  can  get  very  good  turnips  by  raising  them 
in  midwinter  ;  at  any  rate,  if  one  can  remember 
this  one  point  about  the  temperature  it  re- 
quires, it  is  a  hint  for  successful  culture  any- 
where. It  may  be  further  remarked  that  to 
have  good  mild  turnips,  the  soil  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  made  too  rich. 

Good  Massachusetts  Vineyards.  —  The 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society  found  last 
year  the  vineyards  of  Samuel  Hartwell,  of 
Lincoln,  Arthur  J.  Bigelow,  of  Marlboro, 
and  C.  B.  Andrews,  of  Fitchburg,  deserving  of 
especial  commendation  and  to  which  they 
awarded  premiums.  Mr.  Bigelow  finds  that  a 
soil  in  which  stones  are  numerous,  is  excel- 
lent for  successful  grape  culture.  He  has  about 
800  vines  on  one  and  one-half  acres — kinds  be- 
ing chiefly  Moore's  Early  and  Concord.  The 
vines  were  planted  in  1S70  and  have  been  in 
bearing  about  twenty  years.  Plants  were  set 
8  feet  apart  in  2  rows,  trained  to  trellises — 
the  trellises  being   10   feet   apart.     They   are 


S893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


173 


pruned  in  November  as  soon  as  the  foliage  has 
fallen  and  before  the  wood  has  frozen.  He 
leaves  one  cane  and  eight  buds  for  next  year's 
fruit,  and  also  one  or  two  buds  in  order  to  grow 
a.  cane  for  the  next  year.  The  bearing  one  is 
cut  out  and  a  new  cane  trained  up  for  each 
season.  He  uses  ground  bone  and  other  arti- 
ficial fertilizers  as  top  dressing  at  the  rate  of 
about  one  ton  to  the  acre.  He  keeps  the 
ground  clear  of  vegetation  with  a  horse  and 
light  cultivator — his  object  being  to  get  the 
soil  warm  as  early  in  the  season  as  he  can.  He 
checks  the  fruiting  canes  by  pinching  out  as 
soon  as  the  growth  has  made  five  leaves, — and 
the  fruiting  cane  for  the  next  year  he  checks 
when  it  has  reached  eight  or  nine  buds  in 
length.  The  laterals  on  the  canes  for  the  next 
year's  fruit  he  allows  to  grow  to  two  leaves  in 
length  before  checking  them.  About  the  first 
of  July  he  goes  through  the  vineyard  and  cuts 
off  weak  branches,  such  as  he  does  not  think 
worth  leaving  to  ripen.  He  usually  gets 
about  eight  pounds  to  a  vine.  Mr.  Hartwell's 
vineyard  composed  about  eight  acres,  chiefly 
of  the  Moore's  Early.  He  uses  about  five  hun- 
dred pounds  of  fertilizers  to  the  acre,  sowing  it 
broadcast ;  keeps  the  surface  clear  of  weeds  by 
a  horse  harrow;  but  not  working  up  the  soil 
any  deeper  than  is  necessary  to  keep  down  the 
weeds.  He  does  not  think  that  white  grapes 
are  as  profitable  in  market  as  the  darker  ones. 
Mr.  George  Anderson's  vineyard,  of  about  one 
acre,  was  devoted  to  the  Delaware  grape.  They 
yield  him  about  ten  pounds  of  fruit  to  a  vine. 
Fifteen  pounds  have  been  produced. 


Girdling  Branches  to  Promote  Fruit- 
fulness. — It  has  long  been  known  that  if  a 
ring  of  bark  be  taken  from  a  branch  it  will 
cause  that  branch  to  prematurely  bear  fruit. 
But  that  branch  usually  dies  soon.  The  ring 
may  not  be  taken  completely  around,  that  is  to 
say,  a  connection  between  the  bark  above  the 
ringed  portion  and  below  the  ringed  portion  re- 
mains. In  this  case,  the  part  above  the  girdled 
portion  does  not  die,  but  is  brought  into  fruit- 
fulness,  which  continues  for  several  years. 
This  has  only  been  employed  as  a  matter  of 
curiosity,  as  it  is  usually  considered  that  the 
quality  of  the  fruit  is  impaired  by  this  proce- 
dure. Certainly  in  grapes,  the  fruit  produced 
after  girdling  is  not  nearly  as  sweet  or  in  any 
way  as  much  appreciated,  with  the  single  ex- 


ception of  size,  as  in  cases  where  the  girdling 
process  has  not  been  attempted  ;  but  in  the 
orange  culture  in  Florida,  it  is  stated  that  this 
girdling  is  becoming  a  part  of  general  practice, 
and  perhaps  this  may  account  for  the  enorm- 
ously large  increase  of  sour  instead  of  sweet 
oranges,  which  is  being  poured  into  northern 
markets  from  that  State. 


Standard  of  Excellence  in  the  Fig. — 
To  the  average  observer  one  fig  on  a  tree 
might  seem  as  good  as  a  fig  on  another  tree, 
but  there  are  standards  of  excellence  in  the 
average,  as  well  as  in  any  other  fruit,  and  to 
which  the  improver  aims.  Some  figs  are  com- 
paratively tasteless,  having  little  sugar,  and 
they  are  somewhat  dry  without  much  juice.. 
When  therefore,  the  raiser  of  the  new  fig 
desires  to  commend  it  to  proper  approval,  he 
would  state  that  it  is  particularly  sweet  and 
juicy.  Size,  of  course,  comes  in  for  considera- 
tion as  well  as  other  particulars  and  then  again 
some  will  stand  a  little  hardship  better  than 
others,  in  other  words  there  are  tender  figs  and 
hard  figs.  Again  there  are  some  in  which 
juice  is  more  freely  secreted  than  in  other 
kinds.  So  that  on  the  whole  there  are  just  as 
critical  standards  of  excellence  in  the  fig  as  in 
other  fruit. 


Gathering  Tender  Fruits. — California  is 
the  home  of  expert  practice  in  everything  re- 
lative to  fruit  culture.  Even  in  such  a  deli- 
cate operation  as  gathering  fruit  without  bruis- 
ing, admirable  contrivances  are  in  vogue. 
Everyone  knows  that  delicate  fruits  must  be 
gathered  without  bruising,  that  if  they  are 
bruised  they  will  soon  rot.  In  California  the 
fruit  is  collected  by  having  a  circular  form 
covered  with  light  cloth  made  in  halves,  so  that 
when  put  together  it  covers  the  space  beneath 
the  branches  of  the  tree,  and  every  time  the 
tree  is  shaken  the  fruit  will  fall  on  the  cloth 
without  the  slightest  bruise.  If  the  tree  is 
shaken  too  strongly  too  many  will  fall  at  once — 
with  little  shaking  few  fall  at  a  time,  and  the 
result  is  said  to  be  entirely  satisfactory.  This 
is  on  the  principle  of  some  fire-escapes,  where 
people  jump  into  blankets  and  hammocks  of 
some  textile  fabric,  easily  falling.  There  seems 
here  to  be  a  hint  on  which  Eastern  fruitgrowers 
might  build  to  advantage. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


A  DAY. 

Talk  not  of  sad  November,  when  a  day 

Of  warm,  glad  sunshine  fills  the  sky  of  noon, 
And  a  wind,  borrowed  from  some  morn  of  June, 

Stirs  the  brown  grasses  and  the  leafless  spray. 

On  the  unfrosted  pool  the  pillared  pines 

Lay  their  lon<{  shafts  of  shadow  ;   the  small  rill. 
Singing  a  pleasant  song  of  summer  still, 

A  line  of  silver  down  the  hill-slope  shines. 

Hushed  the  bird-voices  and  the  hum  of  bees. 
In  the  thin  grass  the  crickets  pipe  no  more  ; 
But  still  the  squirrel  hoards  his  winter  store, 

And  drops  his  nut-shells  from  the  shag-bark  trees. 

Softly  the  dark  green  hemlocks  whisper  ;   high 
Above  the  spires  of  yellowing  larches  show 
Where  the  woodpecker  and  home-loving  crow 

And  jay  aud  nut-hatch  winter's  threats  defy. 

O  gracious  beauty,  ever  new  and  old  ! 

O  sights  and  sounds  of  nature,  doubly  dear 
When  the  low  sunshine  warns  the  closing  year 

Of  snow-blown  fields  and  waves  of  Arctic  cold  ! 

Close  to  my  heart  I  fold  each  lovely  thing 
The  sweet  day  yields  ;  and,  not  disconsolate. 
With  the  calm  patience  of  the  woods  I  wait 

For  leaf  and  blossom  when  God  gives  us  spring. 

— John  Greenle.^f  Whittier. 


Museum  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia, — This  famous  in- 
stitution is  the  oldest  of  its  kind  in  America, — 
having  been  founded  in  1S12.  The  work  which 
has  been  done  generally  for  American  Botany 
gives  it  an  especial  interest  to  our  readers. 
Nuttall  and  other  eminent  botanists  had  their 
earl}'  headquarters  here,  and  many  of  their 
collections  are  still  among  the  valued  treasures, 
of  the  institution.  The  collection  of  plants 
to-day  comprises  about  forty  thousand  species 
of  flowering  plants  and  ferns, — and  when  it  is 
remembered  that  about  one  hundred  thousand' 
is  all  that  are  so  far  described  as  known,  it  will 
give  some  idea  of  its  great  value.  It  is  illus- 
trative of  the  soundness  of  the  common  say- 
ing that  "  Large  trees  from  little  acorns  grow, " 
that  this  great  institution  commenced  with  a 
few  stuffed  toads  and  one  monkey.  In  some 
departments  its  collections  now  are  considered 
superior  to  any  other  in  the  world.  Besides 
the  lesson  of  its  growth  from  so  small  a  begin- 

(174) 


ning,  it  is  also  instructive  to  know  that  up  to  a 
few  years  ago  the  whole  of  this  great  work  was 
done  by  the  voluntary  work  and  cost  of  its 
members, — and  that  the  care  of  this  vast  insti- 
tution was  undertaken  and  carried  out  by  the 
unpaid  labors  of  lovers  of  science,  who  gave 
time  taken  from  business  or  professional  pur- 
suits. These  facts  show  admirably  what  may 
be  done  when  a  true  love  of  the  subject  actu- 
ates human  effort.  It  is  generally  considered 
that  what  this  institution  has  done  could  never 
have  been  accomplished  by  merely  paying 
people  to  do  the  work.  Recently  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  has  required  some  place  in  which 
to  display  its  collections,  especially  those  made 
by  its  geological  survey  and  other  bodies.  For 
this  purpose  it  has  appropriated  to  the  Academy 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  by  which  to  add 
to  its  museum.  This  is  the  unfinished  build- 
ing which  appears  in  the  background  of  the 
picture. 

Indian  Customs. — Indians  and  barbarians 
do  not  usually  make  use  of  flowers  or 
evergreens  as  decorations,  but  the  Zuni  and 
Moqui  Pueblo  Indians  are  exceptions,  and 
these  perhaps,  because  as  Indians  they  were 
among  the  most  cultivated  of  the  Indian  tribes. 
They  have  dances  in  which  the  Indian  corn 
takes  the  place  of  honor,  one  of  which  Mr.  J. 
Walter  Tewkes  has  recently  described  as  the 
Ham-po-nej'  ;  and  is  thus  narrated  : — 

"The  most  elaborate  of  all  the  dances  by  the 
women  which  were  seen  in  my  sojourn  during 
the  summer  in  Zuni  was  a  corn  dance  called 
the  0-to  na-wey  or  Ham-po-ney.  This  dance 
is  in  most  respects  not  unlike  the  Klar-hey- 
wey,  but  it  is  more  elaborate  and  is  partici- 
pated in  by  all  the  Zunians.  It  is  celebrated 
verv  rarely  and  on  that  account  a  description 
of  it  has  considerable  value.  When  we  reflect 
what  changes  come  over  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  Pueblos  in  a  few  years  we  can 
readily  see  that  those  ceremonies  which  occur 
after  long  intervals  of  time  are  particularly 
desirable  to  describe.     We  do  not  know  but 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


175 


that  in  another  decade  such  a  dance  as  the 
Ham-po-ney,  celebrated  as  it  rarely  is,  will  be 
so  modified  that  much  of  its  primitive  charac- 
ters will  be  lost.  It  is,  therefore,  a  profitable 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  the  ethnol- 
ogy of  the  Zunians  to  record  the  present  char- 
acteristics of  the  ceremony  befoie  the  changes 
take  place. 

On  the  night  before  the  Ham-po-ney,  the 
Koy-e-ama-shi  built  in  the  sacred  dance  place 
a  bower  of  cedar  in  which  the  dance  of  the  mor- 
row was  to  be  celebrated.  These  priests  cut 
the  cedar  from  the  hills  at  the  south  of  the 
town  and  late  in  the  afternoon  came  back  to 
the  place  loaded  down  with  great  bundles  of 
these  boughs.  With  much  raillery  they  decor- 
ated the  beams  of  the  bower  which  had  already 
been  built  with  cedar  boughs,  tying  them  on 
with  grease-wood  fibres.  During  this  duty 
they  were  clad  in  the  manner  characteristic  of 
this  priesthood  as  already  described. 

On  the  morning  of  the  dance,  the  bower  was 
seen  to  be  tastefully  decorated,  and  its  whole  in- 
terior occupied  by  seats  for  the  dancers.  There 
was  an  elaborate  shrine  in  the  middle  of  the 
building. 

Two  rows  of  blanketed  seats  extended  down 
the  middle  of  the  house  facing  the  east.  There 
were  places  for  the  women  who  later  take  part 
in  the  ceremonies.  Between  these  seats  there 
was  made  with  sacred  meal  on  the  ground,  a 
terraced  figure  with  apex  pointing  towards  the 
east.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  house  which 
was  open,  there  was  a  line  of  four  seats  for  as 
many  women,  the  Showkomosse,  who  take 
a  prominent  part  in  the  dance.  In  front  of 
them  a  line  of  baskets,  heaped  up  with  corn, 
was  placed  and  a  bank  of  feather  plumes.  A 
feather  plume  was  placed  in  the  ground  near 
each  seat. 

The  musicians  sat  on  each  side  of  the 
dancers.  There  were  two  sets  of  drummers 
and  one  squad  who  accompanied  the  dancers 
with  the  music  of  the  horns. 

The  character  of  the  dance  was  in  general 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Klar-hey-wey.  The 
dress,  however,  was  much  more  elaborate  and 
the  paraphernalia  more  striking. 

Eight  women  and  one  man  danced  in  a  row 
with  a  graceful  movement  of  the  body  slowly 
edging  their  way  from  the  bower  into  the 
open  plaza.  Thej'  bore  painted  tablets  on 
their  heads  and  in  their  hands  carried  ears  of 


corn  and  sticks  upon  which  were  tied  feathers. 
Their  arms  were  extended  and  swayed  up  and 
down  as  they  went  through  the  dance.  The 
male  dancer  stood  midway  in  the  line  and, 
when  the  women  ceased,  kept  ou  dancing, 
raising  one  foot  rapidly  after  the  other.  Brass 
bells  rattled  on  his  knees. 

The  ears  of  corn  which  each  dancer  held  were 
drawn  to  the  mouths  of  the  dancers  by  several 
old  women  who  performed  that  ceremony,  pass- 
ing from  one  to  another  of  the  participants  as 
described  in  the  Klar-hey-wey.  In  the  second 
part  of  the  dance,  in  which  the  musicians  furn- 
ished the  instrumental  music,  the  dancers  car- 
ried hand  tablets  similar  to  those  which  they 
bore  on  their  head. 

The  dancing  was  continued  all  day  with  the 
exception  of  a  short  time  given  to  a  feast  when 
the  dancers  ate  in  the  presence  of  the  audience, 
among  whom  the  food  was  distributed  after 
the  dancers  had  eaten. 

The  dance  lasted  all  night,  during  which  a 
fire  was  kindled  in  front  of  the  bower,  and  not- 
withstanding a  heavy  rain  somewhat  damp- 
ened the  ground  of  the  plaza,  the  dancing  went 
on  at  intervals  until  day-break. 

In  the  morning  a  procession,  composed  of 
four  boys  and  girls  with  Ni-u-che  the  represen- 
tative of  A-hai-u-ta,  the  war  chief,  and 
another,  visited  the  shrine  of  Her-pah-ti-nah, 
marching  three  times  around  this  sacred  place. 
The  slab  which  closes  it  on  the  east  side  was 
turned  down,  the  chamber  was  opened  and  in 
it  were  deposited  with  prayers,  oSerings  of 
feathers,  water  and  meal." 

Overwork. — A  few  possibly  die  early  from 
overwork,  but  many  more  pass  away  from 
want  of  enough.  Active  brainy  men  who  have 
not  abused  their  bodily  system  by  excesses  are 
among  the  longest  livers.  Gladstone,  the 
English  Premier,  who  is  passionately  fond  of 
gardening  and  forestry  as  a  relaxation,  and 
who  has  been  a  wonderful  worker,  is  now  in 
his  eighty-third  year.  Also  in  his  eighty- 
third,  is  Professor  Babington,  the  Professor 
of  Botany  in  Cambridge,  England,  author  of 
one  of  the  best  works  on  the  British  flora,  and 
a  tremendous  worker.  Another  heavy  worker 
is  the  great  American  geologist,  Prof.  Hall,  of 
Albany,  New  York,  yet  though  over  eighty, 
was  working  as  actively  as  a  young  man  at 
a  recent  science  meeting  at  Rochester. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Cnicus  edulis.  —  Professor  Edward  L. 
Greene,  in  "Erythea, "  corrects  an  error  into 
which  Meehans'  Monthly  fell  in  referring 
to  the  edible  thistle  as  being  found  in  Colorado, 
■when  in  fact  it  is  confined  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
Also  in  guessing  from  the  very  imperfect  des- 
cription of  a  correspondent  some  time  since, 
that  "Canaigre"  might  be  the  dwarf  golden 
chestnut.  This  was  corrected  as  soon  as  speci- 
mens were  received,  when  it  was  seen  to  be  a 
dock.  Prof.  Greene's  kindness  in  making 
these  corrections  is  much  appreciated,  as  it  is 
the  desire  of  the  conductors  that  every  state- 
ment in  the  magazine  should  be  absolutely  ac- 
curate, if  possible.  It  is,  however,  diflBcult  to 
reach  the  same  perfection  in  a  magazine  that 
is  expected  in  a  deliberately  prepared  work. 
In  the  same  magazine  in  which  the  above 
kindly  corrections  occur,  Rhus  glabra,  appears 
as  Phus  glabra.  The  Professor  also  regards 
Meehans'  Monthly  as  ' '  impatient  of  the 
action  of  those  who  would  have  a  correct  and 
lawful  plant  nomenclature."  For  instance,  he 
would  have  C?iicus,  as  above  referred  to,  called 
Carduus.  No  objection  has  ever  been  made 
by  the  conductors  to  having  errors  in  nomen- 
clature pointed  out  ;  their  position  is  that  dic- 
tionaries or  lexicons  must  of  necessity  be  fol- 
lowed in  all  magazine  offices;  and  that  the  pro 
posed  corrections,  however  justifiable  they  may 
be,  cannot  be  used  to  any  practical  advantage, 
until  the  dictionaries  adopt  them. 


The  Forthcoming  Volume  of  Meehans' 
Monthly. — The  end  of  this  year  is  approach- 
ing, and  with  it  commences  the  fourth  volume 
of  Meehans'  Monthly.  It  is  a  source  of 
pride  to  the  publishers  that  they  are  able  to 
make  a  work  successful  that  no  regular  pub- 
lisher would  touch.  Its  success  proves  it  to 
be  a  slander  on  the  American  people,  that  only 
that  which  caters  to  a  comparatively  low  taste 
will  take.  The  average  number  of  educated 
Americans  who  have  learned  to  distinguish  be- 
tween mediocrity  and  an  advanced  position  in 
general  culture,  is  much  larger  than  is  gener- 

(176) 


ally  supposed.  The  conductors  of  Meehans' 
Monthly  have  had  faith  in  them,  and  received 
their  confidence  in  return.  No  spoons  or 
watches  have  been  oflered  that  the  subscriber 
might  get  something  for  what  he  does  not 
really  want  or  care.  A  constituency  has 
been  gathered  together  who  are  fully  satisfied 
that  they  get  the  full  value  in  the  subscription 
price.  One  may  take  a  pride  in  such  a  con- 
stituency, and  we  are  proud.  Few  intelligent 
persons  see  a  copy  of  our  magazine  without 
desiring  to  be  a  subscriber.  There  are  yet 
thousands  who  have  not  seen  or  heard  of  it, 
whom  we  want  to  gather  in.  We  know  from 
experience  that  many  would  be  thankful  to 
friends  who  would  draw  their  attention  to  it, 
and  specimen  numbers  will  be  gladly  mailed 
free  to  any  address  given  to  us.  Lists  of 
names  sent  with-renewals  of  subscriptions  will 
be  a  favor  to  one's  friends  as  well  as  to  the 
publishers. 

The  Correspondents  of  Meehans'  Month- 
ly.— Among  the  many  pleasant  experiences  in 
conducting  this  magazine  the  conductors  have 
to  note  the  courteous  manner  in  which  corre- 
spondents express  their  differences.  The 
temptation  to  keen  retort  and  savage  expres- 
sions is  freely  indulged  in  by  writers  in  even 
strictly  scientific  papers.  It  is  gratifying  to 
find  contributors  to  this  magazine  admitting 
the  possibility  of  being  wrong  sometimes. 


Baptisia  leucoph^a. — In  the  selection  of 
subjects  for  the  colored  plates  the  aim  is  to 
teach  geographical  botany  as  well  as  to  give 
lessons  in  as  many  natural  orders  as  possible. 
It  is  a  long  time  since  one  of  the  butterfly  or 
leguminose  class  was  presented,  but  the  next 
will  be  one  of  these — Baptisia  Icucophaa.  It  will 
represent  what  was  once  the  "  prairie  region  " 
of  the  United  States. 


Prof.  C.  S.  Sargent. — Mr.  Nicholson,  cura- 
tor of  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  gives  praise  to 
the  Horticultural  labors  of  Professor  Sargent. 


Vol  III. 


Plate  1^ 


P,XT 


n-Tsi  \      !  pf'('(ipH.Jr.A 


BAPTISIA  LEUCOPH/EA. 


CREAM-COLORED  BAPTISIA. 


NATURAL  ORDER, LEGUMINOS^. 


BAPTISIA  LEL'COPH^A,  Nuttall.— Stem  two  to  three  feet  high;  villous,  smoothish  when  old;  petioles,  very  short;  leaflets 
oblanceolate,  varying  to  obovate.  two  to  three  inches  long  by  half  to  one  inch  wide;  stipules  more  than  half  as  large  as 
the  leaves,  triangular-ovate,  ])ersistent,  the  bracts  also  large;  raceme  twenty  to  fifty-flowered,  nodding  or  inclined 
horizontally,  the  flowers  turned  to  the  upper  side  on  their  long  pedicels,  pedicels  one  to  two  inches  long;  legume  ovoid 
or  roundish,  inflated.  (Wood's  Class-Book  of  Botany.  See  also  Gray's  Manital  of  the  Botany  of  the  Northern 
United  States,  and  Chapman's  Ftora  of  the  Southern  United  States. 


Baptisia  is  a  distinctively  American  genus, 
containing  over  a  dozen  species,  and  is  also, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  most  interesting  genera 
among  the  flora  of  the  United  States.  There 
is  a  similarity  of  habit  and  general  appearance 
running  through  all  the  species;  but  in  the 
inflorescence  there  is  great  variation,  especially 
in  the  color  and  size  of  the  flowers,  among 
which  are  white,  yellow  and  purple,  with  many 
various  shades  between  them.  They  are  con- 
fined wholly  to  the  Atlantic  States,  ranging 
from  Maine  to  Minnesota,  and  thence  south- 
wardly to  Florida  and  Texas.  No  species  has 
been  found  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains;  the 
allied  genus  Thermopsis  seeming  to  take  its 
place  as  it  travels  west. 

In  a  certain  sense  it  is  a  new  genus.  No 
*  mention  of  it  will  be  found  made  by  any  author 
of  the  last  century.  Two  or  three  of  the  species 
were  known  to  the  earlier  explorers  in  Virginia, 
but  they  were  supposed  to  belong  to  the  genus 
Sophora,  or  Podalyria,  a  genus  which  seems 
to  have  its  principal  home  in  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  In  searching  for  the  family  history  of 
these  plants  these  old  genera  will  have  to  be 
consulted  by  the  critical  student.  Even 
Ventenat,  the  French  botanist,  who  established 
the  genus  Baptisia  in  1808,  but  a  few  years 
before,  in  the  history  of  the  new  plants  grow- 
ing in  the  garden  of  Cels,  where  so  many  of 
the  collections  of  Michaux  and  other  celebrated 
botanists  were  raised, — had  described  our 
present  Baptisia  australis  as  Podalyria  austra- 
lis.  Nature  must  have  suggested  some  differ- 
ences between  the  two  genera  before  the  botan- 
ist knew  how  to  describe  them,  for  the  general 
appearance  of  the  plants  is  by  no  means 
suggestive  of  the  Podalyrias  from  southern 
Africa.    But  the  descriptions  of  the  two  genera, 


briefly  given  in  those  days,  merely  make  the 
calyx  cleft  to  near  the  base,  while,  as  we  see  in 
our  illustration,  Baptisia  is  but  cleft  half  way 
down  ;  and  the  stamens  fall  away  at  once  as 
the  petals  fade  in  Baptisia,  while  in  Poda- 
lyria they  are  united  at  the  base,  and  thus 
remain  around  the  ovary  for  a  long  time.  In 
other  words,  the  stamens  are  persistent  in 
Podalyria,  and  early  deciduous  in  Baptisia. 
Ventenat  had  the  name  suggested  to  him  from 
the  use  made  of  Podalyria  tindoria  in  dyeing. 
Baptos  being  a  Greek  word  signifying  a  dye, 
and  hence  Baptisia  became  the  name  for  the 
whole  genus. 

The  flowers  of  Baptisia  have  attracted  some 
attention  from  those  now  engaged  in  the  study 
of  the  manner  in  which  flowers  are  fertilized. 
Bees  in  collecting  honey  or  pollen,  as  they 
go  from  flower  to  flower,  take  the  pollen  of 
one  to  the  other,  and  in  this  way  they  may 
be  cross-fertilized.  It  is  interesting  to  watch 
the  bees  as  they  do  their  work.  Their  feet  rest 
on  the  two  wings,  and,  pressing  these  down  bj' 
their  weight,  the  keel  is  brought  up  against  the 
pollen-covered  breast  of  the  insect,  and  the 
stigmatic  surface  of  the  pistil  thus  gets  foreign 
pollen  before  it  gets  its  own.  In  order,  how- 
ever, to  test  whether  they  could  be  fertilized 
by  their  own  pollen,  the  writer  has  enclosed 
the  flowers  in  gauze  bags,  so  as  to  exclude 
bees,  in  which  case  but  very  few  flowers  per- 
fected seed,  while  those  uncovered  on  the  same 
plant  produced  seed  in  abundance.  How- 
ever, producing  seed  is  not  always  a  matter  of 
pollenization.  Large  quantities  of  plants  may 
often  be  seen  in  proximity  to  each  other,  some 
seasons  nearly  all  bearing  seeds  freely;  at  other 
times  a  few  plants  will  be  very  productive, 
while  the  most  of  them  are  wholly  barren. 

(177) 


178 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — BAPTISIA  LEUCOPH^A. 


[Dec, 


Some  of  the  species  have  the  remarkable 
peculiarity  of  always  turning  black  in  drying, 
no  matter  how  careful  the  plant  collector  may 
be  in  the  endeavor  to  make  good  specimens  of 
them. 

The  genus,  as  already  noted,  is  found  in 
some  of  its  species  all  over  the  Atlantic  part  of 
the  United  States.  The  number  increases  as  we 
approach  the  higher  lands  from  the  coast,  and 
decreases  as  we  reach  the  Mississippi.  But  we 
do  not  meet  with  our  species  until  we  are  across 
the  Alleghany  range,  and  it  is  not  fully  at  home 
until  we  get  into  the  level  lands.  It  is  sub- 
stantially a  prairie  species, — and  if  the  com- 
mon name  of  Cream-Colored  Baptisia  had  not 
already  been  given  to  it,  it  might  fairly  be 
named  the  Prairie  Baptisia.  It  is  one  of  the 
few  species  that  have  managed  to  get  a  little 
distance  beyond  the  Mississippi,  as  it  is  found 
along  its  line  in  Texas,  Arkansas,  Kansas  and 
Nebraska.  It  is  among  the  earliest  of  the 
beautiful  prairie  flowers, — the  Marcy  expedi- 
tion finding  it  in  full  flower  in  April,  while 
even  so  far  north  as  Minnesota.  Parry  reports 
it  among  the  May  flowers.  It  is  found  alike 
in  open  grassy  plains,  as  well  as  in  the  higher 
woodlands  of  these  regions.  In  its  habits  it  is 
just  such  a  flower  as  we  might  imagine  Long- 
fellow to  have  had  in  mind  as  he  wrote : 

"When  the  warm  sun,  that  brings 

Seed,  time  and  harvest,  has  returned  again, 
'T  is  sweet  to  visit  the  still  wood  where  springs 
The  first  flower  of  the  plain." 

The  flowers,  however,  do  not  make  as  much 
show  in  the  natural  scenery,  as  do  those  of 
some  other  species,  through  the  habit  they  have 
of  reclining  instead  of  rising  erect,  and  in  this 
way  they  are  often  covered  more  or  less  by  the 
foliage.  The  flowers  are  larger  than  in  any  of 
the  other  North  American  species.  It  was 
first  observed  by  Mr.  Nuttall,  growing  abund- 
antly near  St.  Louis,  and  by  him  named 
Baptisia  leucophcea,  in  his  "Genera  of  North 
.  America,"  issued  in  1818.  It  varies  somewhat 
in  different  locations,  and  the  flowers  as 
represented  in  the  Botanical  Magazine,  seem 
more  erect  and  conspicuous.  The  variation  in 
some  specimens  collected  by  Hall  in  Texas, 
were  so  marked  as  to  lead  Dr.  Gray  to  give  it 
the  sub-name  or  "variety"  Icevicaulis. 

Our  plate  has  been  so  arranged  as  to  give  a 
fair  representation  of  the  plant,  though  from 
its  size  it  was  difficult  to  give  all  the  peculiar 


characteristics  of  the  species.  The  spike  of 
flowers  chosen,  had  of  necessity  to  be  a  small 
one  ;  but  it  shows  well  the  large  leafy  and 
strongly  nerved  bracts,  which  are  very  con- 
spicuous in  this  species,  and  which  indeed  led 
Muhlenberg  and  others  of  the  earlier  botanists 
to  call  it  Baptisia  bracteata.  The  flowers  are 
a  little  undersized  as  compared  with  vigorous 
specimens,  but  the  yellowish  white  flowers  are 
just  as  we  find  them  in  larger  ones.  The 
calyx  lobes,  extending  down  to  about  half  the 
depth  of  the  calyx,  as  noted  by  the  early 
botanists  is  well  shown ;  as  is  also  the  divari- 
cate or  forking  character  of  the  branches.  The 
leaves  are,  of  course,  occasionally  larger,  but 
an  interesting  point  in  our  specimens  is  that 
instead  of  the  leaves  being  almost  sessile,  as  in 
most  descriptions,  these  have  petioles  nearly 
half  an  inch  long. 

The  seed  vessel  in  the  illustration  is  imma- 
ture,— but  it  may  be  noted  that,  when  ripe, 
some  species  have  the  seeds  loose  in  the  vessels, 
and  the  seeds  rattle  like  a  child's  toy  in  the 
shaken  seed  vessel.  Indeed,  oneof  the  popular 
names  is  "Rattle  box."  Nature  loves  variety, 
so  sometimes  seeds  cling  to  an  opening  capsule, 
— and  sometimes  it  fails  to  scatter  loose  ones. 

This  genus  is  a  good  illustration  of  the 
superiority  of  the  modern  or  natural  .system  of 
botany  over  the  old  artificial  systems,  even  the 
comparatively  good  one  of  Linnaeus.  Examin- 
ing most  of  the  pea-shaped  flowers  they  were 
found  to  have  the  stamens  divided  into  two 
sets.  In  one  there  was  but  a  single  stamen, 
and  in  the  other  all  were  united  together  at 
the  base.  This  character  formed  Linnfeus' 
class  Diadelphia.  But,  as  already  noted,  in 
Baptisia,  the  stamens  are  all  free  from  each 
other,  and  this  fact  compelled  botanists  to 
place  it  in  the  class  Decandria,  far  away  from 
its  natural  associates  of  the  Papilionaceous 
order. 

Still,  under  the  natural  system,  plants,  at 
times,  find  queer  associates.  The  aim  is  to 
bring  together  that  which  is  alike,  and 
separate  the  unlike  from  the  like.  But  even 
the  best  efforts  of  this  character  fail  occasion- 
ally. All  that  can  be  said  of  the  systems 
known  as  "natural"  is  that  they  are  less  un- 
natural than  those  which  went  before. 


Explanation  of  the  Plate, — i.  .Small  specimen  from  a 
Western  State,  contributed  by  Josiah  Hoopes.  2.  Nearly 
mature  seed  vessel. 


WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


NATURE'S  ROSARY. 

The  beaded  dew-drops  hang  on  blades  of  grass, 
On  spiders'  webs,  and  twigs  of  bush  and  tree. 
Thick-strung  as  pearls — the  rosaries  of  Nature, 
Which,  by  the  morning  sun 'swarm  fingers  touched, 
Will  rise  invisible  as  prayers  to  heaven. 

— Thomas  Conrad  Porter. 


Variations  in  Plants. — It  does  not  seem 
to  be  generally  recogtiized  that  no  two  trees  or 
plants  come  exactly  alike,  any  more  than  tvi'o 
individuals  among  the  human  family  might  be 
expected  to  be  exactly  alike.  Indefinite  and 
absolute  variation  seems  to  be  a  law  of  nature, 
and  yet  much  surprise  is  felt  at  variations  in 
trees,  and  these  variations  are  frequently  taken 
and  Latin  names  given  them  to  an  extent  that 
is  absolutely  alarming  and  confusing  to  the 
systematic  botanist.  On  the  conductor's  table 
is  the  "Gartenflora"  of  March  the  isth,  an 
admirable  German  botanical  and  horticultural 
publication,  in  which  are  named  and  described 
no  less  than  twenty-three  varieties  of  our  com- 
mon silver  maple,  drawings  being  given  of  a 
large  number  of  them.  Those  who  are  famil- 
iar with  this  common  tree  in  our  country,  well 
know  that  it  would  be  just  as  easy  to  get  a 
hundred  varieties  as  ten.  There  is,  however, 
one  difficulty  which  will  excuse  sometimes  the 
use  of  a  Latin  name  to  mark  a  conspicuous 
variation.  The  common  cut  -  leaved  silver 
maple,  for  instance,  brought  into  great  prom- 
inence by  Ellwanger  &  Barry,  from  a  plant 
found  by  Mr.  Wier,  of  Illinois,  is  Latinized  as 
Wieri.  It  is  difiicult  for  nurserymen  to  decide 
how  to  name  these  variations,  and  some  name 
is  certainly  required  under  which  to  introduce 
them.  We  might,  to  be  sure,  say  Brown's 
Maple,  Smith's  Maple,  Jones'  Maple,  and  so 
on,  but  it  is  evident  that  such  names  would 
never  become  so  permanent  and  fixed  as  when 
the  Latin  form  Smithii,  Brownii  and  Jonesii 
would  be  employed,  and  yet  the  use  of  these 
Latin  names  in  this  way  proves  to  be  very  an- 
noying and  troublesome  to  the  systematic 
botanist. 


The  Buttonwood  in  Ohio.^ — Mr.  Uselma 
C.  Smith,  Philadelphia,  kindly  contributes  the 
following  : 

"There  was  such  a  large  tree  some  years 
ago,  well  known  to  me,  growing  on  my 
brother's  farm  in  Jefferson,  Ashtabula  Co., 
Ohio,  about  ten  miles  south  of  Lake  Erie,  on 
creek  bottom  land,  sheltered  by  hills.  My 
brother  and  I  measured  this  tree.  I  give  you 
the  result  of  our  measurement :  Seven  feet 
from  the  ground  it  was  42  feet  six  inches  in 
circumference,  and  about  14  feet  in  diameter  ; 
increasing  in  size  rapidly  towards  the  roots 
where  we  stood  to  make  our  seven  feet  high 
measurement.  Four  feet  from  the  ground  it 
would  have  measured  from  48  to  50  feet. 
About  20  feet  up,  the  trunk  was  divided  into 
four  large  branches,  which  spread  in  opposite 
directions,  from  five  to  eight  feet  in  diameter, 
round  and  clean.  They  covered  over  150  feet 
in  circumference.  No  vegetation  grew  under 
its  shade,  but  grass.  It  was  the  place  of  resort 
in  the  fall  for  the  country  people,  for  their 
harvest  parties,  where  platforms  were  con- 
structed, and  they  danced  by  moonlight  to 
their  rustic  music.  When  measured,  the  tree 
was  apparently  sound.  Some  years  afterwaids 
it  was  cut  into  by  hunters  to  dislodge  game^ 
finding  it  to  be  hollow.  It  was  burned  out  hy 
some  vandal  boys.  This  weakened  it,  and  it  was 
blown  over  by  a  heavy  storm.  Contrary  to 
the  usual  custom,  this  tree  spread  out  and  was 
shaped  much  like  an  apple  tree.  Growing  on 
rich  land,  and  well  watered,  it  bore  a  large  and 
heavy  foliage.  Doubtless  this  accounted  for 
the  absence  of  other  trees  and  shrubs  growing 
beneath  it.  It  was  the  pride  and  admiration 
of  the  people  of  the  surrounding  country." 


Galls  on  the  Wych  Hazel. — In  many- 
localities,  the  Wych  Hazel  is  covered  by  many 
small  excrescences  which  seem  to  take  the 
place  of  fruit,  on  the  fading  of  the  flowers. 
These  are  galls  formed  by  species  of  aphis,  as 
can  readily  be  seen  by  cutting  some  of  them 
apart. 

(I79> 


l8o 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Dec. 


The  Russian  Thistle. — Plant  growers  very 
often  complain  when  the  botanist,  under  the 
recognized  rule  of  priority,  feels  compelled  to 
change  one  botanical  name  for  another.  But 
this  great  evil  is  seldom  considered  when  a 
common  name  is  in  question.  Any  one  has  a 
right  to  give  a  plant  any  common  name  he 
chooses,  and,  as  a  consequence,  scores  of 
names  are  given  to  the  same  thing,  and  few 
know  what  another  is  talking  about.  This 
thought  occurs  particularly  on  reading  a 
government  publication,  issued  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  in  relation  to  the  "Rus- 
sian thistle."  We  could  not  imagine  what 
the  Russian  thistle  could  possibly  be.  On 
reading,  however,  it  is  evident  that  what  the 
United  States  government  calls  in  this  pamph- 
let the  Russian  thistle,  is  the  plant  which  has 
been  long  known  to  residents  along  the  sea- 
coasts  as  Saltwort,  and  which  is  botanically 
Salsola  kali.  It  appears,  according  to  this 
document,  that  it  is  called  Russian  cactus, 
as  well  as  Russian  thistle,  and  that  it  is 
also  called  tartar  weed,  and  hector  weed.  Pos- 
sibly, if  it  were  worth  the  while  of  the  United 
States  government  to  hunt  them  up,  a  score  of 
other  names  might  be  discovered.  It  appears 
to  be  an  extremely  troublesome  weed  in 
Dakota.  Botanically  the  plant  is  related  to 
the  spinach  family. 

Hygienic  Value  of  Perfumes. — Dr.  An- 
ders, of  Philadelphia,  a  few  years  ago  made 
the  interesting  discovery  that  the  ozone  in  the 
atmosphere,  the  element  which  is  the  great 
purifier,  was  mainly  supplied  from  blooming 
flowers, — and  for  this  reason  blooming  plants 
were  healthful  in  dwelling  houses  as  well  as 
attractive.  Some  interesting  experiments  with 
the  odors  of  flowers  have  been  made  in  the  old 
world,  and  it  is  found  that  many  species  of 
microbes  are  easily  destroyed  by  various  odors. 
The  odor  of  cloves  has  been  known  to  destroy 
these  minute  creatures  in  25  minutes;  cinna- 
mon will  kill  some  species  in  12  minutes; 
thyme,  in  35.  In  45  minutes  the  common  wild 
verbena  is  found  effective,  while  the  odor  of 
some  geranium  flowers  has  destroyed  various 
forms  of  microbes  in  50  minutes.  The  essence 
of  cinnamon  is  said  to  destroy  the  typhoid 
fever  microbe  in  12  minutes,  and  is  recorded 
as  the  most  effective  of  all  odors  as  an  anti- 
septic.     It  is  now  believed  that  flowers  which 


are  found  in  Egyptian  mummies,  were 
placed  there  more  for  their  antiseptic  proper- 
ties, than  as  mere  ornaments  or  elements  in 
sentimental  work. 


Bear  Grass. — Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders,  Philadel- 
phia, notes  as  follows:  "The  note  on  Bear  Grass 
in  the  October  number  calls  to  mind  that  this 
summer  I  heard  the  same  name  used  by  a 
North  Carolina  mountaineer  to  designate 
Amianthium  muscceto.xiciim.  The  name  seemed 
rather  appropriate,  I  thought,  to  the  bunches 
of  coarse,  grass-like  leaves,  growing,  as  I 
often  saw  them,  about  rocky,  cavernous  places, 
which  looked  for  all  the  world  like  the  haunts 
of  bears.  Another  common  name  that  I  heard 
the  same  man  use  and  which  I  do  not  find 
noted  in  Gray  is  Coltsfoot,  applied  to  Galax 
aphylla.  The  outline  of  the  leaf  bears  a  good 
resemblance  to  the  print  of  a  horse's  hoof 
when  unshod,  as  a  colt's  hoof  would  natur- 
ally be,  and  in  size  is  not  dissimilar  to  the 
latter." 

Second  Growth  of  Pine. — Some  people 
insist  that  when  an  oak  forest  is  cut  down 
pines  spring  up, — and  that  oak  follows  pine, 
and  so  forth, — but  this  never  occurs  except 
where  the  two  kinds  are  not  far  from  each 
other.  In  localities  where  but  one  kind  exists, 
that  kind  succeeds  itself.  An  intelligent  Ne- 
vada correspondent  notes  that  where  the  pine 
timber  was  cut  away  twenty  years  or  so  ago, 
fine  young  trees,  apparently  about  fifteen 
years  old,  now  cover  the  same  area.  They 
grow  so  slowly  when  young,  she  says, 
that  few  observe  them,  but  after  a  few  years 
they  grow  rapidly.  It  is  about  the  sixth  or 
seventh  year  before  they  start  on  the  rapid 
growth. 

Fruiting  of  the  Lily  of  the  Valley. — 
Dr.  James  Darrach,  of  Philadelphia,  author  of 
a  flora  of  Philadelphia,  sends  a  spike  of  the 
common  Lily  of  the  Valley,  in  which  the  two 
lower  flowers  have  produced  fruit, — scarlet 
berries  larger  than  those  of  the  holly.  It  is 
worth  investigation  by  those  of  inquiring  ten- 
dencies, why  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  should 
produce  millions  of  flowers  without  a  fruit 
resulting.  The  variegated  leaved  variety 
usually  produces  a  few  berries  in  Bleehans' 
Nurseries, — but  the  normal  form  does  not. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


A  Scene  on  the  Wissahickon. — In  a  former 
issue  an  illustration  has  been  given  of  the  face 
of  the  rocky  scenery  of  the  Wissahickon.  In 
this  issue  another  shows  the  passage  of  a 
little  stream  over  the  rocky  surface.  This 
peculiar  part  of  the  Wissahickon  is  known  as 
the  "  Happy  Valley."  The  picture  was  taken 
in  the  winter  season.  During  the  summer  it 
is  a  favorite  home  for  numerous  species  of 
ferns,  among  which  the  Aspidium  acrostichoides 
forms  a  conspicuous  part.  This  fern  is  known 
in  the  vicinity  of  Philadelphia,  as  the  "  Christ- 
mas Fern."  The  fronds  are  evergreen,  and  are 
collected  in  large  quantities  to  aid  in  Christ- 
mas festivities,  and  are  also  emploj'ed  in  win- 
ter decorations  of  many  kinds. 


In  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean  a  genus, 
known  as  Pleurotus,  furnishes  a  species,  ac- 
cording to  a  French  mycologist,  which  is  so 
abundant,  and  in  which  the  phosphorescence  is 
so  enduring,  that  the  native  women  use  it  for 
personal  adornment  in  the  hair  and  dress.  It 
is  said  that  the  glow  will  continue,  occasion- 
ally, for  twenty-four  hours. 

Geographical  Range  of  the  Kalmia. — 
Referring  to  the  note  of  Mr.  H.  P.  Kelsey  in 
a  recent  number  of  the  magazine,  Mrs.  E.  L. 
H.  Willis  remarks  that  she  has  seen  the  Kal- 
mia growing  luxuriantly  near  Aiken  in  S.  C, 
and  believes  it  is  plentiful  in  the  woods  in  the 
vicinity  of  Charleston. 


Plant  Emigration,  White 
Snake  Root. — Ernest  Walker, 
New  Albany,  Ind.,  says  that  this 
plant,  Eupatoritim  ageratoides, 
under  cultivation,  is  not 
only  a  beautiful,  but  extremely 
useful,  fall  flower  for  cutting. 
The  flowers  are  pure  white.  In 
the  rich  soil  of  the  garden  the 
plants  grow  si.K  to  nine  feet 
high.  A  row  of  them  in  bloom 
looks  like  a  miniature  snow 
storm. 

Several  years  ago,  Mr.  Walker 
got  plants  from  Kentucky,  and 
planted  them  in  the  garden.  At 
that  time  he  had  never  seen  a 
single  plant  of  the  species  around 
New  Albany,  Ind.,  although  it 
had  been  found.  Now  within 
the  vicinity  of  the  nursery,  and  in  their  grounds, 
it  is  becoming  spontaneous.  The  volunteers 
appear  singly  here  and  there,  growing  about 
three  feet  high.  Thej'  do  not  promise  to  be- 
come numerous  enough  to  prove  troublesome. 


IvUMiNOUS  Fungi. — There  are  probably  few 
who  have  not,  at  some  time  or  another,  met 
with  cases  of  luminous  fungi.  The  writei  of 
this  paragraph  well  remembers  an  old  oak  tree, 
hollow  with  age,  and  exposing  a  large  pro- 
portion of  decayed  wood,  which  glowed  at 
night  almost  as  brilliantly  as  if  a  light  had 
been  placed  inside  the  hollow  shell.  In  some 
parts  of  the  world,  species  with  this  character- 
istic are  much  more  common  than  in  others. 


A   WINTER  SCENE  ON   THE  WISSAHICKON. 

Irritability     in     Plants. Mr.      Ernest 

Walker,  of  New  Albany,  Ind.,  has  recently 
contributed  some  interesting  notes  on  the 
manner  in  which  the  common  wild  sour  grass — 
as  it  is  called,  Oxalis  shida — expels  its  seeds. 
They  are  thrown  to  a  great  distance  by  the 
sudden  disruption  of  the  capsule.  He  finds 
Oxalis  violacea  has  the  same  power.  The  com- 
mon Balsam  of  our  garden,  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called  in  American  floriculture,  "  Lady 
Slipper,"  does  the  same,— especially  when  the 
seed  pods  are  grasped.  This  and  the  Oxalis 
belong  to  the  same  natural  order  of  plants. 
The  garden  Balsam  derived  its  Latin  name, 
Impatiens,  from  this  characteristic.  Possibly 
most  species  of  Oxalis  are  irritable. 


I82 


MEEHANS'   MONTHLY — WILD  FLOWERS  AND  NATURE. 


[Dec. 


Proliferous  Strawberries. — Few  things 
are  more  instructive  than  the  variations  from 
normal  forms  occasionally  seen  in  fruits  and 
flowers.  The  departures  from  the  original 
condition  are  supposed  to  illustrate  the  path 
by  which  changes  in  Nature  travel.  With 
this  paragraph  is  given  a  sketch  of  a  straw- 
berry, taken  from  the  London  Gardener's  Chron- 
icle, in  which  little  plants  are  growing  out  of 
the  fruit.  It  has  been  long  known  from  simi- 
lar   vagaries    that    there  is  practically  little 


&^^ 


PROLIFEROUS   STRAWBERRY, 

■difference  between  the  seed  and  the  bud.  This 
knowledge  may  easily  be  gained  from  our 
common  species  of  garlic,  in  which  instead  of 
flowers  in  the  head,  small  bulblets  appear.  A 
bulblet  is  nothing  more  than  a  bud, — in  the 
strawberry  the  receptacle  becomes  fleshj-,  and 
the  seeds  are  placed  on  the  surface, — but  in 
the  case  figured,  the  seeds  have  taken  a  short 
way  to  become  plants  at  once,  without  going 
through  the  regular  process  of  sprouting 
through  the  earth. 


Cactuses. — Our  French  contemporary,  the 
Lyon-Horticole,  notes,  that  as  is  the  case  in 
America,  the  love  for  the  culture  of  cactuses, 
is  somewhat  on  the  increase,  although  the 
number  of  collections  in  the  vicinity  of  Lyons 
is  not  large.  One  grower,  however,  has  raised 
a  large  number  of  beautiful  varieties,  between 
Mamillaria  dolichocenha  and  Mamillaria  rho- 
daniha,  which  are  said  to  be  remarkable.  The 
raising  of  new  forms  of  cactuses  is  somewhat 
of  a  new  thought.  There  is  no  more  reason 
why  this  occupation  may  not  become  as  popu- 
lar, and  attractive,  as  the  raising  of  hybrid 
orchids  seems  now  to  be  in  England. 

In  These  Intelligent  Days. — We  have 
now  before  us  a  specimen  of  a  grape  vine, 
which  has  a  protuberance  which  might 
readily  be  taken  for  a  hickory  nut  or  a  fig. 
The  party  sending  it  to  us  is  sure  that  the 
pollen  of  a  hickory  flower  has  been  absorbed 
by  the  flower  of  the  grape  vine,  and  that  this 
is  therefore  a  case  of  immediate  influence  of 
hickory  pollen  on  the  grape, — yet,  if  the 
sender  had  only  thought  to  cut  this  protuber- 
ance open,  he  would  have  found  a  little  larva 
inside,  which  would  conclusively  show  that 
the  protuberance  was  simply  the  gall  of  an 
insect. 

The  Japan  Ivy. — The  Ampelopsis  Veitcliii, 
or  as  it  is,  properly,  A.  tricuspidata  is  believed 
not  to  be  hardy  in  the  Northwest. 

Prof.  Gofi  of  the  agricultural  department  of 
the  University  of  Wisconsin,  has  succeeded  in 
grafting  it  on  the  roots  of  Ampelopsis  quinque- 
folia,  our  Virginia  creeper,  and  hopes  in  this 
way  to  increase  its  hardiness. 

Walking  Fern. — Mr.  Willard  N.  Clute, 
Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  notes  that  the  Walking 
Fern,  Asplenium  rhizophyllu7n,  known  also  as 
Antigramma,  and  Camptosonis,  is  abundant  in 
Susquehanna  county,  Pa.,  growing  on  the  tops 
and  sides  of  the  borders  of  some  woods. 

ROBINIA  hispida. — This  beautiful  shrub, 
which  has  received  considerable  attention  on 
account  of  the  rarity  of  its  seeding,  is  re- 
ported by  Mr.  Harlan  P.  Kelsey,  as  not  unfre- 
quently  perfecting  seed  pods  in  the  mountains 
of  North  Carolina. 


GENERAL   GARDENING. 


A  WINTER  SCENE. 

"  The  snow  lay  deep  upon  a  hundred  hills 
And  choked  the  hollows  of  the  woodland-dells. 
XJnder  the  ice  the  stream  flowed  noiselessly 
And  all  the  forest-trees  were  stark  and  bare. 
The  gaunt  gray  wolves,  among  their  mountain- 
holds, 
Grew  fierce  with  famine,  and  the  snowy  owl, 
Swept  from  his  northern  wastes  by  mighty  storms. 
Sought  for  his  prey  around  the  homes  of  men." 

Howard  Worcester  Gilbert. 


Vedalia  cardinalis, — A  Triujiph  op  Sci- 
entific Method. — Some  three  or  four  years 
ago  California  orange  culturists  were  almost  in 
despair  at  the  ravages  in  their  orange  groves 
of  an  insect  known  variously  as  the  Fluted 
Scale,  the  White  Scale  or  the  Cottony  Cushion 
Scale  (Icerya  Purchasi).  For  a  time  it  looked 
as  if  orange  culture  would  have  to  be  aban- 
doned in  California,  but  just  in  the  nick  of 
time  Professor  Riley,  Government  Entomolo- 
gist, came  to  the  rescue.  He  had,  after  care- 
ful investigation,  definitely  ascertained  that 
the  scale  in  question  was  a  native  of  Aus- 
tralia, and  that  it  was  not  practically  injurious 
there.  Here  was  the  clue,  and  it  was  skillfully 
followed  up.  Long  correspondence  with  Aus- 
tralian entomologists,  and  the  despatch  of  a 
carefully  instructed  agent  to  that  country, 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  parasite  now 
so  well  known  as  Vedalia  cardinalis,  which 
keeps  the  Cottony  Cushion  Scale  in  subjec- 
tion in  its  native  home.  When  the  scale  was 
inadvertently  brought  over  to  California  upon 
Australian  oranges  I'edalia  had  been  left  be- 
hind, with  the  result  that  its  host,  the  scale, 
had  multiplied  without  restraint,  as  com- 
monly happens  when  an  insect  is  imported 
without  its  natural  checks.  Forthwith  a  large 
shipment  of  living  Vedalias  was  made  from 
Australia  to  California,  and  the  surprising 
result  is  known  to  everybody.  Within  a  few 
months  the  scale  was  obliterated,  orange  cul- 
ture was  again  on  its  feet,  and  I'edalia  had 
become  a  household  word  in  California. 

The  experiment  was  successfully  repeated  in 
the   Hawaiian  Islands,    where   also  the  scale 


threatened  to  extinguish  orange  raising,  and 
last  fall  a  special  commissioner  from  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  arrived  in  the  United  States, 
with  the  purpose  of  securing  a  supply  of 
Vedalias  for  use  in  his  country,  where  the 
scale  was  menacing  orange  culture.  He  was 
given  every  assistance  possible,  both  at  Wash- 
ington and  in  California,  and  went  home  with 
a  good  stock  of  the  insects.  One  package  was 
kept  upon  ice  during  the  voyage  (the  method 
adopted  in  the  original  importation  into  Cali- 
fornia) and  a  second  was  left  open  that  the  in- 
sects might  be  fed  en  route. 

The  special  commissioner  alluded  to,  Mr. 
Thos.  A.  J.  Liouw,  has  recently  reported  to  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  the  entire  success 
of  this  latest  colonization  of  Vedalia,  the  in- 
sects having  reached  the  Cape  alive  and  well, 
and  been  distributed  to  various  infested  locali- 
ties, and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
they  will  make  as  rapid  and  effectual  a  clear- 
ance of  the  scale  in  South  Africa  as  they  have 
in  California  and  Hawaii.  In  closing  his  letter 
to  Assistant  Secretary  Willets,  Mr.  Louw  says: 

"While  thanking  you  again  for  the  kind- 
ness displayed  towards  me,  may  I  request  yoa 
also  to  convey  to  Prof.  C.  V.  Riley  my  extreme 
obligations  for  the  service  rendered  by  him  to 
me,  and  which  I  assure  him  will  ever  be  appre- 
ciated by  me." 

Vedalia  is  rather  a  pleasing  name,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  there  should  be  as  a  sub- 
stantial commemoration  of  this  entomological 
romance,  a  Cathryn  Vedalia  Riley,  the  young- 
est of  five  girls,  who  form  part  of  a  happy 
family  at  the  well-known  entomologist's  home 
at  Sunbury  in  Washington. 

History  of  the  C.'^lla  Lily. — This  was 
first  introduced  to  Europe  from  southern 
Africa  in  1687,  and  has  become  a  great  favorite 
with  cultivators  all  over  the  world.  It  does 
not  like  a  very  warm  temperature,  nor  a 
very  cold  one.  It  will  live  out  in  American 
waters,  provided  it  is  deep  enough  to  be  below 
the  reach  of  absolute  ice.     It  fills  the  ditches 

(183) 


1 84 


MEEHANS  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Dec 


and  narrow  creeks  in  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
much  the  same  as  our  spatterdock  would  here. 
It  was  removed,  by  Kunth,  from  the  genus 
Calla,  and  called  Richardia  Afiicana,  but  it  is 
not  easy  to  get  rid  of  a  name  which  once  gets 
into  general  use,  hence  it  still  goes  by  the 
name  of  Calla.  The  spotted  one,  common  in 
cultivation  during  the  last  few  years  as  the 
Richardia  albo-macidata,  was  also  introduced 
from  southern  Africa  in  1859.  This  is  well 
known  by  its  spotted  leaves.  Another  one 
■was  brought  from  the  same  country  in  1857 
under  the  name  of  Richardia  hastata — the 
spathe  being  of  a  yellowish  color,  but  very 
small,  and  is  not  yet  much  known.  On 
account  of  the  common  Calla  blooming  most 
freely  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  it  has  come 
into  general  use  for  Easter  decorations  ;  and  not 
unfrequently  receives,  with  a  number  of  other 
plants,  the  common  name  of  Easter  Lily. 


Fruit  Machinery. — When  we  consider  the 
vast  difference  between  the  price  of  labor  in 
American  gardens  and  orchards,  and  the  low 
prices  paid  in  the  old  world,  it  is  a  matter  of 
surprise  to  foreigners  that  we  can  compete  so 
successfully  with  them  in  their  markets.  They 
attribute  it  to  our  iine  climate  and  good  soil, 
yet  there  are  not  wanting  some  intelligent  fruit 
cultivators  who  believe  that  these  conditions 
are  just  the  reverse,  that  America  has  proba- 
bly the  worst  climate  in  the  world  for  the  suc- 
cessful growth  of  fruits,  and  that  it  is  simply 
American  genius  which  overcomes  these  diffi- 
culties, and  thus  gives  them  the  command  of 
the  world's  markets.  But  it  is  in  the  far  West, 
and  especially  along  the  Pacific  slope,  where 
thousands  of  acres  are  devoted  to  fruit  culture, 
and  the  fruit  industries  are  among  the  most 
profitable  of  the  states'  revenues,  that  this 
adaptation  of  art  to  overcome  nature  is  more 
apparent  perhaps  than  in  the  Eastern  States. 
For  instance,  in  the  matter  of  the  almond, 
our  readers  may  not  generally  know  that  the 
almond  is  really  the  parent  of  the  peach  ;  the 
peach  is  simply  an  almond,  which  has  learned 
to  develop  a  succulent  flesh  over  the  stone  ;  an 
almond  is  simply  a  peach  with  a  dry  shell  over 
it  instead  of  the  fleshy  coating  which  covers 
the  peach.  When  ripe  it  splits  open  just  as 
the  bur  of  a  chestnut  would  do,  in  order  to  al- 
low the  stone  to  escape.  In  the  old  world 
these  almonds   are   shelled   by  hand,  women 


and  children  are  employed  at  almost  nominal 
wages  for  the  work,  but  in  California  where 
they  have  learned  to  raise  almonds  that  they 
can  sell  even  more  cheaply  than  the  old  world 
people  can  sell  theirs,  they  have  invented  a 
machine,  by  which  the  nuts  are  shelled. 
These  almonds  pass  between  rollers,  which 
have  a  cog-like  surface  ;  the  separate  cogs 
held  in  place  by  springs  so  adjusted  as  to  allow 
the  passage  of  the  nut  under  a  sufiicient  pres- 
sure not  sufiicient  to  crack  the  shell  ;  follow- 
ing, the  nuts  are  then  separated  from  the  loose 
fragments  of  hulls  by  a  fanning  arrangement. 
The  machine  is  worked  by  either  horse  or  mule 
power.  The  only  surprise  is  that  such  inven- 
tive genius  is  not  developed  in  the  old  world. 
The  general  impression  is  that  the  superior 
habits  of  observation  engendered  by  our  sys- 
tem of  public  school  education  have  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  the  cultivation  of  these  inven- 
tive faculties.  Sometimes  we  see  praise  given 
to  the  systems  of  education  in  effect  in  the  old 
world  as  compared  with  that  popular  in  Amer- 
ica ;  but  if  the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the 
eating,  American  education  seems  to  have  de- 
cidedly the  advantage.  After  all  many  of 
these  workers  in  the  fruit  farms  of  the  old 
world  have  no  education  at  all. 


Protecting  Large  Tub  Plants  in  Winter; 
— Sometime  since,  it  was  noted  in  Meehans' 
Monthly  that  there  was  much  waste  labor  in 
hauling  and  pulling  up  and  down  into  cellars 
heavy  tubs  of  soil  with  plants  for  winter  pro- 
tection. It  was  recommended  to  shake  out 
the  plants,  and  then  put  them  again  tempo- 
rarily into  boxes  of  earth, — replanting  them 
again  in  their  tubs  in  the  spring.  A  Florida 
correspondent  complained  that  it  would  never 
do  to  treat  Sago  palms  that  way.  Miss  Laura 
Bennett  observes  on  this  point. 

"If  Cycas  revoluta  (wrongly  called  Saga 
palm)  is  the  plant  referred  to  as  Sago  plant  in 
July  number,  3'Our  Florida  correspondent  need 
not  be  concerned  about  boxing  it.  It  is  hardy 
as  far  north  as  Savannah,  Ga.  On  Sapillo 
Island,  near  Darien,  Ga.,  it  was  so  long  since 
introduced  that  it  is  now  considered  native." 

Use  of  Bear  Grass. — The  leaves  of  Yucca 
filamentosa  (Bear  grass),  are  used  in  the  home 
garden  of  one  of  our  Georgia  correspondents,, 
to  tie  up  herbaceous  plants, 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


I8S 


California  and  Australia  Canned 
Fruits. — The  "Farm  and  Home,"  a  horti- 
cultural magazine  of  Melbourne,  Australia, 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  Australia  may 
become  a  close  competitor  with  California  in 
furnishing  dried  and  canned  fruits  for  expor- 
tation to  the  old  world.  Peaches,  pears,  plums 
and  apricots,  find  themselves  very  much  at 
home  in  Australia  ;  and  the  freight  from  there 
to  the  old  world  is  little,  if  any  more  than  the 
freight  from  California.  For  some  reason  or 
other,  the  enterprise  in  prosecuting  these 
branches  of  fruit  business  has  never  been  very 
successful   in   Australia;  but  the  "Farm  and 


Licorice. — Annually  for  several  years,  the 
amount  of  Licorice  imported  into  America  has 
been  continually  on  the  increase.  At  the 
present  time,  the  importation  is  simply  enor- 
mous. As  there  are  no  doubt  portions  of  the 
United  States  in  which  this  plant  would  grow 
to  perfection,  it  is  remarkable  that  few,  or 
possibly  no  attempts,  have  been  made  to  culti- 
vate it.  Nearly  all  that  we  have  now,  comes 
from  various  parts  of  Greece.  The  roots  run 
somewhat  deep  into  the  ground,  and  the 
dislike  of  our  people  is  the  hard  digging. 
After  digging  the  roots  they  have  to  be  dried 
somewhat,  and  the  juice  is  obtained  by  heavy 


STRAWBERRY    CULTURE   IN    FLORIDA   -see   p.   ise. 


Home"  states  that  during  thepastyear  or  two, 
a  great  advance  has  been  made  in  this  branch 
of  fruit  economj',  and  that  at  least  one  firm  in 
South  Australia  has  been  remarkably  success- 
ful in  making  profitable  ventures  in  this  line 
to  the  old  world.  In  some  branches  of  agri- 
culture the  Australians  have  become  close  com- 
petitors with  America  for  portions  of  the  trade 
of  the  world  ;  and -it  would  look,  from  the  facts 
above  noted,  as  if  they  were  destined  in  the 
future  to  come  closely  into  competition  with 
an  industry  which  has  been  almost  a  monopoly 
for  California. 


pressure.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds 
are  produced  in  Greece  alone,  annually.  The 
botanical  name  of  Licorice  is  Glycyrrhiza  glabra. 

Mice  in  Hedges. — Young  hedges  of  one  or 
two  years  old,  especially  osage  orange  hedges, 
are  liable  to  have  the  plants  eaten  off  under  the 
ground  by  mice  or  similar  rodents,  during 
severe  winters.  If  the  possibility  of  these  at- 
tacks can  be  foreseen,  they  can  readily  be 
trapped  and  poisoned.  Boxes  of  leaves  mixed 
with  Paris  green  material,  sunk  in  the  ground 
along  the  hedge  line,  is  efficacious. 


i86 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — ^GEXERAL  GARDENING. 


[Dec. 


Beautiful  Cemeteries. — It  has  been  re- 
marked that  Roman  Catholic  cemeteries,  as  a 
rule,  are  not  treated  to  the  same  extent  with 
landscape  adornment  as  cemeleries  belonging 
to  other  denominations.  Bishop  McQuaid,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Rochester,  is,  how- 
ever, a  famous  horticulturist,  and  by  his  en- 
couragement cemetery  adornments  of  a  horti- 
cultural character  receive  much  favor.  Aside 
fiom  his  beautiful  garden  at  his  country  home 
at  Hemlock  Lake,  about  forty  miles  from 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  he  has  a  fine  farm  of  over 
200  acres,  of  which  he  has  sixty  acres  in  a 
vineyard,  making,  according  to  Mr.  Falconer 
in  the  "American  Florist,"  a  great  specialty 
of  wine  for  sacramental  purposes.  The  rev- 
enue from  this  wine  manufacture,  is  donated  in 
support  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Rochester.  The  varieties  which  he  prefers  for 
making  this  particular  character  of  wine,  are 
the  Concord,  Salem,  Delaware,  Brighton,  El- 
vira, Hartford,  Champion,  Worden,  Agawam, 
Ives  and  lona.  The  Niagara,  Catawba,  and 
Clinton  are  unsatisfactory. 

Asparagus  Culture. — Mrs.  Seligman  says 
that  one  of  the  most  famous  districts  in 
Germany  for  growing  Asparagus  is  Brauns- 
chweig. In  that  district  there  are  over  three 
thousand  acres, — it  is  on  the  sand  plain, — the 
sand  being  so  light,  that  low  frames,  or  fences, 
are  placed  between  the  raised  beds,  in  order  to 
keep  the  sand  from  blowing  away.  It  is  now 
known  that  the  Asparagus  plant  is  bi-sexual. 
It  requires  the  pollen  of  a  distinct  plant  to 
fertilize  the  seed,  and  consequently  no  one 
variety  can  be  raised  true  from  seed;  but  by 
selecting  the  largest  and  best  of  both  sexes, 
planting  them  together,  and  again  selecting 
and  sowing  very  early,  in  the  same  way,  very 
white  and  large  heads  have  been  obtained, 
nntil  to-day,  through  this  system  of  selecting, 
the  Asparagus  from  that  section  is  regarded 
as  among  the  finest  in  the  world. 

A  New  Vegetable. — Mr.  Julius  Schnadel- 
bach,  of  Grand  Bay,  Ala.,  writes  to  the 
Florida  Fattner,  that  in  New  Orleans  they  now 
have  a  species  of  Yam,  presumably  a  Dioscorea, 
which  has  bulblets  from  its  leaves,  weighing 
two  pounds;  and  which  are  found  to  be  a 
delicious  vegetable.  Quite  a  number  of  species 
of  Dioscorea  produce  these  bulblets.     A  com- 


mon Chinese  Yam  introduced  several  years 
ago,  produces  them  as  large  as  beans,  and 
another  Chinese  species,  not  introduced,  has 
them  as  large  as  walnuts.  There  is  also 
another  species  from  South  America,  which 
has  been  named  Dioscorea  bulbifcra,  expressly 
on  accotint  of  its  producing  these  bulblets;  but 
the  writer  has  no  recollection  of  anyone  having 
such  large  bulblets  as  they  are  represented  to 
be.  It  is  worth  looking  into.  Mr.  Schnadel- 
bach  sa5's  that  they  are  known  in  New  Orleans 
as  the  Air  Potato. 

Florists'  Flowers.  —  The  most  popular 
flowers  with  florists  at  the  present  time  are 
roses  and  carnations  ;  but  there  are  some  few 
species  which  are  grown  by  specialists,  and 
which  are  coming  into  great  demand.  Various 
kinds  of  orchids,  such  as  Cypripediiim,  are 
sometimes  grown  on  an  immense  scale.  The 
ordinary  Cyclamen,  a  well  known  flower  of 
the  Primrose  family,  is  also  coming  into  ex- 
tensive use.  In  this  line,  a  house  completely 
filled  with  the  Persian  Cyclamen  when  once 
seen  is  never  forgotten.  A  number  of  florists 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  are  taking  up 
the  plant  as  one  of  the  specialties  in  the  cut 
flower  business.  Mr.  Gustavus  Bergmann,  of 
Flatbush,  Long  Island,  is  one  of  the  specialists 
in  this  line.  He  has  one  house  eighty  feet 
long  by  eighteen  feet  wide,  wholly  devoted  to 
this  culture. 

Steam  Heating. — Nothing  surprises  Euro- 
pean horticulturists  more  on  a  visit  to  America, 
than  to  see  the  enormous  advance  which  has 
been  made  in  making  steam  heating  of  plant 
houses  practicable.  Even  those  who  are  at  the 
head  of  the  horticultural  literature  of  Europe 
can  scarcely  appreciate  what  Americans  are 
doing.  In  a  recent  number  "Gardeners' 
Chronicle,"  gives  an  account  of  the  advance 
this  department  has  made  in  our  country. 


A  Large  Paulownia. — Mr.  George  Canby 
writes  that  he  has  since  made  an  accurate 
measurement  of  the  great  Paulownia  or  Em- 
press Tree  in  Independence  Square,  Philadel- 
phia, and  he  finds  at  three  feet  from  the  ground, 
it  is  nine  feet  in  circumference.  As  we  happen 
to  know  that  this  is  probably  the  oldest  tree  in 
the  United  States,  it  will  be  interesting  to  learn 
if  there  is  a  larger  one  or  not  in  the  country. 


i893] 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY— GENERAL  GARDENING. 


187 


Preserving  the  Natural  Colors  of 
Flowers. — It  is  over  a  quarter  of  a  century 
since  the  following  appeared  in  the  Gardeners'' 
Monthly.  Coming  back  again  to  America  after 
its  long  travel,  it  is  still  worth  republishing. 

"The  following  ancient  method  which 
comes  from  America  as  new  may  be  worth 
repeating  and  trying: — Take  very  fine  sand, 
wash  it  perfectly  clean,  and  when  dry  sift  it 
through  a  fine  sieve  into  a  pan.  When  the 
sand  is  deep  enough  to  hold  the  flowers  in  an 
■upright  position,  take  some  more  sifted  sand 
and  carefully  cover  them.  A  spoon  is  a  good 
thing  to  take  for  this,  as  it  fills  in  every  chink 
and  cranny  without  breaking  or  bending  the 
leaves.  When  the  pan  is  filled  solidly  leave 
the  flowers  to  dry  for  several  days.  It  is  a 
good  plan  to  warm  the  sand  in  the  oven  before 
using  it,  as  the  flowers  will  then  dry  more 
thoroughly.  In  taking  the  sand  off  great  care 
must  be  taken  not  to  break  the  leaves,  as  they 
are  now  dry  and  brittle.  Pansies  preserved 
in  this  way  will  keep  their  shape  and  brilliancy 
of  color  all  winter,  and  many  other  flowers 
can  be  equally  successfully  treated — anything, 
in  fact,  where  the  full  pressure  of  the  sand 
comes  on  both  sides  of  the  leaf;  otherwise 
they  will  shrivel.  To  fill  in  flowers  with  cup- 
like shapes  it  is  better  to  lay  them  on  the  sand, 
and  with  small  spoon  fill  in  and  around  each 
flower.  Ferns  when  preserved  in  this  way 
have  a  more  natural  look  than  when  pressed, 
and  the  Maiden-hair  Fern  looks  almost  as  well 
as  when  it  is  freshlj'  gathered. " 

Effects  of  Season  on  the  Habits  of 
Plants. — Mrs.  Seliger  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
notes  among  the  peculiarities  of  the  season, 
the  flower  in  blossom  of  the  Bird  Foot  Violet. 
Some  violets  flower  easily  in  the  fall,  but  the 
Bird  Foot  Violet  seldom  does.  Some  plants, 
iowever,  changed  their  habits  this  season. 
The  extraordinarily  warm  and  dry  summer, 
caused  the  branches  of  the  Dahlia  to  mature, 
and  when  the  fall  rains  came,  instead  of  send- 
ing out  flower  buds,  leaf  buds  followed.  It  is 
a  remarkable  peculiarity  of  the  season,  to  see 
them  with  huge  bunches  of  green  leaves,  and 
scarcely  any  blossoms.  The  practical  flower 
grower,  and  for  that  matter  the  fruit  grower 
also,  may  learn  valuable  lessons,  from  these 
peculiar  seasons  and  derive  great  advantage 
from  them  as  cultivators. 


Mushrooms  at  the  World's  Fair. — A 
most  interesting  exhibit  at  the  Exposition 
was  made  by  the  United  States  Government, 
in  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  consisting 
of  models  of  1,000  different  varieties  of  fungi. 

As  quite  a  stir  was  made  in  the  papers  not 
long  ago,  about  the  deaths  in  New  York  from 
eating  poisonous  mushrooms,  this  very  in- 
structive exhibit  attracted  the  attention  of 
quite  a  few  persons,  the  most  of  whom  were 
astonished  to  see  so  many  varieties,  marked 
as  being  edible.  At  a  rough  guess,  there  must 
have  been  at  least  one-half  to  two-thirds  of 
edible  kinds,  ranging  from  big  puft  balls,  as 
large  as  a  baby's  head,  down  to  the  very  small 
kind,  generally  known  as  toadstools. 

The  writer  was  in  conversation  with  a 
b3'standtr  who  was  very  well  versed  on  the 
subject,  having  made  a  study  of  it  for  several 
years.  His  mode  of  ascertaining  whether  a 
certain  kind  was  injurious  or  not,  was  to  eat  a 
little  himself,  and  if  he  felt  no  ill  effects,  to 
feed  it  to  his  dog.  This  plan  may  be  a  good 
one  for  the  dog,  but  hardly  so  for  the  man, 
he  having  the  last  chance. 

The  Nectarine  in,  California.  —  The 
"California  Fruit  Grower"  kindly  states,  that 
"if  Brother  Meehan  will  come  to  California  in 
August,  he  shall  be  feasted  on  the  most  deli- 
cious nectarines  ever  dreamed  of  without  the 
suspicion  of  a  curculio  having  been  within  nine 
miles  of  them."  California  is  to  be  much 
envied  that  she  has  hitherto  kept  clear  of  the 
plum  curculio.  Somehow  it  seems  as  if  the 
climate  is  not  adapted  to  them.  We  can 
scarcely  believe  that  while  the  coddling  moth 
has  found  its  way  so  easy,  and  found  a  home 
so  inviting  as  California,  that  the  curculio 
should  not  have  had  its  chances  as  well.  For 
all  that,  Californians  are  wise  in  doing  all  pos- 
sible to  guard  against  the  introduction  of  the 
insect.  No  more  nectarines  when  the  curculio 
finds  itself  at  home. 

Rivals  in  Onion  Growing. — Colorado  vows 
to  beat  all  Connecticut  in  growing  onions.  It 
is  said  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  Colorado 
are  so  well  suited  to  the  onion  that  more  money 
can  be  made  fiom  a  crop  of  onions  than  from 
any  other  vegetable  crop. 


1 88 


MEEHANS'  MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


[Dec. 


The  American  Pomological  Society. — 
The  executive  committee  of  the  American 
Pomological  Society  had  arranged  to  have  its 
regular  biennial  session  at  Chicago.  During 
its  continuance  at  the  World's  Fair  it  profited, 
however,  by  the  experience  of  the  other  con- 
gresses which  found  the  attraction  of  the  Fair 
so  superior  to  their  own  meetings,  that  the 
papers  were  simply  read  by  title,  and  the  mem- 
bers then  dispersed  to  see  the  sights  of  the 
Fair.  The  Pomological  Society,  therefore, 
simply  agreed  upon  the  time  and  place  for 
its  next  regular  bi-ennial  session.  The  Society 
has  long  been  honored  for  its  practical  good 
sense,  in  which  it  has  proved  a  valuable  aid  to 
American  fruit  growers,  and  the  action  of  the 
executive  committee  in  this  matter  is  all  in 
a  line  with  this  good  reputation. 

Raspberry  Culture— The  following  brief 
note  from  Miss  Laura  Bennett  might  furnish 
texts  for  many  good  discourses  on  raspberry 
culture.  For  instance,  the  raspberry  is  essen- 
tially a  shade-loving  plant, — and  the  protec- 
tion from  the  sun  by  the  covering  referred  to  is 
doubtless  of  as  much  value  to  the  plants  as  the 
protection  from  birds. 

"Tobacco  growers,  who  after  removing  the 
cheese  cloth  cover  from  their  tobacco  beds  to 
their  raspberry  beds,  have  been  pleased  with 
the  results.  It  is  put  high  enough  to  be 
■walked  under  arbor-like,  extending  to  the 
ground  on  either  side,  prevents  birds  from  de- 
stroying fruit  and  causes  earlier  ripening. 
A  variety  of  blackberry  bearing  white  fruit  has 
for  years  grown  (native)  one  mile  east  of 
Camilla,  Ga.  Sandy  soil  gives  sweetest  black- 
berries. ' ' 

Strawberry  Culture  in  Florida. — The 
United  States  Department  ot  Agriculture  has 
issued  a  complete  treatise  on  strawberry  cul- 
ture in  Florida.  Florida  strawberries  will  now 
be  in  order,  and  the  Northern  reader  particu- 
larly interested  in  a  view  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Florida  fruit  is  grown  for  his  use. 
See  illustration,  page  185. 

The  Phyllo.xera  on  the  Grape  Vine. — 
History  is  full  of  facts  showing  how  near 
people  will  come  to  a  great  fact  without 
actually  reaching  it.  It  was  left  to  our  Prof. 
Riley,  not  so  many  years  ago,  to  discover  that 


the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  grape  vine  in 
so  many  parts  of  the  world  was  due  to  a  little 
insect  on  the  roots  called  Phylloxera.  Yet 
in  an  article,  which  appeared  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  a  French  scientific  periodical  for  August 
the  3d,  1868,  is  a  paper  by  M.  Bazille,  announc- 
ing his  discovery  of  great  injury  to  the  grape 
vine  roots  by  an  unknown  species  of  aphis, 
which  he  named  Rhizobius.  It  is  well  under- 
stood now  that  this  insect  was  the  famous 
Phylloxera  of  Riley. 


The  Newtown  Pippin  Apple.— Comment- 
ing on  the  very  instructive  essay  of  President 
Janney,  of  the  Columbus  Horticultural  Society, 
the  remark  was  made  that  the  large  Newtown 
Pippin  apple  was  remarkable  for  Ohio.  Mr. 
Janney  states : 

"You  do  Ohio  more  than  justice  in  your 
reference  to  the  prolific  Newtown  pippin  tree. 
It  grew  on  a  farm  two  miles  north  of  Lincoln, 
Loudoun  Co.,  Va." 

This  makes  the  matter  clearer,  for  it  is  found 
that  this  variety  thrives  nearly  or  quite  as  well 
in  Virginia  as  along  the  Hudson  river,  where 
it  first  gained  its  fame.  It  does  badly 
generally. 

Early  Radish. — The  radish  is  one  of  those 
vegetables  that  grow  freely  when  the  ther- 
mometer is  but  a  very  little  above  the  freezing 
point,  and  it  is  therefore  one  of  the  easiest  of 
vegetables  for  an  amateur  to  bring  forward 
early.  Any  little  glass  frame  placed  over  the 
natural  earth,  in  which  the  radish  seed  is 
sown,  will  bring  them  forward  very  rapidly. 
In  case  the3'  freeze  a  little,  they  will  not  be 
materially  injured.  The  soil  for  radishes 
should  be  very  rich — indeed  it  cannot  be  too 
rich,  if  a  mild  and  tender  root  is  desirable. 
The  poorer  the  ground  the  more  likely  the 
roots  are  to  be  biting  and  bitter.  As  a  rule, 
the  turnip-rooted  radishes  are  fit  to  use  before 
the  longer  ones,  and  they  are  the  best  where 
great  earliness  is  desired. 


A  Large  Orange  Tree. — It  is  said  that 
Mr.  Fulton  G.  Berry,  of  Centreville,  Fresno 
County,  Cal.,  has  a  tree  which  the  past  season 
bore  4,000  oranges.  If  any  one  has  a  tree 
which  can  beat  this  Meehans'  Monthly  would 
like  to  place  it  on  record. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — GENERAL  GARDENING. 


Skill  in  Grape  Culture.  —  Few  people 
understand  that  grape  growing  is  a  science 
as  well  as  an  art,  and  that  when  the  science 
is  thoroughly  understood,  the  art  becomes 
very  simple.  The  European  grape  is  culti- 
vated to  a  large  extent  in  the  old  world  under 
glass  ;  indeed,  in  England  it  is  the  only  way 
in  which  the  European  grape  can  be  culti- 
vated, and  those  who  have  made  a  study  of 
the  science,  grow  them  to  such  perfection, 
that  those  who  have  never  seen  grapes  grown 
under  this  method,  can  have  little  comprehen- 
sion of  the  skill  which  ensues  after  the  acquisi- 
tion of  this  knowledge.  We  give  with  this,  an 
illustration  of  a  grape-house  department  from 
the  London  "Jour- 
nal of  Horticul- 
ture." As  will  be 
seen  by  the  picture, 
one  grape  vine 
alone  occupies  the 
whole  house,  224 
feet  in  length,  and 
each  bunch  of 
grapes  follows  as 
regularly  after  the 
other  in  its  proper 
place  as  if  they  had 
been  set  by  a 
machine.  The  vig- 
nette in  front, 
shows  the  size  of 
the  grape  vine 
stem,  which  is  at 
the  distant  part  of 
the  house.  In  our 
country  it  is  so 
commonly  the  case 

to  say  that  parties  can  buy  fruit  cheaper  than 
they  can  raise;  but  surely  the  pleasure  of  having 
such  a  command  of  the  plant  as  will  produce 
the  results  illustrated,  is  a  pleasure  far  beyond 
what  the  mere  money  value  of  the  grape  in- 
volves. This  vine  is  at  an  English  village 
called  Roehampton. 

Serving  Pineapple. — It  is  said  that  the 
English  way  ol  serving  pineapple  is  to  take 
the  fruit  out  from  the  rind  in  a  solid  cone. 
This,  with  its  prickly  stem  attached,  is  left 
intact.  The  pine  is  then  sliced  and  piled  in  its 
natural  shape  and  the  rind  fitted  'on.  It  is 
thus  sent  to  the  table  and  served. 


Vermont  Beauty  Pear. — On  page  108, 
Volume  II,  appeared  a  notice  of  this  candidate 
for  public  favor,  which  there  received  com- 
mendation because  it  was  pretty  as  well  as 
good.  There  are  numberless  varieties  of  pears 
of  surpassing  flavor  too  ugly  to  look  at  for 
anything,— but  beauty  is  no  disgrace.  Indeed, 
people  have  been  known  to  sacrifice  substantial 
meals  for  a  feast  of  beauty.  Another  sample 
from  Messrs.  Rupert  revives  the  point.  Why 
cannot  we  have  more  that  is  pretty  as  well  as 
good.     This  belongs  to  the  sugary  class. 


GRAPE  CULTURE   UNDER   GLASS. 


Two  Crops  of  Grapes  in  One  Season. — 
California  is  especially  favored  in  many  ways. 

It  seems  to  be  the 
Paradise  of  fruit 
growing.  It  does 
not  seem  to  be 
generally  known 
that  they  have  two 
crops  of  grapes 
often  in  one  season. 
At  the  present  time, 
one  of  the  questions 
with  Californian 
fruit  growers  is 
whether  it  really 
pays  to  allow  the 
grapes  borne  iipon 
the  later  wood 
growth  to  mature ; 
some  believing  that 
the  drain  on  the 
vitality  of  the  vine, 
injures  it  for  the 
future  ;  while  some 
contend  that  the 
plant  is  just  as  strong  in  after  years,  where 
these  two  crops  are  taken,  as  it  would  be  with 
only  one. 

Japanese  Cucumbers. — The  Hartford  Titnes 
states  that  Mrs.  William  Seliger,  of  that  city, 
exhibited  Japanese  Cucumbers  which  climb 
on  poles  like  beans.  What  are  these  cucum- 
bers ?  It  may  be  remarked  that  our  ordinary 
cucumbers  like  to  grow  on  bushy  wood  ;  with 
stout  bushy  branches  stubbed  in  so  that  the 
young  tendrils  can  climb  by  the  stubbs.  They 
grow  with  great  vigor  and  are  remarkably 
productive.  The  tendrils  cannot  cling  to  large 
branches  as  they  are  too  small  to  clasp  them. 


BIOGRAPHY  AND  LITERATURE. 


AN  OLD  TIME  CHRISTMAS. 

"  On  Christmas-eve  the  bells  were  rung, 
On  Christmas-eve  the  mass  was  sung  ; 
That  only  night  in  all  the  3'ear 
Saw  the  stoled  priest  the  chalice  rear. 
The  damsel  donned  her  kirtle  sheen  ; 
The  hall  was  dressed  with  holly  green  : 
Forth  to  the  woods  did  merry  men  go, 
To  gather  in  the  mistletoe. 
Then  opened  wide  the  baron's  hall 
To  vassal,  tenant,  serf  and  all." — ScoTT. 


Archibald  MENZiES.—The  names  of  Menzies 
and  Douglass  are  inseparably  connected  with 
the  wonderful  trees  and  beautiful  flowers  of 
the  Pacific  coast.  The  former,  Archibald 
Menzies,  who  pronounced  his  name  as  if  writ- 
ten Ming-is,  was  one  of  those  great  men  whose 
worth  becomes  apparent  so  late  in  life  that  few 
are  interested  in  their  early  history.  The 
exact  date  and  place  of  his  birth  are  unknown 
only  that  he  was  born  somewhere  in  Perth- 
shire, Scotland,  probably  in  the  year  1754. 
The  Gardener's  Cltro7iicle_sa.ys  he  was  attached 
as  surgeon  and  botanist  to  Vancouver's  survey- 
ing expedition  (1791  to  179s)  to  Australia,  and 
made  a  rich  collection  of  herbarium  specimens 
and  seeds,  and  was  the  first  to  transmit  cones 
of  Banksia  and  other  Proteacece  to  Kew  from 
Western  Australia.  It  was  he,  too,  who  intro- 
duced the  Chilian  Araucaria  imbricata,  though 
it  had  been  observed  and  described  by  several 
previous  travellers.  As  the  story  goes,  Menzies 
was  at  a  dinner  given  by  the  Viceroy  of  Chili 
to  Captain  Vancouver  and  his  officers,  and  part 
of  the  dessert  consisted  of  nuts  of  a  kind 
unknown  to  him.  In  spite  of  the  old  saying, 
he  pocketed  some,  and  took  them  on  board, 
and  having  procured  some  earth,  planted  them. 
Several  of  them  germinated,  and  Menzies  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  home  five  living  plants, 
one  of  which  was  taken  by  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
and  the  rest  sent  to  Kew.  One  of  these  still 
exists  there,  though  a  wreck,  and  an  eyesore  to 
all  but  the  sentimentalists.  Smith  {Records, 
p.  288)  states  that,  "In  1833  one  of  these 
plants,  which  had  previously  been  kept  in  a 
greenhouse,  was  presented  by  King  William 

(190) 


IV.  to  Lady  Granville  for  her  collection  at 
Dropmore.  It  was  then  about  5  feet  high,  and 
growing  in  a  tub;  it  is  now  (1880)  a  fine  tree, 
60  feet  high." 

By  the  way,  is  there  any  fine  specimen  or 
Araucaria  imbricata  in  the  United  States? 


Sidney  Smith  on  the  Strawberry. — 
Mr.  C.  E.  Smith,  Philadelphia,  says  : — 

"  I  note  in  October  Monthly,  page  147,  col- 
ume  I,  line  17,  bottom,  Sidney  Smith  should- 
h&  Isaac  fF^Z/ow,  "Compleat  Angler. "  Fourth- 
day,  Chapter  V. 

"Indeed  my  good  scholar  we  may  say  of 
"angling  as  Dr.  Boteler  said  of  strawberries. 
"  '  Doubtless  God  could  have  made  a  better 
"  '  berry,  but  doubtless  God  never  did,  and  so 
"  'if  I  might  be  judge,  God  never  did  make  a 
"  '  more  calm,  quiet,  innocent  recreation  than 
"  'angling. '  " 


American  Gardening. — This  well-known 
magazine  has  changed  hands,  and  is  now  be- 
ing published  by  the  A.  T.  De  La  Mare  Print- 
ing and  Publishing  Co.  (Limited),  170  Fulton 
Street,  New  York.  It  is  hereafter  to  be  issued 
semi-monthly.  The  publishers  announce  that 
its  style  in  future  will  be  more  like  "Popvilar 
Gardening,"  before  that  was  merged  into 
"American  Gardening,"  and  which  it  is- 
thought  will  be  more  appreciated. 


Professor  Hagen. — Herman  Hagen,  Prof, 
of  Entomology  at  Harvard,  died  on  November 
9th,  aged  seventy-six.  The  great  advance 
made  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  in 
our  knowledge  of  insects  owes  very  much  to 
his  labor.  He  was  born  in  Prussia,  and  took 
the  Harvard  chair  in  1870. 

Professor  Pringsheim. — The  celebrated 
botanist,  Prof  Pringsheim,  will  have  reached 
his  70th  birthday  on  November  30th.  His 
friends  all  over  the  world  have  been  sending 
their  photographs  so  as  to  form  an  album  to  be 
given  him  at  that  time. 


I893-] 


MEEHANS'    MONTHLY — BIOGRAPHY   AND   LITERATURE. 


191 


Dr.  Wm.  Pepper. — When  Councilman  Mee- 
han,  of  Philadelphia,  inaugurated  the  small 
Park  movement  in  that  cit}',  it  dragged  along 
for  several  years.  He  finally  got  warm  sympa- 
thy from  two  distinguished  ladies,  Mrs.  J. 
Brinton  Coxe  and  Mrs.  J.  P.  Lundy.  They 
founded  the  City  Parks  Association,  and  called 
a  public  meeting.  At  this  meeting  Dr.  Wm. 
Pepper  made  a  ringing  speech  which  drew 
popular  attention  to  the  work  more  strongly 
than  ever  before.  His  continued  advocacy 
has  had  much  to  do  with  the  success. 

Aside  from  the  pleasure  Meehans'  Monthly 
takes  in  giving  the  portrait  of  one  so  useful  in 
Park  matters,  the  many  graduates  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Univer- 
sity will  be  glad  to  see 
the  likeness  of  one 
who  has  been  for  many 
years  its  Provost.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin — who 
was  as  successful  in 
founding  scientific  soci- 
eties and  educational 
institutions,  as  he  was 
of  building  up  a  great 
nation — as  president  of 
a  board  of  twenty-four 
trustees,  started  the  in- 
stitution in  its  present 
shape. 

The  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education 
has  recently  issued  a 
"circular"  on  "Benja- 
min Franklin  and  the 
University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania," in  which  the 
services  of  Dr.  Pepper 
are  strikingly  told. 
The  Bureau  has  kindly 
permitted  the  transfer 
of  the  portrait  to  our 
pages.  Dr.  Pepper  was 
born  on  the  21st  of 
August,  1843,  and  is 
himself  a  graduate  of 
the  great  institute  he 
presides  over ;  and  is 
the  son  of  one  who  was 
equally  with  himself 
famous  in  the  practice 
of  medicine. 


Anne  Pratt. — One  of  the  best  known  au- 
thors on  illustrated  British  Wild  Flowers, 
Anne  Pratt,  has  just  died.  Her  chief  work  is 
the  "Flowering  Plants  and  Ferns  of  Great 
Britain."  It  is  a  standard  work  in  all  first- 
class  libraries.  The  plates  of  the  English  Wild 
Flowers  are  beautifully  colored.  Her  married 
name  was  Mrs.  Fearless. 

Francis  Parkman. — Since  the  recent  para- 
graph commemorative  of  the  gardening  tastes 
of  the  great  historian  Francis  Parkman,  he 
has  passed  awaj',  at  his  home  near  Boston. 
He  died  on  November  8th,  in  his  seventieth 
year. 


OR.   WILLIAM    PEPPER. 


GENERAL  NOTES. 


Meehans'  Monthly  in  the  Pulpit.— 
From  the  great  leader  who  told  us  about  the 
sower  who  went  forth  to  sow  to  those  who 
speak  of  homely  truths  to  this  day,  the  most 
beloved  and  the  most  successful  are  those  who 
draw  their  illustrations  from  gardens  or 
flowers.  What  would  the  fate  of  the  follow- 
ing pretty  thought  from  a  recent  address  by 
Rev.  Charles  G.  Ames  have  been  if  the  grow- 
ing seed  had  not  been  its  inspiration  ? 

"  None  of  us  can  live  well  by  an  occasional 
good  resolution,  any  more  than  a  seed  can 
grow  into  a  healthy  plant  by  being  used  as  a 
common  plaything,  and  only  now  and  then 
put  into  the  earth  for  a  minute  or  two.  Every- 
thing depends  upon  storing  up  in  ourselves, 
by  a  habit  of  well-doing,  a  great  and  ever-in- 
creasing fund  of  moral  power,  which  shall  be 
available  to  brace  us  against  sudden  tempta- 
tion, to  help  us  carry  out  better  purposes,  and 
to  hold  us  steady  and  true  to  the  ideal." 

An  eminent  Presbyterian  divine  was  kind 
enough  once  to  say  that  many  of  his  sermons 
were  suggested  by  floral  thoughts  gathered 
from  the  writings  of  the  Senior  Conductor  of 
Meehans'  Monthly.  If  a  copy  of  the  maga- 
zine were  in  the  hands  of  every  clergyman  in 
our  country,  there  would  be  no  need  of  sending 
pastors  on  long  journeys  "in  order  to  get  a 
rest — for  the  congregation,"  as  a  zealous  mem- 
ber once  expressed  it.  The  publishers  will 
cheerfully  send  a  sample  copy  free  to  any  desir- 
ing to  present  their  minister  with  a  year's 
subscription  to  Meehans'  Monthly. 


Condensation. — Mr.  W.  C.  Egan,  of  High- 
land Park,  Illinois,  kindly  says  "your  re- 
marks on  the  importance  of  condensation, 
in  the  October  number,  impressed  me  with 
its  truthfulness,"  and  the  conductors,  are  more 
than  ever  impressed  with  the  truth.  Probably 
a  book  of  100  pages  could  not  have  instructed 
the  reader  in  the  art  of  grape  growing  better 
than  the  condensed  half  page  in  the  last 
issue.  Indeed,  many  a  paragraph  might  be 
spun  into  a  fair  sized  book. 

(192) 


The  London  Journal  of  Horticulture. — 
In  one  of  the  earlier  issues  of  Meehans' 
Monthly,  a  cut  was  given  illustrating  an 
abnormal  Fox  glove.  The  cut  was  reproduced 
recently  to  illustrate  a  similar  growth,  to 
which  attention  was  called  by  Mr.  Egan.  The 
ViOnAon  Journal  of  Horticulture  claims  that  the 
original  cut  was  copied  from  that  publication, 
without  proper  credit,  and  not  from  the  flowers 
sent  to  this  office.  It  maj'  have  seemed 
easier  to  draw  from  the  picture  than  from  the 
specimen  on  the  table, — recollection  has  failed. 
We  can  only  say  that  if  it  was  copied  by  the 
artist  of  Meehans'  Monthly  in  this  way,  we 
much  regret  that  proper  credit  was  not  given ; 
the  more  especially  as  the  friendship  always 
exhibited  for  Meehans'  Monthly,  aside  from 
the  justice  of  the  case,  demands  the  most 
respectful  and  grateful  consideration  from  its 
young  American  contemporary. 

Knowledge  of  Mushrooms. — All  in  the 
line  with  suggestions  in  Meehans'  Monthly 
the  State  of  New  York,  under  the  lead  of  Prof. 
Peck,  the  State  Botanist,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Charles  E.  Smith,  an  able  Philadelphia 
botanist,  is  about  to  issue  charts  for  the  use  of 
schools,  libraries  or  kindred  associations,  show- 
ing the  edible  and  the  noxious  species  of 
fungus.  With  a  little  effort  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania might  be  induced  to  join  in  this  good 
work,  as  the  fungi  of  both  states  are  essentially 
the  same. 

The  Next  Plate. — The  new  volume  will 
start  in  January  with  a  plate  of  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  Pitcher  plant  family,  Sarracenia 
variolaris.  Its  history  will  have  a  popular 
charm, — while  the  picture  itself  is  one  of  the 
loveliest  that  have  appeared. 

Indian  Bean  Tree. — The  Catalpa  is  known 
in  England  as  the  Indian  Bean  tree.  Surely 
Catalpa  is  quite  as  easy  ;  and  every  one,  no 
doubt,  understands  what  is  meant  when  it  is 
used. 


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